Ukraine war briefing: G7 finance chiefs threaten further sanctions on Russia
Ukraine should abandon any notion of restoring its borders established with the 1991 collapse of Soviet rule or even those dating from the 2022 full-scale Russian invasion, the country's former military commander was quoted as saying on Thursday. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, now Ukraine's ambassador to London, was replaced as top commander in February 2024 after months of reported disagreements between him and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 'I hope that there are not people in this room who still hope for some kind of miracle or lucky sign that will bring peace to Ukraine, the borders of 1991 or 2022 and that there will be great happiness afterward,' the RBK Ukraine news site quoted Zaluzhnyi as telling a forum in Kyiv. 'My personal opinion is that the enemy still has resources, forces and means to launch strikes on our territory and attempt specific offensive operations.'
Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned on Thursday that Russia threatened security in Europe as he visited Lithuania to mark the official formation of Germany's first permanent overseas military unit since the second world war, aimed at bolstering Nato's eastern flank. The decision to build up a 5,000-strong armoured brigade in Lithuania over the coming years came in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 'There is a threat to us all from Russia,' Merz told reporters in Vilnius.
Russia has appointed a key commander of the gruelling siege of Mariupol, Gen Andrey Mordvichev, as head of the ground forces, the official newspaper of the Russian army reported on Thursday. Defence minister Andrey Belousov described the 49-year-old general as 'an experienced combat officer who fully demonstrated his talent as a military commander during the special military operation,' using Moscow's term for its Ukraine offensive, according to the Red Star newspaper.
Russia said it had shot down 159 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, including about 20 headed towards Moscow, between 8 am and 8 pm on Thursday. The previous day, Russia said it shot down well over 300 Ukrainian drones. Three Moscow airports – Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky – suspended flights intermittently.
The EU on Thursday ordered temporary measures for Ukrainian farm imports after failing to agree on a new long-term accord with the Ukrainian government. The EU gave tariff-free access to most Ukrainian agricultural imports after Russia's 2022 invasion to help the Ukrainian economy. But European farmers say the Ukrainian produce unfairly undercuts their own. The initial agreement with Ukraine is set to expire on 5 June, and both sides appear unable to reach an agreement before the deadline.
EU lawmakers meanwhile approved tariffs on fertiliser imports from Russia on Thursday, despite European farmers' fears the move could send prices soaring. The European parliament voted 411-100 for a bill that will enact duties in July and gradually increase them to a point where they would make imports unviable. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the move showed that the Europeans 'continue, as always, to shoot themselves in the foot'.
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Times
5 minutes ago
- Times
US and Russia ‘plan West Bank-style occupation of Ukraine'
Russia and the United States have discussed Israel's occupation of the West Bank as a model for ending the war in Ukraine, The Times has been told. Under this scenario Russia would have military and economic control of occupied Ukraine under its own governing body, imitating Israel's de facto rule of Palestinian territory seized from Jordan in 1967. The idea was raised weeks ago in discussions between Steve Witkoff, President Trump's peace envoy, and his Russian counterparts, according to a source close to the US national security council. Witkoff, who is also tasked by Trump with bringing peace to the Middle East, is understood to support the idea, which the Americans believe circumvents barriers in the Ukrainian constitution to ceding territory without holding an 'all-Ukraine' referendum. President Zelensky has refused to countenance handing over land but the occupation model may be a mechanism to allow for a truce after three and a half years of war. Under the model, Ukraine's borders would not change, just as the borders of the West Bank have remained the same for 58 years, only under Israeli control. The White House has been asked for comment. 'It'll just be like Israel occupies the West Bank,' the source said before Trump's summit with President Putin in Alaska on Friday. 'With a governor, with an economic situation that goes into Russia, not Ukraine. But it'll still be Ukraine, because … Ukraine will never give up its sovereignty. But the reality is it'll be occupied territory and the model is Palestine.' Israel's occupation has been ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice, which is not recognised by the US and only partially accepted by Russia. In March 2022 the court ordered Russia to 'immediately suspend military operations' in Ukraine, by a vote of 13 to two in which the Russian and Chinese judges were opposed. The order is binding on Russia but the court has no means to enforce it. The United Nations has ordered Israel to end its occupation, most recently in a vote of the general assembly last September by 124 nations to 14, with 43 abstentions. The resolution called for Israel to comply with international law within 12 months and withdraw its military forces, immediately cease all new settlement activity, evacuate all settlers from occupied land and dismantle parts of the separation wall it constructed inside the occupied West Bank. Israel, which voted against the measure along with the US, has ignored the resolution, on which Britain abstained. This outcome for Ukraine's occupied territories is seen by some US negotiators as simply reflecting the reality of the war and the refusal by all other nations to become directly involved in fighting Russia. In this view, all that remains is to establish the exact boundaries of Russian occupation, which Putin is seeking to push as far as possible before his talks with Trump in Alaska. The scenario would reflect the US foreign policy world view as expressed by Sebastian Gorka, Trump's senior director for counterterrorism, in an interview in May. 