The world in brief

Asian stocks rose after Scott Bessent, Donald Trump’s treasury secretary, said that “substantial progress” had been made in trade talks between America and China over the weekend. The two-day meeting in Geneva was the first such engagement since Mr Trump imposed tariffs of 145% on some Chinese goods. The government in Beijing responded with 125% levies of its own. Details of the agreement were not shared—they will be announced on Monday.

Donald Trump urged Volodymyr Zelensky to meet Vladimir Putin this week, whether or not a ceasefire was in place. Russia’s president, playing a canny game, offered to meet his Ukrainian counterpart for talks in Istanbul, but attached potentially unacceptable conditions. In response Ukraine’s leader said that he would “wait for Putin on Thursday in Turkey”, but that he expected a “complete and lasting” ceasefire from Monday.