Dawn French says sorry for posting 'one-sided' Gaza video
The video sparked a backlash, with critics accusing the actress and comedian of appearing to "mock" the 7 October 2023 attack.
On Saturday, French acknowledged on Instagram that the video "appeared one-sided", and said she never meant to "mock, or dismiss, or diminish the horror" of that day.
"I hope you will understand my intention was not to offend, but I clearly have. For which I am sorry and I have removed the video," she added.
In the 40-second video, posted earlier this week, the Vicar of Dibley star shared her views on the ongoing war, saying: "Complicated, no, but nuanced. But [the] bottom line is no."
Switching into a high-pitched voice, she went on to say: "Yeah, but you know they did a bad thing to us, yeah but no. But we want that land... and we have history… No. Those people aren't really even people, are they really? No."
On social media, people were quick to criticise her, with actress Tracy-Ann Oberman saying she was "so saddened" by the post.
"This mocking voice 'bad thing' of October 7 that Dawn (who I revere by the way) appears [to] be mocking involved the most horrific terrorist attack involving rape, sexual violence, burning alive, child mutilation and taking of civilian hostages," she wrote.
"Why would Dawn seem to deny that which has affected so many of us personally in the most painful way possible."
MP Rosie Duffield commented on Oberman's post, writing: "One can, and should hate what is happening in Gaza and also condemn the hideous events of October 7th.
"It is agonising to see events unfold, and requires extremely careful, measured and well-considered comments and actions. This is not that."
Meanwhile, screenwriter and activist Lee Kern called her video "sneering mockery".
Responding to the backlash, French said that she had posted a video in the style that she has been using for social media "in an effort to convey an important point".
She added that she had "clumsily used a mocking tone".
"My intention was NEVER to mock, or dismiss, or diminish the horror of what happened on 7 October 2023 and what continues to unfold from that brutal unthinkable, unforgiveable, savage attack," she said.
She said her intention had been "to mock and point the finger of shame at the behaviour of the cruel leaders on all sides of this atrocious war".
"THEY were my target, but clearly I failed to do that, and that's on me. I apologise unreservedly, and I'm particularly sorry that my disgust at Hamas didn't figure. It appeared one-sided and that is wrong."
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led cross-border attack almost 20 months ago, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Some 54 of those captured during the attack remain in captivity, including 31 the Israeli military says are dead.
At least 54,607 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 4,335 since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
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CNN
12 minutes ago
- CNN
Gaza City residents fear Israel's looming assault is ‘a new war'
The drums of war are pounding on the doorstep of Gaza City. Residents of the largest city in northern Gaza, packed with locals and refugees, fear the hours are ticking down before a looming Israeli offensive. Dozens gathered on Thursday amid the war-stricken buildings of city for a small but defiant protest, refusing to leave their homes ahead of Israel's massive assault, with some calling on US President Donald Trump to intervene. Fearing further displacement and escalating bombardment, men, women and children took to the streets, waving Palestinian flags and carrying signs reading, 'Stop the genocide' and 'Gaza is dying.' 'We send a final call to the entire world: stop the war, no to displacement,' said one Palestinian man into a microphone. 'And we say to the American President Donald Trump. … If you care about the (Nobel) Peace Prize, you must stop all wars in the world, starting with the war on the Gaza Strip, which has claimed thousands of lives of our Palestinian people over the past two years.' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated Thursday that he would approve a military plan to take control of Gaza City. The prime minister had ordered an initial plan's timeline to be shortened the day before. 'We are at the stage of decision,' Netanyahu said in a video address. 