KYIV: Russia and Ukraine will hold US-brokered talks on February 17-18 in Geneva, both countries said Friday, announcing the next leg in fraught negotiations seeking to end the four-year war.&nbsp;US President Donald Trump is pushing to end the conflict, unleashed when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but two previous rounds of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi have not yielded any signs of a breakthrough.&nbsp;Both sides said publicly the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/ukraine-russia-exchange-pows-for-first-time-in-months" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">discussions</a>&nbsp;were productive, but Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on the key issue of territory.&nbsp;&quot;The next round of talks on the Ukrainian settlement will be held in the same trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine format, on February 17&ndash;18 in Geneva,&quot; Russia&#39;s state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.&nbsp;Peskov said Moscow&#39;s delegation to Geneva will be headed by Vladimir Medinsky, a hawkish ex-culture minister who led previous failed talks in Turkey, in a switch from the senior military officials who led two previous rounds in Abu Dhabi.&nbsp;Kyiv confirmed the talks were set for the scenic Swiss city.&nbsp;&quot;The Ukrainian delegation has already begun preparing for this meeting,&quot; said its top negotiator Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine&#39;s National Security Council.&nbsp;He will be joined by Zelensky&#39;s chief of staff and former spy master, Kyrylo Budanov, and a host of other officials.&nbsp;Russia&#39;s switch of negotiating teams comes after an assassination attempt on the deputy of its top negotiator in Moscow earlier this month -- an attack it said was orchestrated by Kyiv.&nbsp;TerritoryUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday arrived in Munich to hold rounds of meetings with European and US officials, seeking support from allies ahead of the talks. He also toured a Ukrainian-German drone production facility.&nbsp;Russia has continued to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/russian-strike-on-ukraine-kills-4-including-3-young-children-report" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">batter</a>&nbsp;Ukrainian cities in recent days, killing six people across the country in overnight strikes that targeted the southern port city of Odesa and energy infrastructure.&nbsp;Moscow has stuck to its demands in the talks for sweeping territorial and political concessions from Ukraine -- rejected by Kyiv as tantamount to capitulation.&nbsp;Russia is pushing for Ukraine to pull out of the eastern Donetsk region -- around one-fifth of which Kyiv&#39;s forces still control.&nbsp;Ukraine has rejected a unilateral pull-back and wants robust Western security guarantees to deter Russia from re-launching its offensive following any ceasefire.&nbsp;Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in the four-year conflict, Europe&#39;s deadliest since World War II.&nbsp;Russia occupies around one-fifth of Ukrainian land -- including the Crimean peninsula it seized in 2014 -- and areas that Moscow-backed separatists had taken prior to the 2022 invasion.

Europe

Russia and Ukraine will hold US-brokered talks in Geneva on February 17–18 to seek an end to the four-year war. Despite previous rounds, major disagreements over territory persist, as Moscow demands concessions and Kyiv seeks security guarantees.

Russia, Ukraine to hold talks in Geneva on February 17-18

DUBAI: The Ukrainian delegation, set for a second round of talks with Russian officials, has arrived in the United Arab Emirates, the lead negotiator&#39;s spokesperson told AFP on Wednesday. &quot;Yes,&quot; said Diana Davtyan, a spokeswoman for Rustem Umerov, in response to a question on whether the delegation had arrived for the two-day talks in Abu Dhabi. More to follow.

Emirati, US, Ukrainian, and Russian officials attend UAE-hosted trilateral talks at Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi on January 23, 2026. (File photo: Handout/UAE Presidential Court)

Ukraine delegation has arrived in Abu Dhabi to hold talks with its Russian counterparts to end the four-year-old war.

