1+ min ago (272+ words) Poland's foreign minister Rados'aw Sikorski has warned that secret U.S.Russia talks over a possible Ukraine deal were "like Nord Stream, but times a hundred." Nord Stream was a Russia-Germany gas pipeline project that bypassed countries, including Poland and Ukraine, deprived them of transit fees, and gave Moscow leverage over its neighbors." Sikorski's comments"followed a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report that revealed back-channel talks that could see Ukraine pressured into surrendering territory in exchange for vast U.S. corporate access to Russia." According to the WSJ report, the negotiations involved U.S. Special Presidential Envoy and real-estate developer Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Vladimir Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who explored ways to revive Russia's economy by steering lucrative contracts in rare earth minerals and energy toward U.S. firms." Sikorski told Polish news channel TVN24 on Saturday that Poland would neither participate in nor…...

2+ hour, 22+ min ago (602+ words) Putin's latest statements show just how warped the Russian worldview is. He now claims "peace" means Ukrainians withdrawing from the territories that belong to Ukraine, while the invading army stays exactly where it is. In what universe does the aggressor stay and the victim leaves? This isn't diplomacy, it's colonialism pretending to negotiate. This is why statements like this should never be treated as legitimate diplomatic positions or quoted by the media as if they're part of a real negotiation. They are not "peace terms." They are coercive demands from an aggressor who has failed to achieve his goals and is now trying to bluff the world into granting him politically what he couldn't take militarily. The worst-case scenario, Ukraine being "sold out" overnight, simply doesn't fit the real world. Ukrainian society wouldn't accept it. Parliament wouldn't pass it. Europe…...

3+ hour, 6+ min ago (506+ words) Trump has repeatedly pressured Ukraine to accept territorial concessions in exchange for a peace deal with Russia. HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA: US and Ukrainian officials sat down in Florida on Sunday (Nov 30) to discuss outlines of a peace deal with Russia, talks that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he expected to yield progress toward ending the more than 3-year-long war. "It's about creating a pathway forward that leaves Ukraine sovereign, independent and prosperous, and so we expect to make even more progress today," Rubio said in Hallandale Beach, Florida, where the meeting took place. Sunday's discussions follow roughly two weeks of negotiations that began with'a US blueprint for peace that critics said initially favored Russia, which started the Ukraine conflict with a 2022 invasion.' US President Donald Trump has expressed frustration at not being able to end the war. He pledged…...

4+ hour, 5+ min ago (92+ words) The US is expected to be represented by secretary of state Marco Rubio, Witkoff and Kushner. Trump has said that Witkoff and possibly Kushner might travel to Moscow later in the week to meet Russian ... Then $75 per month. Complete digital access to quality FT journalism on any device. Cancel anytime during your trial. Print + Premium Digital Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights, complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition. Check whether you already have access via your university or organisation. Explore our full range of subscriptions....

4+ hour, 51+ min ago (524+ words) The U.S. is keen to finalize Ukraine's position on territorial issues and security guarantees in ongoing talks in Florida. KYIV " Ukrainian and American delegations traded warm words Sunday before heading into a key meeting on how to end Russia's war in Europe, but beneath the surface Kyiv remains concerned the U.S. only has ears for Vladimir Putin. The talks are Ukraine's best chance to lobby Special Representative Steve Witkoff before he heads to Moscow next week for talks with Russian officials including the country's president. "In general, Ukrainians have the impression that the Americans want to bypass[President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy in their consultations with Putin now, agree on something with Putin, and then return to talking with Ukraine," a senior official familiar with the negotiations told POLITICO. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details. The American side wants to…...

