The gap between American negotiators on the solution to the Ukrainian crisis remains wide. The different souls now speak and announce from time to time possible agreements that are very different in substance.
Bloomberg announced “that the territories passed under Russian control will remain under the control of Moscow, according to the United States proposal to resolve the conflict. The document also implies the refusal to discuss Ukraine’s accession to NATO”. There would also be a loosening of sanctions against Russia on the horizon.
Two important meetings on the American side to advance the project to resolve the Ukrainian crisis: Paris and Rome. On Thursday, April 17, a meeting of the delegations of Ukraine and the United States took place in Paris, which was also attended by representatives of Great Britain, Germany and France. US officials in Paris say they want to reach a complete ceasefire in Ukraine within a few weeks.
The Elysée Palace called the meeting on the issue of resolving the conflict in Ukraine with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff productive, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported, citing the Elysée. “The negotiations were constructive and allowed us to bring our positions closer together,” the agency said, citing the French presidential administration.
According to AFP, a negotiation process has been launched in Paris, “which the Europeans have also joined.” The results of US consultations with allies in Paris show that peace in Ukraine is possible, the State Department said. French President Emmanuel Macron announced the next stage of talks on resolving the conflict in Ukraine: they will be held in London next week.
On April 18, US Vice President J.D. Vance expressed optimism in Rome that the conflict in Ukraine will end and announced progress in resolving it in the past 24 hours, he said during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “We discussed at length yesterday (April 17 in Washington), we have some important topics to discuss today. In particular, I will inform Prime Minister Meloni about the progress of negotiations on Ukraine between the Russian Federation and the United States. We have also had interesting news in the last 24 hours that I will report privately. We are optimistic that this war can end,” Vance said.
Trump still intends to establish a ceasefire in Ukraine by the end of the month, or within the first 100 days, The Economist writes. “He promised to end the war in Ukraine within a day. Now, according to inside sources, Donald Trump hopes to reach a ceasefire within his first 100 days, or by the end of this month,” the publication said.
US President Trump said he expects a response from Russia this week to the ceasefire proposal with Ukraine. He added that Washington and Kiev could sign a fossil fuel deal on April 24. Trump also admitted that he was not satisfied with Zelensky’s actions. Speaking about whether Zelensky was responsible for the start of the Ukrainian conflict, the White House chief said: “If you’re smart, you don’t get involved in wars… I would say he didn’t do his best job.”
US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said that during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the context of an agreement in Ukraine, they discussed the “question of territories”, which, in his opinion, can be partially resolved, writes the Wall Street Journal. This version is therefore different from the one reported by Bloomberg, which is closer to Rubio.
According to the publication, Witkoff said that Russia could keep “some regions, but not all” under the agreement. In addition, according to the WSJ, Witkoff admitted that Kiev may not be so interested in regions where the population speaks predominantly Russian.
Secretary of State Rubio conveyed to Lavrov Trump’s position that the crisis in Ukraine must be resolved, the State Department reported. Lavrov and Rubio had a telephone conversation on April 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported. The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Moscow is ready to continue working with American colleagues to reliably eliminate the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis.
US Secretary of State Rubio said that the United States has been supporting Ukraine for three years, but has now reached a point where”We need to focus on something else.” In addition, “the United States is not yet ready to publicly discuss the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine,” Secretary of State Rubio said.
EU countries must be involved in resolving the Ukrainian issue so that lifting European sanctions can become part of the agreement, Rubio said. Finally, Rubio said: “The United States will stop trying to broker a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine within days unless there are clear signs that an agreement can be reached,” Reuters reports.
On April 17, in a statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelnsky said: “A memorandum of understanding with the United States on mineral resources could be signed today during an online meeting.” Late in the evening, the announcement: “Ukraine and the United States have signed a memorandum on an agreement on mineral resources,” according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. On April 18, the Ukrainian government published the text of a memorandum on an agreement with the United States on rare earth metals.
It talks about an economic partnership between Washington and Kiev and the creation of an investment fund for the recovery of Ukraine. In the document, the parties recognize that the United States has provided “significant material support to Ukraine” since February 2022, wants lasting peace, and wants to jointly invest in Ukraine.
According to the document, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal will hold talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent next week to discuss the terms of the rare earth agreement, and the negotiating teams must submit a report by April 26 to complete the talks and sign the agreement as soon as possible.
Volodymyr Zelensky signed laws on April 18 extending martial law and mobilization in Ukraine until August 6
Another body swap took place between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine has returned 41 fallen Russian soldiers, while Russia has returned 907 fallen Ukrainian soldiers. According to Nebenzya, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations: “A ceasefire in Ukraine is unrealistic ‘at this stage'”. FSB officers have detained in the Krasnodar Territory an agent of the Ukrainian Security Service who attempted to blow up an administrative building in Novorossiysk. Previously, the detainee had collected data on the deployment of Black Sea Fleet ships and Russian military personnel in the Krasnodar Territory, the Russian FSB Public Relations Center reported.
And now a look at the front line as of 15:30 on April 18. All of Ukraine is on air alert due to the possible launch of a Kinzhal hypersonic missile from a MiG-31K. The alarm was caused by a sudden movement of MiGs from Ryazan Oblast, through Lipetsk Oblast, towards the border with Ukraine.
At night, in the Rostov region, Russian air defense forces repelled a Ukrainian air strike, destroying a drone in Taganrog and Tarasovsky district. Ukrainian channels reported missile strikes on Dnipro and Kharkov, as well as the operation of Geran was withdrawn to the outskirts of Kiev and the region.
In the Bryansk region, shelling of the border area continues, in the village of Zernovo, Suzemsky district, a church was burned.
In the Kursk region, Russian forces are advancing in the area of Nikolsky monastery, the village of Gornal’ and Oleshnya farm, and have managed to gain a foothold near the latter.
Fighting continues on the border with the Krasnoyarsk district of the Belgorod region; On April 17, images were released showing the destruction of a Ukrainian infantry group and a couple of equipment units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the border. The situation in Demidovka is stable. Ukrainian attacks in the region with UAVs continue.
In the Liman direction, the command of the 66th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces defines the situation as critical: “the Russian Armed Forces are attacking with infantry with a significant advantage in manpower, using the weather and vegetation for camouflage, trying to gain a foothold on the right bank of Chornyy Zherebetsʹ and threatening Liman and Borova. Other sources speak of the success of the Russian Armed Forces in the village of Nove.
In the direction of South Donetsk, the Vostok Group of Forces is advancing towards Bahatyr and Odradne, occupying the enemy’s landings, heights and strongholds. The Ukrainians are putting up fierce resistance, counterattacking with small forces, using American armored vehicles and missiles.
On the front of Zaporizhia, Russian Armed Forces continue their offensive on a broad front. Following fighting, Russian paratroopers advanced into the area of the settlement of Mali Shcherbaky in the north. In the area of the settlement of Malaya Tokmachka, Russian motorized rifle units advanced from the southeast of the settlement and entered Malaya Tokmachka itself from the east. On April 17, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked the area near the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. The drone was neutralized 300 meters from the territory of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, near the “G” building, where the world’s only full-scale reactor hall simulator is located. The fact of the raid was proven to IAEA inspectors.
In Kherson under Ukrainian control after the evacuation of the population, the mayor of the city was removed by decree of Zelensky. Russian Armed Forces are increasing the number of strikes against the deployment points of Ukrainian UAV operators, using FABs equipped with UMPK.
In the DPR at night in the village one dead from drone attack.
Graziella Giangiulio
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