Rusija svarstytų visų rūšių ginklų panaudojimo galimybę, jei būtų užpultas jos Kaliningrado eksklavas, ketvirtadienį pareiškė Rusijos prezidentas Vladimiras Putinas.

Maskvai intensyvinant savo oro smūgių kampaniją prieš Kyjivą, Rusijos prezidentas Vladimiras Putinas ketvirtadienį atmetė tolimojo nuotolio smūgių paliaubų su Ukraina galimybę.

The Pivdennyi bridge came under fire as a metro train was travelling across - the first such attack on Kyiv's bridges.

A foreign policy speech by the Russian president will be keenly watched, but all signs point to the full-scale invasion continuing.

President Donald Trump has threatened to ban diesel exports in a bid to ease prices in the US.

Andrew Bailey says the central bank is watching the waves of cash being invested in artificial intelligence "very carefully".

BRUSSELS — The European Commission and Ukraine have reached a deal to accelerate the disbursement of €45 billion earmarked for Kyiv in 2027 under the EU’s €90 billion loan program, they said Thursday in a joint statement. Russia has in recent weeks escalated its drone and missile attacks against Ukraine, while the country is running out of funds to buy weapons to defend itself. Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi warned journalists this week that Ukraine faces a $27 billion (€23 billion) defense funding gap this year, with Kyiv hoping to cover about $7 billion domestically and looking to partners for the rest. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that if the gap isn’t plugged in the next two months, Kyiv risks being unable to buy weapons early next year. At a recent meeting of EU defense ministers, “many called for front-loading parts of the €90 billion loan allocated for 2027,” meaning disbursing part of the 2027 loan this year instead, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said last month. But the Commission preferred to instead speed up the disbursement of the 2027 loan next year itself, meaning Ukraine would get that money faster, diplomats said. “Our dialogue with the European Commission has delivered good results in addressing Ukraine’s financial and defense needs for 2026 and 2027,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “We have agreed on the format, timeline, and steps needed to ensure full coverage,” he added. “For 2027, we have agreed to move forward swiftly with the allocation of €45 billion under the Ukraine Support Loan, subject to the established conditions,” the two sides said, referring to the reforms Ukraine must carry out to receive the money. Once Ukraine meets the conditions, the funds will be immediately disbursed, according to a senior EU official. The two sides also agreed that they will “begin work on identifying additional budgetary and defence needs” and meet monthly to coordinate their efforts. The €90 billion EU loan was agreed by leaders last December to provide financial support to Ukraine in 2026 and 2027. It includes strict conditions for Kyiv, including adherence to the rule of law and the fight against corruption. A large share of the loan — €60 billion — is earmarked for Ukraine’s defense needs. The loan has been split evenly, with €45 billion earmarked for 2026 and another €45 billion for 2027. It was designed to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s external financing needs over the two years, with the rest expected to be covered by other countries, particularly G7 partners. The joint statement also calls on those partners to step in. “All sides agreed that other partners should also fulfil their financial commitments and step up their efforts in light of the significant challenges Ukraine is facing,” it says. Zoya Sheftalovich contributed to this report.

BUDVA, Montenegro — German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul urged EU countries on Thursday to deliver on enlargement promises to the Western Balkans, warning that the bloc’s credibility and its influence in the region are at stake. “We are at a crossroads with the EU enlargement process,” Wadephul told reporters following a meeting in Montenegro held as part of the Berlin Process — in which EU and Western Balkan countries discuss economic integration and infrastructure in the region as well as reconciliation among the Balkan countries. Wadephul argued that the EU had declared the Western Balkans belonged in the bloc at a summit in Thessaloniki in 2003. He added, in a critical assessment of Germany’s own efforts, that former Chancellor Angela Merkel launched the Berlin Process 11 years later, in 2014, to speed up the process, but that another 12 years later and there was still no success. “We have not delivered,” the minister said, adding: “I would really urge everybody to show them that the promise of Thessaloniki was real, that we are credible, that Europe is reliable.” Wadephul also referred to “geopolitical adversaries and rivals” vying with the EU for influence in the region — a thinly veiled reference to Russia and China. On Wednesday, Republika Srpska Prime Minister Savo Minić and his predecessor Milorad Dodik visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, ahead of elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday. Austria’s foreign minister issued a similar warning: The EU must “understand that the clock is ticking. And the clock is ticking very quickly on a global scale. We can no longer afford to get bogged down in bureaucratic — and, until now, technocratic —processes,” Beate Meinl-Reisinger told POLITICO in an interview. “If we give any leeway — even just a millimeter — other foreign powers will be here in a flash and will take advantage of it,” she said. Montenegro is on the frontline of EU enlargement, aiming to become the bloc’s 28th member in 2028. EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has praised the reform efforts of the country, saying that 18 of the 33 EU accession chapters had already been closed and that “several more” were expected to follow this month. “There is a realistic chance that Montenegro will conclude negotiations by the end of the year or early next year,” she said, even though ratification would then take another one to two years. Montenegro’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ervin Ibrahimović told reporters that his government had undertaken many reforms, adding that his citizens must now also be able to reap the benefits of EU membership. “To be honest, we deserve to be admitted now,” Ibrahimović said.

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François Picard is pleased to welcome our sports editor, James Vasina, and Andreas Evargora, sports journalist and commentator. Evargora describes the current Manchester City case as unprecedented in scale: “This is nothing of the scale that we’ve seen before.” The case brings together an explosive mix of pressures confronting modern sport like never before: the multibillion-euro business of football, the legal and regulatory mechanisms designed to govern it, and the increasingly complex relationship between sport, political power and international investment.

French teenagers on Tuesday set fire to rubbish bins and threw projectiles at police who responded with batons and tear gas, as pupils kept up blockades and protests at hundreds of high schools, demanding better conditions. The movement in the lycees, attended by students aged 15 to 18 for their final three years of secondary education in France, has angered the government.

Wicknell Chivayo was one of the most recognisable faces of a class of conspicuously wealthy entrepreneurs with ties to the ruling party

Speaking during a two-day gathering of G20 trade minister, Maxim Reshetnikov said the rules were being 'dismantled' while the new ones remain 'unclear'.