Russia today said it will go ahead with plans to hold naval exercises near North Korea in June despite rising tensions between the two Koreas.

The exercises were planned before a report of international investigators last week found North Korea responsible for the March sinking of a South Korean warship, in which 46 sailors died.

Russia maintains ties with North Korea.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Igor Lyakin-Frolov today said that Moscow needs "100 percent proof" that North Korea sank the ship.

compiled from agency reports

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country will abide by a 30-hour Easter cease-fire called by Moscow, but he accused Russia of already violating the truce by launching drone and artillery attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Separately, Kyiv and Moscow announced a major swap of prisoners-of-war on April 19, with more than 200 men being exchanged by each side

On the battlefield, Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had pushed Ukrainian troops from one of the last remaining villages they held in the Kursk region, which Ukraine had invaded more than eight months ago.

Kyiv had no immediate comment on the claim about retaking the Kursk region village of Oleshnya, on the border with Ukraine.

If confirmed, however, it would move Russian troops closer to fully expelling Ukrainian troops from Kursk, which has been a persistent embarrassment for the Kremlin.

With Orthodox and Western Easter falling on the same day -- April 20 -- this year, Putin used a televised meeting with his top military commander to announce he was calling a two-day truce.

The cease-fire, Putin said, would begin at 5 p.m. Prague time and run until midnight on Eastern Sunday, April 20.

“We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example," he said while meeting General Valery Gerasimov.

"At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel any possible violations of the truce or provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions."

Zelenskyy quickly labeled the call "yet another attempt by Putin to play with human lives."

Attack "drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true attitude toward Easter and toward human life," Zelenskyy said in a post to X.

Zelenskyy said the short timeframe for the truce indicated Putin was not serious about ending the fighting and suggested the cease-fire be extended for 30 days instead.

“If Russia is now suddenly ready to truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly — mirroring Russia’s actions,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.

"If the complete cease-fire truly holds, Ukraine proposes an extension beyond April 20," Zelensky wrote.

“That is what will reveal Russia’s true intentions — because 30 hours is enough to make headlines, but not for genuine confidence-building measures. Thirty days could give peace a chance,” the Ukrainian leader added.

Anitta Hipper, the European Commission's lead spokesperson for foreign affairs and security, said that "Russia has a track record as an aggressor, so first we need to see any actual halt of the aggression and clear deeds for a lasting cease-fire."

"Russia could stop this war at any moment if it really wanted to...We continue to support Ukraine for a long, just and comprehensive peace," she added.

Putin's proposal follows signals from US President Donald Trump and other US officials complaining about the slow progress in talks to resolve the Ukraine war, now in its fourth year.

Trump on April 18 said the Ukraine and Russia talks are “coming to a head” and he insisted that neither side is “playing” him in his push to end the conflict.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, warned that the United States may “move on” from trying to secure a peace deal if there is no progress in coming days.

Putin has made holiday cease-fire proposals in the past. In January 2023, Putin ordered a 36-hour cease-fire for Orthodox Christmas. Zelenskyy dismissed the Russian call as playing for time to regroup its forces.

While Russian troops claimed painstaking progress against Ukrainian troops in Kursk, further to the east, Ukrainian troops continued to hold small slices of territory in Belgorod, another Russian border region.

Zelenskyy and his top military commander, General Oleksandr Syrskiy, announced the incursion into Belgorod last week.

With the weather turning, and sodden battlefield soil firming up, both Russia and Ukraine have launched small scale spring offensives.

Russia’s Defense Ministry also said on April 19 that its troops were trying to push Ukrainian forces out of Gornal, another Kursk region village some 11 kilometers to the south of Oleshnya.

Despite tentative agreement on a limited cease-fire, Kyiv and Moscow have continued to pound one another with missiles and drones. Over the past week, Russian ballistic missiles have hit several civilian targets, killing or wounding scores of civilians.

In Kupyansk, a city east of Kharkiv that Russian troops have been struggling to advance on, Russian jets reportedly dropped more than a half-dozen "glide" bombs on targets in and around the city. The city's military administrator said at least five people were wounded.

Glide bombs are heavy bombs that are retrofitted with guidance systems, allowing them to be dropped by aircraft well out of range of Ukrainian air defense systems. Russian forces have used the weapons to devastating effect on Ukrainian defenses.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched nearly eight dozen drones overnight on April 19. More were either intercepted or jammed electronically, the military claimed.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defense systems shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight.

Ukrainian and Russian officials also announced a major prisoner swap, with each side handing back more than 240 men, according to Russian authorities.

Zelenskyy said 277 Ukrainian "warriors" were returned from Russian captivity.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service

Iranian and US negotiators agreed to hold a third round of high-stakes talks on Iran's nuclear ambitions, a positive signal amid mixed White House messages about potential military action and new demands on Tehran.

The April 19 meetings, held in Rome, were the second time that top-level negotiators from Washington and Tehran had met this month.

There was no immediate comment on the outcome of the Rome talks from the US delegation, which was headed by White House special envoy Steve Witkoff.

But news agencies quoted senior US officials as saying the sides “made very good progress” in the Rome discussions.

"Today, in Rome over four hours in our second round of talks, we made very good progress in our direct and indirect discussions," said an unidentified US official -- who also confirmed a statement by Iran that the two sides agreed to meet again next week.

AP also quoted a US official as confirming that Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Araqchi had spoken face to face.

Iran's foreign minister said the two sides had agreed to meet again on April 26 in Oman, where the first round took place.

"I believe technical negotiations at the expert level will begin in Oman on Wednesday [April 23)] and next Saturday we will meet in Oman and review the results of the experts' work to see how close it is to the principles of an agreement," Araqchi told Iranian state TV.

"It was a good meeting, and I can say that the negotiations are moving forward. This time we managed to reach a better understanding on a series of principles and goals," he said.

The United States and other Western countries have long accused Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons.

Tehran has consistently denied the allegations, insisting that its efforts are aimed at civilian purposes, such as electricity generation.

Conflicting Messages

Following his return to the White House in January, US President Donald Trump, who had previously withdrawn from a 2015 accord known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), revived a "maximum pressure" campaign of sanctions against Iran.

Last month, he sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader urging renewed talks while warning of military action if diplomacy failed.

In the past week, Trump and other White House officials have sent sometimes conflicting messages about the US approach to the talks. The White House has ordered heavy, long-range bombers to the region, along with a second aircraft carrier.

"I'm not in a rush" to use the military option, Trump told reporters on April 17. "I think Iran wants to talk."

On April 18, he told reporters: "I'm for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can't have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific."

In an interview days earlier on Fox News, Witkoff said that the United States was open to Iran having some sort of limited nuclear program.

But he then walked back that position in a social media post, suggesting that the entire program needed to be dismantled.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, said he hoped the Iranian talks would be “fruitful.”

“We would all prefer a peaceful resolution and a lasting one,” he said after meetings in Paris.

But, he added, “It has to be something that not just prevents Iran from having a nuclear weapon now, but in the future as well.”

Israel's Role

Israel’s role in the debate over Iran’s nuclear ambitions is also critical. Israeli officials have vowed to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and Israel has not ruled out an attack on its nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to multiple news reports.

Trump has reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington did not support such a move.

Former officials and experts have long said that Israel would need significant US military support –- and weapons –- to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities and stockpiles, some of which are in underground facilities.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, AP, AFP, and Reuters

A St. Petersburg court sentenced anti-war activist Darya Kozyreva to nearly three years in prison after ruling she "discredited" the Russian military by gluing a poem to a monument dedicated to a Ukrainian poet.

Kozyreva, 19, also faced charges stemming from an interview she gave to RFE/RL's North Realities, where she discussed her political views, among other things.

Prosecutors had requested six years in prison for Kozyreva, who was detained on February 24, 2024, on the second anniversary of Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine.

She was arrested after she glued an excerpt of a poem by Taras Shevchenko, a poet and thinker who is widely revered in Ukraine, to a statue of Shevchenko standing in St. Petersburg.

The poem read:

Oh bury me, then rise ye up
And break your heavy chains
And water with the tyrants' blood
The freedom you have gained

Prosecutors added new charges months later, based on her interview with North Realities.

At the time of her arrest, Kozyreva was known for previous anti-war demonstrations, and for public support of activists including anti-corruption campaigner Aleksei Navalny.

In her closing statement to the St. Petersburg court on April 18, Kozyreva quoted briefly from a Shevchenko poem, and then referred to Ukraine's independence.

"Ukraine is a free country, a free nation, and it will decide its own fate," she said, according to reporters from MediaZona and SotaVision, who were in the courtroom.

"Of course, I dream of Ukraine getting back every inch of its land, including Donbas and Crimea. I believe that one day my dream will come true. One day history will judge everything fairly. But Ukraine has won anyway. It has already won. That's all."

Weeks after the start of the Ukraine invasion, Russian lawmakers passed sweeping legislation that criminalized any criticism of the armed forces, or the overall conduct of the war in Ukraine.

Iran’s foreign minister has called for Russia to play a role in high-stakes negotiations over the fate of Tehran’s nuclear programs, as he cast doubt on US intentions ahead a new round of talks.

Speaking on April 18 alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Abbas Araqchi said he still believed an agreement was possible.

The Iranian diplomat was set to meet with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff in Rome on April 19, for a second round of talks over Iran’s atomic programs.

"Although we have serious doubts about the intentions and motivations of the American side, in any case we will participate in tomorrow's negotiations," Araqchi said during a joint appearance in Moscow.

Last week’s first round of talks in Oman was the highest-level negotiations between Tehran and Washington since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear deal in 2018.

Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons. Tehran has consistently denied the allegations, insisting that its efforts are aimed at civilian purposes, like electricity generation.

Earlier in the week, Witkoff called for an end to all of Iran’s uranium enrichment programs. International inspectors say Tehran has managed to refine its uranium stocks to 60 percent -- which is close to the threshold at which uranium is considered weapons-grade.

Araqchi responded on April 16, saying that Iran's enrichment efforts were not up for discussion.

"If there is similar willingness on the other side, and they refrain from making unreasonable and unrealistic demands, I believe reaching an agreement is likely," Araghchi said.

Since taking office in January, Trump has ratcheted up the pressure on Iran, including by sending more US Air Force and naval assets to the region. But he’s also forced direct talks with Iranian officials.

“I’m not asking for much,” Trump said in comments earlier this month, “but they can’t have a nuclear weapon.”

With reporting by Reuters

The United States’ top diplomat signaled impatience with European officials as two days of talks to find a resolution to the Ukraine conflict wrapped up.

The April 18 comments by Secretary of State Marco Rubio came as Russia continued to pound Ukrainian targets, including the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv, where a missile strike wounded dozens of people.

Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, released the text of an agreement that would pave the way for US companies to invest in Ukraine’s valuable mineral resources.

Ukrainian and US negotiators have struggled to agree on a deal, and a White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February imploded in acrimonious accusations.

Rubio met in Paris with top European officials amid efforts to find a resolution to Russia’s war on Ukraine, which is now in its fourth year.

He was joined by White House special envoy Steve Witkoff who met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin last week for what he described as five hours of talks. Witkoff has met three times with Putin, Rubio said.

After a phone call in February, Trump and Putin announced intentions to start direct peace talks, something Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, had avoided since the start of the Russian invasion.

The US push for direct talks with Moscow has worried European officials, who fear Ukraine could end up at a disadvantage in any final agreement between Washington and Moscow.

Speaking to reporters as he departed Paris, Rubio said the United States will walk away from trying to broker a peace deal within days unless there are clear signs that a deal can be done.

"We're not going to continue with this endeavor for weeks and months on end,” he said. "We need to figure out here now, within a matter of days, whether this is doable in the short term, because if it's not, then I think we're just going to move on.”

"If it is, we're in,” he said. “If it's not, then... we have other priorities to focus on as well."

"The United States has been helping Ukraine over the last three years, and we want it to end, but it's not our war," Rubio said.

European officials had been "very helpful and constructive with their ideas,” Rubio also said.

"We'd like them to remain engaged.... I think the UK and France and Germany can help us move the ball on this and then get this closer to a resolution," he said.

Rubio's comments highlight growing frustrations in the White House over the lack of progress on the Ukraine conflict. During his election campaign, Trump pledged to end the war within his first 24 hours in the White House.

Asked to confirm what Rubio had said, Trump told reporters at the White House that Rubio was right: the United States will "take a pass" on brokering further Ukraine war talks unless there is quick progress from Moscow and Kyiv.

When asked how quick progress must be, Trump said there was "no specific number of days" and added: "Now if for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we're just going to say: 'You're foolish. You're fools. You're horrible people' -- and we're going to just take a pass," Trump said. "But hopefully we won't have to do that."

Rubio also said he spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after the Paris talks and had told him they had been constructive.

That upbeat tone was reflected in the State Department readout of the April 17 phone call between the two diplomats.

In its readout, however, the Russian Foreign Ministry again mentioned the phrase “root causes of the Ukraine crisis.”

That’s a term that Putin himself has used repeatedly, referring to wider geopolitical issues not directly connected to the invasion: for example, NATO’s expansion in Europe, or Ukraine’s overall sovereignty.

Russia has conditioned its agreement to a cease-fire on Ukraine halting its mobilization efforts and an end to Western arms supplies, both of which have been rejected by Ukraine.

Speaking during a visit to Rome, US Vice President JD Vance sounded a more upbeat note about the state of talks.

"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," he said as he met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Separately, Ukrainian officials on April 18 released the text of a agreement on access to Ukraine’s valuable mineral resources, including rare earths.

Kyiv and Washington have been trying to agree on a deal that Trump says would allow Ukraine to compensate for billions of dollars in US weaponry supplied over the course of the war.

An attempt to sign a pact in February collapsed in acrimony, after Zelenskyy clashed with Trump and Vance in the Oval Office.

The text of the memorandum lays out an economic partnership deal with the United States and setting up an investment fund for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction. Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said officials would travel to Washington next week to formally sign the deal.

In addition to Kharkiv, Russian strikes also targeted a bakery in the northern town of Sumy, less than a week after a deadly Palm Sunday strike. Prosecutors said the April 18 strike left one person dead and another wounded.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service

The US military said it destroyed a key Yemeni fuel port held by Houthi rebels, who said the air strikes also killed 20 people and wounded 50 others.

The US military’s Central Command said its forces took action on the port of Ras Isa to eliminate a source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and deprive them of revenue.

“The objective of these strikes was to degrade the economic source of power of the Houthis, who continue to exploit and bring great pain upon their fellow countrymen,” Centcom said in a statement.

