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The Russian invasion of Ukraine

Zelensky calls for creation of an 'army of Europe'​


Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for the creation of an "army of Europe" to guard against Russia as he suggested the US may no longer come to the continent's aid.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, he also said that Ukraine would "never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement" after US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to start peace talks.

In a speech on Friday, in which he attacked European democracies, US Vice President JD Vance warned that Europe needed to "step up in a big way" on defence.

Zelensky said: "I really believe the time has come - the armed forces of Europe must be created."

He said: "Yesterday here in Munich, the US vice president made it clear [that] decades of the old relationship between Europe and America are ending.

"From now on things will be different and Europe needs to adjust to that."

Earlier this week, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine was a "factory reset" for Nato which signalled the alliance needed to be "robust", "strong" and "real".

On Saturday, Zelensky said: "Let's be honest. Now we can't rule out the possibility that America might say no to Europe on an issue that threatens it.

"Many, many leaders have talked about Europe that needs its own military.

"An army, an army of Europe."

The concept of a European army is something that has been proposed by other leaders, including France's President Emmanuel Macron who has long backed the bloc's own military to reduce its reliance on the US.

Zelensky said: "A few days ago, President Trump told me about his conversation with Putin. Not once did he mention that America needs Europe at the table - that says a lot.

"The old days are over when America supported Europe just because it always had."

As Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nears its three-year anniversary, Trump and Hegseth have both said it is unlikely that Ukraine will join Nato.

The US defence secretary also said a return to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders was unrealistic.

Zelensky said he would "not take Nato membership for Ukraine off the table".

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Volodymyr Zelensky calls for creation of an 'army of Europe' to face Russian threats

The Ukrainian president suggests Europe can no longer rely on the US to come to its defence.
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Top US envoy to meet Russian officials for Ukraine peace talks

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to meet Russian officials in Saudi Arabia in the coming days for talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, US officials say.

America's top diplomat will be joined by national security adviser Mike Waltz and the US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, the officials told the BBC's US partner CBS News.

US special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg said Washington, Moscow and Kyiv would be involved in talks, but Europe was not invited.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had not been invited to the talks in Saudi Arabia.

Amid European concern that the US is moving ahead on peace talks with Russia without consulting the continent, Ukraine's European allies will gather in Paris next week for an emergency summit on the war.

Speaking on Saturday Kellogg said previous negotiations had failed because too many parties had been involved.

"It may be like chalk on the blackboard, it may grate a little bit, but I am telling you something that is really quite honest," the US diplomat added.

Also on Saturday, Rubio spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, where he reaffirmed US President Donald Trump's "commitment to finding an end to the conflict in Ukraine", according to state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce.

It followed a phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, when the White House shocked its European allies by reviving direct contact with Moscow after a freeze of more than three years.

After the call, Trump said negotiations to stop the "ridiculous war" in Ukraine would begin "immediately".

The upcoming talks in Saudi Arabia follow tensions at the international Munich Security Conference, where US Vice President JD Vance sharply criticised European democracies on Friday.

Vance repeated the Trump administration's line that Europe must "step up in a big way to provide for its own defence".

On Wednesday US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to rule out Ukraine joining Nato or recovering all of its territory - fuelling European alarm that the US may be making concessions to Russia before any peace deal is negotiated.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, having already seized Crimea and part of the eastern Donbas region in 2014.

Addressing the Munich conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the creation of an "army of Europe" amid rising concern that Washington may no longer come to the continent's aid.

"We can't rule out the possibility that America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it," Zelensky said.

BBC
 
Zelenskyy: I will never accept decisions between US and Russia about Ukraine

More from Volodymyr Zelenskyy now, who has said he will "never accept any decisions between the US and Russia about Ukraine".

Speaking to our US partner network NBC News, Ukraine's president thanked Donald Trump for his support, but added there is not "any leader in the world who can really make a deal with Vladimir Putin without us".

"I think he's [Putin] really a little bit scared about Trump, and I think Trump has this chance and he's strong, and he can push Putin to peace negotiations," he said.

But Zelenskyy called on Trump to approach his conversations with Putin and other Russian leaders while maintaining loyalty to Ukraine.

"I wanted very much that Ukraine is in priority for Trump, not Russia. I hope that we are more important," he added.

"We are not as big as Russia, but I think strategically, Ukraine is more important for the US, because we are really partners, allies, and we share common values."

Asked whether he believed Trump was negotiating in good faith, Zelenskyy said: "I hope so. I hope so. Yes, I count on it.

"I trust Trump because he's the president of the US, because your people voted for him and I respect their choice."

Sky News
 
France confirms it will host meeting on Ukraine tomorrow

An Elysee spokesperson has confirmed Emmanuel Macron will be hosting a meeting with European leaders on Ukraine in Paris tomorrow.

Sir Keir Starmer will be in attendance, as well as the leaders of Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands.

It has also been confirmed European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte will attend.

Sky News
 
Chernobyl radiation shield hit by Russian drone, Ukraine says

A Russian drone has hit the protective shelter over Chernobyl's damaged nuclear reactor, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

The overnight strike at the site of the world's worst nuclear accident caused a fire that has since been extinguished, he added.

The UN's nuclear watchdog (the IAEA) said radiation levels inside and outside Chernobyl were normal and stable - but later the plant's chief engineer, Oleksandr Titarchuk, said the possibility of radioactive substances leaking "now exists".

Russia has denied any claims it attacked Chernobyl, stating its military does not strike Ukrainian nuclear infrastructure and "any claims that this was the case do not correspond to reality".


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Chernobyl radiation shield hit by Russian drone, Ukraine says

There has been no increase in radiation levels at the plant, Ukraine's president says.
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Cricket Warrior said:
Chernobyl radiation shield hit by Russian drone, Ukraine says

A Russian drone has hit the protective shelter over Chernobyl's damaged nuclear reactor, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

The overnight strike at the site of the world's worst nuclear accident caused a fire that has since been extinguished, he added.

The UN's nuclear watchdog (the IAEA) said radiation levels inside and outside Chernobyl were normal and stable - but later the plant's chief engineer, Oleksandr Titarchuk, said the possibility of radioactive substances leaking "now exists".

Russia has denied any claims it attacked Chernobyl, stating its military does not strike Ukrainian nuclear infrastructure and "any claims that this was the case do not correspond to reality".


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Chernobyl radiation shield hit by Russian drone, Ukraine says

There has been no increase in radiation levels at the plant, Ukraine's president says.
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Click to expand...

They have to be careful with these reactors. This can be harmful for both Ukrainian and Russian citizens.
 
Chernobyl radiation shield hit by Russian drone, Ukraine says

A Russian drone has hit the protective shelter over Chernobyl's damaged nuclear reactor, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

The overnight strike at the site of the world's worst nuclear accident caused a fire that has since been extinguished, he added.

The UN's nuclear watchdog (the IAEA) said radiation levels inside and outside Chernobyl were normal and stable - but later the plant's chief engineer, Oleksandr Titarchuk, said the possibility of radioactive substances leaking "now exists".

Russia has denied any claims it attacked Chernobyl, stating its military does not strike Ukrainian nuclear infrastructure and "any claims that this was the case do not correspond to reality".


www.bbc.com

Chernobyl radiation shield hit by Russian drone, Ukraine says

There has been no increase in radiation levels at the plant, Ukraine's president says.
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Farhan The Man said:
Self-staged by zelensky to stay relevant.

This is an act forewarning the world of ramifications for "suicidal possibilities".

If still not given a seat to be on the discussion table. trump's move now.
Click to expand...
Remember when there were people here who told us Ukraine were winning. The delusion was off the charts. Reality about to hit home as Russia takes the donbas and Crimea officially.
 
Ukraine not invited to US-Russia peace talks, source tells BBC

Kyiv has not been invited to talks between the US and Russia aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian government source has told the BBC.

The US special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg had said Kyiv would be involved in Monday's talks in Saudi Arabia, but the source said no delegation would be present.

European leaders have also not been asked to join the discussions, and are due to meet instead on Monday in Paris at a summit hastily arranged by the French president, as fears grow the continent is being locked out of negotiations.

The separate meetings follow a turbulent week where Washington has signalled a drastic change in its approach to the war in Ukraine.

The White House's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed he was travelling to Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening for the first face-to-face talks between the US and Russia towards ending the conflict.

US President Donald Trump revealed on Sunday that Witkoff had met with Putin already "for a very extended period, like about three hours".

Witkoff, a billionaire real estate developer and friend of Trump, was in Moscow this week to secure the release of a US teacher imprisoned on charges of marijuana possession.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz are also set to meet Russian negotiators in Saudi Arabia, less than a week after Trump held a phone call with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin.

The call on Wednesday brought to an end a three-year freeze on direct contact between Moscow and Washington.

Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out accepting a peace deal negotiated without Ukraine, telling US television network NBC on Sunday that he would "never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine, never".


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Ukraine not invited to US-Russia peace talks in Saudi Arabia, source says

A Ukrainian government source told the BBC Kyiv would not be present at the proposed peace talks.
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Starmer says US 'backstop' needed for Ukraine peace deal

Sir Keir Starmer has said any Ukraine peace deal would require a "US backstop" to deter Russia from attacking its neighbour again.

Speaking after a hastily convened meeting with European leaders in Paris, the prime minister repeated that he would consider deploying UK troops to Ukraine in the event of a lasting peace agreement.

But he said "a US security guarantee was the only way to effectively deter Russia", and vowed to discuss the "key elements" of a peace deal with US President Donald Trump when the pair meet in Washington next week.

Sir Keir said Europe would "have to do more" to defend the continent in the face of the "generational" security challenge Russia poses.


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Starmer says US 'backstop' needed for Ukraine peace deal

The PM says "a US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again".
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'You could have made a deal': Trump blames Ukraine after US-Russia talks

Donald Trump has taken aim at Ukraine after its President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said it was a "surprise" his country had not been invited to talks in Saudi Arabia on ending the war with Russia.

Saying he was "disappointed" by Ukraine's reaction, he appeared to blame Ukraine for starting the war, saying the country "could have made a deal".

A full-scale Russian invasion sparked the war in Ukraine almost three years ago.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Riyadh for the first high-level, face-to-face talks between the two countries since the invasion.

They agreed to appoint teams to start negotiating the end of the war.

Lavrov said his country would not accept peacekeeping forces from Nato countries in Ukraine under any peace deal, a proposal raised at a meeting of European members of Nato in Paris on Monday.

European Nato states, who remain committed to supporting Ukraine against Russia, have been smarting at being sidelined by Trump's unilateral peace initiative, which reversed the resolutely pro-Ukraine policy of his predecessor as president, Joe Biden.

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago residence, Trump was asked by the BBC what his message was to Ukrainians who might feel betrayed.

"I hear that they're upset about not having a seat, well, they've had a seat for three years and a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily," he said.

"You should have never started it. You could have made a deal," he later added.

"I could have made a deal for Ukraine," he said. "That would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land - and no people would have killed, and no city would have been demolished."

After the meeting in Riyadh, Trump said he was "much more confident".

"They were very good," he said. "Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism."

"I think I have the power to end this war," he added.

Asked about the prospect of European countries sending troops to Ukraine, Trump said: "If they want to do that, that's great, I'm all for it. If they want to do that, I think that'd be fine. I mean, I know France has mentioned it, others have mentioned it, UK has mentioned it."

However, he added: "We won't have to put any over there because, you know, we're very far away."

After Monday's meeting in Paris, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said any Ukraine peace deal would require a "US backstop" to deter Russia from attacking its neighbour again.

Sir Keir said a "US security guarantee was the only way to effectively deter Russia", and vowed to discuss the "key elements" of a peace deal with Trump in Washington next week.

Also at the talks in Riyadh were US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, as well as Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov and the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev.

Stressing that Moscow would not agree to peacekeeping forces from Nato countries in Ukraine under any peace deal, Lavrov said: "Any appearance by armed forces under some other flag does not change anything. It is of course completely unacceptable."

He said the US and Russia would appoint ambassadors to each other's countries as soon as possible and create conditions to "restore co-operation in full".

"It was a very useful conversation. We listened to each other, and we heard each other," he said.

