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The EU should fast-track Ukraine’s membership of the club – it has the most to gain | Mujtaba Rahman

Russia’s war on Ukraine is now in its fifth year and a ceasefire remains elusive. The US’s attention is divided, limiting external pressure for compromise, while Moscow and Kyiv both still believe they can strengthen their respective negotiating positions through battlefield gains. At some point, however, a deal will have to be done. The parameters of that deal are already understood by negotiators on all sides. Russia will give up on its original war aims and Ukraine will make de-facto territorial concessions. The US will provide Kyiv with security guarantees to deter future Russian aggression and the EU will provide Ukraine with a membership path as well as help with the country’s postwar reconstruction. According to Ukraine’s constitution, any peace deal that Zelenskyy makes will have to be ratified by its parliament and possibly by the public in a referendum. The key to Zelenskyy being able to do a deal and sell it domestically will be the EU’s commitment to Ukrainian membership. Ukraine joining the EU is important for several reasons. Taking on membership obligations will help drive reforms in Ukraine that root out corruption and better institutionalise the rule of law, in turn helping attract inward investment and reducing the postwar reconstruction bill for European taxpayers. It would also equip the EU with much-needed leverage vis-a-vis the US, and ensure that European governments have a seat at the negotiating table in shaping the final agreement when that time comes. The prospect of Ukraine joining the EU could also help to ward off a future Russian invasion. While article 42.7 of the EU treaties – the bloc’s mutual defence clause – is no substitute for the mutual defence pledge enshrined in article 5 of the Nato treaty, or for a US “backstop” to any European peacekeeping force in Ukraine, EU membership would nonetheless complicate decision-making for Russia’s military planners. This is especially important as long as Donald Trump or his Maga movement remain in power. It is for this reason that Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, and António Costa, president of the European Council, are framing Ukraine’s accession as the most important form of security guarantee Ukraine could win. The benefits are not all in Ukraine’s direction. Ukraine joining the club would make Europe a military and agricultural superpower. Not only does Ukraine have a far larger army than the UK, France or Poland – between 800,000 and 900,000 active military personnel, depending on how the numbers are counted – but it is also one with significant combat experience. Ukraine’s defence industry has proven highly adaptable, demonstrating leadership in areas such as drone innovation. As the US retreats from its pledge to keep Europe safe, it is Ukraine that can help the continent move toward greater military self-sufficiency. For this to be a credible prospect, however, Ukraine’s inclusion in the EU will need to be almost immediate – closer to 2030 than 2040. But EU leaders are torn on this question. Despite their warm words in public, in private many oppose Ukraine’s membership. The list of grievances is long. Given immigration pressures, many countries oppose granting Ukraine immediate free movement of labour. Fears of Ukrainian agriculture undercutting EU farmers makes others fearful of letting Kyiv have free movement of goods. Fierce opposition in France and Poland to the recent EU trade deal with the Mercosur countries of South America shows how difficult this issue will be. EU capitals also have concerns over corruption and the rule of law in Ukraine, especially given the EU’s past ineffectiveness in addressing these issues in countries such as Hungary once they are in the club. Another challenge is how the EU would treat territories in the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region, whose sovereignty is likely to remain contested. While Cyprus’s EU membership could provide a template (EU law does not apply to Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus), dealing with a hostile Russia would be far more complicated. The budgetary implications would also be significant. Because Ukraine is agrarian and much poorer than the EU average, the funds needed to subsidise agriculture and economic catching up would be enormous, and result in significant transfers from southern, central and eastern Europe to Ukraine. Another challenge is that France and the Netherlands would probably need referendums to ratify Ukraine’s admission to the club. The precedent that Ukraine’s accession would set for other applicants in the western Balkans, along with Moldova and Georgia, is also a major worry. None of these challenges are easy. Yet EU leaders in national capitals and Brussels are nothing if not ingenious, and they can surely find solutions, as they have in previous crises. During the Greek financial crisis, despite a no-bailout clause in the EU treaty, governments still managed to shovel well over €200bn to Athens between 2010 and 2018 to keep the country solvent and prevent an even more systemic crisis threatening the entire eurozone. Sticking to the old, painstakingly slow system of EU “enlargement” would keep Kyiv stuck in the waiting room for the better part of a decade. Yet admitting Ukraine more quickly will require new thinking. One idea – for now rejected by the 27 governments – is “reversed membership”, whereby Ukraine would join the EU but not enjoy all of the benefits and rights on entry. Instead, Kyiv would negotiate its way into the single market in blocs and over time – but from inside rather than outside the club. Another idea is the use of “safeguards”, whereby Ukraine would run the risk of losing funds, access to the single market and certain voting rights if Kyiv failed to follow through on reforms. To manage the budgetary implications of rapid membership, long-term opt-outs could be put in place, meaning Kyiv would only gain full access to EU funds after 10, 15 or 20 years. German chancellor Friedrich Merz’s recent proposal of “associate membership” nods in this direction, even if his suggestion landed badly. Full membership would be a long-term aspiration. After all, many existing member states are still not part of the eurozone or Schengen free-travel areas. None of this is easy. But the alternative – possibly jeopardising a Ukraine-Russia peace deal – is surely more untenable. If war continues, it cannot be because EU leaders failed to recognise the importance of this moment in offering Ukraine the credible and speedy path to EU membership it needs – and deserves. Mujtaba Rahman is the managing director for Europe at Eurasia Group, a political risk research and consulting firm

Minister dismisses Labor colleague Ed Husic’s criticism of secondhand Aukus submarines deal as ‘disingenuous’

Australia has been negotiating to receive three secondhand Virginia-class nuclear submarines from the United States since late 2022 and expects the nuclear vessels to run for more than 25 years, the defence industry minister Pat Conroy says. Dismissing criticism of the Aukus defence pact from Labor colleague Ed Husic as “disingenuous”, Conroy said the US military had wanted Australia to accept a combination of new and used submarines from early next decade, to suit domestic manufacturing capability. “What’s changed is that the US have got better data and understanding. They’ve improved the performance of their maintenance of in-service Virginias, which means they’re more confident to release a third in-service submarine to us,” Conroy told Guardian Australia. “That will be cheaper for us to maintain, cheaper to run … and it’ll also be cheaper to buy.” The first Virginia-class from the US is due to arrive in Australia in 2032, with another arriving every four years, before the Australian-built model is ready for operations. The bespoke SSN Aukus model is due to come online in 2042. Conroy confirmed the Virginia-class models will have completed about five years of service and undergone their first deep level maintenance shortly before being handed over. With a lifespan of about 33 years, Australia expects about 26 or 27 years’ capability from the vessels. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Aukus has attracted renewed criticism since the defence minister, Richard Marles, announced the change on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday. Ed Husic, a former cabinet minister, criticised the decision in Labor’s caucus meeting on Tuesday, urging a rethink and a backup plan from the federal government. “We need to be open as a nation that we are not going to get the deal that was promised to us,” Husic said, later referring to the original plan of two secondhand subs and one newly constructed model. But Conroy, who has argued forcefully with Aukus opponents in settings including Labor’s national conference in 2023, said Husic’s criticism and calls for another vote on support for the $368bn deal was wrong. “That’s disingenuous, because the Virginias weren’t mentioned when Labor was opposition.” He conceded some Labor rank-and-file party members opposed Aukus but said broad support remained, including from members of the party’s left faction. “Aukus still has the support of the party, including left MPs,” Conroy said. A Pentagon spokesperson said overnight that plans for three used submarines would streamline the Aukus arrangements, and deliver cost efficiencies in workforce training, maintenance and supply chains. But the US Congress could have to reconsider Aukus arrangements as a result of the change in approach. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 says the US president is authorised to transfer “up to two Virginia Class submarines from the inventory of the Department of the Navy” to Australia, and “transfer not more than one additional Virginia Class submarine” under the Arms Export Control Act. Congressional budget office analysis of the US shipbuilding plan 2025-2054 says a used submarine will be delivered in 2032, with another in 2035, before a newly constructed ship is delivered in 2038. “If the U.S. sold 5 SSNs to Australia, the remaining 2 would be new construction submarines in 2041 and 2044.” The Greens defence spokesperson, David Shoebridge, dismissed the government’s explanations as “spin”. “This is the US flexing its muscles, and we know why, because Australia has no written guarantee to get any nuclear submarine out of the United States, even on their best case second, third, or fourth optimal pathway.”