'Today I came to the Gaza Division to approve the plans that the (Israel Defense Forces) presented to me and to the minister of defense for taking control of Gaza City and defeating Hamas.' Netanyahu added that he has issued instructions to 'begin immediate negotiations' to release the remaining hostages in Gaza and 'end the war under conditions acceptable to Israel.' The takeover and occupation of the largest city in northern Gaza, which Netanyahu said is one of the last Hamas strongholds, will require the military to bring in 60,000 more reserve troops and extend the service of another 20,000, in addition to those already called up. The plan has sparked growing condemnation both internationally and domestically over fears that the already spiraling humanitarian and hunger crisis in Gaza will worsen – and that the lives of the remaining hostages will be endangered by an expanded military operation. Mohammed Hamad, a protester who has already been displaced multiple times, is refusing to leave Gaza City 'If we leave Gaza, we will not return to it again,' he told CNN. 'We tell the world no to displacement. We tell the world that we should not leave the city of Gaza because if we leave, it means the final nail in our existence in Gaza,' Zakaria Bakr, a displaced Palestinian residing in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, said he believes the forced displacement to come will be 'under fire.' 'They will commit massacres, bomb houses over the heads of their owners to send messages of terror and intimidation to force people to leave,' Bakr told CNN, adding that 'at the same time, they will besiege the city of Gaza and prevent food from entering.' Bakr said he was unsure whether he would be alive by the time he tries to leave, saying he is fearful of what is to come. An Israeli source said the military will give Palestinians approximately two months to evacuate the heavily populated area before the assault begins, setting a deadline of October 7, the two-year mark of the war. Ahmed Al-Ajla, a 38-year-old lawyer from the Al-Zaitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, said there is nowhere to go should Israel forcefully displace the city's residents, as tents are already 'on top of each other.' The Israeli military said it had warned medical officials and international aid organizations in northern Gaza to plan for mass evacuation, and previously said it would provide Palestinians with tents before relocating them. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said on Thursday that Israeli authorities are preparing to forcibly displace around 800,000 Palestinians to the south of the enclave, warning that 'likely that the whole population of Gaza City would have their access to healthcare disrupted or destroyed entirely.' Many in Gaza said the severity of the bombardment on Gaza City has increased in recent days. Ismail Zayda, a Palestinian man residing in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, said it feels 'like the beginning of a new war.' Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on a displaced people's camp in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, wreaked havoc on what had been a haven for many, and where some Gazans displaced from Gaza City were likely to go when Israel's new assault begins. Palestinians at the camp said they received phone calls from the Israeli army telling them to evacuate before the camp was struck. They did not know the strike would destroy their entire camp, they told CNN, adding that they now have nowhere to go but out on the streets. CNN footage showed the massive strike on the camp, with smoke billowing from the scene as people ran from the shrapnel. Civil defense forces arrived to find the makeshift tents on fire, with piles of destroyed belongings buried under the rubble. 'There is nothing left, not one makeshift (tent) or anything, everything we lived with here is gone, we have nothing more to live in,' Waleed Abu Muased, a resident of the camp, told CNN as he looked on at the destruction. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that 'in response to Hamas' barbaric attacks, the IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities.' 'In stark contrast to Hamas' intentional attacks on Israeli men, women and children, the IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm,' the IDF said. Two displaced women, Nisrin and Ranin sifted through the ruins for what remained of their belongings. The Israeli army gave residents 30 minutes to evacuate, Ranin said, after which she saw a 'belt of fire' fall onto the camp, annihilating it. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres repeated his call for a ceasefire on Thursday, saying it would 'avoid the massive death and destruction that a military operation against Gaza City would inevitably cause.' CNN's Abeer Salman contributed reporting.
