Category Archives: Ukraine

Outgoing Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte wins race to head Nato

Posted on by

Rutte’s appointment comes as Ukraine faces pressure from Russian bombardment in eastern regions

The outgoing Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has won the race to become the next head of Nato at a perilous moment for the western alliance, after his only rival withdrew his bid.

The long-serving Dutch leader is expected to be confirmed formally as Nato’s secretary general in the coming days and take over when the incumbent head, Jens Stoltenberg, steps down on 1 October after nearly a decade in charge.

Continue reading...

‘It is all lining up’: Plan for Ukraine to finally start using F-16 jets this summer

Posted on by

After delays in delivery and training pilots and ground staff, Netherlands says Ukraine should get first planes in summer

At a military base in the rural south of the Netherlands, Gen Arnoud Stallmann, a Dutch air force commander, said he expected that at some point this summer, F-16 fighter jets would finally take to the skies over Ukraine.

“Around this summertime, it is all lining up,” he said, speaking in front of two disused F-16s inside a hangar at the base, where a recent programme to train Ukrainian air force instructors in maintenance for the jets had just come to a close.

Continue reading...

Popular Kazakh opposition figure in hospital after being shot in Kyiv

Posted on by

Aydos Sadykoy has a large YouTube following and is a strong critic of President Tokayev of Kazakhstan

A Kazkah opposition figure and prominent blogger with more than 1 million subscribers on YouTube has been seriously wounded in an attempted killing in Kyiv.

Aydos Sadykov, who was granted asylum in Ukraine in 2014, was shot near his home.

Continue reading...

Vladimir Putin receives warm welcome in North Korea

Posted on by

Russian president makes first visit to country in 24 years as anti-west relationship deepens

Vladimir Putin has arrived in North Korea for a summit with Kim Jong-un, amid US warnings against any agreement that could add to military pressure on Ukraine and raise tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Making his first visit to the reclusive country since 2000, the Russian president flew to Pyongyang early on Wednesday to be greeted by huge welcome banners and Russian flags. Russian state media said his plane touched down in Pyongyang at about 2.45am local time after a stopover in Russia’s far east.

Continue reading...

Russia and North Korea: what can they do for each other?

Posted on by

The Russian president’s visit to Pyongyang signals a deepening relationship between two isolated countries

China accounts for more than 90% of North Korea’s trade and has been its most dependable aid donor and diplomatic ally. But as Vladimir Putin’s imminent visit to Pyongyang proves, the secluded state’s behaviour is being increasingly influenced by its security and economic ties with Russia.

Continue reading...

Putin praises North Korea’s ‘firm support’ for war ahead of Pyongyang visit – as it happened

Posted on by

This live blog is closed

China has urged Nato to “stop shifting blame” over the war in Ukraine after the western military alliance’s chief accused Beijing of worsening the conflict through support of Russia.

Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, on Monday called for China to face consequences for what US officials have called a major export push to rebuild Russia’s defence industry.

There are reports Putin will be staying at the Kumsusan guesthouse in Pyongyang, which also housed Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a 2019 state visit to North Korea in 2019.

The mansion is located near the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where Kim Jong-un’s father Kim Jong Il, and grandfather Kim Il Sung, lie in state.

Continue reading...

Putin praises North Korea for Ukraine support ahead of visit to Pyongyang

Posted on by

Russian leader will have talks with Kim Jong-un with shared aim of expanding security and economic cooperation

Vladimir Putin has praised North Korea for supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine, as he travels to Pyongyang to seek continued military support from one of the world’s most isolated nations.

In his first visit to North Korea since 2000, Putin will meet Kim Jong-un for one-on-one talks in Pyongyang as the two leaders pledge to expand their security and economic cooperation in defiance of western sanctions against both countries.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow trying to ‘maximise depletion of our troops’ before aid arrives, Ukraine army chief says

Posted on by

Ukraine says Russia is intensifying attacks and trying to gain more territory before military aid, including F-16 jets, arrive

We have more comments from the daily briefing with journalists attended by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

He was asked about the Ukraine peace summit, held in Switzerland over the weekend, during which western powers and their allies denounced Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine but failed to persuade major non-aligned states to join their final statement.

No, it won’t spoil them. We will, of course, take into account the position that these countries have taken, this is important to us and we will continue to explain our reasoning to them.

Many of them, and this was a common point of view on this event, confirmed their understanding of the absence of prospects for any serious, substantive discussions without the presence of our country … If we talk about the overall effectiveness of this meeting, it is close to zero.

Continue reading...

Key global powers fail to sign up to Ukraine peace summit communique

Posted on by

Brazil, India and Saudi Arabia among countries not to endorse text supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity

Key regional powers including Brazil, India, South Africa and Saudi Arabia have failed to sign up to a joint communique issued at the end of a Ukraine peace conference in which more than 80 countries and international organisations endorsed its territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s invasion.

Speaking at the end of the two-day summit in Switzerland, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, welcomed the “first steps toward peace” but acknowledged that not all attenders had come onboard. “Unfortunately there are people who are still balancing,” he said, adding that Russia was trying to divide the world.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: Saudi Arabia, India and South Africa among countries opting out of Ukraine declaration – as it happened

Posted on by

Nations also including Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and United Arab Emirates did not sign final communique at summit on peace, says Swiss government

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has thanked leaders and officials for attending this weekend’s peace summit as today’s talks get under way.

“A united world is a world of peace, a world that knows how to do the right thing. I thank everyone who worked for this day – every leader, all the teams and advisors of the leaders, all the countries. Our unity here proves that the very idea of international law remains alive and effective,” Zelenskiy said in a tweet.

Continue reading...

