Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 06-15-2024

Representatives of almost 100 nations and international organizations convened at a Swiss resort on Saturday, June 15 to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine.

Swiss President Viola Amherd and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed delegations from 100 countries and organizations, including 57 heads of state and government to the summit in the Bürgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne.

In his opening remarks Zelensky said that every country in the world wants its security guaranteed, wants the integrity of its territory, sovereignty and equality of its people to be respected and wants to live without the fear of bloody crisis, deportations and ecocide.

The summit is aimed at trying to agree on a basic international platform for eventual peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped to find paths to a “just peace” as soon as possible, as a first international summit on pathways to end Russia's war in Ukraine opened Saturday.

More than 50 world leaders were joining Zelensky at the Burgenstock resort in Switzerland for a two-day peace summit – though with Moscow rejecting the event, it only has the modest ambitions of laying the groundwork for ending the conflict, now in its third year.

Ukraine is expected to make all the concessions, while Russia gets all the benefits. Moreover, they are basing their arguments that Putin is willing to negotiate in good faith.

There is a very strange double standard when it comes to the way any possible “peace” deal is discussed between Ukraine and Russia. Basically, nothing Putin says is to really to be taken seriously, while Ukraine is supposed to make concessions based on the fact that, regardless of what Putin does say – he is actually looking for a deal that will allow Ukraine to be a sovereign state.

It's worth noting the number of articles in the Western media which argue that Ukraine must somehow agree to a (non-existent) peace deal with Russia. This non-existent peace deal narrative is regularly pushed, most prominently I suppose by Samuel Charap and others.

With the S-300 / S-400 air defense systems proving ineffective against Ukraine's ATACMS strikes, Russian forces in Crimea have turned to the more advanced S-500 system for protection.

Speaking to the TV telethon on June 12, Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s defense intelligence directorate (HUR) said Russia had already placed elements of their latest S-500 air defense missile system in Crimea and around the Kerch bridge that links the peninsula to the mainland.

“This will, in principle, be an experimental application…. Kerch Bridge is always used, and as long as it’s there, it will be used.” He said that the move was “quite expected” since the Kremlin has been moving additional air defense assets on the peninsula to make up for the losses it has been suffering from Ukrainian long-range ATACMS ballistic missile attacks.

The airfield, in Russia’s Rostov region, is home to dozens of Su-34 fighter-bombers, a core weapon in Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Level of damage from the strike was unconfirmed.

In comments published in The Warzone, the head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR), Kyrylo Budanov, confirmed earlier reports that Kyiv had launched at least 70 drones to strike Russia’s Morosovsk Airfield, some 150 miles from the front lines, in an overnight attack Thursday, June 14.

The airfield, in Russia’s Rostov region, is home to dozens of Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers, which have been a core weapon in Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

Dozens of world leaders and thousands of soldiers and police have descended on the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock for a giant peace summit on Ukraine. More than 90 countries and global institutions are attending the event, which aims to discuss basic principles for ending the conflict in Ukraine. The Swiss hope that the Ukraine summit might produce the first tentative sketch marks for a peace process, some 28 months after Russia invaded its neighbour. It is the biggest gathering for Ukraine since the full-scale invasion. But with key players like China staying away, and Russian President Vladimir Putin issuing a new ultimatum - demanding Ukraine’s capitulation and calling that a peace proposal - expectations of significant progress are low. Russia has not been invited. For Ukraine, the mere fact this meeting is taking place is positive. Politicians in Kyiv have been hailing every confirmed participant as a gesture of support. For them, the giant summit should demonstrate to Moscow that the world stands on the side of Ukraine - and of international law. - BBC

According to Swiss officials, 100 delegations will attend the Ukrainian peace summit, including 57 heads of state and government from around the world. There are notable absentees, including China. Saudi Arabia is being represented by its foreign minister. Representation from the so-called global south regions are also on the low side. Already some media outlets are writing off the summit, with the Wall Street Journal headlining: Ukraine’s Global Diplomatic Flurry Fails to Outflank Russia As many world leaders skip Zelensky’s peace summit, some countries press Kyiv to seek direct talks with Kremlin.” The Journal’s Laurence Norman said: "I think there is a good chance that some of the non-Western countries will complicate matters by arguing that Ukraine should be willing to talk to Russia without preconditions."

Ukraine will face Romania, Slovakia, and Belgium during the group stages. How will the Ukrainians fare?

The time has come. After much anticipation, the European Championship has begun. Ukraine have been placed in Group E with Romania, Slovakia, and Belgium in this year’s competition.

The top two teams in the group will advance to the knockout stages. Depending on how the other groups finish, the third placed team could advance to the Round of 16 as well. Ukraine’s objective, however, will be to finish as one of the top two teams.

