Finnish parliament votes to exit landmines treaty due to Russia threat
Finland’s parliament voted on Thursday in favour of withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention that bans the use of anti-personnel landmines amid concerns over a military threat posed by neighbouring Russia.
Finland joins other European Union and Nato members bordering Russia – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland – in leaving or planning to leave the treaty.
President Alexander Stubb, who leads Finland’s foreign and security policy, has defended the move.
“The reality in the endgame is that we have as our neighbouring country an aggressive, imperialist state called Russia, which itself is not a member of the Ottawa Treaty and which itself uses landmines ruthlessly,” he said.
Russia has used landmines in its invasion of Ukraine.
Daniel Keane19 June 2025 20:00
Watch: Putin sends warning to Germany over supplies to UkrainePutin sends warning to Germany over Ukraine supplies: ‘Serious damage’
Daniel Keane19 June 2025 19:00
Denmark to push for Ukraine’s EU membership despite Hungary’s opposition
Denmark will continue preparing Ukraine for EU membership when the Nordic country takes over the presidency of the European Council from July 1, one of the country’s ministers has said.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has strongly opposed providing Nato military and EU aid to Ukraine, saying the country’s EU membership would destroy Hungarian farmers and the wider economy.
Marie Bjerre, Denmark’s European affairs minister, told a press conference in Copenhagen: “Unfortunately, Hungary is blocking and we are trying to put as much pressure there as we can and also do everything we can to make Ukraine continue with the necessary reform work.
“When we get to the point where we can actually open the specific negotiation chapters, we can be ready to close them very quickly.”
Daniel Keane19 June 2025 18:00
Spain rejects Nato defence spending increase
Spain has rejected a Nato proposal to spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence needs set to be unveiled next week, claiming it is “unreasonable.”
In a letter sent Thursday to Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that Spain “cannot commit to a specific spending target in terms of GDP”.
His comments reveal divisions in the bloc ahead next week’s Nato summit in The Hague.
“For Spain, committing to a 5 per cent target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive, as it would move Spain away from optimal spending and it would hinder the EU’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defence ecosystem,” Mr Sanchez wrote in the letter seen by The Associated Press.
Daniel Keane19 June 2025 17:00
Pictured: Zelensky lays flowers at apartment hit by Russian strike
President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the site of the apartment building in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district on Thursday morning.
The Ukrainian leader laid flowers and paid tribute to the 23 people who died there after a direct hit by a missile collapsed the structure.
(EPA)
(UKRAINE PRESIDENCY/AFP via Getty)
Daniel Keane19 June 2025 16:00
Zelensky calls for more pressure on Russia after Kyiv strike
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said a Russian missile strike on a nine-story Kyiv apartment building was a sign that more pressure must be applied on Moscow to agree to a ceasefire.
“This attack is a reminder to the world that Russia rejects a ceasefire and chooses killing,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
He also thanked Ukraine’s partners who he said are ready to pressure Russia to “feel the real cost of the war.”
The drone and missile attack on Kyiv early on Tuesday was the deadliest assault on the capital this year, with 28 people killed across the city and 142 more injured.
Daniel Keane19 June 2025 15:00
Nato ‘cuts back leaders’ summit to avoid Trump walkout’ – reports
Nato has cut back next week’s leaders’ summit to just one working session in a bid to avoid Donald Trump walking out early, according to reports.
Earlier this week, the President left aa G7 meeting to deal with the crisis between Iran and Israel.
Nato has scaled down its plans for the event, which was originally supposed to take place over three days, to just one two-and-a-half hour working session, the FT reported.
Daniel Keane19 June 2025 14:00
Ukrainian secures release of group of POWs
Ukraine secured the release of a group of POWs in its latest round of swaps with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.
The group exchanged on Thursday included prisoners who were injured or sick, many of whom had been held captive since the early months of Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion, according to Kyiv’s coordinating council for POWs.
A Ukrainian prisoner of war (POW) reacts after a swap (via REUTERS)
Daniel Keane19 June 2025 13:30
Visa schemes in UK leave Ukraine’s war refugees in limbo
Lidiia, a 36-year-old Ukrainian refugee, is facing the daunting prospect of returning to her war-torn homeland after rebuilding her life in Britain. Fleeing Ukraine in 2022 with her newborn and toddler, she now fears that the lack of a clear path to permanent residency will force her back next year.
“Even if they say there’s a ceasefire … I will have in my mind that in five, six years, (the Russians) are going to be back,” she said. “And then my son will have to be a soldier. My daughter might be killed or raped.”
Tom Watling19 June 2025 12:00
Mapped: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Tom Watling19 June 2025 11:00