He reiterated Russia's previous position that any expansion of the Nato defence alliance - and Ukraine joining it - would be a "direct threat" to Russia.

Rubio for his part said he was "convinced" Russia was "willing to begin to engage in a serious process" to end the conflict.

"There has to be concessions made by all sides. We're not going to predetermine what those are."

"Today is the first step of a long and difficult journey, but an important one", he added.

Rubio said the European Union was going to "have to be at the table at some point because they have sanctions as well that have been imposed".

On the absence of Ukraine at the meeting, he insisted "no-one is being sidelined".

"Everyone involved in that conflict has to be OK with it, it has to be acceptable to them," he added.

The talks in Paris, which were hastily arranged in response to the apparent rapprochement between Russia and the US under Trump, did not agree a unified position.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz said discussing sending troops to Ukraine at present was "completely premature".

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk also said he did not intend to send troops while Italy's Giorgia Meloni - the only European leader to attend Trump's inauguration - expressed doubts.

She told the meeting in Paris that deploying European troops would be "the most complex and the least effective" way of securing peace in Ukraine.

Ukraine's leader looked visibly tired and upset when he gave his reaction to the Roiyadh meeting during a news conference in Turkey.

"We want everything to be fair and so that nobody decides anything behind our back," Zelensky said.

"You cannot make decisions without Ukraine on how to end the war in Ukraine."

He will be alarmed by all the smiles on both American and Russian faces in Riyadh, but he will know that he can do little to change whatever they agree on over his head.

The Ukrainian president will also know that his country's chances of resisting - let alone defeating - Russian troops without American help are very slim.

Following the overthrow of Ukraine's pro-Russian president in 2014, Moscow annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and backed pro-Russian separatists in bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine.

The conflict burst into all-out war when Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

Moscow's attempts to take control of the capital Kyiv were thwarted, but Russian forces have taken around one-fifth of Ukraine's territory in the east and south, and have carried out air strikes across the country.

Ukraine has retaliated with artillery and drone strikes, as well as a ground offensive against Russia's western Kursk region.

Accurate casualty counts are hard to come by but it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people, most of them soldiers, have been killed or injured, and millions of Ukrainian civilians have fled as refugees.

BBC
 
Ukraine is done, remarkable to see the double standards of Republicans on Gaza and Ukraine lol
 
Russia launches large-scale drone attack across Ukraine

Russia launched a large-scale drone attack on Saturday night, causing civilian casualties across Ukraine, official have said.

Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for Ukraine's Air Force Command, said a "record" 267 Russian drones were launched in a single, coordinated attack.

Among them, 138 were intercepted by air defence while 119 disappeared from radars after being jammed and did not cause any damage.

While many were repelled, emergency services reported drone strikes causing destruction and fires in a number of regions overnight.

The strike comes a day before the third anniversary of the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

It is not clear how many people have died, but initial figures from emergency services suggest there were at least three casualties.

Two people died in a strike on a residential building in Kherson, in southern Ukraine - a man and a mother of twins, the Ukrainian state emergency services said.

Regional authorities also confirmed that one man died and at least three were wounded following a strike on the central city of Kryvyi Rih.

Meanwhile, a 53-year-old woman was hospitalised after being injured in a drone attack in Zaporizhzhia, and firefighters were called to extinguish multiple fires in the capital, Kyiv.

Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Kltischko wrote on Telegram that the multi-wave drone attacks on the capital had damaged several houses and cars but there were no immediate reports of injuries.

Drones were intercepted in at least 13 regions including Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Mykolayiv and Odesa, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The Ukrainian air force also reported that Russia launched three ballistic missiles overnight.

Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday that 20 Ukrainian drones launched into Russia were "destroyed" overnight.

BBC
 
Europeans win in UN clash with US over rival Ukraine resolutions

The United Nations on Monday rejected a U.S. bid to tone down the General Assembly's stance on Russia's war in Ukraine as President Donald Trump seeks to broker peace, giving Kyiv and European allies a diplomatic victory at the world body.

The 193-member General Assembly voted on rival draft resolutions - one from Washington and one written by Ukraine and European states - to mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of its neighbor.

The United States was forced to abstain in the vote on its own resolution after European countries successfully amended Washington's draft to add language reflecting long-held U.N. support for Kyiv during the war, including Ukraine's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.

"This war has never been about Ukraine only. It is about a fundamental right of any country to exist, to choose its own path and to live free from aggression," Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa told the assembly before the vote.

The showdown at the United Nations came after Trump launched a bid to broker an end to the war, sparking a rift with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and raising concerns among European allies that they and Kyiv could be cut out of peace talks. U.S. and Russian officials met last Tuesday.

The amended U.S.-drafted resolution won 93 votes in favor, while 73 states abstained and eight voted no. Russia failed in a bid to amend the U.S. text to include a reference to the "root causes" of the conflict.
Ahead of the vote on the U.S. text, acting U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Shea said the proposed European and Russian changes pursued "a war of words rather than an end to the war."

She said the amendments detract "from what we are trying to achieve with this forward-looking resolution: A firm consensus from the members of this body to unite behind a resolution calling for the end to this conflict."


 
US sides with Russia in UN resolutions on Ukraine

The US has twice sided with Russia in votes at the UN to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, highlighting the Trump administration's change of stance on the war.

First the two countries opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow's actions and supporting Ukraine's territorial integrity, which was passed by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

Then they backed a US-drafted resolution at the UN Security Council calling for an end to the conflict but containing no criticism of Russia.

The Security Council resolution was passed but two key US allies, the UK and France, abstained in the vote after their attempts to amend the wording were vetoed.

The competing resolutions were tabled as French President Emmanuel Macron visited President Donald Trump at the White House in an attempt to address their sharp differences over the war.

On Thursday, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will likewise visit the new American leader.

Trump's White House has upended the transatlantic alliance, currying favour with Moscow and casting doubt on America's long-term commitment to European security.

That rift was laid bare on the floor of the 193-member UNGA on Monday as US diplomats pushed their limited resolution mourning the loss of life during the "Russia-Ukraine conflict" and calling for a swift end to it.

European diplomats tabled a more detailed text, blaming Russia for its full-scale invasion, and supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"We need to reconfirm that the aggression should be condemned and discredited, not rewarded," said Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa.

UNGA members backed the European resolution by 93 votes but, extraordinarily, the US did not abstain but actually voted against it, along with Russia, Israel, North Korea, Sudan, Belarus, Hungary and 11 other states, with 65 abstentions.

The UNGA also passed the US resolution but only after it was amended to include language supporting Ukraine, which led to the US abstaining.

At the much more powerful UN Security Council, which has 15 members, the unamended US resolution was passed by 10 votes, with the UK, France, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia abstaining.

America's acting envoy to the UN, Dorothy Camille Shea, described the US resolution as a "simple historic statement... that looks forward, not backwards. A resolution focused on one simple idea: ending the war".

Rarely has the US been so at odds with its supposed European allies.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago, the Security Council has been deadlocked by the power of Russia, one of its five permanent members, to veto any resolution there.

For this reason the UNGA has been the main forum for debating the war but its resolutions are not legally binding for member states, unlike those of the Security Council.

BBC
 

Macron says Ukraine ceasefire 'must not mean surrender' - as Trump claims Russia wants 'to end this war'​


Emmanuel Macron has said a peace deal with Russia "must not mean a surrender of Ukraine" - as Donald Trump claimed Vladimir Putin's forces "want to end this war".

The US and French presidents met amid fragile relations between America and Europe and after Mr Trump launched a verbal attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Meeting in the White House on the third anniversary of Russia's war in Ukraine, the French president said he and Mr Trump "made substantive steps forward during our discussions".

Mr Macron told reporters that Europe should do more to bolster defence in the continent.

However, he stressed Russia "is the aggressor" in the conflict and added: "President Putin violated the peace."

Peace must allow Kyiv 'sovereignty'

The French leader then said: "We want peace, he wants peace. We want peace swiftly, but we don't want an agreement that is weak."

"This peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine or a ceasefire without guarantees," he added. "It must allow for Ukrainian sovereignty and allow Ukraine to negotiate with other stakeholders regarding the issues that affect it.

"It is also a country in which we need to shoulder our responsibilities so that we ensure security and stability for Ukraine and for the entire region.

"For Europeans, this is an existential issue."

'Get this war stopped'

At a news conference following the talks, Mr Macron said he "fully believes" there is a path forward in negotiations.

He also agreed "there is good reason for President Trump to re-engage with President Putin" - a week after the leaders had a 90-minute-long phone call.

Mr Trump added Russia would accept European troops in Ukraine as part of peacekeeping efforts, adding: "I specifically asked him (Putin) that question. He has no problem with it."

He told reporters: "When I got here, one of the first calls I made was to Putin and it was made with great respect. They want to end this war."

Mr Trump then explained he wants to "get this war stopped," whether that's through a ceasefire or a direct agreement - but when asked if Ukraine should give up territory as part of any deal, he said: "We'll see."

In an interview after the news conference, Mr Macron said he thought a peace deal could be struck within weeks.

"We want peace swiftly but we don't want an agreement that is weak," he told Fox News.

On Monday, Mr Putin said he is ready to discuss Russia cutting its defence budget alongside the US, saying a mutual drop of 50% would be a "good idea".

The Russian president also touted a possible economic deal with the US, offering talks on a deal for its own rare earth metal supplies and for the sale of aluminium to American firms.

The US president is due to meet Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday, after the prime minister warned Mr Trump that a bad peace deal would be a "disaster for everyone".

news.sky.com

Macron says Ukraine ceasefire 'must not mean surrender' - as Trump claims Russia wants 'to end this war'

Emmanuel Macron visited the White House amid fragile relations between America and Europe, after Donald Trump launched a verbal attack on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week.
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Putin offers Russian and Ukrainian rare minerals to US​


Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is open to offering the US access to rare minerals, including from Russian-occupied Ukraine.

This comes after US President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for Ukraine to give up some of its minerals in exchange for support, in a deal which is currently being finalised, according to a Ukrainian minister.

In a state TV interview on Monday, Putin said he was ready to "offer" resources to American partners in joint projects, including mining in Russia's "new territories" - a reference to parts of eastern Ukraine that Russia has occupied since launching a full-scale invasion three years ago.

The proposal could also see the two countries collaborating on aluminium extraction and supply to the US to stabilise prices, he added.

In his televised interview, Putin countered Trump's push to access Ukraine's mineral deposits, saying they were ready to work with "foreign partners" including companies on mining minerals.

Putin said a potential US-Ukraine deal on rare minerals was not a concern and that Russia "undoubtedly have, I want to emphasise, significantly more resources of this kind than Ukraine".

"As for the new territories, it's the same. We are ready to attract foreign partners to the so-called new, to our historical territories, which have returned to the Russian Federation," he added.

He also suggested that Russia and the US could collaborate on aluminium production in Krasnoyarsk, in Siberia, where one Russian aluminium maker, Rusal, has its largest smelters.

The televised comments followed a cabinet meeting on Russia's natural resources.

On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists the proposal opened up "quite broad prospects", adding that the US needed rare earth minerals and Russia had "a lot of them".

Offering the US access to minerals is an eye-catching move by Putin, given how much pride the Kremlin has taken in keeping Russia's natural wealth in Russian hands. In 2023 Putin accused the West, particularly the US, of trying to "dismember" Russia to gain access to its natural resources.

Putin's intervention comes as Ukraine has been facing growing pressure from the Trump administration to sign a deal for access to its mineral deposits.

Kyiv estimates that about 5% of the world's critical raw materials are in Ukraine. However, some of the mineral deposits have been seized by Russia in the three years since its invasion of Ukraine.

Trump said earlier this month that the US military and economic aid to Ukraine amounted to about $500bn (£396bn), and he wants the US to have access to Ukrainian minerals of that value.

Zelenzky has disputed that figure and is also said to want any deal to include security guarantees.

On Monday Ukraine's deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, Olga Stefanishyna, said negotiations on such a deal "have been very constructive, with nearly all key details finalised".

Similarly - albeit in a different approach to the US - the European Union has also proposed a partnership with Ukraine that would give it access to minerals in what the the European Commissioner for industrial strategy, Stéphane Séjourné, called a "win-win".

