Drone attacks launched as troops advance on Kursk

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says a “coalition of the willing” of Western nations will draw up plans to help secure Ukraine “on the land, at sea, and in the sky” in the event of a peace deal with Russia.
Russian forces retake control of two settlements in Russia’s Kursk region as military advances continue against invading Ukrainian troops.Ukraine minister discusses military, industrial cooperation with Italy
Ukraine’s Minister of Defence Rustem Umerov has met his Italian counterpart, Guido Crosetto, to discuss military support and industrial cooperation in Rome.

“Ukraine is ready to establish joint ventures and attract new investments to enhance our defence sector,” Umerov said.

“Additionally, we identified promising areas for defence development, particularly in drone technology and maritime systems.”Territory issue ‘complicated’, should be discussed later: Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy says the question of what territory Ukraine and Russia will hold is “complicated” and should be discussed in detail at a later date.

He made the remark during a news briefing in Kyiv, where he said Ukraine would never recognise occupied territory as Russian and he’s unaware of what exactly US and Russian officials discussed during recent talks in Moscow.

In September 2022, Russia unilaterally announced it had “four new regions”, calling the residents of Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions “our citizens forever”.

Pressure mounts on Europe to push Russia to halt war on Ukraine
European leaders taking part in a virtual summit hosted by Britain have shown they are ready to step up with security guarantees for Ukraine, but more could be done to put pressure on Russia, Mattia Nelles, CEO of the German-Ukrainian Bureau, says.

“We see European unity in increasing the pressure on Russia, including sanctions, even when the Americans are not willing to do the same,” he told Al Jazeera.

But Europe has more leverage it could use, including increasing the price tag on Russian oil by ensuring the tankers crossing the Baltic Sea are no longer allowed to transit, he said.

It also holds 250 billion euros ($273bn) in frozen Russian assets that could be confiscated.

Ultimately, Europe will have to be part of any deal brokered on Ukraine’s security, Nelles added. “Europeans need to be present to enforce any possible agreement that Russia is signing. Otherwise, it will not be worth the paper it is written on.”