𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Any movement of Russian military vessels outside of the eastern part of the Black Sea will be regarded as a violation of the Black Sea agreement, Ukraine’s defence ministry has said.

“The Ukrainian side emphasizes that all movement by Russia of its military vessels outside of Eastern part of the Black Sea will constitute violation of the spirit of this agreement, will be regarded as violation of the commitment to ensure safe navigation of the Black Sea and threat to the national security of Ukraine,” the ministry wrote on X.

“In this case Ukraine will have full right to exercise right to self-defense,” the statement added.

Kyiv confirmed it had agreed to “ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes”.

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to ensure the safety of commercial shipping in the Black Sea, the White House has said.

A White House statement said US, Russian and Ukrainian officials had “agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea”.

Russia has learnt a “wealth of lessons” about Western military capabilities following the Ukraine war, according to a US intelligence report.

Moscow’s war in Ukraine has afforded it a “wealth of lessons regarding combat against Western weapons and intelligence in a large-scale war,” the report said.

It also found that Russia will be unable to achieve a “total victory” in Ukraine – but that it retains momentum in the war effort.

The war has also increased the risk to the US of unintended escalation, included the potential use of nuclear weapons, the report added.

Downing Street said the UK would continue to work closely with the US on defence and security after the US defence secretary accused Europe of “freeloading”.

Asked whether the Government was sure the US administration understood UK contributions to defence and security in the Middle East, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We work daily with the US on regional security and stability in the Middle East and indeed in relation to Ukraine.

“The PM has always said that we’ve got one of the closest relationships with the US when it comes to defence and security and we expect that to continue.”

Europe must acquire all means to defend itself against military aggression, the European Council president has said.

Antonio Costa said on Tuesday that peace without defence is an illusion and added: “If Russia considers that Ukraine’s borders are just a line on a map, why should it respect any other country’s borders?”

“If Russia considers that Ukraine’s borders are just a line on a map, why should it respect any other country’s borders?”, he also said

In the grand rooms of Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel, Washington’s team met with Ukrainian officials on Sunday, Russian officials on Monday, before reentering talks with Kyiv’s team for a time on Tuesday.

“We’re talking about territory right now. We’re talking about lines of demarcation, talking about power, power plant ownership. Some people are saying the United States should own the power plant…because we have the expertise,” Mr Trump said during a press briefing on Monday. He appears to be referring to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, a topic which Volodymyr Zelensky said had come up in a recent phone call between the two presidents.

Russia is struggling to protect its strategic military locations due to stretched air defences, the UK defence ministry has said, as it hails Ukraine’s “successful” targeting of a munitions depot.

Ukraine struck Russia’s Engels airfield overnight on 20 March, a site which holds Moscow’s nuclear-capable bomber planes and large amounts of munitions. The hit sparked a large blaze, evacuations and a number of injuries, according to Russian officials.

The UK Ministry of Defence said in its intelligence report that the strike will “disrupt strike operations from the airfield in the short term, forcing Russia to improve its defensive posture and replenish munitions stocks”.

The strike was “Ukraine’s most successful targeting of a Russian munitions depot in 2025 so far” and it “highlights the continuing struggles that stretched Russian air defence face in protecting its strategic military locations”, the ministry added.

Ukraine has said it detained a “mole” who was helping Moscow attack Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region by giving away their location.

Kyiv’s forces crossed the border into the Kursk region last August in a rapid and unexpected offensive. Since then, Russia has taken back much of territory that was captured in the Ukrainian advance into Kursk – but fighting there continues.

Ukraine’s SBU security service said the “mole” was “preparing coordinates for the aggressor’s missile and bomb attacks on the locations of Ukrainian troops”. They had been recruited by Russia’s GRU military intelligence service on Telegram.

The GRU made no comment on Tuesday.

Russian forces have captured two villages in eastern Ukraine, the defence ministry said on Tuesday according to Interfax.

Myrne in the eastern Donetsk region and Mali Scherbaky in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region are both now under Russian control, Moscow claims.

Ukraine launched three attacks on Russia’s civilian infrastructure, Russia’s Defence Ministry has claimed.

Washington had hoped that talks being held between Russian, US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia could lead to a ceasefire on energy infrastructure.

Russia says it has agreed to halt attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure after a phone call between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump last Tuesday. Ukraine has not declared the same halt, but said it would do so if a formal agreement setting out the precise terms for a deal was reached.

Moscow said on Monday that Ukraine had launched attacks on multiple gas distribution and storage facilities in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.