Russian forces have lost 1,030 soldiers killed and wounded in the past 24 hours on the war frontline in Ukraine, the Ukrainian military has said. The losses for Vladimir Putin’s troops include 48 artillery systems and 23 armoured combat vehicles, said the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s estimates of Russia’s losses since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022 state the Moscow has lost at least 556,650 of its troops to fatalities and injuries on Ukrainian battlefield.
This comes as Volodymyr Zelensky has urged his Nato allies in Washington to lift restrictions on its use of long-range weapons against targets in Russia, saying that would be “game-changer” in its war with Moscow.
Mr Zelensky’s cabinet chief Andriy Yermak told a public forum Russia had no restrictions on its use of weapons and it would be “a real game-changer” if Ukraine‘s allies could lift all limits on the use of those they supply to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, British-supplied missiles can be used by Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia, the UK has told Mr Zelensky.
UK defence secretary John Healey green-lighted Kyiv’s use of Storm Shadow missiles for defensive strikes inside Russian territory and said Britain “will do all we can to help Ukraine in their fight to repel Putin’s invasion”.
Key points
- UK-supplied weapons to be used to strike Russia
- Ukraine must join Nato after Russia’s war ends, says bloc chief
- Nato allies to provide ‘minimum £31 billion’ to Ukraine in 2025
- China laments Nato statement as ‘belligerent rhetoric’ and ‘lies’
Putin loses over 1,000 soldiers in past day on frontline, says Ukraine
06:37
Arpan Rai
Russian forces have lost 1,030 soldiers killed and wounded in the past 24 hours on the war frontline in Ukraine, the Ukrainian military has said.
The losses for Vladimir Putin’s troops include 48 artillery systems and 23 armoured combat vehicles, said the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s estimates of Russia’s losses since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022 state the Moscow has lost at least 556,650 of its troops to fatalities and injuries on Ukrainian battlefield.
Ukraine urges Nato to lift restrictions on targeting Russia
05:55
Arpan Rai
Ukraine urged Nato to lift restrictions on its use of long-range weapons against targets in Russia, saying that would be “game-changer” in the ongoing war while China slammed Nato criticism of its support for Russia as biased and malicious.
Andryi Yermak, president Vlodomyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, told a public forum that Russia had no restrictions on its use of weapons and it would be “a real game-changer” if Ukraine‘s allies could lift all limits on the use of weapons they supply to Ukraine.
Nato members have taken different approaches to how Ukraine can use weapons they send to Kyiv. Some have made clear Kyiv can use them to strike targets deep inside Russia while the United States has taken a narrower approach, allowing its weapons to be used only just inside Russia’s border against targets supporting Russian military operations in Ukraine.
Mr Biden told a press conference the United States had allowed Mr Zelensky to use American weapons in a limited way within Russia’s borders.
“If he had the ability to strike Moscow, strike the Kremlin, would that make sense? It wouldn’t,” he added.
Healey warns of ‘a decade or more’ of Russian aggression
05:34
Arpan Rai
Defence secretary John Healey has warned that the west is facing “a decade or more of growing aggression” Vladimir Putin’s Russia as Labour seeks to drawn Britain closer into EU defence arrangements.
The new defence secretary was speaking to journalists at the Nato summit in Washington DC after a series of meetings with the other 31 allies and Ukraine.
Mr Healey has committed to UK £3bn of aid to Ukraine for the war to be transferred within the first 100 days of the government.
He denied that the UK’s bid to draw back on some of the Tory Brexit arrangements would see the UK joining an EU military force but he confirmed that work on a security pact will start next week when Britain hosts the European Political Council summit.
Faced with threats from Russia, Nato and Indo-Pacific partners get closer
05:10
Arpan Rai
Four Pacific countries attending the Nato summit issued a joint statement yesterday to “strongly condemn the illicit military cooperation” between Russia and North Korea, showing how the North Atlantic military alliance and its Pacific allies are forging closer ties to counter what they see as shared security threats.
For the third year in a row, leaders or their deputies from Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia — which are not Nato members — attended the summit of the 75-year-old military alliance of European and North American countries. In Washington, they launched cooperative projects on Ukraine, disinformation, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
“We will address our shared security challenges, including Russia’s war against Ukraine, China’s support for Russia’s war economy and the growing alignment of authoritarian powers,” Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said when meeting officials of the four Pacific partners.
