Ukraine Update Day 1,050…Part #2…Ukraine Worried about Russian Belarus Attack Front?

Zelensky thinks Russia maybe getting ready to launch an attack from Belarus ?

Russia IS getting troops and supplies from North Korea and China, while threatening against ANY  European and NATO ‘boots on the ground ‘ In Ukraine…

• Kyiv and Washington have signed a deal that would share future revenues from Ukraine’s minerals, with the US to keep military aid flowing to the country, as well as US investment into its defence and reconstruction. Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal shared details of the deal,saying a new reconstruction and investment fund would be split 50-50 between Kyiv and the US, and give each side equal voting rights.

• The deal would relate only to new investments, Shmyhal said, meaning it would not provide for any debt obligations against Ukraine, a key concern for Kyiv. Ukraine would retain “full control over its mineral resources,infrastructure and natural resources,” Shmyhal added. The deal would ensure revenue by establishing contracts on a “take-or-pay” basis, Shmyhal said.

• Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, said there would be no changes to ownership of state-owned companies, including Ukrnafta, Ukraine’s largest oil producer, and nuclear energy producer Energoatom. Income and contributions to the fund would not be taxed in the US or Ukraine, she said, “to make investments yield the greatest results”.

• Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin said some small groups of Ukrainian soldiers were still holed up in basements and hideouts in Russia’s western Kursk region. Speaking at an event in Moscow on Wednesday, the Russian president claimed radio intercepts suggested that the few Ukrainians left behind were asking commanders to evacuate them.

• The EU is preparing a “plan B” on how to keep economic sanctions against Russia should the US abandon Ukraine peace talks and seek rapprochement with Moscow, according to the bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas. “We see signs that they are contemplating whether they should leave Ukraine and not try to get a deal with the Russians because it’s hard,” Kallas told the Financial Times.

• The Kremlin claimed Putin was open to peace despite its continuing aggression on Ukraine, but stressed that the conflict is so complicated that the rapid progress that Washington wants is difficult to achieve, Reuters reported.

• Russia and North Korea have begun construction of a road bridge between the two countries as part of an effort to strengthen their strategic partnership, Russia’s prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, said. It comes after South Korean lawmakers said about 600 North Korean troops have been killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine…..

More…

ISW…Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 30, 2025

• The United States and Ukraine signed a bilateral economic partnership agreement on April 30.
• Russian officials continue to demand full Ukrainian capitulation as the sole basis on which Russia is willing to accept a future peace agreement.
• Peskov overinflated Russia’s current military strength and battlefield victories thus far in the war in an attempt to justify Russia’s continued unwillingness to make territorial concessions.
• Russian officials continue to call for the cessation of Western aid to Ukraine as part of efforts to reintensify offensive operations when Ukraine’s defense capabilities are weakened.
• Senior Russian officials continue claim that Russia is open to diplomacy to end the war while rejecting US and Ukrainian ceasefire proposals that would allow for formal peace negotiations to begin.
• Russian officials continue to falsely portray European efforts to increase their own defense capabilities – in line with US President Donald Trump’s objective to have Europe shoulder more of the burden for collective security – as a threat to Russian national security, likely to support Russian efforts to justify future Russian aggression against NATO.
• North Korea and Russia continue to enhance bilateral cooperation, particularly in the military and labor spheres.
• Ukrainian sources continue to report on cases of Russian commanders ordering their subordinates to execute Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in violation of international law.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast and near Toretsk. Russian forces recently advanced near Lyman and Toretsk…..

Daily Kos Grunt Report for Today….