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57 minutes ago

Ukraine-Russia latest: Putin ‘ready’ for Trump negotiations as Kyiv sets oil refinery ablaze with drone strike

Comes as South Korea’s military says North Korea is preparing to send more troops to join Russia’s war in Ukraine

Shahana Yasmin,Tara Cobham
Sunday 26 January 2025 06:33 GMT
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North Korean troops killed by Ukrainian drones in Russia’s Kursk region

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Vladimir Putin has said he is “ready for negotiations” with new US President Donald Trump over Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Russian President told a Russian state TV journalist on Friday: “We believe the current president’s statements about his readiness to work together. We are always open to this and ready for negotiations.”

Putin’s comments come as Russian air defences partially repelled a massive Ukrainian drone attack yesterday, intercepting and destroying 121 drones targeting 13 regions, including Moscow.

Ukraine’s military said its drones hit oil facilities in Russia’s Ryazan and a microelectronics production plant in Bryansk. It said the attacked facilities were involved in supplying Russia’s army.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said early on Friday that air defences had intercepted attacks by Ukrainian drones at four locations around the Russian capital. Sobyanin, writing on Telegram, said air defences southeast of the capital in Kolomna and Ramenskoye had repelled “enemy” drones, without specifying how many.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s military said North Korea is preparing to send more troops to join Russia’s fight against Ukraine, despite Pyongyang suffering a high rate of losses among its existing deployment of 11,000 and seeing some of its soldiers captured.

57 minutes ago

Watch: Trump describes Ukraine war as ‘bullets whacking and hitting men’

Trump describes Ukraine war as 'bullets whacking and hitting men'
Shahana Yasmin26 January 2025 06:33
1 hour ago

Moldovan President hails cooperation between her country and Ukraine

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has described how her country’s cooperation with Ukraine “strengthens resilience and brings lasting stability to our region”.

She made the comments on a day when she travelled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Tara Cobham26 January 2025 06:00
2 hours ago

Recap: Ukraine praises Trump ultimatum as ‘strong signal’ to Putin to end war

Ukraine has praised Donald Trump’s threat to Vladimir Putin to end the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “the hard way” using tariffs and sanctions as sending a “strong signal” to the Kremlin.

In his first major remarks on Ukraine after re-entering the White House, the US president urged Putin to “settle now and stop this ridiculous war” or face intensified sanctions, taxes and tariffs, adding: “We can do it the easy way, or the hard way.”

Responding on Thursday, the Kremlin tried to downplay the remarks, insisting it saw nothing particularly new in Mr Trump’s threats – with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claiming that Moscow was ready for an equal and mutually respectful dialogue with the US.

My colleague Andy Gregory reports:

Ukraine praises Trump ultimatum as ‘strong signal’ to Putin to end war

Zelensky’s sanctions tsar tells The Independent there are many ways for Trump to increase pressure on Putin

Tara Cobham26 January 2025 05:00
3 hours ago

‘Thank God’: US has not stopped military aid to Ukraine despite threat, Zelensky says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that the U.S. has not stopped military aid to Ukraine even though new American Secretary of State Marco Rubion announced he’s pausing foreign aid for 90 days.

Zelenskyy did not clarify whether humanitarian aid had been paused.

Ukraine relies on the US for 40 per cent of its military needs.

“I am focused on military aid; it has not been stopped, thank God,” he said at a press conference with Moldovan president Maia Sandu.

US has not stopped military aid to Ukraine despite threat, Zelenskyy says

Military help is continuing even after new Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he’s pausing foreign aid for 90 days, says Ukrainian president

Shahana Yasmin26 January 2025 04:30
3 hours ago

Zelensky says Trump can end war, but only if Ukraine included in talks with Russia

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that US president Donald Trump could fulfil his promise to end the war but only if Kyiv is included in talks.

“Otherwise it will not work. Because Russia does not want to end the war, while Ukraine wants to end it,” he said, addressing journalists earlier alongside the visiting Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, reported Reuters.

