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Zelenskyy says latest Russian attacks come ‘in response to signals from US’ – Europe live

Meanwhile, Romania’s Nicușor Dan has warned that Russia seeks to “destabilise societies – not just in Romania and Bulgaria, but across European nations, particularly those on the Eastern Flank,” as he responded to overnight drone attacks on ships in Romanian territorial waters of the Black Sea (12:03). Briefing the media in Brussels after his meeting with Nato’s Mark Rutte and Bulgaria’s Rumen Radev (13:01, 14:31), Dan said they discussed the recent incidents in Romania and Bulgaria, and that he believed there was “a need for equipment suited to this new type of challenge.” He said that’s what happened when Romania was affected by stray drones coming into its territory. “You will recall that … we turned to the allies, some military equipment arrived and the situation stabilised.” He continued: “Clearly, Russia is attempting to destabilise societies – not just in Romania and Bulgaria, but across European nations, particularly those on the Eastern Flank – and to erode support for Ukraine. Our response is to continue supporting Ukraine, as this is a matter of international law and a matter concerning Romania’s own security.” However, he did not offer more details about the incidents, saying the investigation was ongoing.

Bring a bottle: Viennese dog owners told to dilute their pets’ urine to protect trees

A neighbourhood in Vienna has introduced guidelines for dog walking, including the use of bottled tap water to rinse away urine and protect vulnerable trees. Neubau, an up-and-coming, densely populated district dotted with cafes and galleries, rolled out the Schönes Gassi (nice dog walk) campaign this week. The project addresses the impact of the area’s 600 dogs on greenery, including about 250 trees planted over the past decade to help mitigate the effects of the climate crisis. Using the slogan Das Flascherl zum Sackerl (the bottle to go with the bag), the guidelines say animal urine corrodes tree bark, weakening its protective layer and potentially letting corrosive pathogens and fungi penetrate the trunk. “While marking territory is a form of communication for dogs, it causes stress for urban trees,” said Grätzllabor, a community group that takes its name from the Viennese slang for quarter or neighbourhood. “This results in rot and, in the worst case, compromised stability.” The group said the campaign had been launched in concert with “concerned citizens” in the Austrian capital. It also asks owners to carry plastic bags to clean up after their pets. Owners can pick up a free 270ml water bottle at the town hall to rinse areas used by their dogs. The voluntary scheme could be expanded to other districts. Fresh canine urine is highly water-soluble and dilution significantly reduces the concentration of ammonia and other harmful substances seeping into the soil, while also softening the smell. Grätzllabor said the rinsing strategy should not be interpreted as a “licence” for dogs to mark trees or green space but rather as an action owners could take to minimise harm caused by their pets. Conny Sporrer, who is a dog trainer, said the Schönes Gassi campaign could help head off more drastic calls to mitigate problems linked to animal waste. “In Vienna, we don’t need a city full of dog bans, or a city where dogs are just allowed to urinate anywhere they please,” she told reporters, saying most pets could be taught where to relieve themselves. “What we need is consideration, education and sufficient suitable facilities for dogs.” Similar schemes have been introduced in Japan, Italy, Switzerland and Spain, which has the highest share of dog-owning households in the EU at 70%. Austria has relatively low levels of ownership, at just 17% of households. Berlin, where more than 100,000 dogs are kept as pets after an increase in ownership during the pandemic, has also begun addressing the problem by stopping the planting of black locust trees in some areas because they are particularly sensitive to urine. In the spring, the western district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf began installing “pee stones” for dogs to use as a target, instead of trees.

