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A search and rescue operation is underway in the Sviatoshynskyi district after a massive overnight missile and drone attack by Russian troops, Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 24, 2025. At least eight people were killed in the strike, and 77 people sustained injuries.

Kirill Chubotin/Ukrinform

Another setback for Russia-Ukraine peace talks

It’s all Big Smoke and no fire in London, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pulled out of Russia-Ukraine peace talks with a coalition of European leaders that were scheduled to take place in the British capital on Wednesday. The decision came right as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuffed the Americans’ peace plan that involved formally recognizing Crimea as Russian territory. US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who also canceled plans to be in London, is instead headed to Moscow for his fourth round of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Military chaplain conducts Easter service for Ukrainian service members of the "Khartia" 13th Operational Brigade, near a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine on April 20, 2025.

REUTERS/Marko Djurica

Ukraine-Russia ceasefire collapses amid US threats to quit peace process

An Easter ceasefire declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have collapsed, with both Russia and Ukraine accusing each other of violations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted to X Sunday afternoon that as of 8 p.m. local time, the Russian army had violated the ceasefire over 2,000 times. Conversely, Russia claimed Ukraine breached the ceasefire by launching hundreds of drone attacks. The 30-hour pause, which began Saturday at 6 p.m., followed intense fighting in the region of Kursk, as well as a 277-person prisoner swap earlier that day.

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- YouTube

How Ukraine feels about negotiating with Russia

What would Ukraine be willing to offer Russia to bring an end to the war? It’s a question that’s been asked over and over, but now seems closer to reality than any point since the fighting began. As the White House negotiates with the Kremlin for a ceasefire deal, would Kyiv be willing to cede territory to get Moscow to the negotiating table? On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer sat down with former Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba for a sober assessment of the war—and what it will take to end it. According to Kuleba, who resigned last September amid a cabinet shuffle, Ukraine is ready to compromise, but not if it means giving away the rights to what millions of Ukrainians see as historically, legally theirs. A nation that abandons its dream, he warns, is “determined to lose.” It will also take more than concessions from Ukraine to achieve a meaningful ceasefire. According to the foreign minister, the Trump administration needs to start getting tough on Putin to make it clear to him Russia can’t win this war on its own.

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- YouTube

Will Trump pressure Putin for a Ukraine ceasefire?

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump said ending the war in Ukraine would be easy. Again and again, he promised to end the fighting within “24 hours” of taking office. But as president, and as Russia drags its feet in ceasefire negotiations, Trump has walked that confidence back. On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer looks at President Trump’s push for a ceasefire deal in Ukraine and what it will take to bring both sides to the negotiating table. The Trump administration has been engaging diplomatically with Moscow and making it clear to Kyiv that ongoing US support isn’t a guarantee.

The problem is that so far, the Kremlin seems uninterested in meaningful compromise. Instead, it’s been slow-walking negotiations and increasing its demands for concessions, all while advancing on the battlefield and targeting Ukraine’s population centers with drone strikes. Turns out, diplomacy is a lot more complicated than a Manhattan real estate deal: complex, slow, and full of people who don’t care about self-imposed deadlines. But there are signs that the president’s patience with Moscow is wearing thin. As Russia keeps stalling, will Trump start piling the pressure on Putin to make a ceasefire happen?

GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).

New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.

- YouTube

Trump tariff is starting a US-China trade war

Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.

Are the US and China rushing into a trade war?

Absolutely. I mean, if the Americans are actually going to impose tariffs of over 100% on Chinese exports of goods, it's essentially a trade embargo. That is a decoupling, and it's an unmanaged decoupling of US-China direct trade. Still an awful lot of goods from China to get to the United States through third countries. It's not clear all those will be cut off as the US negotiates with a lot of those countries. So people in America will still be buying Chinese goods, but inflation's going to go up. There's no question. And this is going to end up hurting the Chinese even more than it hurts the United States.

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Ukrainian troops are fighting in Belgorod, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Handout / Latin America News Agency via Reuters Connect

Chinese troops in Ukraine?

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had captured two Chinese nationals on the battlefield who were fighting alongside Russian troops, and he claimed his country’s security service had “information suggesting that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units.”

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Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas arrives at the Consilium building in Brussels, Belgium, on March 20, 2025.

Aleksy Witwicki/Sipa USA

European leaders offer plans to bolster Ukraine

Though European leaders have been excluded from Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine, meetings on Thursday in Brussels and London aimed to demonstrate Europe’s continuing commitment to supply Ukraine with the weapons it needs to repel Russian invaders.

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Volodymyr Zelensky gestures as he attends a press conference on March 12, 2025.

REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

Trump and Zelensky phone call keeps talks “on track”

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky had a phone call on Wednesday that had supporters of Ukraine’s defense on the edge of their seats. After the call ended, Trump quickly took to Truth Social to characterize the nearly hourlong exchange as a “very good telephone call.” He added, “We are very much on track.” Zelensky issued a statement later on Wednesday that called the conversation “positive” and “very substantive,” prompting sighs of relief from Kyiv to Brussels.

Zelensky’s statement also said that “together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year,” a comment that says less about the near-term chances for peace than about how much the Ukrainian president has learned about what it takes to keep Trump onside. Still, in his post on X, Zelensky agreed that ending strikes on energy and other civilian infrastructure was a good first step, saying "I supported this step, and Ukraine confirmed that we are ready to implement it."

But the Ukrainian leader also has repeatedly warned Trump that when it comes to dealing with Vladimir Putin, one must “trust but verify.” Ukraine had already accused Russia of targeting energy infrastructure in the early hours of Wednesday morning and of a new attack on the electricity system powering the railways in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region. This is despite the fact that Putin has said he ordered the Russian military to halt energy infrastructure attacks right after getting off the phone with Trump on Tuesday.

In better news, Russia and Ukraine swapped 175 prisoners of war each on Wednesday, one of the largest exchanges the two sides have made, according to Zelensky.

Today, EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss further support for Ukraine, and Zelensky is set to open the summit with a speech made by video link.

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