The Ukrainian former energy minister was arrested on Sunday, February 15 while attempting to cross the state border. His detention is linked to an energy sector-shaking corruption scandal known as “Midas”—involving more than $100 million (€84 million).
Ukraine wants security guarantees for a minimum of 20 years from the US before it can sign a peace deal with dignity, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ahead of talks with Russia and the US scheduled for next week.
Speaking in Munich on Saturday, he also called for a clear date for Ukraine to be allowed to join the EU. Some EU officials have put the date as early as 2027.
Speaking to the annual Munich security summit, Ukraine’s president said he hoped “the trilateral meetings next week will be serious, substantive, helpful for all of us but, honestly, sometimes it feels like the sides are talking about completely different things”.
The president, whose ratings have plummeted, may soon announce elections. He could triumph, writes a Ukrainian pollster, but only if war with Russia grinds on
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, my country’s politics followed a simple formula. The public was gripped by a spirit of exalted optimism before each presidential election, only to be followed soon afterwards by the crash of deep disappointment. Nearly every holder of that office followed that path, beginning with a high credit of trust and ending with humiliatingly low figures.
Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to be walking the same road. He was elected in 2019 with net trust ratings of 71 per cent. Yet after almost three years in power those ratings have plummeted to minus 15 per cent.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted “no one is clinging to power” and he is ready to hold national elections, but insists there will be no vote without a ceasefire and solid security guarantees from the U.S., making a vote any time soon unlikely.
Russia isn’t getting stronger.
In recent months, President Donald Trump’s assertive foreign policy has borne many fruits. His tough stance on burden sharing among NATO allies has led to dramatic increases in their military spending and financial support for Ukraine. His surgical attack on Iran, coupled with tough sanctions, has provoked massive people power protests there. His strong backing of Israel has contributed to a severely weakened and defanged Hamas. And his surgical extraction of Venezuelan tyrant Nicolás Maduro, coupled with the interdiction of Venezuelan oil exports, has forced initial concessions from the proto-communist regime there.
President Zelensky has tasked members of parliament with finding a way to hold elections while martial law is in effect by the end of the month, his chief legal advisor has told The Times.
“We want to be ready to conduct elections,” said Iryna Mudra, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office. “Parliament has created a working group to develop changes to election legislation, and they are due to report their findings by the end of February.”
Parliamentary elections are not being considered by the working group, meaning that, even if ousted as president, Zelensky would still control the largest grouping of MPs.
A morning dog walker looking out on the Channel from Dungeness beach on Thursday January 22 would have been able to make out a familiar silhouette: the long hull of an oil tanker.
The vessel passing just a few miles of Britain’s coast was the Hyperion, part of Russia’s notorious “shadow fleet”, hastily retreating across the Atlantic from Venezuela.
Like the Marinera, a tanker seized by US forces in early January, the Hyperion is one of hundreds of sanctioned ships used by Moscow to transfer oil to and from South America.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the US wants the war with Russia to end by June, adding both sides had been invited to the US for talks next week.
“America proposed for the first time that the two negotiating teams – Ukraine and Russia – meet in the United States of America, probably in Miami, in a week. We confirmed our participation,” he said.
There was no immediate comment from Washington or Moscow, but US President Donald Trump has been pushing for an end for the conflict since he took office again more than a year ago.
A Western-sanctioned Russian military intelligence chief has been rushed to hospital in critical condition after being repeatedly shot at a residential building in Moscow, the Kremlin says.
64-year-old Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev was hit with “several shots” on the 24th floor of a residential block in north-west Moscow on Friday morning. Russian state media says he was rushed to hospital in critical condition and the national Investigative Committee has launched a case into attempted murder and illegal trafficking of firearms.
European officials were dismissive when reports said in November that peace efforts led by the U.S. could see Ukraine giving up some of its territory to Russia. But now, polling suggests that a growing number of Ukrainians would themselves be willing to trade some land for peace.
The latest survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, conducted in late January, saw 40% of its 1,003 respondents say they were ready to “transfer the entire Donbas under Russian control in exchange for security guarantees.” (Although the report notes that “most” of these “admit that this is a difficult condition.”)
Khrystyna Yurchenko worked hard to build a life in the eastern Ukrainian region known as the Donbas, where she poured her energy into the popular dance studio she owns.
But she would give it all up, she said, for lasting peace. Ms. Yurchenko is among a growing number of Ukrainians who say they would hand over the part of the Donbas still controlled by Ukraine to Russia if that would end the war.
This represents a notable shift for a war-weary Ukrainian population. Giving up territory that Russia has been unable to capture has long been considered a red line. But what once seemed impossible now appears less so, as the Kremlin insists that U.S.-backed peace negotiations will advance only if Ukraine agrees to walk away from the Donbas.
Russia has agreed to a partial ceasefire that will stop all attacks on Ukrainian cities for a week, Donald Trump announced.
The US president told a cabinet meeting that he asked Vladimir Putin “not to fire into Kyiv and various towns for a week. And he agreed to do that”.
Under a sustained bombardment of Ukraine’s energy system, millions have been left without power or electricity in temperatures far below zero.
According to the latest findings of Hungarian think tank Századvég’s Europe Project, most Europeans do not support Ukraine joining the European Union through an accelerated accession process that bypasses established membership criteria. While the European Commission is increasingly discussing the possibility of admitting Ukraine as early as 2027 under a fast-tracked procedure, public opinion across the EU clearly moves in the opposite direction.
Survey data show that 75% of respondents do not support accession before the required conditions are fulfilled.
The White House has told Ukraine it must cede the Donbas before the US will provide security guarantees, according to reports.
Ukrainian, US and Russian negotiators met for their first three-way peace talks in the United Arab Emirates last week.
Russia has increased the tempo of its airstrikes in recent days, knocking out power for large parts of Ukraine and leaving much of the country to freeze in sub-zero temperatures.
A new public opinion poll by Hungarian think tank Századvég highlights a growing gap between European Union decision-makers and public sentiment across the continent regarding military involvement in the war in Ukraine. The survey, conducted as part of the think tank’s Project Europe, shows that a majority of Europeans oppose both the deployment of soldiers in Ukraine and the delivery of arms to the eastern front.
According to the findings of the poll, 69% of Europeans reject the idea of sending soldiers to Ukraine, while 51% oppose arms deliveries.
In 2015, George Soros and WEF 'Young Global Leader' Chrystia Freeland—now an unpaid economic adviser to Zelensky in Ukraine—openly admitted that Ukraine's leadership was bought and paid for by George Soros. pic.twitter.com/RcpVyePzzj
— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) January 25, 2026