Revealed: Serbian ruler’s secret role in ‘illegal’ effort to help Trump business

Serbia’s authoritarian ruler personally intervened to advance an allegedly illegal scheme to hand over a protected site in Belgrade for a Trump tower, the Guardian can reveal. Aleksandar Vučić summoned officials to a meeting at his presidential offices about the project, which has culminated in a landmark indictment of senior figures from his regime on charges of abuse of public office. The criminal case is believed to be the first resulting from the Trumps’ global moneymaking campaign, described by critics as a “pay to play” arrangement where everything from sanctions relief to cutting-edge chips is available to those who enrich the first family and their associates. The alleged scheme to override the protected status of a historic building in the Serbian capital looms over an election scheduled for 25 October, when Vučić will seek to extend his 12 years in power in the face of a mass protest movement spurred by government corruption. A nationalist former propaganda chief under Slobodan Milošević, Vučić hosted the US president’s son Donald Trump Jr and son-in-law Jared Kushner in Belgrade as they developed plans for a $500m hotel and residential tower to add to their global property portfolios. After the abuse of power charges were brought last December, Kushner’s company announced the project would not proceed “at this time”. Vučić threatened reprisals, calling the prosecutors “corrupt gangs” who “fabricated cases”. “We have lost an exceptional investment,” the Serbian president said. “I will personally ensure that everyone who participated in causing this damage is held accountable.” Vučić’s culture minister is among those charged with abuse of power. But a Guardian investigation, drawing on interviews and leaked documents, reveals that the Serbian president himself led the initial meeting where the alleged scheme was discussed. This crucial meeting is not mentioned in the indictment, raising questions about what information the prosecutors are holding back and why. Representatives of the Trumps and Kushner said they had no part in the removal of the building’s protected status and that it would be “false” to say the Belgrade project was part of a “pay to play” scheme. Vučić did not respond to requests for comment. His decision to call a snap election means that a hearing at which witnesses might reveal details of his involvement will not take place until after the vote. A free 99-year lease On 6 February 2024, Dubravka Đukanović, a Serbian conservation professor in her 60s, arrived for a meeting at the presidency, a domed former royal palace. For three years, she had been the director of the country’s institute for the protection of cultural monuments. The topic was the General Staff building, the former Yugoslav ministry of defence in central Belgrade. The building, an architectural gem seen as an emblem of resistance to the Nazis, was already cherished when Nato forces bombed it in 1999 during its campaign to force Milošević to withdraw from Kosovo, deepening its resonance. Vučić himself had reaffirmed the General Staff building’s legally protected status in 2016. Now, the president said he wanted Đukanović to rescind it, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting. Some unspecified “foreign investor” was keen on the site. Under Serbian law, stripping the General Staff building of its protected status was not in Đukanović’s gift. Her institute would have to commission an expert opinion, which would have to conclude that there were good reasons why protected status was no longer merited. But the president wanted it done. At 6ft 6in and intolerant of dissent, Vučić can be intimidating. His tone towards Đukanović and another heritage official present was unpleasant, the sources said. He told them they were lazy and incompetent. The message was clear: do what I want or resign. A plausible explanation for Vučić’s forceful intervention came the following month, when an agreement between the Serbian government and Kushner’s real estate company leaked. Married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, Kushner had been an influential White House aide during his father-in-law’s first term. Since Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, Kushner had been concentrating on his investment fund. By early 2024, Trump was storming to the Republican nomination and was favourite to win the coming election. If Trump took back the White House, Kushner would once more be one of the most influential people on the planet. The leaked agreement showed the Serbian authorities had granted Kushner’s company a 99-year lease over the General Staff site, free of charge. Kushner, whose spokesperson said he had been looking at the project since 2021, posted an image of the design on X, professing himself “excited”. The news was not universally welcomed in Belgrade. “Serbia is not a buffet, and Vučić is not a waiter,” said Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta, an environmental activist who revealed the agreement. “This is not his private property.” Yet Vučić’s regime proceeded to sign a contract, dated 13 May 2024 and seen by the Guardian, undertaking that the “cultural heritage designation” of the site would be removed “to the satisfaction” of Kushner’s company. Comply or resign The week after the contract was signed, Đukanović was summoned to another meeting. The president was not there this time. Siniša Mali, his finance minister and right-hand man, took charge. Mali urged Đukanović and Olivera Vučković, Belgrade’s top heritage official, to cancel the General Staff site’s protected status, according to the indictment’s summary of testimony the two women would later give prosecutors. It makes no reference to the earlier meeting with the president but indicates that the subject had previously been broached. “Mali asked them if they had given it any thought,” the indictment says, “and if they would initiate the procedure to remove the building’s protected status.” The women refused, “believing that the legal conditions for it were not met”. In that case, Mali told them, repeating his boss’s ultimatum from February, they should resign. They did. In her resignation letter, which the Guardian has seen, Đukanović wrote that she could not agree “to inappropriate interventions that would permanently destroy all the values of the complex, which testifies to the highest achievements of contemporary Serbian architecture and is of incalculable importance for preserving enduring creative values, the education of future generations, and the strengthening of the cultural identity of the Serbian people”. Approached by the Guardian, Đukanović and Vučković confirmed the accuracy of this account. Đukanović added: “I prefer not to make any statement on this matter while the court proceedings are ongoing.” Little was heard of the General Staff plan for months. In November, Trump beat Kamala Harris to win re-election. Ten days later, Vučić’s government announced that the General Staff site had been stripped of its protected status. Keeping it in the family One of the first things Trump did upon regaining the presidency was to ditch the pledge he made in his first term that his family business would refrain from doing deals abroad while he was in office. “The scale of corruption will be orders of magnitude greater than what we saw in the first Trump administration,” Kathleen Clark, a government ethics lawyer at Washington University School of Law, warned at the time. Trump had made it much easier, she said, to buy his favour. The family business remained officially under the control of his two oldest sons, Don Jr and Eric. In January 2025, four days after their father’s inauguration, Eric spoke about some new projects. The Trumps and