Ukraine-Russia latest: Zelensky makes demand for Trump talks to end war as Kyiv shoots down missile attack

WorldPolitics
27 Jan 2025 • 12:03 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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Volodymyr Zelensky has made a demand for Kyiv to be included in talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine that he believes could happen under Donald Trump’s presidency.

The Ukrainian president also said on Saturday that the terms of any deal that might arise under the new US president were still unclear – and might not even be clear to Trump himself – because Vladimir Putin had no interest in ending the war.

However, the Russian president has emphasised that he is open for talks with Trump on a broad range of issues including Russia’s war in Ukraine as he called for the two leaders to meet.

The Russian president told a state TV journalist on Friday: “We believe the current president’s statements about his readiness to work together. We are always open to this and ready for negotiations.”

Mr Zelensky has, for the third time, replaced the commander of a key Ukrainian military formation responsible for defending the eastern hub of Pokrovsk. It comes amid increased risk of the region falling to Russian forces as they steadily advance in Donetsk.

Key Points

  • Zelensky says Trump can end war, but only if Ukraine included in talks with Russia
  • Putin ‘ready’ for Trump negotiations
  • Russian forces capture Velyka Novosilka and Zelene in eastern Ukraine, state news agencies report
  • Ukraine’s military says it attacked one of Russia’s largest oil refineries

Moldovan President hails cooperation between her country and Ukraine

Sunday 26 January 2025 06:00

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Tara Cobham

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has described how her country’s cooperation with Ukraine “strengthens resilience and brings lasting stability to our region”.

She made the comments on a day when she travelled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Sweden opens sabotage probe into Baltic undersea cable damage

04:26

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Namita Singh

An undersea fibre optic cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday, likely as a result of external influence, Latvia said, prompting Nato to deploy patrol ships to the area and triggering a sabotage investigation by Swedish authorities.

Sweden’s Security Service has seized control of a vessel as part of the probe, the country’s prosecution authority said.

“We are now carrying out a number of concrete investigative measures, but I cannot go into what they consist of due to the ongoing preliminary investigation,” senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said in a statement.

Nato was coordinating military ships and aircraft under its recently deployed mission, dubbed “Baltic Sentry”. The effort follows a string of incidents in which power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have been damaged in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Latvian prime minister Evika Silina said her government was coordinating with Nato and other countries in the Baltic Sea region to clarify the circumstances surrounding the latest incident.

“We have determined that there is most likely external damage and that it is significant,” Ms Silina told reporters following an extraordinary government meeting.

Zelensky again replaces commander of Ukraine’s key eastern front

04:05

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Namita Singh

President Volodymyr Zelensky replaced the commander of a key Ukrainian military formation responsible for defending the eastern hub of Pokrovsk.

This is the third time within a year that Mr Zelensky has made changes to the command of the region that’s under increased risk of falling to Russian forces.

Mr Zelensky, in his nightly video address, said he put Ukraine’s new commander of ground forces, Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, in charge of the Khortytsia operational-strategic group, whose area of responsibility includes much of Ukraine’s eastern front.

“These are the toughest areas of fighting,” Mr Zelensky said, adding that he had discussed the changes at meeting with Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.

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Russia’s capture of the city would bring it closer to seizing the entire Donetsk region, which has been one of president Vladimir Putin’s key goals in his war in Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky added that Major General Drapatyi’s appointment will help to combine the combat work of the army with the proper training of brigades.

“It is the front-line needs that should determine the standards for staffing and training of brigades,” he said.

Drapatyi will replace Major General Andriy Hnatov, who has been in charge of Khortytsia since June and who will become a Deputy Chief of the General Staff to run training and communication.

Putin ‘open for talks’ with Trump over Ukraine war and calls for leaders to meet

04:00

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Tara Cobham

Vladimir Putin has emphasised that he is open for talks with Donald Trump on a broad range of issues including Russia’s war in Ukraine as he called for the two leaders to meet.

