Eleven injured in Russian missile attack on Zelensky’s hometown, regional head says

Ukraine says a Russian missile attack on Kryvyi Rih – President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown – has injured 11 people, with six of those being treated in hospital in a “moderate” condition.

According to the regional head, Serhiy Lysak, the attack on the central Ukrainian city targeted a residential area, with extensive damage to four apartment buildings, several homes, businesses and communication networks.

The number of wounded is expected to rise, he says in a post on Telegram, while the fire caused by the attack has been put out.

The attack is more “proof that the Russians are at war with the civilian population,” he adds.

This is not the first attack this month of Zelensky’s hometown. 

We’ve had good calls with Russia and Ukraine, Trump says

Trump says that the US have had “good calls” with both Ukraine and Russia today.

“But it’s not easy,” he said.

Trump also praised himself for bringing the two sides to the point of discussing negotiations.

“I think we’ve had some very good results,” he said. “Just before I came here I got some pretty good news.” Though, he did not provide any further details on what he’s referring to.

He again claimed Ukrainian troops are “surrounded” and in “grave danger”, without providing further evidence.

“I asked him [Putin] not to kill those soldiers,” he added. “We don’t want them killed.”

Rubio calls for Russia and Ukraine to both make concessions

Rubio reasserts that “the only way to end this war is through a process of negotiations”.

He says both sides have to make concessions, adding this is the “reality” of ending a war.

The precise nature of those concessions remains to be seen and making “blanket statements” wouldn’t be helpful at this stage, the secretary of state adds.

Difficult to negotiate lasting peace in midst of war, Rubio says

Rubio says every country has the right to defend itself and its territory. He adds that Ukraine will “obviously have to agree” on what long-term security means for the country.

He stresses that an immediate ceasefire is essential.

“We can’t get to the second phase till we get through the first phase,” Rubio says.

“It’s very difficult to negotiate lasting peace in the midst of an ongoing war.”

Rubio admits he does not know how aligned US, Ukraine and Russia are yet

The US secretary of state continues to answer questions on the timescale of ceasefire proposals for the Ukraine war.

Rubio repeats that Witkoff is not here yet, but says there’s a lot of work to be done.

He admits it will be hard, saying he’s never said it would be “easy, fast, simple slam-dunk”.

It could come together pretty quickly if everyone aligns, Rubio tells press, but says he doesn’t know how aligned they are yet. “That’s what we’re about to find out,” he adds.

Asked again how long Putin has to agree to the ceasefire, Rubio responds: “The question isn’t how long, but are we actually moving towards a ceasefire, or is this a delay tactic?”

He says they’ll know that soon, a lot of which will be based from Witkoff’s conversation with Putin.

Negotiations ‘will not play out’ at press conferences

In response to a question asking whether Putin is playing for time, Rubio says that America is not going to make foreign policy decisions on the basis of what a leader says at a press conference or on social media.

He says negotiations will play out with leaders speaking privately in talks, not in front of cameras.

‘Do you trust Putin?’

Next up, Rubio is asked if he trusts Putin.

He says that’s an irrelevant question because it’s not about trust but action.

The US secretary of state says if we’re serious about foreign policy, we need to move away from this kind of talk.

He adds it’s not a reality show and it’s not about personalities.

US ‘cautiously optimistic’ over Ukraine deal

The US secretary of state says there is reason to be cautiously optimistic over the Ukraine ceasefire deal, but adds that it will not be easy or simple.

He says the US feels they are “some steps closer” to the end of the war but it’s a “journey of many steps”.

“There’s a lot of work remains to be done,” he says, adding that they’ll know more once US special envoy Steve Witkoff returns.

“I’m not saying that alone is enough but it’s the kind of concession you would need to see in order to end the conflict,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.

Kyiv is expected to propose an aerial and naval truce with Russia during the negotiations on Tuesday, a Ukrainian official told AFP.

Russia has previously rejected the idea of a temporary ceasefire, saying it was an attempt to buy time and prevent Ukraine’s military collapse.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, although he is not expected to play any formal role in the talks between his country and the US.

The Ukrainian team will be represented by Zelensky’s head of office Andriy Yermak, the country’s national security adviser and several foreign and defence ministers.

