President Donald Trump has said it was a mistake to throw Russia out of what was formerly the G8 in comments that are likely to infuriate Ukraine and other western allies.
Speaking to reporters at the G7 conference in Canada, the US President also indicated that he would be happy for China to join the economic and political forum.
Russia was suspended from what was then the G8 after its illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Mr Trump said: “The G7 used to be the G8. Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn't want to have Russia in, and I would say that was a mistake, because I think you wouldn't have a war right now if you had Russia in."
His comments are a sharp contrast to the position taken by most European allies who are attending the conference, including the UK and France.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has urged the G7 nations to ramp up sanctions on Russia to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine.
"Last week, we put forward a proposal for an 18 sanctions package. I will invite all G7 partners to join us in this endeavour," she said.
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Key Points
- Zelensky says Russia's latest attack 'spit in the face' of peace talks
- EU urges G7 to ramp up sanctions on Russia
- Ukraine strikes Russian drone factory 1,200km away from frontline
- North Korea troops suffered 'over 6,000 casualties in Ukraine war'
Explained: How and why Russia was booted out of the G7
Monday 16 June 2025 23:00
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Daniel Keane
Donald Trump’s claim that Russia should not have been expelled from what was then the G8 in 2014 will cause controversy among Washington’s European allies.
Mr Trump did not mention that the decision to suspend Moscow’s membership was taken collectively by the other nations: the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Those nations withdrew from a planned 2014 summit, which had been due to be hosted by Russia in Sochi, and suspended Russian membership following the illegal annexation of Crimea.
And while Mr Trump partly blamed Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau for the move, Trudeau was not in power at the time.
Read our full story on Mr Trump’s comments below.
EU will not propose measures to curb reliance on Russian nuclear fuel
Monday 16 June 2025 22:00
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Daniel Keane
The European Commission will not propose measures to limit the EU's reliance on Russian nuclear fuel this week alongside its proposals to ban Russian gas, EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen said on Monday.
The Commission is due to propose legal measures this week to end the EU's Russian gas imports by the end of 2027 - an aim the EU executive announced last month.
The Commission had said it would also propose, in June, trade measures targeting enriched uranium, to make imports from Russia less attractive and encourage countries to switch to other suppliers.
"That will also come, but in the first stage, we'll be focusing on the gas," Mr Jorgensen told reporters on Monday, when asked about the timing of the nuclear proposals.
Pictured: Zelensky attends meeting in Vienna hosted by Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker
Monday 16 June 2025 21:01
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Daniel Keane
Watch: Trump claims it was a 'mistake' to boot Russia out of G7
Monday 16 June 2025 20:00
Ukraine says repatriation of war dead over after 1,245 more bodies received from Russia
Monday 16 June 2025 19:00
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Tom Watling
Ukraine received another 1,245 bodies of its soldiers killed in the war with Russia on Monday in the final stage of the repatriation of remains agreed at talks in Istanbul, Ukrainian officials said.
“Today marks the final stage of the repatriation of fallen soldiers,” Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said. “Since last week, when the implementation of the Istanbul agreements began, we have managed to bring back over 6,000 bodies.”
This marks one of the largest returns of war dead since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.
The handover of the soldiers' remains is part of the agreements reached between Russia and Ukraine during their second round of talks in Istanbul at the start of the month.
Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia's delegation at the peace talks, said that Moscow had handed back the bodies of 6,060 Ukrainian servicemen. He said that Russia has received the remains of 78 of its own soldiers in return.
Ukrainian officials said that they had received 6,057 bodies. There was no immediate explanation available for the discrepancy in numbers.
The Russian Defence ministry said that Moscow was ready to hand over another 2,239 bodies to Ukraine.
Both Ukraine and Russia said that the process of exchanging prisoners of war was still ongoing.
In pictures: Zelensky visits Austria ahead of G7
Monday 16 June 2025 17:00
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Tom Watling
Zelensky plans to discuss weapons purchases with Trump on G7 sidelines
Monday 16 June 2025 15:57
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Tom Watling
Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday he planned to discuss new weapons purchases for Ukraine with Donald Trump.
Zelensky, who is visiting Austria, would attend the Group of Seven summit in Canada on Tuesday, where he hopes to meet Trump on the sidelines of the meeting.
