Russia's Medvedev says Trump's 'ultimatum' could lead to war
Medvedev wrote: "Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with (Trump's) own country."
Trump said on Monday that he was disappointed in Russian President Vladimir Putin's failure to end the war in Ukraine, and that he was reducing a deadline to agree a peace settlement from 50 days to 10 or 12.
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Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
Ukraine says it uncovers major drone procurement corruption scheme
KYIV, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies said on Saturday they had uncovered a major graft scheme that procured military drones and signal jamming systems at inflated prices, two days after the agencies' independence was restored following major protests. The independence of Ukraine's anti-graft investigators and prosecutors, NABU and SAPO, was reinstated by parliament on Thursday after a move to take it away resulted in the country's biggest demonstrations since Russia's invasion in 2022. In a statement published by both agencies on social media, NABU and SAPO said they had caught a sitting lawmaker, two local officials and an unspecified number of national guard personnel taking bribes. None of them were identified in the statement. "The essence of the scheme was to conclude state contracts with supplier companies at deliberately inflated prices," it said, adding that the offenders had received kickbacks of up to 30% of a contract's cost. Four people had been arrested. "There can only be zero tolerance for corruption, clear teamwork to expose corruption and, as a result, a just sentence," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram. Zelenskiy, who has far-reaching wartime presidential powers and still enjoys broad approval among Ukrainians, was forced into a rare political about-face when his attempt to bring NABU and SAPO under the control of his prosecutor-general sparked the first nationwide protests of the war. Zelenskiy subsequently said that he had heard the people's anger, and submitted a bill restoring the agencies' former independence, which was voted through by parliament on Thursday. Ukraine's European allies praised the move, having voiced concerns about the original stripping of the agencies' status. Top European officials had told Zelenskiy that Ukraine was jeopardising its bid for European Union membership by curbing the powers of its anti-graft authorities. "It is important that anti-corruption institutions operate independently, and the law adopted on Thursday guarantees them every opportunity for a real fight against corruption," Zelenskiy wrote on Saturday after meeting the heads of the agencies, who briefed him on the latest investigation.
Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
India to maintain Russian oil imports despite Trump threats, government sources say
NEW DELHI, Aug 2 (Reuters) - India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of penalties, two Indian government sources told Reuters on Saturday, not wishing to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. On top of a new 25% tariff on India's exports to the U.S., Trump indicated in a Truth Social post last month that India would face additional penalties for purchases of Russian arms and oil. On Friday, Trump told reporters he had heard that India would no longer be buying oil from Russia. But the sources said there would be no immediate changes. "These are long-term oil contracts," one of the sources said. "It is not so simple to just stop buying overnight." Justifying India's oil purchases from Russia, a second source said India's imports of Russian grades had helped avoid a global surge in oil prices, which have remained subdued despite Western curbs on the Russian oil sector. Unlike Iranian and Venezuelan oil, Russian crude is not subject to direct sanctions, and India is buying it below the current price cap fixed by the European Union, the source said. The New York Times also quoted two unnamed senior Indian officials on Saturday as saying there had been no change in Indian government policy. Indian government authorities did not respond to Reuters' request for official comment on its oil purchasing intentions. However, during a regular press briefing on Friday, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India has a "steady and time-tested partnership" with Russia. "On our energy sourcing requirements ... we look at what is there available in the markets, what is there on offer, and also what is the prevailing global situation or circumstances," he said. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump, who has made ending Russia's war in Ukraine a priority of his administration since returning to office this year, has expressed growing impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks. He has threatened 100% tariffs on U.S. imports from countries that buy Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a major peace deal with Ukraine. Russia is the leading supplier to India, the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, accounting for about 35% of its overall supplies. India imported about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil from January to June this year, up 1% from a year ago, according to data provided to Reuters by sources. But while the Indian government may not be deterred by Trump's threats, sources told Reuters this week that Indian state refiners stopped buying Russian oil after July discounts narrowed to their lowest since 2022 - when sanctions were first imposed on Moscow - due to lower Russian exports and steady demand. Indian Oil Corp ( opens new tab, Hindustan Petroleum Corp ( opens new tab, Bharat Petroleum Corp ( opens new tab and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd ( opens new tab have not sought Russian crude in the past week or so, four sources told Reuters. Nayara Energy - a refinery majority-owned by Russian entities, including oil major Rosneft ( opens new tab, and major buyer of Russian oil - was recently sanctioned by the EU. Nayara's chief executive resigned following the sanctions, and three vessels laden with oil products from Nayara Energy have yet to discharge their cargoes, hindered by the new EU sanctions, Reuters reported last week.
