WhatsApp says Russia is trying to block it
WhatsApp said Tuesday that Russia was trying to block its services because the social media messaging app owned by Meta Platforms offered people's right to secure communication, and vowed to continue trying to make encrypted services available in Russia.
Russia has started restricting some Telegram and WhatsApp calls, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases.
"WhatsApp is private, end-to-end encrypted, and defies government attempts to violate people's right to secure communication, which is why Russia is trying to block it from over 100 million Russian people," WhatsApp said in a statement.
"We will keep doing all we can to make end-to-end encrypted communication available to people everywhere, including in Russia."
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
an hour ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Europeans to Back Zelenskiy in Washington as Trump Presses Ukraine Deal
LONDON/KYIV/WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) – European leaders will join Volodymyr Zelenskiy to meet Donald Trump in Washington, they said on Sunday, seeking to shore up Zelenskiy's position as the U.S. president presses Ukraine to accept a quick peace deal to end Europe's deadliest war in 80 years. Trump is leaning on Zelenskiy to strike an agreement after he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and emerged more aligned with Moscow on seeking a peace deal instead of a ceasefire first. Trump and Zelenskiy will meet on Monday. It is expected that they will have a bilateral meeting prior to the European leaders joining a larger conversation, according to a person briefed on the conversation. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on scheduling details. 'If peace is not going to be possible here and this is just going to continue on as a war, people will continue to die by the thousands … we may unfortunately wind up there, but we don't want to wind up there,' Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with CBS' 'Face the Nation.' Trump discussed Ukraine in several social media posts on Sunday. In one, he promised 'BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA' in a social media post without specifying what this might be. In another, he said Zelenskiy could end the war 'almost immediately, if he wants to' and seemed to indicate that reclaiming Crimea and joining NATO are off the table for Ukraine. In a post on his Truth Social social media, Trump said: 'Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!' Sources briefed on Moscow's thinking told Reuters the U.S. and Russian leaders have discussed proposals for Russia to relinquish tiny pockets of occupied Ukraine in exchange for Kyiv ceding a swathe of fortified land in the east and freezing the front lines elsewhere. Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's envoy to international organizations in Vienna, said Russia agreed that any peace agreement on Ukraine must provide security guarantees to Kyiv. 'Many leaders of #EU states emphasize that a future peace agreement should provide reliable security assurances or guarantees for Ukraine,' Ulyanov said on social media platform X. 'Russia agrees with that. But it has equal right to expect that Moscow will also get efficient security guarantees.' Top Trump officials hinted that the fate of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region – which is already mostly under Russian control – was on the line, while some sort of defensive pact was also on the table. 'We were able to win the following concession, that the United States could offer Article 5-like protection,' Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday, suggesting this would be in lieu of Ukraine seeking NATO membership. He said it was 'the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that.' Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty enshrines the principle of collective defense, in which an attack on any member is considered an attack on all. That pledge may not be enough to sway Kyiv to sign over Donbas. Ukraine's borders were already meant to be guaranteed when Ukraine surrendered a nuclear arsenal in 1994, which proved to be little deterrent when Russia absorbed Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. The war has killed or wounded more than 1 million people. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted a meeting of allies on Sunday to bolster Zelenskiy's hand, hoping in particular to lock down robust security guarantees for Ukraine that would include a U.S. role. The Europeans are eager to help Zelenskiy avoid a repeat of his last Oval Office meeting in February when Trump and Vice President JD Vance gave the Ukrainian leader a public dressing-down, accusing him of being ungrateful and disrespectful. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also travel to Washington, as will Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has played rounds of golf with Trump this year, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, an admirer of many Trump policies. EUROPEAN SHOW OF UNITY European leaders at the Sunday meeting projected unity, welcoming U.S. talk of a security guarantee but stressing no discussions over territory could take place without Kyiv's involvement and clear arrangements to safeguard the rest of Ukraine's land. Some called for an immediate ceasefire, which Trump originally said he was trying to secure during his summit with Putin. Trump later changed course and agreed with the Russians that peace negotiations could come without a ceasefire, an idea dismissed by some of Ukraine's European allies. 'You cannot negotiate peace under falling bombs,' Poland's foreign ministry said in a statement. A joint communique released by Britain, France and Germany after the meeting said their leaders were ready 'to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased, and to help secure Ukraine's skies and seas and regenerate Ukraine's armed forces.' Some European countries, led by Britain and France, have been working since last year on such a plan, but others in the region remain reluctant to become involved militarily. Zelenskiy said on X there had been 'clear support for Ukraine's independence and sovereignty' at the meeting. 'Everyone agrees that borders must not be changed by force.' He said any prospective security guarantees 'must really be very practical, delivering protection on land, in the air, and at sea, and must be developed with Europe's participation.' Rubio said both Russia and Ukraine would need to make concessions to reach a peace deal and security guarantees for Ukraine would be discussed on Monday. He also said there must be additional consequences for Russia if no deal was reached. 'I'm not saying we're on the verge of a peace deal, but I am saying that we saw movement, enough movement to justify a follow-up meeting with Zelenskiy and the Europeans, enough movement for us to dedicate even more time to this,' Rubio told broadcaster CBS. Putin briefed his close ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, about the Alaska talks, and also spoke with Kazakhstan's president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Trump said on Friday Ukraine should make a deal to end the war because 'Russia is a very big power, and they're not.' After the Alaska summit, Trump phoned Zelenskiy and told him the Kremlin chief had offered to freeze most front lines if Ukraine ceded all of Donetsk, a source familiar with the matter said. Zelenskiy rejected the demand.
Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Japan Times
Anti-war protests erupt in Israel ahead of Gaza City operation
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Sunday to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to expand operations in the Gaza Strip, rather than attempt to negotiate an end to the war under which Hamas would free its last hostages. Organizers said that as many as half a million people attended the main rally at Tel Aviv's "hostage square' in the evening, a massive turnout by Israeli standards. Earlier on Sunday, as Netanyahu suggested calls to end the war would embolden Hamas, police scuffled with demonstrators blocking roads across Israel, making at least 30 arrests and turning a water cannon on participants at a sit-down protest at a Jerusalem access tunnel. Almost two years into an offensive that's pushed Israel toward global isolation and left much of the Palestinian enclave in ruins, Netanyahu's government this month gave the army the green light to take control of the de facto capital, Gaza City, and crush Hamas holdouts. The families of 50 hostages who are still held by Hamas in Gaza — 20 of whom are thought to be alive — designated Sunday as "Israel on Hold' day, calling on all Israelis to strike during the daytime in solidarity with their fight to free their loved ones. In a statement late Sunday evening, they said that "over 1 million people participated in hundreds of actions held across the country.' They vowed to intensify their actions. The plan to take over Gaza City is deemed to be of high risk to hostage lives, all of whom are thought to be in poor medical and mental condition and suffering from acute malnutrition. They're also thought to be at risk of execution or being caught up in crossfire. While the Israeli military's tanks and troops have yet to get rolling, some members of Netanyahu's security Cabinet have complained that the planned scale of the operation is insufficient. At the same time, his envoys look poised to resume mediated talks on a truce and hostage release if Hamas softens its terms. There's been no indication so far that the Iran-backed faction will do so. A once unwavering domestic backing for the war, which was launched in response to Hamas' killing and kidnapping rampage of Oct. 7, 2023, is long gone. Polls show most Israelis want a deal to bring back the 50 hostages, even if the remnants of Hamas are left intact. In scenes recalling the kind of anti-government demonstrations that preceded the war, groups organized over social media and flooded several highway intersections on Sunday, the first day of Israel's workweek. Many held up Israeli flags and photographs of hostages. A demonstrator holds a sign that reads "the voice of your brother's blood cries out from the ground" during a protest, after families of hostages called for a nationwide strike to demand the return of all hostages and an end to the war in Gaza, in Tel Aviv on Sunday. | REUTERS Netanyahu has vowed victory against Hamas. His timeline for achieving this has proven elastic, and he hasn't given details on who might next rule the shattered Gaza Strip, where the Hamas-run health ministry — which doesn't distinguish between combatant and civilian casualties — says 61,000 Palestinians have died. "Those calling today for the end of the war without a Hamas defeat are not only hardening the Hamas position and making the freeing of our hostages less likely,' Netanyahu said Sunday, signaling he was not impressed by the protests. "They're also ensuring that the horrors of Oct. 7 recur time and again, that our sons and daughters will have to fight time and again in a forever war.' While Israel's main labor federation declined to join in Sunday's strike, the protesters found support from the private sector. The local operations of Apple and Microsoft pitched in, as did New York-listed web platform developer and online marketplace Fiverr, as well as Qumra Capital and Pitango Ltd. The companies allowed workers to take the day off to attend the demonstrations. "We are at a fateful moment for the Israeli nation and we do not intend to sit idly by,' the Hi-Tech Forum, a coalition formed in 2023 to protest the government's proposed judicial overhaul, said in a statement. "This is a moment when every Jew and Israeli should show their support for the (hostage) families and call for an end to the war and the return of all hostages.' Eli Cohen, a member of Netanyahu's security cabinet, said the Israel Defense Force would on Sunday finalize orders for the takeover of Gaza City, part of about 25% of the territory previously avoided during military incursions on the belief that hostages are being held there. The plan targets six to eight weeks for the forced evacuation of as many as 1 million Palestinian civilians before the main assault, Cohen told Channel 14 TV, adding that he would press for its acceleration: "This can be done in two to three weeks.' Shva, operator of Israel's national payment processing infrastructure, reported that as of 12 p.m. local time, the day's credit card spending was down 5.1% from a week ago, suggesting a moderate impact on businesses from the strike. The Israel Business Forum, a group of 200 of the country's top business leaders, met with hostage families but stopped short of formally backing the strike. Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group in much of the West, wants any Gaza truce to guarantee a full Israeli withdrawal. It's signaled it might cede some power, but refuses Israel's demand to disarm. On Sunday, Hamas denounced the Gaza City plan as "the beginning of a new wave of brutal genocide' by the Israelis. Israel lost 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the Oct. 7 attacks and more than 450 troops in Gaza combat since. Israel's longest war has spilled onto several fronts, including with Iran, and strained the military. "Today's demonstrations show the difference between the Israeli government and its people,' said Noa Tishby, an Israeli-born Los Angeles actress/producer and social media influencer on the conflict. "Israelis are exhausted from more than two years of protesting against this government, and yet are out today resisting the war in Gaza.'
