Russia accused Ukraine of targeting the Arctic Metagaz with “uncrewed sea drones” launched from the Libyan coast.

Ukraine’s SBU state security service has not commented on the allegation and the Libyan port authority said the cause of the fire was unclear.

The Libyans said the tanker was carrying about 62,000 tonnes of LNG before the blasts and that it sank about 130 nautical miles (240km) north of the Libyan port of Sirte.

Russia’s transport ministry said 30 Russians were aboard the Arctic Metagaz. Maltese Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said they were all found “safe and sound in a lifeboat” during a rescue operation by Malta’s armed forces.

Unverified night-time footage has emerged purportedly showing the ship ablaze after the attack, which occurred on Tuesday.

Serhii Sternenko, a popular blogger and adviser to Ukraine’s defence minister, posted pictures on Wednesday morning of what he said was the tanker in the Mediterranean, which had a “serious hole in the engine room compartment and is beyond repair”.

He did not elaborate where the pictures came from and they have not been independently verified.

“This is a terrorist attack,” Russia’s Vladimir Putin told state TV. “This isn’t the first time we’ve encountered something like this.”

Russia’s transport ministry called it “an act of international terrorism and maritime piracy”, singling out the European Union for complicity.

Moscow said the Arctic Metagaz – which had been en route from Russia’s northern port of Murmansk – was carrying cargo cleared in accordance with international rules.

The tanker was apparently heading for Port Said in Egypt and is considered part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet. It has been widely sanctioned by Western countries.

The ministry provided no evidence to back up its claim that the tanker was attacked by Ukrainian sea drones, though there were earlier unconfirmed reports of attacks from the Libyan coast.

The SBU told media that it was not commenting on “the situation with the tanker in the Mediterranean”, although a Ukrainian government-linked social media account, United24, teased that the drones were “Definitely. Maybe” not part of the Ukrainian fleet.

Marine tracking data indicated that the day before the fire, the tanker had last reported that it was sailing off the south-east coast of Malta.

It had sailed some considerable distance by the time the fire was reported and it is assumed the crew deactivated its automatic identification system.

Russia has deployed a surging number of vessels to transport oil and gas in an attempt to avoid international sanctions, which are aimed at slashing revenues that have been critical for funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Its shadow fleet is largely made up of aged tankers, many with obscure ownership or insurance.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022, Kyiv has carried out a number of attacks on such vessels using naval drones.

However, nearly all of such strikes have been in the Black Sea, which Russia and Ukraine both border.

Medvedev, who has engaged in a war of words on social media with United States President Donald Trump, made his latest broadside after the Foreign Ministry’s announcement on Monday.

“The Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement on the withdrawal of the moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles is the result of NATO countries’ anti-Russian policy,” Medvedev posted in English on the X social media platform.

“This is a new reality all our opponents will have to reckon with. Expect further steps,” he said.

Medvedev, who serves as the deputy head of Russia’s powerful Security Council and has made several hawkish comments on Russia’s nuclear capabilities in recent years, did not elaborate on what “further steps” may entail.

Last week, Trump said that he had ordered two US nuclear submarines to be repositioned to “the appropriate regions” in response to Medvedev’s remarks about the risk of war between Washington and Moscow.

In its statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the developing situation in Europe and the Asia Pacific prompted its reassessment on the deployment of short- and medium-range missiles.

“Since the situation is developing towards the actual deployment of US-made land-based medium- and short-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the Russian Foreign Ministry notes that the conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of similar weapons have disappeared,” the ministry said.

Russian  President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last year that Moscow may have to respond to what they described as provocations by the US and NATO by lifting restrictions on missile deployment.

Lavrov told Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti in December that Moscow’s unilateral moratorium on the deployment of such missiles was “practically no longer viable and will have to be abandoned”.

“The United States arrogantly ignored warnings from Russia and China and, in practice, moved on to deploying weapons of this class in various regions of the world,” Lavrov told the news agency.

The  US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in 2019, under the first Trump administration, citing Russian non-compliance, but Moscow had said that it would not deploy such weapons provided that Washington did not do so.

The INF treaty, signed in 1987 by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan, had eliminated an entire class of weapons: ground-launched nuclear missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500km (311 to 3,418 miles).

In its first public reaction to Trump’s comments on the repositioning of US submarines, the Kremlin on Monday played down the remarks and said it was not looking to get into a public spat with the US president.

“In this case, it is obvious that American submarines are already on combat duty. This is an ongoing process, that’s the first thing,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“But in general, of course, we would not want to get involved in such a controversy and would not want to comment on it in any way,” he said.

“Of course, we believe that everyone should be very, very careful with nuclear rhetoric,” he added.

The episode comes at a delicate moment, with Trump threatening to impose new sanctions on Russia and buyers of its oil, including India and China, unless President Vladimir Putin agrees by Friday to a ceasefire in Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

Putin said last week that peace talks had made some positive progress but that Russia had the momentum in its war against Ukraine, signalling no shift in his position despite the looming deadline.

Here’s where things stand on Friday 18 July 2025:

Fighting

• The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed that its forces have captured three Ukrainian settlements: Kamianske in the southeastern Zaporizhia region, Dehtiarne in the northeastern Kharkiv region, and Popiv Yar in the Donetsk region.
• Russia’s Defence Ministry said that it shot down 73 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 10 in the Moscow region. No casualties have been reported. Most were downed in areas near the Ukraine border, including 31 over Russia’s Bryansk region and 10 over the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula.
• Russian air defences destroyed a Ukrainian drone headed for Moscow, the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said.
• Russia and Ukraine have exchanged more bodies of their war dead, a Kremlin aide said, part of an agreement struck at the second round of peace talks in Istanbul in June. A total of 1,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers were turned over in exchange for 19 bodies of Russian soldiers.

Military aid

• Preparations are under way to quickly transfer additional Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine, NATO’s top military commander, Alexus Grynkewich, said.
• Czech-coordinated shipments of artillery ammunition for Ukraine are rising this year, according to Ales Vytecka, director of the Czech Defence Ministry’s AMOS international cooperation agency. So far this year, shipments have totalled 850,000 shells, including 320,000 NATO 155mm calibre projectiles.
• Ukraine will let foreign arms companies test out their latest weapons on the front line of its war against Russia, Kyiv’s state-backed arms investment and procurement group Brave1 said.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the US publication The New York Post that he and United States President Donald Trump are considering a deal that involves Washington buying battlefield-tested Ukrainian drones in exchange for Kyiv purchasing weapons from the US.
• Zelenskyy told the country’s parliament that he expects his new government to increase the amount of domestically-produced weapons on Ukraine’s battlefield from 40 percent to 50 percent within the next six months.
• The US has informed Switzerland of delays to the delivery of Patriot air defence systems, the Swiss Defence Ministry said, adding that Washington wants to prioritise delivery of the systems to Ukraine.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said clarity is needed on how the US could replace any weapons that Europe plans to send to Ukraine. He issued the statement during a visit to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Politics and diplomacy

• President Trump’s decision to ramp up arms shipments to Ukraine is a signal to Kyiv to abandon peace efforts, Russia Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
• Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia had no plans to attack NATO or Europe but floated the idea of preemptive strikes if it believed the West was escalating what he cast as its full-scale war against Russia.
• Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said his country will stop blocking the approval of the 18th package of European Union sanctions against Russia, which could be approved on Friday.
• Ukraine’s parliament appointed Yulia Svyrydenko, 39, as the country’s first new prime minister in five years, part of a major cabinet overhaul aimed at revitalising wartime management of the country as prospects for peace with Russia grow dim. Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has been named defence minister.
• Ukraine’s parliament also voted to keep Andrii Sybiha as foreign minister, while appointing Olha Stefanishyna, a deputy prime minister responsible for Euro-Atlantic integration, as the country’s new ambassador to the US.
• Russian lawmakers have advanced a bill that would outlaw opening or searching for content online judged to be “extremist” in nature, such as songs glorifying Ukraine and material by the feminist rock band, Pussy Riot.

EU hits Russian oil, shadow fleet with new sanctions over Ukraine war

European Union says move amounts to one of the strongest sanctions packages against Russia to date linked to the war.

The European Union has approved a new raft of stiff sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, including a lower oil price cap, a ban on transactions with Nord Stream gas pipelines, and the targeting of more shadow fleet ships.

“The message is clear: Europe will not back down in its support for Ukraine. The EU will keep raising the pressure until Russia ends its war,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a statement on Friday.

Kallas said the EU move amounts to “one of its strongest sanctions packages against Russia to date” linked to the war, which is now in its fourth year.

Ukraine’s newly appointed Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko welcomed the EU’s agreement on an 18th sanctions package against Russia, saying it “strengthens the pressure where it counts”. Svyrydenko added on X that there was more to be done in terms of measures to help bring peace closer.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that he spoke with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and added he also welcomed the adoption of the sanctions. “The Russian attacks must stop immediately,” he wrote in a post on social media platform X. “France is and remains at Ukraine’s side.”

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the bloc is “keeping up the pressure on Russia” following the announcement. “It’s good that we in the EU have now agreed on the 18th sanctions package against Russia,” Merz wrote on X.

“It targets banks, energy and the military industry. This weakens Russia’s ability to continue financing the war against Ukraine,” he added.

Kremlin  spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia has built up an immunity to Western sanctions and adapted to them. Peskov also called the sanctions illegal, saying every new restriction creates negative consequences for those countries that back them.

The move comes as European countries start to buy United States weapons for Ukraine to help the country better defend itself.

US President Donald Trump announced the deal to supply more weapons to Ukraine and threatened earlier this week to impose steep tariffs on Russia unless a peace deal is reached within 50 days.

The  European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, had proposed to lower the oil price cap from $60 to $45, which is lower than the market price, to target Russia’s vast energy revenues.

The EU had hoped to get major international powers in the Group of Seven countries involved in the price cap to broaden the effect, but conflict in the Middle East pushed up oil prices, and the US administration could not be brought on board.

In 2023, Ukraine’s Western allies limited sales of Russian oil to $60 per barrel, but the price cap was largely symbolic as most of Moscow’s crude – its main moneymaker – cost less than that. Still, the cap was there in case oil prices rose.

Oil is Russia’s main source of income

The linchpin of Russia’s economy is oil income, allowing President Vladimir Putin to pour money into the armed forces without worsening inflation for people, and avoiding a currency collapse.

The EU has also targeted the Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany to prevent Putin from generating any revenue from them in future, notably by discouraging would-be investors. Russian energy giant Rosneft’s refinery in India was hit, as well.

The pipelines were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany but are not in operation. They were targeted by sabotage in 2022, but the source of the underwater explosions has remained a major international mystery.

Additionally, the new EU sanctions are targeting Russia’s banking sector to limit the Kremlin’s ability to raise funds or carry out financial transactions. Two Chinese banks were added to the list.

The EU has slapped several rounds of sanctions on Russia since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

But each round of sanctions is getting harder to agree on, as measures targeting Russia bite the economies of the 27 member nations. Slovakia held up the latest package over concerns about proposals to stop Russian gas supplies, which it relies on.

Ukraine appoints new prime minister in major government reshuffle

Incoming Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko says she will focus on weapons production and the economy in her new role.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed a new prime minister and other key leaders in the largest government reshuffle since Russia invaded three years ago.

Yulia Svyrydenko, 39, took over as prime minister from Denys Shmyhal, who had held the post since 2020, following her confirmation on Thursday by Ukraine’s parliament.

Svyrydenko  previously served as first deputy prime minister and minister of economic development and trade, roles that brought her in close contact with the administration of United States President Donald Trump. She was credited with negotiating a critical mineral deal between Washington and Kyiv earlier this year that helped thaw an initially frosty relationship between Trump and Zelenskyy.

Svyrydenko said on social media that she intends to focus on expanding Ukraine’s domestic weapons production and the strength of its armed forces, and supporting the economy.

“Our Government sets its course toward a Ukraine that stands firm on its own foundations — military, economic, and social,” she said. “My key goal is real, positive results that every Ukrainian will feel in daily life. War leaves no room for delay. We must act swiftly and decisively,” she said.

Outgoing Prime Minister Shmyhal, 49, will step in as defence minister, taking over a ministry that has struggled with a series of corruption scandals.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, 50, will stay in place, but Zelenskyy has named outgoing Justice Minister Olga Stefanishyna, 39, as his next ambassador to the US, pending US approval. Stefanishyna has experience working with the European Union and NATO and also played a role in negotiating the recent mineral deal with the Trump administration.

Stefanishyna will replace outgoing envoy Oksana Markarova, who earned the ire of Trump due to her positive working relationship with the administration of former US President Joe Biden.

Reports last week indicated that Zelenskyy was planning to choose Defence Minister Rustem Umerov as his next US envoy, but he was allegedly not approved by Washington, according to opposition MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

Other reshuffles will see deputies Oleksiy Sobolev and Taras Kachka take over as the minister of economy, environment and agriculture and deputy prime minister for European integration.

Despite the shake-up in positions, critics say the new faces in Zelenskyy’s cabinet remain largely the same. They have also accused the Ukrainian leader of consolidating power by stacking key government posts with his “loyalists”.

Russia, Ukraine exchange more bodies of war dead, Kremlin says

About 1,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers have been exchanged for the bodies of 19 Russian soldiers.

Russia  and Ukraine have exchanged more bodies of their war dead, according to a Kremlin aide, as part of an agreement reached during a second round of peace talks in Turkiye last month.

“Following the agreements reached in Istanbul, another 1,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers were handed over to Ukraine today,” Vladimir Medinsky, head of Russia’s delegation at the peace talks, said on Telegram on Thursday, adding that Ukraine handed over 19 slain Russian soldiers.

Exchanges of captured soldiers and the repatriation of remains have taken place regularly since the brief renewal of peace talks in Istanbul in May in what amounts to some of the only successful diplomacy between the two sides in their more than three-year war.

Medinsky posted photos on Thursday showing people in white medical suits lifting white body bags from the back of refrigerated trucks.

Russia plans to return the bodies of 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers, and this exchange marked the beginning of that process, Russia’s RIA state news agency reported.

During their direct meeting in Istanbul on June 2, Russia and Ukraine pledged to swap at least 1,000 soldiers on each side.

Negotiators from both sides also agreed to swap all severely wounded soldiers as well as all captured fighters under the age of 25.

But future talks to discuss a path to end the war have stalled as the gulf between Moscow and Kyiv has remained unchanged despite repeated pressure from United States President Donald Trump that Russia agree to a ceasefire.

