[🇺🇦] Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Saif]

US threatens to withdraw from Ukraine talks if no progress

Trump's push for peace has stumbled, with Russian President Vladimir Putin rebuffing a complete truce.

en.prothomalo.com

US threatens to withdraw from Ukraine talks if no progress
AFP Paris
Published: 18 Apr 2025, 18: 38

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Collected

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that Washington could soon exit efforts to reach a Ukraine ceasefire if it decided peace was not "doable", after meeting European and Ukrainian officials in Paris.

European powers have been seeking a seat at the table since US President Donald Trump's shock decision to open talks with Russia to end the three-year-old war, which started with Moscow's 2022 invasion.

But Trump's push for peace has stumbled, with Russian President Vladimir Putin rebuffing a complete truce.

"The United States has been helping Ukraine over the last three years, and we want it (the conflict) to end, but it's not our war," Rubio said.

"We need to figure out here now, within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term, because if it's not, then I think we're just going to move on," he told reporters at the Le Bourget airport outside Paris.

"We have other priorities to focus on as well."

Rubio said European officials had been "very helpful and constructive with their ideas" during talks in Paris on Thursday, which he attended with US envoy Steve Witkoff.

"We'd like them to remain engaged... I think the UK and France and Germany can help us move the ball on this," he said, ahead of a similar meeting planned for "early next week" in London.

'European sanctions'

Ukraine said Friday that its prime minister would visit Washington next week for talks with US officials aimed at clinching a long-fraught minerals and resources deal.

Trump wants the deal as compensation for aid given to Ukraine by his predecessor, Joe Biden.

An agreement would be designed to give the United States royalty payments on profits from Ukrainian mining of resources and rare minerals.

Rubio had said late Thursday in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that "peace is possible if all parties commit to reaching an agreement", the US State Department said.

Rubio said he hoped European nations would consider lifting sanctions against Russia over the war.

"Many of them are European sanctions that we can't lift, if that were ever to be part of a deal," he said.

European countries last month agreed to ramp up rather than scale down sanctions on Russia.

France and Britain have sought a coordinated European response to defending Ukraine during the conflict and in any ceasefire, after Trump opened talks with Putin.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the Paris talks had made a breakthrough because the United States, Ukraine and European ministers had "gathered around the same table".

He said the United States "has understood that a just and sustainable peace... can only be achieved with the consent and contribution of Europeans."

'Little problem'

Russia's strikes, which have recently killed dozens of people including children in Ukrainian cities, have increased pressure for new diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

Witkoff said this week that Putin was open to "permanent peace" after talks with him in Saint Petersburg, their third meeting since Trump returned to the White House in January.

Zelensky has accused Witkoff of "spreading Russian narratives" after the US envoy suggested a peace deal with Russia hinged on the status of Ukraine's occupied territories.

Putin last month rejected a US proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire, after Kyiv gave its backing to the idea.

Putin also suggested Zelensky be removed from office, sparking an angry response from Trump who said he was "very angry" with the Russian leader.

Celia Belin, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Rubio's latest comments were "not surprising".

"Trump wants to get rid of the Ukraine issue," she told AFP.

"He wants to renew a strategic partnership with Moscow and he doesn't want a 'little problem' like Ukraine getting in the way."​

 

[Saif]

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/world/russias-putin-declares-unilateral-easter-ceasefire-in-ukraine

Russia's Putin declares unilateral Easter ceasefire in Ukraine
REUTERS
Published :
Apr 19, 2025 22:01
Updated :
Apr 19, 2025 22:01

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a unilateral Easter ceasefire in Ukraine, ordering his forces to end hostilities at 6 pm Moscow time (1500 GMT) on Saturday until the end of Sunday.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian air defence units were repelling an attack by Russian drones on Saturday, saying that showed true Moscow's attitude to Easter and the lives of people.

"Based on humanitarian considerations ... the Russian side announces an Easter truce. I order a stop to all military activities for this period," Putin told his military chief, Valery Gerasimov, at a meeting in the Kremlin.

"We assume that Ukraine will follow our example. At the same time, our troops should be prepared to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations by the enemy, any aggressive actions," Putin added.

US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said on Friday the United States would walk away from efforts to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal unless there are clear signs of progress soon.

The full-scale war began when Putin ordered thousands of Russian troops across the border into Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Putin has said repeatedly that he wants an end to the war. He has demanded that Ukraine must officially drop its ambitions to join NATO and withdraw its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow.

Kyiv has broadly rejected those terms as tantamount to surrender.