Rubio will represent the US delegation alongside National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

Before arriving in Jeddah on Monday, Rubio said that it was important to “establish clearly Ukraine’s intentions” for a peace deal and that the country would “have to be prepared to do difficult things like the Russians are going to have to do difficult things to end this”.

“I’m not going to set any conditions on what they have to or need to do,” he added. “We want to listen to see how far they’re willing to go, and compare that to what the Russians want, and then see how far apart we truly are.”

He said that both sides needed to realise that “there’s no military solution” to the conflict and it can only be resolved through “diplomatic means”.

It comes as Donald Trump steps up pressure on Zelensky to agree to a ceasefire with Moscow, without any promises of US security guarantees.

The talks mark the first official meeting since Zelensky’s visit to the White House descended into acrimony last month.

Following the meeting, the US paused military aid and intelligence sharing for Kyiv in an apparent bid to get Zelensky to the negotiating table.

Rubio said that he hoped the pause in aid could be “resolved” but that the negotiations on Tuesday “would be key to that”.

The suspension “came about because we felt that they [Ukraine] were not committed to any sort of peace process”, he said, and “if that changes, obviously our posture can change”.

“The President is going to use whatever tools he has at his disposal to try to get both sides to that table so this war will end,” he added.

Earlier on Monday, Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff said he expected “substantial progress” during the negotiations.

Asked whether he thought Zelensky would return to the US to sign a minerals deal later in the week, he told Fox News: “I am really hopeful. All the signs are very, very positive.”

Zelensky has previously said he is willing to sign a minerals deal with the US, which would establish a joint fund from the sale of Ukrainian minerals.

Witkoff said that among the issues to be discussed in Saudi Arabia were security protocols for the Ukrainians and territorial issues.

He said the US administration had never shut off intelligence sharing for anything defensive that Ukraine needed, while on Sunday Trump told Fox News that he had “just about” lifted the intelligence sharing pause on Ukraine.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also spoke to Trump ahead of the talks, Downing Street said.

“The Prime Minister said he hoped there would be a positive outcome to the talks that would enable US aid and intelligence-sharing to be restarted,” the spokeswoman said.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently holds around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea which it annexed in 2014.

Netanyahu praised US President Donald Trump’s “bold vision” for Gaza’s future and said he and Rubio had discussed ways to “ensure that future becomes a reality”.

Trump’s much-criticised plan for the US to take over Gaza and resettle its population, has been ruled out by Palestinians and Arab nations.

Rubio said the plan may have “shocked and surprised” people, but that it took “courage” for Trump to propose an alternative to the “tired ideas” of the past.

Rubio is visiting Israel on his first tour of the Middle East as the US’s top diplomat. He also plans to meet Russian officials in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at a news conference in Jerusalem after their meeting, Rubio and Netanyahu outlined areas of agreement, including a desire to eradicate Hamas’s governing capacity, prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, and to monitor developments in a post-Assad Syria.

Netanyahu also condemned what he called “lawfare” from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which he said “outrageously libelled” Israel.

He thanked the US administration for issuing sanctions against the ICC, which last year issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza – which Israel denies – as well as a top Hamas commander.

The US and Israel had a common position on Gaza, Netanyahu said, as he warned that the “gates of hell” would be opened if all Israeli hostages were not released.

“Hamas can not continue as a military or government force,” Rubio added. “And as long as it stands as a force that can govern or administer or a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible.”

Rubio’s visit comes after a shipment of American-made heavy bombs arrived in Israel overnight.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said his country had received a delivery of MK-84 bombs from the US late on Saturday, after Trump overturned a block on exporting the munitions placed by his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Biden initially shipped thousands of MK-84s to Israel after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack, but later declined to clear the bombs for export out of concern for their impact on Gaza. The powerful 2,000-pound bombs have a wide blast radius and can rip through concrete and metal, destroying entire buildings.

Katz said the shipment represented a “significant asset” for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and served as evidence of the “strong alliance between Israel and the United States”.

Fears had been high that the fragile ceasefire agreement in Gaza could collapse, after a dispute over a planned hostage release, which was nearly aborted but ultimately went ahead on Saturday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since rowed back on his department’s claim, but called the fee for American vessels “absurd” due to a treaty binding the US to protect the canal if it comes under attack.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced his desire to regain control of the waterway since taking office and has refused to rule out retaking it by force. He is due to speak with Mulino on Friday.

