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Kremlin plays down Zelensky talks as Trump warns Putin may not ‘want to make deal’
The Kremlin has played down talk of an imminent summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, as Donald Trump renewed his call for the two leaders to meet to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
The push for a bilateral meeting comes after the US president met Putin in Alaska last week, and welcomed seven European leaders and Zelensky to the White House on Monday.
Trump admitted the conflict was “a tough one” to solve and conceded it was possible the Russian president was not interested in ending hostilities.
“We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks,” he said on Tuesday. “It’s possible that he doesn’t want to make a deal.”
Putin faced a “rough situation” if that were the case, Trump added, without offering any details.
The Russian president on Monday told Trump he was “open” to the idea of direct talks with Ukraine, but the next day Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov watered down that already vague commitment.
Any meeting would have to be prepared “gradually… starting with the expert level and thereafter going through all the required steps”, he said, repeating a frequent Kremlin line.
Dmitry Polyanskiy, a Russian deputy representative to the UN, told the BBC “nobody [had] rejected” the opportunity for direct talks, “but it shouldn’t be a meeting for the sake of a meeting”.
On Tuesday, it was reported that Putin had suggested to Trump that Zelensky could travel to Moscow for talks, something Ukraine was never likely to accept.
The proposal may have been Russia’s way of putting forward an option so far-fetched Kyiv could not possibly have agreed to it.
Talks over the last few days appear to have given Trump a renewed understanding of the complexities of the war and the gulf between Moscow’s demands and Kyiv’s position.
The much-vaunted ceasefire he said he could get Putin to agree to has not materialised – and now the US president has said Ukraine and Russia should move directly to a permanent peace deal instead – but some headway was made in terms of security guarantees for Ukraine.
Zelensky and European leaders seem to have convinced Trump that such commitments would be paramount to Kyiv’s sovereignty in the event of a peace deal.
On Tuesday, Trump said the US was willing to help the Europeans “by air” if they provided boots on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire or peace deal, although he ruled out deploying US troops.
The US president, however, did not go into the specifics of whether such air support may entail intelligence or the use of fighter jets and war planes.
While Trump’s commitments remain vague, the France and UK-led Coalition of the Willing said it had been working to firm up plans for a reassurance force that could be sent to Ukraine if the hostilities end.
After a virtual meeting of the group on Tuesday, a Downing Street spokesperson said the group would meet US counterparts in the coming days to “further strengthen plans to deliver robust security guarantees”.
Following his summit with Putin and latest talks with Zelensky, Trump now appears to think direct talks between Ukraine and Russia could bring a peace deal closer – although he acknowledged there had been “tremendous bad blood” between the two leaders.
The last time they met was in 2019. Since then, Moscow’s war on Kyiv has resulted in tens of thousands of casualties as well as widespread destruction and ongoing aerial attacks on civilian targets.
Putin considers Zelensky illegitimate and views him as responsible for Ukraine’s growing proximity to the West. For years now, he has made baseless claims about Kyiv being ruled by a “neo-Nazi regime” and has said any ceasefire with Ukraine would need to entail a change in Kyiv’s leadership.
Russia also has little interest in agreeing to talks while its troops have the upper hand on the front line.
Still, European leaders and Zelensky have spoken out in favour of the idea of a bilateral meeting. The Ukrainian president said on Monday he was open to “any format” of meeting Putin, while the Europeans have been putting forward ideas for potential summit locations.
By enthusiastically supporting direct talks, they are likely hoping to convince Trump to revert to a tougher stance against Moscow should Putin remain unwilling to take steps to end the war.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s European partners appear significantly less optimistic than Trump that a resolution of the conflict could be within reach.
On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron called Putin “a predator, and an ogre at our doorstep” and expressed “the greatest doubt” that the Russian president was willing to work towards peace.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Putin was “rarely to be trusted”, adding he was sceptical about a meeting with Zelensky materialising.
More high-level talks are planned for the coming days as questions over Trump’s level of support for Europe remain.
Britain’s military chief, Admiral Tony Radakin, is travelling to Washington for discussions on the deployment of a reassurance force in Ukraine, while Nato military chiefs are expected to hold a virtual meeting on Wednesday.
[BBC]
Sri Lanka women will tour the West Indiesfor a multi-format white-ball series in February-March. The tour will consist of three ODIs and three T20Is between February 20 to March 3.
All six games of the tour will be played at Grenada National Stadium. The first ODI will be on February 20, followed by games on February 22 and 25. The T20I series then starts on February 28, followed by games on March 1 and 3.
The T20I series, in particular, will be crucial as both teams look to build their prep towards the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup in the UK this summer. Both West Indies and Sri Lanka are in Group 2 of the competition alongside hosts England, New Zealand and two qualifiers not yet determined.
Sri Lanka will be looking to win their first T20I series since their Asia Cup triumph of 2024. West Indies have won their last two T20I series at home against Bangladesh and South Africa.
Sri Lanka last toured the Caribbean for an ODI and T20I series in 2024. That tour saw the visitors win the ODIs 3-0 and the hosts claim the T20Is 2-1.
[Cricinfo]
Cricket Scotland has received assurances that the ICC is working “very, very hard” to ensure Scotland’s players will be granted Indian visas in time for their opening T20 World Cup fixture on February 7 – including fast bowler Safyaan Shariff, who has Pakistani heritage.
