Ukraine live: Zelensky claims there is 'toxic atmosphere' around Putin

Key Points

• The latest: Putin's advisors running out of patience, says Zelensky
• EU ambassadors agree 21st sanctions package against Russia
• Lavrov slams 'unacceptable' deliveries of US arms to Ukraine
• Russia rules out giving up Ukraine territory in peace deal – report
• "We want a peace deal on Ukraine," says Rubio

Lavrov and Rubio discussed Ukraine war, says Moscow

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said he and his US counterpart Marco Rubio discussed the Ukraine conflict and the normalisation of US-Russia relations in a meeting in Manila on Thursday.

Lavrov "reaffirmed Russia's readiness for a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict," the ministry's statement said, and told Rubio that Moscow remained committed to proposals put forward by Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at their August 2025 meeting in Alaska.

The two men, who met on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum, agreed to continue contacts, the Russian statement said.

Recap: Two dead, five injured in Ukrainian attacks on Crimea and southern Russia

Two people were killed including a three-year-old child in separate overnight Ukrainian attacks on a southern Russian city and on the Russian-controlled peninsula of Crimea, authorities said on Thursday.

Crimean governor Sergei Aksyonov said one person died on the peninsula and four more were injured, including two children.

Falling drone debris sparked a fire at the home of a three-year-old boy in the city of Voronezh, some 500 kilometres (310 miles) south of Moscow, killing him, the regional governor Alexander Gusev said.

A 19-year-old man sustained minor injuries in the attack, which also damaged the roof of a warehouse belonging to an online marketplace and other buildings.

"We want a peace deal on Ukraine," says Rubio

Marco Rubio says “we want a peace deal on Ukraine” after his talks with his Russian counterpart in Manila.

The US Secretary of State says such a deal will require a lot of work, as Russia is still reportedly refusing to give up land with Ukraine buoyed by momentum in long-range strikes.

Rubio goes on to say that Iran is probably not ready to make a peace deal with the US, but may soon.

The US has pulled back from mediating the Ukraine war since its attacks on Iran in February.

Lavrov slams 'unacceptable' deliveries of US arms to Ukraine

Russia’s veteran foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told his US counterpart that it was “unacceptable” for deliveries of arms to the “Kyiv regime” to continue.

Lavrov met with secretary of state Marco Rubio in Manila for around 30 minutes on Thursday to discuss the war in Ukraine.

The Russian foreign ministry said that Lavrov “emphasised that it was unacceptable to continue arms deliveries to the Kyiv regime”.

He also slammed “a destabilising policy by European countries that are always seeking to inflict a 'strategic defeat' on Russia”.

The latest: Putin's advisors running out of patience, says Zelensky

Vladimir Putin’s advisors increasingly blame him for Russia’s mounting losses in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday, hailing the success of Kyiv’s protracted campaign of strikes deep behind enemy lines.

The Ukrainian president wrote that Ukraine’s buoyed confidence on the battlefield is “creating a new atmosphere” around his Russian counterpart, with allies losing faith in Putin’s ability to continue to prosecute the four-year conflict.

“A very toxic atmosphere,” Zelensky assessed. “He alone is the reason this war began and hasn’t ended. Putin alone is responsible for the losses Russians continue to suffer. His retinue understands this - they are signalling it to us and to our partners.”

Watch: Huge fires as Zelensky launches new attacks on Russian warehouses

EU ambassadors agree 21st sanctions package against Russia

EU ambassadors have reached a political agreement on the 21st sanctions package against Russia, four EU diplomats said on Thursday.

Two EU diplomats said the package includes a 12-month freeze on the Russian oil price cap, as well as a one-year exemption allowing the transfer of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to third countries, with automatic renewal.

"Member states showed solidarity with Greece and it's expected that Greece will do the same with others in the future," one EU diplomat said.

The technical work on the sanctions package will now be concluded and a written procedure for adoption will be launched on Thursday afternoon.

Russia strikes Ukraine's Odesa port

Russian forces struck infrastructure used for military cargo in the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday, citing Russia's defence ministry.

