The Kremlin has said that Russia is open to dialogue with Europe but “won’t accept ultimatums” in a statement on Friday. Russian strikes killed at least two people and wounded ⁠two others in the northeastern Ukrainian ⁠region ​of Sumy after Moscow threatened escalation for Ukraine’s biggest assault so far.Another nine people, ‌including four children, suffered injuries in Kharkiv, which was attacked with Russian guided aerial bombs.Ukraine on Friday morning claimed that a crew member of a Panama-flagged ship was killed in a Russian drone attack in the Black Sea waters. Oleksiy Kuleba said that another vessel under the Saint Kitts and Nevis flag was ‌also hit.Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov previously warned of “massive coordinated strikes on a regular basis” in response to Ukraine's attack on a Moscow oil refinery for the second time this week.Ukraine earlier launched a heavy drone strike on Russia in retaliation for damage done to a historic monastery in Kyiv this week. Hundreds of drones targeted Moscow overnight, hitting the Russian capital's oil refinery for the ⁠second time this week, in one of the biggest aerial assaults on Russia of the war so far.Arpan Rai20 June 2026 07:38Poland committing 'strategic error', says Ukrainian foreign ministerPoland’s decision to strip Volodymyr Zelensky of the top honour is a "strategic error", Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.Poland's president Karol Nawrocki has decided to strip Zelensky of the country's top honour after the Ukrainian president caused outrage by renaming an army unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), nationalists who massacred Poles during the Second World War."We regret that instead of looking for solutions, the Polish side decided to escalate this conflict to an unacceptable and inappropriate level," he wrote on Facebook."No president ‌of another country is going to dictate our history to us." Polish prime minister ‌Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Nawrocki who had sought to defuse the dispute, called for both presidents to cool emotions late on Friday."The conflict between Poland and Ukraine delights Putin and shocks our allies. The task of presidents Zelensky and Nawrocki is to calm emotions, not to stoke tensions. ⁠The front line runs elsewhere," he wrote in a post on X.Arpan Rai20 June 2026 07:15Zelensky says Ukraine is 'Nato's de facto second army'Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Nato needs Ukraine as Russian leader Vladimir Putin wants the restoration of the Soviet Union.“Today, Ukraine is de facto the second army of Nato – one that is not inferior to the second army in the world. And that is why Nato needs us – specifically us – de jure. This is already a fact recognised by all leaders,” Zelensky said yesterday.“Putin will remain in the Kremlin until his death, and he has one goal: the restoration of the Soviet Union. Without Ukraine, this is impossible, and that is why things are so difficult for us,” Zelensky said, underlining Kyiv’s proximity to Russia as a key threat. Zelensky also said that Putin “fears the return of his army home”. “That is why he is so afraid of the war ending without victory. And there will be no victory. He is physically afraid of his own army. That is why, if there is no ceasefire backed by specific security guarantees, he will return to war. And this time, others may be the ones under attack,” Zelensky said.Arpan Rai20 June 2026 07:00EU not seeking mediating role in Ukraine war, Costa saysThe European Union does not intend to be mediators in case of peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, as it sides with Kyiv, European Council president Antonio Costa said on Friday.A diplomatic overture to the Kremlin ⁠by European Council president Antonio ​Costa ⁠has exposed ‌divisions at a summit of EU leaders over how to ‌handle relations with ‌Russia.Costa at a press conference after the summit said there were "no credible signs" that Russia wanted to engage in serious negotiations."What I'm doing through my office is to establish a diplomatic channel, ‌because we cannot ​depend only on others ‌to interpret Russian ⁠messages and we must ⁠be able to convey to Russia ‌our ​own messages," ‌Costa said.Arpan Rai20 June 2026 06:47EU leaders squabble over outreach to Moscow as Ukraine war rages onEuropean Union leaders have been unable to agree on setting up a back-channel with Moscow to ensure that the bloc’s interests are protected should progress be made in negotiations to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, some of them said yesterday.European Council president António Costa, who chaired their two-day summit in Brussels this week, had directed his office to reach out to the Kremlin and proposed a senior official to make contact.Costa said his aim was not to mediate or set up a parallel negotiating track to the one led by the United States, which is making little progress.