“Bastards” one British defence official said of the Americans on hearing US purported plan for Ukraine

HERE below are dozens of news reports covering the past five days that shook US-UK-Europe relations while the 61st Munich Security Conference was held 14-16 Feb 2025. Much of the conference, a centre of international diplomacy, was live-streamed. Recordings can be found here.

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From BBC News Live Reporting
Edited by Alex Therrien and Frances Mao

Published Sunday 16 February 2025 at 20:09 PM GMT - full copy:

Timeline: Five days that shook US-Europe relations

Donald Trump's administration has been accelerating action to end the war in Ukraine, in a drastic shift in US policy on the conflict. 

Here's a run-down of the key moments day-by-day:

Wednesday 12 February: Trump shocks European allies by revealing he had a "lengthy" phone call with Russian President, with both leaders agreeing to begin negotiations to end the Ukraine war

Thursday 13 February: Zelensky says Ukraine will not agree to any peace deal drawn up without its involvement. European allies back him

Friday 14 February: JD Vance uses his Munich Security Conference speech to scald European democracies, almost entirely ignoring Ukraine – the conference’s key focus

Saturday 15 February: In his own speech to the conference, Zelensky calls for the creation of an “army of Europe”. The US announces peace talks will be held in Saudi Arabia. But it provokes further consternation by saying Europe will be consulted but not involved in the negotiations

Sunday 16 February: The BBC learns that Kyiv has not been invited to the talks in Saudi Arabia. European leaders schedule an emergency summit in Paris to discuss the war and European security

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From BBC News online

By James Waterhouse

Ukraine correspondent

Reporting from Kyiv

Maia Davies

BBC News

Dated Sunday 16 February 2025, 20:38 PM GMT - excerpt: 

Ukraine not invited to US-Russia peace talks, source tells BBC

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out accepting a peace deal negotiated without Kyiv's involvement. 

Kyiv has not been invited to talks between the US and Russia aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian government source has told the BBC. 

European leaders have also not been asked to join the discussions, and are due to meet instead on Monday [17 Feb] in Paris at a summit hastily arranged by the French president, as fears grow the continent is being locked out of negotiations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out accepting a peace deal negotiated without Kyiv's involvement

Full story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm292319gr2o

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“Bastards” one British defence official said of the Americans on hearing of the purported plan.https://t.co/9PJ2ughD4P

— Rob Crilly (@robcrilly) February 15, 2025

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Final day here of the Munich Security Conference as America tells Europe it needs to look after its own security and defence. #MSC2025 pic.twitter.com/OPSiAHDpTK

— Frank Gardner (@FrankRGardner) February 16, 2025

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Related reports

From BBC News online

By Luke Mintz, The World This Weekend

Chas Geiger, Politics reporter

Dated Sunday 16 February 2025, 18:13 PM GMT - excerpt:

US isolation threatens global democracy, warns Major

Sir John Major has warned that democracy is under threat as the United States steps back from its leading role in the world.

The former prime minister told the BBC that US President Donald Trump's policy of American "isolation" was creating a power vacuum that would embolden nations like Russia and China.

Sir John, who was PM from 1990 to 1997, said the gains made since the collapse of the Soviet Union were now being reversed - and that there was "no doubt" Russia would invade elsewhere before long.

He said that "ugly nationalism" growing concurrently was making for a "very unsettled time".

His comments come as European leaders prepare for an emergency summit on Monday on the war in Ukraine.

US and Russian officials are due to open peace talks in the coming days despite concerns European nations including Ukraine were being locked out.

Full story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gwngxdd1vo

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BBC News Live Reporting - Some Summaries covering 12-16 Feb 2025

Donald Trump says he had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that they agreed to start negotiations to end the war in Ukraine "immediately"

Both Trump and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the two presidents agreed to visit each other's nations during the call

Volodymyr Zelensky's office has confirmed that the Ukrainian president also spoke to his American counterpart in an hour-long phone call

That Trump and Putin have something to talk about is quite promising, our security correspondent Frank Gardner writes - but today's development "has been a bit of a cold shower for both Ukraine and Nato"

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is answering reporters' questions in the briefing room - you can watch live at the top of this page

Earlier, a US House committee heard from witnesses about Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), after Trump signed an executive order to give more power to the body, which is not an official government agency

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he has warned world leaders "against trusting Putin's claims of readiness to end the war"

This comes after the Kremlin confirmed Ukraine will "of course" take part in any peace deal negotiations

Donald Trump spoke to Vladimir Putin on Wednesday before announcing they agreed talks to end the Ukraine war could start "immediately"

After a Nato meeting in Brussels, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said peace negotiations will involve elements neither Moscow nor Kyiv wants while Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said Putin must not be able to "grab another square mile" of Ukraine 

Earlier, Trump said there was now a "good possibility" of ending the war

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, eight years after it unilaterally annexed Crimea

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Ukrainian officials will not attend Russia-US talks to be held in Saudi Arabia in the coming days, the BBC has learned

A government source tells BBC News that Ukraine has not been invited and will not send a delegation 

Two of Trump's closest foreign policy advisers - Mike Waltz and Steve Witkoff - will travel to Saudi Arabia tonight ahead of the talks 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly warned he would not accept any deal struck without his country's input

Elsewhere, European leaders will gather in France for an emergency summit tomorrow [Mon 17 Feb], amid US efforts to agree a deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine

It comes after US President Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week to discuss a possible deal 

After a chaotic week, Zelensky is trying to re-assert his position, our correspondent in Ukraine James Waterhouse writes

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Report from BBC News Live Reporting

Published Sunday16 Feb 2025 at 18:38 PM GMT - full copy:

Europe has been sending more aid to Ukraine than the US

Who in the West is giving more to Ukraine? Europe has overtaken the US in Ukraine aid, research from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, external shows.

