Ukraine war briefing: US embassy in Kyiv issues warning of ‘potentially significant’ air attack
Warning comes as leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland are due in Kyiv for a symbolic visit; Trump says ‘get this stupid war finished’. What we know on day 1,171
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “get this war ended” in Ukraine as he pushes for a 30-day ceasefire. Trump, who departs on Monday on a trip to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, was asked what his message to Putin is in the wake of a warning from the US embassy in Kyiv about a “potentially significant” air attack in the coming days. “I have a message for both parties: Get this war ended,” Trump said of Ukraine and Russia. “Get this stupid war finished.”
Ukrainian troops have made further attempts to breach the Russian border in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, the Russian defence ministry said on Friday as President Putin hosted world leaders at a major military parade in Moscow. The defence ministry said the attacks occurred during a three-day ceasefire running from 8-10 May that Russia has unilaterally declared to mark the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in the second world war.
Ukraine has called the ceasefire a “farce” and on Friday documented scores of armed clashes.
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland are due in Kyiv on Saturday for a symbolic visit to Ukraine. The visit comes as the US warned of intelligence about a big impending air attack on Ukraine.
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Despite warnings from European Union officials, Slovakia’s Moscow-friendly prime minister, Robert Fico, shook hands with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin before becoming the only EU leader to attend Russia’s 9 May parade of military forces waging war on Ukraine.
Ukrainian authorities claim to have busted a Hungarian spy ring operating on its territory, alleging that Budapest was collecting sensitive military data with one eye on a possible future incursion into the west of the country.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said North Korea’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war was justified, calling it an exercise of sovereign rights in defence of a “brother nation,” state media KCNA reported on Saturday. Kim also said Pyongyang would not hesitate to authorise the use of military force if the United States persists in military provocations against Russia.
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