NATO troops have begun arriving at the Sliac military base in Slovakia to deploy US-made “Patriot” anti-missile defence systems in various places to maximise Bratislava’s airspace defences, according to a report by Slovak Spectator. The Patriots are primarily for beefing up Slovakia’s airspace protection, and will be there
A failure to negotiate peace between Ukraine and Russia could lead to World War 3, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Fareed Zakaria on Sunday morning in their interview on CNN. The President said he was ready to have direct negotiations with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. While offering that Ukraine
Chinese president Xi Jinping spoke to US President Joe Biden today for an hour and 50 minutes on Friday about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In their video call, Xi said “conflicts and confrontations” were in no one’s interest and that China and the US should work for world
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that Slovakia providing air defence systems to Ukraine is a no-go, according to an article on Euractiv. This week Bratislava said it was considering sending Soviet-era S-300 missile systems if it received Western replacements from its NATO allies. Any arms supply
Members of Germany’s Bundestag gave a standing ovation to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky following his 10-minute speech on Thursday, writes the BBC. In his address Zelensky reminded MPs that Kyiv had asked Berlin to limit its economic ties with Moscow before the war, but Germany instead helped Russia
Czechia’s Ministry of Defence says 100,000 Czechs have coughed up over EUR 27 million through a crowdfunding campaign which began last month to send weapons to Ukraine, writes Prague Morning. Funds from the campaign, intended for weapons and military supplies, are being sent directly to Ukraine’s embassy
A theatre sheltering 1,200 civilians in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was bombed on Wednesday night. An estimated 400,000 residents in the southern port city are still without running water, electricity and gas, and unable to leave. Hundreds of patients and staff are still being held captive in
The BBC reported that Russian troops were holding 400 doctors and patients captive in a hospital in the coastal city of Mariupol on Tuesday evening. In a separate development, the city’s local authorities said that around 2,000 cars were able to leave the besieged city, and the ICRC
While the Hungarian forint was hardest hit, all the currencies of the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region are suffering adverse effects as a result of the war in Ukraine. Proximity to the war zone, dependence on Russian gas and the impact of EU sanctions combined to commence the CEE
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine held a fourth round of peace talks on Monday, aiming for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Russian troops, and security guarantees for Ukraine. Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of office for Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, told the BBC that Moscow’s approach was becoming “more
Russian forces launched a missile attack on the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, in the west of Ukraine, Sunday morning, according to the BBC. Euronews reports that the Russian military claimed to have killed up to 180 “foreign mercenaries” and substantial weapons shipped in in strikes against the military
US troops will not fight in Ukraine, but would defend “every inch of NATO territory” US President Joe Biden said on Friday. “A direct confrontation between Nato and Russia is World War III,” wrote Biden on Twitter. Russia attacked cities across Ukraine on Friday. Russian forces incessantly bombarded the northeastern
The European Commission said it planned to cut its reliance on fossil fuels from Russia by 2030, reducing dependence on Russian sources of energy by two-thirds by the end of the year. But it turned out there will be no ban on imports of Russian oil and gas imports to
Delegations from Ukraine and Russia were unable to broker a 24-hour ceasefire in their meeting on Thursday morning in Turkey. While Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dymetro Kuleba said such a ceasefire would be necessary for urgent humanitarian issues, his opposite number Sergei Lavrov commented after their meeting the West’s
Hungary’s Parliament elected Fidesz Vice President and Family and Youth Affairs Minister Katalin Novak as the country’s next President on Thursday, succeeding President Janos Ader, according to Hungary Today. She was elected with 137 out of 188 votes. The united opposition’s candidate Peter Ronai received 51 votes.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling Russian forces bombing on Wednesday of a 600-bed children’s and maternity hospital in the port city of Mariupol “genocide”. Ukrainian authorities say the facility has been “completely destroyed” – 17 people were wounded, writes the Guardian. “Hospitals and schools are destroyed. Churches and
The Guardian reports that on Wednesday morning US time Vice President Kamala Harris was travelling to Poland, where she’ll meet Poland’s President and Prime Minister, on a trip to “further support to our allies and is also an extremely important opportunity to collaborate with them on next steps
Russian state media outlets are reporting that Moscow has announced another humanitarian ceasefire to allow civilians to flee. Civilians continued to evacuate Ukrainian cities such as Mariupol, Sumy and Kyiv on Tuesday, but authorities said shelling continued in some areas and it was unsure whether humanitarian aid shipments would reach
Hungary will now allow NATO troops to deploy into the west of the country, reversing an earlier stance of not allowing additional troops from the defence alliance other than its own to be stationed within its territory. Prime Minister Viktor Orban signed a decree to admit the NATO Response Force
Calling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “a tectonic shift in European history”, the European Union is working out how to wean itself off of imports of Russian oil, gas and coal and diversify its sources of energy while speeding up the development of renewables. Half of the gas and coal
Russia has issued a veiled threat to Poland and Romania not to get involved in its operation against Ukraine, writes Romania Insider, quoting a Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov who told Reuters that any country allowing Ukraine to access airports or airfields would be considered participants in the war.
Representatives from Ukraine and Russia are scheduled to meet on Monday for another round of peace negotiations. Despite their earlier agreement to open up humanitarian corridors, Ukrainian civilians were not able to leave from Mariupol over the weekend; both sides blamed the other for the ceasefire failure. As Russian forces
NATO cannot fulfil Kyiv’s wish for enforcement of a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine’s territory, according to the defence alliance’s Jens Stoltenberg. After the Secretary General’s meeting with NATO defence ministers on Friday, they agreed that neither NATO troops nor planes should be in or above Ukrainian
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin by telephone for one-and-a-half hours on Thursday. He told his Russian counterpart that he was making a “major mistake” by continuing his Ukraine offensive and that Moscow would remain isolated and under sanctions for a long time. Speaking to
In an emergency General Assembly meeting on Wednesday, the United Nations condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine and called for complete withdrawal, with 141 out of 193 members supporting the resolution. Those opposed included Belarus, Syria and North Korea. Addressing the press, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “The message of