Amid uncertainty as to when part-ceasefire will take effect, Kremlin says it will cover only ‘energy infrastructure’
Waves of Russian drones pounded the Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight, setting it ablaze in an attack that underscored Moscow’s intent to continue aerial assaults despite agreeing to a temporary pause in strikes on energy infrastructure.
Videos circulating on social media showed fires erupting in several parts of Odesa.
Continue reading...Ukraine’s president says his country is ready to implement pause in strikes on energy and infrastructure
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a “very good telephone call” on Wednesday, according to Trump, in the first conversation between the US president and his Ukrainian counterpart since their disastrous showdown in the White House three weeks ago.
Zelenskyy described the call as “positive, very substantive and frank”, and said he had signed up to a partial ceasefire that Trump agreed with Vladimir Putin a day earlier. The White House said Trump had promised to help with a Ukrainian request to source more air defence batteries for Kyiv.
Continue reading...Russian leader’s antagonism to Zelenskyy and lack of interest in a ceasefire leaves colossal task for US
On paper, everyone is in agreement: Donald Trump says he wants a ceasefire; Kyiv’s negotiating team has already agreed to a 30-day ceasefire proposal at marathon talks with the Americans in Jeddah; and Vladimir Putin says he accepts the idea, albeit with a few “nuances”.
But Putin’s so-called nuances are bigger than mere wrinkles, and at the end of an intense week of diplomacy around Russia’s war in Ukraine, a ceasefire – never mind a sustainable peace – still looks to be something of a distant prospect.
Continue reading...The Russian president remains unwavering in his demands, making wider sanctions and tariffs ineffective
Ukraine’s agreement to support a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in its war against Russia’s invasion has focused attention on what Moscow may or may not agree to, and what pressure can be brought to bear on Vladimir Putin by the Trump administration.
While the question has frequently been asked over the last few years as to what leverage Putin might have over Trump, the question here is what leverage Trump might have to persuade Putin.
Continue reading...Over 11 days of breakneck diplomacy, Kyiv was convinced of need to pacify Trump, but reconciliation may be all too brief
The 11 days of whiplash-inducing talks British and French officials endured to repair shattered relations between Washington and Kyiv, and for the first time put Donald Trump’s trust in Vladimir Putin to the test, could go down as one of the great feats of diplomatic escapology.
The dogged fence-mending may yet unravel as hurdles remain, principally the outstanding question of Ukraine’s security guarantees, but for the first time, in the words of Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, the ball is in Russia’s court. Putin, by instinct cautious, has preferred watching from the sidelines, suppressing his delight as Trump denounced Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his face in the White House and wreaked subsequent vengeance by stopping all military aid and then pulling some US intelligence.
Continue reading...Putin may well stick to previous demands over Ukrainian elections and a rejection of European peacekeeping forces
Suddenly the ball is in Russia’s court. The flow of US intelligence and military aid to Ukraine is to resume – and the Kremlin is being asked to agree to a 30-day ceasefire that Kyiv has already told the Americans it will sign up to.
It is a dizzying turnaround from the Oval Office row between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump and the apparent abandonment of the White House’s strategy to simply pressurise Ukraine into agreeing to a peace deal. Now, for the first time, Russia is being asked to make a commitment, though it is unclear what will follow if it does sign up.
Continue reading...Moscow claims it is close to surrounding thousands of Ukrainian troops in Kursk region
Russia has taken control of several villages in the Kursk region and claims its forces are close to surrounding thousands of Ukrainian troops fighting on Russian territory.
For seven months, Ukraine has controlled a pocket inside western Russia. Last week, Russian and North Korean troops launched a major offensive, shortly after Donald Trump pulled the plug on military support, intelligence and satellite feeds with Kyiv.
Continue reading...Ukrainian president backs negotiations, despite Trump’s remarks he finds Russia ‘easier’, and calls for more sanctions after deadly missile attack
Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday that it had taken the village of Konstyantynopil, in the southern part of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, reports Reuters.
