Ukraine war live: Zelensky’s forces ‘strike Russian brigade’ behind Sumy attack

Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has said the alliance’s support for Ukraine remains “unwavering” as he spoke from the war-hit nation’s port city of Odesa.

“I’m here today because I believe Ukraine’s people deserve real peace, real safety and security in their country, in their homes,” Mr Rutte said during a joint news conference with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

The two met with wounded Ukrainian soldiers at a hospital in Odesa.

“These discussions are not easy, not least in the wake of this horrific violence,” Mr Rutte said, referring to the recent strikes. “But we all support President Trump’s push for peace.”

His visit came days after two Russian ballistic missiles struck the city of Sumy on Palm Sunday morning, killing at least 35 people, including two children, and injuring 119.

The Nato chief also emphasised that more than €20bn (£17bn) in security assistance has already been pledged by Nato allies in the first three months of the year.

Soon after the massacre in Sumy, where two Iskander missiles slammed into the provincial Ukrainian capital killing 35 people, including two children, Trump sloughed off the atrocity by claiming it had been a Russian mistake. Shocking, but not surprising, as Trump has consistently taken the Russian side at every opportunity this year.

Read the full analysis from our world affairs editor Sam Kiley:

US vice president JD Vance said he had condemned Russia since 2022 but criticised Zelesnky in response to the Ukrainian president’s recent comments that he somehow justified the war.

“I think it’s sort of absurd for Zelensky to tell the government, which is currently keeping his entire government and war effort together, that we are somehow on the side of the Russians,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean you morally support the Russian cause, or that you support the full-scale invasion, but you do have to try to understand what are their strategic red lines, in the same way that you have to try to understand what the Ukrainians are trying to get out of the conflict.”

– Ukraine’s military has said it hit the base of the Russian rocket brigade whose forces conducted the deadly strike on Sumy.

– Russia’s attack on Sumy killed at least 35 people on Sunday, making it one of the deadliest in the war yet.

– European leaders rallied around Kyiv, condemning the attack.

– US President Trump defended the attack as a “mistake”.

– Russia later contradicted Trump’s defence, saying it hit a meeting of Ukrainian commanders and accused Kyiv of using ‘human shields’.

– In a post on Truth Social yesterday, US president Donald Trump accused his Ukrainian counterpart of “allowing” the war to happen.

– Speaking from the Oval Office later, he again criticised Zelensky, saying he was not “competent” and that millions were dead because of Putin, Zelensky and Biden.

– He again said Zelensky “should have never started” the war, speaking at an impromptu press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Trump’s claims came the day after Russia’s deadly attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy.

Trump previously described Zelensky as a “dictator” and swiftly withdrew his comment.

On the campaign trail, he claimed the war would not have happened if he was president.

Trump has blamed Putin, Zelensky and Biden for the lives lost since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Millions of people are dead because of three people,” Trump said, speaking from the Oval Office.

“Let’s say Putin number one, let’s say Biden, who had no idea what the hell he was doing, number two, and Zelenskyy.

“And all I can do is try and stop it – that’s all I want to do. I want to stop the killing.”

Moscow has said there is political will to move towards a US-Russia peace deal on Ukraine but there is no clear outline yet.

Speaking to reporters on a call, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that contacts with the United States were useful and positive.

He declined to give a precise timeframe for a peace settlement.

Kyiv and some of its European allies have previously said Russia is stalling on a peace talks with the US and is not serious about ending the war.

Steve Witkoff has said that negotiations between the US and Russia could be “on the verge of something that would be very, very important for the world”.

Witkoff discussed what he sees as Putin’s demands after meeting the president in St Petersburg on Friday.

“Towards the end, we actually came up with… what Putin’s request is to get to, have a permanent peace,” he said.

Trump’s envoy then suggested a peace deal is “about the so-called five territories, but there’s so much more to it: there’s security protocols, there’s no NATO, NATO Article 5, I mean, it’s just a lot of detail attached to it.”

NATO’s Article 5 is a principle which treats an attack on one member as an attack on all members, with a coordinated response.