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Trump claims Putin agreed to halt Ukraine energy strikes amid extreme cold

Donald Trump has claimed Vladimir Putin agreed to halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for one week after he issued a personal appeal to the Russian leader due to the extreme cold in Ukraine. The short-term ceasefire, which has not been confirmed by either Ukraine or Russia, was announced during a cabinet meeting of Trump’s top advisers at the White House on Thursday. “I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and various towns for a week and he agreed to do that,” Trump said during the meeting. “I have to tell you it was very nice.” The request was made during a phone call between the two leaders that had not been previously reported. Trump did not give a start or end date for the alleged ceasefire. Russian and Ukrainian social media channels close to the military had speculated about a short ceasefire before Trump’s announcement, but the reports had not been confirmed. On Thursday morning the Kremlin declined to discuss whether an energy ceasefire had been negotiated. Trump also claimed he had informed Ukrainian officials about the ceasefire. “Ukraine … almost didn’t believe it but they were very happy about it,” Trump said. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Thursday he expected the implementation of an agreement by Russia not to fire on Kyiv and other cities for a week because of winter weather, as announced by Trump. “Our teams discussed this in the United Arab Emirates. We expect the agreements to be implemented,” Zelenskyy wrote on the social media platform X. “De-escalation steps contribute to real progress toward ending the war.” Two recent Russian missile and drone strikes left more than 1 million people in Kyiv without power and more than 6,000 buildings without heating, according to Reuters. The country is enduring a brutally cold winter and temperatures are expected to drop to -20C (-4F) in the coming weeks. Hours earlier, Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin aide, had rejected assertions by Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, that the only issue left to resolve between Kyiv and Moscow to end the war concerned control over Ukrainian territory in the Donbas region. “The territorial issue is the most important issue but many other issues remain on the agenda,” Ushakov said. Asked about security guarantees the west had pledged to Ukraine in the event of a deal, Ushakov said: “No one agreed on this.” Ukraine and Russia are expected to continue talks in Abu Dhabi this weekend that will focus specifically on military contacts and efforts at monitoring a potential ceasefire. Trilateral talks including US officials last week were the first time the three sides had sat down to negotiations since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Ushakov was guarded when asked whether the talks were at an advanced stage. “We held the first round of negotiations within the framework of the security working groups. That’s where we are,” he said. On Thursday evening, Zelenskyy said he had intelligence that Russia was preparing for a new strike against Ukraine. “Our intelligence has provided information on this issue and it is necessary that the US, Europe and all our partners understand how this discredits the diplomatic discussions,” he wrote. Earlier, he had warned of Russia “using the negotiating process with the cynical, harsh goal of delaying new measures of pressuring Russia [to make peace] that could work”. Earlier this week, a Russian drone strike on a Ukrainian passenger train killed five people onboard, according to Ukrainian prosecutors. One drone struck a carriage of the train, which was carrying 155 passengers, and two more drones detonated alongsideit. Zelenskyy called the attack an act of terrorism.

Trump orders immediate reopening of commercial airspace over Venezuela

Donald Trump has ordered the immediate reopening of commercial airspace over Venezuela, weeks after US military forces toppled the dictator Nicolás Maduro. Speaking at the White House during his cabinet’s first meeting of the year, Trump said he had just concluded a telephone conversation with Venezuela’s acting president (and former vice-president), Delcy Rodríguez, in which he informed her of the decision to restore flight access. “We’re going to be opening up all commercial airspace over Venezuela,” Trump told the gathering on Thursday. “American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela and they’ll be safe there.” The president said he had instructed the US transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, and Pentagon officials to implement the change before the day’s end. He characterized the security situation in Venezuela as being “under very strong control” after Rodríguez replaced Maduro. Direct commercial passenger and cargo flights between the US and Venezuela had already been suspended since May 2019, under Trump’s first term, when the Department of Transportation determined conditions in the country posed unacceptable safety and security risks to American carriers, crews and passengers. In November, as Trump was ramping up pressure on Maduro, he declared that the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela should be considered as “closed in its entirety”. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) then told pilots to be cautious flying around the country because of heightened military activity, and international airlines began canceling flights to Venezuela. Trump’s announcement signaled the latest step in a rapid normalization of relations between Washington and Caracas under the interim government, which is mostly composed of Maduro’s former subordinates. For US oil companies, the opening also represents an opportunity to access Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, though significant infrastructure investment would probably be required to restore production to previous levels after years of deterioration and underinvestment. Trump revealed that major US oil companies were already on the ground in Venezuela conducting site assessments for potential operations. “We have the major oil companies going to Venezuela now, scouting it out and picking their locations, and they’ll be bringing back tremendous wealth for Venezuela and for the United States,” he said. Rodríguez, once one of Maduro’s closest allies who was formerly responsible for the feared Sebin intelligence agency, has voiced occasional defiance towards Washington while carefully signaling that she is willing to accommodate US demands. The acting president has moved quickly to reset diplomatic ties with Washington, and is pushing through legislation that Trump has characterized as placing the sector under US oversight. On Sunday, Rodríguez told a group of oil workers she had had “enough” of Washington’s orders, but on Wednesday the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, told the US Congress that communications with Venezuela’s new leaders had been “very respectful and productive”. Earlier this week, Rodríguez said that the United States had agreed to unblock the country’s foreign-held sovereign assets, with the funds designated for healthcare and energy purchases. American Airlines, which was the last US airline flying to Venezuela when it suspended flights there in March 2019, announced on Thursday that it intended to reinstate nonstop service in the coming months.

