Ukraine war latest: Putin and Trump negotiate prisoner exchange, says Russia

As Washington settled in for a typically sleepy Memorial Day following the passage of Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” in the House, the president fired off one of his trademark furious rants on Truth Social, but the target was a surprise.

This time, the target wasn’t any of his domestic political foes — like the Democrats who voted in lockstep against the budget package he endorsed, or the handful of Republicans who refused to fall into line. It wasn’t even aimed at the various law enforcement figures who have attempted to hold him to account over the years.

French president Emmanuel Macron urged Mr Trump to turn his words into action, while Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky, claiming that the time for dialogue was over, called on the US leader to implement “increased sanctions” against Russia.

Russian forces are advancing at their fastest rate this year in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, according to the latest analysis.

The attacks appear to be concentrated along a 30-mile line from the city of Pokrovsk to Kostiantynivka. You can read more about that further down our blog.

Below is a map showing this attack.

A previously unknown Russian hacking group was behind attacks last year on the networks of the Dutch police, Nato and several European countries, Dutch intelligence agencies said on Tuesday.

The group, nicknamed Laundry Bear by the security agencies, was most likely supported by the Russian state, the Dutch General Intelligence Agency and Military Agency said in a joint letter to parliament.

“The cyberattacks against Dutch institutions are part of a larger international cyber threat posed by the hacker group,” they said in a statement detailing the findings of their probe into the incidents.

The group operated under the radar until it was discovered conducting a hacking operation in September 2024 in which it successfully gained access to the confidential details of Dutch police officials, it said.

Laundry Bear also conducted cyber-espionage against companies that produce high-end technologies that Russia has difficulty accessing due to Western sanctions over the Ukraine war, it said.

“The investigation also reveals that Laundry Bear has been responsible for cyber operations against Western governments and other institutions since at least 2024,” the statement added.

It said the group had sought to get hold of information related to “the procurement and production of military equipment by Western governments and Western arms deliveries to Ukraine”.

“We can see from the information obtained by intelligence and from open-source data that Putin and his entourage do not plan to end the war,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly address on Monday.

The Kremlin has taken aim at claims that Donald Trump could sanction Russia following Moscow’s massive onslaught of aerial attacks against Ukraine over the weekend.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that media reports suggesting that the United States may impose new sanctions against Russia were part of a campaign aimed at disrupting peace talks over Ukraine.

Russia’s defence ministry, meanwhile, said that Ukraine, backed by certain European countries, had taken a host of “provocative steps” aimed at wrecking Russian-initiated direct peace talks, the Interfax news agency reported.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and his chief advisor, Andriy Yermak, have both made public calls for Trump to sanction Russia after Moscow fired more than 900 drones at Ukraine over the weekend. European leaders have continually called for Trump to sanction Russia and accused Putin of obstructing peace.

Speaking on Sunday evening after several of the attacks on Ukraine, Trump said Putin was “needlessly killing” civilians and had “gone absolutely crazy”. It has since been reported that he is considering sanctions against Russia, although this would not be the first time Trump has considered such action without following through.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief advisor has urged the country’s backers to punish Russia for “stalling” peace talks.

Andriy Yermak, who has led Ukraine’s peace delegation in recent talks in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, says Russia is engaged in a “typical delay tactic aimed at avoiding responsibility for killings and trying to escape tougher sanctions”.

“It’s time to end this endless waiting — Russia must face more sanctions,” he wrote on X.

Emergency workers in Ukraine’s northeast region of Kharkiv have been pictured battling fires following another Russian drone attack overnight.

The pictures below, shared by Ukraine’s state emergency services, show “a large-scale fire at a civilian enterprise in the village of Vasyshcheve, Kharkiv region”.

The state emergency service said the fire covered an area of ​​7,500 square metres.

Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz has said that the war in Ukraine is expected to persist due to Russia’s reluctance to enter negotiations.

“Wars typically end because of economic or military exhaustion on one side or on both sides and in this war we are obviously still far from reaching that (situation),” Merz said at a joint press conference with Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo in Turku.

“So we may have to prepare for a longer duration,” Merz added.

China has never provided lethal weapons to any parties to the conflict in Ukraine and strictly controls dual-use items, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday in response to Ukrainian reports of Chinese supplies to Russian military plants.

“The Ukrainian side knows this full well, and China firmly opposes groundless accusations and political manipulation,” ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular press conference.

Ukraine’s foreign intelligence chief on Monday said China is supplying a range of important products to 20 Russian military plants.