France, UK unveil historic nuclear weapons co-operation
The announcement came after French President Emmanuel Macron concluded a three-day state visit to Britain, where the two allies sought to turn the page of years' of turbulence following Britain's decision to withdraw from the European Union.
"This morning, we signed the Northwood declaration, confirming for the first time that we are co-ordinating our independent nuclear deterrence," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a news conference alongside Macron on Thursday.
"From today, our adversaries will know that any extreme threat to this continent would prompt a response from our two nations.
"There is no greater demonstration of the importance of this relationship."
US President Donald Trump's questioning of burden-sharing in NATO and his overtures to Russia have led to existential questions in Europe about the trans-Atlantic relationship and Washington's commitment to helping defend its European allies.
Europe's primary nuclear deterrence comes from the United States and is a decades-old symbol of trans-Atlantic solidarity.
Macron said the two countries had created an oversight committee to co-ordinate their co-operation, a task he said was vital.
"The decision is that we don't exclude the co-ordination of our respective deterrents. It's a message that our partners and adversaries must hear," Macron said.
The closer co-operation had nothing to do with their efforts to create a coalition of the willing to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia, he said.
While both sides will keep their own decision-making processes and strategic ambiguity, the move does suggest further protection for the continent at a time when the United States' commitment to Europe is under scrutiny.
Macron has previously said he would launch a strategic dialogue on extending the protection offered by France's nuclear arsenal to its European partners.
The US has nuclear arms in Europe and tens of thousands of troops deployed in bases across the continent with military capabilities that Europe cannot match.
France spends about 5.6 billion euros ($A9.9 billion) annually on maintaining its stockpile of 290 submarine- and air-launched nuclear weapons, the world's fourth largest.
Britain describes its nuclear program as "operationally independent", but sources missile technology from the US and depends on the US for acquisition and maintenance support.
"On the nuclear agreement that we've reached today ... it is truly historic," Starmer said.
France and Britain have agreed to reinforce co-operation over their respective nuclear arsenals as the two European powerhouses seek to respond to growing threats to the continent and uncertainty over their US ally.
The announcement came after French President Emmanuel Macron concluded a three-day state visit to Britain, where the two allies sought to turn the page of years' of turbulence following Britain's decision to withdraw from the European Union.
"This morning, we signed the Northwood declaration, confirming for the first time that we are co-ordinating our independent nuclear deterrence," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a news conference alongside Macron on Thursday.
"From today, our adversaries will know that any extreme threat to this continent would prompt a response from our two nations.
"There is no greater demonstration of the importance of this relationship."
US President Donald Trump's questioning of burden-sharing in NATO and his overtures to Russia have led to existential questions in Europe about the trans-Atlantic relationship and Washington's commitment to helping defend its European allies.
Europe's primary nuclear deterrence comes from the United States and is a decades-old symbol of trans-Atlantic solidarity.
Macron said the two countries had created an oversight committee to co-ordinate their co-operation, a task he said was vital.
"The decision is that we don't exclude the co-ordination of our respective deterrents. It's a message that our partners and adversaries must hear," Macron said.
The closer co-operation had nothing to do with their efforts to create a coalition of the willing to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia, he said.
While both sides will keep their own decision-making processes and strategic ambiguity, the move does suggest further protection for the continent at a time when the United States' commitment to Europe is under scrutiny.
Macron has previously said he would launch a strategic dialogue on extending the protection offered by France's nuclear arsenal to its European partners.
The US has nuclear arms in Europe and tens of thousands of troops deployed in bases across the continent with military capabilities that Europe cannot match.
France spends about 5.6 billion euros ($A9.9 billion) annually on maintaining its stockpile of 290 submarine- and air-launched nuclear weapons, the world's fourth largest.
Britain describes its nuclear program as "operationally independent", but sources missile technology from the US and depends on the US for acquisition and maintenance support.
"On the nuclear agreement that we've reached today ... it is truly historic," Starmer said.
France and Britain have agreed to reinforce co-operation over their respective nuclear arsenals as the two European powerhouses seek to respond to growing threats to the continent and uncertainty over their US ally.
The announcement came after French President Emmanuel Macron concluded a three-day state visit to Britain, where the two allies sought to turn the page of years' of turbulence following Britain's decision to withdraw from the European Union.
"This morning, we signed the Northwood declaration, confirming for the first time that we are co-ordinating our independent nuclear deterrence," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a news conference alongside Macron on Thursday.
