War Archive 2022 02/24 Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Saif]

Ukraine, Russia trade aerial attacks

Russia and Ukraine traded a barrage of drone strikes overnight on Wednesday, in attacks that killed two in Kyiv and forced Moscow to shut major airports hours before a swathe of foreign leaders was to arrive...

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Ukraine, Russia trade aerial attacks
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 08 May, 2025, 00:44

Russia and Ukraine traded a barrage of drone strikes overnight on Wednesday, in attacks that killed two in Kyiv and forced Moscow to shut major airports hours before a swathe of foreign leaders was to arrive.

The Kremlin has announced a unilateral three-day truce — set to start at 2100 GMT on Wednesday — to coincide with its grand May 9 military parade on Red Square, marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

China’s president Xi Jinping and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are among 29 foreign leaders expected in Moscow to mark the occasion, which has become Russia’s most important public holiday under president Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine has dismissed Putin’s order to his troops to halt their attacks as a ‘manipulation’ and ‘game’ designed to protect his parade rather than a genuine peace measure.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire — a proposal back by US president Donald Trump and previously rejected by Putin.

Zelensky called for more pressure on Moscow to end its invasion.

‘Only significantly intensified pressure on Russia and stronger sanctions can pave the way to diplomacy. Any measures depriving the aggressor of resources to wage war must be implemented to bring lasting peace,’ Zelensky said on social media.

Hours before Putin’s order was set to come into effect, Russia unleashed a barrage of drone attacks across Ukraine.

Zelensky said Russia fired 142 drones and four ballistic missiles.

‘Unfortunately, there are fatalities — a woman and her son,’ Zelensky said, referring to the Kyiv attack.

The emergency services said falling debris from a drone attack on the central Shevchenkivsky district sparked a fire in an apartment block.

AFP journalists in the capital heard loud explosions over the city at around 1:00am (2200 GMT).

In the morning, a first-aid tent had been erected next to the charred facade of the building, blackened by the fire and with windows blown out on its top floors.

Men in camouflage were inspecting debris from a fallen drone part.

Attempted drone attacks by Ukraine across Russia triggered hours of travel chaos, as airports across the western part of the country were repeatedly closed on Tuesday and the early hours of Wednesday.

Arrivals and departures from Moscow’s main Sheremetyevo international airport were suspended for hours overnight, aviation authorities said.

‘The restrictions were imposed to ensure the safety of civil aircraft flights,’ Artyom Korenyako, press secretary for the Federal Aviation Transport Agency, wrote on Telegram.

Moscow regularly halts air traffic in areas where its air defence systems are operating, but the scale of the forced closures has escalated significantly in the run-up to Friday’s parade.

Russia’s defence ministry reported downing dozens of Ukrainian drones targeting the country, including Moscow, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ukraine claimed it had hit a fibre-optic plant in Saransk, a central Russian city far from the borders, where the authorities announced a state of emergency, cancelling all lessons in schools — but without confirming damage to the plant.

Numerous unverified photos and videos on social media shared by locals showed smoke rising from an industrial building and multiple drone flyovers.

On the streets of Moscow, AFP reporters noticed a significant police presence, and mobile internet in the capital was being jammed.

Since Russia invaded in February 2022, Ukraine has on several occasions launched attacks at the Russian capital and other major cities and infrastructure sites hundreds of miles from its border.

Kyiv calls it fair retaliation for Moscow’s daily missile and drone barrages on its own cities.

Tens of thousands have been killed since Russia invaded, with towns and cities across Ukraine’s south and east levelled under intense Russian aerial attacks.

Moscow’s army controls around 20 per cent of the country, including the Crimean peninsula it annexed in 2014.

A wave of deadly Russian ballistic missile strikes on civilian areas in April triggered fresh outrage in Kyiv and saw Trump issue a rare rebuke to Putin.

Ukraine has said it cannot be held responsible for the safety of foreign leaders visiting Moscow for the parade, in an apparent rejection of Putin’s truce proposal.​

 

[Saif]

Russia says Ukraine keeps trying to breach border

Ukrainian troops have made further attempts to breach the Russian border in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday as President Vladimir Putin hosted world leaders at a major military parade in Moscow. The Defence Ministry said the attacks occurred during a thr

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Russia says Ukraine keeps trying to breach border
REUTERS
Published :
May 09, 2025 16:56
Updated :
May 09, 2025 16:56

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov attends a meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission in Saint Petersburg, Russia September 19, 2024. Photo : Sputnik/Valery Sharifulin/Pool via REUTERS

Ukrainian troops have made further attempts to breach the Russian border in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday as President Vladimir Putin hosted world leaders at a major military parade in Moscow.

The Defence Ministry said the attacks occurred during a three-day ceasefire running from May 8-10 that Russia has unilaterally declared to mark the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.

Kyiv has called the ceasefire proposal a "farce" and did not agree to it, proposing instead that the two countries adopt a 30-day truce.

The Russian Defence Ministry said it had registered four attempts by Ukrainian forces to smash through the border into the Kursk and Belgorod regions in the past week.

In eastern Ukraine, Kyiv's troops had attacked Russian forces 15 times during the ceasefire, the ministry said.

Ukraine has said Russia had repeatedly breached its own truce this week. The governor of the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region said on Friday that Russia hit eight Ukrainian frontline villages 220 times since the ceasefire went into effect.

In Russia's Belgorod border region, the local governor said a Ukrainian drone had attacked a government building on Friday.

In Kursk, Ukrainian troops launched a major incursion last August and held onto a chunk of Russian territory for many months as Moscow's forces battled to eject them with help from North Korean soldiers. Some fighting has continued, even after Putin last month declared "victory" in Kursk.

Rybar, a pro-Russian war blogger, said there was "high-intensity fighting" between Russian and Ukrainian troops near Tetkino, a village in the region. Rybar and other bloggers said Ukrainian attacks on multiple villages in the neighbouring Belgorod region were continuing on Friday.

Reuters could not independently verify statements by war bloggers or battlefield reports from either side.

Ukraine and Russia both accused the other of repeatedly violating a previous 30-hour Easter ceasefire declared by Putin.​

 

[Saif]

Kyiv will meet Russia for talks if it agrees to ceasefire: Zelensky

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Kyiv would meet with Moscow for talks in Istanbul on May 15, but that Russia must first commit to a 30-day ceasefire starting from Monday...

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Kyiv will meet Russia for talks if it agrees to ceasefire: Zelensky
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 11 May, 2025, 23:56

A local resident looks at a damaged private house after Russian shelling in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region on Sunday, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. | AFP photo

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Kyiv would meet with Moscow for talks in Istanbul on May 15, but that Russia must first commit to a 30-day ceasefire starting from Monday.

Zelensky, using rare language since Moscow invaded more than three years ago, described Russia’s proposal to convene direct peace talks as a ‘positive sign’.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was ‘ready to host negotiations’, telling Russia’s Vladimir Putin in a phone call that a ‘window of opportunity’ had opened for peace.

Moscow and Kyiv have not held direct talks since March 2022, shortly after the Kremlin launched its invasion in February of that year.

Those talks, which also took place in Istanbul, led to a now-aborted peace deal that would have seen Kyiv adopt neutral status and renounce any NATO ambitions.

Russia’s invasion has since dragged on, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of people, the destruction of Ukrainian cities and a total collapse in relations between Moscow and the West.

Moscow now occupies a fifth of the country and has claimed to have annexed four Ukrainian regions as its own, in addition to Crimea, which it seized in 2014.

‘There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single day. We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire — full, lasting and reliable — starting tomorrow, May 12, and Ukraine is ready to meet,’ Zelensky said on social media.

‘It is a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war,’ the Ukrainian leader said, in a break of tone.

‘The entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time. And the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire.’

Kyiv and its Western allies have said an unconditional ceasefire to pause the fighting is the only way to advance a diplomatic solution in three-year-old conflict — Europe’s worst since the Second World War.

On a visit to Kyiv on Saturday the leaders of France, the UK, Germany and Poland pressured Russia — with US president Donald Trump’s support — to commit to an unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine starting from Monday.

Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said that Kyiv would only come to the table if Moscow agreed to the ceasefire from Monday.

‘First, a 30-day ceasefire, then everything else,’ he said on social media.

‘A ceasefire is the first step towards ending the war and it will confirm Russia’s readiness to end the killing.’

Russia has hit Ukraine with a string of deadly attacks this spring.

Talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul in 2022 collapsed and fighting has been raging ever since.

Communication channels have only been open for exchanges of prisoners of war and bodies.

