US officials expect to pressure Zelenskyy into signing Ukraine ‘peace deal’ – live

12.45pm GMT German foreign minister Johann Wadephul has warned against rushing a peace agreement. Speaking on Friday night on German television, Wadephul said lasting peace can only be achieved if Kyiv preserves its sovereignty, and if new security guarantees are in place “for Ukraine and all of us”. Updated at 12.51pm GMT 12.15pm GMT Ukraine says it has received 31 civilians who had been held in Belarus Ukraine said it had received 31 civilians on Saturday who had been freed from jail in Belarus. “Women and men detained in Belarus and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment ranging from two to 11 years are returning to Ukraine,” Kyiv’s prisoner exchange coordination committee said on the Telegram messaging app. “We express our gratitude to the United States of America and president Donald Trump for their fruitful work in returning Ukrainian civilians and military personnel from Belarus and Russia,” it added. 11.57am GMT Ukraine and US launching talks in Switzerland on ways to end war, says Ukraine negotiator Ukraine and the US are launching talks in Switzerland on ways to end the war, a Ukrainian negotiator said on Saturday, after Washington sent Kyiv a plan which accepts some of Moscow’s demands. “In the coming days in Switzerland we are launching consultations between senior officials of Ukraine and the United States on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement,” the secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, Rustem Umerov, who is on Ukraine’s negotiating team, wrote on social media. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had minutes earlier approved the Ukrainian delegation for the talks, which will be led by his top aide Andriy Yermak, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). 11.47am GMT Starmer, Macron and Merz meet at G20 summit to discuss Trump plan to end Ukraine war UK prime minister Keir Starmer has met France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz at the Johannesburg G20 summit to discuss the US-drafted plan to end the Ukraine war. The gathering is then expected to be expanded to include a dozen leaders including from Japan, Canada, Italy, Norway and the European Union, reports the PA news agency. Updated at 11.47am GMT 11.28am GMT Canada's Carney and France's Macron discuss Ukraine at G20 sidelines Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and French president Emmanuel Macron discussed Ukraine on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa, the Canadian government said on Saturday. The two leaders reaffirmed their support and stressed that any settlement to the war in Ukraine must involve Kyiv, respect Ukraine’s core interests and provide security guarantees, the Canadian government said in a statement. Carney committed to working with allies to reach a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine, it said. 11.14am GMT US tells Nato if Zelenskyy does not sign peace deal Ukraine will face worse in future US officials have told Nato allies they expect to push president Volodymyr Zelenskyy into agreeing to a peace deal in the coming days, under the threat that if Kyiv does not sign, it will face a much worse deal in future. The US army secretary Dan Driscoll briefed ambassadors from Nato nations at a meeting in Kyiv late on Friday, after talks with Zelenskyy and taking a phone call from the White House. “No deal is perfect, but it must be done sooner rather than later,” he told them, according to one person who was present. The mood in the room was sombre, with several European ambassadors questioning the content of the deal and the way in which the US had conducted the negotiations with Russia without keeping allies informed. “It was a nightmare meeting. It was the ‘you have no cards’ argument again,” said the source, referring to Trump’s claim that Zelenskyy had no cards to play, during a contentious White House meeting back in February. The deal now on offer contains a number of provisions that are likely to be unacceptable to Kyiv, including the need to give up territory Russia has occupied, as well as surrendering further territory Kyiv still controls. It also suggests there would be an amnesty for all war crimes committed during the conflict. On Friday, Zelenskyy gave a video address to the country saying it was “one of the most difficult moments of our history”. Ukraine faced a choice, he said: “losing our dignity or losing a key ally.” Driscoll, a close friend of the US vice-president, JD Vance, who has only recently been put on the Ukraine portfolio, declined to go into detail about whether the deal on the table matched a 28-point plan that had been published in the press. “Some things matter, some are window dressing – and we most focused on the things that matter,” he said, according to the source. Related: US tells Nato if Zelenskyy does not sign peace deal Ukraine will face worse in future 11.02am GMT Leaders from Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia are expected to huddle