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Europe is drawing up “pretty precise plans” for a multinational troop deployment to Ukraine as part of post-conflict security guarantees that will have the backing of US capabilities, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times in an interview published on Aug 31. “President Trump reassured us that there will be (an) American presence as part of the backstop,” Dr von der Leyen told the FT, adding that “That was very clear and repeatedly affirmed.” -snip- European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte and von der Leyen are...

In the last 30 months, an estimated 17 Russian officials, politicians, businessmen and leading figures in the arts have died after falling from high windows. The window on the fifth floor of a building in the historic city of Petrozavodsk in northwestern Russia was wide open when the figure of a man appeared briefly, before plunging to the ground. This was followed by Putin enforcing a "blanket ban" on social media apps from enemy countries. The mangled body of former police colonel, Artur Pryakhin, head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service in the republic of Karelia, was hauled off to the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong-un will attend a military parade in Beijing, marking the first public appearance of the two leaders alongside President Xi Jinping in a show of collective defiance amidst Western pressure. No Western leaders will be amongst the 26 foreign heads of state and government attending the parade next week except for Robert Fico, prime minister of Slovakia, a European Union member state, according to the Chinese foreign ministry on Thursday. Against the backdrop of China's growing military might during the "Victory Day" parade on September 3, the three leaders will project a...

Drone attacks have been carried out on the Afipsky oil refineries in Russia's Krasnodar Territory and the Kuibyshev oil refineries in the Samara region, APA reports, citing Russian media. Large fires broke out at the oil refineries after the drone attacks. According to the governor of the Samara region, Dmitry Azarov, the airport and mobile internet use in the city of Samara have been temporarily restricted due to the threat.

Moscow's decision will likely be seen as inconsequential given growing condemnation of widespread human rights abuses committed in Ukraine. Russia plans to formally withdraw from Europe's convention against torture and inhuman treatment, according to a decree published this week. The resolution by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin calls upon President Vladimir Putin to submit the withdrawal from the treaty to Russia's lower house of parliament. Moscow's move is likely to be seen as moot given widespread criticism of its worsening human rights record since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In 2024, UN-backed experts presented evidence that Russia...

Donald Trump has imposed a hefty 50% tariff on Indian goods, a move prompted by India's continued purchase of Russian oil. This action endangers over half of India's exports to its biggest market. According to New Delhi, the tariffs that come into effect today (Wednesday, August 27) will impact £35.8billion ($48.2bn) worth of exports. Initially, the US President announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods. However, earlier this month, he signed an executive order for an additional 25% tariff in response to India's purchases of Russian oil. This brings the total tariffs levied by the United States on its ally...

On Sunday, August 24th, Ukraine’s Independence Day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the existence of the Druzhba (Friendship) oil pipeline, just like the political friendship between Ukraine and Hungary, is now directly tied to Budapest’s position.During a press conference, a journalist asked if after the strikes on the Druzhba oil pipeline and appeals to U.S. President Donald Trump Ukraine had gained additional leverage over Hungary, especially in terms of the lifting of Budapest’s veto on opening EU accession negotiation clusters.Zelenskyy responded by saying that Ukraine has always supported friendship between the two countries, but its further existence now depends...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday he and U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg had held a good meeting and discussed exerting pressure on Russia to hold "real talks" on ending more than three years of war, APA reports citing Reuters. "A good meeting with the special U.S. presidential envoy Keith Kellogg," Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "We discussed how to exert influence on Russia, oblige them to hold real talks on ending the war ... We are ready to talk in a format with leaders. This is needed to resolve key issues." Zelenskyy said Ukraine valued the "readiness...

Ukrainians are hunting down Russian drones armed with nothing more than shotguns and rifles while dangling out of prop lanes as part of a low-tech solution to Moscow’s high-tech aerial assassins. Although Kyiv has some of the West’s most advanced air-defense systems, including US-made Patriot missiles and F-16 jets, the nation has been forced to deploy such unconventional tactics to counter Russia’s ever-escalating drone bombardments because of the sheer number of devices being deployed. Pilots and gunners in Ukraine’s 11th Army Aviation Brigade have been tapped to take the Soviet-era Yak-52 prop planes to the skies, with the two-person aircraft...