The Guardian has been unable to independently verify the report.
Continue reading...Diplomats gasp as Keith Kellogg claims Zelenskyy to blame for soured relations with America
“There was an audible gasp in the room at the Council on Foreign Relations as Keith Kellogg, the White House’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, characterised the US decision to cut off intelligence sharing and military aid to Kyiv as like beating a farm animal with a piece of wood.
“Very candidly, they brought it on themselves, the Ukrainians,” Kellogg said as the veteran diplomats, academics, and journalists in the room recoiled in surprise. Several held their hands in their faces. “I think the best way I can describe it is sort of like hitting a mule with a two-by-four across the nose,” he continued. “You got their attention, and it’s very significant, obviously, because of the support that we give.”
Continue reading...Latest attacks came hours after Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin was ‘doing what anybody would do’
Russia launched a devastating attack on Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens more, hours after Donald Trump defended Vladimir Putin and said the Kremlin leader was “doing what anybody would do”.
Two ballistic missiles hit the centre of Dobropillia in the eastern Donetsk region. Fire engulfed a five-storey apartment building. As emergency services arrived, Russia launched another strike on the same area. Eleven civilians were killed, with five children among the 30 injured.
Continue reading...Former UK defence secretary suggests Ukraine can still win the war if it continues holding off Russian forces
Ben Wallace, the former UK defence secretary, has said Donald Trump’s decision to suspend US intelligence sharing with Kyiv is “suffocating” Ukrainian hope of holding out against Russian aggression.
Last Friday, the US president, along with the vice-president, JD Vance, berated Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in full view of the media, telling the Ukrainian president that he was “gambling with world war three” and to come back to the White House “when he is ready for peace”.
Continue reading...Nationalist parties have tended to praise the US president’s politics, but many voters dislike his treatment of Ukraine
Europe’s rightwing populist parties are split over how far to distance themselves from Donald Trump’s pressure on Ukraine, with some fearing unflinching solidarity with the US president’s brand of nationalism will damage their efforts to widen their domestic support.
Broadly, unease over Trump’s treatment of Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the ominous encroach of authoritarianism by the new US administration, is strongest among the populist parties in western Europe and some Nordic countries.
Continue reading...Head-spinning speed of events leaves EU adapting at pace while trying to infer Trump’s possible geo-strategic aims
With a mixture of regret, laced with incredulity, European leaders gathered in Brussels to marshal their forces for a power struggle not with Russia, but with the US.
Even now, of course at the 11th hour, most of Europe hopes this coming battle of wills can be averted and the Trump administration can still be persuaded that forcing Ukraine to the negotiating table, disarmed and blinded, will not be the US’s long-term strategic interest.
Continue reading...Petro Poroshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko denied they were part of a reported White House plot to remove Ukraine leader from power
Ukraine’s opposition leaders have confirmed they have held discussions with members of Donald Trump’s entourage, but denied on Thursday they were part of a reported White House plot to remove Volodymyr Zelenskyy from power.
The former president Petro Poroshenko said he had held talks with US representatives but added that he opposed Trump’s demands for wartime elections. Poroshenko, who lost to Zelenskyy in the 2019 presidential vote, said a poll should only be held once martial law ends.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: Pjotr Sauer explains Russia’s response to the new Trump administration following a fraught week in global relations
Good morning. In his address to Congress last night, Donald Trump recited a letter from Volodymyr Zelenskyy offering to return to the negotiating table – and warmly welcomed the tone of discussions his administration has held with Russia. “We’ve received strong signals that they are ready for peace,” he said. “Wouldn’t that be beautiful?”
That was not the first sign of Trump’s faith in Vladimir Putin’s promises – but it served to underline what is surely the most radical US foreign policy shift in a generation. Whether parroting Kremlin talking points on Zelenskyy’s democratic credentials, making false claims that Ukraine started the war or cutting off vital military aid to Kyiv, the US president has created a dynamic that would have scarcely been believable six months ago.
