Zelenskyy to meet Starmer and ‘coalition of the willing’ to discuss further military support and how to pressure Russia – Europe live | Europe
Opening Summary
president of ukraine Volodmir Zelenskyy He will travel to London on Friday for a “coalition of the willing” meeting hosted by the Prime Minister. Kier Starmer. Starmer plans to raise the issue of using frozen assets to finance Ukraine’s defense.
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds He told LBC:
We want to try to remove Russian oil and gas from the global market.
We also want to finish the job on frozen Russian sovereign assets so we can use them to unlock billions of pounds to fund Ukraine’s defense and, thirdly, to deliver long-term capabilities.
By this I mean missiles being fired at Ukraine as we head into the winter months, which obviously has business benefits in the UK as well.
But fundamentally this is about the message to Putin and the action to increase the pressure. Because it is Putin who plays for time, and it is Putin who does not come to the table and does not interact.
In other developments:
-
Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever said on Thursday his country needed concrete and solid guarantees before backing a plan to use frozen Russian assets to finance a giant loan to Kiev.He pointed out that the plan was “uncharted territory”. Belgium’s position is critical since the assets in question are in the hands of the Belgian financial institution Euroclear. “Could this (plan) be legal? That’s a very good question… There’s no clear answer,” De Wever told reporters after attending an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. “We’ll be embroiled in litigation anyway. That seems certain.”
EU leaders failed to agree on how to handle frozen assets during the summit. The issue will be discussed in more detail at the next EU summit in December. -
A teenage boy and four others were injured in an overnight Ukrainian drone strike in a Moscow suburb, Russian officials said Friday.. Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov said in a statement on Telegram that the unmanned aerial vehicle crashed into an apartment on the 14th floor of a residential building in Krasnogorsk. Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry announced that 111 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down.
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German Economy Minister will visit Ukraine on Friday to discuss how Berlin can strengthen the country’s defenseEnergy infrastructure faces increasingly intense Russian attacks.
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Hungary is trying to find a way around US sanctions on Russian oil companies. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview with state radio Kossuth on Friday. Orban said that he also met with Hungary’s oil and gas company MOL regarding the issue. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Russia, targeting Lukoil and Rosneft, for the first time in his second term, marking a major shift in his approach to ending the war.
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Vladimir Putin said Russia would never bow to US pressure but acknowledged that new sanctions could cause some economic pain. It has been reported that China and India will reduce oil imports from Russia after Washington targeted Moscow’s two largest producers. On Thursday, the Russian leader called US sanctions a “hostile action that does nothing to strengthen Russian-American relations” and an “attempt to put pressure on Russia” and said it was futile. In his statement to Russian journalists, Putin said, “No self-respecting country will do anything under pressure.”
important events
Ireland elects next president as polls predict landslide for Catherine Connolly
Rory Carroll
While Irish voters go to the polls on Friday to elect a new president, the latest opinion polls predict a huge loss of votes in the elections. Catherine Connollyan outspoken left-wing independent who has captured the imagination of many young people.
An opinion poll on Thursday gave Connolly 40% of the vote, while his rival, former cabinet minister Heather Humphreys, had 25%. When the numbers were adjusted for those who were undecided or planning to cast their vote, Connolly received 55% of the vote and Humphreys received 35%.
Two polls taken earlier this week also showed Connolly, 68, a clear frontrunner in the race to succeed Michael D Higgins, Ireland’s 10th president, who served two terms over seven years.
The presidency is a largely ceremonial post, but the Galway MP’s victory would be a humble rebuke to the centre-right government. It also marked a victory for the alliance of left-wing opposition parties – Sinn Féin, Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit and the Greens – who formed a rare union to campaign jointly on Connolly’s behalf.
While the role does not have the authority to shape laws or policies, past presidents have been known to express their views on important issues. Higgins also spoke about the war in Gaza and NATO spending, among other topics.
Opening Summary
president of ukraine Volodmir Zelenskyy He will travel to London on Friday for a “coalition of the willing” meeting hosted by the Prime Minister. Kier Starmer. Starmer plans to raise the issue of using frozen assets to finance Ukraine’s defense.
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds He told LBC:
We want to try to remove Russian oil and gas from the global market.
We also want to finish the job on frozen Russian sovereign assets so we can use them to unlock billions of pounds to fund Ukraine’s defense and, thirdly, to deliver long-term capabilities.
By this I mean missiles being fired at Ukraine as we head into the winter months, which obviously has business benefits in the UK as well.
But fundamentally this is about the message to Putin and the action to increase the pressure. Because it is Putin who plays for time, and it is Putin who does not come to the table and does not interact.
In other developments:
-
Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever said on Thursday his country needed concrete and solid guarantees before backing a plan to use frozen Russian assets to finance a giant loan to Kiev.He pointed out that the plan was “uncharted territory”. Belgium’s position is critical since the assets in question are in the hands of the Belgian financial institution Euroclear. “Could this (plan) be legal? That’s a very good question… There’s no clear answer,” De Wever told reporters after attending an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. “We’ll be embroiled in litigation anyway. That seems certain.”
EU leaders failed to agree on how to handle frozen assets during the summit. The issue will be discussed in more detail at the next EU summit in December. -
A teenage boy and four others were injured in an overnight Ukrainian drone strike in a Moscow suburb, Russian officials said Friday.. Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov said in a statement on Telegram that the unmanned aerial vehicle crashed into an apartment on the 14th floor of a residential building in Krasnogorsk. Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry announced that 111 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down.
-
German Economy Minister will visit Ukraine on Friday to discuss how Berlin can strengthen the country’s defenseEnergy infrastructure faces increasingly intense Russian attacks.
-
Hungary is trying to find a way around US sanctions on Russian oil companies. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview with state radio Kossuth on Friday. Orban said that he also met with Hungary’s oil and gas company MOL regarding the issue. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Russia, targeting Lukoil and Rosneft, for the first time in his second term, marking a major shift in his approach to ending the war.
-
Vladimir Putin said Russia would never bow to US pressure but acknowledged that new sanctions could cause some economic pain. It has been reported that China and India will reduce oil imports from Russia after Washington targeted Moscow’s two largest producers. On Thursday, the Russian leader called US sanctions a “hostile action that does nothing to strengthen Russian-American relations” and an “attempt to put pressure on Russia” and said it was futile. In his statement to Russian journalists, Putin said, “No self-respecting country will do anything under pressure.”
