Ukraine-Russia battle newest: Trump exempts Russia from tariffs amid go to by Putin’s prime negotiator

Kirill Dmitriev, one of Vladimir Putin’s most trusted international envoys, is in Washington for the first official visit of a Russian since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Details of the talks have been kept under wraps, but likely featured peace in Ukraine, the return of US companies to Russia, prisoner swaps, energy prices, and how to continue building ties between Washington and Moscow.

The US-educated, former Goldman Sachs investment banker, who was invited by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, has a strong relationship with many US officials including key members of the Trump team.

He may, therefore, be crucial in helping strengthen the relationship between the Kremlin and the White House – particularly after the US president recently said he was “p***** off” at his Russian counterpart for the failure to reach a quick ceasefire.

The Russian envoy played a significant role in the earliest contacts between Putin and Mr Trump after the latter first took office in 2016.

After Mr Dmitriev’s arrival and while announcing bombshell global tariffs – which didn’t include the previously-threatened levy on Russian crude oil – Mr Trump hailed the “good cooperation” by Russia and Ukraine.

European countries are providing more than half of Ukraine’s ammunition needs, which Volodymyr Zelensky recently put at two million rounds, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday.

It comes amid a European push to be more self-reliant in its support for Ukraine, with support from Washington no longer a guarantee under the Trump administration.

“These things are moving very well (…) we need to get the help to Ukraine as fast as possible. President Zelensky has said that they need five billion to have at least two million rounds,” Ms Kallas said ahead a of EU defence ministers summit in Warsaw.

“I’m glad to see that we already have different proposals or different countries are coming with their input to this, so we have already over 50% of what is needed,” she added.

Russia launched 39 drones against Ukraine overnight, the country’s air force said.

The Ukrainian air force shot down 28 drones and another seven did not reach their targets, likely due to electronic warfare countermeasures, it said in a statement.

It did not detail what happened to the remaining four drones.

Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has said the US aims to secure a full ceasefire in the ongoing war soon.

Talking to Fox News, Mr Kellogg said Ukraine and Russia are already approaching a point of ceasefire but both sides will need to make compromises.

“Neither side is going to get everything they want,” he said.

“I know [Trump’s] frustrated with both Zelensky and Putin as well, but we’re going to get there, and I think what you have to do is stay really on focus, on point, to get where you want to go with the ceasefire. Because what we want to have is a comprehensive 30-day ceasefire. Once you get there, it’s gonna be really hard to restart the war again. That’s what I believe,” Mr Kellogg told Fox News last night.

Russian forces in Ukraine continue to use ammunition equipped with chemical agents prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Ukrainian military has said.

Ukrainian forces recorded 767 cases in March of Russian forces using regulated K-51 and RG-VO grenade launchers to launch munitions containing chemical agents and ammunition containing unspecified hazardous chemicals that are banned under the CWC, the military said.

They also reported that Russian forces had used banned chemical agents a total of 7,730 times since February 2023.

Nato’s assets could be key in aiding proposed European military mission to guarantee a peace deal in Ukraine in plans being worked out by the war-hit nation’s western allies.

In one of the proposals being discussed by the UK and France, Nato’s command and control structures would be used in a deployment of a so-called reassurance force in Ukraine, five officials aware of the plan told the Financial Times.

The reassurance force would also use Nato’s shared intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, under the proposal, FT reported.

This proposal is one of the several options being discussed by European allies and could be changed before any final agreement, according to the officials aware of the plan.

Mark your calendars for 8am on 4 April as The Independent launches The Conversation, a new series where our top journalists sit down with world-leading experts to dissect the biggest issues shaping our times.

In the premier episode, world affairs editor Sam Kiley is joined by Alex Younger, the former chief of MI6, Britain’s secret intelligence service, and leading security strategist Rachel Ellehuus, director-general of The Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) and former Pentagon official with expertise in Nato and transatlantic defence.

Russian forces unleashed an hour-long barrage of drones on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, late last night, triggering a number of fires but causing no casualties in the second such attack in the course of the day, the regional governor said.

“In the space of just one hour, the enemy deployed 17 (Iranian-designed) Shahed drones,” said governor Oleh Syniehubov.

“Most of the strikes were in the Kyiv district. Local fires broke out. Fortunately, there were no casualties,” he said.

The same district had come under attack earlier in the day, with officials reporting five people injured.

A team from Ukraine may be coming to the United States as soon as this week or next week, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg Television yesterday, amid efforts to end the war with Russia.

Last week, the top US official had said Ukraine may sign an economic deal this week.

“We have passed along a completed document for the economic partnership (that) is currently being reviewed by Ukrainians, and we hope to go to full discussions and perhaps even get signatures next week,” Mr Bessent had said.