Ukraine-Russia war latest: US warns North Korea against sending troops to Ukraine - as NATO appoints new chief (2024)

As many football fans will be aware, the Ukrainian men's national team have been playing against Belgium in a crucial match in the European Championship in Germany.

Soldiers in the Donetsk region have been taking a break from the conflict there to watch the match in Stuttgart - where Belgium supporters rose to applaud as the Ukrainian national anthem was played before kick off.

Ukraine must win the game or hope there is a winner in the match being played simultaneously between Romania and Slovakia (or a win for Slovakia if Ukraine lose) if they are to qualify for the knock-out stages of the tournament.

The United Nations Security Council has condemned a deadly attack that targeted churches and synagogues in Dagestan.

Twenty people were killed, most of them police officers, during the attack on Sunday.

Five gunmen were also killed, while at least 46 people were taken to hospital with injuries in the predominantly Muslim region.

The statement from the UN Security Council said: "The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist."

Russian pranksters have released footage of David Cameron being tricked into thinking he was speaking to a former Ukrainian president.

The Foreign Office (FCDO) announced at the start of June that a "number of text messages were exchanged followed by a brief video call" between Lord Cameron and someone who claimed to be Petro Poroshenko.

In the casual video call published by website Guido Fawkes, Lord Cameron discusses Labour, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine with someone purporting to be Petro Poroshenko.

Mr Poroshenko was Ukrainian president between 2014 and 2019, and has remained a prominent figure in the country since leaving office.

Earlier this month, the UK Government made the hoax call public knowledge to stave off any attempts to manipulate video footage of the former prime minister from the communications.

Asked by the imposter if he believes anything will change after the general election, Lord Cameron says Labour has been "as enthusiastic" in their support for Ukraine as the Conservatives.

He said: "I don't think you'll see change. Obviously if they win it will be a new government, there will be some getting up to speed on some issues, but I think fundamentally they've supported everything we've done.

"I think the Labour Party, if they win, will continue that approach."

Asked about his engagement with former US president and current presidential candidate Mr Trump, Lord Cameron says the Republican would want to "back the winning side" in Ukraine but his attitude is "hard to predict".

He says: "I had dinner with (Trump) and my aim was to convince him not to block money for Ukraine, because obviously the speaker, Mike Johnson, wanted two things: he wanted to vote the money for Ukraine but he also wanted to keep his job, and I thought it was important to try to make sure that Trump backed him sufficiently to do that, which is what happened in the end."

He adds: "I think ultimately (Trump) will calculate at the time what's right for him.

"I think the key thing is if we can make sure that Ukraine is on the front foot and Putin is on the back foot by November, then he will want to support the winning side, as it were, and that's what we've got to ensure.

"It's hard to predict exactly what his attitude will be but that's the most important thing."

Elsewhere in the video, the imposter can be heard saying that not sending Ukraine an invitation to Nato is a "bad signal".

In response, Lord Cameron says: "There's not going to be an invitation because America won't support one.

"So what I've said to the president, (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy, is: let's try and get the best language we can about Nato support for Ukraine. But don't, let's not, we mustn't have an argument between Nato and Ukraine before the summit."

Later in the video, Lord Cameron discloses a conversation he had with Kazakhstan's foreign secretary Murat Nurtleu during a visit to the country earlier this year.

Lord Cameron says: "Kazakhstan are convinced that Putin wants a slice of the north of Kazakhstan.

"(Nurtleu) said Ukrainians are dying for Kazakhstan, they are putting their lives at risk to hold backRussiaand that benefits us."

At the end of the call, the imposter says: "Thank you, my friend. It was nice to see you again, and I remember our first meeting with Lord Hague and Bernard and Lily Vie."

The FCDO said it had released details of the exchange publicly over dears it could be "manipulated".

The call was carried out by Russianpranksters who use the aliases "Vovan and Lexus" and appears to have lasted around 15 minutes.

The duo are well-known in Russia and have claimed to have duped a string of politicians and celebrities in the past including Sir Elton John, US statesman John McCain, Prince Harry and JK Rowling.