At a press conference close to 1:00am (2200 GMT) in the Kremlin, Putin did not respond to the 30-day ceasefire proposal put forward by Kyiv’s allies.

He instead suggested resuming the Istanbul talks scuppered in 2022.

‘We propose to the Kyiv authorities to resume the talks that they broke off in 2022, and, I emphasise, without any preconditions,’ he said.

‘We propose to start (negotiations) without delay on Thursday May 15 in Istanbul,’ Putin said.

‘We do not exclude that during these talks we will be able to agree on some new ceasefire,’ the Russian leader added.

But he also accused Ukraine’s Western backers of wanting to ‘continue war with Russia’ and — without mentioning the specific proposal for a 30-day ceasefire — slammed European ‘ultimatums’ and ‘anti-Russian rhetoric’.

Turkish president Erdogan told Putin in a phone call Sunday that Ankara was ready to host talks ‘aimed at achieving a lasting solution’.

Returning from Ukraine, French leader Emmanuel Macron said he expected Russia to commit to the ceasefire ‘without setting any condition’.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russia’s offer to negotiate directly was a ‘good sign’ but ‘far from sufficient’, pressuring Moscow to agree to a truce.

But US president Donald Trump said it was a ‘potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine’ and vowed to work with both sides to end the fighting.

Kyiv on Sunday accused Moscow of launching more than 100 drones on Ukraine, after a Russian-announced 72-hour ceasefire had ended at midnight.​

 

[Saif]

Russia has hours to abide by truce initiative or face sanctions, Germany says

European countries will start preparing new sanctions on Russia unless the Kremlin by the end of Monday starts abiding by a 30-day ceasefire in its war with Ukraine, Germany’s government said. Ukraine’s military said Russia had conducted dozens of attacks along the front in eastern Ukr

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Russia has hours to abide by truce initiative or face sanctions, Germany says
REUTERS
Published :
May 12, 2025 20:21
Updated :
May 12, 2025 20:21

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov in Moscow, Russia April 19, 2025. Photo : Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS/Files

European countries will start preparing new sanctions on Russia unless the Kremlin by the end of Monday starts abiding by a 30-day ceasefire in its war with Ukraine, Germany’s government said.

Ukraine’s military said Russia had conducted dozens of attacks along the front in eastern Ukraine on Monday as well as an overnight assault using more than 100 drones, despite the ceasefire proposal by Europe and Kyiv.

“The clock is ticking,” a German government spokesperson said at a news conference in Berlin.

“We still have 12 hours until the end of the day, and if the ceasefire is not in place by then, the European side will (set in motion) preparations for sanctions,” the spokesperson said.

It is not clear though how much impact fresh European sanctions would have on Russia, especially if the United States does not join in as well.

The leaders of four major European powers travelled to Kyiv on Saturday and demanded an unconditional 30-day ceasefire from Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin, implicitly rejecting the offer, instead proposed direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul that he said could potentially lead to a ceasefire.

In a fresh twist in the stop-start peace talks process, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he would travel in person to Istanbul where, he said, he would be waiting to meet Putin.

The Kremlin has not responded to that latest proposal. Putin and Zelenskiy have not met since December 2019 - over two years before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine - and make no secret of their contempt for each other.

Responding to the proposal of a ceasefire, Russia said at the weekend it is committed to ending the war but that European powers were using the language of confrontation.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia was “completely ignoring” the ceasefire initiative, citing what he said were continued attacks on Ukrainian forces.

He said he shared information about the continued fighting with European partners and with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on a joint phone call. The allies had agreed sanctions would be needed to pressure Russia if it snubbed the truce move.

FIGHTING CONTINUES

The Ukrainian military’s general staff said that as of 4 p.m. (1300 GMT) on Monday there had been 69 clashes with Russian forces along the front line since midnight, when the ceasefire was to have come into effect.

The intensity of the fighting was at the same level it would be if there were no ceasefire, said Viktor Trehubov, a spokesperson for the military on Ukraine’s eastern front.

The Ukrainian air force said Ukraine came under attack overnight from 108 long-range combat drones starting from 11 p.m. (2000 GMT), an hour before the proposed ceasefire was due to kick in. Attacks of this kind unfold over the course of hours as drones fly much slower than missiles.

Russia also launched guided bombs at targets in the northeastern Kharkiv region and the northern Sumy region, the air force said, while the Ukrainian state railway company said a Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in the east.

Russia and Ukraine are both trying to show U.S. President Donald Trump that they are working towards his objective of reaching a rapid peace in Ukraine, while trying to make the other look like the spoiler to his efforts.

Kyiv is desperate to unlock more of the U.S. military backing it received from Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden. Moscow senses an opportunity to get relief from a barrage of economic sanctions and engage with the world’s biggest economy.

Europe meanwhile is doing its best to preserve good relations with Trump despite his imposition of tariffs, hoping it can persuade him to swing more forcefully behind Ukraine’s cause, which they see as central to the continent’s security.​

 

[Saif]

Drones hit Ukraine as Zelensky awaits Putin reply on talks

Russia fired more than 100 drones at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv said on Monday as it awaits the Kremlin’s response to Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for a personal meeting with Vladimir Putin this week...

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Drones hit Ukraine as Zelensky awaits Putin reply on talks
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 13 May, 2025, 00:14

Russia fired more than 100 drones at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv said on Monday as it awaits the Kremlin’s response to Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for a personal meeting with Vladimir Putin this week.

Ukraine and its allies urged Moscow to agree to a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting Monday, but Putin came back with a counter-proposal for direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul on Thursday.

The Kremlin is yet to respond to Zelensky’s apparent acceptance of the offer, with the Ukrainian leader upping the stakes by saying he would be ‘waiting for Putin in Turkey on Thursday. Personally.’

The prospect of direct Russia-Ukraine talks on ending the war — the first since the early months of Russia’s 2022 invasion — has been welcomed by Washington and across Europe.

But Moscow appeared to have rejected the call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire — that Zelensky had earlier on Sunday presented as a precondition to the Istanbul talks — with a wave of fresh drone attacks.

‘From 11:00pm on May 11, the enemy attacked with 108 Shaheds and other types of drones,’ the Ukraine air force said, adding that ‘as of 08:30am, 55 drones were confirmed downed.’

Overnight attacks in the east killed one person and wounded six, damaging railways infrastructure and residential buildings, local officials said.

‘Ceasefire proposals are being ignored, and the enemy continues attacks on railway infrastructure,’ Ukrainian national railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia said.

US president Donald Trump, who has threatened to stop trying to mediate a peace deal if he does not see compromises from both sides, has called for them to sit down immediately.

‘President Putin of Russia doesn’t want to have a Cease Fire Agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH,’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social network on Sunday.

‘Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY,’ he added.

Tens of thousands have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Russia’s army controls around one-fifth of the country, including the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014.

Putin said any direct talks with Ukraine should focus on the ‘root causes’ of the conflict, and said he did not ‘exclude’ a possible ceasefire coming out of any talks in Istanbul.

Russia’s references to the ‘root causes’ of the conflict typically refer to alleged grievances with Kyiv and the West that Moscow has put forward as justification for its invasion.

They include pledges to ‘de-Nazify’ and de-militarise Ukraine, protect Russian speakers in the country’s east and push back against NATO expansion.

Kyiv and the West have rejected all of them, saying Russia’s invasion is nothing more than an imperial-style land grab.

Russian and Ukrainian officials held talks in Istanbul in March 2022 aimed at halting the conflict but did not strike a deal.

Contact between the warring sides has been extremely limited since, mainly dedicated to humanitarian issues like prisoner-of-war exchanges and the return of killed soldiers’ bodies.

EU leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz, welcomed the prospect of direct talks, but pressed Russia to agree to a ceasefire first.

‘First the weapons must be silenced, then the discussions can begin,’ Merz said on Sunday.

Russia’s key ally China on Monday called for a ‘binding peace agreement’ that was ‘acceptable to all parties.’

Elsewhere on the front lines, Russia’s army said it had captured a small village in the eastern Donetsk region, while Moscow-backed authorities said four people were killed in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s Kherson region over the last 24 hours.​

 

[Saif]

The Ukraine war was provoked

The seeds of the Ukraine war were sown in the ashes of the Soviet Union.

www.thedailystar.net

The Ukraine war was provoked
Why acknowledging this matters for peace in a multipolar world

The conflict is a case study in the perils of ignoring security dilemmas. Photo: REUTERS

The war in Ukraine, often depicted as an unprovoked Russian aggression in Western narratives, has far-reaching implications for South Asia—a region navigating food insecurity, economic instability, and the pressures of great-power rivalry. For nations like India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, the conflict is not a distant European crisis but a stark reminder of how geopolitical miscalculations can destabilise the Global South. This article challenges the simplistic "good vs evil" framing of the war, drawing on scholars like Jeffrey Sachs and John Mearsheimer to argue that NATO's post-Cold War expansion provoked Russia's insecurities. By confronting this history, South Asia can champion a multipolar world where dialogue supersedes militarisation, safeguarding its own future in an increasingly fractured global order.

