Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky asks Trump to relay offer of Easter truce to Putin – UK Times

Russia has set a deadline for Ukraine to voluntarily withdraw from the Donbas region as a condition for ending the war, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Zelensky said the Kremlin has set the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the East as a precondition for a ceasefire on the frontlines, speaking to press yesterday.

He added that Russians have informed the American side that they intend to seize Donbas within two months. If Ukraine does not leave Donbas by that time, “the terms of peace will change”.

Zelensky said he was surprised at how the Americans can still trust the words of the Russians.

“A logical question arises. This is my question to my American colleagues: If their (the Russians’) goal is only Donbas, then why do they say that after capturing Donbas, they will move further and there will be new terms,” said Zelensky.

Ukraine’s intelligence shows Russia deliberately redirected drones towards Baltic nations and Finland to create regional tensions in the recent aerial offensive, foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.

A Ukrainian drone carrying an unexploded warhead crashed in Finland on Sunday, marking the first time the conflict with Russia has directly impacted Finnish soil, according to a preliminary assessment by Finnish police.

Ukraine has since apologised for the incident, explaining that the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had gone astray during its war with Russia, most likely due to electronic interference from Moscow.

“We have intelligence data confirming that in all these cases, these were deliberate and targeted actions by Russia,” Sybiha said in a press conference in Kyiv alongside EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

Ukraine, the foreign minister said, has never intentionally directed drones toward these countries and is working with partners to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Russian officials have said Moscow was sceptical of the idea of an energy truce, hours after Volodymyr Zelensky said he would lower pressure on Russia’s oil infrastructure if Russia agrees for a truce over Easter.

“In the statements by Zelensky that we have read, we have not seen any clearly formulated initiative regarding an Easter truce,” Peskov told reporters.

“Zelensky must take responsibility ‌and make the appropriate decision so that we achieve peace, not merely a ceasefire,” Peskov added, saying the longer Zelensky delayed the ​higher the price of peace would be for Ukraine.

The recent wave of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian energy installations, particularly at Baltic Sea ports, as well as a disputed strike on a major pipeline and the seizure of oil tankers at sea, has halted at least 40 per cent of Russia’s oil export capacity, according to Reuters calculations based on market data.

Ukraine’s foreign minister has called Hungary’s collusion with Russia on EU sanctions a “disgrace”.

A new leaked audio clip has revealed that Hungary’s foreign minister and his Russian counterpart discussed EU sanctions, days before an election that could determine whether Hungary sticks to its pro-Moscow course.

The recording published by Warsaw-based Vsquare.org purports to capture an August 2024 phone call between Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto ⁠and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.In a Facebook video, Szijjarto said wiretapping of his phone calls was a “huge scandal.”

“These are not conversations. This is obsequious reporting to Russian patrons. Disgusting, it is a disgrace, and it really should be subject to investigation,” Andrii Sybiha said.

The episode underscores unease among EU officials that Hungary is serving Russia’s ⁠interests and working from within the bloc to undermine EU efforts to aid ​Ukraine. ⁠Orban says he aims to keep Hungary out of the war and protect its interests.

Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia’s threats to seize more Ukrainian ‌territory outside the Donbas made it clear that their long-term goals went ⁠well beyond the region.

Russia is insisting that Ukraine give up the remaining parts of the eastern Donbas region it has been unable to conquer during four years of war, something Zelensky has steadfastly refused to consider. Russia already controls around four-fifths of the industrialised region.

Russia, he said, had told the US it could conquer the remainder of the Donbas in two months ⁠as Moscow pressed to wrap up talks before the US Congressional mid-term elections later this year.

“I’m surprised anyone can believe this,” he said, adding that Ukraine was also keen to ‌reach a “diplomatic solution” but would only agree to ​a ceasefire “where we currently stand”.

Kyiv says it can keep defending its ‌remaining “fortress belt” of industrial towns and cities in the Donbas for ​years, citing the glacial pace of Russia’s frontline advances since 2023 as its soldiers run into a defensive wall of Ukrainian drones.

A large fire broke out at a petrochemicals plant in Russia’s Tatarstan region yesterday, killing at ​least three people, including a firefighter, and injuring dozens.

Sibur, the ‌company that owns the sprawling Nizhnekamskneftekhim complex, said two employees had been killed in the accident, with 68 injured. At least 21 people remained hospitalised, three in serious condition.

The branch ​of Russia’s emergencies ministry in Tatarstan said one firefighter died ​from injuries sustained from a nearby explosion. Three others were ⁠injured.

Sibur said a gas mixture had exploded following a loss of ​pressure at a facility producing synthetic rubber and plastics. It said ​it was not clear what had caused the gas to ignite.

Volodymyr Zelensky said he would ask US mediators to pass Kyiv’s offer of an Easter ceasefire for strikes on energy infrastructure to Russia, after the Kremlin said it lacked any detailed proposals.

On Monday, Zelensky said ⁠that some of Ukraine’s allies had sent Kyiv “signals” about the possibility of scaling back its long-range strikes on Russia’s oil sector as ​global energy prices ⁠surge.

Zelensky stated Ukraine was ready to reciprocate if Russia ‌stopped attacking the Ukrainian energy system.

“I will definitely convey this proposal to the US tomorrow, and I will definitely ask them to pass it on to the Russian side,” Zelensky told reporters at an event to mark the fourth anniversary of a massacre in Bucha, a town ‌near the capital Kyiv.

“If they attack us, we will respond. If they agree to stop ‌the attacks on our energy infrastructure, we will reciprocate.”

The Ukrainian president is set to meet with the US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as well as Nato secretary general Mark Rutte in a virtual interaction today.

The officials will discuss the status of US-brokered peace negotiations with Russia over its war in Ukraine.

A Russian An-26 ​military transport plane crashed into a cliff in Crimea, killing 29 people on board, due to a possible technical malfunction, Russia’s defence ministry said early on Wednesday, according to news agencies.

TASS news agency, ⁠quoting the ministry, said communication with the aircraft was lost at about 6pm local time (1500 GMT) on Tuesday on a planned flight over Crimea.

The peninsula, covered in sweeping mountains leading down to the coast of the Black Sea, was illegally annexed ⁠by Russia from Ukraine in 2014.

“The ​defence ⁠ministry reported that a search team found the site of the catastrophe,” TASS reported. “According to a report from the site, six crew ⁠members and 23 passengers on board were killed.”

The ministry report did not ​say ⁠how many people were on board, ‌but it made no mention of any survivors on the An-26, a light tactical military transport that has for decades been a mainstay that ‌can carry cargo and up to 40 ‌passengers over short and medium distances.

“There was no impact on the aircraft,” TASS quoted the ministry as saying, implying that objects like missiles, drones and birds were not involved.

“The preliminary cause ⁠of the crash is a technical malfunction. A commission from the military is working at the site,” it said.