Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump and US ‘pushing for peace deal next month’ in wake of Putin general shooting

t is pre-dawn in the historic Podil district of the Ukraine capital, Kyiv, and warm light from the Spelta bakery-bistro’s window pierces the darkness outside. On a wooden surface dusted with flour, the baker Oleksandr Kutsenko skilfully divides and shapes soft, damp pieces of dough. As he shoves the first loaves into the oven, a sweet, delicate aroma of fresh bread fills the space.

Seconds later the lights go out, the ovens switch off and darkness envelops the room. Kutsenko, 31, steps outside into the freezing night, switches on a large rectangular generator and the power kicks back in. It’s a pattern that will be repeated many times as the business struggles to keep working through the power outages caused by Russia’s bombing campaign on Ukraine’s energy grid.

“It’s now more than impossible to imagine a Ukrainian business operating without a generator,” said Olha Hrynchuk, the co-founder and head baker of Spelta.

Ukraine struck Russia’s Bryansk Oblast with Neptune missiles and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, targeting energy infrastructure, governor Alexander Bogomaz said.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked our region using long-range Neptune missiles and HIMARS multiple rocket launcher systems,” Bogomaz said.

“As a result of the attack, power supply was disrupted in seven municipalities. Special and emergency teams are working to restore power supply.”

A treaty that prevented the US and Russia from expanding their nuclear weapons arsenals expired on Thursday, dismantling a major guardrail against a renewed arms race between the rival powers.

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, commonly known as New START, required the two countries to restrict their nuclear warheads to 1,550 and missiles and bombers capable of delivering them to 700. These included weapons deployed and ready for use.

The US and Russia together hold nearly 85 per cent of the world’s strategic nuclear weapons and the expiration of the treaty, signed in 2010, threatens to launch the kind of unconstrained arms race that defined the Cold War. It may also prompt other nuclear and nuclear-adjacent nations to expand their arsenals at the very moment the world is engulfed in a series of escalating conflicts and trigger-point tensions.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban declared Ukraine an “enemy” of Hungary at an anti-war rally.

Orban said Ukraine was persistently lobbying Brussels to sever Hungary’s access to Russian energy, which he warned would drive up household utility bills across the country.

“Anyone who says such a thing is an enemy of Hungary, so Ukraine is our enemy,” Orban said.

His comments followed the Council of the EU’s decision to approve a ban on Russian gas purchases from 2027 — a move Hungary and Slovakia have challenged at the European Court of Justice.

The United States has issued a June deadline for Ukraine and Russia to finalise a peace agreement, aiming to conclude the nearly four-year conflict, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed.

Should this deadline not be met, the Trump administration is expected to intensify pressure on both parties to secure a resolution.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, in comments embargoed until Saturday morning, Mr Zelensky stated: “The Americans are proposing the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this schedule.”

The news comes weeks after the UK supported a US operation to seize a Russian-flagged tanker in the North Atlantic.

Chinese scientists have developed a compact ultra-powerful energy generator, paving the way for next-generation weapons that could one day be turned on satellite swarms like SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.

High-power microwave weapons have gained traction in recent years as a low-cost alternative to missiles and guns due to their near-unlimited firing capacity.

Researchers in the US, Russia, and China in particular have all been investigating whether the technology could be developed into directed-energy weapons that can disrupt satellites.

Vishwam Sankaran reports:

The United States is aiming to secure a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine as early as next month, according to new reports.

Ukrainian negotiators and US officials discussed the ambitious target during discussions in Abu Dhabi this week, three sources told Reuters.

However, the timeline is likely to be delayed as both sides disagree on the key issue of territory, the report continued.

President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters that the Americans “want to do everything by June” in comments on Friday that were embargoed until Saturday morning.

“The Americans are proposing the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this schedule,” he said.

“And they say that they want to do everything by June. And they will do everything to end the war. And they want a clear schedule of all events.”