Israel has fallen into Hamas trap in Gaza war, says Giorgia Meloni at G7

Posted on by

The Italian prime minister also stated the EU will not directly contribute to a $50bn loan to Ukraine agreed at the summit

Israel is falling into a trap laid by Hamas in its war in Gaza, Giorgia Meloni said at a press conference closing the G7 summit in Bari that affirmed her role as a leading figure in Europe. The Italian prime minister also stated that the EU will not directly contribute to a $50bn loan to Ukraine agreed by the G7 leaders.

And she underlined her status by declaring that she will start talks on Monday about the allocation of top jobs in the EU on the basis that Europe has to accept the verdict of the people reflected in the results of last week’s European parliament elections.

Continue reading...

US vice-president Kamala Harris announces $1.5bn in Ukraine aid

Posted on by

Money will go towards repairing country’s energy infrastructure as well as providing humanitarian assistance

US vice-president, Kamala Harris, has pledged more than $1.5bn in aid for Ukraine’s energy sector and its humanitarian situation amid its ongoing war with Russia.

Harris made the announcement at a peace summit in Lucerne, Switzerland, where she met Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. She is expected to address the summit later.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war: ‘history being made’, says Zelenskiy, as world leaders plot path to peace – as it happened

Posted on by

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

Three people were killed and five others injured by Russian shelling in Ulakly village in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, local governor Vadym Filashkin wrote on Telegram on Saturday.

He said the village was hit by cluster munitions, adding that administrative buildings, a private house, a shop and eight cars were damaged.

Continue reading...

World leaders to gather in Swiss resort in attempt to forge Ukraine peace plan

Posted on by

More than 100 leaders at two-day conference to discuss Kyiv’s proposals to end war – but Russia and China absent

More than 100 leaders, including the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, and the presidents or heads of the EU, South American, Middle East and Asian countries, will gather in Switzerland on Saturday for one of the most ambitious attempts yet to forge a peace plan for Ukraine.

The summit comes as G7 leaders gathering in Italy clinch a new deal for a €50bn loan for Ukraine, securitised through use of the windfall profits from the interest on Russian central bank assets frozen by the EU and other western nations after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Russian ties and cheap tech: G7 leaders unequivocal in criticism of China

Posted on by

Concerns set out over supply of materials with military applications, and impact of subsidies on global market

China’s role in providing assistance to Russia in its war against Ukraine, and its “harmful overcapacity” in the production of cheap goods, have been targeted by G7 leaders despite misgivings from Germany.

On the second day of the annual summit, being held in Puglia under the Italian chair, the US drove home a 36-page communique that condemned Chinese subsidies for products such as solar panels and electric cars which it said were leading to “global spillovers, market distortions and harmful overcapacity … undermining our workers, industries, and economic resilience and security”.

Continue reading...

G7 summit live: Biden says lasting peace for Ukraine must be underwritten by Kyiv’s ability to defend itself

Posted on by

Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy hold a joint press conference just over two hours behind schedule

Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni has just arrived at the venue.

This is the scene at the Borgo Egnazia resort as G7 leaders are scheduled to begin arriving.

Continue reading...

‘Everywhere is dangerous’: Russia’s attacks on Kharkiv’s homes, shops and resorts

Posted on by

Since Kremlin staged fresh incursion on 10 May, strikes have increased threefold, destroying buildings and killing dozens

The apartment at 24 Liubovi Maloi avenue was an eerie ruin. Its roof and outer walls had disappeared. In one corner a row of suits hung in a wardrobe. There was a TV, a coffee cup, a maroon jacket on a peg. And a black and white photo album with old family snaps taken in communist times.

The flat’s inhabitants – Svitlana Vlasenko and her grown-up daughter Polina – were not coming back. The Russian missile that fell on their building on a Friday night killed them and six of their neighbours. Twenty-six people were injured, two of them children.

Continue reading...

Russia accused of ‘deliberate’ starvation tactics in Mariupol in submission to ICC

Posted on by

Lawyers say strategy of denying food and services to people in Ukrainian city during siege could amount to war crime

Russia engaged in a “deliberate pattern” of starvation tactics during the 85-day siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in early 2022, which amounted to a war crime, according to a fresh analysis submitted to the international criminal court.

The conclusion is at the heart of a dossier in the process of being submitted to the ICC in The Hague by the lawyers Global Rights Compliance, working in conjunction with the Ukrainian government. It argues that Russia and its leaders intended to kill and harm large numbers of civilians.

Continue reading...

G7 leaders head to Italy for summit as Ukraine and Russia top the agenda

Posted on by

US wants show of strength with planned sanctions for helping Russia, but group will also discuss migration, Middle East and AI

A dramatic expansion of entities exposed to US sanctions for helping the Russian economy and an EU-led $50bn loan to ease the financial burden on Ukraine will be at the centre of discussions at a summit of the leaders of wealthy G7 nations in Puglia, Italy, starting on Thursday.

The leaders, facing unprecedented challenges from discontented electorates, will be under heightened pressure to provide concrete results as their three days of discussion range across an interlinked agenda encompassing the war in Ukraine, migration, Africa, the Middle East, the climate crisis and harnessing artificial intelligence (AI).

Continue reading...

Zelenskiy lobbies for support and investment to reconstruct Ukraine

Posted on by

Ukrainian president appeals in Berlin for funding to repair and rebuild energy infrastructure and for defence

The Ukrainian president and his allies have used a major conference in Berlin to lobby international business for support in the country’s reconstruction and recovery efforts even as it continues to be bombarded by Russia.

Speaking at the Ukraine recovery conference, hosted by the German government, at which the topic of Ukraine’s survival was centre stage, Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Europe’s peace was also at stake if his country was not able to protect and rebuild itself as it stood up to Russia.

Continue reading...