We’re getting some quotes through from EU ministers on the wires, as the US renews a push to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, has said that for any Ukraine peace plan to work, it needs to have Ukrainians and Europeans on board.

Her comments follow reports that officials in Washington and Moscow have been secretly discussing a new 28-point plan for peace, proposals that Kyiv had no role in preparing.

Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski said that while Warsaw commends efforts towards peace in Ukraine, Europe expects to be consulted. He said it is the aggressor in the war, Russia, who should have its ability to attack limited.

Mr Sikorski added that Poland will spend 100 million by the end of the year on aid for Ukraine.

When Russia's Yantar vessel last approached British waters in January, defence secretary John Healey said the ship was used for mapping the UK’s critical infrastructure.

On Wednesday, he echoed those comments.“It is part of a Russian fleet designed to put and hold our undersea infrastructure and those of our allies at risk,” he said.

“It isn’t just a naval operation. It’s part of a Russian programme driven by what they call the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research, or GUGI, and this is designed to have capabilities which can undertake surveillance in peacetime and sabotage in conflict.”

The UK and Nato allies are increasingly concerned about the risk Moscow poses to offshore cables, pipelines and other infrastructure critical to internet connectivity.

Russian forces fighting in Pokrovsk are disguising themselves by dressing up as civilians, military officials said, adding that this complicates Ukraine’s defence efforts.

Military personnel deliberately passing as civilians to deceive the enemy is classified as a war crime, and even changing into the uniforms of Ukrainian forces or other Ukrainian security services violates the laws and customs of war.

"It is more like sabotage and reconnaissance work. They do not follow any standard procedures, but their movements still complicate our logistics routes," the commander of the 68th Jaeger Brigade, codenamed "Liutyi," told Suspilne yesterday.

“The most difficult thing is that they disguise themselves as civilians. They have been changing clothes for a long time and receive instructions to do so," he said.

"Sometimes we identify the enemy only after the start of the firefight, because civilians will not open fire on our units,” he said.

Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, has said that Navy may be forced to "fire a warning shot" or "cut off" a Russian spy ship that was found lurking off northern Scotland.

The spy ship directed lasers at RAF pilots who were surveilling its activities, defence secretary John Healey said yesterday.

Royal Navy frigates and RAF P-8 planes had been deployed to monitor the Yantar vessel, which is designed for gathering intelligence, when the Russians directed the lasers at the planes.

Defence secretary John Healey said Britain “is ready” to respond, with “military options” drawn up if the ship heads south, in a warning to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Sir Dearlove said he believes the Navy frigate "would be very aggressive" if the Yantar "came in too close"."Maybe they would fire a warning shot, or maybe cut it off in such a way as to get it to change course," he told Sky News.

The former MI6 boss said the ship was clearly "part of Russia's underwater warfare capability".

“I think it can launch submersibles from under its keel. And they're probably recceing undersea connections into the UK," he told Sky News, adding that Britain has a lot of strategic links, including data links, electricity and gas links.

The US officials working on a new peace plan could force Ukraine to lease a part of its territory to Russia, people aware of the situation said.

The deal would ask Kyiv to cede control of the eastern Donbas region, while retaining legal ownership of the territory, officials familiar with the deal told The Telegraph.

Russia would pay an undisclosed rental fee for the region, they said. Russian will be the official state language and the Russian orthodox church would be given official status in the occupied territories.

The deal will also slash the size of Ukraine’s military in half and ban them from possessing long-range missiles, the report added.

The deployment of foreign troops will also be blocked under this deal, US military assistance will also cease and foreign diplomatic aircraft will be prevented from landing in the country.

Donald Trump has said he told Russian president Vladimir Putin he would settle the war in Ukraine, as he renews efforts to push both sides into agreeing a peace deal.

Speaking at the end of US-Saudi investment forum at Washington’s Kennedy Centre, Trump said that he recently made a backchannel outreach to Putin.

He said that he told Putin: “Let me settle your freaking war.”

Royal Navy frigates and RAF P-8 planes had been deployed to monitor the Yantar vessel, which is designed for gathering intelligence, when the Russians directed the lasers at the planes.

Yantar is a special-purpose vessel built by the Russian Navy’s secretive Main Directorate of Underwater Research (GUGI), an element of Russia’s armed forces – although it reports directly to the Ministry of Defence.

Its objective, according to the Council on Geostrategy, a non-profit think tank based in Westminster, London, is to operate submarines that can gather intelligence on the deep sea, allowing possible sabotage of underwater cables.

Read more about what is the Yantar vessel doing near British territory:

The new 28-point plan would consist of “security guarantees, security in Europe, and future US relations with Russia and Ukraine”, Axios reported, citing sources.

Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is said to have discussed the plan with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Volodymyr Zelensky’s security adviser Rustem Umerov, according to officials from Washington and Kyiv.

Cold and darkness are the cruel weapons of Russia’s energy terror campaign aimed at crushing Ukraine this winter. The Kremlin has been attempting to systematically destroy Ukraine’s electricity, heating and transport systems for three years now – so far, without success.

But this winter could be the one when Ukraine’s air defences are finally overwhelmed. Russia’s attack strategies have been honed to a peak of destructiveness, with a raft of devastating new tactics aimed at making whole cities and regions uninhabitable.

First, and most spectacularly, Russian forces are becoming increasingly adept at evading air defences by sending ballistic and cruise missiles and drones in unprecedentedly large swarms.

Last week, for instance, Kyiv was kept under unrelenting bombardment for over five hours, with 430 drones and nearly 20 missiles hitting electrical grids, railway sidings and gas-fired power stations, as well as smashing into apartment buildings. At least eight civilians were killed.

Owen Matthews reports on Putin’s plan to deliver his fatal blow: