German foreign minister pledges continued support for Ukraine in Kyiv visit
German foreign minister Johann Wadephul is visiting Kyiv in a show of continuing support for Ukraine's fight to repel Russia as US-led international peace efforts fail to make progress.
Mr Wadephul is due to meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha.
The German minister said in a statement that Germany will help Ukraine 'continue to defend itself successfully – with modern air defence and other weapons, with humanitarian and economic aid'.
Our institutions are working on the synchronization of European and Ukrainian sanctions. We are also fully aligning the European sanctions package targeting the regime in Iran, which includes numerous individuals, companies, and entities not only involved in military production… pic.twitter.com/cdUdJnbeo7
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 29, 2025
Germany has been Ukraine's second-largest military backer after the United States, whose continuing support is in doubt.
However, Berlin has baulked at granting Mr Zelensky's request to provide Ukraine with powerful German- and Swedish-made Taurus long-range missiles.
This is due to fears that such a move could enrage the Kremlin and end up drawing Nato into Europe's biggest conflict since the Second World War.
Instead, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged in May to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any Western-imposed limitations on their use and targets.
Almost all night long, air raid alerts sounded across Ukraine — 477 drones were in our skies, most of them Russian-Iranian Shaheds, along with 60 missiles of various types. The Russians were targeting everything that sustains life. A residential building in Smila was also hit,… pic.twitter.com/1ExZhYAMBg
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 29, 2025
Mr Wadephul was accompanied on his trip to Kyiv by German defence industry representatives.
Russia's invasion shows no sign of letting up. Its grinding war of attrition along the roughly 620-mile front line and long-range strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine have killed thousands of troops and civilians.
The Russian effort to capture more Ukrainian territory has been costly in terms of casualties and damaged armour. But Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively rejected a ceasefire and has not budged from his war goals.
Mr Putin 'doesn't want negotiations, but (Ukrainian) capitulation', Mr Wadephul said in his statement.
Russia launched its biggest combined aerial attack against Ukraine at the weekend, Ukrainian officials said, in its escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in peace efforts.
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Yahoo
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Ukrainian mom made ultimate sacrifice for Canadian life - leaving husband behind: ‘Even here, far from the bombs, we feel the war every day'
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Being close to the border, Kharkiv was occupied by Russian forces on the very first day of the war. The sounds of bombs and sirens replaced the quiet hum of our neighbourhood. We had no time to process, only to act. We packed our car with the five of us, our pets, and our important belongings and drove to a designated safe zone. My husband, an IT engineer, was not eligible to leave the country due to martial law, and my mother-in-law chose to stay behind in a safer part of Ukraine where she had family. So, a difficult decision we never thought we would ever have to make was made. I left with our daughter and my mother, carrying only the essentials and the unbearable weight of uncertainty. We first went to Paris, where a friend helped us find temporary shelter. But very quickly, we realized that language would be a barrier. I had some basic English, and my daughter's English was strong, but neither of us spoke French. Every small task became a challenge. Then, we heard that Canada was offering a special program for Ukrainians. The Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel (CUAET) program offered three years of support, including the right to work, study, and live in safety. That offer felt like a door opening in the darkness. Before we arrived, we studied everything we could. Canada seemed like a country built on fairness and care. A country that values the environment, social support, and technology. But life in Canada also would also come with cultural differences. In Ukraine, we are raised in a collective spirit, community comes first. In Canada, people are encouraged to build their lives independently. It's not wrong, it's just different and would take some time to adjust. One of the hardest things was starting over. From Paris, we searched for housing in Toronto, Ont. but most listings said no pets were allowed. We had already made the difficult decision to leave our parrot behind due to airline restrictions, and we couldn't bear to leave our cat, either. After many setbacks, we finally found a condo in North York that accepted pets. Our cat, in a way, helped us choose our new home. The stress was overwhelming. And we carried grief with us, too. My daughter's best friend, Arseniy, was lost to the war. They had grown up together. He was like family. That kind of loss… it changes something in you forever. Even here, far from the bombs, we feel the war every day. We were welcomed in a way I didn't expect when we arrived in Toronto. At the airport, someone gave us a guidebook in Ukrainian, filled with information and support. That small act meant so much. It told me we weren't alone. We found our footing slowly. Language classes were our first step. The Mennonite New Life Centre (MNLC) in North York became our lifeline. The staff weren't just teachers, they were mentors, therapists, and friends. My mother, Kateryna, who was 66 when we arrived, had never studied English before. The first classes were online, and she hated them. It was hard to convince her to try again. But then she met Teacher Lama at MNLC. Somehow, with patience and kindness, she created a space where my mother felt safe to learn. In just two and a half years, my mom went from zero English to being able to shop, visit a doctor, and use the bank on her own. For me, as her daughter, that's one of the proudest moments of all. Another major support during our transition was the Canadian education system. Especially St. Jerome Catholic School, who welcomed my daughter with warmth, encouragement, and the structure she needed to adjust emotionally and academically. It was one of the key foundations that helped us rebuild a sense of normalcy. Once I regained my footing, I wanted to give back. 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Her leadership, like Eman's, has already helped thousands of newcomers find their footing. I feel incredibly fortunate to have crossed paths with people who give so much of themselves to help others succeed. What makes Canada unique, in my eyes, is one word: willingness. So many people, teachers, social workers, and neighbours genuinely try to help. It's not always perfect, but you can feel the effort. You can feel the care. There are still things I'm not ready to talk about. The situation in Kharkiv has become worse again. The shelling, the destruction… it's relentless. My daughter and I follow the news every day, grieving in silence, trying to stay strong. I never imagined I would have to start over anywhere, let alone on the other side of the world. I never imagined I would rebuild my life with my daughter and my mother by my side. But we did. And we are still standing together, healing, learning, and hoping. 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Forbes
an hour ago
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Could Europe Create An Independent Nuclear Arsenal To Fend Off Russia?
