Czech Republic will not participate in €70 billion package for Ukraine, PM Babis says
The Czech Republic will not participate in a €70 billion ($80 billion) package of military assistance for Ukraine that NATO states agreed to on Wednesday, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said.
NATO members meeting in Ankara pledged that amount for Ukraine for 2026 and “at least equivalent levels” of support in 2027, according to the summit’s declaration.
“We appreciate that every country will decide on this itself,” Babis said. “We will not participate in the amount.”
Daniel Keane8 July 2026 20:00
Trump slams Spain with call to suspend all US trade at Nato summit
Donald Trump has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to sever all economic ties between the U.S. and Spain, calling the country a “wasted cause” and “a terrible partner in Nato.”
Speaking at a joint press conference with Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte on day two of the military alliance’s latest summit in Ankara, Turkey, Trump was discussing the bilateral talks he had held with other nations.
“I spoke to Italy… I didn’t speak to Spain,” he said. “Spain is a wasted cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore, by the way. I’d like to cut it out. Spain is a terrible partner in Nato.”
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Daniel Keane8 July 2026 19:00
Watch: Moscow launches third round of strikes in a week on KyivMoscow launches third round of strikes in a week on Kyiv as Zelensky renews Nato bid
Daniel Keane8 July 2026 18:00
The countries that spend the most on Nato – and who needs to do more
Europe finds itself in an increasingly precarious position amid the ongoing threat posed by Vladimir Putin and the withdrawal of US military support – and data suggests that defence spending has not kept up.
The dual risk posed by a belligerent Russia and a disengaged Washington has underlined the need to develop the continent’s military independence, European allies have said.
Those shortages include midair re-fuelers and long-range strategic bombers that the US has in abundance, but is in worryingly low stock in Europe.
Maira Butt8 July 2026 17:00
Ukraine says its drones hit three refineries, tankers, in night of major strikes
Ukrainian drones overnight struck three Russian oil refineries as well as Russian tankers on the Sea of Azov, the Ukrainian military and Russian local officials said on Wednesday, as Kyiv’s campaign against Russian energy infrastructure rages on.
Russia has been suffering from acute fuel shortages in some regions, as Ukrainian drone strikes against its oil refineries have ramped up, with Kyiv hitting targets ever further from its own territory.
Kyiv on Monday hit the Omsk refinery, Russia’s largest, which is located deep inside Siberia, around 2,700 km (1,700 miles) from Ukrainian-held territory.
In separate statements, Ukraine’s general staff and special forces said drones had hit the TANECO and TAIF-NK oil refineries in Tatarstan’s Nizhnekamsk, the Saratov oil refinery, and the Borisoglebsk military airbase in Voronezh region.
Russian officials confirmed strikes in those regions, though they did not specify what had been targeted. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had downed 415 drones overnight.
The degree of damage inflicted by the strikes was not immediately clear.
A satellite image shows the Omsk oil refinery before a drone attack, Russia, April 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Maira Butt8 July 2026 16:00
Watch: Anti-ballistic missile system needed in Europe, warns ZelenskyAnti-ballistic missile system needed in Europe, warns Zelensky
Maira Butt8 July 2026 15:30
Russia is now trying to jam Elon Musk’s Starlink
Russia is installing powerful jamming systems to disrupt Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system, in the latest bid to stop Ukraine’s drone attacks.
Kyiv’s development of “mid-strike” drones can hit targets dozens of kilometres behind front lines accurately and cheaply, and are often flown via Starlink.
In a concerted mid-strike campaign this year, Ukraine has attacked supply lines, fuel storage facilities, air-defence installations and command centres, disrupting Russian forces’ logistics and causing fuel shortages in Russian-occupied Crimea.
But Russia is now developing many ways to try to counter the mid-range strikes.
Maira Butt8 July 2026 15:00
Trump says US will provide Ukraine with license for Patriot missiles
President Donald Trump has appeared to support Ukraine’s bid for Patriot interceptors and anti-ballistic missiles during a press conference at the Nato summit in Ankara on Wednesday.
He suggested that the US would be happy to provide Ukraine with a license for Patriot interceptors and said further talks on anti-ballistic missiles would ensue.
“We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That’s pretty cool. This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving ’em enough,” Trump said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“It’s a defensive weapon, which I like better than an offensive weapon,” Trump said.
Zelensky has repeatedly pleaded for the US-made interceptors — the only weapon in Ukraine’s arsenal that can shoot down ballistic projectiles, whose high velocity and steep flight path make them difficult to stop.
Maira Butt8 July 2026 14:55
The Independent’s White House correspondent Andrew Feinberg reports:
President Donald Trump has just told reporters: “One of the things we’re going to be talking about is, we’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That’s pretty cool. This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough. I’d say, ‘Make them yourself.’
“We haven’t informed the company of that yet, but that’ll, that’ll work out all right. They’ll be thrilled, but you know they’ll be able to do it.
“You’ll be able to figure that out. Most, most countries couldn’t do that. If I said that to most countries, they wouldn’t know what I’m talking about, but this is a very ingenious group, and what I like about that, it’s a defensive, it’s a defensive situation, as opposed to an offensive.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) meets with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, on July 8, 2026. (AFP/Getty)
Maira Butt8 July 2026 14:14
Trump says both sides in Ukraine war want a settlement
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that both sides in the war in Ukraine want to see a settlement but Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have been “difficult.”
“We’ve settled a lot of wars, and this one is the one that I thought maybe would be the easiest, but Putin is a difficult character, and this guy’s a difficult character,” Trump said, referring to Zelensky, who was sitting next to him ahead of a meeting between the pair at the Nato summit in Ankara.
Zelensky said he wanted to discuss “some very important details” with Trump.
“I’m sure you will do everything to stop this war,” he told Trump.
Maira Butt8 July 2026 14:10