US Secretary of State Rubio and special envoy Witkoff are in Paris until April 18, where they are discussing with the Europeans, among other things, Trump’s plan to end the conflict in Ukraine, the State Department said. Also in Paris is the head of Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, Andriy Yermak.
Trump rejected a $50 billion deal with Ukraine and refused to supply weapons, even in exchange for money, Trump therefore rejected Zelensky’s offer to buy 10 Patriot air defense systems, BILD writes. According to the media, Trump is more interested in negotiating with Putin than in profiting from arms supplies.
At the same time, Trump extended the ban on Russian ships in US ports for a year. And the US authorities have also closed the State Department’s center for countering “foreign disinformation,” which, among other things, accused Russia of “disinformation and propaganda,” US Secretary of State Rubio said.
The United States will discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine with its European partners in Paris, the State Department officially announced.
Europe is unable to reach an agreement on aid to Kiev due to disagreements, Le Monde writes. European allies are in a stalemate because they are not participating in peace talks. According to the newspaper, France supports the transfer of ground troops, while Britain supports the protection of Ukraine’s airspace and sea space. Funding, however, will depend on a review of the US military presence in Europe.
In connection with the planned participation of Slovakian Prime Minister Fico in the May 9 celebrations in Moscow, the European Commission said it does not have the authority to punish EU heads of state and government. Earlier, the head of European diplomacy, Kallas, said that participation in the events in Russia is not welcome and that “there will be consequences”. First of all. Slovakian Prime Minister Fico criticized the head of European diplomacy, Kallas, for his words about the “consequences” of the May 9 trip to Russia: “How can you tell the prime minister of a sovereign state that you are warning him against going somewhere? […] We are talking [about celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Victory], about historical truth and nothing else.”
The Latvian Chamber of Deputies has adopted a law on the country’s withdrawal from the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines.
In Ukraine, as part of European integration, alcohol will be added to gasoline from May 1. Starting from May 1, Ukrainian gas stations will start selling gasoline with at least 5% added alcohol. Most of this fuel will be imported from abroad, the Ukrainian publication Ekonomichna Pravda reported. The innovation is based on Kiev’s commitment to implement European standards in the process of European integration.
The head of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine, Oleg Didenko, said that the date of elections in the country after the end of the conflict should not be excessively delayed, so as not to look like an attempt to stay in power without sufficient basis. The head of the Central Election Commission noted that after the end of military actions, Ukraine will need more than three months to organize the elections.
The Federation Council passed a law granting the status of war veterans to all fighters of the Kursk region, including volunteers. Former governor of the Kursk region Alexey Smirnov was arrested on charges of embezzlement during the construction of fortifications in the region bordering Ukraine. The defendant was handed over to the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow on charges of fraud in the amount of 1 billion rubles. In addition to Smirnov, investigators have also charged his former deputy Dedov with fraud.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed Dmitry Mezentsev as the President’s plenipotentiary representative to the Constitutional Court, and since 2021 he has held the post of Union State Secretary of Russia and Belarus. Sergey Glazyev will become the new Union State Secretary, Belarusian President Lukashenko said
The FSB has arrested a man for preparing a terrorist attack in Pyatigorsk and was in active contact with his contacts in Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
The new regions are an integral part of Russia and the question of their belonging is fundamentally wrong, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said. “This is fundamentally incorrect wording. These regions are an integral part of the Russian Federation. Therefore, it is impossible to put the issue this way,” Peskov told reporters, answering a question about whether the transfer of the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions to Moscow’s control is a mandatory condition for ending military operations. The Kremlin expects that the negotiations between representatives of the United States, Ukraine and European countries will focus on finding a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian issue, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
“We would expect the Europeans and Ukrainians to focus on finding a peaceful solution. Unfortunately, we see that the Europeans are focused on continuing the war,” Peskov told reporters, answering a question about expectations for the upcoming talks in Paris. the importance of reducing the military contingent in Syria “to a minimum,” The Washington Post reported. Finally, the Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement said: “Taurus strikes against Russia’s critical infrastructure will be regarded by Moscow as “Germany’s direct participation in the war alongside Kiev,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Yesterday in Moscow, agreements were signed between Qatar and Russia.
And now a look at the front line updated at 15:30 on April 17. At least 10 explosions were heard in Dnipropetrovsk during the night, with Russians using Geran drones. Explosions were also heard in Sumy and Izyum.
Ukrainians again attacked Shuya in the Ivanovo region in the dark; Ukrainian channels report a UAV attack on the 112th Russian Guards Missile Brigade. The attacks also hit the Kursk region.
In the Bryansk region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to burn Russian villages with drones: Khoromnoye, Lyubechane, Novy Ropsk, Zernovo, Sopychi. 18 houses and two outbuildings were completely destroyed by the flames. The building of a school and a social and cultural center was damaged. The village of Podyvotye in the Sevsky district is under drone attack.
In the Kursk region, the Russian Armed Forces are developing an offensive in the area of the St. Nicholas Belogorsky monastery on the border, but information about its complete liberation was described in the evening by the Sever Group of Forces as premature, military operations continue, the Russian Armed Forces retain the initiative, advancing to the Gornal settlement, despite Ukrainian attacks from the territory of the Sumy region. In Rylsk, a Ukrainian drone dropped an explosive device on a car near a gas station.
In the Belgorod border area, on April 16, in the first half of the day, Ukrainians made two unsuccessful attempts to infiltrate on foot in the direction of Popovka. In the village of Borki, Valuysky district, during the clashes, a fighter from the Orlan unit was injured by a drone launched by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Four more drone attacks were recorded.
In the direction of Kostyantynivka, Russian Armed Forces are consolidating their success in the northern part of Valentynivka and continue to attack Sukha Balka.
In the direction of Pokrovs’k, Ukrainian Armed Forces are organizing countermeasures north of the settlement of Vidrodzhennia. At the same time, in the south, Russian Armed Forces continue to advance towards the Dnipropetrovsk region and fighting is ongoing in the direction of Kotlyarivka, Troits’ke and Bohdanivka.
In the South Donetsk direction, the Vostok Group of Forces reports that four counterattacks were repelled in one day and that Russian troops consolidated their positions on new lines in the Bahatyr and Odradne areas. After repelling a counterattack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Russian Armed Forces destroyed an M-113 armored personnel carrier: Ukrainian troops retain the ability to use armored vehicles to counterattack.
In the Orichiv direction of the Zaporizhia Front, in the area of the Stepove-Shcherbaky line, several units write from the field that Russian forces are hampered by FPV drone strikes and artillery. The Ukrainians are trying to isolate the advanced Russian units, slowing down the pace of the Russian advance.
The Russian Aerospace Forces are launching FAB strikes from UMPK systems on the right bank of the Dnieper. The ice stadium in Kherson, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces were stationed, was hit. Mutual shelling continues.
In the DPR, in the Budyonovsky district of Donetsk a drone strike injures a minor and an explosives attack injure a man.
Graziella Giangiulio
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