Page 129 - Latest Updates on Ukraine peace talks

US announces new $2.1 bn package of military aid to Ukraine, says Pentagon

The Pentagon announced Friday that it will provide an additional $2.1 billion in long-term weapons aid for Ukraine. The new assistance package will include funding for more Patriot missile battery munitions, Hawk air defence systems and missiles, and small Puma drones that can be launched by hand. The latest infusion of funding, one of the larger packages the U.S. has provided, comes as there are signs that Ukraine is beginning or about to begin the much anticipated counteroffensive to try to take back territory that has been seized by Russia. Unlike the U.S. equipment, weapons and ammunition that are more frequently sent from Pentagon stocks and delivered quickly to Ukraine, this money would be provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and is meant to be spent over the coming months or even years to ensure Ukraine's future security needs. In a statement, the Pentagon said the package shows America's continued commitment to both Ukraine's critical near-term ...

White House says Iran helping Russia build a drone factory for war

Iran is providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow as the Kremlin looks to lock in a steady supply of weaponry for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to a U.S. intelligence finding released by the White House on Friday. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that U.S. intelligence officials believe a plant in Russia's Alabuga special economic zone could be operational early next year. The White House also released satellite imagery taken in April of the industrial location, several hundred miles east of Moscow, where it believes the plant will probably be built. President Joe Biden's administration publicly stated in December that it believed Tehran and Moscow were considering standing up a drone assembly line in Russia for the Ukraine war. The new intelligence suggests that the project, in the Yelabuga region of Tatarstan, has moved beyond conception. Iran has said it provided drones to Russia before the start of the w

Drone hits building in Russia near border amid surge in Ukraine fighting

A drone crashed into a high-rise residential building in southwestern Russia near the border with Ukraine, a regional governor said Friday, exposing the latest vulnerabilities in the country's air defence systems as President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine increasingly affects Russian soil. The latest drone attack to target Russian cities in recent weeks wounded three people and came amid a front-line push by Ukrainian forces in what appears to be the early stages of a long-awaited counteroffensive in pockets of south and east Ukraine that Russia invaded more than 15 months ago. The Ukrainian presidency's website posted a video statement overnight from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that alluded to the latest efforts of his country's forces to drive out the Russian invaders, along various parts of the more than 1,000-kilometer front line. Speaking inside what appeared to be a train car after visiting flood-hit southern Ukraine on Thursday, Zelenskyy said it was not time yet to talk

Ukraine dam breach to have economic, ecological consequences: Expert

The breaching of a major dam in southern Ukraine and the susequent collapse of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant earlier this week, will lead to devastating economic and ecological consequences

Zelenskyy visits flooded area as five dead in Russian-occupied town

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the flood-hit region of Kherson on Thursday to evaluate response to damage caused by a dam breach. The Ukrainian leader wrote on his Telegram account that he was helping assess efforts to evacuate civilians, provide them with drinking water and other support, and try to stanch vast environmental damage. Zelenskyy also raised the prospect of funding allocations to help compensate residents and businesses driven from their homes and offices by rising waters. Meanwhile, the Kremlin-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, a Russian-occupied town 5 kilometres from the collapsed Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric plant, reported on Russian state TV Thursday that five of seven local residents who had been declared missing following the dam breach have died. The two remaining people have been found and efforts were being made to evacuate them, Vladimir Leontyev added. At least 4,000 people have been evacuated from both the Russian and ...

Biden, Sunak to focus on Ukraine, economic security UK PM's first WH visit

President Joe Biden is welcoming Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for wide-ranging talks on Thursday as the British leader makes his first White House visit as premier. The leaders' Oval Office talks are expected to cover the war in Ukraine, China, economic security, international cooperation on regulating the growing field of artificial intelligence, and more. Biden and Sunak have already had four face-to-face meetings since Sunak became prime minister in October, but the talks in Washington will offer the two leaders a chance for their most sustained interaction to date. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the 15-month-old Russian invasion of Ukraine will be top of mind. The US and UK are the two biggest donors to the Ukraine war effort and play a central role in a long-term effort announced last month to train, and eventually equip, Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. Rishi also is looking to make the case to Biden for UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace to succeed ...

Erdogan discusses Ukrainian crisis with Putin, grain export key highlight

Erdogan emphasised that Türkiye is determined to continue to make necessary efforts to establish a just peace between Russia and Ukraine

Russia accuses Ukraine of blowing up key Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline

Several explosions were heard near the ammonia pipeline in Kharkov region's Kupyansk district, Russia's TASS news agency reported on Tuesday

Russia blows up Ukraine dam: What's happening and what's at stake

The fallout from the breach of a river dam along a front line of Russia's war in Ukraine continued to wreak havoc on lives, livelihoods and the environment on Wednesday. When the Kakhovka dam ruptured on Tuesday, it sent a torrent of water from Ukraine's largest reservoir into streets and homes downstream on the Dnieper River where tens of thousands of people live -- in the thick of a combat zone where shelling regularly takes place. It's not clear what caused the breach: the structure had already been damaged in the war. Ukraine's government, which controls the river's western bank and the city of Kherson, has accused Russian forces of blowing up the facility. Officials in Russia, which controls the eastern bank for about the last 300 kilometres (about 185 miles) before the river reaches the Black Sea, has blamed Ukrainian military strikes. WHAT ARE THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS? Authorities and rescue workers on both sides stepped up efforts on Wednesday to pull beleaguered residents