the Kushners, New York real estate families united by marriage, had decided to embark on their first venture together: Kushner’s Belgrade hotel and tower would bear the Trump name. “It’s going to be fun to bring the family together,” Eric told the New York Times. “Serbia is one of the fastest-growing countries in Europe, and we’re incredibly honoured to be there.” Kushner, who had travelled to Belgrade for what Vučić called an “inspiring” meeting with the Serbian leader, added: “Our research showed that the Trump brand would be the best for this market.” That brand has enjoyed a surge in demand around the world during Trump’s second term, accompanied by allegations that it comes with a quid pro quo. In Vietnam, Eric was showered with confetti at the groundbreaking ceremony for a £1.5bn golf resort, the permits for which were granted with unusual speed. Then Trump halved Vietnam’s tariffs. The Saudis poured money into Kushner’s fund, and plans emerged for a Trump plaza in Jeddah. Then Trump agreed to sell the kingdom new US fighter jets. A cryptocurrency baron’s company and senior Emiratis cut a lucrative transaction with World Liberty Financial, the digital currency venture Don Jr and Eric founded. Trump gave the crypto baron a pardon and the Emiratis access to restricted US chips. Asked about such deals last year, Kushner, now a presidential envoy to Russia, Israel and elsewhere, said: “What people call conflicts of interests … I call experience and trusted relationships that we have throughout the world.” Those who strike up “trusted relationships” with the Trumps, even if there is not an obvious quid pro quo, gain something less tangible but maybe still more valuable: the aura of friendship with a president who is happy to wield his superpower to make or break smaller nations and their leaders. Vučić has plenty in common with Trump. Both are friendly with Vladimir Putin and contemptuous of the EU – in Vučić’s case, despite his country having applied to join. A shared disdain for Nato may help explain why the one part of the General Staff building’s heritage that the redevelopment pledged to retain was a memorial to the alliance’s “aggression” against Serbia. And there is a lot that Vučić could use US help with, not least the fate of Kosovo, which he says is still part of Serbia. Not long after his father returned to office, Don Jr landed in Belgrade. Vučić said that during their meeting he “emphasised the importance of the economic and political relations between Serbia and the USA and stressed the importance of strategic cooperation between the two countries and joint projects in the years to come”. When Don Jr returned the following month, Vučić fed him a choice sucking-pig. For Vučić, the support of the first family was timely. Days before his regime stripped the General Staff site of its protection, the collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad railway station, which killed 16 people, triggered rolling protests against graft. The student organisers’ slogan has become “Serbia or mafia”. Don Jr’s visit came on the eve of the biggest demonstration in Serbia’s history. He invited Vučić on to his podcast, Triggered, and declared that the Serb ruler’s opponents were “weaponising” the Novi Sad disaster, just as Trump’s had done with the Capitol riots after his 2020 election defeat. But the protesters maintained their momentum, and began to rally against the Trump tower. In May 2025, Vučić went to the US, hoping to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida members’ club. He got to see Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s disgraced lawyer, but not the president. State media reported this was because Vučić fell ill. No sooner was Vučić home than police arrested Goran Vasić, the man who had been installed as head of the heritage institute to replace Dubravka Đukanović following her resignation. To achieve the cancellation of the General Staff building’s protected status, prosecutors said, Vasic had forged a supportive expert opinion. More arrests followed. In December 2025, Vučić’s culture minister was indicted for abuse of office for his alleged part in the General Staff scheme. Within days, Kushner’s company announced the project was off. Coup or cover-up? Vučić’s threat of reprisals was not idle. His allies attacked Đukanović, claiming that she had tried to profit personally from her time as a heritage official. Her deputy, who received a visit from the state security service after she went on television to denounce the cancellation of the General Staff building’s protection, has been accused of unrelated misconduct. The Serbian conservators’ industry body said this had “the obvious aim of discrediting her”. Both are expected to give evidence in the criminal proceedings. For the specialist unit of organised-crime prosecutors who brought the charges, this is a watershed case. Never before has a serving Serbian minister been indicted. Vučić accuses the prosecutors of staging a coup. Others, though, fear they are pulling their punches. That concern increased when Nikola Selaković, the indicted culture minister, used a court appearance in April to reveal that, while police were raiding his ministry, he was in his office sipping plum brandy and smoking cigarettes with Mladen Nenadić, the head of the organised-crime prosecutors’ unit. The unit’s spokesperson said there was “no discussion regarding the course of the case”. “In everything that happened regarding potential investments, I saw a chance for our country and citizens,” said Selaković, who faces three years in prison if convicted. Vučić has not been charged. Neither has his lieutenant, Mali. Both deny wrongdoing. The indictment refers to evidence from witnesses who were present at the Vučić meeting in February 2024 but does not mention it, raising questions about the apparent decision to omit what would appear to be a key part of the narrative. The spokesperson for the organised crime prosecutors’ unit said that it had evidence regarding Vučić’s February 2024 meeting with the heritage officials. Beyond those already indicted, prosecutors were “conducting pretrial proceedings in this case to determine potential criminal liability of other persons as well”, the spokesperson added. Vučić has stepped down and cannot seek another term but is expected to retain his control over the regime if he is elected prime minister on 25 October. In one of his last acts as president, he issued 49 pardons. Some of the recipients have not been identified and it is not clear whether they include defendants in the General Staff case. The White House referred questions to the Trumps’ company. Its representative said: “The Trump Organization has no plans to develop any project in Belgrade, was never, at any point, involved in any discussions or negotiations to acquire any site in Belgrade and denies any involvement in or knowledge of the alleged claims.” Kushner’s spokesperson said: “The suggestion that Jared Kushner pursued the Belgrade project as part of any political arrangement or ‘pay to play’ scheme is categorically false.” Rather, it was “an opportunity to transform a site associated with a painful chapter in Serbia’s history into a symbol of healing and reconciliation, while bringing substantial private investment, jobs and economic opportunity to Belgrade”. The spokesperson added: “Jared had no involvement in the Serbian government’s internal processes concerning the site’s protected status.” For all Vučić’s difficulties, the tale of the Trump Tower Belgrade does not appear to have put others off doing business with the first family. Trump retains stakes in dozens of his companies, even if his sons nominally run them. In July, he released his financial disclosure for his first year back at the White House. It showed he had made $2bn.

