Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump says negotiators ‘dividing up lands’ with full ceasefire coming ‘pretty soon’
It is not clear who is involved in the apparent negotiations, following comments by the US president
Donald Trump has said negotiators are “dividing up” Ukrainian lands with a full ceasefire set to come “pretty soon” - despite no hint of any upcoming direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow.
A contract to divide up land in Ukraine is being “negotiated as we speak”, the US president, who has spoken to presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky in the past week, told reporters on Friday.
It is not clear who is involved in the apparent negotiations, but US officials are set to meet with both Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Saudi Arabia next week. Mr Zelensky said the US team would first meet Ukrainian experts on Monday before separate talks with Russian representatives.
It comes after Vladimir Putin’s forces were accused by Kyiv of bombing stations along their own crucial gas pipeline in an effort to sabotage any ceasefire deal.
A gas pumping station in Sudzha, in the Russian border region of Kursk was on fire on Friday morning after being rocked by a major explosion. Ukraine’s general staff has denied that its forces struck the pipeline and instead said it had been “repeatedly shelled by the Russians themselves”.
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France restores gunpowder production due to Ukraine war
France has restored its gunpowder production, which it scrapped in 2007.
Explosives manufacturer Eurenco is set to produce some 1,200 tonnes of gunpowder pellets a year, rising to 1,800 tonnes, which would feed into about 100,000 artillery shells,
Most of these French-made artillery shells will head to Ukraine.
Backed by the government and with an investment of 100 million euros of which half came from an EU programme to support the bloc's defence industry, the firm put together new infrastructure in less than a year.
France has a tradition of producing gunpowder dating back to the 14th Century, and a long history of pride in being self sufficient in arms production.
Eurenco produced gunpowder as far back as World War One. But after the end of the Cold War, weapons production and supply chains were no longer a priority and governments scaled back.
Kyiv accuses Russia of illegally pressuring Ukrainians to change legal status
Kyiv has accused Russia of illegally pressuring Ukrainians in occupied territories to change their legal status, in an apparent move to enforce Russian nationality on Ukraine’s occupied citizens.
It comes after Moscow issued a presidential decree ordering Ukrainian citizens living “in Russia without legal grounds” to “regulate” their status.
While there was no clear explanation on what it meant by “regulate”, Moscow has been pressing Ukrainians in those areas to obtain Russian citizenship.
Holding a Russian passport in the occupied territories has been made necessary for Ukrainians who want to access healthcare, retirement income, social services, or prove property ownership. A Russian law stipulated that anyone in the occupied territories who did not have a Russian passport by 1 July 2024 was subject to imprisonment as a “foreign citizen”.
Kyiv’s foreign ministry spokesman, Heorhii Tykhyi, said the move was a "despicable act".
"It is yet another step in Russia's campaign of discrimination, persecution and forced displacement of Ukrainian citizens from their homeland, or forcing them to acquire foreigner status," he told a briefing in Kyiv.
Russia, which regularly denied accusations of carrying out abuses, did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to its foreign ministry.
Where is the Sudzha gas station?
A huge fire has broke out earlierat a Russian gas and pumping station after it was rocked by a major explosion.
The facility in Sudzha is in Russia’s Kursk region near the border with Ukraine.
It was once used by Gazprom to export gas to Europe from Russia visa Ukraine, until Kyiv decided to end the agreement in January this year.
The Kursk region has been a key area in the war between Russia in Ukraine.
In August 2024, Ukraine launched an incursion into the region and captured an estimated 1,300 square kilometers of land, including the town of Sudzha.
However in recent weeks, Putin’s troops have re-captured much of the region.
The Independent View | Keir’s ‘coalition of the willing’ is proving to be principled – and a rallying cry for Ukraine
The separate tracks of European and US approaches to ending the Ukraine war have barely been clearer. Exemplifying the high ground that the prime minister has taken since Mr Trump re-established ties with Moscow, Sir Keir set the tone – before visiting Barrow-in-Furness and laying the keel for the next generation of UK nuclear-armed submarines. There, he made clear that nuclear deterrence was both necessary and effective.
Vladimir Putin, he said, feared Britain’s nuclear weapons as a “credible capability”. In other words, there was no reason for either the UK – or, by extension, the European members of Nato – to be intimidated by Russia. Or, he might also have said, by the United States threatening to leave Europe to rely on its own resources.
The British prime minister’s moral clarity on support for Kyiv, and the need for it to continue, has been quietly appreciated by his fellow European leaders, and more loudly by Ukraine. It has also contributed to a sense of European solidarity as the United States has increasingly seen to be on a different track.
Report: Russian official thanks North Korea’s Kim Jong Un for Ukraine war support
Russia’s Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu thanked Kim Jong Un for North Korea’s ongoing support in its war against Ukraine during a visit today, Russian state-owned news agency Tass reported.
North Korea has supplied vast amounts of weapons to Russia including artillery and ballistic missiles, and has sent up to 12,000 troops to support Russia’s army in its war with Ukraine, according to intelligence officials from the US, South Korea and Ukraine.
In late February, South Korea's spy agency said North Korea appeared to have sent additional troops to Russia. South Korean media put the number of newly sent North Korean soldiers at about 1,000 to 3,000.
Rachel Clun reports:
Russian official thanks North Korea’s Kim Jong Un for Ukraine war support
Starmer: Putin is trying to delay and add conditions to ceasefire
Sir Keir Starmer has accused Vladimir Putin of attempting to “delay and add conditions” to any ceasefire in Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesperson has said.
The prime minister spoke to EU chiefs along with the leaders of Turkey, Norway and Iceland, the spokesperson said.
“The Prime Minister began by updating on his recent call with President Zelenskyy, and said it was clear President Putin was trying to delay and add conditions to any meaningful ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
“The Prime Minister also outlined the new military sub-planning groups, across land, sea, air, regeneration and reconstruction, which would continue discussions across three intensive planning days next week,” they added.
The leaders discussed the importance of keeping up investment in military equipment to outpace any European threats.
Watch: Sam Kiley visits Kherson where Ukrainian civilians are being targeted by Russian drones in near-daily attacks
Kyiv denies Russian accusations of 'war crimes' in Kursk
Ukraine has dismissed Moscow’s accusations that Kyiv’s troops committed war crimes in Russia’s Kursk region, describing them as “completely unfounded”.
"The Russian accusations of atrocities and crimes committed by Ukraine in Kursk Oblast are completely unfounded,” foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said.
“Ukraine has always adhered to international humanitarian law, particularly in ensuring the humane treatment of civilians in conflict zones, and has not violated these principles."
Moscow fabricates this “evidence base” to make false accusations against Kyiv, Mr Tykhyi added according to Ukrainska Pravda.
"All of this is false. The majority of local population and property in Kursk Oblast have been impacted by Russian bombardments, including targeted strikes,” he added.
'Coalition of the willing' to meet in Paris next week - Zelensky
Volodymyr Zelensky has said a summit will be held next week for the ‘coalition of the willing’, the group of countries prepared to invest in peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
The summit will be held in Paris, Mr Zelensky told a media briefing with the Czech president Petr Pavel, adding that it will address future security guarantees for Ukraine.
"Next week we have a bilateral meeting with President Macron. We have many issues to discuss. I hope the outcome of this meeting will be a good one,” he said.
The meeting will be followed by the summit, where countries among the coalition will discuss “what the infrastructure of the contingent will look like”, and “who is ready” to be part of peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine.
"I would like us to have some concrete outcomes. We have discussed this with President Macron," the Ukrainian president added.
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