GENEVA: Russian and Ukrainian negotiators will meet Tuesday in Geneva for fresh US-brokered talks seeking to end the four-year war, hours after both sides launched a fresh wave of long-range strikes. US President Donald Trump is seeking to position himself as peacemaker of the conflict unleashed when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but previous rounds of talks mediated by the White House have yielded no breakthroughs. Before the meetings began Ukraine accused Russia of undermining peace efforts by launching 29 missiles and 396 drones in attacks that authorities said killed one, wounded others and cut power to tens of thousands. &quot;The extent to which Russia disregards peace efforts: a massive missile and drone strike against Ukraine right before the next round of talks in Geneva,&quot; Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga wrote on social media. He repeated Ukraine&#39;s call for allies to exert greater pressure on Russia to negotiate in good faith by applying more sanctions on Moscow. The talks, which the Kremlin said will be held behind closed doors and with no media present, come after two earlier rounds held this year in Abu Dhabi. &quot;Ukraine better come to the table, fast,&quot; Trump told reporters ahead of the negotiations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his team had already arrived in Geneva on Monday, while a source with the Russian delegation confirmed Tuesday that their team had touched down in the Swiss city in the early hours. Russia meanwhile claimed to have repelled more than 150 Ukrainian drones mainly over southern regions and Crimean peninsula, occupied by the Kremlin in 2014. Officials said an oil depot in southern Russia caught fire. &nbsp;Sticking points&nbsp; The war has spiralled into Europe&#39;s deadliest conflict since World War II, with hundreds of thousands killed, millions forced to flee their homes in Ukraine and much of the eastern and southern part of the country scarred by war. Russia occupies around one-fifth of Ukraine -- including the Crimean peninsula it seized in 2014 -- and areas that Moscow-backed separatists had taken prior to the 2022 invasion. It wants Ukrainian troops to withdraw from swathes of heavily fortified and strategic territory as part of any peace deal. Kyiv has rejected this deeply unpopular demand, which would be politically and militarily fraught, and has instead demanded robust security guarantees from the west before agreeing to any proposals with Russia. Russia&#39;s better-resourced army has been making steady gains across the sprawling front line in the eastern and southern Ukraine in recent months. But Ukrainian forces have recently made significant battlefield gains, recapturing 201 square kilometres (78 square miles) last week, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War. The counterattacks likely leveraged Russian forces&#39; lack of access to Starlink, which has disrupted communications, the ISW said. The territorial gain is concentrated mainly around 80 kilometres east of the city of Zaporizhzhia, a region that Moscow claims is part of Russia, and where its troops have made significant progress since last summer. The centrally located region hosts Europe&#39;s largest nuclear power plant, which Russia currently controls -- another sticking point in negotiations. For the talks in Geneva, the Kremlin has reinstated nationalist hawk and former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky as its lead negotiator. &quot;This time, we plan to discuss a broader set of issues, focusing on key ones related to the territories and other demands,&quot; a spokesperson for President Vladimir Putin told reporters, including AFP, explaining the personnel change. Kyiv&#39;s team will be led by national security chief Rustem Umerov, while the White House is expected to dispatch Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump&#39;s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Europe

Negotiating teams from Russia and Ukraine are set to meet in Geneva, Switzerland, in an effort to bring an end to the four-year long war between their countries.

Moscow, Kyiv meet for US-brokered talks after fresh attacks

KYIV: Ukraine said on Tuesday that Russia was undermining peace efforts by launching dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones ahead of talks in Geneva aimed at ending Russia&#39;s four-year invasion. &quot;The extent to which Russia disregards peace efforts: a massive missile and drone strike against Ukraine right before the next round of talks in Geneva,&quot; Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga wrote on social media. The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 29 missiles and 396 drones in attacks that local officials said targeted critical infrastructure.

