Putin and Witkoff meet in Kremlin after car bomb kills Russian general near Moscow – Europe live | Europe
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Senior Russian military officer killed by car bomb in city near Moscow, officials say
Associated Press has further details of the confirmed killing of a senior Russian military official by a car bomb in the city of Balashikha, which lies just to the east of the outskirts of Russia’s capital.
It reports Russia’s top criminal investigation agency confirmed the killing of Lt Gen Yaroslav Moskalik. The deputy head of the main operational department in the general staff of the Russian armed forces, he was killed by an explosive device placed in his car.
The committee’s spokesperson, Svetlana Petrenko, said the explosive device was rigged with shrapnel. She said that investigators were at the scene.
The committee did not mention possible suspects, but Ukraine was blamed for the death of Lt Gen Igor Kirillov on 17 December last year, when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked outside his apartment exploded as he left for his office.
Key events
Final hours for Catholic faithful to pay respects to Pope Francis
TheVatican said 150,000 people have already paid their respects to Pope Francis, whose body is lying in state in St Peter’s Basilica, AFP reported.
People queue to enter St. Peter's Basilica to pay respects as Pope Francis lies in state. Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters
Pilgrims from around the world have only a few hours left to visit the basilica before it closes to visitors ahead of tomorrow’s funeral.
On Friday evening, at the end of his lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis’ coffin will be sealed in a private ceremony led by eight Catholic cardinals, Reuters said.
Somewhere between 200,000 and 500,000 people are expected to attend the funeral, with around 50 heads of states and governments, including US president Donald Trump, UK prime minister Keir Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Argentinian president Javier Milei.
Their presence involves a massive logistics and security operation to ensure smooth arrivals and departures and security throughout the weekend, with many leaders arriving on Friday afternoon and evening.
After the mass, Francis will then be buried according to his wishes in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore outside the Vatican.
The funeral cortege will travel to the basilica from St. Peter’s at walking pace. Crowds are expected to gather along the route, which is about 5.5 km (3.4 miles) long and will pass by many of Rome’s famed monuments, including the Colosseum, Reuters noted.
Why did Francis choose this particular church, to which he had a special devotion? Our Rome correspondent Angela Giuffrida has the answer.
Jakub Krupa
As we await further updates from Moscow, let me quickly bring you up to date with other news from around Europe.
Claim to end war in Ukraine on day one was was 'figurative,' Trump says
We earlier brought you a key quote Crimea from Trump’s big interview with the Time magazine with the US president claiming that “Crimea will stay with Russia” (here), but there are more lines there that are, erm, interesting.
Here is another passage from the interview, as per the official transcript:
You said you would end the war in Ukraine on Day One.
Well, I said that figuratively, and I said that as an exaggeration, because to make a point, and you know, it gets, of course, by the fake news [unintelligible]. Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended.
Witkoff meets Putin at the Kremlin - in pictures
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff for their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow. Photograph: Kristina Kormilitsyna/APRussian President Vladimir Putin, right, and US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff greet each other prior to their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. Photograph: Kristina Kormilitsyna/APUS President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia. Photograph: Kristina Kormilitsyna/Reuters
Video published by the Kremlin has shown Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries before sitting down on opposite sides of one of the Kremlin’s large white oval tables.
Putin was accompanied by his foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Witkoff appeared to have one other US official with him.
Steve Witkoff’s motorcade is pictured heading towards the Kremlin a few minutes ago. Photograph: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters
Russia confirms that Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff are meeting at the Kremlin
Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that the Russian president is “receiving president Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin”, Reuters reports, citing Interfax.
Tass has reported on its Telegram channel “Ushakov and Dmitriev take part in Putin’s meeting with Witkoff”.
Presumably – although the Guardian has not confirmed this – that suggests Yuri Ushakov, former Russian ambassador to the US, and Putin’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev are in attendence. Dmitriev met Witkoff earlier this month.
Here is another image from the scene in Balashikha where Lt Gen Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car explosion.
Flames and smoke rise from the scene where Lt Gen Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car explosion in Balashikha, just outside Moscow. Photograph: AP
In Moscow, Interfax is reporting that Vladimir Putin is meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff.
Reuters reports foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi has reaffirmed Kyiv’s negotiating position, saying that at talks in London this week the Ukrainian delegation insisted that Ukraine will not accept:
being forced to recognise any part of Ukrainian territory as Russian
allowing any country to have a veto on what alliances Ukraine can make
imposing any restrictions upon Ukraine’s armed forces
Documents published earlier today [See 11.35 CEST] suggest that the US is proposing that Ukraine be allowed to pursue EU membership if it desires, but will be permanently barred from joining Nato. Preventing Ukraine’s Nato membership has been one of Vladimir Putin’s war goals.
This is an image from @balashikha_life, shown on Russian media, which purports to show the car bomb in Balashikha, a city just to the east of Moscow, which killed senior military official Lt Gen Yaroslav Moskalik.
An image from @balashikha_life which appears to show the aftermath of a car explosion Photograph: @balashikha_life
The Guardian has not independently verified the image.
