[🇺🇦] Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Saif]

Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of blowing up Russian gas pumping station

Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Friday of blowing up a Russian gas pumping station in a border area where Ukrainian troops have been retreating, amid talks over a proposed US-backed moratorium on attacks on energy infrastructure. Video footage showed a blaze at the Sudzha facility, which

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of blowing up Russian gas pumping station
REUTERS
Published :
Mar 21, 2025 20:06
Updated :
Mar 21, 2025 20:06

Black smoke rises from the site of fire following an explosion at an oil depot, which was recently hit by a drone what local authorities called a Ukrainian a military strike, in the settlement of Kavkazskaya in the Krasnodar region, Russia, in this still image from video released March 21, 2025. Photo : Krasnodar Region's Ministry of Internal Affairs/Handout via REUTERS

Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Friday of blowing up a Russian gas pumping station in a border area where Ukrainian troops have been retreating, amid talks over a proposed US-backed moratorium on attacks on energy infrastructure.

Video footage showed a blaze at the Sudzha facility, which is located inside Russia several hundred metres from the Ukrainian border.

It is inside a pocket of Russian territory that had been captured by Ukrainian forces last year, but which Moscow has mostly recovered in heavy fighting in recent weeks. Russian troops pushed Ukrainian forces out of the nearby town of Sudzha last week.

Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine's troops had left the pumping station and blown it up in their retreat. Moscow described this as a violation of the moratorium on attacks on energy infrastructure, which it said it has abided by since a phone call between President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Kyiv said Russian forces had blown up the facility themselves as a provocation, describing Russia's accusations as fake.

Putin agreed to the pause in attacks on energy facilities during his phone call with Trump, when Putin rejected a proposal for a more comprehensive 30-day ceasefire. Kyiv says it is prepared to accept the proposal if hammered out formally in talks.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said it had opened a criminal case over what it called "an act of terrorism" which had done "significant damage" to the gas transit facility, which once took Russian gas to Europe.

The Ukrainian military accused Russian forces of shelling it with artillery in a false flag "provocation".

"The Russians continue to produce numerous fakes and seek to mislead the international community," the Ukrainian army General Staff said in a statement.

Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president's chief-of-staff, said: "Russian attempts to deceive everyone and pretend that they are 'adhering to the ceasefire' will not work, as the fake (news) about the strikes on the gas station will not work."

Reuters could not independently verify the accounts of the situation at the plant or the cause of the blast.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Putin's order for Russian forces to temporarily halt attacks on energy infrastructure in Ukraine remained in force, and the Sudzha explosion showed Ukraine could not be trusted to keep its word.

Separately, a new explosion rocked an oil depot in Russia's southern Krasnodar region on Friday where firefighters had been trying to extinguish a blaze that had broken out on Tuesday after a Ukrainian drone attack hours after Putin spoke to Trump.

"During the extinguishing process, due to depressurisation of the burning tank, there was an explosion of oil products and release of burning oil," Russian regional authorities said on the Telegram messaging app.

The fire spread to another tank, and the fire area increased to 10,000 sq metres (108,000 sq feet), they added - more than twice the original size of the blaze. More than 450 firefighters were trying to tackle it, and two had been injured.

Russia has pounded Ukraine's energy grid throughout the war, causing frequent blackouts affecting civilians and industry, arguing that civilian infrastructure is a legitimate target because it helps Ukraine's war effort.

More recently, Kyiv has also been launching attacks on Russian oil and gas targets, which it says provide fuel for Moscow's forces in Ukraine and funds Russia's military.​

 

[Saif]

Put fresh pressure on Moscow to end war

President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday urged Ukraine’s allies to put fresh pressure on Moscow to end the war, after Russian drones targeted Kyiv overnight, killing at least three people, according to local authorities.

www.thedailystar.net

Put fresh pressure on Moscow to end war
Zelensky urges allies as Russian strikes on Kyiv kill three people ; Ukraine, US teams to hold talks in KSA

President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday urged Ukraine's allies to put fresh pressure on Moscow to end the war, after Russian drones targeted Kyiv overnight, killing at least three people, according to local authorities.

"New decisions and new pressure on Moscow are needed to bring an end to these strikes and this war," Zelensky posted on social media on the eve of parallel talks between the two sides with US officials on a partial truce.

"According to the available information, three people died, including a five-year-old child. Another 10 people were wounded," the Kyiv city military administration said on Telegram.

Among the wounded, "the youngest victim was... only 11 months old", it said.

The drones targeted several districts of Kyiv, mainly hitting residential buildings and causing large fires, according to footage circulating on social media.

