
Analyst: U.S. now aligning with Russians position following Trump-Putin meeting
Andrew Rasiulis of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute breaks down Trump's Putin meeting and his role in ending the Ukraine war.
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Global News
an hour ago
- Global News
Trump greets Putin with a red carpet, Ukrainians feel betrayed
In Kyiv, Ukrainians living under near daily Russian bombardment watched with astonishment as their country's most important ally rolled out a red carpet in Alaska for the man they blame for over three years of war, bloodshed and loss. Natalya Lypei, 66, a Kyiv resident, did a double-take. But the images flashing on her phone screen were real: U.S. President Donald Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly and clapped as the Russian leader approached him, after having been escorted into the country by four American fighter jets. Trump also ignored the arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court that has kept him mostly confined at home or in nations that are strong allies. 'How can you welcome a tyrant like that?' she asked, echoing the thoughts of many Kyiv residents. The red carpet treatment, the lack of concrete decisions for Ukraine and, most significantly, neglecting the significance of sanctions — a policy that could turn the tide in Kyiv's favor — have felt like a betrayal for Ukrainians who have borne enormous suffering in the almost three-and-a-half years since Russia's full-scale invasion. Story continues below advertisement Tens of thousands of Ukrainian servicemen, the country's bravest and most skilled, have been killed and wounded, thousands of civilians have been killed in Russian strikes, and a fifth of the country is under occupation, severing families, properties and Ukraine's territorial integrity. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy On Ukrainian social media, memes of Putin and Trump walking down a red carpet strewn with dead Ukrainian bodies were widely shared. Zelenskyy had anticipated the meeting would be a boon for Putin and that there would be very little in the way of results. Speaking to reporters in the days leading up to the meeting, he said it would end up being a public relations victory for the Russian leader. Above all else, he was seeking a photo on American soil — which he got in Friday's meeting. It was the first time in a decade that Putin had stepped foot in the U.S., ending international isolation spurred by the 2022 Ukraine invasion; in other words, it was a win. For Lypei, whose serviceman son was killed last year, it was like attending another funeral, a fresh loss. This time, her country's hopes for a just peace. 'It hurts me a lot that my child died in a full-scale war, and today we saw a new funeral,' she said. Her 34-year-old son fought with Ukraine's 79th Brigade and was killed in the Donetsk region, the very area Putin wants Ukraine to vacate as a condition for a truce. Story continues below advertisement 'I do not wish anyone that sorrow, that sadness, those tears,' she said. Natalya Cucil, 60, another Kyiv resident said she was surprised that Trump did not produce any results from the meeting, despite his stated efforts to end the war. 'There are no results and we don't know if there will be, although we always expect something and hope for it,' she said. Pensioner Anatolii Kovalenko, 72, said no matter what was discussed between the two leaders, it is clear his country's adversary has won in the sphere of public relations. 'Putin won this meeting 100%,' he said.


CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
BC Greens leadership to take youthful turn, with contenders' average age of 30
B.C. Green Party Leadership candidates Emily Lowan, left to right, Jonathan Kerr and Adam Bremner-Akins are shown in a composite image of three undated handout photos. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — B.C. Green Party (Mandatory Credit) VICTORIA — Stuart Parker was 21 when he became the leader of the B.C. Greens in 1993 after campaigning against McDonald's use of ozone-damaging foam packaging. He said youth alone won't be enough to sustain the next leader of the Greens, in a race where the average age of the contenders is just 30. 'So yes, I got in as the young, radical urbanite, but I maintained my leadership of that party for seven years by spending my time on the road,' said Parker, who has also run for the New Democrats and more recently has worked for the B.C. Conservatives. Parker said he campaigned not on his age, but by shaking as many hands as possible, and meeting and listening to people. The Greens' leadership contest, with a voting period from Sept. 13 to 23, features 24 year-old Emily Lowan, who is an organizer with Climate Action Network Canada, 23-year-old student Adam Bremner-Akins, and family doctor Jonathan Kerr, the elder of the group at 44. By comparison, the last two Green leaders, Sonia Furstenau and Andrew Weaver, were 54 and 59 respectively when they stood down. Lowan and Bremner-Akins have no doubts that they are experienced enough to lead. 'I absolutely think I am, and I don't think that is just arrogance,' Lowan said, adding she has a 'decade of extremely relevant experience as a movement-builder, as a campaigner and a policy researcher.' Bremner-Akins, meanwhile, pointed to his experience on the party's provincial council and two runs as candidate for the party. 'It's not always used on the younger end of the spectrum, but age is just a number,' Bremner-Akins said. 'Whether you are in your 60s, 70s 80s or 20s — it is just a number, and I have been through a lot. If people want to know, I'm seasoned. I have been fired for union organizing. I have taken on roles inside the party. I have run for election.' UBC political science lecturer Stewart Prest said having two candidates in their 20s offered a 'silver lining' for the party, because it was a chance for renewal and to distinguish the party from rivals. But there were also risks. 'At same time, it makes it that much harder to make the claim that they're a party ready to govern, that they are ready to compete and offer an alternative both to the NDP and to the Conservatives,' he added. 