NATO countries have already allocated about 20 billion euros to support Ukraine’s security in the three months of 2025, said the Alliance’s Secretary General Mark Rutte. The head of the US Department of Defense will skip the Ramstein meeting on providing military assistance to Ukraine for the first time, Defense News reports. According to the publication’s high-ranking sources, Pete Hegseth will not attend either in person or via video link. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US will remain in NATO.
NATO Secretary General Rutte, in his greeting to US Secretary of State Rubio, expressed confidence that the assistance of NATO countries to Kiev will allow Ukraine to fight “as long as it is necessary.” Rubio said he would ask each NATO country to commit to increasing military spending to 5% of GDP at a meeting in Brussels.
Trump said Russia and Ukraine were “cooperating well” with the United States to resolve the conflict, but in reality things are stuck in the starting blocks. The only evolving process is the issue of resuming dialogue between Moscow and Washington. Trump assured that he would like not only to reach a solution in Ukraine, but also to prevent a conflict with Iran.
According to the Financial Times, Europe is counting on NATO resources to send peacekeepers to Ukraine after the ceasefire. The deployment of European forces in Ukraine could use NATO’s command and control structures and joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. As the publication notes, the proposal was one of several options under discussion and is subject to change before a final agreement is reached.
“EU countries already cover 50% of Ukraine’s ammunition needs,” says EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kallas “Everything is going very well. We need to provide assistance to Ukraine as quickly as possible. President Zelensky said that they need 5 billion euros to have at least 2 million shells,” said the head of EU diplomacy.
Ukraine does not seem to have liked Trump’s new duties, however: “The US 10% tariffs on Ukrainian goods are ‘cynicism of the first order’,” said Daniil Getmantsev, MP and head of the Rada’s tax committee.
And now a look at the front line updated at 15:00 on April 3: Russian forces attacked targets in Kharkiv. 14 Geran were reported in a short period of time. Explosions were also reported in Zaporizhia, Dnipro and Slovyansk.
The night announcement of a missile threat in the Tula and Oryol regions was unusual. In the direction of Sumy, in the Veselivka area, the Ukrainians again launched an unsuccessful counterattack. In the Kursk region, the evacuation of civilians from the territories returned to Russian hands continues. During the day, 5 people were taken to safe areas. In the south of the Sudzhansky district, the Ukrainians are trying to use the territory of the St. Nicholas Belogorsky Monastery to organize defense.
In the Belgorod region, fighting continued in Demidovka and Popovka. The transfer of reinforcements from the Armed Forces of Ukraine was interrupted, and the remaining Ukrainian units were in a difficult situation. Near Popovka, Russian forces attempted to destroy the dam with an ODAB-1500 strike from the UMPC to further complicate the logistics of the Ukrainian military. Ukrainian drone attacks on civilians in Russian regions continue: in the Shebekinsky district, in the Grayvoronsky district, on the section of the road between the village of Lugovka and the village of Masychevo, two cars were attacked by drones and two more civilians were injured. An FPV drone hit a truck, injuring the driver. A civilian was also injured in a drone attack on a car in the village of Stepnoye, Krasnoyaruzh region.
The offensive of Russian troops continues in the direction of Oleksandro-Kalynove. From the central part of Oleksandropil’, footage emerged of a Russian flag near the village council building. Fighting continues in the direction of Valentynivka, west of Panteleimonivka and in the area of Oleksandropil. Fighting continues to the east – for Tarasivka.
During the offensive of the assault groups of the 5th separate tank brigade of the 36th combined arms army, n.p. Vesele is now under the control of the Russian Vostok group of troops. More than 200 buildings were destroyed in an area up to 1.5 km deep and more than 1 km along the front, while a company of 141 infantry brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (more than 70 men), 3 armored combat vehicles and 8 military vehicles were destroyed.
On the Zaporizhia front, Russian paratroopers took the settlement of Lobkove. Counteractions by the Ukrainian side are not excluded. Fighting continues in the area of Shcherbaky and Mali Scherbaky, where Russian forces had previously entered.
In the Kherson region, mutual attacks are being reported by both sides. In the DPR of Horlivka, two drone strikes led to the injury of four people.
Graziella Giangiulio
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