Ukraine and Russia exchange prisoners
There's a nervous wait for thousands of families in Ukraine and Russia as both sides start one of the largest prisoner exchanges of the war so far. It's the first group to be returned since the the two nations launched their second round of peace talks earlier this month.
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ABC News
24 minutes ago
- ABC News
Vladimir Putin believes Russians and Ukrainians are 'one people' and 'the whole of Ukraine is ours'
Russian President Vladimir Putin says that in his view the whole of Ukraine is "ours" and has cautioned that advancing Russian forces could take the Ukrainian city of Sumy as part of a bid to carve out a buffer zone along the border. Ukraine's foreign minister denounced the statements as evidence of Russian "disdain" for US peace efforts and said Moscow was bent on seizing more territory and killing more Ukrainians. Russia currently controls about a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, more than 99 per cent of the Luhansk region, over 70 per cent of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and fragments of the Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Asked about fresh Russian advances, Mr Putin told the St Petersburg International Economic Forum that he considered Russians and Ukrainians to be one people and "in that sense the whole of Ukraine is ours". Kyiv and its Western allies say Moscow's claims to four Ukrainian regions and Crimea are illegal, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected the notion that Russians and Ukrainians are one people. He has also said that Mr Putin's terms for peace are akin to capitulation. Mr Putin, who ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine, said on Friday he was not questioning Ukraine's independence or its people's striving for sovereignty, but he underscored that when Ukraine declared independence as the Soviet Union fell in 1991, it had also declared its neutrality. Mr Putin said Moscow wanted Ukraine to accept the reality on the ground if there was to be a chance of peace — Russia's shorthand for the reality of Russia's control over roughly 20 per cent of Ukraine's territory. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, writing in English on the X social media platform, said: "Putin's cynical statements demonstrate complete disdain for US peace efforts." Wherever a Russian soldier sets foot, "he brings along only death, destruction, and devastation", Mr Sybiha said. Mr Zelenskyy, in his nightly video address, said Russia had shown "openly and utterly cynically that they 'don't feel like' agreeing to a ceasefire. Russia wants to continue the war". Mr Zelenskyy said commanders had discussed action in Ukraine's northern Sumy region and that Russia had "various plans and intentions, completely mad as always. We are holding them back and eliminating these killers, defending our Sumy region". Mr Putin said Russian forces were carving out a buffer zone in the Sumy region in order to protect Russian territory. "Next is the city of Sumy, the regional centre. We don't have the task of taking it, but in principle I don't rule it out," he said.
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
Russia might try to take Ukrainian city of Sumy, Putin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he did not "rule out" his forces attempting to seize the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, casting fresh doubt over the prospect of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv. Ukraine said Putin's comments showed "disdain" for the peace process. Diplomatic efforts to end the three-year conflict have stalled in recent weeks and Kyiv has accused Moscow of deliberately sabotaging a peace deal to prolong its full-scale offensive on the country. Russia currently occupies around a fifth of Ukraine and has claimed four Ukrainian regions as its own since launching its assault in 2022, in addition to Crimea, which it captured in 2014. The Sumy region is not one of the regions Moscow has formally annexed, although Russian forces have recently made inroads there for the first time in three years. At Russia's flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg, Putin suggested Moscow could take Sumy as part of the creation of a "buffer zone" along the border and repeated his denial of Ukrainian statehood. "We have no objective to take Sumy, but in principle I do not rule it out... They pose a constant threat to us, constantly shelling the border areas," Putin said. "I consider Russians and Ukrainians to be one people. In that sense, all of Ukraine is ours," he told attendees, when asked why his army was entering areas Moscow did not claim as its own. "There is a saying: wherever a Russian soldier sets foot, that is ours." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga described Putin's comments as "deranged" and called for Kyiv's allies to slap "devastating sanctions" on Russia. "The only way to force Russia into peace is to deprive it of its sense of impunity," he wrote in a post on X. - 'They are creating problems' - Putin's widening territorial ambitions are likely to roil Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has accused Moscow of not wanting to end the fighting. The two sides held rounds of direct talks in Istanbul in May and in June, but Kyiv accused Moscow of sending "dummy" negotiators with no real power to enact a peace deal. Putin has declined to take part in the peace talks in person and on Thursday said he would only meet Zelensky during a "final phase" of negotiations on ending the three-year conflict. He has also insisted Ukraine give up territory it already controls for peace. Kyiv says it cannot and will not accept Russian occupation of any part of its land. In his address Friday, Putin denied he was calling for Ukraine to "capitulate". "We are not seeking Ukraine's surrender. We insist on recognition of the realities that have developed on the ground," the Russian leader said. Putin repeated that Moscow was "advancing on all fronts" and that his troops had penetrated up to 12 kilometres (seven miles) into the Sumy region. He also accused Kyiv of "stupidity" by launching an incursion into Russia's Kursk region last August. "They are creating problems for themselves," he said.
SBS Australia
13 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Australian embassy officials in Iran evacuate as conflict grows in Middle East
Australian embassy officials in Iran evacuate as conflict grows in Middle East Published 20 June 2025, 8:37 am Australian officials and their families have been evacuated from Tehran. Threats of a major regional war have prompted Australia to close its embassy. The Federal government is urgently warning Australians in Iran to leave if safe to do so.
