Trump confirms US envoy Witkoff to travel to Russia in coming week - War in Ukraine
Speaking to reporters, Trump also said that two nuclear submarines he deployed following an online row with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev were now "in the region."
Trump has not said whether he meant nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines. He also did not elaborate on the exact deployment locations, which are kept secret by the US military.
The nuclear saber-rattling came against the backdrop of a deadline set by Trump at the end of next week for Russia to take steps towards ending the Ukraine war or face unspecified new sanctions.
The Republican leader said Witkoff would visit "I think next week, Wednesday or Thursday."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has already met Witkoff multiple times in Moscow, before Trump's efforts to mend ties with the Kremlin came to a grinding halt.
When reporters asked what Witkoff's message would be to Moscow, and if there was anything Russia could do to avoid the sanctions, Trump replied: "Yeah, get a deal where people stop getting killed."
- 'Secondary tariffs' -
Trump has previously threatened that new measures could mean "secondary tariffs" targeting Russia's remaining trade partners, such as China and India. This would further stifle Russia, but would risk significant international disruption.
Despite the pressure from Washington, Russia has continued its onslaught against its pro-Western neighbor.
Putin, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire, said Friday that he wants peace but that his demands for ending his nearly three-and-a-half-year invasion were "unchanged."
"We need a lasting and stable peace on solid foundations that would satisfy both Russia and Ukraine, and would ensure the security of both countries," Putin told reporters.
But he added that "the conditions (from the Russian side) certainly remain the same."
Russia has frequently called on Ukraine to effectively cede control of four regions Moscow claims to have annexed, a demand Kyiv has called unacceptable.
Putin also wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join NATO.
Ukraine launched a drone attack Sunday which sparked a fire at an oil depot in Sochi, the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Kyiv has said it will intensify its air strikes against Russia in response to an increase in Russian attacks on its territory in recent weeks, which have killed dozens of civilians.
Russia's Ministry of Defence said on Monday, its air defences intercepted 61 Ukrainian drones overnight.
One person was killed by Russian shelling in the southern Kherson region, Ukraine's military administration said in Telegram post early Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said Sunday that the two sides were preparing a prisoner exchange that would see 1,200 Ukrainian troops return home, following talks with Russia in Istanbul in July.
Trump began his second term with his own rosy predictions that the war in Ukraine -- raging since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022 -- would soon end.
In recent weeks, Trump has increasingly voiced frustration with Putin over Moscow's unrelenting offensive.
Follow us on:
Short link:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
See - Sada Elbalad
4 hours ago
- See - Sada Elbalad
Trump Threatens to Raise Pharma Tariffs to 250%
Taarek Refaat President Donald Trump told Squackbox on Tuesday that planned pharmaceutical tariffs imported into the United States could eventually reach 250%, the highest threat to date, according to CNBC. He added that he would initially impose "small tariffs" on medicines, then raise them to 150%, then to 250%, within a year or a year and a half maximum. The president has repeatedly threatened, then changed course on tariff proposals, so there is no guarantee that he will eventually set tariffs on drugs at 250%. In early July, Trump threatened to impose tariffs of 200% on drugs. In April, the Trump administration launched a so-called Article 232 investigation on pharmaceutical products, a legal authority that allows the Commerce Secretary to investigate the impact of imports on national security. The tariffs are an attempt by the president to motivate pharmaceutical companies to move manufacturing operations to the United States at a time when the manufacture of drugs locally has seen a sharp contraction over the past few decades. Over the past six months, companies such as Ellie Lily and Johnson & Johnson have announced new U.S. investments to strengthen their ties with the president. 'We want the pharmaceutical industry in our country,' Trump told CNBC. The planned tariffs will deal a major blow to the pharmaceutical industry, which has warned that tariffs could raise costs, hinder investments in the United States, and disrupt the drug supply chain, putting patients at risk. Pharmaceutical companies are already facing the repercussions of Trump's drug pricing policies, which they argue threaten their profits and their ability to invest in research and development. That includes Trump's executive order in May that revives a controversial plan, a 'most-preferred-country' policy, which aims to reduce drug costs by peging the prices of some drugs in the United States to prices much lower abroad. On Tuesday, Trump told CNBC that he "did" the "most-favoured nation" policy, and that this would have a "huge impact on drug prices." However, Trump has not officially implemented any changes to the executive order. Last week, Trump sent letters to 17 pharmaceutical companies calling on them to commit to taking steps to reduce the prices of US drugs by September 29. This includes agreeing to provide their entire range of existing drugs at the lowest price provided in other developed countries for each patient benefiting from the Medicaid program, among other steps, while some