Ukraine delegation arrives in UAE for Russia talks

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Under mounting pressure from Washington, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly agreed to further reduce Russian oil imports following what US President Donald Trump described as a &ldquo;very good&rdquo; conversation between the two leaders.&nbsp;Speaking at the Oval Office on Tuesday, President Trump said he had spoken with Modi about the regional situation and the war in Ukraine, claiming that India is sharply reducing its oil imports from Russia and intends to continue doing so.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1980742051600953557&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2Fnew%2F&sessionId=cb91aadad6b39265589051e7fd402cd173d5ebd1&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 648px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>According to Trump, Modi assured him that India would further cut its purchases of Russian oil, adding that both leaders shared a desire to see the Russia-Ukraine conflict end soon. &ldquo;India has already reduced its oil purchases and is continuing to cut it back,&rdquo; Trump said. Trump&rsquo;s remarks came days after he made similar claims that were dismissed by New Delhi. In response, India&rsquo;s Ministry of External Affairs said it was &ldquo;not aware of any recent conversation&rdquo; between the two leaders, stressing that the country&rsquo;s energy imports are guided by &ldquo;the interests of the Indian consumer and the stability of supply and prices.&rdquo; He stated that Modi assured him India would further cut oil imports from Russia, emphasizing that both leaders share a desire to see the Russia-Ukraine war reach an end soon. Trump noted that India had already reduced its oil purchases and was &ldquo;continuing to cut it back.&rdquo; Modi confirmed the conversation in a post on X, signaling a shift in New Delhi&rsquo;s stance amid growing US pressure.<iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZm9zbnJfc29mdF9pbnRlcnZlbnRpb25zX2VuYWJsZWQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X21peGVkX21lZGlhXzE1ODk3Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRyZWF0bWVudCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3Nob3dfYmlyZHdhdGNoX3Bpdm90c19lbmFibGVkIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdXNlX3Byb2ZpbGVfaW1hZ2Vfc2hhcGVfZW5hYmxlZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbGVnYWN5X3RpbWVsaW5lX3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1980826742379184347&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2Fnew%2F&sessionId=cb91aadad6b39265589051e7fd402cd173d5ebd1&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 393px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe><div class="fr-embed"> </div>The US president has in recent weeks also criticized India for continuing to purchase Russian oil, and his administration has imposed tariffs on Indian exports to pressure New Delhi to support efforts for peace in Ukraine. Earlier this week, Trump reiterated that India would continue to face &ldquo;massive tariffs&rdquo; if it did not halt its imports of Russian oil.

Americas

Says India is sharply reducing its oil imports from Russia and intends to continue doing so.

Modi yields to Trump’s pressure, agrees to cut Russian oil imports

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump&rsquo;s plan for a swift meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin is on hold, a US official said on Tuesday, the latest twist in his stop-and-go effort to resolve the war in Ukraine.&nbsp;The meeting was announced last week and was supposed to take place in Budapest, Hungary, in the near future. However, the idea was paused after a call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to the official, who wasn&rsquo;t authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.&nbsp;The decision to hold off on a meeting between Trump and Putin will likely relieve European leaders, who have accused Putin of stalling for time with diplomacy while trying to gain ground on the battlefield.