Gains by far-right groupings in Sunday’s parliamentary vote after a campaign dominated by voters’ concerns over budget problems and the cost of living could upend Romania’s pro-Western orientation.
Kyiv knows that it will have to recalibrate and take care not to get on Trumpโs bad side, hence Zelenskyyโs emphasizing the importance of exploring diplomatic solutions.
In general terms, Richard Moore said the world was in its most dangerous state in his 37 years working in the intelligence world
Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated that he would accept a two-phase solution under which Russia would return the occupied Ukrainian territories at a later stage “diplomatically”.
Russia has not so far struck Ukrainian government ministries, parliament or the president’s office in the course of the 33-month war.
Over 1 million people lost power in the immediate aftermath of the strikes, and millions more had their existing schedule of rolling power cuts intensified.
In this episode, host Giada Santana hears from defence reporter Aurรฉlie Pugnet about what she discovered during a trip on the ground.
The package marks a steep uptick in size from Biden’s recent use of so-called Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the US to draw from current weapons stocks to help allies in an emergency.
While the Western sanctions fell short of the desired effect of crippling Russia’s economy and starving its war machine, they did cut off the supply of planes and parts, which domestic production could not replace.
Instead, Russia is likely to expand a campaign of sabotage against European targets to increase pressure on the West over its support for Kyiv.
The New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials had suggested US President Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons before he leaves office.
The Institute for the Study of War report and pro-Russian military bloggers say Russian troops are in Kurakhove, which represents a stepping stone towards the logistical hub of Pokrovsk in Donetsk.
Kyiv says Russia is not prepared to negotiate an end to the war in good faith and that Ukraine needs robust security guarantees before there is any ceasefire in hostilities to prevent a future Russian offensive.
In a notice published on the central European gas hub platform, Austria’s OMV said Russia’s Gazprom told it supply would stop on Saturday (16 November).
Russian rights group OVD-Info has recorded 21 criminal prosecutions in politically-motivated cases based on denunciations since the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
A Western security source said there could be an initial slowdown in intelligence sharing when Trump takes office in January.
The Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador of Russia, but also the chargรฉ d’affaires of Georgia, for comments by country’s prime minister it said called into question the integrity of Moldova’s polls.
With the ongoing Russian military air attacks on energy infrastructure, it is important to find alternative solutions to make sure Ukrainian consumers have a stable supply of electricity.
After landing in Brussels late Tuesday, the secretary of state’s one-day visit will see him meet NATO chief Mark Rutte, European Union diplomacy boss Josep Borrell, his successor Kaja Kallas and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga.
In an unusual move, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that no phonecall between Putin and Trump had taken place, contradicting reports by The Washington Post and by Reuters.
Marco Rubio was one of 15 Republican senators to vote against a $95 billion military aid package for Ukraine, passed in April.
The escalating fighting along a more than 1,000-km front line is stretching Ukraine’s already outnumbered troops at a critical moment after Donald Trump won the US election, raising the prospect of possible talks with Russia.
Donald Trump has criticised the scale of US military and financial support for Kyiv, vowing to end the war quickly, without saying how.
Starmer and Macron will discuss “Russia’s ongoing barbaric invasion of Ukraine and the appalling humanitarian situation in Gaza,” Downing Street said.
US president is running out of time to deliver funds and weapons before a predicted foreign policy change by Trump administrationWith little more than two months left in the White House, Joe Biden is running out of time to expedite the delivery of fund…
Borrell, the first top EU official to visit Kyiv since Donald Trump’s win, said that the purpose of his visit was to stress EU support for Ukraine, as its war with Russia nears 1,000 days.
The Ukrainian leader told a news conference at the European Political Community summit in Budapest that he believed Trump wanted to end the war with Russia quickly, but that he had not discussed a plan with him.
When pressed by a questioner what he would do if Trump called to suggest a meeting, Putin said he was ready to resume contacts if a Trump administration wanted that, and was ready for discussions with Trump.
Facing the loss of their top financial backer, Ukrainians resolve to continue fighting the Russian invasion.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov confirmed, in an interview with South Korean television, that the first engagement had occurred with North Korean troops, an apparent escalation in a conflict that began when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The election also exposed underlying public grievances, and Maia Sandu, who ended up with 55.33% of the overall vote, only won because of strong backing from Moldovans voting from overseas.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged The EU to realise that the North Korea troops are carrying “an aggressive war in Europe against a sovereign European state”.
Donbas has become the war’s main theatre, where some of biggest battles in Europe for generations have taken place and where thousands of troops on each side have died.
Under Robert Fico, Slovakia has been keen to build closer bilateral and economic ties and alliances with non-EU countries, including China, its biggest trading partner outside of the 27-state bloc, as well as Russia.
