Ukraine claims to have attacked the Kerch bridge linking Russia with Crimea
19/05/2025
UNSC uncovered Russia's global 'disinformation campaigns' and cyber attacks on foreign governments
Europe
02/05/2025
Wagner: Russian Goldmining in CAR bypasses international sanctions and funds mercenary expansion
Europe
01/05/2025
Vladyslav Greziev warns 'never trust Russians': 'They don't want peace deals, nor an end to the war'
Europe
05/04/2025
Russian strike on Zelensky's home city kills 19 people, including 9 children
RUSSIA
01/04/2025
Russia accuses Ukraine of firing on energy sites
RUSSIA
30/03/2025
Ukraine accuses Russia of 'war crime' after 111 Russian-launched missiles in overnight attack
RUSSIA
09/05/2024
Putin accuses the West of fueling conflicts on WWII Victory Day
RUSSIA
09/05/2024
Russia's celebration of victory in World War II, a key pillar of Putin's rule
RUSSIA
07/05/2024
Putin begins his fifth term as President, more in control of Russia than ever
RUSSIA
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Euronews
10 hours ago
- Euronews
EU calls for 'transatlantic unity' ahead of Trump-Putin summit
EU foreign ministers on Monday called for "transatlantic unity" to support Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia following an emergency meeting convened ahead of a Trump-Putin summit later this week. Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, said following the informal virtual foreign affairs council (FAC) that ministers "expressed support for US steps that will lead to a just peace". "Transatlantic unity, support to Ukraine and pressure on Russia is how we will end this war and prevent future Russian aggression in Europe. "Meanwhile, we work on more sanctions against Russia, more military support for Ukraine and more support for Ukraine's budgetary needs and accession process to join the EU," she added. The meeting was hastily convened on Sunday following the announcement two days earlier that US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet on 15 August in Alaska. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not expected to join them although Trump has said he hopes to chair a trilateral meeting involving the Ukrainian premier. The upcoming summit has led to a flurry of contacts between European heads of state who fear being sidelined from a deal they will probably have to uphold the bulk of. In a joint statement issued over the weekend, the leaders of Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the UK, and European Commission reiterated their stance that "the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine". They also rejected Putin's ceasefire proposal to trade the Ukrainian territories of Donetsk and Luhansk stating that "the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations" and stressed that they "are united as Europeans and determined to jointly promote our interests". "We will continue to cooperate closely with President Trump and with the United States of America, and with President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine, for a peace in Ukraine that protects our vital security interests," they added. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will on Wednesday chair an emergency meeting of the coalition of the willing which Trump and Zelenskyy will join. The leaders of Italy, Finland, Poland, NATO's Secretary-General as well as Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, who helm the European Commission and European Council respectively, are also expected to participate. The Elysee said other videoconference meetings will be held on the same day in various formats, "including one attended by President Trump". The situation and latest developments in the Middle East, in particular the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, were also on the agenda for today's foreign affairs council.
LeMonde
11 hours ago
- LeMonde
Merz to hold Ukraine talks Wednesday with Trump, Zelensky and European leaders
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz plans to hold talks with the US and Ukrainian presidents and European leaders on Wednesday, two days ahead of a US-Russia summit in Alaska. Merz will discuss the Ukraine war with leaders from "Finland, France, the UK, Italy, Poland, Ukraine, the heads of the European Commission and Council, the secretary general of NATO, as well as the US president and his deputy," his office said on Monday, August 11. They would discuss "further options to exert pressure on Russia" and the "preparation of possible peace negotiations and related issues of territorial claims and security", the statement said. Merz's spokesman Stefan Kornelius said the talks, at Merz's invitation, would be "variously composed roundtable discussions" without giving further details. According to Germany's Bild daily, a first conference call will include the European leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. This would be followed by a joint call with US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, the newspaper said. The summit between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has raised concerns among European leaders that an eventual agreement might require Kyiv to cede swathes of territory. Earlier on Monday, German government spokesman Steffen Meyer repeated Berlin's longstanding position that "borders must not be changed by force", in reference to Ukrainian territory seized by Russia.
