Ukraine-Russia war latest: China told Putin not to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, says Zelensky

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had a constructive and lengthy meeting with his Polish counterpart Karol Nawrocki on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Ankara following a major spat between Kyiv and Warsaw over a historical issue.

“In my view, we need to be constructive and tactful so as not to damage the important friendly neighbourly relations between Ukraine and Poland,” he told reporters.

U.S. President Donald Trump lauded the “very good relationship” he has developed with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the NATO summit in Turkey on July 8, 2026.

In a meeting of the pair that lacked the acrimony of earlier encounters, Trump added that Ukraine has “such great people,” too. He has expressed different views privately in the past.

But what do everyday Ukrainians think of Trump?

For more than a decade, we have organized and conducted public opinion polls in Ukraine. While polling has become more difficult since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, our surveys have provided a window into Ukrainian public opinion in the territories not occupied by Russia.

In our latest survey, we drilled down on how Ukrainians felt toward Trump and his administration’s diplomatic efforts, and toward Americans more generally.

Sir Keir Starmer said Nato is “stronger and more united” coming out of the Ankara summit, with Donald Trump praising its “spirit”, despite the US president’s criticism of the alliance threatening to overshadow the meeting.

The Prime Minister said leaders “achieved what we wanted to achieve, which is unity”, even after Mr Trump earlier threatened to relate his problems, including over Greenland and Iran, at the meeting.

Mr Trump berated European states for failing to pay enough for defence, a key issue at the summit, with Nato general-secretary Mark Rutte calling on allies to present “credible” plans for reaching the target of spending 5% of GDP on defence.

China warned Russian president Vladimir Putin not to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.

“I think you heard such voices in Russian media: ‘What if we respond to Ukrainian strikes with nuclear weapons?’ And it seems to me that this was the first time China … directly responded in an ultimatum-like form — that there can be no thought whatsoever of using nuclear weapons,” Zelensky told reporters.

The fire at Russia’s Ilsky oil refinery in the southern Krasnodar region had been extinguished, local authorities said on Friday.

The oil refinery in the southern Krasnodar region caught fire after a drone attack, while authorities in the city of Taganrog evacuated people following a separate strike.

Former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman, jailed on a lengthy sentence in Russia, has been admitted to the hospital, Kommersant newspaper reported Thursday.

Gilman’s lawyer was quoted saying his client was receiving treatment but that it was too early to talk about a diagnosis.

Reuters requested a comment from the U.S. State Department.

Gilman was initially jailed in 2022 for assaulting a police officer while drunk, and his sentence was extended in 2024.

The extension followed subsequent convictions for assaulting prison officials and a state investigator.

Russians are flocking to convert their cars to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) amid nationwide fuel shortages, escalating petrol prices, and long queues at filling stations.

These issues stem from recent Ukrainian attacks on refineries. Egor Popov, whose Moscow-based Garant-Gas company fits equipment for LPG conversions, stated that “demand had multiplied”.

Butane and propane, components of LPG produced during natural gas processing and crude oil refining, are also less emissions-intensive than petrol.

The hope is that an economic crisis in Russia leads to social unrest and political instability, possibly resulting in the collapse of the ruling regime. This would not be an unprecedented event in Russian history. The Soviet Union rapidly unravelled amid economic and political crisis in 1991. But how likely is this scenario for Russia today?

The US is wrong to believe deep Ukrainian strikes into Russian territory could help bring about an end to more than four years of war, the Kremlin has said, warning that they could prolong it.

Speaking at a Nato summit in Turkey on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Russia was finding it harder to defend its own ⁠skies, adding that this would hopefully create more space ​to ⁠negotiate an end to the war.

US president Donald Trump said: “It’s an escalation, but it’s also an escalation that can help lead to an end.”

Asked about their ⁠statements, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters there were “certain misconceptions within the White House administration… regarding ​the ⁠idea that escalation and military pressure can ‌help pave the way for a peaceful settlement”.

He said this was a flawed premise, adding that what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine might go on for longer as a result.

“It ‌will result in our having to establish a larger ‌security zone — a larger buffer zone,” Peskov said.

“Consequently, stoking tensions and taking actions that drive escalation will in no way contribute to the peace process,” he said.