At the talks, Russia outlined a list of hardline demands, including for Ukraine to cede more territory and to reject all forms of Western military support.

Kyiv dismissed them as unacceptable ultimatums and has questioned the point of further negotiations if Moscow is not willing to make concessions.

In  a further diplomatic development, another round of reunification of minors with their families in Russia and Ukraine took place on Thursday with the mediation of Qatar at its Moscow embassy. Eleven children will reunite with their families in Ukraine and three others with their families in Russia. So far, more than 100 children have reunited with their families since Qatar began facilitating the process.

Ukraine said Russia took 20,000 children during the war and has given Moscow a list of hundreds who, they said, were taken from Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions since 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin faces war crime charges before the International Criminal Court in The Hague for the alleged “unlawful deportation and transfer of children”.

Before the latest prisoner exchange, a Russian air strike on a shopping centre and market in Dobropillia in eastern Ukraine killed at least two people, wounded 22 and caused widespread damage on Wednesday, Governor Vadym Filashkin said. Filashkin said the building was struck by a 500kg (1,100lb) bomb.

In its latest overnight attacks, Russia launched 400 Shahed and decoy drones as well as one ballistic missile, the Ukrainian air force said. The strikes targeted the northeastern city of Kharkiv, the central city of Kryvyi Rih, Vinnytsia in the west and Odesa in the south.

The Russian Ministry of Defence announced that its forces had captured the settlements of Popiv Yar in the eastern region of Donetsk, Degtiarne in Kharkiv in the northeast and Kamianske in Zaporizhia in the south.

In the meantime, Ukraine’s economy minister, and key negotiator in the US mineral deal, Yuliia Svyrydenko, was appointed as the country’s new prime minister Thursday. She is Ukraine’s first new head of government since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Here’s where things stand on Tuesday 1 July 2025:

• US President Donald Trump says Israel has agreed to “the necessary conditions to finalise” a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, and urges Hamas to accept the proposal.
• Israeli forces have killed 109 Palestinians across Gaza, including 28 who were shot while waiting for food parcels at the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites.
• Officials at al-Shifa, the largest medical centre in northern Gaza, say hundreds of patients are “facing death” as the hospital runs out of fuel amid Israel’s blockade.
• Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 56,647 people and wounded 134,105, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.

GHF’s operations in Gaza are part of a ‘dark mission’ to expel Palestinians

We have more from Antony Loewenstein, a journalist and author of The Palestine Laboratory.

He said Israel and the US’s push to take over aid distribution from the UN in Gaza, via the GHF, is aimed at pushing out Palestinians from the coastal enclave.

He said Israel loathes the UN’s presence in occupied Palestinian territory because it sees the world body as “perpetuating the Palestinian issue”.

“It’s nonsense. The issue is that there is an occupation that has been going on for decades. That’s what’s perpetuating the situation, not the UN,” Loewenstein said.

He went on to note that a recent study published in the Nature magazine has found that an estimated 84,000 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israel’s war.

“These are staggering numbers of people,” he said.

“And in the last five weeks, since this aid operation has begun, there’s been well over 600 killed, and there’s no indication right now that that’s stopping. And it’s worth saying that the goal is also pretty clear. Israel now controls the whole of the Gaza Strip militarily, and Palestinian civilians are in pretty much 20-21 percent of it, meaning that the vast majority of Gaza has no Palestinians or very, very few,” he continued.

“And the fear that I have … is that the so called long term goal here is to, for those Palestinians who stay, who refuse to leave – assuming they’re given any option to do anything else – their life will be essentially misery and intense siege forever, at least for the foreseeable future. And this aid operation is part of that very, very dark mission.”

Law firms call on UK parliament to halt F-35 parts export to Israel

Two law firms challenging British exports of F-35 parts to Israel have described a recent London court ruling on their case as “disappointing”.

Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and Al-Haq say they are considering appealing the decision.

They also said it is now up to the UK parliament to act, after the high court said “it is Parliament’s role, not the court’s” to scrutinise if the “government decision to continue to arm Israel through the F-35 carve-out is consistent with its international law obligations”.

“The court’s decision, which continues to allow the UK to arm Israel, through the F-35 carve-out, is disappointing; however, our teams are looking into whether to appeal the judgment,” GLAN and Al-Haq said in a statement.

“Yesterday’s decision does not affect the UK government’s obligation under international law to prevent genocide and atrocity crimes,” they added.

If you’re just joining us

Here’s what happened overnight:

• Neither Israel nor Hamas has commented on Trump’s announcement of a 60-day truce in Gaza.
• Israeli forces have killed at least six people in Khan Younis and wounded many more in attacks on Gaza City and Deir el-Balah.
• The US has accused UN expert Francesca Albanese of waging “warfare against” its economy after she released a report detailing the companies involved in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.
• More than 100 staff at the BBC have accused the broadcaster of “censorship” and “anti-Palestine racism” when it comes to its coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
• Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and 22 other NGOs have urged Israel to release 185 Palestinian healthcare workers who remain arbitrarily detained.
• The World Food Programme says “the window to push back starvation in Gaza is closing fast” and is renewing its calls for a ceasefire to provide aid to hungry Palestinians.

Why is Israel ramping up attacks on the West Bank?

As the world remains distracted by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 1,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Residents, experts, and rights groups say the violence is aimed at displacing Palestinians and annexing their land. In 2024 alone, Israel confiscated more Palestinian land in the West Bank than in the previous 20 years combined, according to Peace Now, an Israeli nonprofit tracking land theft in Palestine.

Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has led the charge after assuming control of the newly established “Settlements Administration” in February 2023.

The position allows Smotrich to advance Israel’s de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank by working to extend Israeli civil law over the area, in direct contravention of international law.

Read more here.

Amnesty, HRW, MSF and other NGOs urge Israel to release Palestinian health workers

The group of 25 rights organisations are demanding an end to Israel’s arbitrary detention of healthcare workers in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

“At least 185 healthcare workers from Gaza and the West Bank were estimated to be in Israeli detention as of February 2025,” the group said in a statement. “The conditions of many of those still detained remain unknown. Many of those released have reported severe abuse, while some have died in custody.”

The detentions are part of a wider assault on Gaza’s health system, the NGOs said.

“Since October 2023, there have been around 700 attacks on health, including aerial bombardments of hospitals, health clinics and ambulances. Over 1,500 health workers and 460 aid workers have been killed.”

Photos: Babies treated for suspected meningitis in Khan Younis

Detained Gaza doctor ‘suffering from critical health conditions’, family says

The family of Hussam Abu Safia, who has been detained by Israel since December, says the doctor has lost 30kg (66 pounds) and is “suffering from critical health conditions”.

His son, Elias, told the Palestinian Information Center that the doctor is enduring “harsh and catastrophic” conditions in the Israeli jail and has been deprived of medication and is being subjected to inhumane treatment.

Abu Safia was awarded the 2025 Nizar Banat Award for human rights defenders by the Palestinian group Lawyers for Justice on Monday.

More than 100 staff accuse BBC of ‘anti-Palestinian racism’

The 107 employees, along with 300 media industry figures, have written to BBC leadership, accusing the broadcaster of “censorship” when it comes to Israel and “performing PR for the Israeli government and military”.

