Ukraine-Russia struggle newest: Kremlin responds to US risk to desert peace talks whereas Kyiv nears Trump minerals deal

Rubio hints US may drop Russia-Ukraine peace talks

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.

UPDATE: One killed and 98 injured in Kharkiv as Russia attacks two Ukrainian cities

Russia has kept up a series of deadly strikes on Ukrainian cities, according to officials there, wounding scores of civilians days after missiles killed at least 34 during Palm Sunday celebrations in the northern city of Sumy.

One person died and 98 others, including six children, were hurt as Russia hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, early in the day, its mayor Ihor Terekhov reported on Friday. He said cluster munitions struck a “densely populated” neighborhood four times.

Russian drones also targeted a bakery in Sumy, less than a week after the deadly Palm Sunday strike there, killing a customer and wounding an employee, the regional prosecutor’s office said. Photos released by the agency showed rows of Easter cakes stacked inside a devastated building, covered in thick dust, as a huge hole gaped in the wall behind them and rubble piled up on the floor.

Last Sunday’s strike on Sumy, resulting in mass casualties, was the second large-scale missile attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week. Some 20 people, including nine children, died on 4 April as missiles struck Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih.

Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a rocket attack in a residential area in Kharkiv on Friday
Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a rocket attack in a residential area in Kharkiv on Friday (EPA)
18 April 2025 13:18

Dozen wounded in Russian attacks on Kyiv and Mykolaiv overnight

A dozen people were wounded in Russian attacks on Kyiv and the southern Black Sea region of Mykolaiv overnight.

Firefighters were seen working to extinguish a fire following the attack in Mykolaiv.

Russian strikes killed at least two people in Ukraine on Thursday and wounded over two dozen, Kyiv said.

Meanwhile, Moscow claimed to have captured another village in the northwestern Sumy region.

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire following the attack in Mykolaiv
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire following the attack in Mykolaiv (UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE/AFP)
One dozen people were wounded in overnight Russian attacks on Kyiv and the southern Black Sea region of Mykolaiv
One dozen people were wounded in overnight Russian attacks on Kyiv and the southern Black Sea region of Mykolaiv (UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE/AFP)
Russian strikes killed at least two people in Ukraine on Thursday and wounded over two dozen, Kyiv said
Russian strikes killed at least two people in Ukraine on Thursday and wounded over two dozen, Kyiv said (UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE/AFP)
Tara Cobham18 April 2025 13:00

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 for the second time in 24 hours.

Mr Vance saw Ms Meloni in Washington on Thursday and the two have since flown to the Italian capital ahead of the Easter holidays.

“I want to update the prime minister on some of the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine … even in the past 24 hours, we think we have some interesting things to report on,” Mr Vance told reporters sitting alongside Ms Meloni.

“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 added.

Hours earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said US President Donald Trump would walk away from trying to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal within days unless there were clear signs that a deal could be done.

Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni welcomes US vice president JD Vance at Palazzo Chigi before their meeting in Rome on Friday
Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni welcomes US vice president JD Vance at Palazzo Chigi before their meeting in Rome on Friday (AFP via Getty Images)
18 April 2025 12:30

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.

Tara Cobham18 April 2025 12:00

Ukraine imposes sanctions on several Chinese entities

Ukraine has imposed sanctions on several Chinese entities, Volodymyr Zelensky’s decree has said.

Tara Cobham18 April 2025 11:49

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.

18 April 2025 11:46

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.”

Tara Cobham18 April 2025 11:01

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.

Firefighters work at the site of a garment production factory hit by a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv on Friday
Firefighters work at the site of a garment production factory hit by a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv on Friday (REUTERS)
Tara Cobham18 April 2025 10:25

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.

Tara Cobham18 April 2025 10:11

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.

Tara Cobham18 April 2025 10:05

Source: independent.co.uk