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Putin offers Russian and Ukrainian rare minerals to US

The proposal to give the US access to minerals would also include those from territories taken from Ukraine.
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Ukraine official says minerals deal agreed with US

Ukraine has agreed the terms of a major minerals deal with the US, a senior official in Kyiv has told the BBC.

"We have indeed agreed it with a number of good amendments and see it as a positive outcome," the official said, without providing any further details.

Media reports say Washington has dropped initial demands for a right to $500bn (£395bn) in potential revenue from utilising the natural resources but has not given firm security guarantees to war-torn Ukraine - a key Ukrainian demand.

US President Donald Trump said he was expecting his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington to sign the deal this week, after the two leaders exchanged strong words about each other.

Without confirming that an agreement had been reached, Trump said on Tuesday that in return for the deal Ukraine would get "the right to fight on".

"They're very brave," he told reporters, but "without the United States and its money and its military equipment, this war would have been over in a very short period of time".

Asked whether supplies of US equipment and ammunition to Ukraine would continue, he said: "Maybe until we have a deal with Russia... We need to have a deal, otherwise it's going to continue."

There would be a need for "some form of peacekeeping" in Ukraine following any peace deal, Trump added, but that would need to be "acceptable to everyone".

Just last week, Trump described Zelensky as a "dictator", and appeared to blame Ukraine - not Russia - for starting the war, after the Ukrainian leader rejected US demands for $500bn in mineral wealth and suggested that the American president was living in a "disinformation space" created by Russia.

Trump has been pushing for access to Ukraine's minerals in return for previous military and other aid to the country since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion three years ago.

Zelensky argued nowhere near that much American aid had been provided, adding: "I can't sell our state."

On Tuesday, Trump said the US had given Ukraine between $300bn and $350bn.

"We want to get that money back," he said. "We're helping the country through a very very big problem... but the American taxpayer now is going to get their money back plus."

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna told the Financial Times - which first reported the minerals deal on Tuesday - that the deal was "only part of the picture".

"We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it's part of a bigger picture," said Stefanishyna, who has led the negotiations.

According to Ukrainian sources, the US has had to back away from some of its more onerous demands from the war-torn nation and many of the details of this agreement will require further negotiation.

The precedent, however, is set. US aid in the Trump era comes with strings attached. Aid for aid's sake – whether given for humanitarian or strategic reasons – is a thing of the past.

That represents a fundamental reordering of American foreign policy for more than 75 years, from the days of the Marshall Plan to post-Cold War idealism and George W Bush's "Freedom Agenda" push to promote global democracy.

Ukraine is just the start. Expect Trump and his foreign policy team to apply their "America First" principles around the world over the course of the next four years.

Ukraine's news site Ukrainska Pravda reported that the minerals deal was set to be signed by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The news site's economics unit EP said the two countries had also agreed to set up a reconstruction investment fund.

Ukraine holds huge deposits of critical elements and minerals, including lithium and titanium, as well as sizeable coal, gas, oil and uranium deposits - supplies worth billions of dollars.

Last year, Zelensky presented a "victory plan" to Ukraine and its Western partners which proposed that foreign firms could gain access to some of the countries' mineral wealth at the end of the war.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was open to offering the US access to rare minerals, including from Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.

Ukraine and its European allies have become increasingly alarmed over a recent thaw in US-Russian ties, including their bilateral talks in Saudi Arabia last week.

There is concern in Kyiv and across Europe that they might be excluded from any negotiations aimed at ending the war, and that the continent's future security as a whole could be decided behind their backs.

What minerals does Ukraine actually have?

It is estimated that about 5% of the world's "critical raw materials" are in Ukraine - including:

  • 19 million tonnes of proven reserves of graphite, which is used to make batteries for electric vehicles
  • A third of all European lithium deposits, the key component in current batteries.
Before Russia's full-scale invasion began three years ago, Ukraine also produced 7% of the world's titanium, used in construction for everything from aeroplanes to power stations.

Ukrainian land also contains significant deposits of rare earth metals, a group of 17 elements that are used to produce weapons, wind turbines, electronics and other products vital in the modern world

Some mineral deposits have been seized by Russia. According to Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's economy minister, resources worth $350bn remain in Russian-occupied territories today.

BBC
 
Zelensky to meet Trump in Washington to sign minerals deal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday to sign an agreement on sharing his country's mineral resources, Trump has said.

Zelensky has described the bilateral deal as preliminary, and said he wants further agreements which include US security guarantees to deter renewed Russian aggression.

But Trump said the US would not provide guarantees "beyond... very much", saying the responsibility should instead fall to Europe.

Trump also seemingly ruled out the prospect of Ukraine becoming a Nato member - one of Zelensky's long-held ambitions.

Speaking at a meeting of his cabinet on Wednesday, Trump said the presence of American workers extracting rare earth metals on Ukrainian soil would provide "automatic security" for Ukraine.

He said Kyiv should "forget about" joining Nato and repeated Russia's claims that the issue was one of the driving factors behind the war.

The US president suggested a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia was not far off, telling reporters: "We're going to make a deal with Russia and Ukraine to stop killing people."

But Zelensky said without security guarantees "we won't have a ceasefire, nothing will work, nothing".

"I want to find a Nato path or something similar," he said.

Russia has consistently opposed the idea of Ukraine becoming a member, fearing it would bring Nato forces too close to its borders.

In 2008, the alliance had said that Ukraine could eventually join.

Trump has suggested European peacekeeping troops could be stationed in Ukraine as part of a ceasefire deal, but Russia says it is against this.

European representatives, however, were not included in Washington's initial talks with Russia.

Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said "for any kind of deal to work on European soil, you need the Europeans to also agree to it".

She said the mineral resources deal was up to Ukraine, but any peace agreement would "need the Europeans on board".

Ms Kallas' scheduled meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday was abruptly cancelled, with both sides citing scheduling issues.

Zelensky said the success of the minerals deal, which was formally backed by his government on Wednesday evening, would depend on the outcome of his meeting with Trump this week.

Key details have not yet been made public, but Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said it envisages an "investment fund" for Ukraine's reconstruction.

The prospect of a deal was first proposed by Zelensky last year as a way to offer the US a tangible reason to continue supporting Ukraine.

But disagreements over its substance exacerbated tensions between Trump and Zelensky in recent weeks.

The Ukrainian president had rejected an initial request from the US for $500bn (£395bn) in mineral wealth, but media reports suggest this demand has now been dropped.

There are also differences in how both sides are now describing the deal. Trump has lauded the "very big agreement" as an opportunity for the US to get its "money back" after funding aid to Ukraine.

But Zelensky has instead referred to it as a "framework agreement" upon which he hopes further deals can be made.

Trump has said he wants a quick end to the war in Ukraine and has sought to reset relations with Russia. After a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the two leaders sent delegations to Saudi Arabia in bilateral talks which excluded Ukraine.

In response, Zelensky accused the US of helping Putin "break out of years of isolation" and Trump of living in a "Russian disinformation space".

Ukraine is a country rich in natural resources. Kyiv estimates that about 5% of the world's "critical raw materials" are there. But accessing some of these resources will not be completely straightforward.

Some of the mineral deposits have been seized by Russia. According to Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's economy minister, resources worth $350bn (£277bn) remain in occupied territories today.

There are warnings too that Ukraine first needs to addresses its problem with unexploded mines before striking a deal with the US.

A quarter of Ukraine's landmass is estimated to be contaminated with landmines, mainly concentrated in the war-torn east of the country.

Putin has also said he is open to offering the US access to rare minerals, including from Russian-occupied Ukraine.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will also be meeting both Trump and Zelensky separately this week to discuss the war in Ukraine.

He is due to arrive in Washington later on Wednesday.

BBC
 

Ukraine latest: Putin says Russia does not reject peaceful solution to war​

The Kremlin has reiterated its conditions for peace talks, and claims to have recaptured part of Kursk. Earlier, South Korea said North Korea appears to have sent more troops to fight Ukraine. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer is in Washington for talks with Donald Trump.
 
Trump commends Zelensky ahead of White House talks

US President Donald Trump has said he has a "lot of respect" for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on the eve of their talks at the White House.

Asked by the BBC if he would apologise for recently calling him a "dictator", he said he could not believe he had said this. He also called Zelensky "very brave".

Trump was speaking after talks with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer about ending the war between Ukraine and Russia.

He predicted a "very good meeting" with Zelensky on Friday, saying efforts to achieve peace were "moving along pretty rapidly".

This week's meetings come after the Trump administration shocked its Western partners by holding the first high-level US talks with Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine just over three years ago.

America's new president had appeared to blame Zelensky for the war and chided him for not starting peace talks earlier.

"You've been there for three years," he had said last Tuesday. "You should have ended it... You should have never started it. You could have made a deal."

But this Thursday, speaking after meeting Sir Keir, Trump told reporters asking about his forthcoming talks with Zelensky: "I think we're going to have a very good meeting tomorrow morning. We're going to get along really well."

Asked by the BBC's Chris Mason if he still thought Zelensky was a "dictator", he replied: "Did I say that? I can't believe I said that."

Zelensky will be hoping to win some kind of security guarantees for his country that would underpin any peace deal that may be negotiated.

Asked about these on Thursday, Trump only said he was "open to many things" but he wanted to get Russia and Ukraine to agree a deal before deciding what measures might be put in place to enforce it.

On his visit on Friday, Zelensky is expected to sign a deal that will give the US access to Ukraine's rare earth mineral resources.

Trump suggested that the presence of US mining concerns in Ukraine would act as a deterrent against future Russian attacks on Ukraine.

"It's a backstop, you could say," he said on Thursday. "I don't think anybody's going to play around if we're there with a lot of workers and having to do with rare earths and other things which we need for our country."

The British prime minister had said earlier that the UK was prepared to send troops to Ukraine after the war as part of a peacekeeping force but only if the US, Nato's leading member, provided a "backstop".

Asked if the US would aid British peacekeepers if they were attacked by Russia, Trump said: "The British have incredible soldiers, incredible military and they can take care of themselves. But if they need help, I'll always be with the British, okay?"

Nato's Article 5 holds that Nato members will come to the defence of an ally which comes under attack.

Praising Trump's "personal commitment to bring peace" in Ukraine, Sir Keir said the UK was "ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support a deal".

"We're focused now on bringing an enduring end to the barbaric war in Ukraine," he said.

But, he added, it must not be a peace deal "that rewards the aggressor or that gives encouragement to regimes like Iran".

Asked whether Vladimir Putin was trustworthy, the UK prime minister said his views on the Russian president were well-known.

Asked in turn why he seemed to trust Putin and Sir Keir did not, Trump said: "I know a lot of people that you would say no chance that they would ever deceive you, and they are the worst people in the world.

"I know others that you would guarantee they would deceive you, and you know what, they're 100% honourable, so you never know what you're getting."

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who had been due to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington before he cancelled the talks "due to scheduling issues", told BBC News that Putin and Russia did "not want to have peace".

"For any peace agreement to function, it needs the Europeans as well as Ukrainians on board," she added.

Stopping off in the Irish Republic on Thursday en route to the US, Zelensky met the Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin at Shannon Airport.

"We discussed the steps to end the war with guaranteed peace for Ukraine and the whole of Europe," he said later.

Following the overthrow of Ukraine's pro-Russian president in 2014, Moscow annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and backed pro-Russian separatists in bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine.

The conflict burst into all-out war when Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people, most of them soldiers, have been killed or injured, and millions of Ukrainian civilians have fled as refugees.

As well as Crimea, Russia now occupies parts of four other regions - Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

The Kremlin warned on Thursday that Russia would make no territorial concessions to Ukraine as part of a peace deal.

"All territories that have become subjects of the Russian Federation... are an integral part of our country, Russia," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "This is an absolutely indisputable fact and a non-negotiable fact."

Separately, Russian and US officials met in the Turkish city of Istanbul for talks on rebuilding diplomatic ties.

The two nuclear superpowers expelled one another's embassy staff when Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, was in the White House.

BBC
 
Russian drone attack kills one, triggers power cuts in Odesa for second day

A Russian drone attack late on Tuesday killed one person and triggered power, water and heating cuts in Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa for the second day running, the regional governor said.

