World
Russia sets out punitive terms at peace talks with Ukraine
Ukraine has proposed holding more talks before the end of June, but believes only a meeting between Zelenskiy and Putin can resolve the many issues of contention.
Russia told Ukraine at peace talks on Monday that it would only agree to end the war if Kyiv gives up big new chunks of territory and accepts limits on the size of its army, according to a memorandum reported by Russian media.
The terms, formally presented at negotiations in Istanbul, highlighted Moscow’s refusal to compromise on its longstanding war goals despite calls by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the “bloodbath” in Ukraine.
Ukraine has repeatedly rejected the Russian conditions as tantamount to surrender, Reuters reported.
Delegations from the warring sides met for barely an hour, for only the second such round of negotiations since March 2022. They agreed to exchange more prisoners of war – focusing on the youngest and most severely wounded – and return the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan described it as a great meeting and said he hoped to bring together Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a meeting in Turkey with Trump.
But there was no breakthrough on a proposed ceasefire that Ukraine, its European allies and Washington have all urged Russia to accept.
Moscow says it seeks a long-term settlement, not a pause in the war; Kyiv says Putin is not interested in peace. Trump has said the United States is ready to walk away from its mediation efforts unless the two sides demonstrate progress towards a deal.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who headed Kyiv’s delegation, said Kyiv – which has drawn up its own peace roadmap – would review the Russian document, on which he offered no immediate comment.
Ukraine has proposed holding more talks before the end of June, but believes only a meeting between Zelenskiy and Putin can resolve the many issues of contention, Umerov said.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine presented a list of 400 children it says have been abducted to Russia, but that the Russian delegation agreed to work on returning only 10 of them. Russia says the children were moved from war zones to protect them.
The Russian memorandum, which was published by the Interfax news agency, said a settlement of the war would require international recognition of Crimea – a peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 – and four other regions of Ukraine that Moscow has claimed as its own territory. Ukraine would have to withdraw its forces from all of them.
It restated Moscow’s demands that Ukraine become a neutral country – ruling out membership of NATO – and that it protect the rights of Russian speakers, make Russian an official language and enact a legal ban on glorification of Nazism. Ukraine rejects the Nazi charge as absurd and denies discriminating against Russian speakers.
Russia also formalised its terms for any ceasefire en route to a peace settlement, presenting two options that both appeared to be non-starters for Ukraine.
Option one, according to the text, was for Ukraine to start a full military withdrawal from the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Of those, Russia fully controls the first but holds only about 70% of the rest.
Option two was a package that would require Ukraine to cease military redeployments and accept a halt to foreign provision of military aid, satellite communications and intelligence. Kyiv would also have to lift martial law and hold presidential and parliamentary elections within 100 days.
Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky said Moscow had also suggested a “specific ceasefire of two to three days in certain sections of the front” so that the bodies of dead soldiers could be collected.
According to a proposed roadmap drawn up by Ukraine, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Kyiv wants no restrictions on its military strength after any peace deal, no international recognition of Russian sovereignty over parts of Ukraine taken by Moscow’s forces, and reparations.
The conflict has been heating up, with Russia launching its biggest drone attacks of the war and advancing on the battlefield in May at its fastest rate in six months.
On Sunday, Ukraine said it launched 117 drones in an operation codenamed “Spider’s Web” to attack Russian nuclear-capable long-range bomber planes at airfields in Siberia and the far north of the country.
Satellite imagery suggested the attacks had caused substantial damage, although the two sides gave conflicting accounts of the extent of it.
Western military analysts described the strikes, thousands of miles from the front lines, as one of the most audacious Ukrainian operations of the war.
Russia’s strategic bomber fleet forms part of the “triad” of forces – along with missiles launched from the ground or from submarines – that make up the country’s nuclear arsenal, the biggest in the world. Faced with repeated warnings from Putin of Russia’s nuclear might, the U.S. and its allies have been wary throughout the Ukraine conflict of the risk that it could spiral into World War Three.
A current U.S. administration official said Trump and the White House were not notified before the attack. A former administration official said Ukraine, for operational security reasons, regularly does not disclose to Washington its plans for such actions.
A UK government official said the British government also was not told ahead of time.
Zelenskiy said the operation, which involved drones concealed inside wooden sheds, had helped to restore partners’ confidence that Ukraine is able to continue waging the war.
“Ukraine says that we are not going to surrender and are not going to give in to any ultimatums,” he told an online news briefing.
“But we do not want to fight, we do not want to demonstrate our strength – we demonstrate it because the enemy does not want to stop.”
World
Trump says US could restart Iran strikes ‘if they misbehave’
Iran has been blocking nearly all shipping from the Gulf apart from its own for more than two months. Last month, the U.S. imposed its own blockade of ships from Iranian ports.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had been told about the concept of a deal with Iran, but was waiting for the exact wording, while warning there was still the possibility of restarting strikes on the country if Tehran misbehaves, Reuters reported.
A senior Iranian official said on Saturday that an Iranian proposal so far rejected by Trump would open shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and end the U.S. blockade of Iran while leaving talks on Iran’s nuclear program for later.
When asked about Iran’s proposal before boarding a flight to Miami at West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump replied: “They told me about the concept of the deal. They’re going to give me the exact wording now.”
He added on his social media channel that he could not imagine the proposals would be acceptable and that Iran had not paid a big enough price for what it had done.
Asked if he might restart strikes on Iran, Trump replied: “I don’t want to say that. I mean, I can’t tell that to a reporter. If they misbehave, if they do something bad, right now we’ll see. But it’s a possibility that could happen.”
Trump has said repeatedly that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and said on Friday he was not satisfied with the latest Iranian proposal, while Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran was ready for diplomacy if the U.S. changes its approach, read the report.
Reuters and other news organizations reported over the past week that Tehran was proposing to reopen the strait before nuclear issues were resolved. The official confirmed that this new timeline had now been spelled out in a formal proposal conveyed to the United States through mediators.
Trump also said on Friday that “on a human basis,” he did not prefer the military course of action and told congressional leaders he did not need their permission to extend the war beyond a deadline set by law for that day because the ceasefire had “terminated” hostilities.
While saying repeatedly he is in no hurry, Trump is under domestic pressure to break Iran’s hold on the strait, which has choked off 20% of the world’s oil and gas supplies and pushed up U.S. gasoline prices. Trump’s Republican Party faces the risk of a voter backlash over higher prices when the country votes in midterm congressional elections in November.
Iranian media said Tehran’s 14-point proposal included the withdrawal of U.S. forces from areas surrounding Iran, lifting the blockade, releasing Iran’s frozen assets, payment of compensation, lifting sanctions and ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, as well as a new control mechanism for the strait.
The United States and Israel suspended their bombing campaign against Iran four weeks ago, but appear no closer to a deal to end a war that has caused the biggest disruption ever to global energy supplies, roiled global markets and raised worries about the possibility of a wider global economic downturn.
Iran has been blocking nearly all shipping from the Gulf apart from its own for more than two months. Last month, the U.S. imposed its own blockade of ships from Iranian ports.
Washington has repeatedly said it will not end the war, which has led to the deaths of thousands of people, without a deal that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, the primary aim Trump cited when he launched strikes in February in the midst of nuclear talks. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.
Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential diplomacy, the senior Iranian official said Tehran believed its latest proposal to shelve nuclear talks for a later stage was a significant shift aimed at facilitating an agreement, Reuters reported.
Under the proposal, the war would end with a guarantee that Israel and the United States would not attack again. Iran would open the strait, and the United States would lift its blockade.
Future talks would then be held on curbs to Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions, with Iran demanding Washington recognize its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, even if it agrees to suspend its nuclear program.
“Under this framework, negotiations over the more complicated nuclear issue have been moved to the final stage to create a more conducive atmosphere,” the official said.
World
Trump says he’s dissatisfied with Iranian proposal as rift with allies deepens
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he was not satisfied with the latest Iranian proposal for talks on the Iran war, while Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran was ready for diplomacy if the United States changes its approach.
Trump’s comments indicated the deadlock over the two-month-old war is likely to persist, even as he looks to end a conflict that remains deeply unpopular among Americans, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, U.S. relations with its traditional allies were further strained over Iran on Friday, as the United States announced it was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany. Trump had threatened a drawdown over differences with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said on Monday the Iranians were humiliating the United States and that the Americans lacked an exit strategy.
A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said recent German comments were “inappropriate and unhelpful.”
“The president is rightly reacting to these counterproductive remarks,” the official said.
Though the United States and Iran have suspended hostilities since an April 8 ceasefire, the two countries remain at odds over a range of issues, including Iran’s nuclear ambitions and control over the Strait of Hormuz, and the two sides have yet to agree to a second meeting following a brief summit of senior officials in Islamabad last month.
