Russia Ukraine war latest: Germany says Western allies are lifting range limits on weapons sent to Kyiv

Russian forces had captured four villages in Ukraine’s Sumy region as part of an attempt to create a “buffer zone”, a Ukrainian official said yesterday.

Sumy region governor Oleh Hryhorov listed four villages inside the border that he said were now held by Russian forces – Novenke, Basivka, Veselivka and Zhuravka. He said their residents had long been evacuated.

“The enemy is continuing attempts to advance with the aim of setting up a so-called ‘buffer zone,'” he wrote.

Ukrainian forces, he said, “are keeping the situation under control, inflicting precise fire damage on the enemy”.

Mr Hryhorov said fighting was continuing around other villages in the area, including Volodymyrivka and Bilovodiv – two settlements that Russia’s defence ministry had earlier yesterday said were now held by Moscow’s forces.

Russia’s military and Russian military bloggers have in recent days reported captured villages in Sumy, which has come under frequent Russian air strikes for months.

US president Donald Trump has said he is weighing new sanctions on Moscow after accusing Vladimir Putin of going “absolutely CRAZY” by unleashing a massive aerial attack on Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters at the airport in Morristown, New Jersey, Mr Trump said of Mr Putin yesterday: “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. What the hell happened to him? Right? He’s killing a lot of people. I’m not happy about that.”

He raised the possibility of imposing more sanctions on Russia in response to the ongoing attacks.

As Washington settled in for a typically sleepy Memorial Day following the passage of Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” in the House, the president fired off one of his trademark furious rants on Truth Social, but the target was a surprise.

It was aimed squarely at Russian president Vladimir Putin. Despite what he called a “very good relationship” with Putin, Trump in his latest statement on the Ukraine-Russia war blasted the Russian leader as “absolutely crazy.”

Mr Trump sudden harsh turn was illuminative, if not for the reason he may have intended, writes John Bowden:

Any decision by European countries that might give Ukraine enhanced long-range missile capabilities would be a dangerous move, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said yesterday.

The remarks from Vladimir Putin’s close aide come shortly after German chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke about the absence of range restrictions for weapons delivered to Ukraine, which one German government official said did not represent a change in policy.

“These potential decisions, if such decisions have indeed been made, run absolutely contrary to our aspirations for reaching a political settlement,” Mr Peskov said.

Such decisions, if there were any, were quite dangerous, the Kremlin spokesperson said.

Mr Merz announced yesterday that his government would do everything possible to keep supporting Ukraine militarily, pointing out that the lack of range restrictions meant Ukraine could attack military targets in Russia.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s refusal to wave a white flag presents a serious obstacle not only to Trump’s peace plans, but more importantly, to his hopes of a Nobel prize – an award that the narcissist in the Oval Office desperately wants and thinks he deserves.

Russia is planning to launch a new offensive in Ukraine and not looking to end the war, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“We can see from the information obtained by intelligence and from open-source data that Putin and his entourage do not plan to end the war,” Mr Zelensky said in his latest nightly address, adding that Moscow is counting on a “prolonged war”.

“There is currently no indication that they are seriously considering peace or diplomacy. On the contrary, there is ample evidence that they are preparing new offensive operations,” Mr Zelensky said.

He has asked Ukraine’s “partners” to not ignore the intelligence reports.

“I am confident that our partners’ intelligence services are having the same information, seeing the same facts – and it’s important that they do not turn a blind eye, but report to their leadership,” he said.

US president Donald Trump’s claims that Vladimir Putin has gone “absolutely crazy” are down to “emotional overload”, the Kremlin has claimed.

Mr Trump on Sunday said his Russian counterpart Mr Putin had “gone absolutely CRAZY” by unleashing a massive aerial attack on Ukraine and said he was weighing new sanctions on Moscow, though he also scolded Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

“We are really grateful to the Americans and to president Trump personally for their assistance in organising and launching this negotiation process,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said when asked about Mr Trump’s remarks about Mr Putin.

“Of course, at the same time, this is a very crucial moment, which is associated, of course, with the emotional overload of everyone absolutely and with emotional reactions,” Mr Peskov said.

Germany and other major allies are no longer imposing any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion, its new chancellor Friedrich Merz said.

The German leader said that “there are no longer any range restrictions for weapons that have been delivered to Ukraine — neither by the British, nor by the French, nor by us, and not by the Americans either.”

“That means Ukraine can also defend itself by, for example, attacking military positions in Russia,” Mr Merz said at a forum organised by WDR public television.

“Until a while ago, it couldn’t. — It can now,” he said.

“We call this ‘long-range fire’ in jargon, also supplying Ukraine with weapons that attack military targets in the hinterland,” he added.

Mr Merz did not elaborate, and it wasn’t clear whether he was referring to the easing of restrictions on longer-range weapons late last year.

Germany, along with the UK and France, has plunged into diplomatic efforts to try to secure a ceasefire and keep Western support for Ukraine intact.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said the hundreds of Russian attacks on his country are a “political choice” made by Vladimir Putin.

Speaking in his nightly video address, Mr Zelensky said: “Over 900 attack drones launched against Ukraine in just three days, along with ballistic and cruise missiles. There is no military logic in this, but it is a clear political choice of Russia – the choice to keep waging war.”

“We can see from the information obtained by intelligence and from open-source data that Putin and his entourage do not plan to end the war.”

Mr Zelensky has asked the Russian leader to “start respecting those he talks to”.

“For now, he is simply playing games with diplomacy and with diplomats. That must change,” Mr Zelensky said.