Historical backdrop: NATO expansion and Russian insecurity

The seeds of the Ukraine war were sown in the ashes of the Soviet Union. In 1991, as Russia grappled with economic collapse, NATO began its eastward march, absorbing former Warsaw Pact states. By 1999, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic joined the alliance, despite assurances to Moscow by Western powers that NATO would not expand "one inch eastward." George Kennan, the architect of Cold War containment, warned in 1998 that this expansion would reignite confrontation: "I think it is the beginning of a new cold war. The Russians will gradually react quite adversely, and it will affect their policies."

The 2008 NATO Bucharest Summit marked a turning point. The alliance's pledge to admit Ukraine and Georgia, both bordering Russia, ignited Kremlin's fears of encirclement. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Ukraine's potential membership to be a "direct threat," akin to what the US would feel if Mexico aligned with a hostile power. Meanwhile, the EU's Eastern Partnership programme deepened ties with Ukraine, undermining Moscow's influence in its historic sphere.

The 2014 Maidan Revolution, hailed in the West as a democratic awakening, was viewed through a darker lens in Moscow. Leaked phone calls between US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt, discussing post-revolution leadership, reinforced Russian suspicions of a Western-orchestrated coup. The ouster of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych led to Crimea's annexation and the Donbas rebellion, with the Minsk Agreements (2014-2015) failing to reconcile Kyiv's sovereignty and Moscow's demand for autonomy in eastern Ukraine. Jeffrey Sachs notes, "The West treated the Minsk process as a way to buy time for Ukraine's military buildup, not a path to peace."

The provocation narrative: Scholarly perspectives

The conflict is a case study in the perils of ignoring security dilemmas. John Mearsheimer's "liberal hegemony" theory posits that NATO's expansion and Western democracy promotion in Ukraine recklessly challenged the core interests of Russia. "The West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path," he argued in 2014, "and the end result is Ukraine's demise as a sovereign state."

Professor Glenn Diesen's recent book Russophobia, critiques how Western media de-humanises Russia to justify confrontation. The 2013 EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which threatened Russian trade ties, and US military aid post-2014—including Javelin missiles—solidified Kyiv's alignment with the West. Sachs highlights Washington's interference since 2004, including funding opposition groups during Ukraine's Orange Revolution: "This isn't about morality; it's about power. The US wanted Ukraine in its orbit, whatever the cost."

Sovereignty vs security: Addressing counterarguments

Western leaders frame the war as a defence of Ukrainian sovereignty. Yet sovereignty cannot exist in a vacuum. The US would never tolerate hostile alliances on its borders—just look at the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Hypocrisy stains Western outrage: the invasions of Iraq (2003) and Libya (2011), justified under false pretences, contrast sharply with moralising over Ukraine.

Sachs clarifies: "Provocation isn't justification, but peace requires accountability." Dismissing Russia's security concerns perpetuates cycles of violence. Great powers must respect each other's spheres of influence, or risk endless conflict.

South Asia's stake: Economics and geopolitics

The war's fallout is visceral for South Asia. Ukraine supplied 10 percent of the world's wheat, feeding millions in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Russia's Black Sea blockade spiked global wheat prices by 20 percent, forcing Bangladesh to ration subsidised grains. In Pakistan, flour prices doubled, exacerbating political turmoil.

Sri Lanka's 2022 economic collapse, worsened by soaring energy costs, underscores Global South vulnerability. Diesel shortages paralysed transport, while disrupted fertiliser imports from Russia and Ukraine crippled agriculture. Activist Ahilan Kadirgamar lamented, "The Global North's sanctions weaponize food and energy—we pay the price."

India's pragmatic diplomacy offers a model. Despite Western pressure, it boosted Russian oil imports from 2 percent to 20 percent in 2022, shielding its economy. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar defended this stance: "Europe prioritises its energy security—why shouldn't we?" India's non-aligned roots, balancing ties with Moscow and Washington, highlight the futility of Cold War-style blocs.

The conflict also warns against entanglements in great-power rivalries. As US-China tensions escalate, South Asia faces pressure to "pick sides." The Quad's militarisation of the Indian Ocean mirrors NATO's encirclement logic, risking conflict over Taiwan or the South China Sea. Pakistani analyst Ayesha Siddiqa warns, "Proxy wars thrive when regions become chessboards."

Militarisation vs diplomacy: Europe and the US divided

Europe's pivot to a "war economy," critiqued by Thomas Fazi, prioritises arms over welfare. Germany's 100-billion-pound defence fund and Poland's rearmament risk a Cold War relapse. Fazi notes, "Militarisation erodes democracy—leaders invoke external threats to silence dissent."

US politics fracture over Ukraine. Biden's "as long as it takes" approach clashes with Trump's push for negotiation. The 2024 election could pivot US strategy, underscoring the Global South's need to champion consistent diplomacy.

A roadmap for peace: Multipolarity and the Global South

1. Neutrality for Ukraine: ensuring it isn't a NATO/EU-Russia battleground.

2. Restructured security architecture: Revive OSCE-led talks, integrating Russian concerns.

3. Global South leadership: Brazil, China, India and Indonesia must leverage BRICS and G20 to mediate.

4. Economic recovery: rebuild Ukraine with joint investments; restore Black Sea grain deals to stabilise Global South economies.

India's G20 presidency exemplified this potential. By hosting summits that included both Moscow and Kyiv, New Delhi tried to bridge divides. As Sachs urges, "Without honesty about the war's origins, there can be no justice in its resolution."

Conclusion: Toward a humble peace

The Ukraine war underscores the folly of unilateralism. For South Asia, a region scarred by partition and intervention, the path forward lies in rejecting militarised blocs and revitalising non-alignment. By championing multipolarity, the Global South can transform this crisis into a catalyst for a fairer world order.

Zakir Kibria is a writer and policy analyst.​

 

[Saif]

Putin and Trump still 'maybes' for Ukraine peace talks that Russian leader proposed

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were still "maybes" for what could be the first direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years after the Kremlin on Wednesday held off disclosing who would represent Russia. Putin on Sunday proposed direct negotiations with

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Putin and Trump still 'maybes' for Ukraine peace talks that Russian leader proposed
REUTERS
Published :
May 14, 2025 22:25
Updated :
May 14, 2025 22:25

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump talk during a bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019. Photo : REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were still "maybes" for what could be the first direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years after the Kremlin on Wednesday held off disclosing who would represent Russia.

Putin on Sunday proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday "without any preconditions". But he did not say who would be attending from Moscow's side and his spokesman was unable to give further details on the matter on Wednesday.

Trump earlier this week urged Ukraine to attend the talks and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy quickly said he would be there, but only if Putin showed up, setting up a diplomatic standoff as part of an apparent contest to show Trump who wants peace more.

Trump said on Wednesday he himself was still considering whether to attend the talks in Turkey but did not know whether Putin would go, something that Zelenskiy has challenged the Kremlin leader to do "if he's not afraid".

"(Putin) would like me to be there, and that's a possibility... I don't know that he would be there if I'm not there. We're going to find out," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Qatar.

Trump wants the two sides to sign up to a 30-day ceasefire in what is Europe's biggest land war since World War Two, and a Russian lawmaker said on Wednesday there could also be discussions about a huge prisoner of war exchange.

Zelenskiy backs an immediate 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has said he first wants to start talks at which the details of such a ceasefire could be discussed.

MORE SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA?

Trump, who is growing increasingly frustrated with both Russia and Ukraine as he tries to push them towards a peace settlement, said he was "always considering" secondary sanctions against Moscow if he thought it was blocking the process.

US officials have spoken about possible financial sanctions as well as potential secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil.

A Ukrainian diplomatic source told Reuters on Wednesday that Ukraine's leadership would decide on its next steps for peace talks in Turkey once there was clarity on Putin's participation.

"Everything will depend on whether Putin is scared of coming to Istanbul or not. Based on his response, the Ukrainian leadership will decide on the next steps," the source said,

If Putin agrees to join, it would be the first meeting between the leaders of the two warring countries since December 2019. Direct talks between negotiators from Ukraine and Russia last took place in Istanbul in March 2022, a month after Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.