Ukraine's air force also said Russia had launched 147 drones overnight targeting several parts of the country. The military said air defence units had destroyed 97 of the drones, with 25 failing to reach their targets.

Russian and Ukrainian delegations are due to hold parallel ceasefire talks with US representatives in Saudi Arabia today.

Moscow is hoping to achieve "some progress" at the talks, a Russian negotiator told state media before the United States meets Ukrainian and Russian delegations separately in a bid to halt the three-year conflict.

US envoy Keith Kellogg described the effort as "shuttle diplomacy" between hotel rooms.

Ukraine will meet the US mediators first, with Zelensky saying he was "prepared" for yesterday's talks.

Moscow has rejected a joint US-Ukraine proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, countering with a suggested pause on aerial attacks on energy facilities.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said US President Donald Trump has a point that European countries must bear a greater burden for their collective self-defence, the New York Times said yesterday. "We need to think about defence and security in a more immediate way," he told the newspaper.​

 

[Saif]

No Ukraine deal after US-Russia Saudi talks

No deal emerged from Washington’s talks with both Kyiv and Moscow in Saudi Arabia Tuesday on any ceasefire after three years of fighting, with Russia demanding that the US ‘order’ Kyiv to enter a new deal on the Black Sea...

www.newagebd.net

No Ukraine deal after US-Russia Saudi talks
Agence France-Presse . Riyadh 25 March, 2025, 23:20

No deal emerged from Washington’s talks with both Kyiv and Moscow in Saudi Arabia Tuesday on any ceasefire after three years of fighting, with Russia demanding that the US ‘order’ Kyiv to enter a new deal on the Black Sea.

US president Donald Trump is pushing for a rapid end to Russia’s invasion and had hoped the latest round of talks in Saudi Arabia would pave the way for a truce.

Kyiv held a brief second round of talks with US officials Tuesday, a day after hours of US-Russia negotiations ended without breakthroughs announced.

Ukraine earlier this month agreed to a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire, but Russia turned it down, with Kyiv accusing it of wanting to gain more battlefield advantage first.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov gave no sign that Moscow was closer to agreeing to a wider ceasefire, instead calling for a new Black Sea deal more beneficial for Russian exports.

‘We are, as the president said, for restarting in some kind of form, in a more acceptable way for everyone, the Black Sea Initiative,’ Lavrov said. He added that Russia does not want ‘anybody to try to push us out’ of the grain and fertiliser market.

The previous Black Sea agreement allowed millions of tonnes of grain and other food exports to be shipped safely from Ukraine’s ports, but Russia had complained that it was not beneficial for its trade.

Lavrov called on the US to ‘order (Ukrainian leader Volodymyr) Zelensky and his team’ to enter such a deal.

He accused Western countries of trying to ‘contain’ Russia like ‘Napoleon and Hitler.’

Ukraine has not yet commented on the outcome of its talks.

A source in the Ukrainian delegation told a small group of media including AFP earlier Tuesday that a second round of negotiations had ended shortly after they had begun.

Lavrov’s statements came after 12 hours of talks Monday between the Russian and American delegation.

The Kremlin said earlier that Russia was still ‘analysing’ the results of its negotiations, that the ‘content’ of the discussions would not be made public and that there was no ‘specific’ date for another meeting.

The Trump administration has made statements sympathetic towards Russia, with Kyiv and European allies worried it will yield to the Kremlin’s demands.

The Saudi talks came as both Russia and Ukraine escalate their attacks on the ground, with Kyiv saying its air defence units had downed 78 out of 139 drones launched by Russia Tuesday.

In Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy, officials said the toll from a Russian strike a day earlier climbed to 101 wounded, including 23 children.

The strike hit a residential area in the city near the Russian border as negotiations were taking place in Riyadh.

The local administration in Sumy said 14 adults and 16 children were in hospital, with one adult and one child in ‘serious condition.’

Russia has advanced in some areas of the front for months and the Kremlin has praised troops for recently retaking swathes of territory held by Ukraine in the border region of Kursk.

Moscow’s defence ministry on Tuesday claimed to have captured two more villages in southern and eastern Ukraine.

It occupies much of the Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Russia has repeatedly said it will not give up any territory it has seized.

The Kremlin has downplayed expectations of a rapid resolution since rhetoric around a possible halt in fighting escalated with the election of Trump.

A Russian negotiator had said earlier on Tuesday that Moscow would continue ‘useful’ talks with US representatives but would aim to involve the UN and other countries.

‘We talked about everything, it was an intense dialogue, not easy, but very useful for us and the Americans,’ Grigory Karasin told the state TASS news agency, adding that ‘lots of problems were discussed’.

