Kenya's Ruto on Trump's Radar as US Probes China, RSF Links Firstpost Africa
Kenya, one of America's closest allies in Africa, is now under the spotlight in Washington. A powerful group of U.S. lawmakers is pushing for a 90-day review of Kenya's status—amid growing concerns over its ties with U.S. rivals like China, Russia, and Iran. The review will also probe Kenya's alleged links to Sudan's Rapid Support Forces, the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group, and potential abuse of U.S. intelligence for civilian abductions. As President William Ruto deepens ties with non-Western powers, Kenya's decades-long strategic partnership with the U.S. faces serious uncertainty under President Donald Trump's tougher foreign policy outlook.
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Indian Express
29 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Ahead of Putin meeting, Trump says India tariffs helped push Russia to talks
Ahead of his high-stakes summit with Vladimir Putin Friday, US president Donald Trump suggested that his tariffs on India 'essentially took them out of buying oil from Russia,' and may have played a role in bringing Moscow to the negotiating table. Trump said he believes Putin 'wants to get it done,' ahead of their summit in Alaska tomorrow. 'I believe now he's convinced that he's going to make a deal. He's going to make a deal. I think he's going to. And we're going to find out — I'm going to know very quickly,' Trump said on Fox Radio's 'The Brian Kilmeade Show' Thursday. Asked if his sanctions threats influenced Putin's decision to meet, Trump said: 'Everything has an impact,' adding that secondary tariffs against India 'essentially took them out of buying oil from Russia.' 'Certainly, when you lose your second largest customer and you're probably going to lose your first largest customer, I think that probably has a role,' he said, according to The Guardian. Trump refused to confirm if he was ready to offer 'economic incentives' to stop the war in Ukraine, saying he wouldn't 'want to play my hand in public.' He emphasised Russia's 'tremendous potential' in 'oil and gas, a very profitable business,' but stressed his priority was progress with Putin. The US President said he would call Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 'to get him over to wherever we are going to meet' if the talks went well, noting: 'We have an idea of three different locations… including the possibility, because it would be by far the easiest, of staying in Alaska.' 'If it's a bad meeting, I'm not calling anybody. I'm going home. But if it's a good meeting, I'm going to call President Zelenskyy and the European leaders,' Trump said. On whether a joint press conference was planned with Putin, Trump said: 'I'm going to have a press conference. I don't know if it's going to be a joint… I think it might be nice to have a joint, and then separates.' He added he would speak to the press even if the talks collapsed. Trump also spoke about the odds of failure of talks: 'There is a 25 per cent chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting, in which case I will [return to] run the country and we have made America great again already in six months.' He suggested new sanctions on Russia could follow if that happened. At the end of the interview, Trump said of tomorrow's summit: 'We'll do the best we can, and I think we'll have a good result in the end.'
NDTV
29 minutes ago
- NDTV
Trump Says Putin Summit Could Fail, Talks Of "Divvying Things Up"
US President Donald Trump on Thursday acknowledged his high-stakes summit with Vladimir Putin may fail, and said any Ukraine deal would come through a future three-way meeting with Kyiv to "divvy things up." Russian President Vladimir Putin flies to Alaska on Friday at the invitation of Trump in his first visit to a Western country since he ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has killed tens of thousands of people. The Kremlin said that the two presidents planned to meet one-on-one, heightening fears by European leaders that Putin will cajole Trump into a settlement imposed on Ukraine. Trump, on the eve of the summit, insisted that he would not finalize any deal with Putin and that he would include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in any decisions. "This meeting sets up the second meeting, but there is a 25 percent chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting," Trump told Fox News Radio. "The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that's going to be a meeting where they make a deal. And I don't want to use the word 'divvy' things up. But you know, to a certain extent, it's not a bad term," Trump said. Zelensky has refused any territorial concessions to Russia, which has ramped up attacks and made sharp gains on the battlefield just ahead of the summit. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any future deal needed to ensure Ukraine's security. "To achieve peace, I think we all recognize that there'll have to be some conversation about security guarantees," Rubio told reporters in Washington, saying he was "hopeful" about the summit. Trump has previously ruled out letting Ukraine join NATO and backed Russia's stance that Kyiv's aspirations to enter the transatlantic alliance triggered the war. Ukraine and most of its European allies reject Putin's narrative and point to his remarks denying the historical legitimacy of Ukraine. Shifting Trump Tone Trump had boasted that he could end the war within 24 hours of returning to the White House in January. But his calls to Putin -- and intense pressure on Zelensky to accept concessions -- have failed to move the Russian leader and Trump has warned of "very severe consequences" if Putin keeps snubbing his overtures. Putin on Thursday welcomed US efforts to end the conflict and said