World
Russia accuses Ukraine of killing 65 of its own PoWs by shooting down plane
Russia accused Ukraine on Wednesday of deliberately shooting down a Russian military transport plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers to a prisoner exchange in what it called a barbaric act of terrorism that had killed a total of 74 people, Reuters reported.
Ukraine called for full clarification of the circumstances of the incident and did not directly confirm it had shot down the plane.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his evening address said: “It is clear that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, the feelings of their loved ones and the emotions of our society.”
The Russian defence ministry said six Russian crew members and three Russian soldiers had been on the Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane shot down near the Russian city of Belgorod near the Ukrainian border.
After a long pause, the Ukrainian military said it would continue to destroy Russian military transport aircraft it believed were carrying missiles with which to strike Ukraine, read the report.
It said it had noticed more Russian military transport aircraft landing in Belgorod, something it linked to Russian missile strikes on Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities.
Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk accused Russia of trying to undermine international support for Ukraine.
“Ukraine has the right to defend itself and destroy the means of the aggressors’ aerial attack,” he said.
The Russian defence ministry said the exchange was to have taken place on Wednesday afternoon at the Kolotilovka border checkpoint and Ukraine knew a transport plane carrying captured Ukrainian soldiers was expected at the Belgorod airfield.
“By committing this terrorist act, the Ukrainian leadership has showed its true face. It disregarded the lives of its own citizens,” the ministry said in a statement.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council and said Russia sought to establish “the reasons behind the Ukrainian criminal act”.
A French spokesperson at the U.N. said the meeting would be held at 5 p.m. (2200 GMT) on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency said Ukraine had not been asked to ensure airspace security around Belgorod unlike previous swaps and had not been informed about what means of transport would be used and which routes.
“On this basis, we may be talking about planned and deliberate actions by Russia to destabilise the situation in Ukraine and weaken international support for our state,” GUR said in a statement on Telegram.
Russia’s defence ministry said radar operators had detected the launch of two Ukrainian missiles at the time of the crash.
If the details are confirmed, it would be the deadliest incident of its kind inside Russia’s internationally recognised borders during the almost two-year-old war.
UKRAINE SAYS PRISONER SWAP WAS SCHEDULED
Ukraine’s intelligence agency confirmed a prisoner swap had been planned for Wednesday and said the captured Russian servicemen had been delivered to the agreed exchange point on time and were safe.
“Landing a transport plane in a 30-km combat zone cannot be safe and in any case must be discussed by both sides, because otherwise it jeopardises the entire exchange process,” it said.
It had no reliable information about who was on the downed plane, it added.
Video footage posted on Telegram by Baza, a channel linked to Russian security services, and verified by Reuters, showed a large aircraft falling to the ground near the village of Yablonovo in Belgorod region and exploding in a fireball.
Andrei Kartapolov, a member of Russia’s parliament and a retired general, told the SHOT news outlet it was impossible for operators of Ukrainian surface-to-air missile systems to mistake transport planes for military planes or helicopters as targets.
“It was done deliberately to sabotage the prisoner exchange,” said Kartapolov, saying a second Russian Il-76 transport plane carrying around 80 Ukrainian soldiers to the exchange had managed to turn around.
Kartapolov, who has close links to the Russian defence ministry, said the plane had been downed by three missiles of either U.S. or German manufacture.
Reuters could not immediately verify details of who was on board the downed plane, but Moscow and Kyiv have regularly swapped prisoners since Russia began what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine in February 2022.
The Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, has come under frequent attack from Ukraine in recent months, including a December missile strike which killed 25 people.
World
Trump says he may go to Islamabad if Iran deal reached
Trump struck an optimistic tone about Iran as he spoke with reporters on the White House lawn on his way to a trip to Nevada and Arizona.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that if a deal with Iran to conclude the war is reached and signed in Islamabad, he might go, and that Iran has agreed to almost everything, Reuters reported.
Trump struck an optimistic tone about Iran as he spoke with reporters on the White House lawn on his way to a trip to Nevada and Arizona. He said he could extend a U.S.-Iran ceasefire set to expire next week, but may not need to do so.
“If a deal is signed in Islamabad I may go,” Trump said. “They want me.”
He also said without providing evidence that Iran has agreed to give up the enriched uranium believed buried from U.S.-Israeli airstrikes last year. Trump is pushing for a deal with Iran in which Tehran would give up its nuclear program.
World
White House denies U.S. requested ceasefire, says new talks may happen in Pakistan
Speaking at a White House press briefing, Leavitt said any fresh talks would likely be in Pakistan again as it has emerged as the “only mediator” in the effort to end the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Reports that the White House has requested a ceasefire in the Iran war are wrong, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday but added that discussions about a second round of talks with the Iranians were ongoing and productive, Reuters reported.
