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US pulls out of mediating in peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow
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US officials have finalised new economic sanctions against Russia to intensify pressure on Moscow to embrace President Trump’s efforts to end its war, sources say.
The targets include state-owned energy giant Gazprom and major organisations in the natural resources and banking sectors, an administration official said. Mr Trump would need to approve the package.
Earlier, the US pulled out of mediating in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
State department official Tammy Bruce said envoys would no longer “fly around the world at the drop of a hat” to mediate.
She said it was now “between the two parties” to present concrete ideas on ending the conflict.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said either a breakthrough towards peace was needed “very soon” or President Trump would have to decide how much time the US would dedicate to the conflict.
On the battlefield, Russia says its forces are continuing to create a “security strip” in border areas of Ukraine’s Sumy region after driving Ukrainian troops out of Kursk, just across the border.
Ukraine says its forces still have a foothold in Kursk, but that it is concerned about a possible Russian advance into Sumy.
Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed the Ukraine and US minerals deal as a “truly equal partnership” which will create “substantial investment” in his country.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko, signed the agreement alongside US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington on Wednesday (30 April).
Through the deal, the countries will create a joint fund to invest in Ukraine’s reconstruction, with a draft saying Washington would get preferential access to new Ukrainian resource deals.
In a new video address, released on Thursday (1 May), President Zelensky thanked Donald Trump for the deal.
Lucy Leeson has the story:
Before the mineral deal between Ukraine and the United States can be signed into law, Ukrainian politicians and representatives must ratify it.
This involves discussion, unless otherwise decided by political representatives.
Ratification could involve a speech by the relevant committee, presentations and speeches from different political factions – two for and two against the deal.
If the procedure is shortened, it will need 150 votes to be ratified.
This process is set to take place next week.
Politician Yaroslav Zheleznyak has said the vote to ratify the Minerals Agreement between the US and Ukraine will take place on 8 May.
Russia launched a mass drone attack late on Friday in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, hitting a high-rise apartment block, triggering fires and injuring at least nine people, officials say.
Mayor Ihor Terekhov estimated the number of injured at 12.
He said there had been 17 strikes in the city, a repeated target of Russian air attacks lying 19 miles from the country’s northeastern border.
Terekhov said a house had also been hit.
Regional authorities in the southern Kherson region said a village resident died when a fallen drone exploded as he was trying to carry it away from a house.
Russia’s Defence Ministry, meanwhile, reported that its air defence units had destroyed 10 drones in an hour – eight over the border region of Bryansk and two over Crimea.
US officials have finalised new economic sanctions against Russia to intensify pressure on Moscow to embrace President Trump’s efforts to end its war, according to officials.
The targets include state-owned Russian energy giant Gazprom and major entities involved in the natural resources and banking sectors, said an administration official.
It was far from clear, however, whether the package will be approved by Mr Trump.
The US National Security Council is trying to coordinate some set of more punitive actions against Russia, a source said. Mr Trump would have to sign off on it.
US president Donald Trump and secretary of state Marco Rubio have identified Julie Davis, currently the US ambassador to Cyprus, to serve as charge d’affaires at the US embassy in Kyiv, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said yesterday.
The move comes as Washington tries to broker a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia and after former ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink stepped down last month.
US State Dept spokesperson Tammy Bruce said of Davis: “Ambassador Davis is a distinguished career member of the Senior Foreign Service, holding the rank of Minister Counselor. With a robust background in international diplomacy, she has served in pivotal roles over the last 30 years.
“Ambassador Davis is currently serving as the United States ambassador to Cyprus, a position she has held since February 2023. This moment in time is one that calls for the department’s best, and Ambassador Davis is the President and Secretary’s choice.”
The ‘Art of the Deal’ may have been Donald Trump’s abiding contribution to literature but it is Volodymyr Zelensky, it now seems, who used his personal diplomacy with the US president during the funeral for Pope Francis to excellent effect.
Here’s the Independent View:
Ukraine’s internal security agency, the SBU, has accused Russian intelligence of orchestrating an attempt to assassinate a prominent Ukrainian blogger, accusing a 45-year-old woman of carrying out the failed hit.
The attempt to kill internet personality Serhii Sternenko, who once led the local chapter of a right-wing group but is now better known in Ukraine for crowdfunding donations for military drones, took place on Thursday.
The SBU said the woman fired several shots with a pistol, one of which hit Sternenko in the leg. The blogger said there was no danger to his life.
The woman’s lawyer said in court that she did not contest the facts of the case.
The lawyer said a contact had told the woman that Sternenko was working for Russia’s spy agency, the FSB.
There would need to be a real breakthrough on the war in Ukraine very soon or US president Donald Trump is going to have to decide how much more time to dedicate to the matter, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Fox News last night.
“I think we know where Ukraine is, and we know where Russia is right now… They’re closer, but they’re still far apart,” he added during an interview on Fox News’ Hannity show.
Yes, the minerals deal Zelensky agreed with the US is vastly less humiliating than the one he refused to sign after being monstered in the Oval Office. But all Ukraine is really left with is the prospect of more war, writes Mark Almond
The British Ministry of Defence (MOD) has described StormShroud as a groundbreaking first-of-its-kind drone that draws on lessons learned by Ukraine during Russia’s invasion.
The drones offer a change in capability by using a high-tech BriteStorm signal jammer to disrupt enemy radar at long ranges, thereby protecting aircraft and pilots.
Deployed ahead of crewed combat aircraft – like Typhoons or F-35s – it acts as a digital decoy, generating false radar signals to overwhelm enemy systems.
The confusion of enemy radars allows RAF combat aircraft to attack targets unseen.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Investment in our defence is an investment in this country’s future. Putting money behind our Armed Forces and defence industry is safeguarding our economic and national security by putting money back in the pockets of hard-working British people and protecting them for generations to come.
“Together with our allies, this government is taking the bold action needed to stand up to Putin and ruthlessly protect UK and European security, which is vital for us to deliver our Plan for Change and improve lives of working people up and down the country.
“It is a privilege to meet and learn from the young minds driving innovation in defence technology, and we will continue to invest in the industries of the future to deliver security and opportunity for the British people through our Plan for Change.”
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Ukraine-Russia war latest: US prepares new sanctions on Kremlin – The Independent
