Ukraine Update Day 1,038….Mineral’s Deal?

• Top US officials gave mixed signals about the prospect of a Ukraine ceasefire on Friday, bringing uncertainty to the peace process. US secretary of state Marco Rubio warned Washington would “move on” from peace talks unless it saw progress soon. But speaking on a trip to Italy, US vice-president JD Vance said he was “optimistic” about ending the three-year war.

• A 30-day moratorium on striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure ordered by Russian president Vladimir Putin last month has “expired”, the Kremlin said on Friday. Russia announced the truce on 18 March after a call between Putin and US president Donald Trump, but both Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of repeatedly breaking it.

• The Guardian has obtained the memorandum of intent to be signed next week by Ukraine and the US over a minerals deal. It envisages setting up a joint investment fund between the two countries. The draft recognises the “significant financial and material support” Washington has given Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale 2022 invasion. You can read the full text of the memorandum below and also here:

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• Beijing on Friday denied giving any party in the Ukraine war lethal weapons, after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed he had “information” that China was supplying arms to Russia. “The Chinese side has never provided lethal weapons to any party in the conflict, and strictly controls dual-use items,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.

• The Kremlin said on Friday that some progress had already been made in talks about a possible peace settlement to end the war in Ukraine but that contacts were rather complicated with the United States. “Contacts are quite complicated, because, naturally, the topic is not an easy one,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

• A Russian drone strike early on Friday hit a bakery in northern Ukraine where traditional Easter cakes were being prepared, killing one man, Ukrainian officials said. Images shared by Ukrainian emergency services, which said they were filmed at the scene of the strike in the city of Sumy, showed trays of Easter cakes covered in grey dust, and a smashed window nearby. The victim was a local businessman who was at the bakery to collect his order when the drone struck at 5am (3am BST), according to Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha.

• Air attacks on the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy have “increased dramatically” over the past two months, Oleg Strilka, spokesperson for the Ukrainian emergency services in the city, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). Zelenskyy has warned that Russia is preparing a new offensive on the Sumy region.

• A Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s north-eastern city of Kharkiv killed one person and injured 82 others, including six children, on Friday morning, officials said. The strikes damaged apartment buildings, an educational institution and a business, according to the emergency services. “This is how Russia began this Good Friday – with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, Shaheds – maiming our people and cities,” Zelenskyy said on X.

• Kyiv said on Friday it had received the bodies of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers killed during battles with Russia, the second such patriation in the space of three weeks. “As a result of repatriation activities, the bodies of 909 fallen Ukrainian defenders were returned to Ukraine,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, a government agency, said in a statement on social media.

• Russia’s defence ministry on Friday accused Ukraine of attacking Russian energy facilities four times during the past 24 hours despite a US-brokered moratorium on striking each other’s energy infrastructure. Each side accuses the other of violating the moratorium.

• Ukraine on Friday imposed sanctions on three Chinese entities, a presidential decree showed. The sanctions list, which also includes Russian companies, names Beijing Aviation And Aerospace Xianghui Technology Co. Ltd, Rui Jin Machinery Co. Ltd, and Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Xining Co. Ltd, all registered in China.

• Russian forces attacked key drone-making facilities in Ukraine on Friday morning and captured Valentynivka in eastern Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry said. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.

• A no-fly zone order has been put in place over the Sandringham estate after drones were spotted flying in the area last month while Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the royal residence. Security services requested the restrictions, which were put in place to protect “members of the royal family and other dignitaries”, days after King Charles hosted the Ukrainian president on 2 March at the Norfolk estate. They came into force just over a week later on 10 March….

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ISW…Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 18, 2025

• Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Vasily Nebenzya reiterated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rejection of a general ceasefire in Ukraine.
• Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced that the temporary ceasefire on long-range strikes against energy infrastructure ended on April 18.
• Kremlin mouthpieces continue to reject all US proposals to end the war in Ukraine that do not concede to all of Russia’s demands for Ukraine, including regime change, demilitarization, and significant territorial concessions.
• Russian officials continue to reiterate Russian demands for the elimination of the “root causes” of the war in Ukraine as a precondition for a peace agreement — a reference to Russia’s initial war demands that directly contradict US President Donald Trump’s stated objective of achieving a lasting peace in Ukraine.
• Ukrainian officials held bilateral talks with US officials and multilateral talks with Coalition of the Willing partners in Paris, France, on April 16 to 18 regarding peace negotiations.
• Ukrainian officials announced on April 17 that the United States and Ukraine signed a memorandum of intent to conclude a future bilateral mineral deal and enhance economic cooperation.
• Russian forces conducted a ballistic missile strike against civilian areas in Kharkiv City on April 18, the latest in a string of high-casualty Russian strikes against civilian areas in Ukraine in recent weeks.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on April 18 that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is supplying Russia with weapons and military materials.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Toretsk. Russian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast and near Kupyansk, Lyman, and Kurakhove.

Daily Kos grund Report for Today….

Ukraine’s Airline begins flying again from Moldova….