Russia announces Easter ceasefire
RT | April 19, 2025
Russia will pause hostilities with Ukraine from 18:00 on Saturday Moscow time until midnight on April 21, President Vladimir Putin has announced.
The president announced the temporary ceasefire on Saturday after a meeting with Russian General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov. He expressed his hope that Kiev will show goodwill and observe the truce.
“At the same time, our troops must be prepared to react to possible violations of the ceasefire and provocations by the adversary, to any aggressive actions,” Putin stated.
Ukraine’s reaction to the Easter ceasefire will clearly demonstrate whether Kiev is able and sincerely willing to participate in the potential negotiations to bring the conflict to its end, the Russian president noted.
Putin invoked the 30-day energy truce between Moscow and Kiev, brokered by US President Donald Trump on March 18, noting Ukraine’s repeated violations.
“We know that the Kiev regime has violated the agreement on pausing energy infrastructure strikes more than a hundred times… Therefore, I ask you to be extremely attentive and focused, to be ready for an immediate full-force response,” he told Gerasimov.
Shortly after the president’s announcement, the Russian Defense Ministry released a short statement on the matter, urging Kiev to show reciprocity.
“The ceasefire regime is being introduced for humanitarian purposes and will be observed by the Russian Joint Group of Troops, provided that it is mutually observed by the Kiev regime,” the military said.
Scott Ritter: Rubio’s Threats to Quit Ukraine Peace Talks Look Like Sabotage
Sputnik – April 18, 2025
Marco Rubio warned Friday that the US could walk out of the Ukrainian peace process if progress is not made “within days.” A day earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky accused Trump Ukraine envoy Steve Witkoff of “spreading Russian narratives,” and claimed Witkoff has no “mandate… to speak about Ukrainian territories.”
The US secretary of state’s remarks on potentially ending the US peace push in Ukraine signal dual frustrations: with Steve Witkoff’s influence over Ukraine policy, and with Russia’s demands for a lasting peace instead of a temporary ceasefire, military analyst and former Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter told Sputnik.
“I think this is an effort by Marco Rubio to insert himself into the process, but I want to remind people that he doesn’t make policy, especially policy concerning US-Russian relations,” Ritter emphasized.
Ritter sees Rubio’s comments as an attempt to “create the atmosphere of a failed policy” to try to get the US to abandon its current policy on Ukraine, but doesn’t see President Trump accepting this position.
Ritter also recalled that Rubio’s position in the Trump administration has forced him to pull a 180 degree turn on the traditional pro-Ukraine, anti-Russia posture he held throughout his career in the Senate.
“Rubio’s statement actually empowers Europe and Ukraine in many ways because now all they have to do is drag this out. The key here is for Europe and Ukraine is to get the United States out of the peacekeeping business and hopefully get the US back into the war-fighting business, that is, to continue their proxy conflict against Russia. That doesn’t seem to be the policy direction that Donald Trump favors,” the observer stressed.
Ultimately, Ritter said, what the Ukraine crisis needs right now is diplomacy. “This requires the United States to put pressure on Europe, to put pressure on Ukraine. The Trump administration doesn’t seem to have the leverage necessary to achieve that. This is where Marco Rubio is supposed to be stepping forward to take the lead diplomatically to see the president’s will translated into actual policy that can be implemented. But Rubio doesn’t seem to be inclined to do this.”
“So what I envision happening is, in a week or so, you’ll see Marco Rubio make a play with the Trump administration, with the president himself, to terminate America’s effort to bring this conflict to an end. But I don’t see Donald Trump accepting that. I see Donald Trump rejecting that advice and continuing to press forward and giving Steve Witkoff a chance to work with the Russians. But this is a process that if it continues, is going to take weeks, if not months, before you get the kind of detailed agreement necessary to allow Russia to accept a ceasefire,” Ritter summed up.
US proposes leaving former Ukrainian territories under Russian control – Bloomberg
RT | April 18, 2025
The US has presented its allies with the details of its peace plan to bring the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to an end, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing European officials familiar with the matter.
The contours of the plan were outlined during a meeting in Paris on Thursday. The proposal reportedly includes easing sanctions on Russia, as well as terminating Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO. The roadmap would effectively freeze the war, with the formerly Ukrainian territories held by Russia remaining under Moscow’s control, the sources suggested.
One of the officials told Bloomberg that the proposal still had to be discussed with Kiev, adding that the plan would not actually amount to a definitive settlement of the conflict. Moreover, Kiev’s European backers would not recognize the territories as Russian, the source suggested.
