Ireland’s position of politically supporting Ukraine while remaining militarily neutral is a “difficult path” to follow, a senior Irish official has said after being challenged to explain Irish neutrality at a defence conference in France. “It is a difficult path or line to us to follow, but that’s the line,” Department of Defence secretary general … Read more
Most of the foreign ministers from the European Union’s 27 states were sporting sunflowers knitted in the colours of Ukraine, to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full invasion. But nobody was surprised to see Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto did not have one pinned to his lapel in Brussels on Monday. “We don’t hate … Read more
Two days of peace talks in Geneva between Ukraine and Russia ended on Wednesday without a breakthrough, with Ukrainian resident Volodymyr Zelenskiy accusing Moscow of stalling US-mediated efforts to end the four-year war. Ukraine has faced repeated pressure from US president Donald Trump to agree to a deal that could mean painful concessions, as Russian … Read more
Taoiseach Micheál Martin presented US president Donald Trump with a custom golf tee and marker set at a cost of nearly €735 during his visit to Washington DC for St Patrick’s Day last year. The luxury item, which came in a personalised wooden box, was one of around 140 gifts worth a total of €5,709 … Read more
Heavy JD Vance vibes still hung in the air of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Saturday when US chief diplomat Marco Rubio decided to spare the transatlantic relationship a Valentine’s Day massacre. Though more conciliatory than the US vice-president a year ago, it was still no love-in as Rubio dropped key Trumpian messages – … Read more
The US wants Russia and Ukraine to find a solution on how to end the war, the largest since the second World War, before summer, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. In remarks to reporters released by his office on Saturday, Zelenskiy said Washington had proposed a new round of talks between Kyiv and Moscow to … Read more
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Europeans of leaving Ukraine’s air defences empty as Russian ballistic missiles crippled the country’s energy infrastructure and pushed it “to the brink of a blackout”. Mr Zelenskiy’s remarks came a day after Donald Trump said that Russia’s Vladimir Putin had agreed to cease firing on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure “for a week … Read more
US president Donald Trump has claimed Russia’s president Vladimir Putin agreed to halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for one week after he issued a personal appeal to the Russian leader due to the extreme cold in Ukraine. The short-term ceasefire, which has not been confirmed by either Ukraine or Russia, was announced during a … Read more
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met in Abu Dhabi on Friday to tackle the vital issue of territory, with no sign of a compromise, as Russian attacks plunged Ukraine into its deepest energy crisis of the four-year war. Kyiv is under mounting US pressure to reach a peace deal in the war triggered by Russia’s full-scale … Read more
Brussels is drafting proposals to tear up the EU accession system used since the cold war, replacing it with a contentious two-tier model that could fast-track Ukraine’s entry in any peace deal to end Russia’s invasion. The overhaul plan under discussion at the European Commission, while preliminary, is already unsettling EU capitals alarmed at an … Read more