[🇺🇦] Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Saif]

Germany's Merz held call with Trump on Ukraine arms deliveries

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke with US President Donald Trump on the phone on Thursday about arms deliveries to Ukraine, a spokesperson for the German leaders told Reuters. Merz initiated the call with Trump, the spokesperson said on Friday. Spiegel magazine first reported on the call.

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Germany's Merz held call with Trump on Ukraine

Jul 04, 2025 23:03
Updated :
Jul 04, 2025 23:03

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attends the BVR banking conference in Berlin, Germany, July 3, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen/Files

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke with US President Donald Trump on the phone on Thursday about arms deliveries to Ukraine, a spokesperson for the German leaders told Reuters.

Merz initiated the call with Trump, the spokesperson said on Friday.

Spiegel magazine first reported on the call.​

 

[Saif]

Russia brushes off talks, launches largest assault on Ukraine

The Kremlin said on Friday that it sees no immediate diplomatic way out of the war in Ukraine, hours after launching its largest ever drone and missile barrage of the invasion.

www.newagebd.net

Russia brushes off talks, launches largest assault on Ukraine
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 05 July, 2025, 01:20

Firefighters working on a fire at a site of a strike following a mass Russian drone and missile attack on the Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Friday, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. | AFP photo

The Kremlin said on Friday that it sees no immediate diplomatic way out of the war in Ukraine, hours after launching its largest ever drone and missile barrage of the invasion.

The hours-long bombardments across Ukraine came just after a telephone call between the US and Russian presidents ended without any breakthrough.

AFP journalists in Kyiv heard drones buzzing over the capital and explosions ringing out throughout the night as Ukrainian air defence systems fended off the attack.

‘We are interested in achieving our goals in the course of the special military operation and it is preferable to do it by political and diplomatic means,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, referring to its invasion, launched in February 2022.

‘But as long as that is not possible, we are continuing the special operation,’ he said in a briefing, including with AFP.

US president Donald Trump had said he made no progress in discussions one day earlier with president Vladimir Putin on ending the war, while the Kremlin vowed to pursue its war aims.

A senior Ukrainian official said that Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky were planning to speak later on Friday.

Tymur, a Kyiv resident who said he had experienced previous Russian attacks, said that the assault in the early hours of Friday was different.

‘Nothing like this attack had ever happened before. There have never been so many explosions,’ he said.

Zelensky said air alerts had begun echoing out across the country as the Trump-Putin call was getting underway.

‘Yet again, Russia is showing it has no intention of ending the war and terror,’ Zelensky said on social media.

‘All of this is clear evidence that without truly large-scale pressure, Russia will not change its dumb, destructive behaviour.’

He urged the United States in particular to increase pressure on Moscow, which on Friday announced fresh territorial gains on the front line with the capture of a village in the Donetsk region.

Poland said its embassy building in Kyiv had been damaged in the attack but that staff were unharmed.

Germany’s foreign ministry meanwhile said that the timing of the attack — just after the leaders’ call — showed that Moscow ’continues to rely on brute force’.

‘Ukraine needs more to defend itself, not less,’ the ministry said on social media.

A government spokesman said Germany was exploring the possibility of purchasing more Patriot air defence systems from the United States for Ukraine.

Zelensky said 23 people were wounded in the barrage, which the air force said comprised 539 drones and 11 missiles.

A representative of Ukraine’s air force told Ukrainian media that the attack was the largest of the Russian invasion, launched in February 2022.

Overnight Russia attacks have escalated over recent weeks.

An AFP tally found Moscow launched a record number of drones and missiles at Ukraine in June, when direct peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow appeared to stall.

In Kyiv, AFP journalists saw dozens of residents of the capital taking shelter in a metro station.

Yuliia Golovnina, who said she shelters at the metro regularly, described to AFP the worry that comes with hearing an explosion during an attack.

‘Will there be another one? Will something collapse on you?’ the 47-year-old said.

‘So in those seconds, you just hold your breath and wait to see what happens next,’ she added.

In Kyiv, concerns mount over whether the US will continue delivering military aid, which is key to Ukraine’s ability to fend off the drone and missile barrages.

The US announced this week it was reducing some of its aid deliveries.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said this was a clear signal that the 27-nation European Union needed to ‘step up’.

Ukraine has also ramped up its retaliatory strikes in Russia, where a woman was killed when a Ukrainian drone crashed into an apartment building, the acting regional governor in Rostov said.

Talks, spearheaded by the United States to secure a ceasefire, have stalled but Ukraine and Russia announced a fresh swap of prisoners of war with Ukraine.

