Politics
Ruth Langsford Admits Feeling ‘Broken’ After Eamonn Holmes Split
Ruth Langsford has reflected on her split from ex-husband Eamonn Holmes in a candid new interview.
The two TV personalities had been together for 27 years, and married for 14, when a spokesperson announced in 2024 that the “marriage is over” and the pair were “in the process of divorcing”.
In the years since, Ruth has remained mostly tight-lipped about the break-up, but has spoken about it more candidly to the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine.
Ruth began by saying that she and Eamonn had a “very happy marriage”, continuing: “Of course you question yourself, ‘did I miss something, was I not aware, was I too busy?’. But there’s no point playing the blame game.”
The Loose Women anchor admitted: “I just didn’t think I’d find myself here, and I wasn’t strong at the start. I was broken. Broken heart. Broken dreams.
“We all have an image of how we think our life and future is going to be. This wasn’t mine. I was devastated. We had gone from being a couple, traversing the usual ups and downs of a marriage, to an abrupt end. It was a huge shock.”
In the end, Ruth said she had to “give myself a good talking to” in order to stop herself “catastrophising”.
She recalled: “I was literally asking, ‘What’s going to become of me?’, like some sad, lonely woman in a Jane Austen novel.
“But then age and experience told me, ‘Ruth, you’re not going to die from this. I mean you are going to die, one day, but you’re not going to die from divorce’.”
Ruth initially took two months off her role on Loose Women in the wake of her divorce announcement, making only fleeting references to the split on the panel show in the period that followed.
Eamonn – who has since been linked with relationship counselor Katie Alexander – told viewers during his GB News show the day after the announcement was made: “I would like to thank you for your support for Ruth and I over the last few days as to the news of our separation.
“Your support for both of us is very much appreciated.”
Ruth and Eamonn share one son, Jack, who was born in 2002. Eamonn also has three grown-up children from his previous marriage to his first wife.
Wasn’t rightly facing derision for awarding the warmonger Donald Trump a made-up ‘peace prize’ enough? Football’s governing body FIFA has announced that it will collaborate with Trump in his and Israel’s forced annexation of Gaza.
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino said that FIFA will ‘partner’ with Trump’s Orwellian scam ‘Board of Peace’ in Gaza to bring “the greatest stars in the world” to the occupied and soon to be stolen territory. FIFA promised to raise $75m to spend in Gaza on ‘football-related projects’ — very, very expensive genocide-‘sportswash’.
Further key details of the collaboration are:
- $50m on a new ‘national stadium’ with a capacity of 20,000. Quite which ‘nation’ the stadium will be for is not clear. But it’s clearly not Gaza, since Israeli war criminal Netanyahu has said Israel will never accept Palestinian statehood.
- a $15m ‘FIFA Academy’
- $7.5m on new ‘FIFA Arena’ football pitches – analogous to the nazi ‘sport facilities’ constructed for show in Auschwitz, Birkenau and other death camps.
- Bringing “the greatest stars in the world” to whitewash the land theft and attract ‘international investment’.
Israel has destroyed 98% of arable land in Gaza and almost all its buildings, while slaughtering hundreds of thousands of civilians by bombing, starvation and disease. The craven FIFA management is helping sanitise Israel’s crimes and Trump’s arrogant take-over of land that none of them belong in.
Featured image via SwissInfo
Israel has bombed a refugee camp in Lebanon killing two Palestinian refugees. The air raid struck Ain Al-Hilwe camp in the south of the country. Mehr news agency initially said at least three others may have been injured:
Meanwhile, other local media reported that the Israeli regime, also in violation of the ceasefire agreement targeted the “Al-Shu’ara” district in the suburb of the town of “Nabi Sheith” in the Bekaa in eastern Lebanon with an airstrike.
Mehr said Israel also used artillery:
The occupying army also targeted a house in the “Al-Zaqaq” District in the suburb of the town of “Aytroun” and two towns of “Yarun” and “Marun al-Ras” in southern Lebanon with artillery fire.
Further artillery fire:
targeted the “Sahl al-Khayyam” district in southern Lebanon with artillery shelling.
Anadolu Agency said three missiles were used:
An Israeli drone fired three missiles at the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon on Friday.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported that the strike hit the Hittin neighborhood inside the densely populated camp, located near the southern city of Sidon.
