First F-16 jets heading to Ukraine after months of training and negotiations

Dutch and Danish leaders say Ukraine will be ‘flying operational F-16s this summer’ as Kyiv seeks battlefield wins

The first F-16 fighter jets are on their way to Ukraine and will be flying sorties this summer, according to a statement from the Dutch and Danish governments that was released by the White House at the Nato summit.

Dick Schoof, the prime minister of the Netherlands, and Mette Frederiksen, his counterpart from Denmark, said the “transfer process” of F-16s to Kyiv was under way after months of pilot training and political negotiations.

Continue reading...

UK will be ‘leading European nation’ in Nato, defence secretary pledges

John Healey acknowledges likely shift of US focus to China and says Britain and EU must raise military spending to counter Russia

Britain will be “the leading European nation” in Nato under a Labour government, the new defence secretary, John Healey, pledged in an interview at the Nato summit in Washington DC – though spending may have to rise significantly if the UK is to remain ahead of Germany.

The cabinet minister, appointed last Friday, acknowledged that European countries within Nato would have to take on more of the burden of defending the west against Russia – regardless of whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump won the US presidential election in November.

Continue reading...

Nato summit live: Stoltenberg says Ukraine Nato membership is ‘not the question of if, but when’ – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. For more on the Dutch and Danish governments’ statement at the summit, read our report:

Here’s the schedule for today’s talks in Washington (all in local time).

8:15am: Nato secretary general’s doorstep

Continue reading...

Labour will not boost military spend without economic growth, says minister

Comments come as PM begins two-day US visit to urge Nato member countries to increase defence spending

The Labour government will not increase spending on the military unless it is also able to grow the economy, the armed forces minister has said, as Keir Starmer comes under pressure to say when Britain’s defence spending will hit 2.5% of GDP.

Luke Pollard said on Wednesday the government wanted to hit the target promised by the former prime minister Rishi Sunak, but would not be able to do so without economic growth.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Kremlin hits out at UK’s ‘irresponsible’ comments on Storm Shadow missiles – as it happened

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Ukraine war coverage here

Katarína Mathernová, the European Union’s ambassador to Kyiv, has posted pictures of a group of ambassadors visiting the site of the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in central Kyiv.

She described the attack on the building earlier this week as the “latest Russian terror and destruction” and described it as “gut-wrenching”.

Continue reading...

Wednesday briefing: How Kyiv is handling the aftermath of a strike on a children’s hospital

In today’s newsletter: At least 30 have died after a missile hit the Okhmadyt facility in Ukraine’s capital – this is how the city continues to life under bombardment

Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition

Good morning.

At least 38 civilians were killed and nearly 200 injured after Russian missiles struck cities across Ukraine in the early hours of Monday morning. In Kyiv powerful missiles hit Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital which is also its main treatment centre for children with cancer, demolishing the top two floors, shattering windows and destroying an entire ward. Another Russian strike later that same day hit a building in the capital where a maternity hospital is located, killing at least seven people. Images of bloodied children and piles of rubble sent shockwaves around the world.

UK politics | Suella Braverman has sparked a backlash after she attacked “liberal Conservatives”, saying she was angered by the flying of the Progress Pride flag in her department when she was the UK home secretary, and calling it a “monstrous thing”.

US election 2024 | The White House clarified that Joe Biden has not seen a neurologist outside of his annual physicals, after a heated exchange between the president’s press secretary and journalists seeking an explanation for a Parkinson’s disease specialist visited the White House eight times in as many months.

Work | Campaigners for a four-day working week are preparing a new pilot project on flexible working in the hope that the Labour government will be more receptive to such changes.

Water | Thames Water said it intended to tap investors for fresh funds as it would run out of money by next June without a cash injection, raising fears over its potential collapse.

Health | The amount of sugar consumed by children from soft drinks in the UK halved within a year of the sugar tax being introduced, a study has found. The tax, which came into force in April 2018, has been so successful in improving people’s diets that experts have said an expansion to cover other high sugar food and drink products is a “no-brainer”.