“This strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen, who rightly want to throw off the yoke of Houthi subjugation and live peacefully,” Centcom said.

The US air strikes have hammered the Houthis in a campaign launched by President Donald Trump on March 15 to end their attacks on civilian shipping and military vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Houthi attacks have hampered shipping through the Suez Canal -- a vital route for world seaborne traffic -- forcing many companies to send their ships around the tip of southern Africa.

The Houthis denounced the attack.

“This completely unjustified aggression represents a flagrant violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and independence and a direct targeting of the entire Yemeni people,” the Houthis said in a statement carried by the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency. “It targets a vital civilian facility that has served the Yemeni people for decades.”

Health Ministry spokesman Anees Alasbahi said the preliminary death toll stood at 20, including five paramedics.

There were also "50 wounded workers and employees at the Ras Issa oil port, following the American aggression," he said on X.

"The death toll is likely to rise as body parts are still being identified," he added.

The number of dead represented one of the highest reported death tolls since Trump vowed that military action against the rebels would continue until they are no longer a threat to shipping.

The Ras Isa port lies along the west coast of Yemen on the Red Sea.

Centcom said ships have continued to supply fuel via the port despite Washington designating the rebels a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year. The Centcom statement did not specify the source of the fuel.

US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce commented earlier on April 17 about China's participation in Yemen. Bruce told journalists that the Chinese satellite firm Chang Guang Satellite Technology Company was "directly supporting” the Houthis.

Bruce said their actions and Beijing's support of the company, “is yet another example of China's empty claims to support peace.”

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Ukraine and the United States have "taken a step" toward a joint economic partnership agreement, Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on April 17.

Svyrydenko, who is also first deputy prime minister, said on X that Ukraine and the United States signed a memorandum as an initial step toward clinching an agreement.

"We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine," Svyrydenko said.

The memorandum “demonstrates the constructive joint work of our teams and the intention to finalize and conclude an agreement that will be beneficial to both of our peoples," she said.

The agreement will open up opportunities for investment, infrastructure modernization, and mutually beneficial partnership between Ukraine and the United States, she said.

"It is important that we reaffirm through our agreements the desire of the American people to invest together with the Ukrainian people in a free, sovereign, and secure Ukraine,” she added.

Svyrydenko’s messages on X did not directly mention a minerals deal that the United States and Ukraine have been discussing for months, but she said the two sides continue to work on the economic partnership agreement.

While there is still a lot to do, she said “the current pace and significant progress give reason to expect that the document will be very beneficial for both countries.”

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that an agreement on Ukraine’s rare earth minerals is ready, and he expects it to be signed on April 24. The United States offered Kyiv “a big deal right away,” according to Trump.

Trump's administration has made securing rare earth supply chains a strategic priority, especially as global competition with China intensifies.

The deal with Ukraine is seen in Washington as a way to diversify minerals -- strategic resources essential to modern technologies and national security -- and reduce US dependency on Chinese exports.

It's also seen by Trump as a way to be compensated for billions of dollars in support Washington has supplied to Ukraine in its war with Russia, sparked by Moscow's February 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Talks on a cease-fire in the conflict have been occurring in parallel to the economic partnership talks.

Svyrydenko said that, once finalized, the draft economic partnership agreement will require ratification by the Ukrainian parliament to ensure the agreement aligns with Ukraine's long-term national interests.

The agreement "will create opportunities for investment and development in Ukraine and establish conditions for tangible economic growth for both Ukraine and the United States," she said.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Moldova's lawmakers voted to set the next parliamentary elections for September 28 in a test for the country's fragile democracy caught between pro-European and pro-Russian forces.

A total of 57 lawmakers voted on April 17 to hold the elections on September 28, against 32 abstentions.

President Maia Sandu's pro-Western PAS party is expected to face a strong challenge from a three-party coalition led by her rival, Alexandr Stoianoglo.

The Harvard University educated, former World Bank official narrowly edged out Stoianoglo in a presidential election late last year.

Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor-general, will lead the coalition that says it wants to improve ties with Russia while also keeping a westward orientation.

Speaking before parliament's decision, Sandu said the country was committed to holding to fair elections, adding that Moldovans must "decide the country's future" and that the justice system must "punish those who engage in vote-buying or coercion."

Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, secured EU candidate status in 2022 and opened accession talks last year after firmly aligning itself with its neighbor, Ukraine, following Russia's unprovoked invasion in 2022, and joining the EU sanctions regime against Moscow.

Sandu has tied her legacy to Moldova being in the European Union, while Stoianoglo, from Gagauzia -- a Turkic-speaking autonomous region of Moldova with pro-Russian sentiment -- has pushed a law-and-order theme.

However, as prosecutor-general, Stoianoglo was widely criticized for his failure to address high-level corruption.

Most notably, he was accused of inaction in the cases of Veaceslav Platon, an oligarch involved in the disappearance of around $1 billion from the country's banks and fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, who was caught on camera giving PRSM leader and former President Igor Dodon a suspicious-looking bag.