Israel claims it hit Hamas
The Israeli military appeared to confirm they’d hit the camp – with the usual unevidenced caveats about terrorism:
The IDF says it carried out an airstrike against a Hamas command center where members of the terror group were gathered in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon.
Lebanon Debate posted footage said to be of the strike’s aftermath:
مشاهدٌ من الغارة الاسرائيلية التي استهدفت عين الحلوة pic.twitter.com/tf1mkcIHnp
— Lebanon Debate (@lebanondebate) February 20, 2026
The strike came a day after Israel forces threatened and then killed a man in the southern Lebanon village of Tallouseh.
They gave him an ultimatum: die alone or with your family. He left his home. Then they killed him.
Israel drone-bombed Ahmed Turmus in his stationary car. His death was reported on X and by Lebanese citizen news agencies.
Al Mayadeen reported Israeli drones were still operating in the area.
Featured image via X
Reform parachuted-in Gorton and Denton candidate Matthew Goodwin has been accused by a female GB News staffer of sexually harassing her. And Reform boss Nigel Farage is thought to have known about the allegation before he named Goodwin as the party’s candidate in the by-election.
Usually, ‘Labour’ PM Keir Starmer tries to mimic Farage, but for a change Farage is mimicking Starmer’s serial blind-eye-turning to appointing sex pests and paedophiles.
The junior TV staffer complained to the channel’s HR department that Goodwin had made inappropriate comments, including on her appearance. The victim of the alleged harassment was deeply disturbed by it, with a colleague saying that:
She was very upset at the time, and her colleagues were upset on her behalf that she was so distressed by the situation.
Reform dismissed the revelations as a “desperate, last-minute smear” by the Guardian. Goodwin is said to have denied the allegations, while his lawyers admitted the complaint was made – but the situation is quite a turnaround.
Reform scrabbling to recover
Goodwin wrote in 2014 about a series of sexual harassment scandals by what was then called UKIP. He called the latest scandals were “another bad week” for Farage – but found it “intriguing” that the string of appalling behaviour by UKIP politicians and candidates wasn’t damaging the party’s popularity. Goodwin said that people were “rightly shocked” by the revelations, but that UKIP voters had decided to give the party “a free pass”:
All of this raises an obvious and intriguing question – why is none of this negative coverage reducing support for Farage and Ukip, which is quickly becoming the Teflon party of British politics? … The latest revelations rightly shocked the progressive and socially liberal, but they are unlikely to feature prominently on the radar of the average Ukip voter….
…They have found Britain’s social and economic transformation profoundly unsettling and are watching the country evolve into a society they simply do not like … unsurprisingly, many of them have decided to give Ukip a free pass: “So what if that Farage has a few friends who are nutters,” they say.
Goodwin went on to note the importance of fighting racism and decry the “rise of radical right politics”:
Calling out racism where racism exists is important. But over the longer term this will not get our society very far. If it did, then Europe as a whole would not have seen a stubbornly persistent rise of radical right politics over a 30-year period.
Now he’s standing as a candidate for a far-right, racist party, has made comments that “young girls and women” should be given a “biological reality” check – and is the subject of a sexual harassment complaint.
If voters didn’t care in 2014, will enough of them care now to reject his – and Starmer’s – politics and scandals in 2026?
Featured image via the Canary
The US Supreme Court has ruled against most of Donald Trump’s global tariffs – one of the White House’s main priorities.
Finally, SCOTUS reaffirms what we’ve known all along, Trump’s tariffs are an unconstitutional tax on the American people.
Over the last year, working people paid an average of $1,000 more because of these tariffs. And Trump has no plan to put that money back in your wallet.… pic.twitter.com/zUa9nLQZHK
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) February 20, 2026
The ruling won 6-3. It states that Trump cannot use the excuse of a national emergency to legally impose sweeping, country-specific import taxes.
It immediately invalidates the broad tariffs that Trump imposed last year on nearly all imports. This included so-called “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries, and many additional levies which Trump claimed were due to the fentanyl crisis.
A loss for Trump is a win for working Americans
Remember when Trump lied (yes, again!) to the American people and said it would be exporters who paid the tariffs, not US citizens?
Instead, the tariffs quickly screwed over working people and small businesses.