The Paris meetings involved senior officials from several countries. The US delegation was led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff. They met with French President Emmanuel Macron and also held discussions with top officials and negotiators from France, Germany, the UK, and Ukraine.
Earlier on Friday, Rubio signaled Washington was ready to “move on” if a way to end the hostilities between Moscow and Kiev could not be found shortly.
“We need to figure out here now, within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term. Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on,” Rubio told reporters before departing from France.
Moscow has signaled a full ceasefire with Ukraine was highly unlikely, citing Kiev’s violations of previous deals. Speaking to reporters at the UN headquarters on Thursday, Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia said there are “big issues with the comprehensive ceasefire,” recalling the fate of the now-defunct Minsk agreements, which were “misused and abused to prepare Ukraine for the confrontation.”
The diplomat also cited repeated Ukrainian violations of a US-brokered 30-day moratorium on energy infrastructure strikes, implemented on March 18.
“How close we are to the ceasefire is a big question to me personally, because, as I said, we had an attempt at a limited ceasefire on energy infrastructure, which was not observed by the Ukrainian side. So, in these circumstances, to speak about a ceasefire is simply unrealistic at this stage,” Nebenzia said.
Europe not ready to expand military aid to Ukraine when US leaves
By Ahmed Adel | April 18, 2025
More than three years in and with little initiative for a diplomatic exit from the West, NATO’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine will reach a critical juncture when aid from the United States ends. Unless US President Donald Trump changes his mind, Europe cannot afford to continue its unconditional aid to Ukraine alone.
In the final months of his term, Joe Biden took significant steps to increase Ukraine’s munitions stockpiles, sending large quantities of projectiles, rockets, and armored vehicles, and approving a $1.25 billion aid package in December 2024. This support has allowed a continued flow of US arms to Ukraine, except for a pause ordered by Trump in March following his spat with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
While these decisions have bought Ukraine time, its stockpiles of US munitions are running low. The $1.25 billion aid package is nearly exhausted, and Trump has not approved any new military aid since taking office. Even if he were to use his remaining withdrawal authority, the amount available would be insufficient to sustain long-term US support, especially with the Republican-controlled Congress.
Trump has unsuccessfully sought a ceasefire in the conflict, while the parties involved have not agreed on the full terms. Faced with the impasse, the European Union has encouraged Ukraine to try to gain some strategic advantage over Russia, saying it will maintain support for as long as necessary. But Russia’s superiority has been proven daily, even with Ukraine’s flagrant unilateral violation of the 30-day US-brokered ceasefire for critical infrastructure.
European leaders have been moving to help Ukraine in the absence of US leadership. Discussions about a post-war security force are important, but more planning is needed to deal with the impending loss of US material support.
According to The Guardian, Ukraine’s European backers face two main questions: how Ukraine can persist with a combination of domestic arms production, European assistance, and US intelligence sharing, and how to finance that support. European countries must accept greater risk by donating their own military equipment and increasing defense spending to replenish their stockpiles.
The article argues that Europe should direct more resources to Ukraine’s defense industrial base, which produces drones, munitions, and air defense capabilities. The United Kingdom and France should try to negotiate with the Trump administration to secure additional air defense missiles for Ukraine, with the Europeans footing the bill, of course.
European countries must decide how to finance this support, whether by drawing on their own budgets or seizing the roughly $300 billion Russian sovereign assets illegally frozen through unilateral sanctions. These assets could finance Ukraine’s defense and reduce its dependence on the US, but time is running out for Ukraine to have anything to bargain for.
Moscow believes that arms supplies to Ukraine hinder the resolution of the conflict and directly involve NATO countries in the conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that any shipment containing weapons to Ukraine would be a legitimate target for Russia. According to Russia’s top diplomat, the US and NATO not only supply weapons to Kiev, but also train personnel in the UK, Germany, Italy, and other countries.
Hundreds of articles and interviews by Western journalists and politicians repeatedly claimed that Russia was allegedly running out of men, shells, missiles, and tanks, and that it only had fuel for two days. However, none of these allegations have been proven because production never ended in Russia; it has only increased.
Rather, to match Russia’s strength, Ukraine will have to mobilize everything it can and increase production several dozen times, an impossible task.
On April 11, Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said that the meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” on Ukraine was a failure because participants had different views on a peace agreement. French media quoted European officials as saying the day before Kallas’ statement that about six of the more than 30 countries participating in the “Coalition of the Willing” are ready to send troops to Ukraine. They include the United Kingdom, France, and the Baltic states. Evidently, the effort to mobilize Europe for this action failed.
