Some Nato members are waiting for Donald Trump to enter the White House before they make a decision on Ukraine joining the alliance, Latvian foreign minister Baiba Braze has said.
Kyiv has urged Nato foreign ministers to issue an invitation at a meeting in Brussels this week, but movement appears unlikely amid opposition from some capitals and the transition in Washington.
Mr Trump has said he will end Russia’s war with Ukraine in a day, but his team’s plans for Ukraine policy remain unclear.
"Everybody is waiting for the new US administration to start working," Ms Braze told Reuters. "That is one aspect that is said or unsaid - but it's a reality."
Meanwhile, a new report has found Russia took children away from occupied Ukrainian territories using Vladimir Putin’s presidential aircraft and funds.
At least 314 Ukrainian children were taken to Russia in the early months of the war in Ukraine in a Kremlin-funded programme, according to a report by Yale’s School of Public Health set to be presented to the UN security council today.
Mr Putin is already wanted on arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court for the alleged war crime of deportation of Ukrainian children
Key Points
- Putin’s Kremlin planes took away Ukrainian children for adoption – report
- UK considering deployment of troops in Ukraine - report
- Nato waiting for Trump before deciding on Ukraine invite, Latvia says
- Hand of Russia seen in many world conflicts at present, says Lammy
Russian minister says 48,000 relatives trying to trace soldiers via DNA
15:32
Jabed Ahmed
Nearly 50,000 relatives of Russian troops have submitted DNA samples, a government minister has been recorded as saying.
The figure was given by Deputy Defence Minister Anna Tsivilyova at a round-table discussion on 26 November, prompting a senior lawmaker to warn that such data should not be published anywhere.
Russia has not released official statistics about its war losses in Ukraine since the initial months following its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Western countries believe hundreds of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded in gruelling trench warfare in Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.
Independent news site Astra published a video of last week's meeting where Russian officials and lawmakers were discussing support for troops involved in what Moscow calls its "special military operation" and for their family members.
Tsivilyova said the 48,000 soldiers' relatives had submitted their DNA for free to an interior ministry database.
Germany cannot confirm reports about Baltic Sea incident with Russian ship
15:01
Jabed Ahmed
A German defence ministry spokesperson could not confirm reports about an incident between a German army helicopter and a Russian ship in the Baltic Sea.
According to the German press agency dpa, the crew of the Russian ship had fired signal ammunition. The helicopter had been on a reconnaissance mission, according to the report.
There was no immediate Russian response to the German media reports.
Last month two subsea cables - one linking Finland and Germany and the other connecting Sweden to Lithuania - were damaged in less than 24 hours, prompting German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius to say he assumed it was sabotage.
Sweden, Germany and Lithuania all launched criminal investigations last week, zeroing in on Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, which left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on Nov. 15.
Russia denied any responsibility for the damaged cables.
Nato’s Rutte says arms firms need to produce more at lower prices
14:31
Jabed Ahmed
Nato boss Mark Rutte sharply criticised arms companies inside the US-led alliance, saying they were producing too little, charging too much and delivering too slowly as Nato seeks to support Ukraine and boost its defences against Russia.
With Nato countries bracing for renewed pressure from US President-elect Donald Trump to raise their defence spending, Rutte also said the current target of 2 per cent of economic output would not be enough to deter attacks in the future.
Rutte did not say whether he thought 3 per cent should be the new target, as Trump has insisted. However, he said Nato would not only have to spend more on defence but also get better value.
“We are producing not enough, at too high prices, and delivery is too slow, so defence industry needs to put in more shifts, needs to put in more production lines,” Mr Rutte said.
“We cannot have a situation where we just pay more for the same and we see large kickbacks to the shareholders,”
Ukraine has 'hard decisions' to make about mobilisation, Blinken says
14:01
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine has to decide on further mobilisation of troops in its war against the Russian invasion, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.
