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VLADIMIR Putin is not interested in diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine war and wants to gain as much territory as possible, a new report claims.
Three people briefed on conversations with the Russian president told the Financial Times that Putin was seriously considering a peace deal with Ukraine last month.
One person briefed on the talks told the publication: “Putin sincerely believes in the nonsense he hears on [Russian] television and he wants to win big.”
His approach to the talks became harder after the sinking of Russian warship Moskva.
Another source added: “Putin was against signing anything… after the Moskva he doesn’t look like a winner, because it was humiliating.”
It comes as President Zelenskyy again called for a meeting with Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, in an effort ‘to end the war’.
“I think that whoever started this war will be able to end it,” he told a news conference at a metro station in the heart of the Ukrainian capital.
He was “not afraid to meet” Putin if it would lead to a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, he added.
“From the beginning, I have insisted on talks with the Russian president,” said Zelensky. It’s not that I want (to meet him), it’s that I have to meet him so as to settle this conflict by diplomatic means. We have confidence in our partners, but we have no confidence in Russia,” he added.
Follow our Russia-Ukraine live blog below for up-to-the-minute updates…
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Ukraine proposes talks with Russia near besieged Mariupol plant
Ukraine has invited Russia to talks near the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters and civilians are holding out in a city largely under Moscow’s control, Kyiv said today.
Talks near the sprawling steel works would provide a dramatic and symbolic backdrop because the site is the last stronghold of Ukrainian forces in the strategic port.
“We invited Russians to hold a special round of talks on the spot right next to the walls of Azovstal,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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Russia will halt activity to let civilians leave Mariupol steel works
Russia’s defence ministry said its troops would halt hostilities to allow civilians to leave the besieged steel plant Azovstal in Ukraine’s port city of Mariupol from 1400 Moscow time (1100 GMT) on Monday.
The ministry said any civilians trapped at the facility could leave in whichever direction they chose.
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Russia strikes Ukrainian oil depot and military installations
Russia’s armed forces have struck Ukrainian military installations and the oil refinery, the Russian defence ministry reported on Monday.
Dmytro Lunin, governor of the Poltava region, said on television on Sunday that the refinery had been completely destroyed.
“The fire at the refinery has been extinguished but the facility has been completely destroyed and can no longer function,” Lunin said.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that sea and air missiles had destroyed an oil refinery and three fuel storages in the Odesa region, Interfax reported.
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US wants Russia ‘weakened’ to stop future invasions
The United States wants Russia’s military capability weakened so that it cannot carry out another invasion, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Monday after returning from a trip to Kyiv.
“We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” Austin told a group of journalists after he and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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Five train stations come under fire, says Ukrainian Railways
Five railway stations came under fire in western and central Ukraine today, causing an unspecified number of casualties, Ukrainian television quoted state-run Ukrainian Railways as saying.
Oleksander Kamyshin, the company’s chief, said the attacks took place in the space of an hour and details were being checked.
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Activists block tanker carrying Russian oil to Norway
Greenpeace activists sought to block a tanker on Monday from delivering Russian oil to Norway, chaining themselves to the vessel in a protest against the war in Ukraine, the advocacy group said.
The Ust Luga product tanker is currently anchored outside Exxon Mobil’s Slagen oil terminal some 70 km (43 miles) south of the capital Oslo, according to vessel tracker Marine Traffic.
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Putin congratulates France’s Macron on election victory
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated French President Emmanuel Macron on his re-election and defeat of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, the Kremlin said Monday, as tensions remain over the Ukraine conflict.
“I sincerely wish you success in your state activities, as well as good health and well-being,” Putin said in a telegram to Macron, according to a statement from the Kremlin.
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Zelenskyy: Our souls are filled with fierce hatred for the invaders
The United States’ top diplomat and defence chief today set to make their first war-time visits to Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine two months ago, with fierce fighting casting a long shadow over Orthodox Easter.
The trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin cames as the war entered its third month.
Blinken and Lloyd’s arrival in Ukraine coincided with Easter celebrations in the largely Orthodox country.
“Our souls are filled with fierce hatred for the invaders and all that they have done.
“Don’t let rage destroy us from within,” Zelensky said in a statement to mark the holiday.
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UN: almost 5.2 million Ukrainians flee war
The UN refugee agency said on Sunday the number of Ukrainians who have fled the country since Russia’s invasion two months ago is approaching 5.2 million.
The total figure of 5,186,744 is an increase of 23,058 over Saturday’s data, the UNHCR said. More than 1,151,000 Ukrainians have left during April so far, compared with 3.4 million in the month of March alone.
According to UNHCR, here is a breakdown of how many Ukrainian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries:
- Poland: 2,899,713
- Russia: 578,255
- Romania: 774,074
- Hungary: 489,754
- Moldova: 433,214
- Slovakia: 354,329
- Belarus: 24,084
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‘Putin has lost interest in talks to end the war’
According to a report in the Financial Times has stated that Vladimir Putin is no longer interested in diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.
Instead, he wants to seize as much Ukrainian territory as possible.
One person briefed on the talks said: “Putin sincerely believes in the nonsense he hears on [Russian] television and he wants to win big.”
His approach hardened after the sinking of Russian warship Moskva, which Ukraine has claimed responsibility for.
A source said: “Putin was against signing anything… after the Moskva he doesn’t look like a winner, because it was humiliating.”
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Zelensky: Our souls are filled with fierce hatred for the invaders
The United States’ top diplomat and defence chief on Sunday set to make their first war-time visits to Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine two months ago, with fierce fighting casting a long shadow over Orthodox Easter.
The trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin cames as the war entered its third month.
Blinken and Lloyd’s arrival in Ukraine coincided with Easter celebrations in the largely Orthodox country.
“Our souls are filled with fierce hatred for the invaders and all that they have done.
“Don’t let rage destroy us from within,” Zelensky said in a statement to mark the holiday yesterday.
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Putin accuses ‘elite British SAS troops of posing as MEDICS
VLADIMIR Putin has accused elite British SAS troops of potentially posing as MEDICS to carry out “sabotage and guerrilla warfare” in Ukraine.
Russia’s top state investigative body has said it is looking into reports claiming Brit special forces have been deployed to western Ukraine.
In a statement, Moscow’s Investigative Committee (IC) said it would follow up the report that they had been sent in “to assist the Ukrainian special services in organising sabotage on the territory of Ukraine”.
It claimed that “at least two groups of specialists in sabotage and guerrilla warfare from the British Special Air Service (SAS) have been sent to the Lviv region”.
The RIA Novosti news agency claims the SAS often work in war zones under cover as medical workers.
An IC source said: “With a high degree of probability, these specialists arrived in order to improve the skills and efficiency of the Ukrainian special services in coordinating the activities of sabotage groups in the territories of Ukraine controlled by Russian troops.”
Putin’s personal CIA said it will look into “the facts of the activities of British SAS saboteurs in Ukrainian regions”, according to the state-controlled outlet.
A spokesperson for the British Ministry of Defence said: “We do not comment on Special Forces.”
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Russian Orthodox Church helps resettle Ukrainians
The Russian Orthodox Church has helped with the deportation and resettlement of Ukrainians, according to Slidstvo.info.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations has been sending reports on the numbers of forcibly deported Ukrainians to the church.
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Trump on how he’d deal with Putin in Piers Morgan interview
DONALD Trump has revealed how he would deal with Vladimir Putin and the word he’d NEVER let the Russian leader use if he were still in charge.
The former US President told Piers Morgan in the exclusive TalkTV interview that he’d approach Putin very differently amid his brutal attack on Ukraine.
Trump said he believes Putin has been using nuclear threats during the war in Ukraine to frighten other nations – making the Russian leader think “no one will attack him.”