&nbsp;The leaders &mdash; including the British prime minister, French president and German chancellor &mdash; said they opposed any push to make Ukraine surrender land captured by Russian forces in return for peace, as Trump has occasionally suggested.&nbsp;They also plan to push forward with plans to use billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets to help fund Ukraine&rsquo;s war efforts, despite some misgivings about the legality and consequences of such a step.&nbsp;Trump has not yet commented publicly about the change in plans for his meeting with Putin. They previously met in Alaska in August, but the encounter did not advance Trump&rsquo;s stalled attempts to end a war that began almost four years ago.&nbsp;The Kremlin didn&rsquo;t seem to be in a rush to get Trump and Putin together again either. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that &ldquo;preparation is needed, serious preparation&rdquo; before a meeting.&nbsp;Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been trying to strengthen Ukraine&#39;s position by seeking long-range Tomahawk missiles from the US, although Trump has waffled on whether he would provide them.&nbsp;&ldquo;We need to end this war, and only pressure will lead to peace,&rdquo; Zelenskyy said on Tuesday in a Telegram post.&nbsp;He noted that Putin returned to diplomacy and called Trump last week when it looked like Tomahawk missiles were a possibility. But &quot;as soon as the pressure eased a little, the Russians began to try to drop diplomacy, postpone the dialogue,&rdquo; Zelenskyy said.&nbsp;On Wednesday, Trump will hold talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official did not provide any detail about Trump&rsquo;s agenda for the talks.&nbsp;The military alliance has been coordinating deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, many of them purchased from the US by Canada and European countries. A meeting of the Coalition of the Willing &mdash; a group of 35 countries who support Ukraine &mdash; is due to take place in London on Friday.&nbsp;Trump&#39;s stance on the war has shifted throughout the year. He initially focused on pressuring Ukraine to make concessions, but then grew frustrated with Putin&#39;s intransigence. Trump often complains that he thought his good relationship with his Russian counterpart would have made it easier to end the war.&nbsp;Last month, Trump reversed his long-held position that Ukraine would have to give up land and suggested it could win back all the territory it has lost to Russia. But after a phone call with Putin last week and a subsequent meeting with Zelenskyy on Friday, Trump shifted his position again and called on Kyiv and Moscow to &ldquo;stop where they are&rdquo; in the more than three-year war.&nbsp;On Sunday, Trump said the industrial Donbas region of eastern Ukraine should be &ldquo;cut up,&rdquo; leaving most of it in Russian hands.&nbsp;Trump said on Monday that while he thinks it is possible that Ukraine can ultimately defeat Russia, he&rsquo;s now doubtful it will happen.&nbsp;Ukrainian and European leaders are trying hard to keep Trump on their side.&nbsp;&ldquo;We strongly support President Trump&rsquo;s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations,&rdquo; the leaders&#39; statement said. &ldquo;We can all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction.&quot;&nbsp;Russia occupies about one fifth of Ukraine, but carving up their country in return for peace is unacceptable to Kyiv officials.&nbsp;Also, a conflict frozen on the current front line could fester, with occupied areas of Ukraine offering Moscow a springboard for new attacks in the future, Ukrainian and European officials fear.&nbsp;The statement by the leaders of Ukraine, the UK, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Denmark and EU officials came early in what Zelenskyy said Monday would be a week that is &ldquo;very active in diplomacy.&rdquo;&nbsp;More international economic sanctions on Russia are likely to be discussed at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.&nbsp;&ldquo;We must ramp up the pressure on Russia&rsquo;s economy and its defense industry, until Putin is ready to make peace,&rdquo; Tuesday&rsquo;s statement said.&nbsp;