Canada separatists accused of ‘treason’ after secret talks with US state department

Covert meetings between separatist activists in the Canadian province of Alberta and members of Donald Trump’s administration amount to “treason”, the premier of British Columbia said on Thursday. “To go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada, there’s an old-fashioned word for that – and that word is treason,” David Eby told reporters. “It is completely inappropriate to seek to weaken Canada, to go and ask for assistance, to break up this country from a foreign power and – with respect – a president who has not been particularly respectful of Canada’s sovereignty.” The revelations that far-right activists met US state department officials first emerged in a Financial Times report outlining the efforts a group of increasingly emboldened separatists are taking in their attempt to secede from Canada. A minority of residents of the oil-rich province have long argued that the province’s woes are due to the structure of payments to the federal government and a perceived inability to get their vast fossil fuel reserves to market. Organizers of the Alberta independence movement, which still boasts only minority support, are now collecting signatures to trigger a referendum there. The pro-independence campaign has been travelling across the province as organizers try to collect nearly 178,000 signatures over the next few months. The group has publicly said it wants a $500bn credit facility from the US treasury to help fund the creation of a new country if their referendum is successful. “I think that while we can respect the right of any Canadian to express themselves to vote in a referendum, I think we need to draw the line at people seeking the assistance of foreign countries to break up this beautiful land of ours,” Eby told reporters, adding he would raise this at a meeting of provincial leaders later in the day. Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, who has rejected the idea of separation and said she “supports a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada”, is facing mounting criticism that her government recently made it easier for residents to petition for a referendum. The Ontario premier, Doug Ford, said Smith needed “to stand up [to the separatists] and say enough is enough”. Last week, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, appeared to support the efforts by the separatists in an interview with the conservative website Real America’s Voice. “They have great resources. Albertans are a very independent people,” he said. “Rumour [is] that they may have a referendum on whether they want to stay in Canada or not … People are talking. People want sovereignty. They want what the US has got.” Prominent Indigenous leaders in the province were due to speak on the issue on Thursday, warning earlier in the week that Elections Alberta was “ill-equipped” to deal with the potential of foreign interference in the referendum. They have warned no secession is possible without consultation with treaty holders, whose agreement predates the creation of Alberta as a province within Canada. Increasingly, analysts worry that outside influence from the US could give separatists outsized influence. Conflict researcher Thomas Homer-Dixon previously told the Guardian a “fifth column” approach by separatists – working with outside forces to destabilize Canada – is a growing and increasingly realistic fear. He warned a looming separation referendum could fail but Trump could argue the results were “fake” and the US would move troops to the northern Montana border and tell the rest of Canada that Alberta must be allowed to join the US as the “51st state”. “We need to be planning right now to neutralize this kind of activity, well in advance. Because it seems increasingly like disinformation campaigns, appeals for help, declarations that the electoral process was fake and was stacked are something we need to game out,” said Homer-Dixon. “The reality is, right now, we’re just sleepwalking into it.”