Russia has long been accused of destabilizing Moldovan politics via disinformation and financial support for fringe parties.

Moscow has condemned what it describes as "Western interference" in Moldova's domestic affairs, particularly after Sandu's PAS party tightened campaign finance laws and banned pro-Russian media outlets accused of spreading war propaganda.

In Gagauzia, local authorities have openly defied central government reforms and analysts said it may play a disruptive role during the campaign period — especially if Russian-backed candidates are marginalized.

Meanwhile, in Transdniester, the separatist enclave with de facto Russian control, the elections are being watched as a barometer of Chisinau's political will.

A strong PAS victory, analysts said, could boost Moldova's efforts to assert authority over the breakaway region and tighten EU border security cooperation.

EU officials, including members of the European Parliament, have urged Moldova to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections, warning any sign of political repression or legal overreach could complicate accession talks.

Russia’s Supreme Court removed Afghanistan's militant Taliban rulers from its list of banned terrorist groups in a step toward recognizing the group that seized power in 2021 as international forces withdrew from the war-torn country.

Russian state news agencies said that in its ruling on April 17, the Supreme Court sided with a petition from the Prosecutor-General's Office, a sign the move is a coordinated policy change with support from top legal and political authorities, who designated the Taliban as a terrorist organization more than 20 years ago.

The suspension of the terrorist designation does not amount to full diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government.

Amid poverty and unrest in the country, the Taliban rulers have made moves to open ties with the rest of the world. But Western nations have been reluctant to engage with the extremist group amid complaints of widespread human rights violations, especially against girls and women.

Russia has not officially recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, nor has it re-established ambassadorial-level relations. However, the April 17 ruling may lay the legal groundwork for expanded cooperation, investment, and potentially future recognition.

Russia officially banned the Taliban in 2003, aligning itself with international counterterrorism standards and reflecting concerns over jihadist movements in Central Asia and Russia's North Caucasus region.

Still, Russia has been one of the few major powers to keep its embassy in Kabul operational during the Taliban regime.

Russian diplomats, intelligence officials, and even business interests have since engaged with Taliban authorities — especially on regional security, counter-narcotics, and economic cooperation, such as potential mining and energy projects.

Russia Looking To Gain Influence

With Moscow eager to strengthen its influence in Central Asia amid growing competition with the West and China’s expanding footprint, Afghanistan has become a critical piece of the regional chessboard.

The court’s decision may also be linked to Moscow’s concerns about the Islamic State–Khorasan group, which has claimed responsibility for several high-profile attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and even within Russia itself — including the deadly Crocus City Hall terrorist attack in March 2024.

Some analysts say Russian officials likely view the Taliban as a lesser evil or even a potential security partner.

The suspension of the ban may spark unease in Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan, which has historically viewed the Taliban with deep suspicion.

While some regional governments have engaged with Kabul out of necessity, fears remain about Taliban-inspired radicalization, border security, and cross-border militancy.

In September 2024, Kyrgyzstan removed the Taliban from its list of banned terrorist organizations, aligning with similar moves by neighboring Kazakhstan earlier that year.

Another Central Asian nation, Uzbekistan, has been at the forefront of engaging with the Taliban, emphasizing economic cooperation and regional connectivity.

China is also cautiously increasing its engagement with the Taliban, including through infrastructure and investment talks under the Belt and Road Initiative.

French officials have praised talks held between key European countries, Ukraine, and the United States, the first involving the three sides since US President Donald Trump took power, as they look to end Europe's largest conflict since the end of World War II.

Until the gathering in the French capital on April 17, US officials had taken negotiating tracks -- one between the United States and Ukraine and one between Washington and Moscow -- that appeared to leave Europe on the sidelines.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that was no longer the case, with Europe now fully involved in helping end the war between Russia and Ukraine, now in its fourth year. More talks in the new format would continue next week in London, he added.

"For a long time, there were fears that Europeans would not be at the table," Barrot said.

"Today, it was in Paris that, for the first time, the Europeans, the Americans, and the Ukrainians came together."

The Russian Foreign Ministry said later on April 17 that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined the outcome of talks in a telephone conversation, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “confirmed Moscow's readiness to continue joint work with American colleagues with the aim of eliminating the original causes of the Ukrainian crisis."

Russia has repeatedly said Ukraine must recognize Russia's annexation of Ukrainian regions and that Kyiv must abandon any notion of it securing membership of the NATO alliance.

The Paris meeting came days after the latest direct talks between Washington and Moscow that are aimed at ending the war.

There have been sharp differences between the Trump administration on one side, and Europe and Ukraine, on the other, over how to handle diplomatic efforts.

“It was a very substantive conversation. We continue our work,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Andriy Yermak wrote on social media.

The talks were a first chance for face-to-face meetings between senior European and Ukrainian leaders and US special envoy Steve Witkoff since his latest meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.

