Russian oil terminals ‘legitimate targets’, Kyiv insists
Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, said Russian oil refineries were legitimate targets for its forces.
Defence
Latest reporting and analysis on defence.
Pressure mounts on Ukraine to scrap ‘sponsors of war’ blacklist
Ukraine could dismantle within days its "sponsors of war" blacklist, central to Kyiv's campaign to expose companies doing business with Russia, after a backlash…
US wants Ukraine to stop hitting Russian oil refineries
The US has urged Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, warning that drone strikes risk provoking retaliation and driving up global…
Belgian ‘terror teens’ also wanted to ‘blow up the Eiffel Tower’
Three Belgian teenagers who allegedly planned to attack a Brussels concert hall are also being accused of scheming to destroy the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The West’s limits: We should back Ukraine to the hilt with money and weapons, but – no Macron – this is not an existential war for Europe
The collective flight of reason triggered by Emmanuel Macron’s bombshell suggestion last month about a possible Western military intervention in Ukraine is only…
NATO can survive the return of Trump – and still deter Putin. It will simply mean Europe paying for more of its own defence
Much has been made recently over the prospective return of Donald Trump and his transactional style of conducting foreign relations.
No more stupid wars: The West must not allow itself to be dragged further into the Russia-Ukraine war
It would stupid for the West to get further dragged into the Russian-Ukraine war.
To have peace, Europe must prepare for war, EU council president says
Europe must strengthen its defence capabilities and shift to a "war economy" mode in response to the threat posed by Russia, European Council President Charles Michel…
Germany, France and Poland unite to use frozen Russian assets for Ukrainian weapons
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk have resolved their differences in approach to the Russian…
US wants Hungary to ‘enter’ war in Ukraine, Orbán says
The United States wants Hungary to "enter" the war between Russia and Ukraine, Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orbán claimed.
Danish PM Frederiksen extends military draft as other EU nations mull same
With a number of European Union Member States attempting - but generally struggling - to revive the idea of military conscription recently, Denmark's Prime Minister…
US cool on Polish call to up NATO members’ defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP
Polish President Andrzej Duda's attempt to get NATO states to spend at least 3 per cent on defence has been met with a frosty response in Washington, where politicians…
There can be no peace in the Middle East until Hamas is eliminated. Israel is being held to different, higher, standards than any other state
It is disappointing to see the wave of synchronised credulity with which Europe has fallen in behind the tired and mistaken argument that Israel is obliged to…
‘No part of German military ready for war,’ armed forces official warns
There is not a single part of the German military that is ready for a global conflict, a senior military official has warned.
Czech mates ease Ukraine’s shell shortage after EU falls short
Czech President Petr Pavel said much-needed artillery rounds for Ukraine should start to arrive within weeks following Prague's successful initiative to source 800,000…
Three Palestinians arrested in Italy for allegedly planning terror attacks
Three Palestinians have been arrested in Italy for allegedly planning attacks on an as-yet unspecified country.
Germany ‘must spend €10 billion to keep population safe from Russian aggression’
Germany needs to spend at least €10 billion on bomb shelters and other civilian-protection measures in preparation for a possible war with Russia, the head of…
Polish troops deployment in Ukraine ‘not off the cards’ as Warsaw mulls Macron’s idea
Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski has said NATO forces could possibly be deployed in Ukraine.
The essential unseriousness of Britain’s, indeed the whole of Europe’s, politicians is proven by the fact that they don’t take our defence seriously in these serious times
Never let it be said that modern UK governments are unaware of the world around them and their place in it.
France and Moldova sign defence deal in light of Russian ‘threat’
France signed a defence co-operation accord with Moldova, as its President Maia Sandu warned that Russia was renewing efforts to destabilise her country and that…
‘Shut up and keep quiet,’ Hollande advises Macron over Ukraine
Former French President François Hollande has advised his successor Emmanuel Macron to shut up and keep quiet when it comes to the war in Ukraine.
Net zero is a threat to the West’s security: We are menaced by Russia and other hostile powers – Europe must now devote all its energies to rearming, not pursuing fantastical aspirations
Sir Gerald Howarth, a former British minister for International Security Strategy, has written a perceptive foreword to the new book The Music Stops, Net Zero and…
EC President to visit Cyprus amid humanitarian Gaza fears – and Russian sabre-rattling
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Cyprus this week as the bloc explores a possible humanitarian corridor through the Mediterranean…
Fears over Russia prompt France and Moldova to sign defence deal
Moldova and France will sign defence and economic co-operation accords during a visit by Moldovan President Maia Sandu to Paris, the French presidency said.
No more pacifism for an EU that gears up for war
The European Commission presented its first industrial defence strategy on March 5, along with a €1.
Une autre grande idée, monsieur le président? European history may be facing a hinge moment – and Macron’s proposal could just turn it in the West’s favour
Judging by the bellows of discontent from his allies, French President Macron blundered badly with his suggestion that NATO countries may need to deploy combat troops…
Two years into the conflict, have Putin and the Russian economy been the real winners of the war in Ukraine? Depressingly that’s what the numbers suggest
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost, millions of people have been displaced, Western economies…
EU-funded UN agency employs ‘more than 450 terrorists’, Israel says
A United Nations agency funded by the European Union employs "more than 450 terrorists", Israel says.
‘Terror teens planned attack on Brussels concert hall’
Belgian police have arrested teenage terror suspects who allegedly aimed to strike in the heart of Brussels.
Russian leak leaves Berlin squirming and everyone asking: Is there more?
A leaked recording of an online conversation between high-ranking German generals discussing the possible delivery of Taurus missiles to Ukraine is causing major…