Ukraine war latest: US and Russia 'closing on nuclear treaty deal'

Following a day in which there has been significant focus on the expiration of the START nuclear treaty, a new report indicates what would be a major development in the story.

According to three sources cited by Axios, the US and Russia are "closing in on a deal" to continue the treaty.

Two of the sources said a draft plan provisionally agreed by officials from each country still had to be approved by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

We'll bring you more details on this story as we get it.

In the meantime, you can read more about the significance of the treaty's expiration here:

A little more now on the expiration of the START nuclear treaty, which Moscow previously offered to extend for a year on the same terms.

The US has yet to respond to the offer, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would be receptive to proposals from Washington.

"If there are any constructive responses, of course we will engage in dialogue," Peskov said.

As well as images of Ukrainian prisoners being freed today, we can also bring you pictures of what is said to be Russian soldiers being released.

In these still images from a video released by Moscow's defence ministry, soldiers draped in Russian flags boarding a busy at an unknown location in Belarus.

Ukraine is ready to swap its drones for air defence missiles and Polish fighter jets, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today at a news conference in Kyiv with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Zelenskyy also said the pair discussed the development of power grid connectivity between Poland and Ukraine, whose energy system has been badly impacted by Russian air strikes in recent months.

Tusk, meanwhile, said Poland was preparing a new 200 million zloty (£41m) aid package for Ukraine mainly made up of armoured equipment.

He said Poland could give Ukraine MiG-29 fighter jets at any time, but that Zelenskyy had told him Kyiv may need other air-defence equipment as a higher priority, and that he would discuss this with Polish officials and get back to the Ukrainian leader about it on Monday. 

Volodomyr Zelenskyy has been speaking about the prisoner swap we reported earlier, in which 157 prisoners each were released by Ukraine and Russia.

The Ukrainian president said most of those freed by Russia had been in captivity since 2022.

"Today's exchange took place after a long pause, and it's very important that it was able to be implemented," he said.

"Thank you to everyone who works for the exchanges, and to everyone who on the frontline replenishes the exchange fund for Ukraine.

"Without the determination of our soldiers, such exchanges would be impossible, so every result of our units is what sustains the ability to bring Ukrainians home from Russia.

"We will continue our work to free our people from captivity. We must return and we will definitely return everyone. We are working on every single name. So that every family can wait for their loved ones."

Ukrainian officials said more more than half of those released were captured during the defence of Mariupol.

They said 139 of the 157 had been in Russian captivity since 2022.  

The youngest person freed was 23 years old, having been captured at the age of 19. The oldest was 63.

Ukraine and Russia have now concluded a second day of US-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi.

As reported, the discussions have seen the first prisoner exchange deal between the two sides in five months.

US envoy Steve Witkoff called the talks "detailed and productive" in an online post but said "significant work remains".

Despite pressure by the Trump administration on both Kyiv and Moscow to find a compromise, however, the two sides have so far failed to agree on a ceasefire.

The fate of the eastern Donetsk region is one of the most complicated issues in the talks.

As a precondition for any deal, Moscow wants Kyiv to pull its troops from all of the Donetsk region, including a line of heavily fortified cities regarded as one of Ukraine's strongest defences.

Ukraine has insisted the conflict should be frozen along the current front lines and rejects any unilateral pullback of its forces.

Kyiv says it wants control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, which is in Russian-controlled territory. Russia said today it was ready for international cooperation over the Zaporizhzhia plant, including with the US, but that the facility must be Russian.

Russia occupies about 20% of Ukraine's national territory, including Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas region seized before the 2022 invasion. Analysts say Russia has gained about 1.5% of Ukrainian territory since early 2024. 

Sweden's government announced today that it will provide aid  to Ukraine's energy system worth 1bn Swedish crowns (£81.64m).

Sweden joined NATO in 2024, having historically avoided military alliances for more than 200 years.

Russia has said it is ready for international cooperation over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, including with the US.

However, Alexei Likhachev, head of the  state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said the facility must be Russian.

Russian forces have controlled the plant in southern Ukraine since shortly after the start of the war in 2022.

Its fate is one of the points of contention between Russia and Ukraine in peace talks mediated by the United States.

The six reactors are not in operation, and the plant relies on external power to keep its nuclear material cool and prevent a catastrophic accident.

Ukraine's military said today it had carried out a series of "successful" strikes in January on a launch site for Russian intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

Ukraine's general staff said some buildings were damaged to varying degrees, one hangar was "significantly" damaged and some personnel were evacuated from the Kapustin Yar test range near the Caspian Sea.

In a statement on the Telegram messaging app, the General Staff said the strikes had hit a complex of hangar-type buildings used for the pre-launch preparation of intermediate-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

In January, the Ukrainian air force said Russia had fired a hypersonic Oreshnik missile from the Kapustin Yar site.

Russia fired the Oreshnik, which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, at a target in western Ukraine, in response to what it described as an attempted Ukrainian drone strike on Vladimir Putin's residences - Ukraine and Western countries have dismissed Russia's account of the alleged attempted strike.

Ukraine's military added that it used its long-range capabilities to carry out the strikes, including the Ukrainian-made Flamingo missile. The statement has not been independently verified.

Below is Paste BN' report on Russia's use of the Oreshnik last month:

Following on from our previous post, it is being reported that Russia and Ukraine have now exchanged 157 prisoners of war each.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti cited the defence ministry as revealing the news.

Three civilians from the Kursk region were returned to Russia as part of the swap, the ministry added.