Vladimir Putin has welcomed Donald Trump’s plan for peace in Ukraine – and dropped a chilling hint that it will not mean the end of the war.

The Russian president said the 28-point proposal “can form the basis of final peace settlement”.

That suggests Putin is happy to bank the territorial gains it will mean for Russia, then potentially come back for more in the future.

Trump’s plan would see Ukraine forced to give up areas of the eastern Donetsk region that it still controls, agree to reduce the size of its military and pledge not to join Nato – a key demand of Putin’s.

Trump has set a deadline of Thursday for Ukraine to sign up to the deal.

In an address to the people of his country on Friday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was being forced to choose between

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