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Putin remains open to contact with Trump, says Kremlin spokesperson
Moscow has offered another phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin after the US president said he was “p***** off” with the Russian leader.
Mr Trump told NBC News he was very angry after Mr Putin criticised the credibility of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. The US president suggested he could impose secondary tariffs of 25-50 per cent on buyers of Russian oil.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was continuing to work with Washington and that Mr Putin remained open to contacts with Mr Trump.
A call between both the presidents, Mr Peskov said, could be arranged at short notice if necessary, though none was scheduled for this week.
But Washington must not be misled by Putin’s “stalling tactics”, outgoing German foreign minister Anna Baerbock said after her arrival in Kyiv on Tuesday morning.
This comes as Mr Putin signed a decree on the spring conscription for military service to boost his army as his military invasion in Ukraine continues.
The Russian president has ordered at least 160,000 men between 18 to 30-year-old to be drafted into the army by mid-summer this year, even as he drags on peace talks with Ukraine and the US, Russian news agency reported.
Nearly three quarters of Ukrainians now believe Donald Trump’s presidency has been negative for Ukraine, according to a survey.
It marks a significant shift in attitude towards Mr Trump since he took the presidency in January. Before the New Year, 54 per cent believed a Trump presidency would be good for Ukraine, a number which plummeted to 19 per cent in March 2025.
The share of those who believe Mr Trump is bad for Ukraine has risen from 21 per cent to 73 per cent in the same period, the poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) found.
A Ukrainian man has been charged with spying for Russia by Polish authorities.
The man, who was born in Russia, was detained in March in connection with activities linked to Russian intelligence, the Polish Internal Security Agency said.
Prosecutors said he was charged with carrying out the “reconnaissance” of Poland’s “military facilities”, adding that it was a crime punishable by imprisonment from five to 30 years.
„The suspect admitted to committing the act he was charged with and provided an explanation in which he described the ideological motives for his activities resulting from his ties with Russia,“ prosecutors added in a statement.
Poland has become a target for Russian espionage following its stalwart support for Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Two men were indicted in November in connection with an investigation into Belarusian intelligence work in Poland.
Russian forces have taken control of the village of Rozlyv in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Moscow’s defence ministry said on Tuesday,
The Independent cannot verify the battlefield report, but authoritative Ukrainian war map shows the village as being occupied by Russian troops.
Ukraine will continue with Washington towards a mutually-acceptable minerals deal, foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on Tuesday.
A round of consultations has already taken place on a new draft of the minerals deal, Mr Sybiha said, adding that a strong American business presence in Ukraine would contribute to Ukraine’s security.
It comes one month after the deal temporarily collapsed after president Volodymyr Zelensky was booted out of the White House on a visit in which it was hoped the deal would be finalised.
Russia launched an attack on a Ukrainian energy facility in the frontline city of Kherson, foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on Tuesday.
Power was cut to 45,000 residents in the attack, Mr Sybiha said.
It comes the same day Moscow’s Defence Ministry accused Ukraine of attacking Russian energy infrastructure twice in the past 24 hours despite a US-brokered halt on such attacks.
Lithuanian foreign minister Kęstutis Budrys arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday morning in a show of support for Ukraine.
„Arrived to free Kyiv to express Lithuania’s unwavering support to brave Ukrainian nation,” Mr Budrys wrote on X. “We will continue standing by your side in your fight for freedom and sovereignty.“
Alongside Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha, Mr Budrys paid respects at a memorial for fallen soldiers in Ukraine.
“Their courage, sacrifice and commitment to defending freedom, their families and their homeland will never be forgotten. Their legacy will live on in our hearts,” he said.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio will visit Brussels for Nato talks on peace in Ukraine, the state department said on Monday.
Mr Rubio will visit Brussels from Tuesday until Thursday, department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
„In Brussels, Secretary Rubio will attend the Nato Foreign Ministers Meeting to discuss security priorities for the Alliance, including increased Allied defense investment and securing lasting peace in Ukraine,“ the statement read.
It comes amid turbulent relations between the US and Nato, Donald Trump questions its efficacy and ramps up his threats to annex Greenland from Denmark – a fellow member of Nato.
At least two civilians were killed and 21 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day, regional authorities reported on April 1.
One civilian was killed in the Donetsk region, governor Vadym Filashkin said according to The Kyiv Independent. A woman was killed and five people were injured in a Russian attack on the village of Malokaterynivka in the Zaporizhzhia region, governor Ivan Fedorov said.
Injuries were also reported in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Sumy regions, where residential buildings, cars and other infrastructure was damaged.
For the first time this year, Russian forces did not launch a mass overnight drone attack against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
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Ukraine-Russia war live: Moscow responds to ‘very angry’ Trump while Putin drafts 160,000 men for war – The Independent
