Category Archives: Ukraine

Boris Johnson to try to regain control with Brexit bill and policy blitz

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PM hopes to move on from parties scandal with plans to make it easier to scrap EU laws and tackle cost of living crisis

Boris Johnson will attempt to seize back control of the government agenda this week with a policy blitz, a Brexit bill and flying visit to Ukraine, as Westminster remains in the grip of paralysis over the Sue Gray and police inquiries into No 10 parties.

Amid frustration in No 10 at the uncertainty surrounding the report on rule-breaking parties in Downing Street, sources said Johnson was determined to deflect public outrage with a schedule of high-profile announcements and photo opportunities that he also hopes will show MPs he remains focused.

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Kyiv urges Russia to pull troops back from Ukraine border

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Call comes after Nato stresses need for EU countries to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas

Kyiv has urged Moscow to pull back its troops from Ukraine’s border and continue dialogue with the west if it is “serious” about de-escalating tensions that have soared amid fears of a Russian invasion.

“If Russian officials are serious when they say they don’t want a new war, Russia must continue diplomatic engagement and pull back military forces it amassed along Ukraine’s borders and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine,” Kyiv’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tweeted on Sunday.

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Ukraine: west’s fears of imminent attack not shared in Kyiv

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Analysis: Kyiv’s interpretation of Russian buildup diverges from UK and US leaders, who in recent days have ratcheted up invasion warnings

Britain’s politicians and intelligence chiefs have stepped up warnings about the likelihood of a Russian invasion of Ukraine over the past week, yet it is not clear, despite a drumbeat of activity, that a military attack is any more certain.

That drumbeat has been matched in Washington, but, significantly, the concern is not shared in Kyiv. As Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Friday, high tensions with Russia are not new “We have been in the situation for eight years,” he said.

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Liz Truss says UK will introduce tougher sanctions on Russia this week

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Foreign secretary announces legislation in bid to dissuade Putin from launching Ukraine invasion

Legislation to allow Britain to hit banks, energy companies and “oligarchs close to the Kremlin” with economic sanctions will be introduced by the government this week, the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said.

The scheme is the latest attempt by the UK to dissuade the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, from launching an invasion of Ukraine, and was announced hours after Britain said it was willing to deploy more forces to Estonia and other Nato allies in eastern Europe.

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‘Nowhere to hide’: Truss to pave way for tougher Russian sanctions amid Ukraine tensions – video

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The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said plans to allow for tougher economic sanctions against Russia would be announced ahead of a diplomatic trip to Ukraine and Russia over the next two weeks. The UK has offered to deploy land, air and sea forces to bolster the defence of Nato countries on their northern and eastern borders as tensions over Russia’s military ambitions in Ukraine deepen

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Ukraine urges west to be ‘vigilant and firm’ in Russia talks

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US president announces small troop deployment to eastern Europe amid fears of invasion

Kyiv has urged the west to remain “vigilant and firm” in its talks with Russia, as Joe Biden announced a small troop deployment to eastern Europe amid fears Moscow could invade Ukraine.

Washington’s top defence officials warned on Friday that the Kremlin had massed enough troops and hardware at the border to threaten the whole of Ukraine, but called for further diplomatic efforts to avert a “horrific” conflict.

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‘This is just hysteria’: Russians unmoved by threat of Ukraine conflict

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As Russia approaches war, in Moscow it feels as if the public has barely taken note

Choral music wafted through the nave of the Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces as Alexei Rozhkov, a visiting priest, considered the question: was Russia standing on the precipice of a new great conflict in Ukraine?

“There won’t be a war – there can’t,” he said quickly, glancing up at the skylights of stained glass depicting Soviet medals and religious symbols on the ceiling.

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US to heighten troop presence in eastern Europe, says Biden

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The Pentagon has already placed 8,500 troops on stand-by in response to Russia’s build-up near Ukraine’s border

Joe Biden said on Friday that he will be moving US troops to eastern European and Nato countries “in the near term” as tensions rise over Russia’s military buildup on the borders of Ukraine.

The Pentagon has already placed about 8,500 US troops on stand-by for possible deployment to Europe amid Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine’s border.

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Outrage as Bolsonaro confirms Russia trip despite Ukraine crisis

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Isolated Brazilian president accused of ‘utterly reckless’ plan to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow

Jair Bolsonaro has sparked disbelief and outrage by insisting he will go ahead with a trip to meet Vladimir Putin in Russia despite the escalating military crisis along the Ukrainian border.

Foreign policy experts and rivals questioned the Brazilian presidents’s planned visit after he told supporters he would fly to Moscow in late February to improve trade ties.

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Putin accuses Nato of ignoring Russia’s concerns as Ukraine crisis simmers

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Russian president’s first public comments on response to Moscow’s proposals come in readout of phone call with Macron

Vladimir Putin said the US and its Nato allies had ignored Russia’s main security concerns, but promised to continue talks with the west, in a call with Emmanuel Macron amid simmering tensions over possible war in Ukraine.

In his first public comments on US and Nato responses to Russian proposals to rewrite the post-cold war security architecture, Putin said Moscow’s concerns about the expansion of Nato and the deployment of strike weapons near its borders had not been taken into account, according to a Kremlin readout of the phone call with his French counterpart.

