Ukraine war live: Terror threat emerges in Moscow as Putin warns of full-scale war in Europe

Donald Trump will have to pay the six-figure legal costs of the company he sued over allegations he took part in “perverted” sex acts and gave bribes to Russian officials.

Christopher Steele, who previously ran the Secret Intelligence Service’s Russia desk, was the author of the so-called Steele dossier, which included denied allegations that Mr Trump had been “compromised” by the Russian security service, the FSB.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided at a ceremony in which Sweden’s “instrument of accession” to the alliance was officially deposited at the State Department.

Poland’s foreign minister says the presence of NATO forces “is not unthinkable” and that he appreciates the French president for not ruling out that idea.

It comes after French President Emmanuel Macron said the possibility of Western troops being sent to Ukraine could not be ruled out, a comment that prompted an outcry from other leaders.

French officials later sought to clarify Macron’s remarks and tamp down the backlash, while insisting on the need to send a clear signal to Russia that it cannot win its war in Ukraine.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk was among those European leaders who ruled out sending troops to Ukraine after Macron’s remarks, saying: “Poland does not plan to send its troops to the territory of Ukraine.”

However, Poland’s foreign minister Radek Sikorski said: “The presence of NATO forces in Ukraine is not unthinkable.”

He said he appreciated Macron’s initiative “because it is about Putin being afraid, not us being afraid of Putin.”

Mr Sikorski made the observation during a discussion marking the 25th anniversary of Poland’s NATO membership in the Polish parliament on Friday, and the Foreign Ministry tweeted the comments later in English.

Uk and US residents have been told not to travel to Russia amid a warning that a terror attack was planned for the country’s capital.

The US embassy in Russia warned that “extremists” had imminent plans for an attack in Moscow, hours after Russian security services said they had foiled a planned shooting at a synagogue by a cell from the Afghan arm of Islamic State.

The embassy, which has repeatedly urged all US citizens to leave Russia immediately, gave no further details about the nature of the threat, but said people should avoid concerts and crowds and be aware of their surroundings.

Russian air defences have downed a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet over Ukraine‘s Donetsk region, the RIA news agency cited Russia‘s defence ministry as saying on Saturday.

Ukrainian authorities have not reported any fighter jet losses in recent days.

A lonely man jailed for criticizing the government on his ham radio. A poet assaulted by police after he recited a poem objecting to Russia’s war in Ukraine. A low-profile woman committed to a psychiatric facility for condemning the invasion on social media.

President Vladimir Putin’s 24 years in power are almost certain to be extended six more by this month’s presidential election. That leadership has transformed Russia. A country that tolerated some dissent is now one that ruthlessly suppresses it.

Along with opposition politicians, independent journalists and human rights activists, ordinary Russians have been increasingly swept up in a crackdown reminiscent of the Soviet era. Some human rights advocates compare the scale of the clampdown to the repression from the 1960s to the 1980s, when dissidents were prosecuted for “anti-Soviet propaganda.”

Britain said Thursday that it would provide 10,000 drones to arm Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

The announcement by Defense Secretary Grant Shapps during a visit in Kyiv with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky includes an investment of 125 million pounds ($160 million) on top of 200 million pounds ($256 million) previously committed for drones.

The weaponry will include 1,000 one-way attack — or kamikaze — drones and models that target ships.

Armenia is considering applying for European Union membership, foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Friday, as it seeks to forge closer ties with the West in the face of tensions with traditional ally Russia.

“Many new opportunities are largely being discussed in Armenia nowadays and that will not be a secret if I say that includes membership in the European Union,” Mirzoyan said in an interview with Turkey’s TRT World television station.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a diplomatic forum in the Turkish city of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast.

Since coming to power in a 2018 revolution, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has deepened Armenia’s ties with Europe and the United States, repeatedly drawing the ire of traditional ally Russia.

Yerevan has repeatedly said that its alliance with Moscow does not stretch to the war in Ukraine, while Pashinyan has accused Russia of seeking to undermine his government.

Armenia also accuses Russia of failing to defend it against long-standing rival Azerbaijan, which has drawn closer to Moscow in recent years.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to secure his fifth term in power this month on the heels of opposition leader Alexei Navalny‘s death in prison, which devastated Kremlin critics and spurred concerns about the safety of other imprisoned dissidents.

Putin has gone from tolerating dissent to suppressing anyone who dared challenge him during his 24-year rule. Over the past decade, his government has restricted freedom of speech and assembly, targeted people considered threats to the Kremlin, and restricted access to many independent news outlets.

Most opposition politicians are in prison or exile, and the 71-year-old Russian leader faces only token contenders.