Key developments on March 8-9:
- Trump gained't resume Ukraine navy help after signing minerals deal, NBC Information experiences
- Ukraine releases video of Russian assault by way of fuel pipeline in Kursk Oblast
- Ukrainian drone reportedly assaults oil depot in Russia's Chuvashia for first time
- France to offer $211 million in navy help to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian property
- Zelensky names delegation for assembly with US in Saudi Arabia
- US shares intelligence with Ukraine for protection, not for assaults on Russian troops, CNN experiences
U.S. President Donald Trump has privately made it clear to his aides that he is not going to resume offering navy help and intelligence to Ukraine even when Kyiv and Washington signal a minerals deal, NBC Information reported on March 9, citing an unnamed Trump administration official and one other American official.
U.S. and Ukrainian delegations are planning to fulfill in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on March 11 to debate the framework for a possible peace settlement between Ukraine and Russia.
Trump needs to see a change in President Volodymyr Zelensky's stance towards peace talks with Russia and a willingness to make concessions corresponding to giving up occupied territories to Russia, the sources told NBC News.
The U.S. president additionally reportedly needs Zelensky to make some steps towards elections in Ukraine and probably step down.
The information comes amid rising tensions between Ukraine and the U.S., as Trump escalates strain on Zelensky to expedite a peace course of.
The tensions culminated in a confrontation during a meeting within the White Home Oval Workplace on Feb. 28 after Zelensky had flown to the U.S. to signal a minerals settlement with the U.S. After being insulted by Trump and his Vice President JD Vance, Zelensky returned to Ukraine with out signing the deal.
Since that assembly, Washington has halted its navy help and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
Beforehand, Trump known as Zelensky a "dictator," echoing Russian narratives in regards to the democratically elected Ukrainian chief's legitimacy.
Elections are banned in Ukraine throughout martial regulation, which has been in pressure because the starting of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
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Politico reported that Trump's crew has been main secret talks with former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko and one other opposition chief, Yuliia Tymoshenko. The 2 opposition leaders reportedly tried to place themselves as extra versatile companions for the U.S. than Zelensky.
Following the Oval Workplace conflict, Zelensky's approval score has risen to 68%, in accordance with a ballot by the Kyiv Worldwide Institute of Sociology revealed on March 7.
The Kyiv IndependentSonya Bandouil
Ukraine releases video of Russian assault by way of fuel pipeline in Kursk Oblast
Ukrainian troops had repelled an assault by Russian sabotage and assault teams that used a fuel pipeline to achieve a foothold on the outskirts of Sudzha in Russia's Kursk Oblast, Ukraine's Common Employees reported on March 8, releasing footage of the engagement.
The announcement got here amid experiences that Russian forces had made a breakthrough south of the Ukrainian-held city of Sudzha and tried to breach the Russia-Ukraine border in Sumy Oblast earlier this week. Ukrainian troops preventing in Kursk Oblast told the Kyiv Independent on March 7 that Russia had destroyed their provide chains for ammunition and meals, and so they confronted encirclement.
After Ukrainian airborne assault troops noticed the Russian forces, they launched missile, artillery, and drones to cease the assault, the Common Employees said.
"In the mean time, Russian particular forces are being detected, blocked and destroyed. Enemy losses within the Sudzha space are very heavy," the navy claimed on the night of March 8.
0:00/1:301×The footage shared on March 8, 2025, purporting to indicate Ukrainian forces repelling a Russian assault in Russia's Kursk Oblast (Ukraine's Air Assault Forces/Telegram)
Ukrainian troops repelled 44 Russian assaults in Kursk Oblast over the previous day, the Common Employees said in its newest replace on March 9.
The Kyiv Impartial couldn’t confirm these claims.
The press service for Kursk navy command told the Kyiv Independent on March 8 that "probably the most large-scale" Russian assault operations have occurred within the route from the settlement of Korenevo towards Sudzha, in addition to within the areas of Novoivanovka, Malaya Loknya, and south of Sudzha.
The Ukrainian navy described the state of affairs as "troublesome" however underneath management, saying that Russia concerned North Korean troopers within the assault.
Ukraine launched a shock cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast in August 2024. After six months of preventing within the area, Russian troops have regained control of about 64% of the territory within the area, the Russian navy claimed.
Kyiv has sought to keep up its place within the Russian border area as leverage for doable peace talks.
The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news deskUkraine drone reportedly assaults oil depot in Russia's Chuvashia for first time
A Ukrainian drone attacked an oil depot in Cheboksary in Russia's Chuvashia Republic on the morning of March 9, Governor Oleg Nikolaev reported.
Russian Telegram channels claimed that that is the primary drone assault on Chuvashia because the starting of Russia's full-scale war towards Ukraine.
The Burevestnik oil depot lies over 900 kilometers (559 miles) from the Ukrainian border. Nikolaev mentioned that the oil depot was underneath reconstruction. No casualties had been reported.
In keeping with the Russian Protection Ministry, in a single day, Russian air protection shot down 52 drones over Belgorod Oblast, 13 over Lipetsk Oblast, 9 over Rostov Oblast, eight over Voronezh Oblast, three over Astrakhan Oblast, one over Ryazan Oblast, one over Kursk Oblast and one over Krashodar Krai.
