Ukraine-Russia warfare newest: Trump ‘demands control’ of pipeline in Ukraine carrying Russian fuel
The US is demanding control of a key pipeline in Ukraine used to send Russian gas to Europe, according to reports, while Kyiv negotiates a minerals deal with the Donald Trump administration.
Prospects for a breakthrough in the deal between Washington and Kyiv are scant given the “antagonistic” atmosphere of the talks, a source told Reuters following last week’s meeting.
As part of Donald Trump’s sweeping new demands for US control over all of Ukraine’s mineral and energy assets, Washington has proposed that its International Development Finance Corporation should take control of a natural gas pipeline running from the town of Sudzha in western Russia to the Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod.
Senior economist Volodymyr Landa told The Guardian that Washington’s bullying, “colonial-type” demands had little chance of being accepted by Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump said on Saturday that talks to end the war in Ukraine might be going well, adding that there was a time when you had to “either put up or shut up”.
His envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg for four hours to discuss a “Ukrainian settlement” on Friday.
Watch: Prince Harry meets Ukraine war victims in surprise visit
‘Russians are trying to ban everything Ukrainian’: Resident describes life under occupation
“Russians are trying to ban everything Ukrainian here: language, and also traditions. Even Ukrainian holidays are forbidden,” said one woman using the pseudonym of Maria, who is a member of an all-female underground resistance group waging a campaign of peaceful resistance against Russia’s occupation, mainly by distributing leaflets and newsletters.
The BBC reported that Ukrainians in occupied areas appear to be denied healthcare and free movement unless they take up Russian citizenship, while Maria said that Russian officials had been installing surveillance systems. She said: “They are putting up a lot of CCTV cameras to control everybody, to find all the activists.”
Maria added: “In city centres, everything is covered with Russian propaganda: billboards with Putin’s face, Putin’s quotes, people they call heroes of the special military operation. There are flags everywhere.”
Germany’s Merz says war must end before Ukraine can join Nato or EU
Germany’s incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz has warned that Ukraine cannot join Nato or the European Union while it is still at war with Russia.
“Ukraine is a very large European country, but it is a European country that is at war,” Mr Merz told Handelsblatt. “A country that is at war cannot become a member of Nato or the European Union.”
“The promise of joining the European Union remains valid, as does the perspective of joining Nato,” Merz said. “But for both of these to happen, the war must end first.”
Russia suffers 1,220 casualties as 120 frontline clashes reported in past 24 hours, says Ukraine
Russia has suffered 1,220 casualties as 120 combat clashes were reported along the front line on Saturday, the general staff of Ukraine’s military has said.
In its daily update, Ukraine said Russia had launched 135 air strikes, while firing more than 6,600 artillery shells, and deploying more than 2,700 kamikaze drones.
Ukraine also said it had stopped more than 30 Russian attacks in the direction of Pokrovsk, the Donetsk city which remains the focus of Vladimir Putin’s forces and has fuelled the most intense fighting in recent months.
Ukraine says Russia launched 55 drones overnight
Ukraine’s air defence units intercepted and destroyed 43 drones of 55 launched by Russia overnight targeting northern, southern and central areas of Ukraine, the air force said this moring.
In its post on Telegram, the Ukraine air force did not say what happened to the drones that escaped destruction.
Ukarine says Russia preparing for assault in Kharkiv
Russian forces are regrouping and preparing for a renewed assault in the Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine’s Operational-Strategic Group of Forces warned over the weekend.
The military group said Russians were actively replenishing their units and getting ready to resume offensive operations in the region.
At least four people were injured after a Russian guided aerial bomb struck a residential house in Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast yesterday.
In pics: Ukrainians attend military training in Kharkiv
Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of failing to pause strikes
Russia and Ukraine’s top diplomats yesterday used a high-level conference in Turkey to once again trade accusations of violating a tentative US-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the three-year-long war.
The two foreign ministers spoke at separate events at the annual Antalya Diplomacy Forum, a day after US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss peace prospects. Ukraine’s European allies on Friday promised billions of dollars to help Kyiv keep fighting Russia’s invasion.
While Moscow and Kyiv both agreed in principle last month to implement a limited, 30-day ceasefire, they issued conflicting statements soon after their separate talks with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia. They differed on the start time of halting strikes, and alleged near-immediate breaches by the other side.
“The Ukrainians have been attacking us from the very beginning, every passing day, maybe with two or three exceptions,” Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said, adding that Moscow would provide the US, Turkey and international bodies with a list of Kyiv’s attacks during the past three weeks.
A representative of the Russian foreign ministry separately told state media yesterday that Moscow has been sharing intelligence with the US regarding more than 60 supposed breaches of the deal by Kyiv.
Russian missile targeted Indian warehouse, says Ukraine
Officials in Ukraine claimed a Russian missile deliberately struck the warehouse of an Indian pharmaceutical company in Kyiv.
“Today, a Russian missile struck the warehouse of Indian pharmaceutical company Kusum in Ukraine. While claiming ‘special friendship’ with India, Moscow deliberately targets Indian businesses – destroying medicines meant for children and the elderly,” Ukraine’s embassy in India said on X.
Ukrainian F-16 pilot killed in combat
A 26-year-old Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed yesterday while performing a combat mission, the Ukrainian air force said.
Pavlo Ivanov is the second F-16 pilot to be killed since Ukraine recently added the fighters to its arsenal. A 30-year-old pilot died in August last year when a fighter aircraft crashed while repelling a Russian air attack.
“We express our deepest condolences to Pavlo’s family. He died in battle, defending his homeland from occupiers,” the air force said in a statement.
“Ukrainian pilots work at the maximum of human and technical capabilities, risking their lives each time they perform combat missions. Pavlo was one of them.”
Source: independent.co.uk
