Ukraine

Donald Trump's overseas envoy Steve Witkoff will hold talks at the Kremlin next week as the US continues to push for a deal to end the war in Ukraine. The visit, which was confirmed by Vladimir Putin's close foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov on Wednesday, comes after Ukraine said it had reached a "common understanding" with the White House on the outline of a potential peace deal.

Russia should “curb” the size of its army and military budget in order to ensure a lasting peace in Ukraine, said the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, adding that Western leaders should not fall into the “trap” of discussing restrictions on Kyiv’s army during peace talks with Moscow.

European foreign ministers said on Thursday that any plan to end the war in Ukraine must include Ukrainians and Europeans after the U.S. floated a framework that would involve Kyiv giving up some of its land and weapons and curbing the size of its army.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has received a draft of a U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine and expects to hold talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in coming days, the Ukrainian leader's office said on Thursday. Two sources told Reuters on Wednesday that Washington had signalled to Zelenskiy that Kyiv must accept the U.S.-drafted framework to end the nearly-four-year-old war, which includes territorial concessions and curbs on Ukraine's armed forces.

Civilian casualties in Ukraine were 27 per cent higher from January to October 2025, compared to the same period last year, according to the latest UN human rights report on the situation in the eastern European country. 

Germany plans to raise its military aid to Ukraine by three billion euros ($3.4 billion) next year to around 11.5 billion euros ($13.2 billion) to support its battle against Russia, the finance ministry said Tuesday.

North Korea has dispatched around 5,000 military construction troops and 1,000 engineers to Russia since September, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS). Lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun, cited by Ukrainian state-run outlet United24, said in an NIS meeting that the North Koreans “have been moving to Russia in phases and are expected to be mobilized for infrastructure reconstruction.”

Police raided dozens of homes in Moldova and Ukraine, officials said, as part of a cross-border investigation into hundreds of people linked to Russian mercenary groups and who allegedly committed war crimes in Ukraine.

Russia forces have used drones to chase civilians from their homes near the front line in Ukraine, following them with cameras and attacking them as they sought shelter, a UN inquiry released on October 27 found. The report, which is to be presented to the UN General Assembly this week, said the attacks “amount to the crime against humanity of forcible transfer of population."

European Union leaders have stopped short of a deal to use frozen Russian state assets to fund Ukraine, after Belgium -- where most of the money is held -- raised legal and technical concerns about the proposal.