The Panama Canal is a 51-mile (82km) passage that links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Central American country.

All vessels are required to pay a fee, based on size and type, for crossing the waterway but US ships have priority of passage.

In a post on X on Wednesday, the State Department wrote: “U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars a year.”

Mulino reacted to the statement by saying he rejects “this method of managing bilateral relations on the basis of lies and falsehoods.”

He said he asked his ambassador in Washington to take “firm steps” to reject the claim, calling it “simply and plainly intolerable.”

Mulino added that US government vessels, including navy vessels, paid “$6-7m [£4.8-5.6m] a year” for the right of passage.

“It’s not as if the canal toll is breaking the economy of the United States,” he added.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) also made a statement saying it had “not made any adjustment” to tolls, adding that it was open to establishing a dialogue.

After Rubio and Mulino’s meeting, Panama announced it would not renew its membership of China’s infrastructure-building programme, known as the Belt and Road Initiative.

Rubio welcomed this move, calling it “a great step forward”, though Panama denied that the decision had been made at the request of the US.

Trump has expressed fears that China could close the canal to the US in the event of a crisis – something Panama and China have strongly denied.

On Wednesday, China’s Foreign Affairs spokesman, Lin Jian, said its partnership with Panama was yielding “fruitful results” and urged the country to “resist external interferences.”

Rubio met the canal’s administrator, Ricaurte Vásquez Morales alongside Mulino on Sunday. America’s top diplomat demanded that Panama make “immediate changes” to China’s “influence and control” over the waterway.

This echoed Trump’s inaugural address, where he stated that the canal was being operated by China and he wanted to “take it back.”

Mulino has denied these allegations and rejected the plan, saying that the trade route “is and will remain” in Panama’s hands.

The US built the canal in the early 20th Century but, after years of protest, President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty with Panama in 1977 to gradually hand back control of the waterway. Trump has called this “a big mistake” since returning to office.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been on a tour of Central America to discuss migration and drug trafficking in the region.

Rubio’s statement responding to Mulino’s accusation of US “lies” was given at his last stop, the Dominican Republic.

It follows Trump’s suggestion that the US could “take over” Gaza and resettle around two million Palestinians living there – an idea that has drawn criticism from the UN, human rights groups and Arab leaders.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt further clarified Trump’s comments, saying the US was not planning to put “boots on the ground” in the territory.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said Gazans “should be allowed to enjoy freedom of exit and immigration”, but gave few details on how this would work.

On a trip to Guatemala, Marco Rubio said Trump’s proposal was not “hostile”, but a “generous move”, showing “the willingness of the United States to become responsible for the reconstruction of that area”.

He said the idea was for Gazans to leave the territory for an “interim” period while debris was cleared and reconstruction took place.

Under international law, attempts to forcibly transfer populations from occupied territory are strictly prohibited.

Meanwhile, Karoline Leavitt told journalists at the White House on Wednesday that the president was committed to rebuilding Gaza and “temporarily” relocating its residents during the process.

Trump said on Tuesday the displacement would be permanent.

Leavitt also said the president had not committed to putting “boots on the ground” in the territory but declined to rule out the use of US troops there.

Her comments come after Trump proposed taking control of the Gaza Strip and redeveloping it into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said on Tuesday during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the idea “worth paying attention to”.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz also praised Trump’s proposal, adding that Gazans “should be allowed to enjoy freedom of exit and immigration” by land, sea or air.

He said countries like Spain, Ireland and Norway – critics of the war – “are legally obligated to allow every Gazan resident to enter their territory”.

He did not explain how the proposal would work – or whether Gazans would be able to return after reconstruction.

Spain’s foreign minister has rejected the suggestion.

The deal was announced after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele during his visit to the central American nation.

Bukele – whose iron-fist approach to gangs has won him plaudits from voters but been heavily criticised by human rights groups – said he had offered the US “the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system”.

Rubio said the US was “profoundly grateful” to Bukele, adding that “no country’s ever made an offer of friendship such as this”.

Rubio told reporters: “He has offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals in custody in our country, including those with US citizenship and legal residency.”

Referring to two of the region’s most notorious transnational crime gangs, Rubio added that El Salvador would also take in deported migrants and “criminals from any nationality, be the MS-13 or Tren de Aragua”.

Bukele later confirmed the offer on X, specifying that “we are willing to take in only convicted criminals (including convicted US citizens) into our mega-prison (CECOT) in exchange for a fee”.

He added that “the fee would be relatively low for the US but significant for us, making our entire prison sustainable”.

Since he came into office in 2019, Bukele has made cracking down on crime his government’s priority.

The newly built maximum-security jail he referred to, Cecot [Terrorism Confinement Centre], is at the centre of his drive to lock up and punish the most violent gang members.

The government celebrated the opening of the jail – which it says can hold up to 40,000 inmates – by releasing photos and videos of shaven-headed and tattooed prisoners stripped down to the waist being frogmarched along its corridors

The treatment of inmates at Cecot, where scores of inmates are locked up in each windowless cell, has been criticised by rights groups.

But Bukele’s crackdown on crime continues to be very popular with the vast majority of Salvadoreans who say they can go about their lives without threats from gang members for the first time in years.

However, some relatives of the tens of thousands of people which have been rounded up and jailed under emergency measures brought in by Bukele say their loved ones have been wrongfully rounded up in sweeping police round-ups.

Amnesty International has criticised the “gradual replacement of gang violence with state violence” in the country – a criticism dismissed by Bukele, who points out that his hardline approach to crime last February won him re-election to a second term with more than 84% of the vote.

El Salvador was the second stop on Secretary of State Rubio’s first overseas tour as the US top diplomat.

His first stop was Panama, where he demanded that Panama make “immediate changes” to what he called the “influence and control” of China over the Panama Canal.

On Tuesday, he will hold meetings with officials in Costa Rica and Guatemala expected to focus on migration as well as countering Chinese influence in the region.

Since coming to office, US President Donald Trump has focused on speeding up the removal of undocumented migrants, with the promise of “mass deportations”.

America’s top diplomat said Panama must act or the US would take necessary measures to protect its rights under a treaty between the two countries.

The warning follows President Donald Trump’s vow to retake the canal and a meeting between Rubio and Jose Raul Mulino, Panama’s conservative president, in Panama City on Sunday.

The two men appeared to emerge from their two-hour meeting with different interpretations.

Mulino told reporters he did not see a serious threat of US military force to seize the canal, saying he had proposed technical-level talks with the US to address Mr Trump’s concerns about Chinese influence.

However, Trump’s vow to retake the canal has sparked a significant backlash in Panama. Protesters in Panama City on Friday burned effigies of Trump and Rubio.

Riot police moved in on another crowd of demonstrators, firing tear gas and wrestling people away. The clashes were small-scale, but the resistance to the US president’s stance is widely felt.

On Thursday, Mulino said the issue of the canal’s ownership would not be up for discussion with Rubio.

“I cannot negotiate or even open a negotiation process about the canal. It’s sealed, the canal belongs to Panama,” he said.

Mr Trump’s comments about the canal included an unfounded claim that Chinese soldiers are operating it. He also said American ships were unfairly charged more than others, despite the fact such a practice would be unlawful under treaty agreements.

The waterway is in fact owned and operated by the Panamanian government, under a neutrality treaty signed with the US decades ago. However, Chinese companies have invested heavily in ports and terminals near the canal. A Hong Kong based company runs two of the five ports close to its entrances.

But President Trump’s muscular approach – even refusing to rule out military action to take the canal – has aroused a strongly patriotic reaction in the small strategic nation.

“It’s ridiculous,” says Panama City resident Mari, who asked not to have her surname published.

“There’s a treaty that he has to respect, and there’s nothing in the treaty that says that we cannot have ports run by the Chinese,” she told the BBC, pointing out that there is Chinese investment in American ports and cities.

Surrounded by tourists and stalls hawking Panama hats and souvenirs, Mari explained that many residents have strong memories of US control of the canal and don’t want to go back.

The US and Panama signed a treaty in 1979, starting a handover process that saw Panama take full control of the canal in 1999.

“We could not cross into the canal zone without being arrested if we didn’t follow all the American rules. The minute you stepped across that border, you were in the United States,” Mari said.

“We had no rights within our own country, and we will not put up with that again… We are very insulted by [Trump’s] words.”

For some, Trump’s refusal to rule out the use of military force has also triggered suspicion and fear. It evokes memories of the 1989 US invasion of Panama to depose de facto ruler General Manuel Noriega, a conflict that lasted several weeks and rapidly overwhelmed Panamanian forces.

“I was the political leader of the opposition when Noriega said he was going to kill all the leaders of the opposition if the US were to invade,” recalled former Panama congressman Edwin Cabrera, speaking to the BBC by the locks of the canal’s Pacific entrance.

“I heard the bombs and started seeing people dying… The only thing President Trump and Rubio have left to say is that they will invade us,” he told the BBC. “I wouldn’t like to live that again in the 21st Century, relive the imperial experience. Panama is in the middle of war between two powers, the USA and China, while we are looking at the sky.”

Marco Rubio is the first Hispanic Secretary of State and is well known for his hawkish positions on some leaders in the region and on China. While Panama closely co-operates with the US on many issues, Mr Rubio’s visit is meant to signal the administration’s intolerance of countries soaking up Chinese investment in what the US sees as its own backyard.

In Panama, he claims China could ultimately use its interests at the ports to block US merchant or war ships in the event of a conflict or trade war.

“If China wanted to obstruct traffic in the Panama Canal, they could. That’s a fact… That’s what President Trump is raising and we’re going to address that topic… That dynamic cannot continue,” Mr Rubio said on The Megyn Kelly Show last week.

Despite the overwhelming support among ordinary Panamanians for their country’s ownership of the canal, some remain sceptical of their own leadership, arguing profits from the waterway don’t filter through to enough ordinary Panamanians.

“What you see here – that the United States and Donald Trump want to take back the canal – that’s what we call cause and effect,” says Andre Howell, a hotel worker in the historic centre of Panama City.

“They’re not administrating the Panama Canal the right way… No Panamanians have [the] benefits,” he said.

Kicking off his five-nation tour of the region, Rubio is expected to tour Panama’s strategic waterway and meet President Jose Raul Mulino on Sunday.

“It’s no accident that my first trip abroad as secretary of state will keep me in the hemisphere,” he wrote in a Wall Street Journal column on Friday.

The canal is a crucial link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and coasts, with 40 percent of US container traffic going through it.

Trump has refused to rule out military force to seize the Panama Canal, which the US handed over at the end of 1999, saying China has exerted too much control through its investment in surrounding ports.

In his inaugural address last month, Trump said the US will be “taking it back”, and refused to back down on Friday. “They’ve already offered to do many things,” Trump said of Panama, “but we think it’s appropriate that we take it back.”

He alleged that Panama was taking down Chinese-language signs to cover up how “they have totally violated the agreement” on the canal. “Marco Rubio is going over to talk to the gentleman that’s in charge,” Trump told reporters.

Rubio’s mission also comes on the heels of Trump-imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, and the freezing of nearly all US foreign aid – moves that signal a far more aggressive foreign policy.

Panama’s President Mulino has ruled out negotiating with the US over ownership of the canal. He said he hoped Rubio’s visit would instead focus on shared interests like migration and combating drug trafficking.

“It’s impossible, I can’t negotiate,” Mulino said on Thursday. “The canal belongs to Panama.”

Yet Rubio said he would make Trump’s intent clear. In an interview on Thursday with SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly, he said Trump’s desire is driven by legitimate national security interests stemming from growing concerns about Chinese activity and influence in Latin America.

“We are going to address that topic,” said Rubio. “The president’s been pretty clear he wants to administer the canal again. Obviously, the Panamanians are not big fans of that idea. That message has been brought very clear.”

Despite Mulino’s rejection of any negotiation, some believe Panama may be open to a compromise under which canal operations on both sides are taken away from the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports company.

What is unclear is whether Trump would accept the transfer of the concession to an American or European firm as meeting his demands, which appear to cover more than just operations.

“In some ways, Trump is pushing on an open door,” said Ryan Berg, director of the Americas programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, DC-based think tank. “But it will depend on how his red lines are defined.”

“There’s been a lot of heavy rhetoric and it will be up [to] Rubio to clarify it,” he said.