Ukraine-Russia struggle newest: Trump says he’ll loosen oil sanctions after ‘very good’ name with Putin | EUROtoday

• US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin held a one-hour telephone name on Monday discussing the wars in Iran and Ukraine. Trump mentioned Putin wished to be “helpful” on the Iran battle, whereas Trump urged him to assist finish the Ukraine struggle as a substitute.

• After the decision, Trump indicated the US may quickly ease some oil-related sanctions to stabilise international provide disrupted by the Iran battle.

• Russian drones struck Ukraine’s second-largest metropolis, Kharkiv, injuring a number of folks and damaging buildings and vehicles.

• Another strike in Dnipro injured round 10 folks, together with a 12-year-old boy, with high-rise buildings broken.

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned Ukraine is prepared for brand spanking new US-backed peace talks with Russia “at any moment.” However, a deliberate assembly was postponed on the request of the US as a result of international consideration is at the moment targeted on the Iran disaster.

• Zelensky additionally mentioned 11 international locations close to Iran, in addition to the US and European companions, have requested Ukraine for assist countering Iranian drones.

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has intensified his dispute with the British authorities over the £2.5bn proceeds from the sale of Chelsea FC, insisting he ought to have a say in how the funds are allotted regardless of sanctions imposed on his property following the Ukraine struggle.

The UK and the EU sanctioned Abramovich in 2022 over his alleged ties to president Vladimir Putin’s regime, prompting the sale of the Premier League membership to a consortium. However, the £2.5bn raised from the deal has remained frozen in a UK checking account.

Britain desires the funds ringfenced solely for humanitarian use in Ukraine, however Abramovich has signalled that he desires better flexibility over how the cash is finally spent.

The telephone name between Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president Donald Trump was “constructive” as the 2 leaders discussing attainable options to the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine, mentioned Russian particular presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“The constructive call lasted an hour. Possible solutions to the Ukraine and Iran conflicts were discussed,” Dmitriev wrote on X.

Earlier, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov instructed reporters that Putin had held a telephone dialog with Trump. He mentioned the hour-long name, initiated by the US, targeted on the conflicts round Iran and in Ukraine.

It was the primary dialog between the 2 leaders in additional than two months and their first publicly reported telephone name for the reason that US–Israeli assault on Iran.

Ukraine’s Maksym Murashkovskyi credited synthetic intelligence for serving to him win a silver medal on the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics, calling ChatGPT a “revolutionary technology” after ending runner-up in Sunday’s biathlon occasion.

Murashkovskyi, a bronze medallist on 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 instructed 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 synthetic intelligence may finally change some features of the work carried out by human coaches.

“Not completely for five to 10 years. But part of it, definitely,” he mentioned. “I believe in it – it is a revolutionary technology.”

Ukraine have gained 10 medals at this yr’s Paralympics up to now.

As the battle within the Middle East locations rising pressure on US missile stockpiles, Ukraine is leveraging its wartime improvements – particularly, low-cost interceptors designed to counter Russian assault drones – into important geopolitical affect.

Now a number one international producer of those interceptors, Ukraine is providing its experience to the United States and its Gulf allies to be used within the Middle East. In return, Kyiv hopes to safe the high-end weaponry it can not manufacture domestically.

Four years in the past, on the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s home arms trade was severely underdeveloped. Forced to innovate for survival, it has since cultivated a quickly increasing defence sector targeted on cheap drones. Some of those are particularly engineered to fight Iranian-style Shahed drones, which Russia now deploys in huge numbers.

Russia’s defence ministry claimed on Monday that its forces have captured the village of Holubivka in Ukraine’s jap Donetsk area, the state-run RIA information company reported.

The Independent couldn’t independently verify the battlefield report.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s General Staff mentioned on Telegram that, for the primary time since 2024, Ukrainian troops regained management of a bigger space of Ukrainian territory in a month than Russia had captured throughout the identical interval.