Moscow has failed to sign on to a broad cease-fire agreement put forward by US President Donald Trump, which Ukraine has already accepted. Russia has said any deal is conditional on Kyiv stopping its mobilization efforts as well as an end to the flow of Western arms to Ukraine. Those demands have been rejected by Ukraine.

Still, Witkoff recently told Fox News that he believes a peace deal was “emerging.”

He said he had heard “what Putin’s request is to have a permanent peace here,” adding that it was “about these so-called five territories.” This refers to parts of Ukraine at least partially occupied by Russia, which Moscow claims.

As the Paris talks continued, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told journalists in Kyiv that Witkoff was "consciously or unconsciously, I don't know, spreading Russian narratives."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that while Washington was working for peace, "from the Europeans, we see a focus on continuing the war."

Meanwhile, there has been no letup in deadly Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities in recent days. On April 16, a Russian drone attack on Dnipro killed at least five people.

"Russia uses every day and every night to kill. We must put pressure on the killers... to end this war and guarantee a lasting peace," Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post.

The talks also included Rubio, British National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell and Jens Ploetner, a senior adviser to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

While Washington has tried to push ahead with cease-fire talks with Kyiv and Moscow, European countries have focused on supporting Ukraine and planning for a possible military mission to shore up any cease-fire deal.

European efforts to get a US commitment to provide a “backstop” to such efforts have met with a cool response from Washington.

Russian drone and artillery attacks killed at least five people, including a child and an elderly woman, and injured dozens of others in the southeastern Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk.

"It was a difficult night in Dnipro... Three people were killed by this Russian attack, and among them was a girl, Veronika, only 17 years old," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Local Governor Serhiy Lysak later updated the death toll to five, and added that 31 people, including five children, were injured in the attack on the city of Dnipro late on April 16. Sixteen people were being treated in hospital.

The attack ignited several fires, according to Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov, who said one strike came within 100 meters of the city’s municipal offices. He also said at least 15 dwellings had been damaged along with a student residence, an educational institution, and a food-processing plant.

Two more people were killed in Nikopol, a town only 5 kilometers away from Russian forces in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhya region. Five were reported injured.

"A shop, a cafe, private houses, outbuildings, a car, and a bus stop were damaged," Lysak said.

Pictures posted online showed a large blaze and firefighters working at the scene as well as gutted vehicles and buildings with smashed windows and damaged facades.

Elsewhere, a deadly Russian rocket attack killed at least one person in the eastern Ukrainian city of Konstyantynivka.

The city was targeted again by shelling on April 17 while an RFE/RL correspondent was speaking with locals whose homes had been damaged.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region, Governor Oleh Synyehubov said a Russian missile attack injured seven people in the town of Izyum. The town was captured by Russian troops in the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 but was retaken by Ukrainian forces later in the year.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said it's air defense systems destroyed or intercepted 71 Ukrainian drones over six Russian regions overnight, with 49 of the drones downed in the Kursk region.

It was not possible for RFE/RL to verify the claims.

Last week, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Telegram that Russia's ballistic missile strike on Palm Sunday that left 34 people dead in Sumy was partly launched from the Kursk region.

Yan Matveyev, a Russian military analyst, said that Russia's 112th brigade -- one of those accused by Ukraine of carrying out the attack on Sumy -- does indeed have a dozen Iskander-M missiles.

"They can be stationed in different places and move around all the time.... Now they are also responsible for the whole northern direction and fire at various objects," Matveyev said in an interview with Current Time.

Zelenskyy met with defense industry representatives in Kyiv on April 16. He said Ukraine now produces 40 percent of the weapons used on the front line.

"Our defense industry is already manufacturing more than a thousand types of weapons: from artillery shells to missiles and long-range weapons, to our drones," Zelenskyy said during the meeting, according to his office.

Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine's growing defense sector now employs around 300,000 people and is attracting an increasing number of international partners. Domestic successes include the rapid rollout of new combat drones, artillery production, and Ukraine's own missile systems. Though the items currently are in limited quantities.

Matveyev says the Ukrainian-produced drone 'Lyutiy' could have taken part in recent attacks inside Russia.

"It is probably the most massive Ukrainian drone for attacks on some distant objects... It flies slowly, so it's not a big problem to shoot it down if the air defense calculations are ready," he said.

Despite the progress, Zelenskyy acknowledged Ukraine remains heavily reliant on foreign arms deliveries, including tanks, armored vehicles, and advanced air defense systems.

Last week, he proposed a $15 billion deal with the United States for 10 Patriot air defense systems to bolster Ukraine’s protection against Russian missile strikes.

The Ukrainian parliament has voted to extend martial law and a mobilization order by another 90 days. The two corresponding motions submitted by Zelenskyy received the required two-thirds majority. Once signed by Zelenskyy, martial law will apply until August 6. It was due to expire on May 9.

Former President Petro Poroshenko, who is Zelenskyy's main rival, accused the government of rushing the extension through parliament.

