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US president Donald Trump has warned that “Russia has to get moving” on a ceasefire as American envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Kirill Dmitriev, Mr Putin’s foreign investment envoy, who attended the talks between Mr Putin and Mr Witkoff, called them "productive".
"Welcome to Saint Petersburg, Russia," Kirill Dmitriev, Mr Putin’s foreign investment envoy, said in a post on X. "Productive discussions with @SteveWitkoff."
A White House spokesperson earlier said Mr Trump would use his influence over Russia to negotiate a peace deal. Karoline Leavitt said: “We believe we have leverage in negotiating a deal to a peace deal, and we're going to use that leverage, and the president is determined to see this through.”
In a warning, Mr Trump said: “Russia has to get moving. Too many people are DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war.”
Mr Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin for more than four hours. The pair shook hands when they first met in St Petersburg.
"The theme of the meeting is aspects of a Ukrainian settlement," the Kremlin said in a statement after the meeting ended.
Poland's Duda says Trump best chance for Ukraine ceasefire
Poland's outgoing president Andrzej Duda said Donald Trump has the best chance of ending the war, but any peace must be "fair and lasting".
"If anyone is able to force the end of Russia's war, it is most likely only the President of the United States," he told Sky News.
"The question is whether he will be determined enough to do that in a way - because it is also very important here in Europe being a neighbour of Russian aggression against Ukraine - that the peace is fair and lasting."
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar12 April 2025 09:18
Russia launches 88 drones on Ukraine, says Kyiv
Ukraine's air defences shot down 56 of 88 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack, Ukraine's air force said this morning.
At least 24 drones were "lost" as the military used electronic warfare to redirect them, the air force said.
Damage was reported in five Ukrainian regions in the centre, east and south of the country.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar12 April 2025 07:27
Russia using bilateral talks with US to delay negotiations on war, says think tank
Russia's delay in accepting Washington’s proposal has frustrated Donald Trump and fueled doubts about whether Vladimir Putin really wants to stop the fighting while his bigger army has momentum on the battlefield.
“Russia continues to use bilateral talks with the United States to delay negotiations about the war in Ukraine, suggesting that the Kremlin remains uninterested in serious peace negotiations to end the war,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in an assessment.
Washington remains committed to securing a peace deal, even though four weeks have passed since it made its ceasefire proposals, state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
“It is a dynamic that will not be solved militarily. It is a meat grinder,” Ms Bruce said about the war, adding that “nothing else can be discussed … until the shooting and the killing stops.”
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar12 April 2025 07:10
Zelensky sanctions Russian journalists
Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky has imposed 10-year sanctions on 18 companies and 130 people, including Russian journalists.
Alexander Sladkov, a military correspondent for the Rossiya-1 TV channel; Arina Sharapova, a TV host on Channel One; Andrey Norkin, a talk show host on NTV; Iskander Khisamov; editor-in-chief of the Ukraine.ru website, are among the journalists targeted, Russian news agency TASS reported.
The list includes 59 people from the alleged shadow fleet, a network of ships that Moscow allegedly uses to circumvent Western sanctions to export oil and gas.
"We are increasing pressure on war propagandists and those who justify Russia," Mr Zelensky said. He added that more sanctions were expected soon.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar12 April 2025 06:00
Zelensky honours 19 people killed
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has told how he honoured the memory of 19 people killed by a Russian ballistic missile strike – exactly one week ago.
“19 people were killed by a Russian missile, including 9 children,” he wrote on his website.
“I’m now in a shelter at the very school where three of those children studied – tragically, they were killed.
“That same day, there was also a Shahed drone attack, which claimed even more lives. Eternal memory to them all.”
Jane Dalton12 April 2025 05:46
Ukraine hires American law firm for US mineral deal - report
Ukrainian justice ministry has reportedly hired American law firm Hogan Lovells to present Kyiv’s position in negotiations on a mineral deal with the US.
Kyiv is seeking the help of consultants and lawyers "to protect the national interests of Ukraine and to formulate the position of Ukraine", by taking into account American and Ukrainian legislations, a government document said.
The funds will be distributed across the economy and justice ministries, the document said, with the aim of hiring consultants with experience in public debt management and external borrowing, and those from leading international law firms, by a 15 April deadline.
Deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Monday that Ukraine will send a team to Washington this week to advance negotiations on the draft strategic agreement.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar12 April 2025 05:30
Trump urges Putin to 'get moving' on ceasefire deal
US president Donald Trump has urged the Russian president to "get moving" on a ceasefire in Ukraine as Vladimir Putin met White House envoy Steve Witkoff in Russia.
The focus of the meeting, which lasted over four hours, was "aspects of Ukrainian settlement", the Kremlin said.
The Izvestia news outlet earlier released video of Mr Witkoff leaving a hotel in St Petersburg, accompanied by Kirill Dmitriev, Mr Putin's investment envoy.
Mr Dmitriev called the talks on Friday "productive".Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social: "Russia has to get moving. Too many people (are) DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war - A war that should have never happened, and wouldn't have happened, if I were President!!!"
The Russian leader has said he is ready in principle to agree to a full ceasefire, while emphasizing that crucial implementation details remain unresolved and what he describes as the war's root causes have yet to be addressed.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar12 April 2025 04:52
US officials say Chinese fighting for Moscow are mercenaries
Over 100 Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian military against Ukraine are mercenaries who do not appear to have a direct link to China's government, officials said.
Chinese military officers have, however, been in the theatre behind Russia's lines with Beijing's approval to draw tactical lessons from the war, a former Western intelligence official told Reuters.
The head of US forces in the Indo-Pacific, Admiral Samuel Paparo, confirmed on 9 April that Ukrainian forces had captured two men of Chinese origin in eastern Ukraine after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said his country had information about 155 Chinese citizens fighting there on Russia's behalf.
China, which has declared a "no-limits" partnership with Russia and has refrained from criticising Moscow's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, had called Mr Zelensky's remarks "irresponsible" and said China was not a party to the war.
Two US officials told the news agency that Chinese fighters appear to have minimal training and are not having any discernable impact on Russia's military operations.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar12 April 2025 04:39
Russia claims to have destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones
Russia's Defence Ministry said air defence units had destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones within 30 minutes.
A ministry statement said that between 10pm and 10.30pm, nine drones were destroyed in the Rostov region on Ukraine's eastern border and four in the Kursk region, on Ukraine's north border.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar12 April 2025 04:31
Moscow calls meeting with White House envoy 'productive'
Russian investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev described as "productive" talks between Russian president Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff.
"Welcome to Saint Petersburg, Russia!" Dmitriev, who attended the talks, wrote on X in English. "Productive discussions with @SteveWitkoff."
Mr Putin was shown on state TV greeting Witkoff in St Petersburg's presidential library at the start of the negotiations and state news agencies later said the talks lasted more than four hours.
"The theme of the meeting is aspects of a Ukrainian settlement," the Kremlin said in a statement after the meeting concluded.
Mr Witkoff has emerged as a key figure in the on-off rapprochement between Moscow and Washington amid talk on the Russian side of potential joint investments in the Arctic and in Russian rare earth minerals.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar12 April 2025 04:13
English (US) ·