Could a new European alliance produce a nuclear Euro-bomb arsenal to defend against Russia's ... More escalating aggression? (Photo by) As the Kremlin escalates missile blitzes on Ukraine, and threatens to target its Western backers with plutonium bombs, some European leaders have started debating whether they need their own nuclear arsenal as the ultimate shield against a new Russian invasion, says a global expert on atomic arms. Since Russia's last race to take over Eastern Europe, when World War II bullets and Soviet tanks were still whizzing across the region, the United States has extended its nuclear umbrella to cover most of the Continent's democracies. These 'Free World' powers cofounded the NATO military alliance specifically to protect each other against Russian expansionism. But the U.S. president's ongoing cascade of mixed messages over whether he will adhere to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which mandates a collective defense to an attack on any single NATO member, threatens to upend this Pax Americana. The U.S. president's mixed messages on whether Washington will adhere to NATO's mandate that an ... More attack on any member will trigger a collective defense has sparked some European leaders to mull whether to develop a nuclear Euro-bomb. (Photo by JOHN THYS/AFP) (Photo by JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images) Russia's renewed marches beyond its borders, coupled with the prospect of American abandonment of its allies, are triggering more European defense planners to mull the creation of a Euro-bomb, says Alexander Bollfrass, a globally acclaimed scholar on nuclear weaponry at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. Yet could a new coalition of European confederates actually produce a nuclear stockpile capable of containing Russia, which holds the planet's most colossal atomic armory? Could they race to perfect the warheads, jet fighters and long-range missiles essential to creating a credible defense to President Vladimir Putin's ambitions to reconstruct the Soviet Union? Dr. Bollfrass, head of strategy, technology and arms control at IISS, tells me in an interview that he war-gamed the potential to create a 'Eurodeterrent' while drawing on EU states' real-life access to uranium-235, and their combined expertise in missile technology, and in designing defense aircraft that could be adapted to carry nuclear payloads. A new European defense confederation that stretches from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, he predicts, might produce a stockpile of nuclear warheads within three years—rivaling the speed of the U.S. Manhattan Project—and assemble an atomic cache perhaps one-tenth the size of the current American arsenal. Scattered across Europe, Bollfrass says, are nearly all the advanced-tech components and know-how, the scientists and weapons designers, that could collectively give rise to a rising world nuclear power. Germany and the Netherlands both conduct uranium enrichment operations, and could in theory refine weapons-grade fissile material for future devices. Germany conducts uranium enrichment operations, and could hypothetically refine weapons-grade ... More fissile material for future devices, says a global expert on nuclear weaponry. Shown here is a centrifuge on exhibit in Berlin used to process uranium (Photo by Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images) Sweden might revive its plutonium extraction program, Bollfrass adds, and turns out leading-edge Gripen combat jets that could join up with Eurofighter aircraft co-developed by Germany in an expanding nuclear delivery system. Creator of the first ballistic missile—the V-2 rocket—Germany might also collaborate with missile designers in Sweden or Italy to perfect another weapons platform. And with Italy's crafting a series of Vega rockets, Bollfrass says, 'the expertise from developing it would be rather valuable in developing an ICBM,' or a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile that could target Moscow from any part of Europe. Expertise honed in perfecting Italy's Vega rocket could aid in the development of a European ICBM. ... More (Photo credit should read JODY AMIET/AFP via Getty Images) Yet which partner in this new nuclear confederation could design the sophisticated warheads to arm the jet-bombers and missiles aimed at defending against the Kremlin's escalating aggression? The United Kingdom and France have already developed nuclear warheads, yet neither is likely to lead the project to build a Eurodeterrent, Dr. Bollfrass says. Both London and Paris 'remain signatories to the NPT [the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty], whose first article says: 'Each nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty undertakes not to transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.'' Parties to the treaty likewise pledge, he adds, 'not in any way to assist, encourage, or induce any non-nuclear-weapon State to manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.' 'This limits how much the British and French would be able to share,' he points out. 