China kicks off second day of military drills around Taiwan
Day two of the ‘Justice Mission 2025’ drills will include 10 hours of live-fire exercises and a simulated blockade of Taiwan’s major ports. China has begun a second day of military drills around Taiwan in the latest escalation of tensions over the self-governing island. China’s military said on Tuesday that it had deployed navy destroyers, bombers and other forces as part of the war games, which Beijing claims are aimed at “separatist” and “external” forces. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The drills were due to include live-fire exercises between 8am and 6pm local time (00:00 to 10:00 GMT) in five maritime and airspace zones around Taiwan, as well as air and sea patrols, simulated precision strikes and anti-submarine manoeuvres, according to Chinese state media. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence said some of the live-fire drills would take place in what Taiwan considers its territorial waters, or within 12 nautical miles (22km) from the coastline, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency. More than 80 domestic flights were cancelled on Tuesday, many to Taiwan’s outlying islands, and more than 300 international flights could face delays due to rerouted air traffic during the drills, according to Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration. The exercises, code-named “Justice Mission 2025”, began early Monday and came days after the United States announced its largest-ever weapons package for Taiwan, worth $11.1bn. State news outlet The China Daily said the drills were “part of a series of Beijing’s responses to the US arms sales to Taiwan as well as a warning to the [Taiwanese president] Lai Ching-te authorities in Taiwan”, in an editorial on Monday. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Lin Jian, also told reporters on Monday that the exercises were “a punitive and deterrent action against separatist forces who seek Taiwan independence through military buildup, and a necessary move to safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity”. Advertisement Justice Mission 2025 marks the sixth time China has staged large-scale military drills around Taiwan since then-US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022. A key focus of the “Justice Mission 2025” exercises will be “anti-access and area denial capability” to ensure that Taiwan cannot receive supplies from allies like Japan and the US during a conflict, according to William Yang, senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the Crisis Group. They will also include simulating a blockade of Taiwan’s major ports in the north and south, and taking control of strategically important waterways, like the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait, through which Taiwan imports much of its energy supplies, Yang said. China’s Eastern Theatre Command released a poster on Tuesday, titled “Hammer of Justice: Seal the Ports, Cut the Lines”, showing large metal hammers hitting the port of Keelung in the north and the port of Kaohsiung in the south. Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said it had tracked 130 air sorties by Chinese aircraft, 14 naval ships and eight “official ships” between 6am on Monday (22:00 GMT, Sunday) and 6am on Tuesday (22:00 GMT, Monday). The exercises were also monitored by Taiwanese coastguard ships and an undisclosed number of naval vessels, according to Taiwan’s Defence Ministry. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,405
These are the key developments from day 1,405 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Published On 30 Dec 202530 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is where things stand on Tuesday, December 30: Alleged attack on Putin’s residence Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said that an attack took place on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northwestern Russia’s Novgorod on Sunday, “practically immediately after” talks in Florida between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The strike “will not go unanswered”, Ushakov said in remarks reported by Russian media, following a call between Trump and Putin. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russian air defence systems shot down 91 long-range strike drones used in the attack and that no one was injured. Zelenskyy denied the claim, accusing Russia of trying to derail peace talks. However, Trump expressed anger over the alleged attack, telling reporters: “I was very angry about it.” When asked if the United States had evidence of the attack, Trump said, “We’ll find out.” Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that “the response to Kyiv’s attacks will not be diplomatic” and that Russia would be revising its negotiating position in the attack’s wake. The United Arab Emirates’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it “strongly condemned” the “deplorable attack” and “the threat it poses to security and stability”. Diplomacy White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that a phone call between Putin and Trump on the issue of Ukraine on Monday was “positive”, without elaborating. Zelenskyy said he spoke by phone with the leaders of Germany, Latvia and Finland to update them on the outcomes of his meeting with Trump and where peace negotiations stood. Lavrov said in an interview with Russian news agency RIA Novosti that “Kyiv and its Western backers must recognise the new territorial realities that have emerged following the incorporation of Crimea, Sevastopol, the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic, and the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions into the Russian Federation.” He was referring to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, which include Donetsk and Luhansk, renamed by Russian-backed separatists as the DPR and LPR. A survey published by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF), a Ukrainian think tank, on Monday showed that recognising occupied Ukrainian territories “as part of the Russian Federation” remained deeply unpopular in Ukraine, with 76 percent of Ukrainians saying they considered it “unacceptable”. Advertisement Fighting Russian forces attacked the front-line town of Orikhiv in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, killing a 46-year-old man and wounding a 49-year-old woman, Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram. Russian forces killed one person and injured five in attacks on Ukraine’s Donetsk region on Sunday, Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Facebook. