Recruiting and retaining new soldiers has become a critical issue for Ukraine: between January 2022 and October 2025, the national authorities registered more than 310,000 criminal cases of soldiers going absent without leave (AWOL) or deserting from their unit – with nearly half of those coming this year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin issues terrible 'war against Europe' warning ahead of his latest peace summit with US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff - as new missile figures emerge

Vladimir Putin struck a defiant tone earlier on Tuesday when he warned Russia was "ready right now" if Europe wanted a war.

The Russian rouble will be stronger than previously expected, which represents a challenge for the economy and some exporters, Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said on Tuesday. The rouble rallied by over 40% in the first half of the year due to the central bank's tight monetary policy and expectations for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine,

Europe is considering seizing billions in Russian assets to support Ukraine, as proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Europe has tabled a counter proposal to the US-Russia draft peace plan for Ukraine. The document - drafted by Britain, France and Germany - uses the United States's 28-point plan as its basis, working through it point-by-point with suggested changes and deletions.

With Ukraine facing a yawning budget shortfall over the next two years, the European Commission has proposed using €185 billion in frozen Russian assets to back an interest-free loan to Kyiv

If there's one way European Union officials feel they can get a seat at the table when it comes the settlement of the war in Ukraine, it is via the 176 billion euros of Russian frozen assets currently held inside the bloc and how they can be leveraged both politically and economically.

After Trump's Ukraine peace proposal called for using frozen Russian assets to benefit the US, Europeans say only they can decide what to do with assets located in Europe.

This X post comes as the US Treasury Department delayed the implementation of sanctions against Lukoil on Saturday (November 14), allowing the company time to sell its international assets, according to Bloomberg. Lukoil entered negotiations to sell its foreign assets shortly before requesting that US officials postpone the imposition of sanctions.