Page 33 - Latest Updates on Ukraine peace talks

German foreign minister visits Ukraine, pledges continued support

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, in a show of continuing support for Ukraine's fight to repel Russia's invasion as US-led international peace efforts fail to make progress. Wadephul was due to meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. Wadephul said in a statement that Germany will help Ukraine continue to defend itself successfully with modern air defence and other weapons, with humanitarian and economic aid". Germany has been Ukraine's second-largest military backer after the United States, whose continuing support is in doubt. However, Berlin has balked at granting Zelenskyy's request to provide Ukraine with powerful German- and Swedish-made Taurus long-range missiles. That's due to fears that such a move could enrage the Kremlin and end up drawing NATO into Europe's biggest conflict since World War II. Instead, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged in May to help Ukraine

Trump's tariffs and tax policies test assumptions on US dollar, markets

As foreseen: swings in sovereign bond markets have been sharp, the Japanese yen rallied, and a comeback for emerging markets is finally materialising

Russia launches biggest aerial attack on Ukraine since start of war

Russia launched its biggest aerial attack against Ukraine overnight, a Ukrainian official said Sunday, part of an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the 3-year-old war. Russia fired a total of 537 aerial weapons at Ukraine, including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles, Ukraine's air force said. Of these, 249 were shot down and 226 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed. Yuriy Ihnat, head of communications for Ukraine's air force, told the Associated Press that the overnight onslaught was the most massive air strike, on the country, taking into account both drones and various types of missiles. The attack targeted regions across Ukraine including western Ukraine, far from the frontline. Poland and allied countries scrambled aircraft to ensure the safety of Polish airspace, the Polish air force said Sunday. Kherson regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said one person died in a drone strike. Six people were wounde

Russia will no longer play 'one-sided' games with the West: Vladimir Putin

Putin's remarks came just days after the Nato summit in The Hague, where the alliance's members committed to increasing defence expenditure to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035

Zelenskyy backs tribunal to prosecute Russian leaders for Ukraine invasion

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy formally approved plans Wednesday to set up a new international court to prosecute senior Russian officials for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The special tribunal will be created through an agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights body. Zelenskyy visited the Strasbourg-based organisation for the first time as part of the announcement. The special tribunal aims to target senior Russian leaders for the crime of aggression, which underpins the countless war crimes Ukraine accuses Russian forces of committing since the start of the war on Feb 24, 2022. Existing international courts, including the International Criminal Court in The Hague lack jurisdiction to prosecute Russian nationals for that specific offense. Since early in the conflict, Kyiv has been pushing for the creation of a special tribunal that goes beyond prosecuting war crimes that Ukraine alleged Russian forces committed including .

Zelenskyy meets Trump at Nato; discusses air defence, drone cooperation

Zelenskyy's meeting with Trump was their first meeting face-to-face since April, when they met at St Peter's Basilica during Pope Francis' funeral

Russian long-range drones haunt Ukraine's nights with deadly strikes

How Russia's terrifying long-range drone program has brought about a deadly new phase in the war

Trump denies Putin's offer for Israel-Iran deal; says need help with you

Trump asked Putin for his help in resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has been ongoing for over three years now

Drone debris found in Ukraine indicates Russia using new tech from Iran

Last week, Ukrainian drone hunters picking up the debris from Russia's nightly assault on their cities found a weapon that stood out from the rest. It had an advanced camera, a computing platform powered by artificial intelligence and a radio link, allowing an operator to pilot it remotely from Russia. It also contained new, Iranian-made, anti-jamming technology, according to a Ukrainian drone expert. Most Russian attack drones are black, said Serhii Beskrestnov, an electronics expert more widely known as Flash. The new one, he told The Associated Press, was white. Inside, there were no markings or labels consistent with Russian-made drones. Instead, the stickers followed a standard Iran labelling system, Beskrestnov said. Experts who spoke to AP said the labels are not conclusive proof but the English-language words are consistent with how Iran marks its drones. It is quite possible, they said, that it was sold by Iran to Russia to test in combat. Moscow has pummelled Ukraine alm

