Ukraine war latest: Putin holds press conference as US pushes 30-day ceasefire

US special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin behind closed doors tonight, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov has said.

“The meeting between Whitkoff and President Vladimir Putin will begin this evening in a closed format,” Russian newspaper Izvestia reported, citing Ushakov.

Ushakov earlier warned that the 30-day ceasefire deal which the US wants Russia to support is unlikely to be acceptable to Moscow in its current form.

Tactical nuclear arms have been deployed in Belarus to protect Russian security, president Vladimir Putin said in a press conference on Thursday.

Speaking next to Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said: “We discussed in detail forming a common defence space.

“In Belarus, a joint regional group of forces has been deployed and modern defensive and tactical nuclear arms have been deployed.”

He reflected on his meeting with the Belarusian president in his opening remarks.

Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko are holding a press conference.

The pair, who are in the Kremlin, have just signed a bilateral agreement on cooperation in the field of intellectual property.

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The Kremlin does not expect president Vladimir Putin to speak with his US counterpart Donald Trump on Thursday, foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said.

No agreement has been made on when the pair may hold a phone call, Interfax news agency cited Ushakov as saying.

Kyiv has received its first tranche of 2.5 billion Canadian dollars ($1.7 billion) under a G7 scheme which will see loans repaid using profits from frozen Russian assets, Ukraine’s Finance Ministry announced.

The G7’s Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) initiative will see around $50 billion in loans paid to Ukraine, and Canada’s contribution will be $3.5 billion.

“Canada is a reliable and steadfast partner of Ukraine. I am grateful for the support of the ERA mechanism. It is a fair and necessary tool to hold Russia financially accountable for its crimes in Ukraine,” Ukrainian finance minister Serhii Marchenko said.

Foreign ministers have sought to demonstrate a united front in their Canada summit, amid rising tensions between the US and its allies over foreign policy.

Ministers from the G7 convened in the remote tourist town of La Malbaie in the hills of Quebec, for two days of meetings.

Historically, the group have been broadly consensual on the issues they have discussed. But with the Trump administration’s upending of foreign policy – and unwillingness to show unconditional support for Ukraine – the meeting is taking place against a very different backdrop.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio is set to debrief the ministers on Tuesday’s talks with Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Kyiv said it was ready to support a 30-day ceasefire deal.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff is in Moscow for talks with Russian officials about the Ukraine war, a source briefed on the matter confirmed on Thursday.

The source did not have details of Mr Witkoff’s itinerary, but he will he seeking Russian support for the ceasefire initiative agreed between the US and Ukraine.

Earlier, online flight radar sites showed the private plane supposedly carrying Mr Witkoff landing in Moscow after travelling from Doha.

Footage has shown the moment one of Vladimir Putin’s key aides in peace negotiations with the US says they do not plan to accept a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire.

Asked by a Russian state media reporter if they would reject the deal, Yuri Ushakov, one of Russia’s representatives in peace negotiations with the US, said: “These kinds of steps, which only mimic peace efforts, are useless to everyone.”