Some unconfirmed Russian and US media reports had said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy aide, would be in Istanbul and ready to meet their Ukrainian counterparts.

But Russia's Kommersant newspaper, which is regarded as having good sources in the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Kremlin, said on Wednesday evening that Lavrov would not attend.

Asked earlier by reporters during a daily briefing if the Kremlin could reveal the make-up of the Russian delegation, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "We will do that when we get an instruction to do so from the president."

"The Russian delegation will be waiting for the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul on May 15," he added.

Trump has said he will send Secretary of State Marco Rubio and senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg to Turkey, while also offering to attend himself.​

 

[Saif]

Peace breakthrough unlikely as Putin declines to meet Zelenskiy in Turkey

Russia's Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey on Thursday, dealing a blow to prospects for a peace breakthrough. The Russian president dispatched a second-tier team of aides and deputy ministers to take part in talks in Ista

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Peace breakthrough unlikely as Putin declines to meet Zelenskiy in Turkey
REUTERS
Published :
May 15, 2025 21:21
Updated :
May 15, 2025 21:21

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 15, 2025. Photo : Mustafa Kamaci/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

Russia's Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey on Thursday, dealing a blow to prospects for a peace breakthrough.

The Russian president dispatched a second-tier team of aides and deputy ministers to take part in talks in Istanbul, while US President Donald Trump, on a tour of the Gulf, undercut the chances of major progress when he said there would be no movement in the absence of a meeting between himself and Putin.

Zelenskiy said Putin's decision not to attend but to send what he called a "decorative" line-up showed the Russian leader was not serious about ending the war.

He said he himself would not go to Istanbul, but would send a team, headed by his defence minister, with a mandate to discuss a ceasefire. It was not clear when the talks would actually begin.

"We can't be running around the world looking for Putin," Zelenskiy said after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

"I feel disrespect from Russia. No meeting time, no agenda, no high-level delegation - this is personal disrespect. To Erdogan, to Trump," Zelenskiy told reporters.

Zelenskiy backs an immediate, unconditional 30-day ceasefire but Putin has said he first wants to start talks at which the details of such a truce could be discussed. More than three years after its full-scale invasion, Russia has the advantage on the battlefield and says Ukraine could use a pause in the war to call up extra troops and acquire more Western weapons.

Both Trump and Putin have said for months they are keen to meet each other, but no date has been set. Trump, after piling heavy pressure on Ukraine and clashing with Zelenskiy in the Oval Office in February, has lately expressed growing impatience that Putin may be "tapping me along".

"Nothing's going to happen until Putin and I get together," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

DIPLOMATIC CONFUSION

The diplomatic disarray was symptomatic of the deep hostility between the warring sides and the unpredictability injected by Trump, whose interventions since returning to the White House in January have often provoked dismay from Ukraine and its European allies.

While Zelenskiy waited in vain for Putin in Ankara, the Russian negotiating team sat in Istanbul with no one to talk to on the Ukrainian side. Some 200 reporters milled around near the Dolmabahce Palace on the Bosphorus that the Russians had specified as the talks venue.

The enemies have been wrestling for months over the logistics of ceasefires and peace talks while trying to show Trump they are serious about trying to end what he calls "this stupid war".

Hundreds of thousands have been killed and wounded on both sides in the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. Washington has threatened repeatedly to abandon its mediation efforts unless there is clear progress.

Trump said on Thursday he would go to the talks in Turkey on Friday if it was "appropriate".

"I just hope Russia and Ukraine are able to do something. It has to stop," he said.

Russia accused Ukraine of "trying to put on a show" around the talks. Its lead negotiator said the Russians were ready to get down to work and discuss possible compromises.

Asked if Putin would join talks at some future point, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "What kind of participation will be required further, at what level, it is too early to say now."

Russia said on Thursday its forces had captured two more settlements in Ukraine's Donetsk region. A spokeswoman for Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pointedly reminded reporters of his comment last year that Ukraine was "getting smaller" in the absence of an agreement to stop fighting.

FIRST TALKS FOR THREE YEARS

Once they start, the talks will have to address a chasm between the two sides over a host of issues.

The Russian delegation is headed by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, a former culture minister who has overseen the rewriting of history textbooks to reflect Moscow's narrative on the war. It includes a deputy defence minister, a deputy foreign minister and the head of military intelligence.

Key members of the team, including Medinsky, were also involved in the last direct peace talks in Istanbul in March 2022 - a signal that Moscow wants to pick up where those left off.

But the terms under discussion then, while Ukraine was still reeling from Russia's initial invasion, would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. They included a demand by Moscow for deep cuts to the size of Ukraine's military.

With Russian forces now in control of close to a fifth of Ukraine, Putin has held fast to his longstanding demands for Kyiv to cede territory, abandon its NATO membership ambitions and become a neutral country.

Ukraine rejects these terms as tantamount to capitulation, and is seeking guarantees of its future security from world powers, especially the United States.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Zelenskiy had shown his good faith by coming to Turkey but there was an "empty chair" where Putin should be sitting.

"Putin is stalling and clearly has no desire to enter these peace negotiations, even when President Trump expressed his availability and his desire to facilitate these negotiations," he said.

Highlighting the level of tension between Russia and the U.S.-led alliance, Estonia said Moscow had briefly sent a military jet into NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea during an attempt by the Estonian navy to stop a Russian-bound oil tanker thought to be part of a "shadow fleet" defying Western sanctions on Moscow.​

 

[Saif]

Ukraine consults allies after talks with Russia yield no ceasefire

Ukraine rallied support from its Western allies on Friday after Kyiv and Moscow failed to agree to a ceasefire at their first direct talks in more than three years, with Russia presenting conditions that a Ukrainian source described as "non-starters". Under pressure from US President Donald Trump

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Ukraine consults allies after talks with Russia yield no ceasefire
REUTERS
Published :
May 16, 2025 22:05
Updated :
May 16, 2025 22:05

Service members of the 115th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fire a mortar towards Russian troops, at a position in a front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 16, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova

Ukraine rallied support from its Western allies on Friday after Kyiv and Moscow failed to agree to a ceasefire at their first direct talks in more than three years, with Russia presenting conditions that a Ukrainian source described as "non-starters".

Under pressure from US President Donald Trump to end the conflict, delegates from the warring countries met for the first time since March 2022, the month after Russia invaded its neighbour.

The talks in an Istanbul palace lasted well under two hours. Russia expressed satisfaction with the meeting and said it was ready to continue contacts. Both countries said they had agreed to trade 1,000 prisoners of war in what would be the biggest such exchange yet.

But Kyiv, which wants the West to impose tighter sanctions unless Moscow accepts a proposal from Trump for a 30-day ceasefire, immediately began rallying its allies for tougher action.

As soon as the talks ended, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held a phone call with Trump and the leaders of France, Germany and Poland, Zelenskiy's spokesperson said.

Russia's demands were "detached from reality and go far beyond anything that was previously discussed," a source in the Ukrainian delegation told Reuters.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Moscow had issued ultimatums for Ukraine to withdraw from parts of its own territory in order to obtain a ceasefire "and other non-starters and non-constructive conditions".

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the Russian position was "clearly unacceptable" and that European leaders, Ukraine and the US were "closely aligning" their responses.

A European diplomatic source said: "Nothing came out of these discussions." Zelenskiy said robust sanctions should follow if Russia rejected a ceasefire.

Russia's lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky told reporters that his team had "taken note" of the Ukrainians' request for direct talks between Zelenskiy and President Vladimir Putin. Putin had spurned a challenge from the Ukrainian leader to meet him in Istanbul this week.

"We have agreed that each side will present its vision of a possible future ceasefire and spell it out in detail. After such a vision has been presented, we believe it would be appropriate, as also agreed, to continue our negotiations," Medinsky said.

TWO PATHS

Expectations for a major breakthrough, already low, were dented further on Thursday when Trump, winding up a Middle East tour, said there would be no movement without a meeting between himself and Putin.

Zelenskiy said Kyiv's top priority was "a full, unconditional and honest ceasefire... to stop the killing and create a solid basis for diplomacy".

Russia says it wants to end the war by diplomatic means and is ready to discuss a ceasefire. But it has raised a list of questions and concerns, saying Ukraine could use a pause to rest its forces, mobilise extra troops and acquire more western weapons.

Ukraine and its allies accuse Putin of stalling, and say he is not serious about wanting peace.

The negotiating teams sat opposite one another, with the Russians in suits and half of the Ukrainians wearing camouflage military fatigues.

