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Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded that Ukraine be granted full membership of the European Union. Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, had called for the country to be given a special half-in, half-out relationship, which would mean it could participate in European summits and ministerial meetings – but not cast a vote. Mr Zelensky criticised the “associate membership” concept, branding it an “unfair” move that would leave Ukraine “voiceless”. The Ukrainian president urged the EU to commit to his country’s full entry in a letter addressed to Antonio Costa, the president of the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of...

President Trump on Thursday said the U.S. will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, stirring confusion following weeks of changing statements from Trump and his administration about reducing the American military footprint in Europe.

Two senior Polish defense ministry officials are on their way to Washington to get more information on why the U.S. suddenly canceled the deployment of 4,000 soldiers on a planned rotation to the country. Paweł Zalewski and Cezary Tomczyk — both deputy defense ministers — will try to get details on what Zalewski called "the incident." "No one in Poland knew that the rotation of the American brigade would be suspended," Zalewski told TOK FM radio on Monday morning. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth blindsided Warsaw by halting the long-planned deployment of soldiers with the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st...

Riding a wave of political momentum in 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky, a showman turned wartime leader, could have hardly imagined the path his presidency would take. Some argue that Zelensky's 2019 election was less of an endorsement of his political platform, a populist one, rather a rejection of the old entrenched elite seen as ineffective and corrupt. Years later, Zelensky still faces the domestic challenges that confronted his predecessors — issues he once promised to resolve. On the international stage, however, he has amassed significant support for Ukraine, actively working to maintain global backing as his country defends itself against a...

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Russia was seeking to draw Belarus deeper into its war in Ukraine and was weighing plans to attack Ukraine's north or a NATO country from Belarusian territory. "We continue to document Russia's attempts to draw Belarus deeper into the war against Ukraine," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app after meeting military and intelligence officials. He said Ukraine knew of additional contacts between Russia and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to persuade him to join "new Russian aggressive operations". "Russia is considering plans for operations to the south and north of Belarusian territory –...

Russia pummeled Ukraine’s capital with hundreds of drones and missiles early Thursday, the latest in a string of deadly Russian strikes this week. The attacks suggested that President Vladimir V. Putin had little intention of de-escalating his war, after he declared recently that he believed it was “coming to a close.” Explosions shook Kyiv, the capital, over several hours Thursday morning as Ukrainian forces tried to intercept and shoot down the drones and missiles, some of which evaded overwhelmed air-defense systems. The attack included cruise and ballistic missiles that Moscow often stockpiles for mass bombardments. As the sun rose, rescue...

MOSCOW, May 14 (Reuters) - Russia is establishing a "full-fledged partnership" with Afghanistan's ruling Taliban and is encouraging ‌other countries in the region to expand cooperation ‌with Kabul, a senior Russian security official was quoted on Thursday ​as saying. Russia last year became the first country to formally recognise the Islamist Taliban government that seized power in August 2021 as U.S.-led forces staged a chaotic withdrawal ‌from Afghanistan after ⁠20 years of war. Interfax news agency quoted Russian official Sergei Shoigu as saying cooperation ⁠with Kabul was important for the security and development of the region. Shoigu, who is secretary...

Following a yearlong deterioration of relations with the United States, Ukraine is considering its options for material assistance as Russia's war continues and the possibility of a peace deal remains remote. "When [President Donald] Trump was elected, many in Kyiv were hopeful he'd bring a welcome change," John Hardie, the deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) Russia Program, told Newsweek. "Now, the Ukrainians deal with Washington because they can't afford not to. The frustration is palpable." Former acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James Anderson, who worked in the first Trump administration, told Newsweek the...

If symbolism matters, and in Russia it always has, then today’s Victory Day parade on Red Square spoke volumes. The absence of tanks grinding across the sacred cobblestones was not merely an omission; it was an admission. A regime that once flaunted military might before the world could muster neither armour, missiles, nor meaningful battlefield hardware for its most important national spectacle. For a country that has built so much of its modern identity around martial power, this was less a celebration of victory than a carefully stage-managed display of strategic exhaustion. When Vladimir Putin resurrected and expanded the Victory...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he thinks Russia's conflict with Ukraine is coming to an end, addressing reporters after a scaled-back military parade in Moscow marking the Soviet victory in World War Two. "I think that the matter is coming to an end," he said, referring to the "special military operation" in Ukraine, while condemning Western support for the Kyiv government. Russia's annual parade lacked the usual display of tanks and missiles, due to security concerns as authorities feared Ukraine might target Red Square with drones. A last-minute ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv, brokered by US President Donald Trump,...

