Russia issues WW3 ultimatum to EU and UK amid 'unequivocally hostile' move
Russia has issued an ultimatum to the European Union and Britain to halt all military training for Ukrainian troops as a condition of ending the war.
Supplies of arms must also be stopped, said Rodion Miroshnik, special envoy to Vladimir Putin's foreign ministry.
The Russian demand came amid signs Donald Trump is ready to impose swingeing sanctions on the Kremlin over its refusal to end the war, reports The Express.
The weekend saw the most intense aerial onslaught of the conflict on Ukraine with 537 strikes by Putin's forces, including the downing of an F-16 warplane with the death of pilot F-16 pilot Lt-Col Maksym Ustymenko.
NATO warplanes were also scrambled amid a huge Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine.
The pilot was posthumously awarded the Hero of Ukraine honour by Volodymyr Zelensky for "defending our people from yet another massive Russian attack".
He was "one of our very best" and "losing people like him is deeply painful".
Moscow has made clear its aim to kill off the EU's EUMAM mission and Britain's Operation Interflex training for Ukraine, which has drilled tens of thousands of fighters for battle.
"The participation or complicity of other countries is a key issue that must be stopped in all forms - including weapons deliveries and the training of Ukrainian militants," said Miroshnik.
"All of this amounts to direct complicity in the conflict. Halting these programmes would be a signal of willingness to seek a resolution."
He was speaking to pro-Putin news outlet Izvestia, which reported: "Currently, two main Western training initiatives are active - the UK's Operation Interflex and the EU's EUMAM mission." The number trained was put at 130,000.
Last week, Zelensky and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer inspected Ukrainian troops undergoing training in Britain.
The call was echoed by hardliner Konstantin Kosachev, deputy speaker of the Russian senate, the Federation Council.
"Any aid that helps Ukraine continue fighting or preparing terrorist operations clearly does not promote conflict resolution," he said.
"It is unequivocally hostile to Russia. That is how we classify it."
London and Brussels are not interested in compromise, he claimed.
"This is a clear campaign against everything Russian - a full display of militarism. I would also add that it shows a desire to shackle the Kyiv government and Ukrainian citizens into tools for achieving British and, in this case, NATO strategic aims.
"Ukrainians no longer have agency. Moscow's dialogue with London and Brussels has been cut off, and the EU and NATO show no intention of resuming it."
Britain and the EU were accused of being involved in the deaths of Russian troops.
"In practice, they are participating in the killing of our citizens while simultaneously coordinating terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime on Russian territory," said Oleg Karpovich, Vice-Rector of the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow.
Russia's goal remained to "demilitarise" Ukraine, even though Russia would remain heavily militarised, he made clear.
Moscow spelled out its conditions amid signs that Trump's exasperation with Putin has led to him green lighting legislation from Senator Lindsey Graham to impose tough sanctions on the Kremlin.
"For the first time yesterday the president told me... he says, 'it's time to move your bill'," Graham said in an interview with ABC News.
On whether Graham expected Trump ultimately to sign the bill, the senator responded: "Yes, I think we're in good shape... But he has a waiver. It's up to him how to impose it."
