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Morning Headlines
CNN: The United States and Ukraine have signed an “economic partnership agreement” that will give Washington access to Kyiv’s rare earth minerals in exchange for establishing an investment fund in Ukraine.
Kyiv Post: On Wednesday, the Trump administration informed Congress of its intention to green-light the export of defense-related products to Ukraine through direct commercial sales of $50 million or more.
BBC: Russian drones have killed at least two people and injured another five in a sustained attack on the Ukrainian city of Odesa, the governor of the region has said. Residential high-rise buildings, a supermarket and school were damaged.
ISW: Kremlin spox Peskov overinflated Russia's current military strength and battlefield victories thus far in the war in an attempt to justify Russia's continued unwillingness to make territorial concessions.
More News
Reuters: The European union is preparing a "plan B" on how to keep economic sanctions against Russia should the Trump administration abandon Ukraine peace talks and seek rapprochement with Moscow, EU's high representative for foreign and security policy, Kaja Kallas told the Financial Times on Wednesday.
EU Commission is investing €910 million under the 2024 edition of the European Defence Fund (EDF) to create a strong and innovative defence industry in Europe. For the first time, Ukrainian defence industries can be associated to EDF projects.
The Kyiv Independent: Russian forces 'have fully recaptured the territory of Kursk Oblast,' the Kremlin claimed on April 26. But despite the declaration of victory, Putin acknowledged on April 30 that Ukrainian soldiers remain in the region.
Reuters: Russia's Finance Ministry raised the 2025 budget deficit estimate to 1.7% of gross domestic product on Wednesday from 0.5% after reducing the energy revenues forecast by 24% due to expectation of a prolonged period of low oil prices.
NY Post: Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, former real estate attorney and investor Steve Witkoff, has left administration insiders distressed by his approach to negotiating with two of America’s greatest adversaries.
Axios: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made his 15 minutes with President Trump in the Vatican count, urging Trump to take a tougher line with Putin and reprioritize a ceasefire.
Reuters: U.S. lawmakers have asked the State Department to brief them about Russia's use of Chinese fighters in its war in Ukraine, saying in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday that Moscow could only employ Chinese mercenaries with Beijing's "tacit approval."
Bloomberg: Bulgaria’s largest far-right party has signed a cooperation agreement with Putin’s United Russia party, deepening anti-establishment ties with Moscow in the European Union’s most pro-Russian nation (archive).
United24 Media: Ukraine has successfully completed the official screening of its national legislation for alignment with the European Union’s standards under the negotiation chapter “Entrepreneurship and Industrial Policy,” The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine announced on April 30.
The Moscow Times: Dozens of wealthy Russians, including members of Putin’s inner circle, fled the country in the early days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the independent media outlet Proekt reported Wednesday.
The Kyiv Independent: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declined Putin's invitation to attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on April 30.
The Guardian: Repeated beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, prisoners wrapped from head to toe in sticky tape and then “used as human furniture”… Inside one Russian torture facility (of many) where Ukrainian POWs and civilian detainees are held.
Reuters: Russia and North Korea on Wednesday began construction of a road bridge between the two countries that will span the Tumen river, part of an effort to strengthen their strategic partnership, Russia's prime minister said.
Bloomberg: Estonia may contribute a company of soldiers to a potential peace-keeping mission in Ukraine as part of a “reassurance force” led by the UK and France, Prime Minister Kristen Michal said (archive).
Reuters: Ukraine's SBU security agency was responsible for a drone strike on a defence manufacturing facility in Russia, an SBU official told Reuters on Wednesday. The official said the strike was on the Murom Instrument-Building Plant, 300 km (186 miles) east of Moscow, which according to a European Union sanctions designation produces components for military ammunition.
The Insider, together with the Agents of War project, continues its series of investigations into senior Russian officials and heads of state enterprises who publicly back the war while choosing to live and vacation in NATO countries.
worth mentioning
US ex-ambassadors warn of slide into authoritarianism amid ‘climate of fear’
'We have our own gestapo': A Russian military deserter recalls his time inside a secret jail for defectors
Russian force generation and technological adaptations update April 30, 2025 - ISW
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