Trump’s team is “tired” of the “endless negotiations” on Ukraine. The US president loves quick military and diplomatic victories, but he is currently stuck in an international stalemate, the NYT reports. Meanwhile, according to media sources, Moscow has “made it clear” it is tired of Witkoff and Kushner’s periodic visits. Russia, they say, wants a stable diplomatic process and a US ambassador in Moscow. One of the problems in the negotiations with Ukraine is the Trump administration’s stance: the Americans have limited themselves to occasional phone calls or visits by special envoys, without the daily involvement of traditional diplomacy.
The stalemate is confirmed by statements by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “Russia is not particularly willing to make concessions to end the war in Ukraine.” He also stated that Washington is actively trying to bring Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiating table. “At this point, the chances don’t seem very high,” Rubio said during a hearing in the House of Representatives. Rubio emphasized that the United States must not be perceived as a “neutral intermediary.” He noted that the current US administration is selling weapons to Ukraine and continues to impose sanctions on Russia.
Bloomberg reports: “The war could end soon: Germany, France, and the United Kingdom are trying to start urgent negotiations with Putin.” Moscow has repeatedly emphasized its willingness to negotiate. Following the diplomatic path is “the only way to end the war” and “should be a priority and the main condition for Ukraine’s accession to the EU,” stated Slovak President Peter Pellegrini.
Finally, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced from SPIEF: “The United States is working to encourage Zelenskyy to act in line with the agreements reached in Anchorage.”
Meanwhile, Kiev is out of money. “Ukraine has not yet met all the technical requirements to receive the first tranche of EU aid of €9.1 billion out of an overall €90 billion package,” says European Commission spokesperson Balázs Ujváry. The European Commission expects the conditions to be met shortly and for Kyiv to receive the funds by the end of June.
The EU will stop accepting Ukrainian men between the ages of 23 and 60 as refugees after March 2027, says the Austrian Interior Minister. “From March 2027, automatic protection status for Ukrainian men will no longer exist. Ukraine itself needs its male citizens of military age,” says Gerhard Karner. Eleven European countries are calling on Brussels to tighten entry restrictions for Russian travelers to the Schengen area ahead of the summer holidays, according to Politico. According to an anonymous diplomat, “pro-Ukrainian” countries want to increase pressure on the Kremlin. These countries sent a letter to European Union Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas and European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner. The proponents include the Baltic States, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden, as well as Iceland and Norway.
After two years of negotiations, Hungary has lifted its veto on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. This will allow Kyiv to advance negotiations with Brussels, and at the same time, Moldova will also be able to make progress in this process. Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced that Hungary and Ukraine have reached a comprehensive agreement on the rights of approximately 100,000 members of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia. The agreement covers language, education, culture, and political representation. Magyar stated that the agreement was reached after several weeks of intense negotiations involving experts, churches, and organizations representing the Hungarian community. Magyar described the agreement as a breakthrough that his predecessor, Viktor Orbán, “failed to achieve in 10 years.”
Finnish intelligence was aware of a planned drone attack on St. Petersburg on June 3, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen said. According to Häkkänen, if the drones violated Finnish airspace, Finland was prepared to shoot them down.
Japan made the first contribution of $14.658 million to the PURL initiative, which aims to purchase and supply US-made weapons and equipment for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
From Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy states that starting in December 2025, Russia began to lose the initiative on the battlefield. In January 2026, I told our American partners: “I believe there is a window of opportunity for the negotiations, because Russia is losing more and more soldiers every month. ‘At the moment, they are not capable of conquering more territory in a month than we are liberating.'” The Russian Defense and Foreign Ministries announced the advance of operations on Ukrainian soil in very different statements.
Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the head of the Presidential Office, maintains: “No one will accept Putin’s ‘absurd demands.’ Talk of reaching an agreement with Russia and stopping it is an illusion.” Due to limited production capacity, there has been and will continue to be a shortage of anti-aircraft missiles until the end of the war, according to Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Ignat. “Therefore, communication with partners is always, even publicly, a well-established practice, as you can see. Even our soldiers are working to somehow influence this process,” he noted. By the end of 2025, Ukraine was producing approximately 10 Neptune cruise missiles per month. These are official Ukrainian figures, which may not include all launches. It is also unknown how many missiles are produced for each individual launch. According to Russian Ministry of Defense statistics, the number of Neptune missiles shot down by June 1, 2026, was approximately 200.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte arrived in Kiev on June 3.