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, said on Telegram that Russian forces killed seven civilians who had been hiding in a basement in the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk. Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said it had launched an investigation into reports that Russian soldiers shot dead two captured Ukrainian soldiers in the village of Shakhove, Pokrovsky, on Saturday. “The deliberate killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and qualifies as a grave international crime,” the prosecutor general’s office said. Ukrainian attacks injured five civilians in Russia’s Belgorod region, according to Russia’s TASS state news agency, citing local officials. Ukrainian attacks also injured four civilians in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Zaporizhia, and three civilians in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Donetsk, TASS reported, citing local officials. In a televised address from the Kremlin, Putin made a wide range of claims about Moscow’s ongoing war on Ukraine, including that Russian troops were advancing towards the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia. General Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s army chief, said during the same address that Russian forces had captured 6,460 square kilometres (2,494sq miles) of territory in Ukraine in 2025, including 334 villages. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) quoted its director general, Rafael Grossi, as saying that power line repairs near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant had been successfully completed. Adblock test (Why?)
Ukrainian soldiers target Russian drones with rifles
NewsFeed Video released by the Ukrainian military showed soldiers shooting down small Russian drones with their rifles near the small Donetsk village of Kostiantynivka. Russian forces have made steady yet costly gains in the region, claiming on Monday to have captured nearby Dibrova. Published On 29 Dec 202529 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
New Iraqi parliament holds first session, elects speaker
Haybat al-Halbousi, from the Taqaddum (Progress) Party, has been elected as speaker of the new parliament. Published On 29 Dec 202529 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Iraq’s newly elected parliament has chosen Haybat al-Halbousi as its speaker, a significant step in the formation of the new government after months of political turmoil. Iraqi media reported on Monday, citing parliament’s media office, that al-Halbousi, from the Taqaddum (Progress) Party, had received 208 votes, in a clear victory over two rival contenders with 66 and nine votes, respectively. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Al-Halbousi’s party draws its support largely from Sunni heartlands in the west and north of the country. Iraqis have been eagerly awaiting the first sitting of parliament, called the Council of Representatives of Iraq, as they look for certainty over the leadership of the country following the November 11 vote, which left a complicated outlook for the formation of the new government. Under Iraq’s customary muhasasa system, in place since the first government under the post-2003 constitution, parliament is to elect a speaker – a consensus Sunni candidate – along with two deputies during its first session. Following that is the vote for the presidency, a Kurdish candidate, according to muhasasa. The president then nominates the candidate of the largest Shia bloc – the Shia Coordination Framework (SCF) – to be named prime minister. Complicated picture Before the election, Supreme Judicial Council President Faiq Zaidan urged lawmakers to stick to the constitutional timeline for government formation – a maximum of 90 days – and the Federal Supreme Court (FSC) ratified the results faster than usual. Advertisement But few are expecting a swift result. The process typically takes months – in 2021, it took more than 300 days – and there are questions over who the SCF will choose as the right candidate for prime minister. Incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had been nominated by the SCF four years ago, but had tried to break free from the alliance, running an independent electoral list that won big with about 46 out of 329 seats for his Reconstruction and Development Coalition (RDC). But an FSC decision last month sent him back to the SCF and its leadership, many of whom do not hold parliamentary seats but operate as external power brokers. The SCF now faces the question of whether it backs al-Sudani or an alternative candidate as prime minister, while it grapples with how to respond to the growing parliamentary presence of lawmakers linked to Shia parties with pro-Iran, anti-West armed wings. Of the SCF’s 180-odd lawmakers, 80 to 90 belong to groups and armed factions close to Iran – most of them under United States sanctions. In 2021, such groups held only 17 seats. Their growing presence in parliament potentially presents a problem not only for Iraq’s relations with foreign powers, but for Iraqi Shias who resent Tehran’s powerful influence in the country. Adblock test (Why?)