Albania’s prime minister vows not to resign over student-led protests

Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, has said he will not resign over student-led demonstrations, as protesters and police clashed in the country’s capital for a third consecutive day. Police used teargas and water cannon to disperse demonstrators marching along several main roads around Tirana, while protests spread to other cities. Demonstrators are demanding Rama’s resignation and more support for students in the country, citing poor university conditions and high tuition fees. “As for calls for my resignation, governments are changed through democratic elections. ⁠We had elections last year, not a revolution,” Rama said in written responses to Reuters. “My responsibility ‌is to listen, address ‌legitimate concerns and keep Albania moving forward. The alternative would be a betrayal ‌of the Albanians who gave me a strong mandate to complete negotiations on European Union membership.” Rama said he would be ready to discuss the rising cost of education, but added: “Attacking institutions, destroying public property and threatening public safety have nothing to do with the legitimate ‌demands of students.” There were hours of violent clashes between police and demonstrators in Tirana on Tuesday and Wednesday, when protesters smashed their way into several government buildings and set at least one on fire. Police said 51 officers were injured during Wednesday’s protests and 65 people were arrested on suspicion of “attacking police officers, institutions, public and private property”. Police did not give figures for the number of protesters hurt but Tirana public hospital reported that “seven protesters injured in the violence sought medical treatment”. The protests mark the biggest challenge yet to Rama, who won a fourth term last year. The unrest follows months of mostly peaceful demonstrations sparked by plans to build a luxury resort on Albania’s southern coast backed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, a project that has faced legal challenges. “Corruption must be ⁠confronted and, as the EU itself has recently reaffirmed, Albania is tackling it as never before,” Rama said. “Perhaps some forces, at home and abroad, do not want Albania to succeed as ‌a forerunner for EU membership. But I will not allow violence to derail Albania’s European future.” The EU’s delegation in Tirana repeated its earlier calls for de-escalation, strongly condemning the “violent escalation at the protest and the destruction of public and private property”. “We call on protesters to exercise restraint and to refrain from any acts of violence. Violence has no place in democracies,” it said in a statement. Along with Montenegro, Albania is leading the EU accession process among Balkan countries and is aiming for entry as early as 2028.

‘We expect war to reach the city soon’: Yemenis stockpile as Houthis advance on Taiz

Ali Abdulsamed spent all day waiting and walking. Like many people in the besieged Yemeni city of Taiz, he was searching for some food for his family of six. But each time he reached the end of the queue at the grocers, he was greeted with empty shelves. He would go on foot to the next shop, unable to afford the price of petrol, which more than doubled last week. After visiting more than a dozen stores, Abdulsamed managed to find a 25kg bag of wheat flour – sold at more than twice its usual price. It would have to do, he was lucky to find anything at all. As Iran-allied Houthi rebels advance and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces closes off routes into the city, conditions in Taiz have become increasingly difficult. Yemen’s third most populous city has found itself besieged from all sides, with its supplies of fuel, food and other basic goods cut off. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Monday that the fighting had denied vital assistance to 800,000 people in Taiz: a city of about 1 million, which already had some of the highest levels of food insecurity in the country. The speed of the Houthi advance gave people little time to prepare, prompting a sudden rush on stores and driving up the price of goods still left in the city. Crowds have been gathering around grocery stores and gas stations, trying to stock up on the essentials as fears of shortages spread. “I wasn’t aware that the situation would become difficult so suddenly and that shops would close, but since 3 October, almost all food items have disappeared,” said Abdulsamed, 48. “I don’t have savings to stock up on food for the family, so I resorted to selling my wife’s gold ring.” He, like many others in Taiz, has stopped driving or even taking buses as petrol and bus fares have become too expensive. To avoid paying, Abdulsamed sometimes walks up to 10km (6 miles) a day. Abdulsamed works in a mobile repair shop on one of the main streets in the heart of Taiz. Traffic outside used to be constant and the shop was visited by a steady flow of customers. Now, the street is almost empty, save for those few people in Taiz scrambling to find supplies before hurrying home. The sound of explosions and gunfire echoes throughout the day. Taiz has become the new frontline in the war between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces after the Houthis launched a military campaign last month to take Yemen’s Red Sea coast. The renewed offensive interrupted four years of relative calm in Yemen after a UN-brokered ceasefire froze frontlines in 2022. The Houthis have moved south at a blistering speed, seizing more than 1,000km of territory over the last month, which gives them control over the Bab al-Mandab strait: a vital shipping lane. They have traded strikes with Saudi Arabia, launching attacks on Riyadh airport, with rebel-controlled Sana’a being hit in return, as the Saudis try to support Yemeni government forces. Their offensive was halted at Taiz, a city that has never fallen out of Yemeni government control since the country’s civil war began in 2014, and has been a long-sought goal for the rebels. The city sits at the crossroads between the north and the south, and if it should fall to the Houthis, Aden, the seat of Yemen’s government, will be cut off. So far the Houthis have failed to capture the city. Its rugged terrain is defended by local fighters as well as reinvigorated government forces, who announced a counteroffensive two weeks ago to push back the Houthis. But those who live in Taiz fear the Houthis cannot be kept at bay for ever. Conversations at home, the mosque and at work are all dominated by the war. The latest news is shared at the dinner table, with out-of-school children asking their parents what will happen next. “Residents expect the war to reach the city soon, so everyone is stocking food at home, preparing to stay indoors for a long time and ensuring they have all their necessities,” said Abdulsamed. Life in the once-busy city ground to a halt as fighting drew closer last week. Schools, universities and many public institutions in Taiz closed on 4 October out of concern for the safety of students and employees. “This is not a time for studying. What we need now is to have enough food and water at home and wait until Taiz overcomes this crisis,” said Rawa, a 35-year-old schoolteacher, who asked to be identified only by her first name. Rawa spends almost all of her time at home, only leaving to scrounge for supplies. She used to spend her weekend afternoons at a nearby park, but on Sunday, arriving to find it completely deserted, she turned around and went back home. Even home offers little safety. Rawa’s house is located close to the frontlines in eastern Taiz and the sounds of explosions have been growing closer in recent days. In the past, she would have fled to her ancestral village south of Taiz, as she had done in the past. But now, the road is blocked. As fighting draws closer, she can do little more than make sure she feels prepared for a long siege. But, with each day, food and basic supplies grow more expensive. “We are just lucky we can afford [goods] and now have enough food and water at home,” said Rawa.