Martial law is "being used not only for the defense of the country, but also for the establishment of an authoritarian regime," Poroshenko claimed on social media.

The Ukrainian government first imposed martial law and ordered mobilization following Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.

There has been speculation that Zelenskyy could call elections, which cannot be held under martial law. Conscripts aged between 18 and 60 are barred from leaving the country under the law.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa

Serbia has appointed a new government led by Duro Macut, a doctor and academic with no prior political experience, amid street protests that have rocked the Balkan nation.

The 61-year-old Macut was backed by 153 lawmakers in the 250-seat parliament during the April 16 vote. Macut's cabinet will include 30 ministers, including 10 newcomers. A total of 199 MPs voted, with 46 against.

Macut was handpicked by President Aleksandar Vucic, who has led the country since 2017. Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) controls 112 seats in parliament.

In his inaugural address, Macut said Serbia was "tired of division and blockades" and called for the "harmonization of society" through dialogue, tolerance, and a shared value system. He announced that his immediate priority would be ensuring the normal functioning of schools and universities.

The new cabinet follows the resignation of former Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, who stepped down on January 28, a day after members of the SNS assaulted a student protester in Novi Sad. Vucevic is president of the SNS. His resignation was formally acknowledged by parliament on March 19.

Vucevic's departure came amid growing anti-government protests spearheaded by students who are demanding accountability for the deaths of 16 people in the collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad on November 1.

The protests over the accident have evolved into a broader movement opposing what demonstrators say is the crumbling rule of law and systemic corruption under Vucic, who experts say rules the country with a tight grip. The students have blocked dozens of faculties across Serbia since late November.

Macut, a respected endocrinologist, is deputy director of the Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at Serbia's University Clinical Center. He is also a full professor at the University of Belgrade Medical School and lectures in Athens and Skopje.

He heads the Serbian Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and is an internationally recognised expert on polycystic ovary syndrome. Macut currently serves on the Executive Board of the European Society of Endocrinology.

Zoran Stojiljkovic, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, sees the appointment of Macut as little more than a tactic by Vucic to buy time.

"The government is responsible for triggering this political and social crisis, and what it's offering as a way out doesn’t guarantee either stability or permanence," he told local media.

Bojan Klacar, executive director of the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy, said Macut’s nomination is a direct response to the student protests that remain “very much alive and vital.”

“If the protests begin to subside, this choice could benefit the ruling Serbian Progressive Party,” Klacar said. “In that case, the opposition and those supporting the students will struggle to justify why they wouldn’t sit at the table with such a prime minister.”

He added that Macut, a university professor, should be a “credible interlocutor” for the protesting students.

Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said there has been "significant progress" in negotiations with the United States toward a comprehensive economic partnership agreement that includes a deal on rare earth minerals.

In a post on X published on April 16, Svyrydenko said that while teams from both sides will continue working on specific points in the agreement, "a lot has already been worked out."

"We have now agreed with the American side to record this progress in the relevant memorandum of intent. We are preparing to complete the formalization of the agreement in the near future," she wrote, giving no further indication of the timing.

US President Donald Trump's administration has made securing rare earth supply chains a strategic priority, especially as global competition with China intensifies. The deal with Ukraine is seen in Washington as a way to diversify critical mineral sources and reduce US dependency on Chinese exports.

It's also seen by Trump as a way to be compensated for billions of dollars in support Washington has supplied to Ukraine in its war with Russia, sparked by Moscow's February 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Talks on a cease-fire in the conflict have been occurring in parallel to the economic partnership talks.

Svyrydenko said that once finalized, the draft will require ratification by the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada to ensure the agreement aligns with Ukraine's long-term national interests.

"It [the agreement] will create opportunities for investment and development in Ukraine and establish conditions for tangible economic growth for both Ukraine and the United States," she said.

Svyrydenko's statement came a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described recent US-Ukraine discussions as "positive," particularly in the context of a parallel, high-stakes negotiation over critical minerals -- strategic resources essential to modern technologies and national security.

Zelenskyy confirmed that multiple meetings were ongoing and encouraged continued public attention.

However, the negotiations have come against the backdrop of lingering tensions between Trump and Zelenskyy.

On March 30, Trump publicly accused Zelenskyy of attempting to walk away from the critical minerals deal, warning such a move would trigger "serious consequences."

The accusation followed a report by Bloomberg News that Ukraine was preparing to propose key changes to a draft agreement, particularly regarding rare earth minerals -- resources vital for electronics, defense systems, and renewable energy technologies. The revisions reportedly promise to increase American investments in Ukraine's mining sector.

According to The Financial Times and Bloomberg, the United States is pushing for a new strategic framework that would secure access to Ukraine's energy assets and deepen bilateral cooperation across critical sectors.

As Kyiv and Washington edge closer to formalizing both the broader economic partnership and the strategic minerals agreement, these talks could reshape Ukraine's postwar economy and the geopolitical balance of energy and technology supply chains in Europe and beyond.

