What we learned from Zelenskyy's White House meeting with Trump
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Khaleej Times
8 minutes ago
- Khaleej Times
Liverpool will only sign right player at right price amid Isak row
Liverpool boss Arne Slot said on Thursday the Premier League champions will only sign the right player for the right price but refused to be drawn on the club's position regarding unsettled Newcastle striker Alexander Isak. Since Liverpool's reported £110 million ($148 million) bid for the 25-year-old Sweden international was rejected earlier this month, they have not held further talks but equally do not appear to have given up hope of bringing Isak to Anfield. Newcastle, for their part, are reported to be demanding a British record transfer fee of £150 million for Isak. The forward's decision to go public on Tuesday, accusing Newcastle of breaking promises and saying he "can't continue" and "change is in the best interests of everyone", has intensified speculation about Isak's future. Newcastle's response was to insist: "We have been clear that the conditions of a sale this summer have not transpired. We do not foresee those conditions being met." The back and forth exchanges have all added another layer of interest to Liverpool's match at Newcastle's St. James' Park on Monday, with Isak expected to be absent again as he continues to train away from the squad. Slot, speaking at a pre-match press conference on Thursday, said: "I am happy with the squad but if we think there is a player who can really make us better then this club has always shown they can bring them in." The Dutch manager, who has seen Liverpool's £300million-plus spending spree this summer offset by more than £200 million worth of sales, added: "But it needs to be everything we want: right transfer fee, right position and the player wants to come to us. "I don't think (it will be a busy end to the summer transfer window) because (that would mean) I would be unhappy with the squad and I am happy with the squad. "I say two players for each positions is ideal, but sometimes less is more so you are not disappointing players." Slot rejected suggestion Liverpool's trip to the northeast would be made easier by Isak's absence and the ensuing turmoil it has caused Newcastle. "I don't think they are a club with troubles," he said. "I assume Isak is not playing but they still have Anthony Gordon as a nine, they have Anthony Elanga as a right winger and Harvey Barnes from the left -- and Jacob Murphy is not even playing. "This is the Premier League, we all have a lot of options and Newcastle have them as well." But Slot's options at right-back have been reduced, with new signing Jeremie Frimpong ruled out until after next month's international break with a hamstring injury sustained in their opening victory over Bournemouth. Joe Gomez was pressed into action for 18 minutes despite having had just two training sessions after three weeks out with injury. Gomez could still be in contention at Newcastle, with Conor Bradley only returning to training on Thursday. "At the moment we only have two injuries, but unfortunately it is two in the same position," said Slot. "The good thing is we have other players that can play there. "Wataru Endo played there for a few minutes, Dominik Szoboszlai has already played there. There are other options we can explore."
The National
37 minutes ago
- The National
Sweida governance shift raises Druze ‘separatist ambitions', warns UN envoy
The UN's special envoy for Syria warned on Thursday that the creation of a local committee to oversee governance in Sweida has led to accusations of 'separatist ambitions' among the province's Druze community after weeks of violence. Geir Pedersen told the UN Security Council that this shift, combined with appeals for support from external actors, is contributing to the rising tension in the southern province and risks Syria's fragile political transition. 'It is essential that the committee's findings are made fully public, and that all perpetrators – regardless of affiliation – are held responsible,' Mr Pedersen said. 'These events underscore the urgent need for the interim authorities' security forces to demonstrate that they are acting solely to protect all Syrians and do not constitute a threat.' Fighting erupted in Sweida on July 13, with clashes between local Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin drawing in government troops and armed volunteers from other regions. The violence has posed an early test for Syria's new interim administration, which took power following the overthrow of Bashar Al Assad late last year. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes have left about 1,600 people dead, many of them Druze civilians, prompting protests demanding greater autonomy and self-determination for the province. Mr Pedersen said that while a month of relative calm has followed, the political situation remains volatile. 'Escalatory and zero-sum rhetoric is hardening among key players,' he said, noting that new footage showing graphic abuses during the clashes had further inflamed tension. The envoy warned that the violence underscores the challenges facing President Ahmad Al Shara as he seeks to consolidate power, rebuild war-torn institutions and maintain central authority despite continuing efforts to normalise relations with the US and deepen security contacts with Israel. 'The situation remains deeply fragile,' Mr Pedersen said, urging all sides to avoid actions that could polarise communities or destabilise the region further. He also pressed other Syrian constituencies to actively support a unified political transition. 'All communities must show that they want to be part of a united Syria and are willing to engage in action and not just in word in a peaceful transition that restores Syrian sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity,' he said. US acting ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea called on the Syrian interim authorities to act 'decisively and consistently to protect everyone, no matter their ethnicity or religion". 'There must be zero tolerance and swift justice for any member of Syria's military that abuses the trust placed in them,' Ms Shea told council members.
