Cameron meets Trump amid push to shore up Ukraine support
Good morning and welcome to the Ukraine live blog. We start with news that David Cameron has held talks with Donald Trump in Florida amid a push to shore up support for Ukraine and advance a new package of aid that is held up in Congress.
In a statement on Monday, a Foreign Office spokesperson said:
Ahead of his visit to Washington, the foreign secretary will meet former President Trump in Florida today. It is standard practice for ministers to meet with opposition candidates as part of their routine international engagement.
Cameron’s discussion with the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, believed to be the first such meeting by a senior UK minister with Trump since he left office, covered Ukraine, the war in Gaza and the future of Nato, according to a report in the Telegraph.
Trump has repeatedly voiced misgivings about aid to Ukraine and questioned America’s commitment to Nato, the international alliance which the US has committed to defending when necessary.
On his visit to Washington, Cameron will warn that success for Kyiv in defeating Russia is “vital for American and European security” as he urges lawmakers across to approve “urgent” further assistance for the country.
He will hold talks with his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, and is hoping to meet the House speaker, Mike Johnson, whose colleagues are preventing the vote on an extra $60bn (£47bn) of Ukraine aid. He is not scheduled to meet US president Joe Biden.
Lord Cameron will push for Ukraine to be given the resources needed to “go on the offensive” in 2025 and will urge congressional leaders to “change the narrative” on support for Kyiv, the Foreign Office said.
Key events
Switzerland has not invited Russia to the summit on Ukraine it plans to host, and Moscow will not participate, the RIA news agency cited the Russian embassy in Switzerland as saying on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s military spy agency reiterated that Kyiv does not take any military action against nuclear facilities amid fresh Russian accusations of drone attacks on the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
“Ukraine’s position is clear and unequivocal; we do not commit any military actions or provocations on nuclear facilities,” Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence, said on national TV.
A Ukrainian drone attacked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine just 10 minutes after representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency mission passed by on Tuesday, the RIA news agency reported.
RIA cited comments from the plant’s Russian-appointed management about the attack in which Russia says a training facility building near the plant was hit.
Russia’s state investigative committee said on Tuesday that money flowing through Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma had been used to finance “terrorist attacks” and assassinations in Russia and other countries in recent years.
Burisma was dissolved last year, Reuters reported.
It has in the past attracted attention as Hunter Biden, the son of US president Joe Biden, was a board member.
Two killed by shelling in Russian village, local governor says
A woman and a child have been killed in the Russian village of Klimovov by shelling, the region’s governor has said.
Aleksandr Bogomaz, the governor of the Bryansk Region, claimed artillery shelling was carried out by “Ukrainian terrorists”.
Writing on Telegram, he said: “The blow was struck in the very centre of the village.
“Unfortunately, there are dead: a woman and a child. According to preliminary information, three civilians were injured. They are now receiving medical assistance.
“As a result of the terrorist attack, a residential building caught fire. Several private cars were partially damaged. The investigation of the area that came under fire continues.
“Operational and emergency services are working on the spot.”
Afternoon summary
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David Cameron has held talks with Donald Trump in Florida amid a push to shore up support for Ukraine and advance a new package of aid that is held up in Congress. In a statement on Monday, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Ahead of his visit to Washington, the foreign secretary will meet former President Trump in Florida today. It is standard practice for ministers to meet with opposition candidates as part of their routine international engagement.”
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Cameron’s discussion with the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, believed to be the first such meeting by a senior UK minister with Trump since he left office, covered Ukraine, the war in Gaza and the future of Nato, according to a report in the Telegraph. Trump has repeatedly voiced misgivings about aid to Ukraine and questioned America’s commitment to Nato, the international alliance which the US has committed to defending when necessary. On his visit to Washington, Cameron will warn that success for Kyiv in defeating Russia is “vital for American and European security” as he urges lawmakers across to approve “urgent” further assistance for the country.
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Three people were killed in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region by Ukrainian shelling on Monday, the Russian-installed regional head Vladimir Saldo said on Tuesday.
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Ukraine’s military spy agency GUR struck a main production facility of a Russian aviation factory in Voronezh region, a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters. The source did not provide details on scale of damage or weapons used for the attack.
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Ukraine’s air defence systems destroyed all 20 attack drones that Russia launched targeting Ukraine, Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Tuesday. The drones were destroyed over the Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Vinnytsia and Lviv regions, Oleshchuk said on the Telegram messaging app. He added that Russia also launched four missiles from the S-300 surface-to-air missile systems, but he did not say what happened to those missiles.
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A Ukraine-launched, anti-ship Neptune missile was destroyed over the Black Sea, and four drones were downed over the Belgorod and Voronezh regions, the Russian Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday. “Duty air defence systems destroyed four Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the territories of the Belgorod (2 UAVs) and Voronezh (2 UAVs) regions, and (the Neptune) Ukrainian missile was destroyed over the Black Sea off the coast of the Crimean Peninsula,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
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An extraordinary meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors called by Russia to discuss attacks on the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine is due to be held on Thursday, three diplomats said. The International Atomic Energy Agency has yet to announce a date for the meeting. The board’s rules state that any country on it, including Russia, can call a meeting. Russia’s ambassador to the IAEA said on Monday that Russia had done so.
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China’s foreign minister Wang Yi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in China on Tuesday, underlining the ever-friendly relationship between Moscow and Beijing. Wang said that China and Russia would continue to strengthen international cooperation and work together to maintain the stability of supply chains. The two sides agreed to start a dialogue on Eurasian security. Speaking after the meeting, Wang said that the two countries should “oppose hegemonism and power politics”.
