Russia and Ukraine only agree on what the main point of disagreement is in reaching peace: control of the Donbas regionVladimir Putin refuses to accept any solution that does not guarantee full Russian sovereignty over this territory, while Volodymyr Zelensky is unwilling to relinquish the 20% that the Kremlin's army has failed to capture in four years. This was the starting point for the first talks between the two sides, mediated by the United States, in Abu Dhabi, which began on Friday and will continue on Saturday.

Tanja Kriniuk is emphatic and not very talkative. "If you see a drone, drop your bike and hide under a tree," she tells me as she refills my backpack with dog and cat food. We're in Khotin, a village in eastern Sumi, devastated and ravaged by the numerous Russian attacks of the past year. There's hardly anyone left in this village that once housed eleven thousand people, with its lake, small Orthodox church, and houses with unpaved roads. I ask about the helmet and vest. She invites me to put them on if I want, but both she and Victoria, another activist and journalist, leave them in the van. It's too dangerous to travel through the village by vehicle; we'd be too easy a target, and as the evidence shows, you have to travel light to cycle fast. A bulletproof vest isn't much use when these flying devices, which can reach speeds of over 150 kilometers per hour, are hitting you.

Denis Kapustin is one of the leading figures of the Russian far right and an outspoken opponent of Vladimir Putin's government. Founder of the ultranationalist and conservative Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), he is fighting on the Ukrainian front with troops from Kyiv and, therefore, against the Kremlin's forces. In recent days, Kapustin, also known as White RexHe has risen again. No miracle has occurred. His death was only real in the eyes of Russia, as it was part of an operation. fake from Kyiv to unmask several Russian agents infiltrated in Ukraine. And the move worked so well for Kyiv that they even collected a reward Moscow offered for Kapustin's assassination.

"We have the ingredients for a [peace] agreement," declared US President Donald Trump, who greeted his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, with a handshake on the steps of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, a moment immortalized in a photograph. The two leaders made a brief appearance before the media just before the start of their meeting to discuss the peace plan they intend to propose to Russia to end the war after nearly four years of conflict. The plan is a twenty-point document, which Moscow has so far rejected. In their brief appearance before the press, Trump and Zelensky answered a few questions from reporters, but did not clarify how they plan to resolve the remaining issues in the peace agreement that continue to generate reluctance in both Kyiv and Moscow. Nevertheless, Trump expressed his conviction that this time both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin want to reach a peace agreement, but acknowledged that he has no deadline for making it a reality or for ending the war. Regarding Ukraine's future security guarantees, the US president described them as "Silly," a journalist asked him about it. "There will be a security agreement. It will be a solid agreement. European nations are very involved," he declared afterward, trying to deflect the question. He added that European countries "have been truly fantastic" and "are all fantastic people."

Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves no room for hope of a truly negotiated peace. When US President Donald Trump flatters him and buys into his rhetoric, he adopts a conciliatory tone. When he sees Ukraine succeeding in bringing Europe and the United States closer together, he makes no secret of his anger and responds aggressively. This is what happened on Wednesday. Kyiv's concessions—rejecting its NATO membership in exchange for other security guarantees—have infuriated him. Putin wants to consolidate his gains in Ukraine and wants the country under his control, without Western military and political support. His response has been harsh. On the one hand, he has called European leaders "pigs," and on the other, he has threatened more war. In fact, he has said that, as things stand, he doubts any agreement can be reached by 2026. According to the Kremlin, NATO, as explicitly stated by its Secretary General, Mark Rutte, has begun to accelerate preparations for a confrontation with Moscow in the early 2030s, which "creates the real conditions for the continuation of military action until 2026: we are not in, we are not in. Hypothetical peace is slipping away. The weary skepticism of the Ukrainians is perfectly justified."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other European leaders on Monday hailed the "significant progress" in negotiations on Ukraine, following two days of intense and productive talks in Berlin between Ukrainians, Americans, and Europeans. In a joint statement, European leaders They thanked US President Donald Trump for his efforts to "guarantee a just and lasting peace in Ukraine" that preserves "Ukraine's sovereignty and European security."

Artillery is no longer the weapon system that kills the most soldiers in a war. It was the deadliest since World War I, but that has changed. The Great War was also the first stage for large-scale trench warfare, with vast groups of soldiers fighting fiercely for every inch of ground. The front line was clear and defined: it was where the trenches of the opposing armies were located. Now the front is diffuse and much wider. Electronic eyes monitor every corner of a large battlefield. Soldiers must act in small groups and with great speed, trying to avoid attracting attention. They camouflage themselves as best they can and cover themselves with nets, which have become a key defense strategy, even for blocking roads and basic infrastructure.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Europe awoke from a strategic slumber. After decades of entrusting its security to the NATO umbrella and American protection, Europe discovered that peace—like democracy—is not guaranteed. Likewise, the conflict revealed a radical shift from the kind of warfare our parents and grandparents had known. Weapons are increasingly out of reach of the human who fires them, and death is ever closer to civilians far from the front lines. Drones—small, cheap, lethal, and dehumanized—have replaced artillery as the primary instruments of death and surveillance. Today, death has the sound of a drone and pursues soldiers who clasp their hands, imploring the machine not to shoot them before it blows them up. This is not fiction; these are the images of war propaganda that we have seen while preparing this report and that are coldly reproduced on social media.