Oleh Kiper, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said a woman aged 77 had died of shrapnel wounds on the outskirts of the city.

Drone strikes damaged critical infrastructure, leaving neighbourhoods without services, he said.

Kiper said fragments from downed drones had damaged private houses and started fires in outlying city districts. A missile strike had destroyed an empty sanatorium near the town of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, south of Odesa, he added.

East of the capital Kyiv, drones targeted a multi-storey apartment building near the town of Boryspil, smashing windows and triggering a fire in a business. Local officials reported no casualties.


 

Ukraine reels as Trump pulls US support while Russia’s war rages on​


Zynaida Shelepenko is still reeling about what happened in the White House on Friday.

“They cornered Zelenskyy like two bandits, like two mafiosi who want your money and your humiliation,” the 52-year-old bank clerk told Al Jazeera, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with United States President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Therefore, Shelepenko said, she was not surprised with Trump’s Monday night decision to freeze military aid to Ukraine after Zelenskyy refused to apologise for the spat and said his aborted visit to Washington, DC, “didn’t bring anything positive”.

The Ukrainian president and his US counterpart have since struck more conciliatory tones, but to Shelepenko, there is a clear winner from these tensions between Washington and Kyiv, which until Trump came to power were close allies.

“Guess who’s cheering now? The vampire, the killer of children in the Kremlin,” she said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We saw the most shameful moment in American history.”

Source: Al Jazeera
 
Russian strike kills 11 in town near Donetsk, Ukraine says

At least 11 people were killed and 30 injured in a Russian strike on Dobropillya, a town in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, Ukrainian authorities say.

Eight residential buildings and an administrative building were damaged in the attack late Friday, the regional emergency service reported. The town lies north-west of Russian-held Donetsk city.

The report also said Russian forces launched a second strike on emergency responders while they were fighting a blaze.

It comes after intense fighting in nearby areas, with Ukrainian prosecutors reporting five killed in Russian attacks on Thursday night.

BBC
 
Last edited:
Casualties reported in 'massive' drone attack on Moscow and region

At least one person has been killed and three injured in a "massive" overnight drone attack on Moscow and the capital region, local officials say.

Regional Governor Andrei Vorobyev says the casualties were in the towns of Vidnoye and Domodedovo, just outside the capital. Seven apartments in a residential building were damaged.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin says 73 drones heading towards the city were shot down. The roof of one building was damaged by drone wreckage.

One district train network is now suspended, and flight restrictions are in place at Moscow's airports after the attack - one of the biggest since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The attack comes just hours ahead of a crunch meeting between representatives from the United States and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia, focused on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.

In a post on social media, Governor Vorobyev published pictures purportedly showing one of the damaged apartments, and burnt vehicles in what looked like a car park in the Moscow region.

He said 12 people - including three children - had to be evacuated from their damaged flats after the overnight strike.

Flight restrictions were imposed in Moscow's Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports - major transport hubs used by millions of passengers every year.

Ukraine has not commented on the issue.

BBC
 
Ukraine ready to accept 30-day ceasefire with Russia

Ukraine has said it is ready to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire with Russia proposed by the US, after a day of US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would present the offer to Russia and that "the ball is in their court".

Ukraine's President Volodomyr Zelensky said it was now up to the US to convince Russia to agree to the "positive" proposal.

Tuesday's talks in Jeddah were the first official meeting between the two countries since the extraordinary clash between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.


www.bbc.com

Ukraine ready to accept 30-day ceasefire with Russia proposed by US

President Zelensky said it was now up to the US to convince Russia to agree to the truce.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
US team headed to Moscow for Ukraine talks as Putin visits Kursk

US officials are headed to Russia to discuss a potential ceasefire in Ukraine, according to President Donald Trump.

The news comes after Ukrainian officials agreed to a 30-day ceasefire following a highly anticipated meeting with US officials in Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the "ball is truly in their [Russia's] court" and that the US believes the only way to end the fighting was through peace negotiations.

The American visit comes as President Vladimir Putin visited Russia's Kursk region - parts of which have been under Ukraine's control since an incursion last year.

Russian TV aired footage of Putin meeting military commanders, who told him Russian troops had recaptured 86% of the area from Ukraine.

Following the meeting in Jeddah on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was now up to the US to convince Russia to agree to the "positive" proposal.

The Kremlin has said it was studying the ceasefire deal, and that a phone call between Trump and Putin is possible.

Speaking alongside Ireland's Taoiseach - or Prime Minister - Micheál Martin in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said he had received "positive messages" about the possibility of a ceasefire.

"But a positive message means nothing," he said. "This is a very serious situation."

Trump did not specify which officials were travelling to Moscow.

However, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House that National Security Secretary Mike Waltz had spoken to his Russian counterpart.

Earlier this week, a source familiar with the matter told the BBC that Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff would head to Moscow for negotiations following the talks in Jeddah.

The White House confirmed the plans on Wednesday.

"We urge the Russians to sign on to this plan. This is the closest we have been to peace in this war," Leavitt said.

The Kremlin has said it is studying the proposed ceasefire and further details, which spokesman Dmitry Peskov said will come "via various channels" over the course of the next several days.

In the Oval Office, Trump said that he believes a ceasefire would make sense for Russia, adding - without further details - that there is a "lot of downside to Russia" as well.

"We have a very complex situation solved on one side. Pretty much solved. We've also discussed land and other things that go with it," Trump added. "We know the areas of land we're talking about, whether it's pull back or not pull back."

To pressure Russia, Trump said that he "can do things financially".

"That would be very bad for Russia," he said. "I don't want to do that because I want to get peace."

The meeting in Jeddah was the first between US and Ukrainian officials since a 28 February meeting between Zelensky, Trump and Vice-President JD Vance descended into a shouting match and, ultimately, a pause in US military assistance and intelligence sharing.

The pause was lifted following the meeting in Jeddah, and Trump said that he believes that the "difficult" Ukrainian side and Zelensky now want peace.

Even as negotiations over a potential ceasefire are ongoing, fighting has raged in Ukraine.

Russian drones and missiles reportedly struck targets in Kryvyy Rih - Zelensky's hometown - overnight, as well as in the port city of Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv.

Clashes also continued in Russia's Kursk region, where Peskov said Russian troops were "successfully advancing" and recapturing areas held by Ukrainian forces.

Later on Wednesday, the Kremlin said Putin had visited a command post in the region. He was shown in footage released by the Kremlin walking alongside his military chief Valery Gerasimov.

It marked the Russian president's first visit to the region since Ukraine's incursion across the border in August last year.

Russian media report that Putin ordered the military to "fully liberate" the region during the visit. He is yet to comment on the ceasefire proposal agreed by Ukraine and the US on Tuesday.

The head of Ukraine's military, Oleksandr Syrsky, also indicated on Wednesday that some of its troops were withdrawing from Kursk. In a post on Telegram, he said: "In the most difficult situation, my priority has been and remains saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers."

BBC
 
Ukraine’s Best European Missile Just Shot Down Its First Russian Jet

One of Ukraine’s two SAMP/T surface-to-air missile batteries has shot down a Russian warplane for the first time. That’s obvious good news for Ukraine, which could rely more on the Franco-Italian air defense system—Europe’s answer to the American Patriot.

But the news belies the scarcity of SAMP/Ts—and their Aster missiles—not just in Ukraine, but everywhere.

“There is a confirmed aircraft,” Yuriy Ihnat, a Ukrainian air force spokesman, said at a recent industry event. Ukraine has received separate SAMP/T batteries, each with radars and launchers, from France and Italy. A $500-million SAMP/T battery can hit aircraft and missiles from 90 miles away.

It’s the only Western alternative to the Patriot, around six batteries of which Ukraine has received from the United States, Germany, Romania and The Netherlands.

Kyiv is badly in need of a backup plan for intercepting Russian planes and missiles amid the geopolitical chaos triggered by the increasingly Russia-aligned administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Demanding Ukraine end a war it did not start, Trump halted U.S. aid to Ukraine late last month, and only agreed to resume it after Ukrainian officials committed to a hard-to-enforce ceasefire framework that would require Russian consent—consent that could prove impossible to get.

German chancellor-elect Friedrich Merz was ahead of the curve last month when he called on Europe to achieve “strategic independence” from the United States, which under Trump has threatened to force Canada and Denmark’s Greenland to become part of the U.S.


www.forbes.com

Ukraine’s Best European Missile Just Shot Down Its First Russian Jet

The Ukrainian air force has two SAMP/T batteries—and needs more.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com
 
Kremlin told U.S. it didn’t want Trump’s Ukraine-Russia envoy at peace talks

President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia was excluded from high-level talks on ending the war after the Kremlin said it didn't want him there, a U.S. administration official and a Russian official tell NBC News.

Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg was conspicuously absent from two recent summits in Saudi Arabia — one with Russian officials and the other with Ukrainians — even though the talks come under his remit.

“Together,” Trump said when announcing Kellogg’s nomination in November, “we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”

But Kellogg did not attend U.S.-Russia talks in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, on Feb. 18. Russian President Vladimir Putin thought he was too pro-Ukraine, a senior Russian official with direct knowledge of the Kremlin’s thinking told NBC News.

“Kellogg is a former American general, too close to Ukraine. Not our kind of person, not of the caliber we are looking for,” according to the official, who is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

A U.S. official in the Trump administration, who is also not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed to NBC News that Russia didn’t want Kellogg involved. The official did not know when this was communicated to the White House.

Source: NBC News
 
Putin suggests US ceasefire idea for Ukraine needs serious reworking

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia supported a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine in principle, but that any truce would have to address the root causes of the conflict and many crucial details needed to be sorted out.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has left hundreds of thousands of dead and injured, displaced millions of people, reduced towns to rubble and triggered the sharpest confrontation for decades between Moscow and the West.

Putin's heavily qualified support for the U.S. ceasefire proposal looked designed to signal goodwill to Washington and open the door to further talks with U.S. President Donald Trump. But the sheer number of clarifications and conditions that Putin said were needed appeared to rule out a swift ceasefire.

"We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities," Putin told reporters at the Kremlin following talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. "The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it."


 
Putin sets out conditions for Ukraine ceasefire

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he agreed with the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine, but that "questions" remained about the nature of a truce as he set out a number of tough conditions.

The Russian president was responding to a plan for a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine agreed to earlier this week after talks with the US.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described Putin's response to the plan as "manipulative" and called for more sanctions on Russia.

Meanwhile, the US placed further sanctions on Russian oil, gas and banking sectors.

Russian officials said Putin was expected to hold talks on the ceasefire on Thursday evening with US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, who had flown to Moscow earlier that day.

It is not clear whether that meeting actually took place. On Friday, Russia's state-run media quoted the air traffic monitoring website Flightradar as saying the plane believed to be carrying Witkoff had left Moscow.

Moscow and Washington have not commented on the issue.

Late on Thursday and overnight, both Russia and Ukraine reported new enemy drone attacks.

Ukraine said seven people - including children - were injured in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv.

Russia reported a large fire at an oil facility in the southern city of Tuapse.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow on Thursday, Putin said of the ceasefire proposal: "The idea is right - and we support it - but there are questions that we need to discuss."

A ceasefire should lead to "an enduring peace and remove the root causes of this crisis", Putin said.

"We need to negotiate with our American colleagues and partners," he said. "Maybe I'll have a call with Donald Trump."

Putin added: "It will be good for the Ukrainian side to achieve a 30-day ceasefire.

"We are in favour of it, but there are nuances."

One of the areas of contention is Russia's western Kursk region, Putin said, where Ukraine launched a military incursion last August and captured some territory.

He claimed Russia was fully back in control of Kursk, and said Ukrainian troops there "have been isolated".

"They are trying to leave, but we are in control. Their equipment has been abandoned."

"There are two options for Ukrainians in Kursk - surrender or die."

On Wednesday, Ukraine's top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukrainian troops would hold defensive positions in the Kursk region "as long as it is expedient and necessary" despite "increased" pressure from Russian forces.

At Thursday's press conference, Putin also outlined some of his questions over how a ceasefire would work. He asked: "How will those 30 days be used? For Ukraine to mobilise? Rearm? Train people? Or none of that? Then a question - how will that be controlled?"

