Steve Witkoff arrives in Moscow for further talks with Russia about Ukraine peace plan – Europe live

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A senior Russian military officer has reportedly been killed in a car explosion in a city near Moscow, Reuters reports, citing local media sources. The explosion took place in Balashikha, which is in the Moscow region, to the east of Russia’s capital.

Tass initially reported “the investigative committee opened a case after a car exploded in Balashikha near Moscow; investigators and forensic experts went to the scene” later adding “The cause of the car explosion in Balashikha was an explosive device, emergency services told Tass.”

Tass also reported, citing emergency services, that “the explosive device … was filled with shrapnel.”

Reuters, which has not verified the information, reports that local media named the officer killed as Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the main operations directorate of the general staff of the Russian armed forces.

There was no immediate official confirmation from the authorities of what happened or details about the identity of the reported victim.

More details soon …

Reuters has also published details of another document, which it says are the counterproposals for a deal put forward by Ukrainian and European officials.

These are as follows:

• Commit to a full and unconditional ceasefire in the sky, on land and at sea

• Both sides immediately enter into negotiations on technical implementation with the participation of the US and European countries. This is in parallel to preparation of the agenda and modalities for a full peace deal

• Ceasefire monitoring, led by the US and supported by third countries.

• Russia must unconditionally return all deported and illegally displaced Ukrainian children

• Exchange of all prisoners of war (the principle of “all for all”)

• Russia must release all civilian prisoners

• Ukraine receives robust security guarantees including from the US (Article 5-like agreement), while there is no consensus among Allies on Nato membership

• No restrictions on the Ukrainian Defense Forces

• The guarantor states will be an ad hoc group of European countries and willing non-European countries. No restrictions on the presence, weapons and operations of friendly foreign forces on the territory of Ukraine

• Ukraine pursues accession to the EU

• Territorial issues will be discussed and resolved after a full and unconditional ceasefire

• Territorial negotiations start from the basis of the line of control

• Ukraine regains control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant with US involvement, and also the Kakhovka Dam

• Ukraine enjoys unhindered passages on the Dnipro River and control of the Kinburn Spit

• US and Ukraine implement economic cooperation/minerals agreement

• Ukraine will be fully reconstructed and compensated financially, including through Russian sovereign assets that will remain frozen until Russia compensates damage to Ukraine

• US sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 may be subject to gradual easing after a sustainable peace is achieved and subject to resumption in the event of a breach of the peace agreement

The Guardian has not independently verified the document.

Reuters has published what it says are details of the Russia-Ukraine Deal Framework being proposed by the US.

The news agency says the proposal is described as “the final offer from the United States to both sides”. It goes on to detail the following terms

• Permanent ceasefire

• Both sides immediately engage in technical implementation negotiations

• Ukraine receives robust security guarantee

• Guarantor states will be an ad hoc grouping of European states plus willing non-European states

• Ukraine will not seek to join Nato

• Ukraine may pursue EU membership

• US provides de jure recognition of Russian control of Crimea

• US provides de facto recognition of Russian control of Luhansk

• US provides de facto recognition of Russian-controlled parts of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson

• Ukraine regains territory in Kharkiv oblast

• Ukraine regains control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant through US control and administration of the plant, with electricity distributed to both sides, and also the Kakhovka Dam

• Ukraine enjoys unhindered passage on Dnipro River and control of the Kinburn Spit

• United States and Ukraine will implement economic cooperation/minerals agreement

• Ukraine to be fully reconstructed and compensated financially

• Sanctions on Russia resulting from this conflict since 2014 will be removed

• US-Russian economic cooperation on energy and other industrial sectors

The Guardian has not independently verified the document.

Three dead, 10 injured in Russian drone attack on Ukraine

Witkoff’s visit – second this month and fourth since January – comes after another night of Russian attacks on Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials reported that a Russian drone has struck an apartment building in a southeastern Ukraine city, killing three people and injuring 10 others, AP reported.

Among the civilians killed in the night-time drone strike in Pavlohrad, in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, were a child and a 76-year-old woman, the head of the regional administration, Serhii Lysak, wrote on Telegram.

Russian forces fired 103 Shahed and decoy drones at five Ukrainian regions overnight, Ukraine’s air force reported.

Witkoff arrives in Moscow

And the Interfax news agency has now reported that Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow, where he is expected to meet Vladimir Putin.

Reuters noted that Witkoff has emerged as Washington’s key interlocutor with Putin as Trump pushes for a deal to end the war in Ukraine, and has already held three long meetings with the Kremlin leader.

Morning opening: Witkoff in Moscow

US peace envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow today for further talks with Russia, including president Vladimir Putin, on Donald Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine.

Hoping to get results before Trump’s 100 days in the office next week, Witkoff will have to find a way to convey the sense of the president’s frustration with the Russian attack on Kyiv on Thursday, while hoping to make good progress as Washington tries to put pressure on Kyiv to agree to its proposal.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told CBS News that Russia was “ready to reach a deal, but there are still some specific points … which need to be fine-tuned, and we are busy with this,” as he praised Trump for being “probably the only leader on Earth who recognised the need to address the root causes of this situation.”

But there are still big sticking points, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeatedly refusing to give up on any of the Russian occupied territory including the strategically located Crimea.

On Thursday, he explained that “we do everything that our partners have proposed; only what contradicts our legislation and the constitution we cannot do.”

And the Ukrainian president has powerful allies in European leaders like Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron and in Nato secretary general Mark Rutte, who said on Thursday that it was Moscow, not Kyiv, that needed to move forward in negotiations.

Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson also criticised the proposed deal, saying Ukraine “gets nothing” under the terms offered by Trump – although the US president insisted last night that Russia “stopping the war, stopping taking the whole country” is a “pretty big concession.”

It’s Friday, 25 April 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.