6+ hour, 3+ min ago (296+ words) Ukrainian intelligence and partisans blew up Akhmat fighters running a stolen-fuel scheme near occupied Berdyansk, destroying two vehicles and inflicting casualties. Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) eliminated several "Kadyrov's fighters" near occupied Berdyansk in the Zaporizhzhia region, who had been running an illegal fuel-theft business. According to a HUR statement on Telegram, two explosions were recorded on Nov. 29 as a result of a coordinated operation by Ukrainian intelligence and the Resistance Movement. Russian personnel from the so-called "Akhmat" unit suffered losses. "Akhmat" is a combat unit of the Russian National Guard composed largely of Chechen security forces and directly subordinated to Chechnya's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov. Ukrainian partisans discovered that the "Kadyrov's fighters" had organized a "schematosis" involving stolen diesel fuel, selling it at a fixed location along a highway near Berdyansk, HUR reported. After mining the site, Ukrainian forces triggered…...

6+ hour, 38+ min ago (667+ words) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (centre left), flanked by White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr Jared Kushner, during a meeting with Ukrainian officials headed by national security council secretary Rustem Umerov (centre right) in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Published'Dec 01, 2025, 12:19 AM Updated'Dec 01, 2025, 06:34 AM ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE - US President Donald Trump on Nov 30 said there was a "good chance" of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal following the latest US-Ukraine talks in Florida, but cautioned that a corruption scandal roiling Kyiv was not helpful. "Ukraine's got some difficult little problems," he told reporters aboard Air Force One, referring to a corruption probe that recently forced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to sack his chief of staff and top negotiator. "But I think that there's a good chance we can make a deal."Earlier in the day, US and Ukrainian officials held what…...

6+ hour, 41+ min ago (1360+ words) Russia is reshaping cemeteries, memorials and public spaces in occupied Ukraine to impose a Kremlin-made past " glorifying separatist leaders, erasing Holodomor sites and recasting the war as destiny. Russia is systematically remaking the symbolic landscape of occupied Ukrainian territory, tearing down or sidelining Ukrainian memorials while erecting its own monuments that fuse Kyivan Rus, WWII and the modern invasion into a single "Russian" story. Research by historian Yurii Latysh for Novaya Gazeta Europe has shed light on how the new memorials present Russia's war as the latest chapter in a centuries-long struggle for "Russian land" " and as proof that these regions have "always" belonged to Moscow. The scale of altered, dismantled and newly erected monuments across occupied territories is so extensive that a comprehensive listing is no longer possible. In occupied Donetsk, the Kremlin is using newly built memorials to…...

7+ hour, 4+ min ago (1162+ words) On the 15th anniversary of the death of this remarkable woman, so dear to both Poland and Ukraine, her story deserves to be retold. Her father was a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic priest from Austrian-ruled Western Ukraine, and a recently freed Austrian political prisoner. Her mother Olena's brother was Ostap Nyzhankivsky, the celebrated Ukrainian composer. He was shot by the Poles in 1919 during a Polish-Ukrainian war for control over Western Ukraine that ended in a Polish victory." The family were Ukrainian patriots who resented Polish domination. They enrolled Irena and her brother Anatol in Plast, the Ukrainian patriotic scouts' movement." She and her family knew the men who would become legends and demons, depending on who told the story " Stepan Bandera, Roman Shukhevych, figures whose names still ignite debate across Eastern Europe. Preserving the Ukrainian identity meant resistance. Culture was politics, including in…...

8+ hour, 26+ min ago (483+ words) National Security and Defense Council Secretary announced the start of US-Ukraine talks on "steps to achieve a decent peace," but later deleted the post. The Ukrainian delegation has arrived at the Miami meeting site as top negotiators for US President Donald Trump prepare to meet with Ukrainian officials in Florida on Sunday, Nov. 30. "HAPPENING NOW!! The Ukrainian delegation has arrived at the Miami meeting site, kicking off high-stakes talks regarding the situation in Ukraine," Kyiv Post's Chief Correspondent in Washington DC, Alex Raufoglu wrote on X. Earlier, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov on social media announced the start of a meeting between the Ukrainian and American delegations on "steps to achieve a decent peace," but later deleted the post. As per the previous Kyiv Post report, US negotiators are set to meet with Ukrainian officials in Florida on…...