Latest news with #EasternUkraine
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NATO officials reject Russian demand to halt expansion, media reports
NATO is not holding any active discussions on Russia's demand that the alliance halt its eastward expansion, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty wrote, citing several undisclosed NATO officials and diplomats. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the NATO officials said that the issue of NATO's potential non-enlargement has not been raised at any recent, or even earlier, alliance meetings. One official called it "perhaps just an academic discussion," noting that any such decision would require full consensus among NATO members. The clarification comes after Reuters reported on May 28 that Russian President Vladimir Putin's conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include receiving a written commitment from Western leaders to cease NATO's expansion. Russian propaganda for years insisted that Ukraine's ambition to join NATO was a major trigger for its invasion. Russia's military aggression against Ukraine started in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine, at a time when Ukraine's chances and desires of joining the alliance were low. According to NATO sources cited by Radio Liberty, the written pledge Moscow demands is unrealistic. "It's not something they (Russia) can just get," one diplomat said, pointing to international agreements that enshrine every nation's right to freely choose its alliances — including the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949, the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and the 1975 Helsinki Final Act. A separate source referenced the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997, a document some consider obsolete but still formally existing, which affirms respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states and upholds the principle of self-determination. U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg said in a May 29 interview with ABC News that NATO's eastward expansion is a "fair" concern for Putin. He also emphasized that Ukraine's membership in the alliance is "not on the table." U.S. President Donald Trump has also repeatedly echoed Moscow's narrative that Ukraine's efforts to join NATO have been one of the root causes of the full-scale invasion. In March, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha firmly opposed any limitations on Ukraine's right to join international organizations, specifically NATO and the European Union, as a condition for reaching a potential peace agreement. Ukraine applied for NATO membership in September 2022, months after the outbreak of the full-scale war. The country has not received a formal invitation, as the 32 members have not reached a consensus. Read also: Why doesn't NATO open its doors to Ukraine? We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Reuters
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Russia vows retaliation after Ukrainian drone strikes, but reaffirms commitment to peace talks
MOSCOW, May 23 (Reuters) - Russia on Friday accused Ukraine of launching a massive wave of drone attacks against non-military targets in Moscow and other regions in the last three days and said it would respond, but said it was still committed to holding peace talks. Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Ukraine had launched approximately 800 drones and Western-made missiles since May 20 at targets far from the frontline in an apparent attempt to disrupt direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, which have resumed with the assistance of the U.S. The Defence Ministry has reported a spike in Ukrainian drone attacks aimed at Moscow in recent days, forcing the Russian capital's airports to suspend flights before resuming. The Foreign Ministry said the Ukrainian attacks had also wounded eight people in a Russian-controlled part of eastern Ukraine and killed a young woman and injured four children in a Russian-controlled part of southern Ukraine. A further eight people had been wounded in Russia's Lipetsk region and other civilians, including two children, had been hurt in a Ukrainian missile attack on Russia's Kursk region, it said. Reuters could not verify those assertions. The foreign ministry said Moscow would retaliate, but would only target military and defence industry facilities. "But let us underscore this: our principled commitment to a constructive search for a peaceful settlement through dialogue remains unchanged," the foreign ministry said.
Bloomberg
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Russian Advance in Ukraine Is Slowing Despite Putin's Confidence
By and Aliaksandr Kudrytski Save Russian forces in Ukraine have made only small territorial gains this year amid steady resistance from Kyiv's military, undercutting President Vladimir Putin's assertions that his army has gained the upper hand in the war. Battlefield data indicate that — despite a consistent advantage in manpower and steady gains — Putin's military has fallen far short so far of satisfying his war aims. The pace of Russia's main advance in eastern Ukraine has halved since the start of the year compared with a similar period through the end of 2024, according to data compiled by the DeepState open-source mapping service.
The Guardian
18-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Russia fires more than 270 drones at Ukraine killing one person
Russia has launches 273 drones in what is believed to be the largest such attack since start of war in 2022. The assault targeted the Kyiv region and two region's in the country's east. One woman was killed in the barrage and three others were wounded, including a four-year-old child
Reuters
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Russia demanded Kyiv pull back troops before ceasefire, Ukrainian source says
ISTANBUL, May 17 (Reuters) - Russian negotiators at peace talks in Istanbul demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all the Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks told Reuters. The Kremlin declined to comment on the terms that Russia had put forward at Friday's meeting in Turkey - the first time the warring sides had held face-to-face talks since March 2022, weeks after Russia's full-scale invasion. The talks lasted only one hour and 40 minutes, and yielded an agreement to trade 1,000 prisoners of war on each side. The two countries have not specified when that will happen. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Saturday for stronger sanctions on Moscow after a Russian drone killed nine bus passengers in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine. "This was a deliberate killing of civilians," he said. "Pressure must be exerted on Russia to stop the killings. Without tougher sanctions, without stronger pressure, Russia will not seek real diplomacy." Russia, which denies targeting civilians, said it struck a military target in Sumy. Its defence ministry said Russian troops had captured another settlement in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine and Western governments, including the U.S., have demanded that Russia agree to an immediate, unconditional ceasefire lasting at least 30 days. But the Ukrainian source said Moscow's negotiators had demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, with a ceasefire to take place only after that. The source said that and other demands went beyond the terms of a draft peace deal that the United States proposed last month after consultations with Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the Ukrainian account, saying talks should be conducted "absolutely behind closed doors". He said the next steps would be to carry out the prisoner exchange and conduct further work between the two sides. Peskov said it was possible that President Vladimir Putin could meet Zelenskiy, but only if "certain agreements" were reached, which he did not specify. Zelenskiy had challenged Putin earlier in the week to meet him in person, an offer the Russian leader ignored. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said his country, after hosting the talks, was determined to continue its mediation role. Both Ukraine and Russia are under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to end what he calls "this stupid war". He has threatened to abandon U.S. efforts to broker an agreement unless they demonstrate clear progress. After Friday's meeting, Ukraine began rallying support from its allies to take tougher action against Moscow. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Reuters: "Yet again we are seeing obfuscation on the Russian side and unwillingness to get serious about the enduring peace that is now required in Ukraine." "Once again Russia is not serious," he said during a visit to Pakistan. "At what point do we say to Putin enough is enough?" French President Emmanuel Macron also said the talks in Istanbul had been fruitless. "Today, what do we have? Nothing. And so I tell you, faced with President Putin's cynicism, I am sure that President Trump, mindful of the credibility of the United States, will react." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was working on a new package of sanctions against Moscow, which France said this week should aim to "suffocate" the Russian economy. But after ratcheting up sanctions for more than three years already, it is unclear how much more they can achieve. In their efforts to forge a united front and make Putin accept a ceasefire, Ukrainian and its European leaders have been repeatedly thrown off balance by interventions from Trump. Having publicly told Zelenskiy to accept Russia's offer of direct talks in Turkey, Trump declared on the eve of the meeting that there could be no movement on peace until he had met with Putin. The Kremlin says Putin is ready to meet Trump, but such a summit must be carefully prepared in order to get results. It said there been no contact between Russia and the U.S. since Friday's talks.
