Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin envoy to travel to Miami to meet US officials ahead of trilateral talks

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has said it is “impossible” for him to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow, a day after the Kremlin reiterated an invitation for him to hold discussions there.

Zelensky said he is ready for “any format” of a leaders’ summit but not in Moscow or Belarus and said it is “impossible” for him to meet Putin in Russia’s capital.

Trump may be very proud of his “armada” off the coast of Iran but the US president could look good, back a winner, and support his allies by leaving Tehran alone and helping Ukraine win instead, writes The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley.

Trump has been backing the wrong side in Ukraine, and may soon launch a war in Iran that he cannot control.

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People who have no power at home following Russia's air attacks wait in line to receive free hot meals in a residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026

US President Donald Trump said the Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to temporarily pause the targeting of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and other towns as the region suffered from bitterly cold temperatures during the harsh winter. The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that they did halt on attacking Ukraine until Sunday.

In the last week, Russia has targeted energy assets in the souther Ukrainian city of Odesa and in Kharkiv in the northeast. It also struck the Kyiv region on Wednesday killing two people and injuring four.

Russia rejected a 30-day unconditional truce proposed by the US and Ukraine last year but has announced several short-lived unilateral ceasefires.

This is not the first time world leaders have attempted to instil a ceasefire:

Jan. 5, 2023

Putin directed a 36-hour ceasefire starting on January 6 to mark Orthodox Christmas. This was the first time Putin directly ordered his troops to stop firing across Ukraine, despite Russian authorities having organised limited, local truces for evacuating civilians or other humanitarian reasons. However Kyiv indicated that it wouldn’t follow suit and accused Moscow of continuing to attack regardless of the self-declared truce.

March 11, 2025

Ukrainian officials met with the US in Saudi Arabia. Kyiv said it was open to a 30-day ceasefire, subject to the Kremlin agreeing — which Trump pushed for.

March 13, 2025

Putin rejected the proposal, saying that Moscow agreed with it in principle but certain “issues” still needed to be discussed.

March 18, 2025

Putin and Trump held a long phone call and announced an agreement for Moscow and Kyiv to halt strikes against each other's energy infrastructure for 30 days. Russia and Ukraine subsequently repeatedly accused each other of violating the ceasefire until the measure expired.

April 19, 2025

Putin announced a unilateral, 30-hour truce to mark Orthodox Easter, which was celebrated on April 20. Ukraine said it would reciprocate a genuine truce but accused Russia of attacks the next day. Moscow also accused Kyiv of attacks during the supposed ceasefire.

April 28, 2025

The Kremlin declared another unilateral 72 hour ceasefire on May 8-10 to coincide with Russia’s celebrations of Victory Day, marking the end of World War II in Europe and attended by a number of foreign dignitaries. Both sides accused each other of multiple attacks, with Kyiv calling the gesture “a farce.”

A United Nations atomic watchdog has warned that Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is in danger of a nuclear accident, after it has suffered significant damage by Russia’s relentless attacks in the last few weeks.

The watchdog’s board met on Friday for a special session to discuss the risks to Ukraine’s safety, at the request of the Netherlands. This meeting was supported by 11 other countries including: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania and the United Kingdom.

Although the board won’t have a mandatory outcome, its aim is to increase diplomatic pressure on Russia.

Netherlands Ambassador Peter Potman told the board that Russia’s “ongoing and daily attacks” against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have put Ukraine’s nuclear safety at risk.

"Not only does this leave millions of Ukrainians in the cold and dark during a very harsh winter, but it is also negatively impacting nuclear safety in Ukraine, bringing the prospect of a nuclear accident to the very precipice of becoming a reality,” he said.

Ukraine has four nuclear power plants with three of them controlled by the capital Kyiv. The fourth and biggest is the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russian forces, since the early days of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Ukraine is also home to the former Chernobyl plant, the disastrous site of the world’s worst nuclear accident in 1986.

Ukraine awaited signs Friday that Russia is abiding by a commitment that U.S. President Donald Trump said it made to temporarily halt attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, as Kyiv and other regions are gripped by the bitterest winter weather for years.

Trump said late Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to his request not to target the Ukrainian capital and other towns for one week, as the region experiences frigid temperatures that have brought widespread hardship to civilians.

Trump didn't say when the call with Putin took place or when the moratorium would go into effect, and the White House didn't immediately respond to a query seeking clarity about the scope and timing of any limited pause

President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced that Ukraine will technically be ready to join the European Union in 2027.

A “fast track” accession to the bloc is part of the country’s security guarantees as US-brokered trilateral agreements continue.

“Technically, we will be ready in 2027,” the Ukrainian leader told reporters on Friday, adding that by the end of 2026 the country will have implemented the main steps required for membership.

“I would like Ukraine to receive a clear timeline.” Zelensky said the government was committed to the necessary reforms to join the EU.

Concerns are mounting among US and European officials over hundreds of millions of dollars in American energy assistance for Ukraine that remain unreleased, even as a brutal winter pushes the nation's war-battered power grid to its breaking point.

The aid was originally intended to help Ukraine import liquefied natural gas and rebuild infrastructure damaged by Russian strikes, say sources including a US and a Ukrainian official.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) had notified Congress during the Biden administration of its intention to disburse some funds.

The number of soldiers killed, injured or missing on both sides of Russia's war on Ukraine could hit two million by the spring, a report has warned - with Russia suffering the largest number of troop deaths recorded for any major power in any conflict since the Second World War.

The study by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies revealed the slow, deadly grind of the conflict, and comes before the fourth anniversary of the Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.

The report said Russia suffered 1.2 million casualties, including up to 325,000 troop deaths, between February 2022 and December 2025. "No major power has suffered anywhere near these numbers of casualties or fatalities in any war since World War II,” the authors said.