MOSCOW — The Kremlin said on Wednesday it would review details from Washington about a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine before responding, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hoped a deal would be struck within days.

As Moscow considered the plan, President Vladimir Putin, dressed in military fatigues, made a surprise visit to Russia’s Kursk region for the first time since Ukrainian troops captured part of it last year.

With Mr. Putin’s presence highlighting recent Russian advances in Kursk, Valery Gerasimov, head of Russia’s General Staff, told the Kremlin leader his troops had repelled Ukrainian forces from 86% of the ground they once held in Kursk. Ukraine had hoped to use that territory as a bargaining chip in any peace talks with Moscow.

The US on Tuesday agreed to resume weapons supplies and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Kyiv said at talks in Saudi Arabia that it was ready to support a ceasefire proposal.

The Kremlin on Wednesday said it was carefully studying the results of that meeting and awaited details from the US.

Mr. Rubio said the United States was hoping for a positive response, and that if the answer was “no” then it would tell Washington a lot about the Kremlin’s true intentions.

Speaking to reporters when his plane refueled in Ireland, Mr. Rubio said on Wednesday: “Here’s what we’d like the world to look like in a few days: Neither side is shooting at each other, not rockets, not missiles, not bullets, nothing… and the talking starts.”

Two people familiar with the matter said Russia has presented Washington with a list of demands for a deal to end the Ukraine war and reset relations with the United States.

The specific demands were not clear, nor whether Russia, which holds just under a fifth of Ukraine, was willing to enter peace talks with Kyiv prior to their acceptance.

The people said the demands were similar to previous Kremlin terms including no North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership for Kyiv, recognition of Russia’s claim to Crimea and four Ukrainian provinces and an agreement that foreign troops not be deployed in Ukraine.

Mr. Rubio said that Europe would have to be involved in any security guarantee for Ukraine, and that the sanctions Europe has imposed would also be on the table.

After a meeting of five European defense ministers, British Defense Minister John Healey on Wednesday told reporters that work was accelerating on a “coalition of the willing from Europe and beyond” to support Ukraine. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said about 15 countries had expressed interest.

In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed this week’s meeting in Saudi Arabia as constructive, and said a potential 30-day ceasefire with Russia could be used to draft a broader peace deal.

After Russian forces made gains in Ukraine in 2024, Mr. Trump reversed US policy on the war, launching bilateral talks with Moscow and suspending military assistance to Ukraine, demanding that it take steps to end the conflict.

Tuesday’s agreement signaled a major improvement in US-Ukraine relations after a clash between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky at the White House last month sent them to a new low, but it did not alter the issues underlying the conflict with Russia, Ukrainian sources said.

RUSSIA WANTS ITS ADVANCES TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 has left hundreds of thousands of dead and injured, displaced millions of people, reduced towns to rubble and triggered the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West in six decades.

During Mr. Putin’s visit to Kursk, Mr. Gerasimov told him Russian forces had regained 1,100 square kilometers (425 square miles) of territory including 259 square kilometers in the last five days.

Kyiv’s forces have been on the verge of losing their foothold in Kursk. Their main supply lines were cut, and they ceded control of the town of Sudzha.

Mr. Putin called for Russia’s forces to swiftly retake any remaining area from Kyiv’s troops. He also made it clear he was considering the creation of a buffer zone in Ukraine’s Sumy region, across the border from Kursk.

Deep State, an authoritative Ukrainian site that charts the frontlines of the war, updated its battlefield map to show Ukrainian forces were no longer in control of Sudzha. However, it said fighting was continuing on the outskirts.

Ukraine’s top army commander said on Wednesday that Kyiv’s troops will keep operating in Kursk region as long as needed and that fighting continued in and around Sudzha.

Mr. Putin has repeatedly said he is ready to talk about an end to the war and Mr. Trump says he thinks Mr. Putin is serious, though other Western leaders disagree.

Reuters reported in November that Mr. Putin was ready to negotiate a deal with Mr. Trump but would refuse to make major territorial concessions and would insist Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO.

Ukraine says the regions claimed by Moscow have been annexed illegally and that it will never recognize Russian sovereignty over them.

Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the international affairs committee of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament, said on Telegram that Russia’s advances in Ukraine must be taken into account in any deal.

