World
US to give Ukraine intelligence on long-range energy targets in Russia
Ukraine has also developed its own long-range missile named the Flamingo, but quantities are unknown as the missile is in early production.
The United States will provide Ukraine with intelligence on long-range energy infrastructure targets within Russia, two officials told Reuters on Wednesday, as it weighs whether to send Kyiv missiles that could be used in such strikes, Reuters reported.
The U.S. is also asking NATO allies to provide similar support, the U.S. officials said, confirming details first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The decision represents the first known policy change that President Donald Trump has signed off on since hardening his rhetoric toward Russia in recent weeks in an attempt to end Moscow’s more than three-year-long war in neighboring Ukraine.
Washington has long-been sharing intelligence with Kyiv, but the Wall Street Journal said it will now be easier for Ukraine to hit infrastructure like refineries, pipelines and power plants with the aim of depriving the Kremlin of revenue and oil.
Trump has been pressing European countries to stop buying Russian oil in exchange for his agreement to impose tough sanctions on Moscow in a bid to try to dry up funding for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, read the report.
Neither the White House nor Ukraine’s mission to the United Nations immediately responded to separate requests for comment from Reuters. Russia’s U.N. mission in New York declined to comment.
The move comes as the United States also considers a Ukrainian request to obtain Tomahawks, which have a range of 2,500 km (1,550 miles) – easily enough to hit Moscow and most of European Russia if fired from Ukraine.
Ukraine has also developed its own long-range missile named the Flamingo, but quantities are unknown as the missile is in early production.
According to U.S. officials cited by the Wall Street Journal, the approval for additional intelligence came shortly before Trump posted on social media last week suggesting that Ukraine could retake all its land occupied by Russia, in a striking rhetorical shift in Kyiv’s favor.
“After seeing the Economic trouble (the war) is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last Tuesday, shortly after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, calling it a “special military operation” to halt Kyiv’s Westward geopolitical drift and what it considers to be a dangerous NATO expansion to the east.
Kyiv and European allies consider the invasion to be an imperial-style land grab.
Trump began his second term as president in January, vowing to quickly end the war in Ukraine.
“President Trump is a special kind of politician. He likes quick fixes and this is a situation where quick fixes do not work,” Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said earlier on Wednesday during a press conference to mark the start of Russia’s October presidency of the U.N. Security Council.
Nebenzia also cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying that if the U.S. decided to supply Ukraine with tomahawks “it will not change the situation on the battlefield.”
This is the first time the United States will provide assistance with Ukrainian long-range strikes deep into Russian territory on energy targets, officials told the Wall Street Journal.
Energy revenue remains the Kremlin’s single most important source of cash to finance the war effort, making oil and gas exports a central target of Western sanctions.
Trump has taken steps to impose an additional tariff on imports from India to pressure New Delhi to halt its purchases of discounted Russian crude oil, and lobbied the likes of Turkey to stop buying oil from Moscow too.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Group of Seven nations’ finance ministers said they will take joint steps to increase pressure on Russia by targeting those who are continuing to increase their purchases of Russian oil and those that are facilitating circumvention, Reuters reported.
World
US and Denmark reach deal on Greenland, Trump says
In a separate statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the deal “permanently and completely” addressed Washington’s national security concerns with respect to the island.
The United States, Denmark and Greenland have entered into an agreement for the US to develop a significant military presence on Greenland, while prohibiting US adversaries from building their own bases on the island, Donald Trump said on Friday.
In a Truth Social post, the US president wrote that no US enemies would be able to make sensitive investments on the island without the approval of the United States and that the agreement had no expiry date, Reuters reported.
“At my direction, we worked with representatives of Denmark and Greenland to guarantee that the United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland, and the United States of America,” Trump wrote.
Earlier on Friday, Reuters exclusively reported that the US and Denmark were closing in on a deal that would result in an increased US military presence in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, but would stop well short of Trump’s long-held dream of acquiring the island for the United States.
The US already has nearly total overflight and basing rights in Greenland due to a 1951 treaty.
Trump’s announcement suggests he was nonetheless pleased with the outcome of the negotiations and that he might not revive his territorial claims, at least in the near future. He said, without elaborating, that the US would soon be rolling out a large military presence on the island, which already hosts one Space Force base in its remote northwest.
“This is a dream come true for the United States of America,” Trump wrote.
EXTENT OF AGREEMENT REMAINS UNCLEAR
The Danish prime minister’s office said on Friday that the agreement would strengthen North Atlantic and Arctic security.
Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a statement that the agreement recognized Greenland’s interests and the Arctic island’s place in international cooperation. “This benefits us all,” he said.
Much was unclear as of Friday night, including whether any new US bases would be constructed as a result of the agreement. Trump’s Truth Social posts about negotiations or agreements often lack context or specifics.
Imran Bayoumi, a former Pentagon official now with the Atlantic Council think tank, said it would be new if the US can build bases without the approval of Greenland or Denmark but that largely “it seems that Washington could have achieved a lot of these objectives through diplomacy and dialogue without straining the broader US-NATO relationship.”
It was also unclear how the agreement would be received in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. The island’s residents aspire to independence and have bristled at US attempts to assert control.
In a separate statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the deal “permanently and completely” addressed Washington’s national security concerns with respect to the island.
“Greenland will forever be part of the strategic defense area of North America and exclude any adversary from it and the surrounding area,” he wrote.
A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss specific terms, said the deal prohibits non-NATO countries from building a base in Greenland and will allow only the US and its allies to make unspecified “sensitive investments.” The official said the agreement grants the US permanent access, basing and overflight rights, and would continue to apply even if Greenland becomes independent.
World
UN allows Palestinian president to again speak via video after US denies visa
The United Nations General Assembly voted on Thursday to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address the annual gathering of world leaders next week via video – for the second year in a row – after the United States again denied him a visa to travel to New York.
The resolution received 152 votes in favor and three votes against, while four countries abstained. It also allows Abbas and any other high-level Palestinian officials to take part in U.N. meetings or conferences via video over the next year if they are prevented from traveling to the United State, Reuters reported.
The US said last year that Abbas and about 80 other Palestinians would be affected by its decision to deny and revoke visas from members of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. Washington announced on Wednesday that it had extended the visa bans.
“If the PA wants to be treated as a partner, it must stop subsidizing terror and stop using diplomatic theater as a substitute for serious governance,” Deputy US Ambassador to the United Nations Tammy Bruce told the assembly before the vote.
Palestinian leaders rejected and condemned the move by the United States, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the General Assembly.
Without naming specific officials, the US State Department said on Wednesday it would extend visa sanctions against Palestinian officials over actions they took to “internationalize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” including pursuing cases against Israel at international tribunals.
A Palestinian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed Abbas’ visa had been denied.
Under a 1947 U.N. “headquarters agreement,” the U.S. is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York. However, Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
World
North Korea’s Kim vows to expand ties with Russia, backs victory in ‘sacred war’
Kim delivered a similar message to Chinese President Xi Jinping in a reply published by KCNA on Sunday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would “expand and deepen” joint work with Russia in a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.
In a reply sent on Monday to Putin’s congratulations for North Korea’s 78th founding anniversary, Kim said Pyongyang’s government had a firm will to broaden cooperation with Russia “in a comprehensive way” based on friendship, mutual assistance, and what he described as the countries’ alliance relations.
Kim also said he was convinced of Russia’s victory in the current “sacred war for defending the security interests of the country and international justice”, language that appeared to refer to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
He pledged his “invariable support” for Putin and the Russian people.
The remarks come as Moscow and Pyongyang have drawn markedly closer, with North Korea sending troops to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine in 2024 and deepening military cooperation under a mutual defence pact.
Kim delivered a similar message to Chinese President Xi Jinping in a reply published by KCNA on Sunday, saying North Korea would work with China to further develop their traditional friendship and advance their shared socialist cause.
Both messages were responses to congratulatory letters sent by Putin and Xi on September 9, when North Korea marked the 78th anniversary of its founding.
-
Latest News4 days agoUN warns of mounting humanitarian and human rights pressures in Afghanistan
-
Regional3 days agoSaudi Arabia calls alleged Mecca attack a ‘red line’ as Houthis deny involvement
-
World5 days agoNorth Korea’s Kim vows to expand ties with Russia, backs victory in ‘sacred war’
-
Latest News4 days agoUNICEF expands aid to millions of Afghan children after flash floods
-
Latest News5 days agoKyrgyz, Afghan foreign ministers discuss expanding trade and investment ties
-
Latest News4 days agoPetition filed in Islamabad High Court against PMDC directive affecting Afghan students
-
Latest News3 days agoFive Years On: IEA touts economic growth despite international isolation
-
Sport4 days agoIndia take 2-0 lead in 3-match series against Afghanistan
