Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump threatens to ‘take a pass’ on peace talks if either side ‘makes it difficult’ – UK Times

Russia launched 8 missiles and nearly 90 drones, damaging infrastructure in five regions across Ukraine on Friday night.

More than a third of the drones were shot down, and another 36 were redirected by electronic warfare, the Ukrainian air force said.

It remains unclear how many people were injured in the attack.

“During the night of April 19, 2025 (from 9:00 p.m. Kyiv time on April 18), the Russian occupiers carried out a strike on Ukraine with ground- and air-launched missiles and attack UAVs,” the air force said in a statement.

Damage has been recorded in five of Ukraine’s regions in the south, northeast and east, it said.

However, the air force did not reveal details regarding the fate of the missiles.

The statement noted that the eight missiles included three Iskander ballistic missiles as well as anti-ship missiles suspected to be launched from the Crimean region.

A St. Petersburg court sentenced a 19-year-old Russian activist for nearly three months on Friday after she affixed a quote from a Ukrainian poem onto a monument.

Darya Kozyreva was sentenced to two years and eight months in a penal colony for “discrediting” the Russian army after she affixed a verse from a Ukrainian poet. Taras Shevchenko’s “My Testament” to his statue in St Petersburg.

The quote she pasted reads: “Oh bury me, then rise ye up. And break your heavy chains. And water with the tyrants’ blood. The freedom you have gained” (translation by John Weir).

She was arrested in February 2024 and has spent over a year in pre-trial detention, according to local news sources.

In her defiant final statement at the court, Ms Kozyreva said: “I still dream that Ukraine will reclaim every inch of its territory: Donbas, Crimea, all of it. And I believe that one day, it will. History will judge, and judge fairly. But Ukraine has already won. It has won. That’s all.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the temporary ceasefire agreement on the use of long-range missiles targeting energy infrastructure had ended.

It remains unclear whether there will be an intensification of long-range missile strikes, as the terms of the ceasefire were never made public.

Peskov added that the Russian president has not issued any further instructions.

On Thursday, the Ukrainian president warned energy workers that Russia may escalate strikes on Ukraine around Easter.

Australia says it would use “whatever avenues” it can to help release Melbourne man Oscar Jenkins, facing a 15-year jail term in Russia for fighting on Ukraine’s side.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said his administration would “continue to make representations to the reprehensible regime of Vladimir Putin” for Jenkins’ release.

The 33-year-old former teacher reportedly arrived in Ukraine to participate as a mercenary in the war and was paid up to $15,000 a month to fight on Ukraine’s side.

The Australian prime minister said his government would “stand up and use whatever avenues we have at our disposal to continue to make those representations”.

Ukraine has imposed sanctions against three Chinese companies for their involvement in manufacturing Russian Iskander missiles, which is a road-mobile nuclear-capable short-range missile system developed by Russia.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said these companies were involved in the production of these missiles such as the one that struck Kharkiv on Friday, killing one civilian and injuring nearly 100 others.

Firms banned by Ukraine include Beijing Aviation And Aerospace Xianghui Technology Co. Ltd, Rui Jin Machinery Co. Ltd, and Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Xining Co. Ltd – all registered in China and allegedly operating in Russia.

You can read more about the missile system here:

A Russian missile strike at a residential area of Kharkiv has killed one civilian and injured 98 others on Friday, according to the city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov.

The ballistic missiles were equipped with cluster munitions, causing widespread damage to at least 21 apartment buildings, 40 houses, and two schools, the mayor said.

Russia has continued to use missiles with cluster munition warheads to target civilian centres in Ukraine.

One such attack on 4 April led to at least 89 casualties in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

This tactic to hit civilian areas is likely an attempt to take advantage of the ceasefire on energy infrastructure strikes, the Institute for the Study of War reported.

Ukraine has signed a memorandum of intent for a mineral deal with the US as part of its efforts to end the war.

The deal would give the US access to a wealth of rare-earth minerals hidden in Ukraine’s nearly 2.5 billion-year-old crystalline rock formations.

These rocks are some of Earth’s oldest and are a treasure trove of several key minerals like lithium, graphite, manganese, titanium and rare earth elements, which are critical for modern industries and the global green energy transition.

Most of these minerals are essential for manufacturing electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and energy storage systems.

Ukraine’s deposits contain 22 of 34 key minerals identified by the EU as critical for the green energy transition.

The US has heavily relied on China for importing most rare-earth minerals, which dominate the extraction of these metals.

But the ongoing Trump tariff-driven trade war with China has led to Beijing halting its export of key minerals.

Now, with access to Ukraine’s minerals in exchange for a peace deal, the US could avoid reliance on China.

You can read more on the mineral deal here:

Ukraine signed a memorandum of intent with the US on Friday to proceed with initial steps towards a bilateral US-Ukrainian mineral deal.

Ukrainian economic minister Yulia Svyrydenko confirmed that Ukraine and the US finalised and signed the memorandum of intent (moI) towards a rare-earth minerals deal expected to be signed next week.

“We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine,” Svyrydenko said in a post on X.

“Ahead is the finalisation of the text of the Agreement and its signing—and then, ratification by parliaments…In the meantime, we continue to work on the Agreement itself,” she said.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has reiterated the Kremlin’s position that any resolution to the conflict must “comprehensively” address what Moscow refers to as the war’s “root causes”.

Since the start of the war in 2022, Moscow has defined these “root causes” as Nato’s alleged violation of a promise not to expand eastward, and Ukraine’s alleged discrimination against ethnic Russians.

Russia’s insistence on these demands as a condition for ending the war effectively amounts to Ukraine’s full capitulation and the potential installation of a pro-Russian government in Kyiv.

While the Kremlin continues to participate in bilateral discussions, Russian officials remain committed to Moscow’s pre-war demands.

Meanwhile, Marco Rubio received an “encouraging” response to the “outlines of a durable and lasting peace” during meetings with representatives from Ukraine and Europe, according to the US department of state.

Vasily Nebenzya, permanent representative of Russia to the UN, claimed on Friday that the discussion of a general ceasefire in Ukraine is “unrealistic”.

He further accused Ukraine of not observing a moratorium on long-range strikes against energy infrastructure in the past month.

This appear’s to be in line with Russia’s broader strategy to deflect blame onto Ukraine and extract additional concessions from the US.

Reports of ongoing talks between US and European officials suggest Washington is planning to ease its economic sanctions against Moscow if a lasting ceasefire deal is achieved.