“One of the questions that I will discuss with President Trump during the meeting is the defence package that Ukraine is ready to buy,” Zelensky told a news conference in Vienna.
Russia says US has cancelled next round of talks on easing tensions
Monday 16 June 2025 14:49
Russia has said that upcoming talks aimed at easing tensions between Moscow and the US have been cancelled at Washington’s request.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow “hopes that the pause they have taken will not last too long”.
The US and Russia recently began talks aimed at defusing long-running tensions, which have soured since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, President Donald Trump has indicated that he is keen to rebuild relations with Moscow despite the war.
Russia says it has handed over 6,060 Ukrainian soldiers' bodies
Monday 16 June 2025 13:50
,
Daniel Keane
Russia has handed back the bodies of 6,060 Ukrainian servicemen under agreements reached at Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul earlier this month, a Kremlin said on Monday.
Vladimir Medinsky said Moscow is ready to hand over another 2,239 bodies.
Russia has so far received the remains of 78 of its own soldiers in return, Medinsky and the ministry of defence said.
As Putin ramps up his summer offensive in Ukraine, will he succeed?
Monday 16 June 2025 13:00
,
Tom Watling
A peevish spokesman for Vladimir Putin bristled with indignation recently at Donald Trump’s description of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “like kids fighting in the park”.
Not so, Dmitry Peskov pouted; the conflict is an “existential question” for Russia. “This is a question of our security and the future of ourselves and our children, the future of our country,” continued Putin’s spokesman, who has grown more accustomed to preening with pleasure at the relentless assaults on Ukraine from the White House this year.
He is right. Victory for Russia was once defined as regime change in Kyiv. But it really need only be a messed up Ukraine, unstable, violent and impoverished.
G7 needs to raise pressure on Russia, von der Leyen says
Monday 16 June 2025 12:08
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Tom Watling
More pressure must be exerted on Russia to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday, and urged the G7 nations to ramp up sanctions to achieve that goal.
Leaders of the world's largest industrial nations are meeting in Canada's Rockies with European countries seeking to keep the war in Ukraine firmly on the mind of U.S. President Donald Trump, despite fighting breaking out between Israel and Iran in the Middle East.
With diplomacy at a standstill, the European Union is set to adopt a new sanctions package on Russia, but has so far failed to convince Trump, who has been reluctant to weigh in on Russian President Vladimir Putin, to impose new US sanctions. Trump has said he did not want the sanctions to interfere with getting a ceasefire.
“We must put more pressure on Russia to secure a real ceasefire, to bring Russia to the negotiating table and to end this war, sanctions are critical to that end,” von der Leyen told a news conference before Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States begin talks on Monday.
“Last week, we put forward a proposal for an 18 sanctions package. I will invite all G7 partners to join us in this endeavour.”
Crimean bridge attack and Operation Spiderweb show Zelensky has a fist full of wild cards against Russia
Monday 16 June 2025 11:30
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Tom Watling
Ukraine’s intelligence services released a video of their attack on Russia’s most important link to Crimea, the Kerch Bridge, which was recorded using Russia’s own surveillance systems.
The eruption of 1.1 tons of explosive on the logistical artery dealt a physical blow, but it’s the psychological effect that will be longer lasting.
Kyiv’s SBU spooks are telling Russia, and Vladimir Putin’s fan-in-chief Donald Trump, “see what we can do”.
Russian shelling wrecks homes in Donetsk
Monday 16 June 2025 10:44
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Tom Watling
Russian forces carried out 21 shelling operations across civilian areas of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Kyiv’s emergency services have reported.
The state emergency service posted photos of the aftermath of the strikes, which you can see below.
At least one person was injured in the village of Dmytro-Daryivka.
#Донеччина: протягом доби російські війська здійснили 21 обстріл - поранено людину, пошкоджено житлові будинки
— DSNS.GOV.UA (@SESU_UA) June 16, 2025
У Дмитро-Дар’ївці внаслідок ворожого удару поранено мирного жителя, загорілися складські приміщення. В інших громадах Донеччини також зафіксовані численні обстріли pic.twitter.com/Ny0V8dc559
In pictures: On the frontline with Ukraine's drone pilots
Monday 16 June 2025 10:02
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Tom Watling
Former CIA director says Donald Trump’s plan for war in Ukraine is ‘naive and unsophisticated’
Monday 16 June 2025 09:31
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Tom Watling
Donald Trump’s plan for peace in Ukraine has been branded “naive” and “unsophisticated” by former director of the CIA John Brennan.
