Ukraine's Zelenskiy vows to press on with prisoner exchanges with Russia
June 8 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed on Sunday to press on with prisoner exchanges with Russia and said any failure by Moscow to uphold humanitarian accords cast doubt over U.S. and other efforts to end the more than three-year-old conflict.
Zelenskiy also warned Ukrainians to be attentive to air raid warnings in the aftermath of heavy Russian air attacks.
The president was speaking a day after Russian officials accused Ukraine of postponing the latest prisoner swap indefinitely. A Ukrainian official had already rejected the Russian allegation.
Speaking in his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said Ukraine had not yet received the full list of prisoners to be released under agreements clinched in talks in Turkey.
"The Russian side is therefore, like always, even in these matters, is trying to play some kind of dirty political and information game," Zelenskiy said.
"The important thing is to get a result, to ensure that people are brought home. We believe that the exchanges will continue and will do everything for this.
"If the Russians do not stand by agreements even in humanitarian matters, it casts great doubt on all international efforts -- including those by the United States in terms of talks and diplomacy."
U.S. President Donald Trump has put pressure on both Ukraine and Russia to move towards a resolution on the war. Ukraine has said it backs a U.S. call for a 30-day ceasefire, while Russia says certain conditions must first be met.
In concluding his address, Zelenskiy urged Ukrainians to be especially attentive to air raid warnings.
"In the coming days we must pay attention to air raid warnings," he said. "Look after yourselves, look after Ukraine."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
40 minutes ago
- The Sun
Fury as taxpayers forking out £1million a WEEK to migrant-chasing lawyers
TAXPAYERS are forking out £1million a week to migrant-chasing lawyers. Some £54.2million last year went to legal teams seeking to thwart deportations or argue asylum seekers should remain. Campaigners say solicitors are lining their pockets by convincing clients to mount appeals. Between March and December last year alone, some 45,787 Legal Aid claims were granted at an average cost of £827 per case. It means solicitors pocket public cash — at £52 an hour — even if their clients have no realistic cases. Bizarre excuses include the case of woman-beating Konrad Makocki, 37, who used European human rights laws to say he had to be near his twin sister. Figures seen by The Sun show the cost of operating the judiciary in the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal Chamber hit £53.5million in the year to March, whilst staffing appeals cost £31.4million. And rates are set to rise. Former minister Sir Alec Shelbrooke said: 'It's clear that too many lawyers in the system are raking it in from public funds. 'You'd hope the government would realise that the system is ripe for exploitation, but I have serious doubts that lefty lawyer Sir Keir would do anything other than side with his own chums.' A Government spokeswoman said: 'We are restoring order to this system, with a rapid increase in asylum decision-making.' Fury as hotel firm housing asylum seekers in 'all-inclusive resorts' paid £700M a year of YOUR money 1
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
National Guard face protesters hours after arriving in LA on Trump's orders
The confrontation broke out in front of the Metropolitan Detention Centre in central Los Angeles, as a group of demonstrators shouted insults at members of the federal guard lined shoulder to shoulder behind plastic riot shields. There did not appear to be any arrests. About 300 National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday on orders from Mr Trump, in response to clashes in recent days between federal immigration authorities and protesters seeking to block them from carrying out deportations. Members of California's National Guard had mobilised at the federal complex in central Los Angeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Centre, one of several sites that have seen confrontations involving hundreds of people in last two days. The troops included members of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, according to a social media post from the Department of Defence that showed dozens of National Guard members with long guns and an armoured vehicle. Mr Trump has said he is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell the protests, which he called 'a form of rebellion'. California — Don't give Donald Trump what he wants. Speak up. Stay peaceful. Stay calm. Do not use violence and respect the law enforcement officers that are trying their best to keep the peace. — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 8, 2025 The deployment was limited to a small area in central Los Angeles. The protests have been relatively small and limited to that area. The rest of the city of four million people is largely unaffected. Their arrival follows clashes near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles. As protesters sought to block Border Patrol vehicles, some hurling rocks and chunks of cement, federal agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls. Tensions were high after a series of sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement. On Sunday, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said the National Guard would 'keep peace and allow people to be able to protest but also to keep law and order'. In a signal of the administration's aggressive approach, defence secretary Pete Hegseth also threatened to deploy active-duty marines 'if violence continues' in the region. The move came over the objections of governor Gavin Newsom, marking the first time in decades that a state's national guard was activated without a request from its governor, according to the Brennan Centre for Justice. In a directive on Saturday, Mr Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States'. Mr Newsom, a Democrat, said Mr Trump's decision to call in the National Guard was 'purposefully inflammatory'. He described Mr Hegseth's threat to deploy marines on American soil as 'deranged behaviour'. In a statement on Sunday, assistant homeland security secretary Tricia McLaughlin accused California's politicians and protesters of 'defending heinous illegal alien criminals at the expense of Americans' safety'. A message to the LA rioters: you will not stop us or slow us down. @ICEgov will continue to enforce the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. — Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) June 7, 2025 'Instead of rioting, they should be thanking Ice (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers every single day who wake up and make our communities safer,' Ms McLaughlin added. Vermont senator Bernie Sanders said the order by Mr Trump reflected 'a president moving this country rapidly into authoritarianism' and 'usurping the powers of the United States Congress'. Mr Trump's order came after clashes in Paramount and neighbouring Compton, where a car was set on fire. Protests continued into the evening in Paramount, with several hundred demonstrators gathered near a doughnut shop, and authorities holding up barbed wire to keep the crowd back. Crowds also gathered again outside federal buildings in central Los Angeles, including a detention centre, where police declared an unlawful assembly and began to arrest people.