Read the article in full here.
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Ukraine blames Russia after Mariupol humanitarian corridor failed yesterday
No humanitarian routes were established out of the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol yesterday, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
She blamed Russian forces for not holding their fire.
Vereshchuk said that the Ukrainian side would try again today to establish safe passage out of Mariupol, calling for U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres to demand a ceasefire and open up humanitarian corridors from Mariupol.
“This is what Guterres should talk about in Moscow, if he is preparing to talk about peace,” Vereshchuk said.
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Zelensky calls on meeting with Putin
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has again called for a meeting with Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, in an effort ‘to end the war’.
“I think that whoever started this war will be able to end it,” he told a news conference at a metro station in the heart of the Ukrainian capital.
He was “not afraid to meet” Putin if it would lead to a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, he added.
“From the beginning, I have insisted on talks with the Russian president,” said Zelensky.
“It’s not that I want (to meet him), it’s that I have to meet him so as to settle this conflict by diplomatic means. We have confidence in our partners, but we have no confidence in Russia,” he added.
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Putin’s Satan 2 nuclear missile can ‘break through any defences’
TYRANT Putin has boasted that his apocalyptic ‘Satan 2’ nuke missile can “break through any defences” as he revelled in the prospect of global destruction.
In a mortifying threat, Mad Vlad, 69, said the world-ending RS-28 Sarmat missile will “force those who try to threaten Russia to think twice”.
Putin hailed the development of the new missile – successfully test-fired earlier this week – as “a big, significant event” for Russia’s defence industry.
Speaking yesterday, the dictator boasted: “The missile can break through all modern anti-missile defences.
“There is nothing like this anywhere in the world, and won’t be for a long time.”
The deadly projectile can fly over 11,000 miles, carry 15 warheads and has the potential to destroy an area the size of the United Kingdom in a single strike.
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Putin fuels Parkinson’s rumours during Easter cathedral service
FRAIL-looking Vladimir Putin stoked rumours of failing health last night as he was seen biting his lips, fidgeting distractedly and appearing unsteady at a church service.
The tyrant – dogged by claims he has Parkinson’s or terminal cancer – gurned while clutching a candle near the altar at a midnight mass for Orthodox Easter.
Brief TV footage showed little obvious sign of the telltale tremors often associated with Parkinson’s.
But viewers saw the ageing autocrat appearing to shift uncomfortably, sticking out his tongue and chewing his lips.
He also looked up to the ceiling and down at the floor during a mass led by crony Patriarch Kirill, who has supported his invasion of Ukraine.
At one point the President was seen crossing himself slowly, appearing to take great care to control the movement.
It came days after dishevelled Putin, 69, was seen gripping a table and tapping his foot in video that Kremlin watchers claimed showed a drastic decline in his physical state.
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Tonight’s summary
Thank you for reading my coverage on the Russia-Ukraine war this evening. My colleague Joe Gamp will be back with you tomorrow morning.
Before I log off, I’ll leave you with a summary of the top news from today:
- In his Easter Sunday message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the religious festival “gives us great hope and unwavering faith that light will overcome darkness, good will overcome evil, life will overcome death, and therefore Ukraine will surely win”.
- Pope Francis has used the Orthodox Easter weekend to once again appeal for a truce in Ukraine “to ease the suffering of exhausted people”
- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has again called for a meeting with Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, in an effort ‘to end the war’
- UNHCR data reveals almost 5.2 million Ukrainians have fled the country
- More than 1,151,000 Ukrainians have left during April so far, compared with 3.4 million in the month of March alone
- Ukraine says hundreds of its forces and civilians are trapped inside the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol.
- Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdoğan and Zelenskiy have discussed Mariupol during a telephone call, with Turkey ready to give all possible assistance during negotiations between Ukraine and Russia
- Vladimir Putin has boasted that his apocalyptic ‘Satan 2’ nuke missile can “break through any defences” as he revelled in the prospect of global destruction
- The UN has called for an “immediate stop” to fighting in Mariupol so that civilians trapped in the city can be evacuated
- According to a report in the Financial Times has stated that Vladimir Putin is no longer interested in diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict
- Instead, according to the report, he wants to seize as much Ukrainian territory as possible.
- In his Easter Sunday message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the religious festival “gives us great hope and unwavering faith that light will overcome darkness, good will overcome evil, life will overcome death, and therefore Ukraine will surely win”.
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European Central Bank chief: Interest hikes won’t drop energy prices because of Russia war
A European Central Bank rate hike will not reduce energy prices – the cause of half of the continent’s inflation – ECB president Christine Lagarde said today.
“Inflation in Europe is very high at the moment. Fifty percent of that is related to energy prices” and Russia’s war in Ukraine “has dramatically increased those prices,” Lagarde told US network CBS in an interview.
“If I raise interest rates today, it is not going to bring the price of energy down.”
Central banks around the world have largely begun raising interest rates in response to inflation, in order to increase the cost of credit to slow consumption – and therefore ease the pressure on prices.
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UN: almost 5.2 million Ukrainians flee war
The UN refugee agency said today that the number of Ukrainians who have fled the country since Russia’s invasion two months ago is approaching 5.2 million.
The total figure of 5,186,744 is an increase of 23,058 over Saturday’s data, the UNHCR said. More than 1,151,000 Ukrainians have left during April so far, compared with 3.4 million in the month of March alone.
According to UNHCR, here is a breakdown of how many Ukrainian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries:
- Poland: 2,899,713
- Russia: 578,255
- Romania: 774,074
- Hungary: 489,754
- Moldova: 433,214
- Slovakia: 354,329
- Belarus: 24,084
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Death toll rises after fire at Russian research centre
According to a Russian media report from the Tass news agency, the death toll from Thursday’s fire at a Russian defence research facility outside Moscow has risen to 17.
Six more bodies were found in the Central Research Institute of the Aerospace Defense Forces of the Russian Federation in Tver, north-west of the Russian capital.
Military investigators were investigating the blaze, Tass said.
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Russian Orthodox Church helps resettle Ukrainians
The Russian Orthodox Church has helped with the deportation and resettlement of Ukrainians, according to Slidstvo.info.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations has been sending reports on the numbers of forcibly deported Ukrainians to the church.
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Ukraine’s military says Russian forces are trying to storm Azovstal plant
Serhiy Volyna, commander of Ukraine’s 36th Marine brigade forces in Mariupol, said in an interview with an opposition lawmaker that Russia was hitting the complex with air and artillery bombardments.
“We are taking casualties, the situation is critical… we have very many wounded men, (some) are dying, it’s a difficult (situation) with guns, ammunition, food, medicines… the situation is rapidly worsening,” Volyna said, speaking from his location at the plant.
Konstantin Ivaschenko, the official who has been designated mayor of Mariupol by Russia but not recognised as such by Ukraine, denied that any fighting was taking place in the city in comments reported by Russian news outlet TASS on Sunday.
Reuters could not independently verify the Ukrainian or Russian the accounts.
The Azovstal steel factory is the main remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol, a city that has seen sustained bombardment since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24.
Earlier today, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych wrote on Facebook that “Russian troops are trying to finish off the defenders of Azovstal and more than 1,000 civilians who are hiding at the plant”.
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Ukraine proposes talks with Russia near besieged Mariupol plant
Ukraine has invited Russia to talks near the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters and civilians are holding out in a city largely under Moscow’s control, Kyiv said today.
Talks near the sprawling steel works would provide a dramatic and symbolic backdrop because the site is the last stronghold of Ukrainian forces in the strategic port.
“We invited Russians to hold a special round of talks on the spot right next to the walls of Azovstal,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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