Russia 'hasn't faced enough pressure' —Ukrainian, foreign diplomats react to overnight attack on Kyiv
The attack came just hours after the start of the largest prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna wrote on X: "Russia's continued aggression has a simple explanation: it hasn't faced enough pressure to stop. The power to change that lies with us." He called for increased military aid, tougher sanctions, and actions targeting Russia's shadow oil fleet and frozen assets.
EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova described the assault as "another horrific missile and drone attack," noting that areas where her colleagues live had been struck. "If anyone still doubts Russia wants war to continue — read the news," she wrote.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the attack as Russia's "response to international peace efforts," referencing the lack of progress since last week's meeting in Istanbul. "Instead of sending its so-called 'peace memorandum,' Russia sends deadly drones and missiles at civilians," Sybiha said.
"There were many fires and explosions in the city overnight," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X. "Residential buildings, cars, businesses have been damaged. Sadly, there are injuries."
Ukraine's Air Force said it intercepted six ballistic missiles targeting the capital and shot down 128 of the 250 Shahed-type drones launched nationwide.
The attack on Kyiv comes just a week after Ukrainian and Russian delegations met in Istanbul for peace talks that ended without a ceasefire agreement. During the May 16 meeting, Moscow demanded Kyiv withdraw from four Ukrainian regions it claims to have annexed, despite lacking full control over them.
Ukrainian officials said the Russian delegation appeared to lack real authority and was unprepared to negotiate substantive terms.
One outcome of the talks was a large-scale prisoner exchange, with 1,000 prisoners returning on each side beginning May 23. Ukraine had also proposed an immediate ceasefire and a potential face-to-face meeting between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin — an offer Moscow declined.
Read also: Russia hits Kyiv with drones, missiles hours after largest prisoner exchange kicks off
We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
My five days on the road with Trump revealed a man in complete control
When President Donald Trump flies aboard Air Force One he is accompanied at all times by a travelling press pool. A TV crew, plus a handful of print reporters, photographers and a radio broadcaster have the responsibility of filing details of the president's day to the thousands of journalists who cover the White House. It is their job to grill Mr Trump when he pauses under the wing to take questions or when he sits down with a foreign leader. Last Friday, The Telegraph joined the travel pool for the first time, accompanying the president on his working trip to Scotland, where he visited his two golf courses, negotiated a major trade deal and met Sir Keir Starmer. This is what it is like to ride on Air Force One and travel in Mr Trump's whirlwind. If you have the stamina for it, there is no better way to understand his administration. Friday Trump M&M's and Fox News 7.50am Air Force One glistens in the morning sun as the 13 members of the travelling press pool walk across the apron. We climb the rear stairs and find our places in the rear cabin, which is reserved for journalists. Think basic business class. Decent sized seats, but they only recline so far. The two TVs are on the wall at the front of the cabin. They are tuned to Fox News. Newbies scramble for the boxes of Air Force One M&Ms, embossed with the presidential seal and the president's signature. They replaced presidential packs of cigarettes years ago. 'Is there wifi?' asked one new member of the pool. Not for us. That is just for the security-screened officials in the rest of the plane. We have access to a phone that connects to the White House switch board and is for emergencies only – to alert the world that we are diverting to Ukraine, for example, or there's some kind of urgent health issue. Air Force One waits for no-one 9.36am We are already more than an hour late by the time Marine One, the presidential helicopter lands. President Donald Trump has already spoken to journalists before boarding – and he makes a beeline for the Air Force One steps. Air Force One is wheels up 11 minutes later. Once Potus is on board, this plane waits for no one. We are quickly served breakfast. Tacos filled with chorizo, avocado and cheese with salsa on the side. Strict Air Force One rules preclude members of the press from taking photos on board unless they are of a president during a briefing meaning no photograph of the aforementioned meal is forthcoming. The food is good, but the pooler's worst fear is that the president decides this is the right time to appear in the press cabin for a chat. He does not. Touchdown: A tricky balance 8.27am The plane touches down beneath grey skies at Glasgow, Prestwick, airport. The 13 journalists of the pool pile out of the rear doors to wait beneath the wing for Mr Trump to exit down the front steps. We wait under the wing – and Trump wants to talk. It's a tricky balance. We'll be with Mr Trump for the next five days and don't want to infuriate him to the point where he stops talking to us, but nor can we lob softballs his way. In eight minutes, he covers Gaza, recognising the Palestinian state, his relationship with Sir Keir Starmer, The Open returning to Turnberry, the Epstein files and Ghislaine Maxwell, immigration, and 'windmills.' And we are just getting started. Motorcade rolling 8.52am Our motorcade rolls out of Prestwick for the drive to Turnberry. The visit is a big deal in these parts. People stand by the side of the road almost all the way along the route. 