on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Saturday to “discuss the way ahead on Ukraine”, an EU official said. A European diplomatic source told Agence France-Presse (AFP): We are working on making the US plan something more able to be applied, based on previous dialogue. French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK prime minister Keir Starmer on Friday, after a call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stressed that any such plan needed the “joint support and consensus of European partners and Nato allies”. But Ukraine and its allies have only a few days to try to influence Washington’s 28-point proposal (see 10.45am GMT). US president Donald Trump has warned that “Thursday is, we think, an appropriate time” for Ukraine to accept it. 10.45am GMT What do we know about the reported US-Russian plan to end the Ukraine war? Well, full details are not yet clear but the 28-point deal is believed to include a proposal for Ukraine to hand territory to Russia, writes my colleague Jakub Krupa. Here are some more details: Related: What do we know about the reported US-Russian plan to end the Ukraine war? 10.25am GMT Any peace plan for Ukraine must be accepted in Kyiv, Polish president Karol Nawrocki said, after the US signalled to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine must accept a US-drafted framework to end its conflict with Russia. Washington’s 28-point plan calls on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military and renounce ambitions to join Nato. It also contains some proposals Moscow may object to and requires its forces to pull back from some areas they have captured, according to a draft seen by Reuters. “It was Ukraine that fell victim to Putin’s criminal aggression, and it is Ukrainians, with the support of the United States and EU countries, who must have the decisive voice in peace talks,” Nawrocki said on X late on Friday, referring to Russian president Vladimir Putin. He added: The price of peace cannot in any way be the achievement of strategic goals by the aggressor, and the aggressor was and remains the Russian Federation. 10.15am GMT Belarus pardons 31 Ukrainians under Lukashenko-Trump pact Belarus, a close Russian ally, pardoned 31 Ukrainian citizens, state TV said on Saturday, as part of an agreement between President Alexander Lukashenko and US counterpart Donald Trump. Trump has pushed Belarus to free political prisoners in contacts with Lukashenko, who has ruled since 1994 and stamped out free media and political opposition. In exchange, Washington has partly lifted sanctions on Belarus’s state carrier Belavia, allowing it to service and buy parts for its fleet, which includes Boeing aircraft. “The president has pardoned 31 Ukrainian citizens who committed criminal offences on the territory of our country,” Lukashenko’s spokesperson Natalia Eismont told state TV, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). The pardon, which was requested by Ukraine, was a result of “the agreements reached between US President Donald Trump and President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko,” she said. The move was aimed at “creating conditions for the settlement of the armed conflict in the neighbouring state,” the spokesperson added, referring to the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainians, who were not identified, are being handed over to Kyiv “right now,” according to Eismont. Belarus has typically charged people who oppose or criticise the government with “extremism”, meting out years-long prison sentences. It was not immediately clear what the freed Ukrainians had been charged with, reports AFP. Earlier, Lukashenko had freed dozens of political prisoners, including prominent dissidents, journalists and clerics. There were more than 1,000 political prisoners still remaining in Belarusian prisons, according to rights groups. 10.00am GMT The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces had captured two villages in eastern Ukraine. It said Russian forces had taken control of the village of Zvanivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region as well as the settlement of Nove Zaporizhzhia in the Zaporizhizhia region. Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports. 9.42am GMT UK prime minister Keir Starmer will not visit Washington next week, it is understood, amid reports that European leaders are considering visiting Donald Trump to discuss his Ukraine peace plan, reports the PA news agency. France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni are among the leaders who are considering a trip, Sky News reported citing European diplomatic sources. But it is understood the UK was not involved in such discussions. 