With reporting by Bloomberg and Financial Times

Tehran is ready to ease US concerns over its nuclear activities but scrapping uranium enrichment is off the table, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said as the two sides prepare for a second round of talks this weekend over Iran's nuclear program.

Araqchi told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting in Tehran on April 16 that Iran's enrichment is a "real, accepted matter."

"We're ready to build confidence in response to possible concerns, but the principle of enrichment is nonnegotiable," he said, days ahead of the second round of talks with the United States on April 19, which Iran's state broadcaster announced would take place in the Italian capital, Rome, and not in Oman as previously thought.

Araqchi's comments came in response to a statement by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on April 15 saying Iran "must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program."

But hours earlier, Witkoff had told Fox News that the Donald Trump administration was seeking to cap Iran's uranium enrichment at 3.67 percent -- the limit set in the 2015 nuclear deal that Trump abrogated in 2018.

"Iran must not possess nuclear weapons, and it should not enrich uranium beyond 3.67 percent," Witkoff said.

His apparent reversal came after a conservative backlash on social media, with the administration being accused of repackaging the 2015 deal, which is formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"We applaud Special Envoy Witkoff's statement," wrote Mark Wallace, chief executive of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a US-based nonprofit, after Witkoff changed his tone.

"It is clear under the Trump Doctrine that Iran must verifiably dismantle its nuclear program or the US and Israel will do so," said Wallace, a former US diplomat.

Araqchi, who will travel to Moscow on April 17, noted Witkoff had made "different comments" since the conclusion of the first round of talks but added Washington's "true position must be clarified at the negotiating table."

Trump has made it clear Iran cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, but he has not explicitly commented on whether that involves curbing Iran's nuclear program or fully dismantling it. In the meantime, his administration has been sending out mixed messages.

Quoting an unnamed US official, the Axios news website on April 16 attributed the lack of clarity to ongoing internal discussions.

"The Iran policy is not very clear mainly because it is still being figured out. It is tricky because it's a highly politically charged issue," the official said, according to Axios.

Former US diplomat and nonproliferation expert Mark Fitzpatrick said a deal would be unlikely unless the Trump administration relaxed its position.

"Trump would have to change the position of no enrichment to a position of low enrichment," he told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.

"Iran is not going to go to a 'no enrichment' and it's certainly not going to accept it, but it would be willing to negotiate the levels of enrichment. And yes, this would be like the negotiations under the JCPOA," he added.

With reporting by Hannah Kaviani of RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Serbian university students who have been on a cycling tour across Europe for nearly two weeks to draw attention to protests against corruption in their home country arrived on April 15 in Strasbourg, France, seat of the European Parliament.

Around 80 student cyclists rode on to Strasbourg's main square and were greeted with shouts of "Pump, pump" before bottles of champagne were uncorked in celebration.

The group had left Novi Sad on April 3 and traveled more than 1,300 kilometers through heavy rain and chilly temperatures to show European institutions the "perseverance and dedication of students in the fight for justice" in Serbia, they said.

The students say their fight is being overlooked in much of Europe and by the news media in Serbia, which is seeking membership in the European Union but has been accused of backsliding in democratic freedoms and the rule of law.

The students declared their cycling tour a success after being well-received in Budapest, Vienna, and in towns along their route through Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany on their way to France.

“I think that this protest action is a full success,” one of the cyclists said after arriving in Strasbourg on a live N1 TV broadcast. “I think we have woken up Europe.”

The EU's enlargement chief backed the protesters' calls to tackle corruption and boost the rule of law.

"Serbia has to be brought back on the European track," Commissioner Marta Kos said in an interview with the European Newsroom consortium.

"What we are demanding from Serbia on the way of the EU accession is nearly exactly the same as what the protesters in Serbia are demanding," she said, pointing to issues such as "rule of law, anti-corruption, and public procurement."

The cyclists said they wanted to draw attention to the deadly collapse of a railway station cement canopy in Novi Sad in November that killed 16 people. The incident triggered nationwide demonstrations as protesters blamed the government for corruption and poor oversight.

The students are demanding justice for the victims of the collapse and an end to government pressure and violence against protesters.

They have called on the government to release all documents related to construction work at Novi Sad's railway station. The authorities claim they have made public all “available documents,” but protesters reject that claim.

Almost daily street demonstrations have rattled the Balkan nation. In late January, Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned.

President Aleksandar Vucic on April 6 named Djuro Macut, a little-known medical professor, as prime minister-designate amid the political crisis.

Vucic, one of the founders of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, which has been in power since 2012, presented it as a "movement of great change." But he has been accused of stifling democratic freedoms while maintaining close links with Russia and China.

Vucic and his pro-government media have accused the students and their professors of working with unidentified Western security services against the state to remove him from power together. He has not provided any evidence for his claims.

Student-led protesters on April 14 temporarily blocked the entrances to national broadcasters Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) in Belgrade and Radio Television of Vojvodina (RTV) in Novi Sad, accusing the broadcasters of ignoring their movement.

With reporting by AP and AFP