Donald Trump has said a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine could be “next” after he held talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky separately.
Trump was speaking immediately after announcing that he had signed a memorandum to bring an end to the Iran war.
Trump said he had “good conversations” with Putin and Zelensky on Sunday and that both leaders are open to “do something” about bringing an end to the war.
He made the remarks alongside French president Emmanuel Macron as he arrived in Evian-les-Bains in France for talks with G7 leaders.
The summit comes as Russian advances in Ukraine have slowed and Ukraine seeks more military funding from its allies, amid a barrage of attacks on Kyiv.
Meanwhile, a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber plane crashed in Siberia’s Irkutsk region during a training flight, the Russian defence ministry said.
The nuclear-capable Tu-22 is a Soviet-era supersonic bomber that Russia has since used for combat missions in Syria and Ukraine.
Drone debris causes fire at oil depot in Russia’s Krasnodar region near Crimea
Drone debris caused a fire at an oil depot in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, authorities said this morning, as they closed a local road connecting the damaged area to the Crimean peninsula.
The bridge is one of the supply routes to the Black Sea peninsula in addition to a few other roads from the nearby Russia-held areas of Ukraine.
There were no casualties following the fire at the oil depot, located in the Poltavskaya area of the region of Krasnodar, just across from Crimea, regional officials said.
Authorities said they closed a local road connecting the area with a regional route leading to the bridge across the Kerch Strait linking Crimea to the Krasnodar region, built by Moscow after illegally annexing the peninsula.
The attack could deal a serious blow to the population in Crimea which is already facing a massive fuel shortage amid rising drone attacks on fuel and oil facilities.
Starmer to unveil fresh sanctions on Russian shadow fleet vessels
Sir Keir Starmer is set to unveil a fresh package of sanctions on Russian shadow fleet vessels as part of an attempt to choke Vladimir Putin’s war effort, whilst bolstering Ukraine’s nuclear power infrastructure with a £210m export finance package.
The prime minister, who set out the plans as he arrived in France for the G7 summit, warned that Putin’s “aggression threatens not just Ukraine, but the security of all Europe”.
It comes after the British armed forces intercepted a Russian shadow fleet vessel in the Channel early on Sunday during a six-hour operation – the first UK-led operation of its kind.
Speaking on Tuesday, Sir Keir said: “The UK is stepping up – choking off the revenues that fuel Putin’s war and powering Ukraine through the winters ahead.
Starmer to unveil new sanctions on Russian vessels and support for Ukrainian energy
The prime minister, who set out the plans as he arrived in France for the G7 summit, warned that Putin’s ‘aggression threatens not just Ukraine, but the security of all Europe’Arpan Rai16 June 2026 04:55
UK announces more nuclear fuel for Ukraine at G7 talks
Britain is set to supply more nuclear fuel to Ukraine in renewed support for the war-hit nation and also ramp up sanctions against Russia, prime minister Keir Starmer will announce at a meeting with G7 leaders in France today.
As part of an effort to show support for Ukraine remains steadfast, the UK will now provide £210 million of UK Export Finance to power Ukraine’s nuclear plants for the next two years as part of a package which will enable UK-based Urenco to supply enriched uranium to Ukraine’s nuclear power producer, Energoatom – which provides more than half of the country’s electricity.
It was agreed last week at a meeting in Downing Street between Sir Keir and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
The agreement also supports UK jobs and exports, the government said, with more than a third of the uranium content originating from Urenco’s processing plant in the North-West of England.
Zelensky says he is ready to meet Putin in the US
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has offered to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after he met with Donald Trump and European leaders at the G7 gathering in France yesterday.
“Yesterday (Sunday), we discussed with President Trump that such a meeting could be organised in the US, in a format where Putin would find it much harder to refuse,” Zelensky said in a video address posted on X.
“We will see what comes of it. If Russia refuses this chance as well, additional pressure will be needed.”
A Ukrainian official familiar with the matter said the Kremlin has not replied to Zelensky’s proposal. The Kremlin has said repeatedly that if Zelensky wants to meet Putin, he can come to Moscow.
Earlier, Zelensky said he offered to meet Putin during the G7, but that Moscow had “once again demonstrated that it is not ready to speak about this.”
Putin is wanted by the ICC on a warrant dating to March 2023 for alleged involvement in the abduction of children from Ukraine during the conflict. France would be obliged as an ICC member to arrest him. The United States and Russia both oppose the court.
