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Straits Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Ukraine struggles to contain Russian summer advances as US aid stalls
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian service members of the 25th Sicheslav Airborne Brigade fire a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launch system towards Russian troops near the frontline town of Pokrovsk, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine April 19, 2025. REUTERS/Anatolii Stepanov/File Photo KYIV - Russia has made incursions near two towns key to army supply routes in eastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian military official said on Wednesday, as Moscow seeks a breakthrough in a summer offensive at a time of uncertainty over U.S. support for Kyiv. In recent weeks, Russia has amassed forces and despite heavy losses has advanced in rural areas either side of Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka, which both sit on crossroads running to the frontline from larger cities in Ukrainian-controlled territory. Russia's advances on the front are matched by an intensification of drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other cities, following signs that Washington's support for Ukraine's war effort is faltering. So far, the efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump have failed to achieve a ceasefire in the full-scale invasion launched by Russia in 2022. One of the aims of the Russian offensive is to occupy the rest of the Donetsk region. Now, they are using small assault groups, light vehicles, and drones to push towards the neighbouring region, said Viktor Trehubov, a spokesperson for the Khortytsia group of forces. "There are constant attacks with the intent of breaking through" to the border of the Dnipropetrovsk region at any cost, Trehubov said in written comments to Reuters. Russia now has 111,000 soldiers in the Pokrovsk area, which it has been trying to seize since early last year, Ukraine's top armed forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said last week, describing dozens of battles in the area every day. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singapore and Cambodia to expand collaboration in renewable energy, carbon markets and agri-trade Singapore Ong Beng Seng's court hearing rescheduled one day before he was expected to plead guilty Singapore ByteDance food poisoning: Catering firm convicted after cockroach infestation found on premises Singapore Three hair salons raided in clampdown on touting, vice, drugs in Geylang and Joo Chiat Singapore The romance continues: Former 'Singapore girl', 77, returns to Osaka Expo after 55 years Singapore Granddaughter of Hin Leong founder O.K. Lim fails to keep 3 insurance policies from creditors' reach Singapore Man on trial for raping drunken woman after offering to drive her and her friend home Singapore 3 weeks' jail for man who touched himself on train, flicked bodily fluid on female passenger A decision by Washington to halt some deliveries of various weapons including precision rocket artillery to Kyiv will worsen the situation on the ground for Ukraine's forces, said Jack Watling, a senior researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, a think-tank. "The loss of these supplies will significantly degrade Ukraine's ability to strike Russian forces beyond 30 km (19 miles) from the front line and therefore allow Russia to improve its logistics," Watling said. RUSSIAN GAINS Ukrainian blog DeepState, which uses open-source data to map the frontline, said the Russian military in June had seized 556 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory, which it said was the largest monthly loss of ground since November. Russian forces, which have numerical superiority, cut the main road linking Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka in May, complicating Ukrainian movements and resupply efforts. "The Russian advance is being contained, but their crossing of the Pokrovsk-Kostyantynivka highway is a strategic and logistical setback," Trehubov said. Heavy Russian losses have prevented Russian advances toward Kostiantynivka via Chasiv Yar, or along the western Pokrovsk front. "Now they are attempting (to advance) further away from populated areas," Trehubov said. DeepState also reported that Russian advances in June near Pokrovsk and nearby Novopavlivka accounted for more than half of all Russian gains along the entire frontline in all of Ukraine. Trehubov said Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka remain Ukrainian logistical hubs, despite setbacks and drone activity which make some defensive fortifications less effective. "(Drones) hinder logistics for both sides but don't make it impossible. Drones after all are not invulnerable," he said. REUTERS
The Irish Sun
30-04-2025
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
What Trump and Zelensky ‘said to each other at Pope funeral revealed' as pressure mounts on Putin to make a deal
