New attack in Sumy after massacre. Trump announces proposals to stop the war

The head of the Centre for Combating Disinformation of the Ukrainian National Defence and Security Council, Andriy Kovalenko, emphasised that the Russians deliberately launched the attack on Palm Sunday to cause numerous casualties.

"We have made it clear that we do not want any EU candidate country to participate in the events of 9 May in Moscow", the day Russia celebrates the victory against Nazism. So says EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Kaja Kallas answering questions at a press conference at the end of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, said that Russia had stepped up attacks against civilian areas since ceasefire talks began last month in Saudi Arabia. Not a mistake as Trump said but a very specific strategy.

Sumy and the surrounding region have repeatedly come under Russian attack over the past year, especially since Ukraine used the area as a base for a cross-border offensive in the neighbouring Russian region of Kursk. This year, Moscow forces drove most of the Ukrainian troops out of Kursk, but Kiev has warned that Russia is preparing to invade the Sumy region and open a new war front. Every inch of Ukraine is feeling the pressure of the large-scale Russian invasion, but in Sumy the pressure is becoming more and more concentrated.

Minister Sybiha said that Russia has launched some 70 missiles, over 2,200 explosive drones and more than6,000 bombs against Ukraine, 'mostly against civilians', since Ukraine accepted the truce proposed by the US.

Russian forces are ahead in Ukraine and Kiev has warned that Moscow is planning a new spring offensive to increase pressure on the enemy and improve its negotiating position. European governments have accused Putin of stalling.

As Ukraine prepares a counter-offensive, new Russian attacks killed four civilians today in the Kharkiv region, located in north-eastern Ukraine and frequently attacked by Moscow's army. "A 68-year-old man and a 61-year-old woman died as a result of artillery fire" in Kupiansk, a town very close to the front line, Oleh Synehubov, head of the military administration of the Kharkiv oblast, said on Telegram. Two other people died as a result of shelling in the village of Shevchenkove, located about thirty kilometres from the front line, Synehubov said, pointing out that they were "a 77-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man".

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, stated in an interview with Cbs that if Ukraine, supported by its allies, does not stand firm against a further Russian military advance, the war could see an escalation and result in aWorld War. "If we do not show resolve, he will advance further," said Zelensky, "this is not just speculation for its own sake, the threat is real. Putin's ultimate goal is to revive the Russian empire and reclaim the territories currently under NATO protection. Considering all this, I believe it could escalate into a world war'. 'There will be no safe place, there will be no safe place for anyone,' the Ukrainian president concluded.

''The security of the world is at stake'' if Russia advances further and US President Donald Trump should travel to Ukraine to see for himself the consequences of the war, Zelensky said in an interview with CBS News. Referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky said that ''if we stand firm, he will advance further. This is not just idle speculation, the threat is real'. Zelensky then made a heartfelt plea: 'Please, before any decision, any kind of negotiation, come and see the people, the civilians, the soldiers, the hospitals, the churches, the injured or dead children. Come, look, and then let us act with a plan to end the war'. Because, the Ukrainian president added, 'we cannot trust Russia. We cannot trust negotiations with Russia'.

Zelensky then returns to the bitter clash at the White House with Donald Trump and his deputy: 'Vice-President Vance is somehow justifying Putin's actions. I tried to explain to him that "you cannot look for a middle ground here, there is an aggressor and there is a victim. The Russians are the aggressor, we are the victim'. Everyone understands that'. Returning to Trump's label of 'dictator' for the Ukrainian leader, Zelensky replied: 'I think, unfortunately, Russian narratives prevail in the United States'.

US President Donald Trump said the Russian attack on the Ukrainian town of Sumy, in which at least 34 people died, was 'a horrible thing. "I think it was terrible. And I was told they made a mistake. But I think it is a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing,' the US leader said aboard Air Force One on his return trip to Washington.

After the Russian attack in Sumy on Sunday that left 35 dead and outraged Kiev's allies, Moscow's army continued shelling the region today. The regional prosecutor's office reported a mortar shelling in Myropillia, Sumy district, in which a pensioner was injured.

According to the message, the investigation showed that artillery fire targeted 'civilian infrastructure' at around 5pm today. The injured person is a 76-year-old woman who was at home.

"The EU is now approving heavy sanctions to asphyxiate the Russian economy and I believe that the US, which has worked so hard for the truce, should pass similar sanctions, which are ready, to force Putin to the peace table". This was said by Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France.

On the holy day of Palm Sunday, another horrible and cowardly Russian attack took place in Sumy, which once again claimed innocent civilian victims, including unfortunately also children," wrote Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in a note. I firmly condemn this unacceptable violence, which contradicts every real commitment to peace, promoted by President Trump and supported wholeheartedly by Italy, together with Europe and other international partners. I express my sincerest condolences to the victims, to their families and to all the Ukrainian people. We will continue to work to stop this barbarity'.

"I don't know what it was about," in Sumy, "but the Russians did not make 'a mistake' when they decided to invade Ukraine, violating any rule of international law: when you make a war and you unleash attacks of this kind there may well be mistakes, but they are unacceptable, because they are part of an overall strategy, there has always been an attack against Ukraine. And even if they had wanted to bomb somewhere else, it would always have been part of an aggression'. So said Antonio Tajani, commenting on Donald Trump who said he had learned that there had been 'a mistake' in the massacre in Sumy. Ukraine has said that it is willing to face a dialogue, it seems to me that Russia does not want to face this dialogue if it continues to attack and wants to prolong a war that it provoked, because the war was provoked by Russia. So what happened yesterday is unacceptable because it is part of an unacceptable aggression against an independent free country,' he stressed

"The attack by Russian forces on civilian targets in Sumy has exceeded the limits of decency," says Keith Kellogg, Donald Trump's special envoy for Russia and Ukraine. Acting Nato spokeswoman Allison Hart wrote on social media: 'Horrific scenes from downtown Sumy, where Russian ballistic missiles killed dozens of civilians and injured many more. Our thoughts are with the Ukrainian people on this sacred day for many."

Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on the safety of shipping in the Black Sea will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday in Ankara, reports CNN Turk, relayed by the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, citing defence ministry sources in Turkey. The talks will be hosted at the Turkish Navy headquarters in Ankara. Yesterday on the sidelines of the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had made it clear that his country's doors are open to hosting negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. An agreement for a maritime truce in the Black Sea had been reached with the mediation of the United States but Moscow had then added a number of conditions, effectively cancelling the deal.

Meanwhile, the scenario conjured up for Ukraine by Donald Trump's envoy, General Keith Kellogg, is causing discussion. In an interview with the British newspaper The Times, he suggested that the country could be divided into areas of control, exactly as in 1945 for the capital of Germany, 'when there was a Russian zone, a French zone and a British zone'.

La cartina della «nuova Ucraina» pubblicata dal quotidiano britannico «The Times» per illustrare la proposta del generale Usa Keith Kellogg

The Russian Defence Ministry said that a meeting of Ukrainian officers was targeted in yesterday's missile attack in Sumy, and that '60 military personnel' were killed. The ministry accuses Kiev of continuing to 'use the Ukrainian population as a human shield, organising events with the participation of military personnel in the centre of a densely populated city'. Ria Novosti reports this.