Wait. I thought we were told time after time the exporting country paid the tariff. Could he have been lying??? pic.twitter.com/ML9kIvUUr1
— Lee Finishen 🇨🇦 (@5150Inprogress) February 20, 2026
There is no doubt that this ruling is a win for the American people. Cue a Truth Social meltdown in 3,2,1…
This is a win for working Americans.
The folks struggling to put food on the table.⁰The small business owners trying to keep their doors open.⁰The farmers caught in the middle of reckless trade wars.
Trump promised to lower costs on day one — yet his reckless, illegal tariffs… https://t.co/8PzCNR8XQq
— Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (@RepJasmine) February 20, 2026
Of course, the House of Representatives should impeach Mr Tangerine, then throw him into a prison cell to rot with the rest of his nonce pals.
The world is healing.
Impeach next https://t.co/0VoHx9nT0O
— wei2high (@wei2high) February 20, 2026
The ruling could also be good for the Democrats as we approach the midterm elections in November.
This Supreme court ruling shakes things up for the midterms.
Trump can’t lean on tariffs as a big win, and Democrats will now have something new to criticize.
This might weakens a key message in his midterm campaign.
— Mimi (@Mimi_yakigar) February 20, 2026
However, Trump is already attempting to repress that vote using voter ID.
“there will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!”
Trump’s authoritarian takeover and interference in the midterm elections under the guise of “election integrity” has begun. pic.twitter.com/FHYYKQ3u3h
— Melanie D’Arrigo (@DarrigoMelanie) February 13, 2026
He has also threatened to deploy his masked ICE goons to disrupt voting – talk about a dictatorship.
Trump doesn’t like being told no – by anyone, let alone the legal system. Before the judgment, Trump said, “We’ll figure something out”. Of course, he will have no intention of following the ruling. When has he ever followed the law? He’s been accused of being a child rapist and is named thousands of times in the Epstein files. He’s hardly going to care about a few import taxes.
Featured image via HG
Two Just Stop Oil supporters received suspended sentences on 20 February after pleading guilty to criminal damage by spraying paint on a number of high end car dealerships in 2022. They took the action to demand an end to new oil and gas licensing.
Posh car dealerships targeted
On 26 October 2022, Emma Brown and Carmen Lean sprayed orange paint from a fire extinguisher over the premises of several high end car dealerships on Berkeley Square and Bruton Street, in London’s swanky Mayfair district. These included HR Owen, Jack Barclay and Ferrari Mayfair. They had previously pleaded guilty to the charge of criminal damage and have now been sentenced at Southwark Crown Court.
Judge Tomlinson gave both defendants a 10 month sentence (suspended for 18 months) and ordered them to complete 100 hours of unpaid work within 12 months. In addition they’ll have to pay victim compensation of £1,500 each to the car dealerships. The Judge has recommended a schedule of £50 a month.
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:
Politicians and the media may be distracted by the rising threat of war, but we know that this is nothing compared with the threat posed by the planetary heating equivalent of 365 million Hiroshima bombs being absorbed by our oceans and atmosphere every year.
And yet nearly two years after our demand to end new oil and gas became government policy, three people are in prison right now for doing all they can to limit climate catastrophe and hundreds of our supporters continue to face the legal consequences of standing up to the fossil fuel death cult.
The prosecution initially accused the defendants of drilling a hole in the Jack Barkley Bentley showroom window. Although it later admitted that they might not have done so. However it argued that they had nonetheless caused paint to spatter inside the premises. The repair costs for clearing up the paint were said to total £13,538 and the window replacement was £19,925.
The Judge concluded it was unlikely that the defendants had made the hole in the window and so did not include window replacement costs in the calculation of compensation. He told the defendants that:
the building looked all pretty ugly after your work.
If convicted on this charge, the defendants would have likely faced sentences of 12 months in prison, not necessarily suspended.
In 2024 Just Stop Oil successfully won its original demand of ‘no new oil and gas’. And on 27 March 2025 it announced an end to the campaign of action. However, supporters promise to continue telling the truth in court, speaking out for political prisoners and helping build what comes next.
Featured image via Just Stop Oil
At long last, twelve of the Palestine Action defendants – otherwise known as the Filton 24 – have been granted bail following a hearing at the Old Bailey on.
The legal limit for an individual to held on remand (before trial) is 182 days, or around 6 months. Every single one of the defendants were held for longer than that period – some even for twice as long.