The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Russia grooms Ukrainian teens as spies, saboteurs and unwitting suicide bombers
He blended in easily, another teenager scrolling through his phone on a bus. But in his pocket, Ukraine 's security service said, were co-ordinates and photographs of sensitive military targets intended for Russian intelligence. The 16-year-old Ukrainian, whose name has not been made public as he is a minor, was arrested and accused of spying for Russia , the Ukrainian security service (SBU) said this week. Ukrainian officials said he was recruited by Russia's federal security service (FSB) via the messenger app Telegram, on which Russian operatives have increasingly targeted young users with offers of quick cash in exchange for their collaboration. The teenager was instructed to take pictures of Ukrainian troop positions and send location data back through encrypted channels. But the SBU had been tracking him, officials said, and when he raised his phone near a military site in Dnipro city, southern Ukraine, he was arrested on the spot. READ MORE Investigators believe the gathered intelligence could have been used to guide Russian missile or drone strikes like the thousands that have devastated cities and critical infrastructure across Ukraine in recent months. On Tuesday, Russian ballistic missiles struck targets in Dnipro, killing 20 people and injuring more than 170 others , regional officials said. The teen now faces charges of treason and a possible life sentence. Ukrainian officials warn that the case is not an outlier, but is part of Russia's efforts to destabilise the country from within by enlisting young and vulnerable operatives, turning teenage curiosity into a tool of espionage and sabotage. Beyond the traditional theatre of war, senior officials in Kyiv told the Financial Times they are seeing the systematic grooming of teenagers and young adults, including those orphaned and displaced by the fighting, struggling financially or merely eager to score enough cash for a new iPhone. [ Ukrainian commander says forces face new assault on city at eastern front ] The officials described Moscow's actions as turning Ukraine's adolescents into weapons of war against their own. 'The enemy is aggressive, committing various crimes against national security, including recruiting agents from among our own citizens,' SBU head Lt Gen Vasyl Malyuk said. Russia's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Residents carry their belongings after their flats were severely damaged by a rocket strike on Kyiv in June. Photograph: Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA SBU spokesperson Artem Dekhtiarenko said that, since spring last year, the agency had arrested more than 700 people implicated in espionage, arson and bomb plots orchestrated remotely by Russian intelligence agents. Of those, around 175 – or a quarter – were under the age of 18. Most of the recruits carried out their missions wittingly, but some did so unwittingly after being duped, the SBU spokesperson said. 'Underage people cannot foresee the consequences of their actions', making them especially vulnerable to Russian recruitment, Dekhtiarenko said. The consequences have been serious, even deadly. Russia's campaign 'started last spring with tasks of burning cars [and] electricity hubs along the railway', he said. Then they 'upgraded their strategy and started burning military recruitment centres'. Earlier this year, he said, 'they switched to using Ukrainians as suicide bombers'. The problem has grown to such a scale that Ukrainian authorities have launched a nationwide awareness campaign: warnings are sent in mass text messages; plastered on billboards alongside highways; and shown on repeat on passenger trains. A video targeting teenagers to raise awareness of the matter teaches them 'how not to fall into a trap and stay one step ahead' of the FSB. SBU agents have also been invited to schools to teach children how to spot Russian efforts to groom them. The campaign slogan aims to flip the script on Moscow: 'Don't burn your own! Burn the enemy!' By the end of May about 50 Ukrainian minors had reported attempts to bribe them on messenger apps, said Ukraine's juvenile police, which is involved in the awareness campaign. The recruitment channels follow a similar pattern: an anonymous user reaches out to youths over Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp or Viber with attractive offers of quick and easy money. Once contact is made, Russian handlers provide co-ordinates and instructions, ranging from photographing military objects or air defence systems to planting explosive devices or conducting arson attacks on energy infrastructure and recruitment offices. The promised payments range between $100 (€85) and $1,000. If a decade ago there were some Ukrainians sympathetic to Russia's military actions, then there are hardly any left who support 'Russkiy mir' – the Russian world – Dekhtiarenko said. 