The aim of Thursday’s Downing Street meeting between Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy could not have been clearer. It was to send a strong visual political message to President Trump on the eve of his Alaska talks with Vladimir Putin. Neither the prime minister nor Ukraine’s president spoke publicly. The Ukraine leader was greeted … Read more
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2025/aug/14/ben-jennings-volodymyr-zelenskyy-visit-london-cartoon
Day 1,254 of the invasion; 31 July 2025, Kyiv, 4.30am. The air-raid alarm started again just a moment ago. I wake up from the roar and rumble of rockets. It’s a sound that makes you want to flee in primeval terror. Time slows down. I roll over on the bed, embrace my girlfriend Dasha, make … Read more
Friedrich Merz hosted the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Wednesday as a weakened leader 100 days into his term, with his attempts to rally western support for Kyiv and wrangle Donald Trump failing to silence his domestic critics. The German chancellor took the initiative for Wednesday’s lightning round of telephone conferences bringing in EU leaders, … Read more
Growing up in Madrid, intense summer heat was nothing unusual. I quickly learned always to cross the street in search of shade, and never to be caught out in the sun at 3pm. But as a child in the early 1980s, I never felt dizzy after spending more than a few minutes outdoors, nor did … Read more
For Ukraine, the break in the frontline is unfortunately timed. Lightly armed Russian saboteur groups – three on one count – cut though Ukrainian positions in the Donbas countryside east of the key junction at Dobropillia. Though one group has been eliminated, as of Tuesday two were thought to remain at large – and although … Read more
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2025/aug/13/ella-baron-donald-trump-vladimir-putin-europe-cartoon
What is the role of journalism when Palestinian reporters are treated as criminals and left to die? Last October, I spoke with the journalist Hossam Shabat. He described families packing what little they had left in northern Gaza as Israel began implementing its “generals’ plan”. Six months later, Shabat was dead – killed by Israel, … Read more
The UK is quickly recovering a prime position in the EU’s £80bn science research programme 18 months after becoming a participating member following the resolution of Brexit problems, data shows. The country was frozen out of Horizon Europe for three years in a tit-for-tat row with the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, over the Northern … Read more
The lessons of Helsinki are clear: putting Donald Trump alone in a room with Vladimir Putin is an unpredictable – and often dangerous – affair. It was 2018 when the two leaders met at the invitation of Sauli Niinistö, the Finnish president, to discuss a collapse in US-Russia relations, accusations of elections interference, and the … Read more