Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin says ‘ready for peace talks’ after Kyiv’s attacks on refineries

Vladimir Putin said he was ready for peace talks with Ukraine days after Ukraine’s renewed assault on Russian oil infrastructure sparked fuel shortages. Calling the Ukrainian strikes a ploy to "destabilise society", the president said: “Russia, however, as has been stated repeatedly, is ready for peace negotiations with Ukraine. It is ready to proceed on the basis of the agreements reached back in Istanbul, agreements which, I would remind you, were initiated at the time by the Ukrainian delegation.” The remarks came after Ukraine’s UN envoy, Andrii Melnyk, warned that Kyiv could reconsider its current ceasefire proposal if there was no meaningful international push to end the war, saying “our patience is not endless”. Meanwhile, a Trump cabinet member reportedly described Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as “the special-needs child for the Europeans”, according to a new book released on Tuesday. Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump recounts a meeting to discuss a proposed minerals deal with Ukraine where US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent is quoted as saying: “I’ve dealt with this little f*****. He’s tricky. He’s like the special-needs child for the Europeans. And he’s acting like Mr Bean on crack.”Crimean city tightens limits on public life and orders early shutdown The city of Sevastopol in Russian-controlled Crimea said it had restricted the operating hours of public transport, shops, cafes and street lights, and had also banned mass outdoor activities, in addition to previously announced fuel sale limits. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, announced on Monday evening "enforced temporary measures", including the closure of public transport at 10pm, and of large shops and cafes at 8pm. "On the street lights, I think that's the right thing to do, the protection of the city comes first," she said. Russia's gasoline output ‌last week was down about 25 per cent from the ⁠daily average in June 2025, industry sources said. According to LSEG data and market ⁠sources, its seaborne oil product exports were down about 15 per cent in the first half of June compared to the first half ‌of May, due to ​unplanned refinery maintenance after repeated drone attacks. Last week, four ‌industry sources said Russia was set to ​import fuel by sea in June as it seeks to manage the gasoline shortage. Arpan Rai24 June 2026 06:11 Arpan Rai24 June 2026 05:59Russia says US hasn't followed through on Trump-Putin 'understandings' Russia has accused the United States of failing to deliver on "understandings" reached between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald ​Trump at a summit in Alaska last August, a shift that suggests growing frustration in Moscow. In the space of three days, three ‌senior Russian officials have said, without providing specifics, that Washington has not followed through. On Tuesday, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov suggested that the summit may have been a US "ploy to buy time to rearm the Kyiv ‌regime". Lavrov's ⁠deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, also accused the US of departing from the "fundamental understandings" reached in Alaska, according to Interfax. It quoted him as saying, however, that dialogue with the US would continue. “We also see Washington’s line moving closer to the most rabid anti-Russian policies pursued by the US’s closest European allies namely, the – UK and France," another agency, RIA, quoted Ryabkov as saying, referring to last week's G7 summit in France. Arpan Rai24 June 2026 05:32‘You’re an idiot’: Trump enjoyed ‘sport’ of watching Bessent tear into Lutnick right in front of him, book reveals President Trump “enjoyed the sport” of watching Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick clash in front of him, a new book claims. Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump recounts a meeting to discuss a proposed minerals deal with Ukraine, ultimately announced in May last year. “I’m not a big fan of Ukraine,” Trump said, according to authors and New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. “Except their women. They keep winning Miss Universe.” Lutnick reportedly went on to tell the president Bessent had “screwed up” the deal with the war-torn European ally. In response, Bessent is said to have looked at Lutnick’s own proposal and told him: “This is a s****y deal. You’re an idiot”. Arpan Rai24 June 2026 05:12Putin says 'ready for peace talks' after Kyiv’s attacks on refinery Russian president Vladimir Putin has said he is ready for peace talks with Ukraine, just days after strikes on its infrastructure led to fuel shortages. Putin said the strikes from Ukraine are a ploy to "destabilise society" as Ukraine’s attacks on oil refineries have doubled since the start of this year, with one of the biggest attacks on Moscow’s oil refinery last week since the war began. “Russia, however, as has been stated repeatedly, is ready for peace negotiations with Ukraine. It is ready to proceed on the basis of the agreements reached back in Istanbul, agreements which, I would remind you, were initiated at the time by the Ukrainian delegation,” Putin said yesterday. “That means they were satisfied with them. And I see no grounds for us to depart from those agreements,” the Russian president said. “Strikes against civilian infrastructure - what are they aimed at? To destabilise society, amid such a massive onslaught, when the entire West is working for them and these drones are coming in huge numbers, to create a sense of uncertainty about the actions of the Russian armed forces,” Putin said. Russia's president Vladimir Putin hosts a ceremony to award the presidential regiment of the federal guard service with the Order of Zhukov at the Kremlin in Moscow (AFP/Getty) Arpan Rai24 June 2026 04:44Ukraine submits updated bid for OECD membership, Zelensky says Ukraine has submitted a revised application to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a club of mostly advanced economies, president Volodymyr Zelensky said as Kyiv pursues closer integration with Western institutions. Ukraine has been working with the OECD on reforms and governance standards for several years and is now ⁠seeking candidate-country status as a ​step ⁠towards full membership. Zelensky, after meeting with Mathias Cormann, OECD's Secretary-General, on his visit to Kyiv, said in a Telegram post that prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko has submitted the updated bid. “We hope to obtain candidate country status as early as this autumn. The next stage ‌will be a roadmap toward ‌OECD membership. We discussed this during our meeting," Zelensky wrote. Arpan Rai24 June 2026 04:42Sevastopol without power after Ukrainian strikes Power was cut off in Sevastopol in Russia-annexed Crimea ⁠after ​Ukraine attacked ⁠energy facilities there, Mikhail Razvozhayev, ⁠the city's governor, ⁠said on ‌Telegram this morning. The defence systems downed nine drones over the city, Crimea's biggest, he said earlier on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Russian shelling of the eastern Ukrainian city of Balakliia killed one person on Wednesday, local authorities said on Telegram. Arpan Rai24 June 2026 04:18Recap: Nato must be ready for wars fought by AI-controlled drones, warns top general Nato is preparing for future wars fought by thousands of drones controlled by AI, according to a top Nato general. Major-General Constantin-Adrian Ciolponea, who represents the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) in Europe, told The Times that the military alliance must adapt to the new technology. “The next stage of evolution for drones will be swarm-type attacks when you don't have one or two, ten or twenty — you have thousands of drones commanded from a single point, whether that is a human or just a ’mother’ drone,” the special forces officer told the outlet. “Nations without this type of [swarm] technology will be forced to join a security organisation or to accept the conditions of an aggressor,” he warned. Rebecca Whittaker24 June 2026 03:00 Rebecca Whittaker24 June 2026 02:00Ukraine says it hit a railway bridge to Crimea, seeking to isolate the Russian-held peninsula Ukraine said Tuesday its forces struck a railway bridge, a power plant and other key infrastructure targets in Crimea as Kyiv’s military authorities seek to isolate the vital Russian-held peninsula in the latest stage of the 4-year-old war. The drone attacks added to the woes on the Black Sea peninsula, where Russian authorities have had to suspend gasoline sales to civilians as Ukraine has intensified its recent campaign to disrupt supply lines and the electrical grid at the height of the summer tourist season. Rebecca Whittaker24 June 2026 01:00