4 h. ago US and Ukraine edge closer to joint plan to end war – with Moscow’s response uncertain

Ukraine accepts principle of demilitarised zone in east, while insisting Russia make similar concessions in pulling back forcesWashington and Kyiv have edged closer to a jointly agreed formula to end the war in Ukraine amid continuing uncertainty over Moscow’s response and a number of unresolved issues.Revealing the latest status of the peace talks, brokered by Washington, Ukraine’s president, Volodmyr Zelenskyy, appeared to have secured several important concessions from earlier versions of the now slimmed-down plan after intense talks with the US negotiating team. Continue reading...

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5 h. ago Zelensky offers demilitarized zone in eastern Ukraine in bid to bring an end to war with Russia

Speaking after marathon negotiations, Mr Zelensky said Kyiv and Washington had reached a consensus on most elements of a proposed 20-point plan aimed at stopping the conflict.

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7 h. ago King Charles makes personal donation to Jewish charity raising funds for victims of Ukraine war

King Charles has made a 'personal donation' to World Jewish Relief, a Jewish charity helping thousands of victims of the war in Ukraine, as well as refugees in the UK.

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8 h. ago Hopes for Christmas peace breakthrough in Ukraine as Zelensky offers DMZ in wartorn east in possible deal with Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky has said a new plan to end the war could freeze the front line while allowing for the creation of demilitarised zones. The Ukrainian President said the 20-point plan agreed with the U.S. is still under Kremlin review, though Russia is unlikely to drop territorial demands. He added there are still points in...

Politics

17 h. ago Ukraine war briefing: Pope Leo expresses ‘great sadness’ at Russian rejection of truce calls

Pontiff calls for ‘day of peace’ on Christmas Day after huge Russian attack in Ukraine kills three and cuts power to several regions. What we know on day 1,400Pope Leo XIV has called for a global truce on Christmas Day, expressing “great sadness” that “apparently Russia rejected a request” for one. “I am renewing my request to all people of good will to respect a day of peace – at least on the feast of the birth of our saviour,” Leo told reporters at his residence near Rome on Tuesday. Russia has repeatedly rejected calls for a ceasefire in its war on Ukraine, saying that would only give a military advantage to Kyiv. The pope said: “Among the things that cause me great sadness is the fact that Russia has apparently rejected a request for a truce.” Referring to conflicts in general, Leo said: “I hope they will listen and there will be 24 hours of peace in the whole world.”A massive Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine has killed three people and cut power to several Ukrainian ...

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17 h. ago EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Former Tory MP on frontline of Ukraine's drone war

His political career ended in a racy online sting, but Brooks Newmark is embracing his new role in another treacherous field.

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24 h. ago Russia launches hundreds of drones in major attack on Ukraine as hopes for Christmas ceasefire deal fade

The latest barrage struck homes and the power grid in 13 regions of Ukraine, killing three people including a four-year-old

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34 h. ago Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites could be targeted by new Russian weapon, Nato warns

Western intelligence believes Russia is developing a new ‘zone-effect’ weapon to specifically hit Musk’s satellites

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37 h. ago Trump and Putin share a craving for status. That’s why they both want to destroy Europe | Henry Farrell and Sergey Radchenko

Liberal democracies view Putin’s Russia as a bully – and Trump’s US as an angry drunk with a bazooka. The response is pure venom There are people who argue that Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine is not motivated by fears or imperial ambitions, but by other countries’ disrespect. Russia once commanded authority as one of the world’s two superpowers, but it has since forfeited that status. It knows it has lost the respect of other countries (Barack Obama famously dismissed Russia as just a “regional power”), and the Ukraine war is its way of winning it back.What is perhaps surprising is that Donald Trump’s turn against Europe has similar motivations. Putin knows his aggressive revanchism won’t win Russia any love among countries whose respect he craves. But if he can’t be loved, he hopes at least to be feared. If you are in a social order that regards you as inferior, you have every incentive to turn spoiler.Henry Farrell is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation professor of international aff...

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40 h. ago Ukraine war briefing: Russian forces attack Odesa twice in one day

Emergency crews at work after port facilities and ship damaged, governor says, while Donald Trump says peace talks going ‘OK’. What we know on day 1,399Russian forces struck Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa late on Monday and damaged port facilities and a ship, the regional governor said, in the second attack on the region in less than 24 hours. Oleh Kiper said on Telegram that emergency crews were tackling the aftermath of the latest attack and that no casualties had been reported but provided no further details. An earlier overnight attack hit port and energy infrastructure in the Odesa region, causing a fire at a major port and disrupting electricity supplies to tens of thousands of people. “Russia is attempting to disrupt maritime logistics by launching systematic attacks on port and energy infrastructure,” deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram.A Russian general was killed after an explosive device detonated beneath his car in what Moscow described as a likely a...