The Ardal ground robot had a specific mission: cross open ground, reach the Novoselivka village bridge in Donetsk, and lay an anti-tank mine before Russian forces could use it. It was a basic operation for Ukraine’s elite K-2 Brigade, based four miles away. But when they saw three Russian soldiers on their screen, they did not hesitate to change the objective, detonating the mine and taking the enemy – and the robot – with it. The loss of hardware was not a difficult call. Ukraine is on course to make 25,000 unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) in the first half of...

I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE DAY CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th, and 11th) in the War between Russia and Ukraine. The Celebration in Russia is for Victory Day but, likewise, in Ukraine, because they were also a big part and factor of World War II. This Ceasefire will include a suspension of all kinetic activity, and also a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each Country. This request was made directly by me, and I very much appreciate its agreement by President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Hopefully, it is the beginning of the...

American and European foreign policy "elites" (globalists) are perpetually outraged and shocked at President Donald Trump’s attitude towards NATO. By suggesting that NATO doesn't have to go on forever, our nation's 47th commander in chief is shaking the status quo foreign policy establishment to its core. Any analysis of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (founded on April 4, 1949) should rightfully commence from the perspective of "What have you done for me lately?" So NATO, "What have you done for the United States, now and in years and decades past?" For the most part, we've witnessed nations less friendly to...

[...] So the two no-longer-quite-so-superpowers of the Cold War are both fighting proxy wars: Since Lindsey Graham backdoored his way into the "Maidan Revolution" in 2012, America has been using Ukraine to get at the Russians. And yet America is now totally stunned that Russia is happy to use Iran to get at the Americans: witness Putin giving the Iranian foreign minister, on this week's visit to Moscow, the King Charles treatment. Meanwhile, China sits off to one side, staying focused on its overriding goal of ensuring the end of what it regards as an aberrent half-millennium of Euro-American domination....

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday accused Israel of accepting Russian shipments filled with stolen Ukrainian grain. Mr. Zelenskyy has for years accused Russia of harvesting grain from agricultural centers it occupies in eastern Ukraine, aiming to make a steady profit during the war. Russia has denied Ukraine’s allegations. “Another vessel carrying such grain has arrived at a port in Israel and is preparing to unload,” Mr. Zelensky posted on X. “The Israeli authorities cannot be unaware of which ships are arriving at the country’s ports and what cargo they are carrying.” Mr. Zelenskyy was referring to the vessel Panormitis,...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday said $400 million in Ukraine support was released after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) penned an angry op-ed criticizing the stall in funding. “The department recognizes that $400 million was allocated for European capacity building, and as of yesterday, it has been released,” Hegseth said in response to a question about the aid from Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.). Elfreth followed up to ask whether the money was released under contract. Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst III said the aid was “not under contract, but released to be put under contract.” When pressed by Elfreth on when...

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested on Monday that Ukraine may have to accept that parts of its territory could remain outside Kyiv's control in ​a future peace deal with Russia, linking such concessions to ‌the country's prospects for joining the European Union. "At some point, Ukraine will sign a ceasefire agreement; at some point, hopefully, a peace treaty with Russia. Then it may ​be that part of Ukraine's territory is no longer Ukrainian," Merz ​told students at the Carolus-Magnus-Gymnasium in Marsberg, a town in ⁠North Rhine-Westphalia, on Monday. "If President (Volodymyr) Zelenskiy wants to communicate this to his ​own population...

The U.S. military, which has been responding to Iran’s loitering drone attacks, has finally adopted Ukraine’s air defense technology. As low-cost drones continued to damage high-value military assets, it is interpreted that the U.S. has deployed Ukraine’s combat-proven response system at key Middle Eastern bases. On the 22nd, Reuters reported, citing multiple sources, that the U.S. has deployed Ukraine’s command and control platform at Prince Sultan Airbase in Saudi Arabia, a key military asset in the Middle East, to defend against Iranian drones.… Ukrainian military officers are reported to have visited the base over recent weeks to train U.S. forces...

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted the war in Iran has taken the focus away from Russia’s aggression against his country, telling CNN it was a “big risk” to think that efforts to end the fighting in Ukraine can’t restart until the conflict in Iran ends. Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour from the presidential office in Kyiv, Zelensky said Wednesday that while technical talks with the United States are still happening, he doesn’t “see the opportunity to meet … until the question, the case of Iran will be closed.” Zelensky pointed out that it was a “challenge” that the same team...

Since Ukraine’s population has shrunk dramatically, the army’s number one problem is no longer the lack of weapons, such as ballistic missiles and air defense systems, but the lack of soldiers to operate them, writes Világgazdaság. The competent authorities in Kyiv, however, must bring the army size required by Commander-in-Chief Zelensky (800,000 active soldiers), and since the number of men eligible for military service (between the ages of 18 and 60) is slowly running out, the Ukrainian leadership is now trying to fill the gaps by conscripting women. As of early 2024, approximately 5 million men are considered to be...