Russian bank chief who threatened to quit over Ukraine war ‘vanishes’
The head of Russia’s central bank, Elvira Nabiullina, who warned president Vladimir Putin that she would exit the top role if he continues to escalate the war in Ukraine, has not been seen in public for almost three weeks.
Nabiullina had been tasked with protecting the Russian economy at a time when it has invaded Ukraine and poured much of its resources into the war.
The former Russian economy minister and a close adviser to the Kremlin has been in her position since 2013.
She was last seen in public at the end of May, and reportedly missed the key economic forum in St Petersburg where Putin attempted to project financial stability and strength in his bid to shore up investments.
Nabiullina also did not appear at a meeting chaired by Putin on inflation and interest rates.
However, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rubbished reports of her being “missing” and said it is not a cause for “conspiracy theories”. “People get sick sometimes,” he added.
This was backed up by the central bank, which announced Nabiullina was on sick leave but will make an appearance at a press conference on 19 June following a Board of Directors meeting on Russia’s monetary policy.
UK charges captain of Russian shadow fleet tanker with sanctions breach
The captain of a Russian shadow fleet vessel intercepted by British commandos was charged with contravening sanctions, Britain’s National Crime Agency announced.
Ajay Pant, an Indian national, was charged with “directly or indirectly supplying or delivering by ship prohibited oil/oil products from Russia to a third country…,” the agency said.
Pant is set to appear at the Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, the agency added.
British commandos on Sunday boarded and intercepted Smyrtos, a sanctioned Russian oil tanker sailing under a Cameroonian flag, in the English Channel. The tanker has been detained.
The UK has sanctioned almost 600 Russian shadow fleet vessels. Russia’s oil revenue helps fund its war in Ukraine.
‘Like bombing Notre-Dame’: The 1,000-year-old Ukraine monastery damaged in Russia’s latest strike
A 1,000-year-old monastery that symbolises Ukraine’s spiritual and cultural heritage was badly damaged in the heaviest Russian aerial attack on Kyiv in two weeks, authorities said on Monday, while 10 people were killed nationwide in the overnight strikes.
France’s foreign minister said the attack on the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, a Unesco world heritage site founded in 1051, was akin to bombing Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris.
The Russian strikes came after Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he had discussed with US president Donald Trump efforts to secure an end to the conflict, ahead of a G7 meeting in France this week.
“A Russian strike on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra set the Dormition Cathedral on fire – a church whose history dates back to the 11th century. And this is one of Russia’s most serious crimes against Christian culture to date,” Mr Zelensky said on X.
Read more here:
‘Like bombing Notre Dame’: The Ukraine monastery damaged in Russia’s latest strike
The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery was set alight on Monday during a Russian attack, Ukrainian authorities saidAlex Croft16 June 2026 04:00
Trump’s former Ukraine envoy says Putin’s attack on monastery ‘makes no sense’
The former US special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has condemned the Russian attack on Kyiv’s monastery and said it is like the bombing of St Paul’s Cathedral in 1940 by Nazi Germany.
“This attack tonight on the Monastery by the Russians in Kyiv makes no sense. It has a parallel with the bombing of London’s St. Paul’s in 1940 by the Germans. It won’t work,” Kellogg said on X.
He added: “Someone tell me the military necessity of the Russian attack. There is none.”
Metropolitan Epifaniy calls out ‘anti-Christ’ Putin after attack on Kyiv monastery
The head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has condemned Russia’s attack on a major cathedral in Kyiv, calling Vladimir Putin the “Kremlin Antichrist”.
“Due to the Russian shelling that is currently taking place, on the night of 15 June, the roof of one of the holiest places in the Christian world – the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra – is burning,” Metropolitan Epifaniy said on X, calling the attack “another Russian crime against humanity, against history and against Christianity”.
“What more must the Kremlin Antichrist do for the world to realize that decisive action must be taken so that the Russian terror against Ukraine and the very principles of peace comes to an end?” he asked.
Bridges connecting Russia-occupied Kherson region with Crimea hit by attack
At least two bridges connecting the Russian-held part of Ukraine’s Kherson region with Crimea were damaged and traffic suspended by an overnight drone attack by Ukraine, the Russian-installed governor Vladimir Saldo said on Telegram this morning.
The bridge was one of the few connectivity options for Russian forces to supply their troops with manpower and ammunition. It is not yet clear how badly Russia’s military operations in Ukraine’s east will be impacted due to the attack.
The illegally-annexed Crimea peninsula has faced a fuel supply crisis after intensifying attacks.
Alex Croft16 June 2026 01:01NewerOlder