The Russian president also echoed his US counterpart’s claim the conflict in Ukraine could have been prevented had he been in the White House in 2022 in what was his bluntest endorsement yet of Mr Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat in the 2020 election.

In the interview with Russian state television on Friday, Mr Putin praised Mr Trump as a “clever and pragmatic man” who is focused on US interests and said: “We believe the current president’s statements about his readiness to work together. We are always open to this and ready for negotiations.”

Read more here:

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Alexander Lukashenko, Europe's last dictator

03:09

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Namita Singh

His iron-fisted rule since 1994 earned Alexander Lukashenko the nickname of “Europe’s last dictator”, relying on subsidies and political support from close ally Russia.

“It’s better to have a dictatorship like in Belarus than a democracy like Ukraine,” Mr Lukashenko said in his characteristic bluntness.

His reliance on support from Russian president Vladimir Putin helped him survive the 2020 protests.

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His opponents, many of whom are imprisoned or exiled abroad by his unrelenting crackdown on dissent and free speech, called the election a sham - much like the last one in 2020 that triggered months of protests.

The crackdown saw more than 65,000 arrests, with thousands beaten, bringing condemnation and sanctions from the West.

Observers believe Mr Lukashenko feared a repeat of those mass demonstrations amid economic troubles and the fighting in Ukraine, and so scheduled the vote in January, when few would want to fill the streets again, rather than in August. He faces only token opposition.

Recap: Watch as emergency workers battle huge Russian drone attack on Kyiv last week

03:00

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Tara Cobham

Russia supporting Lukashenko wins seventh term in Belarus election

02:53

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Namita Singh

President Alexander Lukashenko has won a seventh term in office in Belarus, according to the country’s Central Election Commission.

According to a statement by the Central Election Commission, the 70-year-old leader took nearly 87 per cent of the vote in Sunday’s election after a campaign in which four token challengers all praised his rule.

Mr Lukashenko has been in power since 1994 and has ruled the country of nine million people with an iron hand. He relies on subsidies and political support from Russia. He allowed Moscow to use the country’s territory to invade Ukraine in 2022 and later hosted some of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons.

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He still campaigned with the slogan “peace and security”, arguing he has saved Belarus from being drawn into war.

His opponents, many of whom are imprisoned or exiled abroad by his unrelenting crackdown on dissent and free speech, called the election a sham – much like the last one in 2020 that triggered months of protests.

Republicans duck Trump’s claims that Ukraine should have surrendered to Russia

02:00

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Tara Cobham

Republican Senators ducked answering questions about Donald Trump’s claim that Ukraine should have surrendered to Russia and his attempt to blame the bloody conflict on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The president spoke to Fox News host Sean Hannity this week and blamed Zelensky’s failure to preemptively capitulate to Russia invading Ukraine, even though Russian forces have occupied parts of the country since 2014.

“Zelensky was fighting a much bigger entity, much bigger, much more powerful,” Trump told Hannity. “He shouldn’t have done that, because we could have made a deal, and it would have been a deal that would have been, it would have been a nothing deal.”

My colleague Eric Garcia reports from Washington, DC:

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Recap: Watch as Putin takes swipe at Biden

01:00

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Tara Cobham

Recap: Nato chief says stopping Putin will cost trillions if they don’t support Ukraine now

00:00

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Tara Cobham

A Russian victory over Ukraine would greatly undermine the power of Nato and its credibility would cost trillions to restore, the alliance’s secretary general has warned.

Mark Rutte insisted that Ukraine‘s Western backers must not scale back the support they are providing to the country, almost three years after Vladimir Putin’s invasion began.

Nato has been increasing its forces along its eastern flank with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, deploying thousands of troops and equipment. This is to deter Moscow from expanding its war into the territory of any of the organization’s 32 member countries.

My colleague Jabed Ahmed reports:

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Recap: Watch as Trump warns Putin on day one in office

Sunday 26 January 2025 23:00

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Tara Cobham

Special report: The fatal lengths North Korean soldiers will go to to avoid capture by Ukraine

Sunday 26 January 2025 22:00

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Tara Cobham

The North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Vladimir Putin’s military have shown ferocious commitment, brutality – and a determination to kill themselves rather than face capture, The Independent has been told.

