Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy says US has linked security guarantees to ceding of Donbas | Russia
The United States makes its security guarantee offer for a peace agreement in Ukraine conditional on Kiev ceding the entire eastern region of the country, Donbas, to Russia. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Reuters in an interview. Zelenskyy said that at a time when the United States is focused on its own conflict with Iran, Donald Trump is applying pressure on Ukraine to bring a quick end to the four-year war triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion. “The Middle East certainly has influence on President Trump and I am considering his next steps. President Trump unfortunately is still choosing the strategy of putting more pressure on the Ukrainian side,” he told Reuters. “I would very much like the American side to understand that the east of our country is part of our security guarantees,” he said.
Russia tried to blackmail the United States by offering to stop sharing military intelligence with Iran in exchange for Washington removing Ukraine from its intelligence data.Zelenskyy said on Wednesday. Zelenskyy, who said on Monday that Ukraine’s military intelligence had “irrefutable” evidence that Russia continues to provide intelligence to Iran, told Reuters he had seen the data but did not provide further details. “I have received reports from our intelligence services that Russia is doing this and saying, ‘If America stops transferring intelligence to Ukraine, I will not transfer intelligence to Iran. Isn’t this blackmail? Absolutely,” Zelenskyy said.
Two people lost their lives in attacks carried out by Russia in the city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine and the surrounding region. The attack on the port of Izamil on the Danube damaged port facilities and energy infrastructure, officials said. A woman injured in an attack in the city of Kharkiv died of her injuries in hospital, prosecutors in the Kharkiv region said in a statement on Telegram early Thursday. It was stated that nine people were injured in the attacks on two parts of the city, 30 kilometers away from the border, which are frequently targeted by Russian forces. Prosecutors also said a Russian drone killed a man in his car near the border.
A Ukrainian drone strike killed two people in the Russian border region of Belgorod on Wednesday, the regional governor said. Writing on Telegram, Vyacheslav Gladkov said drones killed an 18-year-old man riding a motorcycle in a village near the border and a woman in her car in the town of Graivoron, also close to the border. Belgorod was a frequent target of Ukrainian forces during the four-year war between Kiev and Moscow. A bombing of a public building in the Ukrainian city of Belgorod killed four people last week.
Zimbabwe said on Wednesday that 15 of its citizens were killed fighting on behalf of Russia in Ukraine.It is the last African country to report soldiers dying on the front lines. Information minister Zhemu Soda said at a press conference that 15 people were deceived into recruitment and that this amounted to human trafficking. He said social media was one of the recruitment methods used by traffickers targeting Zimbabweans. An official from Russia’s embassy in Harare declined to comment.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday: He gave the army permission to board and detain Russian ships. His government claims he is part of a shipping network that allows Moscow to export oil despite Western sanctions. Other European countries have stepped up efforts to disrupt Russia’s so-called shadow tanker fleet, which Moscow uses to finance its four-year war against Ukraine. Starmer said Russian President Vladimir Putin had approved more aggressive actions against the ships, possibly because he was “wringing his hands” at the sharp rise in oil prices caused by the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin’s ally, was welcomed by North Korea. leader Kim Jong-un arrives on his first visit to the reclusive countryThe Korean Central news agency reported on Thursday. The report stated that a welcoming ceremony for Lukashenko was held in Kim Il Sung Square on March 25, and Kim “gladly” greeted the Belarusian leader and greeted him “warmly”. The report stated that Lukashenko visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the mummified bodies of Kim’s father and grandfather are located, accompanied by high-ranking North Korean officials to pay his respects. It was also stated that Lukashenko left a bouquet on behalf of Putin.
