Ukraine, Trump: 'If Zelensky and Putin don't make peace they are stupid'. 800 billion plan for reconstruction postponed

US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said he would be in Moscow on Thursday with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Well, look, we have to meet with him on Thursday," Witkoff told CNBC in an interview, referring to Putin. "But the Russians are the ones asking for that meeting. I think it's a significant statement on their part," he added. Last week, the Kremlin said it was preparing to welcome Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow for peace talks on Ukraine, but that no dates had been set. Asked whether Putin would join Trump's Peace Council, Witkoff replied "I think so", reiterating that Putin had been extended an invitation to do so.

In this regard, the Kremlin thanked the US president. This was reported by the Tass news agency, also stating that the Russian leader had instructed the Foreign Ministry to study the proposal for the new Council and to consult with its partners. "Only then will we be able to respond to the invitation addressed to us," Putin said during a meeting with the Russian Security Council. "The Russian assets frozen in the United States could be used to rebuild territories damaged by fighting after an eventual peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine," Putin is reported to have added, quoted by the Ria Novosti news agency. The Russian leader did not specify what these territories are: in Russia or also in occupied areas taken from Kiev. "Considering Russia's special relationship with the Palestinian people, I believe we could allocate $1 billion of Russian assets frozen under the previous US administration to the Board of Peace," the Russian leader said. "The remaining funds from our frozen assets in the US could also be used to rebuild territories damaged by fighting after the conclusion of a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine," he continued, pointing out that this possibility is also being discussed with US administration officials. A response greeted by Trump with enthusiasm: Vladimir Putin 'accepted my invitation to join the Board of Peace for Gaza', the US president immediately declared in an interview with Cnbc. And to those who asked him why he had invited Putin in particular, the White House tenant replied 'We want all nations where people have control, have power'.

Since this morning, the inhabitants of four regions of Ukraine have been without electricity due to new Russian attacks. The news was reported by Npc Ukrenergo on Facebook, Ukrinform says, and the Ukrainian Energy Ministry also wrote about it on Telegram. Due to the night attacks by the Russians, "consumers in the Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions were without electricity in the morning. Emergency restoration work has begun in all regions," the ministry wrote. The situation in Kiev and the surrounding region also remains difficult after the previous massive attack. "Emergency restoration work is underway wherever security conditions allow." Due to the difficult electricity system situation caused by the Russian attacks, emergency power cuts are currently in force in some regions. In the remaining regions, power limitation programmes for industry and hourly outage programmes for the population are in force. "In all regions of Ukraine, today thrifty power consumption is required throughout the day. Please limit the use of powerful household appliances as much as possible. If possible, delay energy-intensive processes to the night hours, after 23:00," the power grid operator advised. "As of this morning, some 4,000 buildings in Kiev are still without heating and almost60% of the capital is without electricity." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote this on X, explaining the details of the extraordinary meeting he had in the morning 'to coordinate action in the energy sector'. "Kiev and its region, Kharkiv and its region, Sumy region, Chernihiv and its region and Dnipro region are the areas where the situation is currently most difficult," Zelensky added.

Meanwhile on the battlefield two people died and one woman was wounded in overnight Russian shelling on the central Ukrainian town of Kryvyi Rih, while in Russia, local authorities report eleven wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack. This was announced by official sources in the two countries. "A 77-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman lost their lives, while a 53-year-old woman was injured," Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the regional military administration, said on Telegram, pointing out that the missile and drone attack damaged several buildings. Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and an important centre of the iron industry in Eastern Europe, is located about 80 kilometres from the front line and has been a frequent target of Russian attacks since the start of the invasion in February 2022.

On the Russian side, the head of the Republic of Adygea, in the south-west of the country, reported that a night-time Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire in a residential building and car park in the Takhtamukajsky district, near Krasnodar. "According to updated data, 11 people were injured, nine of them hospitalised, including two children," Murat Kumpilov wrote on Telegram. The region, which overlooks a strategic area between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, is often in the crosshairs of Ukrainian incursions, which Kiev claims to target energy infrastructure from which Moscow draws resources to finance its military offensive.