Kenya Insights

Tag: Ukraine

  • Trump Calls Putin ‘Crazy’ After Largest Russian Attack on Ukraine

    Trump Calls Putin ‘Crazy’ After Largest Russian Attack on Ukraine

    US President Donald Trump has said he is “not happy” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, following Moscow’s largest aerial attack yet on Ukraine.

    In a rare rebuke, Trump said: “What the hell happened to him? He’s killing a lot of people.” He later called Putin “absolutely crazy”.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier said Washington’s “silence” over recent Russian attacks was encouraging Putin, urging “strong pressure” – including tougher sanctions – on Moscow.

    At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured in Ukraine overnight Sunday after Russia fired 367 drones and missiles – the highest number in a single night since Putin launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.

    Air sirens warning of incoming drones and missiles sounded again in many regions of Ukraine early on Monday.

    At least three people, including a child, were injured in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

    Speaking to reporters in New Jersey late on Sunday, Trump said of Putin: “I’ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all.”

    Asked about whether he was considering increasing US sanctions on Russia, Trump replied: “Absolutely.” The US president has repeatedly threatened to do this before – but is yet to implement any restrictions against Moscow.

    Shortly afterwards, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that Putin “has gone absolutely crazy”.

    “I’ve always said that he wants all of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”

    But the US president also had strong words for Zelensky, saying that he “is doing his country no favours by talking the way he does”.

    “Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop,” Trump wrote of Zelensky.

    Emergency crews work at the site where private houses were destroyed in a Russian strike in the Kyiv region, Ukraine. Photo: 25 May 2025
    Emergency crews work at the site where private houses were destroyed in a Russian strike in the Kyiv region, Ukraine. Photo: 25 May 2025

    Despite Kyiv’s European allies preparing further sanctions for Russia, the US has said it will either continue trying to broker these peace talks, or “walk away” if progress does not follow.

    Last week, Trump and Putin had a two-hour phone call to discuss a US-proposed ceasefire deal to halt the fighting.

    The US president said he believed the call had gone “very well”, adding that Russia and Ukraine would “immediately start” negotiations toward a ceasefire and “an end to the war”.

    Ukraine has publicly agreed to a 30-day ceasefire.

    Putin has only said Russia will work with Ukraine to craft a “memorandum” on a “possible future peace” – a move described by Kyiv and its European allies as delaying tactics.

    The first direct Ukrainian-Russian talks since 2022 were held on 16 May in Istanbul, Turkey.

    Aside from a major prisoner of war swap last week, there was little or no progress on bringing a pausing in fighting closer.

    Russia currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. This includes Crimea – Ukraine’s southern peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

  • Trump Says He Wants Ukraine’s Rare Earth Minerals In Exchange For Further Aid

    Trump Says He Wants Ukraine’s Rare Earth Minerals In Exchange For Further Aid

    President Donald Trump said Monday that Ukraine should provide the US with its rare earth minerals in exchange for Washington’s continued support in the war against Russia.

    Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said Washington and Kyiv are engaged in ongoing talks over the matter, adding: “We’re actually working some deals right now, so we have some guarantees and some other things to keep that whole situation going.”

    Trump complained that the US is providing Ukraine with more economic and military aid than Europe and suggested Kyiv is open to his proposal.

    “We’re telling Ukraine they have very valuable rare earth. We want what we put up to go in terms of a guarantee. We want a guarantee. We’re handing them money hand over fist,” he said. “I want to have security of rare earth. We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth, and I want security of the rare earth. And they’re willing to do it.”

    Trump has repeatedly vowed to end Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine and has blamed both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the conflict, which is slated to enter its fourth year later this month.

    Ukraine is sitting on massive reserves of critical rare earth minerals. It holds about 5% of the world’s total of mineral resources, according to a 2024 World Economic Forum report.

    In addition to having one of the largest confirmed reserves of lithium, Ukraine boasts semiconductor-grade neon gas that is critical for chip production, beryllium, uranium, zirconium, apatite, iron ore and manganese.

  • US Embassy In Kyiv Shuts Down Over Anticipated Air Attack

    US Embassy In Kyiv Shuts Down Over Anticipated Air Attack

    (Reuters) – The U.S. embassy in Kyiv has received information of a potential significant air attack on Wednesday and will be closed, the U.S. Department of State Consular Affairs said in a statement.

    “Out of an abundance of caution, the embassy will be closed, and embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place,” the department said in a statement published on the website of the U.S. embassy in Kyiv.

    “The U.S. Embassy recommends U.S. citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced.”

    The warning comes a day after Ukraine used U.S. ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory, taking advantage of newly granted permission from the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden on the war’s 1,000th day.

    Russia had been warning the West for months that if Washington allowed Ukraine to fire U.S., British and French missiles deep into Russia, Moscow would consider those NATO members to be directly involved in the war in Ukraine.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said in October that Moscow will respond to Ukraine’s strikes with U.S.-made weapons deep into Russia.
    On Tuesday, Putin lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks, with nuclear risks rising amid the highest tensions between Russia and West in more than half a century.
  • Zelensky Says WWIII Is Assured If Talks With Putin Fail

    Zelensky Says WWIII Is Assured If Talks With Putin Fail

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he’s “ready for negotiations” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that if they break down, it will lead to World War III.

    “I’m ready for negotiations with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations we cannot end this war,” Zelensky told CNN‘s Fareed Zakaria.

    “I think that we have to use any format, any chance in order to have a possibility of negotiating, possibility of talking to Putin. But if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third World War.”

    “You cannot reverse this situation anymore. You cannot demand from Ukraine to recognize some territories as intended for conflicts, and these compromises are simply wrong.”

    Zelensky’s comments come as Turkey claims Moscow and Kiev are close to an agreement on key points – despite the Kremlin turning to “more destructive artillery” after revealing it used hypersonic “Kinzhal” missiles at least twice on Ukrainian targets.

    In a Saturday video message, Zelensky called for talks “without delay,” warning that Russia would suffer “huge” losses if they don’t come to the table.

    “We have always insisted on negotiations. We have always offered dialogue, offered solutions for peace,” he said. “And I want everyone to hear me now, especially in Moscow. It’s time to meet. Time to talk. It is time to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine.”

    Ukraine’s priorities are: “The end of the war, security guarantees, sovereignty, restoration of territorial integrity, real guarantees for our country, real protection for our country.”

    Russia’s priorities – laid out in a call with Turkey last week – consist of two categories of demands; Ukraine must remain neutral and not apply to join Nato, a point Zelensky has already conceded. Ukraine would also need to undergo a disarmament process to ensure it isn’t a threat to Russia, as well as ‘de-Nazify’ its armed forces.

    The second category of Russian demands is where more difficulty will lie, according to top Turkish government adviser Ibrahim Kalin, and will require face-to-face negotiations between Putin and Zelensky.

    Mr Kalin was much less specific about these issues, saying simply that they involved the status of Donbas, in eastern Ukraine, parts of which have already broken away from Ukraine and stressed their Russianness, and the status of Crimea.

    Although Mr Kalin didn’t go into detail, the assumption is that Russia will demand that the Ukrainian government should give up territory in eastern Ukraine. That will be deeply contentious. -BBC

    On Sunday, Zelensky told CNN that if Ukraine “were a NATO member, a war wouldn’t have started.”

    “I’d like to receive security guarantees for my country, for my people. If NATO members are ready to see us in the alliance, then do it immediately. Because people are dying on a daily basis,” he continued, adding that he’s been grateful for NATO’s aid since the invasion began.