EU calls for ‘immediate’ release of Jimmy Lai after ‘politically motivated prosecution’ – Europe live

From 1h ago EU calls for ‘immediate and unconditional’ release of Jimmy Lai after his jail sentence The European Union has called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of the Hong Kong pro-democracy figure, Jimmy Lai, after he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the harshest penalty handed down for national security offences in Hong Kong. In a strongly worded statement released just now, a spokesperson for the EU’s diplomatic service said the EU “deplores the heavy prison sentence” and called for his immediate release, “also in consideration of…

The Guardian view on Trump and Europe: more an abusive relationship than an alliance | Editorial

Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz have become adept at scrambling to deal with the latest bad news from Washington. Their meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Downing Street on Monday was so hastily arranged that Mr Macron needed to be back in Paris by late afternoon to meet Croatia’s prime minister, while Mr Merz was due on television for an end-of-year Q&A with the German public. But diplomatic improvisation alone cannot fully answer Donald Trump’s structural threat to European security. The US president and his emissaries are trying…

‘He should come to Moscow,’ Putin says about peace talks with Zelenskyy – video

Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he would meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Moscow if the Ukrainian leader was ready. ‘It’s possible, I never rejected it, if this meeting is well-prepared and will lead to some positive, possible results,’ the Russian president said at a news conference after attending a big military parade in Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of world war two The Guardian

Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv sanctions three Chinese companies accused of helping Russia

Ukraine imposed sanctions on three Chinese companies on Friday, claiming they were involved in the production of advanced Iskander missiles. The sanctions list, which also includes Russian companies, names Beijing Aviation & Aerospace Xianghui Technology, Rui Jin Machinery and Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Xining, all registered in China. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on X: “Today, we have expanded our Ukrainian sanctions against nearly a hundred more entities – natural and legal persons – most of whom are involved in the production of such missiles – Iskanders – like those…