Ukraine-Russia war latest: Starmer warns Putin could reinvade Ukraine

Talks between US and Russian officials in Istanbul are expected to be the first in a series of contacts aimed at building confidence and removing “irritants” in bilateral relations, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said.

“We expect that today’s meeting will be first in the series of similar expert consultations that will move us closer, together with the US, in overcoming disagreements and strengthening trust,” the Kyiv Independent quoted her as saying.

The talks – which US officials stressed would not touch upon Ukraine – were aimed at “normalising” diplomatic relations severed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an aim established during last week’s surprise talks in Riyadh, which marked the first significant face-to-face meeting between the two nations in more than three years.

Russia and the US have expelled diplomats and limited the appointment of new staff at each other’s missions in tit-for-tat measures over the past decade, leaving their embassies thinly staffed.

The US State Department said Thursday’s talks would cover issues such as staffing levels, visas and diplomatic banking.

Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer will be discussing the “trade-off” over what form of peacekeeping role European forces may have to play in Ukraine as a result of the shape of any possible peace deal struck with Russia, a US official has claimed.

Sir Keir has said he is open to British troops providing security guarantees to Ukraine but only alongside other European nations and with “the right conditions in place”.

According to Reuters, a US official told reporters that, while European countries are concerned about the high level of conflict in Ukraine now, a ceasefire would give them more comfort that their role is more about peacekeeping than deterring active conflict.

“The type of force depends very much on the political settlement that is made to end the war,” the US official said. “That trade-off is part of what the leaders today are going to be discussing.”

Vladimir Putin wants sovereignty not territory, a former leader of the Conservative Party has warned – as he argued that Donald Trump is making a “completely wrong judgement” if he believes otherwise.

Addressing the House of Commons in a debate on Ukraine, Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: “The idea that just meeting Putin’s demand for territory – that he may have got or not – at the moment somehow will appease him and will satisfy his requirements is, I think, a completely wrong judgement.

“I noticed in a telephone call between President Trump and Putin this is what President Trump said was important. The truth is Putin is an ex-KGB man. Once KGB, always KGB. He’s not interested in territory, he’s interested in sovereignty.”

He added: “What we have to get lined up in here is the real nature of what Putin wants, and it’s not territory, it’s sovereignty.

“He wants to recreate and has always wanted to recreate the full borders of the old Soviet Union in a greater Russia, we know that. And Ukraine isn’t about 20 per cent of their territory, for him it’s all of Ukraine.

“So you have a peace deal which isn’t stable, he will be back. He’ll build up his armed forces, which he can do quite quickly now with the support of people like North Korea, and he will be back in double quick time.”

Volodymyr Zelensky is “very focused” on having Europe centrally involved in a potential peace settlement, Ireland’s premier Micheal Martin has said.

Speaking after a meeting with the Ukrainian president at Shannon Airport, who visited Ireland briefly en route to Washington, Mr Martin said: “I think he has a very clear focus. I think he’s very clear in his own head in terms of where he wants to take this, and he wants to engage, obviously, particularly with President Trump.

“He values very much the support he has received from the United States, a very strong partner to Ukraine. I think the engagement, the fact that he’s visiting Washington, is good in itself.”

Mr Martin said he told Mr Zelensky that Ireland is open to helping, including sending peacekeepers to Ukraine.

“He said there’s time for that yet, but he was appreciative of that,” said Mr Martin.

“But obviously a lot will be determined by the nature of agreements, if they happen, if a ceasefire happens, how it happens, the nature of it, the modality of it, and so on. But he’s aware of our position on that, which he thinks is important.”

Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russia must exert the full power of its diplomatic and intelligence services to disrupt what he labelled attempts by “Western elites” to sabotage a potential rapprochement between Moscow and Washington.

In a televised speech to Russia’s FSB security service, Mr Putin said Moscow’s initial contacts with Donald Trump’s new administration “inspire certain hopes”, hailing Russia’s current “partners” in Washington as demonstrating what he called pragmatism and realism by abandoning the “ideological cliches” of their predecessors.

But the Russian president continued: “We understand that not everyone is happy with the resumption of Russian-American contacts. Some Western elites are still determined to maintain instability in the world, and these forces will try to disrupt or compromise the dialogue that has begun.

“We need to be aware of this and use all possibilities when it comes to diplomacy and our intelligence services to disrupt such attempts.”

Claiming that the West was now in the midst of a serious crisis, Mr Putin claimed: “You and I can see it. They have begun to destroy Western society itself from within. This is evidenced by the problems in the economies of many Western countries and in their domestic politics.”

The idea that Russia is ready or able to sweep through Western Europe is not a serious proposition, writes Diane Abbott:

Turkey is open to providing troops for a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, Bloomberg News reports.

Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan discussed the idea with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov during separate meetings in Ankara earlier this month, Bloomberg said.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice has branded Russian president, Vladimir Putin, a “most evil, evil villain”.

In a Commons debate to mark the third anniversary of the war, Mr Tice said: “We at Reform stand united with the whole of this House in support of Ukraine and all brave Ukrainians against the monstrous tyranny of that most evil, evil villain Putin.”

He later added: “Just over 13 months ago, I donated to acquire a 4×4 pickup truck and to fill it with first aid, medical supplies and drive it with other volunteers to Ukraine, and to give it to those brave soldiers on the front line.

“And I remember meeting the extraordinary technicians making the drones, including brilliant bright children helping to develop new drone technology, and tragically, sadly, I stood in a cemetery and watched the mums weep over the graves of their sons.

“And that cemetery now has almost doubled in size in just 12 months.”

He said Reform supported the Prime Minister in his pledge to boost defence spending.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has met Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin during a brief stop-off in Ireland, on his way to a key meeting with US president Donald Trump in Washington.

Mr Trump said Mr Zelensky would visit Washington on Friday to sign an agreement on rare earth minerals, while the Ukrainian leader said the success of the deal would hinge on those talks and continued US aid.

Mr Zelensky thanked both Mr Martin for his support and the Irish people for the shelter they have provided Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion in 2022 in brief remarks while the pair met at Shannon airport, Irish national broadcaster RTE reported.