“We must work even more closely together to preserve peace and protect the rules-based international order,” he said. “Our security is not regional. It is global.”
Belarus and China join forces in a military drill near the Polish border
05:00
Alexander Butler
Nato outlier Hungary’s Orban talks ‘peace mission’ with Trump
04:30
Arpan Rai
Viktor Orban met with Donald Trump yesterday and the pair discussed the “possibilities of peace”, a spokesperson for the Hungarian prime minister said as he pushes for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Trump and Orban met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida “as the next stop of his peace mission”, Orban’s spokesperson said. “The discussion was about the possibilities of peace.”
Orban, a long-time Trump supporter, made surprise visits to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing in the past two weeks on a self-styled “peace mission”, angering Nato allies.
His meeting in Moscow with Russian president Vladimir Putin in particular vexed some other Nato members, who said the trip handed legitimacy to Putin when the West wants to isolate him over his war in Ukraine.
Orban traveled to Kyiv before visiting Moscow but did not tell Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky about his mission to Russia, Zelensky said, dismissing Orban’s ambition of playing the peacemaker.
Biden mistakenly call Zelensky ‘Putin’ as Nato summit wraps up
04:08
Arpan Rai
Joe Biden had a series of verbal slip-ups last night alongside the Nato summit in Washington, an unfortunate development for the 81-year-old as he tries to move past concerns that he is too old to run for re-election.
Verbal gaffes are not unusual in the long political career of Mr Biden, who overcame a childhood stutter, but there is closer attention on him amid the fallout from his dismal debate performance against Republican candidate Donald Trump last month.
Mr Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin”.
“And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination, ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said at the Nato summit, drawing gasps from those in the room.
“Going to beat president Putin, president Zelensky. I am so focused on beating Putin,” Mr Biden said while correcting himself.
Biden says he has 'no good reason' to talk to Putin right now
04:03
Arpan Rai
Joe Biden said he has no reason to talk to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin right now unless the Russian leader changes his behaviour.
Mr Biden, at a solo news conference ending the Nato summit, said “Putin’s got a problem” because Russia has not been successful in its two-and-a-half year war against Ukraine.
“I have no good reason to talk to Putin right now,” Mr Biden said.
Asked about Mr Zelensky’s appeal for greater freedom in targeting Russian forces, Mr Biden showed no sign of easing the US limits, saying he was following the advice of his defence and intelligence officials.
“If he had the capacity to strike Moscow, strike the Kremlin, would that make sense?” Mr Biden said of Mr Zelensky.
He later added, “We’re making it on a day-to-day basis... how far they should go in” to Russian territory.Ukraine has been the primary focus for European and North American leaders at the summit of the 75-year-old military alliance, with Mr Biden earlier in the day announcing a new military aid package and pledging to Mr Zelensky: “We will stay with you, period.”
Editorial: Nato offers post-Brexit Britain a rare chance to show leadership on a global scale
04:00
Alexander Butler
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko issues plea for air defences after ‘very painful’ Russian attack on hospitals
03:00
Alexander Butler
Ukraine official calls for end to limits on use of allied-supplied arms
02:00
Alexander Butler
Ukraine’s top presidential aide on Thursday called for an end to restrictions imposed on the use of allied-supplied weapons against targets deep inside Russia, saying it would be a “game-changer” in fighting Moscow’s occupation.
Andriy Yermak did not name any specific country’s restrictions but his comment came days after the White House reaffirmed a prohibition on Ukraine conducting strikes deep inside Russia with U.S.-supplied arms, following a Russian missile strike on a Kyiv children’s hospital.
“The partners have to take off any restrictions to use weapons not just by Ukrainian territory but have the possibility to answer (Russian attacks) including the territory of Russia,” Yermak told a public forum on the final day of the 2024 Nato summit, speaking English.
What is the Nato and why is the 2024 summit important for Ukraine?
01:00
Alexander Butler
Nato pledges F-16s and billions in finance to Ukraine during historic summit
Thursday 11 July 2024 23:30
Alexander Butler
Ukraine getting ‘closer and closer’ to becoming Nato member, says secretary general
Thursday 11 July 2024 22:30
Alexander Butler
Labour aims to make Britain the leading European nation in Nato – but will Trump care?
Thursday 11 July 2024 21:30
Alexander Butler
Children with cancer left in the dark as Russian missile attack struck during IV treatment
Thursday 11 July 2024 20:30
Alexander Butler
Kyiv‘s National Cancer Institute was busier than ever after a Russian missile struck Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital this week, forcing the evacuation of dozens of its young patients battling cancer.