"There are two paths ahead of us: one road will take us on a process that will lead to peace, while the other will lead to more destruction and death. The sides will decide on their own, with their own will, which path they choose," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told them at the start of the meeting.

The Ukrainian source said the Ukrainians spoke in their own language, through an interpreter, although Russian is widely spoken and understood in Ukraine.

A Ukrainian and a European source said Russia had rejected a Ukrainian request that U.S. representatives should be in the room.

Two sources familiar with the talks said Medinsky had said Russia was ready to keep fighting for as long as necessary, drawing a historical parallel with the wars of Tsar Peter the Great against Sweden that lasted 21 years in the early 1700s.

"We do not want war, but we are ready to fight for a year, two, three — as long as you want," one of the sources quoted him as saying.

PUTIN STAYS AWAY

It was Putin who had proposed the direct talks in Turkey, but he spurned a challenge from Zelenskiy to meet him there in person, instead sending a team of mid-level officials. Ukraine responded by naming negotiators of similar rank.

Russia said on Friday it had captured another village in its slow, grinding advance in eastern Ukraine. Minutes before the start of the Istanbul meeting, Ukrainian media reported an air alert and explosions in the city of Dnipro.

Russia says it sees the talks as a continuation of the negotiations that took place in the early weeks of the war in 2022, also in Istanbul.

But the terms under discussion then, when Ukraine was still reeling from Russia's initial invasion, would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. They included a demand by Moscow for large cuts to the size of Ukraine's military.

Zelenskiy's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said Russian attempts to align the new talks with the unsuccessful earlier negotiations would fail.

With Russian forces now in control of close to a fifth of Ukraine, Putin has held fast to his longstanding demands for Kyiv to cede territory, abandon its NATO membership ambitions and become a neutral country.

Ukraine rejects these terms as tantamount to capitulation, and is seeking guarantees of its future security from world powers, especially the United States.​

 

[Saif]

Russia says Ukraine talks yielded a prisoner swap deal, agreement to keep talking

Russia said on Friday that the first direct talks with Ukraine in more than three years had yielded a deal to swap 1,000 prisoners of war each soon and to resume talks after each side had set out its vision for a future ceasefire

www.thedailystar.net

Russia says Ukraine talks yielded a prisoner swap deal, agreement to keep talking

Vehicles arrive at the Turkish Presidency's Dolmabahce working office, where Russia and Ukraine direct talks might happen, in Istanbul, Turkey, May 16, 2025. Photo: Reuters/Leonhard Foeger
​

• Russia says it is satisfied with talks​
• Says two sides agreed to keep talking​
• Says each side will set out vision of future ceasefire​

Russia said on Friday that the first direct talks with Ukraine in more than three years had yielded a deal to swap 1,000 prisoners of war each soon and to resume talks after each side had set out its vision for a future ceasefire.

In a short statement shown live on Russian state TV after the negotiations in Istanbul had wrapped up, Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia's delegation, said that Moscow was satisfied with progress made and was ready to keep talking to Kyiv.

"In general, we are satisfied with the result and are ready to continue contacts. In the coming days, there will be a massive thousand-for-thousand prisoner exchange," said Medinsky.

That would be one of the largest exchanges of its kind since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 in what he called a special military operation.

"The Ukrainian side requested direct talks between the leaders of our states. We have taken note of this request," Medinsky added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had challenged Putin to fly to Turkey for direct talks with him on Thursday, but Putin - who had proposed the talks in the first place but had not said who was going for Russia - sent a mid-level delegation of experienced negotiators instead.

In the event, the talks took place on Friday, not Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has tried to pressure both sides to move towards a peace settlement, has said he wants a 30-day ceasefire in an attempt to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.

Kyiv, which is on the defensive on the battlefield, has agreed to a 30-day ceasefire.

But Russia - which is slowly but steadily advancing on the battlefield and is worried that Ukraine will use such a pause to regroup and re-arm - has said it needs to nail down the terms of a ceasefire before signing up to one.

Medinsky said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to go away and set out in detail and in writing their vision for what a future ceasefire would look like.

"After such a vision has been presented, we believe it would be appropriate, as also agreed, to continue our negotiations," he said.

In an interview with state TV released after his statement, Medinsky said that history showed that ceasefires did not always precede peace talks and that negotiations had been held throughout the Korean and Vietnam wars while fighting raged.

"As a rule, as Napoleon said, war and negotiations are always conducted at the same time," said Medinsky.

The Kremlin said earlier on Friday that a meeting between Putin and Trump was essential to make progress on Ukraine and other issues, but needed considerable preparation and had to yield results when it happened.

The Russian and U.S. presidents have spoken by phone, but not met since Trump returned to the White House in January, despite both leaders expressing their desire for face-to-face talks.​

 

[Saif]

Trump says he will speak with Putin, Zelensky on Monday

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss stopping the war in Ukraine, days after the first face-to-face talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul. Trump had offered to travel to Turkey for the t

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Trump says he will speak with Putin, Zelensky on Monday
REUTERS
Published :
May 17, 2025 22:00
Updated :
May 17, 2025 22:00

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss stopping the war in Ukraine, days after the first face-to-face talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul.

Trump had offered to travel to Turkey for the talks while in the Gulf last week if Putin would also attend, but Putin declined to take him up on the offer.

The president has been pressuring Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to a ceasefire in the three-year-old war.

Trump said in a Truth Social post that his call with Putin will be on Monday at 10am Eastern (1400 GMT).

"THE SUBJECTS OF THE CALL WILL BE, STOPPING THE 'BLOODBATH' THAT IS KILLING, ON AVERAGE, MORE THAN 5000 RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS A WEEK, AND TRADE," he said.

Trump said he would speak with Zelenskiy and various members of NATO afterwards.

"Hopefully it will be a productive day, a ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war, a war that should have never happened, will end," he wrote.

Russia has shown little inclination to make concessions in the Ukraine conflict.

Russian negotiators at the Istanbul peace talks on Friday demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks told Reuters.​

 

[Saif]

Russia demanded Ukraine cede more territory at Turkey talks, Ukrainian source says

Russian negotiators at peace talks in Istanbul demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all the Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks told Reuters. That demand, along with others the Ukrainian official said we

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Russia demanded Ukraine cede more territory at Turkey talks, Ukrainian source says
REUTERS
Published :
May 17, 2025 16:33
Updated :
May 17, 2025 16:33

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan chairs a meeting between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators in Istanbul, Turkey, May 16, 2025. Photo : Arda Kucukkaya/Turkish Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

Russian negotiators at peace talks in Istanbul demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all the Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks told Reuters.

That demand, along with others the Ukrainian official said were made at Friday's talks, went beyond the terms of a draft peace deal that the United States proposed last month after consultations with Moscow.

The talks in Istanbul, the first direct contacts between the two sides in three years, ended with agreement for a prisoner exchange but failed to agree to a ceasefire. A Ukrainian source had said on Friday the Russians had made conditions he described as "non-starters", without giving details.

At a briefing with reporters on Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked about the terms that, according to the Ukrainian official, Moscow put forward, but he declined to comment, saying the discussions need to take place behind closed doors.

The Ukrainian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal details of the talks, said Russian proposed the following terms for a peace deal:

* The withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, only after which there can be a ceasefire. The regions are largely or partially controlled by Russian forces, but Ukrainian troops are still fighting to hold on to the remaining parts of the regions. There was no such demand in the draft deal prepared by the United States.

* International recognition that five parts of Ukraine -- the Crimea peninsula annexed in 2014, as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions -- are Russian. The US draft had proposed only US de jure recognition for Crimea, and US de facto recognition for Russian-controlled parts of the other regions.

* Ukraine becomes a neutral state, has no weapons of mass destruction, and Kyiv's allies will not station any of their troops on Ukrainian soil. This demand was absent from the US proposal.

* All sides in the conflict renounce their claims to receive compensation for war damages. The US proposal had stipulated that Ukraine receives compensation.

According to the Ukrainian official, Russian negotiators transmitted those demands verbally, and did not share any document containing their terms.

Ukraine has already said the Russian negotiating position in Istanbul showed it was not serious about peace. Kyiv's European allies are now pressing US President Donald Trump to impose new sanctions on Russia.

The head of the Russian delegation at the talks expressed satisfaction with the meeting, and said Moscow was willing to keep talking to Kyiv.