Russia and Ukraine resume strikes as Trump ‘energy ceasefire’ collapses

The White House’s unilateral effort to negotiate an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine has collapsed as Moscow sent a record swarm of drones overnight to attack infrastructure in central Ukraine and Kyiv appeared to resume strikes on Russian oil refineries – despite warnings from Donald Trump. Moscow accused Ukraine of launching a strike against a Russian oil refinery in the Ryazan region, its first since Trump abruptly declared an “energy ceasefire” that neither Russia nor Ukraine said they had agreed to. Trump has demanded that Volodymyr Zelenskyy stop attacking Russian oil refineries, claiming it was the cause of a global rise in the price of diesel fuel. Zelenskyy said on Wednesday he would resume strikes on Russian oil refineries, after briefly halting them to demonstrate that Ukraine was ready for peace talks. “The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done,” he told the Financial Times. He also attacked the gap in US intelligence sharing as “dangerous”. Images from Ryazan showed flames at the refinery, which regional officials said had been targeted by 69 drones and four Flamingo cruise missiles. Debris from a drone struck by anti-aircraft fire had hit the refinery and sparked the fire, the ministry claimed. In Ukraine, more than 360 Russian drones targeted Kirovohrad, a central region that has been hit less hard than others closer to Russia, in attacks that killed three and injured six. “The enemy deliberately hit critical infrastructure, transport enterprises, logistics ⁠facilities and residential homes,” the regional governor, Andriy Raikovych, said in a statement. Zelenskyy said Russia had attacked Ukraine with more than 850 Shahed drones at a time when the speed of Ukraine’s defensive capabilities was being “artificially restricted”, a reference to the sudden limitations on Ukraine’s use of the Starlink and Starshield mobile internet terminals. “It is obvious that Russia deliberately chose to escalate its attacks after receiving sanctions relief and seeing attempts to pressure Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in his social media post on X, referring to a growing quarrel with the Trump administration. “Ukraine needs steady support, above all in defending our skies. We need HONESTY from our partners about this war: It is important that everyone in America stand not with the aggressor, but with our efforts to protect lives, end this war, and guarantee security.” Trump suddenly declared an “energy ceasefire” last week, writing on TruthSocial: “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” Despite Trump’s claims, however, Russia continued to launch heavy strikes on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, using hypersonic and ballistic missiles to target key Ukrainian power plants, leaving cities including Kyiv without power and water for hours. Ukraine said it would not strike Russian oil refineries in the interim in order to show that it was ready for negotiations. But the White House piled pressure on Zelenskyy to capitulate to Russia by threatening to cut programmes to deliver arms to Ukraine and to stop sharing US battlefield intelligence with Ukraine. The US appeared to make good on some threats. Ukraine said it had not received advance warning from Washington of Russian missile strikes for several days this week. And on Wednesday, Ukrainian soldiers also complained that their access to Starshield programmes controlled by the US military had been restricted, scuppering drone missions on the frontlines. The feud between Zelenskyy and Trump has spun out of control over the last week. Trump, who believes that his support for Ukraine should come with a degree of control over the country’s leadership, has said that Ukraine should “get a new president”. Asked on Thursday by Piers Morgan whether he felt betrayed, Zelenskyy said yes. “It’s a pity that we are losing, we are losing a strong partner,” he said. Musk, the powerful head of SpaceX, which produces the Starlink terminals used by Ukraine’s military, has emerged as a top critic of Zelenskyy in the US. On Thursday, Musk denied throttling the Starlink systems and said they were controlled by the US government. But in a social media post commenting on a Zelenskyy statement that Ukraine would continue to fight until Russia’s defeat, he wrote: “And so the slaughter continues … Time for Zelensky to go.”