Five of the Filton defendants – Teuta Hoxha, Kamran Ahmed, Zahra Farooque, Heba Muraisi, and Qesser Zuhrah – had been on remand since November 2024. Hannah Davidson had been held since August 2024.
A further six defendants – Salaam Mahmood, Moiz Ibrahim, Finn Collins, Harland (Harley) Archer, Louie Adams, and Liam Mullany- had been held since July 2025.
Palestine Action defendants
On top of that, Yulia Brigadirova was granted bail on Wednesday 18 February. However, she was still remanded for another case relating to an action against Elbit, for which Davidson was also charged. This took place at the Instro weapons Factory in Kent back in June 2024.
Today, Brigadirova was also granted bail for the second case. Unfortunately, Davidson won’t be released until she too is granted bail regarding this second case.
Meanwhile, Samuel Corner is the only member of the Filton24 who remains on remand. He’s been held since August 2024 – that is, one-and-a-half years, and three times the legal limit. He did not apply for bail today.
At his trial, he was acquitted of aggravated burglary. Likewise, he was not convicted of a single offence, including grievous bodily harm with intent against a police officer.
Four of the prisoners who’ve been granted bail – Teuta Hoxha, Kamran Ahmed, Qesser Zuhrah and Heba Muraisi – also participated in the hunger strike. Their demands were simple – the de-proscription of Palestine Action, and immediate bail.
On Friday 13 February, the High Court ruled that the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful, “disproportionate” and in breach of human rights. Nevertheless, as our own Skwawkbox pointed out:
However, the ‘proscription’ remains in place for at least another week while the government has a chance to prepare submissions on the court’s finding. It remains a criminal offence, for the time being, to express support for Palestine Action. Police should, of course, weigh whether it’s worth arresting people when no prosecutions are likely, but their record suggests they won’t.
‘Monumental victory’
Today’s granting of bail comes after eighteen of the defendants were found not guilty of aggravated burglary on Wednesday 18 February. This, in turn, followed the jury acquittal for the first six who went to trial for aggravated burglary.
Aggravated burglary carries a maximum life sentence. As such, it was by far the most serious charge against any of the Filton 24. The prosecution alleged that the the defendants entered the Elbit weapons factory together with the intention of using the items they carried as weapons, or at least on a joint-enterprises basis to do so.
However, the ‘not guilty’ verdict means that the prosecution’s case itself wasn’t accepted.
A Filton24 Defence Committee spokesperson said:
Today is a monumental victory for the Filton24. Many of them faced up to 2 years on remand before trial, far exceeding the 6 month pre-trial custody time limit. Some of them were left with no other option but to hunger strike as a means to resist their unjust incarceration and continue to show solidarity with the Palestinian people. Despite the state’s best efforts to break each and everyone of them, they will walk out today with their heads held high.
Samuel Corner is the only member of the Filton24 who remains on remand, despite not being convicted of a single offence at trial. This isn’t right, or just, given he has already spent over 18 months in prison with no convictions. He should also be granted immediate bail.
Today marks a huge victory for the Filton24 defendants. However, the trials themselves are still to come, and the fight isn’t over yet.
Featured image via the Canary
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The loss of a loved one is a heavy weight and one that all of us will experience throughout our lives. The emotional toll alone can make day to day life incredibly difficult to cope with.
This is before we even consider the practical and financial elements of loss which, according to the loss experts at Empathy, fall disproportionately on women in the UK.
HuffPost UK spoke exclusively with Clare Dodd, UK General Manager at Empathy who shared: “When we talk about bereavement, the first thing people think of is the emotional devastation – how awful it must be to not have that person in your life anymore.
“But what often gets overlooked, and can be equally painful to deal with, is the practical avalanche that follows a death. And in the UK, that burden disproportionately falls on women.”
This is partially because Census data reveals women are significantly more likely to be widowed than men, and around three quarters of bereavement benefit claimants are female according to DWP data.
However, the bereavement gender gap goes a little deeper
Dodd adds: “Beyond the statistics, we see a clear pattern amongst the people we work with: women are often the ones left navigating the administrative tasks of loss, while handling their own grief.
“And the to-do list can be lengthy – planning a funeral, contacting pension providers, closing bank accounts, organising the funeral, dealing with probate, all while holding the family together emotionally.”
