Russian officials meeting with their American counterparts to discuss the future of Ukraine can rationally expect to get pretty much everything they want from “peace talks” in Saudi Arabia.

They hope to emerge with a deal that cedes at least 20 per cent of Ukraine to Moscow, turns Ukraine into a neutral state with no Nato membership, and that a toothless multinational force will patrol Ukraine’s new borders with Russia.

It is almost certain a Trump-Putin deal would be rejected by Ukraine and its allies. So they will have to take over future negotiations and threaten to put troops into Ukraine.

World affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:

US President Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, telling a conference in Florida that the Ukrainian leader done a terrible job and could have come to talks with Russia in Saudi Arabia if he had wanted to.

Trump said he hoped for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine soon.

Failing to build up Europe’s military would result in “the stuff of nightmares”, the former head of MI6 has said.

Sir Alex Younger told the BBC’s Newsnight programme that Donald Trump’s actions over Ukraine should be a “wake-up call” for Europe.

He said: “The Russian army has performed risibly, it’s not going to march into Warsaw tomorrow, but nor should we obscure the fact that this will be hugely emboldening and over time they will build up their capabilities.

“The reason we don’t need to be that worried is we are 10 times richer as European Nato than Russia.

“We absolutely have the capability to build up the necessary military forces to restore this but if we don’t do that, then yes, this is the stuff of nightmares.”

Donald Trump’s comments about Volodymyr Zelensky will be “emboldening” for Vladimir Putin, the former head of MI6 has said.

Sir Alex Younger, who led MI6 between 2014 and 2020, described Mr Trump’s comments as “unfortunate”.

He told the BBC’s Newsnight programme: “This will be emboldening for Putin.

“I don’t know whether Donald Trump buys the Russian line, but I think the Russians probably think he does and I think that significantly diminishes his leverage.

“I saw this happen in Afghanistan where he gave away the biggest concessions before we even started. It’s a strange art of the deal, honestly.”

In an unearthed post from US secretary of state Marco Rubio from soon after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he says Putin will only agree to a ceasefire if he sees strategic benefit.

“Many in the West still don’t understand that #Putin is an expert liar,” Mr Rubio wrote.

“He doesn’t care about ‘humanitarian’ relief, if in fact there is a ‘ceasefire’ it’s because he sees some strategic or tactical benefit.

“And beware of attacks on refugees #Russia blames on #Ukraine or NATO.”

Here are the key points from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s press conference held in Kyiv:

• Donald Trump is living in a “disinformation space” sowed by Russia. Mr Zelensky said this in response to Trump’s claim that the Ukrainian president’s approval rating was as low as four per cent.
• The US has “helped Putin to come out of isolation” by holding talks with Russian officials and being more open to Moscow’s demands. But the isolation imposed on Russia by the international community was “completely fair”.
• The Trump administration’s demand for $500 billion in minerals from Ukraine as payment for US support of Kyiv is “not serious”. The US supplied his country with $67 billion in weapons and $31.5 billion in budget support, he added.
• You cannot “whitewash” Russia’s responsibility for the war, he said, hitting back at Trump’s claim that Ukraine was responsible for war breaking out.
• A deal is “impossible without us”, Mr Zelensky said. He described the Ukrainian military as the strongest and most resilient in Europe.

European Union envoys have approved a new raft of sanctions against Russia, with the measures set to enter into force next week on the third anniversary of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a top EU official and diplomats confirmed on Wednesday.

The move comes with the Europeans sidelined from U.S.-led talks to end the war.

The EU has slapped several rounds of sanctions on Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine in February 24, 2022. More than 2,300 officials and entities – usually government agencies, banks and organizations – have been hit.

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US secretary of state Marco Rubio repeatedly referred to the need to normalise relations, end the conflict in Ukraine and then look towards the “extraordinary opportunities” for commerce with Russia but also in geopolitical efforts.

The latter was clearly a signal that the US was hoping to prise Russia away from Chinese influence and bring closer into the western sphere over the long term.

“I think the key really in all of this is ultimately going to be whether an agreement can be reached with all parties involved on an acceptable resolution to the conflict in Ukraine … We have to get the Ukraine situation resolved first,” Mr Rubio said.