Russia, Ukraine Resume Strikes as Truce Expires, One Dead

 In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian drone attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian drone attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
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Russia, Ukraine Resume Strikes as Truce Expires, One Dead

 In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian drone attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian drone attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Russia resumed strikes on Ukraine as a three-day truce expired on Tuesday, attacking the capital with drones and killing one person in the eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian authorities said.

The Russian military meanwhile said it had shot down 27 Ukrainian drones after the ceasefire expired.

US President Donald Trump had announced the truce on Friday, hours before Russia's World War II victory celebrations, saying he hoped it would mark "the beginning of the end" of the four-year-old conflict.

But even before it expired, the two countries had traded accusations of attacks on civilians that violated the truce.

As the ceasefire ended on Tuesday, Kyiv came under drone attacks, according to Ukrainian authorities.

"Enemy UAVs are currently over Kyiv. Please stay safe until the alert is cleared," the head of the capital's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, posted on Telegram.

The alert siren was the first confirmed in the capital since Friday, before the ceasefire came into force.

Kyiv's regional military administration told residents to remain in shelters and said its air defenses could be operating in the area.

Russian strikes in eastern Ukraine killed one person and wounded at least four others, regional military authorities said.

The strikes killed a man and wounded a woman in the area of Synelnykove in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the head of the regional military administration Oleksandr Ganzha posted on Telegram.

He added three others were wounded in strikes elsewhere in Dnipropetrovsk.

On the Russian side, "air defense duty assets intercepted and destroyed 27 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles" over the Belgorod, Voronezh and Rostov regions from midnight to 7:00 am Moscow time (2100 to 0400 GMT), Russia's defense ministry said in a statement.

- 'No silence at front' -

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had said Monday that fighting with Russia was ongoing despite the truce, accusing Moscow of not wanting to end the war started by President Vladimir Putin's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

"Today there was no silence at the front, there was fighting. We have recorded all of this," Zelensky said in his daily address in the final hours of the truce.

Zelensky also said it was "clear that the war in Iran is now drawing the most attention from America".

Negotiations on the Russia-Ukraine war have so far led nowhere, and have been largely sidelined by the Iran conflict -- though Trump's ceasefire announcement had raised some hope that US-led talks to end Russia's invasion could be resumed.



Trump to Make First Flight on Qatar-Gifted Jet This Week

(FILES) In this February 15, 2025 a Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after US President Donald Trump toured the aircraft on February 15, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)
(FILES) In this February 15, 2025 a Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after US President Donald Trump toured the aircraft on February 15, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)
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Trump to Make First Flight on Qatar-Gifted Jet This Week

(FILES) In this February 15, 2025 a Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after US President Donald Trump toured the aircraft on February 15, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)
(FILES) In this February 15, 2025 a Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after US President Donald Trump toured the aircraft on February 15, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)

US President Donald Trump will make his first flight on a new Air Force One plane gifted by Qatar later this week, the White House said Monday.

Trump will take the jet on Wednesday to North Dakota for an event marking the 250th anniversary of US independence, a White House official told AFP.

As he unveiled the plane earlier this month, Trump praised the Gulf emirate for being “so nice and providing” the modified Boeing 747, which previously served Qatar's head of state.

Trump has been obsessed since his first term with replacing the aging jets that serve as Air Force One, and he hand-picked the new plane's red, white and blue livery.

But critics have raised a host of ethical, constitutional and security concerns about the gifting of an aircraft worth hundreds of millions of dollars by a foreign power like Qatar.

The US Constitution prohibits presidents and other officeholders from receiving “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State” unless approved by Congress.

Trump's administration has said the plane is a direct gift to the US Department of Defense -- while stoking further concern by saying the plane would eventually be donated to Trump's presidential library.

The Qatari-gifted plane is meant to be a stopgap until US planemaker Boeing delivers two new 747-8 aircraft to serve as the presidential jet in a program plagued by delays and cost overruns.