‘Of course we are far from solving everything, from being in agreement on all points, but it seems that this type of discussion is very timely,’ he said.

‘We will continue doing it, adding in the international community, above all the United Nations and certain countries,’ Karasin said.

Ukraine has repeatedly accused the Kremlin of trying to put off any serious discussion of implementing a halt in hostilities.​

 

[Saif]

Russia, Ukraine trade blame for strikes endangering truce efforts

Ukraine accused Russia of launching 117 drones overnight while Russia accused Ukraine of firing drones at a ‘gas storage facility’ in annexed Crimean peninsula and a power installation in Bryansk region...

www.newagebd.net

Russia, Ukraine trade blame for strikes endangering truce efforts
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 26 March, 2025, 20:42

Ukrainian foreign minister Andriy Sybiga (R), Norway’s foreign minister Espen Barth Eide and Norway’s minister of labour and inclusion Tonje Brennalay (L) walk on a street before a meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday, amid the Russia-Ukraine war. —AFP photo

Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Wednesday of derailing a US-brokered deal that could see the warring countries halt attacks on the Black Sea and against energy sites.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky denounced a barrage of more than 100 drones launched by Russia overnight, hours after Kyiv agreed to a framework for a halt in fighting in the key waterway.

The United States said Tuesday that it had brokered the agreements in talks with both sides in Saudi Arabia, part of efforts by US president Donald Trump to quickly end the Russia–Ukraine war, now grinding through its fourth year.

But key questions over implementation remain. The Kremlin said the agreement to halt Black Sea strikes could come into force only after the lifting of restrictions on its agriculture sector.

Kyiv, which has voiced readiness to agree a complete 30-day ceasefire, said it came into effect when the United States published details of the agreement late Tuesday.

‘Launching such large-scale attacks after ceasefire negotiations is a clear signal to the whole world that Moscow is not going to pursue real peace,’ Zelensky posted on social media.

‘There must also be clear pressure and strong action from the world on Russia — more pressure, more sanctions from the United States — to stop Russian strikes,’ Zelensky said.

Russia launched 117 drones over Ukraine overnight, of which 56 were downed and 48 were lost from radar without causing damage, the air force said.

The attack damaged buildings in the central city of Kryvyi Rig — Zelensky’s hometown — and in the border region of Sumy, Ukrainian officials said.

Russia meanwhile accused Ukraine of attacking its energy infrastructure overnight, which Kyiv denied.

Russia is ‘spreading false and baseless accusations in order to prolong the war’, the Ukrainian General Staff said.

President Vladimir Putin had ordered a 30-day truce on such targets past week but Kyiv said Russian strikes on energy sites continued unabated.

Ukraine fired drones at a ‘gas storage facility’ in the annexed Crimean peninsula as well as a power installation in the Bryansk region, the Russian defence ministry said.

‘The Kyiv regime, while continuing to damage Russia’s civilian energy infrastructure, is actually doing everything it can to disrupt the Russian-American agreements,’ it wrote.

Moscow says the 30-day truce has been in effect since March 18, but the monitoring of it is unclear and both the United States and Russia have issued contradictory statements.

The United States said Moscow and Kyiv had agreed only to ‘develop measures’ towards an energy truce. A communications advisor for Zelensky said late Tuesday that Russian forces had struck Ukrainian energy sites eight times since Putin’s order.

Trump’s aim to hastily end the war has raised fears in Ukraine that it could be forced into ceding some of the 20 per cent of its territory that Russia occupies, or that a US deal might not come with deterrents that would stop Russia from attacking again.

Zelensky and officials in Kyiv have claimed repeatedly that Moscow does in fact not want peace and is seeking only to continue advancing across the front line.

In a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday, foreign minister Andriy Sybiga said Ukraine had ‘proven’ it was not standing in the way of peace.

‘Now Russia has to demonstrate through concrete actions — not manipulations — its real desire to end the war. Otherwise, it will be necessary to increase pressure on Moscow,’ he said.

Trump conceded in an interview Tuesday that ‘it could be they’re dragging their feet’, referring to Russia, adding, ‘I think Russia would like to see it end, and I think Zelensky would like to see it end at this point.’

Germany urged Russia on Wednesday to agree to a ceasefire without conditions.

‘It is not a situation for dialogue when a ceasefire is repeatedly tied to concessions and new demands... we must not be deceived by the Russian president,’ foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said.​

 

[Saif]

Macron hosts Europe’s ‘coalition of willing’ to protect Ukraine

French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday was hosting European leaders including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday for a summit aimed at boosting Ukrainian security ahead of any potential ceasefire with Russia...

www.newagebd.net

Macron hosts Europe’s ‘coalition of willing’ to protect Ukraine
Agence France-Presse . Paris 27 March, 2025, 23:11

French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday was hosting European leaders including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday for a summit aimed at boosting Ukrainian security ahead of any potential ceasefire with Russia.