The Foreign Office said today that the call looked like a Russian information operation designed to distract attention from Moscow's war in Ukraine.

A spokesperson for Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement: "We made public the fact that this call happened weeks ago, to do the right thing and make sure others were warned of the risk at the earliest opportunity.

"The Foreign Secretary understood this was a private call with a Ukrainian politician.

"This is clearly Russian, and is standard practice for information operations. Disinformation is a tactic straight from the Kremlin playbook to try to distract from their illegal activities in Ukraine and the human rights abuses being committed there."

It did not answer a question about the video's authenticity, which Sky News has not independently verified.

The US is reportedly moving towards lifting a ban on American military contractors deploying to Ukraine, according to a group of US officials familiar with the matter.

The US is said to be looking for ways to speed up the maintenance and repairs of Ukraine's weapons systems.

The equipment that has sustained significant damage in combat currently has to be transported out of the country to Poland, Romania, or other NATO countries for repairs, which takes time.

US troops are also available to help with maintenance and logistics, though this is only from afar via video chat or secure phone.

One advanced system that officials say will likely require regular maintenance is the F-16 fighter jet, which Ukraine is set to receive later this year.

The policy is still being drafted by US officials and has not yet received final sign-off from President Joe Biden, officials said.

"We have not made any decisions and any discussion of this is premature," one administration official told CNN.

"The president is absolutely firm that he will not be sending US troops to Ukraine."

The White House has been determined since the war began in 2022 to limit both the danger to Americans and the perception that the US military is engaged in combat there.

The US state department has also warned Americans against travelling to Ukraine since 2022.

European Union countries are looking to set up a new sanctions regime to counter hybrid attacks, draft European Council conclusions showed today.

EU leaders will meet tomorrow and Friday to discuss critical issues including the war in Ukraine, the Middle East, security and defence and recent political events in Georgia.

Discussing a new framework to target hybrid attacks that have been rising over the last year is also on the agenda.

"The European Council strongly condemns all types of hybrid activities... including intimidation, sabotage, foreign information manipulation and interference, disinformation, malicious cyber activities and the instrumentalisation of migrants by third countries," the draft conclusions stated.

"In response to Russia's destabilising actions abroad, the European Council reiterates its call for work to be taken forward in the Council to establish a new sanctions regime."

NATO said in May it was "deeply concerned" about recent hybrid attacks that affected several EU countries, notably those on its eastern flank, and blamed Russia.

Moscow regularly denies Western accusations that it is involved in hybrid attacks.

What are hybrid attacks?

NATO define hybrid attacks as threats that combine military and non-military as well as covert and overt means, including "disinformation, cyber attacks, economic pressure, deployment of irregular armed groups and use of regular forces".

These kinds of attacks are below the threshold of open armed aggression but are intended to manipulate the targeted government and society indirectly.

They aim to cause public panic, soften the targeted country's authorities, and force decisions desired by the aggressor.

They can be conducted by agents of secret services or special forces, non-state mercenaries, private military contractors or recruited local criminals.

China is not neutral when it comes to the Russia-Ukraine war and has sided with Vladimir Putin, according to the US ambassador to Beijing.

Nicholas Burns said that despite its claims of neutrality, China was providing a range of technologies to Moscow while maintaining strong trade ties with Russia throughout the conflict.

Speaking in the Chinese financial hub of Shanghai, he said Russia's invasion, now in its third year, had become an "existential crisis" in Europe.

"We think it's a major mistake to allow Chinese companies, by the thousands, to be sending so many components, technology components, microprocessors (and) nitrocellulose to Russia to reinforce and strengthen the defence industrial base of the Russian Federation for this brutal war," Mr Burns said.

China "is not neutral, but has effectively sided with Russia in this war", the ambassador added.

Beijing has refused to refer to Russia's invasion as such, and has blamed NATO for provoking Mr Putin. Prior to the invasion in February 2022, China and Russia signed an agreement vowing a limitless friendship.

