Last updated: 9:07 PM

Zelensky: "Peace is closer than ever." Tomorrow, the Russian leader may meet with the US envoy. But the Tsar rejects Europe's demands as"unacceptable" and accuses Kiev of "living on another planet." Russian intelligence agencies: "France is seeking direct involvement in the war."

• "Ukraine will await signals from the American delegation after the meetings in Russia. The American delegation intends to inform us directly immediately after these meetings. The next steps will depend on these signals. We will receive signals of one kind or another. If the signals work in a certain way—if there is fairness with our partners—then we could meet with the American delegation very quickly. At what level, we will see, depending on the signals." Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X. “If the signals open up the possibility and opportunity for comprehensive but rapid decisions, then the meeting will take place at a higher level. I am ready to receive all the signals and ready for a meeting with President Trump. Everything depends on today's discussions.”
• “There will be no easy solutions to end this war. We understand what is happening. We understand who we are dealing with. The problem is not the difficulty of making decisions. I am capable of making them. What matters is that everything is fair and transparent. That there are no games played behind Ukraine's back. That nothing is decided without Ukraine, about us, about our future.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote this on X.
  Zelensky reiterated that the “most sensitive” issues in the negotiations concern “frozen territories and assets.” “I can't speak for European leaders regarding the frozen money in Europe. I can only share my opinion, and they can support me. And we count on strong security guarantees from the United States, Europe, and some other leaders. This is one of the themes of the Coalition of the Willing,” Zelensky added.
• “I've resolved eight wars. This would be the ninth, and our people are in Russia right now to see if we can resolve the situation. It's not an easy situation, let me tell you, it's a mess. It's a war that would never have happened if I were president, not even in my dreams.” US President Donald Trump said this during a cabinet meeting, referring to the ongoing talks in Moscow on a possible peace in Ukraine. The Guardian reports.
• Volodymyr Zelensky said the speed of the peace talks and the US interest in finding a solution are cause for optimism, but he fears the US may lose interest in peace efforts. The Guardian reports. When asked if he feared the United States might lose interest in the process, Zelensky replied:"Yes, I fear so. If any of our allies are tired, I fear so." "Russia's goal is to make America lose interest in this situation," he said. The war in Ukraine is a"disaster" and a difficult situation to resolve. Donald Trump said this during the cabinet meeting."We are trying to resolve the situation; our people are in Russia to resolve the situation. It's not an easy situation, let me tell you," Trump added. Vladimir Putin kept the two White House envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, waiting. The meeting began some time after the two arrived at the Kremlin on foot, accompanied by Kirill Dmitriev. The Russian president was still delivering a speech at an investment forum away from the Kremlin. This morning, spokesman Vladimir Peskov had explained that the meeting would be held after 5 p.m. (Moscow time): Putin finished his speech at the Forum almost an hour later in a day that Peskov himself had described as busy and which will conclude late in the evening with an interview with Indian media, ahead of his trip to India on Thursday. In short, for the Russian president, the peace negotiations in Ukraine are just one of many commitments.
• US President Donald Trump has called a meeting with members of his cabinet at the White House, American media reported. CNN highlights that the meeting is underway while Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin to discuss a possible peace plan to end the war in Ukraine.
NBC highlights that the cabinet meetings convened by Trump are often lengthy and recalls that the one in August lasted more than three hours. The meeting, the broadcaster emphasizes, follows Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's proposal for a"total travel ban" from countries she says have "flooded our nation with murderers, bloodsuckers, and rights junkies."
Vladimir Putin is inviting foreign journalists, including Ukrainian ones, to visit Krasnoarmeysk—namely, Pokrovsk, in Donetsk, and Kupyansk, in the Kharkiv region—to see the situation firsthand, after both Kiev and independent analysts from the ISW disputed the control of the two cities by the Moscow military."If anyone still has any doubts, we are ready to grant foreign and even Ukrainian journalists the right to visit Krasnoarmeysk, so they can see with their own eyes what is happening and who really controls the settlement." "We will do everything to ensure their safety and are ready to accompany them to the neighborhoods of Krasnoarmeysk." And the same goes for Kupyansk.
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  The meeting between Vladimir Putin and White House special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff has begun in the Kremlin, to discuss a peace proposal for Ukraine.