Chip, chip ... boom? South Korea tech makers join the trillion-dollar club but some fear a short-circuit looms

South Korea has leapfrogged India to become the world’s sixth largest share market, leaving equity markets in the UK, Germany and France trailing in its dust. But despite the runaway success, some are raising concerns that the Kospi index is too dependent on two freshly minted trillion-dollar chipmaking companies. Chip company SK Hynix last week claimed a seat in Asia’s trillion-dollar company club, alongside South Korean compatriot Samsung Electronics and Taiwan’s TSMC. Explosive demand for chips used in AI has propelled the trio past the valuation threshold. SK Hynix’s share price has skyrocketed 1,000% over the past year, while Samsung has soared 500%. Off the back of the stunning rise of these chipmakers, South Korea’s stock market has experienced blistering growth since late 2025, shattering record after record. The Kospi index hit an all-time high of 8,880 this week, capping a 220% rise in 12 months. Goldman Sachs have predicted further gains. It has raised their 12-month Kospi target to 9,000, in what the investment bank called a “once-in-a-generation surge” in semiconductor earnings. In a reshuffle of the global pecking order, South Korea and Taiwan’s stock markets have vaulted over India. “I’m watching it in Seoul, and I still have to keep pinching myself,” says Peter Kim, global investment strategist at KB Securities, as South Korea became the first country other than the US to have more than one company worth at least $1tn. “Certainly Koreans are excited about it.” Japan, too, is riding high on the AI boom. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index notched an all-time high on Monday as investors continued to climb into AI and semiconductor-related shares. Amid the money moves, the automotive behemoth Toyota lost its crown as Japan’s most valuable listed company, toppled by SoftBank Group, an investment company heavily focused on AI tech. Kim says a “dramatic shift” is under way. After 20 years of investment in platforms such as Alphabet, Amazon and Meta, turning tech start ups into some of the biggest companies on the planet, the money is moving to the hardware side. Until recently, chipmakers had limited investment appeal, Kim says, with companies producing “a fairly flat and unexciting demand outlook”. But the rise of AI and its massive thirst for chips has created an “amazing reversion”. Nvidia, the world’s first $5tn company, sits at the centre of the AI ecosystem. Production of its chips are outsourced to TSMC in Taiwan, which became the first company in Asia to hit the $1tn mark. Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang flew into Taiwan at the end of May and made a number of bullish declarations – including plans to invest $150bn a year in Taiwan, which he views as the “epicentre” of the AI revolution. “Taiwan is booming,” Huang said. “This is where the chips come, packaging comes, this is where the systems are made, this is where AI supercomputers were created.” While in Taipei, Huang met with top South Korean tech executives, and he is due to fly to South Korea this week. But the rapid rise of tech stocks has raised concerns about an AI bubble. AI has a voracious demand for memory chips – which serve a different function to Nvidia’s advanced chips. The three companies meeting that demand are Samsung, SK Hynix and the US chipmaker Micron, itself a recent addition to the $1tn club. Russ Mould, the investment director at AJ Bell, cautions the share price charts of those three chipmakers bear similarities to some companies in 2000, just as the tech bubble was getting ready to burst. The chip sector has a reputation for volatility and boom-bust cycles. But Mould argues those cycles are behind us, “thanks to demand from AI”. Kim agrees. He says demand, for now at least, appears underpinned by Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, a group he labels “the AI hyperscalers”, who have “so much cash” and “so much commitment into this AI venture”. But Kim says his firm’s research indicates Samsung and SK Hynix have contributed up to 70% of the Kospi’s growth in 2026. The polarisation of South Korea’s bull market is unprecedented, he says. Such concentration does leave the Kospi highly exposed to the global AI spending cycle or supply chain issues. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote, noted the Kospi’s VIX, a volatility index, hit “an exceptionally high level” of 75 this week – historically, the index hovers about 20, she wrote in a market note. It is unusual as the VIX typically rises during heavy selloffs on equity markets – not when they are rising, Ozkardeskaya said. “The spike in the VIX, alongside the Kospi’s historic rally, shows that investors today are rather buying in panic, scared to miss out on something big.” Kim says another change is blowing through global markets. Traditional institutional investors have long believed the US has the most important, smartest, and biggest companies, he says, and that “Asia is there to just pick up the scraps”. “I feel that sentiment has turned.”

