5 h. 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

21 h. ago US tells Europe it must take over 'the majority' of NATO's defence capabilities by 2027 as Trump shifts American military focus while Putin's war in Ukraine rages on

The message, recounted by five sources familiar with the discussion, including a US official, was conveyed at a meeting in Washington this week of Pentagon staff overseeing NATO policy.

Events

24 h. ago Ukraine war live: Putin says ‘many agreements’ signed with Modi amid US trade pressure – latest updates

Putin, on visit to India, says Russia is ready to continue to provide uninterrupted fuel supplies to the countryAnalysis: Putin and Modi to meet amid politically treacherous times for Russia and IndiaRussia and India will reshape their defence ties to take account of New Delhi’s push for self-reliance, the two countries said in a joint statement after a summit between president Putin and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.“In response to India’s aspirations for self-reliance, the partnership is currently being reoriented toward joint research and development, as well as the production of advanced defence platforms,” the statement said. Continue reading...

Events

29 h. ago Putin insists certain elements of Trump’s peace plan to end Ukraine war are unacceptable

Vladimir Putin says some proposals in a U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine are unacceptable to the Kremlin

Politics

33 h. 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

37 h. ago Putin's psycho "Dr Evil" charged with war crimes after making Ukrainians bark like dogs

Putin's psycho fake medic Ilya Sorokin – dubbed Dr Evil – is accused of a slew of torture claims against wounded Ukrainian prisoners of war and has been charged in his absence

Events

40 h. ago US push for an end to the war in Ukraine sets off a flurry of shuttle diplomacy

The latest U.S. push to end Russia’s nearly 4-year-old war in Ukraine has unleashed a frenzy of diplomatic activity

Events

42 h. ago Steve Witkoff to meet Ukrainian officials after fruitless talks with Vladimir Putin

Donald Trump’s special envoy to brief Kyiv’s chief negotiators on Kremlin meeting

Politics

43 h. ago Macron 'tells European leaders 'there's a chance the US will betray Ukraine' according to leaked transcript'

The French president is said to have told allies that Washington may try to force a carve-up of Ukraine to appease Vladimir Putin.

Politics

45 h. ago Putin’s ‘secret daughter’ confronted by Ukrainian whose brother was killed by Russia

A woman rumoured to be Vladimir Putin’s secret daughter was confronted by a Ukrainian journalist who said his brother was recently killed during the war.

Events

45 h. ago US envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Ukraine national security chief in Miami

Meeting comes two days after Witkoff and Jared Kushner held five hours of talks with Vladimir Putin in MoscowAnalysis: Ukraine peace deal has stumbled yet againThe US special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Ukraine’s national security council chief, Rustem Umerov, in Miami on Thursday as Washington steps up its diplomatic push to secure a pathway to peace in Ukraine.Witkoff, accompanied by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, spent nearly five hours in talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Tuesday. Moscow later said the meeting had not brought the sides any closer to a peace agreement. Continue reading...

Events

48 h. ago Putin declares Russia will take all of Ukraine’s Donbas region by force

The Russian president stated Ukrainian troops must leave the Donbas region or Russia will use the military to take it

Politics

51 h. 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

52 h. ago Europe is holding the line against Trump’s and Putin’s plans for Ukraine. But it won’t be able to for ever | Martin Kettle

In the 21st-century imbalance of power, Europe and Nato have neither the arms nor the wealth to impel Russia or the US to take its peace settlement seriouslyThe failure of this week’s peace talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff fits into a now well-established pattern of standoffs on Ukraine during Trump’s second term. But the dynamic that produced these talks may be becoming more entrenched. The US and Russian interests driving the process have not changed, while the conflict on the ground is intensifying. The lack of progress this week means there will be another attempt to end the war soon, and perhaps another after that, until, one day, there is some kind of US-backed deal to halt the conflict on terms broadly favouring Russia.The geopolitical algorithm driving this effort is too consistent to ignore. It has been repeated ever since Trump re-entered the White House in January. On the campaign trail, Trump had claimed he could stop the war in a day. ...

Politics

58 h. ago Ukrainian kids abducted & sent to North Korea where they were taught to hate the Japanese, expert claims

VLADIMIR Putin is kidnapping Ukrainian children and shipping them off to fellow tyrant Kim Jong-un in North Korea - where they are brainwashed into hating Japan, experts claim. Youngsters are being abducted and forcibly sent over 9,000 kilometres away to remote camps inside the hermit kingdom as part of the Russian despot's bloody war in...

Politics

58 h. ago Ukraine accuses Putin of 'wasting the world's time' after Russian and US officials fail to reach make progress on peace deal

The White House expressed confidence a breakthrough could be achieved, despite peace envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law emerging empty-handed on Tuesday.

Politics

63 h. ago The Ukraine peace deal has stumbled yet again over an inevitable obstacle: Putin

Russian leader’s rejection of latest peace proposal was predictable and shows the Kremlin continues to hold the trump cardBefore the harsh white glare of the Kremlin reception room came a telling prologue: Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s self-described “deal guys”, being led by Kremlin officials through the sparkling streets of a festive Moscow.Wasn’t it lovely, Vladimir Putin asked later, as both sides sat down to a five-hour negotiation that seems to have led right back to where they started. “It’s a magnificent city,” Witkoff replied. Then the cameras cut out. Continue reading...

Economics

64 h. ago Once again, Vladimir Putin indicates he wants the war in Europe to go on

Editorial: By entertaining a Ukrainian peace deal whose miserable terms not even a desperate US president could accept – before then promptly abandoning it – Moscow is stalling for time. The coalition of the willing must put more pressure on the faltering Russian economy

Politics

64 h. ago Nato hits back at Putin’s threat of war in Europe as UK condemns ‘Kremlin claptrap’

Rhetoric between Russia and Europe has ramped up after talks between Donald Trump’s envoy and Vladimir Putin failed to reach an agreement

Events

67 h. ago Nato ‘ready to do what it takes’ to protect Europe, as Russia denies rejecting Ukraine peace plan – Europe live

Mark Rutte’s response comes after Vladimir Putin’s comment that Russia was ‘ready’ for war with EuropeEuropean Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is now briefing the media after the commission’s weekly meeting, presenting the bloc’s plan to help fund Ukraine’s continuing fight against Russia.I will bring you the key lines here. Continue reading...

Politics