Russia war latest: Trump calls hatred between Putin and Zelensky ‘ridiculous’

Trump says he is still speaking to leaders of both Russia and Ukraine in his bid to end war
US president Donald Trump has described the animosity between ⁠Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as “ridiculous”, while noting that he still has conversations with both the leaders.

Much of the White House 's foreign policy focus has shifted to the Middle East conflict, but Trump told Fox News on Sunday that “we're working on the ⁠ Russia situation, Russia ​and Ukraine , and ⁠hopefully we're going to get it (a peace deal)”.

Trump said he was still having “good conversations” with both Putin and Zelensky.

“The hatred between President Putin and President Zelensky is ridiculous.

It's crazy.

And hate is a bad thing.

Hate is a bad thing when you're trying ‌to settle something, but it'll happen," ​he said.

Trump's remarks came on the same day that Zelensky accused Putin of “nuclear terrorism ” and warned that Russian military activity near Chernobyl risked repeating the worst nuclear disaster in Europe's history.

“The world must not allow this nuclear terrorism to continue, and the best way is to force Russia to stop its reckless attacks," Zelensky said.

Russia claims nuclear plant worker killed in Ukrainian drone strike
An employee of the transport unit at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – which is occupied by Russian forces – was ⁠killed in a Ukrainian drone attack, the Russian-installed management of the station said in a ⁠Telegram post today.

"A ⁠driver was killed today when a Ukrainian ⁠Armed Forces drone struck the ​transport ⁠department at the ‌Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant," the post said.

The International Atomic Energy ‌Agency said its ‌team on the site will look into the incident and continue ⁠to monitor the situation.

IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi reiterated that strikes on or near nuclear power plants "can endanger nuclear safety and must not take place".

Trump says hatred between Putin and Zelensky 'ridiculous' as he confirms he speaks to both
US president Donald Trump said on Sunday he has "good conversations" with ⁠Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as he aims to settle the Ukraine war.

"We're working on the ⁠Russia situation, Russia ​and Ukraine, and ⁠hopefully we're going to get it," Trump said in ⁠an interview on Fox News' "The Sunday Briefing."
Trump ​said ⁠he did not ‌want to reveal when he had last spoken with Putin.

"I do have ‌conversations with him, and ‌I do have conversations with president Zelensky, and good conversations," he said, not specifying when ⁠calls with either leader had been held.

"The hatred between president Putin and president Zelensky is ridiculous.

It's crazy.

And hate is a bad thing.

Hate is a bad thing when you're trying ‌to settle something, but it'll happen," ​he said.

Trump had vowed to ‌end the war ⁠that began with a full-scale Russian ⁠invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but ‌more than ​a year into his ‌second term, the ​conflict continues.

UN nuclear watchdog raises concerns on Chernobyl anniversary
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has echoed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's concerns over Chernobyl during a visit to Kyiv, saying repairs to the plant's damaged outer protective shell must begin immediately.

IAEA assessments show the damage sustained after a strike last year has already compromised a key safety function of the structure, he said, warning that years of inaction could heighten danger to the original sarcophagus beneath it.

The UN nuclear watchdog chief took part in the opening of a new permanent exhibition at the National Chernobyl museum with Zelensky.

Finnish leader says Putin failed in his war on Ukraine: 'losing 35,000 soldiers a month’
Russian president Vladimir Putin is failing in his war on Ukraine and has suffered four times more military personnel losses, Finland’s president Alexander Stubb has said, in a rare disclosure of casualties of the conflict.

"How much of a better place Ukraine is in today than they were a year ago?

In the past four months – and sorry for being morbid – Ukraine has killed or wounded between 30 to 35,000 Russian soldiers per month," the Finnish president said.

He added that Putin has failed to achieve his goals in the war and Russia is no longer de facto acquiring territory in Ukraine any more.

Russia is losing five Russians for one Ukrainian killed, Stubb said, adding that the 95 per cent strikes are being carried out using drones.

At least 16 killed in strikes across Ukraine and Russia on Chernobyl anniversary
At least 16 people have been killed in strikes over the weekend across Ukraine, Russian-occupied territory and Russia, local authorities said.

The death toll from Russian drone and missile strikes on the city of Dnipro rose to nine, regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said Sunday.

One man was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on the port city of Sevastopol, in Russian-occupied Crimea , Moscow-installed authorities said yesterday.

Russia illegally annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, and has used it as a staging and supply point during the war.

Leonid Pasechnik, the Russia-installed governor in Ukraine’s Luhansk region – of which Russia earlier this month said it had taken full control, a claim denied by Ukraine – said three people were killed in an overnight Ukrainian drone strike on a village, after reporting two people were killed in the early hours of Saturday.

At least 16 dead in strikes as Chernobyl anniversary highlights nuclear risks of war
North Korea's Kim Jong Un vows to continue support for Russia
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would continue to support ⁠Russia's policies and discussed bolstering military ties with Moscow.

Kim was speaking at a memorial to North Korean soldiers killed fighting for Russia in the Ukraine war.

He claimed the two countries' forces had "wiped out the ‌aggressors," adding that this had thwarted what he described as "the United States' ‌and the West's hegemonic ambitions and military adventurism", state media KCNA said.

"The North Korean government would continue to fully support Russia's policies of defending its sovereignty, territorial integrity and security interests," Kim said, according to KCNA.

Russia and North Korea in 2024 signed a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty" during a visit to Pyongyang by Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The pact includes a mutual defence provision.The ceremony on Monday was attended by a Russian delegation including defence minister Andrei Belousov.

North Korea has sent an estimated 14,000 troops to fight with Russian forces in Kursk.

South Korean, Ukrainian and Western officials said they suffered heavy casualties with more than 6,000 North Korean soldiers killed in the fighting.

Russia 'planned terror attacks at Ukrainian schools', claims SBU
Ukraine claims to have foiled a Russian plot to carry out terror attacks on schools.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on Thursday that it had foiled efforts by the Russian special services to recruit children who “were supposed to blow up their lyceums” in Odesa and Kirovohrad regions, and “shoot their classmates with firearms”.

The SBU said an investigation revealed the children had been recruited through groups on Telegram and TikTok used to manipulate children into carrying out illegal activities.

They said the “young men”, who have been detained, were recruited under threat of reprisals against relatives and encouraged to punish bullies.

“Russian special services pushed the schoolchildren not only to commit terrorist acts, but also to commit suicide immediately after the “main crime”.

In this way, the Russians hoped to get rid of “extra witnesses”,” the SBU said.

North Korea opens memorial museum for troops killed in Russia-Ukraine war
North Korea has opened a memorial museum for its soldiers killed while fighting for Russia against Ukraine , with top leaders of North Korea and Russia pledging a push for greater cooperation.

In April 2025, North Korea and Russia announced that their soldiers fought together to repel a Ukraine incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region.

The two countries haven’t disclosed how many North Koreans soldiers were deployed, but South Korea’s intelligence service estimated North Korea sent about 15,000 troops and 2,000 of them were killed.

The North’s Korean Central News Agency reported this morning that the museum’s inaugural ceremony was held in Pyongyang on Sunday to mark the one-year anniversary of the end of an operation to liberate the Kursk region.

KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un attended the ceremony along with top visiting Russian officials including Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma, and defence minister Andrei Beloussov.

In photos: Russian officials join Kim Jong Un to honour North Koreans killed in Ukraine war
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