Türkiye Must Be ‘Included’ in Europe Security Structures, Says Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Must Be ‘Included’ in Europe Security Structures, Says Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)

Türkiye must be included in all of Europe's defense structures and defence trade restrictions between NATO members must be removed, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday ahead of a key NATO summit.

His remarks come as Europe revamps its defenses to counter Russia and the risk of a US pullback from NATO, which is to hold a summit in the Turkish capital Ankara on July 7-8.

"Türkiye's indispensable contributions to European security are sometimes overlooked," Erdogan told parliamentary delegates from all 32 NATO member states in Istanbul. He said Türkiye wanted "to participate in all defense and security initiatives" on the continent.

At issue is Türkiye's access to the European Union's 150-billion-euro ($176-billion) Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative, intended to strengthen European defense capabilities.

"We expect your support, lawmakers, for Türkiye's inclusion in the defense and security initiatives announced by the European Union," Erdogan told them.

Within SAFE, firms from non-EU countries such as Türkiye, Britain and the United States can only supply up to 35 percent of the component costs of weaponry funded by the scheme.

If Türkiye wants its companies to be able to tap a bigger part of the funds Ankara needs to sign a security partnership with the EU and then negotiate special access with Brussels -- a process that would require approval from all 27 EU members. Greece has threatened to block such a move.

"Under SAFE, any third country can participate in a defense project up to a level of 35 percent. Any negotiations with a view to potentially increasing or lifting this 35 per cent cap ... would require a bilateral agreement," said Thomas Regnier, a European Commission spokesperson.

"For now, this is not an agreement we have concluded with Türkiye."

- 'Remove the obstacles' -

Erdogan also urged NATO to remove all barriers blocking defense industry trade between alliance members.

"If we want to overcome the challenges we face, we need to remove obstacles to defense industry trade while ensuring a balanced and fair burden-sharing among allies," he said.

Türkiye has the second-biggest army of the alliance after the United States and a burgeoning defense industry which has gone from strength to strength fueled by bilateral defense deals.

But its defense industry has been hit by US sanctions imposed over Ankara's purchase of an S-400 Russian surface-to-air missile defense system. Washington also booted Türkiye out of its F-35 program, in a move that has soured relations between the NATO allies.

Although Washington has expressed a desire to draw a line under the dispute, lifting the sanctions requires Congressional approval. Observers say there is little chance the showdown would be resolved before the summit.

US President Donald Trump has however pledged to give Erdogan something that would make him "very happy" when he flies in next week for the NATO gathering.

Analysts said it was likely to be a delivery of several dozen US-made F110 engines Türkiye needs for its fifth-generation KAAN fighter jets that are under development. Delivery of the engines had been blocked since the imposition of the US sanctions.


Trump Says Iran Requested Meeting to be Held in Doha Tuesday

US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Trump Says Iran Requested Meeting to be Held in Doha Tuesday

US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

US President Donald Trump said that Iran has requested a meeting that will be held in the Gulf state of Qatar on Tuesday, despite an earlier denial from Tehran that talks were planned.

"IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA!" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Monday.

Shortly afterwards, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff would be "flying to Doha for high level meetings this week".

Iran's foreign ministry earlier on Monday denied reports that Iranian and American technical teams will meet this week to discuss the implementation of the deal to end the Middle East war.

Uncertainty over the talks followed renewed tit-for-tat attacks between the United States and Iran in recent days despite an April ceasefire and a memorandum of understanding, brokered by Pakistan and Qatar, aimed at permanently ending the war.

A diplomat with knowledge of the talks confirmed to AFP on Monday that officials from the US and Iran are to meet in Doha to discuss the accord.

"Technical teams working on the implementation of the MoU are scheduled to meet in Doha in the coming days," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.

The diplomat added "communications channels created to de-escalate any incidents are in place," following strikes between the US and Iran.