Kremlin rejects US brokered ceasefire
Russia has rejected the US-brokered ceasefire agreement with Ukraine “in its current form”. It comes as China’s foreign minister met Vladimir Putin and offered to help negotiate peace.
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China has offered to help negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine as Russia says the US-brokered ceasefire proposal fails to address the “root causes” of the conflict.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov outlined the reasons behind the rejection of the current proposal in an interview with state media.
“We take the models and solutions proposed by the Americans very seriously, but we can’t accept it all in its current form,” Ryabkov said.
“As far as we can see, there is no place in them today for our main demand, namely to solve the problems related to the root causes of this conflict. It is completely absent, and that must be overcome.”
It comes as President Vladimir Putin has met with a delegation of top Chinese diplomats including Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Mr Wang held talks with Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday, in which both sides also praised strong ties between the countries and Putin’s personal relationship with Xi Jinping.
“China is ready, taking into account the aspirations of the parties involved, to play a constructive role in the settlement (of the conflict),” Mr Wang told the RIA Novosti news agency.
At the start of talks with Lavrov, he added: “We will work together to make new contributions to the cause of peace and development for humanity.”
Putin later expressed to Wang his “satisfaction with the way our relationship is developing” while Wang talked up strengthening ties and said the two countries were pursuing their common global and regional interests.
Putin said Russia was preparing a “good, full program” for Xi’s visit to Moscow in May – which will include events to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
China presents itself as a neutral party in the conflict and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.
But it is a close political and economic ally of Russia and NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of Moscow’s offensive – which it has never condemned.
Meanwhile German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accused Putin of stalling talks to halt the fighting in Ukraine, during a visit to Kyiv.
“He is manoeuvring his way out of negotiations, continuing his illegal war of aggression and escalating with brutal, threatening attacks on houses,” Ms Baerbock said at a press conference with her Ukrainian counterpart.
“Putin cannot be trusted in this situation,” she said.
“There will only be a real and lasting peace when the Russian president realises that he cannot win this war, that his destruction is not successful.”
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RUSSIA STILL ‘OPEN’ TO TALKING TO TRUMP
The Kremlin said that Putin was still “open” to speaking to Donald Trump after the US president said he was “pissed off” with the Russian leader over little progress on a ceasefire in Ukraine.
“The president remains open to contact with President Trump,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a briefing call.
He said there was no phone call scheduled between the two leaders, but that one could be “organised promptly” if deemed “necessary”.
“We are continuing work. Firstly, on developing bilateral relations and also working on implementing some ideas, linked to resolving the Ukrainian (conflict),” Peskov said.
“Work is ongoing. There is nothing concrete yet. This process is time-consuming, probably due to the fact of the complexity of the substance,” he added.
On Monday, Putin ordered 160,000 servicemen be drafted by July 15, a higher figure than previous conscription drives as Moscow seeks to boost its army’s size.
Russian men are eligible to be drafted for mandatory military service through biannual call-ups.
The Kremlin and defence ministry say they are not sent into combat and the call-ups have nothing to do with the Ukraine conflict.
However, Kyiv has said throughout the conflict that it has taken Russian conscripts captive and Putin admitted at the start that some had been sent to fight by mistake.
The number of conscripts compares to 150,000 in 2024 and 134,500 in 2022, when Russia launched its offensive on Ukraine, state media reported.
Putin last year ordered Russia to boost the size of its army to 1.5 million active servicemen – an increase of some 180,000 troops over three years.
“The forthcoming draft campaign is in no way connected with the special military operation in Ukraine,” the defence ministry said on social media.
TRUMP ‘PISSED OFF’ AT PUTIN
US President Donald Trump said he was “very angry, pissed off” with Putin, according to NBC, marking a sharp change of tone as Washington seeks to end the war in Ukraine.
NBC’s Kristen Welker said Mr Trump had called her to express his anger over Mr Putin questioning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s future as a leader – something that Mr Trump himself has done in the past.
Ms Welker, on her NBC show Meet The Press on Sunday, quoted directly from an early-morning telephone conversation with the president.
Mr Trump said that “if Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault” then he would impose “secondary tariffs on all oil coming out of Russia.”
Ms Welker said Mr Trump told her “I was very angry, pissed off” when Putin started making comments about Zelensky’s credibility and talking about new leadership in Ukraine.
Mr Trump has been pushing for a speedy end to the more than three-year war since taking office, but his administration has failed to reach a breakthrough despite talks with both sides.
Mr Putin rejected a joint US-Ukrainian plan for a 30-day ceasefire, and on Friday suggested Mr Zelensky be removed from office as part of the peace process, further toughening Moscow’s negotiating position and angering Kyiv.
RUSSIAN STRIKE HITS HOSPITAL IN ‘WAR CRIME’
Ukraine accused Russia of committing a “war crime” during its weekend attack on the city of Kharkiv, as the US-backed ceasefire efforts continue to prove elusive.
Six strikes hit the northeastern border city overnight Saturday into Sunday, wounding personnel undergoing treatment at a military hospital and killing at least two people in a residential building, according to Ukrainian officials.
A spokesperson for the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office, Dmytro Chubenko, confirmed two deaths and said another 30 people were wounded, including children.
According to the emergency medical services, the “massive attack” reduced one home to a fiery ruin and damaged other houses, office buildings, cars and garages.
