Ukraine

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Ukraine, which has made a concerted push to obtain an invitation to join Nato, has insisted throughout the war that it needs security guarantees to prevent Russia launching another invasion

The Ukraine war is panning out to be one of the top issues in the campaign ahead of Germany's snap election, scheduled for Feb. 23 after the collapse of Scholz's fractious coalition

US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, shortly after a meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders, claiming Kyiv would like to make a deal to end the more than 1,000-day war. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed that Moscow and Kyiv have both lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a war that should never have started. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, he said, as he called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to act to bring the fighting to an end. Trump's remarks came after a meeting Saturday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, that Zelenskyy later described as constructive. Speaking to reporters later that day, Zelenskyy insisted that any peace deal should be just for Ukrainians, so that Russia and Putin or any other aggressors will not have the

Trump, who has said he will seek to halt the Ukraine war rapidly, met Ukraine's President Zelenskiy on Saturday in Paris where they were both attending a ceremony to reopen Notre-Dame Cathedral

The United States will provide nearly USD 1 billion more in longer-term weapons support to Ukraine, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday as the Biden administration rushes to spend all the congressionally approved money it has left to bolster Kyiv before President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month. The latest package will include more drones and munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, that the US has provided. While these weapons are critically needed now, they will be funded through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which pays for longer-term systems to be put on contract. The weapon systems purchased are often intended to support Ukraine's future military capabilities, not make an immediate difference on the battlefield. The USD 1 billion package is on top of an additional USD 725 million in US military assistance, including counter-drone systems and HIMARS munitions, announced on Monday that would be drawn from the ...

He also highlighted the events that unfolded on St. Nicholas Day, underscoring the need for strength

Lavrov said Ukraine had lost the opportunity to maintain its territorial integrity by twice rejecting proposals for a deal, once before full-scale war began and then in talks in April 2022 in Turkey

The new head of the UN humanitarian aid agency says it will be ruthless when prioritising how to spend money, a nod to challenges in fundraising for civilians in war zones like Gaza, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine. Tom Fletcher, a longtime British diplomat who took up the UN post last month, said his agency is asking for less money in 2025 than this year. He said it wants to show "we will focus and target the resources we have, even as crises grow more numerous, intense and long-lasting. His agency, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on Wednesday issued its global appeal for 2025, seeking USD 47 billion to help 190 million people in 32 countries though it estimates 305 million worldwide need help. The world is on fire, and this is how we put it out, he told reporters on Tuesday. The office and many other aid groups, including the international Red Cross, have seen donations shrink in recent years for longtime trouble spots like Syria, South Sudan, the Middle Eas

News updates: Catch all the latest news updates from around the world here

The US is preparing to send Ukraine an additional USD 725 million in military assistance, including counter-drone systems and munitions for its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, which could indicate more of the longer-range missiles are headed to the battlefield. It was unclear whether the munitions for the HIMARS are the coveted ATACMS the Army Tactical Missile System but Ukraine has been pressing for more of the longer-range missiles to strike additional targets inside Russia. The package, announced Monday by the State Department, also includes more of the anti-personnel land mines that Ukraine is counting on to slow Russian and North Korean ground forces in Russia's Kursk region. President Joe Biden has pledged to spend all of the military assistance funds Congress approved this year for Ukraine before the end of his administration on January 20, which before Monday's announcement included about USD 7.1 billion in weapons that would be drawn from the Pentagon's ...

Ternopil and its surrounding region were under air raid alerts for a couple of hours starting soon after midnight on Monday, according to data provided by Ukraine's air force

Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia, which could put Kyiv at a clear disadvantage in future ceasefire talks. Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, according to soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials. Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers. Some take medical leave and never return, haunted by the traumas of war and demoralized by bleak prospects for victory. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights. This problem is critical, said Oleksandr Kovalenko, a Kyiv-based military analyst. This is the third year of war, and this problem will only grow. Although Moscow has also b

Russia is engaged in a massive missile and drone attack against Ukraine's energy infrastructure Thursday, officials said, as fears mount about Moscow's intentions to devastate the country's power generation capacity before winter. Attacks on energy facilities are happening all over Ukraine, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said in a post on Facebook. He added that emergency power outages are being implemented nationwide. Explosions were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Lutsk, and many other cities in central and western Ukraine. The head of Ukraine's presidential office, Andrii Yermak, said in a Telegram post that Russia had stockpiled missiles to strike Ukrainian infrastructure and wage war against civilians during the cold season. They were helped by their crazy allies, including from North Korea, he wrote. Over 280,000 households in the northwestern Rivne region are currently without electricity because of the attack, said the regional head, Oleksandr Koval. Th

Keith Kellogg is expected to play a key role in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine if both nations agree to talks

Although more than 160 countries have signed a treaty banning their use, Kyiv has been asking for them since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in early 2022 and Russian forces have used them on

President Joe Biden's administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilisation laws to allow for the conscription of those as young as 18. A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private consultations, said Wednesday that the outgoing Democratic administration wants Ukraine to lower the mobilisation age to 18 from the current age of 25 to help expand the pool of fighting-age men available to help a badly outnumbered Ukraine in its nearly three-year-old war with Russia. The official said "the pure math" of Ukraine's situation now is that it needs more troops in the fight. Currently Ukraine is not mobilising or training enough soldiers to replace its battlefield losses while keeping pace with Russia's growing military, the official added. The White House has pushed more than USD 56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia's ...

The official said "the pure math" of Ukraine's situation now is that it needs more troops in the fight

The report noted recent confirmed battlefield gains near Vuhledar and Velyka Novosilka, which are in the Donetsk region

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met his counterparts from several countries, including the UK, France and Ukraine, here and discussed ways to deepen cooperation in multiple sectors as well as regional and international developments. Jaishankar, who arrived here on Sunday on a three-day visit, started the day by meeting British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Rome. "Appreciate the steady momentum in India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, as well as ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and West Asia," he said in a post on X. He also met France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and discussed Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and global issues. "Nice to meet FM @jnbarrot of France in Rome today. A useful stock taking of our bilateral partnership. Also discussed Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and global issues," the minister said in another post on X. Jaishankar also held a useful exchange with Foreign