It was unclear what the Iranians had submitted in their fresh proposal. Iran’s Foreign Ministry has cautioned against expecting quick results.
“They want to make a deal, but … I’m not satisfied with it,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that the Iranian leadership was “very disjointed” and split into two or three groups.
“They’re asking for things that I can’t agree to,” he said, adding that negotiations by phone were continuing.
Later on Friday, during a speech in Florida, Trump said the United States would not end its confrontation with Iran early “and then have the problem arise in three more years.”
Trump has said Iran would not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. He is also under pressure to break Iran’s hold on the strait, which has choked off 20% of the world’s oil and gas supplies.
Global oil prices eased on Friday following news of the Iranian proposal, coming off Thursday’s four-year high. Benchmark Brent crude was down 1% to around $109.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said his country was ready to pursue diplomacy if the United States changes what he called its “excessive approach, threatening rhetoric and provocative actions.”
However, Araqchi added in a post on his Telegram channel that “Iran’s armed forces remained ready to defend the country against any threat.”
Iran has activated air defenses and plans a wide response if attacked, having assessed that there will be a short, intensive U.S. strike, possibly followed by an Israeli attack, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
REPORTS ON PLANS FOR NEW STRIKES
Separately, Trump told leaders in Congress that he did not need their permission to extend the war beyond a Friday deadline set by law because the ceasefire had “terminated” hostilities.
“Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever? Or do we want to try and make a deal?” Trump said when asked about his options.
Trump added that “on a human basis,” he did not prefer the military course of action.
The war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, has led to the deaths of thousands of people. The closure of the strait has increased concerns about the possibility of a wider global economic downturn.
The U.S. Navy is blockading exports of Iranian crude oil. As of Friday afternoon, 45 commercial vessels had been stopped, according to the U.S. military.
The U.S. Treasury said that any shipper paying tolls to Iran for passage, including charitable donations to organizations such as the Iranian Red Crescent Society, would be at risk of punitive sanctions.
IRAN SAYS TO BUY DOMESTIC
The war has aggravated Iran’s economic plight, but it looks able to survive a standoff for now, despite the U.S. blockade that has curtailed its energy exports.
In a written message, Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei called on businesses damaged in the war to avoid layoffs as much as possible, Iranian news agencies reported.
China’s U.N. ambassador, Fu Cong, said it was an urgent necessity to maintain the ceasefire and that the strait needs to be reopened as quickly as possible. He said he was sure the strait would be high on the agenda in talks between China’s leader Xi Jinping and Trump if it is still closed when Trump travels to Beijing this month.
World
US judge rejects Trump administration’s halt on immigration applications
A federal judge on Thursday ruled that policies that make it harder for people from countries on President Donald Trump’s travel ban list to get green cards and work permits are discriminatory and unlawful.
U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston reached that conclusion as she issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit by around 200 people from 20 countries including Iran, Haiti, Venezuela and Syria who sued over a halt on the processing of their immigration-related applications, Reuters reported.
The lawsuit, filed in December, took aim at policies U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adopted beginning in November affecting applications by immigrants seeking asylum, green cards and work authorization.
Those policies have resulted in the agency placing a hold on the processing of applications from people from the 39 countries that are the subject of full or partial travel bans imposed by Trump, who has cited vetting and security concerns.
Before instituting that halt, the agency, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, adopted a policy in November 2025 that treats the nationality of people from those countries as a “significant negative factor” when reviewing their applications.
Kobick, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, concluded the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in proving that policy ran afoul of the Immigration and Nationality Act’s bar against nationality-based discrimination.
The judge said the agency’s subsequent halt on reviewing asylum and naturalization applications was likewise “contrary to Congress’s command that the agency issue decisions on such applications.” She said the pause on reviewing green card and work authorization applications violated regulations governing them.
Kobick blocked USCIS from enforcing the policies against 22 plaintiffs who had provided declarations detailing how they were harmed by them, and she directed the parties to discuss whether her order should apply to the rest of the 200.
Jim Hacking, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, welcomed the ruling, which he said appeared to be the first by a judge nationally to address the “significant negative factor” policy alongside the separate but related hold on the processing of applications. A handful of other judges have previously ruled against that halt in some migrants’ cases.
“USCIS wants to make it harder for people to receive an immigration benefit if they are from one of the 39 countries, even though Congress has never allowed them to,” he said.
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