Of course, this leads to a lot of stress on women. According to Empathy’s research, women are almost 40% more likely than men to suffer physical symptoms of stress, and 60% more likely to experience psychological symptoms post-loss.
Dodd adds: “We’re also seeing the ramifications of traditional gender stereotypes around finances play out in grief. Empathy’s research found that women are more likely to report being uninvolved in long-term household financial planning, such as managing advisers, pensions and insurance.”
This aligns with UK data showing 70% of people who manage household finances alone are men. Additionally, research from Canada Life also found nearly half of couples don’t know where their partner’s will is kept, highlighting how financial visibility gaps are widespread.
“So when a partner dies, some women are not just grieving; they’re also suddenly trying to understand pensions, investments or debts they may never have been fully included in, find the details for a financial adviser they’ve never met or figure out which insurer to contact,” says Dodd.
“That cognitive load is huge. Grief already affects memory, concentration and decision-making. Layer complex bureaucracy on top of that and it can become very difficult to cope.”
The bureaucracy of death admin can take a toll, too
We wrote last year about how death admin becomes a secondary trauma for grieving people, and Dodd agrees, saying: ” Every bank, insurer and utility provider has its own process. People have to repeat the same painful information again and again, which makes it incredibly difficult to begin the healing journey.
“The way bereavement works from a policy perspective doesn’t make this any easier, which is a real shame. Outside of child bereavement, there is no guaranteed statutory paid leave for losing a spouse or partner in the UK.
“Many people get just a couple of compassionate days off work, and then they’re expected to return while still navigating funeral arrangements and legal processes, as well as the emotional implications of a loss that they may not have fully processed yet. A few days off simply doesn’t reflect the magnitude of what bereavement involves.”
How we can better support women through the admin side of loss
I asked Dodd what we could do to support women when they’re dealing with this avalanche of admin. She said: “The people we work with often tell us they feel isolated but don’t know why, since a lot of family and friends might be checking in, bringing food or saying things like ‘let me know if you need anything.’
“For most people though, it feels too daunting to make a specific ask – and sometimes they don’t even know what to ask for. So the best support you can give to anyone navigating the admin of loss, regardless of gender, is to offer practical, bite-size support.
“Little things like researching the process for cancelling their loved one’s driver’s licence or sourcing the number for the right department at the bank can be hugely helpful”
She adds that while your loved one may be capable of managing all of this, they may not have the bandwidth to, saying: “Remember this is not about capability. It’s about capacity. Someone might be perfectly competent or independent, but grief shrinks your bandwidth. Reducing decision fatigue is a real form of care.”
How we can prepare ourselves for loss
It’s not a comfortable topic to address but Dodd says: “The single most protective thing couples can do is talk openly about money and logistics before anything happens. Both partners should know where key documents are kept, understand what accounts exist, and feel confident accessing them. Passwords and important contacts should be documented somewhere secure but accessible.
“It’s never nice to think about death, but keeping your will up to date is so crucial. Remember big life changes like getting married, divorced or having a child can invalidate previous wills or signal changes to intestacy if someone dies without a will.
“If there are big changes to your assets, for example purchasing a new or additional property, it’s also a great time to review both your will and your insurance cover.”
Help and support:
- Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
- Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI – this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
- CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
- The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
- Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.
Ukraine will mark the fourth anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s barbaric invasion on Tuesday, February 24.
The date will serve as a cruel reminder of just how long this war has been raging, especially as the third round of trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US failed to make any significant progress last week.
Moscow’s refusals to give up its maximalist goals weigh down Donald Trump’s push for a speedy peace deal – though the US president continues to falsely blame Kyiv for the stagnant talks.
Earlier this week, he told reporters that it was going to be “very easy” to reach a deal.
But he warned: “Ukraine better come to the table, fast. That’s all I’m telling you. We are in a position, we want them to come.”
Desperate to secure an agreement and consolidate his supposed reputation as a “deal-maker”, Trump has time and time again promised a truce is on the horizon – all while Russian strikes continue to target Ukraine.
But, as Ukraine enters its fifth year of war, could the president be right, and an end is in sight?
HuffPost UK asked experts just how realistic Trump’s claims are – and if there are any alternatives to a formal peace agreement.
Could 2026 Be The Year The Ukraine War Finally Turns Around?
British officials are confident that Ukraine can hold its ground on the battlefield in the east, even after a challenging winter where Russia repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
That enables Kyiv to hold a firmer line in negotiations – like refusing to give into Putin and Trump’s demands that Ukraine gives up even more land.
