Page 29 - Latest Updates on Ukraine peace talks

Russia skirts Western sanctions to ramp up its military footprint in Africa

Even as it pounds Ukraine, Russia is expanding its military footprint in Africa, delivering sophisticated weaponry to sub-Saharan conflict zones where a Kremlin-controlled armed force is on the rise. Skirting sanctions imposed by Western nations, Moscow is using cargo ships to send tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery and other high-value equipment to West Africa, The Associated Press has found. Relying on satellite imagery and radio signals, AP tracked a convoy of Russian-flagged cargo ships as they made a nearly one-month journey from the Baltic Sea. The ships carried howitzers, radio jamming equipment and other military hardware, according to military officials in Europe who closely monitored them. The deliveries could strengthen Russia's fledgling Africa Corps as Moscow competes with the United States, Europe and China for greater influence across the continent. The two-year-old Africa Corps, which has links to a covert branch of Russia's army, is ascendant at a time when US and

Russia, Ukraine start prisoner swap after recriminations after peace talks

The first groups of prisoners under the age of 25 years were transferred by both sides, and the returning Russian soldiers are currently in Belarus, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said

Russia to send more Ukrainian soldiers' bodies amid prisoner swap dispute

A planned exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine did not take place on Saturday. Russia claims that Ukraine postponed the swap at the last minute

Ukraine doing everything to ensure June summits 'not hollow': Zelenskyy

Further, he said that Ukraine is working to secure the release of its prisoners of war and the return of fallen warriors

Russian strikes on Kharkiv kills four, injure dozens in latest escalation

Russian attacks targetting the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv killed at least four people and wounded more than two dozen others on Saturday, officials said, as hopes for peace dimmed further. The first wave on Ukraine's second-largest city was a large Russian drone-and-missile attack in the early hours. It killed at least three people and wounded 21 others, according to local officials. In the afternoon, Russia dropped aerial bombs on the city centre, killing at least one person and wounding five more, Kharkiv's mayor said. The warring sides also accused each other of trying to sabotage a planned prisoner exchange, nearly a week after Kyiv embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia. Saturday's barrage the latest in near daily widescale attacks on Ukraine included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the all-out war, which began on February 24, 2022. Kharkiv residents describe fiery trap

Strike against Kyiv was a response to Ukrainian 'terrorist acts': Russia

Russia's military released the statement after Ukrainian officials said Russia had launched an intense missile and drone barrage at Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in the early hours of Friday

NATO on cusp of accepting Trump's 5% defence investment demand, says Rutte

Most U.S. allies at NATO endorse President Donald Trump's demand that they invest 5% of gross domestic product on their defense needs and are ready to ramp up security spending even more, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Thursday. There's broad support, Rutte told reporters after chairing a meeting of NATO defense ministers at the alliance's Brussels headquarters. We are really close, he said, and added that he has total confidence that we will get there by the next NATO summit in three weeks. European allies and Canada have already been investing heavily in their armed forces, as well as on weapons and ammunition, since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. At the same time, some have balked at U.S. demands to invest 5% of GDP on defense 3.5% on core military spending and 1.5% on the roads, bridges, airfields and sea ports needed to deploy armies more quickly. Still struggling to meet the old goal: In 2023, as Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine entered i

Russia to respond to attacks on airfields as military deems right: Kremlin

Russia will respond to Sunday's Ukrainian drone attacks on its airfields when and how the military deems appropriate, the Kremlin said on Thursday. On June 1, Ukraine used drones to carry out attacks against airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions, home to Moscow's nuclear triad. Replying to a media query on when Russia could retaliate and how, the Kremlin spokesman said, In such a way and at such a time as our military deems appropriate. On Wednesday night, in an unscheduled phone call with his US counterpart Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would have to respond to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia's nuclear-capable bomber fleet. Agreeing with his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's view voiced at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Putin also described peace talks with Ukraine as "useful." Russian planes that were damaged after Ukraine's attack on Jun 1 will be repaired, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on ...