Russian attacks kill 26 in Ukraine as Zelenskyy seeks more Western help

Russian drones, missiles and artillery killed at least 26 civilians and injured more than 200 others in Ukraine, officials said Tuesday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sought guarantees at a NATO summit of further Western help to repel Moscow's invasion. Russian forces have relentlessly struck civilian areas throughout the 3-year-old war. More than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to the United Nations. Ukraine has also launched long-range drones against Russia, hitting residential areas. Zelenskyy joined Western leaders at a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, and is keen to lock in additional military support for Ukraine, as recent direct peace talks have made no progress on a settlement. Key US military commitments to Ukraine left over from the Biden administration are expected to run out within months, according to analysts, and there is uncertainty over whether US President Donald Trump is willing to provide more. A Russian ballistic missile attack o

Nato chief warns Russia of 'devastating' response to any aggression

Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte warns Russia against attacking any ally, calls Moscow the biggest threat, and unveils historic defence spending plans ahead of the 2025 summit

Russian missile, drone strikes kill at least 10 civilians in Ukraine

Russian drones and missiles killed at least 10 civilians in Ukraine in nighttime attacks, local officials said Monday, with seven deaths reported in the capital, Kyiv, where emergency crews raced to find people believed trapped under the rubble of a partially collapsed apartment building. Russia fired 352 drones and decoys overnight, as well as 11 ballistic missiles and five cruise missiles, Ukraine's air force said. Air defences intercepted or jammed 339 drones and 15 missiles before they could reach their targets, a statement said. The strikes came nearly a week after a combined Russian attack on Ukraine last Tuesday killed 28 people in Kyiv, 23 of them in a residential building that collapsed after sustaining a direct missile hit. Russian forces have for several months been trying to drive deeper into Ukraine as part of a renewed summer push along the roughly 1,000-kilometre front line, though the Institute for the Study of War said their progress has been limited. Russian force

9 killed, over a dozen injured in Russian missile attacks on Ukraine

A Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine's capital overnight killed at least four people and injured others, according to Ukraine's emergency services, as rescue workers and firefighters sought to remove people they believed trapped under debris in a partially collapsed apartment building. The strikes came nearly a week after a combined Russian attack on Ukraine last Tuesday killed 28 people in Kyiv, 23 of them in a residential building that collapsed after sustaining a direct hit by a missile. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called that attack one of the biggest bombardments of the war, now in its fourth year. In the early hours of Monday, drones and missiles hit residential areas, hospitals and sports infrastructure in numerous districts across Kyiv, emergency services said, with the most severe damage occurring in the Shevchenkivskyi district, where one section of a five-story apartment building collapsed. Four people were confirmed dead in the attack on the building

Nato leaders to meet for a summit that could be historic or with divisions

US President Donald Trump and his NATO counterparts are due to gather Tuesday for a summit that could unite the world's biggest security organisation around a new defence spending pledge or widen divisions among the 32 allies. Just a week ago, things had seemed rosy. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was optimistic the European members and Canada would commit to invest at least as much of their economic growth on defence as the United States does for the first time. Then Spain rejected the new NATO target for each country to spend 5% of its gross domestic product on defence needs, calling it unreasonable. Trump also insists on that figure. The alliance operates on a consensus that requires the backing of all 32 members. The following day, Trump said the US should not have to respect the goal. I don't think we should, but I think they should, he said. Trump lashed out at Prime Minister Pedro Snchez's government, saying: NATO is going to have to deal with Spain. Spain's been a very l

With Trump involved, wartime Nato summit may shift focus from Ukraine

At its first summits after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, NATO gave President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pride of place at its table. It won't be the same this time. Europe's biggest land conflict since World War II is now in its fourth year and still poses an existential threat to the continent. Ukraine continues to fight a war so that Europeans don't have to. Just last week, Russia launched one of the biggest drone attacks of the invasion on Kyiv. But things have changed. The Trump administration insists that it must preserve maneuvering space to entice Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, so Ukraine must not be allowed steal the limelight. In Washington last year, the military alliance's weighty summit communique included a vow to supply long-term security assistance to Ukraine, and a commitment to back the country on its irreversible path" to NATO membership. The year before, a statement more than twice as long was published in the Lithuanian ..