Deadly protests and clashes in Syria – what happened and what’s next?
Protests have erupted across Syria’s coastal regions, marking a new wave of sectarian upheaval since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime a year ago. During the protests on Sunday, gunfire was directed at Syrian security forces at the al-Azhari roundabout in Latakia while unknown assailants threw a hand grenade at the al-Anaza police station in the district of Banias in the Tartous governorate. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The Alawite minority, which al-Assad is a member of, held the protests after at least eight people were killed in the bombing of an Alawite mosque in Homs on Friday. They are demanding security guarantees and political reforms. Several cities along Syria’s Mediterranean coast have experienced deadly sectarian violence over the past year, raising questions about whether the interim government can maintain unity in a nation still scarred by 14 years of civil war. So what are the protests about, and what do they mean for political and social stability in Syria? What sparked the protests? The bombing of the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dahab neighbourhood of Homs during Friday prayers led to the demonstrations. The bombing was claimed by a little-known group called Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, which said on its Telegram channel that the attack was intended to target members of the Alawite sect. Syria’s security and political establishment was dominated by Alawites until al-Assad’s regime fell in December 2024. Saraya Ansar al-Sunna also had claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing of a Damascus church in June that killed at least 20 people. Advertisement Syria’s government condemned the mosque attack on Friday, describing it as the latest in a series of “desperate attempts to undermine security and stability and sow chaos among the Syrian people”. Who’s leading the protests? The protests were primarily organised after calls for action by Ghazal Ghazal, an Alawite religious figure who lives outside Syria with little known about his whereabouts. He heads a group called the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and Abroad. “We want political federalism. … We want to determine our own destiny,” Ghazal said in a video message on Facebook, referring to a system of government under which power is shared between the national government and its states. Protesters also called for greater protections for the Alawite community, accountability for attacks against civilians and political guarantees. In coastal areas, including the cities and wider governorates of Latakia and Tartous, clashes broke out between Alawite protesters and counterprotesters supporting the new government. Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Latakia reported seeing counterprotesters throwing rocks at Alawite demonstrators while a group of protesters beat a counterprotester who entered their area. Syria’s Ministry of Defence said on Sunday that army units had moved into the centres of these cities after assaults by “outlaw groups” targeting civilians and security personnel with the aim of re-establishing stability. Have there been any casualties? SANA, the official Syrian news agency, reported that four people have been killed and more than 100 injured in the unrest in Latakia. Quoting officials from Syria’s Directorate of Health, SANA said injuries included “stabbings, blows from stones, and gunfire targeting both security personnel and civilians”. Later on Sunday, the Interior Ministry reported that one of its security officers had been killed in the clashes. Two security personnel were wounded in Tartous when unknown assailants threw a hand grenade at the al-Anaza police station. Who are the Alawites? The Alawites are a religious minority in Syria and are the second largest religious group after Sunni Muslims. Alawites make up 10 percent of Syria’s 23 million people, but this community was politically dominant under al-Assad, who ruled Syria beginning in 2000 and recruited heavily from the Alawite community for his army and security apparatus. Members of the Syrian security forces stand atop tanks after being deployed during protests in Latakia on December 28, 2025 [Karam al-Masri/Reuters] Since al-Assad’s overthrow, Syria has seen several instances of sectarian violence. In March, violence broke out in coastal cities, including Latakia, Banias, Tartous and Jableh, and government-allied groups were accused of carrying out summary executions, mostly of Alawite civilians. Advertisement A government committee tasked with investigating the attacks concluded that about 1,400 people were killed during several days of violence. In July, violence between Druze and Sunni Bedouin communities flared up in the southern governorate of Suwayda, although experts say this conflict is rooted in more complex issues than just sectarianism, including in historical disputes over land. That unrest escalated into Israel bombing Syria’s Ministry of Defence and other targets in the capital Damascus – ostensibly to protect the Druze, although local activists and analysts said Israel’s aim was to fuel internal instability. Alawites have also voiced grievances about discrimination in public sector hiring since al-Assad’s fall as well as the detention of young Alawite men without charge. Will the Syrian government be able to maintain peace? Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has emphasised the need to “preserve national unity and domestic peace”. At the Doha Forum this month, al-Sharaa said people in Syria “simply did not know each other well” due to issues inherited from the al-Assad regime. Syria’s enduring sectarian divides and the central government’s limited authority are fuelling demands from minorities for decentralisation, according to Rob Geist Pinfold, a scholar of international security at King’s College London. The Alawites are not the only minority who have aired concerns about sectarianism since the fall of al-Assad, Geist Pinfold told Al Jazeera. The interim government so far has failed to integrate regions controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the new government, he added, despite a March 10 agreement between them that planned for integration. This is largely down to mistrust, experts said. Minority groups, including Alawites and the Druze, “simply don’t think that the government has their best interests at heart and actually see the government as a security threat”, Geist Pinfold explained. “Syria is caught up in this vicious cycle where the government doesn’t have trust with minority groups.
