Ukraine-Russia conflict newest: Trump says he’ll loosen oil sanctions after ‘very good’ name with Putin
Donald Trump has said the US will loosen oil-related Ukraine war sanctions on “some countries” after an hour-long phone call with Vladimir Putin.
The call was the first between the two leaders since US and Israeli forces launched attacks on Iran, sparking a conflict that has seen global energy prices skyrocket.
Trump said they discussed both the Ukraine war and the conflict in the Middle East during a “very good call”. He said they had a “positive” discussion about the European conflict despite what he called “tremendous hatred” between Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump said Putin offered help bringing a quick diplomatic end to the Iran war. “I said, ‘You could be more helpful by getting the Ukraine–Russia war over with. That will be more helpful,’” Trump told reporters.
Earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian interceptor drones and operators were already on the ground in US bases in Jordan, having arrived last week.
He said Kyiv had received another “11 requests from countries neighbouring Iran, European states, and the US” and that some had been met with “concrete decisions and specific support”.
Dutch intelligence says Russian hackers mounted a global cyber campaign to gain access to Signal and WhatsApp
Dutch intelligence has said Russian hackers launched a global cyber campaign to gain access to Signal and WhatsApp accounts belonging to high-profile figures and steal sensitive information.
Dutch intelligence agencies said the operation targeted military and government employees and journalists.
“Russian state hackers are engaged in a large-scale global cyber campaign to gain access to Signal and WhatsApp accounts belonging to dignitaries, military personnel and civil servants,” the Netherlands’ General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) said.”The Russian hackers have likely gained access to sensitive information,” AIVD and the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) said in a joint statement.
The attackers reportedly used phishing tactics to trick users in chat conversations into sharing security verification codes and passcodes, enabling them to gain access to personal accounts and group chats.
Signal said that its encryption systems were not compromised.
“We are aware of recent reports regarding targeted phishing attacks that have resulted in account takeovers of some Signal users, including government officials and journalists,” the company said. “We take this very seriously.”
Zelensky says Ukraine receiving requests to share drone defence expertise
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said several countries have expressed interest in the technologies and tactics Ukraine has developed during the war.
Following a national security meeting, Zelensky said there was “clear interest” in Ukraine’s experience in building drone interceptors, electronic warfare systems and specialised training programmes designed to counter unmanned aerial threats.
“Ukraine is ready to respond positively to requests from those who help us protect the lives of Ukrainians and the independence of Ukraine,” he said.
Some of those requests have already resulted in “concrete decisions and specific support,” though Zelenskyy did not elaborate on which countries were involved.
“Ukraine is ready to respond positively to requests from those who help us protect the lives of Ukrainians and the independence of Ukraine,” he said.
One of Ukraine’s most notable innovations has been the development of interceptor drones – relatively inexpensive unmanned aircraft designed specifically to hunt and destroy incoming drones.
According to a source cited by Reuters, the United States and Qatar have held discussions about purchasing Ukrainian interceptor drones – a sign that Kyiv’s wartime innovations could become part of the global defence market.
In an interview with The New York Times, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had sent interceptor drones along with a team of experts to help protect US military bases in Jordan after a request from Washington.
Zelensky says Ukraine ready for talks with Russia as US delays meeting amid Iran crisis
Ukraine is ready to resume US-backed peace talks with Russia “at any moment”, president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday, after Washington postponed a meeting to focus its attention on the Iran conflict.
Writing in English on X, Zelensky said: “At the moment, the partners’ priority and all attention are focused on the situation around Iran, and because of this the meeting that had been planned for this week is being postponed at the proposal of the American side.
“However, Ukraine is ready for a meeting at any moment, in a format that can help and that will be realistic in terms of ending the war.”
Several rounds of negotiations aimed at ending the four-year war with Russia have failed to make progress on key issues, including Moscow’s demand that Kyiv abandon territory that Russian forces have not managed to capture.
Zelensky also said Ukraine had received 11 requests from countries neighbouring Iran, as well as from the US and European partners, seeking help in countering drones launched by Tehran.
He accused Russia of trying to exploit tensions in the Middle East to strengthen its position.“The Russians are trying to manipulate the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region in favour of their aggression,” he wrote.
“And effectively turn the Iranian regime’s strikes against its neighbours and American bases into a second front of Russia’s war against Ukraine and, more broadly, against the entire West. This must not be allowed.”
What the Iran conflict means for Russia and Ukraine?
As the war in the Middle East spreads and intensifies, the one in Ukraine continues. While geographically some 2,500km (1,600 miles) apart, the consequences of US President Donald Trump’s latest military adventure for the Russian war against Ukraine will be acutely felt across several areas. In the short term, the Kremlin will probably feel emboldened to double down on its aggression, but this is unlikely to shift the dial significantly towards Russian victory in the long term.
