Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has criticised the repeated visits made by Donald Trump’s envoys to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin, saying it was “disrespectful” that they had not once travelled to Kyiv.
Former real estate magnate turned diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have flown to Moscow several times and met Putin as recently in January. In December, they spoke for four hours before the American diplomats toured the Russian capital.
Witkoff and Kushner are yet to travel to Ukraine even once, having only hosted the Ukrainian delegation in Miami.
“It’s disrespectful to come to Moscow and not Kyiv, it’s just disrespectful. I understand we have complex logistics… If they don’t want to, we can meet in other countries,” Zelensky said.
Meanwhile, the EU appeared close to unlocking a €90bn loan to Ukraine, after Hungary’s outgoing PM Viktor Orban said he would stop vetoing the measure as soon as Kyiv restores a key oil pipeline. There were reports that the Druzbha line could reopen later today.
Watch: Zelensky says Trump’s envoys visiting Putin and not Kyiv is ‘disrespectful’
Russian interior minister arrives in North Korea for talks
Russian interior minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev arrived in North Korea for talks on cooperation between the two allies, the ministry’s spokesperson Irina Volk said early on Tuesday.
“Issues of cooperation between the two countries in the field of law enforcement will be considered,” Volk wrote on Telegram. Pictures showed the minister being greeted on arrival in Pyongyang.
Russia and North Korea have forged closer relations since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and in 2024 signed a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty” during a visit to Pyongyang by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The pact includes a mutual defence provision.
Under the terms of the treaty, North Korea sent some 14,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russian forces in western Russia’s Kursk region after a large Ukrainian incursion.
Chernobyl is too radioactive for humans – but wild animals are thriving like never before
Across the Chernobyl exclusion zone, a radioactive landscape too dangerous for human life, the world’s wildest horses roam free. Przewalski’s horses – stocky, sand-coloured, and almost toy-like – graze an area larger than Luxembourg.
This desolate territory was created on 26 April 1986, when an explosion at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant sent radiation across Europe, forcing the evacuation of entire towns and displacing thousands. It remains the worst nuclear disaster in history.
Four decades on, Chernobyl (Chornobyl in Ukraine) remains too dangerous for humans. Yet, wildlife has moved back in. Wolves now prowl the vast no-man’s-land spanning Ukraine and Belarus, and brown bears have returned after more than a century. Populations of lynx, moose, red deer, and even free-roaming dogs have rebounded.
Russia claims its forces took 1,700 square km of Ukraine so far this year
Russian forces took 1,700 square km (656 square miles) of territory in Ukraine so far this year and are advancing in all directions, Russia’s top general, chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov said on state television today.
The claims from Russia come after intelligence assessments in March showed that Russian advances have slowed as Ukrainian forces continue to contest the initiative along the war frontline.
Ukrainian commander-in-chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi stated on 30 March that Ukrainian forces are prioritising conducting counterattacks in areas where Russian forces are the weakest in order to retake and maintain the operational and strategic initiative.
Zelensky says Trump’s envoy visiting Moscow and not Kyiv is ‘disrespectful’
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the regular visits from US president Donald Trump’s envoys to Moscow and not Kyiv were “disrespectful” at a time when peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have stagnated.
Former real estate magnate turned diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have flown to Moscow several times and met Russian president Vladimir Putin as recently in January. In December, they spoke for four hours before the American diplomats toured the Russian capital.
A smiling Putin told Witkoff he was glad to see him and asked him about his and Kushner’s walk around Moscow, which included a stroll across Red Square past the mausoleum of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin to the towers of the Kremlin.
They are yet to travel to Kyiv even once, however, having only hosted the Ukrainian delegation in Miami.
“I consider their arrival is needed by them, not us… It’s disrespectful to come to Moscow and not Kyiv, it’s just disrespectful. I understand we have complex logistics… If they don’t want to, we can meet in other countries,” Zelensky said.
“We should not make the arrival of Jared and Wikoff some sort of special sensation because, first of all, we are in contact with them,” Zelensky said in his interview to Ukrainian outlet ICTV.
“They are in contact (with us) over the phone, and it is over the phone that they express their desire to continue communication and negotiations.”
Hungary’s Magyar calls on Ukraine to restart Druzhba as soon as possible
Hungarian election winner Peter Magyar has called on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to reopen the damaged Druzhba pipeline as soon as it is functional, and for Russia to resume oil shipments through it.
Hungary’s outgoing government, led by prime minister Viktor Orban, and Slovakia have been in a dispute with Ukraine over the suspension of Russian oil supplies over Ukrainian territory through the Soviet-era pipeline. Kyiv says the pipeline was shut due to a Russian attack in late January.
“If on the Ukrainian side the Druzhba pipeline is ready for oil shipments, then they should kindly reopen it as they had promised,” Magyar told a news conference after the first meeting of his parliamentary group.
“And from Russia, we expect them to start feeding oil (into the pipeline) in line with the contracts, because this will not work without either.”
The pipeline could open today, according to a report by Bloomberg, restoring oil flow between Hungary and Russia.
Germany and France propose limited ‘associate’ membership of EU for Ukraine
War-hit Ukraine should only be granted limited “symbolic” benefits and some form of “associate” membership of the EU as part of a peace deal to end the war with Russia, according to German and French proposals.
Though Paris and Berlin have drafted their own suggestions for what a fast-tracked integration into the EU might look like for Ukraine, according to the FT, both fall some way short of Ukrainian hopes.
According to Germany’s proposal, Kyiv would be allowed to sit in on ministerial and leaders’ meetings but would not have voting rights and would receive “no automatic application” of the shared EU budget.
The French proposal, which would described Ukraine as a country with “integrated state status”, would exclude Kyiv from EU farming subsidies.
Both say this status could be granted quickly to Ukraine once the war is over, and that it would be a stepping stone towards full integration into the bloc – a process that would still require Kyiv to navigate extensive bureaucratic hurdles.
A Ukrainian official told the FT that Kyiv was wary of watered-down membership being offered as a poor substitute for true EU member status, but accepted that some elements could be useful.
“We call it ‘shadow membership’,” the official said.
Watch: Three injured as Russian night strike hits Ukraine’s Velykyi Burluk, rescuers battle blaze
Ukraine claims attacks on Russian warships in occupied Crimea
Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence has struck two “large” Russian landing ships in Russian-occupied Crimea, it said yesterday.
At the time of the strike, which occurred overnight on Sunday, the ships that are part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were in Sevastopol Bay, GUR said.
EU set to unlock €90bn loan for Ukraine with Orban’s exit
The European Union and Hungary are aligned on the need to clear a €90bn loan for Ukraine, Hungarian outgoing prime minister Viktor Orbán said.
The Kremlin-friendly leader was the only impediment to the critical funding being pushed through by the EU, and his successor Peter Magyar has said he seeks smoother ties with Brussels and while looking out for Budapest’s financial interests.
Almost 10 days after losing the elections, Orbán yesterday said Hungary will lift its objections to the loan as it has “received an indication from Ukraine” via Brussels that Kyiv was ready to restore oil deliveries via the damaged Druzhba pipeline that runs from Russia via Ukraine.
Kyiv says the pipeline was shut due to a Russian attack in late January.
“Once oil deliveries are restored, we will no longer stand in the way of approving the loan,” said Orbán, who earlier claimed the repair of the pipeline as a condition to clear the loan but has repeatedly caused obstruction in the coalition’s relief work for Ukraine.
The pipeline is set to be opened today, clearing the way for the loan, reported Bloomberg.
Source: independent.co.uk