Rutte: NATO Agrees Protecting Ukraine Infrastructure is Priority

Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (L) talks with Danish's Foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen (C) and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) during a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Oganization) Foreign Ministers' meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on December 4, 2024. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)
Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (L) talks with Danish's Foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen (C) and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) during a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Oganization) Foreign Ministers' meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on December 4, 2024. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)
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Rutte: NATO Agrees Protecting Ukraine Infrastructure is Priority

Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (L) talks with Danish's Foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen (C) and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) during a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Oganization) Foreign Ministers' meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on December 4, 2024. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)
Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (L) talks with Danish's Foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen (C) and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) during a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Oganization) Foreign Ministers' meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on December 4, 2024. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)

NATO members agreed at a meeting with Ukraine's foreign minister on Tuesday evening that providing air defense systems to protect the country's infrastructure against Russian attacks has to be a priority, alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte said.
"There was a clear agreement around the table last night that to help Ukraine, particularly with its infrastructure, has to be a priority," Rutte told reporters on Wednesday.
"I'm confident that allies will follow up in the coming days and weeks in making sure that whatever they can supply to Ukraine will be supplied."

Ukraine's air force said on Wednesday that Russia launched 50 drones to attack the country overnight.

The air force said it shot down 29 of them, lost track of 18, likely due to electronic warfare, and one drone headed towards territories occupied by Russia.

Meanwhile, advisers to Donald Trump publicly and privately are floating proposals to end the Ukraine war that would cede large parts of the country to Russia for the foreseeable future, according to a Reuters analysis of their statements and interviews with several people close to the US president-elect.
The proposals by three key advisers, including Trump's incoming Russia-Ukraine envoy, retired Army Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg, share some elements, including taking NATO membership for Ukraine off the table.
Trump's advisers would try forcing Moscow and Kyiv into negotiations with carrots and sticks, including halting military aid to Kyiv unless it agrees to talk but boosting assistance if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses.



Iran Command Says Has Closed Hormuz Again over US Blockade

A satellite image shows the ship movement at the Strait of Hormuz on April 2, 2026, in Space. EUROPEAN UNION/COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2/Handout via REUTERS
A satellite image shows the ship movement at the Strait of Hormuz on April 2, 2026, in Space. EUROPEAN UNION/COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2/Handout via REUTERS
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Iran Command Says Has Closed Hormuz Again over US Blockade

A satellite image shows the ship movement at the Strait of Hormuz on April 2, 2026, in Space. EUROPEAN UNION/COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2/Handout via REUTERS
A satellite image shows the ship movement at the Strait of Hormuz on April 2, 2026, in Space. EUROPEAN UNION/COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2/Handout via REUTERS

Iran's central military command announced on Saturday it would resume "strict management" of the Strait of Hormuz, reversing a decision to unblock the strategic channel as part of negotiations with Washington.

In a statement shared on state television, the headquarters said Washington had broken a promise by continuing its naval blockade of ships sailing to and from Iran's ports.

Until the United States restores freedom of movement for all vessels visiting Iran, "the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will remain strictly controlled," the statement said.

The announcement came after US President Donald Trump said the blockade of the Strait will remain and attacks will resume if no agreement is reached with Iran.


Australia, Japan Sign Contracts to Start $7 Billion Warship Deal

Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles (R) listens to Japan's Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro (L) during a Defense Ministers' Meeting at the Commonwealth Parliament Offices in Melbourne on April 18, 2026. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)
Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles (R) listens to Japan's Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro (L) during a Defense Ministers' Meeting at the Commonwealth Parliament Offices in Melbourne on April 18, 2026. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)
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Australia, Japan Sign Contracts to Start $7 Billion Warship Deal

Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles (R) listens to Japan's Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro (L) during a Defense Ministers' Meeting at the Commonwealth Parliament Offices in Melbourne on April 18, 2026. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)
Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles (R) listens to Japan's Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro (L) during a Defense Ministers' Meeting at the Commonwealth Parliament Offices in Melbourne on April 18, 2026. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)

Australia and Japan signed contracts on Saturday launching their landmark A$10 billion ($7 billion) deal to supply Australia with warships, Tokyo's most consequential military sale since ending a military export ban in 2014.

Defense Ministers Richard Marles and Shinjiro Koizumi signed a memorandum "reaffirming the Australian and Japanese governments' shared commitment to the successful delivery" of the warships, Marles said in a statement.

The deal struck in ⁠August anchors Japan's ⁠push away from its postwar pacifism to forge security ties beyond its alliance with the US to counter China.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is to supply the Royal Australian Navy with three upgraded Mogami-class ⁠multi-role frigates built in Japan from 2029. Eight more frigates will be built in Australia.

Japan's Defense Ministry posted on X that Koizumi and Marles welcomed the "conclusion of contracts for General Purpose Frigates, and confirmed to further strengthen bilateral defense ties" in the signing in Melbourne.

Contracts were signed for the first three frigates, to be built ⁠in ⁠Japan, before there is a "transition to an onshore build" at the Henderson shipyard near Perth in Western Australia, Reuters quoted Marles as saying.

Australia plans to deploy the ships - designed to hunt submarines, strike surface ships and provide air defense - to defend critical maritime trade routes and its northern approaches in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where China's military footprint is expanding.


Iran Partially Reopens Airspace

FILE - Two police officers walk in front of an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Two police officers walk in front of an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
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Iran Partially Reopens Airspace

FILE - Two police officers walk in front of an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Two police officers walk in front of an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Iran partially reopened its airspace on Saturday to international flights crossing the eastern part of its territory, the country's Civil Aviation Authority said.

"Air routes in the eastern section of the country's airspace are open for international flights transiting through Iran," it said, adding that some airports had also reopened at 7:00 am (0330 GMT).

More than three hours later, however, flight tracker websites still showed no international flights crossing Iran, and several avoiding its airspace by making long detours.