EU designates Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation

The EU has listed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, ending years of division over the issue in response to the regime’s brutal repression of protesters. “Repression cannot go unanswered,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, on Thursday. The paramilitary organisation has played a significant role in suppressing demonstrations in Iran. “Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise,” she wrote on X. Hannah Neumann, chair of the European parliament’s delegation for relations with Iran, said the IRGC listing was a “long-overdue political signal that massive violence and transnational repression will no longer go unanswered”. She said in a statement: “This listing is not merely symbolic. It carries very concrete legal consequences: assets are frozen, and any financial or material support becomes a criminal offence.” The EU also added 15 Iranian government officials and six organisations to its sanctions list for their role in “serious human rights violations” in the repression of protesters. The listings included Iran’s minister of the interior, Eskandar Momeni, and several IRGC commanders, senior police and law enforcement officers, an EU statement said. Entities facing sanctions include the Iranian Audio-Visual Media Regulatory Authority and several software companies involved in censoring activities, such as trolling campaigns on social media, spreading misinformation and disinformation and disrupting internet access. The latest additions mean the EU has sanctioned 247 individuals and 50 entities over human rights violations. Separate restrictions (asset freezes and travel bans) have been imposed on Iranian people and organisations aiding Russia’s war on Ukraine. The long-discussed EU listing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps came after Donald Trump told Tehran to negotiate a deal on the future of its nuclear programme or face a possible military strike. He announced on social media that a “massive armada” was on the way ready to fulfil its mission “with speed and violence if necessary”. The Axios website reported that the Trump administration would host senior defence and intelligence officials from Israel and Saudi Arabia this week for talks on Iran. Trump held back from threatened military strikes on Iran earlier this month, after calls from the Gulf states for restraint and warnings from Israel that it needed more time to prepare for likely reprisals. Russia, which has deepened ties with Iran since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, warned on Thursday against any “destabilising” military action in the region. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said: “Any forceful actions can only create chaos in the region and lead to very dangerous consequences in terms of destabilising the security system throughout the region.” More than 30,000 people may have been killed in the latest wave of repression in Iran, according to some estimates. Human rights groups say a “revenge” campaign has been unleashed by the regime, with doctors and healthcare workers facing death sentences for treating badly injured protesters. The EU terror designation of the IRGC became possible after France dropped its long-held opposition. Jean-Nöel Barrot, the French foreign minister, wrote on X: “The unbearable repression of the peaceful uprising of the Iranian people cannot go unanswered.” France, along with other member states, had resisted the designation of the Iranian regime’s state body, fearing it would damage diplomatic channels and the interests of French citizens in the country. Belgium had similar qualms, but its government last year included support for the EU listing in the coalition agreement. Belgium’s foreign minister, Maxime Prévot, said on Thursday his country continued to advocate for the terror designation “particularly in light of the atrocities and repression that have been observed in recent weeks”. On Thursday, Tehran’s top diplomat criticised the EU’s decision to designate the IRGC a terrorist organisation as a “major strategic mistake”. In a post on X, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, wrote: “Several countries are presently attempting to avert the eruption of all-out war in our region. Europe is instead busy fanning the flames.” Iran is facing off with the US, which has moved a strike force to the Middle East. Established after the 1979 Islamic revolution, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is an elite paramilitary force loyal to the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It is separate to the regular army, with 150,000 ground troops and its own navy and air force. It was listed a terrorist organisation by the US in 2019 during the first Trump administration, by Canada in 2024, and by Australia in 2025. The EU’s decision renews pressure on the British government, which has not proscribed the IRGC but has kept open the option to do so in the future. Yvette Cooper, the British foreign secretary, has promised to draw up new legislation to be able to proscribe state organisations such as the IRGC without having to designate them as a terrorist organisation under existing laws. Cooper told MPs earlier this month: “The scale of the truly brutal, horrendous actions in Iran means that we should stand together in condemnation of that action, and in the action that we need to take in concert with our allies, including on further sanctions and further immediate pressure on the regime.” A spokesperson for the prime minister’s office said on Thursday: “We welcome those announcements by the EU, which will further hold the Iranian authorities to account for the violence and brutality shown against peaceful protesters.” The UK Foreign Office views a decision on proscription as largely symbolic given the extensive sanctions already in place and is concerned such a move might trigger the expulsion of British diplomats in Tehran. The IRGC is already subject to asset freezes and other sanctions in the UK.