The Ukranian FM has lamented Russia's attack ahead of peace talks

Russia 'disregards peace efforts' with overnight attack before talks: Ukraine FM

MUNICH:&nbsp;US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was set to address European leaders on Saturday as they try to step up their autonomy in defense while salvaging transatlantic ties badly strained under President Donald Trump. Bruised by Trump&#39;s designs on Greenland and his often hostile comments about America&#39;s traditional bedrock allies, European leaders gathered at the Munich Security Conference have pledged to shoulder more of the burden of shared <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/in-show-of-support-canada-france-open-consulates-in-greenland" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">NATO defenses</a>. &lsquo;Right time&rsquo;&nbsp;Key leaders have pushed the message that this is essential for Europe to counter a hostile Russia, with NATO chief Mark Rutte saying that &quot;a strong Europe in a strong NATO means that the transatlantic bond will be stronger than ever&quot;. &quot;This is the right time for a strong Europe,&quot; said French President Emmanuel Macron, who stressed on Friday that the continent was &quot;clear in the support of Ukraine&quot; and &quot;building its own architecture of security&quot;. &quot;This Europe will be a good ally and partner for the United States of America.&quot; &lsquo;A sleeping giant&rsquo;British leader Keir Starmer was expected to tell the conference that Europe is &quot;a sleeping giant&quot; and must rely less on the United States for its defense. &quot;I&#39;m talking about a vision of European security and greater European autonomy that does not herald US withdrawal but answers the call for more burden sharing in full and remakes the ties that have served us so well,&quot; he will say, according to his office. Conciliatory choice&nbsp;Rubio is seen as a more conciliatory choice of US envoy, a year after Vice President JD Vance used the same stage to attack European policies on immigration and free speech, shocking European allies. The Trump administration&#39;s new National Security Strategy similarly launched an unprecedented attack against Europeans, charging that the continent is threatened with &quot;civilizational decline&quot;. Ties plunged further last month when Trump stepped up threats to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, forcing European nations to stand firm in protest. Ukraine war in focus&nbsp;German Chancellor Friedrich Merz acknowledged a &quot;rift&quot; had opened up between Europe and the United States, fueled by culture wars, but issued an appeal to Washington: &quot;Let&#39;s repair and revive transatlantic trust together.&quot; &quot;In the era of great power rivalry, even the United States will not be powerful enough to go it alone,&quot; said the conservative leader, who has ramped up defense spending in the top EU economy. The high-powered Munich meeting of government leaders, diplomats, defense and intelligence chiefs comes shortly before Russia&#39;s full-scale war on Ukraine is set to enter its fifth grueling year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been in Munich since Friday and meeting multiple allies, was expected to address the meeting on Saturday.&nbsp; No Russian officials have been invited. &lsquo;Get moving&rsquo;&nbsp;At the White House on Friday, Trump urged him to &quot;get moving&quot; to end the war.&nbsp; &quot;Russia wants to make a deal... He has to move,&quot; the US leader said. A German government source said Merz and Rubio met at the conference Friday and discussed &quot;Ukraine, the status of negotiations with Russia and further support for the country, particularly in terms of military aid&quot;. They also discussed Europe&#39;s role in NATO, and &ldquo;Rubio praised Germany&#39;s steps to strengthen the alliance&rdquo;, the source added. &lsquo;An aggressive Russia&rsquo;Macron said a new framework was needed to deal with &quot;an aggressive Russia&quot; once the fighting in Ukraine ends. Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky said he feared &quot;a new cold war&quot; between Europe and Russia in the coming decade, making reopening dialogue with Moscow essential. &quot;If it makes sense to talk, we are willing to talk,&quot; said Merz, but he also charged that &quot;Russia is not yet willing to talk seriously&quot;.

Americas

British leader Keir Starmer is expected to tell the conference that Europe is ‘a sleeping giant’ and must rely less on the United States for its defense.

Rubio at Munich security meet to address Europeans rattled by Trump

KYIV: Ukraine and Russia have conducted their first prisoner exchange in months, each releasing at least 157 people, both countries said Thursday, amid US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the war.&nbsp;The two sides have in the past conducted several rounds of prisoner swaps, one of the rare areas of direct cooperation between Ukraine and Russia amid the four-year war, but last month Kyiv accused Moscow of halting the exchanges.&nbsp;On Thursday, amid three-way talks in <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/ukraine-delegation-arrives-in-uae-for-russia-talks" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Abu Dhabi</a>, the countries swapped 157 captured soldiers and civilians each in an exchange mediated by Washington -- the first since October.&nbsp;&quot;Today&#39;s exchange came after a long pause, and it is critical that we were able to make it happen. I thank everyone who works to make these exchanges possible,&quot; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.&nbsp;Images he posted showed the released prisoners, their heads freshly shaven, wrapped in Ukrainian flags and smiling amid falling snow.&nbsp;Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said among the 157 Ukrainians released &quot;are seven civilians and those whom the Russians unlawfully convicted.&quot;&nbsp;Zelensky&#39;s aide Kyrylo Budanov said that in the group of the freed prisoners were 19 Ukrainians &quot;who were illegally sentenced, 15 of them to life imprisonment.&quot;&nbsp;Russia, who said the United States and United Arab Emirates acted as mediators for the exchange, announced earlier it had handed over 157 Ukrainian soldiers and that 157 Russian servicemen were returned.&nbsp;&quot;In addition, three Russian citizens, residents of the Kursk region... &nbsp;will be returned home,&quot; the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.&nbsp;Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia&#39;s western Kursk region in 2024.