A Ukrainian military source with direct knowledge of these troops has disclosed in brutal detail the extraordinary lengths to which they will go to prevent being caught.

Since news of their presence in Russia emerged in October, just two North Korean soldiers have been captured alive amid varying claims from Ukraine of heavy losses among their ranks.

The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley reports from Sumy:

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Baltic undersea cable likely damaged by 'external influence', Latvia says

Sunday 26 January 2025 21:00

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Tara Cobham

An undersea fibre optic cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday, likely as a result of external influence, Latvia said, adding its navy had dispatched a patrol boat to inspect a vessel suspected of involvement.

Two other vessels in the area were also subject to investigation, Latvia's navy said.

"We have determined that there is most likely external damage and that it is significant," Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina told reporters following an extraordinary government meeting.

Latvia was coordinating with NATO and the countries of the Baltic Sea region to clarify the circumstances, she said separately in a post on X.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country was cooperating closely with Latvia and NATO.

"Sweden will contribute important capabilities to the ongoing effort to investigate the suspected incident," Kristersson said on X.

NATO said last week it would deploy frigates, patrol aircraft and naval drones in the Baltic Sea to help protect critical infrastructure and reserved the right to take action against ships suspected of posing a security threat.

The military alliance is taking the action, dubbed "Baltic Sentry", following a string of incidents in which power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have been damaged in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Revealed: Desperate Ukrainians resorting to illegal routes and ‘rogue advisers’ to bring children to UK

Sunday 26 January 2025 20:00

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Tara Cobham

Desperate Ukrainian families are resorting to illegal routes and “rogue advisers” to bring their children to Britain after “catastrophic” changes to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, ministers have been told.

The government, which has vowed “ironclad” support for Ukrainians, has been warned repeatedly since taking office that changes to the Ukrainian sponsorship schemes – made overnight last February by the Tory administration – are preventing children from joining their parents in the UK.

This has now created the “inevitable” situation in which families are resorting to bringing children to the UK via irregular routes, leaving them at risk of exploitation by criminals and people traffickers, a charity supporting Ukrainians told the home secretary this week.

My colleague Andy Gregory reports:

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The war in Ukraine has bound Lukashenko more tightly than ever to Putin

Sunday 26 January 2025 19:00

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Tara Cobham

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko is standing against four other candidates, none of whom has mounted any serious challenge in his country’s orchestrated election. But while there is no doubt about the outcome, he faces tricky choices in a new five-year term, which will be his seventh since 1994.

The war in Ukraine has bound him more tightly than ever to Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Lukashenko offering his country as a launchpad for the 2022 invasion and later agreeing to let Moscow place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Lukashenko said he saw "light at the end of the tunnel" as Moscow and Kyiv prepare for possible peace talks in which he said they would have to thrash out a compromise.

Asked if this would be his last election, the 70-year-old ex-Soviet farm boss declined to give a direct answer. He said he was "not about to die", and had no specific successor in mind.

"When the time comes, we will think about this," he said.

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‘Blatant affront to democracy’: Belarus holds election scorned by West

Sunday 26 January 2025 18:00

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Tara Cobham

The United States and the European Union have both described the Belarusian election as a sham, given the repression of political opponents and the banning of independent media.

"This is a blatant affront to democracy," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on the eve of the vote.

Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told Reuters this week that Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko was engineering his re-election as part of a "ritual for dictators". Demonstrations against him took place on Sunday in Warsaw and other east European cities.

Lukashenko shrugged off the criticism as meaningless and said he didn't care whether the West decided to recognise the election or not.

The EU and the US both said they did not acknowledge him as the legitimate leader of Belarus after he used his security forces to crush mass protests after the last election in 2020, when Western governments backed Tsikhanouskaya's claim that he had falsified the results to cheat her of victory.

Tens of thousands of people were arrested. Human rights group Viasna, which is banned as an "extremist" organisation, says there are still some 1,250 political prisoners.