Putin told Gerasimov on Saturday that Russia welcomed efforts from the US, China and BRICS countries to find a peaceful settlement to the conflict.

The Russian Defence Ministry said it had given instructions on the ceasefire to all group commanders in the area of the "special military operation", the Kremlin's term for the war.

Russian troops will adhere to the ceasefire provided it is "mutually respected" by Ukraine, the ministry said in a statement.

Separately, the Russian Defence Ministry said Russia and Ukraine conducted a prisoner of war swap of 246 prisoners each on Saturday, mediated by the UAE.

The Russian POWs are in Belarus, the ministry said, where they were being provided with medical and psychological care.​

 

[Saif]

Russia, Ukraine accuse each other of breaching Easter truce

Russia and Ukraine on Sunday accused each other of violating an Easter truce announced by Russian president Vladimir Putin...

www.newagebd.net

Russia, Ukraine accuse each other of breaching Easter truce
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 21 April, 2025, 00:01

Russia and Ukraine on Sunday accused each other of violating an Easter truce announced by Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces were continuing their shelling and assaults along the front line despite Putin announcing the surprise truce.

The 30-hour truce starting Saturday evening to mark the religious holiday would be the most significant pause in the fighting throughout the three-year conflict.

But Zelensky accused Russia of having maintained its attacks on the front line after the truce started.

Russia’s defence ministry in turn said it had ‘repelled’ attempted assaults by Ukraine and accused Kyiv of launching drones and shells, causing civilian casualties.

Zelensky said Sunday, citing Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky, that ‘an increase in Russian shelling and the use of kamikaze drones has been observed since 10:00am (0700 GMT)’.

Earlier he said that the first six hours of the ceasefire saw ‘387 instances of shelling and 19 assaults by Russian forces,’ with drones ‘used by Russians 290 times’.

Ukraine’s air force on Sunday morning had not reported any drone or missile attacks, however.

AFP journalists heard explosions on Sunday morning around a dozen kilometres from the front line in east Ukraine.

Ukraine will respond ‘symmetrically’ to any attacks, Zelensky said, accusing Russia of ‘attempting to create the general impression of a ceasefire’ while continuing isolated attacks.

Russia’s defence ministry said that ‘despite the announcement of the Easter truce, Ukrainian units at night made attempts to attack’ its positions in the Donetsk region, ‘which were repelled’.

Overnight, it said, Ukraine ‘444 times shelled the positions of our troops and carried out 900 strikes with drones’.

These attacks left civilians ‘dead and wounded’, the ministry said, without giving details.

It insisted its troops had ‘strictly observed the ceasefire and stayed at the front lines and positions they previously occupied’.

Putin’s order to halt all combat over the Easter weekend came after months of efforts by US president Donald Trump to get Moscow and Kyiv to agree to a ceasefire.

On Friday, Washington even threatened to withdraw from talks if no progress was made.

Putin announced the truce from 1800 (1500 GMT) Saturday to midnight Sunday (2100 GMT Sunday) in televised comments, saying it was motivated by ‘humanitarian reasons’.

While he expected Ukraine to comply, Putin said that Russian troops ‘must be ready to resist possible breaches of the truce and provocations by the enemy’.

Zelensky said Ukraine would follow suit, and proposed extending the truce beyond Sunday.

‘Russia must fully comply with the conditions of the ceasefire. Ukraine’s proposal to implement and extend the ceasefire for 30 days after midnight tonight remains on the table,’ Zelensky’s post said Sunday.

Earlier he suggested that ‘30 days could give peace a chance’ — while pointing out that Putin had already rejected a proposed 30-day full and unconditional ceasefire.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.

Previous attempts at holding ceasefires for Easter in April 2022 and Orthodox Christmas in January 2023 were not implemented after both sides failed to agree on them.

In Kyiv on Sunday, as Easter bells rang out, people expressed doubts over whether Russia would observe a truce while welcoming Zelensky’s proposal to extend it.

‘They’ve already broken their promise. Unfortunately, we cannot trust Russia today,’ said 38-year-old Olga Grachova, who works in marketing.

‘Our president has clearly said that if they announce a 30-hour ceasefire, we will announce a 30-day ceasefire. So let them go for it so that this terrible war ends, so that our people, our soldiers, and children stop dying,’ said Sergiy Klochko, 30, a railway worker.

But Natalia, a 41-year-old medic, said of Zelensky’s 30-day proposal: ‘Everything we offer, unfortunately, remains only our offers. Nobody responds to them.’

On the streets of Moscow, Yevgeny Pavlov, 58, did not think Russia should give Ukraine a breather.

