Zelenskyy<\/a> first publicly offered to buy US weapons systems on April 15, specifically asking for Patriot air defence systems.<\/p>\nThe US sale followed the April 30 signing of a memorandum by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko to jointly exploit new mineral deposits in Ukraine, including metals, oil and gas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centred on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,\u201d said Bessent.<\/p>\n
The memorandum said half of the proceeds from royalties and licensing fees payable to the government of Ukraine will be put into an investment fund for reconstruction purposes. It did not stipulate whether US investors would similarly invest any proportion of their proceeds, or if the US government would facilitate investment. Nor did the memorandum specify a timeframe for investment.<\/p>\n
Svyrydenko said the US government would contribute to the reconstruction fund, without specifying how much.<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy called it \u201cnow truly an equal partnership\u201d in his Mayday evening address and said it would allow the US and Ukraine \u201cto make money in partnership\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis partnership sends a strong message to Russia \u2013 the United States has skin in the game and is committed to Ukraine\u2019s long-term success,\u201d said a White House statement.<\/p>\n
Trump steps back from peace deal<\/p>\n
A day after signing the minerals deal, the Trump administration began to distance itself from the prospect of peace in Ukraine, despite Trump\u2019s promise to deliver it quickly after his inauguration.<\/p>\n
The administration delivered a ceasefire offer to Russia and Ukraine on April 17, calling it \u201cfinal\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be up to them to come to an agreement and stop this brutal, brutal conflict,\u201d US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News on May 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going to fly around the world organising mediation meetings. Now it\u2019s up to the two sides,\u201d said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce.<\/p>\n
![\"INTERACTIVE-WHO](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/INTERACTIVE-WHO-CONTROLS-WHAT-IN-EASTERN-UKRAINE-copy-1746606029.png\")
(Al Jazeera)<\/p>\n
US Secretary of State and Acting National Security Advisor Marco Rubio told Fox News on the same day, \u201cWe\u2019ve got so many, I would argue even more important, issues going on around the world,\u201d referencing \u201cwhat\u2019s happening in China\u201d and \u201cIran\u2019s nuclear ambition\u201d.<\/p>\n
Whereas Ukraine has agreed to a US 30-day ceasefire proposal, Russia has not, proposing instead a three-day ceasefire to protect 29 international leaders attending a May 9 victory parade in Moscow to mark the end of the Second World War.<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy has dismissed that request. On May 9, he called on Putin again to \u201ca 30-day silence. But it must be real. No missile or drone strikes, no hundreds of assaults on the front\u2026 The Russians\u2026 must prove their willingness to end the war.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova responded by saying Zelenskyy \u201cunambiguously threatened world leaders\u201d.<\/p>\n
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the point of the three-day truce was \u201cto test Kyiv\u2019s readiness to find ways for a long-term sustainable peace\u201d.<\/p>\n
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Brazil\u2019s\u00a0O Globo newspaper, \u201cThe ball is not in our court. [Kyiv] has not shown readiness for negotiations so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is Russia serious about peace?<\/p>\n
Russia has prosecuted its war against Ukraine to the fullest, launching 1,300 assaults since the beginning of May.<\/p>\n
Russia suffered 35,000 casualties in April, and just less than 126,000 in the first four months of 2025, said Ukraine\u2019s Ministry of Defence \u2013 the equivalent of three rifle divisions. During that time, Russia occupied 1,627 sq km (628 square miles), a figure that included the recapture of its own Kursk region in March, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera is unable to independently verify casualty tolls.<\/p>\n
However, the ISW said Russian gains had \u201cslowed as Russian forces come up against more well-defended Ukrainian positions in and around larger towns such as Kupiansk, Chasiv Yar, Toretsk, and Pokrovsk over the last four months\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskii said the main threats were in \u201cprimarily Sumy and Kursk, Pokrovsky, Novopavlovsk\u201d.<\/p>\n
Russia has been intensifying its use of controlled air bombs (CABs) this year, said Ukraine\u2019s Joint Forces Task Force, dropping 5,000 in April versus 4,800 in March, 3,370 in February and 1,830 in January.<\/p>\n
Ukraine considers these 1.5-tonne bombs one of its biggest difficulties on the front lines. Neutralising Russia\u2019s ability to launch them from planes deep inside Russia was its main reason for requesting long-range strike capability from the former administration of President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n
