Ukraine-Russia war live: Trump exempts Russia from tariffs amid visit by Putin’s top negotiator

If you’re just joining us now, here’s everything you need to know from the past 24 hours:

• Senior Russian official Kirill Dmitriev paid a rare visit to Washington. It is unclear what he discussed, but it likely covered peace in Ukraine, the return of US companies to Russia, rare earths, energy prices, prisoner swaps and other topics.
• Russia killed four people and injured 14 in a missile strike on the central city of Kryvyi Rih, the regional governor said on Wednesday. An 8-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl were among 14 injured.
• Russia returned 11 more Ukrainian children and a pregnant woman from parts of Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine where they had been taken without permission, Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said yesterday, hailing the “good news”.
• A Ukrainian delegation may be coming to the United States as soon as this week or next week, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg Television yesterday, to continue discussions around a prospective economic deal.
• Russia launched 39 drones at Ukraine overnight on Thursday, 28 of which were shot down by the Ukrainian air force.
• The Trump administration has not included Russia on its expansive list of countries that will face major new tariffs – but the White House has not explained why Russia does not feature.
• Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of damaging energy facilities in the Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions, cutting power to 4,000 people. Both countries had agreed to a halt on energy infrastructure strikes – but they have both accused each other of breaching this deal.
• Donald Trump’s pick to become America’s most senior military officer, Lieutenant General Dan Caines, has emphasised the importance of arming Ukraine to improve its “position at the negotiating table” and to deter Russia from “further aggression”.
• Elsewhere in the senate, 25 Republicans and 25 Democrats – making up half of the senate – banded together to propose sanctions on Russia which would be imposed if it refuses to engage in good faith negotiations with Ukraine.

The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:

Donald Trump is peeved. His officials are starting to spin that his plans for almost instant peace in Ukraine may take a lot longer, while Vladimir Putin’s business envoy heads for the White House, supposedly to make amends.

Yet what it truly reveals is that the 47th president continues to be played by the Kremlin.

Trump has unleashed a trade war, expressed colonial designs on two Nato members, scrambled Ukraine’s defensive war plans, shown public contempt for Europe and set about the pillars of American democracy with a sledgehammer.

Trump has shown a remarkable ability to interpret Moscow’s deepest desires and to deliver on them.

Kirill Dmitriev, one of Vladimir Putin’s most trusted international envoys, is in Washington for the first official visit of a Russian since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Details of the talks have been kept under wraps, but likely featured peace in Ukraine, the return of US companies to Russia, prisoner swaps, energy prices, and how to continue building ties between Washington and Moscow.

The US-educated, former Goldman Sachs investment banker, who was invited by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, has a strong relationship with many US officials including key members of the Trump team.

He may, therefore, be crucial in helping strengthen the relationship between the Kremlin and the White House – particularly after the US president recently said he was “p***** off” at his Russian counterpart for the failure to reach a quick ceasefire.

The Russian envoy played a significant role in the earliest contacts between Putin and Mr Trump after the latter first took office in 2016.

After Mr Dmitriev’s arrival and while announcing bombshell global tariffs – which didn’t include the previously-threatened levy on Russian crude oil – Mr Trump hailed the “good cooperation” by Russia and Ukraine.

European countries are providing more than half of Ukraine’s ammunition needs, which Volodymyr Zelensky recently put at two million rounds, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday.

It comes amid a European push to be more self-reliant in its support for Ukraine, with support from Washington no longer a guarantee under the Trump administration.

“These things are moving very well (…) we need to get the help to Ukraine as fast as possible. President Zelensky has said that they need five billion to have at least two million rounds,” Ms Kallas said ahead a of EU defence ministers summit in Warsaw.

“I’m glad to see that we already have different proposals or different countries are coming with their input to this, so we have already over 50% of what is needed,” she added.

Russia launched 39 drones against Ukraine overnight, the country’s air force said.

The Ukrainian air force shot down 28 drones and another seven did not reach their targets, likely due to electronic warfare countermeasures, it said in a statement.

It did not detail what happened to the remaining four drones.

Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has said the US aims to secure a full ceasefire in the ongoing war soon.

Talking to Fox News, Mr Kellogg said Ukraine and Russia are already approaching a point of ceasefire but both sides will need to make compromises.

“Neither side is going to get everything they want,” he said.

“I know [Trump’s] frustrated with both Zelensky and Putin as well, but we’re going to get there, and I think what you have to do is stay really on focus, on point, to get where you want to go with the ceasefire. Because what we want to have is a comprehensive 30-day ceasefire. Once you get there, it’s gonna be really hard to restart the war again. That’s what I believe,” Mr Kellogg told Fox News last night.

Russian forces in Ukraine continue to use ammunition equipped with chemical agents prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Ukrainian military has said.

Ukrainian forces recorded 767 cases in March of Russian forces using regulated K-51 and RG-VO grenade launchers to launch munitions containing chemical agents and ammunition containing unspecified hazardous chemicals that are banned under the CWC, the military said.

They also reported that Russian forces had used banned chemical agents a total of 7,730 times since February 2023.

Nato’s assets could be key in aiding proposed European military mission to guarantee a peace deal in Ukraine in plans being worked out by the war-hit nation’s western allies.

In one of the proposals being discussed by the UK and France, Nato’s command and control structures would be used in a deployment of a so-called reassurance force in Ukraine, five officials aware of the plan told the Financial Times.

The reassurance force would also use Nato’s shared intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, under the proposal, FT reported.

This proposal is one of the several options being discussed by European allies and could be changed before any final agreement, according to the officials aware of the plan.