Putin’s heaviest bombardment of the Ukrainian capital in four months severely damaged Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital on Monday, terrorizing families and severely impacting their children already battling life-threatening diseases.
Now, some families face a dilemma of where to continue their children’s treatment. Oksana Halak only learned about her two-year-old son Dmytro’s diagnosis — acute lymphoblastic leukemia — at the beginning of June.
China lashes out after Nato says it is ‘decisive enabler’ of Ukraine war
Thursday 11 July 2024 19:30
Alexander Butler
China hit back at Nato for its “belligerent rhetoric” and warned against bringing “chaos” in Asia after the 32-member alliance called Beijing a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The joint declaration’s sharpest tone yet on China came after the three-day summit Nato summit held in Washington on the 75th anniversary of the formation of the bloc.
With its “no-limits partnership” with Russia and its “large-scale support for its defence industrial base” China has become a war enabler, the communique said. The Nato members urged China to “cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort”.
U-turn sees Ukrainian toddler reunited with refugee parents in UK as calls grow for government policy change
Thursday 11 July 2024 18:30
Andy Gregory
Ukrainian refugee parents barred from bringing their two-year-old daughter to Britain after the UK’s sponsorship rules were suddenly tightened will now be reunited with their child after a government U-turn.
Oleksandra and Yaroslav, both aged 31, decided to leave their daughter Anna with her grandparents in Kyiv while getting set up with their own accommodation and establishing a new business after arriving in Britain under the Homes for Ukraine scheme in April 2022.
But after they overcame these hurdles, their application in April this year for Anna to join them was refused by the Home Office on the grounds that – as per rule changes brought in without warning in February – they were no longer eligible sponsors, being neither UK or Irish citizens nor having indefinite leave to remain.
Starmer signals Ukraine can use British Storm Shadow missiles to strike inside Russia
Thursday 11 July 2024 16:30
Alexander Butler
Keir Starmer has signalled that Ukraine can use British Storm Shadow missiles to strike military targets inside Russia, a move likely to anger Moscow.
This comes after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the UK at the Nato summit in Washington for lifting the ban on using these missiles for attacks across the border.
While the prime minister emphasised that the use of the missiles must comply with international humanitarian law, he said it is up to Ukraine to decide how to deploy them.
Norway to give Ukraine $93 mln to boost air defences, PM says
Thursday 11 July 2024 15:32
Alexander Butler
Norway will give 1 billion crowns ($92.69 million) to boost Ukraine’s air defences, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Thursday at a NATO summit where alliance members have promised more aid to Kyiv as it fights Russian invaders.
The announcement came a day after Norway said it would give Ukraine six F-16 fighter jets. “The Ukrainians need more air defence to protect their population from Russian bombs and missiles,” Stoere said in a statement.
“The brutal attacks we have seen this past week show why it is so vital for the Ukrainians to have greater protection from Russian air attacks,” he added.
Russian diplomat says Moscow won't attend a second Ukraine peace summit
Thursday 11 July 2024 13:52
Alexander Butler
Russia will not attend a follow-up to last month’s Ukraine peace summit, state news agency RIA quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin as saying on Thursday.
Russia was not invited to the initial summit in Switzerland that was attended by representatives of 92 countries, and said that discussing the war in its absence was a waste of time.
Ukraine has said it wants to hold another such summit later this year, probably in the Global South, and that representatives from Russia could be invited this time.
Hungary will not support Nato becoming ‘anti-China’ bloc, minister says
Thursday 11 July 2024 13:39
Alexander Butler
Hungary does not want, and will not support, Nato becoming an “anti-China” bloc, foreign minister Peter Szijjarto told Hungary’s state television while in Washington on Thursday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Nato summit, Szijjarto also said Ukraine’s admission to the alliance would weaken unity within the group.
It comes after Nato labelled China a “decisive enabler” of Putin’s war in Ukraine - in the alliance’s strongest rebuke of Beijing.
But Beijing hit back and accused Nato of smearing the country while demanding the transatlantic alliance stay out of Asia.
Record number of Chinese military planes breach Taiwan airspace
Thursday 11 July 2024 13:37
Alexander Butler
A record number of Chinese warplanes breached Taiwanese airspace as part of Beijing’s military exercises amid a key Nato summit, according to Taiwanese authorities.