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Israel closes 88% of cases of alleged war crimes or abuse without charges
Nearly nine out of 10 Israeli military investigations into allegations of war crimes or abuses by its soldiers since the start of the war in Gaza have been closed without finding fault or left without resolution, according to a conflict monitor. Unresolved investigations include the killing of at least 112 Palestinians queueing for flour in Gaza City in February 2024, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) said, and an airstrike that killed 45 in an inferno at a tented camp in Rafah in May 2024. Also unresolved is an inquiry into the killing of 31 Palestinians going to pick up food at a distribution point in Rafah on 1 June. They were killed after Israeli forces opened fire, witnesses said. Shortly after, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the reports were 'false' but the IDF told the Guardian that the incident was 'still under review'. Iain Overton and Lucas Tsantzouris, the team at AOAV, said the statistics suggested Israel was seeking to create a 'pattern of impunity' by failing to conclude or find no fault in the vast majority of cases involving 'the most severe or public accusations of wrongdoing by their forces'. The IDF said it 'conducts examination and investigation processes regarding exceptional incidents that occurred during operational activity, in which there is a suspicion of a violation of the law' in accordance with its obligations under Israeli and international law. It operates internal systems to conduct examinations and allegations of war crimes, including criminal investigations by the military advocate general's police department and fact-finding assessments (FFA) by a separate team in the general staff. The relatively short passage of time, in investigatory and legal terms, means other unresolved cases may also result in prosecutions, though the two researchers said IDF inquiries had become 'more opaque and slow-moving' as the number of civilian casualties in Gaza has mounted. AOAV said it had found reports of 52 cases in English-language media where the Israeli military said it had conducted or would conduct an investigation after allegations of civilian harm or wrongdoing by its forces in Gaza or the West Bank between October 2023 and the end of June 2025. They involve the deaths of 1,303 Palestinians and the wounding of 1,880. One case resulted in a prison sentence for an Israeli soldier. An IDF reservist received a seven-month jail term in February after he was convicted by a military court of the aggravated abuse of Palestinian security detainees. He had repeatedly attacked bound and blindfolded prisoners with his fists, a baton and his assault rifle at the Sde Teiman detention centre. Five other cases ended with violations found. In one, an IDF colonel and a major were sacked in April 2024 and three other commanders reprimanded a few days after seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen were killed in an airstrike. The IDF said it was a 'grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification', though the charity said the rapid investigation lacked credibility. The remaining 46 cases, representing 88% of the total, seven were closed without any finding of fault, AOAV said. A further 39 remain under review or with no outcome reported, including four deadly incidents over the course of last month when Palestinians were killed near or at various food distribution points on the Gaza Strip. According to the IDF: 'Any report … complaint or allegation that suggests misconduct by IDF forces undergoes an initial examination process, irrespective of its source.' In some instances the evidence is such that a criminal investigation by military police is ordered, while in others an initial investigation takes place. These are referred to the IDF general staff's FFA mechanism to determine 'whether there is a reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct'. Critics of the system, such as the Yesh Din human rights group, say FFA investigations can take years and have led to one known prosecution after 664 inquiries relating to previous IDF military operations in Gaza, in 2014, 2018-19 and 2021. In August 2024, the IDF said the FFA had collected information on 'hundreds of incidents' relating to the war in Gaza alone, while the military advocate general's office had launched 74 criminal investigations. Of these, 52 related to the deaths and mistreatment of detainees and 13 to the stealing of enemy ammunition, while a minority related to allegations of war crimes in combat situations. Three related to the 'destruction of civilian property without military necessity' and six concerning 'alleged illegal use of force'. The IDF statistics differ from the investigations tracked by AOAV because the research group used a different methodology. AOAV reviewed episodes where there were reports of an investigation being or having been conducted and also took in incidents on the West Bank as well as Gaza. The IDF said that 'dozens of military police investigations have been opened' and that 'most of these investigations are still ongoing'. The FFA mechanism, meanwhile, had 'completed its review in dozens of cases' and these had transferred to the military advocate general for possible criminal investigation.
