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At the 2024 NATO Summit in Washington, commemorating the alliance’s 75th anniversary, leaders offered Ukraine a fresh round of false hope in its war against Russia — which is worse than doing nothing. Whether by military commitment or intensified support, the pretension that NATO could currently deliver a Ukrainian victory, or secure one later, encourages the country’s leaders to postpone reckoning with their dire circumstances. Moreover, it threatens to further imperil NATO members without a security payoff. After the failure of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in 2023, recognition that its forces cannot regain more of its territory has begun to sink in....

We tend to think of United States presidential elections as a strictly American affair, as they are supposed to be. But the whole world is watching every four years, with global leaders from both our allies and our adversaries gaming out what their relationships and fortunes might look like depending on the winner. This year is no exception, and one of those leaders keeping a close eye on the race is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He allowed his mask of neutrality to slip a bit during a recent interview with the BBC when he told them that he was "preparing...

Former President Trump vowed to “bring peace” after he spoke on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday. “President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and I had a very good phone call earlier today. He congratulated me on a very successful Republican National Convention and becoming the Republican nominee for President of the United States,” Trump posted to his Truth Social site. Trump said Zelensky condemned the “heinous” assassination attempt against the former president last Saturday and remarked about the American people coming together in unity. “I appreciate President Zelenskyy for reaching out because I, as your next President of...

-snip- Having talked to Donald Trump this week, I am more convinced than ever that he has the strength and the bravery to fix it, to save Ukraine, to bring peace — and to stop the disastrous contagion of conflict. -snip- The Ukrainians have shown they can and will win. Even today, they are pushing Putin back again in the Kharkiv region, and they are exacting a huge toll on the Russians in Donetsk. Their heroism is incredible. But the war has been going on too long, and the cost is immense, in lives, in economic misery and instability. I...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – At least two people were killed and three more injured after a Russian missile strike on infrastructure in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, said Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Saturday. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials confirmed that the death toll following a Russian strike Friday on the city of Mykolaiv, had risen to four. A child was among the victims, said the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych.

A week after surviving an assassination attempt, US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday said he spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by telephone, and pledged to end Ukraine's war with Russia. Trump has repeatedly claimed he would end the war quickly if elected but his frequent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, reluctance to directly criticise the Russian invasion and suggestions to back away from NATO deeply concern Ukraine's allies.

Ukraine is on its way to being able to “stand on its own feet” militarily, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday, noting that more than 20 other countries have pledged to maintain their own military and financial aid to the country even if the U.S. were to withdraw its support under a different president. Blinken for the first time directly addressed the possibility that former President Donald Trump could win the November election and back away from commitments to Ukraine. Trump’s public comments have varied between criticizing U.S. backing for Ukraine’s defense and supporting it, while his running mate,...

U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social he had a "very good call" on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Trump has said he will end the war in Ukraine before he even takes office in January should he win the Nov. 5 election.

I'm posting a few notes about an article in Le Monde, because the French publication does not permit partial reproduction of an article: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/07/17/war-in-ukraine-zelensky-wants-russia-to-take-part-in-a-new-peace-summit_6687222_4.html1. Zelensky has opened the door to direct negotiations with Moscow without making the departure of Russian occupying forces a pre-condition. Russia is invited to attend. 2. The first peace summit since talks broke down in Spring of 2022 included 100 countries meeting in Switzerland. Russia was not invited. That summit ended with timid declarations which did not include an appeal to Russia to halt its invasion. The declaration was signed by 80 countries.3. Zelensky outlined a...

Ukrainian troops have lost a hard-won position on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, near the southern city of Kherson, after months of bloody fighting to hold on to a piece of land in what some Ukrainian soldiers and military analysts have described as a futile operation. The Ukrainian military said on Wednesday night that fighting continued on the eastern bank but that most of the main positions in the village of Krynky, where its troops had gained a foothold, “were destroyed by intense, combined and prolonged enemy fire.” The statement came after several Ukrainian news media outlets reported...

LONDON (AP) – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Britain’s new government to help Ukrainian forces attack deeper inside Russia to stop deadly missile strikes on his country, as he gave a rare address by a foreign leader to a U.K. Cabinet meeting. Zelenskyy said “long-range capability” to destroy sites where Russian weapons are concentrated is key to Ukraine’s defense. “I ask you to show your leadership” in lifting restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons, Zelenskyy told Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Russia has deployed devastating firepower as it pursues a summer offensive in eastern Ukraine, reducing villages to rubble and pushing...