“We also strike the enemy on his territory. In February, 85 targets were hit by DeepStrike. Taking into account previous periods, we have a cumulative effect – a decrease in total oil refining volumes in the Russian Federation by 24.8%,” the assertion mentioned.

US president Donald Trump is weighing easing oil sanctions on Russia and releasing emergency crude stockpiles to some international locations, Reuters reported.

The deliberations mirror White House worries that the surge in oil costs following greater than every week of US and Israeli strikes on Iran will damage US companies and shoppers forward of the November midterm elections, when Trump’s fellow Republicans hope to retain management of Congress.

Following his name with Vladimir Putin, Trump instructed reporters in Florida on Monday that his administration was lifting sanctions on some international locations as a part of efforts to stabilise the oil market, however declined to offer particulars.”So we have sanctions on some countries. We’re going to take those sanctions off until the Strait is up,” he mentioned.

Easing sanctions on Russia would probably enhance world provides of oil at a time of large disruptions to Middle East shipments from the increasing Iran battle. But it may additionally complicate US efforts to deprive Russia of income for its struggle in Ukraine.

Trump added later within the press convention that he had a “very good call” with Putin in regards to the struggle in Ukraine.

Russian drones attacked Ukraine’s second-largest metropolis, Kharkiv, and the southeastern metropolis of Dnipro late on Monday and in a single day, injuring greater than 20 folks, Ukrainian officers mentioned.

A Russian drone struck an space close to a high-rise condo constructing late on Monday in Kharkiv, injuring seven folks, smashing home windows and setting vehicles ablaze, the town’s mayor and Ukrainian police mentioned.

A second assault in a single day injured 4 folks when a drone hit a highway between buildings, Mayor Ihor Terekhov mentioned on the Telegram messaging app.

Kharkiv, positioned 30 km (18 miles) from the Russian border, withstood early advances by Russian forces after their full-scale invasion in February 2022 and has since been a frequent goal of Russian air assaults.

Ukraine’s air pressure mentioned Russia attacked the nation with 137 drones, of which 122 have been downed or neutralised.

In Dnipro, 10 folks have been injured, together with a 12-year-old boy, regional Governor Oleksandr Ganzha mentioned on Telegram. Ganzha posted pictures on-line displaying rubble in streets and broken constructing facades. City Mayor Borys Filatov mentioned no less than eight high-rise buildings have been broken within the assault.

Dutch intelligence has mentioned Russian hackers launched a worldwide cyber marketing campaign to achieve entry to Signal and WhatsApp accounts belonging to high-profile figures and steal delicate data.

Dutch intelligence businesses mentioned the operation focused army and authorities staff 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) mentioned.”The Russian hackers have likely gained access to sensitive information,” AIVD and the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) mentioned in a joint assertion.

The attackers reportedly used phishing ways to trick customers in chat conversations into sharing safety verification codes and passcodes, enabling them to achieve entry to private accounts and group chats.

Signal mentioned that its encryption programs weren’t 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 corporate mentioned. “We take this very seriously.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has mentioned a number of international locations have expressed curiosity within the applied sciences and ways Ukraine has developed through the struggle.

Following a nationwide safety assembly, Zelensky mentioned there was “clear interest” in Ukraine’s expertise in constructing drone interceptors, digital warfare programs and specialised coaching 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 mentioned.

Some of these requests have already resulted in “concrete decisions and specific support,” although Zelenskyy didn’t elaborate on which international locations have been concerned.

“Ukraine is ready to respond positively to requests from those who help us protect the lives of Ukrainians and the independence of Ukraine,” he mentioned.

One of Ukraine’s most notable improvements has been the event of interceptor drones – comparatively cheap unmanned plane designed particularly to hunt and destroy incoming drones.

According to a supply cited by Reuters, the United States and Qatar have held discussions about buying Ukrainian interceptor drones – an indication that Kyiv’s wartime improvements may grow to be a part of the worldwide defence market.

In an interview with The New York Times, Zelenskyy mentioned Ukraine had despatched interceptor drones together with a crew of specialists to assist defend US army bases in Jordan after a request from Washington.