"Who will give the order to end the fighting? At what cost? Who decides who has broken any possible ceasefire, over 2,000km? All those questions need meticulous work from both sides. Who polices it?"

Putin "doesn't say no directly", Zelensky said in his nightly video address, but "in practice, he's preparing a rejection".

"Putin, of course, is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, wants to kill Ukrainians."

The Russian leader had set so many pre-conditions "that nothing will work out at all", Zelensky said.

After Putin's remarks and Zelensky's response, there is now a clear divide between both sides' positions.

Ukraine wants a two-stage process: a quick ceasefire and then talks about a longer-term settlement.

Russia believes you cannot separate the two processes and all the issues should be decided in a single deal. Both sides seem content to argue their differences.

Ukraine believes it can put pressure on Russia, painting it as a reluctant peacemaker, playing for time. Russia, equally, believes it has a chance now to raise its fundamental concerns, about Nato expansion and Ukraine's sovereignty.

But this presents a problem for Donald Trump. He has made it clear he wants a quick result, ending the fighting in days.

And right now, Putin does not appear to want to play ball.

Speaking at the White House following Putin's remarks, Trump said he would "love" to meet the Russian leader and that he hoped Russia would "do the right thing" and agree to the proposed 30-day truce.

"We'd like to see a ceasefire from Russia," he said.

Speaking earlier at a meeting in the Oval Office with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump told reporters he had already discussed specifics with Ukraine.

"We've been discussing with Ukraine land and pieces of land that would be kept and lost, and all of the other elements of a final agreement," Trump said.

"A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed."

On the subject of Ukraine joining the Nato military alliance, Trump said "everybody knows what the answer to that is".

The fresh sanctions on Russian oil and gas came as the Trump administration further restricted access to US payment systems, making it harder for other countries to buy Russian oil.

Earlier in the day, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov rejected the ceasefire proposal put forward by the US.

On Wednesday, the Kremlin released a video it said showed Putin visiting Russia's Kursk region, symbolically dressed in military fatigues. Russia later said it recaptured the key town of Sudzha.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, and now controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

More than 95,000 people fighting for Russia's military have been killed in the war, according to data analysed so far and confirmed by the BBC. The actual death toll is believed to be much higher.

Russia's military has not publicly revealed its battlefield casualties since September 2022, when it said 5,937 soldiers had been killed.

Ukraine last updated its casualty figures in December 2024, when Zelensky acknowledged 43,000 Ukrainian deaths among soldiers and officers. Western analysts believe this figure to be underestimated.

BBC
 

Russia and Ukraine launch aerial attacks amid proposed ceasefire talks​


Russia and Ukraine traded heavy aerial blows overnight Saturday, with both sides reporting more than 100 enemy drones over their respective territories.

The attack comes less than 24 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss details of the American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Putin said that he supported a truce in principle but set out a host of details that need to be clarified before it is agreed. Kyiv has already endorsed the truce proposal, although Ukrainian officials have publicly raised doubts as to whether Moscow will commit to such a deal.

In a statement Saturday, Zelenskyy accused Moscow of building up forces along the border.

“The buildup of Russian forces indicates that Moscow intends to keep ignoring diplomacy. It is clear that Russia is prolonging the war,” he said.

The Ukrainian leader also stressed that Kyiv’s troops were maintaining their presence in Russia’s Kursk region after U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that “thousands” of Ukrainian troops are surrounded by the Russian military.

Source: AP News
 
Putin-appointed ex-Crimea governor on trial in UK for sanctions breach

A former Russian official appointed by Vladimir Putin as governor of Sevastopol is on trial in London for allegedly violating British sanctions – the first case of its kind.

Dmitrii Ovsiannikov is accused of using his wife and brother to move $98,600 into a UK bank account, some of which was used to buy a Mercedes-Benz SUV and pay for his children’s private school fees.

Ovsiannikov, sanctioned by Britain in 2020, faces seven charges of circumventing sanctions. His wife and brother also face charges, all of which they deny. The trial at Southwark Crown Court is expected to conclude next week.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
Putin agrees in Trump call to 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine on energy targets, Kremlin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump for Russia and Ukraine to stop attacks on each other's energy infrastructure for 30 days and ordered the Russian military to cease them, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Russia has pounded Ukrainian energy installations and its electricity grid throughout the war, and Kyiv has responded with damaging strikes on refineries and fuel depots.

If implemented, Tuesday's agreement would represent a genuine de-escalation in the three-year war. The Kremlin made no mention of Ukraine's specific stance on the temporary halt in the targeting of energy infrastructure, but said Trump's proposal had spoken of "a mutual refusal."

The agreement fell short however of a wider agreement that the U.S. had sought, and which was accepted by Ukraine, for a blanket 30-day truce in the war.


 
Russia and Ukraine carry out attacks after Putin-Trump call

Russia and Ukraine have launched air attacks that damaged each other's infrastructure, hours after Vladimir Putin said Russia would stop targeting Ukrainian energy sites.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia's targets included hospitals. He said the Russian leader had in effect rejected a comprehensive ceasefire in his call on Tuesday with US President Donald Trump.

Putin told Trump a full ceasefire would only work if Ukraine's allies stopped giving military assistance - a condition Ukraine's European allies have previously rejected.

Officials in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar said that a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a small fire at an oil depot.

Within hours of Putin agreeing to halt attacks on energy infrastructure, Zelensky said "there have been hits, specifically on civilian infrastructure", including a hospital in Sumy.

Zelensky said that Russia launched more than 40 drones against Ukraine in the hours following the call between Trump and Putin.

"It is these types of night-time attacks by Russia that destroy our energy sector, our infrastructure, and the normal life of Ukrainians," Zelensky said.

"Today, Putin effectively rejected the proposal for a full ceasefire."

Meanwhile, the Russian defence ministry said of the 57 Ukrainian drones it intercepted and destroyed overnight, 35 were over the Kursk border region.

In Belgorod, a Russian region on the border with Ukraine, the governor said the situation "remains difficult". Moscow said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces attempted a ground assault on Belgorod but were pushed back.

Putin rejected an immediate and full ceasefire in Ukraine, agreeing only to halt attacks on energy infrastructure, following a much-anticipated call with Trump.

The Russian leader declined to sign up to the comprehensive month-long ceasefire that Trump's team recently worked out with Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia.

US talks on Ukraine are due to continue on Sunday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the US envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said.

About 80% of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been destroyed by Russian bombs, Zelensky said last September.

Kyiv has in turn conducted drone and missile strikes deep into Russian territory, on oil and gas facilities.

BBC
 
Is there a more useless and stupid leader than Zelensky? He's not even being invited to calls about ending a war in his country!
 

Deadly Russian drone attack in Ukraine before next US talks in Saudi Arabia​


A Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia has killed at least three people and wounded 12 others, according to local officials.

Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Saturday the previous night’s attack set ablaze residential buildings, cars and communal buildings. Photos showed emergency services scouring the rubble for survivors.

The attack came as delegations from Russia and Ukraine are set to hold separate meetings with US officials in Saudi Arabia on Monday in an ongoing bid to halt the three-year war.

Ukraine and Russia agreed this week in principle to a limited ceasefire after US President Donald Trump held separate calls on consecutive days with the countries’ leaders, but what actual targets would be off limits to attack remains contentious.

The three sides appeared to hold starkly different views about what the limited truce covered. While the White House said “energy and infrastructure” would be part of the agreement, the Kremlin declared that the agreement referred more narrowly to “energy infrastructure”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would also like railways and ports to be protected.

The dead in Zaporizhzhia included three members of one family. The bodies of the daughter and father were pulled out from under the rubble while doctors unsuccessfully fought for the mother’s life for more than 10 hours, Fedorov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
Trump's promise of a quick end to Ukraine war gets a reality check after talks end with no deal

President Donald Trump’s promises of a hasty end to the war in Ukraine were given a hard reality check Tuesday, with Russian officials saying that the latest round of ceasefire talks with the United States ended without a written agreement and the Kremlin continuing to bomb Ukraine.

The media had been briefed to expect a statement following discussions in Saudi Arabia, but no such written conclusion was released. In an interview with Russian state television, the first deputy chairman of Russia’s defense committee, Vladimir Chizhov, blamed the position taken by Ukraine.

“They sat for 12 hours and seemed to have agreed on a joint statement,” Chizhov told Rossiya 24. “However this was not adopted due to Ukraine’s position,” he said, calling the holdup “very characteristic and symptomatic.”

The White House did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment on the conclusion of the talks.

While both sides have — in theory — agreed to a limited, 30-day ceasefire, Russian President Vladimir Putin has imposed conditions that would essentially constitute a Ukrainian surrender. Meanwhile, Kyiv says the Kremlin is clearly uninterested in peace given that it continues to launch nightly mass drone attacks against the country.

Source: NBC News
 
Russia and Ukraine agree naval ceasefire in Black Sea

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a naval ceasefire in the Black Sea in separate deals with the US, after three days of peace talks in Saudi Arabia.

Washington said all parties would continue working toward a "durable and lasting peace" in statements announcing the agreements, which would reopen an important trade route.

They have also committed to "develop measures" to implement a previously agreed ban on attacking each other's energy infrastructure, the White House said.

But Russia said the naval ceasefire would only come into force after a number of sanctions against its food and fertiliser trade were lifted.

US officials have been separately meeting negotiators from Moscow and Kyiv in Riyadh with the aim of brokering a truce between the two sides. The Russian and Ukrainian delegations have not met directly.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the deal to halt strikes in the Black Sea was a step in the right direction.

"It is too early to say that it will work, but these were the right meetings, the right decisions, the right steps," he told a press conference in Kyiv.

"No-one can accuse Ukraine of not moving towards sustainable peace after this," he added, after US President Donald Trump had previously accused him of blocking a peace deal.

But shortly after Washington's announcement, the Kremlin said the Black Sea ceasefire would not take effect until sanctions were lifted from Russian banks, producers and exporters involved in the international food and fertiliser trades.

The measures demanded by Russia include reconnecting the banks concerned to the SwiftPay payment system, lifting restrictions on servicing ships under the Russian flag involved in the food trade, and on the supply of agricultural machinery and other goods needed for the production of food.

It was unclear from the White House's statement when the agreement is meant to come into force.

When asked about lifting the sanctions, Trump told reporters: "We're thinking about all of them right now. We're looking at them."

Washington's statement on the US-Russia talks does say the US will "help restore Russia's access to the world market for agricultural and fertiliser exports".

Speaking in Kyiv, Zelensky described this as a "weakening of positions".

He also said Ukraine would push for further sanctions on Russia and more military support from the US if Moscow reneged on its commitments.

Later, in his nightly address to Ukrainians, Zelensky accused the Kremlin of lying when it said the Black Sea ceasefire depended on sanctions being lifted.

Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said "third countries" could oversee parts of the deal.

But he warned that the movement of Russian warships beyond the "eastern part of the Black Sea" would be treated as a violation of the agreement and a "threat to the national security of Ukraine".

"In this case Ukraine will have full right to exercise right to self-defence," he added.

A previous arrangement allowing safe passage of commercial ships in the Black Sea was agreed in 2022, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of that year.

Both Ukraine and Russia are major grain exporters, and prices rocketed after the start of the war.

The "Black Sea grain deal" was put in place to allow cargo ships travelling to and from Ukraine to safely navigate without being attacked by Russia.

The deal facilitated the movement of grain, sunflower oil and other products required for food production, such as fertiliser, through the Black Sea.

It was initially in place for a period of 120 days but, after multiple extensions, Russia pulled out in July 2023, claiming key parts of the agreement had not been implemented.

After this week's talks, both countries have also agreed to "develop measures" to implement a ban on attacking energy infrastructure on each other's territory.

Russian strikes on Ukraine's power supply have caused widespread blackouts throughout the war, leaving thousands of people without heating in the cold of winter.

Attacks on Ukraine's nuclear power stations have led the UN's atomic watchdog to call for restraint.

A ban was initially agreed in a call between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last week, but within hours of it being announced, both Moscow and Kyiv accused the other of breaching it.

Earlier on Tuesday, Moscow said Ukraine had continued to target Russia's civilian energy infrastructure while the peace talks in Riyadh were under way.

