Category Archives: Ukraine

Leaders of UK, France, Germany and Poland to visit Ukraine in joint show of support

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Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and Donald Tusk to make symbolic visit day after Putin parade

The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland are due in Kyiv on Saturday for a symbolic visit to Ukraine, a day after Vladimir Putin hosted a set-piece military parade on Red Square. The visit comes as the US warned of intelligence about a big impending air attack on Ukraine.

Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and Donald Tusk are expected to arrive in Kyiv early on Saturday and will meet the president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a show of support for Ukraine, Downing Street said in a statement issued late on Friday.

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Slovakian and Serbian leaders defy EU to attend Russian military parade

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Robert Fico and Aleksandar Vučić accept Vladimir Putin’s invitation to attend Victory Day celebrations

Despite warnings from European Union officials, Slovakia’s Moscow-friendly prime minister, Robert Fico, shook hands with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin before becoming the only EU leader to attend Russia’s 9 May parade of military forces waging war on Ukraine.

The Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić, whose country aspires to join the 27-nation union, also accepted the Russian president’s invitation to attend the annual Victory Day celebrations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in the second world war.

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Vance says Russia asking ‘too much’ in ceasefire talks with Ukraine

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Trump says ‘it’s possible that’s right’ about the vice-president’s remarks amid frustrations with Russia

JD Vance has said that Russia is asking for “too much” in its negotiations with Ukraine in the latest sign of growing frustration from Washington with ceasefire talks to end the war between the two countries.

Speaking at a security conference of senior military and diplomatic leaders in Washington, the US vice-president said that the White House is focused on getting the two sides to hold direct talks and is ready to walk away if certain benchmarks are not reached.

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India’s Pakistan strikes show how warfare has been normalised again

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All-out war is unlikely but shifting of goalposts amid Gaza and Ukraine conflicts suggests Kashmir crisis could escalate

India’s string of attacks on Pakistan overnight – a response, Delhi says, to the killing of 26 in a terror attack in Kashmir last month – comes at a time when warfare has become increasingly normalised internationally and the restraints of the global diplomatic system weakened.

Though flare-ups between the two south Asian powers are nothing new, India’s Operation Sindoor is already notably more aggressive than recent military actions launched by Delhi against its neighbour in 2016 and 2019, raising the stakes for Pakistan’s promised response to what it says was “an act of war”.

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Biden accuses Trump of ‘modern-day appeasement’ towards Russia

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In his first interview since leaving office, former US president told the BBC he fears for US-Europe relations

Joe Biden has accused Donald Trump of “modern-day appeasement” in his approach to Russia and expressed fears that Europe would “lose confidence in the certainty of America” in his first interview since leaving the White House in January.

“He [Vladimir Putin] believes it [Russia] has historical rights to Ukraine,” Biden told the BBC. Anybody who thought the Russian president would stop if Kyiv conceded territory, as recently proposed by Trump, “is just foolish”, he said.

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Ukrainian drones target Moscow for second night as foreign leaders arrive

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Russia says its defences shot down two drones en route to capital, where preparations are under way for Victory Day parade

Ukrainian drones targeted Moscow on Tuesday as the first foreign leaders landed in the capital ahead of a major military parade marking the end of the second world war.

Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, said Russian air defences shot down two drones en route to the capital on Tuesday evening.

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Pentagon stopped Ukraine military aid shipments in February without Trump’s approval

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Order to cancel 11 military aid flights – which were quickly reinstated – originated in defense head Pete Hegseth’s office

Roughly a week after Donald Trump started his second term as president, the US military issued an order to three freight airlines operating out of Dover air force base in Delaware and a US base in Qatar: stop 11 flights loaded with artillery shells and other weaponry that were bound for Ukraine.

In a matter of hours, frantic questions reached Washington from Ukrainians in Kyiv and from officials in Poland, where the shipments were coordinated. Who had ordered the US Transportation Command, known as TransCom, to halt the flights? Was it a permanent pause on all aid? Or just some?

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Mike Pence rebukes Trump over tariffs and ‘wavering’ support for Ukraine

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Former vice-president says tariffs ‘not a win for the American people’ and predicts public pressure will grow

Donald Trump’s tariffs policy will trigger a “price shock” and possible shortages, and lead to public pressure on him to change his approach, the former vice-president Mike Pence has said.

In one of his most wide-ranging critiques yet on the policies of the president he used to serve, Pence, speaking to CNN, derided the White House’s “wavering” support for Ukraine and declared – in direct contradiction of repeated assurances from Trump – that President Vladimir Putin of Russia “doesn’t want peace”.

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Romania’s pro-EU prime minister resigns as Trump ally eyes presidency

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Marcel Ciolacu quits after coalition candidate fails to make it to run-off against nationalist George Simion

Romania’s pro-EU prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, has resigned after his ruling coalition’s candidate crashed out of a presidential election rerun decisively won by a far-right Trump admirer, dramatically deepening the country’s political turmoil.

“Rather than let the future president replace me, I decided to resign myself,” Ciolacu, told reporters after a meeting at the headquarters of his Social Democratic party (PSD). “The ruling coalition has no legitimacy, at least in this formula.”

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Far-right Trump ally secures decisive win in first round of Romania’s presidential election rerun

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George Simion will face centrist Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan in runoff vote

An ultranationalist who opposes military aid to Ukraine, has vilified the EU’s leaders, and calls himself Donald Trump’s “natural ally” has won the first round of Romania’s rerun presidential vote and will face a centrist in the runoff, as vote counting nears its end.

With 99% of votes counted late on Sunday, George Simion, whose far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) began as an anti-vax movement during the pandemic, was comfortably in the lead on a projected 40.5% of the vote.

