US President Joe Biden has postponed a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer and the French and German leaders in Berlin this weekend because of a major hurricane due to hit the US.
The White House said the president will be “postponing” his state visit to Germany and Angola, which was set for Saturday, due to the “projected trajectory and strength of Hurricane Milton” so he can “oversee preparations for and the response” to it.
He is also overseeing the “ongoing response to the impacts of Hurricane Helene across the southeast”.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman confirmed a meeting between him, Mr Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Saturday.
It is not known if the meeting will still go ahead.
The meeting of the “Quad” nations was set to concentrate on “concerning developments” in the Middle East and the situation in Ukraine, Sir Keir’s spokesman said.
The meeting had been organised to coincide with Mr Biden’s state visit to Germany.
It had been billed as a meeting of the Ramstein group of more than 40 nations that supply Kyiv with arms, named after they met at the US’ Ramstein air base in Germany in 2022 to discuss Ukrainian defence capabilities after Russia’s invasion.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also set to be present, Sir Keir’s spokesman said.
The gathering on Saturday in Berlin then at the Ramstein air base was due to be the first time the Ramstein group had met at a leadership level.
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Biden and Starmer met at the White House in September to discuss Ukraine
The summit was meant to emphasise to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he cannot hope to play for time and wait for Western support for Ukraine to cease, a German government source said.
Sir Keir’s spokesman said the situation in the Middle East was also to be discussed as the conflict between Israel, Lebanon, Iran and Gaza continues to escalate.
Israel expanded its ground military operation into Lebanon last week, while the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has launched more rockets against its southern neighbour.
Sir Keir has visited the US three times since becoming prime minister in July, speaking to President Biden about the West’s approach to Ukraine and the Middle East.
President Zelenskyy has said the war entered a “very important phase” after his military struck an important Russian oil terminal.
Mr Putin’s forces continue to occupy large areas of Ukrainian territory more than two and half years after Russia invaded.
Mr Biden will head to Angola after his trip to Germany to meet President Joao Lourenco.
Russia launched a large drone attack on Kyiv overnight, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning the attack shows his capital needs better air defences.
Ukraine’s air defence units shot down 50 of 73 Russian drones launched, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries as a result of the attacks.
Russia has used more than 800 guided aerial bombs and around 460 attack drones in the past week.
Warning that Ukraine needs to improve its air defences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “An air alert has been sounded almost daily across Ukraine this week”.
“Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state.
“But Russia still continues its efforts to kill our people, spread fear and panic, and weaken us.”
Russia did not comment on the attack.
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It comes as Russian media reported that Colonel General Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the country’s southern military district, had been removed from his role over allegedly providing misleading reports about his troops’ progress.
While Russian forces have advanced at the fastest rate in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, forces have been much slower around Siversk and the eastern region of Donetsk.
Russian forces have reportedly captured a British man while he was fighting for Ukraine.
In a widely circulated video posted on Sunday, the man says his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson, aged 22.
He says he is a former British Army soldier who signed up to fight for Ukraine’s International Legion after his job.
He is dressed in army fatigues and speaks with an English accent as he says to camera: “I was in the British Army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment.”
He tells the camera he was “just a private”, “a signalman” in “One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron”.
“When I left… got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job,” he said.
“My dad was away in prison, I see it on the TV,” he added, shaking his head. “It was a stupid idea.”
In a second video, he is shown with his hands tied and at one point, with tape over his eyes.
He describes how he had travelled to Ukraine from Britain, saying: “I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border.”
Russian state news agency Tass reported that a military source said a “UK mercenary” had been “taken prisoner in the Kursk area” of Russia.
The UK Foreign Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.
The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment at this stage.
The body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been found, Israel has said.
Zvi Kogan, the Chabad representative in the UAE,went missing on Thursday.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office on Sunday said the 28-year-old rabbi was murdered, calling it a “heinous antisemitic terror incident”.
“The state of Israel will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death,” it said.
The Emirati government gave no immediate acknowledgment that Mr Kogan had been found dead. Its interior ministry has described the rabbi as being “missing and out of contact”.
“Specialised authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report,” the interior ministry said.
Mr Kogan lived in the UAE with his wife Rivky, who is a US citizen. He ran a Kosher grocery store in Dubai, which has been the target of online protests by pro-Palestinian supporters.
The Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of Orthodox Judaism, said Mr Kogan was last seen in Dubai.
Israeli authorities reissued their recommendation against all non-essential travel to the UAE and said visitors currently there should minimise movement and remain in secure areas.
The rabbi’s disappearance comes as Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the two countries traded fire in October.
While the Israeli statement on Mr Kogan did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have previously carried out kidnappings in the UAE.
The UAE diplomatically recognised Israel in 2020. Since then, synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners have been set up for the burgeoning Jewish community but the unrest in the Middle East has sparked deep anger in the country.