22 h. ago The Guardian view on Trump and Europe: more an abusive relationship than an alliance | Editorial

The White House is aggressively seeking to weaken and dominate the United States’ traditional allies. European leaders must learn to fight back.Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz have become adept at scrambling to deal with the latest bad news from Washington. Their meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Downing Street on Monday was so hastily arranged that Mr Macron needed to be back in Paris by late afternoon to meet Croatia’s prime minister, while Mr Merz was due on television for an end-of-year Q&A with the German public.But diplomatic improvisation alone cannot fully answer Donald Trump’s structural threat to European security. The US president and his emissaries are trying to bully Mr Zelenskyy into an unjust peace deal that suits American and Russian interests. In response, the summit helped ramp up support for the use of up to £100bn in frozen Russian assets as collateral for a “reparations loan” to Ukraine. European counter-proposals for a ceasefire will ...

Politics

24 h. ago European leaders agree to fund Ukraine for 2 years but using Russian assets poses a major test

European Union leaders have committed to funding Ukraine's economic and military needs for the next two years

Politics

32 h. ago Deal to release ‘£100bn of Russian assets’ for Ukraine expected imminently

British officials said they were hopeful a deal would be agreed to unlock the value of immobilised Russian sovereign assets in the coming days

Economics

41 h. ago Keir Starmer tells Zelensky the UK is ready to hand £8billion in frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine's war effort

The move is part of a wider push that could give Kyiv access to holdings worth tens of billions of pounds locked in EU countries.

Economics

45 h. ago European leaders rally behind Ukraine in Downing Street talks

Hopes rise of a breakthrough in using £78bn of frozen Russian assets to bankroll KyivEuropean leaders rallied behind Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday night amid hopes they might finally achieve a breakthrough to allow Ukraine access to billions of pounds of frozen Russian assets.Despite vociferous support for the Ukrainian president, who has come under heavy pressure from Donald Trump to cede territory in order to bring the war to a speedy end, there was still no agreement on the thorny question of turning immobilised assets into a loan for Kyiv. Continue reading...

Politics

46 h. ago Allies discuss ‘positive progress’ to use frozen Russian assets in Ukraine talks

Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky and Friedrich Merz met at No 10 on Monday.

Politics

60 h. ago France shielding €18bn Russian asset pot from EU ‘reparations loan’ push

Paris guarded names of private banks holding world’s second biggest accumulation of immobilised Russian state funds

Politics

3 d. ago Three more Farage bloc MEPs alleged to have followed Russian asset’s script

At least eight MEPs elected for Ukip or Brexit party now known to have been focus of efforts by jailed Nathan GillThree more British MEPs from Nigel Farage’s bloc are alleged to have “followed the script” given to a colleague who was being bribed by an alleged Russian asset, according to prosecutors, as a police investigation into the affair continues.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has named Jonathan Bullock, Julia Reid and Steven Woolfe, saying they followed the script provided to Nathan Gill by Oleg Voloshyn when giving interviews to 112 Ukraine, a pro-Russian TV channel in March 2019. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Only Europe can save Ukraine from Putin and Trump – but will it? | Timothy Garton Ash

Whether using frozen Russian assets, ramping up defence production or deepening the relationship with the EU, it is up to us to secure Ukraine’s future – and our ownEurope, you have been warned. President Vladimir Putin has waged a full-scale war against Ukraine for nearly four years and this week threatened that Russia was “ready right now” for war with Europe if need be. President Donald Trump has demonstrated that the US is ready to sell out Ukraine for the sake of a dirty deal with Putin’s Russia. His new US National Security Strategy prescribes “cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations”. How much more clarity do you need?Now it’s up to us Europeans to enable Ukraine to survive armed assault from Moscow and diplomatic betrayal from Washington. In doing so, we also defend ourselves. For a year now, people have been telling me that Trump will eventually get tough on Russia. It’s been the geopolitical version of Waiting for Godot. Then his perso...

Politics

4 d. ago Will the EU’s bid to use frozen Russian assets hit the euro? 

Some fund managers see potential fallout affecting the currency’s global status from controversial plan

Events

4 d. ago Germany and EU hold ‘constructive’ talks with Belgium on Russian assets

Merz jetted to Brussels for dinner with Belgian premier on Friday to try to win approval for a reparations loan for Kyiv

Politics

5 d. ago Inside the EU’s plan to use £80bn of Russia’s frozen assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort

Ukraine’s allies in Europe are trying to find support for harnessing frozen Russian assets again

Economics

5 d. ago Inside the EU’s plan to use £80 billion of Russia’s frozen assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort

Ukraine’s allies in Europe are trying to find support for harnessing frozen Russian assets again

Economics

5 d. ago EU leaders race to save Ukraine funding deal as Kyiv’s cash runs low

‘Future of Europe’ at stake with Von der Leyen and Merz desperate to persuade Belgian PM to allow use of frozen Russian assetsGermany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will meet the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, and Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, for emergency talks on Friday as the EU races to save its sorely needed financing plan for Ukraine.The three leaders will dine in private in Brussels, a German government spokesperson said on Thursday, as Belgian officials continued to express strong opposition to the scheme, which involves the unprecedented use of frozen Russian assets. Continue reading...

Economics

5 d. ago Putin crushes hopes for a peace deal once more as UK eyes unlocking £8BILLION of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine

Speaking publicly for the first time about his talks with Donald Trump 's peace envoy Steve Witkoff, the Russian president held a hard line.

Economics

6 d. ago Moscow says EU plan to freeze Russian assets would be considered an ‘act of war’

The EU has faced opposition from Belgium over its plan to fund Ukraine using €90bn of frozen Russian assets

Events

6 d. ago Kremlin issues chilling WW3 warning to Europe over 'crazy' £80billion plan

The Kremlin's Dmitry Medvedev says a European Union plan to seize £80billion of Russian assets could force Vladimir Putin's hand and kick-off World War Three as tensions intensify

Events

6 d. ago Putin ally sends chilling WW3 warning to EU over £80bn frozen Russian assets

A close ally of Vladimir Putin has warned the European Union against seizing £80 billion worth of Russian assets, saying the move could be seen as an act of war

Events

6 d. ago EU plan to seize £80billion of Russian assets for Ukraine could be enough to justify Putin going to war with Europe, Kremlin official warns

Dmitry Medvedev, one of the Kremlin's most hardline voices, said on Thursday that Moscow would view the proposal as equivalent to a direct provocation.

Events

7 d. ago European Commission plans ‘reparations loan’ to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets

Leaders focus on bolstering Ukraine’s finances as US-Russia talks to end war make little progressThe European Commission will move ahead with controversial plans to fund Ukraine with a loan based on Russia’s frozen assets, but in a concession to concerns raised by Belgium, which hosts most of the assets, the EU executive has also proposed another option: an EU loan based on common borrowing.The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Wednesday the two proposals would ensure “Ukraine has the means to defend [itself] and take forward peace negotiations from a position of strength”. Continue reading...

Events