The tone of Zelenskyy’s rhetoric pointed to mounting Ukrainian frustration over the extent of Western support for Kyiv at a critical time in the war with Russia, with the clock counting down to Tuesday’s US presidential election.
After the Tokyo talks, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell will head to South Korea, where concerns about North Korea will top the agenda.
The leaders of the European Union and NATO member nation have been quarrelling for weeks over sending officers to the alliance’s mission in Germany to train Ukraine soldiers.
The action included sanctions on dozens of Chinese, Hong Kong and Indian companies, the most from those countries to be hit in one package so far.
The meetings too place as Russia’s war in Ukraine appeared to take a dangerous new turn, with NATO and South Korea expressing alarm that North Korean troops could soon be joining in on Moscow’s side.
Romania, which shares a 650-km border with Ukraine, has had Russian drone fragments fall onto its territory repeatedly over the past year as Moscow attacks Ukrainian port infrastructure.
South Korea’s president Yoon Suk Yeol, in a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said the deployment of North Korean troops to the front lines of the war in Ukraine may come sooner than expected.
China will be everywhere in the EU’s policymaking machinery for the next five years. Expect more turbulence ahead.
Any power shift is expected to leave intact the NATO and EU member’s strong support for Ukraine amid security concerns about neighbouring Russia.
If the left-leaning Social Democrats (SD) succeed in forming a government, they are expected to maintain Lithuania’s hawkish stance against Russia and hefty defence spending.
This is yet another call by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Ukraine’s Western allies to step up shipments of long-range weaponry and air defence systems to protect the country’s cities.
Kyiv was enraged by Guterres’s appearance at the event in the city of Kazan on Thursday and his handshake with its host, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Any softening of sanctions by Washington would leave Europe in a difficult position, as it is the United States, with sweeping powers to punish sanctions busting globally, that primarily enforces the rules.
United Nations Secretary-General Antรณnio Guterres comes under fire from many quarters for his Moscow visit, but the EU defended his move.
Asked by a reporter about satellite imagery showing North Korean troop movements, Putin said: “Images are a serious thing. If there are images, then they reflect something.”
Opposition activists and journalists warn of efforts to silence them as police raid Western businesses and the homes of think-tank employees.
In private bilateral talks, Putin welcomed offers by several BRICS leaders to mediate in Ukraine, even as he told them his forces were advancing on the battlefield.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking in Rome, said it would be “very, very serious” if the North Koreans were preparing to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s population has declined by eight million since Russiaโs invasion almost three years ago. The war sparked an exodus and sent birth rates plunging, according to the United Nations, in a country which already had one of the lowest birth rates i…
Andriy Kostin’s office has recently been rocked by allegations that dozens of local officials, including prosecutors, allegedly misused their positions to obtain disability status.
Ukrainians understand that holding Russia accountable for genocide hinges on the protection of their culture, writes Vitalii Tytych.
The United Nations said on Monday that Russian attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea ports have damaged six civilian vessels as well as grain infrastructure since 1 September.
South Korea’s spy agency said last week that North Korea had shipped 1,500 special forces troops to Russia’s Far East for training and acclimatising at military bases and that they were likely to be deployed for combat in Ukraine.
Putin, who ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine, was peppered with questions by BRICS reporters about the prospects for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Loans will be repaid using interest generated by $300bn of frozen Russian assets held in the westBritain is to lend Ukraine an additional ยฃ2.26bn and allow Kyiv to spend the money on weapons to fight off the Russian invasion as part of a wider $50bn (ยฃ…
Serbia, officially a candidate to join the EU, has historically strong ties with Russia and continues to rely on Russian gas.
To reach the necessary consensus, Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said, allies would need to agree clear criteria that Ukraine would need to meet to get an invitation.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met on the day outgoing US President Joe Biden made his farewell visit to Germany.
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told journalists in Brussels that he had personally requested the summit given the many conflicts facing the international community.
The US called the Swiss decision to not fully adopt all components of the 14th package of EU sanctions “disappointing” and expressed the hope that Bern would work to close the loophole.
Ukraine, which allows its army brigades to recruit their soldiers directly, is increasingly short of manpower to fight the Russian invasion. As a result, military units compete for donations and troops via social media and advertising campaigns relyin…
Biden’s visit comes as Ukraine faces a third gruelling winter at war, and a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented his “victory plan” to the European Union and NATO in Brussels.
Yet another comment suggests Trump is likely to radically shift US policy toward Ukraine if he wins the 5 November election.
Military support to Kyiv and strengthening Ukraine’s battered energy sector are among the topics on the table as leaders from the EU’s 27 nations meet in Brussels on Thursday (17 October).
White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said the involvement of North Korean troops in Ukraine, if true, would mark a significant increase in the North Korea-Russia defense relationship.