Lukashenko has freed more than 250 in the past year on what he called humanitarian grounds, but he denied this was meant as a signal to the West to try to repair relations.

"I don't give a damn about the West," he said, adding that Belarus was willing to talk to the EU but not to "bow before you or crawl on our knees".

He said that leading dissident Maria Kalesnikava was guilty of "violating the regime" but that she was in sound health and that he had intervened personally to allow her a visit from her father last year. Other prominent prisoners include human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, serving a 10-year sentence on smuggling charges that he denies.

"In any state you have to take responsibility if you break the law. The law is severe, but it's the law," Lukashenko said.

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Putin’s ally Lukashenko says critics ‘chose’ prison

Sunday 26 January 2025 17:00

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Tara Cobham

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has said some of his political opponents “chose” to go to prison as he cast his vote in an orchestrated election that was set to extend his 31-year rule.

As Belarusians voted, Lukashenko sparred with the world's media at a press conference lasting more than four hours and 20 minutes on Sunday.

Asked how the election could be free and fair, given that all the main opposition figures are in jail or have fled the country, the veteran leader replied: "Some chose prison, some chose 'exile', as you say. We didn't kick anyone out of the country."

He said no one was prevented from speaking out in Belarus, but prison was "for people who opened their mouths too wide, to put it bluntly, those who broke the law".

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‘Thank God’: US has not stopped military aid to Ukraine despite threat, Zelensky says

Sunday 26 January 2025 16:00

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Tara Cobham

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that the US has not stopped military aid to Ukraine even though new American Secretary of State Marco Rubion announced he’s pausing foreign aid for 90 days.

Zelensky did not clarify whether humanitarian aid had been paused.

Ukraine relies on the US for 40 per cent of its military needs. “I am focused on military aid – it has not been stopped, thank God,” he said at a press conference with Moldovan President Maia Sandu.

Read more here:

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Russian forces capture village of Velyka Novosilka in eastern Ukraine, state news agency reports

Sunday 26 January 2025 15:00

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Tara Cobham

Russian troops have taken control of the village of Velyka Novosilka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, the state-run TASS news agency reported on Sunday, citing the defence ministry.

Earlier on Sunday, Russia said it had seized the town of Zelene in Ukraine's Donetsk Region.

The battlefield reports could not be independently verified.

Watch: Trump describes Ukraine war as ‘bullets whacking and hitting men’

Sunday 26 January 2025 14:30

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Tara Cobham

Comment: Freezing aid to Ukraine shows Trump is no ally to the West

Sunday 26 January 2025 14:00

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Tara Cobham

Donald Trump said he was going to do it. His foreign policy and his defence team gave due warning that they’d do it. And yet, as Marco Rubio smashed a fist into the solar plexus of an already battered Ukraine, there was still a stunned surprise.

In a memo sent to embassies and agencies who rely on US funding, to the tune of $72bn (£57bn) at last count, the new US secretary of state placed a stop order on American worldwide aid funding, for up to 90 days.

Excluded from this move are Israel and Egypt. They’re fine.

The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley writes from Dnipro:

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Zelensky calls for ‘unity’ in action against Russia

Sunday 26 January 2025 13:33

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Tara Cobham

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for “unity” in action against Russia.

In a post on social media today, he said: “We are constantly working with our partners to strengthen our defense capabilities and to reduce Russia's ability to terrorize Ukraine.

“Long-range capabilities are crucial. Sanctions are essential. Lowering the price of oil is important. The key is to act in unity and protect lives with resolve.”

Russian forces capture settlement of Zelene in eastern Ukraine, Russian news agency reports

Sunday 26 January 2025 13:00

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Tara Cobham

Russian troops have taken control of the settlement of Zelene in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, the Russian Interfax news agency reported on Sunday, citing the Defence Ministry.

The battlefield report could not be independently verified.

