Key events
Some 62% of Britons believe Ukraine should be allowed into Nato, according to new polling.
The research by YouGov also suggested 68% think the UK should maintain its commitment to defend allies in the military bloc, but when asked specifically about defending the US this figure fell to 42%.
If Britain were attacked, 44% believe America would come to the country’s aid but 35% are doubtful, according to the poll of 2,231 UK adults carried out this week.
Russian forces capture another village in eastern Ukraine, state news reports
Russian forces have captured the village of Novolyubivka in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, the RIA state news agency reported on Saturday, citing the Russian defence ministry.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
The defence ministry said Russian forces had hit Ukrainian military airfields, drone storage sites and ammunition and fuel storage facilities, Russian state agencies reported.
Like the soldiers they battle to save, combat medics in Ukraine are under constant attack. Three years after the invasion, one NHS doctor bears witness:
Trump says he will end the war in Ukraine – but how, and who will benefit? The US president is breaking every negotiating rule in the book, to the bewilderment of his allies. Europe is now at a crossroads. Our panel responds:
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to confirm a timeline to raise defence spending and give Donald Trump an invitation for a state visit when he visits Washington next week, according to a report.
The Prime Minister will have to walk a tricky line when he meets Mr Trump, balancing the UK’s support for Ukraine with the need to keep the US onside.
In an effort to ease tensions, Sir Keir is expected during the trip to finally set a date, likely 2030, for the UK to reach its goal of spending 2.5% of GDP, The Telegraph reported. This is up from the current 2.3%.
The Prime Minister will also deliver an invitation from the King for a state visit to the UK, according to the newspaper.
The Russians are looking for “visible shifts for the better in American policy”, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to the RIA state news agency reported on Saturday.
“Today we are facing two parallel, but, of course, to some extent, politically interconnected tracks: one is Ukrainian affairs, the other is bilateral,” Ryabkov said.
“A dialogue on strategic stability and arms control is possible when we see visible shifts for the better in American policy,” he added. He also said the U.S. and Russia could discuss the Middle East.
The United States proposed Friday a United Nations resolution on the Ukraine conflict that omitted any mention of Kyiv’s territory occupied by Russia, diplomatic sources told AFP.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged UN members to approve the “simple, historic” resolution.
Washington’s proposal comes amid an intensifying feud between President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky which has seen Trump claim it was “not important” for his Ukrainian counterpart to be involved in peace talks.
It also appeared to rival a separate draft resolution produced by Kyiv and its European allies, countries that Trump has also sought to sideline from talks on the future of the three-year-old war.
Russia and the US could meet again in next two weeks
A second meeting between representatives of Russia and the United States is planned for the next two weeks, the RIA state news agency reported on Saturday, citing Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
Moscow and Washington held their first talks on ending the nearly three-year war in Ukraine on Tuesday, aimed at restoring relations and preparing to conclude the conflict.
The meeting will take place in a third country and the specific location is being agreed upon, Ryabkov told RIA in an interview, without naming who would attend from the Russian or American sides.
Ryabkov said there was “principled agreement” on both sides to hold consultations to work out “the entire block of so-called irritants.”
The Kremlin said this week that a face-to-face meeting between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump was possible this month. Both men have said they want to meet.