The alleged attack showed Zelensky was "incapable of sticking to agreements", Russia's defence ministry said.

It came after Russia launched a missile strike targeting north-eastern Ukraine on Monday, leaving more than 100 people wounded in the city of Sumy.

On Tuesday morning, Ukraine said Russia launched some 139 drones and one ballistic missile overnight.

Up to 30 Russian troops were killed in an air strike on military infrastructure in Kursk, Kyiv added.

BBC
 

‘Coalition of Willing’ for Ukraine gathering in Paris to mull options for a possible force​


Their collective name, “coalition of the willing,” suggests that the loose grouping of Ukraine’s allies certainly wants to help. But as the nearly three dozen nations gather again for more talks in Paris, it is still far from clear exactly what kind of aid they are preparing that could contribute toward their goal of making any ceasefire with Russia lasting.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been driving the coalition-building effort with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, is expecting 31 delegations around the table Thursday morning at the presidential Elysee Palace. That’s more than Macron gathered for a first meeting in Paris in February — evidence that the coalition to help Ukraine, possibly with boots on the ground, is gathering steam, according to the presidential office.

The big elephant in the room will be the country that’s missing: the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has shown no public enthusiasm for the coalition’s discussions about potentially sending troops into Ukraine after an eventual ceasefire to help make peace stick. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has dismissed the idea of a European deployment or even the need for it.

Source: AP News
 
Zelensky hopes US will 'stand strong' in face of Russian demands

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he hopes the US will "stand strong" in the face of Russian demands to lift sanctions as a condition for a ceasefire in the Black Sea.

Moscow said a maritime truce announced on Tuesday to allow safe passage for commercial vessels would only begin once Western restrictions on Russia's food and fertiliser trade had been lifted.

Zelensky was speaking during a panel interview in Paris with journalists from across Europe.

Asked by the BBC if the US would resist Russian pressure, he said: "I hope so. God bless, they will. But we'll see."

The White House said on Tuesday that Russian and Ukrainian delegations had agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea after three days of separate talks with American officials in Saudi Arabia.

But hours later, the Kremlin released its own statement including a list of conditions.

Its demands include revoking Western sanctions on financial institutions involved in the agricultural trade and restoring their access to the Swift international payment system - a network that facilitates secure financial messaging.

Trump said the US government was "looking at" Moscow's request for the restrictions to be lifted, but the EU said on Wednesday it would not consider removing sanctions before the "unconditional" withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine's internationally-recognised territory.

Speaking to the panel in Paris, Zelensky said he was "very grateful" for bipartisan support from the US, but said he feared some were "under the influence of Russian narratives".

"We can't agree to those narratives," he said.

When asked whether US President Donald Trump had a closer relationship with him or Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky said he did not know.

"I don't know - it's difficult for me to say," he said. "I don't know what relationships he's got, I don't know how many conversations he's had."

The Ukrainian leader was also asked about comments from Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, who dismissed Europe's efforts to create a "coalition of the willing" to support Ukraine in an interview last week.

In response, Zelensky said he would not be "hastily driving to conclusions".

He said Witkoff, who has a background in property development, did not "have that experience".

"As far as I know, he knows very well how to buy and sell real estate, but that's somewhat different," he said.

He also said that Europe had "strengthened itself significantly" during the course of the war.

The BBC also asked Zelensky how he would be remembered in the history books: the man who saved Ukraine, or the man who let it fall?

"I don't know what history books will write about me," he said. "It's not my purpose or goal."

He said his goal was instead to defend Ukraine and to see his children "walk along their streets without hiding".

"I will do everything I can until end of my days to defend Ukraine as much as I can," he added.

On whether Ukraine should be allowed to join Nato, Zelensky said his "battle-hardened" nation would make the alliance stronger, though he noted that the Trump administration had ruled out membership for Kyiv.

The interview took place shortly after Zelensky met French President Emmaunuel Macron in Paris, where the Eiffel Tower has been lit in the colours of the Ukrainian flag in his honour.

Ukraine's president has returned to Europe to rally his allies and convince them to take the threat of Putin seriously.

They are now doing so – some might even say scrambling to do so – but have previously relied on the Americans to do the heavy lifting in terms of military capacity.

After everything Trump has said in the last two months, Europeans realise the Americans may not be there in the future, which has concentrated their minds.

President Zelensky's challenge is to get them to deliver hard cash commitments rather than just sentiments.

His meeting with Macron has already proven fruitful, with the French president announcing a new €2bn ($2.2bn; £1.6bn) package of military aid for the war-torn nation.

Referring to the Kremlin's request to lift sanctions, Macron said Moscow cannot "dictate the conditions" for peace, adding that it was too early to considering lifting European sanctions on Russia.

It comes ahead of a gathering of European leaders in Paris on Thursday, co-hosted by Macron and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, to discuss the war in Ukraine.

The "coalition of the willing" – which does not include the US – is attempting to form an agreement on what support European and other nations could offer to maintain a future ceasefire, if one was to be agreed.

Sir Keir is expected to tell the meeting that "Europe is stepping up to play its part to defend Ukraine's future".

"Now Putin needs to show he's willing to play ball," he will say.

BBC
 
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday called for a “transitional administration” to be put in place in Ukraine and vowed his army would “finish off” Ukrainian troops, in hardline remarks as US President Donald Trump pushes for a ceasefire

A rapprochement between Washington and Moscow since Trump’s return to office and the US leader’s threats to stop supporting Kyiv have bolstered Putin’s confidence more than three years into an offensive that has killed tens of thousands on both sides.

The renewed call to essentially topple Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was the latest demonstration of the Kremlin leader’s long-standing desire to install a more Moscow-friendly regime in Kyiv.

Speaking on the sidelines of an Arctic forum in the early hours of Friday, Putin said Russia could discuss with the United States, Europe and Moscow’s allies, “under the auspices of the UN, the possibility of establishing a transitional administration in Ukraine.

“What for? To organise a democratic presidential election that would result in the coming to power of a competent government that would have the confidence of the people, and then begin negotiations with these authorities on a peace agreement and sign legitimate documents,” Putin added.

When launching its offensive in 2022, Moscow aimed to take Kyiv in a matter of days but was repelled by Ukraine’s smaller army.

Putin also issued a public call for Ukraine’s generals to topple Zelensky, whom Putin has repeatedly denigrated, without providing any evidence, as a neo-Nazi and drug addict.

Moscow has also questioned Zelensky’s “legitimacy” as Ukrainian president, after his initial five-year mandate ended in May 2024.

Under Ukrainian law, elections are suspended during times of major military conflict, and Zelensky’s domestic opponents have all said no ballots should be held until after the conflict.

Putin, in power for 25 years and repeatedly elected in votes with no competition, has throughout the conflict accused Ukraine of not being a democracy.

Source: AFP
 
Four killed in mass Russian drone attack on Dnipro, Ukraine says

Four people have been killed and another 21 injured in a mass Russian drone attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the area's regional head has said.

Serhiy Lysak said a restaurant complex and several residential buildings were ablaze after the attack late on Friday.

He added that "the enemy sent more than 20 drones" to the city, and that "most of them were shot down".

Images and videos later emerged showing firefighters tackling large fires that had engulfed the buildings that were struck, and smashed glass and other debris scattered on the city streets.

Overnight, air sirens were heard sounding in several other Ukrainian regions, including the capital, Kyiv. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.

Meanwhile, the Russian defence ministry said three Ukrainian drones were either intercepted or shot down over the western Belgorod region.

In his video address late on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again accused Russia of targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure - in violation of a temporary moratorium agreed earlier this month in talks involving the US.

Moscow has also repeatedly blamed Ukraine for attacking Russia's energy sector.

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested earlier this week that Ukraine should temporarily be placed under UN control to elect what he called a more "competent" government.

It was seen as the latest attempt by the Kremlin to challenge the legitimacy of the Kyiv government - a move widely condemned by Ukraine's allies.

Ukraine accused Putin of proposing "crazy" ideas to delay further movement towards a ceasefire deal being championed by US President Donald Trump.

Washington said on Tuesday that the two sides had agreed to a limited truce in the Black Sea.

But Russia then put forward a list of conditions, including the lifting of some Western sanctions, prompting concerns that Moscow was trying to derail any moves towards a ceasefire.

In a separate development, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France and the UK were moving forward with plans for a "reassurance force" in Ukraine.

The proposal was discussed at a summit of the "coalition of the willing" - Ukraine's allies from more than 30 countries - in Paris.

Russia has repeatedly warned that the deployment of any European troops in Ukraine would be unacceptable, and such forces would be seen by the Kremlin as a legitimate target.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

BBC
 
Ukraine has lost close to 150 billion USD in this war and the rebuilding would require close to 500 billion USD

This is all on US deep state and EU
 
Russian drone attack hits Kharkiv homes, at least 28 injured, local officials say

A Russian drone attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, triggered fires in an apartment building and a private house late on Thursday, injuring at least 28 people, local officials said.

Mayor Ihor Terekhov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said one person had been killed in the attack on the Novobavarskyi district. He said 29 people had been injured.

Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov put the injury toll at 28, but made no mention of fatalities. He said a child was among those hurt.

Syniehubov also said one person was hurt in a drone strike on Ruski Tyshky, a village outside Kharkiv.
Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, has been subject to nearly nightly Russian drone attacks in the past week, including an hour-long barrage on Wednesday evening.

The city withstood the advance of Russian troops through Ukraine and their unsuccessful advance on Kyiv in the early weeks of the February 2022 invasion.

As Russian forces pulled away from the capital and focused on Ukraine's east, it became a frequent target of air attacks.


 
Three injured in Russian missile strike on Kyiv, Ukraine says

At least three people were injured and several fires broke out in Kyiv early on Sunday following a Russian missile attack, the mayor and military administration of the Ukrainian capital said.

All of Ukraine was under air alerts as of 0200 GMT after the country's air force warned of an attack including on regions bordering Poland, forcing the NATO-member to scramble aircraft to ensure air safety.

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Fires were recorded in at least three districts of Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a Telegram post. Medics hospitalised two civilians in the Darnytskyi district on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River that splits the city, he added.

"Do not leave shelters!" Klitschko said.

Reuters' witnesses heard several loud explosions in what they said sounded like air defence units in operation.

The scale of the attack was not immediately clear. There were also no reports of strikes or damage in western Ukrainian regions that border Poland.

Poland has been on high alert for objects entering its airspace since a stray Ukrainian missile struck the southern Polish village of Przewodow in 2022, killing two people. It scrambles jets each time Russia launches missiles targeting Ukrainian regions close to it.

The Sunday strikes on Kyiv came after officials in the southern region of Mykolaiv reported three people had been injured in Russian strikes. A day earlier, a Russian attack killed at least 19 people including nine children in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.

There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia started with a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour three years ago. Thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who took office in January after pledging he would end the war in 24 hours, has sought to broker an end to the conflict. The U.S. late last month said it had agreed with Russia and Ukraine two ceasefire accords, including one that would on each other's energy infrastructure.

REUTERS
 
Zelensky confirms Ukraine troops in Russia's Belgorod region

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly acknowledged for the first time that his troops are active in Russia's Belgorod region.

"We continue to carry out active operations in the border areas on enemy territory, and that is absolutely just - war must return to where it came from," he said on Monday.

His comments also referred to Russia's Kursk region, where Ukraine still holds a small area after a major offensive last year. Moscow has since retaken most of the territory.

Zelensky said "the main objective" was to protect Ukraine's Sumy and Kharkiv border regions, and to "ease the pressure" on other parts of the vast front line, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region.

Russia's military had last month reported Ukrainian attempts to cross over into the Belgorod region - but said such attacks had been rebuffed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukraine's territory.

In his video address late on Monday, Zelensky said he had been briefed by his top commander Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi about the situation on the front, "including our presence in the Kursk and Belgorod regions".

Zelensky thanked several army units defending Ukraine, including the 225th Assault Regiment deployed in the Belgorod region.

"Well done, guys! I'm proud of each and every one who is fighting for Ukraine!" the president said.

He provided no further details. It is his first explicit acknowledgement of Ukrainian troops in Belgorod.