Russia and Ukraine have stepped up military activity in and around the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in recent weeks, with each side attacking dozens of ships, including oil tankers and cargo vessels.

Two dead, five injured in Ukrainian attacks on Crimea and southern Russia

At least two people were killed ⁠including a three-year-old child in separate overnight Ukrainian attacks on a southern Russian city and on the Russian-controlled peninsula ⁠of Crimea, authorities ​said ⁠this morning.

Crimean governor Sergei Aksyonov said one person died ⁠on the peninsula and four more ​were ⁠injured, including two ‌children.

Falling drone debris sparked a fire at the home of a three-year-old boy in the city of Voronezh, some 500km (310 miles) south of Moscow, killing him, the regional governor Alexander Gusev said.

A 19-year-old man sustained minor injuries in the attack, which also damaged the roof of a warehouse belonging to an online marketplace and ‌other buildings.

The governor of the Ulyanovsk region east of Moscow said Ukrainian drones had attacked an energy facility, which caught fire. The Russian defence ministry said ‌its ​air defence units downed ‌223 Ukrainian drones ​overnight.

Putin's aide Lavrov signals readiness to end Ukraine war – but sticking to Alaska terms

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and US secretary of state Marco Rubio discussed the Ukraine conflict and the normalisation of US-Russia relations in a meeting in Manila this morning, the Russian foreign ministry said.

Lavrov "reaffirmed Russia's ​readiness for ⁠a political ‌and diplomatic settlement of the conflict," the ministry's ‌statement said, and told ‌Rubio that Moscow remained committed to proposals put ⁠forward by presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at their August 2025 meeting in Alaska.

The two men, who ‌met on the ​sidelines of ‌the ASEAN ⁠Regional Forum, agreed to ⁠continue contacts, the Russian statement ‌said.

The Kremlin has repeatedly said it wants to end the Ukraine war along the lines of terms discussed at that Alaska summit, which included a significant concession of territory by Ukraine. Kyiv has said it cannot abide by those terms, and the US has said no deal was ever finalised during the those talks.

One killed and four injured in Ukrainian attack on Crimea

One person was killed and four injured in a Ukrainian attack on the Russian-controlled peninsula of Crimea, the Russian-installed governor said this morning.

There ⁠are ​two children ⁠among the injured, Crimean ⁠governor Sergei Aksyonov wrote on ​Telegram.

Air defence ‌units downed ⁠223 Ukrainian drones ⁠overnight, Russian news agencies said, ‌citing ​the defence ‌ministry.

The governor of the Ulyanovsk region east of Moscow said that Ukrainian drones had attacked an energy facility, adding it had caught fire.

Civilian sites were attacked in Russia's Voronezh region during the night, governor Alexander Gusev said, adding ‌that some people were ​injured.

Watch: Wildberries: Huge fires as Zelensky launches new attacks on Russian warehouses

Rubio and Lavrov wrap up meeting in Manila

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and US secretary of state Marco Rubio have held their meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN forum in Manila, the TASS news agency reported.

The meeting lasted ⁠over half an hour, it added. Details of what was discussed are yet to be released.

Earlier Rubio told reporters in Manila that he planned to raise the conflict in Ukraine with Lavrov, saying that the US remained open to playing a role in ending the conflict “if that opportunity presents itself”.

German nuclear fuel plant cleared to work with Russia's Rosatom

A German nuclear fuel assembly plant has won regulatory approval to jointly produce fuel with Russia's state-owned Rosatom, underscoring how the nuclear sector remains largely exempt from European sanctions on Russia.

A federal state regulator cleared Advanced Nuclear Fuels, part of French nuclear power company Framatome, a subsidiary of EDF, to produce fuel rods in Lingen, Lower Saxony, for Russian-designed nuclear power plants with Rosatom, Germany's federal environment ministry said on Wednesday.

The federal ministry said it regretted the collaboration but added the regulator legally had no choice but to give its go-ahead.

There is so far no EU agreement on an extension of sanctions on Russia to the nuclear power sector but Germany was working towards that, a ministry spokesperson told Reuters.

Russia rules out giving up Ukraine territory in peace deal – report

Russian president Vladimir Putin still insists he will keep all occupied Ukrainian territory as part of any peace deal to end the war, according to a report.