“We needed to immediately establish this direct contact,” Costa said, clarifying that Brussels would not seek to mediate in negotiations but rather open communications.“We cannot depend only on others to interpret Russian messages and we must be able to convey directly to Russia our own messages," he added.European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she supported Costa's approach because “our entire continent is at risk, and this is why Europe must be one of the architects of a just and lasting peace."Arpan Rai20 June 2026 06:23Zelensky stripped of Poland's top honour over Second World War conflictPoland's president has decided to strip Volodymyr Zelensky of the country's top honour after the Ukrainian president caused outrage by renaming an army unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), nationalists who massacred Poles during the Second World War.President Karol ⁠Nawrocki's decision looked likely to unleash a severe diplomatic crisis between the neighbours just days ahead of a conference on Ukraine's reconstruction in the Polish city of Gdansk."In light of President Volodymyr Zelensky's consent to name one of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Heroes of the UPA,... I have decided to revoke the Order of the White Eagle from the President of Ukraine," Nawrocki said in a statement."At this point, I would like to emphasize: this decision is not directed against the Ukrainian people. It does not signify a change in the strategic direction of Polish security policy." While Warsaw is a strong supporter of ⁠Kyiv's war effort, public sentiment towards Ukraine has become more and more negative in recent years due to weariness with ​refugees, disputes ⁠over grain imports and the legacy of the ‌Second World War massacres. Arpan Rai20 June 2026 06:06Ukraine accepts proposal from Brazil's Lula to work for peace, Kyiv adviser saysPresident Volodymyr Zelensky has accepted an offer from Brazilian ​leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to help work for a peace deal in Russia's war in Ukraine, a Ukrainian presidential adviser said on Friday.Zelensky and Lula met ⁠on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in the French resort of Evian-les-Bains on Wednesday, where the Ukrainian leader urged allies to increase pressure on Russia to end the more than four-year-old war.The ⁠two presidents discussed what could ​reactivate ⁠diplomacy and Lula proposed several ideas, including contacts with permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, presidential communications adviser Dmytro ⁠Lytvyn told reporters."They agreed that, in particular, based on such ​ideas ⁠and contacts, they would try to ‌achieve something and later they would discuss it based on the results," Lytvyn said.Daniel Keane20 June 2026 03:00Daniel Keane20 June 2026 02:00Russian attacks kill three in Ukraine's Kramatorsk, governor saysRussian ​shelling killed three civilians in Ukraine's frontline city of ⁠Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region, a local official said ⁠on ​Friday.Vadym Filashkin, ⁠governor of Donetsk region, ⁠said on the Telegram ​app ⁠that six ‌others had been injured in two ‌attacks on the city, ‌with strikes occurring near a high-rise ⁠apartment building and a car park.Kramatorsk is in the so-called "fortress belt" of cities in eastern Ukraine seen ‌by Russia as ​a key ‌target ⁠in its slow advance ⁠to capture the entire ‌Donetsk ​region.Daniel Keane20 June 2026 01:00Zelensky says Belarus should remove equipment used in attacks on Ukraine in one weekUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that a ​week should be enough for Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to remove equipment from his country used by Russia in its attacks on Ukraine, adding a threat of Ukrainian action if Lukashenko ⁠did not do so.Zelensky said signal relay stations were located in two Belarusian regions bordering Ukraine that were used by Russian forces to help with steering during attacks on Ukrainian civilians. "What's ⁠the point of saying he (Lukashenko) doesn't ​want ⁠to be in the war? Let him remove this equipment, let him switch it off. I think a week will ⁠be enough for him to do that," Zelensky told a news conference ​in ⁠Kyiv."If he doesn't do ‌it, we'll do it," he said, without elaborating.Daniel Keane20 June 2026 00:01