Category World News

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has indicated that he is open to the prospect of direct talks with Ukraine.

Putin told Russian state TV on Monday that he had a “positive attitude towards any peace initiatives” and that he hoped Kyiv would “feel the same way”.

Moscow and Kyiv have held no bilateral talks since the immediate aftermath of Russia’s February 2022 invasion. However, the United States has been raising the pressure on them to agree to a ceasefire.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin’s comments, following the expiry of a 30-hour Easter truce – which each side accused the other of violating – meant he was open to direct talks.

“When the president said that it was possible to discuss the issue of not striking civilian targets, including bilaterally, the president had in mind negotiations and discussions with the Ukrainian side,” said Peskov, quoted by Russia’s Interfax news agency.

While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not respond directly to Putin’s proposal, he signalled in his nightly video address that Ukraine was “ready for any conversation” about a ceasefire that would stop attacks on civilians.

Now, after Easter, the whole world can clearly see the real issue — the real reason why the hostilities continue. Russia is the source of this war. It is from Moscow that a real order must come for the Russian army to cease fire. And if there is no such firm Russian order for… pic. twitter. com/jS9cTiRQqd

On Sunday, Zelenskyy had proposed a follow-up to the truce that would “cease any strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for a period of at least 30 days”.

Putin said Russia would “analyse everything and take the corresponding decisions” but questioned how it would work, as he accused Ukraine of using civilian buildings such as restaurants and universities for military purposes.

Zelenskyy pressed Putin further on Monday, saying Ukraine stood by its offer – “at the very least, not to strike civilian infrastructure” – and that he expected a “clear answer” from Moscow.

The possibility of direct talks comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to walk away from efforts to broker a ceasefire unless progress is made. At the same time, he continued on Monday to express hope that a deal is close and could even be reached this week.

Negotiators from the US, Ukraine, United Kingdom and France are due to meet in London on Wednesday for another round of talks on ending the war, Zelenskyy said.

The discussions are a follow-up to a similar meeting in Paris last week.

Amid the push for an end to the fighting, in which Trump appears ready to accept many of Moscow’s demands and gains, Russia is eager to press home its military advantage on the battlefield.

Ukraine’s air force reported another overnight barrage on Tuesday, with Russia launching 54 drones.

Meanwhile, Russian media said the military had retaken the Gornal St Nicholas Belogorsky Monastery, one of the last positions held by Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region.

The Detroit Pistons snapped their NBA-record 15-game playoff losing streak with a 100-94 victory over the New York Knicks to level their Eastern Conference first-round series at one game apiece.

Detroit’s Cade Cunningham scored 33 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Dennis Schroder added 20 points off the bench, including a go-ahead three-pointer with 55. 7 seconds left, as the Pistons thwarted the Knicks’ fourth quarter rally on Monday.

The Pistons, in the playoffs for the first time since 2019, notched their first playoff victory since Game 4 of the 2008 Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics.

Two days after the Knicks authored a 21-0 scoring run to rally in Game 1, the Pistons were pushed to the finish in a fast-paced, physical encounter at Madison Square Garden.

They led by as many as 15 in the third quarter, but the Knicks had cut the deficit to eight going into the final period.

New York star Jalen Brunson scored 14 of his 37 points in the fourth and fed Josh Hart for a dunk that tied it at 94-94 with 1:15 to play.

But Schroder answered immediately, drilling a three-pointer that put the Pistons ahead for good.

The Knicks came up empty on three straight possessions, while Schroder and Jalen Duren connected at the free throw line to seal Detroit’s win.

Detroit’s Tobias Harris scored 15 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, and Duren had 12 points and 13 boards.

Mikal Bridges scored 19 for the Knicks as Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby were held to 10 apiece.

“We did what we were supposed to do. And that was it,” said Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff, whose team hosts Game 3 on Thursday. “To win a game on the road to get home court was what we came here for.

“So we approached it with a businesslike mentality, learned from the fourth quarter the other night. But we just did what we were supposed to do. ”

Leonard dominates Nuggets

Kawhi Leonard scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the visiting Los Angeles Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets 105-102 on Monday to level their Western Conference first-round playoff series at one win apiece.

Denver’s Christian Braun and Nikola Jokic missed three-point attempts to end the game. Jokic wound up with a triple-double.

James Harden added 18 points, Ivica Zubac contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Norman Powell scored 13 points for Los Angeles.

Leonard, 33, bounced back from a seven-turnover performance in the opener on Saturday, a 112-110 Denver win in overtime. He hit his first six shots on Monday, missed a pull-up jumper early in the second quarter and did not miss again until early in the fourth.

“Tough fight,” Leonard said postgame on TNT. “This is what the playoffs are about. ”

The best-of-seven series shifts to California for Game 3 on Thursday in Inglewood.

Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestinian activist who has been detained in the United States pending his deportation, has missed the birth of his son after being refused temporary release to attend the birth, his wife has said.

Noor Abdalla said on Monday that she gave birth to the couple’s first child in New York without Khalil present after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement made the “purposeful decision” to make her family suffer.

“My son and I should not be navigating his first days on earth without Mahmoud,” Abdalla, a US citizen, said in a statement.

“ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom. ”

“I will continue to fight every day for Mahmoud to come home to us,” Abdalla added.

“I know when Mahmoud is freed, he will show our son how to be brave, thoughtful, and compassionate, just like his dad. ”

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University who played a prominent role in last year’s campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, was detained by immigration authorities on March 8 as part of US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism.

The Trump administration is seeking to deport Khalil, who is being detained at an ICE facility in Louisiana, claiming that his advocacy has undermined US efforts to “combat anti-Semitism” and “protect Jewish students from harassment and violence”.

Khalil, who is a permanent US resident, has denied engaging in anti-Semitism.

An immigration judge in Louisiana earlier this month ruled that the Trump administration could proceed with deportation proceedings against Khalil, finding that the government had “established by clear and convincing evidence that he is removable”.