Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump envoys ‘disrespectful’ for visiting Moscow not Kyiv, Zelensky says – UK Times

Russian forces took ⁠1,700 square km (656 square ⁠miles) ​of ⁠territory in ⁠Ukraine ​so far ⁠this year ‌and are advancing ‌in all ‌directions, Russia’s ⁠top general, chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov ‌said ​on ‌state television ⁠today.

The claims from Russia come after intelligence assessments in March showed that Russian advances have slowed as Ukrainian forces continue to contest the initiative along the war frontline.

Ukrainian commander-in-chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi stated on 30 March that Ukrainian forces are prioritising conducting counterattacks in areas where Russian forces are the weakest in order to retake and maintain the operational and strategic initiative.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the regular visits from US president Donald Trump’s envoys to Moscow and not Kyiv were “disrespectful” at a time when peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have stagnated.

Former real estate magnate turned diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have flown to Moscow several times and met Russian president Vladimir Putin as recently in January. In December, they spoke for four hours before the American diplomats toured the Russian capital.

A smiling Putin told Witkoff he was glad to see him and asked him about his and Kushner’s walk around Moscow, which included a stroll across Red Square past the mausoleum of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin to the towers of the Kremlin.

They are yet to travel to Kyiv even once, however, having only hosted the Ukrainian delegation in Miami.

“I consider their arrival is needed by them, not us… It’s disrespectful to come to Moscow and not Kyiv, it’s just disrespectful. I understand we have complex logistics… If they don’t want to, we can meet in other countries,” Zelensky said.

“We should not make the arrival of Jared and Wikoff some sort of special sensation because, first of all, we are in contact with them,” Zelensky said in his interview to Ukrainian outlet ICTV.

“They are in contact (with us) over the phone, and it is over the phone that they express their desire to continue communication and negotiations.”

Hungarian election ​winner Peter Magyar has called on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to reopen the damaged Druzhba pipeline as soon as it is functional, and for Russia ⁠to resume oil shipments through it.

Hungary’s outgoing government, led by prime minister Viktor Orban, and Slovakia have been in a dispute with Ukraine over the suspension of Russian oil supplies over Ukrainian territory through ⁠the Soviet-era pipeline. Kyiv ​says ⁠the pipeline was shut due to a Russian attack in late January.

“If on the Ukrainian side the ⁠Druzhba pipeline is ready for oil shipments, then they ​should ⁠kindly reopen it as they ‌had promised,” Magyar told a news conference after the first meeting of his parliamentary group.

“And from Russia, we expect ‌them to start feeding oil (into the pipeline) ‌in line with the contracts, because this will not work without either.”

The pipeline could open today, according to a report by Bloomberg, restoring oil flow between Hungary and Russia.

War-hit Ukraine should only be granted limited “symbolic” benefits and some form of “associate” membership of the EU as part of a peace deal to end the war with Russia, according to German and French proposals.

Though Paris and Berlin have drafted their own suggestions for what a fast-tracked integration into the EU might look like for Ukraine, according to the FT, both fall some way short of Ukrainian hopes.

According to Germany’s proposal, Kyiv would be allowed to sit in on ministerial and leaders’ meetings but would not have voting rights and would receive “no automatic application” of the shared EU budget.

The French proposal, which would described Ukraine as a country with “integrated state status”, would exclude Kyiv from EU farming subsidies.

Both say this status could be granted quickly to Ukraine once the war is over, and that it would be a stepping stone towards full integration into the bloc – a process that would still require Kyiv to navigate extensive bureaucratic hurdles.

A Ukrainian official told the FT that Kyiv was wary of watered-down membership being offered as a poor substitute for true EU member status, but accepted that some elements could be useful.

“We call it ‘shadow membership’,” the official said.

Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence has ⁠struck two “large” Russian landing ships ⁠in ​Russian-occupied Crimea, ⁠it said ⁠yesterday.

At ​the ⁠time ‌of the strike, which ‌occurred overnight ‌on Sunday, the ⁠ships that are part of the Russian Black Sea ‌Fleet were in ​Sevastopol ‌Bay, ⁠GUR ⁠said.

The European Union and Hungary are aligned on the need to clear a €90bn loan for Ukraine, Hungarian outgoing prime minister Viktor Orbán said.

The Kremlin-friendly leader was the only impediment to the critical funding being pushed through by the EU, and his successor Peter Magyar has said he seeks smoother ties with Brussels and while looking out for Budapest’s financial interests.

Almost 10 days after losing the elections, Orbán yesterday said Hungary will lift its objections to the loan as it has “received an indication from Ukraine” via Brussels that Kyiv was ready to restore oil deliveries via the damaged Druzhba pipeline that runs from Russia via Ukraine.

Kyiv ​says ⁠the pipeline was shut due to a Russian attack in late January.

“Once oil deliveries are restored, we will no longer stand in the way of approving the loan,” said Orbán, who earlier claimed the repair of the pipeline as a condition to clear the loan but has repeatedly caused obstruction in the coalition’s relief work for Ukraine.

The pipeline is set to be opened today, clearing the way for the loan, reported Bloomberg.

Russia’s defence ⁠ministry said it flew ⁠Tu-22M3 ⁠long-range ​bombers in ‌a planned flight over ‌neutral ‌waters in the Baltic Sea, the Interfax news agency ‌reported.

Russia carried out a similar exercise earlier this year in January, saying such flights are in compliance with international law.

Moscow claims that all flights of aircraft of Russia’s Air Forces are carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace.

Its forces conducts regular flights over neutral waters, including the Arctic Ocean, the North Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Baltic and the Black Seas.

Russia’s security service said on Monday it had detained a 57-year-old German woman with a bomb in her rucksack as part of what it framed as a false-flag operation directed by Ukraine.

Unverified footage showed a woman lying on the tarmac in a car park next to a rucksack, while armed men pointed their weapons at her. Sappers were shown blowing up the rucksack.

The FSB said the woman, who had a bomb with the equivalent of 1.5 kg of TNT, was targeting a law enforcement facility in the Stavropol region as part of a false flag operation directed by Ukraine.

The FSB said it had also detained a citizen from a country in Central Asia who thought he was acting on behalf of a “terrorist organisation” and had been due to detonate the bomb.

Russian interior ​minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev arrived in North Korea for talks on cooperation between the ⁠two allies, the ministry’s spokesperson Irina Volk said early on Tuesday.

“Issues of cooperation between ⁠the two ​countries ⁠in the field of law enforcement will be ⁠considered,” Volk wrote on Telegram. ​Pictures ⁠showed the ‌minister being greeted on arrival in Pyongyang.

Russia and North ‌Korea have forged closer ‌relations since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and in ⁠2024 signed a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty” during a visit to Pyongyang by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The pact includes a mutual defence provision.

Under ‌the terms of the ​treaty, North Korea ‌sent some ⁠14,000 soldiers to fight alongside ⁠Russian forces in western Russia’s Kursk ‌region ​after a ‌large Ukrainian incursion.