The Latest Breaking News on OPINION - I saw firsthand why Ukraine must decide its own fate, not Vladimir Putin or the West

With no end to the conflict in sight, politicians and the public must not waver in our resolve to support the wartorn country, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff

Britain and senior European allies are preparing a strategy for the Ukraine war lasting at least another two years - and factoring in a diminished role by the United States if Donald Trump returns to the White House, senior defence sources have revealed.

Vladimir Putin’s brutal military assault on sovereign neighbour continues in face of heavy losses and near-unanimous international condemnation

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday told a joint press briefing with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that he had proposed a new €5 billion bilateral envelope to Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the meeting of all 27 EU foreign ministers in Kyiv that victory 'directly depends…

Joe Biden urges Congress to swiftly approve Ukraine aid left out of US government funding bill; Rishi Sunak rows back on defence minister’s suggestion that British troops could carry out training in Ukraine

At a press conference after talks with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, this afternoon, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg sounded like a man determined to take a “glass half full” attitude when he said that “every metre that Ukrainian forces regain is a metre that Russia loses”.

It is more than 3,500 days since Russia invaded Ukraine. If that stark fact is as confusing as it is startling, never forget that Ukraine was first invaded in 2014 and that, to a greater or lesser degree, the two countries have been in a state of conflict ever since.

The Defence Secretary met Mr Zelensky and other military officials in Kyiv.

From some of the headlines of late, you might be forgiven for assuming that the worst was past for Ukraine’s assault troops. That recent advances by Ukrainian forces constitute “breakthroughs” or “breaches” and that it’s all downhill from here.

In 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine resulted in Europe’s largest refugee crisis since the second world war. By March of that year, about a quarter of the country’s total population had fled to safer locations in Europe.

Ukraine's military offensive is making only limited progress. This is contributing to a debate on whether the U.S. needs to send even more powerful arms, or try to lay the groundwork for peace talks.