On 18 March, Zelensky had indirectly confirmed that Ukrainian troops were there.

"There is an operation there," he said when asked by reporters to comment on a Russian defence ministry statement that Ukrainian troops had unsuccessfully tried to enter the western part of the Belgorod region.

Russia had said that all Ukrainian attempts to advance towards the villages of Demidovka and Prilesye had been rebuffed, and a cross-border raid had been prevented.

However, several Russian military bloggers at the time reported fighting in Demidovka itself, which lies about two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) had also said in an update on 21 March that "Ukrainian forces recently advanced in Belgorod".

"Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces advanced and are consolidating positions on the outskirts of Demidovka and Prilesye," the ISW said, adding that such claims were unconfirmed.

In the past two days, Russian military bloggers had reported that Ukrainian forces were withdrawing from the Demidovka area.

Ukraine's operation in Belgorod is believed to be on a much smaller scale compared to its actions in Kursk, where Kyiv at one point seized a number of villages including the regional town of Sudzha.

Zelensky and his top commanders have repeatedly said that such incursions have forced Moscow to redeploy troops from the Donetsk region, where Russian troops have been making steady - although slow - advances in recent months.

Ukraine could also be hoping to exchange the Russian areas it holds for parts of Ukrainian regions occupied by Moscow in any future peace negotiations that are being pushed for by the US.

A number of war analysts - both in Ukraine and the West - have questioned the military expedience of Kyiv's operations on Russian soil, pointing to reported high combat casualties and weapons supply difficulties.

BBC
 
Ukraine captures two Chinese nationals fighting for Russia

Ukrainian forces have captured two Chinese nationals who were fighting for the Russian army in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

He said on Tuesday that intelligence suggested the number of Chinese soldiers in Russia's army was "much higher than two".

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Chinese troops fighting on Ukrainian territory "puts into question China's declared stance for peace" and added that their envoy in Kyiv was summoned for an explanation.

It is the first official allegation from Ukraine that China is supplying Russia with manpower. There has been no immediate response to the claims from Moscow or Beijing.

In a statement on social media platform X, Zelensky said the soldiers were captured in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region with identification documents, including bank cards which had "personal data" on them.

Ukraine's forces fought six Chinese soldiers and took two of them prisoner, he said.

The post was accompanied by a video showing one of the alleged Chinese captives in handcuffs, speaking Mandarin Chinese and apparently describing a recent battle.

"We have information suggesting that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier's units than just these two," he said.

"Russia's involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war," Zelensky added.

The Ukrainian president called for a response "from the United States, Europe, and all those around the world who want peace".

An investigation is under way and the captives are currently in the custody of Ukraine's security service, he added.

On Tuesday, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce called the reports "disturbing".

She added that China is a "major enabler" of Russia's war in Ukraine, citing its supply of dual-use goods such as navigation equipment, semiconductor chips and jet parts.

Ukraine's foreign minister said that he had summoned China's chargé d'affaires in Kyiv to "demand an explanation".

Writing on X, Andrii Sybiha said: "We strongly condemn Russia's involvement of Chinese citizens in its war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as their participation in combat against Ukrainian forces."

He added that the move "puts into question China's declared stance for peace" and undermines Beijing's credibility as a member of the UN Security Council.

French newspaper Le Monde has previously reported that it identified around 40 accounts on TikTok's sister app, Douyin - which is only available in China - belonging to Chinese individuals who claim to have signed up with the Russian army.

North Korea has sent thousands of troops to aid Russia's war effort against Ukraine, according to Kyiv and Western officials.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Zelensky said: "But there is a difference: North Koreans fought against us on the front in Kursk, the Chinese are fighting on the territory of Ukraine."

In January Ukraine said it captured two injured North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk Oblast.

While Beijing and Moscow are close political and economic allies, China has attempted to present itself as a neutral party in the conflict and has repeatedly denied supplying Russia with military equipment.

One of Russia's chief advantages in the war is numbers. There have been reports of Moscow using "meat grinder" tactics to throw huge numbers of soldiers at the front lines and incrementally improve their position.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukraine's territory, mostly in the east.

Russian drone attacks into Ukraine continued on Tuesday night with strikes injuring 14 people in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, and another two in Kharkiv, in the north-east, local officials said. A number of fires were reported in the two cities.

BBC
 
Ukraine's military chief says new Russian offensive has begun

Ukraine's military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in an interview published on Wednesday that Russia had launched a new offensive on the northeast of the country, adding that a large increase in assaults was already being observed.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had warned earlier that Russia was preparing an offensive on the two regions of Kharkiv and Sumy.


 
Zelensky claims 155 Chinese fighting for Russia in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says at least 155 Chinese citizens are fighting for Russia in the war.

His comments come after two Chinese fighters were captured earlier this week - marking Kyiv's first official allegation that China was supplying Russia with manpower.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Zelensky reiterated his claim that there are "many more" Chinese nationals engaged in the conflict, based on information gathered by his government.

Responding on Thursday, a Chinese government spokesman said they "advise relevant parties to correctly and soberly understand China's role and not to make irresponsible remarks".

"China is neither the creator nor a party to the Ukrainian crisis. We are a staunch supporter and active promoter of the peaceful resolution of the crisis," said foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian.

He reiterated an earlier comment that appeared to suggest that Chinese soldiers fighting for Russia were doing so in their private capacity.

Mr Lin said China "has always required its citizens to stay away from armed conflict areas and avoid being involved in armed conflicts in any form, especially to avoid participating in military operations of any party".

Beijing has previously denied many of its citizens are fighting for Russia, saying the claim has "no basis in facts".

Earlier this week, Zelensky said his forces had fought six Chinese soldiers in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region and took two prisoner. Russia declined to comment on this revelation.

On Wednesday Zelensky had told reporters that the "the Chinese issue is serious."

"There are 155 people with surnames, with passport data - 155 Chinese citizens who are fighting against Ukrainians on the territory of Ukraine," he said, according to remarks reported by Interfax.

He added that Russia was recruiting Chinese citizens on social media, and that "official Beijing knows about this".

According to Zelensky, the alleged recruits receive training in Moscow before being sent out to the battlefield in Ukraine, as well as migration documents and payment.

He also released on X a video of what appeared to be an interrogation of the two captured Chinese soldiers.

Speaking in Mandarin Chinese, the soldiers described their background and how they were captured.

One of them said it was his "first time on duty and first time in combat. Before this I had never even fired a gun". He added that he was captured with a Russian soldier.

The other mentions he was in a group that included two other Chinese soldiers before they were separated in the chaos. "Everyone dispersed, I don't know if they're dead or not," he said.

He said he eventually surrendered along with Russian soldiers.

Zelensky said on X that: "Ukraine believes that such blatant involvement of Chinese citizens in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine during the war of aggression is a deliberate step towards the expansion of the war, and is yet another indication that Moscow simply needs to drag out the fighting."

He has called on the US and the rest of the world for a response.

Washington has said the reports of Chinese fighting for Russia are "disturbing".

Ukraine has in the past questioned China's declared neutral stance. Zelensky previously alleged that Beijing supplies "elements that are part of Russia's weaponry" and called for the country to maintain a "consistent" position.

China has been accused by the US of helping Russia make more munitions, armoured vehicles and missiles. It has also been scrutinised for allowing dual-use technology that can be used both commercially and militarily - such as computer chips and drones - to be exported to Russia.

While Beijing and Moscow are close political and economic allies, China has attempted to present itself as a neutral party in the conflict and has repeatedly denied supplying Russia with military equipment.

It defends its trade with Moscow by saying it is not selling lethal arms and "prudently handles the export of dual-use items in accordance with laws and regulations".

The allegations about Chinese soldiers fighting for Russia follows Ukraine's capture of two injured North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk Oblast.

BBC
 
Witkoff meets Putin as Trump urges Russia to 'get moving' on Ukraine ceasefire

US envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Friday, as Donald Trump urged the Russian president to "get moving" on a ceasefire in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said the meeting lasted for more than four hours and focused on "aspects of a Ukrainian settlement". The talks, Witkoff's third with Putin this year, were described by special envoy Kirill Dmitriev as "productive".

Trump has expressed frustration with Putin over the state of talks. On Friday, he wrote on social media: "Russia has to get moving. Too many people ere [sic] DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war."

It comes as Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg denied suggesting the country could be partitioned.

The Times said that, during an interview with the paper, Kellogg had proposed British and French troops could adopt zones of control in the west of Ukraine as part of a "reassurance force".

Russia's army, he reportedly suggested, could then remain in the occupied east. "You could almost make it look like what happened with Berlin after World War Two", the paper quoted him as saying.

Kellogg later took to social media to say the article had "misrepresented" what he said. "I was speaking of a post-ceasefire resiliency force in support of Ukraine's sovereignty," he wrote on X, adding: "I was NOT referring to a partitioning of Ukraine."

Neither the White House nor Kyiv reacted to the comments immediately. The BBC has asked the Times for its response.

Earlier on Friday, European nations agreed €21bn ($24bn; £18bn) in military aid for Kyiv.

At the event, Europe's defence ministers said they saw no sign of an end to the war.

Ahead of the Putin-Witkoff talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was "no need to expect breakthroughs" as the "process of normalising relations is ongoing".

Asked whether discussions could include setting up a date for Putin and Trump to meet, Peskov said: "Let's see. It depends on what Witkoff has come with."

Beforehand, Witkoff had a meeting with Dmitriev at the Grand Hotel Europe in St Petersburg, where a conference was held on stainless steel and the Russian market.

Dmitriev, the 49-year-old head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, visited Washington last week and was the most senior Russian official to go to the US since the country's full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Meanwhile Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Kremlin of prolonging the war during a visit on Friday to the site of a 4 April Russian missile attack on his home town of Kryvyi Rih. The attack killed 19 people, including nine children.

He also alleged that hundreds of Chinese nationals were fighting with the Russian army. It comes after Ukraine said it had captured two Chinese nationals.

"We have information that at least several hundred Chinese nationals are fighting as part of Russia's occupation forces," Zelensky said.

"This means Russia is clearly trying to prolong the war even by using Chinese lives."

Zelensky laid flowers in front of photos of Herman Tripolets, nine, and seven-year-olds Arina Samodina and Radyslav Yatsko.

"We discussed this with President Trump - Ukraine is not just asking, we're ready to purchase these additional systems," he wrote on social media.

"Only powerful weapons can truly be relied upon to protect life when you have a neighbour like Russia."

Trump has previously claimed he could end the Ukraine-Russia conflict "in 24 hours". On Friday, he declared that it would not have happened at all if he'd been in the White House in 2022 when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

"A war that should ld [sic] have never happened, and wouldn't have happened, if I were President!!!," he wrote.

In February US and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia for their first face-to-face talks since the invasion. Officials have also been meeting to discuss restoring full diplomatic relations.

Trump has also had a fractious relationship with Zelensky since his second term as US president began, culminating in an angry confrontation in the Oval Office in February.

The US attempted to broker a limited ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, only for it to stall when the Kremlin asked for sanctions imposed after it launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour to be lifted.

Trump has since said he is "very angry" and "pissed off" with Putin over the lack of progress in agreeing a truce between Kyiv and Moscow.

Russia's ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that the US is not its ally.

He said America and Russia had not been able to go from "total distrust to alignment in two months" since Trump returned to the White House.

"We have too many disagreements," he said. "But we are working on these disagreements step by step in different areas."

Earlier this week, Washington and Moscow went ahead with a prisoner swap.

Ksenia Karelina, a Russian-American, was sentenced to 12 years in jail in Russia for donating $51 to a Ukrainian charity when the war began in February 2022.

The Los Angeles resident was freed on Thursday morning and exchanged for Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023.

He was accused of illegally exporting microelectronics to Russia for manufacturers working with the military.

BBC
 
‘Dozens dead and wounded’ in Russian attack on Ukraine’s Sumy: Zelenskyy

A Russian ballistic missile attack on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy has killed more than 20 people, according to local authorities.

“On this bright Palm Sunday, our community has suffered a terrible tragedy,” acting Mayor Artem Kobzar said in a statement on social media, referring to the first day of the Christian Holy Week.

“Unfortunately, we already know of more than 20 deaths,” he added.