US and Iran launch fresh strikes amid stalled ceasefire talks

The US and Iran have exchanged fresh missiles and drone strikes, further jeopardising efforts by Washington to secure a new ceasefire agreement with Tehran. US forces fired a Hellfire missile to disable a tanker attempting to break through the American blockade of the strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, and later said they repelled Iranian reprisal attacks in the region and attacked sites on Iran’s Qeshm Island. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said it attacked the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain with missiles and drones in response to the strike on Qeshm, a claim the US military’s Central Command (Centcom) denied. The latest exchange of fire began when Centcom said it targeted an unladen tanker – Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie – on Tuesday. Centcom said aircraft fired a missile to disable the tankers engine, as it passed through international waters toward Iran’s Kharg Island, north of the strait near Kuwait, after the crew ignored repeated warnings over a 24-hour period. Soon after, Kuwait’s military later said its air defences were intercepting missile and drone attacks and urged the public “not to approach or touch any debris, shrapnel, or unidentified objects that may result from intercepting hostile aerial targets”. Sirens also sounded in Bahrain. Centcom said two Iranian missiles fired at Kuwait “fell short or broke apart enroute”, and that three missiles targeting Bahrain were intercepted by US and Bahrain. It later added that it defended against a fresh wave of drones targeting US forces in Kuwait and that no personnel were harmed. US forces also said they shot down three one-way attack drones “launched by Iran toward civilian mariners that were rightfully transiting regional waters” but gave no further details. American forces also conducted strikes on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island. The latest exchange of strikes underline the lack of political progress in resolving the Middle East crisis, despite upbeat claims by US secretary of state Marco Rubio in his first appearance before the Senate foreign relations committee since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran. Rubio reiterated claims on Tuesday that a deal with Tehran was within reach, and claimed the regime had agreed to negotiate aspects of its nuclear program that it had refused to discuss even a month ago. His comments come in direct contrast to the messaging from Iran, which has indicated it will suspend peace talks with the US in protest against Israel’s offensive in Lebanon, threatening the collapse of negotiations with Washington. The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said: “The ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon. Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts. The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation.” Israeli warplanes have launched dozens of strikes across southern Lebanon despite a new agreement supposedly brokered by Donald Trump aiming to bolster the tattered ceasefire in Lebanon. The US president said on Monday that he had stopped an imminent Israeli strike on Beirut and that he had spoken to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and representatives of Hezbollah and both agreed that “all shooting will stop”. But on Tuesday, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported 30 Israeli strikes across the south. Near the city of Sidon, rescuers recovered the bodies of six members of the same family, including two children and a woman, after an Israeli strike. The Israeli military also issued a new evacuation warning for the southern city of Nabatiyeh before new strikes, accusing the “Hezbollah terror organisation” of violating the ceasefire. The Lexie is the sixth ship that the US military has disabled since its blockade of Iran began on 13 April. The US military said it had so far redirected 122 vessels that were seeking to enter or exit Iranian ports. On the weekend, US forces hit Iranian radar and drone sites, to which Tehran responded by targeting a military base in Kuwait that it claimed was involved in the US operation. With Reuters