Ukraine and Russia carried out their first prisoner exchange in months, releasing 157 people each during US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi. The swap included soldiers and civilians and was welcomed by President Zelensky on Thursday.

Ukraine, Russia exchange POWs for first time in months

BEIJING/MOSCOW: Russian leader Vladimir Putin hailed Moscow&#39;s economic, political, and security ties with Beijing as a &quot;stabilizing&quot; factor in turbulent times globally, in a video call with China&#39;s Xi Jinping on Wednesday. &quot;Amid growing turbulence, the foreign policy alliance between Moscow and Beijing remains an important stabilising factor,&quot; Putin told Xi in a video broadcast on Russian state TV.&nbsp; Xi was holding the call with Putin via a video link from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The call comes days after top diplomats from both countries agreed bilateral relations could &ldquo;break new ground&rdquo; this year as <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/britains-starmer-hails-good-progress-after-meeting-chinas-xi" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Beijing</a>&nbsp;and Moscow seek to ramp up economic cooperation. &lsquo;Close exchanges&rsquo;Their strategic partnership has grown closer since Russia&#39;s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The two leaders, who are regularly in contact, exchanged New Year greetings on Dec. 31, in which Xi expressed &quot;readiness to continue maintaining close exchanges&quot; with Putin, according to China&#39;s foreign ministry. They last met in person in September when the Russian leader attended Beijing&#39;s massive military parade. &lsquo;Unprecedented level&rsquo;During the visit, Putin told Xi during talks that their countries&#39; ties were at an &ldquo;unprecedented level&rdquo;. Putin and a slew of world leaders had visited the port city of Tianjin before that to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit - a forum that China sees as an alternative to Western-dominated international cooperation. Xi also visited Moscow last year, in May, for Russia&#39;s celebrations of the World War II defeat of the Nazis. The two chatted while they watched tanks and missiles roll across Red Square during Russia&rsquo;s flagship Victory Day Parade.

Asia

'Amid growing turbulence, the foreign policy alliance between Moscow and Beijing remains an important stabilising factor,' Putin told Xi in a video broadcast on Russian state TV. 

Putin tells Xi Moscow-Beijing alliance 'stabilizing' for world

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

PARIS:&nbsp;Revelers around the world toasted the start of 2026 on Thursday, bidding farewell to a volatile year when temperatures soared, US President Donald Trump upended global trade, and the brutal conflict in Ukraine raged on. While a fragile truce took hold in devastated Gaza, violence in Sudan continued unabated.&nbsp; A new American pope was installed at the Vatican, the world lost pioneering zoologist Jane Goodall, and Labubu dolls sparked a worldwide frenzy. In Sydney, partygoers paused for a minute of silence to remember the victims of the mass shooting on Bondi Beach before fireworks lit up the skies at the stroke of midnight. Heavily armed police patrolled the shoreline, packed with hundreds of thousands of people, barely two weeks after 15 people were gunned down at a Jewish festival in Australia&#39;s deadliest mass shooting for almost 30 years. Bathed in white lightThe famed Sydney Harbour Bridge was bathed in white light to symbolize peace. Pacific nations, including Kiribati and New Zealand, were the first to see in 2026, with Seoul and Tokyo following Sydney in celebrations that spread around the globe with each passing hour. In Hong Kong, a major New Year fireworks display was cancelled&nbsp;in homage to 161 people killed in a fire in November that engulfed several apartment blocks. &lsquo;10 percent&rsquo; awayUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country was &ldquo;10 percent&rdquo; away from a deal to end the fighting, which soon reached the four-year mark. Russia&rsquo;s Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, used his traditional New Year address to urge his compatriots to believe that Moscow would deliver a victory in Europe&#39;s deadliest conflict since World War II. In the Ukrainian city of Vyshhorod, beauty salon manager Daria Lushchyk said the war had made her work &ldquo;hell&rdquo; but that her clients were still showing up. &ldquo;Nothing can stop our Ukrainian girls from coming in and getting themselves glam,&rdquo; Lushchyk said. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Tariff blitz and fragile truce&nbsp;</h2>This year has brought a mix of stress and excitement for many, war for others still -- and a daring jewel heist at the Louvre. Pop megastar Taylor Swift got engaged to her American football player boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and K-pop heartthrobs BTS made their long-awaited return. Trump returned as US president in January, launching a tariff blitz that sent global trade and world stock markets into meltdown. As he prepared to host a New Year&#39;s party at his lavish Florida home, the Republican president launched a broadside at Oscar-winning actor George Clooney. After two years of war that left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, pressure from Trump helped land a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October -- though both sides have accused each other of flagrant violations. &ldquo;We bid farewell to 2025 with deep sorrow and grief,&rdquo; said Gaza City resident Shireen Al-Kayali. &ldquo;We lost a lot of people and our possessions. We lived a difficult and harsh life, displaced from one city to another, under bombardment and in terror.&rdquo; Optimism in Syria&nbsp;In contrast, there was optimism despite abiding internal challenges in Syria, where residents of the capital Damascus celebrated a whole year since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. &ldquo;There is no fear, the people are happy, all of Syria is one and united, and God willing &hellip; it will be a good year for the people and the wise leadership,&rdquo; marketing manager Sahar al-Said, 33, told AFP as bells rang in Damascus. Fireworks in DubaiIn Dubai, thousands of revelers queued for up to nine hours for a spectacular fireworks and laser display at the Burj Khalifa, the world&rsquo;s tallest building. Revelers popped champagne near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Bulgaria adopted the euro, and huge crowds danced at Edinburgh&#39;s Hogmanay street party. More than 2.5 million people were expected to pack Rio de Janeiro&#39;s Copacabana Beach for what authorities have called the world&rsquo;s biggest New Year&#39;s Eve party. Crowds packed the city&#39;s expansive coastline for concerts and fireworks, mostly dressed in white, a tradition related to Iemanja, the goddess of the sea in Afro-Brazilian faiths. In the US capital, the Washington Monument was lit up to kick off America&#39;s 250th birthday celebration year. And in New York, thousands gathered in freezing temperatures amid tight security for the traditional ball drop in Times Square. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Sports, space and AI &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>The coming 12 months promise to be full of sports, space, and questions over artificial intelligence. Athletes will gather in Italy in February for the Winter Olympics. And for a few weeks in June and July, 48 nations will compete in the biggest football World Cup in history in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. NASA is planning a crewed mission to orbit the Moon during a 10-day flight, more than 50 years after the last Apollo lunar mission. And after years of unbridled enthusiasm, AI is facing scrutiny, and nervous investors are questioning whether the boom might now resemble a market bubble.