EU sanctions

Meanwhile, China has called on the European Union to "unconditionally" stop sanctioning Chinese firms.

The EU's 14th package of sanctions on Russia included several companies located in Hong Kong, as well as two global satellite giants.

The firms are now subject to drastic restrictions over sales of "dual-use goods and technology" that could be used for the "enhancement of Russia's defence and security sector".

Beijing hit back on Tuesday, saying it opposed "unilateral sanctions with no basis in international law" and had lodged "stern representations" with the EU.

"The development of normal exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and Russian businesses does not target any third party," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent

In general, the official line from the Kremlin on this case is that it's a matter for the court and it therefore can't comment.

That was the answer last week when Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was asked why the trial would be held behind closed doors.

Russia insists its courts are independent, and that justice must be left to run its course.

Today, the line evolved slightly. Mr Peskov said the case was "not so resonant" in Russia.

That's not how it felt at the courthouse in downtown Yekaterinburg.

There were dozens of camera crews and photographers there, including a local outlet called Scream TV, which appeared more interested in us, as foreign media, than the case itself.

The US accuses Russia of stockpiling Americans, like Evan Gershkovich, to use as human bargaining chips.

If that's the case, it feels like the Kremlin is trying to maximise its leverage, because Mr Peskov also said today that there was currently no sign of a possible exchange.

Moscow is working on a "big treaty" with Iran, Russia's foreign ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova has said.

Ms Zakharova's comment appeared to be a reference to a comprehensive bilateral cooperation agreement that is being negotiated between Tehran and Moscow.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Iran had supplied Russia with ballistic missiles.

Reuters news agency reported that the Iranian regime had supplied around 400 missiles to Russia for the first time since Vladimir Putinlaunched his full-scale invasion.

The munitions included many short-range ballistic missiles, with the ability to strike targets at a range of between 186 and 435 miles.

And in January, Russia's foreign ministry said that a newinterstate treaty reflecting the "unprecedented upswing" in Russia-Iran ties was in the final stages of being agreed.

European Union countries have agreed a sanctions package against Belarus today, in an effort to close off a route to avoiding restrictions on Russia.

EU diplomats and Belgium announced the development, as the bloc adopted its 14th package of sanctions to punish Russia for its full-scale invasion of*ckraine.

The new measures included clauses that increased responsibility on EU companies exporting via non-EU countries.

"This package will strengthen our measures in response to Russia's invasion of*ckraine, including combating circumvention of sanctions," Belgium, which holds the EU presidency until the end of June, said on X.

"With this package, we just closed the biggest loophole of our sanctions regime," the EU presidency said in a separate statement.

Efforts to close loopholes have intensified since last year and diplomats say Belarus amounted to one of the biggest.

The EU has been working since early last year to align sanctions already imposed on Belarus before Russia's invasion of*ckrainewith measures in response to the war, but the country's major potash exports were one of the stumbling blocks.

One diplomat specified the text aligns measures on dual-use goods such as chips found in basic appliances as well as advanced technology and military wares.

The package dropped a provision some countries sought that would have allowed Belarusian potash and other agricultural goods to be exported via Europe in the event of price spikes.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov are "absurd", the Kremlin has said.

Speaking to reporters today, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "We do not recognise the jurisdiction of this court.

"We are not members of the relevant statutes.

"Accordingly, we do not recognise these orders. Moreover, we consider it quite absurd, like the last two warrants that concerned the head of state and our children's ombudsman."

For context: Yesterday, the ICC Issued arrest warrants for Sergei Shoigu, the former Russian defence minister, and leading Russian general Valery Gerasimov for alleged crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It brought to eight the number of arrest warrants issued against senior Russian suspects since the invasion. They include Vladimir Putin, who faces charges over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.

The Hague-based court said Mr Shoigu and Mr Gerasimov were suspected of having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity for directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects in Ukraine.

Judges had found there were "reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the Russian forces against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure".

Mr Shoigu is now secretary of Russia's Security Council and Mr Gerasimov is chief of the Russian army's general staff.