Russia, Ukraine step up the war on eve of peace talks
On the eve of peace talks, Ukraine and Russia sharply ramped up the war with one of the biggest drone battles of their conflict, a Russian highway bridge blown up over a passenger train and an ambitious attack on nuclear-capable bombers deep in Siberia.
After days of uncertainty over whether or not Ukraine would even attend, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Defence Minister Rustem Umerov would sit down with Russian officials at the second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on Monday.
The talks, proposed by President Vladimir Putin, have so far yielded the biggest prisoner exchange of the war - but no sense of any consensus on how to halt the fighting.
Amid talk of peace, though, there was much war.
At least seven people were killed and 69 injured when a highway bridge in Russia's Bryansk region, neighbouring Ukraine, was blown up over a passenger train heading to Moscow with 388 people on board. No one has yet claimed responsibility.
Ukraine attacked Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers at a military base deep in Siberia on Sunday, the first such attack so far from the front lines more than 4300 km away. A Ukrainian intelligence official said 40 Russian warplanes were struck.
Russia launched 472 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine's air force said, the highest nightly total of the war so far. Russia had also launched seven missiles, the air force said.
Russia said it had advanced deeper into the Sumy region of Ukraine, and open source pro-Ukrainian maps showed Russia took 450 square km of Ukrainian land in May, its fastest monthly advance in at least six months.
US President Donald Trump has demanded Russia and Ukraine make peace and he has threatened to walk away if they do not - potentially pushing responsibility for supporting Ukraine onto the shoulders of European powers - which have far less cash and much smaller stocks of weapons than the United States.
According to Trump envoy Keith Kellogg, the two sides will in Turkey present their respective documents outlining their ideas for peace terms, though it is clear that after three years of intense war, Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart.
Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops. The United States says over 1.2 million people have been killed and injured in the war since 2022.
Trump has called Putin "crazy" and berated Zelenskiy in public in the Oval Office, but the US president has also said that he thinks peace is achievable and that if Putin delays then he could impose tough sanctions on Russia.
In June last year, Putin set out his opening terms for an immediate end to the war: Ukraine must drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw all of its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia.
Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul will present to the Russian side a proposed roadmap for reaching a lasting peace settlement, according to a copy of the document seen by Reuters.
According to the document, there will be no restrictions on Ukraine's military strength after a peace deal is struck, no international recognition of Russian sovereignty over parts of Ukraine taken by Moscow's forces, and reparations for Ukraine.
The document also stated that the current location of the front line will be the starting point for negotiations about territory.
Russia currently controls a little under one fifth of Ukraine, or about 113,100 square km, about the same size as the US state of Ohio.
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At the same time, he made clear: "Everyone will see that the government has no intention of retreating even one step." Nawrocki's supporters describe him as the embodiment of traditional, patriotic values. Those who oppose secular trends, including LGBTQ+ visibility, have embraced him, viewing him as a reflection of the values they grew up with. In Poland, the president holds a five-year term and has broad powers, including representing the country abroad, shaping foreign policy, appointing the prime minister and the Cabinet, and serving as commander-in-chief of the armed forces in the event of war. The president also has the power of veto over legislation that has passed through parliament - a power used on several occasions by outgoing President Andrzej Duda, who like Nawrocki represents PiS. The central objective of Tusk's administration is to repair the damage to the rule of law caused by the PiS-led government, which held power from 2015 to 2023, and overhauled the judiciary in ways widely seen as undermining judicial independence. Key legislative efforts have been blocked by outgoing president Duda, a PiS ally. with AP Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will call for a vote of confidence in parliament following the nation's close presidential election. Conservative Karol Nawrocki's victory in Poland's weekend presidential runoff has set the country on a more nationalist course - and cast doubt on the viability of the centrist government of Tusk after the defeat of his liberal ally. Describing it as the first test of his coalition's resolve, Tusk said in a televised address on Monday that his government's agenda under the new president would require "unity and courage" from the three-party alliance. Tusk has led a centre-left coalition since late 2023. 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The Trump administration revoked Harvard's ability to enrol international students last month, which a judge temporarily blocked after Harvard sued in a separate case. Harvard and other universities say Trump's attacks are threats to freedom of speech and freedom of academics, as well as threats to the schools' very existence. Harvard University has asked a federal US judge to issue a summary judgment ruling to unfreeze $US2.5 billion ($A3.9b) in funding blocked by President Donald Trump's administration, which it says is illegal. Harvard's filing in the US District Court in Boston on Monday said that it had received 957 orders since April 14 to freeze funding for research pertaining to national security threats, cancer and infectious diseases and more since the country's oldest and wealthiest school rejected a White House list of demands. Trump has said he is trying to force change at Harvard - and other top-level universities across the US - because in his view they have been captured by leftist "woke" thought and become bastions of anti-Semitism. The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. US District Judge Allison Burroughs has set arguments for July 21 on Harvard's motion for summary judgment, which is a request for a judge to decide a dispute without a trial to determine material facts. Harvard sued the Trump administration in April, alleging the funding freeze violated the school's right to free speech and was arbitrary and capricious. In Monday's court filing, Harvard detailed the terminated grants, including $US88 million ($A136 million) for research into pediatric HIV, $US12 million ($A18 million) for increasing Defense Department awareness of emerging biological threats and $US8 million ($A12 million) to better understand dark energy. The school said ending the funding would destroy ongoing research into cancer treatments, infectious disease and Parkinson's. The Trump administration has opened numerous investigations into Harvard. Some are looking at threats against Jewish students and faculty after pro-Palestinian protests broke out following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli military actions in Gaza. Other investigations are probing whether Harvard discriminates based on sex and gender, along with the school's ties to foreign governments and international students. The Trump administration revoked Harvard's ability to enrol international students last month, which a judge temporarily blocked after Harvard sued in a separate case. Harvard and other universities say Trump's attacks are threats to freedom of speech and freedom of academics, as well as threats to the schools' very existence. Harvard University has asked a federal US judge to issue a summary judgment ruling to unfreeze $US2.5 billion ($A3.9b) in funding blocked by President Donald Trump's administration, which it says is illegal. Harvard's filing in the US District Court in Boston on Monday said that it had received 957 orders since April 14 to freeze funding for research pertaining to national security threats, cancer and infectious diseases and more since the country's oldest and wealthiest school rejected a White House list of demands. Trump has said he is trying to force change at Harvard - and other top-level universities across the US - because in his view they have been captured by leftist "woke" thought and become bastions of anti-Semitism. The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. US District Judge Allison Burroughs has set arguments for July 21 on Harvard's motion for summary judgment, which is a request for a judge to decide a dispute without a trial to determine material facts. Harvard sued the Trump administration in April, alleging the funding freeze violated the school's right to free speech and was arbitrary and capricious. In Monday's court filing, Harvard detailed the terminated grants, including $US88 million ($A136 million) for research into pediatric HIV, $US12 million ($A18 million) for increasing Defense Department awareness of emerging biological threats and $US8 million ($A12 million) to better understand dark energy. The school said ending the funding would destroy ongoing research into cancer treatments, infectious disease and Parkinson's. The Trump administration has opened numerous investigations into Harvard. Some are looking at threats against Jewish students and faculty after pro-Palestinian protests broke out following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli military actions in Gaza. Other investigations are probing whether Harvard discriminates based on sex and gender, along with the school's ties to foreign governments and international students. The Trump administration revoked Harvard's ability to enrol international students last month, which a judge temporarily blocked after Harvard sued in a separate case. Harvard and other universities say Trump's attacks are threats to freedom of speech and freedom of academics, as well as threats to the schools' very existence.
