News
Blasts in Kyiv as UK’s Starmer visits to sign ‘100-year’ accord
Agency Report
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Kyiv on Thursday on an unannounced visit to sign a “100-year accord” and shore up support for Ukraine before Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Loud blasts and air raid sirens rang out over Kyiv hours after Starmer’s arrival as air defence systems in central Kyiv repelled a Russian drone attack, officials and AFP journalists reported.
It is Starmer’s first official visit to Kyiv since taking office last July, and comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a flurry of meetings with his country’s allies before Trump’s return next week.
The prime minister was due to sign a “landmark 100-year partnership to deepen security ties” between the UK and Ukraine and meet Zelensky, Downing Street said in a statement.
“Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure,” Starmer said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago.
“Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level,” he said of the accord.
The deal commits the two sides to cooperate on defence and battlefield technology, such as drones, while implementing a system to help locate grain exported by Russia from occupied parts of Ukraine.
“This is not just about the here and now, it is also about an investment in our two countries for the next century,” added Starmer.
He was also expected to announce an extra £40 million to aid Ukraine’s post-war economic recovery.
Starmer kicked off the visit by laying wreaths with Zelensky to commemorate killed Ukrainian soldiers and visited a burns hospital treating wounded servicemen.
– Russian advances –
Zelensky earlier said that he and Starmer would discuss the possibility of having Western troops stationed in Ukraine to oversee any ceasefire agreement, a divisive proposal initially put forward by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The UK has been one of Ukraine’s biggest military backers, pledging £12.8 billion ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid since Russia invaded three years ago.
The United States remains by far Ukraine’s biggest financial backer but that looks set to change when Trump arrives.
His nominee for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said Wednesday that the new administration would instead seek “bold diplomacy” to end the war.
“There will have to be concessions made by the Russian Federation but also by the Ukrainians,” he said.
Trump has previously vowed to end the war within a day, with his aides speaking of leveraging US assistance to Ukraine to force it into territorial concessions.
As part of Ukraine’s whirlwind diplomatic programme, Italy defence minister Guido Crosetto announced on Thursday that he had also arrived in Kyiv on an official visit for a “series of institutional meetings”.
The visits come at a precarious moment for Ukraine on the battlefield.
Fighting has escalated before Trump’s inauguration on Monday, as both sides seek to gain the upper hand in anticipation of potential negotiations aimed at settling the war launched by Russia in February 2022.
At several key points in the northern Kharkiv and eastern Donetsk regions, Russian forces have been able to steadily advance by exploiting their advantages in manpower and resources.
In the southern Kherson region, which is partially occupied by Russian forces, Ukrainian officials said one person had been killed overnight by a drone strike.
The governor separately said that a 92-year-old woman had been wounded and sought medical help in the frontline village of Yantarne.
The Ukrainian airforce meanwhile said its air defence systems had shot down 34 Russian drones, including the Iranian-designed Shahed type, over 11 regions of the country.
AFP
Senator representing Kogi East Senatorial District, Jibrin Isah Echocho, has congratulated Muslim faithful for the successful completion of this year Ramadan fast, urging them to celebrate the Sallah in love, and unity across our communities.
Echocho in a statement madeavailable to CAPITALPOST in Lokoja o Sunday, described the Ramadan period as stressful, but deserving, because it is the only period for spiritual reflection on abstinence from immorality, sincere sacrifice and supplications to Allah.
He added that, Ramadan symbolises Allah’s way of teaching humanity on virtuous living, where people keep away from all forms of comfort to appreciate what the less privileged experience and deprivation they suffers daily.
He task Muslims to extend the lessons of Ramadan to the way we live with our neighbours.
“Let’s seek peace at all times and promote unity of purpose in our society” the Lawmaker demanded.
“May the celebration brings sustainable peace to our homes, my district, Kogi State and Nigeria, he concluded.
The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio has commended Senator Basheer Lado, for redefining the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, stating that, for the first time in a long while, the office is fully meeting its expectations.
Speaking during his visit to the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters accompanied by distinguished senators, Akpabio described the visit as a significant step in strengthening Executive-Legislative relations.
He praised the Special Adviser and his team for maintaining the confidentiality of communications between the President and Senate, and also, ensuring a seamless flow of information. He further emphasized that the office is now more result-oriented.
Additionally, he acknowledged the office’s diligent efforts in tracking all Bills passed by the Senate and assented to by the President, underscoring its critical role in legislative efficiency.
Expressing his satisfaction, Akpabio noted that he and the Senate delegation were proud of the office’s achievements and looked forward to sustaining the existing cordial and productive relationship between the Executive and the Legislature throughout the administration.
In recognition of his exemplary leadership, Senator Lado presented an Award of Excellence to Senator Akpabio.
In his remarks, Senator Lado reaffirmed his commitment to fostering a harmonious working relationship between the Executive and the Legislature. He lauded Akpabio for his unwavering dedication to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda—defending it with clarity, articulating it with passion, and advancing it through legislative action.
Ahead of the 2025 political party Congresses, Plateau State Chapter of the Labour Party (LP) stakeholders has endorsed the defection of the candidate of the party in the 2023 general elections and the leader of Justice and Rebirth, Barr Gyang Zi SAN, to the All Progressive Congress (APC) with the view to key into the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
They made the call in a communique issued at the end of the enlarge meeting of the stakeholders from Plateau North senatorial zone at the residence of Barr. Gyang Zi in Rayfield Jos.
The communique which was jointly signed by Dr. Ayiki Sati Director General, Justice and Rebirth and
Barr. Samuel Galadima- 2024 Chairmanship candidate of Jos East LGA among others said the call became imperative on the sideline of the leadership tussle at the National Level which violates the core principles and values for the formation of the Party as an alternative for Nigeria for the protection, sustenance of democracy and Social Justice.
They regretted that the leadership tussle has also divided the party into factions leaving party loyalists and supporters in the state of despondency and confusion not knowing where they belong.
Our correspondent reports that the gathering included LP candidates from the 2023/2024 general elections, party executives, and support groups from the six local government areas of the Northern Senatorial District.
Besides, the focus of the discussions was centered on the state of the Labour Party at both national and state levels and the need for political realignment ahead of the 2025 party congresses and conventions.
The stakeholders further frowned at the structural weaknesses in LP and resolved to advise Barr Gyang Zi, to leave the party and join the APC while expressing confidence that the APC would provide him with a platform to advance good governance in the state .
The communique also emphasized the importance of political consultations, particularly with APC leaders at both state and national levels. It called for collaboration with Plateau State APC leaders, including Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, Sen. Simon Bako Lalong, Sen. Diket Plang, and other party officials.
According to the communique, supporters of Barr Gyang Zi also pledged to mobilize grassroots support for the APC, stating that their leader’s defection would strengthen the party in the state.
They urged the APC leadership to formally receive Gyang Zi and his supporters into the party, marking their official transition from the Labour Party.
Stakeholders also reiterated the need for inclusive governance, ensuring that youths, women, and less privileged individuals are sidelined in the democratic process and accordingly officially denounced their membership in the Labour Party, declaring their support for the APC.
They assured that all LP structures aligned with Gyang Zi would follow suit, shifting their loyalty to the ruling party in the state and at the National level.
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