Kallas also hoped to mobilize up to €40bln in military aid for Ukraine this year to shore up Kiev’s position and try to gain some strategic leverage for upcoming peace talks with Russia. This proposal has been stalled for weeks though, with EU diplomats criticizing the abstract nature of the plan, the way contributions would be calculated, and the lack of buy-in from most southern European countries.
Europe does not have the military might, economic prosperity, or unity to support Ukraine once US support has truly dried up. Yet, judging by the statements and actions of Kallas, the unelected EU technocrats continue to concoct new ideas to prolong war and suffering in Ukraine.
Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.
Iran’s FM in Russia to ‘consult on matters of common concern’
Press TV – April 17, 2025
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is visiting Moscow to “consult on matters of common interest and concern” with Russian officials, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei says.
Baghaei on Thursday described Russia as a “strategic partner”, emphasizing that mutual ties between Tehran and Moscow are anchored in solid grounds of “mutual understanding” and common interests.
“Iran-Russia’s excellent bilateral relations are based on solid grounds of ‘mutual understanding’ & ‘respect’ as well as ‘shared interests’ of the two nations,” he wrote on the X social media platform.
Heading a diplomatic delegation, Araghchi traveled to Moscow Thursday to deliver a written message from Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Baghaei said.
The previously planned visit is taking place at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, within the framework of continuous consultations between the two countries as strategic partners, Baghaei added.
During his stay in Moscow, Araghchi will hold talks on bilateral relations, regional and international developments, and the recent indirect talks between Iran and the US.
His visit comes ahead of the second round of talks between the US and Iran on Saturday after they held “positive” indirect negotiations in the Omani capital on Tehran’s nuclear program and the removal of sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
President Putin was scheduled to meet Araghchi later Thursday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told state media.
The Kremlin said Wednesday that Russia was ready to do “everything” in its powers to help find a diplomatic resolution to the standoff between the United States and Iran.
Russia has issued calls for calm after US President Donald Trump last month appeared to threaten to bomb Iran if it did not agree to a new nuclear agreement.
European and British leaders are using the Sumy airstrike to push for the war in Ukraine to continue
By Ian Proud | Strategic Culture Foundation | April 16, 2025
The Sumy airstrike provides a reminder that civilians and children have been killed indiscriminately since the Ukraine crisis started in 2014. Rather than calling on Russia to accept a ceasefire on Ukraine’s terms and encouraging Zelensky to avoid dialogue, European and British leaders need to get behind real negotiations.
On 13 April, a Russian airstrike in the centre of Sumy in Ukraine lead to the deaths of 34 people and injury to 117 others, including children. The strike targeted a planned medal award ceremony organised by the Ukraine Armed Forces’ 117th Territorial Defence Brigade, although the vast majority of the casualties were civilians.
The decision to plan a military event in a built-up city centre has prompted internal concern within Ukraine that this invited a Russian attack. A Mayor of one town in Sumy called on the Governor and the regional head of Ukrainian Military intelligence to resign, for organising a military event in a civilian area.
Russian military bloggers have admitted that the second of two ballistic missiles used did not hit the intended target, causing widespread casualties.
But there was also a depressing sense of déjà vu in this latest tragedy. In an Amnesty International report of 4 August 2022, six months after the war started, the Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, remarked ‘we have documented a pattern of Ukrainian forces putting civilians at risk and violating the laws of war when they operate in populated areas.’
The strike in Sumy offers a timely reminder that civilians have regularly been caught in the cross-fire of a conflict in Ukraine that has been burning since 2014. Over 15,000 civilians have been killed during that eleven-year period, 3000 of those in the years of 2014 and 2015, as part of Ukraine’s so-called Anti-Terror Operation against the separatists in Donetsk and Lugansk.
The first official record of civilian deaths in the Ukraine conflict was in a report by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission on 5 July, which said, ‘the military campaign of the Ukrainian army in the east of the country continued.. The UN stated that there were numerous reports of death of people due to the intensified security operations in Donetsk and Luhansk, including a killing of a five-year-old girl.’
A 2016 report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, spoke about ‘rampant impunity’ within the Ukrainian anti-terror offensive across the period from 2014-2015, with ‘90 per cent of the conflict related civilian deaths.. caused by the indiscriminate shelling of residential areas.’ The remaining deaths were mostly caused by summary executions by groups on both sides of the conflict.
15,000 civilian deaths across eleven years is an appalling number. But that number pales against the more than one million total deaths and injuries to military personnel on both sides during the war, each one the child of someone.
Everyone should be striving with every sinew to end this needless bloodshed and finally bring peace. But they are not.
Performative accusations against Russia by the western media and politicians create an epic distraction from the real issue; that this would not be happening if there was peace between Russia and Ukraine.
