Kremlin says Russia-Ukraine peace talks on 'pause'

The Kremlin said Friday that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine were on "pause" as U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to end the three-and-a-half-year conflict falter.

Pushing for a deal to end the fighting, Trump has engaged in a flurry of diplomacy — including hosting Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska - but Moscow has pressed on with its offensive and aerial barrages.

"Our negotiators have the opportunity to communicate through channels. But for now, it is probably more accurate to talk about a pause," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP, in a briefing call.

"You can't wear rose-tinted glasses and expect that the negotiation process will yield immediate results," he added.

Putin has effectively ruled out a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who says a summit is vital to break the deadlock.

Russia has been escalating attacks on Ukraine, launching its biggest ever aerial assault last week that killed several people and set a government building in the capital Kiev ablaze.

Three rounds of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul have failed to yield anything more than large-scale prisoner exchanges.

Russia has maintained a series of hardline demands, including that Ukraine fully cedes the eastern Donbas region - parts of which it still controls.

Kiev has rejected territorial concessions and wants European troops to be deployed to Ukraine as a peacekeeping force, something Moscow sees as unacceptable.

NATO says no 'immediate military threat' to alliance from Russian drills

NATO said Friday it did not see an immediate military threat as Russia and Belarus kicked off major military drills on the alliance's eastern border.

"We call on Russia and Belarus to act in a predictable and transparent manner in line with their international commitments," said a NATO official. "We do not see any immediate military threat against any NATO ally."

The "Zapad" exercises come as Russian forces grind across the sprawling front line in Ukraine and escalate aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities.

The Russian defense ministry posted a video showing heavy military equipment — including armoured vehicles, helicopters and navy ships — taking part in the drills.

It said aerial reconnaissance and missile strikes on ground targets would be among the manoeuvres rehearsed.

Russia also said it had deployed ships from its Northern Fleet in the Barents Sea and the northern regions of the Arctic Ocean for the exercises.

NATO's eastern flank members that border Russia and Belarus are on high alert over the drills, some of which will be held in Belarus's Grodno region bordering Poland and Lithuania, Minsk said.

Both EU countries have ramped up security. Poland closed its border with Belarus overnight until further notice.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Warsaw was closer to "open conflict" than at any point since World War II after Poland and its NATO allies scrambled jets to down Russian drones violating its airspace early Wednesday.

Poland — which holds its own joint drills with NATO allies coinciding with Zapad — said it would have around 40,000 troops at the border when Russia and Belarus hold their exercises.

EU agrees to prolong Ukraine war sanctions on Russian officials

In another development, EU countries on Friday agreed to prolong sanctions over the war in Ukraine for another six months on more than 2,500 Russian individuals and entities, including President Vladimir Putin.

Ambassadors from the bloc's 27 member states signed off on the move ahead of a deadline on Monday, after Hungary and Slovakia dropped demands to take a number of people off the blacklist, diplomats said.

"We just extended our sanctions on Russia," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X on Friday.

She said Brussels was currently finalising work on a new package of sanctions "looking into additional curbs on Russian oil sales, shadow oil tankers, and banks".

"We'll keep choking off the cash for Putin's war," Kallas wrote.

Britain also on Wednesday announced fresh sanctions against Russia, targeting military weapons, equipment suppliers and its shadow fleet as U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper visited Kiev.

"The U.K. continues to lead the charge against the shadow fleet carrying Russian oil exports. Today, 70 more ships in the fleet have been sanctioned. The U.K. has now targeted more oil tankers than any other country," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The fresh round of sanctions also hits 30 firms and individuals "propping up Russia's war machine by supplying key equipment such as electronics, chemicals and explosives used to manufacture missiles and other weapons systems", it added.

Companies on the list included China-based electronics supplier Shenzhen Blue Hat International Trade Co. Ltd. and its two Russian co-owners, Elena Malitckaia and Alexey Malitskiy.

Others included Türkiye-based Mastel Makina Ithalat Ihracat Limited Sirketi and its CEO, Azerbaijani national Shanlik Shukurov.

France said Friday it’s deploying fighter jets to Poland after U.K. announced fresh sanctions targeting Russia’s oil revenues and war machine as Europe’s first, measured steps to Russia’s drone incursion into Poland aimed to send a signal to Moscow that any further aggression won’t go unchecked.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would deploy three advanced Rafale fighter jets to help protect Poland’s airspace and NATO’s eastern flank to fulfill a commitment he made to Polish Prime Minister.

“The security of the European continent is our top priority. We will not yield to Russia’s growing intimidation,” Macron posted on X.