The Ukrainian army said that a military hospital building and nearby residential buildings “were damaged by a Shahed drone”.
“According to preliminary reports, there are casualties among the military personnel who were undergoing treatment at the medical centre,” it added.
Kyiv does not typically reveal information on military casualties and did not say how many soldiers were wounded.
It accused Russia of having carried out a “war crime” and “violating the norms of international humanitarian law”.
‘FINISH THEM OFF’: PUTIN VIOLATES US-BROKERED PARTIAL CEASEFIRE
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to strike an energy facility in southern Ukraine, flagrantly flouting the partial ceasefire negotiated at the behest of US President Donald Trump.
Under the deal, both nations had agreed to halt strikes in the Black Sea and leave one another’s power infrastructure alone.
Putin appeared unrepentant about the strikes on the power grid of the southern Ukraine city of Kherson when speaking at the International Arctic Forum in Murmansk.
“I was saying not so long ago: ‘We will finish them off.’ There are reasons to believe that we will finish them off,” Putin said.
“We are gradually, not as fast as some would like, but nevertheless persistently and confidently moving toward achieving all the goals stated at the beginning of the special operation.”
Speaking on the sidelines of the forum on Friday, Putin said Russia could discuss with the United States, Europe and Moscow’s allies, “under the auspices of the UN, the possibility of establishing a transitional administration in Ukraine.”
“What for? To organise a democratic presidential election that would result in the coming to power of a competent government that would have the confidence of the people, and then begin negotiations with these authorities on a peace agreement and sign legitimate documents,” Putin added.
‘PUTIN WILL DIE SOON’: ZELENSKY
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky predicted Vladimir Putin “will die soon” amid swirling speculation about the Russian leader’s ailing health — as he warned the US against helping Moscow escape from political and economic isolation.
“He [Putin] will die soon, and that’s a fact, and it will come to an end,” Mr Zelensky said in an interview with Eurovision News.
The Ukrainian leader’s blunt assessment follows years-long rumours about the Russian strongman’s health woes — including reported strokes, multiple bouts of cancer and even Parkinson’s disease.
Mr Zelensky offered up the prediction, too, as he pleaded with the US to “stay strong” — and not cave to the Kremlin’s demands during ongoing peace and ceasefire negotiations.
“It is very important that America does not help Putin to get out of this global isolation now,” Mr Zelensky said.
“I believe that this is dangerous. This is one of the most dangerous moments.”
He added that Mr Putin, who he predicted would remain in power until his death, fears the “destabilisation of his society” — and that Western nations could help intensify the pressure.
“If they push Putin, he will face destabilisation in his society, and he will fear it,” the Mr Zelensky said.
PARIS SUMMIT AGREES TO RAMP UP RUSSIA SANCTIONS
European countries have agreed at a summit in Paris to ramp up rather than lift sanctions on Russia over its war against Ukraine, as Britain and France began sketching out plans to send a “reassurance” force after any peace.
President Emmanuel Macron hosted the meeting of Ukraine’s European allies and President Zelensky in the latest effort to agree a co-ordinated policy after Donald Trump shocked Europe by opening direct talks with the Kremlin.
“He really wants to divide Europe and America, Putin really wants that,” Mr Zelensky said after the summit, adding Kyiv wants Washington to be “stronger” towards the Kremlin.
He warned “everybody understood and understands that today Russia does not want any kind of peace”.
There appeared to be consensus around the table at the Elysee Palace that sanctions imposed against Russia should not be weakened, and rather intensified, until there is peace.
“There was complete clarity that now is not the time for the lifting of sanctions, quite the contrary – what we discussed is how we can increase sanctions to support the US initiative to bring Russia to the table,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said alongside Mr Zelensky.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said lifting sanctions would be a “grave mistake” and “makes no sense” without a truce.
EU DEBATES COALITION OF THE WILLING
Mr Macron said France and Britain were leading efforts to send a “reassurance force” to Ukraine after any end to the fighting.
“It does not have unanimity today, but we do not need unanimity to do this,” he added, saying a Franco-British delegation would head to Ukraine in the coming days for talks over where such a force could be deployed.
It would have the “character of deterrence against any potential Russian aggression”, he said.
Mr Macron added that the summit agreed that he and Starmer would together “co-pilot” Europe’s ‘coalition of action’ for stable and durable peace”.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has long made clear her reserves over the troop deployment plan, said she hoped the United States will be involved in the next European meeting on Ukraine and repeated Rome’s refusal to send troops to defend any peace deal.
US SOLDIERS KILLED NEAR BORDER OF RUSSIAN ALLY
Four US soldiers have been killed in Lithuania after disappearing while on a training exercise near the border with Belarus – a close ally of Russia.
The soldiers were last seen alive on Tuesday riding in a M88A2 Hercules armoured vehicle.
The troops were involved in an exercise at a military site near Pabrade in eastern Lithuania, just under 10km away from the Belarus border.
Local media are reporting the four soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, which is based out of Fort Stewart, Georgia, may have drowned after the vehicle became bogged in swampland.
Lithuania – a NATO member – announced it was following in the footsteps of Poland and placing mines along the borders it shares with Belarus.
NATO’s Secretary-general Mark Rutte confirmed the deaths.
Around 16,000 US troops are currently deployed to the region with the presence expanded since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.
Originally published as Kremlin rejects US brokered ceasefire
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