Khaleej Times
2 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Putin's demand to Ukraine: Give up Donbas, no Nato and no Western troops: Sources
Vladimir Putin is demanding that Ukraine give up all of the eastern Donbas region, renounce ambitions to join Nato, remain neutral and keep Western troops out of the country, three sources familiar with top-level Kremlin thinking told Reuters. The Russian president met Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday for the first Russia-U.S. summit in more than four years and spent almost all of their three-hour closed meeting discussing what a compromise on Ukraine might look like, according to the sources who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. Speaking afterwards beside Trump, Putin said the meeting would hopefully open up the road to peace in Ukraine - but neither leader gave specifics about what they discussed. In the most detailed Russian-based reporting to date on Putin's offer at the summit, Reuters was able to outline the contours of what the Kremlin would like to see in a possible peace deal to end a war that has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people. In essence, the Russian sources said, Putin has compromised on territorial demands he laid out in June 2024, which required Kyiv to cede the entirety of the four provinces Moscow claims as part of Russia: Dontesk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine - which make up the Donbas - plus Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south. Kyiv rejected those terms as tantamount to surrender. In his new proposal, the Russian president has stuck to his demand that Ukraine completely withdraw from the parts of the Donbas it still controls, according to the three sources. In return, though, Moscow would halt the current front lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, they added. Russia controls about 88% of the Donbas and 73% of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, according to U.S. estimates and open-source data. Moscow is also willing to hand over the small parts of the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions of Ukraine it controls as part of a possible deal, the sources said. Putin is sticking, too, to his previous demands that Ukraine give up its NATO ambitions and for a legally binding pledge from the U.S.-led military alliance that it will not expand further eastwards, as well as for limits on the Ukrainian army and an agreement that no Western troops will be deployed on the ground in Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force, the sources said. Yet the two sides remain far apart, more than three years after Putin ordered thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine in a full-scale invasion that followed the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and prolonged fighting in the country's east between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops. Ukraine's foreign ministry had no immediate comment on the proposals. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognised Ukrainian land as part of a deal, and has said the industrial Donbas region serves as a fortress holding back Russian advances deeper into Ukraine. "If we're talking about simply withdrawing from the east, we cannot do that," he told reporters in comments released by Kyiv on Thursday. "It is a matter of our country's survival, involving the strongest defensive lines." Joining NATO, meanwhile, is a strategic objective enshrined in the country's constitution and one which Kyiv sees as its most reliable security guarantee. Zelenskiy said it was not up to Russia to decide on the alliance's membership. The White House and NATO didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the Russian proposals. Political scientist Samuel Charap, chair in Russia and Eurasia Policy at RAND, a U.S.-based global policy think-tank, said any requirement for Ukraine to withdraw from the Donbas remained a non-starter for Kyiv, both politically and strategically. "Openness to 'peace' on terms categorically unacceptable to the other side could be more of a performance for Trump than a sign of a true willingness to compromise," he added. "The only way to test that proposition is to begin a serious process at the working level to hash out those details." TRUMP: PUTIN WANTS TO SEE IT ENDED Russian forces currently control a fifth of Ukraine, an area about the size of the American state of Ohio, according to U.S. estimates and open-source maps. The three sources close to the Kremlin said the summit in the Alaskan city of Anchorage had ushered in the best chance for peace since the war began because there had been specific discussions about Russia's terms and Putin had shown a willingness to give ground. "Putin is ready for peace - for compromise. That is the message that was conveyed to Trump," one of the people said. The sources cautioned that it was unclear to Moscow whether Ukraine would be prepared to cede the remains of the Donbas, and that if it did not then the war would continue. Also unclear was whether or not the United States would give any recognition to Russian-held Ukrainian territory, they added. A fourth source said that though economic issues were secondary for Putin, he understood the economic vulnerability of Russia and the scale of the effort needed to go far further into Ukraine. Trump has said he wants to end the "bloodbath" of the war and be remembered as a "peacemaker president". He said on Monday he had begun arranging a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, to be followed by a trilateral summit with the U.S. president. "I believe Vladimir Putin wants to see it ended," Trump said beside Zelenskiy in the Oval office. "I feel confident we are going to get it solved." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Putin was prepared to meet Zelenskiy but that all issues had to be worked through first and there was a question about Zelenskiy's authority to sign a peace deal. Putin has repeatedly raised doubts about Zelenskiy's legitimacy as his term in office was due to expire in May 2024 but the war means no new presidential election has yet been held. Kyiv says Zelenskiy remains the legitimate president. The leaders of Britain, France and Germany have said they are sceptical that Putin wants to end the war. SECURITY GUARANTEES FOR UKRAINE Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff was instrumental in paving the way for the summit, and the latest drive for peace, according to two of the Russian sources. Witkoff met Putin in the Kremlin on August 6 with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. At the meeting, Putin conveyed clearly to Witkoff that he was ready to compromise and set out the contours of what he could accept for peace, according to two Russian sources. If Russia and Ukraine could reach an agreement, then there are various options for a formal deal - including a possible three-way Russia-Ukraine-U.S. deal that is recognised by the U.N. Security Council, one of the sources said. Another option is to go back to the failed 2022 Istanbul agreements, where Russia and Ukraine discussed Ukraine's permanent neutrality in return for security guarantees from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, the sources added. "There are two choices: war or peace, and if there is no peace, then there is more war," one of the people said.
