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...

Events

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.

Events

6 h. ago Ukraine’s best hope may lie elsewhere as Russia inches forward on the battlefield

While it struggles to hold up land advance, Kyiv eyes economic and political fronts to turn around fortunesA depleted – but far from defeated Ukraine – looks to 2026 with few good military options, even though a critical €90bn (£79bn) loan from the EU has been agreed. The financing will help Kyiv to continue defending at its current intensity until late 2027, but it will not lead to a transformation of its battlefield prospects.On land, the pattern of the last two years should, in the first instance, continue. Russia has held the initiative since 2024, but only gaining territory incrementally, largely because it constantly throws people into the “meat grinder” of the frontline. During 2025, Russian advances amounted to 176 sq miles a month to the end of November, but at an estimated cost of 382,000 killed and wounded. Continue reading...

Events

9 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

13 h. ago ‘Warning to others’: murky death of militia leader as Kremlin reasserts control

Reports that Stanislav Orlov was killed by Moscow security services highlights careful managing of non-state powerBeneath the frescoed ceilings and golden icons of Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, hundreds of men packed tightly into the lower hall as priests intoned prayers for the dead. Dressed in dark winter jackets, the mourners on Monday filled one of Russia’s most sacred spaces – a church usually reserved for moments of state ritual and national commemoration. Later, near his grave, the crowd lit bright flares and shouted: “One for all, and all for one.”They had gathered to bid farewell to Stanislav Orlov, better known by his callsign “Spaniard”, the founder of the far-right Española unit – a formation of football hooligans and neo-Nazi volunteers who fought as a paramilitary force on Russia’s side in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Events

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

Events

29 h. ago Russia strikes Ukraine in deadly Christmas attack as hundreds of missiles launched

Russian President Vladimir Puitn orders horrific attack on Ukraine's civilians as Zelensky accuses him and his inner-circle of not wanting to stop the 'killing' amid ongoing peace talks

Events

29 h. ago Ukraine's own 'Dancing with the Stars' is back on for a special episode with wartime heroes

Ukraine's own "Dancing with the Stars" show is back on, just for one special episode

Events

31 h. ago Major Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine kills at least 3 people and cuts power

Officials say Russia fired more than 650 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday

Events

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

Events

36 h. ago Ukraine is leveraging its powerful – and cheap – new drone killers for air defence

Ukraine is rapidly deploying low-cost interceptor drones to counter Russia’s evolving aerial attacks on cities and power infrastructure

Events

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...

Politics

51 h. ago The killing of a general in Moscow follows a series of assassinations Russia blames on Ukraine

Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out a number of high-profile attacks against prominent Russians since Moscow invaded its neighbor nearly four years ago

Events

51 h. ago Ukraine strikes oil terminal, planes and ships in an array of strikes inside Russia

Ukrainian forces say they have hit an oil terminal, a pipeline, two parked jet fighters, and two ships in a series of strikes on Russian soil

Events

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

57 h. ago Russian general killed by car bomb in Moscow, say investigators

Russia’s Investigative Committee says it is looking into whether Ukraine intelligence services were behind attackA Russian general has been killed after an explosive device detonated beneath his car in what Moscow described as a likely assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services.Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov, the head of the operational training directorate of the Russian armed forces’ general staff, died of his injuries, a spokesperson for Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement. Continue reading...

Events

60 h. ago Western intelligence suspects Russia is developing new weapon to target Musk's Starlink satellites

NATO-nation intelligence services believe Russia is developing a weapon to target Starlink satellites

Events

61 h. ago Ukraine is leveraging its powerful – and cheap – new drone killers for air defense

Ukraine is rapidly deploying low-cost interceptor drones to counter Russia’s evolving aerial attacks on cities and power infrastructure

Events

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...

Events