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump suggests Ukraine should attack Russia to win war
Donald Trump has suggested it would be 'impossible' for Ukraine to win the war without attacking Russia. The US president also criticised his predecessor, Joe Biden, for not granting Kyiv permission to 'fight back', in an ambiguous social media post. He proceeded to share a picture of himself poking Vladimir Putin in the chest, above an image of Richard Nixon doing the same to Nikita Khrushchev, a former prime minister of the Soviet Union. 'It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders country. It's like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defence, but is not allowed to play offence. There is no chance of winning! It is like that with Ukraine and Russia,' Mr Trump wrote in his Truth Social website. 'Crooked and grossly incompetent Joe Biden would not let Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only DEFEND. How did that work out?' The president's social media musings could be interpreted as a tacit show of support for Ukraine's recent campaign of deep strikes on Russian oil refineries. Similar strikes were opposed by Mr Biden, who believed they could escalated the conflict and spike international oil prices. Mr Trump's language appears to mimic a question he reportedly asked Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, over whether his forces had the ability to strike Moscow during a telephone call in July, according to a readout obtained by the Telegraph. 'Volodymyr, can you hit Moscow?… Can you hit St Petersburg too?' the US president asked, the FT reported at the time. Mr Zelensky reportedly said he would if handed the right Western weapons. Ukraine has received donations of a number of long-range Western missiles, including Britain's Storm Shadow and American Atacms. However, for most of the war, the weapons were restricted to only strike targets in occupied areas of Ukraine and Crimea, the peninsula illegally annexed by the Russians in 2014. Mr Zelensky and Ukrainian officials lobbied hard for Mr Biden to overturn those restrictions. The former US president eventually relented to the requests, allowing strikes in small areas of Russia, on its southern border, where it was mounting new attacks into Ukraine's Kharkiv and Sumy regions. Ukraine has been carrying out a series of successful attacks on Russian military installations and oil infrastructure, using its own Intelligence and homemade weapons. Kyiv is not publicly known to have received resupplies of Storm Shadow or Atacms missiles for months. Mr Trump's vague social media post came the same day as Associated Press published images of what it reported to be a facility storing Flamingo missiles, a Ukrainian-made weapon with a range of 3,000km. Two of the missiles were etched with the numbers '479' and '480', suggesting that many at least had been produced by Ukrainian engineers. Mr Zelensky has claimed in previous social media posts that the weapon has already been tested on the battlefield. If the cruise missile is capable of hitting a target at its touted range, Moscow would be comfortably within its limits. Ukraine, however, would likely need Western intelligence assistance to pull off such an audacious attack against the Russian capital. 07:17 PM BST Our live coverage has ended. Here's a round-up of today's events: Sergei Lavrov said that any ideas for peace in Ukraine that depart from those set out by Russia in talks in Istanbul in 2022 are 'hopeless' Donald Trump will step back from organising peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, instead leaving Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky to organise a bilateral meeting Russia struck an American business with cruise missiles overnight in one of the largest aerial attacks of the war so far Italy arrested a Ukrainian citizen on suspicion of helping to orchestrate the underwater bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines Volodymyr Zelensky said that he will only meet with Vladimir Putin after his allies have agreed on security guarantees for Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia is attempting to avoid the 'necessity' of holding bilateral talks 07:14 PM BST Putin 'trying to avoid the necessity to meet', says Zelensky Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia is attempting to avoid the 'necessity' of holding bilateral talks despite US-led efforts to facilitate talks between the warring countries. 'Current signals from Russia are, to be honest, indecent. They're trying to avoid the necessity to meet. They don't want to end this war,' Mr Zelensky said in his evening address. Earlier this week, an agreement seemed to have been met to hold a summit between Mr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin. However, the Kremlin has demurred, issuing vague statements which do not confirm or deny its willingness to participate. On Thursday, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that Ukraine is 'not interested' in a long-term peace deal. 'The Ukrainian regime and its representatives comment on the current situation in a very specific way, directly showing that they are not interested in a sustainable, fair, long-term settlement,' Mr Lavrov said at a news conference. 