Putin has ‘little interest in peace’, says EU international coverage chief
Russian chief Vladimir Putin “has little interest in peace”, the European Union’s international coverage chief stated on Saturday, after in a single day strikes by Moscow’s troops killed at the least 14 folks in Ukraine, studies Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Kaja Kallas wrote on X:
Russian missiles preserve relentlessly falling on Ukraine, bringing extra loss of life and extra destruction. As soon as once more, Putin exhibits he has little interest in peace. We should step up our army help – in any other case, much more Ukrainian civilians can pay the very best value.”
Key occasions
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has welcomed Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese’s “dedication to think about contributing to a coalition of the keen for Ukraine” in a cellphone name on Saturday, Downing Road has stated.
In response to the PA information company, the assertion reads:
The prime minister spoke to the prime minister of Australia Anthony Albanese this morning.
The prime minister started by expressing his help for all Australians effected by the cyclone and paid tribute to the energy of the partnership between the 2 international locations.
He welcomed prime minister Albanese’s dedication to think about contributing to a coalition of the keen for Ukraine and seemed ahead to the chiefs of defence assembly in Paris on Tuesday.
The prime minister additionally reiterated the UK’s dedication to the Aukus programme. The leaders agreed to remain in contact.”
Sammy Gecsoyler
Ben Wallace, the previous UK defence secretary, has stated Donald Trump’s resolution to droop US intelligence sharing with Kyiv is “suffocating” Ukrainian hope of holding out towards Russian aggression.
Final Friday, the US president, together with the vice-president, JD Vance, berated Volodymyr Zelenskyy within the Oval Workplace in full view of the media, telling the Ukrainian president that he was “playing with world struggle three” and to come back again to the White Home “when he’s prepared for peace”.
Within the week since, the US stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv that had beforehand given advance warnings of assaults and Brussels agreed to a huge increase in defence spending.
On Friday, the day after intelligence sharing ceased, Russia carried out large ballistic missile and drone strikes throughout Ukraine. Quickly after the aerial assaults, Trump said Vladimir Putin was “doing what anyone would do”.
In a single day strikes in japanese Ukraine on Saturday killed at the least 11 folks and wounded 30 others, together with 5 youngsters.
Wallace, who was the defence secretary when Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, stated on Saturday that Trump was diminishing the hope of Ukraine together with his actions.
Talking on BBC Radio 4’s At the moment programme, he stated:
Hope is an important factor in this sort of battle and, in the meanwhile, Donald Trump is suffocating the hope that Putin could be both fought to a standstill or certainly dropped at the desk.”
He added:
Hope is at all times the important thing for each morale and a army marketing campaign. When this began three years in the past, I bear in mind gathering the army officers in my then division, and saying on day one, we’ve got to present the Ukrainians hope.
If a Russian truck has a puncture, we have to let folks know. If the Russians have a small defeat, we have to let the Ukrainian folks know.”
Larger European defence budgets and a ramp-up of manufacturing by army gear industries are essential to safe Europe, Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte stated in a German newspaper interview, studies Reuters.
“We might want to spend extra to maintain ourselves protected,” Rutte instructed German Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag (WamS). “However we additionally must rapidly ramp up our defence manufacturing on each side of the Atlantic …for much too lengthy, we’ve got produced far too little.”
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) contains a lot of Europe and likewise the United States and Canada.
Ammunition, ships, tanks, jets, but in addition satellites and drones have been wanted, Rutte stated.
European international locations are hastening to spice up defence spending and keep help for Ukraine after US president Donald Trump froze US army support to Kyiv and raised doubts about Washington’s dedication to European allies.
German lawmakers will debate sweeping modifications to state borrowing guidelines to fund defence, alongside a €500bn ($541.60bn) infrastructure fund, from 13 March to get these measures handed within the outgoing parliament forward of the formation of a brand new one on 25 March, sources have stated, in keeping with Reuters.
EU leaders on Thursday held conferences to again joint defence loans to member states and to permit defence spending past tight budgetary guidelines for different sectors. Rutte stated he had met with many heads of defence manufacturing firms and urged them to answer increased demand.
US and Ukrainian negotiators are as a result of meet in Saudi Arabia subsequent week with bilateral relations frayed, studies Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Donald Trump publicly berated Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy throughout a White Home assembly and suspended US support to Kyiv in a said bid to encourage diplomacy.
“I’m discovering it tougher frankly to take care of Ukraine they usually don’t have the playing cards,” Trump stated on Friday. “It could be simpler coping with Russia.”
The remarks adopted Trump on Friday threatening new sanctions and tariffs on Russia over its bombardments of Ukraine. “To Russia and Ukraine, get to the desk proper now, earlier than it’s too late,” he added.
Zelenskyy is because of land in Saudi Arabia on Monday for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The assembly is a day earlier than Ukrainian officers are anticipated to carry contemporary talks with their US counterparts on Tuesday there.
Zelenskyy seeks extra sanctions as Russian strikes kill at the least 14 folks
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday known as for extra sanctions towards Russia as in a single day strikes killed at the least 14 folks and injured dozens extra, days forward of talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators aimed toward securing a truce, studies Agence France-Presse (AFP).
A Russian assault hit the centre of Dobropillia in Ukraine’s japanese Donetsk area late on Friday, killing 11 folks and injuring 30, in keeping with the emergency companies.
Individually, three folks have been killed and 7 others injured in a drone assault early on Saturday within the metropolis of Bogodukhiv, the army head of the japanese Kharkiv area, Oleg Synegubov, stated. Russia fired two missiles and 145 drones at Bogodukhiv, Ukraine’s air drive stated.
The in a single day air raids got here after US president Donald Trump threatened new sanctions and tariffs on Russia however stated it could be “simpler” to work with Moscow than Kyiv on efforts to finish the three-year-long struggle.
“Such strikes present that Russia’s objectives are unchanged. Due to this fact, it is rather necessary to proceed to do every little thing to guard life, strengthen our air defence, and improve sanctions towards Russia,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram social media channel.
In Dobropillia, AFP noticed charred residential buildings, flattened market stalls and proof of cluster bomb injury.
Irina Kostenko, 59, spent the night time cowering in her hallway together with her husband. When she left the house constructing on Saturday, she noticed a neighbour “mendacity useless on the bottom, lined with a blanket”. “It was surprising, I don’t have the phrases to explain it,” Kostenko instructed AFP.
Zelenskyy stated that Russia had struck Dobropillia, waited till rescuers arrived after which “intentionally” focused them as properly. “This can be a despicable and inhumane tactic of intimidation that the Russians usually use,” he stated.
Russia says it retook three villages from Ukraine in Kursk
The Russian defence ministry has introduced the recapture of Viktorovka, Nikolayevka and Staraya Sorochina, in keeping with Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Reuters.
In response to DeepState, a web-based army tracker linked to the Ukrainian military, the Russian transfer adopted a “breach” in Ukrainian defence strains close to the city of Sudzha which is beneath Kyiv’s management.
“One in every of our items left its positions. After that the enemy bolstered its troops and systematically launched assault operations … and right here’s the consequence,” stated DeepState, which is adopted by greater than 800,000 subscribers on the Telegram web site, studies AFP.
A military supply interviewed by Ukrainska Pravda newspaper stated that the Ukrainian troopers have been attempting to “stabilise the state of affairs” however the Russian troops had “utterly lower off the provision strains”.
Serhiy Sternenko, a outstanding Ukrainian activist, wrote on Thursday:
The logistics state of affairs within the Kursk area is quickly deteriorating and is already crucial.”
“Logistics routes to Sudzha are beneath full enemy hearth management,” he stated in a put up on X, citing info from military items within the space.
In response to Reuters, Two Majors, a pro-Russian struggle blogger, wrote on Telegram on Saturday that Russian troops had begun an assault on Sudzha, a significant city about 6 miles (9.5 km) from the border, and that the state of affairs for Ukrainian troops in Kursk was “near crucial”.
The Guardian has been unable to independently confirm the report.
Russian troops retook from Ukrainian forces the villages of Viktorovka, Nikolayevka and Staraya Sorochina in Russia’s western Kursk area, the Tass state information company reported on Saturday, citing the defence ministry.
Reuters couldn’t independently verify the battlefield report.
The Russian military has been preventing to eject Ukrainian troops from Kursk since final August, when Kyiv’s forces staged a lightning incursion over the border and seized a swath of Russian territory.
Talking about Russian missile and drone assaults on Ukraine’s japanese metropolis of Dobropillia in a single day, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Fb:
Such strikes present that Russia’s targets haven’t modified. Due to this fact, it’s essential to proceed to do our greatest to guard lives, strengthen our air defences, and improve sanctions towards Russia. Every thing that helps Putin finance the struggle should collapse.”
Russia has carried out enormous strikes throughout Ukraine because it focused services in a number of areas, together with Odesa and Poltava, utilizing practically 70 cruise and ballistic missiles and virtually 200 assault drones, in keeping with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Over a matter of days, the White Home has suspended weapons deliveries and the provision of intelligence to Kyiv. Zelenskyy is because of journey to Saudi Arabia on Monday to satisfy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Andrew Roth
Donald Trump has stated Vladimir Putin was “doing what anyone would do” after Russia launched a large missile and drone strike on Ukraine days after the US lower off very important intelligence and army support to Kyiv.
Chatting with reporters within the Oval Workplace on Friday Trump stated he finds it “simpler” to work with Russia than Ukraine and that Putin “desires to finish the struggle”.
“I’m discovering it tougher, frankly, to take care of Ukraine. They usually don’t have the playing cards,” Trump stated. “When it comes to getting a ultimate settlement, it could be simpler coping with Russia.”
Requested whether or not the Russian chief was making the most of the pause in US intelligence sharing and army support to Ukraine, Trump replied: “I truly assume he’s doing what anyone else would do.”
Senior US and Ukrainian officers plan to satisfy in Saudi Arabia subsequent week as Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his advisers search to revive relations with the US after a botched summit within the Oval Workplace throughout which Trump instructed Zelenskyy he was “playing with world struggle three”.
Russia launched a large drone and missile attack on Ukrainian power services on Friday within the wake of the US resolution to halt intelligence sharing with Ukraine that had helped it goal incoming hearth.
Talking with reporters within the Oval Workplace, Trump stated: “We’re doing very properly with Russia. However proper now they’re bombing the hell out of Ukraine.”
You’ll be able to learn extra on this reporting by Andrew Roth in Washington and Luke Harding in Kyiv right here:
A tank at Russia’s Kirishi refinery, one of many nation’s largest, was broken by falling particles throughout a Ukrainian drone assault, the governor of the north-western Leningrad area stated on Saturday, studies Reuters.
Surgutneftegaz’s Kirishinefteorgsintez (KINEF) refinery is among the high two refineries in Russia. It refines about 17.7 million tons a yr (355,000 barrels a day) of Russian crude, or 6.4% of the full, in keeping with business sources.
“Air defences shot down one drone on strategy, the opposite was destroyed over the territory of the enterprise,” Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad area, stated on Telegram.
“When the particles fell, the exterior construction of one of many tanks was broken,” he stated.
Nobody was injured, he stated.
The refinery produces about 2.3 million tons of gasoline – 5.3% of Russia’s whole – 7.6% of its diesel gas, 16.3% of its gas oil and three.4% of the nation’s aviation gas, in keeping with business sources.
Looking forward to Ukraine’s talks with the US subsequent week on a attainable finish to the struggle with Russia, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is because of land in Saudi Arabia on Monday for discussions with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The assembly is a day earlier than Ukrainian officers are anticipated to carry contemporary talks with their US counterparts on Tuesday within the Center Jap kingdom.
After assembly with Prince Mohammed, Zelensky stated his crew “will stay in Saudi Arabia to work with our American companions”, Agence France-Presse studies.
“Ukraine is most serious about peace,” he added.
Earlier on Friday, the Ukrainian president renewed requires a mutual halt to aerial assaults on crucial infrastructure following the current Russian barrage.
He stated the primary steps to establishing actual peace ought to be stopping each Russian and Ukrainian aerial and naval assaults.
This newest proposal builds on rising rhetoric from Kyiv, Washington and Moscow on halting the struggle.
The Kremlin has beforehand dominated out a short lived ceasefire in Ukraine.
Not less than 11 killed and 30 injured in Russian missile strike on Ukraine, Kyiv says
5 youngsters have been among the many 30 wounded in in a single day Russian assaults on Dobropillia which additionally killed at the least 11 folks, the Ukrainian inside ministry stated on Saturday.
It stated Russian forces attacked the city in japanese Ukraine with ballistic missiles, a number of rockets and drones, damaging eight multi-storey buildings and 30 vehicles, Reuters studies.
“Whereas extinguishing the hearth, the occupiers struck once more, damaging the hearth truck,” the ministry stated on Telegram.
It revealed images of partially destroyed buildings engulfed in hearth and rescuers eradicating rubble from the buildings.
Dobropillia, dwelling to about 28,000 folks earlier than the struggle, is within the Donetsk area of japanese Ukraine, 22km (14 miles) from the entrance line north of the important thing hub of Pokrovsk, which Russian troops have been attacking for weeks.
The ministry additionally stated at the least three folks have been killed and 7 injured in a separate drone assault on the Kharkiv area in a single day.
The Ukrainian army stated Russia attacked Ukraine in a single day with two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and one Iskander-Ok cruise missile in addition to 145 drones.
The army stated air forces shot down one cruise missile and 79 drones. It stated one other 54 drones didn’t attain their targets, probably as a result of digital countermeasures.
A tank at Russia’s Kirishi oil refinery – one of many nation’s largest – was broken by falling particles throughout a significant Ukrainian drone assault, the governor of the north-western Leningrad area stated on Saturday.
Surgutneftegaz’s Kirishinefteorgsintez (KINEF) refinery is among the high two refineries in Russia, Reuters studies.
“Air defences shot down one drone on strategy, the opposite was destroyed over the territory of the enterprise,” Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad area, stated on Telegram.
When the particles fell, the exterior construction of one of many tanks was broken.
Nobody was injured, he stated.
The extent of the injury to the refinery was not instantly clear. There was no fast remark from Surgutneftegaz, considered one of Russia’s largest oil firms, or from Ukraine.
Trade sources say the Kirishi refinery refines about 17.7m tons a yr or 355,000 barrels a day of Russian crude – 6.4% of the nation’s whole.
Opening abstract
Welcome to our stay protection of the Russia-Ukraine struggle. Right here’s a snapshot of the newest to deliver you on top of things.
Not less than 11 folks have been killed and 30 wounded in Russian strikes on japanese Ukraine’s Donetsk area late on Friday, the nation’s emergency service stated on Saturday, elevating the sooner loss of life toll of 4.
Not less than 9 buildings have been broken within the assault on the centre of Dobropillia, it stated on Telegram.
The regional governor stated earlier that Russian forces had launched three night-time strikes in town north of Pokrovsk, a focus of their advance by means of japanese Ukraine, and in keeping with preliminary info high-rise house buildings have been concerned. Emergency crews have been on the web site, Vadym Filashki stated on Telegram.
In the meantime in Russia, 1000’s of Ukrainian troops who stormed into the nation’s Kursk area final August are virtually surrounded by Russian forces there in a significant blow to Kyiv, which hoped to make use of its presence as leverage over Moscow in any peace talks, Reuters has reported, citing open supply maps.
The information company stated the maps confirmed Ukraine’s state of affairs in Kursk had deteriorated sharply previously three days, after Russian forces retook territory as a part of a gathering counteroffensive that has practically lower the Ukrainian drive in two and separated the primary group from its principal provide strains.
The state of affairs for Ukraine comes after Washington suspended its intelligence sharing with Kyiv and raises the chance that its forces could also be pressured right into a retreat again into Ukraine or threat being captured or killed.
In different developments:
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Russia carried out enormous ballistic missile and drone strikes throughout Ukraine a day after the US stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv which had beforehand given advance warnings of assaults. The strikes got here early on Friday as a Ukrainian delegation ready to satisfy with US counterparts in Saudi Arabia subsequent week for talks a couple of attainable finish to the struggle, report Luke Harding and Dan Sabbagh. In a put up on Reality Social, Donald Trump appeared to criticise Russia’s newest bombardment. The US president posted: “Based mostly on the truth that Russia is totally ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield proper now, I’m strongly contemplating massive scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia till a Stop Hearth and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED.”
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Individually, Trump stated after the strikes that Vladimir Putin was “doing what anybody would do”. “I feel he desires to get it [the war] stopped and settled and I feel he’s hitting them more durable than he’s been hitting them and I feel most likely anyone in that place could be doing that proper now,” he instructed reporters within the White Home. Trump additionally stated he found it “easier” to deal with Russia than with Ukraine in efforts to finish the struggle and that he trusted Putin, the Russian president. “I imagine him,” Trump stated. “I’m discovering it tougher, frankly, to take care of Ukraine they usually don’t have the playing cards. It could be simpler coping with Russia.”
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to Russia’s strikes by calling for a truce overlaying air and sea. “The primary steps to establishing actual peace ought to be forcing the only supply of this struggle, Russia, to cease such assaults,” the Ukrainian president stated on Telegram. Moscow has rejected the concept of a short lived truce, which has additionally been proposed by Britain and France.
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US aerospace firm Maxar Applied sciences disabled Ukraine’s entry to its satellite tv for pc pictures after a request from the Trump administration. Maxar stated it had contracts with the US authorities and dozens of allied and companion nations and “every buyer makes their very own selections on how they use and share that knowledge”.
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Zelenskyy’s approval ranking in Ukraine has risen by 10 share factors since his White House spat with Trump, a survey by a number one Ukrainian pollster confirmed on Friday. The ballot by the Kyiv Worldwide Institute of Sociology – carried out from 14 February to 4 March – discovered 67% of respondents trusted Zelenskyy in March, up from 57% a month earlier.
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Iran’s international ministry denied accusations by Emmanuel Macron that Tehran had equipped gear to Russia to be used within the Ukraine struggle, calling the French president’s remarks “baseless and false”.