The two sides said it was part of agreements reached during talks in Istanbul last month.​

 

[Saif]

Russian air defences shoot down four drones headed for Moscow, mayor says

Russian air defences shot down four Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow on Saturday, the city’s mayor said, while one of the capital’s main airports temporarily halted outgoing flights. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency services were working at the sites of the downed drones, but gav

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Russian air defences shoot down four drones headed for Moscow, mayor says

REUTERS
Published :
Jul 05, 2025 21:43
Updated :
Jul 05, 2025 21:43

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia May 5, 2025. Photo : Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS

Russian air defences shot down four Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow on Saturday, the city’s mayor said, while one of the capital’s main airports temporarily halted outgoing flights.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency services were working at the sites of the downed drones, but gave no information on potential damage.

The Defence Ministry said 94 drones had been destroyed over Russia overnight on Saturday and 45 more between 0800 MSK (0400 GMT) and 1350 MSK.

Outgoing flights at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport were temporarily paused on Saturday before they were later lifted, Russia’s Rosaviatsia aviation authority said, citing “restrictions” over the capital’s airspace as well as strong winds.

Rosaviatsia said incoming and outgoing flights at airports in several other Russian cities were also temporarily halted, including at St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport, citing safety concerns.​

 

[Saif]

Trump says Ukraine will need Patriot missiles for its defense, chides Putin

US President Donald Trump said Ukraine would need Patriot missiles for its defenses, after speaking with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday, and voiced frustration over Russian President Vladimir Putin's failure to end the fighting. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had a good

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Trump says Ukraine will need Patriot missiles for its defense, chides Putin

REUTERS
Published :
Jul 05, 2025 19:58
Updated :
Jul 05, 2025 19:58

An explosion of a drone is seen in the sky over the city during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 4, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Vladyslav Sodel

US President Donald Trump said Ukraine would need Patriot missiles for its defenses, after speaking with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday, and voiced frustration over Russian President Vladimir Putin's failure to end the fighting.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had a good call with Zelenskiy, repeating that he was "very unhappy" about his call with Putin a day earlier, given what he called the Russian leader's refusal to work on a ceasefire.

Asked whether the United States would agree to supply more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, as requested by Zelenskiy, Trump said: "They're going to need them for defense... They're going to need something because they're being hit pretty hard."

Trump touted the efficacy of the Patriot missiles, calling the weapon "pretty amazing."

Asked about the prospects for a ceasefire, Trump said, "It’s a very tough situation... I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin. He wants to go all the way, just keep killing people - it’s no good."

Zelenskiy said he had agreed to work on increasing Kyiv's capability to "defend the sky" as Russian attacks escalate, adding in a message on Telegram that he discussed joint defense production, as well as joint purchases and investments with the US leader.

Ukraine has been asking Washington to sell it more Patriot missiles and systems that it sees as key to defending its cities from intensifying Russian air strikes.

A decision by Washington to halt some shipments of weapons to Ukraine prompted warnings by Kyiv that the move would weaken its ability to defend against Russia's airstrikes and battlefield advances. Germany said it is in talks on buying Patriot air defense systems to bridge the gap.

A source briefed on the Trump-Zelenskiy call told Reuters they were optimistic that supplies of Patriot missiles could resume after what they called a "very good" conversation between the presidents.

RUSSIA PUMMELS KYIV

Trump said he also spoke with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz about Ukraine's request for Patriot missiles but that no decision had been made to supply the advanced missiles.

US news outlet Axios reported, citing unnamed sources, that the call lasted around 40 minutes and that Trump told Zelenskiy he would check what US weapons due to be sent to Ukraine, if any, had been put on hold.

Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said he and Trump had agreed to "arrange a meeting between our teams to strengthen air defenses.

"We had a very detailed discussion on joint production. We need it, America needs it."

The conversation came a day after Trump said he had a disappointing call with Putin.

Russia pummeled Kyiv with the largest drone attack of the war across the capital hours after Trump's conversation with Putin on Thursday.

Zelenskiy called the attack "deliberately massive and cynical."

Kyiv in the past received Patriot batteries and ammunition from the US in the form of aid under then-President Joe Biden.

Trump criticised him for sending weapons to Ukraine without getting anything in return, and since taking office has overseen a dramatic shake-up of relations with Kyiv.​

 

[Saif]

Trump 'very unhappy' with Putin on Ukraine, hints at sanctions

US President Donald Trump said Friday he was "very unhappy" about his telephone call with Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine, saying the Russian leader just wanted to "keep killing people."

en.prothomalo.com

Trump 'very unhappy' with Putin on Ukraine, hints at sanctions

AFP Morristown
Published: 05 Jul 2025, 11: 53

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin AFP

US President Donald Trump said Friday he was "very unhappy" about his telephone call with Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine, saying the Russian leader just wanted to "keep killing people."