Speaking at a White House press briefing, Leavitt said any fresh talks would likely be in Pakistan again as it has emerged as the “only mediator” in the effort to end the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
“These conversations are productive and ongoing, and that’s where we are right now. I’ve also seen some reporting about the potentiality for in-person discussions. Again, those discussions are being had, but nothing is official until you hear it from us here at the White House, but we feel good about the prospects of a deal,” Leavitt said.
The talks last weekend broke down without an agreement to end the war, which President Donald Trump began alongside Israel on February 28, triggering Iranian attacks on Iran’s Gulf neighbors and reigniting a conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, read the report.
The war has led Iran to effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz – a vital artery for global crude and gas shipments – to ships other than its own, sharply reducing exports from the Gulf, particularly to Asia and Europe, and leaving energy importers scrambling for alternative supplies.
World
US hosts rare Israel-Lebanon talks, progress unclear
The U.S. State Department released a statement after the meeting saying the two sides had “productive discussions on steps toward launching direct negotiations.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the first direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in decades on Tuesday and both sides said they held positive discussions although it was not immediately clear if they agreed to a framework for peace, Reuters reported.
The meeting marked a rare encounter between representatives of governments that have technically been in a state of war since Israel was established in 1948. They entered the talks with conflicting agendas, with Israel ruling out discussion of a ceasefire in Lebanon and demanding Beirut disarm Hezbollah.
The U.S. State Department released a statement after the meeting saying the two sides had “productive discussions on steps toward launching direct negotiations.”
It set out each country’s positions but did not say they had reached any common ground. “All sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue,” the statement said.
Speaking to reporters after the more than two-hour-long meeting in Washington, Yechiel Leiter, Israeli ambassador to the United States, said the Lebanese government made it clear during the talks that it will no longer be “occupied” by Iran-aligned Lebanese militia Hezbollah. He declined to say whether Israel would cease its attacks on Lebanon.
Lebanese ambassador Nada Moawad described the preliminary meeting as “constructive”. In a statement to Reuters, she said in the meeting she called for a ceasefire and the return of displaced people to their homes and measures to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon caused by the conflict.
The meeting comes at a critical juncture in the crisis in the Middle East, a week into a fragile ceasefire between the United States, Israel and Iran.
The wider conflict in the region began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran on March 2, sparking an Israeli offensive that has killed more than 2,000 people and forced 1.2 million from their homes, according to Lebanese authorities.
The presence of Rubio, President Donald Trump’s top diplomat and national security adviser, signalled Washington’s desire to see progress.
Trump has urged Israel to scale back attacks in Lebanon apparently to avoid undermining the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. The Middle East conflict has led to the largest oil supply disruption in history, piling pressure on Trump to find an off-ramp, read the report.
Iran says Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon must be included in any agreement to end the wider war in the Middle East, complicating talks mediated by Pakistan aimed at averting further economic fallout. Washington has pushed back, saying there is no link between the two sets of talks.
Speaking at the start of the meeting, Rubio acknowledged that Tuesday’s talks would not solve “all of the complexities” but he hoped they would help form a framework for peace.
Israeli ambassador Leiter later expressed hope but did not mention a concrete way forward.
“What gives me hope is the fact that the Lebanese Government made it very clear that they will no longer be occupied by Hezbollah… This is an opportunity. This is the first time our two countries are sitting together in over three decades,” Leiter said, adding that there may be further talks in the coming weeks.
The Lebanese government led by President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has called for negotiations with Israel despite objections from Hezbollah, reflecting worsening tensions between the Shi’ite Muslim group and its opponents.
The Lebanese state has been seeking to disarm Hezbollah peacefully since a war between the militia and Israel in 2024. Any move by Lebanon to disarm it by force risks igniting conflict in a country shattered by civil war from 1975 to 1990. Moves against Hezbollah by a Western-backed government in 2008 prompted a short civil war.
The current government banned Hezbollah’s military wing after it opened fire on Israel last month.
Lebanese officials have said Moawad only has authority to discuss a ceasefire in Tuesday’s meeting while Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said Israel would not discuss a ceasefire, underscoring how at odds the two sides are.
In earlier remarks, Rubio said these talks were a process and not a one-off event. Leiter said there may be more talks soon but none of the participants mentioned a set time and a place.
“There were a few proposals, a few recommendations. We will of course bring these recommendations to our governments… and we will return in the next few weeks, we will continue to sit together. We will probably continue the talks in Washington,” Leiter said.
Rubio was hosting Tuesday’s talks amid questions over his lack of in-person participation in talks with Iran, with the Republican president sending Vice President JD Vance to Islamabad over the weekend to lead the U.S. negotiations, read the report.
Rubio was with Trump in Florida watching a mixed martial arts event as Vance announced in Pakistan that talks with the Iranians had concluded with no breakthrough.
State Department Counselor Michael Needham, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, and U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, a personal friend of Trump, were also participating in the talks on Tuesday.
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