Ukraine-Russia conflict newest: Putin’s forces give up to military robots in battlefield first, Zelensky says | EUROtoday

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky bemoaned on Tuesday that US-led peace efforts have been being sidelined as Washington’s focus shifts to the conflict in Iran, warning that Kyiv was additionally seeing disruptions to deliveries of American weapons.

In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF, Zelensky stated key US intermediaries, together with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, have been “constantly in talks with Iran”, leaving them with “no time for Ukraine”.

He described each males as “pragmatic” and advised they have been looking for to attract larger engagement from Russian president Vladimir Putin in a bid to finish the conflict.

But Zelensky cautioned that with out stronger stress from Washington, Moscow would really feel emboldened.

A political shift in Hungary may unlock as much as €90bn in assist for Ukraine and inject recent momentum into Kyiv’s long-stalled bid to affix the European Union, based on the bloc’s enlargement chief.

Speaking on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring conferences, Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos described the election defeat of long-serving Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban as a “big win for Europe”.

“I expect, personally, that this will have a positive effect on the accession process,” she stated.

Hungary underneath Orban had successfully blocked the funding bundle, tying its veto to a dispute with Ukraine over a broken pipeline carrying Russian oil – a transfer that pissed off different EU leaders.

“With the €90 billion, we can cover the financial needs of Ukraine in 2026 and 2027,” Kos stated

Britain will announce additional assist for Ukraine price tens of millions of kilos on Wednesday as senior ministers maintain a sequence of conferences with their worldwide counterparts.

In Washington DC, chancellor Rachel Reeves is anticipated to verify a £752m fee to Kyiv forward of a gathering with Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

The fee, a part of a £3.36bn mortgage, is meant to assist pay for weaponry together with long-range missiles, air defence techniques and drones.

Ms Reeves stated: “This funding will help deliver the military equipment Ukraine needs as it defends itself against Russia’s unprovoked war.

“I’m proud that the UK is a number one associate in offering important assist to Ukraine, and we are going to proceed to step as much as do extra whereas preserving stress on Russia.”

Meanwhile, defence secretary John Healey will use a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) to announce the UK’s biggest ever drone package for Ukraine that will see 120,000 drones delivered to the country.

The package will include long-range strike drones, reconnaissance drones, logistics drones and those with maritime capabilities, with many produced by UK-based companies.

Mr Healey said: “This huge enhance of battle-proven drones will give Ukrainian forces the aptitude they should defend their individuals and struggle again in opposition to Russian aggression.”

As we earlier reported, Volodymyr Zelensky and German chancellor Friedrich Merz held a press conference on after a meeting in Berlin on Tuesday morning.

We can now bring you more lines from Merz, who announced plans to cooperate with Ukraine on drone and battlefield data technology.

He also urged Kyiv to push forward with reforms with an eye to joining the European Union in the future.

Merz said joining the EU would be a strategically important step, but added that it was not achievable in the immediate term.

As the long, dark night of Viktor Orban’s 16-year rule in Hungary came to an end this weekend, it wasn’t just the jubilant crowds crammed onto the bridges across the Danube that had a song in their heart. There are few political events about which you can reach for a quote from 1970s soul band Hot Chocolate – but today, “Everyone’s a winner, baby, that’s no lie”.

For “the dictator”, as he was known in Brussels, has gone. Hungary has certainly won, Europe has won, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have lost their fifth-columnist ally on this continent, and Nigel Farage has lost a source of ideological inspiration.

But the biggest sigh of relief – at the sheer size of Peter Magyar’s election landslide – must have been in Kyiv. Cliche or not, we shouldn’t hesitate to call the end of Orban as a game-changer for Ukraine.

In recent years, Volodymyr Zelensky and his people have conducted their astonishingly successful resistance to the Russian invasion with bravery, solidarity and ingenuity – and in spite of a shortage of funds. The EU has long had a massive €90bn ready to lend to them – to pay for armaments, soldiers’ wages, and just to keep going – but the arrangement has been vetoed by the most stubborn and intractable of EU member states.

The Independent’s associate editor Sean O’Grady writes:

Ukraine is facing a major conscription crisis, just as Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that a protracted conflict in the Middle East will hamper its efforts to combat Russia’s invasion.

Earlier this year, Ukraine’s defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, admitted that Ukraine has 2 million draft-dodgers and hundreds of thousands more who are absent without leave (awol).

The Independent has spoken to Ukrainians on the ground about the reality of the situation, just as pressure mounts elsewhere for the war-torn country. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has shifted its focus from Ukraine to the conflict with Iran, while peace talks have stalled, and Vladimir Putin has launched his spring offensive.

The Kremlin has spoken out about internet restrictions, admitting they had caused disruption for many Russias but declaring that they are necessary for security reasons.

The restrictions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted, did not represent a return to the past.

Moscow has tightened its control over the internet since the start of its war in Ukraine in February 2022, blocking messenger apps and virtual private networks (VPN) used to bypass online censorship, and shutting down the mobile internet.

Peskov suggested that some of the measures were temporary in nature and would be lifted once it was safe to do so.

Others were related to tech companies not complying with Russian law, he said.

We heard earlier from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said Moscow satisfied that the new leader of Hungary, pro-EU Peter Magyar, wants to engage in pragmatic dialogue with Russia.

It comes after Peskov said on Monday that Moscow is looking forward to “continuing our highly pragmatic engagement with Hungary’s new leadership”.

“We famous Magyar’s assertion relating to his willingness to interact in dialogue. Naturally, this might be useful for each Moscow and Budapest,” he said, adding that Russia was not sure what the stance of the new leadership would be.

Boris Johnson has hit out at the “delay” and “timidity” in helping Ukraine after travelling through the country unprotected during a 72-hour trip for a documentary.

The former prime minister travelled beyond the capital Kyiv to the so-called “kill zone” near the city of Zaporizhzhia where he witnessed first-hand the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The 61-year-old said Ukraine can and will win the war, but that “we’re risibly failing to dwell as much as our pledges” to the country, PA reports.

Mr Johnson said: “The Ukrainians are preventing the identical conflict in opposition to the identical drones which can be being despatched in opposition to civilians by the identical alliance of tyrannies.

“We have spent four years psalming platitudes and telling them that their fight is our fight.

“On the premise of what I’ve seen, we’re risibly failing to dwell as much as our pledges, and to present them the assistance they want.

“The Ukrainians can win and will win.

“But our delay and our timidity proceed to trigger unimaginable human struggling.

“We are right to say that the Ukrainians are fighting for all of us – so why the hell are we still short-changing them?”

Mr Johnson’s three-day journey is the topic of a feature-length documentary movie for Channel 5, produced by Soho Studios and Two Rivers Media.

Boris Johnson: Into The Kill Zone will present him alongside Ukrainian troopers visiting places together with a secret drone base and makeshift bomb manufacturing unit that’s hidden inside deserted cottages.