“As for what the set-up of the talks will be: Ukraine, I really hope Ukraine will be there, America, Europe and the Russians.”

“I believe President Trump himself does not know all the details. Because I would say so much depends on what sort of just peace we can achieve. And whether Putin wants, in principle, to stop the war. I believe he doesn’t want to,” Zelensky said in a different interview with Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, broadcast on Saturday.

Shahana Yasmin26 January 2025 04:19
3 hours ago

Recap: Watch as emergency workers battled huge Russian drone attack on Kyiv

Emergency workers battle huge Russian drone attack on Kyiv as three people confirmed dead
Tara Cobham26 January 2025 04:00
4 hours ago

Europe considers sending troops to Ukraine if there’s a ceasefire – but would Russia accept?

With Russia wearing down Ukraine’s stretched forces and new US President Donald Trump pressuring the two sides to end their nearly 3-year-old war, Kyiv and some of its European allies are discussing how that might be achieved in a way that would guarantee Ukraine’s future security.

Several ideas have been floated in the past, but the one currently gaining currency would station thousands of European troops in Ukraine, though not under a NATO banner, to serve as a deterrent and rapid reaction force should Russia invade again – an apparent non-starter for Moscow.

Kyiv has signaled a willingness to consider ceasefire terms, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said security promises from Kyiv’s allies would be key to a just peace and that without them, it would only be a matter of time before Russia invaded again. Ukrainian officials say past agreements with the Kremlin were worthless, pointing to 2014 and 2015 pacts Russia signed after illegally annexing Crimea but then broke with its 2022 invasion.

Read more here:

Europe considers sending troops to Ukraine if there's a ceasefire. But would Russia accept?

With Russia wearing down Ukraine’s stretched forces and U.S. President Donald Trump pressuring the two sides to end their nearly 3-year-old war, Kyiv and some of its European allies are discussing how that might be achieved in a way that would guarantee Ukraine’s future security

Tara Cobham26 January 2025 03:00
5 hours ago

Zelensky call for Ukraine and Moldova to ‘work together, support each other and find joint solutions'

Volodymry Zelensky has called for Ukraine and Moldova to “work together, support each other and find joint solutions”.

Speaking on a day when the Ukrainian President met with his Moldovan counterpart President Maia Sandu, he said in a post on X: “I am delighted to welcome Maia Sandu, a true friend of Ukraine, to Kyiv today. We had an in-depth dialogue about the situation in our region.

“Our neighbors are facing a serious and unstable situation, and only through joint efforts can we resolve it. This includes the energy sector and many social issues that are being used by our mutual enemy against the interests of not just Moldova, but our entire region. A crisis-free Moldova is, among other things, our security.

“We must work together, support each other and find joint solutions that can help people.”

Tara Cobham26 January 2025 02:00
6 hours ago

Nato chief says stopping Putin will cost trillions if they don’t support Ukraine now

A Russian victory over Ukraine would greatly undermine the power of Nato and its credibility would cost trillions to restore, the alliance’s secretary general has warned.

Mark Rutte insisted that Ukraine‘s Western backers must not scale back the support they are providing to the country, almost three years after Vladimir Putin’s invasion began.

Nato has been increasing its forces along its eastern flank with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, deploying thousands of troops and equipment. This is to deter Moscow from expanding its war into the territory of any of the organization’s 32 member countries.

My colleague Jabed Ahmed reports:

Nato chief says stopping Putin will cost trillions if they don’t support Ukraine now

The military alliance has been increasing its forces along its eastern flank with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, deploying thousands of troops and equipment

Tara Cobham26 January 2025 01:00
7 hours ago

Recap: Watch as families of missing Ukraine soldiers and prisoners of war protest in Kyiv

Families of missing Ukraine soldiers and prisoners of war protest in Kyiv
Tara Cobham26 January 2025 00:00

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