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Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> denounced Vladimir Putin<\/a> as a \u201cslave to war\u201d while seeking security guarantees for Ukraine. <\/p>\n \u201cHe may see himself as a tsar but in reality he is a slave to war,\u201d the Ukrainian president told the Munich Security Conference<\/a>, referring to the Russian leader.<\/p>\n Zelensky acknowledged he was feeling “a little bit” of pressure from Donald Trump<\/a> after the US president told Ukraine\u2019s leader not to miss the opportunity to make peace and urged him “to get moving”.<\/p>\n He complained that the US<\/a> too often asked Kyiv <\/a>rather than Russia<\/a> for concessions while renewing his call for 20-year security guarantees.<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cThe Americans often return to the topic of concessions and too often those concessions are discussed only in the context of Ukraine<\/a>, not Russia<\/a>,” Zelensky said.<\/p>\n He confirmed the US had proposed 15-year security guarantees, although Ukraine wanted at least 20 years.<\/p>\n Earlier at the conference, Britain accused Russia of killing opposition leader Alexei Navalny<\/a> with a poison developed from a dart frog toxin. <\/p>\n Moscow, however, denounced the allegation as a Western \u201cdisinformation campaign\u201d against it. <\/p>\n <\/a>‘Russia is a threat to our country’, Patel says<\/p>\n Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said the UK faces an \u201caxis of authoritarianism\u201d.<\/p>\n The Witham MP told Sky News\u2019s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programmed that the United States was a \u201cnatural ally\u201d and a \u201cpartner\u201d.<\/p>\n Dame Priti added: \u201cWe face major challenges on the axis of authoritarianism \u2013 that is Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can see that self-evidently in Russia\u2019s illegal war in Ukraine. That\u2019s a threat to our country.<\/p>\n \u201cRussia is a threat to our country. We know that, we\u2019ve experienced this over the last decade with state sponsored poisonings.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan Haygarth15 February 2026 09:55<\/p>\n <\/a>Russia takes village in Zaporizhzhia region<\/p>\n Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday that its troops have taken the village of Tsvitkove in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, state news agency TASS reported.<\/p>\n Russia controls about 75 per cent of the Zaporizhzhia region, but battle lines had been largely static since 2022 until recent Russian advances<\/p>\n Dan Haygarth15 February 2026 09:54<\/p>\n <\/a>New sanctions for Russia could follow Britain blaming Kremlin for poisoning Navalny<\/p>\n New sanctions against the Russian regime could follow from Britain and its allies blaming the Kremlin for poisoning opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Foreign Secretary has suggested.<\/p>\n Asked on the BBC\u2019s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme what the consequences of the accusation would be, Yvette Cooper said: \u201cWe continue to look at co-ordinated action, including increasing sanctions on the Russian regime.<\/p>\n \u201cAs you know, we have been pursuing this as part of our response to the brutal invasion of Ukraine, where we are also coming up to the fourth anniversary of that invasion as well.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that it is the partnerships that we build abroad that make us stronger at home. It is by acting alongside our European allies, alongside allies across the world, that we do maintain that pressure on the Russian regime.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cThe other thing that I would say specifically about Alexei Navalny is one of the things he said was \u2018tell the truth, spread the truth\u2019, because that is the most dangerous weapon of all.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was his comment about the Russian regime. He is no longer able to do that, but that is why we are continuing to do that for him, and for his widow as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan Haygarth15 February 2026 09:47<\/p>\n <\/a>‘European bashing is very in fashion’, Kallis says<\/p>\n Kaja Kallis, the EU\u2019s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, has responded to Marco Rubio\u2019s speech yesterday. <\/p>\n At the Munich Security Conference, Rubio suggested that the West\u2019s victory in the Cold War had fostered complacency in Europe and said the US needed the continent to be strong.<\/p>\n Kallis said on stage today: \u201cEvery time I hear this European bashing, it\u2019s very in fashion right now, I\u2019m thinking of what is the alternative.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, all the best or good things that we got from Europe, and all the good things that Europe actually represents.\u201d<\/p>\n However she welcomed Rubio\u2019s comments that the US and Europe \u201cwill always be intertwined\u201d.<\/p>\n He said on Saturday that Donald Trump \u201cdemands seriousness and reciprocity from our friends here in Europe\u201d because \u201cwe care deeply about your future and ours\u201d.<\/p>\n Kallis said: \u201cThe message that we heard from there is that America and Europe are intertwined; have been in the past and will be in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this is important. It is also clear that we don\u2019t see eye to eye in all the issues and that this will remain the case as well, but I think we can work from there.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan Haygarth15 February 2026 09:31<\/p>\n <\/a>Poison Russia used to kill Navalny can be produced synthetically, says CooperPoison Russia used to kill Navalny can be produced synthetically, says Cooper<\/p>\n Dan Haygarth15 February 2026 09:30<\/p>\n <\/a>Ukraine seeks 20-year US security guarantee before signing peace deal<\/p>\n Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine wants a legally binding US security guarantee lasting at least 20 years before signing any peace deal with Russia.<\/p>\n Speaking in Munich ahead of fresh talks next week, the Ukrainian president said Washington had so far offered a 15-year commitment, but Kyiv was seeking a minimum 20-year agreement setting out the specific help the US would provide to a planned European reassurance force inside Ukraine.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want a minimum 20-year, legally water-tight agreement,\u201d Zelensky said, warning that any deal must include clear and enforceable guarantees.<\/p>\n He added that US officials had suggested peace could come more quickly if Ukraine withdrew from the Donbas region, but said such a concession was not possible because Ukrainians live there.<\/p>\n Zelensky also called for a clear date for Ukraine\u2019s accession to the European Union, saying membership would provide additional long-term stability.<\/p>\n The comments come ahead of US-brokered talks between Ukraine and Russia expected in Geneva next week, where territorial concessions and security arrangements are likely to dominate discussions.<\/p>\n Stuti Mishra15 February 2026 09:15<\/p>\n <\/a>Cooper says Cold War peace dividend \u2018has gone\u2019 after Navalny announcement<\/p>\n Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:<\/p>\n The foreign secretary told the BBC: \u201cThe Cold War peace dividend we had all believed in and hoped for has gone.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the Russian threat to European and UK security \u201cis back\u201d.<\/p>\n Her comments came after the UK accused Russia of killing opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a poison developed from a dart frog toxin.<\/p>\n Dan Haygarth15 February 2026 09:15<\/p>\n <\/a>Cooper: ‘We do know that the Russian regime has had possession of this particular chemical’<\/p>\n Yvette Cooper told Sky News\u2019 Trevor Phillips that the lethal toxin Epibatidine which Britain and its allies said was used by Russia against opposition leader Alexei Navalny can be produced synthetically. <\/p>\n Epibatidine is produced by wild dart frogs in South America.<\/p>\n Ms Cooper would not be drawn on whether the toxin the UK says was used on Navalny was produced synthetically. <\/p>\n The foreign secretary told Sky News: \u201cI can\u2019t tell you the details of that, but as you say, this is a particular chemical.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can be produced synthetically, it can also be found in this particular frog in Ecuador.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do know that the Russian regime has had possession of this particular chemical. It is obviously not one which is found naturally in Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan Haygarth15 February 2026 09:13<\/p>\n