Sources close to the Kremlin said Putin wants to hold these occupied regions near the border and use them as buffer zones, reported Bloomberg.

At the same time, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has also ruled out formally ceding any territory illegally occupied by Russia since the war began in 2022.

In June Putin signalled that Russia was ready to reach a compromise to end the war, but no details were shared.

Putin facing 'toxic atmosphere' at home amid Russian losses, says Zelensky

Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is under pressure as a result of his country's losses in the war on Ukraine.

“He alone is the reason this war began and hasn't ended. Putin alone is responsible for the losses Russians continue to suffer,” Zelensky said in his nightly address.

“The situation on the front, together with our long-range sanctions and mid-range strikes, is creating a new atmosphere around Putin. A very toxic atmosphere,” he said.

Zelensky said Russian society is starting to feel the impacts of the war more than ever. “His retinue understands this – they are signalling it to us and to our partners. Russian society is beginning to feel it more and more as well. We need decisions to bring about peace.”

Watch: Two killed in Zaporizhzhia and nine injured in latest Russian attack on residential building

Russia bans vessel movement at night at major port amid Ukraine drone attacks

Russia has introduced a temporary ban on vessel movements in ​and out of the port of Novorossiysk between ‌midnight and 5am because of Ukrainian drone attacks, three grain industry sources said on Wednesday.

Novorossiysk is Russia's biggest ​port by volume and handles up to one ​third of Russia's grain exports. The ban follows traffic restrictions introduced ‌earlier ⁠this month in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait.

The sources said ​the order was verbal and that no official ​document had been sent to shippers. They ⁠said the port was functioning as usual outside ​the restricted night-time hours, and grain shipments had not ​been affected.

A government order published on 21 July banned ​vessels from ⁠anchoring in areas without air defences at the port of Azov in the ​Sea of Azov and the port ​of Kavkaz ⁠in the Kerch Strait.

US to pitch ending Ukraine war as Rubio meets Lavrov today

US secretary of state Marco Rubio is set to meet today with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in the Philippines, where he’s expected to renew the prospect of the US trying to broker an end to the war in Ukraine.

The meeting between Rubio and Lavrov is slated to occur on the sidelines of a gathering by Southeast Asian foreign ministers, among the most high-profile side meetings the region's top diplomats were having at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations event in Manila.

Rubio told reporters in Manila yesterday that he plans to raise the conflict in Ukraine with Lavrov, saying that the US remained open to playing a role in ending the conflict “if that opportunity presents itself.”

He acknowledged that those efforts have “kind of fallen off a little bit over the last few months” but said the meeting would explore whether there’s an opportunity to renew talks.

“We have to have a relationship with the Russian government, even though we have areas of disagreement,” Rubio said, noting that they are two largest nuclear-armed countries.

Lavrov, speaking to reporters at the ASEAN meeting, said he would ask Rubio about the latest statements by US president Donald Trump predicting that a settlement is getting close.

“I will ask Marco Rubio about it tomorrow,” Lavrov said.

Zelensky discusses weapons and diplomacy in talks with US envoys

Ukrainian president ​Volodymyr Zelensky and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spoke yesterday about the prospects for pursuing more active diplomacy and moving towards an accord to end the more than four-year-old war with Russia.

Both the Ukrainian leader and the White House confirmed the telephone conversation took place.

US-brokered diplomacy in the war has stalled with Washington largely focused on the conflict with Iran.

“I just spoke with President Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff @SEPeaceMissions and Jared Kushner @jaredkushner," Zelensky wrote in a post on X.

“It was a good, important conversation on how to reinvigorate diplomacy and bring peace closer. Peace is needed – peace with dignity, and Ukraine has long been ready for it,” he said, adding that both sides would stay in close contact.

“I am, frankly, asking for faster action and greater support.”

Posting earlier ‌on X, he said securing Patriot interceptor supplies was a “critical priority now, ​as massive Russian attacks continue unabated.”

Zelensky asks US for faster action on Patriot air defence production

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky says he ⁠has discussed licences for Patriot air defence system production with US ambassador to Nato Matthew Whitaker, to protect Ukrainian cities from missile attacks.

