And Airbus has trimmed its full-year plane delivery guidance.
Vladimir Putin.
Happy Thursday and welcome to your morning wrap of the latest political and business headlines from around the world.
First up, the Kremlin has said that President Vladimir Putin accepted some US proposals aimed at ending the war with Ukraine and rejected others, but that Russia was ready to meet with US negotiators again, Reuters reported.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was speaking after talks in Moscow between Putin and US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, with a Kremlin aide saying after they concluded that “compromises have not yet been found”.
Peskov later said it would be incorrect to say that Putin rejected the US proposals.
"A direct exchange of views took place yesterday for the first time," Peskov said. "Some things were accepted, some things were marked as unacceptable – this is a normal working process of finding a compromise."
A leaked set of 28 US draft peace proposals emerged in November, alarming Ukrainians and European officials who thought they bowed to Moscow’s demands.
European powers subsequently came up with a counter-proposal and, at talks in Geneva, the US and Ukraine said they created an updated framework to end the war.
Putin said this week European powers were trying to sabotage the peace talks by proposing ideas which would never fly with Russia.
Staying in Europe, the European Commission will move ahead with its plans to fund Ukraine with a loan based on Russia’s frozen assets, but in a concession to Belgium’s concerns, which hosts most of the assets, the EU executive has proposed an EU loan based on common borrowing, The Guardian reported.
The Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the two proposals would ensure Ukraine “has the means to defend [itself] and take forward peace negotiations from a position of strength”.
EU leaders will be asked to decide on the options later this month. Kyiv is forecast to run out of money from next spring, with officials estimating Ukraine needs €136 billion in 2026 and 2027 to continue its defence and keep the country running.
About €290 billion of Russia’s sovereign wealth in the West was frozen after it invaded Ukraine.
Ursula Von der Leyen.
To Hong Kong now, where authorities have ordered the removal of scaffolding mesh from all buildings undergoing renovations by Saturday, the BBC reported.
It comes after 159 people died as a result of the fire at the Wang Fuk Housing complex last week, which was covered in protective netting.
Investigations have since found the mesh failed to meet flame retardant standards.
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said new guidelines for testing materials used in scaffolding would be issued next week.
The South China Morning Post, which is based in the territory, said about 300 buildings will be affected by the removal order.
In business news, Airbus has cut its full-year delivery guidance after a series of issues with its A320 aircraft.
CNBC reported that the French planemaker is now targeting 790 commercial aircraft deliveries in 2025, down 4% on its prior guidance. However, it reiterated its financial guidance for the year.
The downgrade was attributed to a “recent supplier quality issue on fuselage panels impacting its A320 Family delivery flow”.
Earlier this week, reports emerged of a flaw in its A320 aircraft class, with Airbus later saying it had identified issues with a “limited number” of metal panels and that the source of the issue had been found. It came after the company over the weekend ordered an immediate software fix for around 6,000 A320-series aircraft, forcing flights to be grounded worldwide.
Airbus’s shares were up 4% overnight.
Airbus A320.
Finally, the search for the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will resume at the end of this month, more than a decade after the aircraft disappeared with 239 people on board.
The BBC reported this new search, which will run for 55 days, began in March but was suspended due to poor weather conditions.
Malaysia’s transport ministry said the latest development underscores the country’s “commitment to providing closure to the families affected by this tragedy”.
MH370 disappeared in 2014 while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, sparking the largest search in aviation history.
Exploration firm Ocean Infinity is leading the current search under a “no find, no fee” arrangement which would see it receive US$70m if the wreckage is found.
Previous search attempts include a multinational search involving 60 ships and 50 aircraft from 26 countries, which ended in 2017. Ocean Infinity led a previous effort in 2018, which ended after three months.
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