19 h. ago Ukraine war briefing: Allies yet to provide details of security guarantee, Zelenskyy says

Ukrainian president says he has received no ‘unequivocal answer’ from European allies about how they would defend Ukraine if Russia attacked again. What we know on day 1,415Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he has received no “unequivocal answer” from European allies about how they would defend Ukraine if Russia attacked again after a peace deal was reached. On Tuesday, European leaders and US envoys announced they had agreed key security guarantees for Kyiv, including a European multinational force that would be deployed if a ceasefire could be reached. But when asked if he was sure that European allies would step in and defend his country in the event of another Russian invasion, Zelensky said on Wednesday he had no “clear” answer on that.“I personally very much want to get a very simple answer: yes, if there is aggression again, all partners will give a strong response to the Russians. And that’s the exact question I put to all our partners. And so far I haven’t receiv...

Events

27 h. ago Tensions flare as Russian lawmaker accuses US of PIRACY after Trump's forces seize two ships in daring raids: Live updates

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth claimed that the 'blockade' of sanctioned Venezuelan oil remains in 'full effect' after the US secured a Russian-flagged oil tanker in European waters.

Politics

28 h. ago Zilch buys Lithuanian lender to secure European banking licence

UK fintech agrees $38mn deal as it eyes international expansion and potential IPO

Economics

29 h. ago Russia responds after US seized two Venezuelan oil tankers in Europe and the Caribbean: Live updates

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth claimed that the 'blockade' of sanctioned Venezuelan oil remains in 'full effect' after the US secured a Russian-flagged oil tanker in European waters.

Events

47 h. ago France and UK commit to deploying troops under proposed Ukraine peace deal

US pledges support to European-led ‘deterrence’ force after Paris summit focused on security guarantees

Economics

4 d. ago Zelensky suggests Trump should arrest 'dictator' Putin after capturing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with European national security advisors on Saturday, Zelenskywas asked about Donald Trumps' military action against Venezuela.

Politics

5 d. ago European security advisors discuss peace proposals in Kyiv ahead of leaders' summit

European national security advisors have arrived in Kyiv to discuss peace proposals as a U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the war in Ukraine intensifies

Politics

8 d. ago Drug gangs pose grave threat to European security, agency warns

Scale of Europe’s narcotics crisis ‘not even possible to imagine’, says EUDA director Alexis Goosdeel

Events

2 w. ago Britain will lead European forces ensuring Ukraine's security as part of peace deal

It comes as the nation's president, Volodymyr Zelensky praised the 'solid' progress of peace talks in the United States.

Economics

3 w. ago Belgian politicians and finance bosses targeted by Russian intelligence over seized assets

Exclusive: Key figures at frozen assets depository among targets of intimidation campaign, say European intelligence agenciesBelgian politicians and senior finance executives have been subject to a campaign of intimidation orchestrated by Russian intelligence aimed at persuading the country to block the use of €185bn assets for Ukraine, according to European intelligence agencies.Security officials indicated to the Guardian that there had been deliberate targeting of key figures at Euroclear, the securities depository holding the majority of Russia’s frozen assets, and leaders of the country. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Europe is a continent soaked in economic pessimism. Until we change that, the far right will rise and rise | Owen Jones

Since 2008, struggling communities have been told they are in competition with migrants. Only a model that gives them hope will halt the populists How much does Europe’s future resemble its gruesome past? That question was already pressing before Donald Trump retook the White House, and turned support for the European far-right “patriotic” parties into US policy. That is, of course, what his newly published National Security Strategy means, committing the US to “cultivating resistance” in European nations against the supposed “civilisational erasure” represented by immigration.With or without US interference, far-right authoritarianism is now an entirely plausible European future, unless there is drastic change. After all, it is already the US’s present reality. American exceptionalism once held that such an outcome was impossible in the world’s oldest continuous constitutional republic, with its system of separation of powers and no history of despotism. Yet the country is now rule...

Economics

last month The Guardian view on Trump and Europe: more an abusive relationship than an alliance | Editorial

The White House is aggressively seeking to weaken and dominate the United States’ traditional allies. European leaders must learn to fight back.Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz have become adept at scrambling to deal with the latest bad news from Washington. Their meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Downing Street on Monday was so hastily arranged that Mr Macron needed to be back in Paris by late afternoon to meet Croatia’s prime minister, while Mr Merz was due on television for an end-of-year Q&A with the German public.But diplomatic improvisation alone cannot fully answer Donald Trump’s structural threat to European security. The US president and his emissaries are trying to bully Mr Zelenskyy into an unjust peace deal that suits American and Russian interests. In response, the summit helped ramp up support for the use of up to £100bn in frozen Russian assets as collateral for a “reparations loan” to Ukraine. European counter-proposals for a ceasefire will ...

Politics

last month German leader says US strategy shows the need for more European security independence

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says the Trump administration’s new national security strategy underscores the need for Europe to become “much more independent” from the United States in terms of security policy

Politics

last month Trump has declared civilisational war on Europe. It won’t be easy – but here’s how to fight back | Paul Taylor

With democratic values under attack from populists within and former allies without, there are no simple solutionsThree decades after political philosopher Francis Fukuyama declared the End of History and the “universalisation of western liberal democracy as the final form of human government”, the democratic model is under attack in many parts of the world, not least here in Europe. Populists bent on weakening the rule of law, rolling back human rights protections, subjugating the judiciary and cowing independent journalism are amplified by anything-goes social media algorithms that promote anger and polarisation over rational discourse.They have now received a mandate from the Trump administration, which effectively declared civilisational war on the EU and its values in its National Security Strategy.Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre Continue reading...

Politics

last month Zelenskyy meets in London with European allies on U.S. peace plan and Ukrainian security

Zelenskyy meets in London with European allies on U.S. peace plan and Ukrainian security  The Tribune-Democrat

Events