"It's a very tough situation. I told you I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin. He wants to go all the way, just keep killing people, it's no good," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Trump also hinted that he may finally be ready to toughen sanctions against Russia, having held off for the past six months while he tried to persuade Putin to end the war.

"We talk about sanctions a lot," Trump said. "He understands that it may be coming."

Trump added that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile had a "very strategic call" on Friday, as concerns mounted in Kyiv over US military aid deliveries.

Zelensky said earlier that the two leaders had agreed to work to "strengthen" Ukraine's air defenses, following Russia's largest drone and missile barrage of the invasion so far.

Trump said he had also discussed sending Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine in a separate call with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday, although he had not yet agreed to do so.

Merz "feels they have to be protected," Trump said.​

 

[Saif]

Russia says captured two more east Ukraine settlements

Russia said Sunday it had captured another two settlements in east Ukraine, one in the Donetsk region and one in the Kharkiv region.

www.thedailystar.net

Russia says captured two more east Ukraine settlements

This handout picture taken and released by the Ukrainian State Emergency Service on July 6, 2025 shows local residents outside a damaged residential building following a Russian drone attack in Vyshgorod district, Kyiv region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo: Handout/Ukrainian State Emergency Service/AFP

Russia said Sunday it had captured another two settlements in east Ukraine, one in the Donetsk region and one in the Kharkiv region.

Ukraine did not immediately comment on Russia's claims.

Moscow has been grinding forward on the front line for over a year, pressing its advantage against overstretched and outmanned Ukrainian troops.

On Sunday, Russia said it had captured the village of Piddubne in Donetsk and Sobolivka in Kharkiv.

Piddubne was home to around 500 people before the conflict and lies just seven kilometres (four miles) from the border of Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region.

The Sobolivka village lies some three kilometres (two miles) west of the town of Kupiansk, outside of areas Russia claims it is holding, according to battlefield maps by the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

In two separate Telegram posts, the Russian defence ministry said its army units had "liberated" the settlements of Poddubnoye and Sobolevka, using Russian spellings for the localities.

The Russian military accelerated its advances for a third consecutive month in June.

Its territorial gains for that month were the biggest since November last year, according to an AFP analysis of ISW data.​

 

[Saif]

Russia claims new foothold in Ukraine region

Russia said Monday it captured its first village in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region after grinding towards the border for months, dealing a psychological blow for Kyiv as its worries mount...

www.newagebd.net

Russia claims new foothold in Ukraine region
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 08 July, 2025, 00:50

Russia said Monday it captured its first village in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region after grinding towards the border for months, dealing a psychological blow for Kyiv as its worries mount.

Moscow launched a fresh large-scale drone and missile barrage before the announcement, including on Ukraine’s army recruitment centres, as part of an escalating series of attacks that come as ceasefire talks led by the United States stall. The Russian defence ministry said its forces captured the village of Dachne in the Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial mining territory that has also come under mounting Russian air attacks.

Russian forces appear to have made crossing the border a key strategic objective over recent months, and deeper advances into the region could pose logistics and economic problems for Kyiv.

Kyiv has so far denied any Russian foothold in Dnipropetrovsk. Moscow first said last month its forces had crossed the border, more than three years since launching its invasion and pushing through the neighbouring Donetsk region.

Earlier Monday, Ukraine’s army said its forces ‘repelled’ attacks in Dnipropetrovsk, including ‘in the vicinity’ of Dachne.

Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the five Ukrainian regions—Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea—that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.

Russia used its main city of Dnipro as a testing ground for its ‘experimental’ Oreshnik missile in late 2024, claiming to have struck an aeronautics production facility.

An AFP reporter in the eastern city of Kharkiv saw civilians with their belongings being evacuated from a residential building damaged during Russia’s overnight attacks, and others sheltering with pets in a basement.

At least four people were killed and dozens wounded across Ukraine, mostly in the Kharkiv region bordering Russia and in a late-morning attack on the industrial city of Zaphorizhzhia.

‘Air defence remains the top priority for protecting lives,’ President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media after the attacks, as fears mount over the continuing deliveries of US military aid.

Zelensky said Ukraine was ‘strongly counting on our partners to fully deliver on what we have agreed’.

The air force said Moscow had launched 101 drones across the country and four missiles. Seventy-five of the drones were downed, it added.