Up to 66 Chinese aircraft were detected around the self-governing island and 56 of them breached the median line of the Taiwan Strait, Taipei’s defence ministry said. It is a single-day record for this year.
China’s military drills came amid a key Nato summit in Washington, where Western leaders issued their strongest-ever condemnation of Beijing for being a “decisive” enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Ukraine getting ‘closer and closer’ to becoming Nato member, says secretary general
Thursday 11 July 2024 13:30
Alexander Butler
Labour aims to make Britain the leading European nation in Nato – but will Trump care?
Thursday 11 July 2024 12:19
Alexander Butler
China tells Nato not to create chaos in Asia
Thursday 11 July 2024 11:27
Alexander Butler
China accused Nato on Thursday of seeking security at the expense of others and told the alliance not to bring the same “chaos” to Asia.
The statement by a Foreign Ministry spokesperson came a day after NATO labeled China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“Nato hyping up China’s responsibility on the Ukraine issue is unreasonable and has sinister motives,” spokesperson Lin Jian said at a daily briefing. He maintained that China has a fair and objective stance on the Ukraine issue.
Why China is conducting military exercises in Belarus
Thursday 11 July 2024 11:23
Alexander Butler
The Chinese military has begun joint drills in Belarus that are being held over the next 11 days in Brest, close to the border with Nato state Poland.
The joint military exercises by two of Russia’s most important allies come after Belarus became the 10th member of the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) during its 24th meeting of heads of council in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Belarus’s government said the drills “will allow … the laying of a foundation for further development of Belarusian-Chinese relations in the field of joint training of troops”.
Jailed Russian rights veteran denounces ‘mass repression’
Thursday 11 July 2024 11:07
Alexander Butler
Oleg Orlov, a veteran Russian human rights campaigner, on Thursday lost an appeal against his two-and-half-year prison sentence but said he stood by his denunciation of “mass repression” in Russia.
Orlov, the 71-year-old co-chair of rights group Memorial, was found guilty in February of discrediting the Russian army after he protested against the war and wrote an article accusing President Vladimir Putin of leading the country into fascism.
“I have no remorse or regrets. I am in the right place at the right time,” he told a packed courtroom in Moscow, speaking by video link from a detention centre about 750 km (470 miles) away.
“When there is mass repression in the country, I am there alongside those who are persecuted, and in this way I help...” Orlov continued, before the sound was cut from his video feed.
China ‘decisive enabler’ of Putin’s war, Nato says
Thursday 11 July 2024 10:52
Alexander Butler
On Wednesday, Nato labelled China a “decisive enabler” of Putin’s war in Ukraine - in the alliance’s strongest rebuke of Beijing.
But Beijing hit back and accused Nato of smearing the country while demanding the transatlantic alliance stay out of Asia.
“Nato keeps playing up the interlink between Europe’s security and the security in Asia-Pacific. We urge it to stay within its role as a regional defensive organisation in the north Atlantic,” Beijing said.
Children with cancer left in the dark as Russian missile attack struck during IV treatment
Thursday 11 July 2024 09:41
Alexander Butler
Kyiv‘s National Cancer Institute was busier than ever after a Russian missile struck Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital this week, forcing the evacuation of dozens of its young patients battling cancer.
Putin’s heaviest bombardment of the Ukrainian capital in four months severely damaged Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital on Monday, terrorizing families and severely impacting their children already battling life-threatening diseases.
Now, some families face a dilemma of where to continue their children’s treatment. Oksana Halak only learned about her two-year-old son Dmytro’s diagnosis — acute lymphoblastic leukemia — at the beginning of June.
Putin should be put on trial for war crimes, Gordon Brown says
Thursday 11 July 2024 09:07
Alexander Butler
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has urged the British government to help put Vladimir Putin on trial for war crimes over his invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Brown, 73, said the “time for action” against Mr Putin “was now” and urged the new Labour government to help in putting Russian leadership on trial.
“I believe the new UK government, whose prime minister and foreign secretary have already supported the call for action on the crime of aggression, will add to the urgency of putting the Russian leadership on trial for the full totality of the harm it has inflicted,” Mr Brown wrote in The Guardian.
“It will send a message that there is no hiding place from prosecution for aggressors – and no immunity for war criminals, whether presidents or not. Anger and outrage are not enough. The time for action against Putin is now.”
