Donald Trump has told Vladimir Putin to stop bombing Ukraine after an overnight attack killed eight people.
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on Kyiv,” the US president wrote on social media. “Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!”
In a direct plea to his Russian counterpart, Mr Trump said: “5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”
Russia bombarded the Ukrainian capital with ballistic missiles and drones in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
It was one of the deadliest attacks on Kyiv since the start of the war and left 77 people injured.
Rescue missions were launched across the city as emergency workers scrambled to pull people out of the rubble.
Britain on Thursday said it was banning the export to Russia of video game controllers which can be used to pilot drones, the UK foreign ministry announced on Thursday.
It is part of the UK’s latest package of trade measures, including 150 sanctions on Russia, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We’re…banning outright video game controllers going to Russia, preventing them from being used to pilot drones on the frontline, meaning gaming consoles will no longer be repurposed to kill in Ukraine,” sanctions minister Stephen Doughty said in a statement.
The announcement comes after Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched 215 drones and missiles in an overnight attack.
The European Union adopted a similar ban on video games and joysticks in February.
Britain also said it was blocking the export of chemicals, electronics, machinery, and metals to limit Russia’s military and industrial capacity, according to Politico.
President Volodymyr Zelensky is convinced that Russia’s overnight attack on Kyiv and other cities is linked to the Kremlin’s attempt to put pressure on the United States.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president, Mr Zelensky said Russia’s latest attack was one of the most challenging for Ukraine.
“We’re defending our rights; Russia understands this and is putting pressure on us,” he said. “It’s also pressuring America, which is also why I associate today’s strike with that.”
US President Donald Trump has condemned Russia’s lethal overnight strikes in Kyiv.
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”
Sir Keir Starmer has hit back at Donald Trump over the US president’s attack on Volodymyr Zelensky.
Moscow’s overnight strikes on Kyiv are a “real reminder that Russia is the aggressor”, Sir Keir said after eight people were killed in a major bombardment of the Ukrainian capital.
“I think it’s a real reminder that Russia is the aggressor here and that is being felt by the Ukrainians, as it has been felt for three long years now,” the Prime Minister said.
“These attacks – these awful attacks – are a real, human reminder of who is the aggressor here and the cost to the Ukrainian people,” he added.
The US president last night blamed Mr Zelensky for derailing his peace plan by refusing to accept the loss of Crimea.
“He can have peace or he can fight for another three years before losing the whole country,” Mr Trump said.
Washington’s proposal included formally recognising Russian sovereignty over the annexed peninsula, and implied de facto recognition of other occupied Ukrainian regions.
Asked whether Britain would ever recognise Russian possession of Crimea, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “Our position on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity has not changed.”
Donald Trump’s peace plan does “nothing” to stop a third Russian invasion of Ukraine, Boris Johnson has warned.
“What is there in this deal that can realistically stop a third Russian invasion? Nothing,” he wrote in a scathing post on X.
Mr Johnson added that the only thing Ukraine would gain from the proposed deal is “the right to share their natural resources with the United States.”
“If we are to prevent more atrocities by Putin then we must have a long term, credible and above all properly funded security guarantee for Ukraine – a guarantee issued by the UK, the US and all western allies,” he said.
Putin indiscriminately butchers more Ukrainian civilians, killing and injuring 100 in Kyiv including children. And what is his reward under the latest peace proposals?
1. The right to keep sovereign Ukrainian territory he has taken by violence and in breach of international…
The body of a Ukrainian journalist who died after torture in Russia captivity has been returned, Kyiv’s Deputy interior minister has said.
Leonid Tymchenko told reporters that the body of Viktoriia Roshchyna, 27, was brought back to Ukraine in late February and was “identified through DNA testing”.
Ms Roshchyna vanished in August 2023 while bravely reporting from Ukraine’s Russian occupied territories.
Ukrainian officials confirmed Ms Roshchyna’s death in October 2024, but said that the the circumstances were still under investigation. Russia did not hand over her body for about five months.
Ms Roshchyna was reportedly detained in at least two of Russia’s most notorious prisons infamous for torture against prisoners.
Volodymyr Zelensky may have cut short his visit to South Africa after a heavy Russian missile strike on Ukraine, but that will not stop what until recently seemed a difficult diplomatic courtship.
Relations between South Africa and Ukraine have improved significantly from the start of Russia’s invasion, when South Africa’s declaration that it wanted to remain neutral in the conflict badly strained ties.
The raft of African countries which likewise refused to condemn Putin’s aggression in 2022 made diplomats in Kyiv realise they needed to do more to put their case forward and win influence on a continent where Moscow has spent decades building ties.
Kyiv has since embarked on a concerted effort to counter Russian disinformation, as well as offering grain to the continent and trying to build bilateral bonds. As a regional powerhouse, South Africa is seen as particularly important.
Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president, meanwhile believes his country can play a role in peacebuilding efforts because of its ties with Russia.
In 2023, he led an unsuccessful delegation of African leaders to both Kyiv and Moscow in an attempt to mediate. Ukraine has also suggested that Mr Ramaphosa’s closeness to Putin means he should intercede to return Ukrainian children who have been transported to Russia.
Both Mr Zelensky and Mr Ramaphosa have meanwhile both found themselves the subject of Donald Trump’s ire since he came to power. Each country is looking to widen its circle of friends.
Russia is continuing to work with the United States towards achieving peace in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Thursday, adding that it would ensure Moscow’s interests were heard in any settlement.
Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, said Russia will continue its military operation and strike military and military-adjacent targets in Ukraine.
Mr Peskov said Moscow would release details about the next meeting between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin once it had happened.
Trump’s special envoy is expected in Moscow tomorrow for his fourth meeting with the Russian president.
Russia has said it targeted various Ukrainian defence infrastructure sites with its overnight attack on Kyiv, the deadliest to hit the capital in almost a year.
The Russian ministry of defence claimed it “delivered a massive strike” by air, ground and sea.
Writing on Telegram, it claimed to target Ukrainian “aviation, missile space, engineering, and armoured industry enterprises” as well as facilities which it said produced rocket fuel and gunpowder.
“The goals of the strike have been achieved,” it added. “All the targets have been hit.”
Kyiv’s mayor said eight people have died in the latest attack, the most in a single day since 8 July 2024, when officials reported 33 deaths and 121 injuries after a massive missile strike.
Copy link
twitter
facebook
whatsapp
email
