Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin makes new demand to Trump over potential ceasefire

Russia has demanded sanctions relief from the mediating United States as part of its talks around an anticipated energy ceasefire with Ukraine, US and Ukrainian officials told the Kyiv Independent.

While the Kremlin publicly has done little to suggest openness to a deal on not targeting crucial energy infrastructure ahead of the cold winter months, the officials said that in private, Russian officials have signalled willingness to engage.

But Moscow would only be consider the deal if the US makes certain concessions, including sanctions relief, three people familiar with the discussions told the Ukrainian outlet.

It was unclear whether Washington would engage with the demands. But Ukrainian officials said US president Donald Trump was keen to show progress towards ending the war before the November midterm elections.

Meanwhile on Friday, Ukraine struck and partly disabled a major data centre operated by Russian tech company Yandex in the second such action in successive days, widening the scope of its attacks in Russia after Moscow hit data hubs in Ukraine.

Yandex, which is heavily involved in Russia's AI development and is sometimes called Russia's Google, said its data centre in the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow had been struck by Ukrainian drones and partly put out of action.

Ukrainian arms maker Firepoint said Kyiv had used its FP-1 one-way attack drones to mount the strike against what it called Yandex's biggest data centre and said that several of its modules had been completely knocked out of action.

A day earlier, a Ukrainian attack shut down Yandex's data hub in Sasovo, southeast of Moscow, where two of the three supercomputers used to develop the company's AI model are housed.

Mexico is investigating claims that members of drug cartels have travelled overseas to fight as mercenaries in the Ukrainian army. It comes after unverified footage emerged on social media appearing to show a mercenary chanting slogans used by the gangs while armed for combat in Ukraine. President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the government “are reviewing the case, first to determine whether the video is authentic and, second, to see how these individuals ended up in that location.”

A Ukrainian delegation arrived in Miami on Friday for negotiations with the US team relating to Russia's invasion, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. European representatives, whom President Volodymyr Zelensky said would join talks, are also present, the person added.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia proposed a European Union ban on Friday on Russian grain exports through the bloc in a letter addressed to European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The Baltic states are seeking to end shipments of Russian grain through their ports after Moscow stepped up the transits in response to attacks by Ukraine on its Black Sea ports, with Estonia last week announcing the first ban.

A Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has triggered widespread power outages across Kyiv, leaving large parts of the capital without electricity and disrupting water supplies and public transport. The strikes on Thursday hit a key energy facility supplying the city, which is home to more than three million people. “There was an attack on one of the energy facilities important for the city of Kyiv,” energy minister Denys Shmyhal said. “Energy workers are doing everything possible to restore electricity as quickly as possible.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Thursday that Russia agreed with US secretary of state Marco Rubio that the Ukraine conflict was in a stalemate. “Yes, we agree with him,” Russian news agencies quoted Peskov as saying on the sidelines of a meeting of leaders of ex-Soviet states in Turkmenistan. He restated the Kremlin's position that Russia wanted an overall solution to the conflict and was not interested in temporary measures, like a limited ceasefire.