Ukraine-Russia struggle newest: Kremlin responds to US menace to desert peace talks whereas Kyiv nears Trump minerals deal
The Kremlin has responded to US threats that it will abandon peace talks between Russia and Ukraine within days unless there are clear signs that a deal can be reached.
US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said today that Donald Trump was still interested in a deal but had many other priorities around the world and was willing to move on unless there were signs of progress.
Later in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted some progress on a peace settlement had already been made as he claimed Russia is striving to resolve the conflict. He said that Moscow remained open to dialogue with Washington but that contacts were difficult.
It comes as Ukrainian officials announced they have signed an outline of a minerals deal with the US and said a final accord could be reached by the end of next week.
On the war front, a Russian missile attack on Ukraine‘s northeastern city of Kharkiv killed one person and wounded 82 others, including six children, on Friday morning, officials said.
Amid rising attacks on his country, Volodymyr Zelensky has accused China of supplying weapons, including gunpowder and artillery, to Russia in fresh allegations of Beijing’s involvement in Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
China‘s foreign ministry dismissed the accusation as “groundless” on Friday.
US Vice President says he is ‘optimistic’ Russia-Ukraine war can be ended
The US is optimistic it can put an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, Vice President JD Vance said on Friday as he met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome.
“Since there are the negotiations I won’t prejudge them, but we do feel optimistic that we can hopefully bring this war, this very brutal war, to a close,” he told reporters sitting alongside Meloni.
Russian drone kills one in hit on bakery preparing Easter cakes, Kyiv says
A Russian drone strike hit a bakery in northern Ukraine where traditional Easter cakes were being prepared, killing one man early on Friday, Ukrainian officials said.
Images shared by Ukrainian emergency services, which said they were filmed at the scene of the strike in the city of Sumy, showed trays of Easter cakes – known as paska in Ukrainian – covered in grey dust, and a smashed window nearby.
The victim was a local businessman who was at the bakery to collect his order when the drone struck at 5am (2am GMT), according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
Ukraine’s Christian community, including Orthodox believers, Catholics and Protestants, were marking the Good Friday religious holiday on Friday, and preparing to celebrate Easter on Sunday.
“So much for Russia’s ‘traditional Christian values.’ It is against the Lord, any faith, and any human values to strike an ordinary pastry shop, murder an entrepreneur, and destroy Easter bread. This is the evil we are dealing with every day,” Sybiha wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Last Sunday, two Russian ballistic missiles hit the centre of Sumy, killing 35 people in the deadliest strike on Ukraine this year, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukraine imposes sanctions on several Chinese entities
Ukraine has imposed sanctions on several Chinese entities, Volodymyr Zelensky’s decree has said.
Russia struck key drone making facilities in Ukraine, Russian defence ministry says
Russian forces attacked key drone-making facilities in Ukraine on Friday morning and captured the settlement of Valentynivka in Eastern Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry said.
The battlefield report could not be independently verified.
Kremlin says progress has been made on Ukraine peace but contacts complicated with the US
The Kremlin has said some progress has already been made in talks about a possible peace settlement to end the war in Ukraine but that contacts were rather complicated with the United States.
“Contacts are quite complicated, because, naturally, the topic is not an easy one,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.
“Russia is committed to resolving this conflict, ensuring its own interests, and is open to dialogue. We continue to do this.”
Russian missile attack kills one and wounds 82 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, officials say
A Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv killed one person and wounded 82 others, including six children, on Friday morning, officials said.
The strikes damaged apartment buildings, an educational institution and a business, according to the emergency services.
“This is how Russia began this Good Friday – with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, Shaheds – maiming our people and cities,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X.
Reuters video showed emergency workers giving first aid to people with bleeding wounds near one of the apartment buildings.
“Everything went flying in all rooms, the windows shattered,” said Inna Khrystych, one of the residents. “My husband died.”
Andriy Ponomarenko said he and his wife were woken by the strike and rushed to find their four-year-old daughter amid the smoke and shattered glass.
“We first thought the blood was mine but turned out she got a cut by her eye,” he said.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andriy Sybiha said Russia launched four missiles at Kharkiv, three of them ballistic and carrying cluster warheads.
Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Ukraine’s second biggest city, said the attack damaged 15 apartment buildings based on preliminary information.
Ukraine and US ‘to start new round of minerals deal negotiations next week’
Ukraine and the US are set to start a new round of negotiations on the minerals deal on Thursday, Ukraine’s deputy minister of the economy has said.
Ukraine and US ‘understand Ukrainian parliament would need to ratify minerals deal’
Ukraine and the US have reached an understanding that the Ukrainian parliament would need to ratify a minerals deal agreement, Ukraine’s deputy minister of the economy has said.
China dismisses Zelensky’s claim it is supplying weapons to Russia
China’s foreign ministry has rejected an accusation by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that the country had been supplying weapons to Russia as “groundless”.
China has never made lethal weapons available to any party to the Ukraine crisis, ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular news conference.
“China’s position on the Ukrainian issue has always been clear,” Mr Lin said. “It has been actively committed to promoting a ceasefire and ending the conflict, as well as encouraging peace talks,” he said.
China opposes groundless accusations and political manipulation, he said, adding that Ukraine had said publicly that most of the components in weapons imported by Russia came from the United States and other Western nations.
Friday’s disclaimer from Beijing followed Mr Zelensky’s remarks at a press conference the previous day that China was supplying weapons and gunpowder to Russia, while also accusing it of producing weapons on Russian territory.
Ukraine and US aim to complete technical discussions on minerals deal by April 26
Kyiv and Washington aim to complete technical discussions on the terms of a minerals deal agreement by 26 April after the Ukrainian prime minister visits the US next week, according to a memorandum of intent published by Ukraine today.
Yesterday, Ukrainian officials announced they have signed an outline of a minerals deal with the US and said a final accord could be reached by the end of next week.
Source: independent.co.uk