A new propaganda narrative has formed that in this war, Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine is the victim. This is both a gross over-simplification and wilfully ignores Ukraine’s role as the other party to the war. It also infantilises casual western consumers of the mainstream news who, stripped of real information and analysis of the history of the conflict, are invited to accept the premise that Ukrainians are the good guys, and the Russians are the bad guys. That this is a fight between the righteous and the wicked. Between David and Goliath.
Antony Blinken, the grossly complicit former US Secretary of State, recently repeated this good versus evil line in an interview. But, when you look at it from the other perspective, you might realise that Russia considers NATO Goliath, and itself David.
Ursula von der Leyen, took to X after the attack in Sumy to amplify this attack line. ‘Russia was and remains the aggressor.’ She goes on to assert that, ‘Europe will continue to.. maintain strong pressure on Russia until the bloodshed ends and a just and lasting peace is achieved, on Ukraine’s terms and conditions.’ Prime Minister Keir Starmer posted on X that ‘Putin must now agree to a fully and immediate ceasefire without conditions.’
But this is deluded. Russia is slowly winning on the battlefield and has been for at least a year and a half. There is no rational world in which Russia will be pressured to accept a ceasefire on Ukraine’s terms. And Russia has conditions, the biggest one that Ukraine repudiate its claim to NATO membership. This has been the case, not since 2022, not since 2014, but since 2008.
A ceasefire will only happen when Ukraine engages in direct talks with Russia, something that President Zelensky steadfastly refuses to do. Calling for more pressure on Russia, and discouraging Zelensky from dialogue, is just delaying an end to hostilities and consigning more innocent people to die.
The EU and Britain, which have both avoided at all costs sending troops to fight, can’t produce enough weapons and are fast running out of money to support Ukraine’s failing state, are encouraging Zelensky to press for something that President Putin will never accept.
President Trump – with whom I disagree deeply on Middle East policy and on tariffs – has been measured in his response, referring to the Russian airstrike in Sumy as a mistake. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also balanced in his statement, pointing out that, ‘this is a tragic reminder of why President Trump and his Administration are putting so much time and effort into trying to end this war and achieve a just and durable peace.’
Rather than falling back on the same old performative tropes and failed prescriptions, European and British leaders finally need to get behind ending the bloodshed. They must encourage Zelensky to negotiate, rather than humouring him with assurances that won’t reassure, and with promises we’ll never keep.
What does the restoration of U.S.-Russia relations really mean?
By Lucas Leiroz | Strategic Culture Foundation | April 15, 2025
Recently, The National Interest published a call for a reconfiguration of U.S.-Russia relations, and the proposal to establish an economic partnership signals a subtle but significant shift in Washington’s strategy. After years of hybrid warfare, sanctions, and failed attempts to isolate Moscow, some sectors of the American establishment seem to finally acknowledge the obvious: the U.S. tends to gain much more from reconciliation than Russia does. And most importantly — unlike in the 1990s, Moscow is in no hurry.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, U.S.-Russia relations have been marked by a clear asymmetry. The 1990s and 2000s were defined by a weakened Russia attempting to integrate into the international system on Western terms. The result was a series of strategic humiliations, broken promises—such as NATO expansion—and ongoing efforts at containment. Today, that scenario is completely reversed. Moscow negotiates from a strengthened position, guided by long-term strategic interests and a clear vision of a multipolar world.
The American think tank calls for economic rapprochement do not occur in a vacuum. On the contrary, they reflect the ineffectiveness of sanctions as a tool for political change. Over the past decade, the U.S. has used sanctions as a primary foreign policy method, refining their use to target specific individuals, companies, and strategic sectors while attempting to minimize collateral damage. However, even this “surgical” approach has failed.
In Russia’s case, sanctions not only failed to alter Moscow’s stance but also reinforced its internal resilience and political cohesion. The Russian economy adapted, built alternative logistical, industrial, and financial systems, and deepened ties with powers such as China, India, and Iran. More than that, the sanctions regime stimulated the development of an independent foreign policy, consolidating Russia’s role as a pivotal power in the transition toward a multipolar order.
It is in this context that the U.S. now seeks to replace war and sanctions with other methods of deterrence and engagement—primarily economic in nature. The bet is simple: an economically integrated, cooperative, and stable Russia would better serve Washington’s strategic interests than a confrontational and self-sufficient power. On paper, Moscow could serve as a useful counterweight to China, help relieve economic and migratory pressures in Europe, and potentially shift its focus toward internal economic development instead of geopolitical challenges.