"From today, our adversaries will know that any extreme threat to this continent would prompt a response from our two nations.
"There is no greater demonstration of the importance of this relationship."
US President Donald Trump's questioning of burden-sharing in NATO and his overtures to Russia have led to existential questions in Europe about the trans-Atlantic relationship and Washington's commitment to helping defend its European allies.
Europe's primary nuclear deterrence comes from the United States and is a decades-old symbol of trans-Atlantic solidarity.
Macron said the two countries had created an oversight committee to co-ordinate their co-operation, a task he said was vital.
"The decision is that we don't exclude the co-ordination of our respective deterrents. It's a message that our partners and adversaries must hear," Macron said.
The closer co-operation had nothing to do with their efforts to create a coalition of the willing to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia, he said.
While both sides will keep their own decision-making processes and strategic ambiguity, the move does suggest further protection for the continent at a time when the United States' commitment to Europe is under scrutiny.
Macron has previously said he would launch a strategic dialogue on extending the protection offered by France's nuclear arsenal to its European partners.
The US has nuclear arms in Europe and tens of thousands of troops deployed in bases across the continent with military capabilities that Europe cannot match.
France spends about 5.6 billion euros ($A9.9 billion) annually on maintaining its stockpile of 290 submarine- and air-launched nuclear weapons, the world's fourth largest.
Britain describes its nuclear program as "operationally independent", but sources missile technology from the US and depends on the US for acquisition and maintenance support.
"On the nuclear agreement that we've reached today ... it is truly historic," Starmer said.
France and Britain have agreed to reinforce co-operation over their respective nuclear arsenals as the two European powerhouses seek to respond to growing threats to the continent and uncertainty over their US ally.
The announcement came after French President Emmanuel Macron concluded a three-day state visit to Britain, where the two allies sought to turn the page of years' of turbulence following Britain's decision to withdraw from the European Union.
"This morning, we signed the Northwood declaration, confirming for the first time that we are co-ordinating our independent nuclear deterrence," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a news conference alongside Macron on Thursday.
"From today, our adversaries will know that any extreme threat to this continent would prompt a response from our two nations.
"There is no greater demonstration of the importance of this relationship."
US President Donald Trump's questioning of burden-sharing in NATO and his overtures to Russia have led to existential questions in Europe about the trans-Atlantic relationship and Washington's commitment to helping defend its European allies.
Europe's primary nuclear deterrence comes from the United States and is a decades-old symbol of trans-Atlantic solidarity.
Macron said the two countries had created an oversight committee to co-ordinate their co-operation, a task he said was vital.
"The decision is that we don't exclude the co-ordination of our respective deterrents. It's a message that our partners and adversaries must hear," Macron said.
The closer co-operation had nothing to do with their efforts to create a coalition of the willing to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia, he said.
While both sides will keep their own decision-making processes and strategic ambiguity, the move does suggest further protection for the continent at a time when the United States' commitment to Europe is under scrutiny.
Macron has previously said he would launch a strategic dialogue on extending the protection offered by France's nuclear arsenal to its European partners.
The US has nuclear arms in Europe and tens of thousands of troops deployed in bases across the continent with military capabilities that Europe cannot match.
France spends about 5.6 billion euros ($A9.9 billion) annually on maintaining its stockpile of 290 submarine- and air-launched nuclear weapons, the world's fourth largest.
Britain describes its nuclear program as "operationally independent", but sources missile technology from the US and depends on the US for acquisition and maintenance support.
"On the nuclear agreement that we've reached today ... it is truly historic," Starmer said.