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(Al Jazeera)<\/p>\n
Russia also stepped up long-range strikes against Ukraine\u2019s cities.<\/p>\n
Overnight on May 1, Russia fired five Iskander ballistic missiles and 170 drones and decoys. Two more Iskanders and 183 drones were launched on May 2. The northern city of Kharkiv, just 30km (19 miles) from the Russian border, was particularly hard-hit, with 10 fires recorded in various districts of the city, said the State Emergency Service. Some 44 people were injured. Russia struck Kharkiv again days later, engulfing its commercial market in flames.<\/p>\n
Russia launched 165 drones on May 3 and 116 drones along with 2 Iskander missiles the following day. On Wednesday, a ballistic missile and drones struck Kyiv, killing a mother and son.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Russians are asking for silence on May 9, but they themselves strike Ukraine every day,\u201d wrote Zelenskyy on Telegram.<\/p>\n
The ISW said \u201cthe Kremlin is attempting to prolong negotiations to extract additional concessions from the United States and Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ukraine strikes back<\/p>\n
Ukraine held its front line against an escalating Russian onslaught and struck targeted blows against Russia\u2019s military machine.<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, told The War Zone that Ukrainian Magura-7 unmanned surface drones had successfully downed two Russian Sukhoi-30 fighter jets using AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles originally designed for air-to-air use.<\/p>\n
The pilot of the first Russian Su-30 was rescued by a civilian ship near the port of Novorossiysk in the Black Sea. The second Su-30 fell over Crimea. The crew did not survive, said Budanov.<\/p>\n
The downing of a Sukhoi by a surface drone was unprecedented, he added.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian military intelligence pioneered the use of surface kamikaze drones to strike Russian Black Sea Fleet ships, and on December 31<\/a> used them to launch rockets, downing two Russian helicopters.<\/p>\nIt was the first time surface drones had been used against air targets \u2013 another Ukrainian innovation.<\/p>\n
Since late 2022, Ukraine has also pioneered the use of light, first-person-view drones to perform targeted munitions drops on enemy armour and personnel.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past two months \u2013 March and April \u2013 our drones have hit and destroyed over 160 thousand enemy targets,\u201d wrote Syrskii on Telegram.<\/p>\n
![\"INTERACTIVE-ATTACK_ON_KURSK_MAY_7_2025-1746606020\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/INTERACTIVE-ATTACK_ON_KURSK_MARCH_6_2025-1746606020.png\")
(Al Jazeera)<\/p>\n
In April, drones destroyed more than 83,000 targets, 8 percent more than in March, he claimed, lauding the \u201ceffectiveness of Ukrainian unmanned systems\u201d.<\/p>\n
In addition, he said deep-strike weapons had hit 62 targets on Russian territory in April.<\/p>\n
In the past week, Ukrainian drones torched the Fiber Optic Systems plant in Saransk, Republic of Mordovia, for the second time in a month, Russia\u2019s only plant manufacturing fibre-optic cable used in unmanned aerial vehicles. They seemed to have also struck the nearby Saranskkabel machine-building plant.<\/p>\n
Ukraine also struck the Instrument-Making Design Bureau in Tula, which produces antitank systems and small arms, as well as the Scientific-Production Association (SPLAV), which produces multiple-launch rocket systems.<\/p>\n
Further, Ukraine claimed to have struck airbases in the Moscow and Kaluga regions, housing cruise missiles, Tupolev-22M3 strategic bombers and Su-27 and MiG-29 fighter jets.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are writing the history of the modern Ukrainian statehood,\u201d Syrskii wrote on Telegram on Tuesday. \u201cYou are the modern history of Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"INTERACTIVE](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/INTERACTIVE-Ukraine-Refugees-1746606010.png\")
(Al Jazeera)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Donald Trump administration last week approved its first sale of weapons to Ukraine after signing a memorandum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87368,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7655],"tags":[6178,299,3058,3933,12,332,7661,657],"class_list":{"0":"post-87367","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russia","8":"tag-conflict","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-international-trade","11":"tag-mining","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-russia","14":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","15":"tag-ukraine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114477929965949935","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"INTERACTIVE-WHO](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1746794474_801_INTERACTIVE-WHO-CONTROLS-WHAT-IN-UKRAINE-1746606043.png\")
(Al Jazeera)<\/p>\n