‘There is no need to give them respite. If we press, it means we should press to the end,’ he said.​

 

[Saif]

How middlemen recruit Bangladeshi youth for Russia-Ukraine war

According to the youth, the middlemen are knowingly sending people to their death. They request the youth not to fall into the trap of being tempted to come to Russia

en.prothomalo.com

How middlemen recruit Bangladeshi youth for Russia-Ukraine war
Shahadat HossainBrahmanbaria
Published: 22 Apr 2025, 14: 48

Afzal Hossain and Ayan Mandal Collected

He was supposed to be taken to North Macedonia. But the middleman sent him to Russia, where he started working with a company. But after two or three months, he lost his job. As he arrived at the airport to return home, he fell prey to a Russian middleman. He was made to sign a contract. At one point, he realised that he had been 'sold' and that he had no way back.

This is the story of a Bangladeshi who joined the Russian army to fight against Ukraine. He did not even tell his family that he had joined the Russian army, so requested that his name and address not be disclosed.

This reporter spoke to this 20-year-old youth and three other Bangladeshis, who joined the Russian army, lured in various ways by brokers. As they shared their stories, their experiences were found to be almost identical. All of them went to Russia through middlemen. They all worked in the same company there. After a few days, they lost their jobs. Then they were duped by middlemen and lured by high salaries and Russian citizenship to join the Russian army on contractual basis.

22-year-old Akram Mia from Brahmanbaria’s Ashuganj lost his life while fighting against Ukraine for Russia. A colleague called his family and informed them of Akram’s death. The numbers of the three youth were collected from that person. This correspondent also talked with family members of Akram Mia. Like these three youths, Akram followed the same trajectory of going to Russia.

Other than Akram, another youth named Yasin Mia Sheikh, 22, from Mymensingh’s Gouripur lost his life while fighting the war for Russia on 27 March.

“They’ve sold us”

This correspondent had a long Whatsapp conversation on Saturday night with the youth, who did not want to be named. He said that he went to Russia on 8 August, 2024. For this, he had to pay the middleman Tk 800,000. He joined an company there as an electrician.

The salary was supposed to be 40,000-45,000 rubles. After two-three months, the organisation sacked 15-20 of them. Except for two Nepalese and two Indians, the rest were Bangladeshis.

The youth said that four or five of them went to the airport to return home at the end of February. There, a Russian middleman took them to a hotel, promising them work. Then, he took all their documents including their passports, promising to renew their visas. There, three or four Russians took their signatures on a contract.

“They then took us to a jungle and got us to chop down trees. After some days, we saw arms and ammunition being bought. At one point the four left us there. We sensed they had sold us,” said the youth.

These three youths blame the middlemen for their current situation. According to them, the middlemen are knowingly sending people to their deaths. They request the youth not to fall into the trap of being tempted to come to Russia
The young man said they were taken to war with little training.

“After 20 March, we were provided basic training such as loading the gun and firing for five days and taken to Ukraine on the sixth. None of us perceived that we were being taken to war.”

He said five persons including Sohag Mia from Dhaka, Amit Barua from Rangamati and Ayan Mandal from Gazipur were with him. They were later shifted to different army camps.

At the end of March, they were sent on an operation. They narrowly escaped a missile attack. On 7 or 8 April, they were sent to Luhansk for the second time. Of the 10-12 men team, six have returned while the others remain missing. He had to carry heavy weapons in both operations.

The youth said he is currently at a camp in Ukraine’s Donetsk with 30-40 men.

These youth are provided with bread and pasta only.

“The amount of risk and shootings are increasing every day. We are living in grave uncertainty,” said the youth.

“Didn’t have any idea that we are being sent to war”

The story of the young man, who does not want to be named, is similar to that of Afzal Hossain, 26, of Gopalpur village in Trishal, Mymensingh. He also went to Russia eight or nine months ago to work as a welder. After working in the same company for six months with a salary of Tk 70,000, he lost his job. While unemployed in Moscow for about a month and a half, he met a Russian middleman. He got him into the Russian army by promising him Russian citizenship and a monthly salary of Tk 310,800 in Bangladeshi currency.

I didn't know that I would be sent to the Russia-Ukraine war. Now I'm stuck. But I have not received any salary till now
Afzal Hossain.

Last Sunday, this correspondent spoke to Afzal Hossain several times on WhatsApp. This young man, who studied up to 12th grade, went to Russia through a local middleman.

Afzal Hossain told Prothom Alo, "I didn't know that I would be sent to the Russia-Ukraine war. Now I'm stuck. But I have not received any salary till now."