pharmaceutical companies have announced that they are reviewing messages. read more CBE: Deposits in Local Currency Hit EGP 5.25 Trillion Morocco Plans to Spend $1 Billion to Mitigate Drought Effect Gov't Approves Final Version of State Ownership Policy Document Egypt's Economy Expected to Grow 5% by the end of 2022/23- Minister Qatar Agrees to Supply Germany with LNG for 15 Years Business Oil Prices Descend amid Anticipation of Additional US Strategic Petroleum Reserves Business Suez Canal Records $704 Million, Historically Highest Monthly Revenue Business Egypt's Stock Exchange Earns EGP 4.9 Billion on Tuesday Business Wheat delivery season commences on April 15 News Israeli-Linked Hadassah Clinic in Moscow Treats Wounded Iranian IRGC Fighters Arts & Culture "Jurassic World Rebirth" Gets Streaming Date News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Business Egyptian Pound Undervalued by 30%, Says Goldman Sachs Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Arts & Culture South Korean Actress Kang Seo-ha Dies at 31 after Cancer Battle Arts & Culture Lebanese Media: Fayrouz Collapses after Death of Ziad Rahbani Sports Get to Know 2025 WWE Evolution Results
Al-Ahram Weekly
4 hours ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Trump says incoming pharma tariff may go as high as 250% - Economy
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that upcoming tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals could reach 250 percent, after starting at a lower level, while adding he plans to also unveil fresh duties on foreign semiconductors. "We'll be putting (an) initially small tariff on pharmaceuticals, but in one year, one-and-a-half years, maximum, it's going to go to 150 percent," Trump said in an interview on CNBC. "And then it's going to go to 250 percent because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country," he added. In the same interview, Trump said he expects to raise the US tariff on Indian imports "very substantially over the next 24 hours" due to the country's purchases of Russian oil. While Trump has taken aim at products from different countries with varying tariff rates after imposing a 10-percent levy on almost all trading partners in April, these have excluded certain products he planned to target separately. These sector-specific tariffs have generally come after government investigations that look into the national security concerns surrounding certain imports. After earlier embarking on probes on imported semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, the Trump administration has signaled plans to wrap up these studies which could lead to new tariffs. Already, Trump has slapped steep tariffs of 50 percent on imported steel and aluminum, and also rolled out a separate but lower duty on autos and parts. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Egypt Independent
6 hours ago
- Egypt Independent
Crisis in Gaza seems hopeless. Here's a potential pathway for a 90-day solution
Even as someone who helped negotiate the only two ceasefires of the terrible war in Gaza, including the release of nearly 150 hostages, the situation today seems hopeless and destined to simply continue with no clear end in sight. That is not acceptable. This war must end. The hostages must come home. Humanitarian aid must surge. Gaza needs a multiyear recovery without Hamas in charge. This all needs to start now. So, how? To answer, let's review what happened over the last two weeks, some of the options that are now being proposed, and what might work to finally bring this to an end. Two weeks: cascading crises Only two weeks ago, there was hope that Israel and Hamas — through US, Qatari, and Egyptian mediation — were on the brink of a 60-day ceasefire. That deal entailed the release of half the living hostages Hamas still holds, thought to be ten people, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, including more than one hundred now serving life sentences, together with a 60-day ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas, daily surges of humanitarian aid, and a commitment by Israel, backed by Trump, to negotiate over those 60 days the conditions to end the war. A charity organization distributed food to Palestinians facing severe difficulties accessing basic necessities due to Israel's ongoing blockade and military operations in the Gaza Strip on July 24, 2025. Crowds gathered during the distribution in Gaza City, highlighting the growing humanitarian crisis. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images These promising talks reportedly broke down after Hamas leaders living comfortably in Qatar accepted its terms, but Hamas terrorists holding the keys to the hostages inside Gaza said no or demanded new terms. Israel and the US walked out of the talks, leading to their collapse. In the days that followed, reports emerged of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza — due largely, it appears, to Israel's decision in March to blockade Gaza and allow no assistance to enter at all over nearly 80 days. Israel now faces a crisis of its own making with the world's attention focused on its misguided humanitarian decisions, as opposed to focusing on Hamas as the obstacle to a ceasefire. Meanwhile, France responded with an initiative to recognize the establishment of a Palestinian state next month without demanding anything up front from Hamas or explaining how such an initiative might help end the Gaza crisis anytime soon. The UK went a step further and said it will also recognize a Palestinian state next month unless there is a ceasefire in Gaza, thereby guaranteeing that Hamas will not accept one. Hamas in turn welcomed these initiatives and released images of an emaciated hostage digging his own grave, thereby making clear that it now has no intent to cut a deal. Proposed ways forward Before discussing ways out of this impasse, let's