9.28am GMT Ukrainians are struggling against the Russian assault on its power network, reports Luke Harding in Chernihiv. Residents there have told him how they are without power for 14 hours a day as they gather in “invincibility points” to charge up and warm up. You can read his full report here: Related: ‘They decided to kill us with cold’: Ukrainians struggle against Russian assault on power network 9.09am GMT Two people killed in Ukraine drone attack on energy facilities in Russia's Samara region, governor says A Ukrainian drone attack targeted energy facilities in Russia’s Samara region, killing two people in the southern city of Syzran, the region’s governor said on Saturday. The attack was repelled by air defence forces, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev wrote on Russia’s state-backed Max messenger app, reports Reuters. Two more people were injured and were receiving medical care, the governor said. 8.59am GMT In case you missed Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s reaction to the call yesterday with western allies including France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and the UK’s Keir Starmer, here is a post from my colleague Jakub Krupa: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has posted his reaction to the call too, thanking the leaders for their “principled support for Ukraine and for all our people”. He says the leaders “appreciate the efforts of the US, president Trump and his team aimed at ending this war,” and are working on the US document. “This must be a plan that ensures a real and dignified peace,” he says, adding – again, pointedly – that the four leaders want to ensure that Ukraine’s “principled positions are taken into account.” “We coordinated the next steps and agreed that our teams will work together at the corresponding levels,” he said. 8.45am GMT Ukraine's allies to meet at G20 summit to 'strengthen' US plan as Zelenskyy says his country faces impossible choice UK prime minister Keir Starmer is expected to meet Ukraine’s allies at the Johannesburg G20 summit on Saturday to seek to “strengthen” a US-drafted plan to end the war with Russia. It comes as Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Ukraine faces one of the most difficult moments in its history, after Donald Trump demanded Kyiv accepts within days a US-backed “peace plan” that would force it to give up territory to Russia and make other painful concessions. Western allies including France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and the UK’s Keir Starmer spoke to Zelenskyy on Friday in a show of solidarity. They reaffirmed their support for Kyiv and said any agreement to end the conflict had to be genuinely fair and take into account Ukraine’s own red lines. The US president is pursuing an “aggressive timeline” to end the conflict, US officials indicated, and intends to heap unprecedented pressure on Kyiv. Trump confirmed on Friday morning that next Thursday – Thanksgiving in the US – would be an “acceptable” deadline for Zelenskyy to sign the deal, which European and Ukrainian officials have said amounts to a “capitulation”. Trump is also threatening to cut vital intelligence sharing and weapons supplies for Ukraine if it fails to agree, reports suggest. We will bring you updates from the meeting at the G20 summit, plus other Ukraine-Russia news as it comes in. Here are some other key developments: Vladimir Putin says Ukraine is being unrealistic if it does not accept the US plan to end the war, declaring: “Ukraine is against it. Apparently, Ukraine and its European allies are still under illusions and dream of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield”. The positive response from the Russian president adds weight to the views of European and Ukrainian officials that the deal amounts to a “capitulation”. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reacted to the deal by saying Ukraine faces one of the most difficult moments in its history. Agreeing to the US-Russian plan, which would force it to give up territory and make other painful concessions, could leave Ukraine “without freedom, dignity and justice”, Zelenskyy said in a sombre 10-minute speech outside the presidential palace on Friday. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has warned that how the Ukraine war ends matters. She said: “Russia’s war against Ukraine is an existential threat to Europe. We all want this war to end. But how it ends matters. Russia has no legal right whatsoever to any concessions from the country it invaded. Ultimately, the terms of any agreement are for Ukraine to decide.” A Ukrainian drone attack targeted energy facilities in Russia’s Samara region, killing two people in the southern city of Syzran, the region’s governor said on Saturday. The attack was repelled by air defence forces, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev wrote on Russia’s state-backed Max messenger app. US officials and lawmakers are increasingly concerned about a meeting last month in which representatives of the Trump administration met Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian envoy who is under US. sanctions, to draft a plan to end the war in Ukraine, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The meeting took place in Miami at the end of October and included special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Dmitriev, who leads the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), one of Russia’s largest sovereign wealth funds.