The meeting is seeking to set out what security guarantees Europe can offer Ukraine once there is agreement on a ceasefire to end the over three-year war, including the possible deployment of military forces by a so-called ‘coalition of the willing’.

Twenty-seven heads of state and government, including British premier Keir Starmer and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, were attending the summit, which began with a family photo before several hours of talks commenced.

Macron was due to hold a news conference in the afternoon and other leaders were expected to hold their own briefings.

Key NATO member Turkey, currently under scrutiny due to protests at home, was represented by vice president Cevdet Yilmaz.

Macron and Starmer have taken the lead in seeking to forge a coordinated European response to protecting Ukraine both during the current conflict and in its eventual aftermath after US President Donald Trump shook the world by opening direct negotiations with Russia.

As well as boosting Ukraine’s own armed forces, a key pillar of ensuring security and prevent any further Russian invasion could be to deploy European troops to Ukraine, although the modalities of this are far from clear.

The United States ‘is playing a leading role by convening the ceasefire talks’, said Starmer.

‘President Zelensky has demonstrated his commitment repeatedly, and Europe is stepping up to play its part to defend Ukraine’s future.’

But Starmer said that so far Russian president Vladimir Putin ‘has shown he’s not a serious player in these peace talks’ and that his ‘promises are hollow’ on any eventual ceasefire with Ukraine.

Ahead of the summit, Macron, Starmer and Zelensky held trilateral talks at the Elysee Palace.

Thursday’s meeting comes after the White House said that Russia and Ukraine had agreed on the contours of a possible ceasefire in the Black Sea, during parallel talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia.

Kyiv confirmed this, as did Moscow — although it said that it had set conditions, including demanding the United States lift sanction affecting its agricultural sector.

Speaking alongside Zelensky in Paris on Wednesday ahead of the talks, Macron said this was now a ‘decisive phase to put an end to the war of aggression’ waged by Russia against Ukraine.

Macron also announced a new French military aid package for Ukraine worth two billion euros ($2.2 billion), with Paris ready to rapidly ship existing hardware from its stocks.

He said Russia must accept a 30-day ceasefire offered by Ukraine ‘without preconditions’, accusing Moscow of still showing a ‘desire for war’ and hailing Kyiv for having ‘taken the risk of peace’.

Zelensky said he was expecting ‘strong decisions’ from Thursday’s meeting, adding: ‘Moscow does not understand any language other than the language of force.’

‘Now is definitely not the time to reduce pressure on Russia or weaken our unity for the sake of peace,’ he said.

‘We need more strong joint steps to ensure that peace is just and sustainable.’

Speaking in Jamaica, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Russia’s conditions will be evaluated, and cautioned that a peace deal ‘won’t be simple’.

‘It’ll take time but at least we’re on that road and we’re talking about these things,’ Rubio said.

As the detente between Washington and Moscow continues under Trump, the new Russian ambassador to the US, veteran diplomat Alexander Darchiev, arrived in Washington on Wednesday.

He hailed a ‘window of opportunity’ for the two countries.

Zelensky said that it was too early to discuss specific roles for future European forces in Ukraine, after a key aide, Igor Zhovkva, said in Paris that Kyiv needed a robust European presence and not just peacekeepers.

A European force could be ‘a card in the hand of the Ukrainians’ that would ‘dissuade the Russians’ from launching another attack but they would not be on the front line, said Macron.

Despite the diplomatic exchanges of recent weeks, South Korea’s military said on Thursday that North Korea had deployed 3,000 additional soldiers to Russia this year as ‘reinforcements’ — in addition to the 11,000 already sent.

‘In addition to manpower, North Korea continues to supply missiles, artillery equipment and ammunition,’ South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff added.​

 

[Saif]

Ukraine says mineral deal not final; summary shows US demands more income

The terms of a mineral deal between Ukraine and the US have not yet been finalised, Ukrainian officials said on Friday, after a summary of Washington's latest offer suggested it was demanding all of Ukraine's natural resources income for years. The latest US proposal would require Kyiv to send Was

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Ukraine says mineral deal not final; summary shows US demands more income
REUTERS
Published :
Mar 28, 2025 17:54
Updated :
Mar 28, 2025 17:54

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to the media at the UK Ambassador's Residence after a meeting with European leaders on strengthening support for Ukraine, in Paris, France, March 27, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool

The terms of a mineral deal between Ukraine and the US have not yet been finalised, Ukrainian officials said on Friday, after a summary of Washington's latest offer suggested it was demanding all of Ukraine's natural resources income for years.

