Ukraine Russia war latest: Trump tells Zelensky not to ‘target Moscow’ after asking about hitting Russian capital

US officials are now talking with Nato allies and gauging who is willing to send what to Ukraine.

European officials have been broadly receptive.”We are ready to participate,” Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters in Brussels yesterday ahead of a meeting of European Union ministers.

One official cited Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Spain as good candidates to send a Patriot battery to Kyiv, either because they had multiple batteries or the threats they face are relatively remote.

Some, including Greece and Spain, have previously resisted appeals from allies to give some of their Patriot systems to Ukraine, arguing that they are essential to defend their own countries and Nato as a whole.

In a win-win situation for the EU and the US, Donald Trump has found a way of arming war-hit Ukraine by asking Kyiv’s European allies to donate their weapons and sell them American replacements.

But it remains unclear which of the EU nations will step up to arm Ukraine and donate Patriot anti-missile defence systems from their stockpiles.

Some Patriot missile defence systems should arrive in Ukraine “within days,” Mr Trump said.

The costly Patriot systems are in high demand among US allies and have proven effective at destroying Russian ballistic missiles aimed at Ukraine’s cities.

During his Oval Office meeting with Mr Trump on Monday, Nato chief Mark Rutte mentioned six of the bloc’s countries – Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Canada – that were willing to participate in the weapons-purchasing scheme.

The US has also signalled willingness under the proposed arrangement with European allies to send additional offensive weapons, said one source familiar with the matter, though Mr Trump has said that Ukraine should refrain from attacking Moscow.

According to at least 10 officials in the US and Europe, how material any support ends up being for Ukraine will depend on coming negotiations about who provides which equipment.

The first lady could be Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s unlikely ally in the White House, influencing Donald Trump’s recent tougher stance on Russia.

“I go home, I tell the first lady, ‘I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation.’ And she says, ‘Oh really, another city was just hit’,” Mr Trump said from the Oval Office on Monday afternoon.

Melania was born behind the Iron Curtain in 1970 and grew up in the former Yugoslavia.

According to Mary Jordan, author of The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump, Melania’s influence does not come as a surprise to those who know her.

A US citizen who helped the Kremlin target Ukrainian troops has been granted a Russian passport in Moscow.

Daniel Martindale, with a trim beard and dressed in a suit and tie, smiled as he received his new documents, as seen during a Russian state television broadcast a report on Tuesday.

“I, Daniel Richard Martindale, voluntarily and consciously accepting the citizenship of the Russian Federation, swear to observe the constitution,” he said in Russian.

“The belief that Russia is not just my home, but also my family – I am extremely glad that this is not only in my heart, but also by law.”

Mr Martindale told reporters at a press conference last November that he established contact with pro-Russian forces via Telegram and passed them information on Ukrainian military facilities from the Donetsk region in the country’s east.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has named Yulia Svyrydenko as Ukraine’s new prime minister in the latest reshuffle of his cabinet.

Ms Svyrydenko, 39, has been serving as first deputy prime minister and economic development and trade minister since November 2021. She had been appointed to lead the revival of Ukraine’s struggling economy only months before Russia invaded in February 2022 and made her task more difficult.

Nato secretary general Mark Rutte warned countries such as Brazil, China and India could be hit very hard by secondary sanctions if they continued to do business with Russia.

Mr Rutte made the comment while meeting with senators in the US Congress the day after President Donald Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine and threatened “biting” secondary tariffs of 100 per cent on the buyers of Russian exports unless there is a peace deal in 50 days.

“My encouragement to these three countries, particularly is, if you live now in Beijing, or in Delhi, or you are the president of Brazil, you might want to take a look into this, because this might hit you very hard,” Mr Rutte told reporters, who met with the US leader on Monday and agreed the new steps.

“So please make the phone call to Vladimir Putin and tell him that he has to get serious about peace talks, because otherwise this will slam back on Brazil, on India and on China in a massive way,” Mr Rutte added.

US president Donald Trump said that weapons are already being shipped to Ukraine.

On being asked yesterday about what he thought of Patriot missiles being purchased by the US allies, Mr Trump said: “They are already being shipped”.

He added that the Patriot anti-missile defence systems are coming in from Germany.

“And in all cases, the United States gets paid back in full. So what’s happening, as you know, is the European Union, if you look, mostly European Union stuff, but let’s put it in the form of Nato, it’s very similar, but Nato’s going to pay us back for everything,” the US president said.

Mr Trump also added that he has not spoken to Russian president Vladimir Putin since sanctions against Russia were announced on Monday.

At least two people have been killed as Russian drones and missiles attacked widely separated areas of Ukraine, officials said in the early hours today.

National emergency services reported two deaths in drone strikes east of the northeastern city of Kharkiv near the town of Kupiansk, an area which has been under Russian attack for several months.

In Kharkiv itself, also a frequent target of Russian attacks, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said at least 17 explosions were recorded in a 20-minute drone attack in which three people were injured.

The head of the military administration in the southeastern town of Kryvyi Rih, Oleksander Vilkul, said Russian forces had deployed missiles and drones in an extended attack that knocked out power and water supplies. The regional governor said there had been an unspecified number of injuries.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said air defence units had gone into action for a time in the capital, but there were no reports of casualties or damage.

US president Donald Trump has refused to pick a side between Ukraine and Russia and said he just wants the killing to stop.

Asked yesterday if he was now on the side of Ukraine, Mr Trump said, “I am on nobody’s side,” and then declared he was on “humanity’s side” because “I want to stop the killing.”

Mr Trump also defended the deadline he set for Russia to agree to a deal and head off tariffs and sanctions on countries that buy oil from Russia.

He did not say whether any talks were planned to try to work out a deal with Russia.

“At the end of the 50 days if we don’t have a deal, it’s going to be too bad,” he said.

Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal said he had officially filed a resignation letter, as a part of a major governmental reshuffle expected this week.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday nominated first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko for the post.

Mr Shmyhal, who has been in his post since March 2020, is expected to be appointed as Ukraine’s new defence minister, Mr Zelensky said on Monday.

Parliament is due to vote on Ms Svyrydenko’s nomination later this week. Mr Zelensky said that he had already discussed priority tasks for the next six months with her.

“We are preparing the initial steps of the renewed government,” he said on the Telegram app, posting a picture from their meeting in his office.

The shakeup, the biggest since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, comes as the Russian forces continue their grinding advance in Ukraine’s east, and prospects for any fast ceasefire deal look dim.