Trump: Russia Keeps Crimea    04/25 07:08

   President Donald Trump said in an interview published on Friday that "Crimea 
will stay with Russia," the latest example of the U.S. leader pressuring 
Ukraine to make concessions to end the war while it remains under siege.

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- President Donald Trump said in an interview published 
on Friday that "Crimea will stay with Russia," the latest example of the U.S. 
leader pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the war while it remains 
under siege.

   "Zelenskyy understands that," Trump said, referring to Ukrainian President 
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, "and everybody understands that it's been with them for a 
long time."

   The U.S. president made the comments in a Time magazine interview conducted 
on Tuesday. Trump has been accusing Zelenskyy of prolonging the war by 
resisting negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

   Crimea is a strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine. It 
was seized by Russia in 2014, while President Barack Obama was in office, years 
before the full-scale invasion that began in 2022.

   "They've had their submarines there for long before any period that we're 
talking about, for many years. The people speak largely Russian in Crimea," 
Trump said. "But this was given by Obama. This wasn't given by Trump."

   Meanwhile, Russia has continued its bombardment. A drone struck an apartment 
building in a southeastern Ukraine city, killing three people and injuring 10 
others, officials said Friday, a day after Trump rebuked Russia's leader for a 
deadly missile and drone attack on Kyiv.

   A child and a 76-year-old woman were among the civilians killed in the 
nighttime drone strike in Pavlohrad, in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, the 
head of the regional administration, Serhii Lysak, wrote on Telegram.

   Russian forces fired 103 Shahed and decoy drones at five Ukrainian regions 
overnight, Ukraine's air force reported. Authorities in the northeastern Sumy 
and Kharkiv regions reported damage to civilian infrastructure but no 
casualties.

   The war could be approaching a pivotal moment as the Trump administration 
weighs its options. Senior U.S. officials have warned that the administration 
could soon give up attempts to stop the war if the two sides do not come to an 
agreement. That could potentially mean a halt of U.S. military aid for Ukraine.

   Amid the peace efforts, Russia pounded Kyiv in an hourslong barrage 
Thursday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 87 in its deadliest assault 
on the Ukrainian capital since July.

   The attack drew a rare rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin from 
Trump, who has said that a push to end the war is coming to a head.

   "I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very 
bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying." Trump wrote in a 
post on his Truth Social platform. "Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!"

   Trump's frustration is growing as his effort to forge a deal between Ukraine 
and Russia has failed to achieve a breakthrough.

   Trump envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to meet with Putin in Moscow on 
Friday, their second meeting this month and the fourth since February.

   Trump accused Zelenskyy on Wednesday of prolonging the "killing field" by 
refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula as part of a 
possible deal. Russia illegally annexed that area in 2014. Zelenskyy has 
repeated many times during the war that recognizing occupied territory as 
Russian is a red line for his country.

   Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy plan to arrive in Rome on 
Friday for the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican's St. Peter's Square on 
Saturday. It wasn't immediately clear if they would meet separately.

   An explosion in Moscow targets a senior officer

   Meanwhile, a senior Russian military officer was killed by a car bomb near 
Moscow on Friday, Russia's t Russia's top criminal investigation agency said.

   The attack follows the killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov on Dec. 17, 2024, 
when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked outside his apartment building 
exploded as he left for his office. Russian authorities blamed Ukraine for the 
killing of Kirillov.

   Since Russia invaded, several prominent figures have been killed in targeted 
attacks believed to have been carried out by Ukraine.

   Russian forces used Thursday's attack on Kyiv as cover to launch almost 150 
assaults on Ukrainian positions along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) 
front line, Zelenskyy said late Thursday.

   "When the maximum of our forces was focused on defense against missiles and 
drones, the Russians went on to significantly intensify their ground attacks," 
he wrote on Telegram.

   Western European leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in the 
negotiations and seeking to grab more Ukrainian land while his army has 
battlefield momentum.

   Zelenskyy noted Thursday that Ukraine agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal 44 
days ago, as a first step to a negotiated peace, but that Russian attacks 
continued.

   During recent talks, Russia hit the city of Sumy, killing more than 30 
civilians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, battered Odesa with drones and 
blasted Zaporizhzhia with powerful glide bombs.