Poland’s ascent from communist state to top 20 economy reverses the brain drain

Above the rain-soaked streets of Warsaw, the observation deck of the Varso tower overlooks Joseph Stalin’s gift to Poland that has divided opinion for decades. For some, the Soviet-era Palace of Culture and Science is a drunk confectioner’s nightmare; standing as a relic of oppression that should have been demolished. For others, it is an icon on the skyline and a monumental warning from history. For the managers of the Varso – completed four years ago, as the tallest building in the EU – with its 310m-high spire rising symbolically above its Stalinist neighbour, it is a waypoint on Poland’s rapid path to economic prosperity. “We look down on it,” says Cezary Błaszczyk, the managing director of HB Reavis in Poland, which owns the tower, gesturing at the palace opposite. A few months ago a slackline walker traversed the 500m gap between the buildings. “It was a symbolic walk from the past to the future,” says his colleague Natalia Kasperska. “Since we are higher and taller than the Palace of Culture, we treat it as: ‘We got over communism, and now we are a country with a strong economy,’” Błaszczyk says. Over the four decades since regaining its independence from Soviet-dominated rule, Poland has been transformed. Excluding oil-exporting states and financial hubs, incomes have converged with western levels at the fastest rate in the world; from 40% of the EU average in the mid-1990s to 81% last year. National income surpassed $1tn (£755bn) last year, ranking Poland among the world’s 20 largest economies. International Monetary Fund projections show income per capita will soon overtake Japan and Spain. “Four decades ago, we were in – excuse my English – deep, deep shit,” says Marcin Bosacki, the Polish deputy foreign minister. Stirring a cup of tea and lemon in his opulent Warsaw office, he recalls queueing after school in the 1980s for up to five hours to buy butter and meat as the communist government imposed martial law. However, the Gdańsk shipworkers’ Solidarność movement and Pope John Paul II’s 1979 pilgrimage to his home country paved the way for Poland’s transition to democracy in 1990 and an “economic miracle”. Integration with western institutions, including Nato in 1999 and EU accession in 2004, also helped. For years, many Poles chose to emigrate to earn more abroad, in a brain drain accelerated by EU membership. Polish plumbers became shorthand in Britain for foreign labour amid the political battles over EU freedom of movement before the Brexit vote. Now Britons are increasingly likely to have their taps fixed by Romanians and Bulgarians, after a surge in the number of Polish nationals leaving. In each year since 2021, when Brexit was enacted after a year-long transition period, twice as many Poles left the UK than arrived. Meanwhile, Germany recorded more non-Germans moving to Poland in 2024 than heading in the opposite direction for the first time on record. On the Varso’s 44th floor, in the Warsaw practice of Foster + Partners, Jedrzej Kolesinski and Krzysztof Gornicki are among those returnees. Both moved to London in their 20s to work in the British architecture firm’s head office – where they led the design team behind the tower they now occupy. Gornicki says Poland has changed dramatically in the years he was away. He always wanted to return to contribute to the country, and raising a family near his parents in a safe, green city that is more affordable than London also has its plus points. Now the pair are working to design Warsaw’s new airport – the biggest greenfield infrastructure project in Europe. “You can work globally from one location. In London we worked on projects from North America to Asia … right now, we’re doing the same thing, just from Warsaw.” On the streets below the Varso, the sights and sounds of progress are unmistakable. Modern electric trams glide past skyscrapers, there are cranes and construction work, giant advertising boards, and dockless e-scooters. The traditional working-class bar mleczny (milk bars) still do a roaring trade serving beetroot soup and Polish dumplings. But at the oldest, Prasowy, orders are taken on a digital touchscreen. Once an asphalt desert designed for columns of Soviet tanks, the old Parade Square surrounding the palace has had a green makeover. Further development is planned to bolster Warsaw’s bid for the 2040 summer Olympics. There are also growing pains. Just as the facades of Warsaw’s medieval old town – rebuilt from the rubble of the second world war – conceal 20th-century concrete, Poland’s stellar growth obscures tensions. The influx of global capital has driven up living costs, squeezing out poor Varsovians. Income inequality is among the highest in Europe, while growing political divisions set the stage for a fractious general election next year. Convergence with the west also presents a novel challenge for a country with a reputation as a low-cost hub within the EU. For years Poland’s cheap, skilled workforce attracted companies such as Volkswagen to build cars, Cadbury to make chocolate and banks such as JP Morgan to open global support centres. At €19.10 (£16.10) an hour, average labour costs (wages, taxes and other costs) are still half the level of Germany and France, but the gap is closing. Since 2004, the average monthly wage has more than tripled in nominal terms to 8,904 złoty (£1,723) last year. The net monthly salary in Warsaw has risen by 120% since 2016, according to Deutsche Bank, lifting it above Rome and Lisbon. A meal for two in the capital now costs more than in Tokyo and the price of a cappuccino has doubled. Rafał Brzoska, the billionaire founder of InPost, the pan-European parcel locker company started in Kraków, says Poles deserve their reputation as hard workers. But now the country must focus on working smarter, in higher-value-added manufacturing and knowledge-intensive services. “The next phase will depend less on catching up, and more on productivity. We don’t have labour cost advantage at all. We need to focus on productivity, technology, cheaper energy and better regulation.” He is, however, concerned about the tensions in Polish politics. Divisions between the nationalist president, Karol Nawrocki, and Donald Tusk’s liberal government have grown increasingly acrimonious. Meanwhile, fringe far-right parties together hold a fifth of public support. Poland is also investing heavily in defence and energy security – aiming to boost economic growth in the process – amid Europe’s response to Russian aggression and US disengagement. “People may put trust in someone else that has a magic remedy. [But] there is no magic remedy. We need to be super careful in terms of believing there is a secret sauce that will magically change things,” Brzoska says. “In my opinion – unfortunately for all of us – we still need to work hard.” As part of its growth plans, Poland is pushing to become a regional tech hub, bolstered by a $1bn investment fund backed by public and private capital to support tech startups and AI companies. The number of high-growth firms is rising, including ElevenLabs, an $11bn AI audio generation and voice cloning company named after 11 November – Poland’s national independence day. There are strong foundations for its ambition. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s annual programme for international student assessment (Pisa) scores ranks Poland equal to the UK among the top countries in Europe and globally for maths, while a greater share of adults have higher education qualifications than in Germany. On the eastern side of the Vistula River in the gritty and creative working-class district of Praga, the campus of the games company CD Projekt Red shows the progress being made. As the developer behind the smash hit games series The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077, the company started life in the 1990s as an importer of CD games made by US publishers. Michał Nowakowski, its co-chief executive, says this was about the limit of Polish ambition in the early days. Now he competes globally to attract coders, games developers and graphic designers. “In the late 90s and early 2000s I feel there was a massive inferiority complex. Among everybody who was young, you wanted to catch up with the west.” Growing up in the 1980s, his family were expelled from Poland in the period of martial law. He recalls visiting London aged 15 and being “blown away” by the Virgin megastore and British culture. “I could never imagine Poland being like it.” Within a generation, though, he says this attitude would be alien to his own children. “For young people now they have no inferiority complex. They don’t stop and think: ‘Can we be as good as Brits, French, Spanish?’ It’s not holding them back. “We have really good universities and skills teaching people. I think that can take us to unprecedented heights as a country. “We’re a proper-sized country. Not too small, not too big; no inferiority complex any more. There’s nothing holding us back.”