Niger’s military rulers order ‘general mobilisation’ against armed groups
The military rulers expand emergency powers, warning that people, property, and services may be requisitioned. Published On 28 Dec 202528 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Niger’s military rulers have approved a general mobilisation and authorised the requisition of people and goods as they intensify the fight against armed groups across the country, according to a government statement. The decision followed a cabinet meeting on Friday and marks a major escalation by the military government, which seized power in a July 2023 coup that toppled the country’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “People, property, and services may be requisitioned during general mobilisation to contribute to the defence of the homeland, in compliance with the legislation and regulations in force,” the government said in a statement issued late on Saturday. “Every citizen is required to respond immediately to any call-up or recall order, to comply without delay with the implementation of measures for the defence of the homeland, and to submit to requisition,” it added. The authorities said the measures aim to “preserve the integrity of the national territory” and “protect the population” as Niger continues to face attacks by armed groups operating across several regions. Niger has been embroiled in deadly armed conflict for more than a decade, with violence linked to fighters affiliated with al-Qaeda and the ISIL (ISIS) group. Nearly 2,000 people have been killed, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), which tracks political violence. The southeast of the country has also suffered repeated attacks by Boko Haram and its splinter group, the ISIL affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP), further stretching Niger’s security forces. Advertisement The mobilisation order comes five years after Niger expanded its armed forces to around 50,000 troops and raised the retirement age for senior officers from 47 to 52. Since taking power, the military government has also urged citizens to make “voluntary” financial contributions to a fund launched in 2023 to support military spending and agricultural projects. Soon after the coup, Niger’s rulers ordered French and United States troops, who had supported operations to combat rebel fighters, to withdraw from the country. Niger has since deepened security cooperation with neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, also ruled by a military government. The three Sahel states have formed a joint force of 5,000 troops, presenting it as a regional response to armed groups while further distancing themselves from Western partners. Adblock test (Why?)