'We live in the real world. The Trump administration lives in the real world,' Gorka told Politico. 'We recognise the reality on the ground. Number one, that's the beginning because we're not utopianists and we're not human engineers. We're not some kind of pie in the sky believers in utopia. 'We recognise the reality on the ground and we have one priority above all else, whether it's the Middle East or whether it's Ukraine. It's to stop the bloodshed. Everything else comes after the bloodshed has been halted.' It remains to be seen just how far the imitation of the West Bank situation would go if the plan is put into effect, since this is a model that has been a basis for discussion on ending the bloodshed and will not replicate factors unique to the West Bank. Israel's occupation has been widely criticised for establishing settlements, seizing land ownership and imposing a two-tier system of citizenship: Israeli civilians living or passing through the West Bank are subject to Israeli law while Palestinian civilians are subject to martial law and not permitted to vote in Israel's national elections. • Not a subscriber? Sign up for more exclusive reporting and expert analysis from The Times
Reuters
5 minutes ago
- Reuters
Russia restricts Telegram, WhatsApp calls, citing law breaches
MOSCOW, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Russia has started restricting some Telegram and WhatsApp calls, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases, the digital development ministry said on Wednesday. Russia has clashed with foreign tech platforms for several years over content and data storage in a simmering dispute that intensified after Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with critics arguing that Russia is trying to expand its control over the country's internet space. President Vladimir Putin has authorised the development of a state-backed messaging app integrated with government services, as Moscow seeks to establish what it calls digital sovereignty by promoting home-grown services and reducing its dependence on platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram. "In order to counteract criminals... measures are being taken to partially restrict calls on these foreign messengers," the Interfax news agency quoted communications regulator Roskomnadzor as saying. "No other restrictions have been imposed on their functionality." WhatsApp owner Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab and Telegram did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters reporters verified the restrictions, noting that voice calls on Telegram had barely been functioning since August 11 and that WhatsApp calls had been rendered impossible due to intermittent sound and a metallic buzzing. The digital development ministry said Telegram and WhatsApp had ignored repeated requests to take measures to stop their platforms being used for activities such as fraud and terrorism. The blocking measures, which extend only to calls, would be lifted should the platforms comply with Russian law, the ministry said. This includes opening legal entities in Russia, complying unconditionally with all Russian laws and cooperating with Roskomnadzor and law enforcement, said Anton Gorelkin, deputy head of the lower house of parliament's information technology committee. Meta was branded an "extremist" organisation by Moscow in 2022, but WhatsApp, widely used in Russia, was allowed to remain. The messenger has received some penalties for failing to remove information banned by Russia. Gorelkin last month said that WhatsApp should prepare to leave the market. Another lawmaker described WhatsApp's presence in the Russian market as a breach of national security. Critics have voiced concerns that Russia's new state-backed messaging app may track its users' activities and have suggested Russia might slow WhatsApp's speeds in order to get users to migrate to the new platform. Human Rights Watch said in a report last month that Russia's government was increasing its technological capacities and control over the country's internet infrastructure, allowing for more widespread blocking and throttling of unwanted websites and censorship circumvention tools.
Reuters
5 minutes ago
- Reuters
President Nawrocki representing Poland during Trump call, his office says
WARSAW, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Polish President Karol Nawrocki is representing Poland at a teleconference on Ukraine involving U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders on Wednesday, his office said on X. The office of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Nawrocki, had earlier posted on X that Tusk was taking part in a video conference with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders. However, right-wing private broadcaster TV Republika, which supports Nawrocki and his backers in the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, reported that the president was taking part in the call with Trump at 1300 GMT and had been briefed by the foreign ministry. "... Prime Minister Donald Tusk is not participating in the meeting with President Trump," Nawrocki's spokesperson Rafal Leskiewicz said on X. "Poland is represented by President Karol Nawrocki." Government spokesman Adam Szlapka later clarified that Tusk was representing Poland in two separate calls taking place on Wednesday and involving European leaders but not Trump. Nawrocki, a conservative nationalist and eurosceptic, is an ally of Trump's MAGA movement and visited the White House during Poland's presidential election campaign this year. However, Nawrocki and PiS are strong supporters of Ukraine in its war with invading Russian forces, as is Tusk and his centrist government.
