4 h. ago Europe must go further and faster to break Russia’s war machine

Editorial: Donald Trump’s sanctions on Russian oil are a welcome shift from a changeable president – but Ukraine needs its European allies to do much more to hit Putin where it hurts

Events

24 h. ago US imposes sanctions on Russian oil over Putin’s ‘refusal’ to end war in Ukraine

Trump administration hardens stance against the Kremlin day after cancelling a planned summit with Russian leaderThe US has sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s two largest oil companies, as the Trump administration increased pressure on the Kremlin to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine.The sanctions were the first against Russia since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, and were targeted to cut key revenues from oil sales that finance the Russian war machine. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Starmer vows to work with allies to ‘cripple Putin’s war machine’

The Prime Minister will work with the ‘coalition of the willing’ to put pressure on ‘tyrant’ Vladimir Putin.

Politics

8 d. ago BREAKING: UK strikes 'heart' of Putin's war machine with major sanctions against Russian oil

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs the government was directly targeting Rosneft and Lukoil - two of the world’s biggest energy companies - to ramp up pressure on Moscow

Events

9 d. ago Ukraine war briefing: Crimea oil refinery burns as Russia feels effects on fuel supply

Glide bombs knock out power supply and hit hospital in Kharkiv; Zelenskyy lining up Trump meeting with Tomahawks hot topic. What we know on day 1,329An oil terminal at Feodosia in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula was burning on Monday after an attack by Ukrainian drones. A Ukrainian security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the drones, launched by Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service and military special forces, hit at least five reservoirs. The source said drones also hit at least two Russian electrical substations on the peninsula, which Russia took from Ukraine in 2014.Large heat signatures around the Feodosia terminal were visible on Nasa’s satellite fire monitoring service, Firms, and Crimea’s Moscow-installed governor confirmed the fire. The Feodosia terminal also came under attack last week. Ukraine has launched more than 30 strikes on Russian energy sites since the beginning of August, aiming to hamper funding of the Kremlin’s war machine and also tri...

Events

3 w. ago The European Union was designed for peace – it is never going to be a war machine | Anand Menon

Reacting to the Russian military threat would require the bloc to be agile and decisive. It is many great things, but it is not thatIn her 2025 state of the union speech last month, Ursula von der Leyen didn’t mince her words. Europe, the president of the European Commission declared, is engaged in a “fight for a continent that is whole and at peace”. Her analysis of the problem was pretty accurate. What is increasingly clear, however, is that the European Union is not the whole solution. The EU is good at many things. Being an effective defence organisation is not one of them.Don’t get me wrong: European integration has, over the decades, performed an important security function. By binding former enemies together, it helped them overcome centuries-old rivalries. By incorporating new members, it calmed potential tensions (not least among those countries formerly within the Soviet bloc).Anand Menon is director of UK in a Changing Europe and professor of European politics and foreign...

Events

3 w. ago War in Ukraine driving criminal gangs to target rural farm machinery for ‘lucrative rewards’

Organised crime gangs are suspected of stealing farm machinery to be trafficked out of the UK’s ports and destined for eastern Europe

Events