Ukraine-Russia war latest: Vance says ending aid to Kyiv was ‘one of Trump’s proudest achievements’

Cameroon this week confirmed the deaths of 16 of its soldiers fighting in Ukraine, following a notification from Russia.

The nation’s foreign affairs ministry sent a memo to the Russian Embassy, acknowledging the fatalities among Cameroonian personnel serving in what Russia terms the “special military operations zone.”

The ministry stated that “necessary arrangements” were being made to inform the families of those who died.

In a separate communication issued on the same day, the ministry also invited the relatives of six other Cameroonian nationals residing in Russia to attend a meeting regarding “urgent matters,” though no further details were provided.

JD Vance said that cutting Ukraine off from US support is one of his proudest achievements of the Trump administration.

The US vice president told a Turning Point USA rally in Georgia on Tuesday that he still backed the decision to end nearly all new weapons deliveries for Kyiv, leaving Europe to pay for vital aid instead.

“I still believe that, obviously, and it’s one of the things I’m proudest that we’ve done in this administration is we’ve told Europe that if you want to buy weapons, you can, but the United States is not buying weapons and sending them to Ukraine anymore,” he said.

Referencing a clash with a Ukrainian-American over his push to withdraw funding for Ukraine, Vance added: “Being an American means caring about Americans first, and that’s the perspective we should be taking in his immigration policy”.

European countries have bought the vast majority of US weapons bound for Ukraine since Donald Trump took office last January.

Britain has announced a major new package of support for Ukraine, worth millions of pounds, as senior ministers engage in a series of high-level international meetings.

In Washington DC, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed a £752 million payment to Ukraine, ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

The payment, part of a larger £3.36 billion loan, is earmarked to procure essential military equipment, including long-range missiles, advanced air defence systems, and drones.

Ukraine has regained control of nearly 50 sq km (19 sq miles) of its territory from Russia in March, its army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Wednesday.

He added that with the change of weather conditions, Moscow’s forces have stepped up their offensive operations and were conducting them along virtually the entire 1,200-km front line.

The EU is ready to supply Ukraine with its promised 90 billion euro loan as soon as Hungary drops its veto after last Sunday’s election, EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said on Wednesday.

“The people have spoken. A new wind is blowing,” Kubilius said about the election that was convincingly won by Hungary’s opposition leader Peter Magyar.

“In any case, we are ready to implement the loan as soon as we get the green light,” the commissioner said.

The defeat of Hungary’s ​Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Ukraine’s harshest EU foe, could pave the way for the loan that Kyiv urgently needs to fund the war with Russia, and that was originally agreed on by all EU member states in December.

The incoming prime minister of Hungary, Péter Magyar, said that he will ask Vladimir Putin to end the killing in Ukraine if he speaks with the Russian president.

Addressing a media briefing a day after his landslide election victory over nationalist Viktor Orban, an ally of Putin, Mr Magyar said he hoped Moscow would be forced to end the war soon and affirmed that Ukraine is the clear victim in the conflict.

Former Nato secretary general Jen Stoltenberg warned that the military alliance’s existence is not “a law of nature” and that there are no guarantees it will survive the next ten years.

Mr Stoltenberg told Denmark’s TV2 that Trump’s threats to withdraw from Nato must be taken seriously, urging European allies to show Washington the value of the bloc to the US.

“It is not a law of nature that we have NATO forever. It is not written in stone that NATO will survive the next ten years,” he told the broadcaster.

“[The US has] something in NATO that Russia and China don’t have: over 30 friends and allies,” he added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that president Vladimir Putin will visit China, with dates to be announced in due course.

The president does not currently plan to meet the U.S. President Donald Trump there.

Peskov added that the Kremlin will announce the dates of the visit in due course.

China’s president Xi Jinping said in a meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov meanwhile that the two countries should work together to restore the authority of the UN and promote multilateralism in foreign affairs.

“It is necessary to strengthen multilateral cooperation, firmly support and promote multilateralism, jointly work to restore the authority and vitality of the United Nations, and closely coordinate and cooperate within the frameworks of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS to advance the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction,” president Xi said, according to China’s Xinhua news agency.

The Kremlin has declared that it was “never friends” with outgoing Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, as it braces for a new era of relations with Budapest following his landslide loss to a pro-EU candidate.

Mr Orban, who enjoyed warm relations with Russian president Vladimir Putin and was a persistent thorn in Ukraine’s side as it sought financial backing for its war effort from a divided Europe, was swept aside by Peter Magyar and his centre-right Tisza party.

Here’s how Hungary’s new leader could reshape support for Ukraine on the continent:

Britain has announced a major new package of support for Ukraine, worth millions of pounds, as senior ministers engage in a series of high-level international meetings.

The aid comes as Kyiv continues to defend itself against Russia’s ongoing invasion.

In Washington DC, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed a £752 million payment to Ukraine, ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

The payment, part of a larger £3.36 billion loan, is earmarked to procure essential military equipment, including long-range missiles, advanced air defence systems, and drones.