British Prime Minister Keir Starmer used a visit to Washington on Thursday to press President Donald Trump not to abandon Ukraine as he looks to find a quick endgame to Russia’s bloody invasion of its neighbor.
With a mix of flattery and frank talk, the center-left Starmer made the case to the Republican president to remain cautious as he goes about ending the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. The British premier started the visit by delivering an invitation from King Charles III to come to Scotland for a “historic” state visit — noting it was an “unprecedented” honor since Trump already had been given the royal treatment by Queen Elizabeth II during his first term.
“You’ve created a moment of tremendous opportunity to reach a historic peace deal — a deal that I think would be celebrated in Ukraine and around the world,” Starmer told Trump. “That is the prize. But we have to get it right.”
Trump said t..
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BERLIN — Austria will remain in the European Sky Shield Initiative and increase its defense expenditures to 2% of the country’s GDP annually under a new government, the incoming coalition announced on Thursday.
Previously it had appeared as though Austria would exit the German-founded Sky Shield air defense project under a far-right government. The negotiations between the extreme-right Freedom Party and the conservative People’s Party have since failed, paving the way for a more moderate coalition. Elections were held in September of 2024.
On Thursday, the incoming government, led by the conservatives and with participation of the social democrats and the economic liberals, announced that they had arrived at a coalition agreement, which includes a detailed plan of proposed policies and some appointments.
The three-way coalition – a historic first in Austrian history – is expected to present a relative continuation of the preceding Austrian government, which was.. -
PARIS — The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, proposed a plan that could free up around €800 billion ($841 billion) in defense spending over the next four years, as the continent prepares to face Russian aggression and help Ukraine to defend itself.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a five-point plan, dubbed ReArm Europe, to help pay for more security spending ahead of a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday. She said the world is seeing an era of rearmament, and the 27-nation bloc is ready to “massively” boost defense spending.
The plans include €150 billion in loans to member states to build up pan-European capacities in areas like air defense and ammunition, and activating a fiscal escape clause to let countries spend more on defense without triggering the bloc’s excessive-deficit procedure, Von der Leyen said.
If member states were to use the clause to raise defense spending by 1.5% of GDP on ave.. -
WARSAW, Poland — The Polish Ministry of National Defence has signed a $300 million deal to lease eight Boeing AH-64D Apache helicopters from the United States this year. The contract comes in anticipation of the deliveries of 96 AH-64E copters Poland ordered in August 2024.
Speaking at the official signing ceremony on Feb. 27 at the 56th Aviation Base in Inowrocław, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and National Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said the intention is to prepare the air force for operating a large Apache fleet designed to boost its attack capabilities.
“In 2028, we are awaiting the first 15 of the 96 units that we ordered last year for a considerable amount of 10 billion dollars,” Kosiniak-Kamysz was quoted in a statement released by his ministry. “This is why we are leasing today, we are spending $300 million on this, so that our pilots, ground crews can get familiar with this gear, learn all the skills, take control of it.”
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Radford, Va. — No one was injured in an explosion early Friday at a U.S. Army ammunition plant in southwestern Virginia, authorities said.
The explosion happened at about 12:30 a.m. in the ammunition production area of the plant, which produces superior-performing propellants, energetics and munitions, authorities with the Radford Army Ammunition Plant said in a statement.
Officials with the Army plant could not be reached for further comment regarding the size and nature of the explosion.
“Producing ammunition is a dangerous business,” the plant statement said. “Many safety protocols are put in place to ensure operators are exposed to as little danger as possible. Today’s incident shows the effectiveness of those protocols.”
The explosion is under investigation. -
White House support for Ukraine appeared to completely collapse on Friday afterPresident Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian President during a tense Oval Office meeting between the leaders, accusing Volodymyr Zelenskyy of not seriously looking for ways to end the ongoing conflict with Russia.
In a statement on social media following the meeting, Trump stated that Zelenskyy “is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want peace.”
White House officials did not immediately clarify whether Trump’s statement means a full end to U.S. military and humanitarian support for Ukraine, which has received nearly $70 billion in military aid from America over the last three years.
The Pentagon has said it has no more money to replace equipment it has sent to Kyiv, and Congress is unlikely to continue such support.
Trump expresses Russia-Ukraine war nearing end as.. -
YONAGUNI, Japan — This tiny island on Japan’s western frontier has no chain convenience stores. Nature lovers can dive with hammerhead sharks and watch miniature horses graze on a hill.
But the wooded mountain ranges now carry radar sites. A southern cattle ranch has been replaced with the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force’s Camp Yonaguni. Japan and its ally, the United States, hold joint military exercises here. Plans are underway to add a new missile unit and expand a small airport and port.
All of the buildup has cemented the island as a front line in a potential clash over Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island that China claims as its own.
“As a child, I was so proud of this westernmost border island,” said Fumie Kano, an innkeeper on Yonaguni. “But recently, we are repeatedly told this place is dangerous, and I feel so sad.”
The militarization has been especially felt as the island’s population shrinks. There are less than 1,.. -
ROME — A longstanding acquaintance and former employee of Donald Trump who has taken on the title of U.S. special envoy to Italy is pushing for America to enter the Euro-Japanese GCAP fighter plane program.
The unusual proposal was made by Paolo Zampolli, a Italian former New York model agency manager who introduced President Trump to his wife Melania in 1998 and worked for a period as a real estate manager for Trump.
A frequent guest at the president’s Mar a Lago residence in Florida, Zampolli is also ambassador to the UN for the Caribbean island of Dominica.
In a Feb. 22 interview with Italian newspaper Il Giornale, Zampolli said he had been appointed by Trump as his special envoy to Italy days earlier.
“The other day, the president, in front of ten people, suddenly pointed at me and asked me to be a special envoy,” he said.
“He is always very busy and quick. He says a few words and solves problems,” he added.
Last week, Zampolli was back in his ho.. -
PARIS — The U.K. placed an order worth as much as £1.6 billion ($2 billion) with Thales to supply more than 5,000 air defense missiles for Ukraine, the government said.
The Defence Equipment & Support department of the British Ministry of Defence placed the order for the Thales-made Lightweight Multirole Missile on behalf of the Ukrainian government, it said in a statement on Monday. The order follows an announcement by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday following a meeting of European leaders in London to discuss support for Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been requesting more air defense for his country for months, as Russia targets Ukraine’s civilian population as well as its energy infrastructure with everything from suicide drones to ballistic missiles.
Continuing and increasing supply and support of Western air-defense systemsis critical in the face of Russian plans to ramp up production of missiles and attack drones, according to the Int.. -
PARIS — Denmark picked Norwegian ammunition maker Nammo to restart a shuttered ammo plant for production of small- and large-caliber ammunition, the country’s defense ministry said.
Nammo can begin producing ammunition for the Danish forces and others at the shuttered plant in northern Denmark as soon as the production facilities are set up, Denmark’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Friday. Final negotiations with Nammo are still pending, including a timetable on when actual ammunition production will start.
The deteriorating security situation, the war in Ukraine and an updated threat assessment by the Danish Defense Intelligence Service “emphasize the importance of ensuring future ammunition production in Denmark,” Defence Minister Troels Lund Poelsen said. “This will make a difference to the security of supply for Denmark, the Nordic region and Europe.”
However, ammunition stocks are needed now, and Denmark plans to rapidly build ..