Protests turn deadly during demonstration in Syrian city of Latakia
NewsFeed Fighting has broken out at a demonstration in the city of Latakia in Syria, killing at least three people and injuring dozens. Hundreds of people from the Alawite minority were protesting in coastal and central parts of the country, two days after a mosque was bombed in Homs. Published On 28 Dec 202528 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Javad Zarif: Main threat to the Middle East is Israel, not Iran
Iran’s former foreign minister argues Israel, backed by the US, has killed every opportunity for peace. Months after being attacked by the United States and Israel, Iran finds itself in the crosshairs again, with Israeli officials lobbying US President Donald Trump to address Tehran’s ballistic missiles. Veteran Iranian diplomat Javad Zarif tells host Steve Clemons that “everybody lost any faith in diplomacy” after Israel and the US attacked Iran following five rounds of reconciliation talks between Washington and Tehran. Zarif added that Israel has historically thwarted every opportunity for reconciliation between Iran and the US, and that Trump’s style of diplomacy is disastrous, as it creates “negotiations that end up in war”. Published On 28 Dec 202528 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Polls open in Myanmar as military holds first election since 2021 coup
Polls have opened in Myanmar’s first general election since the country’s military toppled Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government in a 2021 coup. The heavily restricted election on Sunday is taking place in about a third of the Southeast Asian nation’s 330 townships, with large areas inaccessible amid a raging civil war between the military and an array of opposition forces. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Following the initial phase, two rounds of voting will be held on January 11 and January 25, while voting has been cancelled in 65 townships altogether. “This means that at least 20 percent of the country is disenfranchised at this stage,” said Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, reporting from Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon. “The big question is going to be here in the cities, what is the turnout going to be like?” In Yangon, polling stations opened at 6am on Sunday (23:30 GMT, Saturday), and once the sun was up, “we’ve seen a relatively regular flow of voters come in,” said Cheng. “But the voters are generally middle aged, and we haven’t seen many young people. When you look at the ballot, there are only few choices. The vast majority of those choices are military parties,” he said. The election has been derided by critics – including the United Nations, some Western countries and human rights groups – as an exercise that is not free, fair or credible, with anti-military political parties not competing. Aung San Suu Kyi, who was deposed by the military months after her National League for Democracy (NLD) won the last general election by a landslide in 2020, remains in detention, and her party has been dissolved. Advertisement The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is widely expected to emerge as the largest party. The military, which has governed Myanmar since 2021, said the vote is a chance for a new start, politically and economically, for the nation of 55 million people, with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing consistently framing the polls as a path to reconciliation. Dressed in civilian clothes, the military chief cast his ballot shortly after polling stations opened in Naypyidaw, the country’s capital. He then held up an ink-soaked figure and smiled widely. Voters must dip a finger into indelible ink after casting a ballot to ensure they do not vote more than once. He told reporters afterwards that the elections are free and fair, and the vote was not tarnished because it is being held by the military. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar, in an opinion piece on Sunday, said the poll would open a new chapter and “serve as bridge for the people of Myanmar to reach a prosperous future”. Earlier, it reported that election observers from Russia, China, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nicaragua and India have flown into the country ahead of the polls. ‘A resounding USDP victory’ But with fighting still raging in many areas of the country, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Tom Andrews called on the international community to reject the military-run poll. “An election organised by a junta that continues to bomb civilians, jail political leaders and criminalise all forms of dissent is not an election – it is a theatre of the absurd performed at gunpoint,” Andrews said in a statement. “This is not a pathway out of Myanmar’s crisis. It is a ploy that will perpetuate repression, division and conflict,” he said. The civil war, which was triggered by the 2021 coup, has killed an estimated 90,000 people, displaced 3.5 million and left some 22 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 22,000 people are currently detained for political offences. In downtown Yangon, stations were cordoned off overnight, with security staff posted outside, while armed officers guarded traffic intersections. Election officials set up equipment and installed electronic voting machines, which are being used for the first time in Myanmar. The machines will not allow write-in candidates or spoiled ballots. Among a trickle of early voters in the city was 45-year-old Swe Maw, who dismissed international criticism. Advertisement “It’s not an important matter,” he told the AFP news agency. “There are always people who like and dislike.” In the central Mandalay region, 40-year-old Moe Moe Myint said it was “impossible for this election to be free and fair”. “How can we support a junta-run election when this military has destroyed our lives?” she told AFP. “We are homeless, hiding in jungles, and living between life and death,” she added. The second round of polling will take place in two weeks’ time, before the third and final round on January 25. Dates for counting votes and announcing election results have not been declared. Analysts say the military’s attempt to establish a stable administration in the midst of an expansive conflict is fraught with risk, and that significant international recognition is unlikely for any military-controlled government. “The outcome is hardly in doubt: a resounding USDP victory and a continuation of army rule with a thin civilian veneer,” wrote Richard Horsey, an analyst at the International Crisis Group in a briefing earlier this month. “But it will in no way ease Myanmar’s political crisis or weaken the resolve of a determined armed resistance. Instead, it will likely harden political divisions and prolong Myanmar’s state failure. The new administration, which will take power in April 2026, will have few better options, little credibility and likely no feasible strategy for moving the country in a positive direction,” he added. The Southeast Asian nation of about 50 million is riven by civil war, and there will be no voting in rebel-held areas, which is more than half the country [Nhac Nguyen/AFP] Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,403