Idea paused after call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, official says.

Trump-Putin summit planned for Budapest on hold 

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Friday called on Kyiv and Moscow to &ldquo;stop where they are&rdquo; and end their brutal war following a lengthy White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump&#39;s frustration with the conflict has surfaced repeatedly in the nine months since he returned to office, but with his latest comments, he edged back in the direction of pressing Ukraine to give up on retaking land it has lost to Russia. &ldquo;Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts,&rdquo; Trump said in a Truth Social post not long after hosting Zelenskyy and his team for more than two hours of talks. &ldquo;They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide!&rdquo; Later, soon after arriving in Florida, where he&#39;s spending the weekend, Trump urged both sides to &ldquo;stop the war immediately&rdquo; and implied that Moscow keep territory it&rsquo;s taken from Kyiv. &ldquo;You go by the battle line wherever it is &mdash; otherwise it&#39;s too complicated,&rdquo; Trump told reporters. &quot;You stop at the battle line and both sides should go home, go to their families, stop the killing, and that should be it.&rdquo; The comments amounted to another shift in position on the war by Trump. In recent weeks, he had shown growing impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed greater openness to helping Ukraine win the war. After meeting with Zelenskyy in New York on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly last month, Trump even said he believed the Ukrainians could win back all the territory they had lost to Russia since Putin launched the February 2022 invasion. That was a dramatic shift for Trump, who had previously insisted that Kyiv would have to concede land lost to Russia to end the war. Zelenskyy, after Friday&#39;s meeting said it was time for a ceasefire and negotiations. He sidestepped directly answering a question about Trump nudging Ukraine to give up land. &ldquo;The president is right, we have to stop where we are, and then to speak,&rdquo; Zelenskyy said when asked by reporters about Trump&rsquo;s social media post, which he hadn&#39;t seen. Trump&#39;s tone on the war shifted after he held a lengthy phone call with Putin on Thursday and announced that he planned to meet with the Russian leader in Budapest, Hungary, in the coming weeks. The president also signaled to Zelenskyy on Friday that he&#39;s leaning against selling him long-range Tomahawk missiles, weaponry that the Ukrainians believe could be a game changer in helping prod Putin to the negotiating table. Zelenskyy, at the start of the White House talks, said he had a &ldquo;proposition&rdquo; in which Ukraine could provide the United States with its advanced drones, while Washington would sell Kyiv the Tomahawk cruise missiles. But Trump said he was hesitant to tap into the US supply, a turnabout after days of suggesting he was seriously weighing sending the missiles to help Ukraine beat back Russia&#39;s invasion. &ldquo;I have an obligation also to make sure that we&rsquo;re completely stocked up as a country, because you never know what&rsquo;s going to happen in war and peace,&rdquo; Trump said. &ldquo;We&#39;d much rather have them not need Tomahawks. We&#39;d much rather have the war be over, to be honest.&rdquo; Trump&#39;s latest rhetoric on Tomahawks is certainly disappointing to the Ukrainians. In recent days, Trump had shown an openness to selling Ukraine the Tomahawks, even as Putin warned that such a move would further strain the US-Russian relationship. But following Thursday&rsquo;s call with Putin, Trump began downplaying the prospects of Ukraine getting the missiles, which have a range of about 995 miles (1,600 kilometers.) Zelenskyy had been seeking the Tomahawks, which would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russian territory and target key military sites, energy facilities, and critical infrastructure. Zelenskyy has argued that the potential for such strikes would help compel Putin to take Trump&rsquo;s calls for direct negotiations to end the war more seriously. Putin warned Trump during the call that supplying Kyiv with the Tomahawks &ldquo;won&rsquo;t change the situation on the battlefield, but would cause substantial damage to the relationship between our countries,&rdquo; according to Yuri Ushakov, Putin&rsquo;s foreign policy adviser. It was the fifth face-to-face meeting for Trump and Zelenskyy since the Republican returned to office in January, The president said on Friday it was &ldquo;to be determined&rdquo; if Zelenskyy would be involved in the upcoming talks in Hungary &mdash; suggesting a &ldquo;double meeting&rdquo; with the warring countries&#39; leaders was likely the most workable option for productive negotiations. &ldquo;These two leaders do not like each other, and we want to make it comfortable for everybody,&rdquo; Trump added. But Zelenskyy told reporters that the animus toward Putin &ldquo;is not about feelings.&rdquo; &ldquo;They attacked us, so they are an enemy for us. They don&rsquo;t intend to stop,&quot; Zelenskyy added. &quot;So they are an enemy. It is not about someone just hating someone else. Although undoubtedly, we hate the enemy. Undoubtedly.&rdquo; Trump, going back to his 2024 campaign, insisted he would quickly end the war, but his peace efforts appeared to stall following a diplomatic blitz in August, when he held a summit with Putin in Alaska and a White House meeting with Zelenskyy and European allies. Trump emerged from those meetings certain he was on track to arranging direct talks between Zelenskyy and Putin. But the Russian leader hasn&rsquo;t shown any interest in meeting with Zelenskyy and Moscow has only intensified its bombardment of Ukraine. Asked on Friday if he was concerned that Putin was stringing him along, Trump acknowledged it was a possibility but said he was confident he could handle the Russian leader. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well,&quot; Trump said. He added, &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m pretty good at this stuff.&quot;

