Russia Ukraine war live: Kyiv unleashes drones on Russian city as Putin mocks peace conference

China has increased sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry to wage its war in Ukraine, according to a US intelligence assessment.

Two senior Biden administration officials, who discussed the sensitive findings yesterday on the condition of anonymity, said that in 2023 about 90 per cent of Russia’s microelectronics came from China, which Russia has used to make missiles, tanks and aircraft. Nearly 70 per cent of Russia’s approximately $900m in machine tool imports in the last quarter of 2023 came from China.

Russia’s justice ministry has labelled two BBC journalists – Ilya Barabanov and Asya Kazantseva – as “foreign agents”.

Barabanov is Russian correspondent for the British broadcaster and Kazantseva is a science reporter who signed an open letter from Russian scientists and science journalists demanding the withdrawal of the country’s troops from Ukraine.

The reporters are now living abroad.

Condemning the decision against Barabanov, BBC said it “strongly rejects the decision”.

“The BBC has a global reputation as trusted and independent source of news,” the broadcaster added. “BBC News Russian has been a vital source of accurate and impartial news to Russian-speakers for 80 years. We are incredibly proud of all our journalists and our priority right now is to support Ilya and all his colleagues to ensure that all are able to continue their jobs reporting on Russia at such an important time.”

Washington and London yesterday prohibited metal-trading exchanges from accepting new aluminium, copper and nickel produced by Russia and barred the import of the metals into the US and Britain.

The action is aimed at disrupting Russian export revenue amid Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which has killed or wounded tens of thousands of people and reduced cities to rubble. Russia is a major producer of aluminium, copper and nickel.

The US Treasury Department said the action would prohibit the London Metal Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange from accepting new Russian production of aluminium, copper and nickel.

“Our new prohibitions on key metals, in coordination with our partners in the United Kingdom, will continue to target the revenue Russia can earn to continue its brutal war against Ukraine,” US treasury secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

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“By taking this action in a targeted and responsible manner, we will reduce Russia’s earnings while protecting our partners and allies from unwanted spillover effects.”

US far-right representative Marjorie Taylor Greene laid into Speaker of the House Mike Johnson on Friday, criticising his support for a legislative package that includes funding for Ukraine:

Washington and London yesterday prohibited metal-trading exchanges from accepting new aluminum, copper and nickel produced by Russia and barred the import of the metals into the US and Britain.

The action is aimed at disrupting Russian export revenue amid Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which has killed or wounded tens of thousands of people and reduced cities to rubble. Russia is a major producer of aluminum, copper and nickel.

The US Treasury Department said the action would prohibit the London Metal Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange from accepting new Russian production of aluminum, copper and nickel.

“Our new prohibitions on key metals, in coordination with our partners in the United Kingdom, will continue to target the revenue Russia can earn to continue its brutal war against Ukraine,” US treasury secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

“By taking this action in a targeted and responsible manner, we will reduce Russia’s earnings while protecting our partners and allies from unwanted spillover effects.”

A senior Ukrainian official has acknowledged that the two sides were close to an agreement in Turkey in 2022 but said Kyiv took the proposal no further because it did not trust the Russian side to carry out any agreement.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, said a lot had changed since 2022, including what he said was the addition to Russian territory of four new regions, a reference to the parts of Ukraine which Moscow has claimed as its own.

But Mr Peskov said the aborted Istanbul deal could still be the basis for new talks and that Russia was ready for that. When asked if Moscow sensed any readiness from the Ukrainian side for talks, however, Mr Peskov said: “No, we don’t sense that.”

Ukraine says it wants all of its territory back, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and for every Russian soldier to leave its territory. It is trying to drive international talks on its stance which exclude Russia.

President Vladimir Zelensky, meeting with students in western Ukraine yesterday, appeared to rule out using the 2022 talks as a basis for further discussions, saying the meetings at the time were not talks in a true sense.

The Ukrainian president said “no” when asked whether the 2022 talks in Belarus and Turkey had the potential to stop the war.

“Negotiations are when two sides want to come to an agreement. There are different aspects, but when there are two sides,” he said in a video posted on his website.

“But when one side in any case, regardless of the country or the city, gives you an ultimatum, that is not negotiations.”

Vladimir Putin brought up the subject of potential peace talks and said he was open to what he called realistic negotiations.

But he is opposed to the two-day conference to be hosted by Switzerland in June at Ukraine’s request that seeks to achieve peace, saying it is pointless if Russia does not take part.

In his view, the meeting does not take new realities into account, including Moscow’s annexation of territory in eastern Ukraine.

An aborted 2022 peace deal between Russia and Ukraine could be the basis for new negotiations but there is no sign that Kyiv is ready for talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said yesterday.

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that Russia and Ukraine were on the verge of agreeing a deal to end hostilities during negotiations in Istanbul in April 2022, but that Ukraine backed away from it once Russian troops fell back from near Kyiv.

The deal reportedly demanded that Ukraine adopt neutrality and not join Nato, limit the size of its armed forces and grant special status to Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine – all things which Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has made clear he opposes.