Barnaby Joyce rallies anti-abortion activists ahead of tight NSW vote

One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce has joined pro-life campaigners to pile pressure on Nationals MPs to vote to criminalise some abortions ahead of a tight vote in New South Wales. Anti-abortion activists have threatened to campaign for One Nation against major parties to force new limits on terminating pregnancies on the back of its polling surge. Introduced to chants of “Nats must act,” Joyce addressed a rally against “sex-selective” abortions outside NSW parliament on Tuesday night. “You must keep that fire burning for those people who can’t stand up for themselves, and I call them people, they’re not foetuses,” Joyce said. “They are people.” “Politically, does this make you popular? Nup, nup. Probably lose half the votes every time you do it. But you know why you do it? Because it’s the right thing to do.” Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Joyce encouraged the crowd to campaign against sitting politicians on abortion. “The one thing politicians fear is losing their job,” Joyce said. “They’re very mindful of that. What I see before me here is about 1,500 people who can hand out how to vote cards.” Dr Joanna Howe, who organised the rally and invited Joyce, told the crowd the four Nationals members of the NSW upper house were the only people standing in the way of the bill being approved. It would still need lower house approval to become law. “We are so close to passing the first-ever pro-life bill through a house of parliament this country has ever seen,” Howe said. “The message to the Nats is: if the Nats don’t pass this bill, then One Nation is going to take your seats … If you don’t vote for this bill, Barnaby’s coming for you.” The bill, moved by the Libertarian upper house member, John Ruddick, is a ban only on sex-selective abortion. “There is no evidence that sex selection is occurring in NSW, and from my perspective, as I said, it’s a conscience bill,” NSW health minister Ryan Park told ABC radio. “I don’t want to see abortion back into the criminal code. “It would make it the only part of healthcare that is done through that type of criminality and I don’t want to see that.” Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists president Nisha Khot said the bill was “predicated on misinformation”, that there are already laws against sex-selection abortion for non-medical reasons, and that the “underlying aim is to restrict access to abortion”. Greens health spokesperson Dr Amanda Cohn said the bill targeted certain cultural and ethnic groups and was “fuelled by racist and anti-immigration rhetoric”. Howe told the crowd that bill would be just the start of the legislative campaign. “Business has changed,” she said. “Every year in this state, we will introduce a bill until we protect all the babies.” She told Guardian Australia she next planned to lobby for a ban on late-term abortions. Howe said Tuesday’s Sydney rally was her biggest pro-life rally yet and she planned to organise grassroots campaigns in every Nationals-held seat ahead of NSW’s state election in March 2027. “Because there will now be One Nation candidates in those seats, we know that we can unseat pro-abortion Labor people, pro-abortion Liberal people and pro-abortion Nationals,” she said. Speakers addressed Tuesday’s crowd from a truck with handpainted banners of two foetuses captioned “Emma and Ruth”, the names Howe attached to an image of what she thought were foetuses but were actually baby sugar gliders. A counter-protest of about 150 people assembled nearby in Martin Place, where a University of Sydney student, Lucy, originally from the US, warned eight states had introduced sex-selective abortion bans like that being considered in NSW before Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022. “They were able to get way with it in America and then they kept going bill by bill, chipping away at abortion rights, chipping away at freedom, until one day, we woke up and our bodies were apparently no longer ours to control,” Lucy said. The NSW bill is the latest in a series of attempts to wind back abortion access since it was decriminalised in all states and territories almost three years ago. The bill will be debated in NSW’s upper house on Wednesday and go to a vote in coming days, and, if passed, go to the lower house. No party has a majority in either house and Labor, Liberal and National MPs have been granted conscience votes on the issue. Alex Greenwich, the independent lower house MP, said the vote would be tight, made worse by the suspension of a Labor minister, Penny Sharpe. “It’s going to be a very close vote. It doesn’t help that the Greens, Latham, and The Coalition suspended Penny Sharpe for a prolonged period of time, which removes her pro-choice vote from the debate tomorrow.” “Penny introduced the bill to decriminalise abortion in the upper house and marshalled the numbers to vote down all hostile amendments, including the ones that are the basis of this bill.” “It’s clear that with the Green’s support, Mark Latham and Damian Tudehope now control the upper house, as such anything can happen.” • This article was amended on 3 July 2026 to provide the full context of Alex Greenwich’s remarks.

