US issues stark warning to Russia and Ukraine as it presses to end war

President Donald Trump is pushing for a speedy end to the conflict but has failed to reach a breakthrough

The ruins of an apartment building in the abandoned town of Marinka, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine. Reuters

The US “will have no patience for bad faith negotiation or violation of commitments” as it seeks to end the war in Ukraine, Washington's envoy to the UN said on Tuesday.

“The world is watching. We call on both sides to exercise restraint and demonstrate their commitment to peace is real,” US charge d’affaires Dorothy Shea told the 15-member Security Council during an emergency meeting on Ukraine.

Ms Shea called on Russia and Ukraine to fulfil their commitments and urged Moscow to “bear in mind” that strikes on civilians and executions of prisoners of war can potentially damage peace efforts, after it attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s home city killing 20 people, nine of them children, early this month. At least 70 people were injured.

“The April 4 missile strike further underscores the need for an end to this devastating war,” she said of the bombing of a residential area, including a playground, in Kryvyi Rih. “We will ultimately judge President [Vladimir] Putin's commitment to a ceasefire by Russia's actions.”

To mark the third year of the Ukraine-Russia war, The National looks back at some of the striking images captured during the conflict. Getty Images

Ukrainians working at the site of a rocket strike on the 'Okhmadyt' children's hospital in Kyiv in 2024. EPA

A woman walks past a memorial wall dedicated to fallen defenders of Ukraine in downtown Kyiv in 2024. EPA

A damaged town sign in Orikhiv, near the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, in 2024. EPA

Gravediggers prepare the burial site for victims of a Russian missile strike in Hroza in 2023. Getty Images

Widow Lubov Doroshenko, 67, returns to her destroyed home in 2023 in Bohorodychne. Getty Images

A Ukrainian serviceman of the 24 Separate Mechanized Brigade fires a mortar towards Russian positions, at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region in 2023. EPA

Emergency workers search the remains of a residential building that was struck by a Russian missile in Dnipro in 2023. Getty Images

Ukrainian national flags waving over the graves of fallen Ukrainian soldiers in a military cemetery in Kharkiv in 2023. EPA

A woman walks by destroyed buildings 20 miles west from the front lines of fighting in the Donetsk Region in 2023. Getty Images

A view taken through the broken glass of a window overlooking the site of a damaged residential building in Dnipro in 2023. EPA

Numbers mark the graves of unidentified people killed during fighting at the cemetery in Mariupol in 2022. EPA

Ukrainian servicemen shoot from a captured Russian 152, 4mm howitzer Msta-B on a front line near Kupyansk city in 2022. EPA

A prothesis is adjusted on an Azov Regiment serviceman at a rehabilitation centre in Kyiv in 2022. EPA

Cars drive past the shell of a rocket in Shevchenkove, Kharkiv region, in 2022. EPA

A Ukrainian serviceman rests while travelling with a team of humanitarian volunteers in the Kherson area in 2022. EPA

A destroyed bridge in Kupiansk in 2022. Getty Images

A girl arrives at an evacuation point for people fleeing Mariupol, Melitopol and the surrounding towns under Russian control in 2022. Getty Images

The mother of Ukrainian serviceman Andrii Verkhoglyad holds her son's portrait during his funeral ceremony at St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv in 2022. EPA

Self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic militia monitors a section of the road near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, in 2022. EPA

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a warehouse after it was hit by Russian shelling in Kharkiv in 2022. Getty Images

A Ukrainian soldier waves the Ukrainian national flag while standing on top of an armoured personnel carrier in Hostomel in 2022. Getty Images

A man pushes his bike through debris and destroyed Russian military vehicles in Bucha in 2022. Getty Images

Residents of Irpin flee heavy fighting in 2022. Getty Images

A child on a swing outside a residential building damaged by a missile in Kyiv in 2022. Getty Images

Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, described the attack as the deadliest single strike harming children since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

US President Donald Trump has been pushing for a speedy end to the war in Ukraine since taking office but has failed to reach a breakthrough.

He has repeatedly criticised Nato, and insisted Europe shouldered more responsibility for its defence by boosting military spending and taking the lead in arming Ukraine.

Britain's ambassador Barbara Woodward accused Mr Putin of continuing to stall a ceasefire proposal while insisting on maximalist conditions and escalating attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Jerome Bonnafont, France’s ambassador at the UN, accused Russia of procrastinating and its goal, he said, continues to be the capitulation of Ukraine. “But we, France and Europeans, are not sitting on our hands," he added. "We continue to work for securing peace.”