'Trump is a legend,' reads one banner. The number of well-wishers seems, by my amateur count, to outnumber detractors. Other people are just there to take video and catch a glimpse of the Beast. Saturday That's a lid 9.05am The White House calls a 'lid'. That means the president has no more public events for the day. That doesn't mean we won't be seeing him at all. Photographers in the dunes outside Turnberry spot him on the fourth hole, driving his own golf cart. He gives them a wave, as he plays past with his son Eric and his ambassador to London. Sunday 'Where we off tae?' 12.02pm The burly Glaswegian driver hops into 'press bus three' with a cheery: 'Where we off tae then?' His breezy greeting sparks anxious grimes among my American colleagues in the White House pool waiting to depart the Glasgow hotel where we are spending the weekend. And with that, our convoy pulls out into the drizzle for the one-hour journey down to Turnberry, where Mr Trump is due to meet Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, for trade talks. Golf first, diplomacy second 2.45pm An hour and a half later we pull up to the golf club. The Beast is moving through the car park near the club house, and 20 or so golf carts are drawn up around the 18th green. We drive past in a flash, but I'd say the president was finishing up his round. Unusually for a foreign trip, Mr Trump is without his secretary of state, chief of staff and other heavy hitters, reinforcing the idea that this is a golfing break first, diplomatic visit second. Oval Office 2.0 4.54pm The meeting takes place in the Donald J Trump ballroom, a cavernous space edged with huge windows looking down across the golf course, and with ceiling space for eight glittering chandeliers. At its centre, staff have recreated the Oval Office. After 24 minutes of questions we are ushered out by White House press assistants (known to all as 'wranglers') and back to our holding room, wondering what would come next. 'We're going back in!' 6.31pm 'We're going back in!' came the shout. The unlucky European press pack have already been bussed back to their hotel. 'We have reached a deal,' Mr Trump declares , back in the green velvet armchair. He spells out how the EU will buy $700bn of energy, invest an extra $600bn in the US and buy military equipment, in return for tariffs going down to 15 per cent. Monday Cursing the bagpipes 12.18pm Sir Keir Starmer's Range Rover scrunches up the red gravel drive way to the Turnberry hotel entrance. He hops out with his wife Lady Starmer who is making a rare public appearance. Mr Trump is at the top of the steps to greet them while a bagpiper fills the air with a Highland skirl. The three of them make small talk and Mr Trump can be heard talking about Ailsa Craig. Members of the media are crammed together by the flower beds. I am ready with a question. Does the president agree with the Prime Minister that recognition of a Palestinian state would be a concrete step to lasting peace in the Middle East? 'I'm not going to take a position. I don't mind him taking a position,' he said. 'I'm looking to getting people fed right now. That's the number one position, because you have a lot of starving people.' That's news. Has Mr Trump just given Sir Keir a tacit green light to go ahead and recognise Palestine? We can hear it loud and clear but newsdesks around the world are cursing the bagpipes, which have overpowered the television audio feeds. The thousand-yard stare 1.52pm We hurry into the ballroom, where Mr Trump and Sir Keir are already seated. After 24 minutes or so we know we are in for the long haul. Mr Trump is happy and rested after two days of golf and the success of a big trade deal. He takes questions on everything while Sir Keir almost disappears for minutes at a time. For once his expressionless face serves him well, although after an hour and 12 minutes his poker face has become a thousand-yard stare. Air Force One (again) 5.09pm We run to get under the wing of Air Force One. Mr Trump and Sir Keir have already climbed the steps and are waving goodbye to the west coast of Scotland. We scurry to the steps at the back of the plane and are barely in our seats when the presidential plane starts rolling up the runway. A gift for Sir Keir 6.01pm We land at Lossiemouth, the Royal Air Force base in the North East of Scotland, and are back under the wing by the time the two leaders descend the steps. Behind them Don Jr's kids come racing down, followed by the president's eldest sons, Eric and Don Jr, accompanied by their wife and partner. Marine One is waiting, its engines whirring. The two leaders chat amiably as they walk across to it and climb aboard. The pool is riding in one of four Chinook helicopters, which carry other staff and Secret Service agents. I take my seat – an uncomfortable canvas platform – opposite Varun Chandra, Sir Keir's business adviser. He has a huge gold parcel on his lap, wrapped in purple ribbon with the presidential seal – a gift from the president