Ukraine updates: US pushing Kyiv to withdraw from Donetsk

We've moved to covering the latest developments on the war in Ukraine here.

US President Donald Trump is "extremely frustrated" with both Russia and Ukraine, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

The US has sought to pressure Ukraine to secure a quick peace deal that was widely regarded as highly favorable to Russia, but so far Kyiv has pushed back, working on a revised proposal with European counterparts that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered to the US today.

Prior to that, Trump had spoken on the phone with the leaders of France, Germany and the UK to discuss the prospects of further talks in Europe this weekend. Trump would send a representative to Europe this weekend if there is a real chance of signing a peace agreement, the White House said on Thursday.

"He wants action for this war to come to an end, and the administration has spent more than 30 hours, this just in the past couple of weeks, meeting with the Russians and the Ukrainians and the Europeans. We'll see about the meetings this weekend, and stay tuned," Leavitt said.

Leavitt was candid with reporters about the president's souring mood.

"The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war, and he is sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting," she said.

Ukraine says it's ready to hold the elections demanded by US President Donald Trump on condition that international partners ensure the safety of candidates and voters. But how realistic is this in a country at war?

Read more about what conditions officials in Ukraine say would be needed to hold free, fair and safe elections. 

European Union countries lifted a key hurdle to using Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine by agreeing on a procedure to keep the funds frozen as long as needed without having to vote to renew every six months. Denmark, which holds the bloc's rotating presidency, made the announcement.

The move, which would pave the way for Ukraine to use the money, is based on Article 122 of the EU Treaty, which allows for exceptional measures in cases of emergencies facing the bloc. The last time it was used was during COVID-19 to enable the production of vaccines.

The European Commission is hoping to use some €200 billion ($232 billion) of Russian central bank assets, which were frozen in the EU following Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. EU members hope these funds can provide much-needed funding beyond the end of this year to Ukraine.

But the loan plan faces strong resistance from Belgium, where the bulk of frozen assets are held. Belgium-based Euroclear, the entity that is holding most of the funds, fears legal or financial retribution from Moscow if it doesn't have money for depositors should sanctions be lifted.

The European Commission has assured Euroclear that under the scheme, it is certain that it could repay Russia the money if necessary. Under the plan, Euroclear would lend the money to the EU, which in turn would lend it to Ukraine.

Ukraine would pay back the money if Russia compensated it for the destruction it has caused.

Not everyone in the EU was cheering: Hungary's EU mission criticized the move, calling it an "unprecedented decision to extend sanctions on an incorrect legal basis in order to circumvent unanimous decision-making."

The proposal's next step is to receive approval from EU finance ministers at a meeting set for Friday. 

US President Donald Trump and European leaders want the "same thing" for Ukraine, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday. He said Western nations wanted a "just and lasting" ceasefire.

Starmer, however, added that a "number of issues still to be resolved."

Starmer chaired phone talks among the so-called Coalition of the Willing on Thursday.

"What President Trump wants, what Ukraine wants, what Europeans want is the same thing, which is a just and lasting peace in Ukraine after the nearly four-year aggression from Putin and Russia," Starmer said.  "So we're working towards that aim."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed security guarantees for Ukraine in a video call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Zelenskyy said the US had been presented with an updated version of a peace plan. Details of all its amendments were not disclosed.

But the Ukrainian leader did say the 20-point plan included security guarantees as well as an agreement for the rebuilding of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said the main point of contention in the talks was the status of the eastern Donetsk region and future control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

Zelenskyy said the US wants Ukraine, but not Russia, to withdraw troops from parts of the Donetsk region, in order to install a demilitarized buffer between the two armies.

"They see Ukrainian forces leaving the territory of Donetsk region, and the supposed compromise is that Russian forces do not enter this territory ... which they already call a 'free economic zone,'" Zelenskyy told reporters.

The Ukrainian president said any potential compromise on Ukrainian territory should be decided by a popular vote.

"I believe that the people of Ukraine will answer this question. Whether through elections or a referendum, there must be a position from the people of Ukraine," he said.

Moscow has demanded that the UK disclose the activities of a British soldier killed in Ukraine.

Britain's Ministry of Defense confirmed on Tuesday that Lance Corporal George Hooley had died in Ukraine while observing Ukrainian forces test a new defensive capability. Hooely is said to have been away from the frontline when the incident occurred. 

"London must honestly admit what their very own Hooley was doing there. It seems that perhaps someone there in Britain began to carefully prepare public opinion in their country for military losses in Ukraine that would be impossible to simply hide and continue to conceal," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

She accused British forces of helping Ukraine "carry out terrorist attacks and extremist tasks," but did not provide any evidence to back up the claim. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

UK Defense Secretary John Healey said he was "devastated" by the soldier's death.

"He was injured in a tragic accident whilst observing Ukrainian forces test a new defensive capability away from the front lines," said the UK's Ministry of Defense statement on the matter.