‘The ball won’t roll’: Mexico’s striking teachers threaten to disrupt World Cup days before kick-off

Striking teachers wreaked havoc on Tuesday in downtown Mexico City, a few days before the city hosts the first match of the World Cup, with protesters pulling down giant mannequins of football players, ripping off their clothes and setting them on fire on the city’s main Paseo de la Reforma. They also set soccer balls alight and blocked main roads across the capital. The teachers, associated with the CNTE union, are calling for salary increases and the reversal of pension laws. They have threatened to protest during the World Cup unless a solution is reached. Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, was set to meet with a top Spanish official on Tuesday but with the teachers blocking access to the Zócalo and National Palace, the meeting had to take place on Zoom, La Jornada reported. The chaos comes a day after the striking teachers were teargassed and reportedly shot with rubber bullets by riot police as they marched toward Mexico City’s historic Zócalo plaza, just days before the square is expected to host the 2026 World Cup “Fan Fest”. Five protesters were injured in the melee, including one teacher who lost an eye, according to union leadership. Mexico City authorities have denied using rubber bullets or teargas. On Tuesday, protesters gathered outside the interior ministry to denounce the violence, chanting “If there is no solution, the ball won’t roll”, in reference to the upcoming World Cup. They also criticised authorities for blocking access to the Zócalo. “This shows that the spaces of the people can be privatised at the whim and for the benefit of the large corporations behind this World Cup, minimising the fight for workers’ rights,” said Filiberto Frausto, one of the union leaders. The violence in Mexico City follows similar clashes between protesting teachers and police in the city of Oaxaca last month. Mexican authorities insist they are advancing towards an agreement with the teachers. “Through dialogue, we will try to address the problems that are feasible to address,” Sheinbaum said on Monday. “There are some demands that the budget doesn’t allow us to fully meet, but there are some that we can; so, we are addressing them.” But teachers are not convinced. “All the government has done is hold meetings for dialogue, but there’s no progress,” Sergio Cruz, one of the protesting teachers, told the Guardian. “We are demanding justice.” The protests have stoked anger and fear among business owners in and around Mexico’s historic downtown who were hoping for an economic boost from the World Cup. “All the businesses around the main square were saying it was going to be great, that lots of people, lots of tourists, would come,” said Gerardo López Becerra, head of the Concomercio business group. “But with these tents set up in different parts of the historic centre, it’s affecting a lot of businesses.” Becerra said that as many as 10,000 businesses could be affected by the ongoing protests. But the teachers have vowed to keep marching until a solution is reached, even if it means holding protests during the World Cup. “The protests will go on,” said Cruz. “It’s a moment for the world to know what kind of government we have.”

Ukraine war briefing: ‘Your country is killing other people’ – tennis star blasts Russian rivals