Separately, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “dozens” of people were killed and wounded in the “terrible” attack.

“And this is on a day when people go to church: Palm Sunday.”

The attack was carried out as the United States under President Donald Trump intensifies efforts for a ceasefire in the war, more than three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

On Friday, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg, Russia.

The warring sides have continued to exchange attacks despite agreeing to a US-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the conflict.

www.aljazeera.com

‘Dozens of dead and wounded’ in Russian strike on Ukraine’s Sumy: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian president condemns ‘terrible’ missile strike days after Trump envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Putin.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
 
i met a slav a few years ago who said "you'll tire about hearing about the war long before we tire of fighting it".

its about time a ceasefire was brought about, its too attritional to expect a natural outcome anytime soon otherwise.
 

Zelensky urges Trump to visit Ukraine ahead of deal with Russia​

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited Donald Trump to visit his country ahead of any deal with Russia to end the war.

"Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead," Zelensky said in an interview for CBS's 60 Minutes programme.

The interview was recorded before a Russian missile hit the city of Sumy, killing 34 people and injuring 117 others.

Russia has not commented. Trump said he had been told it was a mistake, without specifying whether this admission came from Moscow. Germany's chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, accused Russia of committing a war crime.

The attack comes as the US, Ukraine's strongest military ally, has been pursuing an end to the war - now in its fourth year - through negotiation under Trump.

Asked about the attack, the US president said it was "terrible" and that he had been "told they made a mistake", but did not elaborate.

Earlier, Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, retired Lt-Gen Keith Kellogg, said the attack had crossed "any line of decency".

However, it remains to be seen if Trump will accept Zelensky's invitation.

Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, is the only senior member of Trump's team to visit Kyiv, and that was to demand Zelensky sign a contract heavily weighted in Washington's favour to trade Ukraine's mineral wealth for continued military aid. Zelensky refused.

The Ukrainian president has highlighted Russia's continued attacks on civilians while Trump attempts to improve relations with Moscow in search of a ceasefire.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff has already held three meetings with Vladimir Putin, and Kyiv is adamant Moscow will exploit this as it continues to erode Ukraine's territory.

European leaders condemned the Sumy attack. Merz, who is expected to take over as Germany's new chancellor next month, told the country's public broadcaster ARD that the attack constituted a "serious war crime".

"It was a perfidious act.. and it is a serious war crime, deliberate and intended," the conservative politician said.

Germany's outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, meanwhile, said the attack showed "just what Russia's supposed readiness for peace [was] worth".

French President Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of "blatant disregard of human lives, international law, and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump".

"Strong measures are needed to impose a ceasefire on Russia," he said. "France is working tirelessly toward this goal, alongside its partners."

Describing the attack as "barbaric", European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen added: "Russia was and remains the aggressor, in blatant violation of international law.

"Strong measures are urgently needed to enforce a ceasefire. Europe will continue to reach out to partners and maintain strong pressure on Russia until the bloodshed ends and a just and lasting peace is achieved, on Ukraine's terms and conditions."

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also gave a view, saying he was "appalled at Russia's horrific attacks on civilians in Sumy".

A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was "deeply alarmed and shocked" to learn of the missile attack.

"Attacks against civilians and civilian objects are prohibited under international humanitarian law, and that any such attacks, wherever they occur, must end immediately", he added.

Guterres stressed the UN's support for "meaningful efforts towards a just, lasting and comprehensive peace that fully upholds Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity".

Sunday's double missile strike was the deadliest attack on civilians in Ukraine this year.

Another Russian missile attack, earlier this month on 4 April, killed 20 people and injured 61 in the city of Kryvyi Rih.

On that occasion, Russia's defence ministry said it had targeted a meeting of "unit commanders and Western instructors" in a restaurant. No evidence was provided.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people - the vast majority of them soldiers - have been killed or injured on all sides since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

The UN estimates that nearly seven million Ukrainians are currently living as refugees.

The conflict goes back more than a decade, to 2014, when Ukraine's pro-Russian president was overthrown. Russia then annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and backed insurgents in bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Source: BBC
 
Trump blames Zelensky for starting war after massive Russian attack

Donald Trump has blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the war with Russia the day after a massive Russian attack killed 35 people and injured 117 others in Ukraine.

The US president said the Ukrainian leader shared the blame with Russian President Vladimir Putin for "millions of people dead" in the Ukraine war.

"You don't start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles," he told reporters at the White House, also blaming former US President Joe Biden for the conflict.

Trump's comments come after widespread outrage over Russia's attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday, which was the deadliest Russian attack on civilians this year.

Trump said earlier the Russian attack had been a "mistake".

"Millions of people dead because of three people," Trump said on Monday. "Let's say Putin number one, let's say Biden who had no idea what the hell he was doing, number two, and Zelensky."

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands, but not "millions", of people have been killed or injured on all sides since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

Questioning Zelensky's competence, Trump remarked that the Ukrainian leader was "always looking to purchase missiles".

"When you start a war, you got to know you can win," the US president said.

Tensions between Trump and the Ukrainian leader have been high ever since their heated confrontation at the White House in February.

In an interview before Russia's latest attack, Zelensky urged Trump to visit Ukraine before striking a deal with Putin to end the war.

"Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead," Zelensky said in an interview for CBS's 60 Minutes programme.

Russia's attack on the city Sumy killed at least 35 people and injured 117 others.

Moscow said it had fired two Iskander missiles at a meeting of Ukrainian soldiers, killing 60 of them, but did not provide any evidence.

Trump insisted he wanted to "stop the killing" and signalled there would be proposals soon, but did not elaborate.

The conflict goes back more than a decade, to 2014, when Ukraine's pro-Russian president was overthrown. Russia then annexed Crimea and backed insurgents in bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine.

BBC
 

Zelensky urges US and Europe to pressure Russia to end war​


Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and top diplomat Marco Rubio have met with their European and Ukrainian counterparts in Paris to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

The talks, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, formed the highest level of transatlantic engagement about the war since February.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged those at the meeting to put "pressure" on Russia to agree to a ceasefire, as "Russia uses every day and every night to kill".

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the talks, claiming European leaders were focused on "continuing the war".

The day of talks began with a lunchtime meeting at Elysée Palace between Macron, Witkoff and US Secretary of State Rubio.

The US delegation then met Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, as well as the national security advisors for Germany and the UK, the French presidency said.

Separate meetings between the respective nations' foreign ministers and defence ministers also took place.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said they had "discussed the paths to a fair and lasting peace, including full ceasefire, multinational contingent, and security guarantees for Ukraine".

Ahead of the talks, European diplomats had said they would urge the US to pressure Russia to agree to an unconditional ceasefire.

"We want the US to use a bit more stick," one official said.

The US State Department had said the focus would be on how to end the fighting in Ukraine, and that Witkoff would report on his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that took place last week.

Macron's office had said the purpose of the talks was to "review progress on peace negotiations aimed at ending the Russian aggression in Ukraine".

French President diplomatic advisor Emmanuel Bonne meets with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff , Deputy Chief of Mission David McCawley , the second-in-command at the US Embassy in Paris, and Germany national security advisor Jens Plotner at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on April

Officials renewed their push for a ceasefire days after a Russian missile attack killed at least 35 people and injured 117 in the Ukrainian city of Sumy.

A week prior, another Russian strike on a residential area in Kryvyi Rih killed at least 18 people.

Overnight on Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities said a Russian drone attack on the city of Dnipro killed three people, including a young girl.

How Russia is seizing Ukrainian homes in Mariupol
Following the meeting last week between Witkoff and Putin in St Petersburg, the US envoy said the Russian president was open to "permanent peace".

The statement comes after Moscow rejected a proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire that had been agreed by the US and Ukraine last month.

In May 2023, prior to returning to the White House, Trump said he would be able to settle the war between Russia and Ukraine "in 24 hours".

His administration has taken action to drastically improve relations with Moscow, while seeking to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

On Thursday, Russia's top economic negotiator claimed that some countries were trying to "derail" Moscow's talks with Washington.

"There are a lot of people, structures, countries trying to disrupt our dialogue with the United States," Kirill Dmitriev said.

Zelensky had previously warned Ukraine would not accept a peace deal if his country was not involved in negotiations for any such agreement.

Tensions between Trump and Zelensky have been high since a heated confrontation at the White House in February, where the US leader chided Ukraine's president for not starting peace talks with Russia earlier.

Source: BBC
 
US will 'move on' from Ukraine peace talks if no progress soon
The US will abandon trying to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal within days unless there are clear signs a truce can be reached, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned.

Rubio said the US wanted to help end the war but was willing to move on if there were no immediate signs of progress.

"We're not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end," Rubio said, adding that the US had "other priorities to focus on".

The comments come just hours after Ukraine took the first step towards signing a minerals deal with Washington that intends to set up an investment fund for Ukraine's reconstruction.

Following a meeting with European leaders in Paris on Thursday, Rubio told reporters on Friday: "We need to determine very quickly now - and I'm talking about a matter of days - whether or not this is doable" in the short-term.

"If it's not going to happen, then we're just going to move on," he said.

He said it was clear that a peace deal would be difficult to strike but there needed to be signs it could be done soon.

The comments follow Ukraine and the US signing a memorandum of intent on Thursday, published by the Ukrainian government, which states that the countries intend to establish an investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine as part of an economic partnership agreement.

The aim is to finalise the deal by 26 April, the memo says.

The document provides no details on natural resources, but previous leaks have suggested the deal has been extended beyond minerals to control of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, as well as its oil and gas.

The US has so far resisted providing Kyiv with security guarantees to support any future ceasefire.

The memo said the "American people desire to invest alongside the Ukrainian people in a free, sovereign and secure Ukraine" and the US and Ukraine "desire a lasting peace in Ukraine and a durable partnership between their two peoples and governments".

Donald Trump's public shouting match with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in February had temporarily blown negotiations on a deal off course.

Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced the signing of the memorandum on X. Her post included photos of Svyrydenko and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signing separately.

"We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine," Svyrydenko wrote.

The signing was conducted over an online call with Bessent, who said the details of the deal were still being worked out.

"It's substantially what we'd agreed on previously. When the president [Zelensky] was here, we had a memorandum of understanding. We went straight to the big deal, and I think it's an 80-page agreement and that's what we'll be signing," he said.

The memo said technical discussions were held in Washington DC as recently as 11 and 12 April.

Trump also hinted at the deal during a press conference with Italian leader Giorgia Meloni.

"We have a minerals deal which I guess is going to be signed on Thursday... next Thursday. Soon. And I assume they're going to live up to the deal. So we'll see. But we have a deal on that," he said.

The White House did not respond to a request for further details on contents of the agreement, Reuters news agency reports.

Previous reports indicated that an "investment fund" would be set up for Ukraine's reconstruction and would be managed by Kyiv and Washington on "equal terms".

Ukrainian negotiators have tried to resist Trump's demands that a joint investment fund would pay back the US for previous military aid, but have seemingly accepted his claim that it would help the country recover after the war ends.

The White House argues the mere presence of US businesses would put off Russia from further aggression, but that did not exactly work when they invaded in 2022.

Zelensky has repeatedly called for the US to take a stronger stance in supporting Ukraine.

"A ceasefire without security guarantees is dangerous for Ukraine," he said at a European leaders summit last month.

On Thursday, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and top diplomat Marco Rubio in Paris.

He said they had "discussed the paths to a fair and lasting peace, including full ceasefire, multinational contingent, and security guarantees for Ukraine".

Zelensky had been hoping to use the deal to secure a US security guarantee in his country in the event of a ceasefire deal with Russia.

However the plan was derailed in February by Zelensky and Trump's heated clash at the White House.

The memorandum is a step towards a deal that would allow the US access to Ukraine's critical minerals, as well as oil and gas.

Kyiv estimates that about 5% of the world's "critical raw materials" are in Ukraine.

Ukraine has 7% of Europe's supplies of titanium, a lightweight metal used in the construction of everything from aeroplanes to power stations.

It is also home to a third of all European lithium deposits, the key component in current batteries.

Other elements found in Ukraine include beryllium and uranium, which are both crucial for nuclear weapons and reactors.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20x5xn1g92o
 
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