Attacks on Monday targeted two recruitment centres in separate cities wounding four people, the Ukrainian army said, in what appears to be a new trend following similar strikes over the weekend and last week.

‘These strikes are part of a comprehensive enemy operation aimed at disrupting mobilisation in Ukraine,’ Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communications, a government-funded body, wrote on social media.

It added that Russia had attacked recruitment centres last week in the cities of Kremenchuk, Kryvyi Rig, and Poltava.

In Russia, the defence ministry said that it had shot down 91 Ukrainian drones overnight, including eight in the Moscow region, with the majority of the rest in regions bordering Ukraine.​

 

[Saif]

US to send more weapons to Ukraine: Trump

President Donald Trump has said the United States will send additional weapons to Ukraine, triggering Russian criticism after Moscow claimed new gains in its grinding war against its neighbour...

www.newagebd.net

US to send more weapons to Ukraine: Trump
Agence France-Presse . Washington 09 July, 2025, 02:10

President Donald Trump has said the United States will send additional weapons to Ukraine, triggering Russian criticism after Moscow claimed new gains in its grinding war against its neighbour.

The Kremlin warned Tuesday that sending arms to Ukraine only serves to prolong the conflict, a day after Trump’s pledge for ‘more weapons’ for Ukraine to defend itself.

‘It is obvious of course that these actions probably do not align with attempts to promote a peaceful resolution,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying in a briefing.

Trump’s announcement to send weapons to Ukraine Monday followed Washington saying last week that it was halting some weapons shipments to Kyiv, leaving Ukrainian officials caught off guard and scrambling for clarity.

A pause poses a potentially serious challenge for Kyiv, which is contending with some of Russia’s largest missile and drone attacks of the more than three-year war.

‘We’re going to have to send more weapons—defensive weapons primarily,’ Trump told journalists at the White House.

‘They’re getting hit very, very hard,’ he said of Ukraine, while adding that he was ‘not happy’ with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Trump has reportedly promised to immediately send 10 Patriot interceptors—anti-missile systems—to Ukraine, according to US news website Axios.

Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has shown little willingness to end the conflict despite pressure from Trump.

The US president’s pledge to ship more arms to Ukraine came after Moscow said Monday that its forces captured its first village in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region after advancing towards it for months.

Russia launched a fresh large-scale drone and missile barrage before the announcement, including on Ukraine’s military recruitment centres.

Kyiv also said it carried out a drone attack on a Russian ammunition factory in the Moscow region.

Russia said its forces captured the village of Dachne in the Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial mining territory that has come under mounting Russian air attacks.

Last month, Moscow said its forces had crossed the border into the Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time in its campaign.

Russian forces appear to have made crossing the regional border a key strategic objective in recent months, and deeper advances there could pose logistical and economic problems for Ukraine.

Kyiv has so far denied any Russian foothold in Dnipropetrovsk.

Ukraine’s military said earlier Monday its forces ‘repelled’ attacks in Dnipropetrovsk, including ‘in the vicinity’ of Dachne.

Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the five Ukrainian regions—Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea—that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.

Describing the situation in Dnipropetrovsk as ‘difficult’ for Kyiv’s forces, Ukrainian military expert Oleksiy Kopytko said Russia hopes to create some kind of buffer zone in the region.

‘Our troops are holding their ground quite steadily,’ he told AFP.

The White House said last week it was halting some key weapons shipments to Ukraine that were promised under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, without providing details on which weapons programs were affected.

It said the decision was taken after a review of US defence needs and of its military assistance to foreign countries.

Kyiv has long feared halts to US aid after Trump returned to the White House in January, having criticised the tens of billions of dollars in support and weapons sent by Biden.

Under the Biden administration, Washington committed to providing more than $65 billion in military assistance to Ukraine.

Trump has announced no new military aid packages for Kyiv since taking office for the second time.

The Republican president instead has pushed the two sides into peace talks, including in phone calls with Putin. The Russian leader has rejected pleas for a ceasefire and demanded Ukraine cedes more territory if it wants an end to the war.