The targeted killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by a precision US strike would have reminded the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, of his reportedly “apoplectic” reaction to the killing of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011. Comments on social media from the likes of far-right Russian nationalist Alexander Dugin, who posted, that “one by one, our allies are being systematically destroyed”, and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who alleged that the “talks with Iran were just a cover”, are unlikely to have steadied Putin’s nerves.
Pictures show aftermath of shelling at abandoned children’s hospital
The latest pictures showed a children’s hospital in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk has been heavily damaged in recent shelling during the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war.
Local Russian-installed authorities said the strike was carried out by the Ukrainian military.
Images from the scene show workers repairing damaged power lines outside the clinic while firefighters inspect the building’s interior. The hospital suffered significant structural damage, with broken walls and debris scattered around the facility.
Officials said the hospital was under maintenance at the time of the strike and that there were no patients inside when the shelling occurred.
Russian drone injures six by apartment block in Ukraine’s Kharkiv
A Russian drone struck an area near a high-rise apartment building on Monday in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, injuring six people, smashing windows and setting cars ablaze, the city’s mayor said.
Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a small child was among the injured.
Kharkiv, located about 30km (18 miles) from the Russian border, withstood early advances by Russian forces following their full-scale invasion in February 2022 and has since been a frequent target of Russian air attacks.
Separately, Russian shelling in the southeastern city of Dnipro injured seven people, regional Governor Oleksandr Ganzha said on Telegram. Ganzha posted photos online showing rubble strewn across streets and damaged building facades.
Ukraine biathlete credits ChatGPT for silver win
Ukraine’s Maksym Murashkovskyi credited artificial intelligence for helping him win a silver medal at the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics, calling ChatGPT a “revolutionary technology” after finishing runner-up in Sunday’s biathlon event.
Murashkovskyi, a bronze medallist at the 2023 world championships, was edged out by China’s Dang Hesong and narrowly missed gold.
“For the past six months, I have been training with ChatGPT,” the 25-year-old told reporters.
“It was not only tactics. It was half of my training plan – motivation, and so on. So it made up a huge part of my training.
“I used it as a psychologist, coach and sometimes even as a doctor.”
He added that artificial intelligence could eventually replace some aspects of the work done by human coaches.
“Not completely for five to 10 years. But part of it, definitely,” he said. “I believe in it – it is a revolutionary technology.”
Ukraine have won 10 medals at this year’s Paralympics so far.
Putin suggests ‘quick political and diplomatic end’ to Iran war during call with Trump, aide says
Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin “wants to be helpful” with the Iran conflict after his call with the Russian leader.
Putin and Trump had their first call since the beginning of the war with Iran.
“I said, ‘You could be more helpful by getting the Ukraine–Russia war over with. That will be more helpful,’” Trump told reporters during a press conference at his Florida golf club.
A foreign policy aide to Putin said on Monday that the Russian president had proposed an idea for a “quick political and diplomatic end to the Iranian conflict”.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told reporters that the two leaders held hour-long call, initiated by the United States, focused on the conflicts involving Iran and Ukraine.
Trump told reporters he had a “very good call” with Putin about Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East.
“There’s tremendous hatred between President Putin and (Ukraine’s) President Zelensky. They can’t seem to get it together, but I think it was a positive call on that subject,” Trump said.
Trump has recently expressed dismay about the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which began more than four years ago.
Trump to ease oil sanctions on some countries after Putin call
Donald Trump has said the US plans to waive oil-related sanctions on “some countries” to ease the shortage triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran following his call with Vladimir Putin.
“So we have sanctions on some countries. We’re going to take those sanctions off until the Strait [of Hormuz] is up,” he told reporters.
The US president declined to provide further details.
Last week, the United States issued a temporary waiver allowing India to purchase certain Russian oil cargoes to help offset the loss of supplies from the Middle East.
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed to most oil tankers, benchmark crude prices surged past $100 a barrel on Monday – their highest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – before easing slightly this morning.
Abramovich lawyers insist £2.5bn from Chelsea sale is still his and blame government for delays over funds
Lawyers representing Roman Abramovich have insisted that the £2.5bn proceeds from the sale of Chelsea football club belong entirely to him, and have warned that he will fight any attempt to confiscate the funds.
In a growing row between the oligarch and the government, Mr Abramovich’s legal team has also insisted ministers are responsible for the delay in releasing the funds for victims of the Ukraine war, claiming in a letter that this was always his intention and something he will do voluntarily when the assets are no longer tied up in a legal case.
But the letter has drawn a furious response from the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, who told The Independent: “It is time Roman Abramovich does the right thing, but if he won’t, we will act.”
Political editor David Maddox reports:
Source: independent.co.uk
