Ukraine-Russia war latest: ‘US considers recognising Crimea as Russian’ as Trump and Putin set for crucial call

Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, says Russia’s war is not only against Ukraine.

“Putin’s war is directed not only against Ukraine, but also against Europe—against our security and our freedom,” he said in the Bundestag today.

“We will defend ourselves against these attacks with everything at our disposal in the coming years and decades.”

The head of Russia’s foreign investment fund has claimed that he will soon meet with Elon Musk to discuss space exploration.

Russian state media is quoting Kirill Dmitriev, Vladimir Putin’s special envoy on international economic and investment cooperation, as saying that he had also discussed with the head of Roscomos, Russia’s state space agency, the possibility of working with the US on flights to Mars.

“Russia sees big prospects to work with the United States, including in the space sector, and expects to hold talks with Elon Musk soon about flying to Mars,” he is reported as saying.

Dmitriev participated in the peace talks between Russia and the US, after which both sides announced their intention to improve ties.

Musk has not commented on claims about a meeting.

Below you can see the latest maps of the situation in the Russian border region of Kursk, where Moscow’s troops are forcing out the Ukrainian forces that have partially held the area since last August.

The salient collapsed after Russia cut off the final supply line connecting Ukraine’s troops in Kursk to the mainland.

The Kremlin has claimed that today’s conversation with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will be just one in a chain of painstaking efforts to improve relations, according to quotes published by state media site Tass.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says the two leaders will not talk about global restructuring and a “new Yalta”, a reference to the postwar reorganisation of Germany after World War II.

He added that Russia has not yet chosen a chief negotiator with the US. Putin’s foreign secretary Sergei Lavrov led the talks with the US in Saudi Arabia last month.

The burning remains of a Russian drone were found in the courtyard of a school in Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, the emergency services have reported.

Ukraine’s air forces said Russia launched 137 drones across the country overnight. They shot down 63 of them.

The courtyard was examined by sappers and explosives technicians.