Continue reading...

Leaders head to Nato summit amid Biden doubts and concern for Ukraine

Nato official warns there could be further Russian strikes on Ukraine this week to try to draw attention away from event

World leaders flew into Washington DC on Tuesday for a two-day Nato summit where they are expected to agree enhanced military support for Ukraine against a backdrop of questions about Joe Biden’s mental sharpness.

Britain’s new prime minister, Keir Starmer, and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, were among those arriving at the US capital amid a warning that Russia could step up missile strikes on Ukraine this week, repeating a barrage that killed at least 38 on Monday.

Continue reading...

Zelenskiy says world can stop ‘Russian terror’ after attack on Kyiv children’s hospital

Rescue efforts continue after strikes that killed 38 people, as Ukraine president renews call for more air defences

Rescuers have continued to dig through the rubble of a children’s hospital in Kyiv after a wave of devastating Russian missile strikes across the country on Monday that killed 38 people, including four children.

On the eve of a Nato summit in Washington, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, renewed his call for more air defences and said the world had the “necessary strength” to stop what he called “Russian terror”. The US president, Joe Biden, who is expected to meet Zelenskiy, described the strike as a “horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality”.

Continue reading...

Modi and Putin cement ‘bonds of friendship’ despite Ukraine tensions

Indian prime minister travelled to Moscow for two-day summit and ‘chit-chat’ amid diplomatic complexities

As India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, landed in Moscow on Monday, it was straight into the warm embrace of Vladimir Putin. Modi said the visit – his first since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – was to cement the “bonds of friendship” between the two countries, and later effusively described Russia as India’s “all-weather friend and trusted ally”.

The India-Russia relationship runs deep, dating back to the cold war, and Russia has long been the largest supplier of arms to India. Since he was elected in 2014, Modi has built up a much-publicised rapport with Putin, the two leaders having had more than 20 meetings.

Continue reading...

Leaders condemn Russian missile attacks that killed 36 across Ukraine

Rescuers search through rubble of country’s largest children’s hospital, as Zelenskiy vows to retaliate

Western and UN leaders have condemned a daylight Russian missile barrage that hit Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, leaving an unknown number trapped under the rubble, as strikes across the country killed 36 people in one of the deadliest attacks this year.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed retaliation as he said Kyiv’s Okhmatdyt hospital, the main treatment centre in the country for children with cancer, had taken a direct missile hit. The strike was part of one of the heaviest attacks on the capital since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

Continue reading...

Nato will announce ‘historic’ Ukraine aid package – but hospital attack shows it’s not enough

Members have put forward hard-fought aid package but as Russia resumes large-scale attacks it may not satisfy Kyiv

After one of the worst Russian missile strikes against Ukraine in recent months, Nato leaders will sit down in Washington this week to announce the details of a hard-fought aid package that will include crucial air defense systems meant to protect Ukrainian cities.

The package put forward by Nato countries has been presented as “historic” and is an widely seen as an attempt to “futureproof” continued aid to Ukraine – but it may not fully satisfy Kyiv, which has been facing unprecedented attacks against civilian sites and infrastructure.

Continue reading...

International community should ‘create conditions’ for negotiations, says Xi Jinping – Ukraine war live

Hungarian president Viktor Orbán meets Chinese president, days after holding talks on potential Ukrainian peace deal with Vladimir Putin

Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said he received “significantly less” than he requested as part of the budget for his ministry for 2025.

Pistorius had sought to increase annual defence spending by €6.7bn ($7.25bn) in 2025. Neither he nor the government have commented on how much he will receive.

Continue reading...

UK urged to protect Ukraine from legal action over private debt default

Kyiv shouldn’t have to fight ‘shameless bondholders’ as repayment deadline nears, say campaigners

Campaigners are urging Britain’s new Labour government to prevent Ukraine being sued in the UK courts if the country defaults on its debts to private creditors.