However, this vision ignores a fundamental element: Russia does not simply want to return to being part of a “rules-based international order”—a phrase now synonymous with American hegemony. Moscow wants to end that paradigm. Russia’s strategic interest lies in replacing this unilateral order with a new international structure governed by treaties, pragmatism, and mutual respect between sovereign powers. This is not about returning to the “reset” of the Obama era, but about negotiating new terms for global coexistence—terms that Russia now has the power to impose.
In this scenario, rapprochement with the U.S. only interests Russia if it is based on a realistic, long-term cooperation agenda. Moscow will not accept unilateral conditions or asymmetric concessions. Its goal is clear: to consolidate multipolarity, weaken unilateral structures of domination, and establish relations based on mutual benefits. The geopolitics of force gives way to the diplomacy of interest.
If Washington truly wants a “reset,” it must accept it on the terms of a new world—not as an uncontested leader, but as one among several poles of power. Russia is willing to engage in dialogue, but not in submission. And this time, it’s not Moscow that needs the conversation most—it’s Washington.
FSB accuses EU aspirant of ‘enabling Kiev’s terrorism’
RT | April 14, 2025
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) says it has foiled several attempts to smuggle explosives and carry out terrorist acts in Russia, with all of the suspects allegedly recruited, trained, and coordinated by Ukraine’s military intelligence while Moldovan security services looked the other way.
In a series of press releases on Monday, the FSB said it had detained two Moldovan citizens and two Russians, accusing Chisinau of allowing Kiev to use its territory to orchestrate attacks against Russia.
“This is not the first time that the territory of Moldova, with the connivance of local authorities, is used by the Ukrainian special services to recruit and train agents, supply them with weapons of destruction, and then transfer them to Russian territory in order to commit acts of sabotage and terrorism,” the FSB said in the statement.
One of the suspects, 23-year-old Moldovan citizen Marius Pruneanu, was reportedly caught red-handed while trying to smuggle explosives hidden inside a car battery. He told investigators that he was recruited by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry (HUR) in 2023, after spending a year fighting against Russia as part of Kiev’s “foreign legion.”
“I was told to buy a car, then they gave me explosive devices in Moldova. I came to Russia and started my training in accordance with my cover story. Then they told me to bury one of the devices in Volgograd and also maybe in Saratov,” Pruneanu said. “Plus, they said they would give me a gun – I don’t know where or when – to kill someone, I don’t know who.”
Another Moldovan citizen, 32-year-old Evgeny Kurdoglu, was allegedly recruited by Ukrainian intelligence to scout Russian air defense positions and energy infrastructure in Crimea, and to report the results of missile strikes back to Kiev.
“The first task was to film a Ukrainian strike on a train ferry. After that, he called me to transfer coordinates for a serious task,” the suspect told investigators.
“The handler told me… I would have to bring the bomb to a pumping station and put it under a bridge,” he said. He later led investigators to a cache containing 400 grams of ‘Semtex 10’ plastic explosive, an electric detonator, and a timer intended to blow up a water pumping station in Kerch.
Two other suspects detained by the FSB were Russian citizens who had fled the country after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. One of them, identified as Okrushko S., 43, was allegedly promised cash and Ukrainian citizenship. The other, Izmaylova I., 35, was reportedly threatened that her relatives in Ukraine would be harmed if she refused to comply.
Both were recruited and trained by Ukrainian handlers in Moldova and even passed a lie detector test in Chisinau before being sent to Russia to commit acts of sabotage, according to the FSB.
“An oil plant in Samara was looking for someone to do wiring work, so I was sent there. I rented a car, and through some coordinates I picked up an explosive and smuggled it into the plant. Then I set the charge, but the bomb went off almost immediately,” Okrushko told investigators. He was arrested at the border with Kazakhstan while trying to escape to Türkiye, and confessed to planting two more explosives, which were neutralized before their timers went off.
Moldova has pursued an anti-Russian course since 2020, when pro-EU President Maia Sandu came to power. Her government has been actively pushing for EU and NATO membership for the country, and Moldova was granted candidate status by Brussels in 2022. Last year, Sandu secured another term in a highly-contested election as Moscow accused her government of silencing opposition voices through a media crackdown and suppressing the voting of the Moldovan diaspora in Russia.
Are Chinese Soldiers Fighting in Ukraine?
By Ted Snider | The Libertarian Institute | April 14, 2025
If Chinese soldiers are fighting in the Russian armed forces in Ukraine, that is not the big story. The big story is the effect the claim could have on the possibility of peace.
