Kremlin says Ukraine has yet to answer Russian proposal for June 2 talks
The Kremlin said on Thursday it was still awaiting a response from Ukraine on Russia's proposal to hold the next round of peace talks in Istanbul on June 2 to begin discussions on draft memorandums for a peace accord.
Previous talks on May 16 failed to reach an agreement on a ceasefire - which Moscow has said is impossible to achieve before certain conditions are met.
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Al Arabiya
43 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Trump ‘tough love' on defense better than no love: EU's Kallas
The European Union's diplomatic chief Kaja Kallas said Saturday the continent was beefing up defense spending after 'tough love' from the Trump administration, as she called for stronger ties to counter China's 'economic might.' Speaking at the Shangri-La defense forum in Singapore, Kallas was responding to comments by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who called President Donald Trump's insistence on more military spending 'tough love.' 'It's love nonetheless, so it's better than no love,' Kallas quipped when asked later about Hegseth's speech. Brussels' relationship with Washington was not broken, Kallas stressed, saying she spoke to Hegseth on Friday. 'You heard his speech. He was actually quite positive about Europe, so there's definitely some love there,' she said. Trump has consistently pressed NATO countries to increase defense spending, asking for as much as five percent of GDP and saying Washington will no longer tolerate freeloaders. Kallas said 'there are different countries in Europe and some of us have realized a long time ago that we need to invest in defense.' 'The European Union has shifted gear and reimagined our own paradigm as a peace project backed up with hard defense,' she said. 'It is a good thing we are doing more, but what I want to stress is that the security of Europe and the security of the Pacific is very much interlinked,' she added. Kallas pointed to Ukraine, where North Korean soldiers were already operating and China was providing military hardware to Russia. 'There were some very strong messages in the US secretary of defense speech regarding China,' Kallas said. 'I think again, if you are worried about China, you should be worried about Russia,' she said. Kallas said the EU wanted to build 'partnerships in our mutual interest' in the Indo-Pacific region, including in the field of defense and economy. But the EU was also bringing economic power to the table, she said. Kallas disagreed with suggestions that Washington should focus on the Indo-Pacific region and Europe concentrate on its own patch. 'I really think if you look at the economic might of China, I think... the big countries or the superpowers sometimes overestimate their own strength,' she said. China's economic dominance could only be tackled together with 'like-minded partners like the United States, like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea... and Singapore,' said Kallas. Speaking earlier, Hegseth told delegates 'we're pushing our allies in Europe to own more of their own security to invest in their defense.' 'Thanks to President Trump they are stepping up,' he said.
Asharq Al-Awsat
2 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Alcaraz Survives after Sabalenka, Zheng Shine at Scorching French Open
Carlos Alcaraz made heavy weather of his French Open clash with Damir Dzumhur but moved into the fourth round while world number one Aryna Sabalenka and Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen blazed a trail on a hot Friday at Roland Garros. Defending champion Iga Swiatek continued her bid for a fifth Roland Garros title when the fifth seed stayed calm on a searing afternoon on Court Philippe Chatrier to beat Jaqueline Cristian while Holger Rune edged a brutal five-setter with Quentin Halys. Alcaraz was expected to sizzle in the cool of the evening but the second seed found himself in hot water after his level dipped against Dzumhur before recovering to seal a 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-4 win and book a clash with Ben Shelton. "It was under control during the first two sets, and then I don't know what happened," Reuters quoted Alcaraz as saying. "I think he started to play, but I let him get into the match, get into a good rhythm. I let him get into his game and I didn't know what to do. "I was a break down in the fourth, and I just tried to calm myself a little bit, think much clearer, and try to do the good things again. Just happy to take the chances he gave me in the fourth set and play great tennis at the end." Sabalenka avoided the worst of the heat in the morning but had to stave off the plucky Olga Danilovic to win 6-2 6-3 and continue her bid for a maiden Roland Garros title after major triumphs at the Australian and US Opens. The three-time Grand Slam champion looked in ruthless form while racing ahead 5-0 but Danilovic avoided the bagel by taking the sixth game on serve and pulled a break back. The resurgence did not last long as Sabalenka closed