Foreign Office issues strongly worded statement as it responds to expulsion of two diplomats with tit-for-tat move

Russia is attempting to push the UK embassy in Moscow towards closing and has no regard for the escalatory impact of such a move, the Foreign Office has said.

The UK expelled a Russian diplomat and their spouse on Wednesday in a tit-for-tat response to the expulsion of two British diplomats for alleged espionage , a claim UK officials strenuously deny.

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Ukrainian president would not be drawn on details of proposed deal and also steered clear of criticising Trump at press briefing

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

As journalists filtered out of the presidential administration in central Kyiv on Wednesday afternoon after a 30-minute press conference with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the general consensus was that he had not said anything that would immediately make for a dramatic headline.

That, it seems, was the point. Eager to show the White House that Ukraine is onboard for negotiations and not an obstacle to Donald Trump’s desire to bring peace, Zelenskyy seems to be trying to erase the memories of the nightmare meeting in the White House two weeks ago.

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Remains are of an adult member of an extinct species who lived up to 1.4m years ago, researchers say

Bone fragments unearthed at an ancient cave in Spain belong to the oldest known human face in western Europe, researchers say.

The fossilised remains make up the left cheek and upper jaw of an adult member of an extinct human species who lived and died on the Iberian peninsula between 1.1m and 1.4m years ago.

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The Russian president remains unwavering in his demands, making wider sanctions and tariffs ineffective levers

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Ukraine’s agreement to support a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in its war against Russia’s invasion has focused attention on what Moscow may or may not agree to, and what pressure can be brought to bear on Vladimir Putin by the Trump administration.

While the question has frequently been asked over the last few years what leverage Putin might have over Trump, the question here is what leverage Trump might have to persuade Putin.

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Ukraine president describes talks with US delegations as positive as countries attempt to repair relations

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Ukraine’s president has said he hopes the US will take “strong steps” against Russia if Moscow fails to support a 30-day ceasefire, agreed at a meeting between Ukrainian and US delegations in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

“I understand that we could count on strong steps. I don’t know the details yet but we are talking about sanctions and about strengthening Ukraine,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

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Over 11 days of breakneck diplomacy, Zelenskyy was convinced of need to pacify Trump, but rapprochement may be all too brief

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

The 11 days of whiplash-inducing diplomacy British and French officials endured to repair shattered relations between Washington and Kyiv, and for the first time put Donald Trump’s trust in Vladimir Putin to the test, could go down as one of the great feats of diplomatic escapology.

The dogged fence-mending may yet unravel as multiple hurdles remain, principally the outstanding question of Ukraine’s security guarantees, but for the first time, in the words of Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, the ball is in Russia’s court . Putin, by instinct cautious, has preferred watching from the sidelines, suppressing his delight as Trump denounced Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his face in the White House and wreaked subsequent vengeance by stopping all military aid and then pulling some US intelligence .

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Swedish firm unable to ‘secure the necessary financial conditions to continue in its current form’

Northvolt, the Swedish electric vehicle battery startup, has filed for bankruptcy in Sweden, marking the end of a company once seen as Europe’s best hope of challenging the dominant Asian battery industry.

The company said in a statement it had been unable to “secure the necessary financial conditions to continue in its current form” in Sweden.

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Centre-right party wins most votes ahead of the Naleraq party, with coalition talks expected to begin

Greenland has voted for a complete overhaul of the its government in a shock result in which the centre-right Democrat party more than tripled its seats after a dramatic election campaign fought against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s threats to acquire the Arctic island.

Tuesday’s election, in which the Democrats replaced Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA), the party of the former prime minister Múte B Egede, as the biggest party in Inatsisartut, the Greenlandic parliament, also led to a doubling of seats for Naleraq – the party most open to US collaboration and which supports a snap vote on independence – making them the second biggest party.

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Donald Trump says he would welcome Volodymyr Zelenskyy back to White House and hopes for ‘great conversations’

• Ukraine agrees to 30-day ceasefire

French European Affairs minister, Benjamin Haddad , said the European Union could go further in its response to US tariffs, though a trade war was in no-one’s interest, Reuters reported.

“We have the means to go further, if we want,” Haddad told TF1 TV.

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