Thursday briefing: Thanks to an erratic Trump, peace in Ukraine is still far away

Good morning. In his usual asinine unconventional approach to international relations, Donald Trump announced on Sunday (via Truth Social, how else) an “ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine”, apparently without checking with either side. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said any such deal was “news to me,” nonetheless declared he was “ready and we will accept it”. Vladimir Putin responded by blowing up some Ukrainian power plants. This has been the tenor of much diplomacy during Trump’s tenure: false starts, U-turns, incoherent positions (and some playful flirting with Vlad). Meanwhile fighting continues, and America’s allies attempt to manage the fallout. Andy Burnham hosted Zelenskyy at Downing Street yesterday, stating the UK is doubling down on its support for Ukraine, and pointedly calling on others to “follow suit”. It’s a negotiator’s nightmare. So how are ambassadors, spooks and diplomats handling the chaos? Is an actual ceasefire or peace deal within their grasp? For today’s First Edition, I spoke to career diplomat and former ambassador Nigel Gould-Davies to find out. Before that, this morning’s headlines. Five big stories UK | Sally Rooney has said she is being forced to withdraw her books from sale in the UK because of her support for the banned organisation Palestine Action. Gaza | Israel is refusing to allow a key military outpost project for Donald Trump’s Board of Peace to proceed in Gaza, the Guardian has learned. EU | Britain will benefit from much closer trading relations with the EU even if that means giving up its ability to negotiate free trade agreements, the Scotland secretary has said. Ukraine | Ukraine’s military has suddenly had its access to Starlink satellite internet terminals restricted as the Trump administration has increased pressure on Ukraine to immediately halt long-range strikes on Russia’s oil industry. Vaccine | Guinea-Bissau has not approved the controversial hepatitis B study in newborns that would be funded by the US government and private partners, the African country’s minister of health said. In depth: ‘A peace agreement is only possible when both sides believe that it better serves their interests’ Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, efforts to secure either a temporary ceasefire or a permanent peace deal have resolutely failed. Endless rounds of talks in Belarus, Turkey, Abu Dhabi and Geneva have all proved futile. To Nigel Gould-Davies, it’s obvious why. A former British diplomat, he was head of economics at the Foreign Office in Moscow before his stint as the UK’s ambassador to Belarus. Today, he is senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Gould-Davies tells me that there are established norms for negotiating during military conflicts. Diplomats look for the interests, needs and red lines that each side articulates, in pursuit of the elusive “win set”. “A peace agreement is only possible when both sides believe that it better serves their interests to end the fighting than to continue,” he says. “You have to find that overlap in the Venn diagram that leads to a defined set of conditions which, despite involving painful compromises, is ultimately judged to better serve each side than continuing to fight. “The problem with this situation is that Russia has no interest in ending the war,” he says. Tricky to find common ground, then. It is through this lens that we should view all Russia-Ukraine talks since Trump’s return to the presidency, Gould-Davies suggests. “They have not really been negotiations,” but “parallel efforts by Russia and Ukraine to persuade the White House it’s the other side’s fault” that a peace agreement (and, perhaps more importantly to Trump, that elusive Nobel peace prize) had failed to materialise. That said, the respective red lines aren’t difficult to identify. Ukraine has time and again said it is willing to accept an unconditional ceasefire. “Russia, by contrast, has repeatedly said publicly that it is not interested in a ceasefire,” says Gould-Davies, only in a full and final end to the war that, in Russian terms, means “decisive superiority and dominance over a severely weakened Ukraine”. That’s an outcome Ukraine can’t, and won’t, sign up for. *** The ‘non-standard president’ This is already a headache for UK, European and American diplomats, who most recently met in Miami at the end of last week. But there’s also the added Trump-shaped impediment to grapple with; what Gould-Davies diplomatically describes as the challenge of having “a non-standard president” in the White House. When Trump unilaterally declared an energy ceasefire, Gould-Davies says, it had “no basis whatsoever in reality”. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv was aware. “He simply made it up … a product of a fantasy.” The botched digital diplomacy aside, Trump’s interests also don’t appear aligned with Ukraine or traditional US allies. “[Trump’s] natural centre of gravity is to favour Russia,” says Gould-Davies, citing restrictions on US weapons supplies and past pauses in intelligence sharing. Yesterday, Zelenskyy accused Trump of restricting Ukrainian access to “military-grade” Starlink services, hampering Ukrainian drone strike missions and air defences. Granted, Trump has at times sided with the Ukrainian president: sanctioning Russian oil companies and helping Ukraine target Russian energy infrastructure. But for all Trump’s “lurching”, says Gould-Davies, his theory of ending the war involves concessions to Russia and coercion of Ukraine. *** The price of a deal After a period of relative quiet from Trump on the Russia-Ukraine front, this week Trump’s attention returned. With Americans facing soaring energy costs, he announced a plan to import Russian diesel in the hope of bringing down pump prices, much to the dismay not just of European leaders but a bipartisan group of US senators, too. Leave aside, for a second, suggestions that these imports could be illegal under American law and that quantities being discussed are seemingly too small to actually affect prices, even if the fuel could reach the US ahead of next month’s midterms, as Trump hopes. In some diplomatic circles, there are concerns that the diesel deal “is only the visible tip of the iceberg”, says Gould-Davies, with the White House privately pivoting towards a “much more substantial” pro-Russia tilt. Gould-Davies suspects that Trump could be, via Russia, seeking to get Iran to ease the blockade on the strait of Hormuz, in the hope of actually bringing down fuel prices before American voters head to the polls. Putin’s quid pro quo for brokering these efforts, Gould-Davies says, “could be an easing of America’s sanctions on Russia and an ending to America’s support for Ukraine”. It’s just a theory, he caveats, “but join the dots and it logically makes sense”. Either way, for diplomats it’s just further proof that Trump’s mercurial methods are more a hindrance than help. *** The quiet work behind the scenes Nonetheless, diplomatic back channels remain operational: secret, closed-door meetings and off-the-record communications between all sides. Not that Gould-Davies thinks they’re worth the effort. “There is a degree of collective delusion here,” he says: “A hope that Russia can somehow be persuaded” to change course, for which “there is literally no evidence for that whatsoever”. He worries that these informal discussions could even be “actively unhelpful, because they perpetuate the illusion that peace may be around the corner”. And, while Europe might traditionally have focused its diplomatic efforts in hostile territory, attention has now turned towards the US itself. There’s still hope that Trump’s whispers might pay further dividends. As Gould-Davies puts it, this “Avengers assemble” approach has seen European leaders and diplomats descend on Washington when Trump’s veered too far off course. For all the tumult, he says, this has proved effective in averting “the nightmare scenario” of Trump binning off America’s old transatlantic partners for good. But as fans of Netflix’s The Diplomat will know, even diplomacy between allies isn’t plain sailing. “Right now even ‘the White House’ is an abstraction,” says Gould-Davies. “It consists of many different players, plenty of whom have different views privately from President Trump.” Take John Ratcliffe, director of the CIA, who visited Moscow this summer. There is “reliable speculation”, says Gould-Davies, that he hoped to “warn Russia against escalation into Europe”. It’s a totally different note to those currently being struck by Trump. “There are people in positions of power and influence still in this administration who understand the problem of Russia in the right way,” says Gould-Davies. With that in mind, western diplomats will continue to try to shift the balance of influences within the White House, but they’re reliant on what he labels a White House Kremlinology – “trying to understand the different views and moods of those around Trump and who will be the last person to whisper in his ear.” What else we’ve been enjoying How We Win is a new Guardian newsletter series featuring writers like Naomi Klein, Mehdi Hasan and Bernie Sanders on defeating Trumpism. Read Robert Reich’s introduction to the project here, and then sign up here to get each week’s piece directly to your inbox. Charlie Lindlar, newsletters team Are you a Hannah, a Marnie, a Jess or a Shoshanna? Or did Lena Dunham’s Girls pass you by the first time round? If it did, then this excellent piece by Louis Staples (a Marnie) may well convince you to binge the whole thing in time for the recently announced five-episode revival. Lucinda Everett, newsletters team In another of our newsletters, The Long Wave, Micha Frazer-Carroll writes about taking up Jamaican Patois classes and what learning the language taught her about shame and her connection to her ancestry. Charlie I look forward to the Wildlife photographer of the year exhibition every year, and this year’s winning images didn’t disappoint. You can see a selection of them here, including my favourite: James Lewin’s dream-like shot of a young bull elephant giving a zebra an impromptu shower. Lucinda Rachel Dixon on our travel desk has pulled together this beautiful list of Britain’s best heated lidos to keep you swimming through winter. Move over WFH, and hello WFHL? Charlie Sport Champions League | Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 4-2 victory over Manchester City, while Bradley Barcola hit his first Liverpool goals with a hat-trick in a 6-3 win over Lask. Elsewhere, Aston Villa demolished Fenerbahce 6-0 at Villa Park. Fifa | Gianni Infantino will be questioned by Fifa council members over the aborted World Cup sell-off plan, the Folarin Balogun affair and awarding Donald Trump the Fifa peace prize at what is expected to be a heated meeting on Thursday. Formula One | Formula One has confirmed Rwanda will join its calendar, having concluded a 10-year agreement for the meeting on a purpose-built circuit, with the first race set for the early 2030s. The front pages The Guardian splashes on “Zelenskyy blames Trump for loss of protection from Russian raids”. The Times has “Zelensky: My people will die after Trump betrayal”, the Telegraph runs “More on benefits at age seven than age 50” and top story at the Financial Times is “Jump in US inflation deepens pain for voters ahead of key midterm elections”. Elsewhere, focus is on the Russell Brand trial. Brand denies all the charges and has pleaded not guilty. Reporting the prosecution’s opening statement, the Sun headlines with the quote “‘Ruthless calculated sexual predator’”, The i Paper also headlines with “Brand a ‘ruthless and calculated sexual predator’”, the Mail has “The ‘predator’ in sunglasses” and The Mirror leads with the quote “‘Predator’”. The Latest India’s Cockroach protesters defy Modi’s crackdown A fresh wave of protests by India’s youth-led Cockroach movement has been met with a brutal crackdown by Narendra Modi’s government and the closure of a historic protest site in Delhi. Two of the movement’s leaders have been imprisoned for five days for violating suppression measures. The protests, which began over frustration about education and unemployment, are now focused on voting rights. Modi’s government denies claims that it is seeking to disenfranchise millions of voters. But its treatment of protesters has been criticised by the UN and Amnesty International and raised concerns that the country is sliding further into autocracy. Lucy Hough speaks to the south Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen – watch on YouTube Cartoon of the day | Nicola Jennings The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad On Copenhagen’s rooftops live 80 to 100 colonies of honeybees, tended by a collective of beekeepers called Bybi. Set up in 2010 with the aim of employing marginalised people, Bybi’s work has evolved into a response to the modern economic system. With the help of volunteers, from refugees to people on incapacity benefits, they produce between four and six tonnes of honey every year, which they sell (often letting people pay what they like) or give away, asking that people share it with loved ones and plant a flower to help the bees. They also run schools programmes, supported by sponsorships from universities and corporations. “Bybi is a constellation of time, work, money, community and connection,” says founder Oliver Maxwell, “asking an open question: what would it take for bees, people and communities to thrive?” Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply