Page 3 - Latest Updates on Ukraine peace talks

Ukraine forces target Russian fertiliser plant, fuel depot in strikes

Ukraine struck a chemical plant and fuel storage facilities deep inside Russia, escalating its campaign against infrastructure linked to Moscow's war effort

Ukraine drone strikes kills one, sparks fire at Russian port of Temryuk

Ukraine continues to pummel Russia's energy infrastructure as peace talks to resolve the ​Ukraine war have stalled

The war in Ukraine has now gone on longer than World War I

Parallels between the two wars abound, from the grinding nature of the fighting to the way new technologies reshaped warfare

Hypersonic and supersonic weapons

Below are pictures of hypersonic and supersonic weapons as featured in Blueprint June 2026

Crises are reshaping the strategic space

Modern conflicts rely on rapid adaptation and low-cost capabilities rather than high manoeuvre alone, as demonstrated in the Russia-Ukraine war, tensions involving Iran, and China's strategic posture

Ukraine says drone hit nuclear fuel storage facility near Chernobyl

Ukraine says a Russian drone struck a spent nuclear fuel storage facility near Chernobyl, prompting concern from the IAEA over nuclear safety risks

Ukraine targets St Petersburg after Putin rejects offer for direct talks

Residents of St Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, were told not to leave their homes after a "large-scale" Ukrainian drone attack targeted the city Saturday morning, local officials said, underscoring Kyiv's growing ability to hit deep inside Russia. St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov advised St Petersburg residents not to go outside and warned of possible disruptions to mobile internet service. Regional Gov Alexander Drozdenko said 141 drones were shot down over the surrounding Leningrad region. Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 376 Ukrainian drones. Although no casualties were immediately reported, the renewed attack on St Petersburg strikes a further embarrassing blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts to cast the conflict as a distant event that doesn't affect Russian daily life. Saturday's attack follows a Ukrainian drone strike that set ablaze an oil terminal in the city and hit a nearby naval base Wednesday, hours before the ..

Putin rejects Zelenskyy's offer to meet, saying he sees 'no point' in it

President Vladimir Putin on Friday rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's proposal to have a meeting. Speaking at the international economic forum in his hometown of St. Petersburg, Putin described Zelenskyy's open letter proposing the meeting as "boorish." "Is it a way to create conditions for personal meetings and talks, or create an environment which makes any personal meetings impossible?" he said. "I think it's the second." He said that he sees "no point" in the meeting.

Open to peace if Kyiv bends, says Russian President Vladimir Putin

Russia is "ready and willing" to reach an agreement with Ukraine based on US President Donald Trump's peace proposal if Kyiv was ready to make certain "compromises", President Vladimir Putin has said even as he asserted that Russian forces are dominating the battlefield. In an interaction with heads of leading global news agencies, including PTI on Thursday night, the Russian President said Moscow is strengthening its air defences to counter Ukrainian drone strikes, asserting that the "patriotism and will of the Russian people" will ensure they achieve their goals in Ukraine. In a related development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an open letter to Putin, called for a face-to-face meeting between himself and the Russian president to end the war peacefully. Zelenskyy pitched for a full ceasefire to hold negotiations between the two sides arguing that peace could only come through direct engagement between Ukraine and Russia. The Kremlin said it received the ...

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy proposes peace talks in letter to Putin

The appeal came as officials from Europe's three biggest economies - Germany, France and the UK - have been discussing the possibility of holding talks involving Russia and Ukraine

Ukraine conflict will quickly end if Kiev accepts compromises, says Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that the Ukraine conflict will quickly end if Kiev accepts compromises based on the Anchorage agreements. Putin made the remarks during an interaction with heads of leading global news agencies, including PTI, where he also said that Russia will strengthen its air defences to repel drone attacks from Ukraine. Recalling his discussions with US President Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, in August last year, Putin said Russia is open to the compromises on Ukraine to end the conflict. "The Ukrainian side also must agree to these compromises," Putin said. "The conflict will quickly come to an end." Putin also dismissed the idea that European Union countries could act as mediators in peace talks with Ukraine. "How can Russia trust people who have been harping about the need to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia for years?" he asked. He suggested that the EU could help resolve the conflict by persuading Ukraine to compromise instead

Ukrainian drones hit St. Petersburg oil terminal ahead of 'Russian Davos'

Ukrainian long-range drones struck an oil terminal in St. Petersburg and set it ablaze, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday, as the Russian city hosts an annual international economic forum that is a banner event for President Vladimir Putin. The drones flew more than 1,000 kilometres to hit the terminal, Zelenskyy said on social media. Clouds of black smoke rose over the city's port after the attack. St. Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city and is where Putin was born. Russian authorities said only that the Ukrainian drone strike targeted the city's infrastructure, without providing further details. The airport of St. Petersburg briefly suspended flights overnight because of the attack. Authorities also cut off mobile internet services. With the front line changing little as swarms of drones hinder battlefield movement, both sides have sought an edge by increasingly launching long-range strikes. The war that followed Russia's invasion of its neighbour has now stretch

Russia pounds Ukraine with 600+ drones, missiles; 22 killed, 100 injured

Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities overnight, killing at least 16 civilians and wounding more than 100 others, authorities said Tuesday. The damage trapped some people under the rubble of apartment buildings. Emergency crews digging through the wreckage pulled out the body of a three-year-old child and the bodies of a mother and her eight-year-old son in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, officials said. The attack stretched from night into day and the boom of explosions reverberated across cities. Kyiv residents had been on edge for days after Russia warned that a massive aerial attack was coming and warned foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital. None appeared to heed the call. "A large-scale attack and an explicit statement by Russia: If Ukraine is not protected from ballistic missiles and other missile strikes, those strikes will continue," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in response to the attack, ..