NBC News
an hour ago
- NBC News
National Guard deployed to L.A. and Trump warns Musk of 'consequences': Weekend Rundown
President Donald Trump moved to deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass after immigration raids in the city led to protests and disorder. Approximately 300 National Guard members descended on Los Angeles on Sunday morning after the president ordered the deployment of 2,000 troops, a move sharply criticized as inflammatory and unnecessary by Newsom and a 'chaotic escalation' by Bass, who warned that an 'extreme presence of troops or law enforcement officers' could stoke 'massive civil unrest.' Tom Homan, Trump's appointed border czar, told NBC News that Newsom and Bass had created 'a sanctuary for criminals' and suggested the governor and mayor could be arrested if they impeded law enforcement. 'I'll say about anybody,' Homan said, 'it's a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It's a felony to impede law enforcement from doing their job.' Homan said 'around 150' undocumented immigrants had been detained in the last two days as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers carried out large-scale sweep across the city. 'Meet the Press' In an interview with NBC News' 'Meet the Press,' Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said he would not accept campaign donations from Elon Musk, but urged the former Trump adviser to 'get involved right now in a more substantive way' in Democrats' push against the sweeping GOP-backed spending bill. Booker's remarks come as other Democrats have floated welcoming Musk into the Democratic Party after a feud between President Donald Trump and the tech mogul exploded into public view last week. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., also joined moderator Kristen Welker on Sunday, defending Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard in Los Angeles as demonstrators protest federal immigration raids. 'He's trying to de-escalate all the tensions that are there,' Lankford said. 'This is an American city, and to be able to have an American city where we have people literally flying Mexican flags and saying, 'You cannot arrest us,' cannot be allowed.' Notable quote President Donald Trump if tech mogul Elon Musk funds candidates to run against Republicans who vote in favor of his sweeping budget bill, after a breakdown in relations between the two. Trump's comments were the most extensive since he and Musk exchanged threats and attacks on X and Truth Social earlier this week. He added that he thought the Republican Party was more unified than ever after the two men fell out in front of the world. Politics in brief Back in the USA: Trump told NBC News that it wasn't his decision to bring mistakenly deported Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. to face federal charges, but said he believes it will be a 'very easy case.' Abrego Garcia's case has raised a number of questions, including what the political fallout will be. Lines redrawn: Democrats are making gains in wealthier, whiter and more educated areas as Republicans make inroads with Hispanic and white working-class voters, an analysis of election data shows. Treatment halted: Trump's travel ban has stalled lifesaving treatment for Haitian children who need to travel for surgery. A U.S. doctor who has operated on Haitian children is pleading for the administration to make a humanitarian exception to the ban. Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz crowned French Open champions The No. 2 seeds for both the men's and women's finals at Roland-Garros came out on top this year. In three sets, Coco Gauff became the first American women to win the French open since Serena Williams in 2015, outlasting top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka with a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 victory. 'The crowd really helped me today. You guys were cheering for me so hard, and I don't know what I did to deserve so much love from the French crowd,' Gauff said. 'But I appreciate you guys.' In the men's final, Carlos Alcaraz produced one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the clay-court tournament. The defending champion made a stunning comeback from two sets down, winning a fifth-set tiebreaker to beat No. 1 Jannik Sinner 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10-2) to retain his French Open title for a second-straight year. It was the longest-ever French Open final — 5 hours, 29 minutes — in the Open Era. Broadway salutes a night of A-listers 'Wicked' star Cynthia Erivo, a Grammy, Emmy and Tony award-winning actress and singer, is slated to host the 78th annual Tony Awards, which this year return to New York City's Radio City Music Hall. There are 29 shows on Broadway that received nominations this season, with tight competition in many categories, and the acting categories are stacked with Hollywood stars, including George Clooney and Sarah Snook. In case you missed it Colombian senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay is fighting for his life after he was shot three times during a campaign event in Bogotá on Saturday. A Cantonese opera inspired by Trump has debuted its latest edition, riffing on the president's infamous White House sparring match with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to block an aid vessel carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists from reaching Gaza, by 'any means necessary.' Did you know you are more likely to be struck by lightning than the Pacers were to win their playoff comebacks? These stats back up that claim. A U.S. marshal was mistakenly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Arizona because he 'fit the general description of a subject being sought by ICE,' officials said. A Seattle man was charged in connection with a series of robberies and burglaries of current and former professional athletes, with alleged victims including Seattle Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo, center fielder Julio Rodriguez and Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell. Just how much damage did Ukraine do in its 'Spiderweb' drone attack on Russia? NBC News has analyzed satellite imagery to dig into the claims being made by Kyiv and Moscow.
