Ukraine-Russia war latest: Dire warnings over 'enormity' of Trump's NATO plans (2024)

A senior French MEP has called on Europe "rein in Viktor Orban's rogue presidency" of the European Council.

The Hungarian prime minister angered European Union leaders after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping before this week's NATO summit in Washington.

Mr Orban held the talks without consulting the EU beforehand.

Valerie Hayer, the president of the liberal Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, said such meetings are a "security threat".

"The Hungarian Prime Minister is undermining positions adopted by the European Union and acting contrary to our interests and it has to stop," she said.

"It is time to reign in Victor Orbán's rogue Presidency of the Council. His pretend peace mission is a security threat, his isolated communication is only a smoke screen for his own interests and fails miserably.

"Russia's recent attacks, including on a children's hospital in Kyiv, 48 hours after a supposed peace mission, are simply sickening."

Renew Europe also called on the European Council to "state clearly" that Mr Orban doesn't speak on behalf of the EU, despite his country currently having control of the council's six-month rotating presidency.

It also said the Hungarian government must cease using the logo of the presidency in non-sanctioned communications that harm the EU.

A Russian court has sentenced a student to five years in jail for sharing troop locations with Ukrainian forces.

The court found the man guilty of treason, handing him a reduced sentence in a penal colony after he pleaded guilty and cooperated with the investigation, Russia's security service said.

The unnamed person collected information "using the internet" and passed it on to Ukraine's security service in exchange for payment, it added.

The student was found in the far eastern Russian city of Birobidzhan - 3,700 miles (5,954km) from Ukraine.

A foreign cargo ship has been seized and its captain has been detained for alleging illegally exporting Ukrainian grain from occupied Crimea, Ukraine has claimed.

The country's prosecutor general's office said the ship, which was flying under the flag of Cameroon, exported agricultural products from the Crimean port of Sevastopol - a key military hub for Russia in the Black Sea.

It also claimed the grain being exported had been produced in southern Ukraine.

It is illegal to enter internationally recognised Ukrainian territory through a border point not controlled by Ukrainian authorities.

According to the report, the ship initially illegally docked at Sevastopol in November 2023 and was loaded with more than 3,000 tons of products "intended for a Turkish company".

To conceal the illegal activity, the ship's automatic identification system was turned off before entering the port, which Ukraine said was "a gross violation of maritime safety requirements".

Prosecutors said the ship returned in May and was seized at the Ukrainian port of Reni where officials found documents issued by Sevastopol port authorities.

For context: Thefull-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 saw Russia quickly capture of swathes of agricultural land.

Kyiv has accused Moscow of illegally harvesting and shipping grain produced on occupied territory to third countries.

In May, the EU imposed tariffs of up to 50% on grain imports from Russia in a bid to cut off revenues to Moscow for its war effort.

As of November 2023, Russia had exported about $1bn (£774m) worth of looted goods, according to Kyiv.

Moscow denies stealing Ukrainian grain.

There have been multiple NATO summits since Russia launched its invasion, but at none of them have the words of the US president come under so much scrutiny.

So why will everyone be keeping a close eye on Joe Biden's speech tonight?

On the home front, Mr Biden has been facing calls from critics and fellow Democrats to stand down in the US presidential race after a series of poor performances so far in his campaign, including in the CNN leaders debate.

Any major slip-ups later may also have Ukraine wincing.

Mistakes by Mr Biden could increase the likelihood of a Trump victory in the US, which would ultimately make the future of NATO and its support for Kyiv more precarious.

The 81-year-old will speak solo, making it the first time he has faced the press alone since November, and he will be asked an unspecified number of questions from reporters.

The White House has been busy preparing the president by trying to game out the questions reporters would ask, a knowledgeable source told Reuters.

"If it's a little mistake, slurring a word or something, I think people would just let it pass," said Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia's Centre for Politics.

"But if there is anything approaching what we saw at the debate, the Democratic Party would be thrown into turmoil."

Mr Biden led a well-orchestrated, forceful summit speech on Tuesday to the relief of White House staff, and has participated in a wide array of public events without a mistake, including campaign stops in North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Virginia.

But there's still a long way to go before the election, and looming ahead: Another debate against Trump.

We'll be bringing you live coverage of Mr Biden's speech this evening...

Russia will act to counter the planned US deployment of long-range missiles in Germany, the Kremlin says.

At the NATO summit, the US and Germany announced the deployment would take place in 2026 to demonstratetheir commitment to European defence.

NATO also saida new US air defence base in northern Polandwas mission-ready.

The base has been designed to detect and intercept ballistic missile attacks.