Diverted Air India Delhi-US flight lands in middle of Russia airspace row

A Russian ban on some foreign carriers using its airspace, in retaliation for Western sanctions over the Ukraine war, has redrawn air routes and upset business models for some airlines

US knew of Ukraine's plan to attack Nord Stream gas link: Reports

US President Joe Biden's administration received an intelligence report that Ukraine had a plan for an attack on the Nord Stream pipelines three months before

UN official warns of consequences of destruction of Ukrainian dam

Ukrainian authorities have reported that at least 40 settlements are already flooded or partially flooded in Kherson oblast. This number is expected to rise in the coming days

Dam collapse in Ukraine triggers emergency; Russia, Kyiv blame each other

The wall of a major dam in southern Ukraine collapsed on Tuesday, triggering floods, endangering Europe's largest nuclear power plant and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides in the war rushed to evacuate residents and blamed each other for the destruction. Ukraine accused Russian forces of blowing up the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper River in an area that Moscow controls, while Russian officials blamed Ukrainian bombardment in the contested area. It was not possible to verify the claims. The potentially far-reaching environmental and social consequences of the disaster quickly became clear as homes, streets and businesses flooded downstream and emergency crews began evacuations; officials raced to check cooling systems at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant; and authorities expressed concern about supplies of drinking water to the south in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. Both Russian and Ukrainian authorities brought in ..

Jaitley and Sitharaman: A look at divestment under the two NDA FMs

In his early days, PM Modi had said that the government would get out of most sectors, a vision which was given credence through the new policy of 'strategic sectors' announced by Sitharaman in 2020

Ukraine accuses Russia of destroying major dam, warns of rampant flooding

Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam in a part of southern Ukraine they control, alerting residents further along the Dnipro River to evacuate and warning of flooding downstream. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry called for residents of 10 villages on the river's right bank and parts of the city of Kherson to gather essential documents and pets, turn off appliances and leave, while cautioning against possible disinformation. Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, said in a video posted to Telegram shortly before 7 am that the Russian army has committed yet another act of terror, and warned that water will reach critical levels within five hours.

Ukraine starts counteroffensive actions in some areas against Russia

The Bakhmut direction remains the epicenter of hostilities, the official said, noting that the Ukrainian military forces have achieved some success in the area

Biden praises Denmark for 'standing up' for Ukraine in war with Russia

President Joe Biden thanked Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Monday for Denmark's role in a Western alliance standing up" for Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russia's 15-month-old invasion. The Oval Office visit kicked off the first of a pair of critical meetings Biden is holding with European allies this week that will focus heavily on what lies ahead in the war in Ukraine including the recently-launched effort to train, and eventually equip, Ukraine with American-made F-16s fighter jets. Biden on Thursday will meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Both Britain and Denmark are playing a pivotal role in the nascent joint international plan that Biden recently endorsed after months of resisting calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for U.S. aircraft. There's a shared commitment to the core values and that gives us our strength at least that's what I believe, Biden said. Together we're working to protect those values including standing up for the people of ..

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Ukraine launching attacks, says Russia as Kyiv accuses Moscow of deception

Ukrainian forces were making a major effort to punch through Russian defensive lines in southeast Ukraine for a second day, a Moscow-installed official said on Monday as Russia's Defence Ministry declared that it had foiled an assault in an illegally annexed region of the invaded country. Kyiv authorities suggested the attack reports were a Russian misinformation ruse as the Ukrainian military prepares for a widely anticipated counteroffensive. Vladimir Rogov, an official in the Russia-backed administration of Ukraine's partly occupied Zaporizhzhia province, said fighting resumed on its border with the eastern Donetsk region on Monday after Russian defences beat back a Ukrainian advance the previous day. "The enemy threw an even bigger force into the attack than yesterday (Sunday)," and the new attempt to break through the front line was "more large-scale and organised," Rogov said, adding, "A battle is underway". Rogov interpreted the Ukraine military movements as part of an effor

Biden set for critical talks on Ukraine this week with Frederiksen, Sunak

President Joe Biden is welcoming Denmark and Britain's prime ministers this week to Washington for talks that will focus heavily on what lays ahead in the war in Ukraine -including the recently-launched effort to train, and eventually equip, Ukraine with American-made F-16s fighter jets Britain and Denmark are playing a pivotal role in the nascent joint international plan that Biden recently endorsed after months of resisting calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for US aircraft Biden's separate meetings with the leaders of two key NATO allies - he'll huddle with Denmark's Mette Frederiksen on Monday and the UK's Rishi Sunak on Thursday - come at a crucial period in the 15-month war as Ukraine readies to launch a counteroffensive. It's also a moment when the U.S. and Europe are looking to demonstrate to Moscow that the Western-alliance remains strong and focused on cementing a longer-term commitment to Ukraine with no end to the conflict in sight. One of the things we'l