Ukraine war latest: Zelenskyy piles pressure on Putin to attend peace talks in Turkey - with Trump 'thinking about flying over' (2025)

Back to the prospect of a face-to-face meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin in Turkey tomorrow.

While the last direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv were held in 2022, the last time the two leaders met was on 9 December 2019 at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

Zelenskyy, looking considerably younger than he does now, met French President Emmanual Macron, Putin, and former German chancellor Angela Merkel.

The meeting was called to look at ways to end five years of fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Zelenskyy has said he will meet Putin in Turkey after Donald Trump told him to accept the Russian leader's proposal of direct talks.

However, the Kremlin has since offered no signs of clarity over whether Putin will attend the talks.

French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot has said the European Union has approved a 17th sanctions package on Russia.

Barrot told French television network BFM TV that the bloc will now turn to working on further, tougher sanctions with the US.

The package was agreed during a meeting of ambassadors this morning and is expected to be formally approved by foreign affairs ministers next week.

The latest package is once again expected to target Russia's so-called "shadow fleet", consisting of old-age ships deployed around the world transporting embargoed Russian oil products.

153 tankers from the "shadow fleet" have been targeted by the EU, but the latest package is expected to bring the total number of sanctioned vessels to more than 350.

As the build-up to tomorrow's proposed peace talks in Turkey continues, the war on the battlefield rages on.

Scroll through the maps below to view different parts of the battlefield, including the situation in key regions such as Luhansk, Donetsk, Kursk and Belgorod.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a world leader on decent terms with Vladimir Putin, has weighed in on the proposed peace talks in Turkey tomorrow.

He said he will ask the Russian president to attend the talks.

Lula was in Moscow last week for a major military parade marking the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in World War Two.

He also held a bilateral meeting with Putin, and said: "Brazil shares political, commercial, cultural, scientific and technological interests with Russia."

"We are two great nations on opposite continents," he added.

"We have an opportunity to significantly expand our commercial relationship at this historic moment."

While much of the focus is on tomorrow's proposed talks in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine, overnight attacks continue.

The regional governor of Russia's Belgorod said a series of Ukrainian drone attacks have left at least 16 people injured.

Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry reported that it destroyed 12 drones launched from Ukraine overnight, with three of them over the Belgorod region.

Ukraine has not yet commented on these reports.

Take a look at the map below to see how close Belgorod is to Russia's border with Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy continued to pile pressure on Vladimir Putin to attend proposed talks in Turkey tomorrow.

In his nightly address, the Ukrainian president said "every call for a long-lasting and unconditional ceasefire matters" before adding "calls for direct negotiations at the highest level are equally important".

He described Putin as "the one who determines everything in Russia" and said he is the one who "has to resolve the war".

"This is his war, therefore the negotiations should be with him," he added.

While there's been no clarity from the Kremlin so far on whether Vladimir Putin will attend the proposed talks, Donald Trump has told reporters he's "thinking" of going.

"I was thinking about flying over," he told reporters before kicking off his tour of the Middle East.

"I don't know where I am going be on Thursday, I've got so many meetings.

"There's a possibility there I guess, if I think things can happen."

Trump has been pushing for both sides to meet to bring the fighting to an end.

Sources have also told Reuters that Trump's senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg will travel to Turkey for the proposed talks, while Trump said US secretary of state Marco Rubio will also be there.

We can now bring you what the Kremlin said most recently on tomorrow's potential meeting in more detail.

At the weekend, Vladimir Putin called on Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet for peace talks.

Zelenskyy originally insisted he'd only do so if Putin agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. But Trump intervened - suggesting it was time to call Putin's bluff.

So Zelenskyy said he was willing to meet Putin on Thursday this week.

But Moscow is showing no signs of offering clarity, though.

In its latest update yesterday morning, the Kremlin declined to comment on who would attend on Russia's behalf.

It said it would announce those details at a time of its choosing.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "We are not going to comment any more yet."

He added: "As soon as the president sees fit, we will announce it."

Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage.

We're a day away from the proposed Russia-Ukraine talks in Turkey - but exactly who will attend those talks remains unclear.

With Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeatedly stating he will be waiting for Vladimir Putin, there's been an increasing amount of pressure on Russia's president to be there.

But the Kremlin is offering no signs of clarity, and yesterday declined to comment on who would attend on Russia's behalf.

It said it would announce those details at a time of its choosing.

Stay with us across the day as we look ahead to that proposed meeting tomorrow and bring you updates from the battlefield.

Thank you for reading.

The main events today have been:

• Germany has said the "clock is ticking" on more sanctions against Russia if Moscow does not agree to a ceasefire by the end of Monday;
• Russia is serious about peace in Ukraine,Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, while reprimanding European countries for the "language of ultimatums" on further sanctions;
• Russia is "completely ignoring the offer of a full and durable ceasefire" starting today, Ukraine's foreign minister has said;
• A statement issued by foreign ministers meeting in London said Moscow has "not shown any serious intent to make progress";
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and his team have "absolutely no problem engaging in negotiations" in Turkey on Thursday and are "ready for any format".