US special envoy Steve Witkoff expected to visit Moscow on Wednesday

The Guardian

3 days ago

Update:
Date: 2025-08-04T12:39:17.000Z
Title: Steve Witkoff's visit to Moscow is now expected to take place on Wednesday,
Content: Witkoff expected to visit Russia as latest deadline set by Donald Trump exires on Friday, requiring Putin to agree to a ceasefire or face sanctions
Jakub Krupa
Mon 4 Aug 2025 13.39 BST
First published on Mon 4 Aug 2025 08.39 BST
From
11.41am BST
11:41
US special envoy Tass news agency reported citing sources.
The latest deadline, set by US president Donald Trump, requiring Russia to agree to a ceasefire or face sanctions is set to expire on Friday.
Updated
at 11.51am BST
1.39pm BST
13:39
Ukrainian authorities have charges six people including a lawmaker and a government official for embezzling funds in the purchase of drones and jamming equipment for the military, Reuters reported.
Anti-corruption authorities said on Saturday they had uncovered a scheme involving the legislator, one current and one now sacked official, a National Guard commander and two businessmen, giving kickbacks for purchases at inflated prices.
'In 2024-2025, an organised criminal group systematically misappropriated funds allocated by local authorities for defence needs,' the National Anti-Corruption Bureau said in a statement quoted by Reuters, adding the bribes totalled around 30% of the contracts' value.
The drone contract was worth $240,000 with an inflation of about $80,000, the bureau said.
Reuters noted that none of the suspects were publicly identified by the authorities.
1.07pm BST
13:07
The Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, claimed its counterintelligence agents foiled a Russian-inspired terrorist attack on Dnipro, saying a 29-year-old woman was recruited on Telegram to plant an improvised explosive device near a government building.
In a post on Telegram, the SBU said it disarmed the explosive device and arrested the suspect as she attempted to flee to Odesa.
The suspect could face up to 12 years in prison, the agency said.
12.34pm BST
12:34
Shaun Walker
in Kyiv
In Kyiv, there is little expectation that Witkoff will make a breakthrough with Putin, but a hope that Trump's changed rhetoric and tougher stance on Moscow may lead to a real change in US support for Ukraine.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said if Russia did not change its course by Friday, Kyiv would expect the 'irreversible logistics' of secondary sanctions on Russian oil exports to be set in motion.
'After that he'll look whether this is helping to bring about the end of the war or not, and if not then he will move to the next step,' said Podolyak, in an interview in Kyiv.
The next move, he said, could be further sanctions, and the increased militarisation of Ukraine.
'Trump has already said he's ready to sell Europe as much weapons as they want [to pass to Ukraine]. Before he didn't say that … This is already a different conception of the world,' he said.
Before that, though, all eyes will be on Witkoff's visit to Moscow. On previous trips, he has held long one-on-one meetings with Putin and has spoken of his warm feelings for the Russian leader. On one occasion Putin gifted him an oil painting of Trump, on another, Witkoff arrived without an interpreter and used a Kremlin-provided translator.
The camaraderie has left both Kyiv and other US allies wondering whether Witkoff is capable of delivering harsh messages to Moscow, although his visit this week will be the first since Trump's rhetoric on Ukraine became noticeably harsher.
11.41am BST
11:41
US special envoy Tass news agency reported citing sources.
The latest deadline, set by US president Donald Trump, requiring Russia to agree to a ceasefire or face sanctions is set to expire on Friday.
Updated
at 11.51am BST
11.32am BST
11:32
The Security Service of Ukraine, SBU, said it struck five Russian fighter jets at the Saky airfield in the Russian-occupied Crimea, claiming one aircraft was 'completely destroyed.'
In a post on Telegram, it said that a Russian aviation weapons depot was also hit, with estimated Russian losses in tens of millions of dollars.
'The successful special operation of the SBU in Saky is another step towards weakening the enemy's ability to wage a war of aggression against Ukraine. The occupiers must remember that they will never feel safe on our land!,' it said.
Updated
at 11.34am BST
11.06am BST
11:06
Eurostar has just put out a note 'strongly' advising customers to postpone their journey to and from Paris to a different date if possible due to 'severe disruptions including cancellations' expected as a result of part of the track being closed in France.
In a statement, it said:
'Due to part of the track being temporarily closed on the French network, severe disruptions including cancellations are expected all day to and from Paris. We strongly advise all our passengers to postpone their journey to a different date.'
Live updates show disruptions to trains connecting London and Paris throughout the day, with multiple delays and cancellations.
The disruption is caused by a power outage near Moussy, 50 km north of Paris, on a high speed line between Paris Nord and Arras with 'major repairs' required, France's railway company SNCF said on its website.
A Eurostar spokesperson quoted by Reuters said that the London-Amsterdam, London-Brussels and Brussels-Amsterdam routes were unaffected by the disruption in France.
10.36am BST
10:36
Kremlin's Peskov also said that it was looking forward to US envoy Witkoff's visit later this week, considering it 'important, substantial and helpful.'
Peskov told reporters that a meeting with president Vladimir Putin was an option, as the pair met multiple times in the past.
10.24am BST
10:24
And we now have a first public reaction from the Kremlin to Trump's announcement on nuclear submarines (9:39), with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying Russia had no desire to get into a polemic with Trump on the issue, Reuters reported.
He also played down the significance of Trump's comments, saying it was clear that US submarines were already on combat duty anyway.
'Russia is very attentive to the topic of nuclear non-proliferation. And we believe that everyone should be very, very cautious with nuclear rhetoric,' Peskov said, quoted by AFP.
Updated
at 10.38am BST
10.05am BST
10:05
Shaun Walker
in Kyiv
Once a decade, Ukraine has a moment in which street protests redefine the country's political direction. The Orange revolution of 2004; the Maidan revolution of 2014; and now, over the past 10 days, the first major wave of protest since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
A series of unexpectedly boisterous and well-attended demonstrations forced Volodymyr Zelenskyy to execute a swift U-turn on his decision to scrap the independence of two anti-corruption bodies.
On Thursday, MPs reversed the contentious changes they had adopted a week previously. Outside the parliament building, crowds whooped and cheered as the result of the vote was announced.
The size, scope and demands of this latest protest movement have been much more modest than those of its revolutionary predecessors, but the spectacle has been no less remarkable, given the context of full-scale war in which it has taken place.
10.04am BST
10:04
Over the last week, a lot of attention focused on Zelenskyy's rushed U-turn on his anti-corruption law reform.
Shaun Walker in Kyiv spoke to people taking part in these protests and their motivation behind them.
Let me bring you his report with great photographs by Jędrzej Nowicki.
9.31am BST
09:31
Over the weekend, Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine and Russia were preparing a prisoner exchange that would see 1,200 Ukrainian troops return home, following talks in Istanbul in July.
His comments came after an overnight Ukrainian drone attack on an oil depot near the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi ignited a raging fire, as the two countries traded strikes at the end of one of the deadliest weeks in Ukraine in recent months.
8.56am BST
08:56
President Zelenskyy also called for more pressure on Russia, as he posted a video of drone strikes on what he said were first responders and medics arriving to help after attacks.
'Deliberate FPV [first person view] drone strikes on first responders and medics arriving to help after attacks – all of this is typical for every city or community within reach of Russian drones. The Russian army simply kills everything that is alive,' he warned.
Zelenskyy said that 'the world has enough power to stop this and protect people.'
He added:
'We count on strong decisions from the United States, Europe, and the world regarding secondary sanctions on Russian energy trade and Moscow's banking sector.
Ukraine looks forward to the implementation of every agreement on strengthening defense that has been reached with its partners.
Every day of delay results in the loss of our people.'
8.39am BST
08:39
Jakub Krupa
Andriy Yermak, the most senior aide to Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seemingly enjoys the silence from Russia following Donald Trump's decision to move two nuclear submarines in response to provocative comments from the country's former president, Dmitry Medvedev.
'The moment American nuclear submarines appeared, … [he] suddenly went silent. Russia understands only one thing: strength,' he said.
Expect Kyiv to keep making similar representations this week, before US special envoy Steve Witkoff visits Russia 'Wednesday or Thursday' for further talks ahead of Trump's 8 August deadline for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
On Friday, there were no signs that Vladimir Putin was willing to change his mind, as he repeated that the Russian 'conditions certainly remain the same,' even as he claimed that he nominally supported 'a lasting and stable peace.'
With things getting quiet elsewhere as we hit peak holiday season, this could be the main focus this week.
I will bring you all key updates from across Europe here.
It's Monday, 4 August 2025, it's Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.