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Russia and China will continue to cooperate in the fight against terrorism as part of their ever-strengthening relationship, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said in Beijing on Tuesday after talks with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi. “I thank the Chinese side for their condolences in connection with the terrorist attack in the Moscow region on March 22 of this year, for supporting Russia’s fight against terrorism,” Russian news agencies cited Lavrov as saying.
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Serbia is close to signing a deal on the purchase of 12 French Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets, the Serbian president announced Tuesday, in what would mark a shift from its traditional military supplier Russia. President Aleksandar Vucic spoke during his two-day visit to Paris and talks with French president Emmanuel Macron as well as French defence officials including Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation. Vuci said that he had a very good conversation with Macron on Monday night, which lasted more than three hours, and that they “reached concrete agreements regarding the purchase of the Rafale fighter jets.”
Serbia is close to signing a deal on the purchase of 12 French Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets, the Serbian president announced Tuesday, in what would mark a shift from its traditional military supplier Russia.
President Aleksandar Vucic spoke during his two-day visit to Paris and talks with French president Emmanuel Macron as well as French defence officials including Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation.
Vuci said that he had a very good conversation with Macron on Monday night, which lasted more than three hours, and that they “reached concrete agreements regarding the purchase of the Rafale fighter jets.”
He said contracts will be signed in the next two months in Macron’s presence, adding that the purchase of the sophisticated jets will drastically widen military and other cooperation between the two states.
Financial details of the potential deal have not been announced, but the pro-government Serbian media estimated it at about 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) for the whole package.
Three killed by shelling in Russian-held part of Kherson region, official says
Three people were killed in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region by Ukrainian shelling on Monday, the Russian-installed regional head Vladimir Saldo said on Tuesday.
More details to follow as we get them.
Ukraine’s military spy agency GUR struck a main production facility of a Russian aviation factory in Voronezh region, a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters.
The source did not provide details on scale of damage or weapons used for the attack.
An extraordinary meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors called by Russia to discuss attacks on the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine is due to be held on Thursday, three diplomats said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has yet to announce a date for the meeting. The board’s rules state that any country on it, including Russia, can call a meeting.
Russia’s ambassador to the IAEA said on Monday that Russia had done so.
Amy Hawkins
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in China on Tuesday, underlining the ever-friendly relationship between Moscow and Beijing.
Wang said that China and Russia would continue to strengthen international cooperation and work together to maintain the stability of supply chains. The two sides agreed to start a dialogue on Eurasian security.
Speaking after the meeting, Wang said that the two countries should “oppose hegemonism and power politics”.
The meetings came as US treasury secretary Janet Yellen is also in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials. Yellen said on Monday that she had difficult conversations about China’s cooperation with Russia, warning Beijing of “significant consequences” for any Chinese companies supporting Russia’s war efforts.
President Xi Jinping and president Vladimir Putin are expected to meet later this year.
Russia and China will continue to cooperate in the fight against terrorism as part of their ever-strengthening relationship, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said in Beijing on Tuesday after talks with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi.
“I thank the Chinese side for their condolences in connection with the terrorist attack in the Moscow region on March 22 of this year, for supporting Russia’s fight against terrorism,” Russian news agencies cited Lavrov as saying.
Militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the shooting at a concert venue near Moscow where at least 144 people died, but Russia, without providing evidence, has said it believes Ukraine was behind the attack, Reuters reports.
“Our cooperation on counter-terrorism will continue, including within the framework of multilateral institutions,” Lavrov said.
Moscow and Beijing declared a “no limits” partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and have firm their ties since.
Lavrov, in Beijing on an official visit, also thanked China for sending a group of observers to Russia’s presidential election in March, which president Vladimir Putin won by a record post-Soviet landslide.
A Ukraine-launched, anti-ship Neptune missile was destroyed over the Black Sea, and four drones were downed over the Belgorod and Voronezh regions, the Russian Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday.
“Duty air defence systems destroyed four Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the territories of the Belgorod (2 UAVs) and Voronezh (2 UAVs) regions, and (the Neptune) Ukrainian missile was destroyed over the Black Sea off the coast of the Crimean Peninsula,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Ukraine’s air defence systems destroyed all 20 attack drones that Russia launched targeting Ukraine, Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Tuesday.
The drones were destroyed over the Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Vinnytsia and Lviv regions, Oleshchuk said on the Telegram messaging app.
He added that Russia also launched four missiles from the S-300 surface-to-air missile systems, but he did not say what happened to those missiles.
Reuters could not immediately verify Oleshchuk’s comments.
Cameron meets Trump amid push to shore up Ukraine support
Good morning and welcome to the Ukraine live blog. We start with news that David Cameron has held talks with Donald Trump in Florida amid a push to shore up support for Ukraine and advance a new package of aid that is held up in Congress.
In a statement on Monday, a Foreign Office spokesperson said:
Ahead of his visit to Washington, the foreign secretary will meet former President Trump in Florida today. It is standard practice for ministers to meet with opposition candidates as part of their routine international engagement.
Cameron’s discussion with the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, believed to be the first such meeting by a senior UK minister with Trump since he left office, covered Ukraine, the war in Gaza and the future of Nato, according to a report in the Telegraph.
Trump has repeatedly voiced misgivings about aid to Ukraine and questioned America’s commitment to Nato, the international alliance which the US has committed to defending when necessary.
On his visit to Washington, Cameron will warn that success for Kyiv in defeating Russia is “vital for American and European security” as he urges lawmakers across to approve “urgent” further assistance for the country.
He will hold talks with his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, and is hoping to meet the House speaker, Mike Johnson, whose colleagues are preventing the vote on an extra $60bn (£47bn) of Ukraine aid. He is not scheduled to meet US president Joe Biden.
Lord Cameron will push for Ukraine to be given the resources needed to “go on the offensive” in 2025 and will urge congressional leaders to “change the narrative” on support for Kyiv, the Foreign Office said.