“Ukraine has hard decisions to make about further mobilisation, but these are necessary decisions,” Mr Blinken said after a two-day meeting with foreign ministers of the Nato alliance in Brussels.
“This is critical, because even with the money, even with the munitions, there have to be people on the frontlines to deal with the Russian agression.”
Top Ukrainian official visits US to meet Trump team, foreign minister says
13:29
Jabed Ahmed
A top Ukrainian official has begun a visit to the USA to build contacts with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, the foreign minister has said.
Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak was already in the US, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha told reporters in Brussels, news agency Interfax Ukraine reported.
"This contact at the level of the head of the (president's) office is very important for establishing, among other things, relations with representatives of the new administration,” Mr Sybiha said.
Tucker Carlson returns to Moscow to interview another Russian leader
12:59
Jabed Ahmed
Philippines' Marcos says presence of Russian submarine 'very worrisome'
12:31
Jabed Ahmed
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has said the presence of a Russian attack submarine in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea was “very worrisome”.
“That’s very concerning. Any intrusion into the West Philippine Sea, of our EEZ, of our baselines, is very worrisome,” Marcos told reporters, referring to part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ maritime zone.
A Russian Kilo-class submarine was sighted 80 nautical miles off the western province of Occidental Mindoro on Nov. 28, Navy spokesperson Roy Vincent Trinidad said in a statement on Monday, confirming a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Russia said the submarine was exercising freedom of navigation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“The submarine did not violate the Philippine economic zone regime in any way,” the embassy said, adding it had kept the Philippines informed of its presence to make clear there were no “unscrupulous intentions”.
Watch: Nato secretary general warns Putin 'not interested in peace'
12:01
Jabed Ahmed
Russia says it's watching 'tragic' situation in South Korea with concern
11:31
Jabed Ahmed
Russia is following events in South Korea with concern after the president briefly declared martial law, but there are no threats to Russian citizens there, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
Moscow has deepened ties with Seoul's neighbour North Korea since the start of its war in Ukraine, drawing concern from Western countries.
South Korean lawmakers submitted a bill on Wednesday to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after he declared martial law before reversing the move hours later, triggering a political crisis in Asia's fourth-largest economy, a major U.S. ally.
"We are watching with concern the tragic events unfolding in South Korea," Ms Zakharova told a news briefing.
"The situation on the Korean peninsula is already complicated by the provocative actions of the United States of America and its allies," she said.
Norway should begin process of divesting Russian assets, central bank says
11:01
Jabed Ahmed
Norway’s government should allow the country’s sovereign wealth fund to divest parts of its Russian portfolio when possible, the Norwegian central bank has said.
The Norwegian finance ministry ordered a halt to all transactions in the fund’s Russian assets shortly after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022 but said at the time that the ultimate goal was to divest its holdings.
While it is not possible to draw up a general divestment plan, the fund should now be allowed to sell Russian assets if and when opportunities arise, the central bank said in an Aug. 24 letter to the finance ministry released on Wednesday.
“Such an approach to seizing divestment opportunities would mean an end to the general freeze on the fund’s investments in Russia,” it said.
Nato agrees protecting Ukraine infrastructure is priority, Rutte says
10:29
Jabed Ahmed
Nato members agreed at a meeting that providing air defence systems to protect the country's infrastructure against Russian attacks has to be a priority, alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte said.
"There was a clear agreement around the table last night that to help Ukraine, particularly with its infrastructure, has to be a priority," Mr Rutte told reporters on Wednesday.
"I'm confident that allies will follow up in the coming days and weeks in making sure that whatever they can supply to Ukraine will be supplied."
Ukraine's air force says it shot down 29 drones launched by Russia
09:58
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine's air force has said that Russia launched 50 drones to attack the country overnight.
The air force said it shot down 29 of them, lost track of 18, likely due to electronic warfare, and one drone headed towards territories occupied by Russia.