Any engagement between Moscow and Tehran in a post-Raisi era will have to take into account certain structural elements that could preclude what both sides may claim to desire.

While the untimely demise of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi may have sent ripples in the political circles of the Middle East and beyond, it is highly unlikely to alter Iranian politics in the years to come, especially after Tehran’s growing relationship with Moscow post-Oct. 7.

According to the Iranian political system, the President is second only to the most powerful appointment (the supreme leader). Unlike monolithic dictatorships, decisions pertaining to national security and foreign policy in Iran are undertaken by various institutions with numerous political leaders exercising influence. Given the trajectory of Russia-Iran engagement post-Oct. 7, it will be a challenge even for the most influential political leaders in the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to change course.

Ukraine signed deals for projects totaling €16 billion, comprising 110 business agreements, many with international financial institutions.

The Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin (URC2024) proved fruitful, despite resignations among key reconstruction policymakers prior to the event. 

Some 3,000 participants took part according to the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko, as stated by Interfax-Ukraine. 

The EU had voted in December to hold talks with Ukraine and Moldova, but needed to decide on a framework for negotiations. That framework was informally agreed upon Friday.

The European Union “agreed in principle” to the framework for accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova, the Belgian presidency of the EU’s Council stated Friday night.

While the EU had voted to hold accession talks with the two countries back in December – a decision it fast-tracked following the formal applications of Ukraine and Moldova to join the union shortly after Russia’s full-scale Ukraine invasion in February 2022 – the next big hurdle has been to decide on the framework for negotiations.

Prominent Australian businessman and investor, James Baiilieu, recently visited Ukraine for the second time since Russia's full-scale invasion to see first hand where support is most needed.

Russian forces are nearing Chasiv Yar – a town perched on strategic heights – and Pokrovsk, a rail hub where Ukraine says fighting is most tense.

Volodymyr Zelensky, a 66-year-old namesake of the Ukrainian president, opened the gate of his home in the frontline town of Yampil in east Ukraine, where residents have been emptying out.

Despite a surprise Russian offensive in the northern Kharkiv region last month, Moscow has intensified attacks in Zelensky's home region of Donetsk.

Ukraine’s 68 Jaeger Brigade shared a video showing their attack on Russian forces in the Pokrovsk sector.

The 68th Jaeger Brigade – a veteran formation of the Russo-Ukrainian War – shared a video Friday on Facebook showing the destruction of a Russian tank company in eastern Ukraine. 

Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesman for the Khortytsia grouping of forces told the state-run news agency Ukrinform, that the video’s authentic.

Leaving Ukraine for many men and women is fraught with difficulty, even peril. The war has complicated many families’ lives both logistically and legally.

I recently passed through the Slovak town of Kosice, located 120 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

Twice a day, a small train consisting of two oldish carriages runs between Kosice and the Ukrainian town of Mukachevo. It’s usually crowded and almost all the passengers are Ukrainians. This time, to my surprise, the train from Kosice to Transcarpathia departed half-empty, but that wasn’t what surprised me the most.

The Summit on Peace in Ukraine aims to see the 92 attending countries agree on a final declaration on some tentative basic principles for eventual peace.

World leaders headed to Switzerland on Saturday for a first summit on peace in Ukraine, after Vladimir Putin demanded Kyiv effectively surrender if it ultimately wants negotiations with Moscow.

The two-day gathering at the luxury Burgenstock resort brings together Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and more than 50 other heads of state and government, but without Russia taking part.

To get money from the West and sustain its economy in the reality of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine created a list of reforms it needs to make over the next four years.

The EU accession, the Ukraine Facility plan, and the Extended Fund Facility IMF program require a long list of reforms that would unlock money for the country to recover from Russia’s ongoing devastating war, reach goals needed for EU integration, improve investment sentiment, and improve governance in Ukraine.

The general rule for this could be termed: “Money in exchange for reforms.”

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, demand for military equipment has boosted the arms industry’s fortunes.

German weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall, whose business has boomed amid the Ukraine war, is set to hire workers from Continental as the auto supplier cuts thousands of jobs, the companies said on Friday.

The defense group has seen demand soar as countries rush to re-arm following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

The threat from drones, loitering munitions and precision-guided weapons applies as much to artillery systems as it does to tanks and other armored vehicles.

For decades the conventional wisdom among military strategists has been that artillery was the king of the battlefield. It was only threatened by the counterbattery capability of the enemy’s guns. If your guns outnumbered or outranged those of the opposition, if you sited them correctly, and had a good strategy – then you would prevail.

The artillery of the 20th century came in two main forms towed and, mostly tracked and armored self-propelled howitzers.