Guardian obtains memorandum of intent to be signed by Ukraine and US
Luke Harding
The Guardian has obtained the memorandum of intent to be signed next week by Ukraine and the US over a minerals deal. It envisages setting up a joint investment fund between the two countries. The draft recognises the “significant financial and material support” Washington has given Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale 2022 invasion.
It does not clarify whether profits from future investments will be used to “pay back” the US for previous military aid made under the Biden administration. Donald Trump says Ukraine “owes” the US at least $300bn. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says weapons deliveries were a Congress-approved grant, not a loan, and therefore do not need to be paid back. He adds that Ukraine is willing to pay for future military aid from the Trump administration.
Key events
Closing summary
It is approaching 6pm in Kyiv and Moscow. This blog will be closing shortly. You can keep up to date on the Guardian’s Russia-Ukraine coverage here.
Here is a summary of the updates from today’s live blog:
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Top US officials gave mixed signals about the prospect of a Ukraine ceasefire on Friday, bringing uncertainty to the peace process. US secretary of state Marco Rubio warned Washington would “move on” from peace talks unless it saw progress soon. But speaking on a trip to Italy, US vice-president JD Vance said he was “optimistic” about ending the three-year war.
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A 30-day moratorium on striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure ordered by Russian president Vladimir Putin last month has “expired”, the Kremlin said on Friday. Russia announced the truce on 18 March after a call between Putin and US president Donald Trump, but both Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of repeatedly breaking it.
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The Guardian has obtained the memorandum of intent to be signed next week by Ukraine and the US over a minerals deal. It envisages setting up a joint investment fund between the two countries. The draft recognises the “significant financial and material support” Washington has given Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale 2022 invasion. You can read the full text of the memorandum below and also here:
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Beijing on Friday denied giving any party in the Ukraine war lethal weapons, after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed he had “information” that China was supplying arms to Russia. “The Chinese side has never provided lethal weapons to any party in the conflict, and strictly controls dual-use items,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
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The Kremlin said on Friday that some progress had already been made in talks about a possible peace settlement to end the war in Ukraine but that contacts were rather complicated with the United States. “Contacts are quite complicated, because, naturally, the topic is not an easy one,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
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A Russian drone strike early on Friday hit a bakery in northern Ukraine where traditional Easter cakes were being prepared, killing one man, Ukrainian officials said. Images shared by Ukrainian emergency services, which said they were filmed at the scene of the strike in the city of Sumy, showed trays of Easter cakes covered in grey dust, and a smashed window nearby. The victim was a local businessman who was at the bakery to collect his order when the drone struck at 5am (3am BST), according to Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha.
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Air attacks on the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy have “increased dramatically” over the past two months, Oleg Strilka, spokesperson for the Ukrainian emergency services in the city, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). Zelenskyy has warned that Russia is preparing a new offensive on the Sumy region.
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A Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s north-eastern city of Kharkiv killed one person and injured 82 others, including six children, on Friday morning, officials said. The strikes damaged apartment buildings, an educational institution and a business, according to the emergency services. “This is how Russia began this Good Friday – with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, Shaheds – maiming our people and cities,” Zelenskyy said on X.
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Kyiv said on Friday it had received the bodies of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers killed during battles with Russia, the second such patriation in the space of three weeks. “As a result of repatriation activities, the bodies of 909 fallen Ukrainian defenders were returned to Ukraine,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, a government agency, said in a statement on social media.
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Russia’s defence ministry on Friday accused Ukraine of attacking Russian energy facilities four times during the past 24 hours despite a US-brokered moratorium on striking each other’s energy infrastructure. Each side accuses the other of violating the moratorium.
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Ukraine on Friday imposed sanctions on three Chinese entities, a presidential decree showed. The sanctions list, which also includes Russian companies, names Beijing Aviation And Aerospace Xianghui Technology Co. Ltd, Rui Jin Machinery Co. Ltd, and Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Xining Co. Ltd, all registered in China.
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Russian forces attacked key drone-making facilities in Ukraine on Friday morning and captured Valentynivka in eastern Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry said. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.
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A no-fly zone order has been put in place over the Sandringham estate after drones were spotted flying in the area last month while Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the royal residence. Security services requested the restrictions, which were put in place to protect “members of the royal family and other dignitaries”, days after King Charles hosted the Ukrainian president on 2 March at the Norfolk estate. They came into force just over a week later on 10 March.
Air attacks on the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy have “increased dramatically” over the past two months, Oleg Strilka, spokesperson for the Ukrainian emergency services in the city, has told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
From his bar at the corner of the street, Roman Vitkovsky told AFP the mood had changed among his customers and friends. He said:
There are people who haven’t left this whole time, who have been walking with their children along these streets in the city centre. Because the attack was in the city centre, they are 1744995933 packing.
He told AFP that he would stay. “They are increasing the pressure. [But] it seems to me that if they have taken three years to go 50 kilometres in Donetsk, and we have 35 kilometres here, then we have some time,” he said, referencing Russia’s slow, grinding advance across the rest of the frontline.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia is preparing a new offensive on the Sumy region.
The regional capital is 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the border and was the military base for Ukraine’s offensive into Russia’s Kursk region last summer.
Moscow has since squeezed Ukraine out of all but a sliver of land there and pushed on, with the army saying it has captured some Ukrainian border villages – claims rejected by Kyiv.
AFP analysis of Institute for the Study of War data shows Russia controls about 95 square kilometres of the Sumy region – up from practically nothing at the start of the year.
Top US officials gave mixed signals about the prospect of a Ukraine ceasefire on Friday, bringing uncertainty to the peace process just as Russia abandoned a moratorium on striking Ukrainian energy targets, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
US secretary of state Marco Rubio warned Washington would “move on” from peace talks unless it saw progress soon. But speaking on a trip to Italy, US vice-president JD Vance said he was “optimistic” about ending the three-year war.
President Donald Trump has been pressing both Moscow and Kyiv to agree a truce, but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin, despite repeated negotiations between his administration and Russia.
One of the few commitments Trump had wrangled from Russia – a temporary moratorium on striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure – “expired” on Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in response to an AFP question.
Moscow has kept up strikes on Ukraine, killing at least two people and injuring dozens more in attacks on the north-eastern regions of Kharkiv and Sumy, Ukrainian officials said.
After meeting European officials in Paris to discuss a ceasefire, Rubio said Washington needed to figure out soon whether a ceasefire was “doable in the short term”. “Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on,” he told reporters.
Moments later, Vance said he did not want to prejudge the negotiations, but declared he was “optimistic” about the chances of peace.
Sammy Gecsoyler
A no-fly zone order has been put in place over the Sandringham estate after drones were spotted flying in the area last month while Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the royal residence.
Security services requested the restrictions, which were put in place to protect “members of the royal family and other dignitaries”, days after King Charles hosted the Ukrainian president on 2 March at the Norfolk estate. They came into force just over a week later on 10 March.
The move reportedly came after drones flying over the estate sparked a security scare on the weekend of Zelenskyy’s arrival. The Sun reported that one drone was traced to a man sitting in a car nearby and another to a photographer. Other drones reportedly remain unaccounted for.
The UK transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, signed off on the order that restricts aircraft from flying below 2,000ft (600 metres) at Sandringham “for reasons of public safety” and to ensure the security of “royal family and other dignitaries staying at or visiting Sandringham House”.
The order states:
These regulations impose restrictions on flying in the vicinity of Sandringham House, Norfolk.
In view of the need for security for members of the royal family and other dignitaries staying at or visiting Sandringham House and at the request of the security services, it has been agreed by the Civil Aviation Authority and the Department for Transport that flying should be restricted in the vicinity of that location for reasons of public safety and security.
Royal flights, visitors’ aircraft and police and emergency services are exempted from the order.
Zelenskyy arrived at Sandringham House by helicopter from London last month, shortly after he attended UK prime minister Keir Starmer’s summit for European leaders.
Here are some images coming in via the newswires today:
Launched as a powerful statement days after Russia’s 2022 invasion, Ukraine’s bid for EU membership faces hardening opposition from Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Next week, Orban’s government plans to send out ballots inviting Hungarians to vote for or against Ukraine’s EU membership.
The consultative vote carries no legal weight but it is similar to others he has used to legitimise his Eurosceptic positions.
US vice-president JD Vance meets with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni at Chigi Palace in Rome, Italy.
It is expected Ukraine peace talks will be on the agenda for their meeting today.
Russia’s defence ministry on Friday accused Ukraine of attacking Russian energy facilities four times during the past 24 hours despite a US-brokered moratorium on striking each other’s energy infrastructure.
Each side accuses the other of violating the moratorium.
Vance ‘optimistic’ US can end war, he says at Meloni meeting
Angela Giuffrida
The US is optimistic that it can end “the very brutal war” between Russia and Ukraine, vice-president JD Vance said before a bilateral meeting with the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Friday.
The meeting comes less than 24 hours after the pair met in Washington.
“I want to update the prime minister on some of the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine … even in the past 24 hours, we think we have some interesting things to report on,” Vance said.
“Since there are the negotiations I won’t prejudge them, but we do feel optimistic that we can hopefully bring this war, this very brutal war, to a close.”
His comments came a few hours after the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said president Donald Trump would walk away from trying to clinch a Russia-Ukraine peace deal within days unless there were clear signs that one could be done.
Vance, who is in the Italian capital for the Easter weekend, added that the talks with Meloni would also focus on “trade negotiations, not only between Italy and the US but also with the EU.”
After the meeting, the pair will have lunch with the Italian deputy prime ministers, Matteo Salvini and Antonio Tajani.
Meloni, who has long nurtured friendly relations with Trump’s Make America Great Again (Maga) militants, was the first European leader to meet the US president since he paused some of his planned trade tariffs hikes.
She said Trump had accepted an invitation to Rome, a trip that could happen “in the near future” and could present an opportunity for him to meet other European leaders.
Vance will also meet Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state.
Kyiv said on Friday it had received the bodies of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers killed during battles with Russia, the second such patriation in the space of three weeks.
“As a result of repatriation activities, the bodies of 909 fallen Ukrainian defenders were returned to Ukraine,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, a government agency, said in a statement on social media, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Full text of US-Ukraine memorandum of intent for minerals deal
On Thursday Ukraine and the United States signed a memorandum of intent (see 9.21am BST), confirming their intent to conclude a deal on jointly developing Ukrainian natural resources.
Here is the full text posted on Friday on the website of the Ukrainian government, and provided to us by Reuters:
Memorandium of intent between the government of the United States of America and the government of Ukraine to finalise formal agreement on economic partnership and reconstruction investment fund
Whereas the United States of America has provided significant financial and material support Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022;
Whereas the American people desire to invest alongside the Ukrainian people in a free, sovereign and secure Ukraine;
Whereas the United States of America and Ukraine desire a lasting peace in Ukraine and a durable partnership between their two peoples and governments;
Whereas the United States of America and Ukraine recognise the contribution that Ukraine has made to strengthen international peace and security by voluntarily relinquishing the world’s third largest arsenal of nuclear weapons;
Whereas the United States of America and Ukraine intend to establish a reconstruction investment fund as part of an economic partnership between the two peoples and governments;
Whereas the United States of America and Ukraine have held highly productive technical discussions in Washington DC. as recently as 11-12 April 2025, in order to finalize negotiation of an agreement to establish a reconstruction investment fund;
Whereas the United States respects Ukraine s intention to avoid conflicts in the drafting of the agreement with Ukraine’s obligations under European Union accession or agreements with international financial institutions and other official creditors;
Whereas, without prejudice to any remaining political or legal procedures required to complete the arrangement, Ukrainian prime minister Shmyhal will visit Washington DC. the week of 21 April 2025, to meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent and lend high-level support to the conclusion of technical discussions on the terms of an agreement establishing a reconstruction investment fund. Negotiating teams are expected to report on the progress by the 26 April 2025, with the aim of completing discussions by that date and signing as soon as possible; and
Now, therefore, as evidenced by the signatures set forth below, the government of the United States and the government of Ukraine enter into this memorandum of Intent to work expeditiously towards the completion of the necessary documents in order to finalize the agreement forging an economic partnership between the American and Ukrainian peoples and establishing a reconstruction investment fund.
This memorandum of Intent may be signed in two or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, and all of which shall be deemed one instrument.
Ukraine imposes sanctions on three Chinese entities, decree says
Ukraine on Friday imposed sanctions on three Chinese entities, a presidential decree showed, reports Reuters.
The sanctions list, which also includes Russian companies, names Beijing Aviation And Aerospace Xianghui Technology Co. Ltd, Rui Jin Machinery Co. Ltd, and Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Xining Co. Ltd, all registered in China.
Russian forces attacked key drone-making facilities in Ukraine on Friday morning and captured Valentynivka in eastern Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry said.
Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.
Washington will abandon its efforts to broker a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine “within days” unless there are clear signs a settlement can be reached, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said.
Kyiv has said it has signed a memorandum with the US over a controversial minerals deal. After meeting European and Ukrainian leaders, Rubio said Donald Trump was still interested in a deal but that the US president had many other priorities and was willing to move on unless there were signs of progress.
You can hear Rubio’s comments in this video:
Putin’s order not to hit Ukraine energy targets has ‘expired’, says the Kremlin
A 30-day moratorium on striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure ordered by Russian president Vladimir Putin last month has “expired”, the Kremlin said on Friday.
Russia announced the truce on 18 March after a call between Putin and US president Donald Trump, but both Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of repeatedly breaking it.
“The month has indeed expired,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a briefing call, in response to a question by Agence France-Presse (AFP). He added:
As of this time, there have been no other instructions from the supreme commander-in-chief, president Putin.
The short-lived moratorium was one of the few commitments Trump had wrangled from Russia in his attempt to broker a ceasefire in the three-year conflict.
Putin rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for an unconditional and full ceasefire put to him before.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was never serious about the moratorium and that Moscow was continuing to strike Ukraine’s energy targets “despite Putin’s words”.