Russia has shared peace proposals with Israel, Iran: Vladimir Putin

President Vladimir Putin said Friday he has secured Israel's pledge to safeguard Russian personnel at Iran's Russia-built nuclear power plant and that he has reached out to both sides to try to end the week-old war. Answering questions on a variety of issues at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin also warned Ukraine that it could lose more territory if it keeps rejecting Russia's conditions for peace. Putin said Russia has proposed "some ideas for a possible settlement between Iran and Israel that are currently being discussed. He said Moscow asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure the security of Russian personnel who are working to construct two more reactors at the nuclear power plant in Iran's port of Bushehr and that he also raised the issue with US President Donald Trump. Prime Minister Netanyahu has agreed with that, and President Trump has promised to support our legitimate demands, Putin said. But he strongly rejected allegations that .

Orbn's anti-Ukraine campaign targets rival before Hungary elections

As Hungary heads toward national elections next spring and the populist government's popularity slumps, Prime Minister Viktor Orbn has zeroed in on a central theme he hopes will sway voters: an alleged threat posed by neighbouring Ukraine. While most European Union countries have offered political, financial, and military support to Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Hungary under Orbn has charted a starkly different course refusing to supply Ukraine with weapons or allow their transit through Hungarian territory, demanding sanctions relief and rapprochement with Russia, and adopting a combative stance toward both Kyiv and its EU backers. With his ruling Fidesz party slipping in the polls and a new opposition force gaining momentum, Orbn has escalated a sweeping anti-Ukraine campaign presenting the upcoming election as a referendum on peace or war. Going further, he has accused his leading political opponent of entering into a treasonous pact with Kyiv to overthrow hi

Putin open to talks, questions Zelenskyy's legitimacy for inking peace deal

Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for a meeting with Putin, stating that he alone can resolve pressing bilateral issues, including disputes over territory

Russia on brink of recession, says economy minister Maxim Reshetnikov

Russia's economy is on the brink of going into a recession, the country's economy minister said Thursday, according to Russian media reports. Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov delivered the warning at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, the annual event in Russia's second largest city designed to highlight the country's economic prowess and court foreign investors. Russian business news outlet RBC quoted the official as saying the numbers indicate cooling, but all our numbers are (like) a rearview mirror. Judging by the way businesses currently feel and the indicators, we are already, it seems to me, on the brink of going into a recession. Russia's economy, hit with a slew of sanctions after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, has so far outperformed predictions. High defence spending has propelled growth and kept unemployment low despite fuelling inflation. At the same time, wages have gone up to keep pace with inflation, leaving many workers better

More bodies found in Kyiv as toll from latest Russian attack climbs to 28

Emergency workers pulled more bodies Wednesday from the rubble of a nine-story Kyiv apartment building demolished by a Russian missile, raising the death toll from the latest attack on the Ukrainian capital to 28. The building in Kyiv's Solomianskyi district took a direct hit and collapsed during the deadliest Russian attack on Kyiv this year. Authorities said that 23 of those killed were inside the building. The remaining five died elsewhere in the city. Workers used cranes, excavators and their hands to clear more debris from the site, while sniffer dogs searched for buried victims. The blast blew out windows and doors in neighboring buildings in a wide radius of damage. The attack overnight on Monday into Tuesday was part of a sweeping barrage as Russia once again sought to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses. Russia fired more than 440 drones and 32 missiles in what Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was one of the biggest bombardments of the war, now in its fourth ...