Ukraine-Russia conflict dwell: Zelensky says foundation of latest minerals deal ‘almost finalised’ with US | EUROtoday

Vladimir Putin has drawn a parallel between Elon Musk and a key determine within the Soviet house race, Sergei Korolev, praising the SpaceX founder as a visionary.

Mr Putin reportedly invoked the legacy of Korolev, the engineer behind Yuri Gagarin’s historic 1961 spaceflight, to spotlight the rarity of individuals like Musk.

TASS quoted Mr Putin as saying: “Such people rarely appear in the human population, charged with a certain idea.”

Ukraine and the US have made “substantial progress” in their talks on a minerals deal and will sign a memorandum in the near future, a senior Ukrainian official said.

“Our technical groups have labored very completely collectively on the settlement, and there may be vital progress. Our authorized employees has adjusted a number of objects inside the draft settlement,” first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in a social media post on X.

Donald Trump is seeking a bilateral minerals deal as part of his push to end Ukraine’s war against the Russian invasion. Mr Trump also sees it as a way to recover billions of dollars the US has spent on military assistance to Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine would not recognise past US military aid as loans.

Ms Svyrydenko said the work on the deal would continue and that both sides agreed to sign a memorandum in the near term as the first stage to record the progress.

The talks are advancing and it was likely a provisional document, or memorandum, could be signed very soon, deputy Ukrainian economy minister Taras Kachka told national television.

“A remaining doc will not be signed this week. There is loads of work to be performed as a result of the concepts included within the settlement by the US aspect should be developed additional,” Mr Kachka mentioned.

Just days ago, Putin’s forces targeted the city centre in back-to-back missile strikes, killing 35 people and injuring over 100. It marked the deadliest attack on Ukrainian civilians this year.

Neighbours chatted in their apartment blocks, watching children play games in the courtyards. Pausing to look up, they would see the buzzing of attack drones and the familiar sounds of Ukrainian air defences before going back to their strange routine which is quickly becoming usual.

Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed “next steps” in response to possible “Russian provocations” with president of Finland Alexander Stubb.

“We discussed many issues, including preparations for our next joint steps and our response to possible Russian provocations in the near future,” Mr Zelensky said.

In a post on X, Mr Zelensky said the two leaders spoke about the battlefield situation and need for air defence systems.

“I informed about the battlefield situation and our need for air defense systems. We will achieve a just and sustainable peace when Ukraine receives strong support packages, and Russia faces strong sanctions in response to further dragging this war on,” he said.

The Kremlin has said there is not yet a clear outline of a potential US-Russia deal on Ukraine, but it has the political will to move towards on an agreement.

“There aren’t any clear outlines of any settlement but, however there may be political will to maneuver in direction of an settlement. And I repeat as soon as once more, we extremely extremely price the constructive and significant contacts that we now have had (with the US),” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov in a call with reporters on Tuesday.

He said the talks with the US had been positive and useful Moscow would not give a possible timeline for a peace settlement.

“Nevertheless, in fact we want to hope for one of the best, that the work could have optimistic outcomes. We wouldn’t say precisely what the timeframe is right here,” mentioned Mr Peskov.

Germany is relying on British endorsements to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine, a member of Berlin’s incoming government has warned.

Roderich Kiesewetter, a senior Christian Democrats (CDU) MP, said in-fighting between his party and its coalition partner, the centre-Left Social Democrats (SPD), was preventing a final decision by Friedrich Merz, the chancellor-in-waiting.

But he suggested that “UK leadership” could give Mr Merz the support he needs to deliver the powerful missile system, The Telegraph reported.

“The Taurus delivery remains a point of contention for the time being … I do not yet see any consensus here, especially as the parties have not agreed on the key security policy issues in the coalition agreement,” Mr Kiesewetter said.

“I don’t yet see the Taurus being delivered. Any influence by UK leadership to finally convince Germany to deliver Taurus might help and is highly welcomed,” he added.

An independent Russian media outlet claims to have identified 101,833 Russian military personnel killed in the course of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The investigation conducted by Mediazona, in collaboration with the BBC Russian service, found that 4,897 Russian officers have been killed in the invasion.

More than 24,800 volunteers were among those identified, accounting for 24.3 per cent of the total Russian losses.

Mediazona has been running an ongoing investigation tracking the identities of Russians killed in the war, as well as broader estimates of casualties – including those wounded or missing.

Since its last update, it said 1,882 additional Russian military personnel have been killed.

Donald Trump has dispatched his peace envoy Steve Witkoff and secretary of state Marco Rubio to Paris for talks on Ukraine’s future with European partners.

This is the first time the US president has made an effort to reach out to European leaders after excluding them from the initial rounds of peace talks on Ukraine.

“Secretary of state Marco Rubio and ambassador Steve Witkoff will journey to Paris, France, 16-18 April for talks with European counterparts to advance President Trump’s objective to finish the Russia-Ukraine conflict and cease the bloodshed,” the state department said.

The visit is also aimed at improving Mr Trump’s ties with the US’s EU allies.

“While in Paris, he can even talk about methods to advance shared pursuits within the area,” the assertion added.

A Russian mass drone assault has killed two individuals and injured at the very least 16 yesterday within the southeastern Ukrainian metropolis of Dnipro, the regional governor mentioned.

A younger girl and an aged girl had been killed, mentioned Serhiy Lysak, governor of Dnipropetrovsk area.

Mr Lysak mentioned 16 individuals had been injured, together with three kids, aged 11, six years outdated, and 9 months. Five individuals have been being handled in hospital.

Dnipro mayor Borys Filatov put the variety of injured at 28.

The assault triggered a number of fires.

Mr Filatov mentioned one strike got here inside 100 metres (110 yards) of the municipal places of work. He additionally mentioned at the very least 15 dwellings had been broken, in addition to a pupil residence, an academic establishment and a meals processing plant.

Russian forces used heavy artillery and kamikaze drones to strike Dnipropetrovsk all by means of Wednesday.

Serhii Lysak, Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, mentioned on Telegram: “Throughout the day, the aggressor launched nine kamikaze drone strikes at Nikopol district.

“The region was also shelled with heavy artillery. Nikopol, Marhanets, and Pokrovsk communities were hit.”

In one nine-story residential constructing, a fireplace broke out in an residence. Other properties suffered damaged home windows, in accordance with Lysak.

He additionally reported that municipal infrastructure and automobiles have been broken.