Putin will resume peace talks only if Ukraine gives up Donbas — Reuters
Reuters reports Vladimir Putin will not resume peace negotiations unless Ukraine first cedes the remaining Ukrainian-held portion of Donbas, an area a Kremlin-linked source puts at roughly 11% of the region. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner reportedly conveyed this condition to Ukrainian officials in Miami, with Washington hoping a Russian diesel-export deal and a halt to Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy sites might coax Moscow back to the table.
Meanwhile Trump declared an energy ceasefire in effect 'from this moment' on Oct. 11, a declaration Russian forces apparently did not receive, since they struck a Kharkiv power plant and hit the town of Pisochyn with a missile the same day, killing three and injuring more than 20. The EU, for its part, sanctioned nearly 1,600 people and entities tied to Russia's military-industrial complex, more than half of them linked to ballistic missile production.
Ukraine continues to reject any demand to surrender sovereign territory still under its forces' control, which leaves the Kremlin's stated precondition and Kyiv's stated red line pointed in exactly opposite directions.
The full dispatch is available from the source below.