But there are fears – particularly in Ukraine – that the talks themselves are just theatre to entertain Trump, with Kyiv delegates put under pressure to join.
Similarly, experts told HuffPost UK that it seems unlikely these negotiations will result in anything.
Professor Konstantin Sonin, from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy said he remains sceptical that Trump could secure a peace deal because “the basic, big things remain unchanged”.
He told HuffPost UK that Putin does not care about the cost of the war in terms of soldiers’ lives and material expenses, even though Russia is estimated to have suffered 1.2 million casualties since the conflict began.
While British officials have signalled that, beneath the surface, Russia’s economy is slowing down – with a fall in oil prices and a hike in VAT – that impact does not seem to have yet trickled through to the battlefield.
It’s suspected that Putin has not been informed about the reality of the public finances, or the eroding public support for the war.
But, at the same time, the Ukrainian army and state is nowhere near the state of collapse. In fact, its defence sector has been boosted over the last four years.
“A couple of more years of grinding warfare, in which the Russian army exchanges dozens of thousands of men for villages and townships in Eastern Ukraine, are totally possible,” Sonin, a Russian citizen and Kremlin critic, said.
“And then a new US president, a Republican or a Democrat, will be able to push Putin towards peace.”
Dr Simon Bennett, from the University of Leicester’s civil safety and security unit, also suggested it seemed pretty unlikely Trump’s efforts would result in a peace deal.
He said: “The upshot of this in 2026 is likely to be that Russia’s gains will come at an even greater cost, and, occasionally, will be partially reversed, albeit on a small scale in terms of square miles retaken by Ukraine.”
Bennett predicted Putin’s ongoing bid to control the whole of Ukraine’s eastern region, the Donbas, will likely mean the territory continues to be “the same bloody quagmire in 2026 as it was in 2025.”
“A couple of more years of grinding warfare… are totally possible”
– Professor Konstantin Sonin, the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy
Could Anything Force Trump To Crack Down On Putin?
Kurt Volker, who stepped down as Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine in 2019, claimed this week that the president has done a lot towards ending the war.
For instance, he has encouraged Ukraine to accept the idea of a ceasefire, and forced European allies to increase defence spending.
But speaking to the Centre for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) think tank, Volker said: “He still needs to get an end to the war. We need to be demanding a ceasefire and putting pressure on Russia to do that as soon as possible.”
The president’s annual State of the Union address is set to be on February 24 this year, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
But experts do not expect him to use the opportunity to finally recognise the extent of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
As Bennett said, Trump is too “inconsistent” – and his approach to policy-making is a “crisis or war waiting to happen”.
The specialist also pointed out that “Putin has no intention of negotiating a peace deal” and claimed he is playing “demonstrably gullible” Trump.
Meanwhile, when asked if the US president could crack down on Russia in a bid to boost his ratings before the midterm elections in November, Sonin said: “There will be more pressure on Trump from the Congress Republicans, because both the US population and the elite have been consistently supportive of Ukraine through the years of war.
“So, I’d expect Trump to do small things against Putin.”
Could It Be Possible To Agree To A Ceasefire, but Not A Peace Deal?
Kurt Volkner told CEPA that it could be possible to strike up a deal comparable to the one which stopped the war between North and South Korea.
That non-aggression pact has – for the most part – held for more than 70 years, even though neither side technically agreed to a sustainable peace.
Volkner said: “Someday, I do believe there will be a ceasefire. I don’t believe there will ever be a peace agreement.
“I don’t believe Vladimir Putin will ever accept that there is an independent and sovereign Ukraine.
“Again, of the West, of governments, of investors, businesses, needs to be one that assumes that we will have a strong, growing, prosperous democratic European Ukraine that is safe and worthy of investment and business growth, very much like South Korea, without a final peace agreement with Russia, that’s just going to be where we are.”
But Sonin disagreed with this idea.
He said that while the North-South Korea deal was “one of the most durable, effective peace agreements despite never being finally ‘settled’”, it’s clear from previous attempts that written agreements between Russia and Ukraine do not work.
He also pointed out that such an agreement relies on the US commitment to help South Korea if North Korea invades, and China’s commitment to help North Korea if South Korea invades.
