{"id":200846,"date":"2026-02-18T21:26:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T21:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-us-responds-to-navalny-poison-claim-as-slovakia-accuses-ukraine-of-blackmail-sky-news\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T21:26:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T21:26:05","slug":"ukraine-war-latest-us-responds-to-navalny-poison-claim-as-slovakia-accuses-ukraine-of-blackmail-sky-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-us-responds-to-navalny-poison-claim-as-slovakia-accuses-ukraine-of-blackmail-sky-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war latest: US responds to Navalny poison claim – as Slovakia accuses Ukraine of blackmail – Sky News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest peace talks ended today with both sides giving updates on how they went – after Volodymyr Zelenskyy called part of Donald Trump’s peace approach “not fair”. Meanwhile, the Kremlin has demanded the West shares its evidence about how Alexei Navalny died. Follow the latest here.
Wednesday 18 February 2026 18:12, UK
Thanks for following our live updates, we’re pausing our coverage for the day.
A second day of talks between the US, Ukraine and Russia wrapped up in Geneva after about two hours of discussions.
“They were difficult, but businesslike,” the head of Russia’s delegation Vladimir Medinsky told Russian media, which later reported that he held two-hour talks with the Ukrainian side behind closed doors following the formal meeting.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said all three sides were “constructive” on the military aspect of the talks.
He explained key differences remain with the “political dimension” of talks, such as territory.
Here’s a round-up of the other news we brought you:
Military analyst Michael Clarke<\/a> has also been back answering your questions on the war.
Catch up on the full Q&A in this video…
Four South African men lured into fighting for Russia in Ukraine have landed back on home soil today, according to the country’s broadcaster.
Police were waiting at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, where the men landed, though a spokesman declined to comment, the South African \u200cBroadcasting Corporation reported.
It is illegal under South African law to provide military assistance to foreign governments or participate in foreign armies unless approved.
In November, the government said it would investigate how 17 of its citizens joined mercenary forces fighting in the Ukraine war after the men sent distress calls to return home.
Cyril Ramaphosa’s team said after a call with Vladimir Putin that the two leaders had “pledged their support to the process of returning” the men.
Our military analyst Michael Clarke<\/b><\/a> said in his latest Q&A that Moscow was recruiting from as many different countries as it could, with “a lot” of troops having joined from the Caribbean and African nations.
“Poor workers are signing up for, what are for them, huge amounts of money, and finding themselves on the frontline,” he said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has branded the International Paralympic Committee’s decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete under their own flag “dirty” and “awful”.
Asked about the decision in a clip posted online from an interview with Piers Morgan, Zelenskyy said he didn’t know about it but his first reaction was that it was “not respectable”.
Ukrainian officials have said they will not attend the Winter Paralympics, which will be held from 6-15 March, because of the announcement. 
Ukraine needs $14.5bn more from NATO allies to buy US-made defence equipment to fend off Russian aerial attacks, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
Thanking countries, including the UK, that have contributed $584m so far this year to what’s known as the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, the Ukrainian president said nevertheless that this was not nearly enough in the face of Russian attacks. 
“The overall need for PURL in 2026 amounts to $15bn,” Zelenskyy said in a post online after peace talks ended in Geneva. “This will help deny Russia the leverage of aerial terror, and we encourage everyone who is interested in security to join and expand their contributions to PURL.”
Through the PURL mechanism, NATO coordinates the purchase of defence equipment from the US by other members of the military alliance.
As talks over ending the war have wrapped up in Geneva, the reality of the conflict is being felt in the Leningrad region of northwest Russia.
A junior sergeant of the Russian armed forces has been buried in the village of Orzhitsy.
Russia’s defence ministry says its forces have taken control of two villages in eastern Ukraine.
The ministry, cited by state news agency RIA, says troops have captured the villages of Kharkivka and Krynychne.
Sky News could not independently verify the report.
Back to Geneva now after the second day of talks between the US, Ukraine and Russia came to an end.
Russian state news agency RIA is reporting that Moscow’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky held a two-hour closed door meeting with the Ukrainian side after the formal talks ended.
The formal trilateral talks lasted around two hours, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy describing them as “difficult”.
That was something Medinsky agreed with, he told Russian media they were “difficult but businesslike” (see 9.52 post).
Russia is calling on European countries to provide evidence after accusing Moscow of poisoning Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
On Saturday, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands said analysis of samples from Navalny’s body had confirmed the presence of epibatidine, a toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America.
They said Moscow had the “means, motive and opportunity” to administer the poison to him.
“All the accusations against Russia \u200cwere of the ‘highly likely’ variety,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. 
“There were no specific details. It was purely a proclamation to become the opening act \u2060of the Munich (security) conference and to \u200bovershadow the Epstein files.
“We demand they hand over concrete \u2060data on this issue.” 
Although the Kremlin rejected the European accusations, Yulia \u2060Navalnaya, the late politician’s widow, \u200bsaid the truth about her husband’s \u200bdeath had finally been disclosed. 
It’s that time of the week again, military analyst Michael Clarke<\/a> is answering your questions on the war in Ukraine.
He’s joined by our chief presenter Mark Austin<\/a>.
Sticking with the tensions between the US and Iran, military analyst Michael Clarke<\/a> was asked in his latest Q&A whether a war between the two countries would be a good think for Ukraine.
Clarke said a bigger war in the Middle East would be a distraction, rather than a help, for Kyiv.
“It gives Russia a free pass to do stuff that doesn’t get reported,” he explained. 
Moscow has been producing its own Shahed drones, Clarke added, meaning a lower Iranian drone supply would not noticeably affect Russia’s military might.
“They [Russia] were getting some fatter ballistic missiles as well from Iran. They may not get so many of them, but they’re getting some of that as well from North Korea,” he said.
“Taking Iran out of the equation now won’t make that much difference to Russia. It would have made a difference in 2022, 2023 or 2024. 
“But now if you take Iran out of the picture, the Russians would be inconvenienced by it but not fundamentally affected.”
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