International News
Russia Accuses Ukraine Of Trying To Derail Peace Talks
Russia said Tuesday that its massive aerial assaults on Ukraine in recent days were a “response” to escalating Ukrainian drone strikes on its civilians, accusing Kyiv of trying to “disrupt” peace efforts.
Moscow fired hundreds of drones at Ukraine between late Friday and early Monday, killing more than a dozen people and saturating the country’s air defences.
US President Donald Trump, who has been seeking to broker an end to Moscow’s three-year invasion, said Vladimir Putin had “gone absolutely CRAZY” and threatened Russia with sanctions over the attacks.
Diplomatic efforts to end the war have accelerated in recent weeks, with Russian and Ukrainian officials holding direct talks for the first time in three years earlier this month but the Kremlin has shown no signs of scaling back its maximalist demands.
“Kyiv, with the support of some European countries, has taken a series of provocative steps to thwart negotiations initiated by Russia,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Russian air defences destroyed 2,331 Ukrainian drones between May 20 and 27, more than half of which were intercepted in areas outside the battlefield, the ministry said.
“Civilians, including women and children, were injured,” it said, describing its recent strikes on Ukraine as a direct “response”.
Moscow said it had only hit “military targets” in Ukraine but Ukraine said at least 13 civilians were killed in Russian attacks on Sunday.
Kyiv accused Russia of trying to evade responsibility for the killings.
“We need to end this eternal waiting — Russia needs more sanctions,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Telegram Tuesday.
Russia’s invasion, launched in February 2022, has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and ravaged large parts of the east and south of the country.
– Everyone is ’emotional’ –
For three of the past four nights, Russia pummelled Ukraine with hundreds of drones in what Kyiv described as a weekend of “terror”.
Moscow fired fewer drones at Ukraine overnight into Tuesday but strikes still damaged buildings in the northern Sumy region and hurt multiple people in the regions of Kherson and Kharkiv, officials said.
In a rare rebuke of Russia’s Putin, Trump said on social media late Sunday Washington time: “I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!”
“I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”
The Kremlin played down Trump’s criticism on Monday, saying Putin was taking measures “necessary to ensure Russia’s security” and that everyone was feeling “emotional” at the moment.
Ukraine and Russia sent back 1,000 people each over the weekend in their biggest ever prisoner exchange, while Moscow said it was preparing a document outlining its peace terms.
But that document was still not ready on Tuesday, despite Russia announcing it would present it to Ukraine once the prisoner swap was complete.
Moscow has consistently rejected a call by Kyiv and its Western allies for an unconditional and full ceasefire, and has called for Kyiv to drop its NATO ambitions and cede territory it already controls.
“As soon as the memorandum is ready, it will be sent to Kyiv. We hope that the Ukrainian side is doing the same,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday.
AFP
Jeremy Doku insisted Manchester “will keep on fighting” in the Premier League title race despite their “painful” draw with Everton on Monday.
City drew 3-3 with the Toffees at Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Doku scoring a 97th-minute equaliser, having also scored the opening goal.
Doku’s equaliser (96:49) is City’s third-latest goal on record (since 2006-07) in a Premier League game after John Stones’ strike against Arsenal in September 2024 (97:14) and Gabriel Jesus’ goal against Everton in February 2019 (96:52).
Doku has had a hand in six goals across his last five games for City in all competitions (four goals, two assists), as many as in his previous 22 games combined (one goal, five assists).
The Belgian also created the most chances in the match against Everton (four), completed the most dribbles (5/7) and won the most duels (14/19).
City avoided defeat in a Premier League game despite trailing by 2+ goals as late as the 82nd minute for the first time since March 2012 against Sunderland (3-3).
They went on to win the league title in 2011-12, and Doku believes City can still beat Arsenal to the trophy this season.
“First half, we played well and created a lot of chances. We know if we don’t score those chances, it is going to get difficult at the end,” said Doku.
“Obviously, they are at their own stadium, they create chances, and they are dangerous, and they scored two goals, but I think we gave them the game.
“Good that we came back because one point is not bad in games like this.
“We will see. It feels painful now. There is still a lot of games to go. We lost two points, but we know that one point can be important at the end.
“We will keep on fighting. We owe it to ourselves and to our fans.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Nigerians interested in repatriation from South Africa will be responsible for the cost of their return trip to Nigeria.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, stated this during a press briefing on Monday in Abuja.
The briefing came shortly after a closed-door meeting between the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dunoma Ahmed, and the South African Acting High Commissioner, Lesoli Machele.
Mr Ebienfa said the process will be self-funded and not state-funded, as it is a voluntary decision that the Nigerian government will only facilitate and coordinate.
In the recent past, such reparations have been sponsored by Nigerian airline owners, particularly Allen Onyema, the CEO of Air Peace.
The Nigerian government, on Sunday, indicated its readiness to repatriate its citizens from South Africa due to xenophobic violence.
The effort primarily targets Nigerians who feel threatened by the xenophobic violence and tension in parts of South Africa, as the protests against black immigrants in the country continue. Two Nigerians were killed last month.
Since the announcement, about 130 Nigerians in South Africa have expressed a willingness to return home voluntarily.
Mr Ebienfa stated that the return of the Nigerians depends on their financial capacity, as they would be expected to fund their trip back home individually.
He said, “Those willing to leave are expected to approach the high commission and, given that their decision is voluntary, have the resources to fund their return to Nigeria.”
The government will not “provide an aircraft from Nigeria to convey them.”
He also noted that the speed of the repatriation process will be determined by the availability of funds.
“Yes, 130 as of this morning have registered, but actualisation would be required to have their flight ticket to move back to Nigeria.”
Mr Ebienfa also explained that Nigerians who have so far expressed interest are motivated either by concerns about threats to their lives or by fear of arrest by South African law enforcement agencies.
“There are two groups of Nigerians who want to come back. One group feels the country is not safe for them and wants to come. They have all their papers intact.
“Then there is also the second group that has travel document violations or resident permit violations. And instead of running away from law enforcement, they are appealing that the government facilitate their movement back to Nigeria,” he explained.
However, he noted that the process is still being worked out and that the government would step in to provide aircraft or other needed assistance if tensions rise and the situation becomes more volatile.
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