US president implies Moscow keep territory it’s taken from Kyiv; comments amount to another shift in position on war by Trump. 

Trump calls on Ukraine, Russia to ‘stop where they are’ and end the war

MOSCOW: Russia on Saturday claimed to have captured three villages in eastern Ukraine, as its forces slowly grind through Ukrainian defenses in costly battles.&nbsp;Russian forces are slowly but steadily gaining ground in fierce meter-for-meter skirmishes for largely devastated areas in eastern Ukraine, with few inhabitants or intact buildings left.&nbsp;Moscow has captured about 0.8 percent of Ukraine&#39;s total land area since the beginning of the year, according to Russia&#39;s Ministry of Defense.&nbsp;The villages of Derylove and Maiske were seized in the Donetsk region, Moscow&#39;s army said in a statement, while the settlement of Stepove was taken in the Dnipropetrovsk region.&nbsp;Ukraine said an overnight Russian barrage killed one person and wounded 12 in the southeastern Kherson region, and damaged railways in the neighboring Odesa region.&nbsp;Russia said an oil pumping station in the Chuvashia republic suspended operation after a Ukrainian drone strike deep behind the front line.&nbsp;Kyiv has been targeting Russian refineries for months, calling the attacks fair retribution for Moscow&#39;s own barrages and an attempt to cut off energy revenues that fund Russia&#39;s army.&nbsp;Diplomatic efforts to stop the war, now nearing its fourth year, have faltered, with US President Donald Trump recently floating the idea that Ukraine may be able to take back all of its lost land from Russia, which vowed to press on the offensive.

Russia Ukraine war, Russia Ukraine conflict

Russian forces are slowly but steadily gaining ground in fierce meter-for-meter skirmishes for largely devastated areas in eastern Ukraine, with few inhabitants or intact buildings left.