Their letter, published in Deadline, cited in particular the BBC’s recent decision not to air the Gaza: Medics under Fire documentary, saying the move was “just one in a long line of agenda driven decisions”.

“Much of the BBC’s coverage in this area is defined by anti-Palestinian racism,” the employees said.

They also said the BBC has failed to offer any significant analysis of the UK government’s involvement in the war on Palestinians, including weapons sales or their legal implications.

“Since October 2023 it has become increasingly clear to our audiences that the BBC’s reporting on Israel/ Palestine falls short of our own editorial standards. There is a gulf between the BBC’s coverage of what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank and what our audiences can see is happening via multiple credible sources,” they said.

“The BBC’s editorial decisions seem increasingly out of step with reality. We have been forced to conclude that decisions are made to fit a political agenda rather than serve the needs of audiences,” they added.

All the BBC staff who signed the letter did so anonymously, while the industry figures supporting their call included actors Khalid Abdalla and Miriam Margolyes.

Countries at war seeing US, Israeli actions in Gaza ‘as a model to follow’

We’ve been speaking to Antony Loewenstein, a journalist and the author of The Palestine Laboratory, a book on Israel’s arms and surveillance industry.

He told Al Jazeera that he is worried that other countries will see the US and Israel’s militarised aid operations, via the GHF, as a model.

“I’ve written a lot about the issue of Palestine being a model for the surveillance and weapons industry, and it’s now exported globally. What I am already hearing is that what Israel and America is doing in Gaza is looked at by other countries as a model,” Loweinstein said.

“You and I might see this as a disaster – civilians are being murdered at huge rates – but that’s not an impediment to other countries doing the same thing in their own conflicts.

“Why? Because there’s no accountability. There’s been hundreds of Palestinians killed in the last month, but no Israeli soldiers are being held to account, no trial is happening in Israel, and there frankly won’t be.

“Israel investigates itself, and easily finds itself innocent,” Lowenstein added.

“This is what worries me, that what’s happening in Gaza is a model that other countries will follow in the months and years ahead.”

Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital crippled by fuel crisis

Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, is facing a catastrophic collapse as fuel shortages force critical services to shut down.

Israel’s blockade has cut fuel supplies to the hospital, leaving only backup generators powering urgent care. Those are now running dry. This means kidney dialysis machines have stopped and intensive care units are barely functioning, leaving hundreds of lives at immediate risk.

WFP says the window to push back starvation in Gaza ‘closing fast’

The World Food Programme is warning that the opportunity to push back starvation in Gaza is closing fast as Israel continues to restrict the entry of aid into the besieged enclave.

Samer Abdel Jaber, the WFP’s regional director, said the agency needs three things to address the hunger crisis in Gaza.

These are “multiple points of access and safe routes to reach families that are constantly being displaced; support from the international community to allow and enable humanitarian actors to do their job; and more than anything, we need a sustained ceasefire,” he said.

US senator slams Irish ban on trade with Israeli settlements as ‘hateful’

Jim Risch, the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has accused Ireland of “blatant” anti-Semitism for its plan to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements.

“Ireland, while often a valuable US partner, is on a hateful, antisemitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering,” Risch said in a post on X.

“If this legislation is implemented, America will have to seriously reconsider its deep and ongoing economic ties,” Risch added.

Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris said last week that Ireland had become “the first country in Europe to bring forward legislation to ban trade with the Occupied Palestinian Territories”.

“Ireland is speaking up and speaking out against the genocidal activity in Gaza,” Harris said.

The Israeli Settlements Bill, approved by the Republic of Ireland’s cabinet last month, would make it an offence under the Customs Act to import goods from illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.

What are the sticking points in Israel-Hamas truce talks?

We’ve been reporting on a new push by the US for a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The Axios news website is reporting that Trump’s announcement came after talks between his envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer at the White House. It said the two discussed “an updated ceasefire and hostage proposal put forward by Qatar”.

There has been no comment from Doha yet.

Here’s a reminder of the hurdles in previous rounds of talks:

• Permanent ceasefire: Hamas has called for guarantees for any temporary truce to lead to an end to Israel’s war and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza. Israel, however, has refused to provide such a commitment. It abandoned the three-phase ceasefire deal agreed to in January and resumed bombarding Gaza after rejecting negotiations on ending the war.
• Disarming of Hamas: Israel wants Hamas to lay down arms, cede control of Gaza and exile its leaders out of the Strip, but the Palestinian group has previously called this a “red line”, saying it will not disarm as long as Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory continues.

During the last round of indirect talks in June, Israeli media reported that the US proposed a 60-day ceasefire, the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the release of 10 living Israeli captives and the bodies of 18 others, in exchange for 1,100 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

The US proposal said Israeli forces would pull back from Gaza based on maps to be agreed upon, and that negotiations would also begin on a permanent ceasefire, the release of the remaining captives and Israeli “redeployment and withdrawals”.

Hamas issued a counterproposal, asking for the negotiations on a permanent ceasefire to begin on day one of the truce, and for the Trump administration to guarantee the talks to reach a final settlement to the war.

UN report lists companies complicit in Israel’s ‘genocide’: Who are they?

We’ve been reporting on the US response to a UN report that maps the corporations aiding Israel in the displacement of Palestinians and its “genocidal” war on Gaza.

The report by the UN expert on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, names 48 corporate actors, including US tech giants Microsoft, Alphabet Inc, Google’s parent company, and Amazon.

A database of more than 1,000 corporate entities was also put together as part of the investigation.

“[Israel’s] forever-occupation has become the ideal testing ground for arms manufacturers and Big Tech – providing significant supply and demand, little oversight, and zero accountability – while investors and private and public institutions profit freely,” the report said.

“Companies are no longer merely implicated in occupation – they may be embedded in an economy of genocide,” it said, in a reference to Israel’s ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip.

The report stated that its findings illustrate why Israel’s “genocide” continues – “Because it is lucrative for many.”

Read more here.

US says UN expert is waging ‘warfare against the American economy’

The US Mission to the UN has accused Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese of committing “political and economic warfare against the American and worldwide economy” after she released a new report mapping the corporations aiding the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.

The mission accused Albanese of using “deeply flawed legal arguments to support extreme and unfounded accusations” that “dozens of entities worldwide, including major American corporations”, are “complicit in gross human rights violations, apartheid, and genocide”.

The mission called for UN Chief Antonio Guterres to condemn Albanese’s activities and for the removal of the independent rapporteur, who was appointed to her role by the UN Human Rights Council, a body made up of 47 member states.

Photos: Palestinians search the rubble after Israeli attack in Khan Younis

Israel threatens to turn Gaza ‘into dust’ if Hamas fails to agree a truce: Report

Israeli officials have warned that the country’s military will escalate its operations in Gaza if negotiations on a ceasefire and captive exchange deal do not advance soon, according to the US-based Axios news outlet.

Israel on Monday ordered civilians in additional areas of Gaza City to evacuate south, signalling preparations for a potential expansion of the army’s ground offensive.

“We’ll do to Gaza City and the central camps what we did to Rafah. Everything will turn to dust,” the outlet quoted a senior Israeli official as saying.

“It’s not our preferred option, but if there’s no movement toward a hostage deal, we won’t have any other choice.”

The report comes as Trump said Israel had agreed to the “necessary conditions” to finalise a 60-day truce and urged Hamas to accept the deal.

There has been no official word from Israel or Hamas yet.