Australasia

Middle East

The coming 12 months promise to be full of sports, space, and questions over AI; in February, athletes will take part in the Winter Olympics, and in June and July, 48 nations will compete in the football World Cup.

World welcomes 2026 with fireworks after year of Trump and turmoil

KYIV: The US has offered Ukraine &quot;solid&quot; security guarantees for 15 years with a possibility of an extension but Kyiv is seeking a longer period, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday after meeting Donald Trump. Zelensky held talks with Trump in Florida, where the US leader said a deal to end almost four years of war with Russia was closer than ever. The wartime president said the issue of territory and the future of Ukraine&#39;s Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant were the remaining unresolved parts of a plan to end the war. But Zelensky added that he considered the presence of international troops in Ukraine a necessary part of the guarantees, which Russia has rejected in the past. Still, the Kremlin agreed with Trump&#39;s assessment that talks were in their final stages while repeating its maximalist demand for Kyiv to withdraw from eastern Ukraine. Kyiv was hoping for a meeting with European and American officials in Ukraine in the &quot;coming days&quot; to work on documents to end the conflict, Zelensky said. Any deal to end Europe&#39;s worst conflict since WWII &quot;must be signed by Ukraine, Russia, the US and Europe&quot;, he said. Security guarantees were a priority for Kyiv. &quot;Without security guarantees, this war cannot be considered truly over. We cannot acknowledge that it has ended, because with such a neighbour there remains a risk of renewed aggression,&quot; Zelensky said. He had told Trump the 15-year offer was too short a period for Kyiv. &quot;I told him that we really want to consider the possibility of 30, 40, 50 years,&quot; he added. &quot;The president said he would think about it.&quot; Strikes us with missilesZelensky spoke as Russia continued its relentless attacks into the holiday season and pressed on with its maximalist demands in Ukraine. Zelensky repeated that Kyiv was ready for &quot;any&quot; format of meetings -- including with Putin if necessary -- but said he still did not think the Kremlin chief wanted peace. He accused Putin of misleading Trump. &quot;On the one hand, he tells the president of the United States that he wants to end the war and that this is his desire,&quot; Zelensky said. &quot;And on the other hand...he strikes us with missiles (and) gives instructions to his generals about where to advance.&quot; Putin has for weeks told Russians Moscow was intent on achieving its aims in Ukraine by force if diplomacy fails. Moscow wants to keep all the territory it occupies in Ukraine as well as be handed lands in eastern Ukraine still controlled by Kyiv. The Kremlin on Monday again called for Ukraine to withdraw from unoccupied parts of Donbas, warning that &quot;Ukraine is losing territory and will continue to do so.&quot; It said it expected Putin and Trump to speak by phone in the &quot;very near future.&quot; Territory issue unresolved&nbsp;Trump on Sunday acknowledged the issue of territories were unresolved between the warring countries, showing little sign of a breakthrough. &quot;It&#39;s unresolved, but it&#39;s getting a lot closer. That&#39;s a very tough issue, but one that I think will get resolved,&quot; Trump said. Zelensky also said it was a remaining issue and offered little detail, only saying: &quot;We will act in accordance with the interests of Ukraine.&quot; The current plan, revised after weeks of intense US-Ukrainian negotiations, would stop the war at the current frontlines in the eastern Donbas region and set up a demilitarized area, while Russia has long demanded territorial concessions. But the Kremlin has shown no sign of compromise, with Putin repeatedly saying his troops will seize the rest of Ukrainian land he has proclaimed as Russian. Outnumbered and exhausted Ukrainian troops have struggled to hold back a Russian advance, which picked up pace since autumn. Moscow on Monday said it took another village, Dibrova, in the Donetsk region.