Russia backs Syrian leadership and condemns attacks by ‘terrorists’
09:29
Jabed Ahmed
Moscow strongly backs the actions of the Syrian leadership to counter attacks by “terrorist groups”, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
Ms Zakharova said advances by Syrian rebels in recent days would not have been possible without outside support and incitement. She said, without providing evidence, that the rebels had received drones and training from foreign actors.
Hand of Russia seen in many world conflicts at present, says Lammy
09:01
Jabed Ahmed
The Foreign Secretary has called on Nato allies to “get serious” about the need to increase defence spending.
David Lammy was in Brussels for a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers when he said “the time to act is now” – although the Government is yet to set out its own plans for increasing spending on defence to 2.5% of gross domestic product.
Mr Lammy said: “We’re living in very dangerous times, and as we look across the world, with war here on our continent in Europe, with the tremendous aggression that we’re seeing across the Middle East, with the hand of Iran so present in the Middle East and with this rising conflict in Sudan and now in Syria, there is one country whose hand is in so much of it, and that is Russia.
“And that is why, as we meet here discussing these important issues, it’s hugely important that we step up defence spending, across Nato allies particularly.
“In the United Kingdom, we are at 2.3%, heading to 2.5% as soon as we can get there, and we urge all allies across the Nato family to get serious about defence spending.
“All of our populations require us to understand the tremendous security challenges that we are facing at this time, the time to act is now.”
Up to 100 'suspicious incidents' in Europe can be attributed to Russia, Czech minister says
08:29
Jabed Ahmed
Up to 100 “suspicious incidents” in Europe this year can be attributed to Russia, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky has said as he arrived at a meeting with NATO counterparts in Brussels.
“This year there were 500 suspicious incidents in Europe. Up to 100 of them can be attributed to Russian hybrid attacks, espionage, influence operations. We need to send a strong signal to Moscow that this won’t be tolerated,” Lipavsky said
.
Russia conducts military drills involving hypersonic missiles in Mediterranean Sea
08:00
Jabed Ahmed
Russian Navy frigates equipped with new generation hypersonic cruise missiles have conducted drills in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, the Russian Defence Ministry has said.
The crews of the frigates fired Zircon (Tsirkon) hypersonic anti-ship missiles, while a Russian submarine launched a Kalibr cruise missile, another weapon capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the ministry said.
On the coast nearby, a missile system carried out a live launch of an Onyx anti-ship missile, it said.
Ukraine’s absconding soldiers get second chance as war wears down on Kyiv
07:16
Arpan Rai
As Ukraine’s military struggles to find enough troops, particularly infantry, to hold off Russia’s much larger army, some units are giving a second chance to those who have absconded from service.
Data from the prosecutor’s office shows nearly 95,000 criminal cases have been opened since 2022 against soldiers going “absent without leave” (AWOL) and for the more serious crime of battlefield desertion.
The number of cases has risen steeply with each year of the war: almost two-thirds of the total are from 2024. With many tens of thousands of troops killed or wounded, it is a depletion that Ukraine can ill afford.
Now, some units are replenishing their ranks by accepting soldiers previously declared AWOL.
One of them is Ukraine’s elite 47th Brigade, which published a social media post last month inviting soldiers who had absconded to join. “Our aim is to give every soldier the opportunity to come back into the fold and realise his potential,” the post announced. In the first two days, the brigade said, over a hundred applications came in.
“There was a tsunami of applications; so many that we still aren’t able to process them all before new ones come in,” Viacheslav Smirnov, the 47th’s head of recruitment, said two weeks after the announcement.
Nato chief calls on allies to step up military support for Kyiv
07:00
Jabed Ahmed
Western allies must step up their military aid for Ukraine to strengthen Kyiv’s position as “Putin is not interested in peace”, NATO chief Mark Rutte has warned.
Moscow’s troops have been capturing village after village in Ukraine’s east, part of a drive to seize the industrial Donbas region, while Russian airstrikes target a hobbled Ukrainian energy grid as winter sets in.