"These past months have been extremely difficult...That is exactly what we discussed with Ambassador Whitaker today - production licences, missiles and everything else that is needed," Mr Zelensky said in his address.

"I am, frankly, asking for faster action and greater support."

Earlier, he wrote that securing Patriot interceptor supplies was a "critical priority now, ​as massive Russian attacks continue unabated".

President Donald Trump agreed during a ‌meeting with Mr Zelensky at the Nato ⁠summit in Turkey this month that the United States would grant Ukraine ⁠a licence to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors.

Russia bans night-time port shipping after drone attacks

Russia has introduced a temporary ban on vessel movements in and out of the port of Novorossiysk between midnight and ⁠5am because of Ukrainian drone attacks, three grain industry sources say.

The sources said the order was verbal and that no ⁠official document had been ​sent ⁠to shippers.

Novorossiysk is Russia's biggest ‌port by volume and handles up ‌to one third of Russia's grain exports. The ban follows traffic restrictions introduced earlier this month in ⁠the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait.

Novorossiysk also ships oil, metals and goods in containers.

The sources said the port was functioning as usual outside the restricted ⁠night-time hours, and grain shipments had not ​been ⁠affected.

EU envoys fail to agree on new package of Russian sanctions

EU ambassadors have failed to agree on a ⁠21st package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of ⁠Ukraine, ​an EU ⁠diplomat said.

The envoys will ⁠meet again on ​Thursday, ⁠the diplomat ‌added.

The new package targets Russia's banking ‌sector in an ‌effort to squeeze Moscow's financial system at ⁠what the EU sees as a vulnerable time.

However, Greece wants the EU to soften already agreed restrictions ‌on Russian liquefied ​natural gas (LNG) ‌supplies ⁠and has become the ⁠main obstacle to adopting ‌the ​new package.

Zelensky welcomes US ambassador to Nato back to Kyiv

Recap: Burnham speaks to Zelensky and Trump in first calls after taking office

Andy Burnham has spoken with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and US president Donald Trump as part of his first set of phone calls with world leaders as prime minister.

Burnham promised that Britain's support for Ukraine would remain unchanged under his leadership, just hours after he replaced Sir Keir Starmer in No 10.

Zelensky confirmed the call on his Telegram channel and said the two sides reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine and agreed to speak on bilateral cooperation in the near future, including within the Anti-Ballistic Coalition.

"I was happy to speak with Andy Burnham and congratulate him on taking office as prime minister of the United Kingdom. I truly appreciate that the support for Ukraine and our people will remain steadfast," he said.

Zelensky thanked Burnham for “warm words of respect for the Ukrainian people and for your condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed in Russia's recent attacks”.

Pictured: Aftermath of fire at Wildberries warehouses in Russia

US envoys and Zelensky discuss diplomacy

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have discussed the prospects for pursuing more active diplomacy and moving towards an ⁠accord to end the war with Russia.

Both the Ukrainian leader and the White House confirmed the telephone conversation took place.

US-brokered diplomacy in the war has stalled with Washington largely ⁠focused on the conflict with Iran.

Mr Zelensky wrote that it “⁠was a good, important conversation on how to reinvigorate diplomacy ​and ⁠bring peace closer”.

“Peace ‌is needed – peace with dignity, and Ukraine has long been ready for it."

He said said both sides would stay in ‌close contact.

Zelensky’s new military chief wins widespread approval

Zelensky’s new military chief wins widespread approval after surprise sacking

Putin aides 'tell Ukraine Russian president alone responsible for war amid toxic atmosphere'

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed the situation on the front lines is partially responsible for “creating a new atmosphere around [Vladimir] Putin”.

He wrote on social media: “The situation on the front, together with our long-range sanctions and mid-range strikes, is creating a new atmosphere around Putin.

“A very toxic atmosphere.

“He alone is the reason this war began and hasn't ended.

“Putin alone is responsible for the losses Russians continue to suffer.

“His retinue understands this – they are signalling it to us and to our partners.

“Russian society is beginning to feel it more and more as well.”