Ukraine updates: Putin suggests UN administration of Ukraine

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of stalling a peace deal after the Russian president asked for Zelenskyy's government to be replaced to reach a peace accord.

"Everything he does delays any possibility, any process, any negotiations, and delays any possibility, any steps towards ending the war," Zelenksyy told the press in Kyiv.

Putin has previously called Zelensky an illegitimate president, and said a new Ukrainian government must be created to carry out peace negotiations.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also spoken out against the idea.

"Ukraine has a legitimate government, and so obviously that must be respected," he said.

In a post on X, Heorhii Tykhyi, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesman, said "locals would benefit greatly from any governance othat than Putin, who spends billions of dollars on his criminal war against Ukraine."

Ukraine's allies believe Putin would use fresh elections to try and install a pro-Russian head of government. 

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said his country has received a new proposal from the United States on a deal which would exchange minerals for military support.

"We officially received... the US proposals today," he said in press conference.

He did not disclose the specifics of the new deal, but noted that it is "entirely different" from earlier drafts.

The original deal was meant to be signed last month before it fell apart during an explosive meeting between Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump.

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrdenko wrote on Facebook that they are "working to ensure that the agreement reflects all our interests."

Zelenskyy has repeatedly said he accepts the idea of a mineral deal, although he would not sign an agreement that would impoverish his country.

On Thursday, he said Washington was constantly changing the terms but that he did not want the US to think he was opposed in principle.

Russia has accused European countries of blocking peace efforts by keeping sanctions in force.

Moscow and Kyiv agreed to a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea on Tuesday following talks between United States, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Riyadh. 

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the terms of the deal include the lifting of sanctions on the Russian Agricultural Bank, or Rosselkhoz. 

"If the European states do not want to take this path, it means that they do not want to take the path of peace," said Peskov, according to the state news agency TASS.

Moscow wants renewed access to the Swift international financial system for Russia's state-owned agricultural bank, a move only the EU can authorize, as the system is headquartered in Belgium.

The sanctions complicate international transactions for Russian grain and fertilizer exports. However, Brussels has indicated it will maintain the sanctions until Moscow ends its war in Ukraine.

Kyiv said it had received the bodies of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers killed during battles with Russia, in the largest such repatriation in more than three years of war.

The exchange of prisoners and return of their remains is one of the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv since the Kremlin mobilised its army in Ukraine in February 2022. The repatriation announced on Friday is the largest of the war.

"The bodies of 909 fallen Defenders were returned to Ukraine," the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, a government agency, said in a statement on social media. 

"We are grateful for the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross," it added a statement.

It said the remains had been returned from the Donetsk, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia regions, which the Kremlin claims are part of Russia. 

Friday's repatriation is at least the seventh involving 500 or more Ukrainian bodies since last October. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that more than 46,000 troops have been killed and more than 380,000 people have been wounded.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, about security in the Black Sea, his office said Friday. 

The Kremlin confirmed the call, adding the pair talked about "the resumption of the Black Sea initiative for safe navigation and the removal of obstacles to the export of Russian food and fertilizers."

In 2022, Turkey and the UN created a plan to ensure safe passage for Ukrainian agricultural exports in the Black Sea. In 2023, Russia withdrew from the deal, blaming the West for not lifting sanctions that hurt its agricultural exports and fertilizers.

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to “eliminate the use of force” in the Black Sea at talks in Saudi Arabiaover the last few days, but Moscow said it would only abide by the deal after restrictions were removed from its agricultural exports.

Erdogan again offered to host future talks aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine. 

"Turkey is closely following the process initiated to end the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and is ready to provide all kinds of support, including hosting peace negotiations," Erdogan told Putin. 

Ukraine has said it would only publicly discuss a new draft minerals deal drawn up by the United States once there is consensus on it.

The US is reportedly pushing for a more expansive minerals deal.

Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko told Ukrainian lawmakers that any public discussion would be harmful and would prevent "constructive" discussions from taking place with Washington.

US President Donald Trump has been urging Ukraine to sign a deal that would give the US a share in Ukraine's natural resources. The Reuters news agency, citing three people familiar with the ongoing negotiations, reports that the latest draft deal goes well beyond the original proposal.

Ukraine will not receive any future security guarantees. Instead, it must use all income from its natural resources, managed by both state and private companies, to contribute to a joint investment fund.

"Consultations are still happening at the level of the various ministries," Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior official in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, said.

Zelenskyy has repeatedly expressed his willingness to consider a minerals deal, but said he would not agree to terms that would leave his country in financial trouble for generations.

Germany's air force has identified and escorted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying without a transponder signal over the Baltic Sea. The incident occurred late on Thursday.

According to a statement on WhatsApp, the Luftwaffe scrambled Eurofighter jets from its air base in Laage, northern Germany.

The unidentified aircraft was identified as a Russian IL-20.

The situation ended with the Russian aircraft turning toward Russia's Kaliningrad exclave. The Russian aircraft did not enter German airspace or the national airspace of any NATO member.

Over the past few years, Russian military aircraft have regularly been intercepted by NATO planes, which had led the alliance to bolster its air policing along its borders with Russia. 

In response to Putin's suggestion, the White House stressed it was up to Ukrainians and their constitution to determine the country's governance. 

The statement was made by a White House National Security Council spokesperson.

Ukraine's constitution does not allow for elections during wartime. This provision has led some observers to consider Putin's suggestion of a UN-run election while the war rages to be an attempt to prolong the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that Ukraine be brought under a UN-sponsored "transitional administration" that would oversee elections in the country before a peace agreement is negotiated.

Speaking during a trip to the northwestern city of Murmansk on Friday, Putin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that such an administration would be discussed with "the United States, even with European countries, and, of course, with our partners and friends."

"This would be in order to hold democratic elections and bring to power a capable government enjoying the trust of the people and then to start talks with them about a peace treaty," the Russian leader said.

Putin has often dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and questioned his legitimacy after Kyiv missed a presidential vote scheduled for May 2024. Ukraine's constitution does not allow for elections during wartime.

Putin also praised US President Donald Trump, saying, "In my opinion, the newly elected president of the United States sincerely wants an end to the conflict for a number of reasons."

He stressed that Moscow favored "peaceful solutions to any conflict, including this one, through peaceful means, but not at our expense."

Putin also praised Russian troops for "holding the strategic initiative" throughout the war.

"There are reasons to believe that we will finish them off," he said, adding that "the Ukrainian people themselves should understand what is happening." 

Putin has come under repeated criticism from European leaders who have said he is not committed to peace and is instead prolonging the Russian war in Ukraine with his habit of adding stipulations to agreed breaks in fighting and launching attacks on energy and other civilian infrastructure. 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed high-level talks with Russia as premature amid a returning conversation between Moscow and Washington under the Trump administration following a nearly three-year boycott.

Speaking to reporters during a trip back to Miami from a Caribbean diplomatic tour, Rubio said it was not possible "to put a timeframe" on how long it would take to make progress, stressing "it doesn't depend on us."

"There's a lot of work to be done with both sides, particularly with the Russian side, which we haven't talked to for years," Rubio said, stressing the need to make progress "on a technical level."

Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed hopes to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin soon.

During the presidential campaign, Trump had promised to bring an end to the war in Ukraine at the beginning of his second term in office — even promising it would be over on his first day as president.

This blog brings you the latest on the war in Ukraine as well as the US and European diplomatic efforts around it.

Earlier this week, the US held separate talks with Russia and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia and on Tuesday announced that both parties had agreed to hold fire in strikes on the Black Sea.

Moscow, however, later said it had additional conditions. Russia is seeking relief from a raft of Western sanctions accumulated as a response to its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.