Ukraine war latest news: US threatens to halt peace talks while Kyiv nears minerals deal with Trump

The Kremlin has said some progress has already been made in talks about a possible peace settlement to end the war in Ukraine but that contacts were rather complicated with the United States.

“Contacts are quite complicated, because, naturally, the topic is not an easy one,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

“Russia is committed to resolving this conflict, ensuring its own interests, and is open to dialogue. We continue to do this.”

A Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv killed one person and wounded 82 others, including six children, on Friday morning, officials said.

The strikes damaged apartment buildings, an educational institution and a business, according to the emergency services.

“This is how Russia began this Good Friday – with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, Shaheds – maiming our people and cities,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X.

Reuters video showed emergency workers giving first aid to people with bleeding wounds near one of the apartment buildings.

“Everything went flying in all rooms, the windows shattered,” said Inna Khrystych, one of the residents. “My husband died.”

Andriy Ponomarenko said he and his wife were woken by the strike and rushed to find their four-year-old daughter amid the smoke and shattered glass.

“We first thought the blood was mine but turned out she got a cut by her eye,” he said.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andriy Sybiha said Russia launched four missiles at Kharkiv, three of them ballistic and carrying cluster warheads.

Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Ukraine’s second biggest city, said the attack damaged 15 apartment buildings based on preliminary information.

Ukraine and the US are set to start a new round of negotiations on the minerals deal on Thursday, Ukraine’s deputy minister of the economy has said.

Ukraine and the US have reached an understanding that the Ukrainian parliament would need to ratify a minerals deal agreement, Ukraine’s deputy minister of the economy has said.

China’s foreign ministry has rejected an accusation by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that the country had been supplying weapons to Russia as “groundless”.

China has never made lethal weapons available to any party to the Ukraine crisis, ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular news conference.

“China’s position on the Ukrainian issue has always been clear,” Mr Lin said. “It has been actively committed to promoting a ceasefire and ending the conflict, as well as encouraging peace talks,” he said.

China opposes groundless accusations and political manipulation, he said, adding that Ukraine had said publicly that most of the components in weapons imported by Russia came from the United States and other Western nations.

Friday’s disclaimer from Beijing followed Mr Zelensky’s remarks at a press conference the previous day that China was supplying weapons and gunpowder to Russia, while also accusing it of producing weapons on Russian territory.

Kyiv and Washington aim to complete technical discussions on the terms of a minerals deal agreement by 26 April after the Ukrainian prime minister visits the US next week, according to a memorandum of intent published by Ukraine today.

Yesterday, Ukrainian officials announced they have signed an outline of a minerals deal with the US and said a final accord could be reached by the end of next week.

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down three Iskander-K cruise missiles and 23 drones in an overnight attack by Russia involving six missiles and 37 drones.

Meanwhile, at least five children were injured and one was killed among a total of 57 people affected by a Russian missile strike on the northeastern city of Kharkiv in the early hours of today, officials said.

The United States will stop trying to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal within days unless there are clear signs that a deal can be done, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said today.

Mr Rubio, speaking in Paris after meeting European and Ukranian leaders, said that president Donald Trump was still interested in a deal but had many other priorities around the world and was willing to move on unless there are signs of progress.

Russia’s UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya has said a full ceasefire in Ukraine is “unrealistic”.

His comments came as Russia called for a UN Security Council session yesterday over the energy infrastructure truce with Ukraine.

“We had an attempt at a limited ceasefire on energy infrastructure facilities, which was not observed by the Ukrainian side,” Mr Nebenzya said.

“Under the current circumstances, it is simply unrealistic to talk about a (full) ceasefire at this stage,” he said.

The signed memorandum between Kyiv and Washington is an initial step towards clinching an agreement on developing mineral resources in Ukraine, officials have said.

Although both sides had been poised in February to sign a deal for cooperation on natural resources, it was delayed after an Oval Office meeting between Mr Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy turned into a shouting match.

“We are happy to announce the signing with our American partners,” Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister and economy minister, said on social media after the signing.

Yesterday’s memorandum of intent paves the way for an economic partnership deal and the setting-up of an investment fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine, she added.