In focus: Russian spy ships are coming into our waters and we must respond

Sunday 26 January 2025 12:30

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Tara Cobham

There have been strong words from Defence Secretary John Healey after a British submarine had to warn off a Russian spy ship in UK waters. His message for Russia was “We know what you are doing. And we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country.”

It’s the “robust action” part that’s important. In the run-up to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Western leaders also told Vladimir Putin that they knew what he was doing – but without the threat of consequences for doing it that were meaningful for the Kremlin, there was no reason for him not to go ahead and do it.

Now, Healey’s claimed change to “rules of engagement” is a clear warning to Russia. Whether it will be heeded is another question. Turkey, for instance, clearly explained its rules of engagement to Russia in 2015 in response to repeated airspace violations by Russian military aircraft operating in Syria. Russia chose to disregard those warnings, until Turkey shot down one of those aircraft, after which Russia chose to treat Turkish warnings with greater respect.

Keir Giles writes:

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Russia used over 2,000 bombs, drones and missiles to attack Ukraine this week, says Zelensky

Sunday 26 January 2025 12:00

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Tara Cobham

Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russia used 1,250 aerial bombs, over 750 attack drones and more than 20 missiles to attack Ukraine over the past week.

"Only determination can stop such terrorists. We are constantly working with our partners to strengthen our defense capabilities and to reduce Russia's ability to terrorize Ukraine," the Ukrainian President said on Telegram messenger.

"Long-range capabilities are crucial. Sanctions are essential. Lowering the price of oil is important. The key is to act in unity and protect lives with resolve," he added.

Zelensky’s plan to convince Trump to support the war against Russia

Sunday 26 January 2025 11:30

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Tara Cobham

Concerns that Donald Trump may be prepared to ditch America’s support for Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky are wrong, insiders have claimed.

People working with the newly installed White House administration point to the presence of one of Zelensky’s key allies at a place of honour at President Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

David Arakhamia, the Ukrainian parliamentary group leader of Zelensky’s Servant of the People Party, was afforded a rare place in the Capitol rotunda to witness the inauguration on Monday. He has since told Ukrainian media that he now expects a formal Ukrainian delegation to meet with the US president next month.

The Independent’s political editor David Maddox reports:

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Russia says it destroyed 15 Ukrainian drones and two sea drones in Black Sea

Sunday 26 January 2025 11:00

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Tara Cobham

Russia's Defence Ministry has said its air defence systems destroyed 15 Ukrainian drones over Russia and two sea drones in the Black Sea.

It said on Sunday that eight drones were downed over the Ryazan region, six drones were destroyed in the Kursk region and one drone was hit over the Belgorod region overnight.

Ryazan governor Pavel Malkov said there were no casualties in the latest drone attacks but authorities were still estimating the damage.

Ukraine’s military says it attacked one of Russia’s largest oil refineries

Sunday 26 January 2025 10:24

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Tara Cobham

Ukraine has attacked one of Russia's largest oil refineries, its military has said.

Kyiv's general staff said on Sunday its forces attacked Russia's Ryazan oil refinery again last night and explosions and fire were reported in the target area. "The Ryazan Oil Refinery is one of the four largest refineries in the Russian Federation," it said on Telegram.

Military and civilian authorities did not immediately report casualties or damages.

Lukashenko set to return to power in Belarus amid orchestrated election

Sunday 26 January 2025 10:09

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Tara Cobham

The smiling face of President Alexander Lukashenko gazed out from campaign posters across Belarus as the country held an orchestrated election guaranteed to give the 70-year-old autocrat another term in power.

"Needed!" the posters proclaim beneath a photo of Mr Lukashenko, his hands clasped together. The phrase is what groups of voters responded in campaign videos after supposedly being asked if they wanted him to serve again.

But his opponents, many of whom are imprisoned or exiled abroad by his unrelenting crackdown on dissent and free speech, would disagree. They call the election a sham – much like the last one in 2020 that triggered months of protests that were unprecedented in the history of the country of nine million people. The crackdown saw more than 65,000 arrests, with thousands beaten, bringing condemnation and sanctions from the West.