The UK has said it has a "small number" of military personnel in Ukraine, mostly providing security for British diplomats but also supporting Ukraine's army.

EU ministers meet in Lviv to back Ukraine's membership bid and explore ways to bypass Hungary's veto, which has stalled progress on Ukraine's path to join the European Union.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has urged alliance members to increase their defense efforts to prevent a war "on the scale our...grandparents and great-grandparents endured."

Speaking in Berlin, Rutte said it did not appear that enough NATO members were taking the threat seriously enough.

"We are Russia's next target. I fear that too many are quietly complacent. Too many don't feel the urgency. And too many believe that time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now," Rutte said.

"Conflict is at our door. Russia has brought war back to Europe. And we must be prepared," he added.

Rutte said he believed Moscow could be ready to launch a war in Europe in the next five years.

Poland has detained a Russian archaeologist wanted by Ukraine for allegedly plundering cultural treasures in Crimea.

Authorities say the man, identified as Alexander B., was arrested in Warsaw last week and will remain in custody for 40 days while Poland awaits an extradition request from Ukraine.

"[The Ukrainians] have suspicions about this person regarding... theft of cultural property," Polish Special Services Minister Tomasz Siemoniak told private broadcaster TOK FM.

"The court has ordered his arrest so that this case can be resolved calmly," Siemoniak added.

Ukraine accuses the man of carrying out unauthorized excavations in Crimea, causing damage worth millions of dollars. Russia has been illegally occupying the Ukrainian peninsula since 2014.

Moscow dismissed the allegations as politically motivated.

"We hope that Poland understands the absurdity of accusing a respected Russian archaeologist of 'destroying cultural heritage' on Russian territory and recognizes that such politicized actions cannot succeed and will not go unpunished," Russia's Foreign Ministry said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Ukraine sent its latest proposals to end the war with Russia to US President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

"It mainly concerns the question of what territorial concessions Ukraine is prepared to make," Merz said. 

He cautioned, however, that ultimately "the Ukrainian president and the Ukrainian people have to answer the question."

Details of the Ukrainian counterproposal are not yet known. 

The initial plan put forward by the Trump administration was sharply criticized by many as a Russian "wish list." 

It includes a suggestion that Kyiv give up regions in eastern Ukraine that Russia has not seized.

But the plan has been altered after a recent diplomatic flurry between the US, Ukraine, Russia, and Europe. 

Merz said that further talks with the US were planned this weekend and an international meeting on Ukraine "could take place at the beginning of next week."

"Whether the American government participates or not very much depends on the joint drafts of papers which are currently being worked on," he said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Ukraine's European allies told US President Donald Trump that only Kyiv can decide about changes to its territory.

A US-backed proposal to end the war would require Kyiv to give up large swathes of territory in eastern Ukraine, much of which is occupied by Russian forces.

The German leader and his British and French counterparts, Keir Starmer, and Emmanuel Macron held a joint phone call with Trump on Wednesday to discuss potential revisions to Washington's plan.

Trump said Wednesday that they discussed the plan in "pretty strong terms," adding that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "has to be realistic" about the plan which originally suggested Ukrainian cede some territory to Russia.

On Thursday Merz vowed to increase pressure on Moscow to end the war it started. 

"If we now proceed with this process as we envisage, there will be talks with the American government over the weekend," said Merz at a press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

When Mariupol fell in 2022, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers were captured. Among them was Rasti, a fighter with the Azov Brigade, who endured 30 months of torture and isolation in Russian captivity. Despite severe physical and psychological scars, he returned to the frontline, now leading an elite reconnaissance unit formed by former POWs. Wath their story here: 

Russia wants a set of agreements to end the war in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday, as he repeated Moscow's stance that the "root causes" of the conflict be resolved before any peace deal can be agreed.

"We insist on a set of agreements for lasting, sustainable peace with security guarantees for all countries involved," Lavrov said.

President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin this month to discuss a US-backed plan to end the war.

"Our talks with the US president and his team are focused precisely on finding a long-term solution to eliminate the root causes of this crisis," Lavrov said.

He added that Moscow had handed over Russia's proposals on collective security guarantees to Washington and believed Trump was sincere in his efforts to broker a deal.

Lavrov’s comments came as Trump said he had spoken by phone with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday.

They discussed proposals to end the war in Ukraine in "pretty strong terms," he said, adding that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "has to be realistic" about his country's position on a peace plan.

Russian forces say they shot down 287 Ukrainian drones overnight, one of the highest single-night totals since the war began.

The defence ministry said at least 40 of those drones were shot down over the Moscow region, which includes the capital.

All four Moscow airports were briefly closed, and flights were diverted to St. Petersburg.

The extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

In Ukraine, officials Poltava region say Russian strikes hit energy facilities, sparking fires.