World
Putin, Trump to skip Ukraine’s peace talks that Russian leader proposed
Zelenskiy backs an immediate 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has said he first wants to start talks at which the details of such a ceasefire could be discussed.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated they would not attend what could be the first direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv in three years on Thursday, with the Kremlin sending instead a group of experienced technocrats, Reuters reported.
Putin on Sunday proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday “without any preconditions”. Late on Wednesday, the Kremlin said the delegation would include presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin – but Putin’s name was not on the list.
After the Kremlin’s delegation announcement, a U.S. official said Trump, who is on a three-nation tour of the Middle East, would not attend. The U.S. leader had said earlier that he was considering the option to participate.
While Putin had never confirmed he would attend in person, the absence of the Russian and U.S. presidents lowers the expectations for a major breakthrough in the war that Russia started in February 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had challenged Putin to attend the talks “if he’s not afraid,” in an apparent contest to show Trump who wants peace more, Ukraine or Russia.
While the Kyiv leader was on his way to Turkey late on Wednesday, a Ukrainian official said, he had said he would take part in the talks only if Putin attended.
In his nightly video address on Wednesday Zelenskiy said that Ukraine would decide on its steps for peace talks in Turkey once there was clarity on Putin’s participation.
“The answers to all questions about this war – why it started, why it continues – all these answers are in Moscow,” Zelenskiy said. “How the war will end depends on the world.”
Trump wants the two sides to sign up to a 30-day ceasefire to pause Europe’s biggest land war since World War Two, and a Russian lawmaker said on Wednesday there could also be discussions about a huge prisoner of war exchange, read the report.
Zelenskiy backs an immediate 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has said he first wants to start talks at which the details of such a ceasefire could be discussed.
Trump, who is growing increasingly frustrated with both Russia and Ukraine as he tries to push them towards a peace settlement, said he was “always considering” secondary sanctions against Moscow if he thought it was blocking the process.
U.S. officials have spoken about possible financial sanctions as well as potential secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil.
The U.S. delegation to Turkey included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said early on Thursday he had met with Rubio to share Zelenskiy’s peace vision and “coordinate positions during this critical week.”
Medinsky and Fomin, part of the Russian delegation, took part in the last set of negotiations between the two sides in the first weeks of the war. Other senior military and intelligence officials were also part of the Thursday delegation.
Direct talks between negotiators from Ukraine and Russia last took place in Istanbul in March 2022, a month after Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in what he calls a “special military operation” to root out neo-Nazis, Reuters reported.
Ukraine and its allies say the invasion was an unprovoked, imperial-style land grab.
With Russian forces grinding forward in Ukraine and now controlling about a fifth of the country, the Kremlin chief has offered few, if any, concessions so far. In his proposal at the weekend, he said that the talks in Turkey would be aimed at a durable peace.
He specifically mentioned the 2022 talks and the failed draft deal.
Under that deal, among others, Ukraine would have agreed to permanent neutrality in return for security guarantees from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, and other nations including Belarus, Canada, Germany, Israel, Poland and Turkey, according to a draft seen by Reuters.
But officials in Kyiv say agreeing to Ukrainian neutrality is a red line they will not cross.
World
Norway to give over $9 billion to Ukraine in 2027
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and leaders from across the Nordic and Baltic region are visiting Kyiv on Sunday in a show of support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Norway plans to give another 85 billion Norwegian crowns ($9.2 billion) in financial support to Ukraine in the 2027 fiscal year, in line with the amount given in 2026, the Nordic country’s government said in a statement on Sunday.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and leaders from across the Nordic and Baltic region are visiting Kyiv on Sunday in a show of support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Norway plans to give another 85 billion Norwegian crowns ($9.2 billion) in financial support to Ukraine in the 2027 fiscal year, in line with the amount given in 2026, the Nordic country’s government said in a statement on Sunday.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and leaders from across the Nordic and Baltic region are visiting Kyiv on Sunday in a show of support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Russia and Ukraine are both ramping up drone campaigns aiming to cripple each other’s economic infrastructure, often striking targets far beyond the frontlines of the war started by Moscow, as fighting on the battlefield grinds toward the 4-1/2-year mark.
World
Israel strikes southern Syria; Damascus condemns attack
Israeli troops continue to operate in southern Syria, and Israel occupies territory in southwest Syria it seized after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Israel said it targeted a “terrorist” in southern Syria on Saturday in what Syria’s foreign ministry said was a drone strike on a civilian vehicle on the outskirts of Damascus in a “blatant” violation of its territory.
The Syrian foreign ministry said the drone had hit a civilian car on a road near Beit Jinn village in the countryside west of the capital, which caused injuries amongst civilians.
Syrian state TV reported one person was injured.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it fired in southern Syria toward what it described as a terrorist, whose activity posed an immediate threat to its soldiers. It did not say how it fired.
Tensions between Israel and Syria flared up this week after Israel bombed an airbase in the northwest on Tuesday, an escalation U.S. special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, called “unnecessary.”
Syria’s foreign ministry said the strike was part of a pattern of repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, and was a “blatant violation” of its sovereignty. It held Israel accountable for the consequences of such actions.
Israeli troops continue to operate in southern Syria, and Israel occupies territory in southwest Syria it seized after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
World
Trump says Iran ‘Not Ready’ for the right deal as war nears six-month mark
The continuing US-Israeli strikes on Iran, along with Israeli attacks on Lebanon, have reportedly killed thousands of people and displaced millions across the region.
US President Donald Trump has said he does not believe Iran is ready to make what he described as the “right deal,” as the war between Tehran and Washington approaches its six-month mark, Reuters reported.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump said the United States was continuing to assess developments in the conflict when asked whether Washington’s military options against Iran had become limited.
“It just means that we’re seeing what happens,” Trump said.
Trump also claimed that the United States had “total control” over the region surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically vital waterway that previously carried around one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies before the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28.
“They would love to make a deal, but they’re not ready to make the right deal, in my opinion,” Trump said.
The remarks come after Washington pledged this week to impose what it described as the toughest financial penalties in history against Iran, with the stated aim of increasing pressure on the country’s leadership, read the report.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said further details of the planned sanctions would be announced on Monday, following Trump’s warning that any country providing “any type of lifeline” to Iran could face serious economic consequences.
Meanwhile, disruptions to energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have continued as Iran retains missile and drone capabilities that have affected oil tanker traffic in the waterway.
Iran responded to the initial attacks on February 28 with strikes on Israel and Gulf states hosting US military bases.
The continuing US-Israeli strikes on Iran, along with Israeli attacks on Lebanon, have reportedly killed thousands of people and displaced millions across the region.
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