Latest news with #Merezkho
BBC News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
'He has gone absolutely crazy': Trump rebukes Putin after weekend attacks on Ukraine
Update: Date: 09:00 BST Title: What's the latest? Content: It's just turned 09:00 BST in London, and 11:00 in Kyiv and Moscow. If you're just joining us, here's the latest: Stay with us for further updates. Update: Date: 08:31 BST Title: Trump 'leaving maniac and victim face-to-face', Ukrainian MP says Content: A Ukrainian MP has urged Donald Trump to impose further sanctions on Russia after this weekend saw Moscow launch its biggest aerial assault on Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion. Following the attack - which killed at least 12 people - Volodymyr Zelensky warned that "America's silence, and the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin". The Ukrainian president "is doing his country no favours by talking the way he does", Trump later said. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Merezkho says Trump must deliver on his promise to end the war in Ukraine. "When Trump is talking about walking away or washing his hands of Ukraine, it's like leaving the maniac and the victim face-to-face," he says. He adds: "I'm under the impression that President Trump is trying to avoid imposing sanctions on Russia and trying to find pretext to blame Ukraine." Update: Date: 08:07 BST Title: Russia says 96 Ukrainian drones intercepted overnight Content: Meanwhile, in Russia, the defence ministry says it destroyed and intercepted 96 Ukrainian drones across twelve regions overnight, the Tass news agency reports. This includes six drones shot down over the Moscow region, it adds. The governors of the Oryol and the Ryazan regions confirmed there had been casualties. Update: Date: 07:46 BST Title: Kyiv comes under attack for third night in a row, says city's military chief Content: Explosions above Kyiv overnight as Ukrainians fire at Russian drones Kyiv has been attacked by Russian drones for a third night in a row, the head of the city's military administration says. In a post on Telegram, Timur Tkachenko says the strikes caused damage in the Dnipro district of the Ukrainian capital. "Windows were broken in one of the residential buildings. Also, falling debris was recorded on the territory of a garage cooperative and a recreation facility," Tkachenko adds. "Fortunately, there were no casualties," he says. Update: Date: 07:33 BST Title: Poland deploys fighters to protect airspace during Russian strikes Content: Adam EastonWarsaw correspondent Warsaw has scrambled its own and allied aircraft to secure the country's airspace during Russian strikes on neighbouring Ukraine, the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command says. 'This is the second very busy night in a row for the entire air defence system in Poland, due to the observed renewed activity of the Russian Federation's long-range aviation carrying out missile strikes on facilities located in the territory of Ukraine,' it says in a brief statement on X. It is worth noting that the Operational Command routinely issues such a statement when Russian missile strikes target western Ukraine. Update: Date: 07:24 BST Title: Trump also has stern words for Zelensky Content: Leading our coverage this morning is Trump's latest rebuke of Vladimir Putin. Though his ire was directed in the main at the Russian president, Trump also had stern words for Zelensky. He "is doing his country no favours by talking the way he does", he wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. "Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don't like it, and it better stop," he added. The relationship between the US and Ukrainian leaders has been turbulent since Trump's return to the White House, culminating in an on-camera row in the Oval Office in February. Update: Date: 07:14 BST Title: Russian attacks continue after major assault on Sunday Content: Saturday night into Sunday morning saw Russia's biggest aerial assault on Ukraine since its full-scale invasion began in February 2022. At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured after Russia fired 367 drones and missiles. Ukraine's Air Force said it was able to down 266 drones and 45 missiles. But it warned that "most regions of Ukraine" were affected by the attack. On Sunday night, attacks from Moscow continued - although seemed more limited. Ukraine's Air Force reported incursions by Shaheed drones and UAVs through the night, but said the threat had been repelled for all regions by around 05:00 BST (07:00 local time). This morning, the state emergency service is sharing pictures of buildings on fire in Odesa, where it says a residential building was destroyed by Russian drones. Update: Date: 07:00 BST Title: 'Something has happened to him': Trump slams Putin Content: This video can not be played "Yeah I'll give you an update, I'm not happy with what Putin's doing" US President Donald Trump says he is "not happy" with Vladimir Putin, following Moscow's largest aerial attack yet on Ukraine at the weekend. Posting on social media platform, Truth Social, Trump says: "I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. "He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I'm not just talking about soldiers." Trump adds: "I've always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that's proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!" In separate comments to reporters on Sunday night, Trump said: "I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time. Always gotten along with him. "But he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all." Asked if he was considering more sanctions on Russia, Trump said: "Absolutely." Update: Date: 06:55 BST Title: Trump calls Putin 'crazy' after largest Russian attack on Ukraine Content: Donald Trump's patience with Vladimir Putin appears to be wearing thin. "Absolutely CRAZY," was his characterisation of the Russian president in a Truth Social post on Sunday. It comes after at least 12 people were killed in overnight Russian attacks on Saturday. Ukraine said 367 drones and missiles were fired at the country, making it the biggest aerial assault in a single night since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russia's attacks appear to have slowed down overnight. Meanwhile, the defence ministry in Moscow says its forces downed 96 Ukrainian drones. Stay with us for further updates.