“Real agreements are still being written there, at the front. Which they should understand in Washington, too,” he said. — Reuters

LA MALBAIE, Canada — Foreign ministers of leading Western democracies meet in Canada on Thursday after seven weeks of rising tensions between US allies and President Donald J. Trump over his upending of foreign policy on Ukraine and imposing of tariffs.

The Group of Seven (G7) ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, along with the European Union (EU), meet in the remote tourist town of La Malbaie, nestled in the Quebec hills for two days of meetings that in the past have broadly been consensual on the issues they face.

Top of the agenda for Washington’s partners will be getting a debriefing on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s talks on Tuesday with Kyiv in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine said it was ready to support a 30-day ceasefire deal.

But in the run-up to the first G7 meeting of Canada’s presidency, the crafting of an agreed all-encompassing final statement has been tough.

A US decision to impose 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports immediately drew reciprocal measures from Canada and the EU, underscoring the tensions.

Washington has sought to impose red lines on language around Ukraine and opposed a separate declaration on curbing Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, a murky shipping network that eludes sanctions, while demanding more robust language on China.

On Monday, Mr. Rubio cautioned that Washington did not want language that could harm efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine to the table. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday he said a good G7 statement would recognize that the United States has moved the process to end the war forward.

G7 diplomats said the positive outcome from Jeddah may at least ease talks on Ukraine.

The United States, since Mr. Trump’s return to office on Jan. 20, has taken a less-friendly stance on Ukraine, pushing for a quick deal to end the war, demanded European partners take on more of the burden without openly endorsing their role in future talks, and warmed Washington’s ties with Moscow.

TARIFFS TO 51^ST STATE
Even Japan, so reliant on American security guarantees, has found itself in Mr. Trump’s firing line.

“It’s very difficult. Maybe we should wait for the G8,” said one European diplomat ironically.

Mr. Trump has suggested the G8 might be revived with the return of Moscow 11 years after its membership in the group was suspended over its annexation of Crimea.

Nowhere have the difficulties for US allies been more apparent than in Canada.

Relations between the United States and Canada are at an all-time low, thanks to Mr. Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on all imports from Canada and his constant musing about annexing the country to make it the 51^st US state.

“We’re going to be focused in the G7 on all of those things. That’s what the meeting is about. It is not a meeting about how we’re going to take over Canada,” Mr. Rubio told reporters, highlighting how offbeat their ties have become.

That may not appease Ottawa. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Wednesday she would be on the offensive at the G7.

“In every single meeting, I will raise the issue of tariffs to coordinate a response with the Europeans and to put pressure on the Americans,” she said.

European diplomats said they hoped to use the G7 to assess directly how much influence Mr. Rubio has on US foreign policy.

Mr. Trump has used a wide array of officials not linked to the State department in talks ranging from Ukraine to the situation in the Middle East, where allies have been alarmed by some of the erratic statements coming from Washington. — Reuters

TAIPEI — Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Thursday China has deepened its influence campaigns and infiltration against the democratic island, pledging measures to tackle Beijing’s efforts to “absorb” Taiwan.

Taiwan has accused China of stepping up military drills, trade sanctions and influence campaigns against the island in recent years to force the island to accept Chinese sovereignty claims.

Speaking to reporters after holding a meeting with senior security officials, Mr. Lai said Beijing had used Taiwan’s democracy to “absorb” various members of society including organized crime groups, media personalities, and current and former military and police officers.

“They (China) are carrying out activities such as division, destruction, and subversion from within us,” Mr. Lai told a press briefing broadcast live from the Presidential office.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Citing government data, Mr. Lai said 64 people were charged for Chinese espionage last year, three times more than in 2021. He said the majority of them were current or former military officials.

“Many are worried that our country, hard-earned freedom and democracy and prosperity will be lost bit by bit due to these influence campaigns and manipulation,” Mr. Lai said.

By making these efforts, Mr. Lai said China constituted what Taiwan’s Anti-Infiltration Act defined as “foreign hostile forces.”

The president proposed 17 legal and economic countermeasures, including the strict review of Taiwan visits or residency applications by Chinese citizens, and proposals to resume the work of the military court.

Mr. Lai also said his government would make “necessary adjustments” to the flows of money, people and technology across the strait. He did not elaborate.

In addition, he said the government would issue “reminders” to Taiwanese actors and singers performing in China on their “statements and actions,” a response to what Taipei sees as an ongoing Chinese campaign to pressure pop stars to make pro-Beijing comments.

“We have no choice but to take more active actions.”

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future. — Reuters