the countries announced on Sunday. A joint statement said talks on a US-backed plan in Geneva, which are now understood to have concluded, were "highly productive". US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there had been a "tremendous amount of progress" on honing the plan, but there was "still some work to be done" before a final agreement could be put to Russia. The plan's original draft, details of which were leaked last week, was cautiously welcomed by Russia, but not by leaders in Kyiv and Europe, who saw it as too favourable to the Kremlin.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday that Moscow has not yet received any information about the outcome of the US-Ukraine talks in Geneva. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there were "signals that President Donald Trump's team is hearing us". Addressing the Swedish parliament on Monday morning, Zelensky called it a "critical moment" for Ukraine. "Putin wants legal recognition for what he has stolen, to break the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty. That's the main problem," he said, adding that the Russian president wants it not only from Ukraine "but from the whole world".

He explained that Ukraine has managed to keep "sensitive points", such as the release of all Ukrainian prisoners of war, on the table during the talks as he said there is still more to do to achieve "real peace". Speaking to reporters late on Sunday, Rubio said the negotiating teams in Geneva had had a "very good day". He said the main goal had been to try to narrow "open items" from the 28-point US plan, and that the parties involved had achieved that in a "substantial way". (BBC)