Trump says 'probably won't' attend G20 summit in South Africa
Asked aboard Air Force One if he planned to attend the summit, Trump said: "No, I think maybe I'll send somebody else, because I've had a lot of problems with South Africa (...) A lot of people are being killed. So I think I probably won't, I'd like to, but I don't think I will."
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Nahar Net
an hour ago
- Nahar Net
Trump says to meet Putin even if Russian leader won't meet with Zelensky
by Naharnet Newsdesk 08 August 2025, 15:13 U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would meet with Vladimir Putin even if the Russian leader will not meet with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, in comments that suggested Washington and Moscow could soon hold a summit. Trump's comments followed a statement from Putin earlier in the day that he hoped to meet with Trump next week, possibly in the United Arab Emirates. But the White House was still working through the details of any potential meetings, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. When asked by a reporter if Putin would need to meet with Zelensky in order to secure a meeting with the U.S., Trump said: "No, he doesn't. No." A White House official told The Associated Press earlier Thursday that a U.S.-Russian summit would not happen if Putin did not agree to meet with Zelenskyy, but the official later said it only made the summit less likely. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and had spoken on condition of anonymity. A meeting with Trump would be a coup for Putin, who has spurned previous offers of a face-to-face meeting with Zelensky and has been isolated globally since the invasion. He has long suggested a meeting with Trump to discuss ending the fighting. Trump too has repeatedly boasted that he and Putin could make a deal to end the war. Any direct talks between them about the conflict would also renew questions about the risk of excluding Ukraine from peace efforts. Putin's announcement came on the eve of a White House deadline for Moscow to show progress toward ending the 3-year-old war in Ukraine or suffer additional economic sanctions. When asked Thursday at the White House whether his deadline for Friday would hold, Trump said of Putin: "It's going to be up to him. We're going to see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him. Very disappointed." The president also touched on the killing that has continued on both sides and added, "I don't like long waits. I think it's a shame." Speaking of possible direct talks with Zelensky, Putin said he has mentioned several times that he was not against it, adding: "It's a possibility, but certain conditions need to be created" for it to happen. The Kremlin has previously said that Putin and Zelensky should meet only when an agreement negotiated by their delegations is close. Ukraine fears being sidelined by direct negotiations between Washington and Moscow, and Zelensky said he had phone conversations with several European leaders Thursday amid a flurry of diplomatic activity. European countries have pledged to back Ukraine for as long as it takes to defeat Russia's invasion. Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, earlier brushed aside the possibility of Zelensky joining the summit, something the White House said Trump was ready to consider. Putin has spurned Zelensky's previous offers of a meeting to clinch a breakthrough. "We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump, and we consider it most important that this meeting be successful and productive," Ushakov said, adding that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff's suggestion of a meeting including Ukraine's leader "was not specifically discussed." Putin made the announcement in the Kremlin about a possible meeting with Trump after meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the UAE. Asked who initiated the possible talks with the American president, Putin said that didn't matter and "both sides expressed an interest." Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund who met Wednesday with Witkoff, said a Trump-Putin meeting would allow Moscow to "clearly convey its position," and he hoped a summit would include discussions on mutually beneficial economic issues, including joint investments in areas such as rare earth elements. The meeting would be the first U.S.-Russia summit since 2021, when former President Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva. It would be a significant milestone toward Trump's effort to end the war, although there's no guarantee it would stop the fighting since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace. Months of U.S.-led efforts have yielded no progress on stopping Russia's invasion of its neighbor. The war has killed tens of thousands of troops on both sides and more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations. Western officials have repeatedly accused Putin of stalling in peace negotiations to allow Russian forces time to capture more Ukrainian land. Putin previously has offered no concessions and said he will accept a settlement only on his terms. At the start of his second term, Trump was conciliatory toward Putin, for whom he has long shown admiration, and even echoed some of his talking points on the war. But he recently has expressed increasing exasperation with Putin, criticizing the Kremlin leader for his unyielding stance on U.S.-led peace efforts, and has threatened Moscow with new sanctions. Zelensky seeks European involvement Zelensky said European countries must also be involved in finding a solution to the war on their own continent. "Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same bold approach from the Russian side. It is time to end the war," he added. A ceasefire and long-term security guarantees are priorities in potential negotiation with Russia, he said on social media. Securing a truce, deciding a format for a summit and providing assurances for Ukraine's future protection from invasion — a consideration that must involve the U.S. and Europe — are crucial aspects to address, Zelensky said. He noted that Russian strikes on civilians have not eased despite Trump publicly urging Putin to relent. A Russian attack Wednesday in the central Dnipro region killed four people and wounded eight others, he said. Poll shows support for continuing the fight waning in Ukraine A new Gallup poll published Thursday found that Ukrainians are increasingly eager for a peace settlement. In the survey, conducted in early July, about seven in 10 Ukrainians said their country should seek to negotiate a settlement as soon as possible. The enthusiasm for a negotiated deal is a sharp reversal from 2022 — the year the war began — when Gallup found that about three-quarters of Ukrainians wanted to keep fighting until victory. Now only about one-quarter hold that view, with support for continuing the war declining steadily across all regions and demographic groups. The findings were based on samples of 1,000 or more respondents ages 15 and older living in Ukraine. Some territories under entrenched Russian control, representing about 10% of the population, were excluded from surveys conducted after 2022 due to lack of access. In Kyiv, opinions on the usefulness of a Trump-Putin meeting were divided. "Negotiations are necessary, and we all really want the war to end … because this war will only end with negotiations," resident Ruslan Prindun said. But Volodymyr Tasak said it was "unlikely" that anything good would come from U.S.-Russia talks and that Zelensky was "being squeezed out." Lyudmila Kostrova said in downtown Kyiv that Putin was simply trying to avoid U.S. sanctions by agreeing to meet with Trump. "Putin is not interested in ending the war now," she said.
