World
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy says he can salvage relationship with US
A visibly shaken Zelenskiy arrived in London on Saturday where he was met with a warm embrace from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and by cheering supporters around Downing Street.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he believed he could salvage his relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump after their explosive meeting in the Oval Office, but that talks needed to continue behind closed doors.
Zelenskiy reiterated that Ukraine would not concede any territory to Russia as part of a peace deal. He said he was still willing to sign a minerals deal with the U.S. and described a discussion on Sunday with European leaders to send a draft peace plan to the U.S. as a key development.
In an extraordinary meeting that was broadcast live on Friday, Trump accused Zelenskiy of being ungrateful for U.S. aid, of showing disrespect to his country and of risking World War Three, casting into doubt Washington’s ongoing support for Ukraine in its three-year-long war with Russia.
Zelenskiy spoke to reporters at a London airport after a summit with European leaders in London on Sunday. While he seemed in good spirits and thanked European countries for their support, the Ukrainian leader was careful to balance his dismay with the events of Friday’s Oval Office meeting with a clear desire to keep talking with Washington.
Zelenskiy said he did not think the U.S. would stop its assistance to Ukraine, because as “leaders of the civilized world” they would not want to help Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But he said he remained prepared for any outcome.
“As regards salvaging the relationship, I think our relationship will continue,” Zelenskiy told reporters via a translator after the London summit.
But he added: “I do not think it’s right when such discussions are totally open. … The format of what happened, I don’t think it brought something positive or additional to us as partners.”
A visibly shaken Zelenskiy arrived in London on Saturday where he was met with a warm embrace from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and by cheering supporters around Downing Street.
At the summit on Sunday Starmer said European leaders had agreed to draw up a Ukraine peace plan to take to the U.S., in the hope that Washington would offer the security guarantees Kyiv says are vital to deter Russia.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine relied on the U.S. as its top military backer and that stopping the supply of weapons would only help Putin. “The U.S. are … leaders of the civilized world, and they will not help Putin,” he said.
An influential Russian parliamentarian, Konstantin Kosachev, on Sunday derided the hopes for Europe’s stepping up to forge a peace plan. “And if Ukraine should count on something, it can only be on progress (if there is any to come) in Russian-American relations,” he wrote on Telegram.
The abrupt ending to Zelenskiy’s Washington trip meant that the two countries failed to sign a much-vaunted minerals deal that Kyiv hoped would spur Trump to back Ukraine’s war effort, but Zelenskiy said Ukraine was still willing to sign it.
“We agreed upon signing it; and we were ready to sign it. And honestly I believe the United States would be ready as well,” he said.
Trump had sought to cast the minerals deal as a way for Ukraine, which is home to a trove of lithium deposits and rare earth minerals, to repay the U.S. for its billions of dollars in aid.
While Zelenskiy sought to avoid any further antagonism of the U.S., saying he did not want to go over what had happened, he was more forceful on any future ceasefire deal, saying Ukraine would not hand sovereignty of occupied Ukrainian land to Russia.
“Everyone needs to understand that Ukraine will never recognise whatever is occupied by Russia as Russian territories,” he said.
“We hope that these security guarantees will make it 100% impossible to give Russia the opportunity to come with another aggression”.
Zelenskiy said there had been contact between Kyiv and Washington since Friday’s bust-up, although not at his level, and asked if he had considered resigning, he showed no sign of wavering.
“As regards resignation, if I’m to be changed … to change me it will not be easy because it is not enough to simply hold elections. You would need to prevent me from participating in the elections and it will be a bit more difficult.”
Some Republican leaders had suggested that Zelenskiy needed to resign after Friday’s meeting with Trump.
Zelenskiy repeated again, however, that if Ukraine was granted NATO membership, he would have fulfilled his mission.
World
Saudi Aramco helicopter crash kills 14 nationals, state news agency says
A helicopter belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco crashed on Sunday in Ras Tanura on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast on the Gulf, west of the Strait of Hormuz, killing 14 nationals, the state news agency reported, adding that the cause was unknown.
Aramco had resumed crude oil loadings on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf after they were halted for nearly four months, Reuters reported.
“The relevant authorities have launched a full investigation to determine the cause of the crash,” the state news agency added.
Aramco did not respond immediately to an emailed request for comment.
The incident took place at 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), the state agency said, without providing further details.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has joined a rush to move cargoes after Middle East producers ramped up oil and gas output and exports ahead of an interim deal to halt the war between the United States and Iran.
World
Israel, Lebanon sign initial agreement after US-mediated talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement allows Israeli forces to continue to occupy southern Lebanon if Hezbollah does not disarm.
Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement in Washington on Friday following several days of talks to secure an end to fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollahmilitants, though both sides framed the deal as an initial step, Reuters reported.
Lebanese Ambassador Nada Moawad and her Israeli counterpart Yechiel Leiter signed the trilateral document with the U.S. at the State Department in Washington, providing few details.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement allows Israeli forces to continue to occupy southern Lebanon if Hezbollah does not disarm.
“Today we’ve taken the first step in what will be a difficult journey, without a doubt, but an important and an essential and a necessary one,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said before the agreement was inked.
In a later statement he said that the U.S. would facilitate the implementation of the deal through a trilateral “Military Coordination Group for Lebanon” and that Washington would commit significant resources, including an immediate $100 million in humanitarian assistance in coordination with the U.N.
Rubio added that the U.S. reaffirmed its intent to improve the capabilities of the Lebanese Armed Forces “to more effectively establish sovereignty throughout Lebanese territory” with more than $30 million in funds under existing U.S. authorities and appropriations.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah broke out when the armed group fired at Israel on March 2, days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. The Hezbollah attacks triggered Israeli air and ground attacks that have killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million.
Lebanon’s Moawad also called it a “first step” on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty.
“Iran is out, Hezbollah is out, and the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in,” Leiter said.
Netanyahu said in a statement that the deal would also allow the Lebanese army “to begin organizing to take control of territory,” starting with what he described as two “pilot zones” from which Israeli troops would withdraw from land they occupied during the war.
Israel describes that territory as a “security zone” or “buffer zone” where its troops can thwart Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the agreement should allow Lebanese to return to “fully liberated” land and rebuilt homes with “no partner” in its sovereignty.
Israel’s death toll from this round of hostilities with Hezbollah includes at least 32 soldiers and four Israeli civilians. Hezbollah does not release figures on its war dead. Reuters reported on May 4 that several thousand Hezbollah fighters had been killed in the war.
A State Department official told Reuters on Thursday that Israel had agreed to pull back from some of the territory it has occupied, something Israeli and Lebanese officials denied.
Before the talks resumed this week, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to halt fire even as Israel kept troops in southern Lebanon.
Violence has persisted since the ceasefire, with Israel saying on Friday its troops had struck and killed what the military described as seven Hezbollah members who were operating near the territory it is occupying. Reuters could not confirm this.
“To the degree that the Lebanese army performs in dismantling and disarming Hezbollah, we will proceed with additional pilot zones and the ultimate determination of an internationally recognized, secure, and agreed upon border,” Leiter told reporters after the signing.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Lebanese authorities would not be able to enforce the agreement unless, with U.S. support, “they go to civil war,” pro-Iranian broadcaster Al Mayadeen reported, read the report.
Hezbollah would confront any measure taken by Lebanese authorities and would hold on to its weapons even more, adding that the group’s opposition was “serious” and would not allow authorities to implement their commitments on the ground, Fadlallah said.
Israeli forces dropped leaflets over the southern Lebanese town of Mansouri on Friday ordering residents to leave, Lebanese state media reported, the first such order issued since the latest ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect.
A senior Lebanese military official said Israel had recently added Mansouri to its occupation zone. The official said Lebanese farmers had continued to enter and leave the town, but had not been living there.
An Israeli military spokesperson said the military issued what it described as a “reminder” to the civilian population that “the area is within the security zone in which (Israeli) soldiers operate. It’s a reminder not to be in the area so they won’t be harmed.”
World
Venezuela earthquake death toll rises to 188 as rescue efforts continue
According to officials, 138 aftershocks have been recorded since the twin 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck late Wednesday, causing widespread destruction.
The death toll from the powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela’s northern Caribbean coast has risen to 188, authorities confirmed on Thursday, as emergency crews continue search and rescue operations.
Jorge Rodriguez, President of Venezuela’s National Assembly, said 1,520 people have been hospitalized with injuries, while 157 people remain missing. Rescue teams are still searching for more than 200 people believed to be trapped beneath collapsed buildings.
According to officials, 138 aftershocks have been recorded since the twin 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck late Wednesday, causing widespread destruction.
Rodriguez said 346 infrastructure sites sustained damage, including 250 buildings, 20 shopping centers, and eight hospitals, forcing authorities to transfer patients to other medical facilities.
The Venezuelan government has announced the establishment of a $200 million emergency reconstruction fund to support the rebuilding of damaged homes, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure.
Following the disaster, Acting President Delcy Rodriguez declared a national state of emergency, while tsunami warnings were issued across parts of the Caribbean region after the powerful earthquakes.
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