“We will all need to do more. The stronger our military support to Ukraine is now, the stronger their hand will be at the negotiating table,” Mr Rutte said ahead of a Nato meeting in Brussels.
“Putin is not interested in peace. He is pressing on, trying to take more territory. Because he thinks he can break Ukraine‘s resolve and ours, but he is wrong.”
Nato chief warns Trump not to push Ukraine deal that would see Putin ‘high-fiving’ Iran
06:38
Arpan Rai
The new secretary-general of Nato has warned Donald Trump not to push Ukraine to sign a peace deal that would see the leaders of Russia and Iran “high-fiving”.
Mark Rutte also warned such an agreement would create a “dire security threat not only to Europe but also to the US.”
The next US President has repeatedly claimed that he would bring peace to Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office.
While he has yet to reveal details of his plan to end the war, hints that Ukraine would be forced to make significant concessions to its Russian invaders have worried Nato countries.
UK considering deployment of troops in Ukraine - report
06:31
Arpan Rai
The UK and France are inching closer to consider deploying troops to Ukraine to monitor a ceasefire should Kyiv and Moscow begin peace talks, a senior Nato official said on the condition of anonymity.
The official said Paris and London are looking at options for a variety of situations that can take place in Ukraine, reported Radio Free Europe. These discussions are not held within Nato structures but as between the respective national governments, the official said.
One of the options being considered would entail sending a task force of troops to the contact line to enforce an armistice, the report added.
Pictured: Putin meets injured serviceman
06:00
Jabed Ahmed
Photos: Blackout in Kyiv as Russian strikes leave people without power
05:28
Arpan Rai
Nato waiting for Trump before deciding on Ukraine invite, Latvia says
05:14
Arpan Rai
A number of Nato members are waiting for the incoming US administration led by Donald Trump to take office before making up their minds on Ukraine’s request for an invitation to join the alliance, Latvia’s foreign minister said.
“In principle, we as political leaders have agreed that Ukraine will be a member,” Latvian foreign minister Baiba Braže told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting.
“The issue is what conditions when, and obviously that is where the alliance has to come together. All allies, currently, everybody is waiting for the new US administration to start working, so I think that is one aspect that is said or unsaid, but it’s a reality,” he said.
Braže, a former senior Nato official, said Ukraine’s battle-hardened military would be an asset for Nato, and that her country would be in favour of inviting Ukraine to join if a decision was on the table.
“A number of countries don’t necessarily feel comfortable inviting a country at war to join Nato,” the minister said, adding: “We are more flexible.”
Kyiv has urged Nato foreign ministers to issue an invitation at a meeting in Brussels this week, but movement appears unlikely amid opposition from some capitals and the transition in Washington.
South Korean president calls off martial law following tense showdown
05:05
Arpan Rai
South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has announced he will undo his dramatic declaration of martial law just hours after his military clashed with protesters outside parliament.
The short-lived decree, which opposition figures described as a coup, shocked South Korea as the president vowed to eliminate “anti-state” actors he accused of sympathising with communist North Korea.
After the edict late on Tuesday night, the military surrounded the National Assembly in Seoul and clashed with protesters outraged at the declaration.
Follow live updates here:
Kremlin says latest US aid for Kyiv shows Biden administration wants to keep Ukraine war going
05:00
Jabed Ahmed
The Kremlin has said that a US decision to send another weapons package to Ukraine worth $725 million showed that the outgoing Biden administration was determined to throw oil on the fire of the war in Ukraine to ensure the conflict kept going.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the aid package would not change the situation on the frontline.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Monday that the new aid would include Stinger missiles, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), and drones and land mines.
Asked about the aid package, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “The current administration is pursuing its goals, its consistent line is to keep this war from slowing down.
“The (Biden) administration is doing everything it can to further add fuel to the fire. At the same time, this and other aid packages cannot change the course of events, cannot affect the dynamics on the frontlines.”