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Cautious optimism in Ukraine over minerals deal with Trump

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While details remain to be finalised, Zelenskyy may have have secured a better agreement than first seemed likely

There is cautious optimism in Kyiv over the terms of the long-discussed US-Ukraine minerals deal, signed on Wednesday, which appear to be more advantageous for Ukraine than most had expected.

Many details are still to be finalised and will be written into a yet-to-be-signed further technical agreement, suggesting that the long saga over the deal may not be quite over. But Ukrainian analysts have noted that Kyiv has apparently been able to extract some major concessions, despite Donald Trump’s repeated claim that Ukraine “has no cards” to play.

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US and Ukraine sign minerals deal that solidifies investment in Kyiv’s defense against Russia

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Move seals a deal to create a fund the Trump administration says will begin to repay roughly $175bn provided to Ukraine

The US and Kyiv have signed an agreement to share profits and royalties from the future sale of Ukrainian minerals and rare earths, sealing a deal that Donald Trump has said will provide an economic incentive for the US to continue to invest in Ukraine’s defense and its reconstruction after he brokers a peace deal with Russia.

The minerals deal, which has been the subject of tense negotiations for months and nearly fell through hours before it was signed, will establish a US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund that the Trump administration has said will begin to repay an estimated $175bn in aid provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

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Release of Ukrainian prisoners in Russia key to any peace deal, rights groups say

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Kyiv-based Centre for Civil Liberties says tortured inmates bypassed amid focus on territory and security guarantees

Ukrainian and Russian civil society leaders have called for the unconditional release of thousands of Ukrainian civilians being held in Russian captivity, pushing for world leaders to make it a central part of any peace deal.

Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Kyiv-based Centre for Civil Liberties, which won the 2022 Nobel peace prize, said most of the discussion on ending the conflict, led by Donald Trump’s administration, focused solely on territories and potential security guarantees.

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Friedrich Merz picks pro-Kyiv foreign minister and promises German support for Ukraine

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Chancellor-designate vows to tackle Russian aggression and appoints Johann Wadephul, an ex-soldier, to key role

Germany’s chancellor-designate, Friedrich Merz, has promised to put staunch support of Ukraine at the heart of his government after announcing that a pro-Kyiv foreign policy expert and former soldier will be the new foreign minister.

Speaking days before he is due to take power, Merz said on Monday it was “no time for euphoria” as his conservative CDU met to approve an agreement to form a coalition government with the Social Democrats.

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North Korea confirms for first time it has sent troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine war

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Battle in Kursk showed ‘highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship’ between North Korea and Russia, state news says, hailing ‘heroes’

North Korea has confirmed for the first time that it has sent troops to fight for Russia in the war with Ukraine under the orders of the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, who described the soldiers as “heroes”.

The acknowledgment comes amid claims by the Kremlin – contested by Ukraine – that North Korean forces helped recapture Russia’s Kursk region.

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Russia continues to strike Ukraine after Trump questions Putin’s commitment to peace

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Airstrike in Donetsk kills three and drone attack in Dnipro leaves one dead, according to local sources

Russia has continued its assault on Ukraine with a series of drone attacks and airstrikes, hours after Donald Trump cast doubt on Vladimir Putin’s readiness to end the conflict.

Three people were killed and four wounded on Sunday morning in airstrikes on Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region, according to the regional prosecutor’s office. In a drone attack on the city of Pavlohrad in the Dnipro region, a person was killed and a 14-year-old girl wounded after a third consecutive night of assaults, the local governor, Serhiy Lysak, said.

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Campaigners sound alarm as European nations move to exit landmine ban

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Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania cite rising threats from Russia to justify once again using one of world’s most indiscriminate weapons

Rights groups have expressed alarm and warned of a slippery slope of again embracing one of the world’s most treacherous weapons, after five European countries said they intend to withdraw from the international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines.

In announcing their plans earlier this year, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all pointed to the escalating military threat from Russia. In mid-April, Latvia’s parliament became the first to formally back the idea, after lawmakers voted to pull out of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which bans the use, production and stockpiling of landmines designed for use against humans.

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Trump says he fears Putin ‘may be tapping me along’ after Zelenskyy meeting

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US president admits to concern Russian counterpart does not want to ‘stop the war’ and ponders new approach to Moscow

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have sat down for a face-to-face talk in the opulent halls of a Vatican basilica to discuss a possible ceasefire, after which the US president accused his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, of not wanting to “stop the war”.

The White House described Trump’s meeting with the Ukrainian leader before Pope Francis’s funeral as “very productive”, while Zelenskyy said on X that the talk with the US president was symbolic and had the “potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results”.

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Son of CIA deputy director was killed while fighting for Russia, report says

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Michael Alexander Gloss, 21, who died on 4 April 2024, was the son of top-ranking US spy Juliane Gallina

An American man identified as the son of a deputy director of the CIA was killed in eastern Ukraine in 2024 while fighting under contract for the Russian military, according to an investigation by independent Russian media.

Michael Alexander Gloss, 21, died on 4 April 2024 in “Eastern Europe”, according to an obituary published by his family. He was the son of Juliane Gallina, who was appointed the deputy director for digital innovation at the Central Intelligence Agency in February 2024.

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Son of CIA deputy director was killed while fighting for Russia, report says

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Michael Alexander Gloss, 21, who died on 4 April 2024, was the son of top-ranking US spy Juliane Gallina

An American man identified as the son of a deputy director of the CIA was killed in eastern Ukraine in 2024 while fighting under contract for the Russian military, according to an investigation by independent Russian media.

Michael Alexander Gloss, 21, died on 4 April 2024 in “Eastern Europe”, according to an obituary published by his family. He was the son of Juliane Gallina, who was appointed the deputy director for digital innovation at the Central Intelligence Agency in February 2024.

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