Archbishop of York cleared of misconduct over handling of sexual abuse case

The Church of England’s second most senior cleric has been cleared of misconduct over his handling of a priest who committed sexual abuse. Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, was criticised after he allowed the disgraced priest David Tudor to remain in ministry during his oversight from 2010, despite Tudor’s history of sexual abuse. Tudor was barred from ministry for life in 2024 after acknowledging he had sexual relationships with two teenage girls, aged 15 and 16, in the 1980s. He had previously been suspended from ministry for five years in 1988 after admitting to having sex with a 16-year-old girl who was a pupil at a school where he was chaplain. He returned to working in the church in 1994. A BBC investigation found Cottrell, while bishop of Chelmsford, renewed Tudor’s contract as area dean in Essex on two occasions and was aware of Tudor’s past abuse, the fact he was banned from being alone with children and had paid £10,000 compensation to a sexual abuse victim. In findings published on Thursday, the church-appointed president of tribunals, Stephen Males, concluded that some mistakes were made in the handling of Tudor’s case, but the threshold for misconduct was not met. Males, a former court of appeal and high court judge, said Cottrell had no power to remove Tudor from ministry and could not be held responsible for the previous decision to allow Tudor back into ministry. “They were mistaken and regrettable appointments […] He should have appreciated they would be regarded as deeply painful for victims and survivors of Tudor,” Males said. However, “in the very difficult circumstances” Cottrell inherited, Males concluded the appointments were “made in good faith and do not amount to misconduct”. In response to the findings, Cottrell said: “We all have much to learn from this case. There are some things I wish I had done differently.” Church documents show that Cottrell was briefed about Tudor in his first few weeks as bishop of Chelmsford in 2010, and worked to “minimise the risk he posed”. He said he regretted that Tudor’s appointment as area dean was renewed in 2013 and 2018, and he “apologises for the hurt this has caused victims and survivors”. “We knew he shouldn’t have been allowed back into ministry, but since he had been, and we couldn’t remove him, we were working hard, as is the case with all good safeguarding, to manage and minimise the risk he posed based upon the recommendations of a risk assessment and various safeguarding agreements,” he is quoted as saying in a 2024 statement. “I reiterate that an independent risk assessment had classified [Tudor] as being ‘low risk’.” A string of abuse scandals has embroiled the church in recent years, culminating in the resignation of its previous leader, Justin Welby, in 2024. He was succeeded by Sarah Mullally, the first female archbishop of Canterbury, who has vowed to speak out about misogyny but has also faced a complaint over her handling of a safeguarding issue that was ultimately dismissed.

Chinese state media views Starmer’s visit as act of economic pragmatism

Keir Starmer’s visit to Beijing has been cautiously welcomed by Chinese state media as an act of economic pragmatism by a beleaguered British prime minister. The presence of 50 business and cultural leaders with Starmer, who is the first British prime minister to visit China in eight years, was taken as a sign that the UK was prioritising its ailing economy over political considerations. The reported refusal of Starmer to confirm that he would be seen to pressure President Xi Jinping over his relationship with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was seized upon by the state-owned Guancha news website. The site reported that the prime minister did “not take the bait” of western journalists who may have wished to derail the visit. Starmer told reporters in Beijing he wanted a “more sophisticated” relationship and announced economic agreements to make it easier for British businesses to “grow their footprints in China”. A social media account affiliated with the state-owned Beijing Daily wrote: “If the Sino-British relationship in the past few years has been characterised by ‘politics taking precedence and economics taking a backseat’, then this time it is more like a reordering of ‘economics taking precedence and politics taking a backseat’.” An account affiliated with the state outlet China.org.cn echoed that sentiment, framing Starmer’s visit as a functional necessity driven by current pressures, rather than a return to the “golden era” in relations heralded by David Cameron in 2015. The account said: “Against the backdrop of heightened global economic uncertainty, strengthening pragmatic cooperation between China and the UK aligns with the practical needs of both sides. “China is advancing high-quality development and high-level opening up, and British companies have significant opportunities in this process. “Starmer’s visit to China is not an ideological shift, but rather a rebalancing choice under economic pressure. For the UK, it means capital, orders, and growth momentum; for China, it means stable expectations, mutually beneficial cooperation, and strategic leverage over Europe. “Both sides understand that security and other issues will not disappear, but neither intends for them to dominate the agenda.” The account noted that the UK was showing a level of independence from the lead of Donald Trump’s White House. It said: “What is certain is that London has begun to recalculate its relationship with China, and this calculation is not entirely based on Washington’s approach.” Yin Zhiguang, a professor of international politics at the school of international relations and public affairs at Fudan University, was reported as commenting: “This diplomatic adjustment by Britain was forced by reality, both to hedge against the external risks brought by the Trump administration and to resolve the internal predicament of a sluggish domestic economy and weak governance.” A former editor-in-chief of the state-owned outlet Global Times, Hu Xijin, also suggested the UK’s outreach was not a result of Chinese lobbying but a reaction to Trump’s recent behaviour on the global stage. Research by Lillian Yang