Ahead of Trump’s remarks on Monday, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said air defence remained the ‘top priority for protecting lives,’ and his country was counting on partners to ‘fully deliver on what we have agreed.’​

 

[Saif]

Russia says it has evidence Ukraine has repeatedly used anti-personnel landmines

Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it has evidence that Ukraine has repeatedly used anti-personnel mines which have injured civilians and so Kyiv's exit from the Ottawa Convention would have no impact on the battlefield. Ukraine last month announced its withdrawal from the Ottawa Con

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Russia says it has evidence Ukraine has repeatedly used anti-personnel landmines

REUTERS
Published :
Jul 09, 2025 19:17
Updated :
Jul 09, 2025 19:17

Representational image: A Ukrainian serviceman fires a 2S22 Bohdana self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at a position in Donetsk region, Ukraine September 13, 2023. Photo : Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Serhii Nuzhnenko

Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it has evidence that Ukraine has repeatedly used anti-personnel mines which have injured civilians and so Kyiv's exit from the Ottawa Convention would have no impact on the battlefield.

Ukraine last month announced its withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention which banning the production and use of anti-personnel mines. It said it was a necessary step in view of Russian tactics in their 40-month-old war.

Russia is not a party to the treaty and Ukraine says Russia has used landmines extensively in the war.

"The use of anti-personnel mines by the Kyiv regime against civilians is regularly recorded by our law enforcement agencies," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.

"Ukraine's decision to withdraw from the mechanism... fits into the general course of the collective West and its satellites to revise and undermine the international legal system in the field of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation."

Zakharova noted that under the text, opens new tab of the Ottawa Treaty withdrawal during an armed conflict from the convention should not take effect before the end of the armed conflict.

"The decision to withdraw from the convention comes into force only after the end of the said armed conflict," Zakharova said. "We proceed from the fact that this provision is fully applicable to the withdrawal process launched by Ukraine from this mechanism."

"At the same time, the obligations of the Convention were not fulfilled by Kyiv even before the aforementioned decision," she said, adding that Ukraine had been obliged to destroy all stocks of anti-personnel mines back in 2010 but had not.

Lithuania and Finland look set to start domestic production of anti-personnel landmines next year to supply themselves and Ukraine because of what they see as the military threat from Russia, officials from the two NATO member states told Reuters.

The two countries, which border Russia, have announced their intention to pull out of the Ottawa Convention banning the use of such mines, and the officials said production could be launched once the six-month withdrawal process is completed.

Russia dismisses claims that it will attack a NATO member as Russophobic "nonsense" spread by European powers in an attempt to convince their populations to accept soaring defence spending.​

 

[Saif]

Russia strikes Ukraine with 728 drones

Russia targeted Ukraine with a record 728 drones overnight, shortlyafter US President Donald Trump pledged to send more defensive weapons to Kyiv and aimed unusually direct criticism at Russian President Vladimir Putin.

www.thedailystar.net

Russia strikes Ukraine with 728 drones
Nato member Poland, allies scramble jets to ensure air safety; Trump vows to send more weapons to Kyiv

​

• Zelensky wants secondary sanctions on Russia's war income​
• Trump aims unusually direct criticism at Putin​
• Europe working on a new sanctions package against Moscow​

Russia targeted Ukraine with a record 728 drones overnight, shortlyafter US President Donald Trump pledged to send more defensive weapons to Kyiv and aimed unusually direct criticism at Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian air defence units destroyed almost all the drones, including through electronic jamming systems, Ukraine's air force said on the Telegram messaging app.

Part of Russia's strike was aimed at a western region close to Nato-member Poland. The northwestern city of Lutsk, some 200 km from Poland, was the main target, Ukraine's President Zelensky said, listing 10 other provinces across the country where damage was also reported.

Polish and allied aircraft were activated to ensure air safety, Poland's Operational Command of the Polish armed forces said.

Buildings were damaged but no deaths or injuries reported in what amounted to the biggest air strike of the war on Lutsk, a city of 200,000 people, regional authorities said.

A storage facility of a local enterprise and some parking structures were ablaze, the mayor of Lutsk, Ihor Polishchuk said.

Ivan Rudnytskyi, governor of the Volyn region that includes Lutsk, said 50 Russian drones and five missiles were in the region's airspace overnight.

The attack, which follows a series of escalating air assaults on Ukraine in recent weeks, showed the need for "biting" sanctions on the sources of income Russia uses to finance the war, including on those who buy Russian oil, Zelensky said on Telegram.

Trump said on Tuesday he was considering supporting a bill in the Senate that would impose steep sanctions on Russia, including 500 percent tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports.

"We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin ... He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless," Trump said at a cabinet meeting.

When asked by a reporter what action he would take against Putin, Trump said: "I wouldn't tell you. We want to have a little surprise."

Separately, Europe is working on a new sanctions package against Moscow.

Trump has shifted US rhetoric away from staunch support for Kyiv towards accepting some of Moscow's justifications for the full-scale invasion it launched in 2022.

But initial rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine have so far borne little fruit.

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