.theguardian - 5 days ago

Trump said he would not schedule any talks with Putin unless it was clear that the Russian leader was serious about ending the war. What we know on day 1,341See all our Ukraine war coverageThe Trump administration has prepared additional sanctions it could use to target key areas of Russia’s economy if Vladimir Putin continues to delay ending Moscow’s war in Ukraine, officials have told the Reuters news agency. It was not clear whether Washington will actually levy further sanctions, but some of the measures being discussed reportedly included targeting Russia’s banking sector and the infrastructure used to get oil to market, said a US official and another person familiar with the matter. Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Russia on Wednesday for the first time since returning to office in January.Trump said on Saturday that he would not schedule any talks with Putin unless it was clear that the Russian leader was serious about making a deal to end the war in Ukraine. “I’m going to have to know that we’re going to make a deal. I’m not going to be wasting my time,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed to Asia. “I’ve always had a great relationship with Vladimir Putin, but this has been very disappointing,” Trump said, adding, “I thought this would have gotten done before peace in the Middle East.”Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine overnight into Saturday killed at least four people and wounded 20, officials said. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched nine missiles and 62 drones, of which four missiles and 50 drones were intercepted.In the capital, Kyiv, two people were killed and 13 were wounded in a ballistic missile attack in the early hours of Saturday, Kyiv’s police said. A fire broke out in a nonresidential building in one location, while debris from intercepted missiles fell in an open area at another site, damaging windows in nearby buildings, Ukraine’s state emergency service wrote on the messaging app Telegram.In the Dnipropetrovsk region, two people were killed and seven wounded, the acting regional governor, Vladyslav Haivanenko, said, adding that apartment buildings and private homes were damaged in the strikes.In Russia, the defence ministry said its air defences shot down 121 Ukrainian drones over Russia overnight.The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Saturday that Russia’s attacks intensified Ukraine’s need for Patriot defence systems. “It is precisely because of such attacks that we pay special attention to Patriot systems – to be able to protect our cities from this horror. It is critical that partners who possess relevant capability implement what we have discussed in recent days,” he wrote in English on X, adding “America, Europe and the G7 countries can help ensure that such attacks no longer threaten lives.” Continue reading...

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