At least 14 wounded in Russian attack on Ukraine's Sumy region, PM says
"Russia continues to manifest its fears through acts of pure terrorism across Ukraine, once again targeting the homes of families and their sleeping children," Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
36 minutes ago
- Reuters
Belarus and Iran, both friends of Putin, plan to strengthen military and broader ties
Aug 20 (Reuters) - Belarus and Iran - two countries that have backed Russia's war in Ukraine - plan to deepen bilateral ties across all areas including defence, their presidents said at talks in Minsk on Wednesday. Belarusian state news agency Belta said presidents Alexander Lukashenko and Masoud Pezeshkian agreed to work on a strategic partnership treaty. "In conditions of geopolitical turbulence, Minsk and Tehran are undertaking consistent and balanced steps to further develop cooperation, and are working hard to turn each new challenge into a new opportunity," it quoted Lukashenko as saying. "We are ready to discuss any issues, we have no closed topics," Lukashenko said, adding that the two countries could partner across a range of areas including "military-technical cooperation". Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory as a launchpad for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and later assented to hosting Russian tactical nuclear missiles. Iran has supplied drones to Russia for use in the war and Pezeshkian signed a strategic cooperation treaty with Putin in January, although it did not include a mutual defence clause. Both Iran and Belarus are under what Pezeshkian described as "illegal Western sanctions". Belta quoted him as saying Iran was ready to help Belarus "neutralise" such measures, noting that it had more than 40 years of experience in this area. Pezeshkian said the two countries needed to build their economic and other ties to a level that matched the high level of trust between them. "Of course, our common views should be implemented in the economic and cultural spheres, in the development of tourism between our countries, and also, as you noted, in the development of military-technical cooperation," Belta quoted him as telling Lukashenko.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Chief of staff of Ukraine's Zelenskiy: work proceeding on military component of security guarantees
Aug 20 (Reuters) - The chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that work was underway on establishing the military component of security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a settlement of the war with Russia. "Our teams, above all the military, have already begun active work on the military component of security guarantees," Andriy Yermak wrote in English on the X social platform after a meeting of national security advisers from Western countries and NATO. Yermak said Ukraine was also working on a plan with its allies on how to proceed "in case the Russian side continues to prolong the war and disrupt agreements on bilateral and trilateral formats of leaders' meetings." A Western official had earlier told Reuters that a small group of military leaders was continuing discussions in Washington to work out options for security guarantees for Ukraine after the conclusion of a bigger virtual meeting.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
UK military chief meets US counterparts for Ukraine talks
The head of Britain's armed forces has met with his Nato counterparts as Europe continues to push for security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin met senior US defence officials alongside other European military chiefs in Washington DC on Wednesday to discuss military options to secure peace in Ukraine. He later attended a virtual meeting of Nato's military committee, described by its chairman Italian Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone as 'candid'. On Tuesday evening, Admiral Radakin, the chief of the defence staff, had dined with his US counterpart General Dan Caine. The meetings come amid renewed planning for a 'coalition of the willing', led by the UK and France, that would guarantee Kyiv's security in the event of a ceasefire. Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron co-chaired a meeting of the coalition, in which members of the group also discussed the possibility of further sanctions on Russia. Western security guarantees, strongly resisted by Moscow, are one of the central issues for any peace deal for Ukraine, which fears Russia could otherwise use a ceasefire to regroup and launch a renewed invasion. So far, only the UK and France have indicated they could commit troops to a peacekeeping force in Ukraine. In an interview on Tuesday Donald Trump ruled out an American ground contribution but suggested the US could be willing to provide some form of air support. His special envoy, Steve Witkoff, had earlier suggested the US could offer Ukraine a mutual defence agreement similar to Nato's Article 5, without Kyiv formally joining the alliance. Renewed talks among the 'coalition of the willing' follow last week's summit between Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska as the US president continued to push for an end to a conflict he had promised he could finish on his first day in office. Those talks appeared to result in little progress towards a deal, but sparked concern among some in Europe that Mr Trump could seek to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into accepting a deal without sufficient security guarantees. On Monday, Sir Keir and Mr Macron joined other European leaders in travelling to Washington in a show of support for Mr Zelensky during a meeting with Mr Trump. Meanwhile, the UK and Russia traded sanctions as London sought to increase the pressure on Moscow to end its invasion. Europe minister Stephen Doughty unveiled sanctions on a series of organisations linked to Kyrgyzstan's financial services sector, saying they had been involved in Kremlin attempts to 'soften the blow of our sanctions by laundering transactions through dodgy crypto networks'. Russia in turn sanctioned 21 individuals, including former Labour MP Denis MacShane, several journalists, and the Government-appointed independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall.
