Russia-Ukraine: fighting resumed, peace talks stalled

The brief lull in the celebrations of the Soviet victory in World War II, an event that Vladimir Putin has always cherished in propaganda terms and which this year was celebrated decidedly subdued, quickly exhausted its momentum and brought no sign of a break in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Military actions and bombings resumed, as did the usual exchange of mutual accusations. The atmosphere between the parties is not positive and hopes for forthcoming peace talks mediated by the United States, itself engaged in handling the war against Iran, also seem frozen. According to sources close to the two sides heard by the Financial Times, Putin is now aiming to conquer more Ukrainian territory by force and may make further demands after consolidating control of the Donbass. For its part, Kiev feels less exposed to US pressure to accept a quick and unfavourable agreement, thanks to the slowdown of the Russian advance and the damage inflicted by drone strikes deep into enemy territory. "The US did not get any progress from Russia," said one of the Ukrainian officials heard by the FT. "Everything that could be negotiated has already been done."

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine will take place when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky orders the Ukrainian armed forces to leave the Donbass and other regions currently captured by the Russians. "In order for a ceasefire to be reached and a corridor to large-scale peace negotiations to be opened, as the president already stated in June two years ago, addressing the Russian Foreign Ministry leadership, President Zelensky must order the Ukrainian armed forces to cease fire and leave the territory of the Donbass and Russian regions," he said in response to a question about what important step Zelensky needs to take in order to move closer to a solution to the Ukrainian conflict.

Moscow hopes that the US will abandon the Ukrainian issue or at least consider it secondary to the restoration of full-scale trade and diplomatic relations, Peskov again suggested. In the meantime, however, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirms that the process to end the war in Ukraine is at a standstill and on the front of bilateral relations between Russia and the US "nothing is happening in real life", despite initial promising signs. "Encouraging words" about potential cooperation with the US have not brought results yet.

Against this backdrop, the guns were back in action: Russian air raids hit a residential building in the Ukrainian region of Rivne, killing three people and wounding six, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Koval, reported by Ukrainska Pravda. A Ukrainian civilian died today following Russian attacks on the Kharkiv region as Ukrainian forces struck the Yaroslavl oil refinery and the Astrakhan gas refinery in the Russian Federation. A fire broke out at the site.

Ukrainian leader Zelensky publicly hoped that the meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping would lead to a positive turn in the war: 'We are in constant contact with our American partners and hope that while President Trump is in China, the issue of ending the Russian war against Ukraine will also be addressed.