Several killed, wounded as Israeli forces attack Gaza City, Deir el-Balah

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic say there have been several attacks that have killed and wounded several people in northern and central Gaza.

In northern Gaza City, several people were killed and wounded in an Israeli attack on a house on Jaffa Street. Several more were wounded, also in Gaza City, in a drone attack on the al-Karama neighbourhood.

In central Deir el-Balah, at least 10 others were wounded in an Israeli attack on tents sheltering displaced people.

We will bring you more when we have it.

Death toll from Israeli attacks at GHF sites rises to 600

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza says at least 600 people have been killed and more than 4,278 others wounded at GHF sites since the group began operations in late May.

As we’ve been reporting, global criticism of the US and Israel-backed initiative has been mounting with the rising toll.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said in a post on X that the scheme “provides nothing but starvation and gunfire to the people of Gaza”.

Israel yet to comment on Trump’s 60-day proposal

There hasn’t been any sort of official confirmation from the Israelis just yet, because it is around 3am local time there.

It is important to note that the Israelis had previously accepted a 60-day proposal that was brought forth by the Americans back in March.

It was presented by the American envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who said that this was a 60-day proposal only, but it had guarantees for Israel to return to the fighting, and that was the main reason why Hamas decided not to accept that proposal.

This has been a huge sticking point throughout these negotiations.

Reports within Israeli media indicated tonight that for the first time in more than 20 months, Benjamin Netanyahu had signalled a willingness to negotiate an end to the war.

Netanyahu, up until this point, has said that Israel has a lot of different goals and that the war on Gaza will only end when they achieve “total victory”.

Now what the US president is saying is that Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalise this 60-day ceasefire. He also said that mediators are going to be giving this final draft to Hamas.

Israel has not sent the negotiating team to the Qatari capital or the Egyptian capital for some time, but has been doing this sort of shuttle diplomacy with the Americans to try and finalise something.

And even though there is momentum towards this sort of deal, the Israelis still have not confirmed anything on their end.

Israeli forces kill 6 Palestinians in south Gaza

Sources at the Nasser Medical Complex say Israeli forces have attacked the city of Khan Younis as well as the so-called humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi, killing at least six people.

We’ll bring you more when we have it.

Trump’s announcement comes days before he hosts Netanyahu at the White House

We’re still waiting to see what these final conditions are.

There’s been a lot of reporting about the return of captives from Hamas in exchange for prisoners released by the Israelis.

And essential to this deal, according to Trump, is that during the 60-day ceasefire there, that is when these two parties – Israel, Hamas – would then begin talking about a permanent end to the war.

This was a major hurdle that has really sunk previous ceasefires and progress towards a ceasefire.

We know that Israeli official Ron Dermer was in Washington, DC today. He was meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, as well as the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, talking about these terms.

And Trump is now making this announcement, which really came quite quickly.

It was just earlier today that Trump was telling reporters that he was going to push Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, when he comes to DC next week, to accept the terms of this ceasefire.

So it seems that a lot of ground has been paved prior to Netanyahu’s arrival in Washington. Trump has been laying on the pressure, at least in these public statements towards Israel, really building on the momentum since he helped negotiate the ceasefire between Iran and Israel.

There was a lot of frustration from Trump that the ceasefire has been so elusive between Hamas and Israel.

He’s now saying that this ceasefire proposal has been accepted by the Israelis, but also being a little bit realistic, saying that he hopes that Hamas will also accept the terms, saying that it will only get worse, and that this deal is the best that Hamas could hope for.

A recap of recent developments

• US President Trump says that Israel has agreed “to the necessary conditions” to finalise a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, and says he hopes that “Hamas takes this deal”.
• Israeli forces have killed at least 109 people in Gaza on Tuesday alone, including several in a strike on a residential square in Gaza City.
• The director of al-Shifa Hospital says hundreds of patients are “facing death” because it has run out of fuel for its main generators amid Israel’s blockade.
• More than 165 aid organisations have called for the immediate end to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) operations as Israeli forces continue to gun down Palestinians waiting for food parcels at sites run by the US-backed group.
• Israeli forces have killed at least 28 Palestinians at the GHF’s sites on Tuesday.
• Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatens the Houthi rebels after the country’s military intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.

Welcome to our live coverage

Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza and the tenuous ceasefire with Iran.

Stay with us for the latest news, reaction and analysis.

You can find all our updates from Tuesday, July 1, here.

• Russia and Ukraine are both accusing each other of breaking a 30-hour “Easter truce”
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calls Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s words “empty” as he says there have been more than 46 Russian assaults since the start of the day
• Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry is claiming Ukraine launched drone attacks hundreds of times, according to state media sources
• In a surprise announcement on Saturday, Putin said there would be an end to all hostilities from 16:00 BST on Saturday until 22:00 BST (midnight in Moscow) on Sunday
• The “Easter truce” comes shortly after US President Donald Trump threatened to “take a pass” on brokering further Russia-Ukraine peace talks
• “You can hear bird songs in Kherson,” the BBC’s Ukraine correspondent says as he reports it’s been quieter on the front line since Putin’s temporary truce was announced

Zelensky says Russian activity is still on the rise

Zelensky has just shared an update, quoting his commander-in-chief’s report at 16:00 local time (14:00 BST).

He says Russian military activity is increasing – something the Ukrainian president also mentioned this morning.

According to Zelensky, there have been 46 Russian assaults and more than 900 cases of shelling since the start of the day.

The BBC has not independently verified these figures.

He says that in some regions, Putin’s words “have proven empty”.

“The Ukrainian army is acting – and will continue to act – in a fully symmetrical manner,” the president says.

“This Easter has clearly demonstrated that the only source of this war, and the reason it drags on, is Russia.”

We haven’t heard from Putin since he announced the “Easter truce”, but earlier, Russia has also accused Ukraine of not respecting the ceasefire.

Putin does not want peace, says security analyst

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the “Easter truce” proposal was driven by humanitarian reasons.

But Odesa-based security analyst Hanna Shelest casts doubts over his motives.

“Allow me to be sceptical, because we had 11 years of different ceasefires with Moscow in the Minsk agreement and none of them really been fulfilled,” she tells the BBC News channel.

The analyst suggests Putin may have been motivated to introduce a temporary truce due to the “negative” statements from the White House.

As a reminder, US President Donald Trump threatened to “take a pass” on negotiations should Moscow or Kyiv “make it very difficult” to reach a peace deal.

Putin “needed to show something” to the White House, Shelest says, “to create an image that he is ready for this”.

Increasingly unlikely 30-hour truce would lead to lasting peace

In a statement Russia’s defence ministry claimed that all its forces had been adhering to the Easter ceasefire.

It accused Ukraine’s army of violating it hundreds of times. Earlier on social media Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky painted a different picture.

“The Russian army,” he wrote, “was attempting to create the general impression of a ceasefire, while in some areas continuing isolated attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine”.

As Ukraine and Russia traded accusations, it looked increasingly unlikely that the 30-hour truce announced by Russia would lead to anything approaching a lasting peace.

What’s more likely is that President Putin will use it to try to discredit Ukraine in the eyes of Washington – to convince Donald Trump that it’s Moscow, not Kyiv, that wants peace.

RAF ‘intercepted two Russian aircraft close to Nato airspace’ this week

Here in London, the Ministry of Defence says that UK fighter jets have intercepted two Russian aircraft flying close to Nato airspace this week.