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Sydney Morning Herald
11 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
This is angry England – and it demands to be heard
The concerns about crime are based on British reports that spread fast on social media. An Afghan asylum seeker was charged last week with raping a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton, near Coventry. An Ethiopian asylum seeker was charged last month with assaulting a young girl in Epping, north-west of London. Both deny the charges, which are yet to be tested in court. With cases like these in the news, the English air has the whiff of petrol. One year ago, the awful murders of three young girls in Southport set off riots when rumours spread that the killer was an asylum seeker. The rumours were false. He was born in the UK. But at least 100 people were charged in the riots – an example of the explosive emotions around migration. 'Where are the women and children? If there was women and children first, we'd be happy. The community would be happy to take them in.' Nicola, Canary Wharf protester Jackie Sheldon, a mother of eight children, has lived in the Canary Wharf area all her life. 'They're coming here, and they're committing disgusting crimes,' she says of the migrants. 'We want to protect our community from that. That's not OK. We want these people gone.' There are no face masks in this group. The protesters are local and they know each other. They have a banner to challenge the idea that they are right-wing extremists. 'We're not far right – but we're not far wrong,' it says. 'Don't gamble with our lives. Stop the boats.' Nicola, 47, is a third-generation member of the community. 'I don't mind immigration, as long as it's done legally,' she says. She is concerned that the asylum seekers are mostly young men – a fact borne out in government statistics as well as the news broadcasts that show people on the boats when they leave French beaches. 'Where are the women and children?' she asks. 'If there was women and children first, we'd be happy. The community would be happy to take them in.' There is a strong feeling here that Britain will break if it takes too many more people, so the overwhelming mood is that the country is full. 'If you have a boat that holds 300 people and you put 600 in it, it's going to sink,' says Lorraine. 'And that's what's happening to us, right? Our infrastructure cannot cope with the amount of people that's coming in. 'People here, I wouldn't know when the last time they was able to get a dentist appointment. The doctors' appointments are all online. People have been told it's a minimum 12 years to even be considered for a flat on the Isle of Dogs.' She is referring to the waiting list for public housing in a council flat – and she says her children cannot afford to buy a home in the community where they were raised. 'It took a long, long time' One of her children, Ben, a scaffolder, says the Isle of Dogs accepted women and children from Ukraine in the past few years. He says it integrated a large Bangladeshi community over a longer period. 'It took a long, long time, but now we co-exist with each other, we get on with each other,' he says. 'But now you're obviously putting up undocumented men, which we know nothing about, into a community that is already struggling financially. You're gonna see a bit of unrest.' That is what happens when a lone asylum seeker walks out of the hotel and down the street. He is a young black man, and says nothing, but the protest changes instantly. Women who were talking quietly to each other suddenly turn and yell at him to go home. Men jeer as he runs the gauntlet of the protest. Tempers are frayed, but there is no violence. So far. One reason is that the protesters are not confronted by any opposition. Things were different one day earlier, when protesters outside an asylum hotel in the Barbican district of London were met by masked protesters dressed in black and chanting 'we are anti-fascist' – one of them vocally supporting Palestine Action, which the government has banned as a terrorist group. In the violence between the groups and authorities at the Barbican, the Metropolitan Police arrested one of the anti-immigration protesters for a racially aggravated public order offence. It arrested one of the anti-fascists for supporting Palestine Action, and it arrested seven other counter-protesters for breaching orders aimed at separating the two groups. Loading At Canary Wharf, however, the protesters against the asylum hotel have the street to themselves. Their star speaker is Young Bob – a student who posts by that name on X and is a member of Turning Point UK, an offshoot of an American right-wing group. He is critical of Muslims and multiculturalism, but he says he is not racist. His message is that migration is destroying working-class jobs by making it easy for big companies to use cheap contract migrant labour. He wants people to boycott services like Deliveroo. He is only 17, but he taps into a deep anxiety about the loss of old British ways. The protest drags on with long speeches. It is deliberately noisy and confronting for the asylum seekers inside the hotel, being told they are not wanted, but there are no faces at the windows. There is no trigger for violence. Until a dozen young men arrive in black masks. The police brace and prepare for impact. They harden their line to prevent the men from getting to the front of the hotel. These protesters want confrontation, so they let off flares, chant about shutting down the asylum hotel and move up so they are inches away from the police, eyeballing the officers. It takes less than a minute for the protest to turn into a scrum of police and angry men, swarming over the street as some try to get into the hotel. The flares cover the crowd in smoke. One protester, waving an English flag, strides toward the barricade but is intercepted before he can break through. The crowd supports them, but does not join them. If tempers were hotter, the crowd could use its numbers to rush the hotel. But the men seem to want to vent their anger and make a point for the media, without throwing punches. When one goes too far, a handful of police pin him to a wall and arrest him. He is later charged with assault, the Met Police tell me. Another man is charged with failing to obey an order to disperse. The men in masks walk away. Some of the women seem to know them. 