Trump mixes up Zelensky and Putin again, refers to 'Islamic Republic of Japan' at Nato summit

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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump gets Zelensky and Putin mixed up again in baffling Nato conference with Kyiv leader

US leader said he is meeting the Russian leader later today

President Donald Trump appeared to confuse Volodymyr Zelensky for Vladimir Putin during a press conference at the Nato summit in Ankara on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters, Trump pointed at Zelensky and said: “Do you have a question for president Putin?” He then appeared to recover himself and asked reporters for questions he could pass on to the Russian leader who he said he is meeting later today.

The US leader referred to the “Islamic Republic of Japan” during the same press conference.

Trump suggested that the US would be happy to provide Ukraine with a license for Patriot interceptors and said further talks on anti-ballistic missiles would ensue.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones have hit nine Russian “shadow fleet” tankers in the Sea of Azov, Kyiv's drone forces commander said on Wednesday.

A total of 19 tankers have been hit in the past 72 hours, Robert Brovdi said in a statement on Telegram, as Ukraine intensifies efforts to isolate Crimea.

Russia launched fresh missile strikes on Kyiv in the early hours today, triggering fires and injuring at ⁠least two ​people, ⁠officials said. It was the third round of attacks on the Ukrainian capital this week.

Ukraine says its drones hit three refineries, tankers, in night of major strikes

Ukrainian drones overnight struck three Russian oil refineries as well as Russian tankers on the Sea of Azov, the Ukrainian military and Russian local officials said on Wednesday, as Kyiv's campaign against Russian energy infrastructure rages on.

Russia has been suffering from acute fuel shortages in some regions, as Ukrainian drone strikes against its oil refineries have ramped up, with Kyiv hitting targets ever further from its own territory.

Kyiv on Monday hit the Omsk refinery, Russia's largest, which is located deep inside Siberia, around 2,700 km (1,700 miles) from Ukrainian-held territory.

In separate statements, Ukraine's general staff and special forces said drones had hit the TANECO and TAIF-NK oil refineries in Tatarstan's Nizhnekamsk, the Saratov oil refinery, and the Borisoglebsk military airbase in Voronezh region.

Russian officials confirmed strikes in those regions, though they did not specify what had been targeted. Russia's Defence Ministry said it had downed 415 drones overnight.

The degree of damage inflicted by the strikes was not immediately clear.

Maira Butt8 July 2026 16:00

Watch: Anti-ballistic missile system needed in Europe, warns Zelensky

Maira Butt8 July 2026 15:30

Russia is now trying to jam Elon Musk’s Starlink

Russia is installing powerful jamming systems to disrupt Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet system, in the latest bid to stop Ukraine’s drone attacks.

Kyiv's development of "mid-strike" drones can hit targets dozens of kilometres behind front lines accurately and cheaply, and are often flown via Starlink.

In a concerted mid-strike campaign ⁠this year, Ukraine has attacked supply lines, fuel storage facilities, air-defence installations and command centres, disrupting Russian forces' logistics and causing fuel shortages in Russian-occupied Crimea.

But Russia is now developing many ways to try to counter the mid-range strikes.

Russia is now trying to jam Elon Musk’s Starlink

Putin’s latest mid to stop Ukraine drone strikes

Maira Butt8 July 2026 15:00

Trump says US will provide Ukraine with license for Patriot missiles

President Donald Trump has appeared to support Ukraine’s bid for Patriot interceptors and anti-ballistic missiles during a press conference at the Nato summit in Ankara on Wednesday.

He suggested that the US would be happy to provide Ukraine with a license for Patriot interceptors and said further talks on anti-ballistic missiles would ensue.

“We're going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That's pretty cool. This way, you can't complain that we're not giving 'em enough," Trump said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“It's a defensive weapon, which I like better than an offensive weapon,” Trump said.

Zelensky has repeatedly pleaded for the US-made interceptors — the only weapon in Ukraine's arsenal that can shoot down ballistic projectiles, whose high velocity and steep flight path make them difficult to stop.

Maira Butt8 July 2026 14:55

The Independent’s White House correspondent Andrew Feinberg reports:

President Donald Trump has just told reporters: "One of the things we're going to be talking about is, we're going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That's pretty cool. This way, you can't complain that we're not giving them enough. I'd say, ‘Make them yourself.’

“We haven't informed the company of that yet, but that'll, that'll work out all right. They'll be thrilled, but you know they'll be able to do it.

“You'll be able to figure that out. Most, most countries couldn't do that. If I said that to most countries, they wouldn't know what I'm talking about, but this is a very ingenious group, and what I like about that, it's a defensive, it's a defensive situation, as opposed to an offensive.”

Maira Butt8 July 2026 14:14

Trump says both sides in Ukraine war want a settlement

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that both sides in the war in Ukraine want to see a settlement but Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have been "difficult."

“We've settled a lot of wars, and this one is the one that I thought maybe would be the easiest, but Putin is a difficult character, and this guy's a difficult character,” Trump said, referring to Zelensky, who was sitting next to him ahead of a meeting between the pair at the Nato summit in Ankara.

Zelensky said he wanted to discuss “some very important details” with Trump.

“I'm sure you will do everything to stop this war,” he told Trump.

Maira Butt8 July 2026 14:10

Nato backs Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes to force Putin to negotiate, says Finnish PM

Nato leaders back Ukraine’s campaign of long-range strikes deep inside Russia as it looks to pressure Moscow back into negotiations, Finnish president Alexander Stubb has said.

Kyiv is in the “best” position it has been in since the war began and Ukraine’s long distance strikes on Russian oil and military infrastructure have changed US strategic thinking on the war, significantly strengthening Ukraine’s negotiating position, Mr Stubb told the Financial Times.

“I think that [all Nato leaders] understand why Ukraine is doing this,” he said, speaking on the eve of the Nato leaders’ summit in Ankara. “Everyone believes that we need to continue to increase the pressure.”

Nato backs Ukraine’s long-range strikes to force Putin to negotiate, says Finnish PM

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says the strikes are intended to compel Russia to return to the negotiating table

Maira Butt8 July 2026 14:00

Watch: Russia launches fresh strikes on Odesa, injuring six

Maira Butt8 July 2026 13:30

Desperate Russian drivers are converting their cars to LPG as fuel shortages intensify

Russians are flocking to convert their cars to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) amid nationwide fuel shortages, escalating petrol prices, and long queues at filling stations.

These issues stem from recent Ukrainian attacks on refineries. Egor Popov, whose Moscow-based Garant-Gas company fits equipment for LPG conversions, stated that "demand had multiplied".

Butane and propane, components of LPG produced during natural gas processing and crude oil refining, are also less emissions-intensive than petrol.

Desperate Russian drivers are converting their cars to LPG as fuel shortages bite

A nationwide shortage of gasoline and soaring petrol prices is pushing Russians to alternative fuel sources

Maira Butt8 July 2026 13:00

Starmer urges ‘unity’ at Nato summit again overshadowed by Trump

Sir Keir Starmer urged leaders to show “unity and strength” at the start of a Nato summit already overshadowed once again by Donald Trump.

Speaking to reporters on arrival at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, where the summit is being held, the Prime Minister said the gathering would prove to be “very important” against the background of the Ukraine war and the US conflict with Iran.

He said: “It’s very important that, as leaders, we show the unity and the strength of Nato at a time like this, and that’s what we’ll do at this summit here this morning.”

Starmer urges ‘unity’ at Nato summit again overshadowed by Trump

The Prime Minister said the gathering would prove to be ‘very important’ against the background of the Ukraine war and the US conflict with Iran.

Maira Butt8 July 2026 12:30