Kyiv, May 11: A US-brokered ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was due to expire on Monday with both sides accusing each other of breaching the 72-hour arrangement, as American and European officials considered how they might steer the warring countries into further talks.
Ukrainian authorities said on Monday that Russian drones, bombs and artillery shelling struck civilian areas of the northeastern Kharkiv and southern Kherson regions, killing at least two people and wounding seven others.
Russia’s Defence Ministry on Sunday accused Kyiv of committing more than 1,000 ceasefire violations, state media reported.
Similar ceasefires announced since Russia invaded its neighbour more than four years ago have also failed to stop the fighting, and US-led diplomatic efforts over the past year have come to nothing.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said data from NASA observations indicated military activities decreased but did not stop after Trump announced last Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy had accepted his request for a ceasefire running Saturday through Monday. The move was meant to mark Victory Day, the Russian celebration marking the defeat of Nazi Germany.
The ISW noted late Sunday that “ceasefires without explicit enforcement mechanisms, credible monitoring, and defined dispute resolution processes are unlikely to hold.”
Trump had said there would also be an exchange of prisoners, declaring that the break in fighting could be the “beginning of the end” of the war. Zelenskyy said the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side is being prepared.
There are no signs that the two sides are ready to budge from their key negotiating positions, however.
Putin wants all of the Donbas region, Ukraine’s industrial heartland, even though his army hasn’t completely captured it, but Zelenskyy won’t surrender it. Zelenskyy has offered a ceasefire and a face-to-face meeting with Putin, which the Russian leader has ruled out until a negotiated settlement is almost finalised.
Putin suggested at the weekend that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who has had close business ties to Russia, could act as a mediator. But German and European officials scotched that possibility even while accepting that the European Union could take a more significant role in peace efforts, have been largely sidelined by Washington over the past year.
Even so, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc must get its objectives straight before attempting to negotiate with the Kremlin.
“Before we discuss with Russia, we should discuss amongst ourselves what we want to talk to them about,” she told reporters in Brussels.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha joined EU foreign ministers for the Brussels meeting. “We have mainstream peace talks under the leadership of the US, and we need this track, and we need US leadership. But Europe could also play its role,” Sybiha said.
He noted that in recent months, Ukraine has improved its performance on the battlefield, reducing the bigger Russian army to a slow and costly slog on the 1,250-kilometre (780-mile) front line, while using its domestically developed long-range drones and missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia.
“We have a new reality on the battlefield … Ukraine became stronger after the most difficult winter,” Sybiha said.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius was the latest senior European official to visit Kyiv, arriving Monday on an unannounced visit that was set to focus on furthering defence cooperation between the two countries.
Prime Minister Evika Silina on Sunday ordered the resignation of Defence Minister Andris Spruds in the wake of recent drone incidents in the Baltic country.
In a post on X, Silina said Spruds had “lost my trust” following a drone incident that “clearly demonstrated that the political leadership of the defence sector has failed to fulfil its promise of safe skies over our country.”
Spruds quit, saying it was a domestic political dispute.
Ukraine’s Sybiha said Sunday he spoke again with Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže about recent drone incidents in Latvia, following investigations that determined Russian electronic warfare had deliberately diverted Ukrainian drones from their intended targets inside Russia.
Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine’s commitment to working with the Baltic states and Finland to prevent similar incidents, offering the direct involvement of Ukrainian specialists.
Estonia, Poland and Romania have also reported stray drones landing on their soil. (AP)