The US draft peace proposal from April was prepared after Trump envoy Steve Witkoff flew to Moscow for rounds of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kyiv and European allies drafted an alternative proposal, which stated there should be a ceasefire first so negotiations could start, and deferred any discussion of territory until later.​

 

[Saif]

Russia launches war’s largest drone attack after peace talks, Ukraine says

The largest known Russian drone attack since full-scale war began in 2022 killed a woman in the Kyiv region and injured at least three people, Ukrainian authorities said early on Sunday, as Moscow stepped up strikes following peace talks on Friday. Russia launched 273 drones by 8 a.m. local time (

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Russia launches war’s largest drone attack after peace talks, Ukraine says
REUTERS
Published :
May 18, 2025 20:07
Updated :
May 18, 2025 20:07

Firefighters work at the site of a private enterprise hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine May 18, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

The largest known Russian drone attack since full-scale war began in 2022 killed a woman in the Kyiv region and injured at least three people, Ukrainian authorities said early on Sunday, as Moscow stepped up strikes following peace talks on Friday.

Russia launched 273 drones by 8 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), targeting chiefly the central Kyiv region and the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions in the country’s east, Ukraine’s air force said.

Based on data provided by the air force, this was Russia’s largest drone attack on Ukraine of the war. On the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 23, Moscow launched a then-record 267 drones.

The first direct talks in three years between Russia and Ukraine on Friday failed to broker the temporary ceasefire Kyiv and its allies have been urging. The 100 minutes of talks in Istanbul yielded an agreement to trade 1,000 prisoners of war on each side.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday.

The sustained overnight Russian drone attack on Sunday killed a 28-year-old woman in the capital region and injured at least three people, including a 4-year-old child, Ukrainian authorities said.

“Unfortunately, as a result of the enemy attack in the Obukhiv district, a woman died from her injuries,” Mykola Kalashnik, governor of the Kyiv region, posted on Telegram.

Kyiv and the region around it as well as the eastern part of Ukraine were under raid warnings for nine straight hours overnight before they were called off at around 9 a.m. local time (0600 GMT). Air defence units were engaged several times trying to repel attacks, the military said on Telegram.

“It’s been a tough night. The Russians have always used war and attacks to intimidate everyone in negotiations,” Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, said on Telegram about Sunday’s attack.

Air defence units destroyed 88 of the drones overnight. The attack also included 128 simulator drones that were lost along the way without hitting anything, Ukraine’s air force said in a statement on Telegram.

On Saturday, a Russian drone attack killed nine civilians after hitting a shuttle bus in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine, Kyiv said. Zelenskiy called the attack “deliberate” and urged stronger sanctions on Moscow, which said it had attacked a military facility.

All of those injured in the Obukhiv district just south of Kyiv city were hospitalised, Kalashnik said. Several residential buildings were damaged in the area, he added.

In the city of Kyiv, fragments of a destroyed drone damaged the roof of a non-residential building, the city’s military administration said on Telegram. There were no reports of injuries, it added.

Reuters witnesses in and around Kyiv heard blasts that sounded like air defence units in operation. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war, but thousands have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.​

 

[Saif]

Trump says will speak to Putin to end Ukraine 'bloodbath'

Kremlin had said that a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be possible only after both sides reach an agreement.

en.prothomalo.com

Trump says will speak to Putin to end Ukraine 'bloodbath'
AFPKYIV, Ukraine
Published: 18 May 2025, 08: 40

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin AFP

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he would speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the "bloodbath" in Ukraine, a day after the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years.

Trump, who has been pressing Russia to agree a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, said he would speak with him by phone on Monday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told the state TASS news agency the call was "being prepared".

Earlier Saturday, the Kremlin had said that a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be possible only after both sides reach an agreement.

That came a day after direct talks between the two countries led to an agreement for another exchange of prisoners.

Early Saturday, a Russian drone attack on a minibus carrying evacuated civilians in Ukraine's eastern Sumy region killed nine people and wounded five, local authorities said.

Zelensky, denouncing the attack and Russia's refusal so far to agree a ceasefire, repeated his call for fresh sanctions against Moscow.

"Without stronger sanctions, without stronger pressure on Russia, there will be no real diplomacy there," he insisted.

On Friday in Istanbul, the first direct Ukraine-Russia talks since the spring of 2022 -- shortly after Moscow's full-scale invasion that February -- led to an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each.

Ukraine's top negotiator, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, said the "next step" would be a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.

Russia said it had taken note of the request.

"We consider it possible, but only as a result of the work and upon achieving certain results in the form of an agreement between the two sides," the Kremlin's spokesman said.

Trump denounces 'bloodbath'
Russia's top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said Moscow and Kyiv would "present their vision of a possible future ceasefire", without saying when.

The Kremlin said that first the POW swap had to be completed and both sides need to present their visions for a ceasefire before fixing the next round of talks.

"For now, we need to do what the delegations agreed on yesterday" in Turkey, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, which meant "first and foremost to complete a 1,000 for 1,000 swap".

The head of Ukraine's military intelligence, Kirillo Budanov, told broadcaster TSN he hoped the exchange would happen next week.

Posting on Truth Social Saturday, Trump said he would speak to Putin on Monday to discuss finding a way out of the "BLOODBATH".

Afterwards, he added, he would speak to Zelensky and NATO officials, expressing hope that a "ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war... will end".

Both Moscow and Washington have already stressed the need for a meeting on the conflict between Putin and Trump.

Trump has argued that "nothing's going to happen" on the conflict until he meets Putin face-to-face.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the latest prisoner exchange in a telephone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

And in an interview with CBS, he said Lavrov had told him Moscow was preparing a document outlining its requirements for a ceasefire.

If Russia and Moscow can both provide "serious and viable" proposals "then there's been real progress, and we can work off of that," Rubio said.

Fighting goes on

The attack on the bus happened near the city of Bilopillya, local community head Yuri Zarko told Suspilne TV. A family of three were among the dead, the authorities said.

Elsewhere on the frontlines, the Russian army said its troops captured Oleksandropil village in the eastern Donetsk region, site of some of the most intense fighting.

As well as Sumy, Russia also pounded eastern Ukraine with missiles and drones, killing six and wounding more than a dozen, officials said. In Kherson, Russian shelling hit a truck carrying humanitarian aid Saturday morning.

Zelensky accused Putin of being "afraid" after he declined to Travel to Turkey for talks and argued that Russia was not taking the talks seriously.

"Yesterday in Istanbul, everyone saw a weak and unprepared Russian delegation with no significant powers. This must change. We need real steps to end the war," Zelensky said Saturday.

On Friday, Zelensky had called for a "strong reaction" from the world, including new sanctions, if the Istanbul talks failed.

Macron said European nations were coordinating with Washington on additional sanctions should Moscow continue to refuse an "unconditional ceasefire."

On Saturday, Zelensky said he had spoken to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney about fresh and effective sanctions against Russia.

During the Istanbul talks, the Ukrainian side said Russia had made "unacceptable" territorial demands.

Moscow claims annexation of five Ukrainian regions -- four since its 2022 invasion, and Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.​

 

[Saif]

Trump speaks to Putin amid 'impasse' on ending war in Ukraine

US President Donald Trump spoke to Russia's Vladimir Putin on Monday about peace in Ukraine after Washington said there was an impasse over ending Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two and that the United States may have to walk away. President Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Trump speaks to Putin amid 'impasse' on ending war in Ukraine
REUTERS
Published :
May 19, 2025 21:56
Updated :
May 19, 2025 21:56

Firefighters work at the site of a private enterprise hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine May 18, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

US President Donald Trump spoke to Russia's Vladimir Putin on Monday about peace in Ukraine after Washington said there was an impasse over ending Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two and that the United States may have to walk away.

President Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker, has repeatedly called for an end to the "bloodbath" of Ukraine, which his administration casts as a proxy war between the United States and Russia.

Under pressure from Trump, delegates from the warring countries met last week in Istanbul for the first time since 2022, after Putin proposed direct talks and Europeans and Ukraine demanded an immediate ceasefire.

A White House official said the call was underway. Putin was speaking from Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi while Trump was in Washington.

Shortly before the call, US Vice President JD Vance told reporters that Washington recognised there was an impasse in ending the war - and that if Moscow was not willing to engage then eventually the United States would have to say it was not its war.

"We realize there's a bit of an impasse here. And I think the president's going to say to President Putin: 'Look, are you serious? Are you real about this?'" Vance said as he prepared to depart from Italy.

"I think honestly that President Putin, he doesn't quite know how to get out of the war," Vance said, adding that he had just spoken to Trump.

He said it "takes two to tango. I know the President's willing to do that, but if Russia is not willing to do that, then we're eventually just going to say, this is not our war."

