Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin claims conflict ‘coming to an end’ after scaled-back Victory Day paradenewsline24

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will visit Moscow “soon enough”, the Kremlin has said.

Kremlin ⁠adviser Yuri Ushakov said ⁠on ​Sunday that the US envoys would return to Moscow to continue discussions with Russia on the settlement in Ukraine, news ‌agency ​Interfax reported.

Despite the ceasefire agreement, at least three ​people were killed in Russian strikes and nearly 150 battlefield clashes took place over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian officials have said.

According to officials, three people were killed in the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson ​regions during Russian drone attacks.

Several others, including children, have been injured in attacks across the country, according to reports.

A Sunday morning update from the Ukrainian military claims that Russia suffered 840 personnel casualties in the past 24 hours, despite a fragile three-day ceasefire supposedly being in place.

The post on the social media profiles of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russia’s total personnel casualties – both dead and wounded – now number approximately 1,341,110.

Russia rarely issued updates on its own casualty figures but they are typically far lower.

Ukraine said Russia had lost 11,920 tanks since the start of the war in February 2022, as well as 435 aircraft, 33 ships and two submarines.

A prominent pro-Ukrainian partisan group called Atesh claims to have successfully sabotaged an electric train locomotive, according to a statement on Sunday.

The statement, reported by the Kyiv Independent, was accompanied by videos showing members of the group pouring flammable liquid inside the train and then later the locomotive in flames.

Atesh claimed the incident took place southeast of the city of Lipetsk inside Russia, and that the locomotive in question “will no longer be able to take part in transporting military trains, meaning another element of the opponent’s logistics system has been halted”.

It did not specify when the alleged sabotage took place.

Speaking to world affairs editor Sam Kiley earlier this week, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky drew a number of links between the US-Israeli war with Iran and his own conflict with Russia.

The most immediate impact on Kyiv has stemmed from the fact that the US has used up so many missiles targeting Iran, leaving it “short” of weapons to send to Ukraine.

But without criticising Donald Trump directly, he also urged the US to deal with the aggressor in Europe – Vladimir Putin – in the same way as he deals with the regime in Tehran.

He said that during negotiations with the US, Iran had been told to stop its nuclear programme, stop producing and selling missiles, and stop sponsoring terrorism – or else face the consequences.

“[The US] said, ‘Look, if you’re not ready to stop, [then] one, two, three.’ They would face aggressive steps. ‘If you are not ready [to comply], we will answer [with force].’

“In my case, what I proposed to all the partners was [this]: tell Putin. One, two, three, the same steps – and then, [if he does not comply], don’t even help us. Just give us the weapons.”

In his remarks to journalists after yesterday’s parade in Red Square, Russia’s Vladimir Putin thanked the US for its efforts to end the Ukraine war.

Putin claimed the war – which he started by invading Ukraine in February 2022 – was “coming to an end” and attempted to blame “Western elites” for starting it.

But he reserved praise for US president Donald Trump, saying: “We can see that the current US administration and the President of the US sincerely – I would like to emphasise this – sincerely want to settle this conflict.”

“We are grateful for every effort like this,” he added.

​Germany is reviving efforts to buy Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing ⁠people with knowledge of Berlin’s strategy.

Berlin hopes to persuade the Trump administration to agree to the sale of the Tomahawks together with their Typhon ground launchers,the newspaper said.

Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius is planning a trip to Washington, the report said, in a bid to revive Berlin’s proposal to purchase long-range systems, which was first submitted in July last year. The US has yet to respond. The visit, however, hinges upon whether Pistorius can secure a meeting with Pete Hegseth, his US counterpart, unnamed sources told the FT.

The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile is a long-range cruise missile typically launched from sea to attack targets in deep-strike missions. In February, ‌the Pentagon said ⁠it had signed a seven-year deal with ⁠Raytheon to increase Tomahawk production as its stockpiles have ‌been depleted ​by the war ‌with Iran.

Friedrich Merz has criticised the Slovak prime minister after he laid flowers at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier memorial just outside the Kremlin walls

The German chancellor said: “I deeply regret this, and we will discuss his visit to Moscow with him.”

Speaking at a meeting with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, Slovakia’s Robert Fico bemoaned what he called a new “Iron Curtain” in Europe that hampered trade, and emphasised the importance of Russia’s energy supplies to Slovakia.

Putin hailed the Slovak leader for conducting a “sovereign” foreign policy and honouring the memory of fallen red army soldiers.

Russia has lost more than 1,340,000 troops in the war with Ukraine.

In an update on Moscow’s military losses since, the ministry of defence said it had also lost 11,920 tanks, 41,712 artillery systems, 435, and 352 helicopters since its invasion in 2022.

On Friday alone, Ukraine claims it took out 1,080 personnel, 1,479 UAVs, and 82 artillery systems.

Ukrainians have welcomed a three-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, but say a long-term solution is urgently needed.

Kateryna Kizev, 22, who fled the frontline city of Kherson in the ⁠south and now lives in Cherkasy in central Ukraine, said: “On the one hand, this is very good because, honestly, the sleepless nights have gotten a bit tiresome.

“At least for a few days we will be able to sleep in peace and without the attacks.”

Oleksandr Boik, in Kharkiv, stated: “This ceasefire – for a day, or two or three – these are temporary measures. We ⁠need peace. It is the fifth year already. It is enough.

Another Kharkiv resident, Ramaz Tsytsyashvili, ‌said he hoped that the ceasefire would ​open the way for more talks to end the war.

“I have lost everything… We need peace.

“And perhaps there ‌will be a miracle and this temporary silence, this ceasefire, ​will hold up a bit and continue, and then step by step it will move to negotiations, and affairs will be solved in offices, not on the battlefield.”