Afzal, who spoke to the Russian soldiers through a mobile phone translator, said that he is currently in a Russian army camp in Ukraine.

There are 10 or 12 soldiers there. However, he does not know the name of the place. Last Friday, a drone attack was launched on them while they were taking food and ammunition to another camp. However, they survived.

The youth said they were barely provided any training except for very basics such as firing and loading the gun.

Afzal said he was sent on an operation a month ago with a team of nine. One Russian army man was killed by a Ukrainian strike during the operation. Since then he has not been sent to any operation. Currently he is staying in his sixth camp and transporting food and ammunition from one camp to another. He said soldiers are ambushed en route.

Afzal was with Rubel, 29; Imran Hossain, 31; Md Mohsin Mia, 26; and the killed Akram Mia, 22. Others are in a different camp now. Afzal does not have any contact with Imran and Mohsin for 12 to 13 days.

“I secretly contacted 8 to 10 persons including Rubel bhai, Foysal Ahmed and Diganta Bishwas,” Afzal said, assuming that 40 to 50 Bangladeshis are fighting the war in Ukraine right now.

“In grave danger”

This correspondent contacted Ayan Mandal from Gazipur. But he was too scared to talk. He sent seven voice messages secretly.

“We cannot talk over the phone. We have to send voice recordings as we use our phones secretly. We are in grave danger,” said Ayan.

Five months ago, Ayan went to Russia through a middleman, spending Tk 650,000. He also joined the same company like the two others. At one stage, he was also dismissed from the company. At the airport, a Russian middleman promised to give him a job of a cleaner with a salary of 200,000 rubles and made him join the Russian army.

The young man said that he has been trapped for a month. He is currently being trained. As Ayan did not want to go for training, he was tortured. There are five other Bangladeshis with him. Apart from this, there are 15-20 more people in the nearby camp.

These three youths blame the middlemen for their current situation. According to them, the middlemen are knowingly sending people to their deaths. They request the youth not to fall into the trap of being tempted to come to Russia.

These three plead the Bangladesh government to take measures to bring them back to their country.​

 

[Saif]

Kremlin warns against rushing Ukraine talks

The Kremlin yesterday warned against rushing Ukraine peace talks, pushing back on US President Donald Trump’s hopes for a speedy deal the day before Ukraine’s allies are set to meet in London.

www.thedailystar.net

Kremlin warns against rushing Ukraine talks

The Kremlin yesterday warned against rushing Ukraine peace talks, pushing back on US President Donald Trump's hopes for a speedy deal the day before Ukraine's allies are set to meet in London.

Trump, who promised on the campaign trail to strike a deal between Moscow and Kyiv in 24 hours, has in three months failed to wrangle concessions from the Russian president to halt his invasion.

The Republican had said over the weekend he hoped a peace deal could be struck "this week" despite no signs the two sides are anywhere close to agreeing even a ceasefire, let alone a wider long-term settlement.

"This topic is so complex, connected with a settlement, that, of course, probably it is not worth setting any rigid time frames and trying to get a settlement, a viable settlement, in a short-time frame," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state TV yesterday.

After rejecting a US-Ukrainian offer for a full and unconditional ceasefire last month, Putin announced a surprise Easter truce over the weekend.​

 

[Saif]

Zelensky calls for ‘unconditional ceasefire’ after Russian attack kills nine

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky called on Wednesday for an ‘immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire’, hours after a Russian drone strike on a bus killed nine and as his top aide met Kyiv’s allies in London...

www.newagebd.net

Zelensky calls for ‘unconditional ceasefire’ after Russian attack kills nine
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 24 April, 2025, 00:28

Volodymyr Zelensky | AFP file photo

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky called on Wednesday for an ‘immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire’, hours after a Russian drone strike on a bus killed nine and as his top aide met Kyiv’s allies in London.

Images published by Dnipropetrovsk governor Sergiy Lysak showed a bus with a hole punctured through its ceiling and what appeared to be blood and shattered glass scattered across its floors.

Zelensky called it an ‘egregiously brutal attack and an absolutely deliberate war crime’.

‘In Ukraine, we insist on an immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire,’ he said on social media, adding that ‘stopping the killings is the number one task’.

Lysak said nine people had been killed and 49 wounded in the attack on the southern town of Marganets.

Zelensky also repeated his call for a partial halt on some missile and drone attacks.

‘We are also ready for an immediate ceasefire at least for civilian targets,’ he said.

Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a surprise Easter truce over the weekend.

It saw fighting dip and air attacks practically halt for 30 hours.