Nahar Net
3 hours ago
- Nahar Net
US at plastics treaty talks in rare international participation under Trump
by Naharnet Newsdesk 08 August 2025, 17:32 Under President Donald Trump's leadership, the United States has withdrawn from international negotiations and commitments, particularly around climate. But the U.S. is very much involved in treaty talks for a global accord to end plastic pollution. Nations kicked off a meeting Tuesday in Geneva to try to complete a landmark treaty over 10 days to end the spiraling plastic pollution crisis. The biggest issue is whether the treaty should impose caps on producing new plastic, or focus instead on things like better design, recycling and reuse. About 3,700 people are taking part in the talks, representing 184 countries and more than 600 organizations. Here is a look the U.S. position: Why is the US participating in the negotiations? Hours after he was sworn in to a second term, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the landmark Paris agreement to combat global warming. The United States didn't participate in a vote in April at the International Maritime Organization that created a fee for greenhouse gases emitted by ships, or send anyone to the U.N. Ocean Conference in June. Some wondered whether the United States would even go to Geneva. The State Department told The Associated Press that engaging in the negotiations is critical to protect U.S. interests and businesses, and an agreement could advance U.S. security by protecting natural resources from plastic pollution, promote prosperity and enhance safety. The industry contributes more than $500 billion to the economy annually and employs about 1 million people in the U.S., according to the Plastics Industry Association. "This is an historic opportunity to set a global approach for reducing plastic pollution through cost-effective and common-sense solutions and fostering innovation from the private sector, not unilaterally stopping the use of plastic," the department said in an email. What does the US want in the treaty? The State Department supports provisions to improve waste collection and management, improve product design and drive recycling, reuse and other efforts to cut the plastic dumped into the environment. The international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that 22 million tons of plastic waste will leak into the environment this year. That could increase to 30 million tons annually by 2040 if nothing changes. The OECD said if the treaty focuses only on improving waste management and does nothing on production and demand, an estimated 13.5 million tons of plastic waste would still leak into the environment each year. What does the US not want in the treaty? The United States and other powerful oil and gas nations oppose cutting plastic production. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels. Even if production grows only slightly, greenhouse gas emissions emitted from the process would more than double by 2050, according to research from the federal Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The U.S. does not support global production caps since plastics play a critical role throughout every sector of every economy, nor does it support bans on certain plastic products or chemical additives to them because there is not a universal approach to reducing plastic pollution, the State Department said. That's similar to the views of the plastics industry, which says that a production cap could have unintended consequences, such as raising the cost of plastics, and that chemicals are best regulated elsewhere. What has the US done in Geneva so far? On the first day of the negotiations, the United States proposed striking language in the objective of the agreement about addressing the full life cycle of plastics. That idea was part of the original mandate for a treaty. Getting rid of it could effectively end any effort to control plastic supply or production. Under former President Joe Biden's administration, the U.S. supported the treaty addressing supply and production. What are people saying about the US position? Industry leaders praised it and environmentalists panned it. Chris Jahn, president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council, said the Trump administration is trying to get an agreement that protects each nation's rights while advancing effective and practical solutions to end plastic waste in the environment. He said his group supports that approach. Graham Forbes, head of the Greenpeace delegation in Geneva, said the United States wants a weak agreement and is undermining the idea that the world needs strong international regulations to address a global problem. Does the US think the world can agree on a treaty that will end plastic pollution? The United States aims to finalize text for a global agreement on plastic pollution that all countries, including major producers of plastics and plastic products, and consumers, will support, the State Department said in its statement.
Nahar Net
4 hours ago
- Nahar Net
What did Lebanese government approve on Thursday?
by Naharnet Newsdesk 08 August 2025, 14:02 The Lebanese government on Thursday endorsed the 'objectives' of the U.S. paper presented by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, despite a walkout by the ministers of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement. The implementation timetable will depend on a Lebanese Army plan that is supposed to be submitted to Cabinet before the end of this month. Below are the objectives as announced by the Presidency and the Premiership: - Lebanon's implementation of the National Accord Document, known as the Taif Agreement, the Lebanese Constitution, and Security Council resolutions, most notably Resolution 1701, and taking the necessary steps to fully extend its sovereignty over all its territory, with the aim of strengthening the role of legitimate institutions, establishing the state's exclusive authority to make decisions of war and peace, and ensuring that the possession of weapons is restricted to the state alone throughout Lebanon. - Ensuring the cessation of hostilities, including all land, air and sea violations, through systematic steps leading to a permanent, comprehensive and guaranteed solution. - The gradual end of the armed presence of all non-state actors, including Hezbollah, throughout Lebanese territory, south and north of the Litani River, while providing support to the Lebanese Army and Internal Security Forces. - The deployment of the Lebanese Army in the border areas and key internal locations, with appropriate support for the Lebanese Army and the security forces. - Israel's withdrawal from the "Five Points" and the settlement of border and prisoner issues by diplomatic means through indirect negotiations. - An economic conference will be held with the participation of the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other friends of Lebanon to support the Lebanese economy and rebuild it so that it can return to being a prosperous and viable country, as called for by U.S. President Donald Trump.
