{"id":39172,"date":"2026-04-23T06:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T06:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/39172\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T06:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T06:05:10","slug":"ukraine-russia-war-live-kyiv-says-frontline-position-strongest-in-a-year-as-zelensky-calls-for-new-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/39172\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine-Russia war live: Kyiv says frontline position \u2018strongest in a year\u2019 as Zelensky calls for new talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Watch: Zelensky says Russia ceasefire unlikely until Iran crisis \u2018closed\u2019Zelensky says Russia ceasefire unlikely until Iran crisis \u2018closed\u2019<\/p>\n

Arpan Rai23 April 2026 06:10<\/p>\n

<\/a>Kremlin says Putin can meet Zelensky \u2013 but there’s a precondition<\/p>\n

Russian president \u200bVladimir Putin can only meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for \u2060the purpose of finalising agreements on the conflict, Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin \u2060spokesperson \u200bDmitry Peskov \u2060as saying on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

“The main thing \u2060is the goal of \u200bthis \u2060meeting. Why \u200cshould they meet? Putin has said he is \u200cready for a \u200cmeeting in Moscow at any moment,” TASS news \u2060agency quoted Peskov as telling Russian state television.<\/p>\n

“The main thing is that there should be a reason to meet, and \u200cthe main thing \u200bis that the \u200cmeeting should \u2060be productive. And it \u2060can only be for \u200cthe \u200bpurpose of \u200cfinalising agreements,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Arpan Rai23 April 2026 06:05<\/p>\n

<\/a>Railway worker killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine<\/p>\n

A train driver was killed in Ukraine after Russia attacked the country\u2019s railway in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine\u2019s deputy prime minister Oleksii Kuleba said.<\/p>\n

The attack targeted a sorting yard at the Zaporizhzhia-Live station in \u2060\u2060the southern Zaporizhzhia region and killed an \u200c\u200cassistant train driver.<\/p>\n

The main driver was injured and is receiving treatment at a hospital, he said.<\/p>\n

Kuleba called it \u201canother proof of terrorism, Russia is at war against peaceful people, against those who were simply doing their job and keeping the country moving\u201d.<\/p>\n

Drones also targeted Ukraine\u2019s main Black Sea port in the southern city of Odesa.<\/p>\n

The strikes, which took place in the early hours of Wednesday, damaged the infrastructure of the Odesa \u2060\u2060port, including berths, warehouses, railway infrastructure and \u200c\u200cport operators\u2019 facilities, Kuleba said in a statement on X.<\/p>\n

Arpan Rai23 April 2026 05:54<\/p>\n

<\/a>Watch: Dua Lipa funds pickup truck for medical battalion in UkraineDua Lipa funds pickup truck for medical battalion in Ukraine<\/p>\n

Arpan Rai23 April 2026 05:25<\/p>\n

<\/a>EU prepares finalisation of \u20ac90bn loan for Ukraine after Orban hurdle removed<\/p>\n

EU \u200bambassadors have approved the disbursement of a promised \u20ac90bn ($106bn) loan to Ukraine as well as a new package of sanctions against Russia \u2060after Hungary lifted its veto, the bloc’s Cypriot presidency said.<\/p>\n

The European Union’s 27 member states are now expected to sign off on the deal by this afternoon, a spokesperson for the Cypriot presidency \u2060added.<\/p>\n

The EU agreed last year \u200bon \u2060the loan to keep Ukraine liquid through 2026 and 2027. But Hungary then blocked \u2060the deal after Russia-friendly prime minister Viktor Orban accused Ukraine of \u200bsabotaging \u2060the transit of Russian \u200coil through a pipeline damaged by Russian attacks.<\/p>\n

The spat had also delayed the new sanctions against Russia, which the EU \u200chad initially aimed to adopt to \u200cmark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.<\/p>\n

The stumbling block was finally removed when Hungary’s oil group MOL yesterday said it had been informed that the Ukrainian operator of the Druzhba pipeline was ready to resume crude oil transit to Hungary and Slovakia.<\/p>\n

MOL said it expected the first shipments via the pipeline to arrive in Hungary and Slovakia by Thursday at the latest. Both countries remain reliant on \u200cRussia for much of their energy.<\/p>\n

Ukraine’s prospects for \u200breceiving the loan had already improved when Orban \u200clost Hungary’s parliamentary election \u2060on 12 April. The leader of the winning party, \u2060Peter Magyar, has said he will no longer block the EU funds for \u200cKyiv, though he \u200bis only expected to take \u200cpower next month.<\/p>\n

\"UkrainianUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky walks past the flag of the European Union in Vilnius, Lithuania (Getty)<\/p>\n

Arpan Rai23 April 2026 05:12<\/p>\n

<\/a>Ukraine asks Turkey to mediate war and host Zelensky-Putin talks<\/p>\n

Ukraine has asked Turkey to host a meeting between president Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian president Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n