Russia says seized three villages in east Ukraine

UNITED NATIONS: President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he believed Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia, a dramatic shift from the US leader&rsquo;s repeated calls for Kyiv to make concessions to end the war.&nbsp;Trump posted on social media soon after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly gathering of world leaders.&nbsp;&ldquo;I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,&quot; Trump wrote. &quot;With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option.&rdquo;&nbsp;The strengthened support from Trump, if it sticks, is a huge win for Zelenskyy, who has urged the American president to keep up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his war. It was a departure from Trump&#39;s previous suggestions that Ukraine would never be able to reclaim all the territory that Russia has occupied since seizing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.&nbsp;That had disheartened Zelenskyy, Europeans and Ukrainians and called into question the US commitment to UN principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. But now, Trump&rsquo;s view of the battlefield coincides more with Ukraine&rsquo;s, Zelenskyy said.&nbsp;&ldquo;Trump is a game changer by himself,&rdquo; Zelenskyy told reporters after their meeting.&nbsp;Trump needles Russia about war in UkraineTrump, going back to his 2024 campaign, insisted he would quickly end the war, but his peace efforts appear to have stalled following a diplomatic blitz last month, when he held a summit with Putin and a White House meeting with Zelenskyy and European allies.&nbsp;Trump has acknowledged, including in his UN speech to world leaders, that he thought a resolution to this conflict would be &ldquo;the easiest&rdquo; because he has had a good relationship with Putin. Trump said he is open to imposing more sanctions on Russia and urged Europe to join in.&nbsp;&ldquo;Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years, a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win,&rdquo; Trump wrote on social media. &ldquo;This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like &lsquo;a paper tiger.&rsquo;&rdquo;&nbsp;In his speech to the General Assembly, Trump said the war in Ukraine was making Russia &ldquo;look bad&rdquo; because it was &ldquo;supposed to be a quick little skirmish.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;It shows you what leadership is, what bad leadership can do to a country,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The only question now is how many lives will be needlessly lost on both sides.&rdquo;&nbsp;Before meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump said the &ldquo;biggest progress&rdquo; toward ending the conflict &ldquo;is that the Russian economy is terrible right now.&rdquo; Zelenskyy said he agreed with Trump&rsquo;s call for European nations to further halt imports of Russian oil and natural gas.&nbsp;&ldquo;We have great respect for the fight that Ukraine is putting up,&rdquo; Trump told Zelenskyy, who replied that he had &ldquo;good news&rdquo; from the battlefield.&nbsp;How Trump&#39;s stance has shifted on UkraineBefore his Alaska summit with Putin last month, Trump repeated that any resolution to the war would require &ldquo;some land swapping.&quot;&nbsp;In talks with Zelenskyy and Europeans just afterward, Trump said Putin reiterated that he wants the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the Donbas, according to European officials. Days later, Zelensky and prominent European leaders came to the White House.&nbsp;Following those meetings, Trump announced he was arranging for direct talks between Putin and Zelenskyy. But Putin hasn&rsquo;t shown any interest in meeting with Zelenskyy and Moscow has only intensified its bombardment of Ukraine.&nbsp;European leaders, as well as American lawmakers, including some Republican allies of Trump, have urged the president to dial up stronger sanctions on Russia.&nbsp;&ldquo;In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the United States is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs, which would stop the bloodshed, I believe, very quickly,&rdquo; Trump told the General Assembly.&nbsp;However, he repeated his calls for Europe to &ldquo;step it up&rdquo; and stop buying Russian oil, the engine feeding Putin&rsquo;s war machine.&nbsp;Push for sanctions and cutting off Russian oilEuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said before meeting with Trump that Europe would be imposing more sanctions and tariffs on Russia and that the bloc would be further reducing its imports of Russian energy.&nbsp;Zelenskyy, speaking at a special UN Security Council session on Ukraine, also appealed for stronger US pressure on Russia.&nbsp;&ldquo;Moscow fears America and always pays attention to it,&rdquo; said Zelenskyy, who has had strained ties with Trump in previous sitdowns and has previously faced White House accusations that he was partly to blame for Russia&rsquo;s invasion in 2022.&nbsp;Russia denigrated the Security Council meeting as just the New York stop in the world tour of a &ldquo;former actor,&rdquo; a reference to Zelenskyy.&nbsp;&ldquo;There is no added value for the establishment of peace in Ukraine generated from today&rsquo;s meeting,&rdquo; said Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia&rsquo;s deputy ambassador to the UN. &quot;This will merely become yet another shameful episode in the market of hypocrisy.&rdquo;&nbsp;European leaders have supported Zelenskyy&rsquo;s diplomatic efforts, with some alarmed by the possibility that the war could spread beyond Ukraine as they are facing what they have called Russian provocations.&nbsp;&ldquo;I welcome the fact that the president of the United States believes in Ukraine&rsquo;s ability not only to hold the course&rdquo; but to prevail, French President Emmanuel Macron said.&nbsp;NATO allies will hold formal consultations at Estonia&rsquo;s request on Tuesday, after the Baltic country said three Russian fighter jets entered its airspace last week without authorization.&nbsp;Trump said he would back NATO countries that choose to shoot down intruding Russian planes but said direct US involvement would depend on the circumstances.&nbsp;New strikes in Ukraine as toll of war growsThe full-scale war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, is taking a heavy toll on Ukrainian civilians. Russia said it shot down three dozen Ukrainian drones heading toward Moscow, while Ukraine said Russian missiles, drones and bombs killed at least two civilians.&nbsp;The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also said this month that Ukrainian civilian casualties increased by 40% in the first eight months of this year compared with 2024, as Russia escalated its long-range missile and localized drone strikes.&nbsp;A UN Human Rights Office report released Tuesday described the dire situation of thousands of civilians detained by Russia in areas of Ukraine it has captured.&nbsp;&ldquo;Russian authorities have subjected Ukrainian civilian detainees in occupied territory to torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, in a widespread and systematic manner,&rdquo; the report said.

President Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UNGA 80

He posts on social media after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly gathering of world leaders.

Trump says Ukraine can win back all territory with NATO's help

SLOVIANSK: Fall is expected to bring another grueling test for Ukraine&rsquo;s armed forces as Russia intensifies its campaign to seize an eastern region, once Ukraine&rsquo;s industrial heartland and a territory it has long sought to conquer. Russia now controls about 70% of the Donetsk&nbsp;region. Ukraine&#39;s forces have been pushed back to a string of four cities that analysts have dubbed its &ldquo;fortress belt,&rdquo; where they&#39;ve repelled Moscow&#39;s efforts to seize the region for years. But shortages of troops, supplies, and chaotic management are making it increasingly hard to resist Russia&#39;s relentless pressure in the region. As the more-than-3-year-old invasion continues despite months of US-led peace efforts, analysts and the military say the country could struggle to resist an intensified push to seize the last cities in the region under Ukrainian control. Moscow is taking the territory piecemealAnalysts and Ukrainian officers say that Russia is unlikely to engage in protracted urban battles and avoid costly fights like the storming of Bakhmut, which dragged on for months with staggering losses on both sides. &ldquo;After Bakhmut and Chasiv Yar, the Russians clearly understood that large cities turn into vast cemeteries for their army, where they lose thousands upon thousands,&rdquo; said Col. Pavlo Yurchuk, whose troops are defending a small city at the northern end of the fortress belt. To skirt the cities, Russian forces are pushing on the flanks and increasingly using infiltration tactics, sending small groups of soldiers through gaps between Ukrainian units. Some of these groups have achieved tactical gains, slipping behind the front line to hide in tree lines or basements, occasionally occupying abandoned positions or cutting off supply routes.&nbsp; But the human cost is heavy: of a five-man unit, Ukrainian commanders estimate, two are usually killed, one is wounded, one goes missing, and only one survives to call for a drone to drop water or medicine. &ldquo;These are tactical successes, not strategic ones,&rdquo; Yurchuk said. &ldquo;This tactic is very slow and does not solve the tasks of encirclement or control of large settlements.&rdquo; Drones and glide bombs are also playing a crucial role, allowing Russia to hit troops and supplies headed for the front and to weaken Ukraine&#39;s strongholds without head-on fighting. Russia is moving around the ends of the fortress beltThis summer, Russian forces stepped up attacks at the northern and southern ends of the Donetsk belt. Their strategy, Ukrainian officers say, is to sever supply lines and surround the region&rsquo;s cities rather than storming them directly. The region &mdash; one of four that Russia illegally annexed in 2022, though it did not control any of them &mdash; became the epicenter of the fighting since the start of the full-scale invasion. In northern Donetsk, Yurchuk&#39;s 63rd Brigade is fighting to hold the town of Lyman, a key logistics hub on the way to Sloviansk. With a prewar population of 20,000, Lyman has rail connections, dozens of basements and bomb shelters, solid infrastructure, and strong buildings where command posts or supply depots could be set up. It was occupied during part of the first year of the full-scale invasion but liberated in Ukraine&rsquo;s autumn 2022 lightning counteroffensive. If Russian forces manage to take Lyman, Yurchuk said, they could use it to build up troops and attempt to cross the Siverskyi Donets River, a natural obstacle that helps protect Sloviansk. But the commander says he&#39;s confident Russia&#39;s latest offensive won&#39;t work. &ldquo;From a military point of view, it looks correct &mdash; on the map it looks neat &mdash; but after nearly three and a half years of war, we all know that such deep maneuvers and wide flanking operations are not Russia&rsquo;s forte,&rdquo; said Yurchuk.&nbsp; &ldquo;They simply won&rsquo;t be able to control and supply those penetrations, so I&rsquo;m sure that they will fail.&rdquo; In southern Donetsk, Russia has made advances near Pokrovsk, taking them further around the fortress belt&#39;s southern stronghold of Kostiantynivka, once home to 67,000 people but today all but deserted. It&rsquo;s hard to predict how the fighting will unfold: Russia&#39;s advances could turn into a breakthrough that allows it to seize much of the region, or the battles could drag on for months or years. Ukraine&#39;s army is being ground downWhile Russia achieves tactical gains without sparing sentiment for human life, Ukraine faces the grinding reality of troop shortages. Exhaustion and a lack of regular rotations could also weaken Ukraine&rsquo;s defenses. &ldquo;People are obviously one of the key problems,&rdquo; said Taras Chmut, director of the Come Back Alive Foundation, which has raised more than $388 million over the past decade to equip Ukraine&rsquo;s forces. &nbsp;&ldquo;Not only the quantity, but their dispersion on the battlefield, the inefficiency of command, and the shortcomings in training and management.&rdquo; On paper, he said, some brigades list thousands of soldiers but can only field hundreds in combat, a gap he attributed not to Russian superiority but to mismanagement. He said the chaos means too many soldiers are sometimes doubled up on the same tasks and targets while others are left uncovered. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a systemic flaw we can neither admit nor fix,&quot; he said. &quot;Until we do, we have to make up for it with technology, with manpower, with the enemy&rsquo;s weaknesses on the battlefield, and with the courage of people and volunteers who step in where they can.&rdquo; But he and others warned that these measures are temporary stopgaps unless broader changes come. &ldquo;The overall trend, measured over years, looks unfavorable for Ukraine,&rdquo; Chmut said, adding that unless changes are made in the rear &mdash; such as fixing management failures in the army &mdash; and no new technology or geopolitical shift emerges, the outlook will remain grim.&nbsp; &ldquo;The longer this drags on, the worse it will get &mdash; and without fresh resources, the Russians will simply outmatch us in quantity and means.&rdquo; &ldquo;Just because the Russians moved slowly in the past doesn&rsquo;t mean they won&rsquo;t accelerate,&rdquo; warned Nick Reynolds, a research fellow in land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute. &ldquo;Sadly, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been under enormous pressure for a very long time.&rdquo; The fall of the fortress belt, he cautioned, would displace thousands of civilians and cause further economic damage. And even after capturing the whole region, the invasion is unlikely to end. &ldquo;I see absolutely no reason, no indication why the Russian Federation or the Russian Armed Forces would stop&quot; with the Donetsk region, Reynolds said.&nbsp;