Ukraine has not yet even proven the months old claim of the presence of North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia on Russian soil. Now they are making the much more provocative claim that Chinese soldiers are fighting for Russia on Ukrainian soil.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on April 9 that the Ukrainian armed forces had captured two Chinese soldiers fighting in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. He then said that Ukrainian intelligence has uncovered 155 Chinese citizens who are “fighting against Ukrainians on the territory of Ukraine” and that they “believe that there are many more of them.”
Independent journalists and organizations have not had access to the two prisoners in order to verify the truth of the claim. Ukraine has provided a video and documents listing names and passport documents. Media outlets have seen them, but CNN and The Independent both say that they have not been independently verified.
There are tens and perhaps even hundreds of thousands of ethnic Chinese living in Russia. And even if the captured soldiers are from China, that does not mean they were sent by China. They could have enlisted on their own as mercenaries, a possibility that two former U.S. intelligence officers “with knowledge of the issue” now say U.S. intelligence believes to be the case. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called the claim that many Chinese citizens are fighting in the Russian army “totally unfounded,” and said that “the Chinese government always asks Chinese citizens to stay away from conflict zones, avoid getting involved in any form of armed conflict, and especially refrain from participating in any party’s military operations.”
Zelensky, though, has made the provocative claim that the Chinese government is allowing its citizens to fight in Ukraine. Asked whether China had a policy of sending soldiers to Ukraine, Zelensky answered, “I don’t have an answer to this question yet. The Security Service of Ukraine will work on it…We are not saying that someone gave any command, we do not have such information.” However, he added that “[o]fficial Beijing knows about this” and did not prevent it.
Zelensky then escalated the claim, saying, “The Chinese issue is serious” and calling on “the U.S. and the rest of the world for a response.”
It is that threat to the peace process and not the possible presence of Chinese soldiers that is serious and significant. Mercenaries from many countries have been welcomed by both Ukraine and Russia since the beginning of the war. Al Jazeera reports that, not only Chinese, but Nepalese and Indians have fought for Russia. They also report that Colombians, Sri Lankans, Indians and Americans have fought for Ukraine. At least nine Canadians have been killed in Ukraine, and more are known to have fought there. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed in March 2024 that 1,005 Canadian mercenaries have fought in Ukraine. They also claim that 2,960 have come from Poland, 1,113 from the United States, 356 from France and others from the United Kingdom and Romania. Ukraine says their international legion comprises around 20,000 fighters from fifty countries.
More seriously, it is not just mercenaries who have arrived in Ukraine. A leaked March 2023 Defense Department document reveals the presence of 97 NATO special forces in Ukraine. A recent New York Times article reports that more than three dozen military advisers were sent to Kiev and that CIA officers were in Kharkiv and “command posts closer to the fighting.” The British prime minister’s office has confirmed that the United Kingdom has boots on the ground in Ukraine. The presence of French forces has also been revealed, and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski confirmed that “NATO soldiers are already present in Ukraine.”
Unless the Chinese government has a policy of sending troops to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine, which would be serious, since it could draw China into the war, it is not the alleged presence of Chinese soldiers that is dangerous. At a time when peace talks are at a fragile beginning, and U.S. President Donald Trump is insisting on both sides showing they are serious about peace, it is the provocative statements coming out of Kiev that are potentially serious.
“Russia’s involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war,” Zelensky said. “This definitely requires a response. A response from the United States, Europe, and all those around the world who want peace.” The suggestion that Putin is not serious about negotiating undermines U.S. led negotiations.
The statements are also ill timed and hazardous. The United States and China are engaged in a trade war. It is a volatile time to provide Washington with a cause for turning up its anger against China. Zelensky intends the presence of Chinese soldiers to evoke an American response. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the U.S. is “aware of those reports” and that “It’s disturbing with the Chinese soldiers having been captured,” though the White House has not confirmed the claim. National Security Spokesman Brian Hughes said that “if the Chinese government is allowing their citizens to fight on behalf of the Russia government, this would be a concerning escalation and the U.S. will consider options moving forward.”
Beyond challenging the peace process, the comments coming out of Kiev are provocative to China, questioning its credibility and its lack of involvement in the war. Equally importantly, it challenges any potential role of China both in the negotiations before the end of the war and in security arrangements after the end of the war: both potentially important roles for China.
Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrii Sybiha, said that “Chinese citizens fighting as part of Russia’s invasion army in Ukraine puts into question” not only “China’s declared stance for peace” but even that it “undermines Beijing’s credibility as a responsible permanent member of the UN Security Council.”
If the two captured soldiers turn out to be from China, and if they turn out to be mercenaries fighting without the approval of China, then their presence in Ukraine is not the big story. If the claims being made about them and about China resonate in the White House, then the effect of the claims could make difficult peace talks even more difficult. And that is what the potential big story would turn out to be.