07:13 PM BST Pictured: Ukrainian firefighters battle the aftermath of a Russian attack in Kostiantynivka 07:05 PM BST Top US, European officers work on military options for Ukraine Top officers from the US and Europe held talks this week to work on military options for Ukraine's security in the event that a peace deal can be brokered with Russia. US General Dan Caine and his counterparts from the United Kingdom, Finland, France, Germany, Italy and Ukraine met on Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington, a spokesperson for the US Joint Staff said in a statement. 'They developed military options to support negotiations to bring a lasting peace to Europe,' which 'will be presented to each nation's respective national security advisors for appropriate consideration in ongoing diplomatic efforts,' according to the statement. Details on the options being discussed were not provided. 07:00 PM BST Where could a Putin-Zelensky summit be held? Donald Trump had initially aimed to hold a trilateral meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin as early as Aug 22. Today, sources said that US president has decided to take a step back to allow Moscow and Kyiv to negotiate with each other directly. Yet progress appears to have stalled on the bilateral summit, even after it was reported on Monday that Putin had agreed to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart for the first time since 2019. One of the questions that remains open is where a possible summit could be held. Putin reportedly suggested Moscow, a source told AFP earlier this week, a proposal that Mr Zelensky immediately rejected. Hungary has been lobbying to host for several days now, but there are concerns that it might not be sufficiently neutral given prime minister Viktor Orban's ties with Putin and pro-Russian views. On Wednesday, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk quipped that it would be best not to hold talks in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, given that it was the location of a 1994 summit under which Kyiv surrendered its share of the Soviet nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees from Russia. Mr Tusk said 'maybe I'm superstitious, but this time I would try to find another place.' Switzerland and Austria have both said that they would grant immunity to the Russian president from an International Criminal Court warrant if he attended peace negotiations there, with Mr Zelensky expressing a preference for the Austrian capital. 06:39 PM BST Zelensky says he will only meet with Putin after security guarantees agreed Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he will only meet with Vladimir Putin after his allies have agreed on security guarantees for Ukraine to deter future Russian attacks. In comments released on Thursday, Mr Zelensky said 'we want to have an understanding of the security guarantees architecture within seven to 10 days', adding 'we need to understand which country will be ready to do what at each specific moment'. In additional remarks, Mr Zelensky said that Donald Trump wants to see a bilateral meeting between Kyiv and Moscow, but that it should be held in a 'neutral' European country, ruling out a summit in the Russian capital. The Ukrainian head of state also rejected the idea of China playing a role in guaranteeing Ukraine's security, citing Beijing's alleged support for Moscow. 06:24 PM BST Lithuania closes airspace near Belarus ahead of military drills Lithuania has closed its airspace along the border with Belarus, citing security risks linked to drones and the upcoming Russian-Belarusian military exercises, the Defence Ministry has said. The ministry said in a statement that the decision, approved by Lithuania's Ministry of Transport and Communications at the request of Lithuania's armed forces, was taken 'in view of the security situation and threats to society, including risks to civil aviation due to violations of airspace by unmanned aerial vehicles.' Officials added that the ban could be extended if drone incursions from Belarusian territory continue. The Zapad-2025 training, which will take place in mid-September with the participation of Moscow and Minsk, will focus in part on operating the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile that has been used in Russian-launched attacks on Ukraine. The drills will involve 13,000 troops and are some of the largest joint exercises held by Russia and Belarus. 05:46 PM BST Germany will pursue criminal investigation against Ukrainian citizen for Nord Stream attacks German justice minister Stefanie Hubig has confirmed that Germany will continue to support Ukraine amid Russia's invasion, but will be forced to pursue a criminal investigation into the Nord Stream pipeline attacks under rule of law. 'Politically we are firmly on Ukraine's side and will continue to be so,' said Ms Hubig when asked if the arrest would affect Berlin's ties to Kyiv. 'What is important for me is that Germany is a country of law, and crimes in our jurisdiction are fully investigated.' Earlier today, it was announced that Ukrainian citizen Serhii K had been arrested on suspicion of being part of a group of people who planted devices on the pipelines in September 2022. Nobody had ever claimed responsibility for the attacks, which were seen by both Russia and the West as an act of sabotage. 