US has offered Ukraine "solid" security guarantees for 15 years with a possibility of an extension, but Kyiv is seeking a longer period, President Volodymyr Zelensky said after meeting Donald Trump

US offered Kyiv 15 years of security guarantees, Zelensky says

Web Desk

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday that Kyiv&#39;s allies would meet in Paris next month to discuss security guarantees as part of a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. &quot;We will bring together the countries of the Coalition of the Willing in Paris in early January to finalize each one&#39;s concrete contributions,&quot; Macron said on X after speaking with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump. Macron said discussions were advancing on security guarantees that he described as essential for achieving a just and lasting peace.<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" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 368px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" 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=2005430041782759531&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F3111%2F&sessionId=6aea73df3a5fbbfbca8118eceaa43cf257cf59db&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" data-tweet-id="2005430041782759531"></iframe></div></div>He added that countries forming the &ldquo;Coalition of the Willing&rdquo; would meet in Paris in early January to finalize their specific commitments. The statement comes hours after&nbsp;Trump said a <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-says-ukraine-deal-closer-but-no-talks-breakthrough" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">deal was closer than ever</a> to end the Ukraine war, but reported no apparent breakthrough on the flashpoint issue of territory after new talks with the warring countries&#39; leaders. Trump, who had promised a peace deal on day one of his nearly year-old presidency, said it would become clear within weeks whether it was possible to end the war that has killed tens of thousands of people since February 2022. In a pre-New Year&#39;s diplomatic sprint, Trump brought Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Florida, where the two met with top aides over lunch, a day after Russia unleashed major new attacks on residential areas of the capital Kyiv. Much like when Zelensky last met Trump in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke shortly beforehand by telephone with the US leader, who immediately insisted that Moscow was &quot;serious&quot; about peace despite the assault. &quot;I really believe we&#39;re, Mr. President, probably closer than &mdash; far closer than &mdash; ever before with both parties,&quot; Trump said with Zelensky at his side in the tea room of his Mar-a-Lago estate. &quot;Everybody wants it ended,&quot; Trump said.

Says discussions are advancing on security guarantees that he describes as essential for achieving a just and lasting peace.

Macron says Kyiv allies to meet in Paris early January

MOSCOW: A senior Russian general was killed in southern Moscow on Monday after an explosive device placed under his car went off, investigators said in a statement.&nbsp;Russia&#39;s Investigative Committee, which examines major crimes, said it had opened a probe into the &quot;murder&quot; of Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the training department within the General Staff.&nbsp;The possibility that the attack was &quot;linked&quot; to &quot;Ukrainian special forces&quot; was among the lines of inquiry, it said.&nbsp;Since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv has been blamed for several attacks targeting Russian military officials and pro-Kremlin personalities in Russia and in Russian-controlled Ukrainian regions.&nbsp;General Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy of the General Staff, was killed in a car blast near Moscow in April.&nbsp;In December 2024, Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian radiological, chemical and biological defence forces, was killed when a booby-trapped electric scooter exploded in Moscow, an attack claimed by Ukraine&#39;s SBU security service.&nbsp;A Russian military blogger, Maxim Fomin, was killed when a statuette exploded in a Saint Petersburg cafe in April 2023.&nbsp;And in August 2022, a car bomb killed Daria Dugina, the daughter of ultranationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin.

Authorities are investigating whether the attack may be linked to Ukrainian special forces.

Articles tagged with "Ukraine"