7 d. ago UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting after Putin launches nuclear

The emergency meeting comes after the Kremlin confirmed it had fired an Oreshnik ballistic missile on Ukraine for the second time since the war began in February 2022.

Events

1 week ago British soldiers sent to Ukraine on peace keeping mission would be 'legitimate combat targets,' says Russia

Cabinet minister Pat McFadden said UK troops deployed to Ukraine would be in a position to fire back if attacked by Vladimir Putin’s army

Events

1 week ago UK could be dragged into war with Russia after sending troops to Ukraine, warns former Chief of Defence Staff

Lord Stirrup stressed that the UK had to prepare for the ‘worst possible outcome’ of a peace keeping mission to support Kyiv

Events

1 week ago EU accused of fuelling Putin’s war by importing Russian liquefied natural gas

Despite Brussels’ pledge to ban Russian LNG by 2027, shipments to European ports increased in the last yearEuropean governments have been accused of fuelling Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine as new data shows the Kremlin earned an estimated €7.2bn (£6.2bn) last year from exporting its liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the EU.Brussels has pledged to ban imports of Russian LNG – natural gas that is supercooled to make it easier to transport – by 2027 but an analysis suggests there is yet to be any letup in the vast quantities being received at European ports from Russia’s LNG complex on the Yamal peninsula in Siberia. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trump ‘doesn’t believe’ Ukraine targeted Putin residence with drone attack

Trump refutes claims from the Kremlin about a drone attack in Novgorod

Events

2 w. ago Putin vows victory in Ukraine in chilling New Year message days away from tyrant overtaking Stalin in grim war milestone

PUTIN has vowed he will defeat Ukraine in a chilling New Year message. His disturbing speech, in which he congratulated his soldiers on a premature victory, comes as he edges close to beating a grim war milestone. In two weeks' time, Putin's war against Ukraine will have lasted longer than Josef Stalin's crusade against Europe...

Politics

2 w. ago Ukraine war live: Russia gives ‘no plausible evidence’ to back up claim of drone attack on Putin’s residence

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha responds to claims by Moscow of a strike on home in Russia’s Novgorod regionAccording to reports, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk was due to kick off a meeting on Ukraine at 10:00 GMT with other European leaders. It is not clear who the attendees were but we will bring you the latest as soon as we have it.In a social media post on Monday, Tusk, one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies, said that he had “nighttime talks” with other European leaders. He said he considered success in the negotiations to end the war as seeing a “declaration” of US participation in security guarantees. “But we are still far from the final talks,” the Polish leader added. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Zelenskyy accuses Russia of trying to sabotage peace talks with ‘typical Russian lies’

Russia’s claim it foiled drone attack on Putin residence shows ‘they do not want to finish this war’, Ukrainian president saysVolodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of trying to sabotage peace talks and preparing to bomb government buildings after the Kremlin said it had foiled a Ukrainian drone attack on Vladimir Putin’s residence.Zelenskyy described the claim as “typical Russian lies” following his two-hour meeting on Sunday with Donald Trump in Florida. He said Russia was “at it again” and using “dangerous statements” to undermine “diplomatic efforts” with the US to end the conflict. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Ukraine war live: Zelenskyy denies Russian accusation that Putin’s residence was attacked by Ukrainian drones

Zelenskyy says Moscow trying to derail peace talks progress, as Russian foreign minister claims Ukraine targeted president’s home in NovgorodThe Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists this morning that Moscow agreed with Donald Trump’s assessment that talks to end the war were in their final stage.As a reminder, Trump said a draft agreement to end the war was nearly “95% done”. “I really think we are closer than ever with both sides,” he said, though he added that “one or two very thorny issues” remain. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Ukrainian POWs ‘being systematically executed’ by Russia, says top commander

One of Ukraine’s most decorated soldiers says he often intercepts transmissions in which orders to kill surrendering troops are given

Politics

3 w. ago Trump and Zelenskyy to hold talks amid heavy Russian airstrikes on Ukraine

Key topics include security guarantees from Europe and the US, with Putin yet to signal interest in latest negotiationsRussia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesDonald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are to meet on Sunday to discuss a plan to end the war in Ukraine, amid continuing Russian attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, and scepticism that Moscow is willing to drop any of its maximalist demands.Zelenskyy arrived in Florida on Saturday night with a Ukrainian delegation, before talks with the US president at his Mar-a-Lago residence. The two leaders are expected to discuss the latest iteration of a 20-point peace plan and the unresolved question of the future of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Trump says Ukraine peace talks in ‘final stages’ as he meets Zelenskyy in Florida

Key topics include security guarantees to prevent Russia from attacking again, with US president saying he believes Putin is serious about peaceRussia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesDonald Trump has said talks to end the war in Ukraine are in their “final stages” as he sat down for a meeting on Sunday with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida, and insisted that Vladimir Putin was ready to make a peace deal.Trump met Ukraine’s president outside his Mar-a-Lago residence and claimed both warring sides were close to an agreement. Hours earlier the US president held a lengthy phone call with Putin and said he would ring the Kremlin again once talks had concluded. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Kim Jong Un's' 'blood, life and death' New Years message to Putin over Ukraine war losses

Kim Jong Un has issued his annual New Year's message to his "friend" Russian leader Vladimir Putin to highlight the two countries joining forces in the trenches in Ukraine this year

Events

3 w. 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

3 w. 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

4 w. 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 w. 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 w. ago Ukraine cannot continue to survive on Europe’s starvation rations

Editorial: Despite agreeing to a €90bn interest-free loan that could keep Kyiv afloat for two years, European leaders seem unduly nervous about forcing Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. If Europe is ever to defeat Russia, it must now go further – or risk humiliation

Events

last month Zelenskyy and Polish PM hail EU’s €90bn loan: ‘Scariest thing for Russians is when we’re together’ – live

Ukrainian leader welcomes move as Donald Tusk says ‘it could be better’ after Russian frozen assets left out of dealEU leaders agree €90bn loan for Ukraine but without use of frozen Russian assetsIn his first comments on Ukraine, Putin swiftly blames Kyiv for the continuing war, saying “they are basically refusing to finish this conflict via peaceful means” (whatever that means from the literally invading party).But he says there are “some signals indicating they are willing to engage in some type of dialogue.” Continue reading...

Politics

last month Ukraine war live: Zelenskyy says EU’s €90bn loan is a ‘signal to Russians’ despite frozen assets not being part of deal

Ukrainian leader welcomes move and says it is critical Russian assets remain frozenEU leaders agree €90bn loan for Ukraine but without use of frozen Russian assetsIn his first comments on Ukraine, Putin swiftly blames Kyiv for the continuing war, saying “they are basically refusing to finish this conflict via peaceful means” (whatever that means from the literally invading party).But he says there are “some signals indicating they are willing to engage in some type of dialogue.” Continue reading...

Economics