Euronews
11 hours ago
- Euronews
Zelenskyy warns Trump not to trust Putin before Alaska meeting
Over the past few days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made tens of phone calls with world leaders after his US counterpart Donald Trump confirmed his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. 'The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people today for the sake of peace in Ukraine, which is defending the vital security interests of our European nations', Ukrainian leader said as the joint statement was issued with the leaders of France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Finland and the European Commission. With the carefully chosen diplomatic language, the statement is meant to support Trump's efforts to put an end to Russia's all-out war against Ukraine and, at the same time, to pass on a cautious warning to the US president not to trust Putin. 'Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities," the leaders said in the joint statement. "The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine. We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force', the statement said as Europe's top politicians emphasised they 'continue to stand firmly by the side of Ukraine'. For Zelenskyy, the message to Trump is clear and firm. 'We understand Russia's intention to try to deceive America – we will not allow this', he said, adding that he 'greatly values the determination with which President Trump is committed to bringing an end to the killings in this war'. 'The sole root cause of these killings is Putin's desire to wage war and manipulate everyone he comes into contact with. We in Ukraine know Russia well', Zelenskyy concluded. Does Putin want peace? Prior to Russia's first invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and then Moscow's full-scale war in 2022, Putin repeatedly said he had no intentions of attacking Ukraine. In February and March 2014, as the Russian soldiers were blocking the main airport and military bases of Ukraine in Crimea, Putin kept repeating that these were not Russian forces. Despite looking like Russian soldiers and operating like Moscow's paratroopers, Putin repeatedly denied that those were Russian troops. He even said that their equipment could easily be bought in a military surplus shop. The Kremlin never commented on where exactly anyone could buy a Russian uniform together with an automatic weapon and a grenade launcher. Russian soldiers were referred to as 'little green men' until it was too late. Putin denied everything until the very last moment, when he proudly announced the annexation of Crimea, admitting that he had deployed Russian troops to the peninsula weeks before the annexation. Celebrating the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in 2014, Putin was denying the presence of the Russian troops in eastern parts of the neighbouring country, as Moscow's soldiers were already attacking and occupying territories in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions. By the end of 2021 Western intelligence authorities were intensifying their warnings that Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine. As Moscow amassed 200,000 troops at the border, Putin repeatedly said military drills were 'purely defensive' and 'not a threat to any other country'. 'Russia has no plans to invade Ukraine,' the Kremlin said a few days before 24 February 2022. 'Vladimir, stop!' During the debate last summer in the run-up to the presidential elections in the US, Trump refused to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win Russia's war of aggression. 'I want the war to stop', he stated before the presidential elections and ever since his return to the White House. Until recently, Trump had repeatedly said Russia seemed more willing than Ukraine to get a deal done, going as far as saying he has known Putin for a long time and 'we have always gotten along well'. At the same time Trump's rhetoric on Zelenskyy was the opposite. In February the US president called him 'a dictator without elections', partially repeating the Kremlin's narrative. At the unprecedented scandal in the White House on 28 February, Trump accused Zelenskyy of not showing gratitude and ultimately not wanting Russia's war to end. 'You're gambling with World War III', Trump told Zelenskyy, backing Moscow's line on Kyiv not agreeing to an end to the war. Ukraine's president devoted considerable time and effort to not only repairing diplomatic relations with the Trump administration but also demonstrating that Ukrainians are more eager than anyone else to end Russia's war, with the obstacle being in Moscow, not Kyiv. Trump changed his rhetoric towards Putin when, in April, he reacted to Russia's serial attacks on Kyiv, posting on Truth Social, 'Vladimir, stop!' As Moscow and Kyiv restored the direct talks in Istanbul, Trump was getting more irritated by the absence of any tangible result and Moscow's unwillingness to agree to a ceasefire as the first step towards a possible peace deal. In July, as Russia has massively intensified its daily aerial attacks on Ukraine, the US president for the first time admitted that he was not happy with his Russian counterpart. 'We get a lot of bull***t thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless," Trump said. 'I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said. He'll talk so beautifully and then he'll bomb people at night. We don't like that.' Trump pushed even harder against Putin later as he imposed the ceasefire deadline for Moscow set for last Friday. 'I don't want to say he's an assassin, but he's a tough guy. It's been proven over the years.' Trump said about Putin as he threatened to impose secondary tariffs, targeting Russia's trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow if the Kremlin didn't agree to a ceasefire by 8 August. 'He's fooled a lot of people before,' Trump added, just two weeks before Moscow ignored the deadline and Washington did not introduce the sanctions in response. Instead the presidents of the US and Russia are now set to meet in Alaska on 15 August. '(Putin) fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden, he didn't fool me'', Trump said as Russia's president did manage to avoid tougher sanctions for Moscow and secondary sanctions on his trading partners, ignored the ceasefire deadline and set up a meeting with the US president on his own terms: without Zelenskyy and the EU representatives, putting an end to overwhelming diplomatic isolation, but not stopping his all-out war on Ukraine.