05:11 PM BST Pictured: Ukrainian emergency services work at home set ablaze by Russian strike 05:10 PM BST Vance's 'icebreaker' with Zelensky after Oval Office blowup US vice president JD Vance made a joke to break the ice with Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday after their Oval Office showdown some months ago. Speaking to Fox News, the vice president said, 'So President Zelensky walked into the Oval Office. I was chatting with him, with the President, with some of the senior Ukrainian delegation. I said, 'Mr President, so long as you behave, I won't say anything', and he just chuckled a little bit. It was a good little icebreaker.' 05:02 PM BST Ukraine's answer to Russia's drone blitz Shortly before dawn on July 9, Russia had fired 728 drones and 13 missiles into Ukraine, making it the largest Russian aerial bombardment of the war so far. The previous record had been set on July 4, and the one before that five days earlier. Russia's 'swarm' warfare, enabled by its ability to mass-produce low-cost, long-range attack drones, has exhausted and overwhelmed Ukraine's air defences, allowing targets to now be hit three times the typical rate. With its stocks of Western air defence missiles depleted and Russia's Iranian-designed Shahed-type drones flying faster, higher and with greater precision, Ukraine has become increasingly vulnerable. Volodymyr Zelensky had set a target by the end of July for Ukraine to produce 1,000 interceptor drones a month and blunt Russia's relentless drone offensive. The Ukrainian president bet big, estimating it would cost £4.4bn to ramp up production and train more pilots. 04:43 PM BST Flamingo missile storage facility spotted in Ukraine Mr Trump's vague social media post came the same day as Associated Press published images of what it reported to be a facility storing a Flamingo missiles, a Ukrainian-made weapon with a range of 3,000km. Two of the missiles were etched with the numbers '479' and '480', suggesting that many at least had been produced by Ukrainian engineers. Mr Zelensky has claimed in previous social media posts that the weapon has already been tested on the battlefield. If the cruise missile is capable of hitting a target at its touted range, Moscow would be comfortably within its limits. Ukraine, however, would likely need Western intelligence assistance to pull off such an audacious attack against the Russian capital. 04:40 PM BST Pictured: Donald Trump's provocative post on Truth Social 03:47 PM BST Lavrov: 'Coalition of the willing' undermining peace in Ukraine Russia's foreign minister has accused the Coalition of the Willing of 'undermining' efforts to secure peace in Ukraine. Sergei Lavrov said the coalition, led by the UK and France, had tried to 'shift the focus away from resolving the root causes of the conflict', a term frequently used by Moscow to reference Ukraine's ambition to join Nato. Leaders from the UK, France, Germany, Finland and Italy have all indicated their willingness to defend a future peace deal, which could involve putting boots on the ground in Ukraine. Ukraine and its European allies have been pushing for the US to support these efforts, though Washington only appears to be willing to help police the skies, rather than committing troops. Mr Lavrov also suggested that Europe was trying to 'undermine' Donald Trump's efforts to end the war and said Vladimir Putin would be willing to meet Volodymyr Zelensky. His comments come after Russia launched one of the largest aerial attacks of the war so far, targeting an American microelectronics company in western Ukraine. 03:44 PM BST Ukrainian forces reclaim most of Tovste Ukrainian forces have retaken most of the village of Tovste in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine's Dnipro Group of Forces said on Thursday. A statement on Telegram from the operational and strategic group of forces said: 'Our soldiers tirelessly destroy the enemy from the air and on the ground, driving them out of Ukrainian territory step by step. This achievement was made possible by the bravery and professionalism of infantry units, UAV pilots, and artillery crews.' Tovste is a frontline village southwest of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk and near to the occupied town of Vuhledar. Credit: Courtesy of 5th Separate Mechanized Brigade via Reuters 03:31 PM BST Rubio to host Ukraine security talks with Europe US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host a conference call on Thursday with the national security advisers of European countries expected to play a role in future security guarantees for Ukraine, a senior US official said. One of Kyiv's conditions for signing any peace deal is getting Western-backed military assurances to deter Russia from mounting another invasion in the coming years. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that making security arrangements for Ukraine without Moscow's involvement was pointless. 