to the Prime Minister. At his feet is a paper bag crammed with boxes of M&Ms from Air Force One, which also carry the seal. I balance my laptop on my knees and try to write my second story of the day. Air and wind 6.46pm Marine One comes into view over the trees of Mr Trump's Menie estate. We landed minutes earlier, swooping in low with a clear view of the huge array of wind turbines just off the Aberdeenshire coast. This is the development that Mr Trump fought and lost, igniting his hatred of wind power. Tuesday Words of wisdom 10.35am Mr Trump is late for his own opening. The introductory speeches ended 30 minutes ago. The reason, we learn, is that the president is hitting a few balls on the driving range. Who can blame him? No one wants to fluff their drive from the first tee with the world's media watching. He is in fine form when he arrives. Even the towering wind turbines out to sea cannot kill the spring in his step, as he thanks his family, staff and local dignitaries. He even, remarkably, has warm words for us. 'Thank you everybody, and thank you to the media,' he said in one of the shortest speeches I've ever seen him deliver. 'The media has been terrific, believe it or not! Fake news not one time today. 'Today, they're wonderful news.' He cuts a ribbon and then, with a smark of his driver, sends his ball sailing down the centre of the fairway. That's our cue to leave. One last gaggle 6.20pm The TVs at the front of the cabin of Air Force One switch to show the presidential seal with a red, white and blue background. Mr Trump is coming to talk to us on the flight back to Washington. A sound man sits on the floor with his microphone in the air; photographers stand on seats or an upturned bin; and I tuck into a cramped position just under where I imagine the president's nose will be. After an agonising wait he appears. He describes how he spent yesterday having good discussions with Sir Keir, 'although I see something came up today which is interesting.' That is trademark Trump understatement. As Mr Trump left his new golf course in the North East of Scotland, Sir Keir announced his government would recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel announced a ceasefire in Gaza and committed to long-term peace talks that would deliver a two-state solution. Did he know this was coming, I asked. What was his reaction? 'We never discussed it surprisingly,' said Mr Trump. 'It was never discussed, maybe a little in the news conference but he was sort of discussing it with you.' It went on like this for 32 minutes, and more than 37 questions. Somewhere in the galley our lamb chop and asparagus dinner was being kept warm by the patient cabin crew. In four years travelling with Joe Biden, I was never once lucky enough to see him in the press cabin. We could nap over the Atlantic, confident that we would not be missing anything. Over five days, Mr Trump had turned six events into press conferences, taking questions for 162 minutes - just short of three hours. For those travelling with him, it offered an extraordinary insight into the mind of the most powerful man in the world. It is a highly effective media strategy. We can ask whatever we want but it also ensures the president retains a lot of control. The Wall Street Journal had been kicked off the trip days earlier, as Mr Trump went to war with Rupert Murdoch, its proprietor, for the way it had covered his relationship with Epstein. Travelling with Mr Trump is a test of stamina and ingenuity. If he had stuck around any longer I might have run out of questions.
Forbes
18 minutes ago
- Forbes
E.U. Entrepreneurs Weigh The Impact Of 'The Biggest Ever' Trade Deal
So, there we have it. A deal has been agreed. The threat of 30% tariffs on goods exported to the U.S. from the European Union has been removed. Stability has been restored. Time, perhaps, for a collective sign of relief. But then again, maybe not. While President Trump has enthusiastically described the U.S.-E.U. trade agreement as the 'biggest deal ever,' the response in Europe has been mixed. Posting on X, France's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said the deal represented an act of submission and a dark day for Europe. In some quarters there is feeling that in trying to restore a degree of stability to transatlantic trading relations, the European Commission has capitulated. Under the terms of the agreement, most European exports to the U.S. will face tariffs of 15%. In contrast, the import taxes imposed by Europe on goods travelling in the other direction will mostly remain below 2.0%. In other words, it appears to be a somewhat one-sided arrangement. So how will Europe's entrepreneurs and SME exporters navigate this new reality? From a glass-half-full perspective, it could have been worse. A 15% tariff rate may be bad, but it's considerably better than the 30% figure that could have become a reality on August 1 had the two sides not managed to reach an agreement. But it's hard to ignore the fact that until Donald Trump returned to the White House and announced plans for 'liberation day' the average U.S. tariff on European goods was 1.47%. As Aurélien Colson, Academic Co-Director of the ESSEC Business School's Institute for Geopolitics and Business, notes, a rise to 15% will be a bitter and difficult pill for small businesses to swallow. Reduced Competitiveness 'Small European exporters will definitely be impacted,' he says. 