On Tuesday, two RAF Typhoon jets were scrambled from Malbork Air Base in Poland to intercept a Russian intelligence aircraft over the Baltic Sea.

And, on Thursday, two Typhoons intercepted an unknown aircraft leaving Kaliningrad air space.

“This mission shows our ability to… defend the alliance’s airspace wherever and whenever needed, keeping us safe at home and strong abroad,” Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard says.

Russia gives update of military action in Kursk

In another update from the Russian Ministry of Defence, military officials say they are continuing to “repel[…]” Ukrainian forces in the border region of Kursk.

In a post shared on the messaging app Telegram, the Russia’s MoD suggests that Ukraine has lost more than 75,000 troops and more than 400 tanks in total in Kursk.

Kherson’s eerie silence

The military were initially reluctant to let us into Kherson. It seems they are nervous about “provocation attacks” by the occupying Russian forces across the Dnipro River.

Once we were allowed past the city’s main checkpoint, we weaved through scarred streets to one of Kherson’s churches.

“It’s been really quiet,” Svitlana tells us after celebrating Easter Sunday. “Hopefully this means we can live in peace beyond today.”

Kherson is a city that has seen it all: occupation, liberation, flooding after the destruction of a dam, and daily shelling. Its people would notice any respite, and it seems they have.

On all my previous visits to the city, there were always regular artillery exchanges between Ukrainian and Russian forces. More recently invading troops have targeted civilians with drones packed with explosives.

But not today. You can hear bird songs in Kherson’s central square.

Asides from some shelling overnight and a reported drone strike this morning, it has been quiet, we’re told. Artem, a local soldier, says he has never seen this before.

Next to a destroyed stadium, struck by a Russian glide bomb three days ago, I ask him whether he has faith this truce will stretch beyond tonight?

“We can’t have faith, but we can have hope,” he replies.

The effectiveness of this truce varies across the front line, but if goes on beyond Russia’s midnight deadline, it could be an early paving stone on a path to peace.

What is more likely, though, is the familiar rhythm of this war resuming.

Easter truce splits Kyiv and Donetsk worshippers

We’re hearing mixed reactions about Putin’s 30-hour truce from Ukrainians attending Easter morning service in Kyiv and the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk.

“Trusting Putin’s words is like trusting the devil,” Oleksandra Semeniak tells the Reuters news agency. “Today it is better to trust God and keep faith in better times.”

“I do not think this man [Putin] has anything to do with humanity,” says 45-year-old lawyer Olena Poprych, who adds she believes the ceasefire is “a prerequisite for something bad”.

Meanwhile in Donetsk, where much of the city has been under Russian control since 2014, residents are expressing similar distrust that Zelensky will stick to the terms of the ceasefire.

“To be honest, I don’t have hopes on the Ukrainian side, they have deceived us so many times, I do not trust them,” one local worshipper, identified only as Olga, tells Reuters.

“I watched very closely his [Zelensky’s] reactions,” says Vladimir, who also attended Easter morning service in Donetsk. “There was nothing about the ceasefire…just some vague statements, not giving any confidence that we will not be shelled.”

Accusations fly as ‘Easter truce’ passes halfway stage

Throughout the morning we’ve been reporting on developments in Russia and Ukraine after a truce announced by Putin came into effect yesterday.

Over halfway through the 30-hour ceasefire, both countries have accused the other of not abiding by it. Here’s the latest:

• Russia and Ukraine have claimed fighting continued overnight – each accusing the other of drone strikes and shelling
• Zelensky said Ukraine would “continue to act in a mirror manner” to Russia, while accusing Putin’s declaration of the truce as a “PR” exercise – adding that shelling and drone activity had intensified in recent hours
• Separately, Russian media cited accusations from the Ministry of Defence that Ukraine had shot at their positions and launched drone attacks hundreds of times overnight and into this morning
• Easter celebrations have been taking place on the rare occasion that Easter Sunday has fallen on the same day on the Julian and Western calendars
• Ukrainians attending Easter services told the Reuters news agency they do not trust Putin’s intentions

The truce will come to an end at midnight local time tonight (22:00 BST) – Ukraine wants an extension but Russia has given no indication there will be one.

Stay with us as we continue to bring you the latest.

Why did Putin invade Ukraine?

Russia has repeatedly painted modern Ukraine as a Nazi state, in a crass distortion of history.

Putin had already seized Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014, after a revolution ousted Ukraine’s pro-Russian president and replaced him with a more pro-Western government.

Days before the 2022 invasion started, Putin called on the Ukrainian military to “take power into your own hands” and target the “gangs of drug addicts and neo-Nazis” running the government.

Putin then accused the Western defensive alliance, Nato, of trying to gain a foothold in Ukraine to bring its troops closer to Russia’s borders.

Thirty days v 30 hours – the truce proposal Putin previously rejected

As he responded to Putin’s truce announcement, Zelensky urged Russia to commit to a 30-day ceasefire rather than a 30-hour pause.

Kyiv had previously agreed to American proposals last month for a comprehensive ceasefire on both sides. Moscow did not.

It was a plan that went beyond what Zelensky had initially put forward as a partial truce in the sky and at sea.

The eight-paragraph proposal, announced in a joint US-Ukraine statement in March, followed lengthy talks in Saudi Arabia.

Putin rejected proposals for a full ceasefire, but did agree to halt attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days. That pause has now ended.

The Russian president indicated he would only agree to a comprehensive truce if foreign military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine came to an end.

Zelensky calls the Kremlin’s bluff – but what impact will this have on the war?

What is interesting is how Ukraine’s President Zelensky has effectively called the Kremlin’s bluff saying: “30 hours? Make it 30 days. If you are serious, we will be as well.”

President Zelensky can’t afford to be antagonistic in this moment because Donald Trump – we know from previous months – will only take a dim view of Kyiv and not Moscow.

It’s tricky for Zelensky. This could turn into something. But few in Ukraine think it will turn into anything meaningful or stable that will allow this war to end.

Putin’s ‘Easter truce’ announcement – in fewer than 150 words

“Guided by humanitarian considerations, today from 18:00 (16:00 BST) to 00:00 (22:00 BST) from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side declares an Easter truce,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his announcement yesterday.

“For this period, I order all military actions to cease. We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions.

“We know that the Kyiv regime has violated the agreement on non-strikes on energy infrastructure more than 100 times.”

He adds: “Our decision on the Easter truce will show how sincere is the readiness of the Kyiv regime and its desire, and indeed its ability, to comply with the agreements and participate in the process of peace negotiations aimed at eliminating the root causes of the Ukrainian crises.”

Three people, including a five-year-old, were killed and 10 were injured in a drone attack on Kyiv, the city’s military administration said on Sunday.

US and Ukrainian officials will now meet in Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening as part of Washington’s efforts to end the three-year war, a member of the Ukrainian delegation told the AFP news agency. “The meeting with the Americans is planned to take place tonight” in Riyadh, he said.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff on Sunday expressed optimism ahead of the high-stakes talks, telling Fox News he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted peace.

Elsewhere, four people were killed in Russian attacks in Donetsk region, regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said, including three who died in an attack on the front-line Ukrainian town of Dobropillya.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram that emergency services were dispatched to several city districts following fires and damage.

