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Zelensky says Ukrainian presence in a second Russian border region is ‘absolutely justified’
Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed for the first time that Ukrainian troops are operating in Russia’s Belgorod border region.
Mr Zelensky said Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi had presented a report “on the frontline, our presence in the Kursk region and our presence in the Belgorod region”.
“We continue active operations in the enemy’s border areas and this is absolutely justified. The war must return to where it came from,” he said, stating that such incursions are defensive missions designed to protect Ukraine’s own Sumy and Kharkiv border regions.
The battlefield update came as Kyiv prepared to send representatives to the US for fresh talks on a rare earth minerals deal. After his bitter spat with Mr Zelensky in the Oval Office, Donald Trump has proposed a more expansive minerals deal which could give the US access to valuable resources including titanium, lithium, and uranium, according to economy minister Yuliia Svyrydenko.
Mr Trump has urged Russia to stop bombing Ukraine after a ballistic missile strike in Kryvyi Rih killed 20, including nine children.
Donald Trump has defended the US’s decision to not impose tariffs on Russia.
Mr Trump told reporters last night that Russia did not have tariffs imposed “because we’re not doing business, essentially, with Russia, because they’re at war.”
Almost no countries were spared from Mr Trump’s sweeping tariffs; even small, uninhabited islands in the Indian Ocean were included in the exhaustive list. But one country was notably missing: Russia.
However, the US Trade Office indicates the US does some trade with Russia, though significantly less than it did. Last year, the total goods trade with Russia was $3.5bn.
An agreement between Russia and Ukraine to end the war is “getting sort of close”, US president Donald Trump said last night.
He also said he was disappointed in Russia for carrying out strikes on Ukraine.
“I’m not happy about what’s going on with the bombing because they’re bombing like crazy right now. They’re bombing — I don’t know what’s happening there. That’s not a good situation,” Mr Trump said.
Russia has mounted multiple attacks on villages around the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk, senior Ukrainian military officials said.
Russian forces have for months been attempting to encircle Pokrovsk, a logistics hub, but Ukrainian resistance has slowed the Russian advances in the area, the Ukrainian military’s general staff said on their Telegram channel.
Geolocated footage tracked by The Institute for the Study of War showed Russian forces have marginally advanced south and southwest of the city.
Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukrainian troops are inside Russia’s Belgorod, in what is the second incursion into Russian territory since February 2022.
In August last year, Ukraine launched a shock incursion inside Russia’s Kursk oblast and has continued to hold onto territory there despite a major Russian counterattack.
These incursions are helping Ukraine to take fighting away from other parts of the frontline.
“Due to the entire Kursk operation, we have managed to reduce pressure on other frontline sectors, particularly in Donetsk region,” Mr Zelensky said.
“It is absolutely crucial to keep destroying Russian equipment and all logistics used by the occupiers.”
The president last month referred obliquely to “certain steps” undertaken by Ukraine’s military in Russia “a little below the Kursk region”, implicitly suggesting a presence in Belgorod.
Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed for the first time that Ukrainian troops are active in Russia’s Belgorod region.
In his nightly video address, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi had presented a report “on the front line, our presence in the Kursk region and our presence in the Belgorod region.”
“We continue active operations in the enemy’s border areas and this is absolutely justified. The war must return to where it came from,” Mr Zelensky said.
“Our main objective remains the same: to protect our land and our communities in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions from Russian occupiers.”
Mr Zelensky later referred to operations in the area by Ukraine’s 225th Assault Regiment and congratulated the unit for its performance.
Russian military bloggers have reported a number of battles in the Belgorod region between Russian and Ukrainian troops.
Days after a Russian ballistic missile killed 20 people in Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky’s home town, French president Emmanuel Macron called for “strong action” if Russia continued to “refuse peace”.
He wrote on X on Sunday: “My thoughts are with the children and all civilian victims of the bloody attacks carried out by Russia, including on 4 April in Kryvyi Rih.
“A ceasefire is needed as soon as possible. And strong action if Russia continues to try to buy time and refuse peace.”
Mr Macron said that although Ukraine accepted US president Donald Trump’s proposal for a full ceasefire, and European nations were also working to broker peace, “Russia is continuing the war with renewed intensity, with no regard for civilians”.
US president Donald Trump renewed his call for a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war on Sunday, urging Russian president Vladimir Putin to stop the violence.
“We are talking to Russia. We would like them to stop,” Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One.
“I don’t like the bombing, the bombing goes on and on, and every week thousands of young people being killed.”
His comments come after president Volodymyr Zelensky called on the West to amp up pressure on Russia after it launched its latest deadly air raid on Kyiv.
“Putin does not want to end the war, he is looking for ways to preserve the option of reigniting it at any moment, with even greater force,” Zelensky said in his evening address yesterday.
“That’s exactly why all forms of pressure on Russia must continue: strengthening our ability to defend ourselves, maintaining sanctions, and ensuring that diplomacy – any conversation with Moscow – leaves them no opportunity to kill.”
Russia is showing “complete disrespect” for the peace talks regarding Ukraine, a European Commission spokesperson has said.
After Moscow’s forces continue to launch attacks on Ukraine – killing dozens of civilians in the past few days – spokesperson Anitta Hipper condemned Russia’s apparent lack of interest in peace.
“Now, when it comes to the actions that Russia is showing every day, including with the recent attacks that have killed at least 20 civilians, and as you said, 9 children included, Russia is showing a total disrespect for the talks. And it shows every day that it has zero interest to pursue this,” Mr Hipper said according to European Pravda.
She said it is important “to ensure that we have a ceasefire, that we have just a long-lasting and comprehensive peace”.
“But we cannot be naïve when we deal with Putin and when we see his murderous attacks on a daily basis,” she added.
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Ukraine war live: Zelensky confirms new incursion into Russia’s Belgorod region – The Independent