"We're going to try to end it, but if we can't end it, we're eventually going to say: 'You know what? That was worth a try, but we're not doing anymore.'"

PEACE OR WAR

Trump, whose administration has made clear that Russia could face additional sanctions if it does not take peace talks seriously, said he would also speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and various members of NATO.

Putin, whose forces control a fifth of Ukraine and are advancing, has stood firm on his conditions for ending the war, despite public and private pressure from Trump and repeated warnings from European powers.

On Sunday, Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war.

Ukraine's intelligence service said it also believed Moscow intended to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile on Sunday, though there was no confirmation from Russia that it had done so.

In June 2024, Putin said Ukraine must officially drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entire territory of the four Ukrainian regions Russia claims.

On Sunday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed Russia's war against Ukraine with leaders of the United States, Italy, France and Germany, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

"Tomorrow (Monday) President Putin must show he wants peace by accepting the 30-day unconditional ceasefire proposed by President Trump and backed by Ukraine and Europe," French President Emmanuel Macron said on X after Sunday's call.

Putin is wary of a ceasefire and says fighting cannot be paused until a number of crucial conditions are worked out or clarified.​

 

[Saif]

Zelensky accuses Russia of buying time to stall peace talks

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia on Tuesday of delaying peace talks in a bid to pursue its three-year invasion, even as US president Donald Trump pushes for an immediate ceasefire...

www.newagebd.net

Zelensky accuses Russia of buying time to stall peace talks
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 21 May, 2025, 00:08

Volodymyr Zelensky | AFP file photo

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia on Tuesday of delaying peace talks in a bid to pursue its three-year invasion, even as US president Donald Trump pushes for an immediate ceasefire.

Trump spoke by phone on Monday to both Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, while Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul on Friday for their first direct talks on the conflict in more than three years.

The talks failed to yield a truce, and Zelensky accused Putin of sending ‘empty heads’ to the negotiating table.

‘It is obvious that Russia is trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation,’ Zelensky said in a post on social media.

Trump framed his two-hour conversation with Putin, the third so far this year, as a breakthrough.

The Republican is seeking an elusive deal to end the war that he had promised on the election campaign trail to solve in 24 hours.

But Putin again rebuffed the call for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire, instead saying only that he was ready to work with Ukraine on a ‘memorandum’ outlining a possible roadmap and different positions on ending the war.

Moscow is feeling confident, with its troops advancing on the battlefield and Trump having resumed dialogue with Putin after almost three years of the West shunning the Kremlin chief.

‘The memorandum buys time for Russia,’ Russian political analyst Konstantin Kalachev said.

‘The cessation of hostilities is not a condition for it, which means that Russia can continue its offensive,’ he added.

Zelensky said on Monday he had no details of what this ‘memorandum’ would be but was willing to look at Russia’s ideas.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and has since destroyed swathes of the country’s east, killed tens of thousands and now controls around one-fifth of its territory.

People who spoke to AFP both in Kyiv and Moscow were sceptical about peace prospects and thought the Putin-Trump call had not bring them closer.

‘I never had any faith in him and now I have none at all,’ a retired teacher Victoria Kyseliova said in Kyiv, when asked if she was losing confidence in Trump.

Vitaliy, a 53-year-old engineer from Kyiv, said Trump was no ‘messiah’ and that his flurry of diplomacy has changed little.

Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said Trump’s latest calls had only added to the uncertainty.

‘This conversation not only failed to clarify the future of the negotiations but further confused the situation,’ he said.

He said Trump had fallen for Putin’s tactics of trying to use talks ‘as a cover to continue and intensify the war’.

In Moscow, there was defiance and confidence.

‘I believe that we don’t need these negotiations. We will win anyway,’ Marina, a 70-year-old former engineer, said.

Ukraine and Europe are trying to put pressure on Trump to impose on Moscow a new package of massive sanctions after Putin declined to travel to Turkey for face-to-face talks with Zelensky.

Kyiv accused Moscow’s negotiators of making unrealistic demands at the Istanbul talks, including sweeping territorial claims that Ukraine has repeatedly rejected.

Zelensky said on Monday that Kyiv and its allies needed to ‘work hard’ to convince Trump of the need for more sanctions.

On Tuesday, the European Union formally adopted its 17th round of sanctions on Moscow, targeting 200 vessels of Russia’s so-called shadow maritime fleet, and drawing fire from Russia.

‘Western politicians and the media are making titanic efforts to disrupt the constructive dialogue between Russia and the United States,’ said Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s Direct Investment Fund and lead economic negotiator with the United States.

Russia has successfully withstood sanctions, rerouting its vital oil and gas supplies to India and China.

Zelensky said he had discussed preparations for the next sanctions package with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

‘Russian oil, energy trade infrastructure, banks and financial schemes — these are the areas that hurt Russia the most and therefore contribute the most to peace,’ he said.

The Ukrainian president added he was closely coordinating every step with the European partners following yesterday’s conversation with Trump.

Russia’s key ally China said on Tuesday it also backed direct dialogue between the warring sides.

‘It is hoped that the parties concerned will carry on with the dialogue to reach a fair, lasting and binding peace agreement acceptable to all parties,’ foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.​

 

[Saif]

Ukraine pitches tougher Russia sanctions plan to EU as US wavers

Ukraine will ask the EU next week to consider big new steps to isolate Moscow, including seizing Russian assets and bringing in sanctions for some buyers of Russian oil, as US President Donald Trump has backed off from tightening sanctions. A previously unreported Ukrainian white paper to be prese

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Ukraine pitches tougher Russia sanctions plan to EU as US wavers
REUTERS
Published :
May 21, 2025 16:40
Updated :
May 21, 2025 17:06
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, France's President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk speak with US President Donald Trump via phone during the European Political Community Summit inTirana, Albania May 16, 2025. Photo : Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/Files

Ukraine will ask the EU next week to consider big new steps to isolate Moscow, including seizing Russian assets and bringing in sanctions for some buyers of Russian oil, as US President Donald Trump has backed off from tightening sanctions.

A previously unreported Ukrainian white paper to be presented to the EU calls for the 27-member bloc to take a more aggressive and independent position on sanctions as uncertainty hangs over Washington's future role.

Among 40 pages of recommendations were calls to adopt legislation that would speed up the EU's seizure of assets from sanctioned individuals, and send them to Ukraine. Those under sanctions could then seek compensation from Russia.

The EU should consider a range of steps to make its sanctions apply more forcefully beyond its own territory, including targeting foreign companies that use its technology to help Russia, and "the introduction of secondary sanctions on purchasers of Russian oil".

Such secondary sanctions, which could hit big buyers such as India and China, would be a major step that Europe has so far been reluctant to take. Trump had publicly discussed this before taking the decision not to act for now.

The white paper also calls for the EU to consider using more majority-rules decision making over sanctions, to prevent individual member states from blocking measures that otherwise require unanimity.

After speaking to Putin on Monday, Trump opted not to impose fresh sanctions on Russia, dashing hopes of European leaders and Kyiv who had been lobbying him for weeks to ratchet up pressure on Moscow.

Trump spoke to Ukrainian and European leaders after his call with Putin and told them he didn't want to impose sanctions now and to give time for talks to take place, a person familiar with conversation told Reuters.

The EU and Britain imposed additional sanctions against Russia on Tuesday anyway, saying they still hope Washington will join them. But Europeans are openly discussing ways they can maintain pressure on Moscow if Washington is no longer prepared to participate.

Britain suffered a bigger than expected inflation surge in April.

'CATALYSE THE EU'

Publicly, Ukraine has tried to avoid any hint of criticism of Washington since President Volodymyr Zelenskiy received a dressing down from Trump in the White House in February.

The sanctions white paper emphasises the "unprecedented" sanctions imposed by the EU so far and talks up their potential to do more. It also includes a stark assessment of the Trump administration's commitment to coordination efforts so far.

"Today, in practice, Washington has ceased participation in nearly all intergovernmental platforms focused on sanctions and export control," it said.

Washington had slowed work in the monitoring group for enforcing price caps on Russian oil, dissolved a federal taskforce focused on prosecuting sanctions violations and reassigned a significant number of sanctions experts to other sectors, it added.

It noted that two potentially major US sanctions packages had been drawn up - one by the government and another by pro-Trump senator Lindsey Graham - but that it was "uncertain" whether Trump would sign off on either of them.

Uncertainty over the US stance had slowed the pace of economic countermeasures and multilateral coordination, but "should not prompt the European Union to ease sanctions pressure", it said.

"On the contrary, it should catalyse the EU to assume a leading role in this domain."