Earlier, the country’s air force said Russia launched 147 drones overnight on several Ukrainian regions. The Air Force said 97 of the drones were shot down, and 25 did not reach their targets.

In a statement on social media, President Zelenskyy said attacks such as the one in Kyiv were a daily occurrence for Ukraine.

“This week alone, more than 1,580 guided aerial bombs, almost 1,100 strike drones and 15 missiles of various types were used against our people,” he said. “New solutions are needed, with new pressure on Moscow to stop both these strikes and this war.”

Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces “destroyed and intercepted” 59 Ukrainian drones overnight, centred over the regions of Rostov and Astrakhan.

On Saturday night, United States President Donald Trump said efforts to stop further escalation in the war were “somewhat under control”.

Trump told Clay Travis, the founder of sports website Outkick, during an interview on Air Force One that “rational discussions” and having good relationships with Putin and Zelenskyy were key to negotiating the war’s end.

Last week, Trump had separate discussions with Putin and Zelenskyy aimed at ending the war that began in 2022. They came weeks after Trump and his Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy at the White House.

However, while the talks fell short of Trump’s aim to secure a complete 30-day ceasefire, Putin did agree to stop Russian attacks on energy infrastructure for the period, which Zelenskyy accepted. Yet, since agreeing, both sides have accused each other of targeting energy sites.

Meanwhile, Russian and Ukrainian delegations are expected to meet separately on Monday with US officials in Saudi Arabia as part of the peace negotiations pushed by the Trump administration. Although there is now an initial US-Ukraine meeting scheduled in Riyadh Sunday night.

The Kremlin on Sunday downplayed expectations for a rapid resolution to the Ukraine conflict, saying talks were just beginning and that “difficult negotiations” were ahead.

“We are only at the beginning of this path,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state TV.

He said Russia’s “main” focus in its talks with the United States would be discussing a possible resumption of a 2022 Black Sea grain deal that ensured safe navigation for Ukrainian agricultural exports in the Black Sea.

Moscow pulled out of the deal – brokered by Turkiye and the United Nations – in 2023, accusing the West of failing to uphold its commitments to ease sanctions on Russia’s own exports of agricultural products and fertilisers.

Earlier, Senator Grigory Karasin, leading the Russian delegation, told the Zvezda TV channel owned by the Defence Ministry that they “hope to achieve at least some progress” in the meeting.

Alongside fellow negotiator from the FSB intelligence agency, Sergey Beseda, Karasin said they would approach the talks in a “combative and constructive” mood.

“We are going with the mood to fight for the solution of at least one issue,” Karasin told Zvezda.

A senior Ukrainian official told the AFP news agency on Saturday that Kyiv hopes to secure agreement on “at least” a partial ceasefire of attacks on energy, infrastructure, and at sea.

Ukraine’s Minister of Defence Rustem Umerov is expected to attend the negotiations.

US envoy Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin on Thursday in Moscow, told CNN that he expected that “there will be a call with both presidents this week”.

“We’re also continuing to engage and have conversation with the Ukrainians,” he added. “We’re advising them on everything we’re thinking about.”

Last week, the US and Ukraine agreed to propose a 30-day ceasefire to Russia. While Putin said that he supported a ceasefire, he also set out a list of tough conditions for achieving peace.

Witkoff said in the interview on Sunday: “I think the two presidents are going to have a really good and positive discussion this week.”

He also said that teams of US negotiators would meet counterparts from both Ukraine and Russia during the coming week.

Witkoff added that he believed a deal would be reached “in [the] coming weeks”.

“I am really hopeful we are going to see some progress here,” he said.

During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022, on “day one” of a new administration.

Less than a month after he was inaugurated, Trump had call with Putin that reportedly spanned 90 minutes about immediately starting negotiations on ending the war.

Witkoff declined to answer a question on how Russian-occupied land in Ukraine could be addressed in a potential deal. Russia currently controls around a fifth of Ukraine.

The envoy said Trump was actively participating in the diplomatic back-and-forth.

As an example, Witkoff said that “within five to 10 minutes” of his meeting with Putin concluding on Thursday, he had returned to the US embassy to brief Trump, as well as Vice-President JD Vance, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.

“So the president is getting updates in real time on everything that’s happening and he’s involved in every important decision here,” he said.

Voislav Torden, 38, a senior member of the Russian far-right mercenary group Rusich, was found guilty of four charges by a court in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, on Friday, while he was acquitted of a fifth charge.

The charges relate to an ambush and firefight that occurred in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, which killed 22 Ukrainian soldiers and injured four others. Torden denies the allegations.

It marks the first time charges have been brought and heard in a Finnish court over allegations of war crimes in Ukraine.

Torden, previously known as Yan Petrovsky, was a founding member of Rusich, which operated in the eastern Donbas region as part of pro-Russian separatist fighting against Ukraine. Rusich is a subunit of the Wagner group.

It was alleged that, on 5 September 2014, Torden led his men as part of an ambush of Ukrainian soldiers by pretending to be Ukrainian, before setting fire to a truck and car belonging to the unit.

Twenty-one Ukrainian troops were killed and a further five injured, the indictment said.

The court in Helsinki found there was insufficient evidence to conclude that Rusich was specifically responsible for the ambush, as there were several other groups involved.

However, it found Torden guilty on all other counts, including that he was in charge of the Rusich mercenaries present during the ambush, who killed at least one Ukrainian soldier and injured another.

His men were also found to have mutilated a wounded soldier by “making the Rusich group symbol on his face”.

Torden was found to have distributed “degrading” images of the soldier and to have posted on social media that Rusich would “not grant mercy”.

A panel of three judges unanimously found him guilty of the latter four charges, writing that the most serious – of killing a soldier – was “comparable to murder due to its brutality and cruelty”.

While the court held that there was insufficient evidence to find him culpable for the deaths of the 21 other Ukrainian soldiers, it ordered him to pay compensation to the family of the soldier whose death he was found responsible for.

Torden has consistently denied the allegations levelled against him, Finland’s public broadcaster reports. He intends to appeal against the conviction, according to national newspaper Ilta-Sanomat.

Torden’s lawyer, Heikki Lampela, said the verdict had taken them by surprise.

“There was no evidence that he killed the wounded or gave the order to do so,” he told Finland’s public broadcaster, Yle, adding that Torden was “equally confused” he had received a life sentence “for an act he did not commit”.

Torden was arrested at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in July 2023 at the request of the Ukrainian government, which sought to extradite him.

That request was rejected by Finland’s Supreme Court over concerns he would not receive a fair trial in Ukraine – but he was still able to be tried in Helsinki as he was accused of crimes under international law.

Yle reports that similar charges have been tried domestically relating to acts in countries including Rwanda and Iraq.

The office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general hailed the court’s ruling as a “key milestone” in holding perpetrators of “grave violations of international humanitarian law accountable”.

It added in a statement that Ukrainian officials had ensured that the court had heard from victims and witnesses in Ukraine during the trial, adding that it would continue to work with partners internationally to “ensure there is no impunity for war criminals”.

The Russian president was responding to a plan for a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine agreed to earlier this week following talks with the US.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described Putin’s response to the plan as “manipulative” and called for more sanctions on Russia.

Meanwhile, the US placed further sanctions on Russian oil, gas and banking sectors.

Russian officials said Putin was expected to hold talks on the ceasefire on Thursday evening with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who had flown to Moscow earlier that day.