'Good on you, boys,' calls out one. The crowd cools down. Young Bob takes the microphone again for another long speech. Then, in a sudden change in mood, the loudspeaker starts playing Sweet Caroline. The women in pink dance in the street, singing Neil Diamond. They own this neighbourhood, and they have made their point. Every protest is different. This one ends with people drifting home. The Barbican protest was more violent. The riot in Epping three weeks ago reached a fever pitch, with police assaulted and their vehicles damaged. And there are demonstrations every weekend, at asylum hotels up and down the country. Loading I leave the protest to return to Canary Wharf tube station, where families are enjoying the sunshine on the lawns around the shopping mall. Young people are paddleboarding on an inlet of the Thames. Parents are buying ice cream for their children. You could make a film here about modern, multicultural, harmonious Britain. This peace, however, is easily shattered by economic and social pressure. Polling firm YouGov found last month that 38 per cent of UK voters wanted asylum seekers immediately removed from the country if they arrived by boat. Another 43 per cent said they should have their claims assessed and decided on a case-by-case basis. Migration is now a basic test for Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The Age
11 minutes ago
- The Age
London asylum seeker protests: Locals demand to be heard over migrant hotel in Canary Wharf
The concerns about crime are based on British reports that spread fast on social media. An Afghan asylum seeker was charged last week with raping a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton, near Coventry. An Ethiopian asylum seeker was charged last month with assaulting a young girl in Epping, north-west of London. Both deny the charges, which are yet to be tested in court. With cases like these in the news, the English air has the whiff of petrol. One year ago, the awful murders of three young girls in Southport set off riots when rumours spread that the killer was an asylum seeker. The rumours were false. He was born in the UK. But at least 100 people were charged in the riots – an example of the explosive emotions around migration. 'Where are the women and children? If there was women and children first, we'd be happy. The community would be happy to take them in.' Nicola, Canary Wharf protester Jackie Sheldon, a mother of eight children, has lived in the Canary Wharf area all her life. 'They're coming here, and they're committing disgusting crimes,' she says of the migrants. 'We want to protect our community from that. That's not OK. We want these people gone.' There are no face masks in this group. The protesters are local and they know each other. They have a banner to challenge the idea that they are right-wing extremists. 'We're not far right – but we're not far wrong,' it says. 'Don't gamble with our lives. Stop the boats.' Nicola, 47, is a third-generation member of the community. 'I don't mind immigration, as long as it's done legally,' she says. She is concerned that the asylum seekers are mostly young men – a fact borne out in government statistics as well as the news broadcasts that show people on the boats when they leave French beaches. 'Where are the women and children?' she asks. 'If there was women and children first, we'd be happy. The community would be happy to take them in.' Two women hold a St George's flag outside the Britannia Hotel at the Canary Wharf protest. Credit: PA Images via Getty Images There is a strong feeling here that Britain will break if it takes too many more people, so the overwhelming mood is that the country is full. 'If you have a boat that holds 300 people and you put 600 in it, it's going to sink,' says Lorraine. 'And that's what's happening to us, right? Our infrastructure cannot cope with the amount of people that's coming in. 'People here, I wouldn't know when the last time they was able to get a dentist appointment. The doctors' appointments are all online. People have been told it's a minimum 12 years to even be considered for a flat on the Isle of Dogs.' She is referring to the waiting list for public housing in a council flat – and she says her children cannot afford to buy a home in the community where they were raised. 'It took a long, long time' One of her children, Ben, a scaffolder, says the Isle of Dogs accepted women and children from Ukraine in the past few years. He says it integrated a large Bangladeshi community over a longer period. 'It took a long, long time, but now we co-exist with each other, we get on with each other,' he says. 'But now you're obviously putting up undocumented men, which we know nothing about, into a community that is already struggling financially. You're gonna see a bit of unrest.' That is what happens when a lone asylum seeker walks out of the hotel and down the street. He is a young black man, and says nothing, but the protest changes instantly. Women who were talking quietly to each other suddenly turn and yell at him to go home. Men jeer as he runs the gauntlet of the protest. Police stand guard outside the Britannia Hotel. Credit: Getty Images Tempers are frayed, but there is no violence. So far. One reason is that the protesters are not confronted by any opposition. Things were different one day earlier, when protesters outside an asylum hotel in the Barbican district of London were met by masked protesters dressed in black and chanting 'we are anti-fascist' – one of them vocally supporting Palestine Action, which the government has banned as a terrorist group. In the violence between the groups and authorities at the Barbican, the Metropolitan Police arrested one of the anti-immigration protesters for a racially aggravated public order offence. It arrested one of the anti-fascists for supporting