The Mainichi
4 hours ago
- The Mainichi
European leaders to join Ukraine's Zelenskyy for meeting with Trump
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- European and NATO leaders announced Sunday they will join President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington to present a united front in talks with President Donald Trump on ending Russia's war in Ukraine and firming up U.S. security guarantees now on the negotiating table. Leaders from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Finland are rallying around the Ukrainian president after his exclusion from Trump's summit on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Their pledge to be at Zelenskyy's side at the White House on Monday is an apparent effort to ensure the meeting goes better than the last one in February, when Trump berated Zelenskyy in a heated Oval Office encounter. "The Europeans are very afraid of the Oval Office scene being repeated and so they want to support Mr. Zelenskyy to the hilt," said retired French Gen. Dominique Trinquand, a former head of France's military mission at the United Nations. "It's a power struggle and a position of strength that might work with Trump," he said. Putin agreed at his summit in Alaska with Trump that the U.S. and its European allies could offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO's collective defense mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the 3 1/2-year war, special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said in an interview Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." It "was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that," said Witkoff, who called it "game-changing." Later, French President Emmanuel Macron said the European delegation will ask Trump to back plans they drafted to beef-up Ukraine's armed forces -- already Europe's largest outside of Russia -- with more training and equipment to secure any peace. "We need a credible format for the Ukrainian army, that's the first point, and say -- we Europeans and Americans -- how we'll train them, equip them, and finance this effort in the long-term," the French leader said. The European-drafted plans also envision an allied force in Ukraine away from the front lines to reassure Kyiv that peace will hold and to dissuade another Russian invasion, Macron said. He spoke after a nearly two-hour video call Sunday with nations in Europe and further afield -- including Canada, Australia and Japan -- that are involved in the so-called "coalition of the willing." The "several thousand men on the ground in Ukraine in the zone of peace" would signal that "our fates are linked," Macron said. "This is what we must discuss with the Americans: Who is ready to do what?" Macron said. "Otherwise, I think the Ukrainians simply cannot accept commitments that are theoretical." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said earlier at a news conference in Brussels with Zelenskyy that "we welcome President Trump's willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine. And the 'coalition of the willing' -- including the European Union -- is ready to do its share." Macron said the substance of security guarantees will be more important than whether they are given an Article 5-type label. "A theoretical article isn't enough, the question is one of substance," he said. "We must start out by saying that the first of the security guarantees for Ukraine is a strong Ukrainian army." Along with Von der Leyen and Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and Finnish President Alexander Stubb also said they'll will take part in Monday's talks, as will secretary-general of the NATO military alliance, Mark Rutte. The European leaders' support could help ease concerns in Kyiv and in other European capitals that Ukraine risks being railroaded into a peace deal. Neil Melvin, director of international security at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said European leaders are trying to "shape this fast-evolving agenda." After the Alaska summit, the idea of a ceasefire appears all-but-abandoned, with the narrative shifting toward Putin's agenda of ensuring Ukraine does not join NATO or even the EU. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that a possible ceasefire is "not off the table" but that the best way to end the war would be through a "full peace deal." Putin has implied that he sees Europe as a hindrance to negotiations. He has also resisted meeting Zelenskyy in person, saying that such a meeting can only take place once the groundwork for a peace deal has been laid. Speaking to the press after his meeting with Trump, the Russian leader raised the idea that Kyiv and other European capitals could "create obstacles" to derail potential progress with "behind-the-scenes intrigue." For now, Zelenskyy offers the Europeans the "only way" to get into the discussions about the future of Ukraine and European security, says RUSI's Melvin. However, the sheer number of European leaders potentially in attendance means the group will have to be "mindful" not to give "contradictory" messages, Melvin said. "The risk is they look heavy-handed and are ganging up on Trump," he added. "Trump won't want to be put in a corner." Although details remain hazy on what Article 5-like security guarantees from the U.S. and Europe would entail for Ukraine, it could mirror NATO membership terms, in which an attack on one member of the alliance is seen as an attack on all. Zelenskyy continues to stress the importance of both U.S. and European involvement in any negotiations. "A security guarantee is a strong army. Only Ukraine can provide that. Only Europe can finance this army, and weapons for this army can be provided by our domestic production and European production. But there are certain things that are in short supply and are only available in the United States," he said at the press conference Sunday alongside Von der Leyen. Zelenskyy also pushed back against Trump's assertion -- which aligned with Putin's preference -- that the two sides should negotiate a complete end to the war, rather than first securing a ceasefire. Zelenskyy said a ceasefire would provide breathing room to review Putin's demands. "It's impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons," he said. "Putin does not want to stop the killing, but he must do it."
