Ukraine-Russia war latest: Dire warnings over 'enormity' of Trump's NATO plans (2024)

Russia will act to counter the planned US deployment of long-range missiles in Germany, the Kremlin says.

At the NATO summit, the US and Germany announced the deployment would take place in 2026 to demonstratetheir commitment to European defence.

NATO also saida new US air defence base in northern Polandwas mission-ready.

The base has been designed to detect and intercept ballistic missile attacks.

"Without nerves, without emotions, we will develop a military response, first of all, to this new game," Interfax news agency quoted deputy Russian foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added: "We see that in fact NATO's military infrastructure is constantly and incrementally moving towards our borders.

"This is a very serious threat to the national security of our country. All of this will require us to take thoughtful, coordinated, effective responses to deter NATO, to counteract NATO."

The number of people killed by Russian daylight strikes on Ukraine on Monday has risen to 44, according to reports.

Five children were among the dead, said Ukrainian authorities, and another 196 people were injured, reported .

Some 18 locations across Ukraine were attacked, including Okhmatdyt children's hospital and Adonis medical centre, saidSvitlana Vodolaha, a spokesperson for Ukraine's State Emergency Service.

"Many of Russia's attacks in Ukraine have resulted in immense civilian loss and harm, and the 8 July attacks only added to that horrendous toll," said Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

"Attacks directed at medical facilities are war crimes under international humanitarian law, and the strike that hit Okhmatdyt children's hospital should be investigated as a potential war crime."

Russia's invasion has damaged or destroyed at least 1,736 medical facilities in Ukraine, killed at least 9,560 civilians, and injured at least 21,450 more, according to HRW.

Regular readers of the blog will be aware that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has stood alone among EU leaders in maintaining friendly relations with Russia, while frustrating some of the bloc's efforts to support Ukraine.

Now his main political challenger at home, oppositionpolitician Peter Magyar, is en route to deliver aid to theKyiv children's hospital hit during Russian airstrikes earlier this week.

His party raised 15 million forints(£32,000) and collected medical supplies and food donated byHungarians.

"This was a sudden decision after we saw the brutal Russianmissile attack," Mr Magyar said before leaving for Kyiv.

"The prime minister is allowed to travel the world and pretend that he is creating peace, but we believe in actions instead of flying around the world three times. We are different."

Mr Orban visited Ukraine, Russia and China without EU permission, to the anger of some European allies.

Mr Magyar agrees with Mr Orban that no armsshipments to Ukraine should go via Hungary, asthis could make Ukraine's Hungarian community a target, but has said other countries have the sovereign right to send weapons.

Moscow has ruled out attending a second peace summit hosted by Ukraine, despite the possibility Russia may be invited.

Ukraine is preparing to hold the conference before the end of the year, after 78 nations attended its first in Switzerland last month - not including Russia or China.

Kyiv has said a ceasefire depends on Russian troops leaving Ukrainian territory, which the Kremlin called an unacceptable "ultimatum" - despite itself demanding Ukraine surrender four Ukrainian regions and drop its aspirations to join NATO in exchange for a truce.

"We do not accept such ultimatums and do not intend to participate in such summits," deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin told Russian state media RIA Novosti.

At NATO's summit yesterday, Ukrainian foreign minister DmytroKuleba told his Hungarian counterpart that any initiatives to try to put an end to Moscow's war in Ukraine should not be based on Russian narratives.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had visitedKyiv, MoscowandBeijingfor talks that he cast as a "peace mission", proposing Volodymyr Zelenskyy consider a ceasefire to accelerate a peace process.

Kyiv officials dismissed the idea, saying it would only allow Russia to prepare for more attacks.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban did not seek a bilateral meeting with Joe Biden at this week's NATO summit - and is now planning to travel to Florida for talks with Donald Trump on a possible peace deal, according to a report.

A source close to Mr Orban told the Guardianhe was planning to fly down to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort today in a bid to negotiate a peace settlement without US or EU involvement.

The paper reports that the Hungarian leader has been looking to work out a deal to settle the conflict with Trump's possible re-election in mind.

Mr Orban angered European Union leaders after holding talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow over a potential peace deal earlier this month - without consulting the EU beforehand.

He had described the trip as a "peace mission", days before this week's major NATO summit in Washington aimed at building support for Ukraine.

