Ukraine
Russia considers ceding its frozen $300bn CBR money as part of a ceasefire deal
Russia is considering the use of $300bn in frozen assets held in Europe to help rebuild Ukraine, but insists part of the money be used to rebuild the Ukrainian territories under its control, Reuters reports.
Brazil's Lula backs Ukraine peace mission but rules out sending troops
Brazil will not send troops to Ukraine but would support a peacekeeping mission, President Lula da Silva said in a joint statement with Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
MOSCOW BLOG: A new pan-European security deal would unblock Ukraine ceasefire talks
The White House has come back with a revised mineral deal for Ukraine that softened some of the harshest clauses, but while the details have not been released it appears that the crucial inclusion of a US security deal is still missing.
Trump puts Japan between a rock and a hard place on Ukraine
Ukraine's ambassador to Japan comes across as desperate to keep the war with Russia relevant to a nation losing interest.
White House offers a revised mineral deal, but US-Ukraine relations still in limbo
The White House has offered Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy a revised version of its deal to exploit rare earth minerals that Kyiv rejected last week because the terms were too harsh.
Hungary set to block extension of EU sanctions against Russia, citing peace talks
Hungary will not vote in favour of extending sanctions against Russian and Belarusian individuals at the upcoming meeting of the EU's Foreign Affairs Council, arguing that it would hinder US-Russian peace talks.
Sending EU peacekeepers to Ukraine is not going to work
The EU’s main plan for providing Ukraine with security from another Russian attack in a post-war set up is not going to work.
Potential US troop withdrawal from Europe to leave Kosovo exposed
Fears US may consider withdrawing its troops from Europe, including Kosovo, if Trump and Putin reach an agreement to end the war in Ukraine.
Zelenskiy, Trump take verbal swipes at each other as relations between Washington and Kyiv nosedive
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy launched a scathing attack on Donald Trump, accusing the US president of being trapped in a “disinformation bubble” over the war in Ukraine.
Trump’s mineral deal for Ukraine “worse than Versailles”, reports The Daily Telegraph
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ordered his staff not to sign the proposed deal that would hand the US control over Ukraine's raw materials and key infrastructure.
Zelenskiy freezes US minerals deal, reaches out to Arab nations
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has frozen a proposed concession to mine Ukraine’s considerable mineral resources after the US side offered little in return and is travelling in the Middle East to look for new partners.
US and Russian officials hold landmark peace talks in Saudi Arabia as Ukraine remains excluded
Senior US and Russian officials have concluded extensive talks at the Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – the most significant diplomatic engagement between the two powers since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Visibly tired and upset Zelenskiy holds Ukraine war press conference with Erdogan in Istanbul
Says Turkey should be among countries with seat at any peace talks table. Turkish president says that table should be in Ankara.
Russia says pipeline drone strike set to wipe out up to third of Kazakhstan’s oil exports
Kremlin mouthpiece Medvedev claims Ukrainian attack was designed to harm US economic interests in deliberate move against Trump.
European leaders clash over peacekeepers in Ukraine at Paris meeting
Argument highlights the lack of consensus on how to respond to US President Donald Trump’s proposed peace talks with Russia, which have kicked off in Riyadh.
LONG READ: Can Ukraine go it alone (with a little help from the EU) if the US abandons it?
Now that Ukraine’s Nato membership hopes have been dashed and its Western allies are unlikely to offer binding bilateral security guarantees, can Ukraine continue to fight Russia on its own, given the EU continues to support it?
Kremlin orders Russian media to downplay importance of Trump after Putin call
Kremlin wants fewer mentions of US President Donald Trump, to emphasise Putin as the primary decision-maker
Ukrainian drone strikes Kazakhstan’s main oil export pipeline route in Russia
Attack comes on same day Hungarian and Kazakh top diplomats back idea of Ukraine conflict talks between Putin and Trump.
MOSCOW BLOG: International values-based order is dead
In his closing remarks at the end of this year’s Munich Security Conference (MSC), the outgoing chairman Christoph Heusgen broke down into tears. The event turned into an earthquake that has destroyed the trans-Atlantic partnership.
US threatens troop deployment to Ukraine if Russia resists peace talks
The United States may impose stricter sanctions and consider deploying troops to Ukraine if Moscow refuses to engage in meaningful negotiations to end the war, US Vice President JD Vance has warned.