‘This is his Munich moment': Albanese criticized for his betrayal of Israel
'He has absolutely no mandate for this,' Mr Costa said.
'This is his Munich moment.
'This is a joke, these people have not only betrayed Israel, they have betrayed Western values.'
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7NEWS
2 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Vladimir Putin praises Donald Trump's ‘energetic and sincere' peace efforts ahead of Alaska summit
Russia's Vladimir Putin sounded positive Thursday on the eve of his talks with US President Donald Trump in Alaska, saying he believed the American leader was making 'quite energetic and sincere efforts' toward peace in Ukraine. A day ahead of their summit, Putin convened a meeting of advisers 'to inform you about how the negotiation process on the Ukrainian crisis is going,' the Kremlin said in a readout translated by NBC News. The Russian leader said the Trump administration 'is making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the fighting, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.' Those efforts are intended 'to create long-term conditions of peace between our countries and in Europe, and in the world as a whole,' he added, particularly if the negotiations extended to cover strategic offensive weapons treaties. This suggests that a deal on nuclear arms control could be part of the talks. Russia suspended its participation in the New START 'reduction in strategic offensive arms' agreement in 2023. Earlier Thursday, Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the summit would start with head-to-head talks between Trump, Putin and their translators at 11.30am local time (5.30am Saturday AEST) and would be followed by a joint news conference. The White House later confirmed this. Trump 'wants to exhaust all options to try to bring this war to a peaceful resolution,' Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News. The top-level Russian delegation will include Putin, Ushakov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Putin's longtime friend and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev, Ushakov said on a call with journalists in Moscow. The primary topic of the meeting will be Ukraine, he said, but he added that he expected the 'huge, and unfortunately hitherto untapped, potential' of economic ties between the US and Russia would also be discussed. As well as Putin's openly stated goal of subjugating Ukraine, he also wants to end Russia's exile from the Western financial system following economic sanctions imposed by Washington, the European Union and others. Trump has not yet lifted these punishments but has expressed a desire to end Russia's economic pariah status. The Trump-Putin summit has prompted howls of dismay and anxiety across Ukraine and Europe, which have not been invited to the talks and fear what the American president may agree to with his Russian counterpart about the conflict raging on their continent. They have been confined to their own diplomatic scrambling, including dozens of calls between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other leaders, culminating in a video call between these parties and Trump himself Wednesday. Zelenskyy said that Putin 'is bluffing' in saying he wants peace. On Thursday, the Ukrainian leader flew to London and met his British counterpart, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, for what both called a 'productive meeting.' As well as the prospect of Britain financing the small drones that have become central to Ukraine's battlefield defense, the pair discussed the Alaska talks, 'which present a viable chance to make progress as long as Putin takes action to prove he is serious about peace,' a spokesperson from Starmer's office, No.10 Downing St, said in a statement. After Wednesday's call with Zelenskyy, Starmer and others, Trump said he had assured them that there would be 'very severe consequences' — without elaborating what those might be — if Putin did not agree to end the war during their sit-down discussion. Two European officials and three other people briefed on the call told NBC News that he told them he would not discuss possible divisions of territory with the man flying in from the Kremlin.
Sky News AU
5 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer ahead of Trump-Putin ceasefire talks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in 10 Downing Street for talks over Russia's ongoing invasion. Their meeting comes amid trepidation from European leaders over ceasefire talks due to be held in Alaska between United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. President Zelenskyy and Mr Starmer were expected to discuss the potential outcomes of those talks, with both men having previously warned no ceasefire could be agreed without input from Ukraine. The pair were also expected to address ongoing military support from the United Kingdom, although neither offered comment to media when asked to detail their discussions. Ukraine is nervously waiting to see how the meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin develops, with a number of European leaders concerned the US leader might be swayed by his Russian counterpart. President Trump has, in past, repeated Kremlin talking points about the war and repeatedly accused President Zelenskyy of being responsible for Russia's invasion. As a result, some observers are worried he may agree to demands from President Putin which could place Ukraine in an impossible position, or considerably weaken the country in long-term. Most analysts have also cast doubt on President Putin's claims he is open to negotiating peace despite the ceasefire talks, as Russia has shown little signs it is preparing to halt its invasion. State media reported it had successfully destroyed a Ukrainian arms factory on Thursday, with the Russian Defence Ministry claiming the attack had also destroyed several Western-supplied missile defence systems. 'An attempt by the Kyiv regime, together with its Western partners, to organise the production of missiles to carry out attacks deep into the territory of the Russian Federation was thwarted,' it said in a statement on Telegram.
Courier-Mail
5 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
UK PM hosts Zelensky in London on eve of US-Russia summit
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Thursday in London with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a strong show of support on the eve of a key US-Russia summit from which Kyiv and its European allies have been excluded. Starmer greeted the Ukrainian leader with a warm hug and handshake on the steps of his Downing Street residence, only hours after Zelensky took part in a virtual call with US President Donald Trump. Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet Friday at an air base in Alaska, the first time the Russian leader has been permitted on Western soil since his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine which has killed tens of thousands of people. A stepped-up Russian offensive, and the fact Zelensky has not been invited to the Anchorage meeting Friday, have heightened fears that Trump and Putin could strike a deal that forces painful concessions on Ukraine. But Starmer said Wednesday there was now a "viable" chance for a ceasefire in Ukraine after more than three years of fighting. Near the front line Thursday, Ukraine fired dozens of drones at Russia overnight into the early morning, wounding three people and sparking fires including at an oil refinery in the southern city of Volgograd. Kyiv calls the strikes fair retaliation for Moscow's daily missile and drone barrages on its own civilians. With such high stakes, all sides were pushing hard in the hours before Friday's meeting. - Three-way meeting? - Zelensky, who has refused to surrender territory to Russia, joined the call from Berlin with Trump, as did European leaders who voiced confidence afterward that the US leader would seek a ceasefire rather than concessions by Kyiv. Trump has sent mixed messages, saying he could quickly organise a three-way summit afterward with both Zelensky and Putin, but also warning of his impatience with Putin. "There may be no second meeting because, if I feel that it's not appropriate to have it because I didn't get the answers that we have to have, then we are not going to have a second meeting," Trump told reporters on Wednesday. But Trump added: "If the first one goes okay, we'll have a quick second one," involving both Putin and Zelensky. Zelensky, after being berated by Trump at a February meeting in the White House, has publicly supported US diplomacy but has made clear his deep scepticism. "I have told my colleagues -- the US president and our European friends -- that Putin definitely does not want peace," Zelensky said. As the war rages on in eastern Ukraine, Zelensky was in Berlin Wednesday joining Chancellor Friedrich Merz on an online call with other European leaders, and the NATO and EU chiefs, to show a united stance against Russia. Starmer on Wednesday said Ukraine's military backers, the so-called Coalition of the Willing, had drawn up workable military plans in case of a ceasefire but were also ready to add pressure on Russia through sanctions. "For three and a bit years this conflict has been going, we haven't got anywhere near... a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire," Starmer told Wednesday's meeting of European leaders. "Now we do have that chance, because of the work that the (US) president has put in," he said. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte declared: "The ball is now in Putin's court." bur-jkb/jwp/giv Originally published as UK PM hosts Zelensky in London on eve of US-Russia summit