'Of course, they can assign broader deterrence missions for their own arsenals that would cover the territory of their allies,' Bollfrass says. Yet despite requests from the leaders of Germany and of Poland to be granted shelter under the French and British shields, neither nuclear power has so far formally approved extending its atomic dome. Swedish Gripen jets, shown here on the left, could in theory be enlisted in a new European nuclear ... More force (Photo credit should read JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images) Physicists outside of Britain and France are likely to head any Euro-project to build a bomb, and would likely rely on sophisticated next-generation simulation software—run on supercomputers—to test each advance made in this quest. Any nation joining this campaign that is also a signatory to the NPT would have to withdraw from that treaty, Bollfrass says. As a series of European nations begins quitting the NPT, he adds, Europe as a whole would be rapidly transformed from one of the world's strongest proponents of nuclear disarmament into a new symbol of hard nuclear power. As they progress in the building of an atomic stockpile, allies in this nuclear confederation would also have to agree on a collective nuclear doctrine spelling out the essential preconditions for the use of these weapons, and form a command-and-control center that could issue lightning-speed decisions on launching a retaliatory strike on a first-use attacker. The emergence of an ascendant atomic power, and the mass abandonment of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, he predicts, might spark a new nuclear ams race that ricochets around the world. Any German participation in a race to create a Euro-bomb would face swift opposition by the ... More country's anti-nuclear activists, shown here in a protest headed by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. (Photo by Tobias Schwarz / AFP) (Photo by TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images) Yet how likely is it that Bollfrass's war game—on creating a Euro-bomb—could actually be played out in today's Europe? Would the ultimate decision depend in part on any American moves to pull back from NATO, and from extending its nuclear defenses to cover its allies across Europe? Bollfrass, who as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University designed war games involving Russia, predicts:'The possibility of a new nuclear arsenal in Europe is remote at the moment.' 'For all of its criticism of Europe,' he adds, so far 'the Trump administration has not called its nuclear guarantee to its allies into question.' Yet the spark for galvanizing a nuclear Eurodeterrent project could appear in a fleeting moment. 'If Europe found itself without that [American nuclear] protection in the future, a new independent arsenal might become an option.' And if the founders of a European atomic alliance did amass a weapons stockpile aimed at containing Russia inside its own borders, Bollfrass muses, they might one day extend this nuclear dome to cover Ukraine—in an against-all-odds attempt to swiftly halt Moscow's invasion.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Watch: Kim Jong-un weeps over soldiers killed fighting for Putin
Credit: Reuters Kim Jong-un appeared to weep during a ceremony honouring North Korean soldiers who died while fighting alongside the Russian army. The North Korean dictator had tears in his eyes as he watched footage of the battlefield in an operatic show marking the one-year anniversary of Pyongyang's defence pact with Moscow. On a giant screen behind an orchestra, images were shown of Kim kneeling and placing his hands on a coffin draped in the North Korean flag. He gulped and breathed rapidly in the footage broadcast on state media. In separate clips, the 41-year-old was seen approving plans for North Korean military operations in Russia's Kursk region, where they deployed late last year to help Moscow drive out a Ukrainian bridgehead. The ceremony on Sunday came days after Kim inaugurated a new seaside resort, watching on as a citizen whizzed off the end of a curved water slide. Then he was accompanied on the weekend by his daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who stood and applauded as a singer performed on stage in front of images of North Korean soldiers and tanks bearing the 'Z' symbol. According to the British Ministry of Defence, around 6,000 North Koreans have been killed or wounded while fighting in the Kursk region. Analysts said Kim's public acknowledgement of the cost of the operation may have been intended to soothe public discontent, although only six coffins were shown in the ceremony. North Korea's supreme leader was shown approving plans for Kursk on three dates: October 22, December 12 and December 22 last year. Local media reports said he had issued 'offensive operations orders to special operations units', casting him rather than Moscow as directly responsible for their instructions. Vladimir Putin visited Kursk after Russia's army pushed the Ukrainian army out of its foothold in the country, which once spanned roughly 1000 square kilometres. North Korean soldiers initially suffered huge casualties as they charged at the Ukrainian lines across open fields. But they proved themselves on the battlefield over time, said Rob Lee, a senior research fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. 'It is an open question, if North Korea was not taking part, what the position of Kursk would be right now,' he said on the Russia Contingency podcast in March. 'Without them, [the Ukrainians] could probably have held the pocket longer.' Ukrainian officials Mr Lee spoke to 'had a pretty high opinion of the North Korean soldiers. They thought they're very physically fit, very tough, pretty competent'. 'Tactically, they were employed, I think, poorly by the Russians. But at the squad level, they have pretty good tactics, good marksmanship, and they don't surrender.' South Korea's National Intelligence said last Thursday that Pyongyang may deploy an additional 6,000 troops to support Moscow. Sergei Shoigu, a close ally of Putin, said that 5,000 construction personnel and 1,000 mine removal engineers would be dispatched this summer. Last year, Kim signed a mutual defence pact with Moscow, agreeing to send missiles, ammunition and troops to the battlefield. In return, South Korea's intelligence agency says that Pyongyang is likely receiving technical advice on satellite launches and missile guidance systems. 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.