The Russian Telegram channel Astra reported that Ukrainian drones additionally focused oil refineries in Lipetsk and Ryazan oblasts.
The Kyiv Impartial couldn’t confirm these claims. The Ukrainian navy has not commented on Russian experiences.
Ukraine considers Russian oil facilities to be legitimate navy targets, as fossil gasoline earnings provide Moscow's struggle machine. The Ukrainian navy has launched repeated assaults towards Russian refineries with long-range drones since 2022.
The Kyiv IndependentDmytro Basmat
France to offer $211 million in navy help to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian property
France will present Ukraine with 195 million euros ($211 million) in navy help utilizing the curiosity accrued from frozen Russian property, French Protection Minister Sebastien Lecornu informed La Tribune in an interview revealed March 8.
The extra help "will allow the supply of 155-mm shells in addition to AASM gliding bombs which arm the Ukrainian Mirage 2000s ," Lecornu said.
Lecornu added that France is accelerating the switch of older tools to Ukraine, together with tanks and armoured automobiles.
In October 2024, Group of Seven (G7) international locations got here to an settlement that pledged to offer Ukraine with nearly $50 billion mortgage backed by the income from international Russian property.
The announcement from France comes simply days after the UK signed an settlement with Kyiv on March 1 to offer Ukraine with a mortgage price 2.26 billion kilos ($2.84 billion) backed by frozen Russian property.
The mortgage will go in the direction of "buying protection tools in accordance with Ukraine's wants," the U.Ok. Finance Ministry mentioned.
Whereas Western international locations have frozen $300 billion in Russian assets, they will solely entry the annual revenue generated by these funds, roughly $3.2 billion. These earnings will again the $50-billion mortgage to Kyiv, whereas the overwhelming majority of the property are frozen in European countries.
France, one in all Ukraine's staunchest supporters, has taken steps alongside the U.Ok. in current months to offer European management in supporting Ukraine, amid Kyiv's tumultuous relationship with the Trump administration.
Trump has repeatedly known as for European international locations to step as much as help Ukraine, together with offering further help funding, lambasting the earlier Biden administration for sending an excessive amount of help funding to the embattled nation. On March 4, Trump halted navy help shipments to Ukraine following a heated alternate with President Volodymyr Zelensky within the White Home.
U.Ok. Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned on March 2 that plenty of European nations, together with the U.Ok. and France, are developing a 'coalition of the keen' that can embrace "planes within the air and boots on the bottom" in an effort to barter a profitable ceasefire in Ukraine.
Reuters reported on March 6, citing diplomatic sources, that France and the U.Ok. intention to finalize a peace plan with Ukraine "in days" to current to the US.
The Kyiv IndependentDmytro Basmat
Zelensky names delegation for assembly with US in Saudi Arabia
President Volodymyr Zelensky introduced his delegation to symbolize Ukraine in upcoming talks with the U.S. in Saudi Arabia on March 8.
Together with Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of workers, Zelensky wrote on X that Ukraine will even be sending International Minister Andrii Sybiha, Protection Minister Rustem Umerov, and Deputy Head of the Presidential Workplace Pavlo Palisa.
Zelensky wrote that he would journey to Saudi Arabia on March 10 and would meet with the Crown Prince, whereas the Ukrainian navy and political delegation would keep for a gathering with the American crew the next day.
The U.S. delegation will reportedly embrace U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy to the Center East, Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Nationwide Safety Advisor Mike Waltz.
The scheduled talks come amid rising tensions between Ukraine and the US, as U.S. President Donald Trump escalates strain on Zelensky to expedite a peace course of.
The tensions culminated in a confrontation during a meeting within the White Home Oval Workplace on Feb. 28 after Zelensky had flown to the U.S. to signal a mineral and pure assets settlement with the U.S. After being insulted by Trump and his Vice President JD Vance, Zelensky returned to Ukraine with out signing the deal.
Since that assembly, the US has ended its navy help and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, leading to vital troop losses on the frontlines. The losses have been significantly sharp within the Kursk area that Ukraine has occupied since August 2024, the place ten thousand troops at the moment are dealing with encirclement.
U.S. Nationwide Safety Advisor Mike Waltz instructed on March 5 that Trump could elevate the pause on navy help as soon as peace negotiations are organized and confidence-building measures are taken, Reuters reported.
The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk
US shares intelligence with Ukraine for protection, not for assaults on Russian troops, CNN experiences
The U.S. continues to share some intelligence with Ukraine to help with protection operations, however not for assaults on Russian troops, CNN reported on March 7, citing two nameless protection officers.
In keeping with the sources, Washington goals to keep away from being seen as instantly supporting strikes on Russia. Nonetheless, the U.S. shouldn’t be withholding data that would improve Ukraine's defensive capabilities.
The numerous reducing again on U.S. intelligence sharing to Ukraine is a part of the Trump administration’s place to strain Kyiv into fast negotiations with Russia.
The sources additionally confirmed that Starlink, which the Ukrainian navy depends on, remains to be working in Ukraine as earlier than.
Starlink is owned by SpaceX, an organization belonging to billionaire Elon Musk.
Musk, a key ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, has drawn scrutiny at house and overseas over his repeated inflammatory feedback concerning Ukraine.
The Kyiv IndependentDmytro Basmat
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