First Ukraine-Russia Talks in Over Three Years Stall Amid Unrealistic Russian Demands
The peace negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian delegations, held on May 16 in Istanbul, Türkiye, have been paused without reaching a ceasefire agreement
The Taliban will not negotiate with the government in Kabul until about 5,000 of their associates are released from Afghan prisons, said a Taliban spokesman, quoted by the Associated Press. The statement was made at a time when the deadline for reducing hostilities in Afghanistan is expiring.
On Saturday, Taliban and US officials signed an agreement promising to work for the release of political prisoners and prisoners of war as a confidence-building measure. The agreement called for the Afghan government to release up to 5,000 Taliban and the Taliban to release thousands of government loyalists.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who was not a party to the talks, rejected the request. A Ghani spokesman said the release of prisoners could not be a condition but should be a topic of negotiation.
Israel has carried out a series of airstrikes on key government sites in the Syrian capital, Damascus
Egils Helmanis, the mayor of Ogre, a Latvian town located just over 30 kilometers from Riga, has sustained injuries during a Russian attack in Ukraine
Ukraine is preparing for a major government reshuffle, with the Verkhovna Rada expected to dismiss Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and his Cabinet on 16 July
The Polish Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski, reported that a Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia damaged a factory owned by the Polish Barlinek Group
Hungary has escalated its confrontation with Ukraine, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban demanding that the European Union impose sanctions on Ukrainian officials over the death of a Hungarian citizen during military mobilisation
The Verkhovna Rada has approved another 90-day extension of martial law and general mobilization in Ukraine
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