that talks could also help yield an agreement on nuclear arms control. "The US administration... is making quite energetic and sincere efforts to end the fighting," Putin told a meeting of top officials in Moscow. The talks are set to begin at 11:30 am (1930 GMT) Friday at the Elmendorf Air Force Base, a major US military installation in Alaska that has been crucial in monitoring Russia. "This conversation will take place in a one-on-one format, naturally with the participation of interpreters," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow. He said that delegations would continue discussions over a working lunch and that Putin and Trump would hold a joint news conference. The White House has not confirmed any plans for a joint press appearance. Trump faced heated criticism over his joint news conference after his 2018 summit with Putin in Helsinki where he sided with Russia over US intelligence in accepting Putin's denials of interfering in the 2016 US election to help Trump. European Support For Zelensky Zelensky, who will not join Friday's summit in Alaska, met Thursday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, after talks a day earlier in Berlin. Starmer greeted the Ukrainian leader with a warm hug and handshake on the steps of his Downing Street residence and later voiced solidarity. European leaders expressed relief after a call with Trump on Wednesday, saying he appeared focused on a ceasefire rather than concessions by Ukraine. A day before the summit, Ukraine fired dozens of drones at Russia, wounding several people and sparking fires at an oil refinery in the southern city of Volgograd. Russia meanwhile said its troops had captured two new settlements in eastern Ukraine, where it has been advancing for months. Diplomacy since Russia's invasion has largely failed to secure agreements beyond swaps of prisoners. Russia said Thursday it had returned 84 prisoners to Ukraine in exchange for an equal number of Russian POWs in the latest exchange.
Hindustan Times
29 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
'No pause' on Russian oil purchase amid Trump tariffs, says Indian Oil Corporation chairman
AS Sahney, chairman of Indian Oil Corporation, said that India has not paused its oil purchases from Russia following US President Donald Trump's move to double the country's tariff, noting that New Delhi's buying decisions are solely based on economic considerations. Before February 2022, Russian crude oil accounted for less than 1 per cent of India's oil imports.(File Image) Refiners like IOC, which is India's largest oil firm, buy crude oil from Russia purely on economic consideration and have not been asked to cut or boost purchase in response to US tariffs, Sahney was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. The country's purchase volumes may reportedly fluctuate monthly on the basis of discounts offered on Russian crude grades like Urals. Previously, the discounts were as high as US$40 per barrel. However, last month, they narrowed down to just US$1.5, leading to reduced withdrawal. The dip then led the discounts to be widened to about US$2.70. India became the largest purchaser of Russian oil from 2022, after Western countries avoided Russian oil and imposed sanctions on Moscow for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The US President has given heat to India over its trade with Russia, saying that New Delhi is "fueling the war machine". Last week, he imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods in addition to the previously imposed 25 per cent, taking the total levies to 50 per cent. The US has repeatedly threatened to impose more tariffs if the purchases continue. However, the IOC chairman said, "There is no pause," in India's purchase of oil from Russia. It has continued to flow to Indian refiners in July and August. "We continue to buy, purely based on economic considerations, that is to say, if the pricing and characteristics of the crude make sense in our scheme of processing, we buy," Sahney told reporters. "No special effort is being made to either increase or decrease (the import volumes). We are buying crude as per economic considerations," he added. Before February 2022, Russian crude oil accounted for less than 1 per cent of India's oil imports. However, after Russia invaded Ukraine and the West shunned Russian energy, Moscow's crude became available at discounted rates in comparison to global benchmarks. India seized the opportunity and boosted its purchases, significantly increasing its Russian oil imports for domestic energy needs. Sahney further noted that at no time was there any sanction on Russian crude oil, saying that India, thus, continued to purchase based on its economic considerations. "There are no sanctions on Russian crude. India has not done anything that violates any sanctions," he added. "Such purchases will continue unless sanctions are imposed," Sahney said. He also mentioned that oil companies have not received any instructions from the government to either increase or decrease purchases. "We are doing business as usual," he added. The IOC Chairman also commented on whether refiners have been asked to increase purchases from US as an attempt to pacify Trump. "Neither are we being told to buy more nor are we told to buy less from US or any other destination. Economic considerations dictate our actions," Sahney said. Additionally, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) director (finance) Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta said that imports took a hit last month after discounts on Russian oil dipped to US$1.5 per barrel. He said Russian oil made up 34 per cent of BPCL's crude intake in the first quarter, and added that the company hopes to return to 30 to 35 per cent ratio as long as there are no sanctions. (with PTI inputs)