A source with knowledge of Trump's schedule said he was due to stay in Florida until Friday before heading elsewhere for a rally, and that there wasn't time for him to meet with Mr Orban afterwards - leaving today as the only day the Hungarian prime minister could head to Trump's residence.

Moscow should work towards the "disappearance" of Ukraine and NATO, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has said.

Hitting out at a NATO pledge to support Kyiv on its "irreversible path" to membership in the alliance, Mr Medvedev said the "obvious" conclusion was for Russia to "do everything so that Ukraine's 'irreversible path' to NATO ends with either the disappearance of Ukraine or the disappearance of NATO."

He added that the disappearance of both would be "even better".

Mr Medvedev has become one of the Kremlin's most hardline hawks during the war and is known for making inflammatory statements about the conflict and Ukraine's Western allies.

The number of people being treated at Kyiv's National Cancer Institute has doubled after a Russian missile struck a children's hospital in the city this week and forced dozens of its young cancer patients to evacuate.

The heaviest attack on the Ukrainian capital in months caused significant damage to the Okhmatdyt hospital on Monday, severely impacting children already battling life-threatening diseases.

Oksana Halak, whose two-year-old son Dmytro only received his cancer diagnosis at the start of June, was in the hospital for his treatment when sirens rang out across the city warning of an incoming attack.

As Dmytro was on an IV (intravenous line), they couldn't flee to the shelter.

"It is vitally important not to interrupt these IVs," Oksana said.

"We felt a powerful blast wave. We felt the room shaking and the lights went out."

"We understood that it was nearby, but we didn't think it was at Okhmatdyt," she added.

Shortly after the attack, Oksana and Dmytro were evacuated to the National Cancer Institute, one of 31 patients who have had to move hospitals as a result of the Russian attack.

With their arrival, the number of children being treated for cancer at the institute has doubled.

Other hospitals in Kyiv are also becoming overcrowded with new patients forced out of Okhmatdyt.

"The destroyed Okhmatdyt is the pain of the entire nation," said Olena Yefimenko, director general of the National Cancer Institute.

One person has been killed and three others injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian border region of Belgorod, a Russian official has claimed.

Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Ukrainian forces attacked a village in the Shebekinsky district with drones this morning.

One of the drones hit a car, wounding a man who reportedly died from his injuries before the ambulance crew arrived, Mr Gladkov claimed.

Another drone attack injured three men, two of whom were taken to hospital for treatment, he said.

Sky News cannot independently verify the claims.

UK security minister Dan Jarvis says Ukraine is "a massively important security issue" and the UK has "a massive stake" in what happens in the war.

Speaking to Sky News' Kay Burley, Mr Jarvis said Britain will want to work with its allies to make sure Kyiv gets the support it needs.

On the question of a possible Russian retaliation, he said: "Of course, we've got to guard against that, and of course, we've got to be incredibly careful."

The minister said the consequences of Vladimir Putin's invasion were "massive for the whole world".

As NATO leaders meet in Washington, Donald Trump casts a long shadow over the future of the alliance and, in turn, Ukraine's prospects of overcoming Russia.

The Republican has a commanding lead in most polls over beleaguered US President Joe Biden ahead of the US election in November, and has repeatedly threatened to leave the organisation.

While many observers consider it unlikely he would withdraw the country from NATO entirely, it is widely believed he would seek a radical change in American participation.

Fears among existing members will not be lessened by a new report that suggests Mr Trump is considering a reduction in intelligence sharing with the alliance, which depends on the US for the type of information that has helped Ukraine fend off Russia.

According to foreign officials informed of the plans, who spoke to Politico, Mr Trump's advisers have told allied countries the reduced intel sharing would be part of a wider plan to scale back US support and cooperation.

The officials say Mr Trump's advisers informed them of the plans to reduce intelligence-sharing during discussions.

It is feared any such move could have dire security consequences, not least for Ukraine.

One European official told the news website: "It's the American intelligence that helped convince a lot of NATO countries that Putin was resolved to invade Ukraine.

"Some countries didn't believe Russia had the capabilities to carry out a successful military campaign."

Phillips P O'Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, suggested European leaders had not grasped the magnitude of the potential shift.

"European leaders do not seem to have fully grasped that the North American alliance structure could be functionally over in just a few months," he warned.

"The enormity of it might be too much for them. But they need to wake up soon."