EU designates Iran’s revolutionary guard as terrorist organisation – as it happened

… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today! The EU has listed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, ending years of division over the issue in response to the regime’s brutal repression of protesters (16:14, 16:16, 16:51, 16:59, 17:11). The EU also added 15 Iranian government officials and 6 organisations to its sanctions list for their role in “serious human rights violations” in the repression of protesters. More than 30,000 people may have been killed in Iran in the latest wave of repression, according to some estimates as human rights groups say a “revenge” campaign has been unleashed by the regime. In other news, US president Donald Trump said he has personally asked Vladimir Putin “not to fire into Kyiv and various [Ukrainian] towns for a week” amid extremely low temperatures expected in the coming days, saying the Russian president “has agreed to that” (18:13). Earlier, several EU leaders criticised Russia for continued attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure (9:55, 12:06, 12:58) German chancellor Friedrich Merz said that European nations are starting to discuss ideas around a shared nuclear umbrella to complement existing security arrangements with the US (17:54), earlier warning about “rough winds blowing in the world” in his foreign policy speech in the Bundestag (10:18). Danish king Frederik will travel to Greenland in mid-February amid US interest in controlling the territory (14:10), after foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen revealed he had “constructive” talks with the US over Greenland last night (9:38). And here here is a short video in which I’m talking about our recent story on why US ICE agents will be coming to Italy for the Winter Olympics… And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today. If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.

Heavy security deployed at airport in Niger capital after overnight explosions

Heavy security has been deployed around the main airport in Niger’s capital, Niamey, after overnight gunfire and explosions. The shooting and detonations began shortly after midnight on Wednesday, according to residents of a neighbourhood near the airport, which is next to Base Aérienne 101, a military base previously used by US and then Russian troops. Calm returned about an hour later, the residents told Agence France-Presse (AFP). Videos filmed by local people showed streaks of light in the sky and the sound of loud explosions, while other images showed flames several metres high and charred cars. A source with the Togolese airline Asky told the Guardian that gunshots had made several holes in the fuselage of its two planes on the tarmac of Niamey airport. Staff were at their hotel at the time but remained stranded in the country. “They destroyed both aircraft … They left evidence at the scene,” the source said. Yacouba Fofana, a spokesperson for Air Côte d’Ivoire, confirmed that one of the airline’s aircraft had also been hit. “A communique is being prepared [about it],” he said. It remained unclear who had fired the shots or whether there were any casualties. Satellite images published early on Thursday showed areas with signs of scorched earth near the airport’s runway. Authorities in Niger, a junta-run country in west Africa’s Sahel region regularly hit by jihadist violence, have yet to comment on the situation. On Thursday, a heavy security presence blocked the perimeter of the airport and, in particular, access to the military base on the site. But in most parts of Niamey, people were going about their lives normally. Several observers indicated it was probably a jihadist strike. The country is grappling with armed groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliates who have been launching attacks on the tri-border region with Mali and Burkina Faso in particular. “Over the last few days, there have been warnings of an imminent risk of an attack, but it’s not clear if it was going to come from the two main groups active in the country,” Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at the consultancy Control Risks, told AFP. “But they have been building their presence in areas near Niamey.” Ochieng said the incident could align with the wider cause claimed by the al-Qaida-affiliate Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) “to continue targeting [the] security establishment, high-profile establishment as a way of delegitimising the juntas”. Last weekend, JNIM claimed responsibility for destroying an army vehicle with an improvised explosive device several kilometres east of Niamey. In July 2023, Niger’s presidential guard, led by Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani, overthrew the democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, marking the seventh successful coup in west and central Africa in three years at that point. There has been at least one successful coup and two failed attempts in the region since then. The junta suspended the constitution and faced international condemnation and aid cuts. After the Economic Community of West African States imposed sanctions and threatened military intervention, Niger withdrew from the regional bloc alongside Mali and Burkina Faso – both also under military rule – to form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in September 2023. Niger also expelled French and US forces, signalling a geopolitical realignment away from former traditional allies. The security situation has deteriorated significantly since the coup despite the junta’s promises to restore stability. The Global Terrorism Index 2025 reports that Niger recorded the largest increase in terrorism deaths globally in 2024, rising by 94% to a total of 930 deaths, the country’s worst ranking since the index began. Agence France-Presse contributed to this report