Could South Korea send troops to fight for Ukraine?
04:44
Arpan Rai
The alleged deployment of North Korean soldiers to aid Russia’s war effort in Ukraine has prompted South Korea to warn that it could send military monitors as well as weapons to Kyiv.
South Korean foreign minister Cho Tae Yul said earlier this week that all options were on the table, but experts noted that Seoul was more likely to send a variety of military support short of soldiers.
The alleged presence of around 12,000 North Korean troops in Russia, reportedly under a defence treaty that Russian president Vladimir Putin signed with Korean leader Kim Jong Un earlier this year, has set off alarm bells on the Korean peninsula.
Russia says no grounds for negotiations on Ukraine yet
04:30
Arpan Rai
A top Russian official has said there are no grounds yet for negotiations on how to bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
“There are no grounds for negotiations yet,” the Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Izvestia newspaper, reiterating Moscow’s long-standing position on the talks.
“Many countries have declared their readiness to provide their territory... And we are grateful to all countries for such goodwill, including Qatar.”
Qatar has mediated several returns of Ukrainian children taken to Russia from the conflict zone since the start of the war. Thousands of civilians, the vast majority of them Ukrainians, have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, said on Monday that there could be attempts to begin peace talks with Ukraine in 2025.
In late November, sources told Reuters that Russian president Vladimir Putin was open to discussing a ceasefire deal in Ukraine with Trump and could agree to freeze the conflict along the front line. Russian forces control about 20 per cent of Ukraine’s territory and have been advancing lately at the fastest pace since the early days of the war.
But the Kremlin has said repeatedly it will not negotiate with president Volodymyr Zelensky unless Ukraine renounces its ambition to join Nato and withdraws troops from territories now controlled by Russian troops.
Putin’s Kremlin planes took away Ukrainian children for adoption – report
03:29
Arpan Rai
Russian presidential aircraft and funds were used in a program that took children from occupied Ukrainian territories, stripped them of Ukrainian identity and placed them with Russian families, according to a report by Yale’s School of Public Health.
The US State Department-backed research, published yesterday, identified 314 Ukrainian children taken to Russia in the early months of the war in Ukraine as part of what it says was a systematic, Kremlin-funded program to “Russify” them.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian president Vladimir Putin and his child rights’ commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the alleged war crime of deportation of Ukrainian children.
The new research, reported first by Reuters, offers details of the alleged deportation programme and individuals involved, including what its lead researcher said were new links to Putin.
The researcher, Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab, said he was scheduled to present the findings to the UN security council today. The US holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member body this month.
Mr Raymond said the research offers evidence that would support additional charges by the ICC against Putin of “forcible transfer” of people from one national and ethnic group to another.
He further said the report proved “the deportation of Ukraine‘s children is part of a systematic, Kremlin-led program” to make them citizens of Russia.
Forcible transfer is a crime against humanity under international law. Because they must be widespread and systematic, crimes against humanity are considered more serious than war crimes.
Russian defence units trying to repel drone attack on Novorossiisk, city head says
03:24
Arpan Rai
Russia’s air defence units were trying to repel a Ukrainian drone attack on Novorossiisk, the head of the Russian Black Sea port said this morning.
Novorossiisk is one of Russia’s most important oil export gateways.
“Air defence is operating in Novorossiisk,” Andrei Kravchenko, the head of the Novorossiisk municipality, said on his Telegram messaging channel. “All emergency services have been put on combat alert.”
Zelensky calls for reinforcement of eastern front against Russian advances
03:03
Arpan Rai
Volodymyr Zelensky called for major reinforcement of sectors in eastern Ukraine of the 1,000-km (600-mile) frontline, where Russian forces have made consistent gains in recent months.
Analysts and war bloggers say that Russian forces in the east are advancing at the fastest rate since the early days of the February 2022 invasion.