The development was shared by Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha, saying that Ukraine is ready to meet Putin at any venue to end the war, except Belarus or Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe asked the Turks about it, we asked some other capitals,\u201d Sybiha said, speaking to reporters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe addressed the Turks specifically,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if another capital, besides Moscow and Belarus, organises such a meeting, we will go.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, Sybiha told the Antalya Diplomacy Forum that Ukraine was ready to participate in any round of talks \u201cregardless of format,\u201d including meetings involving Zelensky, Putin, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, or US president Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

\"\"(AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Arpan Rai23 April 2026 04:47<\/p>\n

<\/a>No gains for Russia as Ukraine holds \u2018strongest\u2019 frontline position in a year, says Sybiha<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s frontline position is now \u201cthe strongest\u201d it has been in a year, the country\u2019s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said, crediting its superiority in drone warfare and air defence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have minimised the Russians\u2019 advantage in manpower through the use of drones,\u201d Sybiha said.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cFor us, the situation on the battlefield is about strengthening our negotiating position. We can shoot down up to 90 per cent of the targets that strike our cities\u2026 [Ukraine\u2019s] position on the battlefield is indeed the strongest, or the most solid, it has been over the past year.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War said that Russia made almost no territorial gains across the frontline in March, the first time Moscow has made such little progress in two and a half years.<\/p>\n

\"Ukraine'sUkraine’s foreign affairs minister Andrii Sybiha speaks during a session at Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya (Reuters)<\/p>\n

Arpan Rai23 April 2026 04:40<\/p>\n

<\/a>Longer Iran conflict could make it harder for Ukraine to secure missile defences, says Zelensky<\/p>\n

Ukraine could face increased risks in securing US \u200banti-missile defences if the war in Iran goes on for an extended period of time, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has cautioned.<\/p>\n

Speaking to CNN, Zelensky said Ukraine received limited numbers of such weaponry because US production was limited, but so far it had experienced no disruption in supplies or in provision of intelligence.<\/p>\n

Zelensky said Ukraine was \u2060able to secure US \u200bweaponry through \u2060the PURL programme under which Nato countries can finance the purchase of weapons for Kyiv.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough this \u2060programme, we can include and buy anti-ballistic missiles for Patriot \u200bsystems \u2060and some other weapons which \u200cis very important for us. We don’t have this…with our European neighbours,” Zelensky told CNN in English.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd of course, (given) \u200cthe big challenge in the Middle \u200cEast war and Iran, all these packages are at risk.”<\/p>\n

The United States, he said, had supplied “only a small number. We had not \u2060too much. We understand why, because the production in the United States is not so big.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if the war will continue or a ceasefire is delayed…(this) will be not good. And maybe we will have more risks with anti-ballistics.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"(Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)<\/p>\n

Arpan Rai23 April 2026 04:22<\/p>\n

<\/a>Seven injured in Russian attack on apartment building in Ukraine’s Dnipro<\/p>\n

A \u200bRussian air attack has triggered a series of \u2060fires in an apartment block in Ukraine’s southeastern city of \u2060Dnipro, injuring \u200bseven \u2060people, including two children, in the early hours today, officials said.<\/p>\n

Regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha \u200csaid five people were being treated in hospital, \u200cincluding girls \u200caged nine and 14.<\/p>\n

Pictures posted on line \u2060by the governor showed several apartments ablaze and emergency crews using extendable ladders with a bucket to bring \u200cthe flames \u200bunder control.<\/p>\n

Ganzha said \u200cfire also \u2060broke out in \u2060a store and \u200ca \u200bnumber of cars.<\/p>\n

Arpan Rai23 April 2026 04:02<\/p>\n

<\/a>Zelensky says unblocking of 90bn loan is ‘right signal’<\/p>\n

Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that the unblocking of a 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) European Union loan to Kyiv was “the right signal under the current circumstances”.<\/p>\n

Writing on X, Zelensky said that incentives for Russia to end its war in Ukraine “can arise only when both support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia are sufficient.”<\/p>\n

\u201cUkraine is fulfilling its obligations in relations with the European Union \u2013 even on such sensitive issues as the operation of the Druzhba oil pipeline.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect that the European side will also deliver what is needed for the real protection of lives and for advancing Ukraine\u2019s full European integration.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Reynolds23 April 2026 03:00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Watch: Zelensky says Russia ceasefire unlikely until Iran crisis \u2018closed\u2019Zelensky says Russia ceasefire unlikely until Iran crisis \u2018closed\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[25484,6931,947,14489,25482,263,383,464,10310,17418,6099,18301,11838,1023,6932,51,6938,25485,330,13977,328,325,25483],"class_list":{"0":"post-39172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vladimir-putin","8":"tag-25484","9":"tag-color-image","10":"tag-diplomacy","11":"tag-european-union-flag","12":"tag-full-length","13":"tag-g7","14":"tag-government","15":"tag-horizontal","16":"tag-july","17":"tag-leaving","18":"tag-lithuania","19":"tag-one-person","20":"tag-patriotism","21":"tag-people","22":"tag-photography","23":"tag-politics","24":"tag-politics-and-government","25":"tag-president-of-ukraine","26":"tag-ukraine","27":"tag-vilnius","28":"tag-vladimir-putin","29":"tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy","30":"tag-walking"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116452519567924301","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}