Russia now controls about 70% of the Donetsk region; Ukraine's forces have been pushed back to a string of four cities that analysts have dubbed its “fortress belt,” where they've repelled Moscow's efforts to seize the region for years.



Ukraine faces new test as Russia steps up drive to seize Donetsk’s fortress belt

ISLAMABAD: The UN Security Council (UNSC) will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss Russian incursions over Estonia&rsquo;s airspace, the Estonian foreign office said on Sunday.&nbsp;&ldquo;When such actions are committed by a permanent member of the Security Council, they must be addressed by that very body,&rdquo; Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a post on X. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1969726369551487284&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=e1cdf18bfdc40aedf10f9fea8ac23ab6f14cf456&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 856px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>&nbsp;He added that Russia&rsquo;s actions &ldquo;undermine principles vital to the security of all UN member states.&rdquo; St&eacute;phane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary general, said the emergency meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. E.T. on Monday.&nbsp;Estonia&rsquo;s request for a UNSC meeting comes after three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered its airspace over the Gulf of Finland without permission on Friday. The jets remained for 12 minutes before being intercepted by NATO, according to the Estonian Foreign Ministry.&nbsp;The Russian Defense Ministry, however, has denied its jets entered Estonian airspace. It insisted that the flights were conducted &ldquo;in strict accordance with international rules.&rdquo;&nbsp;Ukraine has also submitted a request to attend the Security Council meeting and present its position. The request was directed to the Republic of Korea, which holds the rotating presidency of the council.&nbsp;&ldquo;For the first time in 34 years, Estonia has requested an emergency UNSC meeting,&rdquo; Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X. &ldquo;This shows the unprecedented scale of threats posed by aggressive Russia to the stability of Europe.&rdquo; <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZm9zbnJfc29mdF9pbnRlcnZlbnRpb25zX2VuYWJsZWQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X21peGVkX21lZGlhXzE1ODk3Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRyZWF0bWVudCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3Nob3dfYmlyZHdhdGNoX3Bpdm90c19lbmFibGVkIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdXNlX3Byb2ZpbGVfaW1hZ2Vfc2hhcGVfZW5hYmxlZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbGVnYWN5X3RpbWVsaW5lX3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1969761477755064326&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=e1cdf18bfdc40aedf10f9fea8ac23ab6f14cf456&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">For the first time in 34 years, Estonia has requested an emergency UNSC meeting. This shows the unprecedented scale of threats posed by aggressive Russia to the stability of Europe. Ukraine addressed the ROK&rsquo;s Presidency with a request to attend the meeting and present our&hellip; <a href="https://t.co/C4LK1CxgK5" style="color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">https://t.co/C4LK1CxgK5</a>&mdash; Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) <a href="https://twitter.com/andrii_sybiha/status/1969761477755064326?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">September 21, 2025</a></blockquote></div>&nbsp;Meanwhile, NATO&#39;s North Atlantic Council has also called a meeting for Tuesday to discuss Russia&#39;s violation of&nbsp;Estonian airspace, two officials familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday, specifying the date that so far has only been described as early next week, Reuters reported.&nbsp;Tallinn said three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered&nbsp;Estonian airspace without permission on Friday and stayed for a total of 12 minutes before they were forced to withdraw.&nbsp;Estonia requested consultations under Article 4 of the Washington Treaty after the incident that it described as an &quot;unprecedentedly brazen&quot; incursion.&nbsp;Article 4 states that NATO members will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territory, political independence or security of any of them is threatened.&nbsp;Russia&#39;s Defence Ministry denied its jets violated&nbsp;Estonian airspace, saying they flew over neutral waters.&nbsp;With tensions already high because of the war in Ukraine, the incursion came just over a week after more than 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace on the night of September 9-10. With input from wires. &nbsp;

German Eurofighter, NATO, Russia Ukraine war

NATO’s North Atlantic Council also calls a meeting for Tuesday to discuss Russia’s violation of Estonian airspace, according to Reuters.

UNSC to hold emergency meeting on Russian jet incursions over Estonia

MOSCOW: The head of the Kremlin-backed government in annexed Crimea blamed Ukraine on Monday for a deadly drone strike, while Kyiv said a Russian attack had killed two people in the country&#39;s southeast.&nbsp;Sergey Aksyonov said the Ukrainian military had targeted the Crimean resort town of Foros, damaging the grounds of a sanatorium and a school building.&nbsp;&quot;According to updated data, three people were killed and 16 were wounded as a result of (the) UAV attack,&quot; Aksyonov said on Telegram.&nbsp;Fragments of the downed drone also caused a fire near the coastal city of Yalta, he said.&nbsp;Russia&#39;s defense ministry called the strike a &quot;terrorist attack&quot; and initially put the death toll at two.&nbsp;Ukraine said Moscow had carried out 46 air strikes on its territory as of 10:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Sunday.&nbsp;Kyiv said overnight Russian strikes in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia had killed two people and wounded two others, one seriously.&nbsp;Russian forces had &quot;dropped at least five&quot; bombs on the city, according to Ivan Fedorov, the head of the regional military administration.&nbsp;Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 following a referendum denounced by the international community, and wants Kyiv and Western countries to recognize the peninsula as part of its territory.&nbsp;Ukrainian forces frequently carry out strikes on the heavily fortified region, including on a bridge connecting it to the Russian mainland.&nbsp;After meeting Russian leader Vladimir Putin for high-profile talks last month, US President Donald Trump said Ukraine would not be able to regain Crimea as part of a peace deal.&nbsp;Progress towards a truce has stalled since that flurry of diplomacy, which also saw Trump hold a separate meeting with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Sergey Aksyonov says the Ukrainian military has targeted the Crimean resort town of Foros, damaging the grounds of a sanatorium and a school building. Ukraine says Moscow has carried out 46 air strikes on its territory as of 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Sunday.

Articles tagged with "Russia Ukraine war"