Newsweek
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Putin's Fear of Attacks on Victory Day Behind Abrupt Ceasefire: Kyiv
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Russia's declaration of a unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine for three days next month was met with skepticism by Ukraine. The Kremlin declared a ceasefire on Monday to observe the 80th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War. This is the term used by Russia to describe its participation in World War II after it joined the Allies in 1941, and the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. Moscow has consistently claimed its invasion of Ukraine aimed to "de-Nazify" the country, a pretext widely rejected. Russia will not conduct any military operations between midnight on May 8 and midnight on May 11, the Kremlin said, adding that "Russia believes that the Ukrainian side should follow this example." Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely hoping to head off any possible Ukrainian attacks on May 9, when Russia typically hosts major celebrations, said Oleksandr Merezkho, the head of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign affairs committee and a member of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's party. It is a "purely propagandistic gesture," Merezkho told Newsweek. The United States has become increasingly irritated with the glacial pace of progress towards implementing a ceasefire agreement, more overtly criticizing Russia's recalcitrance to ink a deal despite pursuing a rapprochement with the Kremlin. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow on Friday for a fourth visit to Russia since January in a bid to move negotiations forward with senior Kremlin aides. Ukraine agreed to a 30-day ceasefire during talks with the U.S. in March. In a separate incident on Friday, a senior Russian commander who had been involved in failed talks with Ukraine after Moscow annexed Crimea from Kyiv in 2014 was killed after a car bomb exploded in an eastern suburb of Moscow. Russia's FSB security agency said it had detained a "resident of Ukraine," named as Ignat Kuzin. Russian authorities claimed Kuzin was recruited as a Ukrainian spy in April 2023. Russian servicemen fire a D-20 howitzer towards Ukrainian positions in Russia's Kursk area on April 9, 2025. Russian servicemen fire a D-20 howitzer towards Ukrainian positions in Russia's Kursk area on April 9, 2025. Sergey Bobylev / Sputnik via AP Ukraine does not typically comment publicly on suspected participation in high-profile assassinations. Putin's "previous unilateral declarations of ceasefire never worked," Merezkho said. Russia announced earlier this month it would halt all military operations against Ukraine for 30 hours to mark Easter. Reports trickling out of Ukraine suggested that the hundreds of miles of front lines were quieter than usual, but both sides accused each other of violating the ceasefire. Monday's proclamation appears similar to the short-lived Easter truce, said Gabrielius Landsbergis, who served as Lithuania's foreign minister until November 2024. It is unlikely that further progress will be made towards a ceasefire deal involving both countries, Landsbergis told Newsweek. "If Russia truly wants peace, it must cease fire immediately," Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said in a post on social media on Monday afternoon. "Why wait until May 8th? If the fire can be ceased now and since any date for 30 days—so it is real, not just for a parade." Merezkho said he had expected some form of announcement from the Kremlin in the lead-up to the pageantry surrounding May 9 in Russia. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Trump wanted a more permanent end to the more than three years of fighting, adding the president was "increasingly frustrated" with both Kyiv and Moscow. Trump has skirted hitting Putin with scathing criticism over the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, but has publicly berated Ukraine's Zelensky. Trump met with Zelensky one-on-one as both leaders traveled to the Vatican for Pope Francis' funeral on Saturday. Trump, just before sharing images of himself and Zelensky hunched over in conversation, said in a post on Truth Social that there was "no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days." "It makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war, he's just tapping me along," Trump said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that he believed the coming week would be "very critical" for ceasefire talks, while Washington weighs whether negotiating an end to the war is an "endeavour that we want to continue to be involved in." Putin's declaration of an Easter ceasefire came shortly after Rubio told reporters the U.S. would walk away from talks if a deal couldn't be reached quickly. The Kremlin reiterated on Monday that it sought to eliminate what it termed the "root causes behind the Ukraine crisis." Russia has laid out extensive conditions for its consent to a ceasefire in Ukraine, many of which have been flatly ruled out by Kyiv, including the dismantling of its military, no path toward NATO membership, and recognition of Russia's grip on seized territory. Russia currently controls around a fifth of Ukraine, which Kyiv has vowed to reclaim. Trump officials have signaled that a ceasefire could recognize Russian control over territory it has seized until now and freeze the conflict along the current front lines. The Kremlin said on Monday it would respond to any violations of the unilateral ceasefire by Ukraine.