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Too quiet for comfort: on the frontline in Ukraine – a photo essay

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Photojournalist Guillaume Herbaut’s latest visit to Ukraine reveals a disturbing silence on the frontline as international posturing ramps up tensions and diplomats work to avert a full-scale conflict

Since 2014, the French photographer Guillaume Herbaut has been going to Ukraine several times a year to cover the war in a country divided between those turned toward Europe and those drawn to Russia.

A Ukrainian soldier walks in a trench in the former Zenit military airbase. The base has become one of the Ukrainian army’s positions on the frontline

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Russia remains open but ‘not optimistic’ over Ukraine talks

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Moscow unhappy with rejection of demand for veto over Ukraine’s potential Nato membership

Russia has said it is willing to continue talks with the US over European security, but is not optimistic about their prospects after Washington and Nato allies again rejected a key part of the Kremlin’s proposed new order for post-cold war security.

Tensions have soared in recent weeks as Russia massed more than 100,000 soldiers and heavy weapons at its border with Ukraine, raising fears of an invasion.

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Ukraine crisis: Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline won’t open if Russia invades, says US – live coverage

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Russian president Vladimir Putin is being briefed on a US paper reaffirming support for Ukraine’s right to pursue Nato membership

The United States has not given a positive response to Russia’s most important security question, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

The Russian news agency Ria Novosti quotes Lavrov as telling reporters that there was “no positive reaction” on the main question.

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No decision on ‘fully vaccinated’ definition as at least 72 Covid deaths recorded – as it happened

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Atagi still considering whether to change vaccination advice; nation records at least 72 Covid deaths with 13 in SA including reconciled data of death notifications from past fortnight; Central Land Council calls for central NT lockdown. This blog is now closed

Back to the EU ambassador, and he has confirmed the European Union would respond if Russian troops crossed the Ukrainian border.

Nurses and midwives at Sydney’s Liverpool hospital are striking today, demanding the government take action to address the staffing crisis impacting health care across the state.

Some of them are in tears here this morning, just come off a night shift. They are caring for, sometimes, one nurse for eight to 10 people and Covid has made their situation so harrowing.

Our hospital system really is at a breaking point and they are asking for ... fair, safe staffing levels here in our hospitals. Here in south-western Sydney, these nurses saw the brunt of the Delta outbreak, a failure of national quarantine, a failure of the vaccine rollout, and now they are seeing with Omicron the failure of the rapid antigen testing.

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Antony Blinken says US will ‘uphold principle of Nato’s open door’ for Ukraine – video

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US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said 'there will be no change 'to Washington’s support for Ukraine’s right to pursue Nato membership, the most contentious issue in relations with Moscow.

The US has presented its written response to Russian demands on Ukraine, offering to negotiate with Russia over some aspects of European security, but not the issue of eventual Ukrainian membership to the Nato alliance.

Blinken was speaking hours after his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, threatened 'retaliatory measures' if the US response did not satisfy the Kremlin

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Qatar in talks to supply gas to Europe if Russia cuts supplies

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Emir expected to tell US president Qatar can provide short-term emergency liquid gas to help replace any loss of supplies

The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is expected to tell the US president, Joe Biden, that his country will provide some short-term emergency liquid gas to help replace any shortages if Russia cuts off supplies to Germany.

Qatar is looking to supply Europe through transferring excess gas in storage in east Asia. It is also hoping to return to the European market on a bigger scale as its own production levels rise, but wants to see an end to a European Commission anti-trust investigation.

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US weapons arrive in Ukraine as Biden faces test over allies’ unity – live

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Joe Biden will meet with several CEOs this afternoon to discuss Democrats’ Build Back Better Act, the $1.75tn spending package that includes massive investments in healthcare, childcare and climate initiatives.

“This afternoon, I’m meeting with CEOs who support passing my Build Back Better Agenda to discuss how it’ll invest in American workers, grow our economy, and lower inflation in the long-term,” Biden said on Twitter.

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Ukraine tensions: what is the Normandy format and has it achieved anything?

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French, German, Russian and Ukrainian diplomats are meeting in Paris in the latest effort to de-escalate the crisis

The Normandy format is an informal forum that was set up by French, German, Russian and Ukrainian diplomats in 2014, after Russia kickstarted a separatist conflict in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. It takes its name from the Normandy landings in the second world war. The first meeting took place in Normandy on the margins of the ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the allied landings.

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Focused Russian attack on Ukraine seen as more likely than full-scale invasion

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Officials and experts say several elements missing for full-scale invasion despite recent troop movements

Russia does not currently have enough troops on the border with Ukraine to carry out a full-scale military invasion and occupation of the country, according to western experts and senior officials in Kyiv.

They believe a Russian attack to capture most or all of Ukraine in the near future is unlikely, despite an unprecedented buildup of about 125,000 Russian soldiers, and military exercises due to take place next month in Belarus, within striking distance of the capital.

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‘A resort of ghosts’: on the Ukraine frontline waiting for war again – video

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The Guardian's Luke Harding travels to the eastern Ukraine coastal city of Mariupol to see how preparations are being made for a potential Russian attack. With tensions in the region high and Russian troops gathering on the border, Ukrainian soldiers remain defiant, despite their depleted firepower. And while the world's attention has returned to the region for the first time since Russia took Crimea in 2014, for Ukrainians the war has been ongoing

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