VOLODYMYR Zelensky is said to have urged Donald Trump to take a tougher stance against Russia when the leaders met during Pope Francis' funeral. Top US officials revealed that the 8 Trump and Zelensky meeting inside St Pater's Basilica Credit: Ukraine Presidential Office 8 The pair met ahead of the Pope's funeral Credit: Ukraine Presidential Office 8 Ukrainian service members of the 25th Sicheslav Airborne Brigade fire a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launch system towards Russian troops Credit: Reuters The whole world's eyes were on It was the first time they were pictured meeting together since their historic - and disastrous - However, both presidents agreed to hold a quick, 15-minute one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of Pope Francis's funeral. more on Russia-Ukraine war The chat Two senior sources familiar with the contents of the meeting told The Ukrainian leader is also said to have retreated his demands for an unconditional ceasefire, which was proposed by the US weeks ago but rejected by the Kremlin. It is understood that Zelensky told Trump he was ready to make concessions in a bid to bring peace to his war-torn nation, but demanded strong security guarantees in return. Most read in The Sun He added: "We discussed a lot one-on-one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting the lives of our people. "Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out." How scheming Putin has undermined Trump's 100 day peace plan for finally end bloody war in Ukraine Sources told Axios that Trump seemed to agree to what Zelensky was asking. The White House didn't confirm or deny it. He is said to have replied by saying he might have changed his approach to dealing with Putin, which was visible shortly after their chat. Just hours after the meeting, Trump slammed Putin for "tapping him along" during his efforts for peace. He said: "There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns over the last few days. 8 US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office of the White House in February Credit: AFP 8 Macron and Starmer have were also pictured with the pair 8 Rescuers work at the site of a drone strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine Credit: EPA 8 Experts beloved Trump is being played by Putin Credit: AFP "It makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war, he's just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through 'Banking' or 'Secondary Sanctions?' Too many people are dying!!!" Trump also ordered Putin to The US and Ukrainian leaders have vowed to hold further talks in the coming days. Trump said on Sunday he was both "surprised and disappointed, very disappointed" that mad Vlad continued to bomb Ukraine, despite the dictator It came after earlier this week that left at least 12 dead. Russia announced a token ceasefire to coincide with VE Day after President Trump accused Putin of stringing him along on peace talks. The Kremlin said troops will stop fighting for 96 hours midnight on 7 May. The pause will coincide with events to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of WW2 in Europe. But Moscow dashed hopes of a peace deal by repeating demands that Ukraine must surrender and disarm. Trump is said to be growing "increasingly frustrated" with both Putin and Zelensky in his attempts to bring the Ukraine war to a close. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump has "made it clear" he wants a permanent ceasefire, rather than the temporary pause offered by the scheming Russian tyrant. But experts say this was like a fiddle . ART OF THE DEAL One of the topics that Trump brought up during the 15-minute chat is understood to be the re-negotiated US-Ukraine minerals deal, which fell apart after the historic Oval Office spat. Trump is said to have pressed Zelensky to agree to the deal as soon as possible, the sources told Axios. Ukraine and the US officials said today they were ready to sign a minerals deal imminently after months of sometimes fraught negotiations. However, an eleventh-hour snag injected uncertainty into the timing. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters at the White House: "Our side is ready to sign. The Ukrainians decided last night to make some last-minute changes. "We're sure that they will reconsider that, and we are ready, if they are." US-Ukraine minerals deal explained By Sayan Bose, Foreign News Reporter The minerals draft sets out the creation of a joint US-Ukrainian fund for reconstruction, which will receive 50 per cent of profits and royalties accruing to the Ukrainian state from new natural resources permits in Ukraine. The draft does not spell out how the joint fund's revenues will be spent, who benefits or who controls decisions about the spending. Once the main agreement was signed, the two sides would agree on two further technical and supplementary documents outlining issues such as how the funds are accumulated. Ukraine would retain control of all its resources in the deal, while the fund will invest in the development of Ukraine for 10 years, according to the country's prime minister Denys Shmyhal. The U.S could use its future military assistance to Ukraine as its contribution to the fund, Shmyhal said, with no previous military aid to the country reflected in the deal. "Ukraine will only make a contribution from new licenses, from new royalties on mineral resources. This will be our contribution, 50% of which will be given to this fund," he added. A draft of the main minerals agreement showed that Ukraine had secured the removal of any requirement for it to pay back the US for past military assistance, something Ukraine had staunchly opposed. Washington has been Ukraine's single largest military donor since Russia's 2022 invasion, with aid of more than 64 billion euros ($72 billion), according to the Kiel Institute in Germany. A Ukrainian official was on the way to Washington for the signing. But a source said the US was pushing Ukraine to sign two additional documents and that Kyiv felt it was premature. Bessent denied the US made any attempt to change the accord the two sides agreed to over the weekend. The agreement, which would give the United States access to Ukraine's mineral deposits, is central to Kyiv's efforts to mend ties with Trump For the White House, it is a bid to secure a peace settlement in Russia's war in Ukraine. Two sources said it could happen later on Wednesday. Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko was flying to the United States to sign the deal, the country's prime minister said earlier. Trump repeated on Wednesday that the U.S. should get something for its prior aid to Kyiv, thus the effort to secure a deal for Ukraine's plentiful deposits of rare earth minerals. "I assume they're going to honour the deal. ... We haven't really seen the fruits of that deal yet. I suspect we will," Trump said after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Ukrainian officials hope that signing the deal promoted by Trump will firm up American support for Kyiv in the more than three-year-old war. A former Trump advisor told LBC the developing US-Ukraine minerals deal will be a "trip wire" that Russia will not cross. He said: "It would engage the American military. It puts the Americans squarely in the middle of the Ukrainian state. It is a trip wire that Putin would dare not to cross." 8
Scottish Sun
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Scheming Putin announces ANOTHER temporary ceasefire in Ukraine for Russian ‘Victory Day' – as Trump's patience runs out
PEACE BID Scheming Putin announces ANOTHER temporary ceasefire in Ukraine for Russian 'Victory Day' – as Trump's patience runs out Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SCHEMING Vladimir Putin has announced another temporary ceasefire in Ukraine for Russia's Victory Day - as Donald Trump's patience runs out. A four-day ceasefire in Ukraine will begin from midnight on 8 May until May 11, based around mad Vlad's 80th anniversary celebrations marking the end of the Second World War. 3 Putin speaks during a news conference with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko Credit: AP 3 A woman is helped from the rubble after a strike in Kyiv on 24 April Credit: Getty 3 Ukrainian service members of the 25th Sicheslav Airborne Brigade fire a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launch system towards Russian troops Credit: Reuters The Kremlin said on Telegram that Russia "believes that the Ukrainian side should follow this example". It added: "In case of violation of the ceasefire by the Ukrainian side, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will provide an adequate and effective response. "The Russian side once again declares its readiness for peace negotiations without preconditions, aimed at eliminating the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, and constructive interaction with international partners." Putin had previously announced a 30-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over the Easter weekend - but Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian troops violated it nearly 3,000 times. More to follow... For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video. Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.
The Irish Sun
28-04-2025
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
Scheming Putin announces ANOTHER temporary ceasefire in Ukraine for Russian ‘Victory Day' – as Trump's patience runs out
SCHEMING Vladimir Putin has announced another temporary ceasefire in Ukraine for Russia's Victory Day - as Donald Trump's patience runs out. A four-day ceasefire in Ukraine will begin from midnight on 8 May until May 11, based around mad Vlad's 80th anniversary celebrations marking the end of the Second World War. Advertisement 3 Putin speaks during a news conference with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko Credit: AP 3 A woman is helped from the rubble after a strike in Kyiv on 24 April Credit: Getty 3 Ukrainian service members of the 25th Sicheslav Airborne Brigade fire a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launch system towards Russian troops Credit: Reuters The Kremlin said on Telegram that Russia "believes that the Ukrainian side should follow this example". It added: "In case of violation of the ceasefire by the Ukrainian side, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will provide an adequate and effective response. "The Russian side once again declares its readiness for peace negotiations without preconditions, aimed at eliminating the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, and constructive interaction with international partners." Putin had previously announced a 30-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over the Easter weekend - but Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian troops violated it nearly 3,000 times. Advertisement More to follow... For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video. Like us on Facebook at
Japan Today
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Trump, Zelenskyy clash again and U.S. warns it could abandon Ukraine talks