"Without nerves, without emotions, we will develop a military response, first of all, to this new game," Interfax news agency quoted deputy Russian foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added: "We see that in fact NATO's military infrastructure is constantly and incrementally moving towards our borders.

"This is a very serious threat to the national security of our country. All of this will require us to take thoughtful, coordinated, effective responses to deter NATO, to counteract NATO."

The number of people killed by Russian daylight strikes on Ukraine on Monday has risen to 44, according to reports.

Five children were among the dead, said Ukrainian authorities, and another 196 people were injured, reported .

Some 18 locations across Ukraine were attacked, including Okhmatdyt children's hospital and Adonis medical centre, saidSvitlana Vodolaha, a spokesperson for Ukraine's State Emergency Service.

"Many of Russia's attacks in Ukraine have resulted in immense civilian loss and harm, and the 8 July attacks only added to that horrendous toll," said Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

"Attacks directed at medical facilities are war crimes under international humanitarian law, and the strike that hit Okhmatdyt children's hospital should be investigated as a potential war crime."

Russia's invasion has damaged or destroyed at least 1,736 medical facilities in Ukraine, killed at least 9,560 civilians, and injured at least 21,450 more, according to HRW.

Regular readers of the blog will be aware that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has stood alone among EU leaders in maintaining friendly relations with Russia, while frustrating some of the bloc's efforts to support Ukraine.

Now his main political challenger at home, oppositionpolitician Peter Magyar, is en route to deliver aid to theKyiv children's hospital hit during Russian airstrikes earlier this week.

His party raised 15 million forints(£32,000) and collected medical supplies and food donated byHungarians.

"This was a sudden decision after we saw the brutal Russianmissile attack," Mr Magyar said before leaving for Kyiv.

"The prime minister is allowed to travel the world and pretend that he is creating peace, but we believe in actions instead of flying around the world three times. We are different."

Mr Orban visited Ukraine, Russia and China without EU permission, to the anger of some European allies.

Mr Magyar agrees with Mr Orban that no armsshipments to Ukraine should go via Hungary, asthis could make Ukraine's Hungarian community a target, but has said other countries have the sovereign right to send weapons.

Moscow has ruled out attending a second peace summit hosted by Ukraine, despite the possibility Russia may be invited.

Ukraine is preparing to hold the conference before the end of the year, after 78 nations attended its first in Switzerland last month - not including Russia or China.

Kyiv has said a ceasefire depends on Russian troops leaving Ukrainian territory, which the Kremlin called an unacceptable "ultimatum" - despite itself demanding Ukraine surrender four Ukrainian regions and drop its aspirations to join NATO in exchange for a truce.

"We do not accept such ultimatums and do not intend to participate in such summits," deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin told Russian state media RIA Novosti.

At NATO's summit yesterday, Ukrainian foreign minister DmytroKuleba told his Hungarian counterpart that any initiatives to try to put an end to Moscow's war in Ukraine should not be based on Russian narratives.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had visitedKyiv, MoscowandBeijingfor talks that he cast as a "peace mission", proposing Volodymyr Zelenskyy consider a ceasefire to accelerate a peace process.

Kyiv officials dismissed the idea, saying it would only allow Russia to prepare for more attacks.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban did not seek a bilateral meeting with Joe Biden at this week's NATO summit - and is now planning to travel to Florida for talks with Donald Trump on a possible peace deal, according to a report.

A source close to Mr Orban told the Guardianhe was planning to fly down to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort today in a bid to negotiate a peace settlement without US or EU involvement.

The paper reports that the Hungarian leader has been looking to work out a deal to settle the conflict with Trump's possible re-election in mind.

Mr Orban angered European Union leaders after holding talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow over a potential peace deal earlier this month - without consulting the EU beforehand.

He had described the trip as a "peace mission", days before this week's major NATO summit in Washington aimed at building support for Ukraine.

A source with knowledge of Trump's schedule said he was due to stay in Florida until Friday before heading elsewhere for a rally, and that there wasn't time for him to meet with Mr Orban afterwards - leaving today as the only day the Hungarian prime minister could head to Trump's residence.

Moscow should work towards the "disappearance" of Ukraine and NATO, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has said.

Hitting out at a NATO pledge to support Kyiv on its "irreversible path" to membership in the alliance, Mr Medvedev said the "obvious" conclusion was for Russia to "do everything so that Ukraine's 'irreversible path' to NATO ends with either the disappearance of Ukraine or the disappearance of NATO."

He added that the disappearance of both would be "even better".

Mr Medvedev has become one of the Kremlin's most hardline hawks during the war and is known for making inflammatory statements about the conflict and Ukraine's Western allies.