Zelenskyy says Kyiv and Moscow working on new POW exchange
Zelenskyy was speaking in the Lithuanian capital, where he was attending a meeting of central European and Nordic states.
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Hindustan Times
15 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
NATO wrestles over how to handle Ukraine at Trump summit
How to have Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky at NATO's Hague summit and avoid a bust-up with US President Donald Trump? What to say on Kyiv's desire to join their alliance? With NATO appearing on track to seal a deal on ramping up defence spending, another thorny issue now threatens to overshadow the gathering in three weeks: what to do about Ukraine? When they met in Washington a year ago, NATO's leaders feted Zelensky, pledged more military hardware and vowed Kyiv was on an "irreversible path" for membership in their alliance. That was before Trump's return to the White House ripped up Washington's support for Ukraine and upended the West's approach to Russia's three-year war. Since he regained the US presidency, Trump had a dramatic Oval Office falling out with Zelensky, opened the door to warmer ties with Moscow and forced both sides to the negotiating table. Kyiv's European backers have pushed to invite Zelensky to the June 24-25 meeting in the Netherlands to show NATO still stands strongly behind Ukraine. But the United States has been reluctant even to have Zelensky there and the reality is Trump has already blown a huge hole in Western backing for Kyiv. The Ukrainian leader said this week he'd received an invite from NATO chief Mark Rutte for Kyiv to be there in some form. "We can confirm that Ukraine will be with us in The Hague," a NATO official told AFP. Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Zelensky could come for a dinner hosted by the Dutch king for NATO leaders, but that there likely wouldn't be formal talks between Ukraine and the alliance. "It will be a PR disaster if he's not there," a European diplomat said, speaking as others on condition of anonymity. How Zelensky may be received in The Hague looks set to depend heavily on the progress, if any, of fraught talks with Russia over the next few weeks. So far two rounds of meetings between the warring sides in Istanbul have produced few results. Trump appears to be getting increasingly annoyed with Russian President Vladimir Putin for dragging his feet on a ceasefire. But the US leader still hasn't responded with sanctions against Moscow and has equally expressed his displeasure with Zelensky's outspokenness. Rutte has insisted that Ukraine remains a "priority" issue at the summit. Diplomats, however, say that the overwhelming focus is on striking an agreement on spending that satisfies Trump's demands to spend five percent of GDP on defence and keeps the United States on board at NATO. Multiple officials say the alliance looks set to reach a compromise put forward by Rutte of 3.5 percent of GDP on core defence, and 1.5 percent on broader spending such as infrastructure. "Defence spending is the most important part and no one wants to jeopardise that," a second diplomat said. One area where there doesn't seem much uncertainty is that NATO will steer clear of its previous strong statements that Ukraine is on course to join the alliance. Trump has repeatedly poured cold water on Ukraine's ambition to become a member and even blamed Kyiv's bid to join for provoking Russia's war. NATO is aiming to keep a final declaration from the summit short and avoid mention of Ukraine's possible membership to not open up any fissures. "There will be nothing on that," said a third diplomat, at NATO. "My expectation is we will be absolutely silent." There also looks set to be no joint statement on military support from the alliance's 32 countries as Trump has hit the brakes on assistance. In a sign of how far the US has moved, officials said US defence secretary Pete Hegseth won't attend a meeting of NATO backers in Brussels on Wednesday. He will however jet in for a meeting of NATO defence ministers on Thursday. del/ec/giv
The Hindu
38 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Russia says no quick breakthrough in 'complex' Ukraine talks
Russia has said it was wrong to expect a quick breakthrough in Ukraine talks, after Moscow rejected Kyiv's call for an unconditional ceasefire at negotiations in Istanbul. The sides agreed on a large-scale swap of captured soldiers and exchanged their roadmaps to peace, or so-called "memorandums", at the discussions, which lasted less than two hours. More than three years into Russia's offensive — which has killed tens of thousands on both sides and forced millions from their homes in eastern Ukraine — the two sides appear as irreconcilable as ever. "The settlement issue is extremely complex and involves a large number of nuances," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. "It would be wrong to expect immediate solutions and breakthroughs," he added. Moscow demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of four eastern and southern regions that Moscow claims to have annexed as a precondition to pausing its offensive, according to the document handed to the Ukrainians that was published by Russian state media. Kyiv had pressed for a full and unconditional ceasefire. Russia instead offered a partial truce of two to three days in some areas of the frontline, its top negotiator said after the talks. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha on Tuesday denounced Russia for presenting "old ultimatums that do not move the situation any closer to true peace" and for having "so far rejected any meaningful formats for a ceasefire". Peskov earlier also dismissed the idea of a summit between the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and the United States. "In the near future, it is unlikely," Peskov told reporters when asked about the chances of the leaders meeting, adding that such a summit could only happen after Russian and Ukrainian negotiators reach an "agreement". The White House had said on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump was "open" to the idea, which is also backed by Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Targeting civilians Mr. Zelenskyy on Tuesday accused Russia of "deliberately" targeting civilians in a rocket attack on the city of Sumy, some 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the Russian border, that killed four people. Russian troops have accelerated their advance, seeking to establish what Putin called a "buffer zone" inside Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region. Mr. Zelenskyy posted a video from the emergency services showing destroyed cars and the body of one victim lying on the road. The attack "says everything one needs to know about Russia's so-called 'desire' to end this war", he added, calling for "decisive actions" from the United States and Europe to push Russia into a ceasefire. "Every day, Russia gives new reasons for tougher sanctions and stronger support for our defence," he said. A seven-year-old girl was among 20 wounded, with doctors "fighting for her life", Sumy's Acting Mayor Artem Kobzar said. Three people were also killed in a rocket attack in the northeastern Kharkiv region. Moscow's army said it had captured the village of Andriivka in the Sumy region, located around five kilometres (three miles) from the Russian border. Mr. Zelenskyy said last week that Russia was massing some 50,000 soldiers for an offensive on the region. Meanwhile, Ukraine's SBU security service claimed it had hit a pillar of the Crimean bridge linking the annexed peninsula to Russia with an underwater explosive device. The extent of the damage was unclear following a temporary closure to the bridge after the attack. A delegation of top Ukrainian officials also landed in Washington for talks with US officials on defence and economic issues, including the possibility of new sanctions, Zelensky's office said. Andriy Yermak, Mr. Zelenskyy's top aide and a member of the delegation, met with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg. "I emphasized that Russia is stalling and manipulating the negotiation process in an attempt to avoid American sanctions, and has no genuine intention of ceasing hostilities," Yermak wrote on social media. "Only strong sanctions can compel Russia to engage in serious negotiations." Meanwhile, Russia's top security official Sergei Shoigu was in Pyongyang on Wednesday for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The two countries have drawn closer in recent years, with North Korea sending troops and weapons to support Moscow's war effort. Russian news agencies reported Shoigu and Kim were expected to discuss issues including Ukraine. Mr. Trump, who said he could end the conflict swiftly when he returned to the White House in January, has repeatedly expressed anger at both Putin and Zelensky as the fighting drags through its fourth year with no end in sight. But he has held off from imposing new economic penalties on Moscow.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Qwant asks French watchdog to take interim action against Microsoft
Qwant has asked France's antitrust regulator to take action against Microsoft for allegedly driving down the quality of the French search engine's results via Microsoft's Bing platform, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. Qwant, which has historically relied on Microsoft's Bing platform, wants the regulator to take interim action against the U.S. tech giant while investigating its complaint, the sources said. The French regulator has sought feedback from other search engines and will likely decide by September whether to take interim action and also whether to open a formal investigation into Microsoft, one of the people said. Competition enforcers only take interim action if there is evidence that a company abuses its market power and has caused serious and immediate harm to the complainant. The French competition enforcer and Qwant declined to comment. "This complaint lacks merit. We are fully cooperating with the Autorite's investigation," a Microsoft spokesperson said, referring to the French watchdog. Smaller European search engines typically rely on their bigger rivals' back-end technology to deliver search and news results. Microsoft is a major player in the search-engine syndication sector but its smaller rivals fear the company will discontinue the service to their detriment. Companies risk fines of as much as 10% of their global annual turnover for breaching French antitrust rules.
