Europe

Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made a surprise visit to the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv near the Russian border on Tuesday, promising more weapons as well as “concrete offers” to help the country’s accession to the European Union. In a statement ahead of a meeting with Foreign Minister Dmytro …

Sweden is confident that Turkey will approve its application to join the NATO military alliance, but will not meet all the conditions Ankara has set for its support, Sweden’s prime minister said on Sunday. “Turkey both confirms that we have done what we said we would do, but they also …

NATO has rejected Belgrade’s request for the deployment of Serbian troops to Kosovo amid rising tensions in the breakaway region, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic has said. In a “carefully composed letter” the command of the US-led military bloc’s contingent in Kosovo (KFOR) “replied that they believe that there is no …

Russia wants to impose a truce that would split Ukrainian lands, similar to how the Korean Peninsula is divided today, Aleksey Danilov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, has said, as quoted by the country’s media. His statement came after Moscow reiterated that peace negotiations are possible if …

The United States will not send M1 Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine, despite repeated requests from the Kiev government, according to a report in the US media. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, quoting a US official, that the Abrams tanks’ heavy fuel …

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Monday that 63 Russian soldiers had been killed in a Ukrainian New Year’s Eve attack on their quarters in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Donetsk province. Footage posted online showed a building purported to be a vocational college in the town of Makiivka, the twin …

KYIV: Explosions were reported throughout Ukraine on New Year’s Eve as Russia carried out its second major round of missile attacks in three days on Saturday, Reuters reported while quoting Ukrainian officials. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least one person had been killed and eight wounded after a series …

In the new year, Croatia will become the latest country to join the Eurozone and the Schengen area, a move that European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says makes the European Union stronger. As of Sunday, the country will “join a community of 347 million Europeans who use the …

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg had called on members of the military alliance to supply more weapons to Ukraine, saying it is in their “security interests” to make sure Kiev prevails in the protracted war against Russia. In an interview with the German news agency DPA on Friday, Stoltenberg renewed …

Russian President Vladimir Putin has told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that Moscow is keen to ramp up its military cooperation with Beijing as part of joint efforts to counter Western interventions in the region. “We aim to strengthen cooperation between the armed forces of Russia and China,” Putin told …

The United States and its allies in the NATO military alliance together with Ukraine are bent on defeating Russia “on the battlefield” in order to destroy it, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov says. In remarks published by the state-run TASS agency, the top Russian diplomat described it as a “strategic …

Serbian armed forces have been put on the “highest level of combat readiness” on the border with Kosovo amid increasingly strained relations between the two neighboring countries over recent shootings and blockades. “Serbia’s president (Aleksandar Vucic)… ordered this evening the Serbian army to be on the highest level of combat …

This will bring total US military assistance for Ukraine to an unprecedented $21.9 billion by 2021. US President Joe Biden approved on Wednesday the drawdown of up to $1 billion in weapons for Ukraine from the Pentagon’s stockpile. The Pentagon also approved another $850 million in security assistance for Ukraine …

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday vowed to fulfill the objectives of the country’s “special military operation” in Ukraine even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left for the US to lobby for more arms. In a speech at the yearly meeting with his defense chiefs, Putin said Moscow will meet …

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky may be going to Washington, multiple US outlets reported on Tuesday, citing anonymous sources. While the administration of President Joe Biden would neither confirm nor deny the rumor, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter asking all members to attend in person on Wednesday for “a …

European Union nations’ energy ministers have agreed on a gas price cap, a spokesperson for the Czech Republic said on Twitter on Monday. The deal follows weeks of talks on the emergency measure that has split opinion across the bloc as it seeks to tame the energy crisis. The Czech …

Russia says its air defense forces have shot down four US-made HARM missiles over the western oblast of Belgorod. In a statement issued on Monday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said all the AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) were shot down during the previous 24 hours. “Four American ‘Harm’ …

US President Joe Biden has promised his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to strengthen the country’s air defense as the war with Russia drags on. In a telephone conversation with Zelensky on Sunday, Biden reaffirmed that his administration “is prioritizing efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense through our security assistance,” the …

Greek MEP Eva Kaili, a vice president of the parliament, is among four charged amid the investigation into suspected influence peddling involving a Gulf country. Belgian media have linked the probe to World Cup hosts Qatar; Doha has denied the accusations. Kaili was arrested after Belgian police staged 16 raids …

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has warned about a full-fledged war between Russia and the Western military alliance if the war in Ukraine spirals out of control. Speaking to Norwegian broadcaster NRK on Friday, Stoltenberg said he feared that the war in Ukraine “will spiral out of control and become a …