Donald Trump has said he believes Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ready to give up Crimea as part of a peace deal. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin has thanked Kim Jong Un after the North Korean leader confirmed his troops had been sent to Russia. Listen to Trump 100 as you scroll.
Monday 28 April 2025 11:54, UK
At least six people have been killed in Russian attacks across Ukraine, according to regional authorities.
Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin said at least five people have been killed and six are injured in the region.
The city of Kostiantynivka was hit by an air strike, with damage caused to 21 houses.
Take a look at the aftermath in the pictures below.
Sky News’ Yalda Hakim and NBC’s Richard Engel have covered world events for years. Now they’ve teamed up to share their experiences from the frontline.
The pair debrief from global flashpoints and discuss their encounters with the biggest decision-makers. They’re also joined by some of those key players to help make sense of world events.
From the war in Ukraine, to the conflict in the Middle East and Donald Trump’s second presidency, there is no better place for analysis and expertise.
New episodes from Richard and Yalda come out every Wednesday. This week, they report on a possible nuclear deal for Iran.
Richard reports exclusively from Tehran and discusses the deal’s chances with Yalda.
They also analyse Donald Trump’s broader foreign policy as he approaches the 100th day of his second term in office.
Listen below – or click here to visit their YouTube channel where you can watch all the episodes.
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy could have used some skills from his previous career in acting to help him find a breakthrough with Donald Trump, our security and defence analyst Michael Clarke has said.
The US president came away from what he described as a “beautiful meeting” at the Vatican praising Ukraine’s president for being “calmer”.
And that could be down to Zelenskyy’s previous career as an actor, Michael Clarke has said, because he “knows how to connect with people”.
“There’s Donald Trump who we know is pretty manipulatable… I think Zelenskyy would have been able to say look, I’m trying to do the best for my people.”
Watch Michael Clarke’s full analysis below
Clarke explained that Trump came away “somewhat affected” by the discussion because he’s a “man-to-man person”.
“He believes power is personal, it’s between people,” Clarke added.
“Maybe Zelenskyy the actor was able to break through a bit of that and say, ‘we’ve got to start from here, we need the Russians to stop, and then we can talk’.”
Russia has said it is waiting for a signal from Ukraine to initiate direct negotiations to end the war.
Asked if Ukraine should be the one to initiate direct talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated that the ball is in Kyiv’s court.
“At least Kyiv should take some actions in this regard,” he said, before going on to add “so far we don’t see any action”.
The Kremlin said last week that the prospect of holding direct talks with Kyiv had been raised in a three-hour meeting between Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff.
Moscow and Kyiv haven’t held direct talks since March 2022 in the weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy adopted a decree later that year ruling out negotiations with Putin, with the US leading separate talks with each side.
After Donald Trump sat down with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Rome this weekend, our US correspondent Mark Stone speaks to Ambassador Gordon Sondland, who was Trump’s ambassador to the EU from 2018-2020.
They discuss the US president’s changing approach to Russian aggression and how getting European leaders on first-name terms at an informal dinner helped build bridges that could be paying dividends for Zelenskyy today.
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We’ve been bringing you reaction this morning after North Korea and Russia confirmed for the first time that Pyongyang had deployed troops to fight for Russia in the war with Ukraine.
While the move has been condemned by the US and South Korea, the two leaders have since issued statements labelling Pyongyang’s troops as “heroes”.
Vladimir Putin expressed his personal gratitude to North Korea and Kim Jong Un.
“We will always honour the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia, for our common freedom, on an equal basis with their Russian brothers in arms,” he added.
Kim Jong Un used the same rhetoric in his statement.
“They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland,” he was cited as saying by state media.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met for the first time this weekend since their explosive Oval Office row in February.
The pair were pictured sitting opposite each other while engaging in some intense discussions at the Vatican.
Trump described the meeting as “beautiful” and said “I think he understands the picture, I think he wants to make a deal” while Zelenskyy said it has the potential to be “historic”.
Scroll through pictures of that meeting below.
What can we learn from these incredible photos? International affairs editor Dominic Waghorn explains…
Russia has offered to provide military assistance to North Korea if needed, the Kremlin has said.
The comments come after Pyongyang confirmed it had sent troops to fight for Russia (see 6.45am post).
State-run RIA news agency cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying North Korea’s role in Russia’s Kursk region demonstrated the effectiveness of a treaty signed by Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un last year.
He said the pact included that Russia could help North Korea in return if needed.
After a weekend of diplomacy, the war on the battlefield rages on. These maps show the latest territorial situation, indicating how much ground is held by either side.
The first map shows a wider view of the conflict, and you can scroll along to see closer views of the fronts.
We’ve been telling you this morning how Donald Trump said he thinks Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ready to give up Crimea (see 7.03am post).
It would signal a major U-turn from the Ukrainian president, who has repeatedly ruled out ceding territory to Russia and saying the move would be against Kyiv’s constitution.
The peninsula was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and Moscow’s foreign minister has insisted Russia will not negotiate “its own territory” (see previous post).
So what makes Crimea so important to both sides?
What happened?
In 2013-14, a popular uprising gripped Ukraine for several weeks, eventually forcing Viktor Yanukovych, Kyiv’s pro-Moscow president, from office.
While Ukraine was in turmoil, Vladimir Putin took the opportunity to send troops to overrun Crimea, a diamond-shaped peninsula in the Black Sea.
Those troops arrived in Crimea in uniforms without insignia, and Putin soon called a vote on joining Russia that Ukraine and the West dismissed as illegal.
Moscow’s illegal annexation on 18 March 2014 was only recognised internationally by countries such as North Korea and Sudan.
In Russia, it sparked a wave of patriotism, and “Krym nash” – “Crimea is ours” – became a rallying cry.
Putin has called Crimea “a sacred place” and has prosecuted those who publicly argue it is part of Ukraine.
Why it’s important
Russia has spent centuries fighting for Crimea.
But Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred Crimea from Russia to Ukraine in 1954, when both were part of the USSR.
In 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, the peninsula became part of an independent Ukraine.
By the time Russia seized it, Crimea had been a part of Ukraine for 60 years and had become part of the country’s identity.
Zelenskyy has vowed Russia “won’t be able to steal” the peninsula.
For either side, possession of Crimea is key to controlling activities in the Black Sea, which is a critical corridor for the world’s grain and other goods.
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