Although this time without television cameras as witnesses, the last Friday's meeting at the White House between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky ended, more or less, like the one in February, with the US president shouting and "cursing constantly." This was stated on Monday by the Financial Times, from sources familiar with the meeting, in which Trump urged Zelensky to accept Russia's conditions for ending the war, warning him that Putin had told him he would "destroy" Ukraine if he didn't agree. In February, Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance publicly humiliated Zelensky, chiding him for his alleged lack of gratitude to the United States and ultimately inviting him to leave at the end of what Trump called "good television".

Half of Catalans agree or strongly agree with severing trade ties with Israel for the duration of the Gaza war. And nearly half (48%) want to cut ties with Russia for the duration of the war in Ukraine. However, the opinion of maintaining relations with both states is truly a minority one: less than 20% of the population supports it. These are the initial conclusions of the Survey on Coexistence and Security in Catalonia, commissioned by the Catalan International Institute for Peace (ICIP), which confirms that the Catalan population has a similar view regarding Israel and Russia.

European countries bordering Russia want to protect themselves after the violation of their airspace. Poland announced Thursday that it will restrict air traffic in the eastern part of the country along its border with Belarus and Ukraine, a day after shooting down several Russian drones that had entered its airspaceThe restrictions, which came into effect Wednesday night, will remain in place until December 9, the Polish Air Traffic Control Agency announced in a statement. At the request of the operational command of the armed forces, Poland has banned drone flights and introduced restrictions in this border area that primarily affect small, non-commercial air traffic. However, they will not affect passenger traffic.

When Ferdinand Porsche presented The first 911 at the 1963 Frankfurt Motor Show, no one would have imagined that, decades later, the name that has thrilled some of the world's most famous circuits would appear associated with drones, satellites, and cybersecurity. The unmistakable silhouette of the 911, with its round headlights and drooping tail, has become an icon of the 20th century: a symbol of freedom on the motorway, of victories at Le Mans, and of German industrial pride. perhaps now somewhat in decline.

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump's meeting last week in Alaska has apparently accelerated the diplomatic machinery to try to end the war in Ukraine. One of the key issues, like all wars, is the cession of territories. Russia is starting from a maximalist position, which includes keeping the Crimean peninsula, which it already controls since its illegal annexation in 2014, and four other Ukrainian provinces: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remains firm in his position of protecting the country's territorial sovereignty; that is, he does not want to hear about any cession, a position also defended by his European allies. However, in the United States, Donald Trump has considered that Zelensky should give in. at least the Crimean peninsula.

Donald Trump's naive optimism regarding Vladimir Putin has been evident once again. The American president's exaggerated self-confidence is not enough to soften the imperial resolve of his Russian counterpart, a beast of power that has set itself the mission of restoring Russia to greatness. The Alaska summit, complete with a red carpet, beyond legitimizing the invader of Ukraine, apparently achieved little. Putin emerged satisfied and even joked about a meeting with Trump in Moscow. Trump, on the other hand, emerged walled in and summoned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on Monday. We hope this time it won't be to boo him in public.

The meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, could perfectly be described as another summit no hamburgerThree hours of meeting, lots of photos and a red carpet, but no agreement to stop the war in Ukraine. In English political jargon, the expression nothingburger It describes a situation that seems important or media-fueled, but in reality lacks substance or real consequences. It literally means "a nothing burger," that is, with the appearance of meat but without meat or flavor. The term is attributed to the 1950s Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons, but it became especially popular after the 2016 presidential campaign, the one that brought Donald Trump to the White House.

The word kuhinja means kitchen in many Slavic languages. But in the former Soviet republics its meaning evokes something else. As during communism, apartments were small and often shared, kuhinja It was the only space where people—and especially women—could speak without fear, share dissenting ideas, and support each other. A refuge where family stories, secrets, and worries were shared. Ukrainian Creative Radio, broadcast from Barcelona, recaptures that spirit, except here it's spoken out loud. This station, run by Ukrainian women in exile, has become a key community space for the diaspora in Barcelona: a kujinha where to take refuge and lean on.

The Kremlin reacted this Monday to Trump's order to deploy two nuclear submarines off the Russian coast After a week of silence, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned at a press conference that "in a nuclear war there can be no winners." "Everyone must be careful with nuclear rhetoric," the presidential spokesman said, emphasizing that Moscow does not want to "get involved in a controversy" with the United States on this matter. Despite the conciliatory rhetoric, the Kremlin announced mid-afternoon that it is lifting restrictions on the deployment of medium- and long-range missiles, a gesture that threatens a new escalation.

A Ukrainian honor section took part last Monday in the military parade of 1,300 soldiers that went through central London, and which opened the commemorative events in the United Kingdom of the 80th anniversary of VE Day in Europe (VE Day in World War II). On Whitehall Avenue, which connects Parliament Square with Trafalgar Square –where several British ministries are concentrated–, buildings displayed the Union Jack (the British flag) and the Ukrainian flag.

It seems like an impossible mission, worthy of Tom Cruise. But the hero who is not very much of a hero is called Keir Starmer and not Ethan Hunt. Will the British Prime Minister be able to convince Donald Trump not to abandon Ukraine and Europe to their fate, and not to leave Kiev and Brussels and the rest of the European capitals at the mercy of Vladimir Putin?

London's fulfillment gift to Washington. With a dramatic speech, Remembering the invasion of Ukraine three years ago and the risks Europe faces from Vladimir Putin's Russia, Keir Starmer appeared in Downing Street on Tuesday to announce that his government will increase investment in defence to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, and that by the end of 2030, the level will be 3%. Starmer thus embraces the traditional "if you want peace, prepare for war."