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British-supplied missiles can be used by Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia, the UK has told Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
UK defence secretary John Healey green-lighted Kyiv’s use of Storm Shadow missiles for defensive strikes inside Russian territory on Wednesday.
Mr Healey said Britain “will do all we can to help Ukraine in their fight to repel Putin’s invasion” but declined to get into “operational arrangements”.
It comes as Nato members formally declared Ukraine was on an “irreversible” path to joining the Western military alliance.
“Ukraine’s future is in Nato”, the alliance members said in their statement. “We will continue to support it on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including Nato membership.”
Meanwhile, Norway pledged to send half a dozen of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from the sidelines of the Nato summit in Washington, becoming the fourth country to promise to send vital weaponry.
Key points
- UK-supplied weapons to be used to strike Russia
- Ukraine must join Nato after Russia’s war ends, says bloc chief
- Nato allies to provide ‘minimum £31 billion’ to Ukraine in 2025
- China laments Nato statement as ‘belligerent rhetoric’ and ‘lies’
U-turn sees Ukrainian toddler reunited with refugee parents in UK as calls grow for government policy change
Ukrainian refugee parents barred from bringing their two-year-old daughter to Britain after the UK’s sponsorship rules were suddenly tightened will now be reunited with their child after a government U-turn.
Oleksandra and Yaroslav, both aged 31, decided to leave their daughter Anna with her grandparents in Kyiv while getting set up with their own accommodation and establishing a new business after arriving in Britain under the Homes for Ukraine scheme in April 2022.
But after they overcame these hurdles, their application in April this year for Anna to join them was refused by the Home Office on the grounds that – as per rule changes brought in without warning in February – they were no longer eligible sponsors, being neither UK or Irish citizens nor having indefinite leave to remain.
U-turn sees Ukrainian toddler reunited with refugee parents in UK
Exclusive: Labour peer Lord Alf Dubs backs urgent calls for new government to reopen family reunion route for Ukrainian refugees
Andy Gregory11 July 2024 18:30 1720711843Starmer signals Ukraine can use British Storm Shadow missiles to strike inside Russia
Keir Starmer has signalled that Ukraine can use British Storm Shadow missiles to strike military targets inside Russia, a move likely to anger Moscow.
This comes after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the UK at the Nato summit in Washington for lifting the ban on using these missiles for attacks across the border.
While the prime minister emphasised that the use of the missiles must comply with international humanitarian law, he said it is up to Ukraine to decide how to deploy them.
Starmer signals Ukraine can use British Storm Shadow missiles to strike inside Russia
Moscow calls it an ‘absolutely irresponsible step towards escalating tensions’
Alexander Butler11 July 2024 16:30 1720708364Norway to give Ukraine $93 mln to boost air defences, PM says
Norway will give 1 billion crowns ($92.69 million) to boost Ukraine’s air defences, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Thursday at a NATO summit where alliance members have promised more aid to Kyiv as it fights Russian invaders.
The announcement came a day after Norway said it would give Ukraine six F-16 fighter jets. “The Ukrainians need more air defence to protect their population from Russian bombs and missiles,” Stoere said in a statement.
“The brutal attacks we have seen this past week show why it is so vital for the Ukrainians to have greater protection from Russian air attacks,” he added.
Alexander Butler11 July 2024 15:32 1720702357Russian diplomat says Moscow won't attend a second Ukraine peace summit
Russia will not attend a follow-up to last month’s Ukraine peace summit, state news agency RIA quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin as saying on Thursday.
Russia was not invited to the initial summit in Switzerland that was attended by representatives of 92 countries, and said that discussing the war in its absence was a waste of time.
Ukraine has said it wants to hold another such summit later this year, probably in the Global South, and that representatives from Russia could be invited this time.
Alexander Butler11 July 2024 13:52 1720701555Hungary will not support Nato becoming ‘anti-China’ bloc, minister says
Hungary does not want, and will not support, Nato becoming an “anti-China” bloc, foreign minister Peter Szijjarto told Hungary’s state television while in Washington on Thursday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Nato summit, Szijjarto also said Ukraine’s admission to the alliance would weaken unity within the group.
It comes after Nato labelled China a “decisive enabler” of Putin’s war in Ukraine - in the alliance’s strongest rebuke of Beijing.
But Beijing hit back and accused Nato of smearing the country while demanding the transatlantic alliance stay out of Asia.
Alexander Butler11 July 2024 13:39 1720701456Record number of Chinese military planes breach Taiwan airspace
A record number of Chinese warplanes breached Taiwanese airspace as part of Beijing’s military exercises amid a key Nato summit, according to Taiwanese authorities.
Up to 66 Chinese aircraft were detected around the self-governing island and 56 of them breached the median line of the Taiwan Strait, Taipei’s defence ministry said. It is a single-day record for this year.
China’s military drills came amid a key Nato summit in Washington, where Western leaders issued their strongest-ever condemnation of Beijing for being a “decisive” enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Record number of Chinese warplanes breach Taiwan airspace
Taiwan detects 66 Chinese planes around the island in the last 24 hours – a single-day record for this year
Alexander Butler11 July 2024 13:37 1720701057Ukraine getting ‘closer and closer’ to becoming Nato member, says secretary general
Ukraine getting ‘closer and closer’ to becoming Nato member, says secretary general
Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, has said that Ukraine is getting “closer and closer” to membership. He added, however, that it is too early to say when it may happen, due to the need for consensus of all allies. Member states are meeting in Washington DC this week to mark the 75th anniversary of the world’s biggest security organisation as Russia presses its advantage on the battlefield in Ukraine. The three-day summit will focus on ways to reassure Ukraine of Nato’s enduring support and offer some hope to its war-weary citizens that their country might survive the biggest land conflict in Europe in decades.
Alexander Butler11 July 2024 13:30 1720696776Labour aims to make Britain the leading European nation in Nato – but will Trump care?
Alexander Butler11 July 2024 12:19 1720693666China tells Nato not to create chaos in Asia
China accused Nato on Thursday of seeking security at the expense of others and told the alliance not to bring the same “chaos” to Asia.
The statement by a Foreign Ministry spokesperson came a day after NATO labeled China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“Nato hyping up China’s responsibility on the Ukraine issue is unreasonable and has sinister motives,” spokesperson Lin Jian said at a daily briefing. He maintained that China has a fair and objective stance on the Ukraine issue.
Alexander Butler11 July 2024 11:27 1720693398Why China is conducting military exercises in Belarus
The Chinese military has begun joint drills in Belarus that are being held over the next 11 days in Brest, close to the border with Nato state Poland.
The joint military exercises by two of Russia’s most important allies come after Belarus became the 10th member of the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) during its 24th meeting of heads of council in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Belarus’s government said the drills “will allow … the laying of a foundation for further development of Belarusian-Chinese relations in the field of joint training of troops”.
Ukraine news: Why China is conducting joint military exercises in Belarus
Belarus has played a vital role in Russia’s war against Ukraine
Alexander Butler11 July 2024 11:23 Newer1 / 5OlderDisclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