02:36 PM BST Russian fuel prices at near-record highs Russian fuel prices have surged after a slew of Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries, stock exchange data showed on Thursday. Ukraine routinely targets Russian refineries and oil depots in a bid to cut off Moscow's funds for its war machine, and the country claims to have hit and damaged three refineries in enemy territory this month. In an attempt to tame prices, Russia introduced a total ban on fuel exports last month, but it appears to have done little to mitigate the effects of the attacks. Ukrainian strikes have also disrupted air and railway travel, further contributing to the surge. 02:01 PM BST Trump claimed peace was closer than ever. Then Lavrov threw a hand grenade Donald Trump would like to have you believe that he has never been closer to settling the war in Ukraine. A high-stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska was said to have ushered in a series of concessions from Moscow, which meant a peace deal was at his fingertips. An apparent compromise on security guarantees for Kyiv was leapt on by the European leaders who accompanied Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House as a real success. But with Mr Trump scrambling to bring the two warring leaders together, Russia appears to be rowing back against any suggestion that it was prepared to drop its maximalist position to deliver peace. On Wednesday, as European military leaders met to discuss how to secure a ceasefire, Russia's veteran foreign minister hurled a metaphorical hand grenade into the mix. Sergei Lavrov suggested Russia would agree only to security guarantees over which it and China have a veto. He said a document drawn up during initial peace talks in the spring of 2022 would serve as a 'very good example' for a potential blueprint. 01:37 PM BST Pictured: Emergency services work at the scene of Russian airstrikes 01:30 PM BST Belarus looking at arming missiles with nuclear warheads, Minsk says Belarus is looking at how to increase domestic production of missiles, including exploring how to equip them with nuclear warheads, a senior Belarusian security official said on Thursday. Belarus, which is a close ally of Russia, does not possess its own nuclear weapons but holds Russian tactical ones which remain under Moscow's control. Alexander Volfovich, who heads the country's State Security Council, told reporters that Minsk is exploring how to arm its Polonez rocket artillery system with nuclear warheads. 'Today, it is a state-of-the art system,' said Mr Volfovich, according to the Belta state news agency. 'Questions are already being raised about equipping these missiles with nuclear warheads.' Volfovich also claimed that Belarus is exploring how to integrate the technology of the Oreshnik, a Russian-made, intermediate-range hypersonic missile, to create a 'joint missile'. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, who has led the country for more than three decades, also said on Thursday that 'military threats' from its Western neighbours are compelling Minsk to develop its defensive capacities. 'The dynamics of military threats and the substantial increase in military spending by our Western neighbours force us to constantly devote the closest attention to the issue of the defence capability of Belarus, Russia and our alliance,' state media quoted Lukashenko as saying. 01:17 PM BST Watch: Ukraine hits Russian patrol boat with drone-guided laser Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) says it destroyed a Russian patrol boat in the Black Sea on Wednesday with a drone-guided laser. The attack was reportedly carried out with a missile guided by a laser designator operated from a drone, according to HUR. The boat was located near the occupied town of Zaliznyi Port in the Kherson region. Five crew members were killed. Credit: @DI_Ukraine / Instagram 01:03 PM BST Italy arrests Ukrainian man over Nord Stream pipeline bombings Italy has arrested a Ukrainian citizen on suspicion of helping to orchestrate the underwater bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines, the German prosecutor has said. The suspect, who was identified only as Serhii K under German privacy laws, is the first person known to be arrested in connection with the blasts. Both Russia and the West have seen the explosions, which seriously damaged three pipelines carrying gas from Russia to Europe, as an act of sabotage, and nobody has taken responsibility for the attacks. The suspect acted as part of a group of individuals who planted devices on the pipelines near the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm in September 2022. Ukraine previously denied involvement. 12:54 PM BST Hungary repeats offer to host peace talks Peter Szijjarto, the Hungarian foreign minister, has reaffirmed Hungary's offer to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Speaking in a daily podcast broadcast on Facebook, Mr Szijjarto said: 'If we are needed, we are ready to provide appropriately fair and safe conditions for such peace negotiations. We are pleased if we can contribute to the success of peace efforts.' On Tuesday, it was reported that the US secret service was preparing to hold the summit in the central European nation whose prime minister, Viktor Orban, boasts strong ties with Donald Trump. Vladimir Putin supposedly pushed for Moscow as a venue, while French president Emmanuel Macron suggested Geneva. 