Pictured: Starmer meets Zelensky at the Nato summit in Washington
Thursday 11 July 2024 08:56
Alexander Butler
Russia outlaws The Moscow Times as ‘undesirable’ organisation
Thursday 11 July 2024 08:54
Alexander Butler
Russia’s prosecutor general’s office has labelled The Moscow Times an “undesirable” organisation, a designation that bans Russians from working with or having links to the outlet.
“The work of the outlet is aimed at discrediting the decisions of the leadership of the Russian Federation in both foreign and domestic policy,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Russia introduced its “undesirable” list in 2015 to crack down on foreign NGOs and ban Russians from working with or donating to them.
UK-supplied weapons to be used to strike Russia
Thursday 11 July 2024 08:31
Alexander Butler
British-supplied missiles can be used by Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia, the UK has told Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
UK defence secretary John Healey green-lighted Kyiv’s use of Storm Shadow missiles for defensive strikes inside Russian territory on Wednesday.
Signalling the move, but declining to get into “operational arrangements”, John Healey, the new defence secretary, told Sky News that Britain “will do all we can to help Ukraine in their fight to repel Putin’s invasion”.
Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s largest hospital complicates treatment of kids with cancer
Thursday 11 July 2024 07:45
Arpan Rai
The National Cancer Institute in Kyiv was busier than usual after a Russian missile struck Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital this week, forcing the evacuation of dozens of its young patients battling cancer.
Russia’s heaviest bombardment of the Ukrainian capital in four months severely damaged Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital on Monday, terrorising families and severely impacting their children already battling life-threatening diseases.
Now, some families face a dilemma of where to continue their children’s treatment.
Oksana Halak only learned about her 2-year-old son Dmytro’s diagnosis — acute lymphoblastic leukemia — at the beginning of June. She immediately decided to have him treated at Okhmatdyt, “because it is one of the best hospitals in Europe.”
She and Dmytro were in the hospital for his treatment when sirens blared across the city. They couldn’t run to the shelter as the little boy was on an IV. “It is vitally important not to interrupt these IVs,” Halak said.
Russia launches missiles and drones on Ukraine, military says
Thursday 11 July 2024 07:36
Arpan Rai
Russia launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and six Shahed drones in an attack on Ukraine in the early hours today, Ukrainian air force said.
One person was injured in the missile strike on the northeastern region of Sumy, according to the regional authorities.
Ukrainian air defence said it shot down all six drones launched by Russia over four Ukrainian regions.
Mykolaiv regional governor said drone debris caused a fire in an open area, which has since been put out, and reported no casualties.
The authorities in the western regions of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Khmelnytskyi reported no casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure.
Keir Starmer allows British missiles for strikes against targets inside Russia
Thursday 11 July 2024 07:04
Arpan Rai
Ukrainian forces can now use British missiles for defensive strikes against target inside Russian territory, Keir Starmer told Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky at the Nato summit.
New defence secretary in his administration, John Healey, signalled the move but did not share details of the “operational arrangements”. Britain, he said, “will do all we can to help Ukraine in their fight to repel Putin’s invasion”.
“We provide weapons equipment where we can for them to defend themselves, and as we do for ourselves and any other nation in conflict, we require, because it’s international law, that war is conducted within those rules of the Geneva Convention,” Mr Healey told Sky News yesterday.
Kyiv children’s hospital hit by Russian missile and not Ukrainian air defence, private investigators say
Thursday 11 July 2024 07:00
Tom Watling
‘The whole room was covered in blood’: Inside the Russian missile strike on a Kyiv children’s hospital
Thursday 11 July 2024 06:00
Tom Watling
China laments Nato statement as ‘belligerent rhetoric’ and ‘lies’
Thursday 11 July 2024 05:12
Arpan Rai
A spokesperson for the Chinese mission to the European Union has reacted to the declaration of the Nato summit in Washington and called it full of “belligerent rhetoric”, and the China-related content has provocations, “lies, incitement and smears”.
The draft communique being developed at the Nato summit in Washington said that China has become a decisive enabler of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and Beijing continues to pose systemic challenges to Europe and to security.
“As we all know, China is not the creator of the crisis in Ukraine,” said a spokesperson in a statement released this morning.
Keir Starmer likely to discuss Ukraine in meeting with House speaker
Thursday 11 July 2024 05:06
Arpan Rai
Britain’s new prime minister Keir Starmer was set to meet with leaders of the Democratic and Republican caucuses in the House of Representatives on Wednesday as the Nato summit in Washington entered its second day.