Sumy strike targeted meeting of Ukrainian commanders – MOD
RT | April 14, 2025
The Defense Ministry in Moscow has confirmed that Russian forces were behind the missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday, saying that it targeted a gathering of the country’s commanding officers.
The attack has left more than 60 Ukrainian servicemen dead, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
It was carried out with the use of two Iskander-M short-range ballistic missiles despite “active counteraction by the Ukrainian military’s electronic warfare means and foreign-made air defense systems,” the statement read.
The target of the attack was “a meeting of the command staff of the Seversk operational-tactical group” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which was taking place in Sumy that day, the ministry said.
“The Kiev regime continues to use the Ukrainian population as a human shield, placing military facilities and holding events with the participation of servicemen in the center of a densely populated city,” the statement read.
The local authorities in Sumy said on Sunday that the Russian strike left over 20 dead and more than 80 wounded, all whom were civilians.
Sumy is a regional capital and a frontline city of over 250,000 people, located just 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the border with Russia. It has become a focal point of the Ukrainian retreat following Kiev’s failed incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.
Following the attack, Artyom Semenikhin, a mayor of the Ukrainian city of Konotop and member of the right-wing Svoboda party, blamed the head of Sumy’s military administration for the loss of life, claiming that he had been the one to organize an award ceremony for the troops so close to the line.
“He was warned that this should not be done,” Semenikhin insisted, adding that he was confident that Artyukh will be prosecuted for his conduct.
Ukrainian lawmaker Mariana Bezuglaya, a former member of Vladimir Zelensky’s political party, suggested that “the Russians had information about the gathering” in Sumy. She urged the Ukrainian military “not [to] gather the troops for award ceremonies, especially in civilian cities.”
Ukrainian journalist and former legislator Igor Mosiychuk also called for the arrest of Artyukh and Zelensky party legislator Mikhail Ananachenko, who, he claimed, “beside the soldiers, gathered civilians, including children” for the ceremony.
Maidan and Odessa – The West’s Ukrainian Massacres
By Sonja van den Ende | Strategic Culture Foundation | April 12, 2025
In 2016 and 2017, I was invited by the families of the victims of the 2014 Odessa Trade Union House massacre to document this atrocity. The slaughter on May 2, 2014, received little – if any – attention in Western media. Over 40 people were burned alive after a mob of neo-Nazi hooligans, backed by the West, attacked peaceful protesters demonstrating against the fascist regime installed in Kiev. This regime was the product of a 2013 coup d’état orchestrated by the U.S. and its EU accomplices, branded as the “Maidan Revolution.” By 2014, its violence had spread to Odessa.
The Mothers of Odessa – echoing Argentina’s Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo – sought justice for the massacre. Like the Argentine mothers who protested the disappearances under military dictatorship, they demanded accountability for May 2, a day the West has long buried in silence – because it was complicit in Kiev’s coup and, indirectly, Odessa’s tragedy.
That day, a football match between Kharkov’s Metalist and Odessa’s Chornomorets had drawn hooligans, including followers of Andriy Parubiy – a self-proclaimed admirer of Hitler’s national socialism. Many of these neo-Nazis later joined the Azov Regiment, entrenching themselves in Mariupol’s Azovstal plant. But on May 2, 2014, they descended on the Trade Union House, slaughtering 42 protesters.
Parubiy, a fascist and neo-Nazi, would later ascend to Ukraine’s political elite, serving as Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council and Speaker of Parliament. He was warmly received by EU officials, including Victoria Nuland, even as he pushed laws banning Russian, Crimean Tatar, Romanian, and Hungarian in official spheres.
In March 2025, the European Court of Human Rights finally ruled on the case – eleven years late. It found Ukraine guilty of failing to investigate and awarded each victim’s family a meagre €14,000 in damages. The court also condemned Kiev for delaying the return of one victim’s body to his family. A token verdict for state-sanctioned murder.
The police and judiciary’s refusal to act in Odessa mirrored the Maidan massacre in February 2014, where fascist gunmen – backed by the U.S. and EU – fired on protesters from the Hotel Ukraina, sparking chaos to enable the coup. Among the orchestrators were EU figures like the late Dutch politician Hans van Baalen (VVD) and Belgium’s Guy Verhofstadt, who incited the mob with inflammatory speeches.
Recent revelations expose the role of Georgian mercenary Mamuka Mamulashvili and U.S. sniper Brian Christopher Boyenger, a former US Army soldier. Both apparently helped lead the group of snipers who fired on the protesters from the Ukraina hotel in Kiev during the Maidan coup.