Sonin said: “A ‘peace agreement without a peace agreement’ between Russia and Ukraine is totally possible, but it will require Polish, German, Swedish, Baltic, etc, troops on the ground in Ukraine and a firm US commitment to get involved immediately if a new conflict starts.”
Bennett also dismissed Volker’s argument, as Putin still wants to restore Ukraine into a satellite state for Moscow.
“Few western leaders mention the fact that Putin’s war aims have not changed, first, because it does not fit with the Trump-the-Peacemaker-Extraordinaire narrative and secondly, because, when it comes to dealing with Trump, most western leaders are spineless,” Bennett said.
Can Anything Be Done In The Pursuit Of Peace?
It’s widely believed that, in the absence of a stronger response from Trump, only a firmer intervention from Europe can actually stop the war.
But Ukraine allies across the continent have so far refused to commit to sending troops unless they operate in a peace-keeping capacity, as they want to avoid direct conflict with Russia.
Sonin told HuffPost UK: “I think that European countries will have to get involved into the military defense of Ukraine – sending ground troops, drone operators, etc. Of course it is a heavy lift politically.
“However, for the elites in Poland or Germany or Czech Republic or Romania or Baltic countries a scenario of Russia-controlled Ukraine (with Ukrainian army under maybe influence of the Russian masters) should be so scary that even a political heavy lift might become reality.”
He warned that without such an intervention, “the only hope is an internal collapse of Putin’s regime”.
Similarly, Bennett said Europe must resolve the issue by sending arms to Ukraine urgently, while the Russian army is weak.
“The cost in blood and treasure will be great,” Bennett said. “But nowhere near as great as allowing Russia to regenerate its armed forces for a final push on western Europe in five to 10 years’ time.”
Bennett said he saw this year’s Munich Conference as a “watershed moment”, as US secretary of state Marco Rubio reiterated that the White House primarily sees the Ukraine conflict as a problem for Europe not for the US.
Similarly, Volker said: “Europe can do a lot and can do a lot more than it is currently doing. And as I said, I picked up in Munich a realisation among a lot of European leaders that they’re not doing enough, that they need to step in and fill a gap that the US is leaving. So there are there’s a lot they can do.”
“The US sees itself as more of an arbiter than a prime mover in respect of European security,” Bennett said, adding: “I shall put it bluntly: the only way to end this war is through war. Europe must take Russia down.”
With nothing within Russia threatening to slow Putin’s ongoing aggression, and Trump’s efforts still – for now – amounting to mainly showmanship, ending the war in 2026 seems like a pipe dream, unless Europe gets directly involved.
As Bennett said: “Our fate is in our hands, and no-one else’s.”
Genocidal troops of the Sudanese so-called ‘Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) have murdered at least three aid workers and wounded four others in a drone strike. The strike targeted an aid convoy in South Kordofan, according to a report by the Sudan Doctors Network (SDN).
The United Nations has confirmed that the RSF is committing ethnically-based genocide in Sudan, with mass murders of non-Arab civilians. In a social media post, the SDN described the attack as a deliberate targeting of humanitarian workers and of desperately-needed aid, and a “dangerous escalation”:
Sudan Doctors Network: The Rapid Support Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (al-Hilu faction) targeted an aid convoy, killing three people and injuring four aid workers in South Kordofan.
Humanitarian aid trucks were destroyed by drones belonging to the… pic.twitter.com/k8fGN5Cdwk
— Sudan Doctors Network – شبكة أطباء السودان (@SDN154) February 19, 2026
While the UAE’s alleged support for the RSF has featured in headlines, the group is also covertly backed by Israel and is copying Israel’s tactics in its genocide in Gaza, both in killings and in the propaganda used to whitewash them.
The RSF has changed its self-promotion and positioning in response to Israel’s support. In April 2023, it removed the word “Quds” — the Arabic for Jerusalem — from its logo. The text was actually an acronym for ‘Rapid Support Forces’ in Arabic, but the apparent claim to Jerusalem was bound to offend Israeli sponsors. RSF has also sided with Israel over the Gaza genocide, condemning Palestinian resistance groups as terrorists.
The RSF has killed an estimated 100,000 people in the Sudan genocide since 2023, though the figure may well be higher. The new United Nations report says that the RSF violence meets at least three of five criteria to be classed as genocide. Any one of the five is enough to qualify as genocide.
Featured image via Amnesty
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