Mr Zelensky issued his appeal as Russia’s defence ministry said its troops had captured two new frontline villages – one in Donetsk region, the main focus of the 33-month-old war, the other further south in Zaporizhzhia region.
The president was speaking in his nightly video address after a discussion with Ukraine‘s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi. He said much depended on Ukraine‘s Western allies providing vital weaponry in a timely manner.
“The Donetsk directions require significant reinforcement. This particularly involves the supply of weapons from our partners,” Mr Zelensky said.
“It’s a direct relationship: The greater our army’s firepower and technological capabilities, the more we can destroy Russia’s offensive potential and protect the lives of our soldiers.”
The key, he said, was to boost Ukraine‘s long-range capabilities, partly by boosting domestic weapons production.
The United States, the biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine, announced its latest military aid package on Monday, valued at some $725m. But Ukraine is concerned about the continued flow of weapons under president-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to put a quick end to the war.
Putin would not accept any part of Ukraine being in Nato, analyst suggests
03:00
Jabed Ahmed
James Nixey of the Chatham House think-tank has warned that any part of Ukraine being in Nato would be unacceptable to Vladimir Putin, after Volodymyr Zelensky said he could accept territory being temporarily ceded to Russia in exchange for security assurances from the alliance.
“After all, [Nato] is, for him, an abhorrence. Putin doesn’t want a pause anyway – he believes he’s on the brink of an historic and strategic victory, kindly deal-sealed by Donald Trump,” Mr Nixey told The Independent.
Russia and Belarus to sign landmark security pact, Russian news agency says
02:01
Jabed Ahmed
Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, will sign a landmark security pact on Friday that reflects global geopolitical changes, Russian state news agency RIA has said.
The agreement will be among the documents the leaders are set to sign in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on the 25th anniversary of the Union State, a borderless union and alliance between the two former Soviet republics and neighbours.
“We are covering the topics of state, public, economic security, talking about ensuring stability in the development of our economies,” the agency quoted Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Nazaruk as saying.
“It is designed to take into account the changed external conditions, when the world is moving to a polycentric world order,” he added, describing what he called a “landmark” agreement.
As president, Lukashenko has kept Belarus in a firm authoritative grip for the past three decades, and been a loyal ally of Putin, allowing his territory to be used as a launch pad for Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Nato’s chief avoids talk of Ukraine’s membership. He says the priority is helping Kyiv defend itself
01:00
Jabed Ahmed
NATO's chief avoids talk of Ukraine's membership. He says the priority is helping Kyiv defend itself
Watch: Nato secretary general warns Putin 'not interested in peace'
Tuesday 3 December 2024 23:59
Jabed Ahmed
Explained: Why is Russia targeting Ukraine’s energy grid with missile attacks?
Tuesday 3 December 2024 23:03
Jabed Ahmed
Russia says it took control of two more settlements in Ukraine
Tuesday 3 December 2024 22:01
Jabed Ahmed
The Russian Defence Ministry has said its forces had gained control of two new settlements, Romanivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, and Novodarivka, in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region.
The Independent could not verify this claim.
Russia and China exploiting UK’s technology dependence to cause ‘maximum destruction’, GCHQ warns
Tuesday 3 December 2024 20:58
Jabed Ahmed
Talk of ‘negotiations’ does not change Ukraine approach, says UK minister
Tuesday 3 December 2024 20:01
Jabed Ahmed
A Foreign Office minister has denied the UK changed its approach to Ukraine when the Prime Minister mentioned “negotiations” to secure peace in eastern Europe.
Catherine West pledged the UK would support Kyiv in pursuit of “a just peace on its own terms”.
Conservative shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel had asked her whether Sir Keir Starmer’s comments represented “a departure from the current approach” towards the conflict.
Speaking at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in the City of London on Monday, the Prime Minister vowed to “continue to back Ukraine and do what it takes to support their self-defence for as long as it takes, to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations so they can secure a just and lasting peace on their terms that guarantees their security, independence, and right to choose their own future”.
