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

[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...

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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."​