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian service members of the 25th Sicheslav Airborne Brigade fire a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launch system towards Russian troops near the frontline town of Pokrovsk, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine April 19, 2025. REUTERS/Anatolii Stepanov/File Photo By Doina Chiacu, Elizabeth Piper and John Irish U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clashed again on Wednesday on efforts to end the three-year-old war in Ukraine, with the U.S. leader chiding Zelenskyy for refusing to recognize Russia's occupation of Crimea. Trump's Vice President JD Vance said it was time for Russia and Ukraine to either agree to a U.S. peace proposal "or for the United States to walk away from the process," echoing a warning Trump gave last week. Speaking to reporters in India, Vance said the proposal called for freezing territorial lines "at some level close to where they are today" and a "long-term diplomatic settlement that hopefully will lead to long-term peace." "The only way to really stop the killing is for the armies to both put down their weapons, to freeze this thing," he said. A former Western official familiar with the U.S. proposal said it also called for the recognition of Russia's annexation of Crimea. Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on Wednesday in an X post that he stressed to the U.S. in London that Ukraine "will stand firm on its core principles during the negotiations" that relate to sovereignty and territorial integrity. Zelenskyy on Tuesday reiterated that Ukraine will not recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea, saying: "There's nothing to talk about here. This is against our constitution." Trump, who argued with Zelenskyy in a televised Oval Office meeting in March, called this an inflammatory statement that made a peace deal harder to achieve. The U.S. president said Crimea was lost years ago "and is not even a point of discussion." "Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn't they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?" Trump wrote on Truth Social. Russian fighters seized control of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 in a move that was condemned internationally. Few countries recognize Russia's claim to Crimea. Trump scolded the Ukrainian leader and said the U.S. was trying to stop the killing in his country and that they were "very close to a deal" for peace. Since taking office in January, Trump has sharply altered the U.S. approach, pressing Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire while easing many measures the Biden administration took to punish Russia for its 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbor. Nevertheless, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said after Wednesday's talks, Kyiv was committed to working with the U.S. to achieve peace. RUBIO CANCELS LONDON TRIP Earlier, U.S., Ukrainian and European officials met in London for peace talks aimed at ending the three-year war. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio canceled his trip there, raising questions over how much progress was being made. Rubio's no-show prompted cancelation of a broader meeting with foreign ministers from Ukraine, Britain, France and Germany, underscoring the gaps between Washington, Kyiv and its European allies over how to bring an end to the war. Trump has warned Washington could walk away if there was no progress on a deal soon. He raised the pressure on Sunday when he said he hoped Moscow and Kyiv would make a deal this week to end the conflict. At the heart of Wednesday's talks was an attempt to establish what Kyiv could possibly accept after Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff presented proposals to a similar session in Paris last week. Three diplomats said those proposals appeared to demand more concessions from Ukraine than Russia. A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer played down any disappointment over Rubio's abrupt cancellation and said the talks involved "substantive technical meetings with European, U.S. and Ukrainian officials on how to stop the fighting." "We remain absolutely committed to securing a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and these talks today are an important part of that," the spokesperson said. One official close to the negotiations said progress was being made. Since Trump expressed his desire to broker peace in Ukraine and made a surprise call to Russian President Vladimir Putin in February, European nations have scrambled to find ways to support Kyiv against Moscow while keeping the U.S. onside. But Witkoff's proposals, which several sources have said included recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea, Washington beginning to lift sanctions on Russia and ruling out Ukrainian membership of NATO, were unacceptable to both Kyiv and other European nations. Sources said U.S. proposals include Ukraine and the Europeans accepting Russia's control of the 20% of Ukraine's territory that it has gained in the war. Russia is pushing for lifting of EU sanctions against it before negotiations are finished, which Europe staunchly opposes, diplomats said. A source close to the discussions said the downgrading of the parley came after Ukraine drafted a paper for the Europeans on Tuesday in which it said there would be no discussions on territorial issues until "a full and unconditional ceasefire". © Thomson Reuters 2025.