stipulate that the delivery of assistance to the people of Gaza is non-negotiable and must continue no matter what. This is not only moral, but strategic, because Hamas views civilian suffering as a component of its strategy. Israel's blockade, a tactic the Biden administration never allowed, was a trap for itself, allowing Hamas to turn the tables even as the group obstructs the ceasefire needed to bring immediate and sustained relief to the population it purports to represent. Israel has since declared humanitarian pauses in fighting and restored delivery of UN aid, even with risk of some diversion to Hamas. This is the right move, and it must continue no matter what option is chosen going forward to secure the release of hostages. Demonstrators gather outside the Israeli Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on July 5, 2025 during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza. Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images The options now being discussed can broadly be categorized into five outlines: 1. Military Victory: Proponents of this option, including inside the Israeli government, claim that Hamas's leaders inside Gaza will never accept a deal. Therefore, Israel has no choice but to further intensify its military campaign, including to find and eliminate those few remaining leaders of Hamas inside Gaza. The hope is that Hamas' control in Gaza will crack, and Israel can then establish a new Palestinian entity to secure and govern the strip, one that is not Hamas or the existing Palestinian Authority. But Israel has been doing precisely this since May, intensifying its military campaign with five divisions deployed into Gaza. This operation, called Gideon's Chariots, did help eliminate Mohammed Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza at the time, and seize 70% of the strip. but Israel also lost over forty soldiers, tragically killed civilians, and did not fundamentally change the equation or lead to a deal. An Israeli army infantry fighting vehicle along the border with the Gaza Strip and southern Israel on July 29, 2025. Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images There is no reason to believe that more of the same will deliver a different result, and to further intensify the war now as international support reaches its nadir carries strategic risks to Israel far greater than any potential tactical military gain. 2. Comprehensive Deal: Proponents of this option claim the obstacle to the 60-day ceasefire deal is its phasing since Hamas demands a permanent end to the war upfront. Thus, Israel should now propose the return of all hostages living and dead in exchange for a full withdrawal from Gaza, the establishment of a new governance structure that is not Hamas, and a large-scale release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. I call this the 'have it all' option because it suggests there is a magic key to free all hostages, end the war, and remove Hamas from any significant role in Gaza. In my experience negotiating with Hamas, however, this proposal likely leads to an even more intractable negotiation upfront. Hamas will haggle over every name on a proposed governing council, demand guarantees such as a UN Security Council resolution against future Israeli operations, refuse under any circumstances to disarm or relinquish security control, and demand the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. So, this is unlikely a faster path to a deal that brings a ceasefire or returns hostages than the phased deal that was nearly agreed to only two weeks ago. No doubt, Israel and the US missed an opportunity earlier this year to maintain the deal it inherited from the Biden administration, a deal backed by the UN Security Council and one that could have been extended through talks on these issues with a ceasefire in place. The point of this essay is not to argue what might have been, but rather what to do now — and the fastest path to stopping the war and freeing hostages. Opening an entirely new negotiation on a new deal would not achieve either, anytime soon. 3. Stick to a 60-day Proposal: Proponents of this option, and I have been one, believe the fastest path to stop the war and ultimately end it altogether remains the existing phased proposal. Hamas is divided within its ranks and the US could press the three countries with influence — Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey — to demand that Hamas take the deal, release ten hostages, and begin the 60-day pause. The 'or else' for Hamas and its leaders might include exile from Doha, together with requests for extradition to the United States for their role in killing Americans, and new sanctions to ensure they do not set up shop elsewhere, other than perhaps Iran, where they would be less effective and vulnerable to Israeli targeting. This pressure together with international support for the deal would help influence the holdouts inside Hamas. In my experience negotiating these deals, international pressure matters to Hamas as much as military pressure. The problem with this option now is that the French and UK initiatives have removed any such pressure or incentive from Hamas to close any deal, as a Palestinian state has been promised in September no matter what happens with the hostages. Hamas views creation of a Palestinian state not as an end goal but as a stepping stone to ending Israel's existence. Its leaders have deemed the French initiative 'one of the fruits of October 7,' and Hamas has since shown no readiness to renew talks on the 60-day deal, a point brought home with its grotesque displays of hostages starving in tunnels. 