EU and Like-Minded Countries lock horns in late-night drama at Global Plastics Treaty talks
Inside the cramped contact group rooms of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee's fifth session (INC-5.2), the EU refused to move discussions on finance (Article 11) forward unless negotiators first tackled "upstream measures" — the politically charged provisions aimed at cutting plastic production, eliminating certain products and restricting hazardous chemicals. For them, there could be no agreement on money without clarity on what that money would fund.
The LMCs, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and allies like India, pushed back hard. They demanded that "scope" — a non-article section defining the treaty's reach — be taken up in informal talks alongside Article 6 on product design and standards. Officially, scope discussions are meant to clarify ambition, but many delegates believe the bloc's real aim is to soften the treaty's core mandate from "end plastic pollution" to the weaker "address plastic pollution" and to strip out explicit references to human health impacts.
In the chair's draft text, scope is only a placeholder, not a binding article. EU negotiators argue that giving it equal weight to formal provisions wastes precious time. "You cannot prioritise informal-informal time for something that doesn't exist as an article," said one European delegate to TNIE.
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Business Standard
8 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Donald Trump heads to 'high stakes' Alaska summit with Putin on Ukraine
Donald Trump headed to Alaska on Friday for what he called a "high stakes" summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin to discuss a ceasefire deal for Ukraine to help end the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was not invited to the talks, and his European allies fear Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict and recognising - if only informally - Russian control over one fifth of Ukraine. Trump sought to assuage such concerns as he boarded Air Force One, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial swaps. "I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I'm here to get them at a table," he said. Both the U.S. and Russian presidents, due to meet at a Cold War-era air force base in Alaska's largest city, are seeking wins from their first face-to-face talks since Trump returned to the White House. Trump, who casts the war as a "bloodbath" fraught with escalatory risk, is pressing for a truce in the 3-1/2-year-old war that would bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize. For Putin, the summit is already a big win as he can use it to say that years of Western attempts to isolate Russia have unravelled and that Moscow has retaken its rightful place at the top table of international diplomacy. The summit, the first between a U.S. and Russian leader since 2021, was set to start at 11 a.m. Alaska time (1900 GMT). Trump, who once said he would end Russia's war in Ukraine within 24 hours, conceded on Thursday it had proven a tougher nut to crack than he thought. He said that if Friday's talks went well, quickly arranging a second three-way summit with Zelenskiy would be even more important than his encounter with Putin. "It's time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America," Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Friday, adding that the Trump-Putin meeting should open the way for a "just peace" and three-way talks with him included. 'SMART GUY' Of Putin, Trump said on Friday: "He is a smart guy, been doing it for a long time but so have I... We get along, there's a good respect level on both sides." He also welcomed Putin's decision to bring a lot of businesspeople with him to Alaska. "But they're not doing business until we get the war settled," he said, repeating a threat of "economically severe" consequences for Russia if the summit goes badly. One source acquainted with Kremlin thinking said there were signs that Moscow could be ready to strike a compromise on Ukraine given that Putin understood Russia's economic vulnerability and costs of continuing the war. Reuters has previously reported that Putin might be willing to freeze the conflict along the front lines, provided there was a legally binding pledge not to enlarge NATO eastwards and to lift some Western sanctions. Russia, whose war economy is showing signs of strain, is vulnerable to further U.S. sanctions - and Trump has threatened tariffs on buyers of Russian crude, primarily China and India. "For Putin, economic problems are secondary to goals, but he understands our vulnerability and costs," the Russian source said. On the eve of the summit, Putin held out the prospect of something else he knows Trump wants - a new nuclear arms control agreement to replace the last surviving one, which is due to expire in February next year. COMMON GROUND? The source familiar with Kremlin thinking said it looked as if the two sides had been able to find some common ground. "Apparently, some terms will be agreed upon... because Trump cannot be refused, and we are not in a position to refuse (due to sanctions pressure)," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity. Putin has so far voiced stringent conditions for a full ceasefire, but one compromise could be a truce in the air war. Putin has said he is open to a ceasefire but has repeatedly said the issues of verification need to be sorted out first. Zelenskiy has accused Putin of playing for time to avoid U.S. secondary sanctions and has ruled out formally handing Moscow any territory. Beyond territory, Ukraine has been clear in talks with Western allies that it needs a security guarantee backed by Washington. It is unclear how that guarantee could work - and what part the U.S. would play in it. Ukrainians who spoke to Reuters in central Kyiv on Friday were not optimistic about the Alaska summit. "Nothing good will happen there, because war is war, it will not end. The territories - we're not going to give anything to anyone," said Tetiana Harkavenko, a 65-year-old cleaner.
