Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump’s claim he could ‘end war in one day’ dismissed by Putin’s UN ambassador
It comes as Hungarian PM Viktor Orban urged Zelensky to ‘consider a quick ceasefire’
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Russia’s UN ambassador has responded to Donald Trump’s claim that he could solve the war in Ukraine in one day if he is elected as US president.
At a CNN town hall in May 2023, he said: “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours.”
During last week’s debate with President Joe Biden, Mr Trump claimed, “If we had a real president, a president that knew — that was respected by Putin ... he would have never invaded Ukraine.”
Vassily Nebenzia told reporters on Monday that “the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day.”
It comes as Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has urged Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky “to consider a quick ceasefire” during his first visit to Kyiv since the full-scale invasion.
During a press briefing in the Ukrainian capital, Mr Orban said: “I asked the president to think about whether we could approach this a little differently, to take a break, to cease fire, and then proceed with negotiations.”
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Lord Coe says Ukraine trip reaffirmed his Russian and Belarusian athletes stance
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US set to announce over $2.3 bln arms package for Ukraine, Pentagon says
The United States will soon announce more than $2.3 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart at the Pentagon.
Austin also gave a nod to Ukraine‘s aspirations to eventually join NATO, more than two years after Russia‘s full-scale invasion. At next week’s NATO summit in Washington D.C., Austin said: “We will take steps to build a bridge to NATO membership for Ukraine.”
Ukrainian officials have been urging their allies for months to supply more air defense systems to counter frequent missile and drone attacks from Russian forces.
Austin said the latest weapons package for Ukraine would include arms such as anti-tank weapons and air defense interceptors, and would allow accelerated procurement of NASAMS and Patriot air defense interceptors.
“I am proud that the United States will soon announce more than $2.3 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine,” Austin said, speaking just before entering a meeting with Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.
“This package, under presidential drawdown authority, will provide more air defense interceptors, anti-tank weapons and other critical munitions from the U.S. inventories.”
Ukraine offers prisoners release at a high price
“You can put an end to this and start a new life,” said the recruiter, a member of a volunteer assault battalion. “The main thing is your will, because you are going to defend the motherland. You won’t succeed at 50%, you have to give 100% of yourself, even 150%.”
At a rural penal colony in southeast Ukraine, several convicts stand assembled under barbed wire to hear the army recruiter offer them a shot at parole. In return, they must join the grueling fight against Russia.
Ukraine is expanding the draft to cope with acute battlefield shortages more than two years into fighting against Russia’s full-scale invasion. And its recruiting efforts have turned, for the first time, to the country’s prison population.
Ukraine offers prisoners release at a high price
About 27,000 inmates could potentially be eligible for the new program
Troops look for weak spots as Russia sets the stage for another push in Ukraine
Russian troops are forging through Ukraine‘s outgunned and undermanned defenses in a relentless onslaught, prompting the West to push for new weapons and strategies to shore up Kyiv.
That, in turn, has brought new threats by President Vladimir Putin to retaliate against the West — either directly or indirectly.
The moves by the West to blunt the offensive and the potential Kremlin response could lead to a dangerous escalation as the war drags through its third year — one that further raises the peril of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.
Troops look for weak spots as Russia sets the stage for another push in Ukraine
Russia has made incremental but steady advances in the Donetsk region
Lord Coe says Ukraine trip reaffirmed his Russian and Belarusian athletes stance
World Athletics president Lord Coe revealed a trip to Ukraine reaffirmed his stance that the governing body remains right to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from its competitions.
Coe, who also met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, praised the resilience of athletes he met at the country’s national championships, which also served as trials for this summer’s Paris Olympics.
The door to Olympic track and field remains firmly shut to Russian and Belarusian athletes as a result of World Athletics’ blanket order, introduced in 2022, in response to the countries’ involvement in the war in Ukraine, while other federations have allowed athletes to participate in qualifying and other events.
Lord Coe says Ukraine trip reaffirmed his Russian and Belarusian athletes stance
Coe praised the resilience of athletes he met at the country’s national championships, which also served as trials for this summer’s Paris Olympics.
Richard Tice refuses to back Nigel Farage’s Ukraine comments in fiery clash with BBC’s Nick Robinson
Reform chair Richard Tice refused to endorse Nigel Farage’s views on the Ukraine-Russia conflict in a tetchy clash with the BBC’s Nick Robinson.
