84 m. ago This is a moment for European leaders to decide what they want

Editorial: When Putin declares victory, as now looks likely, the question of how willing the ‘coalition of the willing’ will be in its continued defence of Ukraine is a crucial one that few seem ready to answer – and one on which Keir Starmer must continue to take a lead

Politics

11 h. ago The enormity of the attacks on Ukraine is impossible to grasp. Let me show you the horror of a single day | Oleksandr Mykhed

The rumble, the explosions and the deaths: they are so frequent that they seem normal. It’s a fight to protect our homes, our cities and the psycheDay 1,254 of the invasion; 31 July 2025, Kyiv, 4.30am. The air-raid alarm started again just a moment ago. I wake up from the roar and rumble of rockets. It’s a sound that makes you want to flee in primeval terror.Time slows down. I roll over on the bed, embrace my girlfriend Dasha, make another half-turn and we drop down softly to the floor. I am not thinking or reflecting, I’m guided by instinct – move away from the windows, position our silhouettes as low as possible. I cover Dasha with my body. All she has time to ask for is: “The doggie? Where’s the dog?” From under the bed, we can hear the rustling of our old chihuahua’s paws.Oleksandr Mykhed is the author of The Language of War and a member of PEN Ukraine. Translated by Maryna Gibson Continue reading...

Events

13 h. ago Putin prepares for nuclear war on eve of Trump summit: Russia readys new cruise missile nuke for tests in satellite images after Donald warned of 'severe consequences' if Ukraine conflict continues

Experts say recent satellite images show intense preparations at the Pankovo test site on Novaya Zemlya, a remote archipelago in the Barents Sea.

Events

26 h. ago Putin to face ‘very severe consequences’ if he does not agree Ukraine ceasefire, says Trump

US president also suggests he would push for second summit if his meeting with Putin goes well alongside Vlodymyr ZelesnkyyVladimir Putin will face “very severe consequences” if he does not agree a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine at his summit with Donald Trump in Alaska, the US president said on Wednesday.Speaking after a call with Vlodymyr Zelesnkyy and other European leaders, including Britain’s Keir Starmer, Trump also suggested he would push for a second summit if his meeting with Putin goes well – this time including his Ukrainian counterpart. Continue reading...

Politics

26 h. ago Putin faces ‘very severe consequences’ if no Ukraine truce agreed, Trump says

US president also says he would push for three-way summit with Volodymyr Zelenskyy if Alaska meeting goes wellVladimir Putin will face “very severe consequences” if he does not agree a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine at his summit with Donald Trump in Alaska, the US president said on Wednesday.Speaking after a call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders, including Britain’s Keir Starmer, Trump also suggested he would push for a second summit if his meeting with Putin goes well – this time including his Ukrainian counterpart. Continue reading...

Politics

28 h. ago Trump gives assurances to Europeans over talks with Putin on Ukraine

US president indicates before Alaska summit he will not make territorial concessions without Kyiv’s involvementDonald Trump told European leaders on Wednesday he would be seeking a ceasefire in Ukraine at his summit with Vladimir Putin on Friday and gave reassurances that he would not make any territorial concessions without Kyiv’s full involvement.Trump’s approach at the video conference, disclosed by France’s Emmanuel Macron, appeared to reassure some of the leaders, who were making a final collective plea to the unpredictable US president that he had a duty to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty – and European security – at the talks in Alaska. Continue reading...

Politics

36 h. ago Trump alone in a room with Putin is a recipe for disaster – just look to their last meeting

The two plan to meet behind closed doors Friday in Alaska to discuss ‘land swapping’. What will happen this time?The lessons of Helsinki are clear: putting Donald Trump alone in a room with Vladimir Putin is an unpredictable – and often dangerous – affair.It was 2018 when the two leaders met at the invitation of Sauli Niinistö, the Finnish president, to discuss a collapse in US-Russia relations, accusations of elections interference, and the grinding war in east Ukraine, among other topics. Continue reading...

Politics

39 h. ago Trump swallowing Putin’s lies is a bigger threat to Ukraine than bombs | Rafael Behr

In Alaska the Russian leader will claim to want peace, but only on his terms – and play on the president’s desperation to ‘make a deal’ quicklyWars do not have to be won. Total victories loom largest in the popular imagination because those are the stories nations always tell to sustain patriotic feeling. The fuller version of history is written in stalemates.That is worth remembering when Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. Both leaders have incentives to pretend that Ukraine’s fate can be settled decisively without any Ukrainians at the negotiating table. That doesn’t make it so. Continue reading...

Politics

39 h. ago ‘It’s a robot war’: eastern Ukraine faces onslaught of Russian glide bombs, rockets and kamikaze drones

Putin has escalated strikes on Donetsk region and is likely to demand Ukraine hands it over in talks with TrumpNataliya Petrovna pointed to a crater on the edge of a football field. Around it lay bits of twisted metal. From nearby came loud banging as residents fixed plywood to their damaged five-storey apartment block. Many of its windows were broken. “The last few days have been terrible. We could hear the drones buzzing over us. The one that exploded near the school opposite was a Russian Shahed. Maybe some kind of new type,” she said.Petrovna lives in the eastern garrison city of Kramatorsk, in Donetsk province, about 15 miles from the frontline. The distance is just beyond the range of Russian first-person view (FPV) drones, at least for now. But it is easily reachable by other kinds of enemy objects. They include air-dropped glide bombs, Grad rockets and unmanned kamikaze drones – now cruising Ukraine’s skies in overwhelming numbers. Continue reading...

