Ukraine war: Zelenskyy warns partners not to let Putin ‘deceive’ them on ceasefire
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Ukraine’s partners to make sure Russia doesn’t “deceive” them over a ceasefire.
After breakthrough talks between Ukrainian and US officials in Saudi Arabia, Kyiv said it was ready to accept a proposed 30-day ceasefire with Russia.
But his nightly address on Wednesday evening, a day after the Jeddah summit, President Zelenskyy said, “we must move toward peace” – but issued a warning to allies.
“The key factor is our partners’ ability to ensure Russia’s readiness not to deceive but to genuinely end the war,” the Ukrainian leader said. “Because right now, Russian strikes have not stopped.”
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The focus has now switched to Vladimir Putin’s response to the proposed ceasefire. President Trump said the US had received “some positive messages” adding: “We have people going to Russia right now”.
However, he warned Moscow: “In a financial sense, yeah we could do things very bad for Russia, would be devastating for Russia.”
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Will Russia go for ceasefire deal?
European defence ministers, meeting in Paris, said now was the time for Moscow to show it was serious about ending the war.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey was among those attending, and had a direct message for Russia’s president: “I say to president Putin, over to you, you want to talk, prove it.”
Mr Healey called on Russia to accept the ceasefire and end the war, adding, “the pressure is now on Putin”.
For his part, President Putin has been playing to his domestic audience with a visit to Kursk, where Russian troops finally seem to be gaining the upper hand against Ukrainian forces who seized territory in the Russian region last year.
The Russian line is approaching Sumy from Kursk Oblast
Dressed in camouflage, the Russian president called for his forces to defeat the enemy and completely liberate Kursk, in remarks reported by the Interfax news agency.
He also said enemy troops captured in the region will be treated as terrorists, as Russia’s chief of the general staff told Mr Putin that Ukrainian forces in the region are surrounded.
Elon Musk says he has created a new political party – the America Party –
after asking his followers if he should do so in an online poll.
It follows his public falling out with Republican President Donald Trump.
On Friday, the billionaire had asked his followers on X whether a new US political party should be created.
On Saturday evening he wrote on the same platform: “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.
“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
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Trump threatens to ‘put DOGE’ on Musk
The world’s richest man made the announcement just one day after President Trump signed a tax-cut and spending bill into law on Friday, which Musk had fiercely opposed.
Musk had previously said we would form and fund a new political party to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill.
From bromance to bust-up
The Tesla boss backed Trump’s election campaign with more than a quarter of a billion dollars, later rewarded with a high profile role running the newly created department of government efficiency (DOGE).
But observers of the two men, both with huge wealth and reputations, wondered how long the bromance would last.
Donald Trump gave Musk a warm send-off in the Oval Office in May. Pic: Reuters
In May Musk left the role, still on good terms with Trump but criticising key parts of his legislative agenda.
After that, the attacks ramped up, with Musk slamming the sweeping tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination” and Trump hitting back in a barbed tit-for-tat.
Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billion-dollar federal subsidies that flow to Musk’s companies, and said he would even consider deporting him.
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