Alleged Russian spies targeted Ukrainian soldiers at US base, UK court told
Tuesday 3 December 2024 18:59
Jabed Ahmed
An alleged Russian spy ring targeted Ukrainian soldiers at a US military base in Germany who were believed to be training to use a crucial air defence system to defend against Russia’s invasion, British prosecutors have said.
Bulgarian nationals Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, are accused of being part of a sophisticated spying network run by a Russian agent named as Jan Marsalek, which planned six operations from Britain.
Prosecutors say the trio - along with Orlin Roussev and Bizer Dzhambazov, who have admitted being part of the conspiracy – carried out surveillance of journalists and planned to stage a fake protest outside the Kazakh embassy in London.
The trio are accused of acting under the direction of Roussev who was receiving instructions from Marsalek, an Austrian national who used the false name Rupert Ticz and was chief operating officer of collapsed payments company Wirecard.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan told the jury on Tuesday that in late 2022, Marsalek tasked Roussev with surveilling a US military base in Stuttgart, Germany, though the operation was cut short after the defendants were arrested.
Morgan said Marsalek believed the base was being used to train Ukrainian forces to use the Patriot air defence system.
The surveillance was carried out in October and November 2022, “at an absolutely crucial time in terms of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” she said.
Ivanova, Gaberova and Ivanchev deny the accusations.
Watch: Zelensky says Ukraine could temporarily cede territory in exchange for Nato membership
Tuesday 3 December 2024 18:27
Jabed Ahmed
Nato members waiting for Trump before deciding on Ukraine invitation, Latvia says
Tuesday 3 December 2024 17:58
Jabed Ahmed
A number of Nato members are waiting for the new US administration to take office before making up their minds on Ukraine’s request for an invitation to join the alliance, Latvia’s foreign minister has said.
Kyiv has urged Nato foreign ministers to issue an invitation at a meeting in Brussels this week, but movement appears unlikely amid opposition from some capitals and the transition in Washington.
President-elect Donald Trump has said he will end Russia’s war with Ukraine in a day, but his team’s plans for Ukraine policy remain unclear.
“In principle, we as political leaders have agreed that Ukraine will be a member,” Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže told Reuters.
“The issue is what conditions when, and obviously that is where the alliance has to come together. All allies, currently, everybody is waiting for the new US administration to start working, so I think that is one aspect that is said or unsaid, but it’s a reality.”
Braže, a former senior Nato official, said Ukraine’s battle-hardened military would be an asset for Nato, and that her country would be in favour of inviting Ukraine to join if a decision was on the table.
“A number of countries don’t necessarily feel comfortable inviting a country at war to join Nato,” the minister said, adding: “We are more flexible.”
Pictured: Russia conducts military drills involving hypersonic missiles
Tuesday 3 December 2024 17:29
Jabed Ahmed
Italy to approve more military aid for Ukraine this month, sources say
Tuesday 3 December 2024 16:59
Jabed Ahmed
Italy is preparing a new military aid package for Ukraine, two sources close to the matter have said, in a renewed show of support for Kyiv from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right government.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Italy has approved nine packages of aid for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration, including two Franco-Italian air defence systems known as SAMP/T.
The sources, who asked not to be named, told news agency Reuters the government was likely to approve a 10th package by the end of this month, but declined to provide details. All shipments have so far been covered by state secrecy.
Meloni has been a supporter of Kyiv since taking office in late 2022 and has vowed to back Ukraine until the war ends, amid uncertainty over the future attitude of the U.S. once president-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
Ukraine needs robust security guarantees, German foreign minister says
Tuesday 3 December 2024 16:28
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine needs robust security guarantees and a just peace, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said, adding Kyiv alone would decide when to start negotiations with Russia.
“If we talk about peace, it must be a just peace, it must not be a frozen conflict, that only leads to further armaments and further attacks on Ukraine or even on other European countries,” said Baerbock on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting.