Ukraine’s freshly minted French Open semi-finalist Marta Kostyuk ripped into Russian tennis opponents as having made clear “whose side they are on” by their silence after Kyiv and other cities endured a night of drone and missile attacks that killed at least 23 people. “I want to start with this historical match that we played today with Elina [Svitolina],” said Kostyuk after defeating her compatriot. “We had a very difficult night again in Ukraine, especially Kyiv. So many people dead. I want to give this match to Ukrainian people and to their resilience … With everything that’s happening, for me being here is a real blessing, and I don’t think about winning. I’m here to represent Ukraine and to enjoy.” Kostyuk was asked about Russian rivals including Diana Shnaider and her upcoming semi-final opponent, Mirra Andreeva, who have previously said they focus only on the tennis ball and avoid political discussion. “They are all grownups. They know what they’re talking about. They know what’s going on. They have phones. They have Instagram. They have news,” Kostyuk said. “I wish there was some more clear stance on what’s going on, especially when your country is killing other people.” Kostyuk praised Daria Kasatkina, who switched her allegiance from Russia to Australia, as an example of someone who had publicly spoken out despite pressure on her family. “I don’t think she lives in Russia anyways, but the majority of players don’t live in Russia,” Kostyuk said. “There is nothing that’s stopping you if this is something you don’t believe in … I know some people who have left Russia the moment the war began, who sold all their business, who left everything behind because they just don’t agree with what their country is doing to other people.” Kostyuk said representing Ukraine had become more important than results. The deadly attacks on Ukraine on Tuesday demonstrate how Russia is able to exploit a global shortage of air defence interceptor missiles, Peter Beaumont writes. The MIM-104 Patriot has been widely relied on by US allies – not least in the Gulf, as well as by Ukraine. The US-Israeli campaign against Iran, in addition to Ukraine, has triggered a scramble for the dwindling supply of interceptor missiles. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, has repeated his plea to the US for more stocks of interceptors. Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha urged partners to impose tougher sanctions on Moscow and provide more military support. “Moscow is losing on the battlefield. No number of missiles can change this. What we can change is Russia’s ability to continue terror.” Zelenskyy said there was evidence Russian forces could strike again over Tuesday night. “According to our intelligence, another large-scale attack may occur tonight,” he said in his nightly video address. “Please, I strongly urge you to pay attention to air raid alerts … Unfortunately the current level of supplies for our air defence does not enable us to intercept a significant portion of the missiles.” More than 70 missiles and 650 drones were fired at Ukraine over Monday night and Russian forces had followed up with 100 more drones throughout Tuesday. Russian regions also came under attack. The Ilsky oil refinery, in the southern Krasnodar region, caught fire after a drone attack, Russian authorities and Ukraine’s military said. Moscow air defence units destroyed eight Ukrainian drones in the hours leading up to midnight on Tuesday, said the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin. Officials in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv bordering Russia on Tuesday ordered the mandatory evacuation of civilians from seven towns and villages, citing increased Russian attacks. “Given the security situation and systematic enemy attacks, we are expanding the mandatory evacuation zone in the Zolochiv direction,” said Oleg Synegubov, the regional governor. The orders applied to 7,157 people. Hungarys’ new prime minister, Péter Magyar, said he was ready to meet Zelenskyy next week to open a new chapter in relations after beating Moscow-friendly predecessor Viktor Orbán in an election. Speaking in Berlin, Magyar said he was ready to meet Zelenskyy if technical negotiations on the rights of the Hungarian minority in neighbouring Ukraine were finished this week. “So far, the negotiations are progressing very encouragingly, and we hope that they may even be concluded at the technical level this week,” Magyar said.

British couple jailed in Iran have lost appeal against convictions, family say

A British couple jailed on spying charges in Iran have lost an appeal against their convictions, their family has said. Craig and Lindsay Foreman, both aged 53, were handed 10-year prison sentences in February after being convicted of espionage, which they deny. The couple’s family, from East Sussex, have claimed they were not permitted to attend their appeal hearing. They were jailed after their arrest in January 2025 while travelling through Iran during a round-the-world trip by motorcycle. Lindsay Foreman’s son, Joe Bennett, said “the dial needs to shift” as he explained the pair “don’t understand the process”. He said: “My mum, Lindsay, and stepdad, Craig, were not permitted to attend their own appeal hearing. “We don’t know if they received a proper account of what was argued on their behalf. “We know they had been asked to sign documents … documents they could not read, and they refused, but we don’t know the details of when, or what they were. “Their case has now passed to the supreme court, but we don’t understand the process, the timeline, or what, if anything, will be submitted in their name.” The couple’s family members said Craig Foreman is on day 25 of a hunger strike and his wife is on day 16 of hers at Tehran’s Evin prison, adding that all communication between them has been cut off by Iranian authorities. Bennett said he met officials at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on Monday but left without “clarity on what pressure is being applied to Tehran”. In a statement, the FCDO said: “We are disappointed by the appeal decision and will continue working to ensure that Craig and Lindsay are returned safely to the UK. “Since their arrest last year, Britain’s ambassador to Tehran, diplomats and officials in London have been working to provide consular assistance. “This includes the ambassador visiting them in prison and facilitating calls with their family back in the UK. “Minister Falconer last met the family on 18 May and the foreign secretary on 17 March. “Both set out to them personally how unjustified and appalling we consider Lindsay and Craig’s incarceration to be, and the action that the UK government is taking to try and secure their release.” The FCDO warns all British and British-Iranian nationals not to travel to Iran because of a “significant risk of arrest, questioning or detention”.