Europe
Ukraine / USA: Trump says Zelensky will sign mineral resources agreement
Donald Trump is to meet Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington on 28 February to sign a preliminary agreement on sharing Ukraine’s mineral resources. While Trump touts the deal as a way for the USA…
Germany: chancellor-elect criticises Trump, struggles to form coalition
Following the 23 February election, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz has criticised Donald Trump, calling for European defence independence. He warned that NATO’s future was uncertain and called for urgent action…
Ukraine: Russia refuses to accept NATO peacekeepers
At high-level talks with the USA in Saudi Arabia, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has declared that Russia will not accept NATO peacekeeping forces in Ukraine under any peace agreement. The discussions marked the…
Poland: a response to Vance’s criticism of European leaders
Former foreign minister Radosław Sikorski has responded to US vice-president JD Vance’s critique of Europe regarding migration and free speech. Vance, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, criticised European leaders for disregarding the…
Vatican: Pope Francis suffering from pneumonia
After being admitted to hospital on 14 February, Pope Francis has developed pneumonia in both lungs, and his condition remains ‘complex’. The 88-year-old pontiff has been battling a respiratory infection for over a…
Ukraine: Hegseth defends Trump’s phone call to Putin
US secretary of state Pete Hegseth has defended Donald Trump’s push for peace talks on Russia’s war in Ukraine, insisting it was not a betrayal of Kyiv. Speaking before a NATO meeting in…
Sweden: woman sentenced for war crimes against Yazidis
Lina Ishaq, a 52-year-old Swedish woman, has been sentenced to twelve years in prison for genocide and war crimes against Yazidis in Syria. She enslaved three Yazidi women and six children in Raqqa…
Austria: coalition government talks collapse
Talks to form Austria’s first far-right-led coalition collapsed after negotiations between the Freedom Party (FPO) and the conservative People’s Party (OVP) failed. The FPO, which won the most votes in September’s election, has…
Sweden: ten dead after school shooting
A mass shooting at an adult education centre in Örebro has left ten people dead, including the suspected gunman, in what prime minister Ulf Kristersson called ‘the worst mass shooting in Swedish history’.…
Germany / Ukraine: Scholz criticises Trump’s demand for rare earth resources
Olaf Scholz has criticised Donald Trump’s proposal to make US military aid for Ukraine conditional on access to the country’s rare earth resources, calling it ‘selfish and self-centred’. A Ukrainian source has said…
