The Latest Breaking News from Vladimir Putin

In a surprise announcement on February 10, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that his administration was preparing to hold presidential elections before the middle of May. Alongside these elections, he is reported to be planning to hold a referendum on a peace deal with Russia.

Imagine you travel 3096 miles from Russia to India. You are here for only 30 hours. But there’s a lot to look forward to beyond just trade deals and political talk. After all, India is the land of multiple heritage cuisines, known for its hospitality and its varied culinary traditions. 

The announcement comes as John Healey co-hosts meetings in Brussels with the 50-nation Ukraine Defence Contact Group and Nato defence ministers.

ANALYSIS: Europeans need to wean themselves off the US security system, and in Munich, Trump’s team will give them good reason to, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley

Zelensky thanked the UK for a ‘new and timely air defence package’ worth £500m ahead of the conference

Russia begins disrupting access to Telegram, but users are fighting back. Find out why VPN demand is spiking and what it means for the future of Russian internet censorship.

Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday said that Moscow will continue to observe the limits set under the New START nuclear arms control treaty, even after its expiry, as long as the United States adheres to the same restrictions.

Russia's top diplomat says that Moscow will observe the limits of the last nuclear arms pact with the United States that expired last week as long as it sees that Washington does the same

Also in this newsletter: US expected to withdraw only a limited amount of troops from NATO territory; why EU leaders agree to disagree on who should speak to Putin; and how Hungary's Tisza party is breaking ranks with the EPP to shake off the "Brussels puppet" label.

Four years into Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's ambassador is urging middle powers including Australia to publicly declare that "dictators cannot win".

Bangladesh is holding a crucial election that comes after a turbulent period marked by mob violence, rising religious intolerance, attacks on the press, the growing influence of Islamists and weakening of the rule of law