out the opening set with another break and withstood a stern test in the second set to beat her 34th-ranked opponent. Zheng, who won her biggest title at last year's Paris Games, continued her good form on the Roland Garros clay as the Chinese eighth seed made the second week by beating Grand Slam debutant Victoria Mboko 6-3 6-4 at Court Simonne Mathieu. That match was halted briefly when the 18-year-old Mboko was down 5-3 in the second set as a fan needed medical attention but Zheng was not affected when play resumed and quickly dispatched the Canadian. Former semi-finalist Amanda Anisimova required treatment for a blister on her right hand before the American secured a 7-6(4) 6-4 victory over Clara Tauson to reach the last 16 of the major where she announced herself in 2019. 'BIG HITTERS' Anisimova, seeded 16th, takes on Sabalenka in the next round aiming to improve her 5-2 win-loss record against the top seed. "We're both big hitters, so I'm sure we're going to be going at it back and forth," Anisimova said. Liudmila Samsonova will expect to be tested against Zheng after beating Dayana Yastremska 6-2 6-3. Swiatek extended her spectacular French Open winning streak to 24 matches after seeing off Jaqueline Cristian 6-2 7-5 as the temperature soared. "It was 20 degrees Celsius when I played my first match but today it was 30 degrees," Swiatek said. "It's not easy to adjust but I've played in every condition. Last year at the Olympics it was super hot, so I was ready." Up next for Swiatek is fellow Grand Slam champion Elena Rybakina, who ousted 2017 Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-2. Last year's runner-up Jasmine Paolini eased past Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-4 6-1 and faces another Ukrainian after Elina Svitolina beat Bernarda Pera 7-6(4) 7-6(5). Eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti blew hot and cold against Mariano Navone before winning 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-2 while Rune beat Halys 4-6 6-2 5-7 7-5 6-2. "It was a brutal match," Rune said. "I tried to change things ... I had to put more spin on the ball because of the conditions. "The player who took the opportunities to be aggressive was the player who won." Tommy Paul also needed five sets, the 12th seed defeating Karen Khachanov 6-3 3-6 7-6(7) 3-6 6-3, while American fans had more joy as 13th seed Shelton downed Matteo Gigante 6-3 6-3 6-4 and Frances Tiafoe beat Sebastian Korda 7-6(6) 6-3 6-4. Alexei Popyrin overcame Nuno Borges 6-4 7-6(11) 7-6(5) to fly the flag for Australia while Daniel Altmaier sent Hamad Medjedovic packing 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-2. French hopes suffered a blow as Arthur Fils pulled out of Saturday's clash against Andrey Rublev with a back injury.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Russian attacks kill two in Ukraine
KYIV: Russian shelling and air strikes on southern Ukraine overnight killed a man and a nine-year-old girl in separate attacks, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday. In the Zaporizhzhia region, 'Russians hit a residential area with guided aerial bombs,' killing the girl and wounding a 16-year-old boy, Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional military administration, said on the Telegram platform. One house was destroyed and several others damaged by the blast, he added. In a separate assault on the city of Kherson, a '66-year-old man sustained fatal injuries' from Russian shelling, Oleksandr Prokudin, Kherson region's governor, wrote on Telegram. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, tens of thousands of people have been killed, swaths of eastern and southern Ukraine destroyed, and millions forced to flee their homes. One person was wounded in a Russian drone strike in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, its mayor said. In Russia, Ukrainian drone attacks wounded 10 people in the Kursk region overnight, acting governor Alexander Khinshtein said. Diplomatic efforts to end the war have accelerated in recent weeks, with both sides meeting earlier this month for their first round of direct talks in more than three years. But the negotiations in Istanbul yielded only a prisoner exchange and promises to stay in touch. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that his government did not expect results from further talks with Russia unless Moscow provided its peace terms in advance, accusing the Kremlin of doing 'everything' it could to sabotage a potential meeting. 'There must be a ceasefire to continue moving toward peace. We need to stop the killing of people,' Zelensky added in a statement on Telegram. The Ukrainian leader also said he had discussed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan 'a possible next meeting in Istanbul and under what conditions Ukraine is ready to participate,' with both agreeing that the next round of talks with Moscow 'cannot and should not be a waste of time.' Russia has said it will send a team of negotiators to Istanbul for a second round of talks on Monday, but Kyiv has yet to confirm if it will attend.
