Ukraine peacekeeping plans to continue despite lack of progress in Riyadh
Planning for peacekeeping operations in Ukraine is set to continue, despite few signs of progress towards a ceasefire agreement.
Military chiefs from the 'coalition of the willing' are expected to hold further meetings at the UK's permanent joint headquarters in Northwood throughout the week in preparation for a European-led peacekeeping force.
The meetings follow talks between the heads of the British and French armed forces in London on Monday, at which Admiral Sir Tony Radakin and General Thierry Burkhard discussed efforts to 'galvanise' Europe's response to the situation in Ukraine.
Admiral Sir Tony said: 'Europe's two leading nuclear powers are stepping up to forge a stronger and deeper partnership that has a vital foundational role to play in the security of the continent.
'Today's deliberations will help shape the future of British and French military cooperation, and our shared efforts to support Ukraine with military aid now and after any peace deal.'
But progress towards such a deal appears slow, with talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, yielding no major announcements on Monday.
US officials have held separate talks with Ukrainian and Russian counterparts in an effort to secure agreement on a partial ceasefire after Moscow rejected a US-Ukraine proposal for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire.
On Monday evening, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he expected his officials to meet with the US negotiators again, but did not specify when, and no deal has been announced.
Meanwhile, Number 10 has sought to shrug off comments by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who dismissed Sir Keir Starmer's plans for an international force in Ukraine as 'a posture and a pose'.
Mr Witkoff said in an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson that it was based on a 'simplistic' idea of the Prime Minister and other European leaders thinking 'we have all got to be like Winston Churchill'.
Asked if Sir Keir is worried by the remarks, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'No, the PM has repeatedly said that a lasting peace in Ukraine can only be achieved if we provide real and credible security assurances to deter Putin.
'And the coalition of the willing is a group of nations politically aligned to the defence, security and sovereignty of Ukraine… if there is a deal, it's a deal that has to be defended.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Diane Abbott is pushing the Left's biggest myth about immigration
The Labour Left were always bound to loathe Sir Keir Starmer's recent speech about the downsides of mass immigration. All the same, one of their objections to it strikes me as somewhat peculiar. At a rally on Saturday, the veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott thundered that Sir Keir's speech was 'nonsense' – because, as she stoutly reminded her audience, 'immigrants built this land'. Stirring stuff. I can see only one small problem. It's not strictly true, is it? Clearly Ms Abbott disagrees. Indeed, she proudly declared that her own parents 'helped to build this country'. As she herself acknowledged, though, they only arrived here from Jamaica in the 1950s. What precisely does Ms Abbott think Britain looked like, before her parents' ship pulled in? A barren, primitive, uncivilised wilderness, whose humble natives dwelt in bushes and subsisted on nettles and raw shrew? Did her parents look around, sigh, and then patiently set about erecting St Paul's Cathedral and Blenheim Palace? I'm not convinced that they did. In fact, I'm reasonably sure that most of this country was built a fair bit earlier, largely by people who were born in it. This is because, until quite recently, only a very small percentage of the population was born abroad. Between 1951 and 2001, the average annual net immigration figure was 7,800. In 2023, by contrast, it was 906,000. It doesn't take a mathematician of Ms Abbott's stature to recognise that this is quite a sharp increase. Still, I don't mean to pick on her. She's far from alone. In recent years, any number of Left-wing politicians and pundits have taken to pushing the line that 'immigrants built Britain'. On last week's edition of the BBC's Question Time, for example, the retired trade union leader Mark Serwotka informed viewers that Britain is only 'the great country it is because of centuries of immigration'. From the Left's point of view, I suppose I can see this tactic's advantages. Any time a voter dares suggest that net immigration of almost a million a year is a touch on the high side, and possibly not entirely sustainable in the longer term, shut them up by telling them that a) it's always been like this, and b) they should be grateful. The risk, though, is that some voters might feel a tiny bit insulted. Because the claim that 'immigrants built Britain' implies that the natives were so ignorant, lazy and useless, they achieved nothing until their superiors arrived from abroad to lift them out of savagery. Come to think of it, I'm reasonably sure that the Left used to have a word for that type of attitude. It was 'colonialism'. 'Way of the World' is a twice-weekly satirical look at the headlines while aiming to mock the absurdities of the modern world. It is published at 6am every Tuesday and Saturday 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.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Russia loses 960 soldiers and 2 aircraft over past day
Russia has lost 960 soldiers, two fixed-wing aircraft and 48 artillery systems over the past day. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook Details: The total combat losses of the Russian forces between 24 February 2022 and 10 June 2025 are estimated to be as follows [figures in parentheses represent the latest losses – ed.]: approximately 998,080 (+960) military personnel; 10,919 (+4) tanks; 22,768 (+9) armoured combat vehicles; 28,982 (+48) artillery systems; 1,412 (+1) multiple-launch rocket systems; 1,183 (+0) air defence systems; 416 (+2) fixed-wing aircraft; 337 (+0) helicopters; 40,057 (+239) operational-tactical UAVs; 3,330 (+15) cruise missiles; 28 (+0) ships/boats; 1 (+0) submarine; 51,455 (+107) vehicles and fuel tankers; 3,912 (+1) special vehicles and other equipment. The data is being confirmed. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hong Kong leader says national security scrutiny of restaurants is necessary
HONG KONG (Reuters) -Hong Kong will toughen screening of catering premises for potential violations of national security, which civil servants should accord top priority in deciding on licence approvals, the city's leader said on Tuesday. Critics see the move as targeting the territory's many businesses, including cafes and restaurants, that have displayed posters, symbols or images expressing solidarity with its embattled pro-democracy movement. Such businesses, widely called the "yellow economic circle", have faced growing pressure from authorities, such as tax inspectors, at a time when they are reeling from a broader economic and retail downturn. "Food and environmental hygiene officers ... should place national security as the most important consideration and make appropriate assessments," John Lee told reporters. He called the move "appropriate and necessary", saying all civil servants were expected to rate security as the highest priority under the national security law. The city's food and hygiene department would follow the law in considering new licences and renewing existing ones, he added. In recent years, authorities in the Asian financial hub have made use of sweeping national security laws imposed after mass anti-government protests in 2019 to systematically crack down on many of its liberal pockets. In May, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department sent letters to thousands of food and entertainment premises, obliging them to accept new terms related to national security. In one document seen by Reuters, the government told business owners to ensure no activity in which they were engaged or involved in "may constitute or cause the occurrence of an offence endangering national security". The former British colony's crackdown on dissent, from arresting democratic activists to shuttering liberal media and civil society groups, has drawn criticism from countries such as Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States.
