Russia launches largest aerial attack on Ukraine's capital as pessimism grows over a Trump ceasefire
'Vladimir Putin stated that Russia continues to seek a political resolution to the conflict through negotiations,' Kremlin's foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said in a briefing Thursday.
But the Kremlin has so far not offered concessions on its central demands that Ukraine should cede territory and give up on joining NATO.
While Kyiv or the White House did not say what the call would involve, Zelenskyy is widely expected to renew his calls for more military aid and U.S. sanctions against Russia. Ukraine is still reeling from Trump's decision this week to halt some U.S. military equipment deliveries, which include the vital air defense systems.
'Without truly large-scale pressure, Russia will not change its dumb, destructive behavior,' Zelenskyy said, stressing that it 'primarily' depends on the U.S. to 'change the situation for the better.'
Michael Bociurkiw, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, said Trump's inaction, and his outright blaming of Ukraine at times, is likely seen by Putin as an invitation to press forward on the battlefield.
'Putin sees this as almost an invitation to bomb, bomb the heck out of Ukrainian cities and to grab more territory,' said Bociurkiw said in a telephone interview from the southwestern Ukrainian city of Odessa.
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The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Not our finest hour: When Britain's allies put their lives on the line, we abandoned them – and hushed it all up
Perfidious Albion, in modern terms, means when it comes to international affairs, Britain is seen as treacherous and unreliable - and has turned mendacity into an art. Students of imperial history will recall the hundreds of treaties signed with local chiefs, kings and leaders that were waved aside in the interests of the empire. The French call their deep distrust of the Les Ango-Saxons the 'Fashoda Syndrome' – named after a sordid episode of British duplicity which delivered an obscure bit of southern Sudan to the UK in the 19th century - and triggered the enduring distrust of our closest neighbour up to this day. Now we have the Kabul Cockup. It will inevitably serve to undermine Britain's woeful and feeble international reputation – and drive some of those who have been betrayed into the arms of our enemies. The disastrous accidental release of 100,000 names and numbers of Afghans seeking safety in the UK, a noble but feeble effort to save some of them, and the desperate cover up using the courts to ensure that the British public knew nothing of the whole farrago, can only be reported today, two years after it was uncovered. The official reason for a superinjunction to hide the mess was to protect Afghans who wanted to get out of Afghanistan, before the Taliban found and killed them. But their numbers, emails, and names were already in the public domain after the leak. The Taliban are not illiterate morons. They beat the Soviets, they beat Nato and the US at war. They would have got hold of the list within moments of a clumsy British Ministry of Defence official hitting the 'send' button on an email containing all those sensitive details to sources in, or near, Afghanistan. Rather than take the lead and act on principle to protect human lives, the British government did what it always does and went into overdrive to protect its own embarrassment and to avoid making the case for, not against, immigration to this country. Ministers could have stood up and admitted to the leak. They could, and should, have defended the right and need for people who had literally risked their lives to settle into the UK because they believed this is a country of decency as a first principle. But because British politicians of the two mainstream parties live in fear of Reform, they had already embarked on betraying the soldiers who had given most to the UK in its hopeless war in Afghanistan. As The Independent has previously reported, Afghan Special Forces teams from task forces 333 and 444 - paid and trained by the UK, who fought alongside the SBS and the SAS for years - were ditched when the Taliban took over Kabul in mid 2021. Very senior British officers, who knew the capabilities and the loyalty of these men, formally suggested they could be brought to the UK and used as Tier Two special forces operators in the British army. They were sneered away. Some of those Afghan special forces operators, intelligence sources have told The Independent, are now living in Iran. Imagine their skills put to work for a regime that is planning revenge for the Israeli and US attacks on it recently. Some have been relocated to the UK after a campaign by this newspaper. But many others were abandoned. So, when the massive leak of names was reported to the British government, it did set about trying to help some of the potential victims. But it kept most in the dark to hide a British snafu, not to save the lives of loyal servants to the Crown who did not know that the Taliban probably knew who they were. The Independent's Holly Bancroft uncovered the story in the autumn of 2023, but was unable to report it because of the ongoing evacuation operation. 'In total, 23,900 Afghans linked to the breach have been offered relocation to the UK, with more than 16,000 already in the UK. The MoD says 6,900 of those are people who would not have otherwise been brought to Britain,' she wrote, now that the superinjunction has been lifted. Why not? Why were these 6,900 Afghans - originally deemed ineligible - suddenly given access to the UK? Could it be because politicians had been reluctant to make the case, moral or economic, for immigration? It's feeble enough that this government, like the last, continues to campaign against immigration while businesses, led by the Confederation of British Industry, are crying out for skilled and unskilled labour to fuel growth. It's just as feeble that no matter that although the economic case for rejoining the European common market is overwhelming, no senior politician in government is making the case. So, if there is no effort to show leadership in areas of clear national self-interest, one should not be surprised that ministers hide in the mob which clings to irrational beliefs fomented by disinformation and extremist populism. They'd rather just abandon battlefield allies, hide the fact they've been accidentally endangered, and gag anyone talking about it. The first instinct is perfidy and obfuscation, not leadership. 'Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose,' as they'd say next door.