Russian strike on Ukraine kills 11, traps others in damaged buildings

Russia attacked Ukraine with a barrage of missiles and drones overnight Tuesday, killing at least 11 people, injuring dozens and trapping others, authorities said. At least four people were killed in Kyiv and 58 people were injured, including three children, Ukraine's state emergency service said in a statement on Telegram. Residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were damaged in eight of Kyiv's districts. Attacks were also reported elsewhere across Ukraine. In the central Dnipropetrovsk region, at least six people were killed and 36 others injured after Russian strikes hit the city of Dnipro, according to the emergency service. A second attack as first responders arrived at the scene killed one rescuer. A two-story residential building and part of a four-story apartment block were damaged, with people trapped beneath the rubble of the larger building. The boom of explosions echoed through most of the night and into the early morning. Kyiv had been bracing for anothe

French Navy, backed by UK, intercepts sanctioned Russian oil tanker: Macron

The French Navy, with support from the United Kingdom, has intercepted an oil tanker under international sanctions that was travelling from Russia, the latest effort by nations that support Ukraine to target Russian oil exports helping to finance President Vladimir Putin's war. French President Emmanuel Macron announced the interception in a post Monday on X, saying the Tagor was boarded on Sunday in the Atlantic. The post included a video showing a person rappelling from a helicopter onto a ship. "It is unacceptable that boats skirt international sanctions, violate the law of the sea and finance the war that Russia has been waging for more than 4 years against Ukraine," Macron wrote. "These ships, that don't respect the most elementary rules of maritime navigation, are also a threat to the environment and everyone's security." Oil revenue is a key part of Russia's economy, allowing Putin to pour money into the war effort against Ukraine without worsening inflation for everyday peo

'Russian spies aggressively seeking Western technology as sanctions bite'

Russia's intelligence agencies have grown more aggressive in their efforts to steal Western technology and defense secrets as sanctions squeeze the country's wartime economy, three senior European intelligence officials told The Associated Press. Moscow's agents are building fake companies, recruiting middlemen and deploying cyber spies and hackers who are gathering information that could also be used to attack key infrastructure, they said. Four years of international sanctions have hampered Moscow's ability to procure machinery, technology and research from Europe, while the grinding war in Ukraine has taxed key industries and pushed the country toward a potential financial crisis. "They really know what they need," and are putting "serious effort" into acquiring advanced machine tools, factory equipment, research and dual-use technology, said Christoffer Wedelin, deputy head of operations at the Swedish Security Service. Russia seeks high-end research, defense technology and ...

Russian drone targeting Ukraine crashes into apartment block in Romania

A Russian drone that was part of an overnight attack on Ukraine and then went astray slammed into an apartment building in eastern Romania, injuring two people in the NATO member country, Romanian authorities said, adding to concerns that the war could spread across the alliance's borders. The Russian drone was tracked by radar in Romanian airspace and crashed onto the roof of the building in the city of Galati, Romania's Defence Ministry said in a statement. The impact was followed by a fire. The two people suffered minor injuries, and several others were evacuated. The Romanian military scrambled two F-16 fighter jets and a helicopter that were authorised to engage targets, and alert messages were sent to residents of the affected areas. But the aircraft didn't engage or shoot at the drone to bring it down. Romania asked NATO for a faster transfer of anti-drone capabilities to its military, the Foreign Ministry said, calling the drone's flight a serious violation of international

UN adds Israeli, Russian forces to blacklist for sexual violence cases

An annual United Nations report documenting sexual violence in conflicts worldwide has included Israeli forces for the first time since the review began more than 15 years ago for their treatment of Palestinian detainees. Israel denies the accusations. The 35-page report -- shared by the Israeli mission to the UN late on Thursday ahead of its expected release on Friday -- blacklists 77 government and non-government parties in a dozen countries suspected of committing or being responsible for sexual violence in conflicts around the world. It says the number of cases rose sharply in 2025 from 2024. Russian armed and security forces were also blacklisted for the first time this year for sexual violence against prisoners of war and civilians detained during the war in Ukraine. The list for 2025 includes Israel's armed and security forces as well as Hamas militants, who were previously blacklisted after their attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza. Both Israe

Ukraine to buy 20 new Gripen jets, Sweden to donate older jets sooner

Ukraine's air force is made up of a mixture of ‌Soviet-made and western aircraft. Gripen is seen as a cost-efficient alternative to fighters like the more advanced American F-

Zelenskyy asks Trump for more US air defence aid against Russian attacks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has written to US President Donald Trump and Congress asking for more American-made air defence ammunition to counter intensifying Russian ballistic missile attacks, Kyiv said Wednesday. Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers have backed a draft bill to have bank employees join the fight against Ukraine's long-range drones that strike deep inside Russia - with trained bank staff shooting down the unmanned aircraft. The steps came after a recent escalation in aerial attacks by both sides in the more than four-year war that followed Russia's all-out invasion of its neighbor. Neither side has been able to make much progress on the 1,250-km front line. Also on Wednesday, Anne Keast-Butler, head of UK's intelligence agency GCHQ, asserted that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "going backwards on the battlefield". New data shows that "almost half a million Russian soldiers have now been killed since the conflict began," she added. Ukraine has pounded Russ