These are the key developments from day 1,403 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. By News Agencies Published On 28 Dec 202528 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is where things stand on Sunday, December 28: Fighting At least two people were killed in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the surrounding region, after Russian forces launched a massive attack with hundreds of missiles and drones, ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with United States President Donald Trump to work out a plan to end nearly four years of war. The attack also wounded at least 46 people, including two children, according to Ukrainian officials. Zelenskyy, who was on his way to meet Trump in Florida, said that Russia had launched nearly 500 drones and 40 missiles, targeting energy and civilian infrastructure. Ukraine’s state grid operator, Ukrenergo, said that energy facilities across Ukraine were struck, and emergency power cuts had been implemented across the capital. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said the attack had left more than a million households in and around Kyiv without power. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said that more than 40 percent of residential buildings in Kyiv were left without heat, as temperatures hovered around 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) following the attack. Poland’s Air Navigation Services Agency said in a statement on X that the Rzeszow and Lublin airports in the country’s southeastern region were temporarily shut following Russia’s strikes on Ukraine. The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said that Polish and allied jets were deployed during the attack, but no violations of Polish airspace were reported. In Russia, air defence forces shot down 11 drones headed for the capital, Moscow, according to the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin. Russia’s aviation watchdog, Rosaviatsia, said that Moscow’s Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo airports imposed temporary restrictions on airspace due to security reasons. Russia’s Ministry of Defence also said that its air defence systems had intercepted and destroyed more than 100 Ukrainian drones in three hours over six other Russian regions. Russian commanders told President Vladimir Putin that Moscow’s forces had captured the Ukrainian towns of Myrnohrad, Rodynske and Artemivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, as well as Huliaipole and Stepnohirsk in the Zaporizhia region, the Kremlin and Russian news agencies said on Telegram. But Ukraine’s military said in its daily battlefield update that its forces had beaten back Russian attempts to advance in the vicinity of Myrnohrad and Huliaipole. Politics and diplomacy Advertisement Zelenskyy announced in a Telegram message that he would hold talks with European leaders after his meeting with Trump on Sunday, as Kyiv pushes for a stronger position in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations to prevent Russia from prolonging the war in Ukraine. Zelenskyy said he wants to discuss with Trump territorial issues, the main stumbling block in talks to end the war, as a 20-point peace framework and a security guarantee deal near completion. On the way to the meeting in Florida, Zelenskyy stopped in Canada’s Halifax to meet Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister said in a statement after the meeting. Carney denounced the latest Russian attack as “barbarism”, stressing that it is important for allies to “stand with Ukraine in this difficult time”. He also announced $1.83bn in additional economic aid to Ukraine. Zelenskyy spoke to European leaders following the meeting with Carney. In a statement posted on X, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “We welcome all efforts leading to our shared objective – a just and lasting peace that preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. And that strengthens the country’s security and defence capabilities.” Antonio Costa, the president of the European Council, which represents the bloc’s 27 member states, echoed von der Leyen’s promise to continue backing Ukraine, saying on X: “The EU’s support for Ukraine will not falter. In war, in peace, in reconstruction.” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Zelenskyy had “the full support” of European leaders ahead of his talks with Trump. The leaders of NATO and the European Union said they would work “in close coordination” with the US “for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine”, Merz added in a statement. French President Emmanuel Macron said in a call with Zelenskyy that the latest Russian strikes on Kyiv showed that Moscow was not interested in ending the war, the AFP news agency reported, citing officials from Macron’s office. During the call, Macron highlighted what he called the “contrast” between “the willingness of Ukraine to build a lasting peace and Russia’s determination to prolong the war that it started”, the report said. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia could see Kyiv was in no hurry to end the war by peaceful means, according to the Interfax news agency. Putin said that if Ukraine did not want to resolve the conflict peacefully, then Russia would accomplish all goals of its “special military operation” by force, Russian state news agency TASS reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (right) and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (left) speak to the media as they meet in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, ahead of the former’s meeting with US President Donald Trump on Sunday [Ukrainian Presidential Office/Handout Photo via AFP] Adblock test (Why?)