Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Reuters in an interview that the United States is making its offer of security guarantees for a peace deal conditional on Kyiv ceding the entire eastern Donbas region to Russia. Zelenskyy claimed that with the US regime focused on its own conflict with Iran, Donald Trump is applying pressure to Ukraine in an effort to bring a quick end to the four-year war triggered by Russia's 2022 invasion.
Zelenskyy also alleged Russian attempts to blackmail the US: "I have reports from our intelligence services showing that Russia is doing this and saying: 'I will not pass on intelligence to Iran if America stops passing intelligence to Ukraine.' Isn't that blackmail? Absolutely." He stated he had seen the data but provided no further details, highlighting the geopolitical tensions surrounding intelligence sharing.
Russian attacks killed two people in Ukraine's Kharkiv city and region, while a strike on the Danube port of Izmail damaged port facilities and energy infrastructure. Prosecutors in Kharkiv region said in a Telegram statement that a woman injured in an attack on Kharkiv had died in hospital, and a Russian drone killed a man in his car in a district closer to the border, underscoring the ongoing violence in the conflict.
Ukrainian drone strikes killed two people in Russia's border region of Belgorod, according to regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. He wrote on Telegram that drones killed an 18-year-old man on a motorcycle in a village near the border and a woman in her car in Graivoron town, also near the border, marking another escalation in cross-border attacks that have characterized the four-year war.
Zimbabwe announced that 15 of its citizens had been killed fighting for Russia in Ukraine, the latest African country to report recruits dying on the frontlines. Information Minister Zhemu Soda told a press conference that the 15 had been deceived into enlisting, referring to it as human trafficking, and noted that social media was one recruitment method used by traffickers targeting Zimbabweans, raising concerns about foreign involvement in the conflict.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had given the military permission to board and detain Russian ships his government alleges are part of a network enabling Moscow to export oil despite Western sanctions. Starmer claimed he approved more aggressive action against the vessels because Russian President Vladimir Putin was likely "rubbing his hands" at the sharp rise in oil prices driven by the US-Israel war against Iran, highlighting efforts by European regimes to disrupt Russia's so-called shadow fleet.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin ally, was greeted by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on his first visit to the reclusive nation, according to the Korean Central News Agency. A ceremony welcoming Lukashenko took place on Kim Il Sung Square, with Kim "gladly" meeting and "warmly" welcoming the Belarusian leader. Lukashenko visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun to pay respects to the embalmed bodies of Kim's father and grandfather, laying a bouquet on behalf of Putin, signaling deepening ties between Moscow-aligned states amid the Ukraine conflict.
Source: www.theguardian.com