“Security guarantees are needed that are effective,” she said.
Ukraine conducts test on new domestically produced missiles, Zelenskiy says
Tuesday 3 December 2024 15:58
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine has conducted a test on new domestically made missiles and is ramping up missile production, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app that he had received reports from his military on the test.
“We can thank our Ukrainian missile developers. We are speeding up the production,” he said, without providing further details.
Zelensky said in August that Ukraine had conducted its first test of a domestically-produced ballistic missile.
Ukraine, locked in a 33-months-long war against a much bigger and militarily better-equipped Russia, is ramping up domestic production in an attempt to speed up weapons supplies and decrease its dependency on Western aid deliveries.
Russia conducts military drills involving hypersonic missiles in Mediterranean Sea
Tuesday 3 December 2024 15:26
Jabed Ahmed
Russian Navy frigates equipped with new generation hypersonic cruise missiles have conducted drills in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, the Russian Defence Ministry has said.
The crews of the frigates fired Zircon (Tsirkon) hypersonic anti-ship missiles, while a Russian submarine launched a Kalibr cruise missile, another weapon capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the ministry said.
On the coast nearby, a missile system carried out a live launch of an Onyx anti-ship missile, it said.
Nato must ensure it is ready for the year ahead, says Blinken
Tuesday 3 December 2024 15:01
Jabed Ahmed
Nato must ensure it is ready for the coming year amid Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine and other threats, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said ahead of his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels.
“This is a vital moment, I think, for the alliance to make sure that we're level set for the year ahead,” Blinken told reporters, adding that he shared Mr Rutte’s concerns over the battlefield in Ukraine as well as Russia's attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Ukraine’s Naftogaz CEO proposed as deputy PM to lead new ministry
Tuesday 3 December 2024 14:27
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine's state gas and oil company Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov is the official nominee to be appointed deputy prime minister and lead the newly-created ministry for unity, three Ukrainian lawmakers have said.
He was previously Head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration and Minister of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine.
Mr Chernyshov oversaw the reform of state regulation in the construction industry and the decentralisation reform, which the European Union has acknowledged as one of Ukraine's most effective reforms.
Full report: Nato chief warns Trump not to push Ukraine deal that would see Putin ‘high-fiving’ Iran
Tuesday 3 December 2024 13:57
Jabed Ahmed
Kremlin says no date yet for Iranian president's visit to Russia
Tuesday 3 December 2024 13:26
Jabed Ahmed
A visit to Russia by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is being prepared, but there is no clarity yet on when it will take place, the Kremlin has said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was unclear whether the visit would happen this year, but that a date for the trip could be agreed very quickly if necessary.
“Such a visit is being prepared, preparations are underway,” Peskov said.
Moscow is preparing to sign a new bilateral treaty with Tehran that will include closer defence cooperation, the kind of treaty that Russian President Vladimir Putin often signs in person with his foreign counterparts.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told state television in late October the treaty would be signed “in the near future”.
Moscow signed a similar “comprehensive” treaty with North Korea, which includes a mutual defence clause, in June.
Military ties between Moscow and Tehran are a source of concern to the West as Russia prosecutes its war in Ukraine and turns to allies like Tehran for support.
Nato to step up intel sharing to counter Russian sabotage, Rutte says
Tuesday 3 December 2024 12:58
Jabed Ahmed
Nato will step up intelligence sharing and improve the protection of critical infrastructure in the face of Russia’s “hostile” acts of sabotage against allies, Nato chief Mark Rutte said on Tuesday.
“Over the past years, Russia and China have tried to destabilise our nations with acts of sabotage, cyber-attacks, disinformation and energy blackmail to intimidate us,” Rutte told reporters in Brussels.
“Nato allies will continue to stand together to face these threats through a range of measures, including greater intelligence sharing and better protection of critical infrastructure.”
