عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

NATO Defense Chiefs Hold Virtual Meeting on Ukraine Security Guarantees

A view shows the site of the apartment building hit by Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine August 18, 2025. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy
A view shows the site of the apartment building hit by Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine August 18, 2025. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy
TT
TT

NATO Defense Chiefs Hold Virtual Meeting on Ukraine Security Guarantees

A view shows the site of the apartment building hit by Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine August 18, 2025. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy
A view shows the site of the apartment building hit by Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine August 18, 2025. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy

NATO defense chiefs were due to hold a virtual meeting Wednesday, a senior alliance official said, as countries pushing for an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine devise possible future security guarantees for Kyiv that could help forge a peace agreement.

Italian Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of NATO’s Military Committee, said that 32 defense chiefs from across the alliance would hold a video conference as a US-led diplomatic push seeks to end the fighting, The AP news reported.

US Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, will take part in the talks, Dragone said on social platform X.

US President Donald Trump met last Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and on Monday hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and prominent European leaders at the White House. Neither meeting delivered concrete progress.

Trump is trying to steer Putin and Zelenskyy toward a settlement more than three years after Russia invaded its neighbor, but there are major obstacles. They include Ukraine’s demands for Western-backed military assurances to ensure Russia won’t mount another invasion in coming years.

“We need strong security guarantees to ensure a truly secure and lasting peace,” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post Wednesday after Russian missile and drone strikes hit six regions of Ukraine overnight.

Kyiv’s European allies are looking to set up a force that could backstop any peace agreement, and a coalition of 30 countries, including European nations, Japan and Australia, have signed up to support the initiative.

Military chiefs are figuring out how that security force might work. The role that the US might play in is unclear. Trump on Tuesday ruled out sending US troops to help defend Ukraine against Russia.

Russia has repeatedly said that it would not accept NATO troops in Ukraine.

Attacks on civilian areas in Sumy and Odesa overnight into Wednesday injured 15 people, including a family with three small children, Ukrainian authorities said.

Zelenskyy said the strikes “only confirm the need for pressure on Moscow, the need to introduce new sanctions and tariffs until diplomacy works to its full potential.”

Most Viewed

 
 
World

US Military Expands Iran Blockade to Include Contraband Shipments

FILE PHOTO: Two F/A-18 Super Hornets launch from the flight deck of the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran from an undisclosed location March 3, 2026. US Navy/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Two F/A-18 Super Hornets launch from the flight deck of the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran from an undisclosed location March 3, 2026. US Navy/Handout via REUTERS
TT
TT

US Military Expands Iran Blockade to Include Contraband Shipments

FILE PHOTO: Two F/A-18 Super Hornets launch from the flight deck of the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran from an undisclosed location March 3, 2026. US Navy/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Two F/A-18 Super Hornets launch from the flight deck of the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran from an undisclosed location March 3, 2026. US Navy/Handout via REUTERS

The US Navy said on Thursday the military had expanded a maritime blockade on Iran to include “contraband” shipments, adding that any vessel suspected of heading to Iranian territory would be subject to verification and inspection.

“These vessels, regardless of their location, are subject to boarding, inspection and seizure of cargo,” the Navy said in a statement updated after the blockade was imposed on Monday, according to Reuters.

Contraband includes weapons, weapons systems, ammunition, nuclear materials, crude oil and refined petroleum products, as well as iron, steel and aluminum.

As diplomatic activity intensifies, signals remain mixed over the course of US-Iran talks. A date for a second round of negotiations has yet to be set, with disagreements persisting over the nuclear file and sensitive issues related to highly enriched uranium and the duration of restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program.

World

IEA Chief Says Europe Has 'Maybe 6 Weeks or So' of Jet Fuel Left

Aircraft pass behind kerosene storage facilities at Liege Airport in Liege, Belgium, 16 April 2026. EPA/Olivier Hoslet
Aircraft pass behind kerosene storage facilities at Liege Airport in Liege, Belgium, 16 April 2026. EPA/Olivier Hoslet
TT
TT

IEA Chief Says Europe Has 'Maybe 6 Weeks or So' of Jet Fuel Left

Aircraft pass behind kerosene storage facilities at Liege Airport in Liege, Belgium, 16 April 2026. EPA/Olivier Hoslet
Aircraft pass behind kerosene storage facilities at Liege Airport in Liege, Belgium, 16 April 2026. EPA/Olivier Hoslet

Europe has “maybe six weeks or so (of) jet fuel left,” the head of the International Energy Agency said Thursday in a wide-ranging Associated Press interview, warning of possible flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies remain blocked by the Iran war.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol painted a sobering picture of the global repercussions of what he called “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced,” stemming from the pinch-off of oil, gas and other vital supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.
“In the past there was a group called ‘Dire Straits.’ It’s a dire strait now, and it is going to have major implications for the global economy. And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world,” he said.
The impact will be “higher petrol (gasoline) prices, higher gas prices, high electricity prices,” Birol told the AP, speaking in his Paris office looking out over the Eiffel Tower.
No country is immune Economic pain will be felt unevenly and "the countries who will suffer the most will not be those whose voice are heard a lot. It will be mainly the developing countries. Poorer countries in Asia, in Africa and in Latin America,” said the Turkish economist and energy expert who has led the IEA since 2015.
But without a settlement of the Iran war that permanently reopens the Strait of Hormuz, “Everybody is going to suffer,” he added.
“Some countries may be richer than the others. Some countries may have more energy than the others, but no country, no country is immune to this crisis," he said.
Without a reopening of the waterway, some oil products may dry up, he warned.
In Europe, “I can tell you soon we will hear the news that some of the flights from city A to city B might be canceled as a result of lack of jet fuel," he said.
Hormuz tolls a risk for the future Birol spoke out against the so-called “toll booth” system that Iran has applied to some ships, letting them travel through the strait for a fee. He said allowing that to become more permanent would run the risk of setting a precedent that could then be applied to other waterways, including the vital Malacca Strait in Asia.
“If we change it once, it may be difficult to get it back,” he said. “It will be difficult to have a toll system here, applied here, but not there.”
“I would like to see that the oil flows unconditionally from the point A to point B,” he said.
Even with a peace deal, strikes on energy facilities means it could be many months before pre-war production levels are restored, he said.
“Over 80 key assets in the region have been damaged. And out of these 80, more than one third are severely or very severely damaged,” he said.
“It will be extremely optimistic to believe that it will very quick," Birol said. “It will take gradually, gradually, up to two years to come back where we were before the war.”

World

EU, NATO to Work to Strengthen Relationship, Von der Leyen Says 

FILE PHOTO: A NATO flag flutters at the Tapa military base, Estonia April 30, 2023. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A NATO flag flutters at the Tapa military base, Estonia April 30, 2023. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo
TT
TT

EU, NATO to Work to Strengthen Relationship, Von der Leyen Says 

FILE PHOTO: A NATO flag flutters at the Tapa military base, Estonia April 30, 2023. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A NATO flag flutters at the Tapa military base, Estonia April 30, 2023. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday that she agreed with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to work in the coming weeks to strengthen the European Union's relationship with the military alliance.

"We discussed the upcoming NATO Summit and how we can upscale defense industrial output in Europe," von der Leyen said in a post on social media platform X after meeting Rutte in Brussels, Reuters reported.

"We need to invest more, to produce more and to do both faster. With the rise in global security threats, we agreed to work closely together in the next weeks to strengthen the EU-NATO relationship and prepare a successful Summit in Ankara," she added.

Rutte said in a post about his discussion with von der Leyen that "a stronger Europe means a stronger NATO".