Another EU summit overshadowed by Ukraine
Another week for Volodymyr Zelenskiy and another public scourging by US president Donald Trump, who really seems to hate him. Trump and his cronies again dialled up the rhetoric on the Ukrainian president, only a week after hypocritically striking a deal with Russian president Vladimir Putin to buy his country’s diesel.
The sting in the tail has been the apparent suspension by the US of its policy to share satellite intelligence with the Ukrainian military, to help defend itself against aerial attacks from Russia. The upshot is that Russia has been able to launch its jet-propelled drones at targets in Ukraine with impunity.
Trump and others called for an election in Ukraine, suggesting dictatorial tendencies on the part of Zelenskiy while completely ignoring the fact that Putin has been in a position of unassailable power for 27 years.
The EU has stood four-square behind Ukraine and has pledged vast resources. But Trump’s impetuous decision to withdraw satellite intel shows the real power balance in geopolitics right now.
As Jack Power reports from Brussels, Micheál Martin said on Friday that urgent actions would be needed to shore up the finances needed for Ukraine’s war effort.
He said some sort of “pan-European financial injection” would be required to cover Ukraine’s budget shortfall.
Martin said he was “open” to different ways the EU could finance such support. “We would look at all options for how we can support Ukraine,” he said.
Jeffrey Donaldson sentenced to 15 years for sexual offences
To use a phrase synonymous with the North, the awful and horrendous truth about former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson – as disclosed by his victims who were children when sexually assaulted by him – is an “appalling vista”.
Freya McClements and Seanín Graham reported on the sentencing hearing for one of the most prominent and high-ranking unionist politicians over the span of 40 years.
Donaldson presented himself in public as a devout Christian and a sober, upstanding family man. But the truth was awful.
Yesterday, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency. He is likely to serve at least 7½ years in prison.
Donaldson was knighted for political services in 2016 and became DUP leader in 2021, before resigning in 2024. He was stripped of his knighthood in July.
Something for the Weekend
Our Inside Politics Wrap of the Week is here.
Pat Leahy and Jack Horgan-Jones will have a substantial report on Minister for Culture and Media Patrick O’Donovan. The Limerick TD was taken to hospital this week after becoming ill at an EU conference in Limerick.
As Power reported on Thursday, O’Donovan remains in intensive care.
It is understood he is being cared for in University Hospital Limerick. He was hospitalised after being taken ill while hosting an informal meeting of EU telecoms ministers.