Scotland were the beneficiaries of Bangladesh’s last-minute withdrawal from the World Cup as the highest-ranked team who had not already qualified, and named a 15-man squad on Monday afternoon which is due to fly to India later this week.
The state of political and diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan has resulted in regular delays for Pakistani nationals or those with Pakistani heritage when applying for Indian visas in recent years, including several cricketers.
But Cricket Scotland is confident that Sharif – who was born in Huddersfield to a Pakistani father and a British-Pakistani mother before moving to Scotland aged seven – will be granted a visa in time for the team’s opening match against West Indies in Kolkata.
“We are all committed [to] working with the ICC to make that happen,” Trudy Lindblade, Cricket Scotland’s chief executive, said on Monday. “The visa piece is always slightly an unknown, and it doesn’t matter whether you’ve got three days or whether you’ve got 45 days.
“Certainly that’s been our focus in the last 48 hours: just getting those visas done so our players are all ready to go. They’re all in the middle of submitting their visas and we will be there on the ground in India as quickly as we can, so it’s just a matter of time now.
“[The ICC] can only give us the assurances of the bits that they can control and, absolutely, of the bits that they control, we are working with them and obviously they’re working with the BCCI and local people on the ground there to make sure that we are getting all of that support that we need.
“So, absolutely, [they have given] the assurance that they can provide of things that were in their control. There is a team working very, very hard to not just help us, but to help 19 other teams as well that are also going to a World Cup. But we are their intense focus right now.”
Scotland will also apply for visas for two travelling reserves and three non-travelling reserves so that they will be able to field a team even in the event of delays and their head of performance, Steve Snell, said that the ICC had been “fantastic” in supporting their hurried preparations.
“We also anticipate some support whenever we can [get it] from the BCCI,” Snell said. “I don’t think we need to escalate that any further to get into the country, because you’d suggest that Scotland being invited to attend the World Cup and then not being able to get there wouldn’t be a great look for anybody.”
There are three changes to Scotland’s squad since the 2024 T20 World Cup, when they narrowly missed out on qualification for the Super 8s, with 19-year-old Afghanistan-born fast bowler Zainullah Ihsan in line for an international debut after winning his maiden call-up.
Tom Bruce, who played 17 T20Is for New Zealand as a middle-order batter from 2017 to 2020, is another significant inclusion, having switched allegiance to Scotland last year and made his ODI debut for them in August.
Chris Sole, the express fast bowler, is a notable absentee. Sole, who has regularly registered speeds in excess of 90mph/145kph, has played franchise cricket in the ILT20 and the CPL and featured for Scotland at their last World Cup appearance, but has not played a professional match since late 2024 as he focuses on a non-playing career in recruitment.
Ihsan, Bruce and batter Finlay McCreath are the three players involved who did not feature in the 2024 T20 World Cup squad, replacing Sole, Oli Haris and Jack Jarvis (who is one of the travelling reserves).
Hampshire seamer Scott Currie, who played three ODIs in early 2024, was not considered as he is no longer eligible for selection.
Currie, whose older brother Brad is part of the squad, was picked by England for their T20I series against Ireland in September and while he did not win a cap, the fact that he was named as an official substitute on their teamsheet renders him unavailable for Scotland until September 2028 under ICC regulations.
Scotland are due to play warm-up matches against Afghanistan and Namibia in Bengaluru on February 2 and 4 before their opening fixture against West Indies in Kolkata. Their other first-round matches are against Italy, England and Nepal, with the top two teams in Group B then qualifying for the Super 8s stage.
“The squad selection is subject to all player and staff visa applications being approved,” Cricket Scotland said in a statement. “Given the limited notice for Scotland’s participation at the tournament and timescale for selecting players, two travelling reserves have been selected while three others will be non-travelling reserves.”
Scotland squad for T20 World Cup:
Richie Berrington (capt), Tom Bruce, Matthew Cross, Brad Currie, Oli Davidson, Chris Greaves, Zainullah Ihsan, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Finlay McCreath, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal
Travelling reserves: Jasper Davidson, Jack Jarvis
Non-travelling reserves: Mackenzie Jones, Chris McBride, Charlie Tear
[Cricinfo]
England won the toss and chose to bat first in the deciding ODI in Colombo. Although England won the previous game chasing, the Khettarama surface tends to slow under lights, leading to its reputation as a notoriously difficult venue on which to bat second. Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka also chose to bat first when he won the toss in the first two ODIs.
Sri Lanka made one change to the XI that lost on Saturday, jettisoning seam bowler Pramod Madushan to include spin-bowling allrounder Wanidu Hasaranga, who had been rested for the first two games. This means Sri Lanka have only one frontline seamer – Asitha Fernando – in their XI, though part-time seam bowler Janith Liyanage is also in the side. The hosts also bat deep, with Hasaranga and Dunith Wellalage likely to be No. 8 and 9.
England are unchanged from Saturday, which means legspinning allrounder Rehan Ahmed again opens in place of Zak Crawley.
Blue skies prevailed over the toss at Khettarama. Though evening showers are always possible in Colombo, January tends to be among the drier months.
England: Rehan Ahmed, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (capt.), Jos Buttler (wk), Will Jacks, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid
Sri Lanka: Kamil Mishara, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka (capt.), Janith Liyanage, Pavan Rathnayake, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando
[Cricinfo]
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