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55 h. ago The EU’s deeds as much as Putin’s words will ensure the war in Ukraine continues | Rajan Menon

A €90bn loan is a lifeline for Zelenskyy. But make no mistake – the bloodshed won’t end while the Russian president believes he can still winVladimir Putin’s marathon press conference on 19 December, an annual year-end event, offered no evidence that Russia may abandon the goals the president set for his “special military operation” against Ukraine in February 2022: conquering Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. True to form, Putin seemed unperturbed that nearly four years into the war his army had managed to fully occupy only Luhansk, despite having already taken control of more than a third of that region, as well as Donetsk, by 2015.Putin’s unyielding stance shouldn’t be a surprise. Soon after the invasion, Russia’s State Duma adopted legislation incorporating these four Ukrainian regions into Russia – and this month the foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and the deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, reiterated Putin’s territorial claims.Rajan Menon is a professor emerit...

Politics

61 h. ago How upbeat battlefield briefings are fuelling Putin’s confidence

Russian generals’ positive reports on Ukraine have convinced the Kremlin the war is going in its favour

Politics

64 h. ago Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv’s forces battle Russian push to break through in Sumy region

Moscow reported to have forcibly moved dozens of people from border village; Florida peace talks described as ‘productive’. What we know on day 1,398The Ukrainian army was battling an attempted Russian breakthrough in the Sumy region, it said on Sunday, after reports that Moscow forcibly moved 50 people from a border village there. That marks a renewed Russian advance in the part of the region largely spared from intense ground fighting since Ukraine regained land there in a 2022 counteroffensive. “Fighting is currently ongoing in the village of Grabovske,” Ukraine’s joint taskforce said, adding the troops were “making efforts to drive the occupiers back into Russian territory”. It has also refuted media reports saying Moscow’s troops were in the neighbouring Ryasne village. Earlier on Sunday, the Ukrainian rights ombudsman said Russian troops forcibly moved about 50 people from Grabovske to Russia. There was no official comment from Russia. On Saturday, the Russian army said it had...

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67 h. ago Ukrainian and European officials had ‘productive’ talks on ending war, US envoy says

Steve Witkoff says representatives share goals to stop killing, support Ukraine and end war with RussiaA White House envoy said on Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine.Posting on social media, Steve Witkoff said the talks aimed at aligning on a shared strategic approach between Ukraine, the US and Europe. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Kremlin renews criticism of Europe’s efforts to amend US plan to end Ukraine war

Putin’s top foreign policy aid says proposals could prolong conflict as talks with US negotiators are held in MiamiRussia has renewed its criticism of efforts by Europe and Ukraine to amend US proposals to end the war in Ukraine, saying they did not improve prospects for peace.Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters on Sunday that the proposed tweaks to Washington’s plan could prolong the conflict. Continue reading...

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3 d. ago CHRIS PLEASANCE: Inside the camp training Ukrainian recruits to survive their 'deadly first weeks' of war

One of my most memorable moments covering the Ukraine war was when I visited a training camp in England last year that hosted dozens of fresh Ukrainian recruits.

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3 d. ago Ukraine war briefing: Russian oil rig hit in Caspian Sea over 700km from Ukraine

Kyiv continues campaign of attacks on Russia-linked maritime targets; latest US idea is three-way peace talks. What we know on day 1,397 Ukrainian drones hit an oil rig at Russia’s Filanovsky field in the Caspian Sea – more than 700km (435 miles) from Ukraine’s nearest border, as well as the military patrol ship Okhotnik and other facilities, Ukraine’s military general staff said in a statement on Saturday. It said the ship was patrolling near the platform. The extent of the damage was being assessed. The attack continues Kyiv’s recent campaign of strikes on Russia-linked maritime targets far from Ukrainian territory.Ukrainian drones struck a radar system in the Krasnosilske area of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine’s SBU security service claimed two Russian fighter jets were also destroyed at an airfield in occupied Crimea.Since Thursday, Russian forces have at least five times hit a bridge on the Dniester River near the village of Mayaky, south-w...

Events

3 d. ago Ukraine is showing fighting spirit, and its allies must respond

Editorial: Vladimir Putin must be brought to the point where he no longer has an interest in prolonging the war

Politics

4 d. ago Putin ally says Ukraine war 'could last several more years' as 'complete liquidation' needed

A close ally of Putin has dampened hopes that Russia's invasion of Ukraine could end next year, instead suggesting the conflict could drag on 'for several more years' to achieve Kyiv's 'complete liquidation'

Politics

4 d. ago Vladimir Putin 'plans to wage World War 3 in a year's time', Ukraine intelligence chief claims

As Putin drags out peace talks with the US and Ukraine, an intelligence boss has warned the Russian leader could start WW3 in a matter of months

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