Starmer’s journey to Washington for the summit comes as he is less than a week into his tenure as prime minister.
The joint meeting with Mike Johnson and Hakeem Jeffries was likely to largely focus on establishing some of Starmer’s first relationships on Capitol Hill as prime minister while also touching on some policy issues including the most anticipated topic of the week: Ukraine, and the eastern European country’s journey to becoming a Nato member-state.
US officials, alongside their counterparts in the UK and other Nato countries, are set to unveil what the Biden administration has been previewing as a “bridge to Nato membership” for Ukraine this week.
A hospital interrupts a teen’s dialysis as Ukraine hospital bombardment show cost of improved war tactics
Thursday 11 July 2024 05:00
Tom Watling
Ukraine must join Nato after Russia’s war ends, says bloc chief
Thursday 11 July 2024 04:40
Arpan Rai
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg underlined that Ukraine will not join the alliance’s ranks immediately. But he insisted that must happen after the war is over to ensure that Russia never attacks Ukraine again.
Of the overall Nato assistance, he said, “We are not doing this because we want to prolong a war. We are doing it because we want to end a war as soon as possible.
Mr Stoltenberg also delivered a passionate defence of the military alliance itself last night when reporters asked about the possibility that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a Nato critic, could pull US support for the alliance if he wins in November.”
Yesterday, the alliance welcomed Ukraine’s democratic, economic and security reforms needed to join and said it would get an invitation “when allies agree and conditions are met”.
While Nato leaders stand ready to offer Ukraine the means to defend itself in a war now in its third year, they did not say it should prevail.
Indeed, their statement said that “Nato does not seek confrontation, and poses no threat to Russia. We remain willing to maintain channels of communication with Moscow to mitigate risk and prevent escalation”.
China is Russia’s ‘decisive enabler’ in war on Ukraine, says Nato communique
Thursday 11 July 2024 04:15
Arpan Rai
A Nato communique floated yesterday has strongly called out China and strengthened past language of calling it a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and saying Beijing continues to pose systemic challenges to Euro-Atlantic security.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said it was the first time the 32 allies had jointly labeled China a decisive enabler of Russia’s war and called it an important message.
He said Nato was not an organisation that imposes sanctions, but added: “At the end of the day, this will be for individual allies to make decisions, but I think the message we send from Nato from this summit is very clear.”
The communique has called on China to cease material and political support for Russia’s war effort and expressed concern about China’s space capabilities, referenced rapid expansion of its nuclear arsenal, and urged Beijing to engage in strategic risk reduction talks.
Additionally, the communique said the allies intend to provide Ukraine with at least 40bn euros ($43.28bn) in military aid within the next year, but stopped short of the multi-year commitment.
Britain aims to be lead European nation in Nato – but will Trump care?
Thursday 11 July 2024 04:05
Arpan Rai
Sunak pledge now comes with the Starmer guarantee of delivery” is how new defence secretary John Healey describes the key deal at this summit, painting Britain as the leading European nation in Nato as questions are raised about future US support for the alliance.
Donald Trump’s brooding presence looms over Nato’s 75th anniversary meeting in Washington, with his possible return to the White House pointing to probabilities ranging from negotiating a peace deal with Vladimir Putin to renewed demands that other member states cough up more money for defence.
Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s communications director, stressed to visiting leaders that the former president has “repeatedly stated that a top priority in his second term will be to quickly negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war”. Trump believes that European nations “should be paying more of the cost of the conflict, as the US has paid significantly more, which is not fair to our taxpayers”, Cheung said.
Explained: How will Nato work out coordination of some Ukraine security support
Thursday 11 July 2024 04:03
Arpan Rai
Nato is expected to use the summit this week to launch a new program to provide reliable military aid to Ukraine and help it get ready to join the alliance.
The plan will supplement, but not replace, the two-year-old Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which was created by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin after Russia launched its February 2022 invasion into Ukraine. That group, with more than 50 nations from Europe and around the world, coordinates the delivery of much-needed weapons and training to Ukraine.
Some officials have described the new Nato organization as a way to “Trump-proof” alliance support for Ukraine in case former president Donald Trump wins the November election. But that may be a reach.
But now, under the plan approved by Nato defence ministers last month, and scheduled for approval by heads of state today, the alliance will take on a broader role to coordinate training and equipment donations.