Killed women count | Nearly one in 10 of all women who died at the hands of men in the UK over the past 15 years were mothers killed by their sons, a report reveals. The statistics have led to calls for the government to take specific action to tackle matricide.
Tariffs | Justin Trudeau has claimed the aim of a “dumb” trade war launched by Donald Trump is to usher in the “complete collapse” of the Canadian economy and make it easier for the US to annex Canada. Leading stock market indices fell sharply, with the US benchmark S&P 500 losing all its post-election gains, as the US slapped 25% taxes on Canadian and Mexican goods and hiked tariffs on China.
Scams | An organised network operating from the former Soviet state of Georgia has scammed thousands of savers from the UK, Europe and Canada out of $35m (£27m) after they fell for fake celebrity adverts on Facebook and Google. The scheme was revealed in a leak of call centre data covering more than 1m recordings.
Gaza | Arab leaders have endorsed a $53bn (£42bn) plan to rebuild Gaza under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority (PA), in a rushed attempt to present an alternative to Donald Trump’s idea for a property development-style plan. The Arab League presented the plans at a summit in Cairo.
Media | Failings in the making of a documentary on Gaza are a “dagger to the heart” of the BBC’s claims of trustworthiness and impartiality, the corporation’s chair has said, as he indicated that figures inside the corporation had fallen short in their handling of the film.
Continue reading...President praises letter from Ukraine’s leader backing peace talks and says US will get Greenland ‘one way or another’
Donald Trump has said he appreciated Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s willingness to sign a minerals deal with the United States and come to the negotiating table to bring a lasting peace in Ukraine closer.
“Earlier today, I received an important letter from President Zelenskyy of Ukraine,” the US president said in a speech to Congress after last week’s disastrous meeting at the White House. Quoting from the letter, Trump said Zelenskyy told him that “Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians.”
Continue reading...PM says any deal must be ‘lasting and secure’ following fiery Trump-Zelenskyy meeting last week and UK weekend summit. This live blog is closed
Lisa O’Carroll is the Guardian’s acting Ireland correspondent.
Michelle O’Neill, Northern Ireland’s first minister, has described a decision to build thousands of lightweight missiles for Ukraine in a Belfast factory as “incredulous”.
I find it really incredulous that at a time when public services are being cut left, right and centre.
At a time when we have endured 14 years of austerity ... I think at a time like that, rather than buying weapons of war, I would rather see the money invested in public services.
Continue reading...Vice-president says best way to prevent another Russian invasion is to ‘give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine’
US vice-president JD Vance said that the best way to protect Ukraine from another Russian invasion is to guarantee the US has a financial interest in Ukraine’s future.
“If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine,” Vance said in the interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity which aired Monday night.
Continue reading...Monarch keen to put his soft power to use amid Trump’s incendiary rhetoric on Canada and tension over Ukraine
King Charles is “very conscious” of his global responsibility and unique diplomatic role, and is determined to put that to use, a royal source said, after his meeting with the Canadian prime minister on Monday.
Charles met Justin Trudeau at his Sandringham estate in Norfolk, a day after he received the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer won praise for taking the UK ‘back to the heart of Europe’ at the weekend, but will it be a long-term move?
Britain is back. That was the concise verdict of Eléonore Caroit, the vice-chair of the French national assembly’s foreign affairs committee. And the optics of Sunday’s crisis talks on Ukraine bore this out, with Keir Starmer at the very centre of the leaders’ joint photo.
“You are back on the scene, of the leadership in Europe,” Caroit told the BBC on Monday morning. James MacClearly, the Liberal Democrat MP who speaks for the party on Europe, was equally adamant, praising the prime minister for taking this chance “to bring us back to the heart of Europe where we belong”.
Continue reading...