12:26 PM BST France condemns Russian strikes France has condemned Russia's overnight strikes in Ukraine as showing Moscow's 'lack of will to seriously engage in peace talks', describing the strikes as the 'most massive attack in a month'. 'While Russia says it is ready to negotiate, it is continuing its deadly attacks on Ukrainian territory, launching 574 drones and 40 missiles at residential areas,' said a foreign ministry statement. These strikes 'once again show the need to end the killings and to maintain and step up pressure on Russia,' it added, reaffirming support for 'President Trump's initiative for a just and lasting peace'. 12:11 PM BST Russia bombs US factory in Ukraine Russia struck an American business with cruise missiles overnight in one of the largest aerial attacks of the war so far, Ukraine has said. The Ukrainian air force said some 574 drones and 40 missiles were fired overnight, primarily targeting western regions of the country – far from the battlefield's front line in the east and south of the country. The strikes killed one person and injured 15 more and struck a 'major American electronics manufacturer', according to Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's foreign minister. It was Russia's third-largest aerial attack this year in terms of the number of drones fired and eighth-largest in terms of missiles. It came days after Vladimir Putin travelled to Alaska to meet US president Donald Trump to lay out his terms for peace, which includes Ukraine withdrawing from the entire Donetsk region, despite not being under Russian military control. 11:56 AM BST Trump to 'step back' from Ukraine peace talks Donald Trump will step back from organising peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, instead leaving Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky to organise a bilateral meeting, according to a report. The US president told advisers that he would only host a trilateral meeting with both leaders once they had met first, sources told The Guardian. Mr Trump will not be involved in the effort to arrange a meeting between the two, the newspaper added. It follows a frantic week of diplomacy during which Putin travelled to Alaska for talks with the US president, which was followed by a meeting of Mr Zelensky and European leaders in Washington on Monday. 11:46 AM BST Lavrov lays out template for peace Sergei Lavrov has said that any ideas for peace in Ukraine that depart from those set out by Russia in talks in Istanbul in 2022 are 'hopeless'. Russia and Ukraine held peace talks between Feb and April 2022 - at the start of the war - during which Moscow proposed banning Western nations from providing assistance to Ukraine in the event of another attack. He repeated that position on Thursday, saying European troops in Ukraine would be 'absolutely unacceptable'. 'As the West's discussions with the Ukrainian side show, all these plans are connected, in essence, with providing guarantees through foreign military intervention in some part of Ukrainian territory,' he said. 'And I very much hope that those who are hatching such plans, either they are simply trying to attract attention to themselves, or I hope that they understand that this will be absolutely unacceptable for the Russian Federation and for all sensible political forces in Europe.' Instead, Russia is keen to ensure China, one of Moscow's main allies, plays a role in enforcing security guarantees, but this has been dismissed by Mr Zelensky. 'First, China did not help us stop this war from the start. Second, China assisted Russia by opening its drone market... We do not need guarantors who do not help Ukraine and did not help Ukraine at the time when we really needed it.' 11:40 AM BST Putin ready to meet Zelensky, says Lavrov Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia's foreign minister has said, but warned 'issues of legitimacy' would need to be resolved before a peace deal is signed. Russia has repeatedly sought to undermine the Ukrainian president's legitimacy by highlighting that Mr Zelensky's term was due to end last year. However, elections cannot be held under martial law, as per the Ukrainian constitution. 'Putin has repeatedly said he is ready to meet [Zelensky],' Mr Lavrov said, adding: 'I remind you of the Zelensky decree on 'no talks with Putin.'' 11:37 AM BST Welcome to our live coverage Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. We'll bring you the latest news and analysis throughout the day. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Wall Street Journal
44 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Owners vs. Players? If Only Both Could Lose.
As a rule, when two parties go to war it's pretty obvious which side you're supposed to root for. Whether it's the ragtag colonists versus the British crown, or Crazy Horse versus George Armstrong Custer, or the doughty Elizabethans versus the Spanish Armada, it doesn't take long to figure out which side to support. By and large it is usually safe in epic conflagrations to root against the Mongols. And I'm not sure how many people would be willing to go to the wall in defense of Hernando Cortés or Francisco Pizarro.
