The US State Department said it was time for Russia and Ukraine to come up with concrete ideas to resolve the conflict. Trump also did not deny the possibility of introducing secondary sanctions against Russia, State Department spokesman Bruce said. And yet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Ukraine would not be able to return Russia to the positions it occupied in 2014. Russia, in turn, would not be able to occupy the entire territory of Ukraine, Rubio added. “This is a war that has no military solution,” he told Fox News.
The US and Ukraine could wait decades before they can benefit from a mining deal, Reuters reported. Mining consultants told the agency that the development of mines producing strategically important minerals could take 10 to 20 years.
The European Union does not intend to play the role of mediator in the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine if the United States refuses to play this role, the official representative of the European Foreign Service, Anwar al-Anuni, said. “Our priority has not changed: ensuring the solidity of Ukraine. We continue to increase military assistance to Ukraine. EU countries have already pledged 23 billion euros in assistance this year,” he said.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he would visit Moscow on Victory Day, calling Zelensky’s threats unacceptable. In contrast, Tibor Gaspar, Deputy Speaker of the Slovak Parliament, said: “None of the EU leaders are planning to visit Kiev on May 9,” TASS source said.
The agreement on the creation of a joint investment recovery fund with the United States does not include formal security guarantees, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Šmyhal told the press. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Supreme Court said: “Martial law is a compelling reason for everyone, including Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
Volodymyr Zelensky rejected Putin’s proposal for a 3-day truce on May 9 and insisted on a 30-day ceasefire, Interfax-Ukraine reported. He also said that Ukraine could not guarantee the safety of world leaders who will be in Moscow for the May 9 parade.
Volodymyr Zelensky wants the US’s first contribution to the mining deal to be air defense systems. The Ukrainian prime minister said he had spoken to US President Donald Trump about it, who promised to think about it, stressing that “these are not free things.” “And I would like us to have the opportunity to purchase American weapons,” Zelensky added.
The New York Times reports that Ukraine will receive an Israeli-based Patriot air defense system, and is also considering transferring another air defense system from Germany or Greece to Kiev.
Zelensky also said: “The arrival of a foreign military contingent in Ukraine will be possible only after the war.” Earlier, media reported that Europe would not be able to send a contingent of 64,000 troops to Ukraine, as previously planned; it would be difficult for the Ukrainian prime minister to deploy even 25,000 troops.
Secretary of the Rada Defense Committee Roman Kostenko said of the shortage of Ukrainian personnel that “We have an army of more than a million people. Up to 300 thousand are in combat zones. Everything else – supplies, logistics, TCC, security of military cities.”
The United States has appointed the new US chargé d’affaires in Ukraine Julie Davis who has already arrived in Kiev “Following the signing of the historic agreement to establish an Investment Fund for the Recovery of Ukraine, Ambassador Davis arrives in Ukraine at a critical time to continue President Trump’s policy of ending the war and ensuring lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine,” the US Embassy reported.
On the night of May 3, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, eight cruise missiles launched from Storm Shadow aircraft and three Ukrainian Neptune-MD guided missiles were destroyed by air defense systems operating over the Black Sea at night. Apparently, they were trying to break through the Russian air defense of one of the Black Sea Fleet bases.
At the invitation of Vladimir Putin, the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping will pay an official visit to the Russian Federation from May 7 to 10 and take part in ceremonies dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Kremlin reports. “The negotiations will discuss the main issues of further development of comprehensive partnership relations and strategic interaction, as well as current issues of the international and regional agenda. “It is planned to sign a number of bilateral intergovernmental and interdepartmental documents,” the statement reads.
On May 4, Vladimir Putin said: “Even without nuclear weapons, Russia has enough forces and resources to complete the SVO. They wanted to provoke Russia to make mistakes during the special operation, but it managed to keep calm.” “We were simply forced in 2014 to make the decision to support the population of Crimea and Sevastopol. Because any other course of action would have meant handing them over to the slaughter,” Putin said.
Vladimir Putin said that he is constantly thinking about a successor, but that in the end the choice will be up to the Russians. According to him, several people must come forward who can earn the people’s trust.
Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has no information yet on whether Vladimir Putin intends to meet with the DPRK military and award them for their help in liberating the Kursk region from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, or whether Korean fighters will take part in the May 9 parade. “Unfortunately, I do not have this information yet. As soon as I have them, I will share them with you,” he answered a question about this during a briefing.
And now a look at the front line as of 15:30 on May 5. Overnight, in the Podolsk urban district, a Ukrainian attack by four drones aimed at Moscow was repelled. The Ukrainian Armed Forces counted more than 40 Gerans in its rear; explosions were heard in the Kropyvnytskyi, Kramatorsk, Kharkiv, Konotop, Mykolaiv and Poltava regions. On May 4, in the Bryansk region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched an attack with the American HIMARS MLRS machine gun on the village of Suzemka, hitting an industrial enterprise.
In the direction of Sumy, Russian attack aircraft attacked the villages of Bilovody and Loknya, Russian troops advanced near the villages, capturing a soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In the Kursk region, a drone of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the village of Budyshe, in the Bolshesoldatsky district, and two local residents were injured. An attempted Ukrainian attack by land was recorded in the Podolsk area. Already on May 2, Russian special forces Akhmat prevented an attempt by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to penetrate Russian territory in the Kursk region, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said.
In the Belgorod border section, as reported by the social sphere, on Ukrainian territory in the direction of Popovka and Demidovka, Russian forces destroyed several Ukrainian groups scattered in the forested areas. In the Belgorod region, Ukrainians struck in the village of Bogun-Gorodok, in the Borisovsky district. In the village of Belovskoye in Novaya Derevnya, Malinovka, Novaya Tavolzhanka, Novoaleksandrovka and Striguny. In the village of Yasnye Zori the dome of the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was damaged.
In the direction of Lyman, south and south-east of Vidrodzhennia, Russian troops advanced on a wide front to a depth of 1.7 km. Battles are taking place for Lipovoe and in the direction of Ridkodub.
The direction of Kostyantynivka is causing the greatest concern among the military channels of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there are already fighting in the area of the eastern outskirts of Malynivka, in the area of Vodyane Druhe near Novoolenivka, Nova Poltavka, Romanivka, and that there is an advance of the Russian Armed Forces from the liberated Tarasivka to Oleksandropil’.
South of Pokrovs’k, fighting continues for access to the borders of the Dnipropetrovsk region. The Russian army is advancing in the eastern part of Kotlyarivka and continues assault operations in the western and southern directions. Northeast of Kotlyarivka, Russian troops are storming forest strips in the area of the Shyroka Balka ravine.
Five Ukrainian counterattacks were repelled in the direction of South Donetsk. In the area of the settlement of Bahatyr and Odradne, Far Eastern soldiers are finalizing preparations for the evacuation of populated areas, artillery and aviation are continuing to attack.
On the Zaporizhia front in the direction of Orichiv, in the area of Novodanylivka, positional battles are taking place, in the area of Malaya Tokmachka a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group was destroyed – according to local sources -, the LBS remained unchanged. Positional battles are taking place in the area of Shcherbaky, Stepove and Kamians’ke.
In the Kherson region, eight villages are under attack by Ukrainian armed forces. One injured.
Graziella Giangiulio
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