Ukraine’s most heavily fortified region has become the center-point for peace talks to end the war with Russian leader Vladimir Putin reportedly demanding that Kyiv cede the entire territory to Moscow. But the Donestk oblast — which is smaller than Massachusetts and home to about 4 million people — has been at the center of some of the most brutal fighting of the war, and the Kremlin has not been able to take the entire region after more than three and a half years. A source familiar with Friday’s meeting between Putin and President Trump described negotiations over the fate...

US President Donald Trump called Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to address his obstruction of Ukraine's EU membership, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. The conversation emerged from Monday's White House discussions between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders. European officials requested that Trump leverage his relationship with Orban to convince him to abandon his opposition to Ukraine's EU bid, the news outlet reported, citing those familiar with the matter. Orban maintains opposition During the call, Hungary expressed a willingness to host future negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy. Trump said there would be a meeting between Putin and...

Russian reporters are whining about having to sleep on cots and being served old tuna for breakfast while covering the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska — but their own country may actually be to blame. The Kremlin journalists griped that they’ve had to rough it on portable beds with no sheets set up at the Alaska Airlines Center sports arena in Anchorage, where they were hardly able to make phone calls. They — gasp — even had to get by without bottled water. “After being assigned for [Thursday] night to what appeared to be a disaster evacuation zone, Russian journalists were...

-snip- “The Russian demand that Ukraine give up parts of the Donbas would be, just to illustrate the scale, comparable to asking the United States to give up Florida,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters after the White House meeting. During the closed-door meeting, Finnish President Alexander Stubb called the eastern Ukrainian cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk “a bastion against the Huns,” a description that appeared to impress Trump, according to the officials. Zelensky didn’t reject land swaps out of hand during the discussions with Trump, but he said it would be difficult to move populations and override Ukraine’s constitutional...

Ukraine says it has struck a critical oil-pumping station in Russia’s Bryansk region, igniting a large fire at a hub feeding the Druzhba pipeline to Europe. The Unecha facility also links to the Baltic Pipeline System-2, which carries Russian crude to Ust-Luga, the country’s second-largest Baltic oil port.

VOLODYMYR Zelensky has said he is "counting on America" as Donald Trump prepares to greet Vladimir Putin on the runway after he lands in Alaska. The embattled Ukrainian president said he hopes the peace summit between the two leaders leads to a trilateral meeting to get Ukraine involved in the peacemaking process. It comes after Trump blasted Vladimir Putin for continuing to attack Ukraine and said his urge to kill "might be in his genes". -snip- Trump says tyrant Putin’s need to kill ‘might be in his genes’ but onslaught ‘hurts his He said: "In [Putin's] mind, it helps him...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, will attend President Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, according to two senior Defense Department officials. Hegseth isn't joining with Trump on Air Force One, instead flying separately, the officials said. Caine has already arrived in Alaska, a third DOD official said.

The White House revealed on Friday the team that will accompany US President Donald Trump to the Alaska summit on Friday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Luntick, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe are among the top US officials who will join Trump for his highly anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his delegation. Additionally, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, among others, are expected to travel with the US president...

In a not-so-subtle act of trolling, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, arrived in Alaska on the eve of the US–Russia summit wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with “CCCP”, the Russian initials for the USSR. Once seen in western capitals as a pragmatic and skilled diplomat, the 75-year-old has in recent years mirrored the Kremlin’s radicalised politics, adopting an increasingly combative tone and resorting to trolling and mockery. Lavrov’s choice of attire nods to the Kremlin’s long-running narrative: Putin has repeatedly claimed that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people”, denying Ukraine’s legitimacy and territorial integrity while promoting a broader notion of unity...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov appeared to be wearing a sweater with the letters “CCCP” — Russian for USSR — upon his arrival in Alaska. Lavrov will be part of the Kremlin’s delegation when Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump meet later on Friday in a hotly anticipated summit to discuss the war in Ukraine. Lavrov’s white sweatshirt was carefully hidden under a black gilet with only the middle letters “CC” clearly showing in a video posted on X. The current Russian regime has repeatedly exploited USSR nostalgia to pursue its political and imperial goals, according to...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as he arrived in Alaska on Friday, said Moscow has “a clear, understandable position” and arguments to support it at the forthcoming meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump. -snip- Lavrov arrived in the US state for a meeting with an American delegation wearing a sweatshirt with "USSR" written on it.