Ukraine war latest: US proposing 'free economic zone' in Donbas, Zelenskyy says

Today's developments begin - as they tend to do - in the US and with Donald Trump.

Yesterday, his White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said he is "extremely frustrated with both sides of this war", and he is "sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting".

Those remarks were made as Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his allies hope to bring Trump to Europe this weekend for an impromptu leaders' summit.

Late last night, we heard from the president himself.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, he said the US will send an envoy to take part in those talks - if they feel there is a good chance of progress. 

"We'll see whether or not we attend the meeting," he said.

"We'll be attending the meeting on Saturday in Europe if we think there's a good chance.

"And we don't want to waste a lot of time if we think it's negative."

Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Before we get going with our rolling updates, here's a brief rundown of what happened yesterday:

• The US has proposed the creation of a "free economic zone" in the Donbas as part of its peace plan for Ukraine;
• It comes as Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had sent the revised peace proposal to Washington for review;
• Elsewhere, NATO boss Mark Rutte warned that its member states are "Russia's next target";
• While Ukraine was joined by more than 30 countries for a virtual 'coalition of the willing' meeting.

It's been another busy day of updates in the Ukraine war, with diplomatic efforts to end the war moving quickly.

As we pause our live updates, here's a brief rundown of everything that's been happening...

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the US has offered to create a "free economic zone" in the contested Donbas region of eastern Ukraine in a bid to push a peace deal over the line;
• It comes as Ukraine's president confirmed he had sent a revised peace proposal to Washington, whittled down from an initial 28 points to 20;
• Zelenskyy questioned the plan for the Donbas, asking who would govern the zone and provide enough security to the region to stop Russia from launching another invasion;
• He also said Russian withdrawals from slivers of land in the Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipro regions were being discussed with the US;
• Across the pond, White House press secretary said Donald Trump is "sick of meeting for the sake of meeting" when asked if the US leader would head to Europe for an impromptu Ukraine summit this weekend;
• Elsewhere, NATO boss Mark Rutte has warned that its member states are "Russia's next target" and the bloc must make efforts to prevent a war that could be "on the scale our grandparents endured";
• While Ukraine was joined by more than 30 countries for a virtual 'coalition of the willing' meeting.

And if you missed it, you can catch up with our weekly Ukraine Q&A with military analyst Professor Michael Clarke below.

Two explosions that killed one person and injured four others in Kyiv today are being classified as a terrorist attack, the city's prosecutor's office said.

The blasts occurred in the capital's Darnytskyi district, killing a National Guard soldier. Another National Guard soldier and a security guard were injured.

The first explosion went off as two National Guard soldiers were patrolling the area, killing one of them. 

The second blast detonated after police and medics had arrived and were already working at the scene, according to the prosecutor's statement. It said two police officers were injured.

Investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine, in collaboration with Kyiv prosecutors, have launched a pretrial investigation into the attack. 

Ukrainian children abducted by Russia have been sent to North Korea for "political indoctrination", human rights campaigners have warned.

The Kyiv-based Regional Centre for Human Rights said it had confirmed "several" cases of Ukrainian children being sent to a camp in the reclusive nation.

Here they faced "militarisation and political indoctrination", constituting "harmful and abusive treatment, with potentially severe psychological consequences", the organisation told Paste BN via email.

"At this moment we have confirmation of several cases involving Ukrainian children taken from the occupied territories to North Korea," wrote Kateryna Rashevska, the centre's legal expert.

She added that they knew of others who had also been considered for the camps, though had not necessarily attended them.

"There are also mentions of other children, including from the occupied Luhansk region, who participated in the competitive selection process," Rashevska said.

"However, there is no confirmation of their selection."

She identified two affected children in testimony she gave to the US Congress last week.

Rashevska told a Senate subcommittee: "12-year-old Misha from the occupied Donetsk region and 16-year-old Liza from occupied Simferopol were sent to Songdowon camp in North Korea, 9,000 km from home.

"Children there were taught to 'destroy Japanese militarists' and met Korean veterans who, in 1968, attacked the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo, killing and wounding nine American soldiers."

Talks on a US-led peace plan continue to hinge on territorial questions, with the latest options including Ukraine proposing a referendum on surrendering territory and the US floating a demilitarised economic zone in the Donbas.

Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Service Institute, told Paste BN today he is sceptical that any partial freezing of the frontline could be sustainable, however.

"The general view is that the Russians will be too tempted to... try and come back for more," he told chief presenter Mark Austin.

A more likely situation would be "some kind of temporary ceasefire", Savill said. 

But he added that would require "the Europeans to demonstrate they can put their forces where their mouth is in terms of a reassurance force".

Savill also explained what that could look like and why NATO-style security guarantees for Ukraine seem difficult to imagine at the moment.

Watch his full analysis in the video...

The ongoing discussion whether the EU will use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine also played a role in today's meeting of the 'coalition of the willing', Downing Street revealed.

In a readout on today's video meeting, a spokesperson said Kyiv's allies discussed "progress made on mobilising frozen Russian Sovereign Assets".

Here's a rundown of the other topics discussed in the meeting, according to Downing Street:

• A British update on recent work on the US-led peace plan, which included meetings this week with France, Germany and Ukraine ;
• A Ukrainian update on the continued Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure;
• 'Significant progress made in starving Russia’s war machine' through sanctions and enforcement and in supporting Ukraine;
• The 'pivotal moment' for Ukraine and security in the 'Euro-Atlantic region';
• The 'importance' of continued military funding for Ukraine.

Donald Trump will only attend talks in Europe on the war this weekend if there's real chance of signing a peace agreement, the White House has just reaffirmed.

"The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war, and he is sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a press briefing.

Zelenskyy and his allies were hoping to bring Trump to Europe this weekend for an impromptu leaders' summit on Ukraine.

Trump previously said he would only join if it was clear his team would not "waste our time".

We can now bring you another line from Volodymyr Zelenskyy's statement on today's meeting of the 'coalition of the willing'.

The Ukrainian president addressed the renewed calls from Donald Trump for elections to take place in Ukraine, saying this would require a ceasefire.

"There must be a ceasefire - at least for the duration of the election process and voting. This is what needs to be discussed," he said, adding that Ukraine believes the US should speak to Russia about the matter.

Wartime elections are forbidden by law in Ukraine, but Zelenskyy, whose term expired last year, is facing renewed pressure from the US to hold a vote.

Turning the Donbas into a free economic zone is "an interesting idea" from the US to get around "one of the most difficult things to solve" during ongoing peace talks, international correspondent John Sparks says.

Territorial issues remain fraught, as Russia wants Ukraine to surrender the entire Donbas, which it hasn't yet conquered and which could simplify a future invasion.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already pointed out significant problems with the economic zone option, asking who would govern the territory and what guarantees would be put in place to stop Russian troops taking it over once Ukraine vacates.

Sparks said: "Who's going to run it? And what's to stop the Russians from dressing up in civilian outfits and taking it over anyway? There are plenty of problems here."

Watch the full analysis in the video...