Mr Tice was asked on Radio 4’s Today programme if he thought it was a mistake for Reform’s party leader to say that the West provoked Russia’s war with Ukraine.
He said: “Let me tell you what’s a mistake, it’s a mistake to pretend we’ve got everything right. To pretend that we’ve never made any foreign policy mistakes whether its this country or other countries. You look at what Nigel talked about, Libya, Syria, we’ve made serious foreign policy mistakes.”
Tice refuses to back Farage’s Ukraine comments in clash with Nick Robinson
Heated exchange came hours before second Reform candidate defected to Tories, claiming party’s candidates ‘racist, misogynistic and bigoted’
Viktor Orban urges Ukraine ‘to consider quick ceasefire’ during first trip to Kyiv
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has urged Ukraine “to consider a quick ceasefire” during his first visit to the war-torn country since Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion.
After crunch talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, during which the two countries pledged to strengthen relations, Mr Orban urged Ukraine to halt fighting and enter negotiations with Russia, adding that the war was having a “very intense effect on the security of Europe”.
“We highly appreciate all the initiatives of President Zelensky for the sake of achieving peace,” he said. “I told Mr President that these initiatives take a long time. It is precisely because of the rules of international diplomacy that they are very complicated.
Orban urges Ukraine ‘to consider quick ceasefire’ during first trip to war-torn Kyiv
Ukraine maintains it cannot agree to a ceasefire until Russia completely withdraws its forces from its territory
Trump’s claim he could ‘end war in one day’ dismissed by Putin’s UN ambassador
Russia’s UN ambassador has responded to Donald Trump’s claim that he could solve the war in Ukraine in one day,
Vassily Nebenzia told reporters Monday that “the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day.”
At a CNN town hall in May 2023, Trump said: “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours.” He said that would happen after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he keeps repeating the claim on the campaign trail.
During last week’s debate with President Joe Biden, Trump claimed, “If we had a real president, a president that knew — that was respected by Putin ... he would have never invaded Ukraine.”
Nebenzia said the war could have ended in April 2022 in Istanbul when Russia and Ukraine were “very close” to an agreement.
The Russian ambassador blamed Ukraine’s Western backers for blocking the April 2022 peace deal and telling Kyiv to keep fighting Russia. Now, he said, Zelenskyy “is running around with his so-called peace plan which, of course, is not a peace plan but a joke.”
Russian forces launch recruitment drive in Africa to fight war in Ukraine
Russia is conducting a new recruitment drive for fighters in Africa for its war in Ukraine after suffering heavy casualties on the ground in lethal combat, according to Western intelligence officials.
The enrolment campaign has intensified following the rapid spread of Moscow’s influence on the continent, boosted by the overthrow of pro-Western governments in several countries by military regimes and the subsequent withdrawal of US and European forces.
Mercenaries formerly with the Wagner Group – which was disbanded after the failed coup attempt by its Russian leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was subsequently killed along with his senior hierarchy in an air crash – are training young men, some from tribal militias, for battle in Europe.
Kim Sengupta has more:
Putin’s forces launch recruitment drive in Africa to fight war in Ukraine
Exclusive: Moscow is turning to a new mercenary group, Africa Corps, to train paid fighters from across the continent to fight its war in Ukraine
World Athletics leader Sebastian Coe visits Ukraine and invites Zelenskyy to Olympic track meet
World Athletics leader Sebastian Coe visits Ukraine and invites Zelenskyy to Olympic track meet
World Athletics leader Sebastian Coe visited Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv over the weekend
Kyiv hits back at UN as Russia assumes presidency of Security Council
Ukraine has hit back at the “mockery” of Russia taking over the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council while it is still waging a war against them.
Olena Shuliak, head of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, said the security council was now being run by “a country that is the exact opposite of security”
You can read her full comment below.
The UN security council, of which Russia, China, the UK, US and France are permanent members with ultimate veto powers, handles the organisation’s global response to issues of conflict.
Earlier, Russian ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said Ukraine would not be on the agenda for this month.
Instead, he said, the Security Council will discuss the conflict in the Middle East, particularly the situation in Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.
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