Palestine Action, and it arrested seven other counter-protesters for breaching orders aimed at separating the two groups. Loading At Canary Wharf, however, the protesters against the asylum hotel have the street to themselves. Their star speaker is Young Bob – a student who posts by that name on X and is a member of Turning Point UK, an offshoot of an American right-wing group. He is critical of Muslims and multiculturalism, but he says he is not racist. His message is that migration is destroying working-class jobs by making it easy for big companies to use cheap contract migrant labour. He wants people to boycott services like Deliveroo. He is only 17, but he taps into a deep anxiety about the loss of old British ways. The protest drags on with long speeches. It is deliberately noisy and confronting for the asylum seekers inside the hotel, being told they are not wanted, but there are no faces at the windows. There is no trigger for violence. Until a dozen young men arrive in black masks. The police brace and prepare for impact. They harden their line to prevent the men from getting to the front of the hotel. These protesters want confrontation, so they let off flares, chant about shutting down the asylum hotel and move up so they are inches away from the police, eyeballing the officers. It takes less than a minute for the protest to turn into a scrum of police and angry men, swarming over the street as some try to get into the hotel. The flares cover the crowd in smoke. One protester, waving an English flag, strides toward the barricade but is intercepted before he can break through. The crowd supports them, but does not join them. If tempers were hotter, the crowd could use its numbers to rush the hotel. But the men seem to want to vent their anger and make a point for the media, without throwing punches. When one goes too far, a handful of police pin him to a wall and arrest him. He is later charged with assault, the Met Police tell me. Another man is charged with failing to obey an order to disperse. Migrants sit on a dinghy as it prepares to sail into the English Channel on July 10. Credit: Getty Images The men in masks walk away. Some of the women seem to know them. 'Good on you, boys,' calls out one. The crowd cools down. Young Bob takes the microphone again for another long speech. Then, in a sudden change in mood, the loudspeaker starts playing Sweet Caroline . The women in pink dance in the street, singing Neil Diamond. They own this neighbourhood, and they have made their point. Every protest is different. This one ends with people drifting home. The Barbican protest was more violent. The riot in Epping three weeks ago reached a fever pitch, with police assaulted and their vehicles damaged. And there are demonstrations every weekend, at asylum hotels up and down the country. Loading I leave the protest to return to Canary Wharf tube station, where families are enjoying the sunshine on the lawns around the shopping mall. Young people are paddleboarding on an inlet of the Thames. Parents are buying ice cream for their children. You could make a film here about modern, multicultural, harmonious Britain. This peace, however, is easily shattered by economic and social pressure. Polling firm YouGov found last month that 38 per cent of UK voters wanted asylum seekers immediately removed from the country if they arrived by boat. Another 43 per cent said they should have their claims assessed and decided on a case-by-case basis. Migration is now a basic test for Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The government is running out of places to house the people who cross the English Channel, with hundreds arriving every week. Every new asylum hotel becomes the target for a new protest. The problem is simple, and the solution is complex. And the longer it goes on, the angrier England is likely to get. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what's making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
ABC News
11 minutes ago
- ABC News
From understanding to disappointment, breaking down the Trump-Putin relationship
Before moving into the Oval Office for the second term as US president, Donald Trump made a declaration about the Russia-Ukraine war. "They're dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I'll have that done — I'll have that done in 24 hours," he said in 2023. Mr Trump recalled he "got along great" with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his first term as US president. Mr Putin spoke of his "pragmatic and trusting" relations with Mr Trump and remarked that the then-presidential candidate behaved like a "real man" during an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania. Now, Mr Trump has described the 24-hour declaration as an "exaggeration" to "make a point". "Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended," Mr Trump said in an interview. About six months into his second term as US president, the war wages on. Here's how the Trump-Putin relationship has waxed and waned since the beginning of the year. In the first days of January, Mr Trump made it clear that he "could understand" Mr Putin's feelings about Ukraine potentially joining NATO. By the time he was sworn in late in January, Mr Trump discussed a future meeting with his Russian counterpart. "From what I hear, Putin would like to see me, and we'll leave as soon as we can. I'd meet immediately. "Every day we don't meet, soldiers are being killed in the battlefield." After the first official call in February, Mr Trump said Mr Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wanted peace, and that he expected at least three in-person meetings with the Russian president. "He wants it to end. He doesn't want to end it and then go back to fighting six months later," Mr Trump said. "We expect that he'll come here and I'll go there and probably the first time, we'll meet in Saudi Arabia, to see if we can get something done. In a matter of weeks, Mr Trump's tone on the war, and support for Ukraine, began to shift after a now-infamous heated back-and-forth with Mr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. The US later suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. "You're either going to make a deal, or we're out, and if we're out, you'll fight it out. I don't think it's going to be pretty," Mr Trump told Mr Zelenskyy in the meeting at the Oval Office. That was the first time intelligence sharing between the two countries had been cut off since Russia's invasion in February 2022. In less than three days, Russia attacked energy facilities in Ukraine with dozens of missiles and drones leaving at least 10 people injured. The attack restricted the country's ability to deliver heat and light to its citizens, and to power weapons factories vital to its defences. The Trump administration lifted the pause on intelligence sharing with Ukraine days after the attack. It came after a meeting between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudia Arabia, where a 30-day ceasefire deal was agreed to by Ukraine. Within days, Mr Trump was taking questions from reporters aboard Air Force One about his second phone call with Mr Putin. "I'll be speaking to President Putin [tomorrow]. A lot of work's been done over the weekend," Trump said in late March. "We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can't, but I think we have a very good chance. "I think we have a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We're already talking about that, dividing up certain assets." There was no 30-day ceasefire in March but in late April, Mr Putin announced a temporary "Easter truce". The Kremlin claimed the ceasefire would last from 6pm, Moscow time, on Saturday April 19 to midnight following Easter Sunday. By the following Friday, Russia had launched 145 drones and 70 missiles, including 11 ballistic missiles, in the attack on the capital Kyiv, Ukraine's air force said on Telegram. At least 12 people were killed and 90 were injured. "I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying," Mr Trump said in a social post. By the middle of May, Ukraine and European leaders agreed to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire from May 12 with the backing of Mr Trump. About a week later, Mr Trump had another phone call with Mr Putin, after which the US president again mentioned a ceasefire was close. "Just completed my two-hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I believe it went very well," Mr Trump said in social post. "Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War. "The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be." But within days of Mr Trump's conversation with Mr Putin, Ukrainian officials said they were hit with 367 drones and missiles from the evening of May 24 to the following day. At the time, it was the largest single attack during the war, according to Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat. At least 12 people were killed and dozens more were injured. Mr Trump condemned Mr Putin, going as far to say his actions would "lead to the downfall of Russia". "I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him," Mr Trump said in a social post. "He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I'm not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever. In June, Ukraine launched Operation Spider's Web, which targeted scores of Moscow's nuclear-capable long-range bombers at sites deep inside Russia. Ukrainian officials claimed the attack destroyed 34 per cent of Russia's fleet of air missile carriers. There were no casualties, according to Russia's defence ministry. By the end of the week Moscow retaliated with strikes that killed four people, injured 20, and triggered fires in residential buildings in different parts of Kyiv, city authorities said. In response to the recent hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, Mr Trump compared them to children. "You see, in hockey, you see it in sports. The referees let them go for a couple of seconds, let them go for a little while before you pull them apart." Then in less than a week, Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv was hit by drone and missile attacks. Days later, residents of Kharkiv were hit again, this time with nine minutes of continuous drone strikes. When the drones were approaching, local resident Olena Khoruzheva raced to the hallway with her two children. Her youngest son lay on the floor with his hands over his head. "I was on top of him," the 41-year-old pharmacist told AFP. "We heard it approaching, silence, and then we were thrown against the wall." At least 10 people were killed, and more than 70 injured in the attacks. By the end of June, Mr Trump spoke at the NATO summit saying, "Look, Vladimir Putin really has to end that war." By July, Mr Trump threatened supporting a bill that would impose steep sanctions on Russia, including 500 per cent tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports. He also pledged to send more defensive weapons to Ukraine. "We get a lot of bulls**t thrown at us by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," Mr Trump said at a cabinet meeting. "He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless." When asked by a reporter what action he would take against Mr Putin, Mr Trump said: "I wouldn't tell you. We want to have a little surprise." Hours later, Russia fired a record 728 drones and 13 missiles at Ukraine. Russia's most recent attacks on Ukraine prompted Mr Trump to set a new deadline for ending the war. Two weeks ago, it was 50 days. Now it's within days. Speaking at his Trump Turnberry golf club in Scotland, the US president warned that if a ceasefire was not in place by the new deadline that he would impose severe tariffs on Moscow and its trading partners. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev countered. "Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with [Trump's] own country," he posted on the social media platform X. The new deadline set by the Trump administration for peace talks is August 8 (US time). "I'm disappointed in President Putin," Mr Trump said during a visit to Scotland. "There's no reason for waiting. It was 50 days, I wanted to be generous, but we just don't see any progress being made," Mr Trump said.