His iron-fisted rule since 1994 earned Mr Lukashenko the nickname of "Europe's last dictator", relying on subsidies and political support from close ally Russia.

He let Moscow use his territory to invade Ukraine in 2022 and even hosts some of Russia's tactical nuclear weapons, but he still campaigned with the slogan, "peace and security," arguing he has saved Belarus from being drawn into war. "It's better to have a dictatorship like in Belarus than a democracy like Ukraine," Mr Lukashenko said in his characteristic bluntness.

His reliance on support from Russian President Vladimir Putin helped him survive the 2020 protests.

Observers believe Mr Lukashenko feared a repeat of those mass demonstrations amid economic troubles and the fighting in Ukraine, and so scheduled the vote in January, when few would want to fill the streets again, rather than in August. He faces only token opposition.

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Full story: Putin ‘open for talks’ with Trump over Ukraine war and calls for leaders to meet

Sunday 26 January 2025 09:22

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Tara Cobham

Vladimir Putin has emphasised that he is open for talks with Donald Trump on a broad range of issues including Russia’s war in Ukraine as he called for the two leaders to meet.

The Russian president also echoed his US counterpart’s claim the conflict in Ukraine could have been prevented had he been in the White House in 2022 in what was his bluntest endorsement yet of Mr Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat in the 2020 election.

In the interview with Russian state television on Friday, Mr Putin praised Mr Trump as a “clever and pragmatic man” who is focused on US interests and said: “We believe the current president’s statements about his readiness to work together. We are always open to this and ready for negotiations.”

Read the full story here:

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Freezing aid to Ukraine shows Trump is no ally to the West

Sunday 26 January 2025 08:10

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Shahana Yasmin

Donald Trump’s foreign policy chief has said foreign aid to all countries apart from Israel and Egypt is to be halted. The results for Ukraine could be catastrophic, writes Sam Kiley in Dnipro

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Ukraine says it downed 50 Russian drones overnight

Sunday 26 January 2025 07:50

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Tara Cobham

Ukrainian air defences downed 50 of 72 drones launched by Russia overnight, the air force said on Sunday.

It said that 9 drones were “lost,” referring to Ukraine’s use of electronic warfare to redirect Russian drones, while one is still in Ukrainian airspace, reported Reuters.

No casualties or damages have been reported yet.

Russia trying to revive campaign deterring West from providing military assistance to Ukraine, says think tank

Sunday 26 January 2025 07:15

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Tara Cobham

Russia is trying to revive its information campaign aimed at deterring the US and other Western states from providing Ukraine with further military assistance, according to a US war think tank.

The Institute for the Study of War went on to say: “Ukraine remains in critical need of US and European military assistance to maintain its defense against Russian aggression and to conduct future negotiations from a position of strength.”

Donetsk Oblast authorities to forcibly evacuate children due to increased shelling

Sunday 26 January 2025 06:50

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Shahana Yasmin

Authorities in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast have said they will begin forcible evacuations of families with children in over 20 settlements in the area due to increased shelling from Russia.

Governor Vadim Filashkin said that families with children in several settlements in the Komar and Kryvorizhzhia communities will be evacuated on a mandatory basis, according to the Kyiv Independent.

“Now that the enemy has intensified shelling of Donetsk Oblast, people are suffering and dying every day, I ask parents to be very responsible about the evacuation,” Filashkin wrote.

“Children should live in peace and tranquility, not hide from shelling!”

He added that 76 children currently remain in the Komar area and 34 in Kryvorizhzhia.

Watch: Trump describes Ukraine war as ‘bullets whacking and hitting men’

Sunday 26 January 2025 06:33

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Shahana Yasmin

Recap: Ukraine praises Trump ultimatum as ‘strong signal’ to Putin to end war

Sunday 26 January 2025 05:00

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Tara Cobham

Ukraine has praised Donald Trump’s threat to Vladimir Putin to end the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “the hard way” using tariffs and sanctions as sending a “strong signal” to the Kremlin.

In his first major remarks on Ukraine after re-entering the White House, the US president urged Putin t