The latest US proposal would require Kyiv to send Washington all profit from a fund controlling Ukrainian resources until Ukraine had repaid all American wartime aid, plus interest, according to the summary, reviewed by Reuters.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko told lawmakers that Kyiv would issue its position on the new draft only once there was consensus. Until then, public discussion would be harmful, she said.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior official in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office, told Reuters there was no finalised draft for now: "Consultations are still happening at the level of the various ministries," he said, declining to elaborate further.

Another Ukrainian source described the full document presented by the Americans as "huge".

The Trump administration, which has reoriented Washington's policy towards endorsing Russia's narrative about the three-year-old war in Ukraine, has been pressing Kyiv for weeks to sign a deal giving Washington a stake in Ukraine's resources.

Zelenskiy has repeatedly said he accepts the idea, although he would not sign an agreement that would impoverish his country. On Thursday he said Washington was constantly changing the terms but that he did not want the US to think he was opposed in principle.

Three people familiar with the ongoing negotiations said Washington had revised its proposals. The latest draft gives Ukraine no future security guarantees and requires it to contribute to a joint investment fund all income from the use of natural resources managed by state and private enterprises.

According to the summary, it stipulates that Washington is given first rights to purchase extracted resources and recoup all the money it has given Ukraine since 2022, plus interest at a 4 per cent annual rate, before Ukraine begins to gain access to the fund's profits.

Ukraine's 2024 budget revenues included, among other things, $1.2 billion of rent payments for the use of subsurface resources, $1.8 billion in dividends and other payments from the state share in state-owned companies, and $19.4 billion from profits at state-owned companies, finance ministry data showed.

The joint investment fund would be managed by the US International Development Finance Corporation and have a board of five people, three appointed by the US and two by Ukraine. Funds would be converted into foreign currency and transferred abroad.

The updated proposal was first reported by the Financial Times.

An earlier version of the deal, which Ukraine agreed to in principle before Zelenskiy visited the White House last month, had terms that appeared more favourable to Ukraine. It proposed a joint investment fund with Ukraine contributing 50 per cent of proceeds from future profits of state-owned natural resources.

Zelenskiy's visit on February 28 ended with Trump berating him in the Oval Office, later followed by several days during which Washington suspended all intelligence support and military aid to Ukraine.

Since then, Zelenskiy has trod carefully, repeatedly thanking the United States for support.

Earlier this month Ukraine agreed to a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, even though this was rejected by Russia.

Last week, Ukraine and Russia both agreed to pause attacks on energy infrastructure and at sea, but Moscow demanded international sanctions be eased before it accepted the maritime truce.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been spearheading negotiations on the mineral deal. In an interview with Fox News earlier this week, he said the US had "passed along a completed document for the economic partnership" and Washington hoped to "perhaps even get signatures next week."

Trump has said a minerals deal will help secure a peace agreement by giving the United States a financial stake in Ukraine's future. He also sees it as America's way of earning back some of the tens of billions of dollars it has given to Ukraine in financial and military aid since Russia invaded in 2022. Most of the aid funds were spent in the United States.

The proposal summary makes no mention of the U.S. taking ownership of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, another proposal Trump has floated.

PUTIN SAYS KYIV GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE REPLACED BY

National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt declined to confirm the terms of the latest proposal, but said the deal "offers Ukraine the opportunity to form an enduring economic relationship with the United States that is the basis for long term security and peace".

After years during which the US firmly backed Ukraine in resisting Russia's invasion, Trump says Washington is neutral and just wants to end the war. He and his officials say they believe Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to make peace.

But so far Moscow has not stepped back from its maximalist demands, which include that Ukraine be disarmed and rendered neutral, and that it withdraw from all territory Moscow has claimed since its invasion.

In his latest demand, Putin said on Thursday that Ukraine's government should be replaced by a temporary administration that would end the war and hold elections. He praised Trump, and said Russia was prepared for peace but winning on the battlefield.

"In my opinion, the newly elected president of the United States sincerely wants an end to the conflict for a number of reasons," Russian news agencies quoted Putin as telling sailors on a visit to a port.

Russia is in favour of "peaceful solutions to any conflict, including this one, through peaceful means, but not at our expense", Putin said. "Throughout the entire line of military contact, our troops are holding the strategic initiative."

A White House National Security Council spokesperson, asked about Putin's remarks on a temporary administration for Ukraine, said governance in Ukraine was determined by its constitution.​