'So [Russia's intelligence agencies] have changed their approach to offering people money.' Lt Gen Vasyl Malyuk, who leads the SBU, addresses the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv in 2023. Photograph: Andrii Nesterenko/EPA On Wednesday, the SBU and national police arrested a 19-year-old woman in Ukraine's north-eastern city of Kharkiv who allegedly carried out a bombing on the instructions of Russian agents. After being approached on a Telegram job advert channel, authorities said, she received instructions on how to make an improvised explosive device. She then planted the bomb inside an e-scooter which was donated to the Ukrainian army, the SBU said. The resulting blast killed one soldier and injured another. In another case, in March, two boys aged 15 and 17 were recruited to carry out a bombing at a railway station in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk. The explosive hidden inside a bag one boy was carrying detonated prematurely, allegedly triggered remotely by their Russian handlers, essentially turning them into unwitting suicide bombers. One boy was killed, the other injured, along with two bystanders. Sometimes Russian spies recruit Ukrainians under the guise of 'quests' – scavenger hunt-like games that are popular with teenagers. Two friends aged 15 and 16 were intercepted in December in Kharkiv while allegedly carrying out surveillance on air defence positions and co-ordinating targets for air strikes and arson. They believed they were playing a game that promised a financial reward to the winners, the SBU said. 'Under the rules of the quest game, the children received geolocations from the FSB,' it said. 'Their task was to reach a specific location, take photos and videos of designated sites, and provide a brief description of the area.' The teens sent the gathered intelligence to an FSB handler over Telegram, and the SBU said, 'the Russians used this intelligence to conduct air strikes on Kharkiv'. In June, the SBU warned of a new recruitment tactic: Russian agents posing as Ukrainian officials to trick or pressure children into carrying out acts of sabotage or cyber intrusion on their country's behalf. Many children accused of the crimes have been charged and tried as adults, raising concerns among some human rights defenders and legal experts. Under Ukraine's martial law, people charged with sabotage, terrorism, collaboration and treason face lengthy sentences, potentially including life imprisonment. Yulia Gorbunova, a senior Ukraine researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that special protections for children existed during peacetime and during war, including in cases where they were perceived as security threats and suspected of committing crimes against national security. 'When children are suspected of unlawful acts, authorities are obliged to treat them in accordance with international juvenile justice standards, prioritising rehabilitation and reintegration,' she said. 'Detention or imprisonment of children should be used only as a last resort and they should have legal counsel from the moment their underage status is confirmed.' Ukrainian officials say that due process is being observed and that juvenile suspects are receiving special consideration. Dekhtiarenko said the minors charged in treason cases have been allowed legal representation. None of their cases has gone to trial yet, but some could this year. The government is also under pressure to demonstrate a firm response to the growing threat of collaborators, even if they are underage. 'To us they are state traitors,' Malyuk, the SBU chief, said. – The Financial Times
Extra.ie
2 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Russia demands 'unequivocally hostile countries' stop supporting Ukraine
Russia has demanded that the United Kingdom and European Union cease military training for Ukrainian soldiers as well as the provision of arms supplies. The warning from Rodion Miroshnik, Vladimir Putin's special envoy to the foreign ministry, came following some of the most extreme strikes on Ukraine to date. The country was hit with up to 537 strikes by Russian forces over the weekend while an F-16 warplane was also shot down – killing pilot Lieutenant-Colonel Maksym Ustymenko. The warning from Rodion Miroshnik, Vladimir Putin's special envoy to the foreign ministry, came following some of the most extreme strikes on Ukraine to date. Pic: Getty Images Of the strikes, 477 were drones and 60 were missiles, with Lt Col Ustimenko, 31, hailed a 'hero' following his death. The late pilot has since been awarded the Hero of Ukraine honour by President Volodymyr Zelensky for his defence of the Ukrainian people from 'yet another massive Russian attack.' President Zelensky branded Lt Col Ustimenko 'one of our best' and expressed his pain at the loss of the pilot. Following the attack, Russian envoy Miroschnik has hit out at countries who he says are participating or complicit in the war by providing weapons and training to Ukrainian militants. President Zelensky branded Ustimenko 'one of our best' and expressed his pain at the loss of the pilot. Pic: Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images Speaking to news outlet Izvestia, he said: 'All of this amounts to direct complicity in the conflict. Halting these programmes would be a signal of willingness to seek a resolution.' Russian Senator Konstantin Kosachev echoed Miroschnik's sentiments, stating that any help given to Ukraine 'clearly does not promote conflict resolution.' He added that aid to Ukraine was coming from countries that were 'unequivocally hostile to Russia.' 'This is a clear campaign against everything Russian,' he stated, 'Moscow's dialogue with London and Brussels has been cut off, and the EU and NATO show no intention of resuming it.' It comes as the 27 leaders of the European Union agreed to extend sanctions on Russia for another six months, amid fears Hungary were set to let the measures lapse. Sanctions in place over the ongoing conflict will remain in place until at least the beginning of 2026, though Slovakia refused to show their approval with the renewal of the sanctions.
Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
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'. 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. 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.
