A tense Russia-Nato summit ended on Wednesday with diplomats saying further talks were needed to reconcile “significant differences” over Ukraine and the future of European security.
Alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said the opposing views were “not easy to bridge”, with Moscow demanding a say in the membership of Nato and the US insisting that any progress must include a withdrawal of Russian troops near Ukraine.
Russia's representative, deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko, described the talks as “a heart-to-heart”.
“The conversation was quite frank, direct, deep, intense, but at the same time it revealed a large number of differences on fundamental issues.”
The talks in Brussels, described by Mr Stoltenberg as a “defining moment for European security,” were the second part of this week’s peace efforts after Russia and the US met on Monday.
They took place as Russian troop movements led to fear of an invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Stoltenberg said Nato and Russia had “expressed the need to resume dialogue and explore a schedule of further meetings” as diplomats try to reduce tensions.
But he said Nato was “united on the core principle that each and every nation has the right to choose its own path”, and that “Russia doesn't have a veto” on who can join the military alliance.
Mr Grushko said that any further deterioration in relations could lead to the “most unpredictable and most dire consequences for European security".
He later said Moscow would use military means to neutralise security threats if diplomacy proved insufficient.
Moscow’s key objective is to stop any eastward expansion of Nato, a condition rejected by the US, the alliance and potential candidate countries such as Ukraine.
It wants Nato forces withdrawn from central and eastern European nations that joined the US-led bloc after the Cold War ended.
Wendy Sherman, the US deputy secretary of state who led the American delegation, said Russia brought nothing new to Wednesday's talks and had not been clear about whether it took diplomacy seriously.
“It's very hard to have dialogue, to have diplomacy that is conducive to success when in fact you have 100,000 troops live-fire exercises, propaganda, disinformation, other efforts to subvert that environment,” she said.
She repeated US vows to “exact a severe ongoing price for Russia’s economy and financial system” should it escalate its military activity in Ukraine.
To that end, Ms Sherman also met with European External Action Service secretary-general Stefano Sannino in Brussels to discuss potential financial penalties on Russia.
Those measures could include Germany terminating its agreement to put the Nord Stream 2 oil pipeline from Russia into operation.
The US and Nato have also vowed to shore up the alliance’s eastern flank if Russia does not back down. Alternatively, Nato has offered a series of areas to enhance co-operation with Russia in order to lower the temperature.
“The Nato allies offered their views on areas where Nato and Russia could make progress together in a way that strengthens security for all of us, and indeed for the world,” Ms Sherman said.
“These include reciprocal actions around risk reduction and transparency, improved communication and arms control.”
Following the meeting, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss reiterated support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and said Russia’s military build-up on the border of Ukraine and in illegally annexed Crimea was unacceptable.
She condemned Russia’s “aggression and destabilising activity”, saying Nato was pushing back against the Kremlin’s threatening behaviour.
She said that a further military incursion into Ukraine would come with a severe cost on Russia’s economy, including co-ordinated sanctions.
“The quagmire of a long-running conflict would cost lives and damage communities on both sides. This is the reality of armed conflict, as we have seen before.”
“What happens next will be absolutely critical to peace and security in Europe. The only way forward is for Russia to de-escalate and engage in meaningful discussions,” Ms Truss said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, spokesman at the talks, repeated Russia's denials on Wednesday that it intends to invade Ukraine.
“We are not negotiating from a position of strength; there is not, and nor can there be, any place for ultimatums here,” he said.
Josep Borrell, European Union foreign affairs chief, said Russia's proposals to end the stand-off “contravene the principles of the European security architecture".
He claimed Russia sought “to challenge the political and security order born after the Cold War”, which included the right of each state “to freely choose to belong, or not to belong, to an international organisation and to be a party to treaties or alliances".
Julianne Smith, the US ambassador to Nato, said Washington would push back on proposals from Russia “that are simply non-starters”.
“We will not allow anyone to slam Nato’s open-door policy shut,” Ms Smith said, speaking before the meeting.
The allies prepared for the meeting by consulting with Ms Sherman on the outcome of her talks with Russia on Monday. Those talks in Geneva ended with no breakthrough.
Denmark’s delegation to Nato said it hoped for a “meaningful dialogue” with Russia but said the Kremlin must “choose co-operation over confrontation”.
The Nato-Russia Council was established in 2002, and has kept going after most ties were severed following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The talks will continue with a meeting of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe on Thursday. Russia said on Tuesday that it would not let the security talks drag on indefinitely.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.
Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.
'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Date: Sunday, November 25
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 592bhp
Torque: 620Nm
Price: Dh980,000
On sale: now
