Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump demands Putin halt strikes after massive missile attack on Kyiv – UK Times

Ukraine’s territorial integrity is not a principle that can be negotiated, a French foreign ministry spokesperson has said, after Donald Trump chided Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for refusing to recognise Russia’s occupation of Crimea.

“The principle of Ukraine’s territorial integrity is not a point that can be negotiated,” France’s foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine told a weekly news conference, adding that Russia was slowing down discussions by continuing its air strikes.

US president Donald Trump has lambasted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the deadly overnight strikes on Kyiv that killed at least eight people.

He posted on social media: “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”

Less than 24 hours earlier, Mr Trump had hit out at Volodymyr Zelensky for refusing to cede Crimea, which Russia illegally annnexed in 2014.

It’s not clear whether Mr Trump has a source for the 5,000-a-week statistic.

Downing Street has described Russia as the “real obstacle” to peace in Ukraine after “barbaric” attacks on Kyiv overnight.

But Downing Street would not be drawn into saying whether it was opposed to the US’ position after it urged Ukraine to cede Crimea to Russia in a bid to end the war.

Trump lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday for refusing to back the proposal.

Asked whether the UK was siding with Ukraine or the US in the stand-off, Keir Starmer’s spokesman said: “This isn’t about taking sides.”

He added: “We share President Trump’s desire to bring this barbaric war to an end … but we have been clear it remains the case that how and on what terms that war comes to end can only be decided by Ukraine.”

But he added that Putin’s attacks on Kyiv overnight show “where the real obstacle to peace is”.

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa spoke to US president Donald Trump on the Ukraine war and the need to foster good bilateral relations.

“We both agreed that the war should be brought to an end as soon as possible to stop further unnecessary deaths… to meet soon to address various matters regarding U.S.-South Africa relations,” Mr Ramaphosa said.

Relations between South Africa and the US have soured badly since Trump’s return to the White House in January.

Mr Trump expelled South Africa’s ambassador and cut financial aid, citing disapproval of the country’s approach to land reform and its genocide case against Washington’s ally Israel at the World Court.

The prime minister has stepped up demands on Russia’s Vladimir Putin to agree to an immediate unconditional ceasefire after the “brutal” overnight strike on Kyiv.

Sir Keir Starmer said the attack demonstrated that Mr Putin was “the aggressor here” – in contrast with Donald Trump suggestion that Volodymyr Zelensky was the barrier to peace.

On a visit to Bristol, Sir Keir said: “I think it’s a real reminder that Russia is the aggressor here and that is being felt by the Ukrainians, as it has been felt for three long years now.

“That’s why it’s important to get Russia to an unconditional ceasefire.

“Obviously, we had talks in London this week, Paris last week. We’re making progress towards the ceasefire. It’s got to be a lasting ceasefire.

“But these attacks – these awful attacks – are a real, human reminder of who is the aggressor here and the cost to the Ukrainian people.”

Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if it faces Western aggression, Moscow’s top security official, Sergei Shoigu, told Tass state news agency on Thursday.

Mr Shoigu’s comments come as US president Donald Trump and vice president JD Vance warn that Washington could walk away from trying to negotiate a peace settlement in Ukraine if there is no progress on a deal soon.

The former Russian defence minister – before moving to head its powerful security council in a government reshuffle last year – cited amendments to Moscow’s nuclear doctrine approved by president Vladimir Putin last November.

Under the new terms, Russia could consider a nuclear strike in response to a conventional attack on Russia or its ally Belarus that “created a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) their territorial integrity.”

“…in the event of foreign states committing unfriendly actions that pose a threat to the sovereignty and territory integrity of the Russian Federation, our country considers it legitimate to take symmetric and asymmetric measures necessary to suppress such actions and prevent their recurrence,” Mr Shoigu added.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy said during the press conferencethat the talks between Ukrainian and Western officials in London on Wednesday had not been “easy” but were “constructive.”

Foreign minister-level Ukraine peace talks that were due to take place were postponed at the last minute amid speculation that Russia is willing to change its position and after the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said he could not attend.

The meeting was replaced by discussions by other officials

“I am sure that Russia was counting on a big scandal yesterday,” Mr Zelensky said. “I’m sure Russia was hoping for a huge row yesterday. Russia doesn’t like the alliance around Ukraine, because Ukraine would be an easier target without it.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he does not see any strong pressure on Russia at present, in in a press conference with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa during a visit to the country.

Russia’s overnight attack on Ukraine was part of sa Russian pressure campaign on the US, he added.

For Kyiv to negotiate with Russian “terrorists” after any ceasefire would already be a big compromise on its part, the Ukrainian leader said. While Ukraine is ready to do everything its partners propose, it cannot do anything which contravenes its constitution – such as recognising Ukrainian territory as Russian.

Jutting out into the Black Sea off southern Ukraine, Crimea was absorbed into the Russian Empire along with most ethnic Ukrainian territory by Catherine the Great in the 18th century. Russia’s Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol was founded soon afterwards.

More than half a million people were killed in the Crimean War of 1853-56 when competing geopolitical powers Russia and the Ottoman Empire, backed by Britain and France, took up arms. The conflict reshaped Europe and paved the way for World War One.

In 1921, the peninsula, then populated mainly by Muslim Tatars, became part of the Soviet Union. The Tatars were deported en masse by Soviet leader Josef Stalin at the end of World War Two for alleged collaboration with the Nazis.

Crimea became part of Russia within the Soviet Union until 1954, when it was handed to Ukraine, also then a Soviet Republic, by Stalin’s successor Nikita Khrushchev, a Ukrainian.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, there were periodic political tussles over its status between Moscow and Kyiv before Russia captured Crimea by force in 2014.

Russia sent forces into Crimea and seized control of the peninsula after Ukraine’s pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, was ousted during mass protests in February 2014.