)
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 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
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
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
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 ..
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 .
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
Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for a meeting with Putin, stating that he alone can resolve pressing bilateral issues, including disputes over territory
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
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 ...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India and Croatia have agreed that whether it is Europe or Asia, solutions to problems cannot come from battlefields, asserting that dialogue and diplomacy is the only way ahead. In a joint press statement following the delegation-level talks with Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenkovic, Modi also said a plan would be made to boost defence cooperation between the two countries. Modi said he and his Croatian counterpart have decided to give a "three-time" pace to the bilateral ties. "We agree that terrorism is an enemy of humanity. Terrorism is inimical to forces that believe in democracy. We agree, whether in Europe or Asia, solutions to problems can't be found from battlefields, and dialogue and diplomacy is the only way," he said. His comments come amid an escalating situation in West Asia as the military confrontation between Israel and Iran intensified. During the meeting, the two leaders reviewed the full spectrum of India-Croatia
North Korea will send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to support reconstruction work in Russia's Kursk region, a top Russian official said Tuesday, the latest sign of expanding cooperation between the nations. North Korea has already supplied thousands of combat troops and a vast amount of conventional weapons to back Russia's war against Ukraine. In April, Pyongyang and Moscow said that their soldiers fought together to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk border region, though Ukraine has insisted it still has troops present there. Wrapping up a one-day visit to Pyongyang, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un decided to send 1,000 sappers to clear mines in the Kursk region and 5,000 military construction workers to restore infrastructure there, according to Russia's state news agency, Tass. Another Russian state news agency, RIA Novosti, carried a similar report. Following the expulsion of ..
The G7 group of wealthy nations has struggled to find unity over conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East as Trump has expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin
A Russian drone and missile attack through the night and early morning Tuesday wounded at least 20 people in Kyiv, Ukrainian officials. It was the latest intense drone and missile attack to target Kyiv recently. It occurred as world leaders convened at the Group of Seven summit in Canada, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to attend. Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said nine people were wounded in the Sviatoshynskyi district and 11 more in the Solomianskyi district. The mayor said six people were hospitalized. Fires broke out in two other Kyiv districts as a result of falling debris from shot down Ukrainian air defences. The G7 host country Canada invited Zelenskyy to the summit, where he is expected to hold one-on-one meetings with world leaders. He won't be meeting with US President Donald Trump because Trump was returning early to Washington. Russia has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks. Moscow escalated attacks after Ukraine's .
Mr Trump, in his remarks on Monday, repeated a claim he made in 2018, that the Group of 7 needed Mr Putin to help solve some of the world's problems - including ones the Russian leader himself caused
European leaders urge Trump to impose new sanctions, saying it's key to pressuring Putin to negotiate sincerely as the Ukraine war enters its fourth year
World leaders at the Group of Seven summit in Canada scrambled Monday to find a way to contain the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, with US President Donald Trump warning that Tehran needs to curb its nuclear program before it's too late. The US president said Iranian leaders would like to talk but they had already had 60 days to reach an agreement on their nuclear ambitions and failed to do so before an Israeli aerial assault began four days ago. They have to make a deal, he said. The summit's host at the Rocky Mountain retreat, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, said the world was looking to the G7 for leadership at a hinge moment in time. We're gathering at one of those turning points in history, Carney said. The world's more divided and dangerous. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz held an hourlong informal meeting soon after arriving at the summit late Sunday t
With diplomacy at a standstill, the European Union is set to adopt a new sanctions package on Russia, but have so far failed to convince Trump - who has been reluctant to weigh on Putin
The attacks, according to analysts at Rabobank International, expose wider risks to crude and natural gas supplies from the region despite the initial quick reversal of price gains for both markets
A sharp rise in global oil prices following Israeli strikes on Iran will benefit Russia and bolster its military capabilities in the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday in comments that were under embargo until Saturday afternoon. Speaking to journalists in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said the surge in oil prices threatens Ukraine's position on the battlefield, especially because Western allies have not enforced effective price caps on Russian oil exports. The strikes led to a sharp increase in the price of oil, which is negative for us, Zelenskyy said. The Russians are getting stronger due to greater income from oil exports. Global oil prices rose as much as 7 per cent after Israel and Iran exchanged attacks over the past 48 hours, raising concerns that further escalation in the region could disrupt oil exports from the Middle East. Zelenskyy to address concerns with the US Zelenskyy said he planned to raise the issue in an upcoming conversation with US Presid