In the first five months of his second term, the U.S. president has aggressively pushed for peace but refused to offer unconditional support to Kyiv in its defence against Russian aggression.
Mr Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine on the first day of his presidency while on the campaign trail, but diplomatic efforts have stalled and Russia has recently launched some of its largest attacks of the war so far.
Russia will attack Ukraine’s energy grid while the world is distracted by Israel-Iran, says Kyiv
Monday 16 June 2025 09:08
Russia intends to attack Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure while the world is distracted by the conflict between Israel and Iran, Kyiv’s foreign minister Andriy Sybiha has claimed.
Ukraine’s top diplomat said Russia’s Sunday attacks on energy and agricultural infrastructure facilities in the central city of Kremenchuk showed Moscow’s plan.
“Yesterday's barbaric attack on Kremenchuk's energy infrastructure is part of Russia's campaign to bomb Ukrainian civilian energy infrastructure,” he said.
“Moscow intends to attack Ukraine's energy grid while the world's attention is on the Middle East. This is especially cynical given Putin's ongoing attempts to imitate constructiveness toward US peace efforts. In reality, he shows complete disregard for them by ramping up terror against Ukraine.”
He called on Ukraine’s supporters to ramp up sanctions on Russian energy.
Yesterday's barbaric attack on Kremenchuk's energy infrastructure is part of Russia's campaign to bomb Ukrainian civilian energy infrastructure.
— Andrii Sybiha (@andrii_sybiha) June 16, 2025
Moscow intends to attack Ukraine's energy grid while the world's attention is on the Middle East. This is especially cynical given…
Two injured after Russia drone hits residential gardens in Kyiv
Monday 16 June 2025 08:42
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Tom Watling
Two people have been injured after a Russian drone slammed into a private garden in Ukraine’s capital, local authorities have reported.
A 20-year-old man was hospitalised in serious condition, and a woman was also wounded after the drone hit the Rusanivka Gardens, a private neighbourhood in the capital’s Dniprovskyi District, creating a crater near civilian homes.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, described the attack as evidence of Russia’s “deliberate tactic of terror”.
Kyiv’s air force said Russia fired 138 drones at Ukraine overnight.
Russia fires 138 drones at Ukraine
Monday 16 June 2025 08:19
,
Tom Watling
Russia fired 138 drones at targets across Ukraine in its latest overnight aerial assault, Kyiv’s air force has reported.
Ukraine said they shot down 84 of the drones, and 41 more were either lost or downed using electronic warfare.
We will bring you news of any casualties from the attacks as soon as we find out.
Russia returns bodies of 1,200 more Ukrainians
Monday 16 June 2025 08:00
,
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Russia has returned the bodies of 1,200 Ukrainians killed in the war as part of a prisoner of war swap with Russia.
The latest swap brings the total number of bodies repatriated to Ukraine to over 4,800, according to Ukrainian authorities.
“I am grateful to everyone involved in this humanitarian mission,” said Ukraine's defence minister Rustem Umerov. “Ahead is an important and responsible stage of identification. This is a complex and delicate work that will give each family the opportunity to receive answers.”
G7 will discuss Russia sanctions if Putin holds out peace talks, says Sir Keir
Monday 16 June 2025 07:45
,
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Group of Seven allies will discuss the prospect of more sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin continues to resist calls for an unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The prime minister said targeting Moscow with further action would "undoubtedly" form part of talks at the international summit this week unless the Kremlin engages in peace talks.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend the conference in Canada, where leaders from the world's major economies are descending on a luxury mountain lodge in the Rockies for talks on global security.
Mr Zelensky has accepted a US-backed ceasefire proposal and offered to talk directly with his counterpart in Moscow, but the Russian leader has so far shown no willingness to meet him.
Speaking to reporters travelling with him to Kananaskis, Sir Keir was asked if he expects additional sanctions on Russia to be agreed by international partners.
"We've got President Zelensky coming, so that provides a good opportunity for us to discuss again as a group," he said.
"My long-standing view is, we need to get Russia to the table for an unconditional ceasefire.