Indonesia weighs China's offer of battle-tested J-10 fighter jets

Indonesia's consideration of the J-10 comes as military spending rises worldwide, driven in part by conflicts including Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Warplanes hit in Ukraine drone strike will be repaired, says Russia

Ukrainian strikes targeted airfields in Siberia and the far north where Russia houses heavy bombers that form part of its strategic nuclear forces

Russian strike kills 5, including 1 year old, hours after Trump calls Putin

At least five people, including a one-year-old child, were killed in a Russian drone strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Pryluky overnight, regional governor Viacheslav Chaus said on Thursday. Six more people were wounded in the attack and have been hospitalised, Chaus said. According to him, six Shahed-type drones struck residential areas of Pryluky early Thursday morning, causing severe damage to residential buildings. Hours later, 17 people were wounded in a Russian drone strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early Thursday, including children, a pregnant woman, and a 93-year-old woman, regional head Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram. At around 1.05 am, Shahed-type drones struck two apartment buildings in the city's Slobidskyi district, causing fires and destroying several private vehicles. "By launching attacks while people sleep in their homes, the enemy once again confirms its tactic of insidious terror," Syniehubov wrote on Telegram.

Will 'unconditionally support' Russia's war against Ukraine: Kim Jong Un

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told a visiting top Russian official that his country will unconditionally support Russia's war against Ukraine, the North's state media reported Thursday, the latest sign of expanding cooperation between the two nations. In April, the two countries officially confirmed North Korean troops' deployment to Russia for the first time, saying that soldiers of the two countries were fighting alongside each other to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk border region. At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korea's participation in the war and promised not to forget their sacrifices. In a meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang on Wednesday, Kim affirmed that North Korea will unconditionally support the stand of Russia and its foreign policies in all the crucial international political issues including the Ukrainian issue, the official Korean Central News Agency said. The two discussed how to .

Climate change at COP30: India must lead, not wait for other nations

If most countries are unlikely to make strong commitments, it is relevant to ask whether India should also hold back. Climate change is too important for us to take this course

Trump says Putin vowed strong retaliation for Ukraine's drone attack

Donald Trump said Putin warned of a strong response to Ukraine's drone attacks during a call. They also discussed Iran, with Trump insisting Tehran must not obtain nuclear weapons

Putin Dismisses Zelenskiy's Call for Direct Leaders Meeting

"To continue diplomatic meetings in Istanbul at a level that does not resolve anything further is, in my opinion, meaningless," Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv, calling Russia's conditions for peace

Russia has lost over 1 million troops in Ukraine war, CSIS report estimates

The CSIS report calls the Russia-Ukraine war one of the slowest offensives in modern times, with staggering losses on both sides and Kyiv surviving due to vital international support

Russian rockets kill 4 in Ukraine as Kyiv claims it damaged a key bridge

A Russian rocket attack targeted the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Tuesday, killing at least four people and wounding 25, officials said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the assault, saying it underscored that Moscow has no intentions of halting the 3-year-old war. The attack came a day after direct peace talks in Istanbul made no progress on ending the fighting. Local authorities said the barrage of rockets struck apartment buildings and a medical facility in the centre of Sumy. Meanwhile, Ukraine's secret services said they struck inside Russia again, two days after a spectacular Ukrainian drone attack on air bases deep inside the country. A vital bridge to Crimea The Ukrainian Security Service, known by its acronym SBU, claimed it damaged the foundations of the Kerch Bridge linking Russia and illegally annexed Crimea a key artery for Russian military supplies in the war. The SBU said it detonated 1,100 kilograms (2,400 pounds) of explosives on the seabed ...

With Russia airfield attacks, Ukraine aims for strategic and symbolic blow

The New York Times verified videos that showed successful strikes at Olenya Air Base in the Murmansk region and Belaya Air Base in the Irkutsk region

Ukraine, Russia swap dead, wounded troops with no progress towards peace

Representatives of Russia and Ukraine met Monday for their second round of direct peace talks in just over two weeks, but aside from agreeing to swap thousands of their dead and seriously wounded troops, they made no progress toward ending the 3-year-old war, officials said. The talks unfolded a day after a string of stunning long-range attacks by both sides, with Ukraine launching a devastating drone assault on Russian air bases and Russia hurling its largest drone attack of the war against Ukraine. At the negotiating table, Russia presented a memorandum setting out the Kremlin's terms for ending hostilities, the Ukrainian delegation said. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who led the Ukrainian delegation, told reporters that Kyiv officials would need a week to review the document and decide on a response. Ukraine proposed further talks on a date between June 20 and June 30, he said. After the talks, Russian state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti published the text of the Russian

Asymmetric strike: Ukraine's attack on Russian air assets holds lessons

Asymmetric warfare has been demonstrated to have become much easier. Many non-state groups will be able to afford 100-150 drones