Tensions are also being felt in Belarus, which sees no sign of peace negotiations imminent. “The likelihood of a conflict against Russia and Belarus breaking out is extremely high, as is the possibility of it escalating into a global conflict,” said Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin. “Assessing the current situation in the Eastern European region, we note that the likelihood of a military conflict against the Russian Federation is extremely high.” “The possibility of the CSTO transforming from a regional to a global organization is extremely high,” he stated. Belarusian Security Council Secretary Alexander Volfovich had previously stated that Western countries are openly preparing for war, viewing Moscow and Minsk as their main enemies. Meanwhile, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu noted that NATO countries are simulating attack scenarios against the territory of the Union State during military exercises.
Meanwhile, on the first day of SPIEF in St. Petersburg, Ukrainians launched drone strikes that injured four people but did not interrupt SPIEF, which “is proceeding as usual, despite Kiev’s attempts to strike St. Petersburg,” Peskov said in an interview with Life.
“The drone attack on St. Petersburg facilities on the first day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum suggests that Russia’s enemies are losing their nerve, but the city’s air defense system functioned successfully,” said St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov’s response was even more determined: “Russia can continue its special military operation in Ukraine for as long as necessary. Russia, “in the worst-case scenario,” could use nuclear weapons in response to an attack on the country’s territorial integrity,” Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov continued. He urged countries to take this warning “with the utmost seriousness.”
Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office, speaking at a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), stated: “Russia must abandon a defensive model in relations with Western countries; the old world will not return.” “We must abandon a purely defensive model. In fact, to a large extent, we have already moved away from it. We must move further and further.” The key is not to wait for the return of old methods,” he responded to a question about the advisability of shifting the paradigm in responding to Western sanctions, moving from a reactive to a proactive model.
French authorities have released the captain of the Tagor oil tanker, a Russian citizen, who had been arrested. The investigation into the incident is ongoing, ICI Radio reports, citing the prosecutor’s office in Brest, in the western part of the country.
And now a look at the frontline, updated at 3:00 PM, June 4. Crimean leader Aksyonov, this morning: “One person was killed and three others injured in an enemy drone attack on a commuter train traveling from Azov to Kerch. Emergency services are on site.” “Condolences to the family and friends of the victim. Strength and speedy recovery to the injured. The authorities will provide all necessary assistance and support.”
According to Russian military OSINT sources, during the night of June 3-4, Ukrainian forces attacked Crimea and Sevastopol, “continuing, among other things, an operation aimed at disrupting logistics in southern Russia.” In Simferopol, three people were killed and seven others injured. More than 20 drones were shot down over Sevastopol. In the Rostov region, drones were destroyed in the districts of Millerovsky, Chertkovsky, and Sholokhovsky. The governor of the Zaporizhia region reported a massive drone attack in the urban district of Melitopol. During the day, a primary school in Melitopol was attacked, wounding six civilians in the city. A civilian car was attacked on the road between the villages of Novonikolayevka and Trudovoye in the Melitopol municipal district: the driver and passenger were killed. A slaughterhouse in Melitopol was also attacked, wounding one person.
In the Bryansk region, Ukrainian armed forces attacked a drone in the village of Krupets, Brasovsky District. Two people were injured. In Pochep, a crane operator from PJSC Rosseti Center Bryanskenergo was killed and one injured.
In the Sumy region, in the Shostka District, attack aircraft from the Sever Group of Forces are engaged in a strike in Bachivsk and the surrounding area. In the Sumy region, Russian forces continue to advance up to 800 meters in eleven areas, and small-arms firefights continue in Ivolzhans’ke, Pysarivka, and surrounding areas.
In the Kursk region, a Ukrainian Armed Forces drone struck a gas station in Rylsk, wounding one man. In the Glushkovsky region, a drone attacked a local resident on a motorcycle. A car was attacked in the village of Kalinovka, Khomutovsky region, wounding a civilian.
In the Belgorod region, one person was killed and three others were injured, one seriously, following multiple drone strikes. Numerous villages are under attack.
In the Kharkiv sector, assault units of the Northern Group of Forces continue to advance towards the village of Kozakha Lopan. In the Vovchansk district, small arms firefights are reported in the village of Okhrimivka. In the Velykyi Burluk sector, fighting is ongoing near Novovasylivka, in the forest.
South of Kupyansk, Russian forces are fighting on the outskirts of Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi, and a battle is underway over a smelter.
In the direction of Slovyansk, fighting continues for Rai-Oleksandrivka and Malynivka, with Ukrainian forces constantly counterattacking.
In Kostyantynivka, Ukrainian forces are advancing in the western part of the city, attempting to outflank the buildings from the south. Fighting is intense.
In the eastern Zaporizhia region, fighting continues for Hulyaypole.
In the Kherson region, two civilians were killed and six others injured by attacks by Ukrainian forces. In Nova Zburivka, one person was killed by a drone strike. In Oleshky, two more civilians were killed and two injured by a mine explosion.
Graziella Giangiulio
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