1. Picking up the phone: Almost three years after Russia’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Trump decided it was time to re-establish direct contact between the president of the United States and Putin, a leader facing U.S. and EU sanctions, as well as an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for crimes against humanity…
Across Ukraine, local politicians were candid in their opinions of Trump’s attacks. “We may like Zelenskyy, or we may not, we may scold him, or we may praise him, we may condemn his actions, or we may applaud them … because he is OUR President,” Borys Filatov, mayor of the industrial city of Dnipro, wrote…
But they said the administration said they won’t “get ahead” of itself. POLITICO asked Starmer on a trip to Kyiv last month if he’d commit to a vote on any British peacekeepers. He declined to give such a commitment. ‘United front’ MPs from Westminster’s opposition parties are demanding parliament’s involvement, too. “We support the prime…
On Monday, Ukraine and the UAE signed an economic cooperation partnership, opening free trade, Zelenskyy said. He added that he will be traveling to Turkey on Tuesday, when Russia and the U.S. are expected to meet in Riyadh, and only arrive in Saudi Arabia the following day. “So, once again, my visits have nothing in…
Next, Trump must exercise restraint when considering summit encounters with Putin: An early summit would be a completely undeserved reward for the Russian leader. It should only be considered toward the end of a promising negotiation process. Moreover, the Russian side may well be planning a surprise military attack or major offensive in order to…
“It’s important that we don’t divide the world with numerous tariff barriers,” Scholz said on Sunday after meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the U.K. The EU is “a strong economic area and has its own courses of action,” Scholz said. In contrast, German Finance Minister Jörg Kukies urged Europeans to keep calm…
In response, Israel has waged a massive retaliatory assault on Gaza, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving swaths of the coastal enclave in ruins. The 20-year-old Israeli soldier Berger, whose release was confirmed by the Israeli government, was serving as a lookout at the Nahal Oz military base when she was abducted during…
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Sunday that Russia was open to talks on Ukraine after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called for “an immediate ceasefire and negotiations”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said peace negotiations had to be based on agreements reached in Istanbul in 2022 and on the current battlefield realities. Peskov noted that…
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Distractions were bigger than deals in the first week of United Nations climate talks, leaving a lot to be done, especially on the main issue of money. In week one, not a lot of progress was made on the issue of how much money rich countries should pay to developed ones…
Scholz on Friday spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin for about an hour in what constituted the first direct exchange between the two leaders in nearly two years, according to German media reports. Asked in the Süddeutsche Zeitung interview if he’s afraid of a deal over Ukraine’s head between Trump and Putin, Scholz…