Hindustan Times
8 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
India to ally with Russia, China to end America's economic 'hooliganism': Ramdev
Haridwar, Yoga guru Ramdev on Friday claimed that India will soon join hands with Russia and China to put an end to the "political and economic hooliganism of America". India to ally with Russia, China to end America's economic 'hooliganism': Ramdev After hoisting the national flag at the Patanjali University and Patanjali Yoga Bhavan here to mark the 79th Independence Day, Ramdev claimed a new alliance is being formed in the world between India, Russia and China, besides some other European and central Asian countries. Stating that the new alliance will carry a very good message for the world, he said India has decided to "stand up and not bow down before America". Attacking US President Donald Trump for his "Indian economy is dead" remark, Ramdev said it is not only alive, but also progressing rapidly. "Three-hundred years ago, India's economy was worth 400-500 trillion dollars, which was first looted by the Mughals and then by the British. But India is still standing tall today," he claimed. "We have to make India self-reliant and go for indigenous products," Ramdev said. He also made the Patanjali workers and seers present on the occasion take a pledge to adopt indigenous products in the field of economics, education and medicine to achieve "ideological and intellectual freedom". "India is engaged in creating a new world order to end the political and economic hooliganism of America. If a new alliance is formed between Russia, China, India, some countries from central Asia, some from Europe and Africa, we will show America and Trump their place. There will be no empire of Trump and America in the world," he said. On Pakistan's nuclear threat, he ridiculed the neighbouring country and said even the few nuclear bombs it has are not its own but belong to another nation. "Not only this, the country which has these nuclear bombs has hidden them to pressurise India. But India put an end to this threat by bringing Pakistan to its knees through Operation Sindoor," he said. The general secretary of Patanjali Yogpeeth, Balkrishna, also spoke on the occasion and highlighted the work done by Patanjali in the field of ayurveda, yoga and education. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
New Indian Express
8 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Trump's meeting with Putin could determine the trajectory of the Russia-Ukraine war
ANCHORAGE: U.S. President Donald Trump is meeting face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday for a high-stakes summit that could determine not only the trajectory of the war in Ukraine but also the fate of European security. The sit-down offers Trump a chance to prove to the world that he is both a master dealmaker and a global peacemaker. He and his allies have cast him as a heavyweight negotiator who can find a way to bring the slaughter to a close, something he used to boast he could do quickly. For Putin, a summit with Trump offers a long-sought opportunity to try to negotiate a deal that would cement Russia's gains, block Kyiv's bid to join the NATO military alliance and eventually pull Ukraine back into Moscow's orbit. There are significant risks for Trump. By bringing Putin onto U.S. soil, the president is giving Russia's leader the validation he desires after his ostracization following his invasion of Ukraine 3 1/2 years ago. The exclusion of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from the summit also deals a heavy blow to the West's policy of "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine" and invites the possibility that Trump could agree to a deal that Ukraine does not want. Any success is far from assured, especially as Russia and Ukraine remain far apart in their demands for peace. Putin has long resisted any temporary ceasefire, linking it to a halt in Western arms supplies and a freeze on Ukraine's mobilization efforts, which were conditions rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies. "HIGH STAKES!!!" Trump posted on Truth Social as his motorcade idled outside the White House shortly after sunrise, about an hour before he boarded Air Force One. Trump on Thursday said there was a 25% chance that the summit would fail, but he also floated the idea that if the meeting succeeds he could bring Zelenskyy to Alaska for a subsequent, three-way meeting, a possibility that Russia hasn't agreed to. When asked in Anchorage about Trump's estimate of a 25% chance of failure, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters that Russia "never plans ahead." "We know that we have arguments, a clear, understandable position. We will state it," he said in footage posted to the Russian Foreign Ministry's Telegram channel. Trump said in a Fox News radio interview Thursday that he didn't know if they would get "an immediate ceasefire" but he wanted a broad peace deal done quickly. That seemingly echoes Putin's longtime argument that Russia favors a comprehensive deal to end the fighting, reflecting its demands, not a temporary halt to hostilities. The Kremlin said Trump and Putin will first sit down for a one-on-one discussion, followed by the two delegations meeting and talks continuing over "a working breakfast." They are then expected to hold a joint press conference.