Debt Justice said a two-year suspension of Ukraine’s debt payments was scheduled to expire on 1 August, and that action was needed to protect Kyiv from the possibility of legal action from its creditors.

Continue reading...

Viktor Orbán visits Vladimir Putin to condemnation from fellow EU leaders

Brussels disassociates itself from Hungarian PM’s Moscow trip, which he has tried to cast as a peace mission

Viktor Orbán, Europe’s most pro-Russia leader, arrived in Moscow on Friday for talks with Vladimir Putin, days after making his first visit to Kyiv, as the Hungarian prime minister attempts to position himself as a peace broker between Russia and Ukraine.

Orbán’s trip to Moscow has drawn strong rebukes from fellow EU leaders and comes in the week that Hungary took over the rotating EU presidency until the end of the year.

Continue reading...

Orbán to meet Putin in Moscow visit likely to anger EU

Hungarian PM ‘trying to mediate between Russia and Ukraine’ after Hungary took over rotating EU presidency

Viktor Orbán will travel to Moscow on Friday for talks with Vladimir Putin, sources said, days after Hungary’s prime minister made his first visit to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.

Two sources in Budapest told the Guardian about the trip, saying it was planned as part of a package with the Ukraine visit after Hungary took over the rotating EU presidency this week.

Continue reading...

Negotiated outcome most likely result of Russia-Ukraine war, major poll says

In thinktank’s survey of 15 European countries, few respondents believe Ukraine can secure an outright victory

A negotiated outcome with Russia, as opposed to an outright Ukrainian military victory, is now seen as the most likely outcome in most European countries, according to a major poll of 15 countries.

Support for Ukraine’s cause remains strong across Europe despite battlefield reverses, but European voters increasingly regard arming Ukraine as necessary not to achieve a complete Ukrainian battlefield victory, but instead to strengthen Ukraine’s hand in future negotiations with Russia.

Continue reading...

From conflict to the climate – what are the UK parties’ international plans?

As the election nears, we scrutinise how each of the main contenders would deal with problems around the world

Conflicts and environmental disasters are stretching humanitarian resources, and a new UK government will have to decide what role it will play on the world stage in dealing with global problems, especially after budget cuts and closure of the Department for International Development by the Conservatives, and with priorities so focused on Ukraine. We’ve talked to the main parties and looked at their manifestos to see what their plans are.

Continue reading...

Viktor Orbán expected to make surprise trip to Kyiv on Tuesday

Sources say Hungary’s pro-Russia PM planning to visit president Volodymyr Zelenskiy one day after assuming EU presidency

Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is expected to travel to Kyiv on Tuesday, according to three sources with knowledge of the plans, in a surprise visit for one of Europe’s most pro-Russian leaders, which comes as Hungary takes over the rotating presidency of the EU.

Two sources in Budapest said Orbán was expected to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv, in the Hungarian prime minister’s first trip to neighbouring Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion more than two years ago.

Continue reading...

Briton who founded charity helping Ukrainian soldiers dies ‘in battlefield’

Peter Fouché set up Project Konstantin, which provides supplies and delivers aid to frontline

A British man who founded a charity providing support to Ukraine soldiers has died while fighting in the country, the organisation said.

Peter Fouché died last Thursday “in the battlefield” after getting badly injured “in combat against Russian forces”, Halyna Zhuk, commercial director and co-founder of Project Konstantin, said in a video message.

Continue reading...

Deadly Russian missile strikes kill civilians in southern Ukraine town

Seven people dead, including children, and dozens wounded, report Vilniansk local authorities

Russian missiles slammed into a town in southern Ukraine, killing seven civilians, including children, and wounding dozens more, local authorities reported.

Ukrainian officials published photos of bodies stretched out under picnic blankets in a park in Vilniansk, and deep craters in the blackened earth next to the charred, twisted remains of a building.

Continue reading...