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine awaiting details on ‘billions of dollars' worth of weapons promised by Trump
Ukraine is waiting for further details of the 'billions of dollars' worth of US military equipment promised by Donald Trump on Monday, amid confusion as to how many Patriot air defence systems will be sent to Kyiv. At a meeting at the White House with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, on Monday, Trump said an unnamed country was ready to immediately provide '17 Patriots' as he said a 'very big deal' had been agreed for European allies to buy weapons from the United States and then ship them to Ukraine. Ukraine is currently believed to have only six functioning Patriot air defence batteries, which can intercept fast-moving Russian cruise and ballistic missiles. Maj Gen Vadym Skibitskyi, the deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency, the HUR, said it was unclear what the US president meant. 'We don't know exactly,' he said, adding that Ukraine was grateful for the assistance and had reacted 'positively' to the White House's announcement. The general also confirmed that Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskyy, had discussed the possibility of the US providing long-range Tomahawk missiles in a call earlier in July but no agreement had been reached. Skibitskyi said Trump in his comments on Patriots could have been referring to interceptor missiles, launching stations or entire batteries comprising multiple launchers and radar and control systems, which cost more than a billion dollars each. 'Seventeen is a huge number if we are talking about batteries. If it's launchers, that's possible,' he added. Each Patriot system comes with six launchers. Germany has agreed to provide two Patriot systems, with the Netherlands donating a third, Skibitskyi said. 'That would be 18 launchers for three batteries, which is close to 17. The US administration and the Pentagon will give us further details,' he added. The possibility of the US providing long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, as discussed by Trump and Zelenskyy this month, is likely to enrage Vladimir Putin. The precision cruise missiles are capable of striking Moscow and have a range of 1,600km. Previous Ukrainian requests were rejected by the Biden administration. During a call on 4 July, Trump asked Zelenskyy if he could hit the Russian capital and St Petersburg. According to Skibitskyi, Zelenskyy replied: 'Yes, absolutely. We can if you give us the weapons'. The Trump administration has so far not agreed to send Tomahawks. If it did provide the weapons, Ukraine would struggle to deploy them, Skibitskyi said. 'They are not easy to use. The main launchers are combat ships or strategic bombers. We don't have any strategic bomber aircraft,' he recognised. But he said it was crucial Ukraine had the ability to conduct 'kinetic' strikes deep inside Russia against high-value military targets. Discussions were ongoing with Washington over lifting restrictions imposed by the last administration on the use of Atacams, US provided missiles with a 300km range – about 190 miles. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the Trump administration was likely to allow Atacams to be used inside Russia at their full range, and was considering sending additional missiles. Currently, they can only be fired into Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, and not used on Russian territory. Skibitskyi said the Kremlin had already moved its strategic military bases more than 500km from its border with Ukraine. Kyiv was only able to hit them using unmanned kamikaze drones which can carry 5okg of explosives. Atacams, by contrast, have a 500kg payload and can cause greater destruction. 'It's very important for us to get approval from the US to use long-range missiles,' he said. 'We want to destroy and to disrupt, in accordance with Nato procedure.' Zelenskyy said he had a 'really good conversation' with Trump following Monday's announcement of a big weapons package. He said he discussed with the US president how to achieve 'a lasting and just peace' and to stop Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities, which have been hit in recent weeks by hundreds of drones and missiles. Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands on Tuesday said they wanted to participate in Trump's plan for Europe to buy US weapons for Ukraine. Politicians in Kyiv have broadly welcomed the improvement in relations with the US, following Zelenskyy's disastrous White House meeting with Trump in February. But there was also frustration that US tariffs and secondary sanctions on Russia have been postponed again, with Trump setting a deadline of 50 days. In an interview with the BBC, Trump said he was 'disappointed, but not done' with Putin. Russian officials have dismissed Trump's threat as 'hot air', pointing out he has changed his mind several times on sanctions and other issues. 'Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences … Russia didn't care,' the former president Dmitry Medvedev wrote on X. Trump's envoy to Ukraine, Gen Keith Kellogg, is in Kyiv on a week-long visit. On Monday he met Zelenskyy and commander in chief Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, as well as Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine's military intelligence chief and Skibitskyi. Kellogg was briefed on Russian plans for a summer offensive and on the latest from the frontline in the east, where Russian troops are advancing. Skibitskyi said the US president had 'more experienced' people around him than in his first presidential term and did not behave like a 'classical' politician. 'He's more of a businessman. It isn't easy to understand Mr Trump,' Skibitskyi added.
Reuters
23 minutes ago
- Reuters
US launches new bid to keep migrants detained by denying hearings, memo shows
WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) - The Trump administration is launching a new effort to keep immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally detained by denying them bond hearings, an internal memo showed, a change that could further swell the numbers of those held. The guidance by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a portion of which Reuters reviewed, could be applied to millions of people who crossed the border illegally and are contesting their deportation. President Donald Trump has vowed mass deportations, which he says are needed after high levels of illegal immigration under his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden. Congress passed a spending law this month that provides funding to detain at least 100,000 people, a steep increase over the record 58,000 in custody by late June. The Washington Post first reported, opens new tab the new ICE policy limiting bond hearing eligibility, citing a July 8 memo by its acting director, Todd Lyons. The guidance shared with Reuters called for ICE to interpret several immigration law provisions as "prohibitions on release" after an arrest, adding the shift in policy was "likely to be litigated." It encouraged ICE prosecutors "to make alternative arguments in support of continued detention" during immigration court hearings. The new policy appeared to reverse legal standards governing detention for decades, said Tom Jawetz, a former homeland security official in the Biden administration, calling it "a radical departure that could explode the detention population." The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