"That's not been really straightforward. But we do need to be clear about we need to get to the table and that if that doesn't happen, sanctions will undoubtedly be part of the discussion at the G7."
In pics: Kin of Ukrainian prisoners of war hold portraits of them during a rally
Monday 16 June 2025 07:21
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Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Finland accuses senior crew of Russia-linked vessel in damage of undersea power cable
Monday 16 June 2025 07:06
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Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Finnish authorities have accused senior officers of a Russia-linked vessel that damaged undersea cables last year between Finland and Estonia of criminal offenses related to the wreckage.
They say the oil tanker, the Eagle S, dragged its anchor to damage the Estlink-2 power cable and communication links between Finland and Estonia on 25 December last year.
The Kremlin previously denied involvement in damaging the infrastructure, which provides power and communication for thousands of Europeans.
More here.
Zelensky says Russia's latest attack 'spit in the face' of peace talks
Monday 16 June 2025 07:05
,
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Russia's latest bout of attack against Ukraine was a "spit in the face of everything the international community is trying to do" to end the three-year-long war.
Russia yesterday attacked the city of Kremenchuk in Poltava Oblast with missiles and drones, which reportedly damaged agricultural facilities.
The attack involving 200 drones and missiles was launched shortly after a phone call between US president Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Kyiv Independent reported.
Mr Zelensky, in his nighttime address, said that the attack was "deliberately and treacherously planned to target our civilian infrastructure" and that Russia intended to damage energy facilities.
"This is Russia's spit in the face of everything the international community is trying to do to stop this war," Mr Zelensky said.
"It happened right after Putin's conversation with Trump. After the Americans asked us not to strike Russian energy facilities. At the same time as Putin tries to portray himself as a mediator for the Middle East ... The level of cynicism is staggering."
North Korea troops suffered 'over 6,000 casualties in Ukraine war'
Monday 16 June 2025 06:42
,
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
North Korean troops have suffered more than 6,000 casualties fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine, more than half of the about 11,000 soldiers initially sent to the Kursk region, the British Defence Ministry said in a post on X.
“DPRK [ Democratic People's Republic of Korea] operations have thus far been confined to the Kursk region. Any decision to deploy into internationally recognised, sovereign Ukrainian territory in support of Russian forces would almost certainly require sign-off from both Russia's president Vladimir Putin, and [North Korean president] Kim Jong Un,” the defence ministry said.
“The total casualties represent over 50 per cent of the North Korean troops originally deployed. Open sources suggest that North Korea has sent a small number of extra soldiers to support their forces in the region.”
EU urges G7 to ramp up sanctions on Russia
Monday 16 June 2025 06:38
,
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
European commission president Ursula von der Leyen has urged the Group of Seven nations to ramp up sanctions on Russia to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Leaders of the world's largest industrial nations are meeting in Canada's Rockies with European countries seeking to keep the war in Ukraine firmly on the mind of US president Donald Trump despite fighting breaking out between Israel and Iran in the Middle East.
"Last week, we put forward a proposal for an 18 sanctions package. I will invite all G7 partners to join us in this endeavour."
The European Union is set to adopt a new sanctions package on Russia, but have so far failed to convince US president Donald Trump, who has been reluctant to weigh on Russian president Vladimir Putin to impose new US sanctions.
Mr Trump has said he did not want the sanctions to interfere with getting a ceasefire. "We must put more pressure on Russia to secure a real ceasefire, to bring Russia to the negotiating table and to end this war, sanctions are critical to that end," Ms von der Leyen told a news conference before Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States begin talks today.
Ukraine strikes Russian drone factory 1,200km away from frontline
Monday 16 June 2025 06:33
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Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
One person was killed and 13 others wounded after Ukraine struck an alleged drone factory in Russia's Tatarstan region, local authorities said.
Regional governor Rustam Minnikhanov said the drone was destroyed, but falling debris ignited a fire and struck a vehicle manufacturing plant in the Yelabuga district, some 1,200km from the frontline. Russia’s defence ministry said it shot down six Ukrainian drones overnight.
The Ukrainian military claimed the factory produced, tested, and launched drones at Ukraine, which targeted Kyiv's energy and civil infrastructure.
Russia launched 183 drones and decoys, along with 11 missiles, at Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force, which said its air defenses destroyed 111 drones and eight missiles, while another 48 drones were jammed.