In total, Europe has allocated €70bn (£58bn) in financial and humanitarian aid as well as €62bn in military aid.

This compares to €50bn from the US in financial and humanitarian allocations and €64bn in military aid. A nine-month battle over spending in US Congress in mid-2023 stalled Ukraine aid. 

When considering the aid as a share of donor GDP, Germany, the UK and the US have mobilised less than 0.2% of their annual GDP to support Ukraine. Other rich donor countries like France, Italy and Spain allocated roughly 0.1% of their annual GDP.

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Report from BBC News Live Reporting

Published Sunday 16 Feb 2025 at 19:33 PM GMT - full copy:

US sent questionnaire to Europe on Ukraine security contributions

The US sent a document to European governments asking what the countries could contribute towards Ukraine's security arrangements, it has emerged.

The questionnaire sent last week, obtained by Reuters, also asked European nations what they would need from Washington to participate in security arrangements.

The document consisted of six points and questions, asking which countries could contribute to Ukraine's security, and which would be willing to send troops as part of a peace deal.

It comes after US President Donald Trump shocked Europe this week by phoning Russian President Vladimir Putin and declaring an immediate start to peace talks.

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Further reading

Analysis: Zelensky joins a growing list of US allies who are finding that the world according to Trump is a more uncertain place for them, writes the BBC's Jeremy Bowen

News story: Zelensky says no peace deal without Ukraine involvement

Ukraine in maps: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60506682

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c4g97971rwnt

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'There's a 1939 feel to the world right now'. Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: We (UK, Europe, NATO) could be at war within the next sixty months. Here are some snippets from a few news reports by British journalists published towards the end of last month.

• 'There's a 1939 feel to the world right now'. 

• 'We are in a pre-war era’. 

• Russia could attack NATO 'within five years', German defence minister warns. 

• NATO now sees its chief adversaries as Russia and terrorist organisations. 

• World War Three could be on the cards if global conflicts continue to escalate.

• British citizens should be "trained and equipped" to fight in a potential war with Russia - as Moscow plans on "defeating our system and way of life", the head of the British Army has said. UK General Sir Patrick Sanders, the outgoing Chief of the General Staff (CGS), said increasing army numbers in preparation for a potential conflict would need to be a "whole-of-nation undertaking". The comments, first reported by the UK's Daily Telegraph, are being read as a warning that British men and women should be ready for a call-up to the armed forces if NATO goes to war with Vladimir Putin.

• It comes after UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said in a speech last week that we are "moving from a post-war to pre-war world" and the UK must ensure its "entire defence ecosystem is ready" to defend its homeland.

• Tobias Ellwood, a former UK defence minister who has served alongside Sir Patrick, said the military chief should be "listened to carefully"."What's coming over the horizon should shock us. It should worry us and we are not prepared," he told Sky News. The MP for Bournemouth East said that following decades of post-Cold War peace, there was a growing sense authoritarian states could "exploit our timidity, perhaps our reluctance to really put fires out" - pointing to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "So Patrick Sanders is saying prepare for what's coming over the horizon - there is a 1939 feel to the world right now," he said.

Source: Sky News & Agencies Wed 24 Jan 2024

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HERE is a reminder of wondrous natural beauty in our fragile world, compared to evil ugliness of man-made wars and man's inhumanity to man.

From BBC News UK
Published Wednesday, 7 February 2024 - here is a copy in full:

Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award winner

IMAGE SOURCE,

NIMA SARIKHANI/WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

A stunning image of a young polar bear drifting to sleep on an iceberg, by British amateur photographer Nima Sarikhani, has won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award.

"Sarikhani's breathtaking and poignant image allows us to see the beauty and fragility of our planet," Natural History Museum director Dr Douglas Gurr said.

"His thought-provoking image is a stark reminder of the integral bond between an animal and its habitat and serves as a visual representation of the detrimental impacts of climate warming and habitat loss."

Sarikhani made the image after three days searching for polar bears through thick fog off Norway's Svalbard archipelago.

Wildlife photography and nature fans from around the world were invited to vote from a short list of 25 images.

Four other outstanding finalists were "highly commended".

The Happy Turtle, by Tzahi Finkelstein

IMAGE SOURCE,

TZAHI FINKELSTEIN/WPY

Tzahi Finkelstein was in his hide, photographing shore birds, when he spotted a Balkan pond turtle walking in the shallow water.

The dragonfly unexpectedly landed on the turtle's nose.

Starling Murmuration, by Daniel Dencescu

IMAGE SOURCE,

DANIEL DENCESCU/WPY

Daniel Dencescu spent hours following the starlings around the city and suburbs of Rome, Italy.

Finally, on the cloudless winter's day, the flock, swirled into the shape of a giant bird.

Shared Parenting, by Mark Boyd

IMAGE SOURCE,

MARK BOYD/WPY

Two lionesses had gone hunting, leaving the pride's five cubs hidden overnight in dense bushes, in Kenya's Maasai Mara Mara.

Returning from their unsuccessful mission, they called the cubs out on to the open grassland and began grooming.

Aurora Jellies, by Audun Rikardsen

IMAGE SOURCE,

AUDUN RIKARDSEN/WPY

Sheltering his equipment in a self-made waterproof housing, Audun Rikardsen used his own system for adjusting the focus and aperture during a single exposure, as moon jellyfish swarmed in the cool autumnal waters of a fjord outside Tromsø, in northern Norway, illuminated by the aurora borealis.

The five images will be displayed online and at London's Natural History Museum until 30 June.

All photos copyright Wildlife Photographer of the Year

View original: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-68215592

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