But Ukraine and its allies dismissed it as a PR exercise from the Kremlin leader, saying Putin had no interest in real peace talks.

Russia launched more than 100 drones at Ukraine between Tuesday evening and early Wednesday, the Ukrainian air force said.

Ukrainian authorities also reported fires in several regions overnight after Russian attacks.

Strikes were reported in the regions of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Poltava and Odesa.

In Russia, one person was reported wounded by Ukrainian shelling in the Belgorod region, the local governor said.

Zelensky’s chief of staff, defence and foreign ministers were in London Wednesday for talks with Kyiv’s allies — downgraded at the last minute after US secretary of state Marco Rubio cancelled plans to attend.

Meanwhile, envoys from Washington, Kyiv and European nations gathered for talks in Britain on Wednesday amid a new US push to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, but a planned meeting of foreign ministers was postponed.

The London meeting comes as US media reported that president Donald Trump is ready to accept recognition of annexed land in Crimea as Russian territory.

The reports said the proposal was first raised at a similar meeting with European nations in Paris last week. Trump has since threatened to ‘take a pass’ on efforts to end the conflict unless progress is made quickly.

US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff is to visit Moscow this week, the White House has confirmed, in what would be his fourth trip to Russia since Trump took office.

According to The Financial Times, president Vladimir Putin told Witkoff he was prepared to halt the invasion and freeze the current front-line if Russia’s sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula, annexed in 2014, was recognised.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded by saying that ‘a lot of fakes are being published at the moment’, according to the RIA Novosti state news agency.

Secretary of state Marco Rubio said he had presented a US plan to end the war but no details were given. Rubio also discussed the plan with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, during a telephone conversation after the Paris meeting.

Rubio and Trump have warned since the Paris talks that the United States could walk away from peace talks unless it saw quick progress.

Trump ‘wants to see this war end and he has grown frustrated with both sides of this war, and he’s made that very known’, his spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.

Rubio had said in Paris last week he would go to London if he thought his attendance could be useful.​

 

[Saif]

Trump on Russia strikes on Kyiv: 'Vladimir, STOP!'

President Donald Trump turned his criticism on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday after Russia pounded Kyiv with missiles and drones overnight, saying "Vladimir, STOP!" "I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing," Trump wrote in a social media po

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Trump on Russia strikes on Kyiv: 'Vladimir, STOP!'
REUTERS
Published :
Apr 24, 2025 20:13
Updated :
Apr 24, 2025 20:15

Police officers inspect the site of a building hit by a Russian ballistic missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 24, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

President Donald Trump turned his criticism on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday after Russia pounded Kyiv with missiles and drones overnight, saying "Vladimir, STOP!"

"I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing," Trump wrote in a social media post a day after saying Ukraine's leader was hampering peace talks on ending Russia's war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When asked about the Russian strikes on Kyiv at a briefing earlier on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was continuing to hit "military and military-adjacent targets."

Trump's rare rebuke of Putin followed his criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday for saying Ukraine would not recognize Russia's occupation of Crimea - a longtime Kyiv stance.

"This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia," Trump said in a social media post.

Trump, who argued with Zelenskiy in a disastrous Oval Office meeting in March, said Crimea was lost years ago "and is not even a point of discussion."​

 

[Saif]

Trump's envoy Witkoff meets Putin in Moscow

US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday at what Trump has said is a key moment in diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine. Witkoff has emerged as Washington's key interlocutor with Putin as Trump pushes for a deal to end the war, and has already

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Trump's envoy Witkoff meets Putin in Moscow
REUTERS
Published :
Apr 25, 2025 19:19
Updated :
Apr 25, 2025 19:19

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, April 25, 2025. Photo : Sputnik/Kristina Kormilitsyna/Pool via REUTERS

US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday at what Trump has said is a key moment in diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine.

Witkoff has emerged as Washington's key interlocutor with Putin as Trump pushes for a deal to end the war, and has already held three long meetings with the Kremlin leader.

Video published by the Kremlin showed Witkoff and Putin shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries before sitting down on opposite sides of a white oval table.

Putin was accompanied by his foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

Witkoff's latest visit to Moscow comes a day after Trump criticised a Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv that killed at least 12 people, and posted on social media: "Vladimir, STOP!"

But Trump also said there had been significant progress in peace talks.

"This next few days is going to be very important. Meetings are taking place right now," Trump told reporters on Thursday. "I think we're going to make a deal ... I think we're getting very close."

Russian news outlet Izvestia earlier published photographs showing Witkoff strolling in central Moscow with Dmitriev, who has played a prominent role in contacts with the Trump administration.​