Professor Steve Peers, Royal
Holloway University of London
Photo credit: viewsridge,
via Wikimedia
commons
Introduction
Along with judgments on Afghan
women asylum seekers (discussed here)
and the status of Turkey as a โsafe third coun…
Early results showed the Social Democrats winning the popular vote of the election, which was dominated by concerns over living costs and potential threats from neighbouring Russia.
It’s a discussion that enrages left and right, and risks importing culture wars from the U.S.
Vladimir Putin, whose country is hosting a summit of the BRICS nations in Kazan on 22-24 October, invited Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to come to Russia on an official visit.
Norway, Hungary and the Czech Republic have imposed restrictions on the entry or social rights of those fleeing the Russian invasion. They have raised concerns about the burden of supporting refugees and the presence of men of military age.
Opinion polls show the main opposition Social Democrats led by Vilija Blinkeviciute ahead in the race with about 18% support.
With a US election less than a month away and winter set to arrive in Ukraine amid a barrage of Russian strikes on key energy infrastructure, the Ukrainian leader needs all the support he can get.
Helsing is riding the wave as Europe seeks defense tech leadership.
The agreement helps bypass Hungary’s refusal to extend the renewal period for the regime holding Russian frozen assets from six to 36 months.
The Ukrainian leader has stepped up efforts to rally international backing amid doubts about future US support after the November presidential election in the United States.
In his book ‘War,’ the journalist reports that the two men would have spoken several times after the billionaire’s departure from the White House in January 2021, including the period following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Moscow has repeatedly threatened NATO, which has gradually turned the Baltic Sea into its own lake.
The advance of Moscow’s forces – just like the capture of Vuhledar last week – has underlined Russia’s vast superiority in men and materiel as Ukraine pleads for more weapons from the Western allies that have been supporting it.
Activist was once jailed in Russia under anti-protest law; drones, F-16s and Patriots on Dutch menu of aid to Kyiv. What we know on day 957See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverageAnti-Kremlin activist Ildar Dadin, who was once imprisoned in Russia for p…
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, located in southern Ukraine, is the largest in Europe and prior to the 2022 Russian invasion, supplied Ukraine with around 30% of its electricity. It was seized by Russian forced in the early weeks of the war.
A Russian high official said that a mistake at the current juncture could usher in disaster, but questioned whether or not those in the West were able to “sensibly assess the consequences of their course”.
President Joe Bidenโs remarks about a possible Israeli strike on Iranโs oil facilities caused a jolt Thursday. But the worldโs oil supply has new ways to get around.
Russian troops have reached the centre of Vuhledar, a bastion on strategic high ground in eastern Ukraine’s industrial Donbas region that had resisted Russian assaults since Moscow’s full-scale invasion, a regional Ukrainian official said on Tuesday (1…
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the conscription of 133,000 new servicemen in Russia’s autumn draft that starts on 1 October and goes until the end of the year, according to a Kremlin decree published on Monday (1 October).
Reports and pictures by photojournalist Pierre Crom provide a look back at how events escalated towards the Russian invasion Co-directed by photojournalist Pierre Crom and film-maker Juri Rechinsky, this gripping documentary revisits the harrowing even…
A report that Russia is developing a China-backed attack drone programme for the war in Ukraine is “deeply concerning”, a European Union spokesperson said on Friday (27 September).
Pope Francis kicked off a four-day visit to Luxembourg and Belgium Thursday (26 September) with an appeal for international diplomacy and negotiations amid flaring conflicts across the globe.
President Vladimir Putin has drawn a “red line” for the United States and its allies by signalling that Moscow will consider responding with nuclear weapons if they allow Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia with long-range Western missiles.
Former president to meet Ukrainian president at Trump Tower on Friday amid fierce criticism of his campaignโs plans to end Russiaโs invasion. What we know on day 947See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverageIn an apparent U-turn late on Thursday, Donald T…
In interview with POLITICO, Robert Golob also says “chemistry” with von der Leyen helped Kos land the nomination
The Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson demanded on Wednesday (25 September) that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “immediately fire” his ambassador to the United States.
President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday (25 September) that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it was struck with conventional missiles, and that Moscow would consider any assault on it supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack.
The European Union and 12 partner countries have met in Brussels to discuss the effectiveness of Western sanctions on Russia and ways to strengthen the G7 price cap on Russian oil, the EU Commission said on Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday (24 September) that the war between Russia and Ukraine cannot be calmed by talks alone, but that Moscow must be forced into peace.
Bidenโs top foreign policy priority right now is a Gaza cease-fire deal. Thatโs not looking likely.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the United States on Sunday (22 September) to attend sessions at the UN General Assembly and urged his partners to help achieve “a shared victory for a truly just peace.”
