Ukraine

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) has deplored a deadly wave of Russian missile and drone strikes that reportedly killed at least 13 civilians and injured 65 others, warning that the attack underscores the grave risks of using powerful explosive weapons in populated areas. According to the UN mission, the overnight assault from Saturday into Sunday – one of the largest of its kind since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 – resulted in civilian casualties and damage to homes and infrastructure across 10 regions of Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv.

A drone strike in eastern Ukraine on Saturday could possibly be the deadliest in recent weeks, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country, HRMMU, has said.

Top US diplomat Marco Rubio says he does not have high expectations for Ukraine-Russia peace talks due to be held in Turkey - and that Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin need to meet for progress to be made.

The leaders of France, Britain, Germany, and Poland visited Ukraine on Saturday for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky, vowing to ratchet up pressure on Russia until it agreed to a ceasefire in the three-year war. The four countries, part of an alliance Britain and France call “the coalition of the willing,” said in a joint statement they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible.”

Ukraine's EU allies on May 9 endorsed the creation of a new international court to prosecute Russia's top leaders over Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The European Commission has proposed listing 15 additional new entities and individuals to its sanctions framework on Russian hybrid threats as well as individuals suspected of using chemical weapons in Ukraine, EU sources said on Wednesday.

Trump says ‘it’s possible that’s right’ about the vice-president’s remarks amid frustrations with Russia.

[...] As both NATO and the EU—in their foreign, security, and defense policies—operate with consensus or unanimity, coalitions of the willing will continue to play a decisive role in the medium term for the security of both Ukraine and Europe. However, Europe should be careful not to overly depend on a coalition approach.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday he believed Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky was prepared to cede Crimea to Russia as part of a ceasefire deal, as truce talks entered what Washington called a critical phase. Trump urged Vladimir Putin to "stop shooting" and agree to end the war sparked by Russia’s 2022 invasion. 

 

Russia has confirmed for the first time that it deployed North Korean soldiers in the battle to push Ukrainian forces out of its Kursk region following Kyiv's shock incursion into the border area last year.