Russia Ukraine war live: Kyiv rejects compromise with Putin as Hungary’s Orban calls for ceasefire

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has urged Ukraine “to consider a quick ceasefire” during his first visit to the war-torn country since Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion.

After crunch talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, during which the two countries pledged to strengthen relations, Mr Orban urged Ukraine to halt fighting and enter negotiations with Russia, adding that the war was having a “very intense effect on the security of Europe”.

“We highly appreciate all the initiatives of President Zelensky for the sake of achieving peace,” he said. “I told Mr President that these initiatives take a long time. It is precisely because of the rules of international diplomacy that they are very complicated.

The Russian war in Ukraine is likely to end with a negotiated outcome with Russia, as opposed to a much popular outright Ukrainian military victory, in most European nations, a major poll of 15 countries has showed.

At least 19,566 people were surveyed in 15 countries by the European Council of Foreign Relations (ECFR) thinktank in the first half of May this year.

Of these, a total of 34 per cent of Ukrainians currently say they trust the war-time president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, “a great deal”. Another 31 per cent trust him “quite a lot”, confirming that those keeping faith with their leader outnumber those who are not by two to one.

At least 58 per cent of Ukrainians foresaw a victory for Kyiv as the most likely outcome of the war, while 30 per cent said it would end in a settlement. One per cent expect Russia to emerge victorious.

This is the first time the European think tank has also polled inside Ukraine itself, where it finds support for war and victory are strong, despite talk of weakening morale.

A senior aide of Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine is not ready to compromise with Russia and give up any territory to end the war.

Andri Yermak, the presidential chief of staff, was answering a question on US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s declaration that he could quickly end the Russian war on Ukraine.

Kyiv would listen to any advice on how to achieve a “just peace” in the war, he said. “But we (are) not ready to go to the compromise for the very important things and values… independence, freedom, democracy, territorial integrity, sovereignty,” he said.

Mr Yermak’s visit came ahead of next week’s Nato summit in the US capital, where Ukraine is expected to be the main topic of discussion.

Asked how Ukraine assesses that Mr Trump would handle the war, Mr Yermak said: “Honest answer: I don’t know. Let’s see.”

Ukraine would lobby a new US administration to continue providing it support, he said, adding that Ukraine had received bipartisan support in Washington and polling showed most Americans still support Ukraine after two years of war.

Russian commanders are ordering their forces to kill surrendering Ukrainian soldiers in a plan to “terrify” droves of Russian troops into not giving themselves up.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has urged Ukraine “to consider a quick ceasefire” during his first visit to the war-torn country since Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion.

After crunch talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, during which the two countries pledged to strengthen relations, Mr Orban urged Ukraine to halt fighting and enter negotiations with Russia, adding that the war was having a “very intense effect on the security of Europe”.

“We highly appreciate all the initiatives of president Zelensky for the sake of achieving peace,” he said. “I told [the] president that these initiatives take a long time. It is precisely because of the rules of international diplomacy that they are very complicated.

“I asked the president to think about whether it is possible to go a little differently: to stop the fire and then continue the negotiations. A ceasefire could speed up the pace of these negotiations.”

The US will soon announce more than $2.3bn in new security assistance for Ukraine, defence secretary Lloyd Austin said yesterday during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart at the Pentagon.

“I am proud that the United States will soon announce more than $2.3bn in new security assistance for Ukraine,” Mr Austin said just before entering a meeting with Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov.

“This package, under presidential drawdown authority, will provide more air defence interceptors, anti-tank weapons and other critical munitions from the US inventories.”

Mr Austin also gave a nod to Ukraine’s aspirations to eventually join Nato, more than two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Referring to next week’s Nato summit in Washington, he said, “We will take steps to build a bridge to Nato membership for Ukraine.”

Ukrainian officials have been urging their allies for months to supply more air defense systems to counter frequent missile and drone attacks from Russian forces.

The US defence secretary said the latest weapons package for Ukraine would include arms such as anti-tank weapons and air defence interceptors, and would allow accelerated procurement of NASAMS and Patriot air defenxe interceptors.

Government leaders of Poland and Germany on Tuesday held wide bilateral consultations aimed at giving a new impulse to neighborly relations that sagged under Poland’s previous government, and to jointly declare responsibility for Europe’s security in turbulent times.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz traveled with 12 ministers and government members, including Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, for the meeting in Warsaw.

“We bring a very clear message: Germany and Poland are good neighbors, close partners and reliable friends. And we want to create a new dynamic for our cooperation,” Scholz told a joint news conference with Tusk.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken and the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, discussed Nato members’s intention to bring Ukraine closer to the alliance, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

Their meeting in Washington came before a Nato summit in the US capital next week, at which Ukraine hopes to secure more assurances from the alliance on its membership bid.

Mr Blinken has said Ukraine will become a member of Nato and that the summit will “help build a bridge” to that outcome.

“They spoke about a number of issues, including the upcoming Washington Nato Summit and allies intention to bring Ukraine closer to Nato membership and helping to strengthen Ukraine’s ability to defend against Russian aggression,” Mr Patel told reporters at a regular press briefing.

The two leaders also discussed efforts led by the G7 group of nations to “enhance the resiliency” of Ukraine’s energy grid, which has come under Russian attack in recent months, Mr Patel said.

Beach access in the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk will be restricted early today, the mayor of the city said, after reporting earlier that defence forces were engaged in repelling a sea drone attack.

“Until 9am (0600 GMT) on 3 July, the bay’s water will be surveyed,” mayor Andrei Kravchenko said on Telegram.

“We kindly request you to refrain from visiting beach areas, embankments and recreational areas along the water’s edge during operational activities,” he said. Earlier, Kravchenko said, without providing detail, the port was under a sea drone attack.

Russia has often accused Ukraine of attacking its port cities on the Black Sea coast and on the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula, but Russian officials often do not disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukrainian attacks.

Kyiv has said attacks on Russia’s military, transport and energy infrastructure are in response to Moscow’s continuous attacks on Ukraine‘s territory since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russia is conducting a new recruitment drive for fighters in Africa for its war in Ukraine after suffering heavy casualties on the ground in lethal combat, according to Western intelligence officials.

The enrolment campaign has intensified following the rapid spread of Moscow’s influence on the continent, boosted by the overthrow of pro-Western governments in several countries by military regimes and the subsequent withdrawal of US and European forces.

Mercenaries formerly with the Wagner Group – which was disbanded after the failed coup attempt by its Russian leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was subsequently killed along with his senior hierarchy in an air crash – are training young men, some from tribal militias, for battle in Europe.