Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky claims there is ‘toxic atmosphere’ in Putin’s inner circle after battlefield failures

The Kremlin said on Thursday that it was not overly optimistic about the prospects of a quick deal to end the conflict in Ukraine following a meeting between Russian and U.S. officials in Manila.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed Ukraine on the sidelines of an ASEAN gathering on Thursday, with Rubio saying that Washington remains prepared to play a “constructive role” in finding a solution to the war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he hoped U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would come to Moscow when they are available, and that Russia would continue dialogue with the U.S.

Washington’s efforts on Ukraine peace have largely stalled as it has become distracted by its war in Iran.

The Kremlin on Thursday declined to comment on a Reuters report that U.S. intelligence analysts were investigating possible Russian assistance in Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities in the Gulf.

Four people familiar with U.S. intelligence told Reuters that the officials had not yet reached firm conclusions about the possible Russian involvement in the attacks on CIA facilities. But they cited the strikes’ effectiveness and apparent precision, as well as Russia’s broader technical support for Iran, as possible evidence.

In the span of a single week, the dismissal of a Ukrainian defense minister set in motion a transformation of the country’s armed forces that replaced the old guard with a new generation of leadership.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to fire his popular defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, triggered days of public protest that quickly shifted toward the country’s commander-in-chief and highlighted the growing rift over the future of Ukraine’s military.

Demonstrators denounced the commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, and overwhelmingly rallied behind the departed defense minister, who has emerged as one of the country’s most influential wartime reformers with support from Ukrainians hungry for change. Protesters demanded his reinstatement. Fedorov’s dismissal followed months of increasingly bitter disagreements between the two men.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said he and his US counterpart Marco Rubio discussed the Ukraine conflict and the normalisation of US-Russia relations in a meeting in Manila on Thursday.

Lavrov “reaffirmed Russia’s readiness for a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict,” the ministry’s statement said, and told Rubio that Moscow remained committed to proposals put forward by Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at their August 2025 meeting in Alaska.

The two men, who met on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum, agreed to continue contacts, the Russian statement said.

Two people were killed including a three-year-old child in separate overnight Ukrainian attacks on a southern Russian city and on the Russian-controlled peninsula of Crimea, authorities said on Thursday.

Crimean governor Sergei Aksyonov said one person died on the peninsula and four more were injured, including two children.

Falling drone debris sparked a fire at the home of a three-year-old boy in the city of Voronezh, some 500 kilometres (310 miles) south of Moscow, killing him, the regional governor Alexander Gusev said.

A 19-year-old man sustained minor injuries in the attack, which also damaged the roof of a warehouse belonging to an online marketplace and other buildings.

Marco Rubio says “we want a peace deal on Ukraine” after his talks with his Russian counterpart in Manila.

The US Secretary of State says such a deal will require a lot of work, as Russia is still reportedly refusing to give up land with Ukraine buoyed by momentum in long-range strikes.

Rubio goes on to say that Iran is probably not ready to make a peace deal with the US, but may soon.

The US has pulled back from mediating the Ukraine war since its attacks on Iran in February.

Russia’s veteran foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told his US counterpart that it was “unacceptable” for deliveries of arms to the “Kyiv regime” to continue.

Lavrov met with secretary of state Marco Rubio in Manila for around 30 minutes on Thursday to discuss the war in Ukraine.

The Russian foreign ministry said that Lavrov “emphasised that it was unacceptable to continue arms deliveries to the Kyiv regime”.

He also slammed “a destabilising policy by European countries that are always seeking to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia”.

The Ukrainian president wrote that Ukraine’s buoyed confidence on the battlefield is “creating a new atmosphere” around his Russian counterpart, with allies losing faith in Putin’s ability to continue to prosecute the four-year conflict.

EU ambassadors have reached a political agreement on the 21st sanctions package against Russia, four EU diplomats said on Thursday.

Two EU diplomats said the package includes a 12-month freeze on the Russian oil price cap, as well as a one-year exemption allowing the transfer of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to third countries, with automatic renewal.

“Member states showed solidarity with Greece and it’s expected that Greece will do the same with others in the future,” one EU diplomat said.

The technical work on the sanctions package will now be concluded and a written procedure for adoption will be launched on Thursday afternoon.