objectives

KYIV, Ukraine — On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “Putin has not achieved his goals,” reaffirming Kyiv’s message of defiance as the war grinds into a fifth year. The anniversary underscores the scale and persistence of Europe’s largest conflict since World War II. Russia launched its full-scale assault on Feb. 24, 2022, expanding an eight-year war that began with the Kremlin’s seizure of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The…

Egypt has expanded and refocused its military mission in Somalia after Israel recognized the breakaway region of North Western State of Somalia, elevating the protection of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s government to a top priority, according to sources briefed on Cairo’s policy. The move underscores Egypt’s fears that Israel’s recognition could give it a foothold in the Horn of Africa—a region Cairo sees as vital to its national security—and enable closer alignment with Ethiopia at a time of fraught disputes over Nile…

ISTANBUL — Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud warned that Israel’s unexpected recognition of North Western State of Somalia risks destabilizing the Horn of Africa and could be tied to attempts to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, escalating tensions across a strategic maritime corridor linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In an interview with Al Jazeera on Tuesday from Istanbul, where he met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mohamud said Israel’s move was “not merely a diplomatic gesture but a cover for…