Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin prolonging war, says Zelensky, as Kremlin aide calls truce ‘respite for Kyiv’

The “few British aid workers” still delivering supplies to Ukraine have said they are “unsure what they are walking into”, as efforts towards a temporary ceasefire intensify.

Wendy Warrington, 58, from Bury, Manchester, has been to Ukraine about 27 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“Of course I would welcome the ceasefire, however Russia has to agree to it and that might not happen as they have not shown any commitment to this but instead intensifying attacks on innocent civilians,” Ms Warrington told PA news agency.

“We do not know what we are walking into right now.

“I don’t want to die or put myself in danger, but the unpredictability of the Russian army and drone attacks increases the risk, but I choose to do it because we can’t abandon Ukraine and its people.”

Eddie, 59, from Liverpool, who has delivered aid to Ukraine in his van about eleven times, said: “None of us are walking around like Mother Teresa, Bod Geldof or Superman – I’m driving a black Transit van – but you do your bit,” the retired rail worker said.

“You see very few British aid workers over here now.”

Contacts between Moscow and Washington are becoming more active, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Embassies and diplomats have intensified contacts, she said on Thursday.

The countries have been working to rebuild broken ties since US president Donald Trump reentered the White House in January.

Russian president Vladimir Putin may have an international phone call later on Thursday, the Kremlin said.

It comes as Donald Trump awaits word from his Russian counterpart on whether he will agree to the 30-day truce agreed between Washington and Kyiv on Tuesday, which Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he would accept as a first step towards peace talks.

Sweden has committed more than 1.4 billion Swedish crowns ($137.7 million) to Ukraine for reconstruction and development, the country’s international development minister said.

“Support for Ukraine is a matter of solidarity, but also of Sweden’s security,” Benjamin Dousa told a press conference on Thursday when announcing the package.

“The last few weeks have not been easy. It has never been clearer that we can no longer take the world’s support for Ukraine for granted,” he added.

It is unclear what was included in that letter but former, senior British officials with a focus on Russia have suggested to The Independent that Moscow will try to extract maximal demands from Washington in exchange for a ceasefire.

They say it will likely include calling for Ukraine to disarm and for it to be barred from joining NATO or the European Union, tantamount to making Ukraine a “non-country”.

A proposed ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia would only give breathing space for Ukrainian forces, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov claimed on Thursday.

“I have stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more,” Ushakov said in a TV interview, adding that Russia was looking or a long-term settlement which took its interests and concerns into account.

The aide said he had set out Russia’s position during talks with US national security advisor Mike Waltz on Wednesday.

“It seems to me that no one needs any steps that (merely) imitate peaceful actions in this situation,” he said.

Ushakov’s comments cast doubt on whether Russian president Vladimir Putin will accept the proposed 30-day ceasefire in its current form, ahead of an in-person meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff.

Political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

A failure to secure peace in Ukraine would allow Vladimir Putin to maintain a “choke hold” on Europe’s future, Sir Keir Starmer has warned.

Giving a speech in Hull, the prime minister said: “I profoundly believe that if we don’t secure a just peace and a lasting peace, then that insecurity, which we’ve already felt, will continue.

“And that means, here, higher prices, higher bills, the cost-of-living crisis going on for even longer – if you like, a choke hold on our future, which will be much, much harder for us to tackle.

“We know some basics: Putin’s appetite for conflict and for chaos is already there, and it will only grow.

“And Russia is already menacing our skies, our waters, our streets and our national security.”

In an attempt to divert Russian forces from the brutal frontlines in eastern Ukraine – and embarrass Vladimir Putin – Ukraine smashed across the border into the Kursk region in August, the biggest attack on Russian territory since the Nazi invasion of 1941.

Putin visited the western region for the first time since its seizure on Wednesday, in a sign of the confidence Moscow has that they will retake complete control of the region.

Read why Russia’s recapture of Kursk matters to Ukraine: