On Tuesday, June 3, 2018, this is the current situation:
Fighting
- At least five people were killed in eastern Ukraine, which is primarily occupied by Russia, according to Ukrainian officials as a result of fighting and shelling along the front line of the conflict.
- According to Russian-installed officials, power was cut out for the entire Zaporizhia region as a result of Ukrainian shelling and drone attacks on important infrastructure in the Russian-occupied regions of southeast Ukraine.
- According to the Russian-installed officials, similar attacks destroyed electrical substations in the nearby Kherson region, causing power loss for 100, 000 residents and 150 towns and villages.
- According to Russian officials who occupy the site, there hasn’t been any impact on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which is Europe’s largest nuclear facility. The station is currently in “stop” mode.
Ceasefire
- Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul agreed to exchange thousands of prisoners’ remains and the remains of 6, 000 fallen soldiers, but there was little progress in the talks. All soldiers who are injured in combat and those who are between 18 and 25 will also be included in the agreement.
- Russia introduced a memorandum during the discussions to end Ukraine’s hostility. Terms include Kyiv halting efforts to mobilize its citizens against Russia’s invasion of the four annexations in September 2022, a freeze on Kyiv importing Western weapons, and a withdrawal by Ukrainian forces from those countries that Russian forces failed to completely capture.
- Additionally, the Russian document recommends that Ukraine ratify martial law and hold elections before the two nations can sign a comprehensive peace treaty.
- According to the memorandum, Ukraine must abandon its bid to join NATO, establish limits on the size of its armed forces, and grant Russian the same status as Ukrainian as its official language.
- Ukraine, which has previously rejected Moscow’s demands, announced that it would spend the next week reviewing the memorandum and suggested starting a new conversation on June 20 and 30.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are “open” to a three-way summit, according to the White House.
- Following the discussions, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff stated in a post on Telegram that he did not believe Moscow desired a ceasefire. The Russians are “doing everything” to keep the war going. He wrote that “new sanctions are now very significant.”
Sanctions
- If peace negotiations continue to drag on, the US Senate announced it would begin working on additional rounds of sanctions against Russia and against its trading partners.
- Countries that purchase Russian exports, including oil, gas, and uranium, could face 500 percent tariffs. The two biggest energy consumers in Moscow, India and China, would be hit by the tariffs.
- Senators “stand ready to give President Trump any tools he needs to finally bring Russia to the table in a real way,” according to US Senate Majority Leader John Thune.