'HUGE STRIKE'

Ukraine is worried that Washington peeling away from the Western consensus on sanctions could also cause vacillation in the EU, which traditionally requires consensus for major decisions.

"American withdrawal from the sanctions regime (would) be a huge strike on the unity of the EU. Huge," a senior Ukrainian government official told Reuters.

The EU cannot fully replace the heft of the United States in applying economic pressure on Russia. Much of the impact of US sanctions comes from the dominance of the dollar in global trade, which the euro cannot match.

Still, US sanctions relief for Russia would not spur a significant return of foreign investors and investment if Europe held firm, said Craig Kennedy, a Russian energy expert at the Davis Center, Harvard.

"Europe holds a lot more cards than you'd think," he said.​

 

[Saif]

Russia downs 105 Ukrainian drones, fires Iskander missile

Russia said yesterday it had shot down 105 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, including dozens heading towards Moscow, as the war in Ukraine heats up even as major powers talk about ways to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.

www.thedailystar.net

Russia downs 105 Ukrainian drones, fires Iskander missile
Flights at Moscow airports briefly halted

Russia said yesterday it had shot down 105 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, including dozens heading towards Moscow, as the war in Ukraine heats up even as major powers talk about ways to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.

US President Donald Trump is pressuring Russia and Ukraine to end the more than three-year war but the two sides remain far apart. But while leaders talk of the prospects for peace, the war is intensifying: swarms of drones are being launched by both sides while fierce fighting is underway along key parts of the front.

Russia's defence ministry said 105 drones had been shot down over Russian regions between midnight and the early morning yesterday, including 35 over the Moscow region. The previous day, Russia said it shot down well over 300 Ukrainian drones.

Sergei Sobyanin, Moscow's mayor, said multiple drones had been shot down heading towards the capital, which along with the surrounding region has a population of 21 million people. Moscow's Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports briefly halted flights.

Separately, Russia said yesterday it had fired an Iskander-M missile at part of the city of Pokrov, formerly known as Ordzhonikidze, in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, destroying two Patriot missile launchers and an AN/MPQ-65 radar set.

Ukraine's air force reported damage in the Dnipropetrovsk region after an attack but did not specify the type of weapon.

Russia's defence ministry said its forces were advancing at key points along the front, and pro-Russian war bloggers said Russia had pierced Ukrainian lines between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address that the heaviest frontline battles were around Pokrovsk.​

 

[Saif]

Major Russia-Ukraine prisoner-of-war exchange under way

Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner swap on Friday expected to be the biggest of the war, as agreed last week at their first direct talks in more than three years, a Ukrainian military source said. Ukrainian authorities told reporters to assemble at a location in the northern Chernihiv regio

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Major Russia-Ukraine prisoner-of-war exchange under way
REUTERS
Published :
May 23, 2025 19:20
Updated :
May 23, 2025 19:33

Residents are seen at a street near buildings damaged by Russian military strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the frontline town of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine May 21, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Anatolii Stepanov

Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner swap on Friday expected to be the biggest of the war, as agreed last week at their first direct talks in more than three years, a Ukrainian military source said.

Ukrainian authorities told reporters to assemble at a location in the northern Chernihiv region in anticipation that some freed prisoners could be brought there. The Ukrainian military source said the swap was still under way.

By mid-afternoon Moscow time, Russian state media had not yet reported the exchange was under way, and the Russian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia and Ukraine each agreed after two hours of talks in Istanbul last week to swap 1,000 prisoners, but failed to agree to a ceasefire proposed by US President Donald Trump. Previous prisoner swaps have been mediated by the United Arab Emirates.

The prisoner swap was the only concrete step towards peace the two sides agreed at their talks in Istanbul.

“Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Trump had said the swap was already complete.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides are believed to have been wounded or killed in Europe’s deadliest war since World War Two, although neither side publishes accurate casualty figures. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians have also died as Russian forces have besieged and bombarded Ukrainian cities.

Ukraine says it is ready for a 30-day ceasefire immediately, but Russia, which launched the war by invading its neighbour in 2022 and now occupies about a fifth of Ukraine, says it will not pause its assaults until conditions are met first. A member of the Ukrainian delegation called those conditions “non-starters”.

Trump, who has shifted US policy from supporting Ukraine towards accepting some of Russia’s account of the war, had said he could tighten sanctions on Russia if Moscow blocked a peace deal. But after speaking to Putin on Monday he decided to take no action for now.

Moscow says it is ready for peace talks while the fighting goes on, and wants to discuss what it calls the war’s “root causes”, including its demands Ukraine cede more territory, and be disarmed and barred from military alliances with the West. Kyiv says that is tantamount to surrender and would leave it defenceless in the face of future Russian attacks.​

 

[Saif]

Russia, Ukraine each free first 390 prisoners in start of war's biggest swap

Russia and Ukraine each released 390 prisoners on Friday and said they would free more in the coming days, in what is expected to be the biggest prisoner swap of the war so far. The agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each was the only concrete step towards peace to emerge last week from the fir

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Russia, Ukraine each free first 390 prisoners in start of war's biggest swap

REUTERS
Published :
May 24, 2025 11:54
Updated :
May 24, 2025 11:54

A still image from a video released by the Russian Defence Ministry shows what it said to be Russian service personnel captured by Ukrainian forces and released during the latest exchange of prisoners of war in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, as they sit in a bus at an unknown location in Belarus, in this image taken from handout footage released May 23, 2025 — Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

Russia and Ukraine each released 390 prisoners on Friday and said they would free more in the coming days, in what is expected to be the biggest prisoner swap of the war so far.

The agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each was the only concrete step towards peace to emerge last week from the first direct talks between the warring sides in more than three years, when they failed to agree a ceasefire.

Both sides said they had each released 270 soldiers and 120 civilians so far, with more due to be released on Saturday and Sunday.

The released Ukrainians arrived at a hospital in the northern Chernihiv region in buses and filed out, pale, most of them with shaven heads and wrapped in Ukrainian flags.

"I have no words to describe (my feelings). I was in captivity for 22 months,” said Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr Nehir. He embraced his wife who said she had not been informed of his release and came from their home in Sumy region out of hope.

"You can’t make it out if you don’t believe. You have to believe every day," Nehir said.

Another soldier, Oleksandr Tarasov, 38, from Mykolaiv, said he had been captured a year and nine months ago on the Kherson front after its recapture by Ukraine in 2022.

"I didn’t believe until this moment that it could happen," he said of his release.

The freed Russians arrived in Belarus, which neighbours Ukraine, where they were receiving psychological and medical assistance, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

They include civilians captured inside Russia's Kursk region during a Ukrainian incursion.

Video released by the ministry showed civilians on a bus, some smiling and others crying. "This is our gift, happiness," one woman said.

Another video showed released soldiers wearing military fatigues holding up a Russian and a Soviet flag and shouting "Hurrah!"

"Everything will be all right! Glory to Russia!" said one soldier.

TRUMP HAILS RELEASE

Referring to the prisoner swap earlier on Friday, US President Donald Trump, who had pressed the sides to meet last week, wrote on Truth Social: "Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???"

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides are believed to have been wounded or killed in Europe's deadliest war since World War Two, although neither side publishes accurate casualty figures. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians have also died as Russian forces have besieged and bombarded Ukrainian cities.

Ukraine on Friday reiterated that it is ready for a 30-day ceasefire immediately.

Russia, which launched the war by invading its neighbour in 2022 and now occupies about a fifth of Ukraine, says it will not pause its assaults until conditions are met first. A member of the Ukrainian delegation called those conditions "non-starters".

Trump, who has shifted US policy from supporting Kyiv towards accepting some of Moscow's account of the war, had said he could tighten sanctions on Russia if it blocked peace. But after speaking to Putin on Monday he decided to take no action for now.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov told reporters at the hospital that the swap was "the first stage" and that Kyiv still hoped to secure a ceasefire.

"We hope that the U.S. will support Ukraine in achieving the ceasefire," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow would hand Kyiv a draft document outlining its conditions for a long-term peace agreement once the prisoner exchange is completed.

STILL HOPING

Near the hospital in the Chernihiv region, dozens of people, mostly women, stood in line along a street holding up photographs of men they hoped would be included in the swap.

Many said they had relatives who were missing in action and that they had come to find out any news they could from those who had just been released.

"It’s very difficult," said Oksana Astapenko, carrying her daughter Anhelina on her shoulders and tearing up as she spoke.

"We're still hoping. We don't know if he's in captivity or not… he's just missing. We're hoping for positive news that he's there."​