The talks in Abu Dhabi comes a day before the New Start treaty between the US and Russia is due to expire, removing the last remaining mutual limits on the world’s two biggest nuclear arsenals.

The milestone will be a death knell for more than five decades of arms control at a time of surging global instability, contributing to a general collapse of the rules-based international order established after the second world war.

Dmitry Medvedev, who signed the New Start deal with Barack Obama in 2010 when Medvedev was Russian president, said the treaty’s expiry should “alarm everyone”.

“When there is an agreement, it means there is trust but when there is no agreement, it means that trust has been exhausted,” Medvedev, who has become an outspoken Moscow hawk, said.

Obama wrote on social media that the expiry of the treaty “would pointlessly wipe out decades of diplomacy, and could spark another arms race that makes the world less safe”.

We are seeing the first images of parts of southern Spain experiencing flooding, as forecasters say the region is expected to see an “extraordinary amount of rain” from Storm Leonardo.

Weather warnings are in place until Saturday but the worst of the storm is expected today. It has already forced thousands of people from their homes in flood-prone areas – a precautionary measure taken by authorities – while schools have been shut and trains cancelled.

Some of the worst-affected areas include Cádiz and Málaga, which are under the highest red weather alert for torrential rain. Ruben del Campo, a spokesperson for the Spanish weather agency Aemet, said an “extraordinary amount of rain” was arriving in a region where “the ground is very saturated and riverbeds are already carrying a lot of water” from recent rainfall.

Pictures: Aftermath of attack in Odesa region

Here are some images from Reuters news agency of the aftermath of the attack in the Odesa region in southern Ukraine

Kremlin confirms low-level talks under way between Russia and France

The Kremlin has reacted to comments made by French president Emmanuel Macron that he was looking to resume contact with Putin on the war in Ukraine.

According to Reuters news agency, the Kremlin confirmed ongoing technical discussions between Russia and France, but provided no further details or indicated any dialogue between Putin and Macron.

The French president said on Tuesday that work was under way to restart direct discussions between Europe and Russia, saying it was “important that Europeans restore their own channels of communication” and that it is “being prepared at the technical level”.

He said this was being done “transparently” and with Zelenskyy in the loop. While he stressed that France continued to support Ukraine, he said contact with Russia was needed to negotiate security guarantees, although he acknowledges that Moscow has shown no real willingness to agree to a ceasefire.

It is not the first time Macron has suggested for Europe to re-engage with Putin. In December, he said Europe may be left with no choice but to do so if US-led efforts to broker a peace deal founder.

“I note that there are people who are talking to Vladimir Putin,” he said at the time, alluding to Trump.

“I think that we, Europeans and Ukrainians, have an interest in finding a framework to properly re-engage in this discussion. Otherwise, we will be talking among ourselves with negotiators who will then go alone to talk with the Russians, which is not ideal.”

Ukrainian official reports ‘massive’ Russian attack in Odesa

Russian forces attacked the Odesa region of Ukraine’s south last night damaging homes and critical infrastructure, according to the regional governor, Oleg Kiper.

He posted the following statement on Telegram:

At night, the enemy carried out a massive attack with strike drones on the Odesa region. Damage to civilian, residential and industrial infrastructure was recorded.

In the city of Odesa, about 20 residential buildings and cars were damaged. Four people were rescued from the rubble, but one person was unfortunately injured.

The blast wave shattered windows in two kindergartens and a lyceum.

The shelling damaged critical infrastructure, administrative and industrial buildings of the enterprise, and caused fires. The fires have been extinguished.

He shared photos appearing to show extensive damage to properties and firefighters tackling a major fire.

Allow content provided by a third party?

This article includes content hosted on telegram.org. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.Allow and continue

We reported earlier of the missile and drone strikes in Kyiv on Tuesday that left thousands of people without power as temperatures plunged to -20C.

Negotiations have begun in Abu Dhabi – Umerov

Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s national security council chief and top negotiator, has confirmed in a Facebook post that the US-brokered talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials in Abu Dhabi have begun.

His statement doesn’t reveal much, but he does say that Ukraine is working towards achieving a “dignified and lasting peace”.

This is what he’s said of the meeting so far:

The negotiation process started in a trilateral format – Ukraine, the United States, and Russia. Next comes work in separate groups by area, after which a follow-up joint synchronisation of positions is planned.

We are working within the clear directives of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to achieve a dignified and lasting peace.

We inform the Head of State about the progress of each stage of the negotiations.

Russian state media has reported that president Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a video call earlier today to discuss ties between Moscow and Beijing, which was described as a “stablising” factor in such turbulant times across the world.

“Amid growing turbulence, the foreign policy alliance between Moscow and Beijing remains an important stabilising factor,” Putin reportedly told Xi.

Southern Spain and Portugal brace for impact of Storm Leonardo

Red weather alerts have been issued for parts of southern Spain stretching from Málaga to Cádiz as authorities braced for the impact of Storm Leonardo.

Classes were suspended across most of the region on Wednesday and more than 3,000 people have been evacuated from the provinces of Cádiz, Málaga and Jaén, according to local reports.

A red warning is the most serious weather alert, signalling an extreme threat to life and property and urging people to avoid travel, stay indoors and follow official instructions.

The national weather forecaster, Aemet, said some parts of Sierra Grazalema in the province of Cádiz may see a year’s worth of rainfall from the storm.