Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he was ready for talks with Ukraine after having previously rebuffed the idea of negotiations while Kyiv’s offensive into the Kursk region was ongoing.

The United Nations upheld the need to protect civilians in Ukraine as Russian attacks continue across the country, with at least seven people killed in Lviv  on Wednesday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). 

The aim of this book is to review the use of technology in monitoring and verifying ceasefires, drawing on the Ukraine experience between 2014 and 24 February 2022. It explores the question of how technology can be used to improve the monitoring of conflicts and the verification of whether parties are adhering to their agreements.

The EU is expected to raise its training targets for Ukraine’s army from currently 60,000 to 75,000 by the end of the year, as ministers look into reviewing the mission’s mandate. “We have trained 60,000 soldiers, and agreed on raising the target to 75,000 by end of year,” EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell told reporters after a meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels on Friday (30 August).

Thirty months into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, human suffering continues to worsen amid alarming reports of attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including nuclear facilities, a senior UN political affairs official told the Security Council on Wednesday.

[…] In its 35-page draft review, seen by Euractiv, the EU’s diplomatic service recommends a two-year extension until November 2026, of the bloc’s European Union Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM), which has trained 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers on European soil.

Ukraine's parliament voted on Wednesday to ratify the Rome Statute, officials said, allowing the country to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a step Ukrainian leaders have cast as central to Kyiv's European aspirations.

[…] "Ukraine is separated from halting the advance of the Russian Army on the front by only one decision we await from our partners: the decision on long-range capabilities," Zelenskiy said in a speech to Ukrainian ambassadors on August 19. The United States and other allies of Ukraine have placed restrictions on the use of the weapons over concerns that it could escalate the war.

During the past week, Ukraine has launched an offensive in Kursk in the most significant cross-border attack since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. The Kursk region, located in western Russia and bordering Ukraine, has a population of about 1.2 million.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Matthias Schmale of Germany as the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, with the host Government’s approval, starting on 11 August.