'For small exporters with tight margins, this major cost increase will need either to be absorbed - cutting profits - or passed on to U.S. buyers, risking lost competitiveness.' So what does this look like at the entrepreneurial coal face? In reply to an emailed question, Giuseppe Gallo, CEO and founder of drinks brands Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto and Savoia Vino Aperitivo, says the deal could prove costly to his business. 'Over 40% of our international exports are destined for the US, so the ongoing threat—and now implementation—of tariffs has had a significant impact. While the revised 15% rate is a slight improvement from the 20% initially proposed in April 2025, it still forces us to absorb costs and compromise on overall margins in the short and medium term,' he says. As Gallo sees it, the deal overly favors the U.S. and despite introducging some certainty to E.U./U.S. trading relations, he doesn't welcome the deal. ' I believe that fair and open competition is essential for consumers to access high-quality products at fair value. Protectionist policies ultimately damage competitiveness, restrict consumer choice, and undermine innovation across the industry,' he says. Not every business will be directly affected. For instance, digital products aren't subject to tariffs. Juan Graña is co-founder and CEO of Neurologyca, an AI platform that analyses human emotional intelligence. He sees much to welcome in the deal. 'As a European company expanding into the US, we do see the deal as a welcome source of clarity. It may favour the US in certain areas, particularly around physical goods, but for fast-growing technology companies like ours, predictability often matters more than perfect symmetry,' he says. Nevertheless, he wonders whether Europe is currently in a position to play a key role in shaping the rules of trade and technology, rather than simply adapting to regulations set somewhere else. 'In areas like digital regulation and AI governance, that distinction will become increasingly important in the coming years," he says. 'And any perception that Europe is bowing to external pressure risks weakening its influence in setting future frameworks.' However, he is also concerned that Europe may seek to defend its autonomy through mechanisms such as the Anti-Coercion Instrument, legislation aimed at preventing undue foreign influence. 'While this gives the impression of helping EU tech firms by limiting US competition, in practice it may hamper innovation, amplify regulatory friction, and penalize firms that depend on integrated digital ecosystems across both sides of the Atlantic,' Graña adds. Small Businesses Particularly Exposed The new tariff regime will hit businesses of all sizes, but according to John Wegman - CEO of Netherlands-headquartered customs clearance and trade solutions provider, Customs Support Group, small companies are likely to be disproportionately affected. 'While larger corporations may have the flexibility to adapt their supply chains or pricing strategies to absorb or offset these costs, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will face far more difficult choices,' he says. 'For many SMEs, this development may trigger a strategic reassessment of their export markets, including whether to continue operations in the US or redirect efforts toward alternative, more accessible regions and benefit from the existing free trade agreements.' Some sectors are likely to be harder hit than others.'Key sectors such as automotive, machinery and food are particularly exposed, with higher tariffs likely translating into increased consumer prices and potential erosion of their US market share,' adds Wegman. Others, however, should be able to navigate the higher import taxes, and that won't necessarily be good for U.S. customers. 'European products with substitutes elsewhere will suffer, while European specialities – like mechanical spare parts, premium products and niche luxury goods wanted by US consumers will primarily boost inflation in the U.S,' says Aurélien Colson The Benefits Of Stability From a European perspective, the deal is far from perfect. So does the stability on offer outweigh the lopsided tariff arrangement? From the perspective of Customs Support Group, more certainty will allow companies to plan. 'The majority of our customers across Europe were taking the 'wait-and-see approach,' so the deal introduces a level of predictability that many European businesses have been seeking,' says Wegman. 'While some sectors may feel the terms are uneven, the broader benefit lies in reducing uncertainty and enabling companies to finally make strategic decisions and plan with more confidence.' But maybe the uncertainty is not quite over yet. As Colson points out, what we're currently seeing is an outline of the agreement. There is more wrangling yet to do before it is signed and ratified. 'The agreement announced in Scotland remains very fuzzy,' he says. "There is no joint written agreement that has yet been released – and the final deal will need to be ratified on both sides of the Atlantic." There could be further turbulence ahead.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Trump's sanctions threat to Russia could have a ‘profound impact,' Rep. Thune argues
Rep. John Thune, R-S.D., discusses President Donald Trump's potential sanctions on Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine on 'America's Newsroom.'