4. Unilateral Humanitarian Pause: An outlier option could see Israel declare a 30-day pause on major combat operations to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Israel would not withdraw its forces from present positions, and retain the right to respond in self-defense, but it would immediately shift international focus back on Hamas while also allowing the Israeli military forces to rest and refit. True, this would also allow Hamas to rest and refit with no hope of a near-term hostage release, but by alleviating the aid situation, Israel might benefit strategically by taking this card away from Hamas and demonstrating that Israel is now correcting for its own mistakes. It might also demand International Red Cross access to the hostages as a condition for the pause, an issue of urgency given the horrific images Hamas released of hostages in recent days. Palestinians gather as they carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, amid a hunger crisis, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip July 20, 2025. Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters The problem with this option is that it says nothing about what happens after the pause, further removes pressure from Hamas, and would be extremely unpopular in Israel, both within the rightwing Israeli government but also the broader population, to include most hostage families that rightly demand a process leading to a deal – not a unilateral move by Israel that might benefit Hamas with nothing in return. 5. US Breaks with Israel: Proponents of this option believe the United States should announce a halt on all further arms sales to Israel and demand that Israel end the war unilaterally even with Hamas remaining in control of Gaza. Some go further and claim this should happen even without hostages being freed. Their argument is that the overwhelming priority is to stop the war and only the United States has leverage against Israel to force it into doing so. As for the hostages, proponents of this argument claim that Netanyahu, not Hamas, is the primary obstacle to a deal and that by halting US military support, the Israelis might make concessions needed to conclude a deal. These arguments are appealing to those appalled by the images from Gaza and wishing for a quick fix. But they would do nothing to stop, let alone end, the war. Hamas has shown no serious indication that it will release all the hostages if Israel simply gives up, and if Hamas remains in charge of Gaza there is no chance whatsoever for longer-term peace or an internationally backed relief plan that the strip so badly requires. In any case, this is a politically motivated and not realistic option for those who truly aim to stop the war. It's also highly unlikely to ever happen. Trump is unlikely to break with Israel, and Israel is unlikely to simply withdraw from Gaza without all the Israeli hostages and a deal that helps to ensure Hamas cannot retain its control there. In total, that is a depressing summary — it suggests that every broad option now being discussed is either unlikely to succeed or might make the situation even worse. Putting it all together So, what would I recommend? Senior officials do not have the luxury of admiring a problem or analyzing impractical or politically motivated options. They must think seriously about the best of the bad, or meld options together to chart a new path. That is what I might propose: Because, combining options two, three, and four offers an immediate path to alleviating the humanitarian crisis, returning the focus squarely on Hamas, and parlaying the unconstructive proposals coming from Paris, London, and other capitals. This new path — call it Option 6 — would combine a unilateral 30-day pause in Israeli military operations to alleviate the humanitarian situation with an ultimatum that by the end of the 30 days, Hamas must free half the living hostages to extend the ceasefire by 60 days under the existing proposal. From there, you could proceed with a firm, US-backed commitment to negotiate over those 60-days a comprehensive deal to end the war with a new governance structure in Gaza and the release of all remaining hostages. If Hamas refuses to release half the remaining hostages after 30 days, then Israel's unilateral pause would end. Israel could return to military operations but after its military has refit and with the legitimacy for its objectives somewhat restored internationally. Families of hostages protest, demanding their release from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, at the plaza known as the hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. Ariel Schalit/AP This might also parry the French initiative to recognize Palestinian statehood at the UN general assembly next month: If, following Israel's unilateral pause, Hamas has not released ten hostages, then the obstacle to peace would clearly be Hamas. On the other hand, if Hamas does release the ten hostages and we are entering a 60-day window for negotiations to end the war, then it would not make sense to declare Palestinian statehood at the start of that process, as opposed to an incentive towards its conclusion. Flip the script At bottom, this is an opportunity for Israel and the United States to flip the script entirely, urgently address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and place the onus for ending the crisis more squarely on Hamas where it belongs. Trump and Netanyahu may not favor such an option as it takes pressure off Hamas on the front end, but it would dramatically increase such pressure — strategic pressure, not just tactical pressure — on the back end. It's also the only viable option at this moment that is likely to achieve what we all want to see: assistance distributed throughout Gaza, hostages coming out of Gaza, and an end to the war with Hamas no longer governing or in control of Gaza. The alternatives might score rhetorical points, but they won't help anyone in Gaza, not the civilians trapped in this awful war, nor the hostages now in tunnels for over 600 days. It's time indeed to flip the script. That means Option 6.