It’s worth noting that these efforts were likely supported – and possibly encouraged – by former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. Mamuka Mamulashvili, who served as a senior military advisor to Saakashvili, played a key role in what was termed the “revolution” in Ukraine. Saakashvili’s involvement bore fruit: on May 30, 2015, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appointed him governor of Odessa. To assume the role, Saakashvili took Ukrainian citizenship, renouncing his Georgian ties. However, in 2017, his Ukrainian citizenship was revoked, leaving him stateless and residing in the Netherlands. Later, President Volodymyr Zelensky reinstated Saakashvili’s citizenship and, in May 2020, appointed him head of Ukraine’s National Reform Council. In 2021, Saakashvili returned to Georgia, where he was arrested on corruption charges and remains imprisoned.
Mamuka Mamulashvili has led the Georgian Legion, a military unit fighting against Russia in Ukraine, and is wanted by Russian authorities. Likely recruited between 2013 and 2014, Mamulashvili allegedly served American interests, including acting as a sniper in Kiev during that period. His involvement spans decades of conflicts in the Caucasus, including wars in Abkhazia, Chechnya, South Ossetia, and now Ukraine, where he commands the Georgian Legion.
A recent report highlighted American fighters returning from Ukraine, bringing violence home. One such figure, Brian Christopher Boyenger, served with the Right Sector in Ukraine during the summer of 2016. Boyenger appeared in a Ukrainian documentary aired in April 2016, alongside another American, showcasing their combat roles. A former sniper with the U.S. 101st Airborne Division in Iraq, Boyenger later joined the 2014 Maidan events in Kiev as a sniper.
The conflict in Ukraine didn’t begin with Russia’s Special Military Operation in 2022 but traces back to the 2013 coup, often labelled a “revolution.” This event, one of many U.S.-backed regime changes – frequently in collaboration with the EU – spiralled out of control. The West believed it had Russia cornered, expecting NATO’s expansion to Ukraine would weaken Moscow. The U.S. and Europe anticipated an easy victory in this proxy war, pushing toward Odessa to spark another uprising. They overlooked Odessa’s predominantly Russian-speaking population, miscalculating the city’s loyalties. The ultimate aim was regime change in Russia, a goal partially achieved in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. Yet Ukraine exposed the limits of Western hubris, costing countless lives since 1945. Europe now faces decline, no longer aligned with the “MAGA” vision of America.
The “Make America Great Again” movement prioritizes self-interest but hasn’t abandoned imperialism. It backs Zionism – a colonial project since 1948 – in Israel and seeks global dominance through commerce, though it shuns investment in Gaza, as Trump recently stated. America now operates like a ruthless corporation, trading overt wars for business deals while still fuelling conflicts in Palestine, Syria, and Yemen. Europe, meanwhile, reels from its defeat in Ukraine, fearing an eventual war with Russia – perhaps by 2030, some speculate.
The scars endure in Odessa, Kharkov, Mariupol, and Volnovakha, where war has claimed countless loved ones. Calls for peace echo loudly, yet for the residents of Russia’s four new regions, peace remains elusive. They know who fired the shots: Western proxies, including Americans and Europeans, with the latter still clinging to the path of conflict.
Ukraine Could Be Sabotaging Agreements by Violating Moratorium with Strikes on Energy Facilities
Sputnik – 12.04.2025
MOSCOW – Kiev’s strikes on energy facilities are carried out either because there was no order to halt them or because the order was not followed, Director of the Second Department of CIS Countries of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexey Polishchuk told Sputnik in an interview out on Saturday.
“This can be happening for two reasons. Either Kiev did not give the order to cease shelling, or the order is not being followed. Both of these reasons are extremely worrying,” Polishchuk said.
If there was no order given, then we are dealing with deliberate sabotage of agreements, Polishchuk also said.
“If it [the order] is not implemented, then the Kiev authorities are failing to control their own military,” Polishchuk added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone call with US President Donald Trump on March 18. Trump put forward a proposal for the parties to the conflict to mutually refrain from strikes on energy infrastructure facilities for 30 days. Putin supported this initiative. Later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would support the proposal to stop attacks on energy infrastructure.
Since the agreement on a 30-day moratorium on strikes against energy facilities was reached, Kiev has violated it more than 60 times, Alexey Polishchuk added.
“The Kiev regime is indeed maliciously violating the 30-day moratorium on strikes on energy facilities, which was agreed upon on March 18 by the presidents of Russia and the United States [Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump] and then supported by [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy,” Polishchuk said.
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