Events

61 h. ago EU leaders say Ukraine should have freedom to decide its future ahead of Trump

Statement on Ukrainian sovereignty endorsed by all European Union leaders except for Hungary’s Viktor OrbánRead all our coverage of the Ukraine warAll but one of the European heads of state and government have said that Ukrainians must have the freedom to decide their future, ahead of a high-stakes summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.“Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities,” the leaders said, adding that “we share the conviction that a diplomatic solution must protect Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests.” Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Trump says he and Putin will discuss ‘land swapping’ at Ukraine war summit

US president gives details on Alaska meeting and expresses frustration with Zelenskyy’s insistence on referendum on any peace dealDonald Trump has confirmed that he and Vladimir Putin will discuss “land swapping” when they meet on Friday in Alaska for a high-stakes summit on the Ukraine war.But the US president expressed frustration with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian leader, for putting conditions on such a potential agreement. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Trump confirms he and Putin will discuss ‘land swapping’ at Ukraine war summit

US president gives details on Alaska meeting and expresses frustration with Zelenskyy’s insistence on referendum on any peace dealDonald Trump has confirmed that he and Vladimir Putin will discuss “land swapping” when they meet on Friday in Alaska for a high-stakes summit on the Ukraine war.But the US president expressed frustration with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian leader, for putting conditions on such a potential agreement. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Europe’s leaders raise pressure on Trump to involve Ukraine in Putin talks

Move comes as Germany warns White House against any deal hatched ‘over heads of Europeans and Ukrainians’Europe’s leaders have raised the pressure on Donald Trump to involve Ukraine in a planned summit with Vladimir Putin, as Germany warned the White House against any deal hatched “over the heads of Europeans and Ukrainians”.Speaking before a bilateral meeting expected to take place between the US and Russian leaders on Friday in Alaska, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said he hoped and assumed that Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, would also be involved. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Path to peace cannot not be decided without Ukraine, says Europe

Ukrainian and European partners to join UK foreign secretary and US vice-president at Chevening for talksThe UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, and the US vice-president, JD Vance, held a meeting with Ukrainian and European partners in Britain on Saturday to discuss the drive for peace in Ukraine.The summit comes before a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin set for next Friday in Alaska. In a comment that that was met with pushback from Kyiv, the US president said that an end to the war must involve “some swapping of territories”. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stressed early on Saturday that “Ukrainians will not give their land to occupiers”. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Path to peace cannot be decided without Ukraine, says Europe

Ukrainian and European partners to join UK foreign secretary and US vice-president at Chevening for talksThe UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, and the US vice-president, JD Vance, held a meeting with Ukrainian and European partners in Britain on Saturday to discuss the drive for peace in Ukraine.The summit comes before a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin set for next Friday in Alaska. In a comment that that was met with pushback from Kyiv, the US president said that an end to the war must involve “some swapping of territories”. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stressed early on Saturday that “Ukrainians will not give their land to occupiers”. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Ukraine will not give land to ‘occupiers’, says Zelenskyy, as Trump and Putin prepare to meet

US president said end to war will involve ‘some swapping of territories’ before announcing meetingPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy said early on Saturday that “Ukrainians will not give their land to occupiers” after Donald Trump said he would meet Vladimir Putin next week and that an end to the war must involve “some swapping of territories”.The Ukrainian president said Kyiv was ready for real solutions that could bring peace but that any solutions without Ukraine would be against peace. “Any decisions against us, any decisions without Ukraine, are also decisions against peace. They will achieve nothing,” he said, adding that the war “cannot be ended without us, without Ukraine”. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Ukraine will not give up land, Zelenskyy warns ahead of Trump

US president said end to war will involve ‘some swapping of territories’ before announcing meetingPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy said early on Saturday that “Ukrainians will not give their land to occupiers” after Donald Trump said he would meet Vladimir Putin next week and that an end to the war must involve “some swapping of territories”.The Ukrainian president said Kyiv was ready for real solutions that could bring peace but that any solutions without Ukraine would be against peace. “Any decisions against us, any decisions without Ukraine, are also decisions against peace. They will achieve nothing,” he said, adding that the war “cannot be ended without us, without Ukraine”. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Donald Trump teases location of upcoming Putin summit as Russia's war on Ukraine continues

Trump has repeatedly said that 'no one wants a third world war' and said that he was close to making peace. He moved the deadline to March 25 and said that he would impose secondary sanctions on Russia if it did not make peace

Politics

6 d. ago Hopes raised of 'freeze' in Ukraine war as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin set to meet for crunch talks

The optimism about a limited breakthrough in the conflict came from Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk

Politics

7 d. ago Putin refusal to meet Zelenskyy could derail summit with Trump

Washington and Moscow issue mixed messages about whether bilateral talks would require three-way follow-up with KyivEfforts to arrange a face-to-face meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin may be derailed by the Kremlin leader’s refusal to meet Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a potential White House precondition to the high-stakes summit.The mixed messaging on Thursday over a potential summit between Putin and Trump – with White House and Kremlin officials sometimes contradicting each other about the leaders’ demands and the status of the planning – suggested a chaotic new chapter in Trump’s haphazard efforts to negotiate a ceasefire to the war in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Politics