A day after officially accepting the Republican nomination for president, Donald Trump is expected to speak by phone Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a source familiar with the plan told NBC News. -snip- Trump has vowed that if he wins the election, he'd have the war "settled" while he's still president-elect. He has not said how he'd do so. At his debate against President Joe Biden in June, Trump criticized the large amount of military aid going to Ukraine, but also said Russian President Vladimir Putin's terms to end the war are "not acceptable."

Former President Donald Trump might not understand what is going on in Ukraine, according to the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, however he said Friday he is happy to bring the Republican nominee up to speed if he returns to the White House in 2024. Zelensky made his claim about Trump’s ignorance in an exclusive interview with the BBC in London, adding he was willing to work with anyone who was in power in Washington. “Maybe he really doesn’t understand what goes on in Ukraine, so we have to work with the United States,” Zelensky told the BBC, repeating his previous...

Dear President, Please find below a summary evaluation of my recent discussions with leaders of Ukraine, Russia, China, Türkiye and President Donald J. Trump, as well as a few suggestions for your consideration. 1. It is a general observation that the intensity of the military conflict will radically escalate in the near future. 2. I personally witnessed that the warring parties are determined to involve themselves deeper into the conflict, and neither of them would like to make initiatives for a ceasefire or peace negotiations. Therefore we can assume that tensions will not decrease and the parties will not start...

Associates of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy have discussed holding a phone call between the two leaders, according to two sources familiar with the matter. One source said the call could occur on Friday, but Reuters was not able to immediately determine if the conversation, which would be their first since the former U.S. president left the White House in 2021, had been confirmed. CNN reported earlier on Thursday that the two leaders had a phone call scheduled on Friday. The news organization warned that the schedule of the former president - who is in...

An explosion at a high rise building in Tel Aviv early Friday morning. One killed, eight wounded...drone attack... Disturbances in the Harehills section of Leeds, England... Comedian Bob Newhart dead at the age of 94... Longtime business news anchor Lou Dobbs dead... A police officer attacked with a knife in Paris this evening... French politics the election of a President of the National Assembly... An Air India Boeing 777 airliner...making an emergency landing...Krasnoyarsk in Russia...a technical issue... US politics the latest release of polls all done in various key states showing leads for Donald Trump... "Senior Democrats believe that Joe...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine’s army has pulled out from the village of Urozhaine in the eastern Donetsk region, an official said Thursday, surrendering another front-line position as Russian forces blast Ukrainian defenses in a relentless onslaught. The village was reduced to rubble which “made it impossible to hold the positions there,” Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for local ground forces, told The Associated Press in a written message. He did not say when the pullout occurred. Russia seized Urozhaine in the early days of the war that began after Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. Ukrainian troops...

German aid to Ukraine will be cut to 4 billion euros ($4.35 billion) in 2025 from around 8 billion euros in 2024, according to a draft of the 2025 budget seen by Reuters. Germany hopes Ukraine will be able to meet the bulk of its military needs with the $50 billion in loans from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets approved by the Group of Seven, and that funds earmarked for armaments will not be fully used.

-snip- HOW AN AMERICA FIRST FOREIGN POLICY REDUCED RISKS FROM RUSSIA DURING THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION We believe the most important way the America First approach to national security could have affected the Ukraine War was to prevent it. A strong and decisive president who stood up to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a tough and coherent U.S. foreign policy for Russia, Ukraine, and NATO could have prevented Putin from ordering the February 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In our view, tough and coherent policies implemented by President Donald Trump are why Russia refrained from invading its neighbors during his presidency...

One Patriot battery costs $1 billion, while missiles are at least $3 million apiece According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, his country needs more missiles and fighter planes than promised to defend its airspace. “In order to ensure the full protection of Ukraine, in the opinion of our soldiers, we need 25 Patriot systems,” the head of state stressed at a press conference in Kyiv. However, Zelensky did not mention how many Patriot air defense systems Ukraine currently has. He claimed that his country needs other weapons systems of different ranges and capabilities for comprehensive air defense; he also noted...