Reader Politics

Henry Zeffman Chief Political Correspondent President Trump's decision to pause military aid to Ukraine may well prove to be one of the most significant moments in the conflict since Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion. As far as the UK is concerned, it will not change Sir Keir Starmer's approach, but makes the issues he has been focusing on for the past few days more acute and more urgent. The prime minister still views his core tasks as finding a way to bring presidents Trump and Zelensky back together, and drawing up the foundations of a workable peace deal that can be presented to the US. As we saw in the House of Commons on Monday, where MPs from different parties lined up to laud the prime minister for his sure-footed diplomacy, it is a strategy with broad support across the political spectrum. But how deep is that support? We may be about to find out. It is one thing for the prime minister to vow to do all he can to bring presidents Trump and Zelensky back to...

The U.S. is reportedly refusing to co-sponsor a draft U.N. resolution marking three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, signaling weakening U.S. political support for Ukraine as President Trump is reaching out to Russia to end its war against the country. Three diplomatic sources told Reuters that the U.S. is refusing to sign onto a resolution that backs Ukraine’s territorial integrity and again demands Russia withdraw its troops. The resolution is expected to go before the General Assembly for a vote on Monday. The diplomatic standoff at the U.N. comes as the U.S. is also objecting to language in a Group of 7 draft statement marking three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow launched on Feb. 24, 2022. The U.S. objected to statements that are viewed as pro-Ukrainian, the New York Times reported, and objected to statements labeling Russia as the aggressor. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also changed language the U.S. uses to refer to the war, ...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Relations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump deteriorated rapidly Wednesday as Zelenskyy said Trump was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space" and Trump called Zelenskyy “a dictator without elections” in comments that were sure to complicate efforts to end the war. Zelenskyy also said he would like Trump’s team “to be more truthful” as he offered his first response to a series of striking claims that Trump made a day earlier, including falsely suggesting that Kyiv was to blame for the war, which enters its fourth year next week. The comments were a staggering back-and-forth between leaders of two countries that have been staunch allies in recent years under Trump’s predecessor. While former President Joe Biden was in the White House, the U.S. provided crucial military equipment to Kyiv to fend off the invasion and used its political weight to defend Ukraine and isolate Russia on the world stage. Advertis...