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Putin hosts Lukashenko, calls Ukraine counter-offensive a failure

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine’s counteroffensive “has failed” as he hosted Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, his close ally, for talks in St Petersburg on Sunday, Reuters reported.

“There is no counteroffensive,” Russian news agencies quoted Lukashenko as saying.

Putin replied: “It exists, but it has failed.”

Ukraine began its long-anticipated counter-offensive last month but has so far made only small gains against well entrenched Russian forces who control more than a sixth of its territory after nearly 17 months of war.

U.S. General Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Tuesday the Ukrainian drive was “far from a failure” but would be long, hard and bloody.

A Telegram channel linked to Lukashenko quoted him as saying in a jocular tone that fighters of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group who are now training Belarus’s army were keen to push across the border into NATO member Poland, read the report.

“The Wagner guys have started to stress us – they want to go west. ‘Let’s go on a trip to Warsaw and Rzeszow’,” he was quoted as saying. There was no indication that Lukashenko was seriously entertaining that idea.

On Thursday, the Belarusian defence ministry said Wagner fighters had started to train Belarusian special forces at a military range just a few miles from the Polish border.

Poland is moving extra troops towards the border with Belarus in response to the arrival of the Wagner forces who relocated there after staging a short-lived mutiny in Russia last month, Reuters reported.

Putin, in response, warned Poland on Friday that any aggression against Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia. He said Moscow would use all means it has to react to any hostility towards Minsk.

Russia and Belarus are linked in a partnership called the “union state” in which Moscow is by far the dominant player. But Lukashenko has proved his usefulness to Putin since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, allowing Russia to use his country as a launch pad at the start of the war.

He has subsequently let Russian forces train at his military bases, conducted frequent joint exercises and taken delivery of tactical nuclear weapons which Putin has placed in Belarus in a move broadly condemned in the West, Reuters reported.

The Kremlin also credited Lukashenko with brokering last month’s deal to end the Wagner mutiny, which Putin said had briefly threatened to tip Russia into civil war.

Putin said the two leaders would meet on Sunday and Monday and would discuss security and other issues “in great detail and in depth”.

Lukashenko has not committed his small army to join Russia’s war, but the risk of a new attack from Belarusian soil compels Ukraine to protect its northern border, stretching its forces as it tries to step up its counteroffensive in the east and south of the country.

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Trump says United States will get uranium from Iran

One of ​Trump’s central objectives in launching ‌military ⁠strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a ​nuclear weapon.

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President Donald Trump said on ​Wednesday the United States ‌would get enriched uranium from Iran, as the ​two countries struggle ​to reach an agreement on ⁠ending the Gulf ​war, Reuters reported.

“We’re going to get ​it,” Trump told a reporter as he left a White ​House event.

One of ​Trump’s central objectives in launching ‌military ⁠strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a ​nuclear weapon. ​Iran ⁠has yet to hand over ​more than 900 pounds (408 ​kg) ⁠of highly enriched uranium.

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Trump says Iran “should wave the white flag of surrender”

When asked ⁠what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump ​said: “Well, you’ll find out, because ​I’ll ⁠let you know … They know what not to do.”

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed ​Iran’s military capability and said Tehran “should wave ‌the white flag of surrender” but is too proud to do so, Reuters reported.

Trump told reporters in ​the Oval Office that Iran’s military ​has been reduced to firing “peashooters” and ⁠that Tehran privately wants to make a ​deal despite its public sabre-rattling.

“They play games, ​but let me just tell you, they want to make a deal. And who wouldn’t, when your ​military is totally gone?” he said.

Trump heaped praise on the U.S. blockade of Iranian ‌ports ⁠in the region. “It’s like a piece of steel. Nobody’s going to challenge the blockade. And I think it’s working out very ​well,” he ​said, read the report.

When asked ⁠what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump ​said: “Well, you’ll find out, because ​I’ll ⁠let you know … They know what not to do.”

Trump said Iran “should save the white ⁠flag ​of surrender.”

“If this were ​a fight, they’d stop it,” said Trump.

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Secret Service says it exchanged gunfire with armed suspect near White House

The suspect was not on the White House property, Quinn said.

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The ‌U.S. Secret Service said on Monday its officers confronted an armed and “suspicious individual” near the White House who later fired at them before fleeing on foot and being shot by law enforcement, Reuters reported.

The incident led to a ​brief lockdown at the White House.

Agents patrolling the outer perimeter of the White House ​complex identified a person who Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn said ⁠was a “suspicious individual that appeared to have a firearm.”

He briefly fled on foot after being ​approached by Secret Service officers and fired in their direction, Quinn said at a press ​conference.

Secret Service then fired at the suspect who was hit and subsequently hospitalized, Quinn added.

Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade transited through the area “not long before” the incident, Quinn said. There was no indication that the ​suspect intended to approach Vance’s motorcade, the Secret Service deputy director said.

A juvenile bystander was ​hit by the suspect but did not receive any life-threatening injuries and was being treated at a hospital, ‌Quinn ⁠added.

Agents observed “visual print of a firearm” in considering the individual’s behavior as suspicious when he was spotted, Quinn told reporters.

The suspect was not on the White House property, Quinn said.

Law enforcement have been on alert in recent days in the U.S. capital following a shooting at the ​White House Correspondents’ Association ​Dinner late last month ⁠over which a man has been arrested, read the report.

Quinn was asked if Monday’s incident was linked to “other recent attempts” on President Donald Trump’s life. Trump was ​in the White House when this incident unfolded.

“Whether or not it ​was directed ⁠to the president or not, I don’t know but we will find out,” Quinn said.

The Secret Service deputy director confirmed that a weapon was recovered from the suspect but did not elaborate.

The ⁠Secret Service said ​earlier its personnel were on the scene of the ​officer-involved shooting at 15th Street and Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C.

The DC Police Department was handling the probe.

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