It is not clear whether that meeting actually took place. On Friday, Russia’s state media quoted the air traffic monitor Flightradar as saying the plane believed to be carrying Witkoff had left Moscow.

Moscow and Washington have not commented on the issue.

Late on Thursday and overnight, both Russia and Ukraine reported new enemy drone attacks.

Ukraine said seven people – including children – were injured in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv.

Russia reported a large fire at an oil facility in the southern city of Tuapse.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow on Thursday, Putin said of the ceasefire proposal: “The idea is right – and we support it – but there are questions that we need to discuss.”

A ceasefire should lead to “an enduring peace and remove the root causes of this crisis”, Putin said.

“We need to negotiate with our American colleagues and partners,” he said. “Maybe I’ll have a call with Donald Trump.”

Putin added: “It will be good for the Ukrainian side to achieve a 30-day ceasefire.

“We are in favour of it, but there are nuances.”

One of the areas of contention is Russia’s western Kursk region, Putin said, where Ukraine launched a military incursion last August and captured some territory.

He claimed Russia was fully back in control of Kursk, and said Ukrainian troops there “have been isolated”.

“They are trying to leave, but we are in control. Their equipment has been abandoned,” Putin said.

“There are two options for Ukrainians in Kursk – surrender or die.”

Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said a day earlier that Ukrainian troops would hold defensive positions in the Kursk region “as long as it is expedient and necessary” despite “increased” pressure from Russian forces.

At Thursday’s press conference, Putin also outlined some of his questions over how a ceasefire would work. He asked: “How will those 30 days be used? For Ukraine to mobilise? Rearm? Train people? Or none of that? Then a question – how will that be controlled?

“Who will give the order to end the fighting? At what cost? Who decides who has broken any possible ceasefire, over 2,000km? All those questions need meticulous work from both sides. Who polices it?”

Putin “doesn’t say no directly”, Zelensky said in his nightly video address, but “in practice, he’s preparing a rejection”.

He added: “Putin, of course, is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, wants to kill Ukrainians.”

The Russian leader had set so many pre-conditions “that nothing will work out at all”, Zelensky said.

After Putin’s remarks and Zelensky’s response, there is now a clear divide between both sides’ positions.

Ukraine wants a two-stage process: a quick ceasefire and then talks about a longer-term settlement.

Russia believes you cannot separate the two processes and all the issues should be decided in a single deal. Both sides seem content to argue their differences.

Ukraine believes it can put pressure on Russia, painting it as a reluctant peacemaker, playing for time. Russia, equally, believes it has a chance now to raise its fundamental concerns, about Nato expansion and Ukraine’s sovereignty.

But this presents a problem for Donald Trump. He has made it clear he wants a quick result, ending the fighting in days.

And right now, Putin does not appear to want to play ball.

Speaking at the White House following Putin’s remarks, Trump said he would “love” to meet the Russian leader and that he hoped Russia would “do the right thing” and agree to the proposed 30-day truce.

“We’d like to see a ceasefire from Russia,” he said.

Speaking earlier at a meeting in the Oval Office with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump told reporters he had already discussed specifics with Ukraine.

“We’ve been discussing with Ukraine land and pieces of land that would be kept and lost, and all of the other elements of a final agreement,” Trump said.

“A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed.”

On the subject of Ukraine joining the Nato military alliance, Trump said “everybody knows what the answer to that is”.

The fresh sanctions on Russian oil and gas came as the Trump administration further restricted access to US payment systems, making it harder for other countries to buy Russian oil.

Earlier in the day, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov rejected the ceasefire proposal put forward by the US.

On Wednesday, the Kremlin released a video it said showed Putin visiting Russia’s Kursk region, symbolically dressed in military fatigues. Russia later said it recaptured the key town of Sudzha.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, and now controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

More than 95,000 people fighting for Russia’s military have been killed in the war, according to data analysed so far and confirmed by the BBC. The actual death toll is believed to be much higher.

Russia’s military has not publicly revealed its battlefield casualties since September 2022, when it said 5,937 soldiers had been killed.

Ukraine last updated its casualty figures in December 2024, when Zelensky acknowledged 43,000 Ukrainian deaths among soldiers and officers. Western analysts believe this figure to be underestimated.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived on Thursday morning to try to convince Russia to accept a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine agreed to earlier this week in talks with the US.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said talks were “taking place in a calm manner” – but rejected the proposal, saying it would amount to nothing more than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military and a chance for it to regroup.

The American visit comes as the Russian military claimed to have recaptured Sudzha – a key town in the Kursk region that Ukraine invaded last year in a surprise attack.

President Vladimir Putin visited Kursk on Wednesday and met military commanders, who told him Russian troops had recaptured 86% of the area and were in the final stage of driving Ukrainian forces out.

Speaking on Thursday, presidential aide Ushakov said the truce proposals were “nothing but a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing else.”

“Our aim is long-lasting peaceful settlement which takes account of our country’s legitimate interests and concerns. No one need such steps that only imitate peaceful actions,” he told Russian state TV.

He added that a “normal exchange of opinions” between Russia and the US was “taking place in a calm manner”.

Following the talks between US and Ukraine in Jeddah on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was now up to the US to convince Russia to agree to the “positive” proposal.

Yesterday Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the “ball is truly in their [Russia’s] court” and that the US believes the only way to end the fighting was through peace negotiations.

On Wednesday Trump said he had received “positive messages” about the possibility of a ceasefire.

“But a positive message means nothing,” he said. “This is a very serious situation.”

In the Oval Office, Trump said that he believes a ceasefire would make sense for Russia, adding – without further details – that there is a “lot of downside” for Russia as well.

“We have a very complex situation solved on one side. Pretty much solved. We’ve also discussed land and other things that go with it,” Trump added. “We know the areas of land we’re talking about, whether it’s pull back or not pull back.”

To pressure Russia, Trump said that he “can do things financially”.

“That would be very bad for Russia,” he said. “I don’t want to do that because I want to get peace.”

The meeting in Jeddah was the first between US and Ukrainian officials since a 28 February meeting between Zelensky, Trump and Vice-President JD Vance descended into a shouting match and, ultimately, a pause in US military assistance and intelligence sharing.

The pause was lifted following the meeting in Jeddah, and Trump said that he believes that the “difficult” Ukrainian side and Zelensky now want peace.

Even as negotiations over a potential ceasefire are ongoing, fighting has raged in Ukraine.

Russian drones and missiles reportedly struck targets in Kryvyy Rih – Zelensky’s hometown – overnight, as well as in the port city of Odesa, Dnipro and Kharkiv.

Clashes also continued in Russia’s Kursk region, where Peskov said Russian troops were “successfully advancing” and recapturing areas held by Ukrainian forces.

Ukrainian troops invaded the region of western Russia that borders Ukraine, in a surprise attack in August last year. At its peak, Ukraine claimed to have captured 100 towns and villages – but since then, Russia has retaken most of that territory.

Russian media report that Putin ordered the military to “fully liberate” the region during the visit. He is yet to comment on the ceasefire proposal agreed by Ukraine and the US on Tuesday.

The head of Ukraine’s military, Oleksandr Syrsky, also indicated on Wednesday that some of its troops were withdrawing from Kursk. In a post on Telegram, he said: “In the most difficult situation, my priority has been and remains saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.”