'So, I don't know that there is a single personnel choice here available to the Greens to turn things around.' Whoever wins, the B.C. Greens are leaning into the youth movement, both rhetorically and logistically. The party's website describes the contest as 'an opportunity for a bold new vision, fresh energy, and renewed commitment to building a sustainable, just, and prosperous British Columbia.' And party membership is free for everyone aged 14 to 29. Party members as young as 16 can vote in the contest. That emphasis isn't solely the Greens' domain. The NDP's 2022 leadership contest let members as young as 12 vote, while the Conservatives' 2023 race set the age limit at 14. Neither of the Greens' two MLAs, Rob Botterell and Jeremy Valeriote, who is the interim leader, are seeking the leadership. The Greens may have maintained a presence in the legislature after last year's election, but the party's vote share dropped from about 15 per cent to just above eight per cent, amid an increasingly polarized political environment. Prest added that 'barring a change in the electoral system ... there's only so much the Greens can do here to remain relevant.' He said the Greens should instead focus on a regional strategy. Kerr, a twice-elected municipal councillor in Comox on Vancouver Island and vice-chair of the Comox Valley Regional District, disagreed. He said his leadership campaign tour across B.C. showed 'there is Green support everywhere,' including in northern and central B.C., where voters want to see forestry practices that focus on conservation, selective logging, and value-added production to keep mills open. 'People care and see what we've been doing isn't working,' he said. 'I am focused on the environment and climate. That is how I got involved with the Greens. But I'm equally focused on creating a clean economy, a new economy that's better.' When asked whether young party members should take a flyer from a 44-year-old, Kerr chuckled. 'Isn't that funny?' he said. 'I'm the old guy in the race.' Lowan said she was running because the party needed a 'true organizer to bring this party back to life,' so it can 'be a strong thorn in the side of the governing party.' Over the years, the party had lost its youth base and connection to social and climate movements, she said. She said she wanted 'to challenge the oligarchs that really run the show in the premier's office,' as well as projects she said were jeopardizing the climate and affordability. She said the Greens need to move in 'lockstep' with social and climate movements, with young people, workers, renters and Indigenous communities for the party to have a future. 'In this moment of time, the Greens have a real crossroads, between fading into the background, or choosing to be a bold, galvanizing party,' she said. Bremner-Akins said the party needed a leader 'who lives with the problems we're facing in the province, whether that's housing affordability, the rising cost of living, the existential threat of climate change we're facing,' he said. He added that people 'need someone who isn't just passionate about issues' but 'lives with them and is motivated to deal with them because people are frustrated' by the lack of 'relative urgency' from governments. Kerr said both Lowan and Bremner-Akins were 'great young leaders' with much to offer, saying as leader he would work to get them elected as MLAs alongside him. Prest cautioned that there was no guarantee the next leader of the Greens would win a seat in the legislature, let alone the two other candidates. But he said the two younger candidates' presence in the race pointed to an 'area of potential growth for the Greens'- young, progressive voters disenchanted with the NDP on issues including the environment and energy, after nearly a decade in office. Parker, who also led the B.C. Ecosocialist party before resigning in 2020 over comments that critics called transphobic, said the Greens were currently 'incapable of being relevant' in B.C. politics. But he had some advice. 'If you are a radical party, people are supposed to be offended by your opinions,' Parker said. 'If you are not offending anybody, you are doing it wrong.' The result of the leadership contest will be announced Sept. 24. This report by Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press, was first published August 14, 2025.


Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Trump greets Putin with a red carpet. Ukrainians feel betrayed.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In Kyiv, Ukrainians living under near daily Russian bombardment watched with astonishment as their country's most important ally rolled out a red carpet in Alaska for the man they blame for over three years of war, bloodshed and loss. Natalya Lypei, 66, a Kyiv resident, did a double-take. But the images flashing on her phone screen were real: U.S. President Donald Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly and clapped as the Russian leader approached him, after having been escorted into the country by four American fighter jets. Trump also ignored the arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court that has kept him mostly confined at home or in nations that are strong allies. 'How can you welcome a tyrant like that?' she asked, echoing the thoughts of many Kyiv residents. The red carpet treatment, the lack of concrete decisions for Ukraine and, most significantly, neglecting the significance of sanctions — a policy that could turn the tide in Kyiv's favor — have felt like a betrayal for Ukrainians who have borne enormous suffering in the almost three-and-a-half years since Russia's full-scale invasion. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian servicemen, the country's bravest and most skilled, have been killed and wounded, thousands of civilians have been killed in Russian strikes, and a fifth of the country is under occupation, severing families, properties and Ukraine's territorial integrity. On Ukrainian social media, memes of Putin and Trump walking down a red carpet strewn with dead Ukrainian bodies were widely shared. Zelenskyy had anticipated the meeting would be a boon for Putin and that there would be very little in the way of results. Speaking to reporters in the days leading up to the meeting, he said it would end up being a public relations victory for the Russian leader. Above all else, he was seeking a photo on American soil — which he got in Friday's meeting. It was the first time in a decade that Putin had stepped foot in the U.S., ending international isolation spurred by the 2022 Ukraine invasion; in other words, it was a win. For Lypei, whose serviceman son was killed last year, it was like attending another funeral, a fresh loss. This time, her country's hopes for a just peace. 'It hurts me a lot that my child died in a full-scale war, and today we saw a new funeral,' she said. Her 34-year-old son fought with Ukraine's 79th Brigade and was killed in the Donetsk region, the very area Putin wants Ukraine to vacate as a condition for a truce. 'I do not wish anyone that sorrow, that sadness, those tears,' she said. Natalya Cucil, 60, another Kyiv resident said she was surprised that Trump did not produce any results from the meeting, despite his stated efforts to end the war. 'There are no results and we don't know if there will be, although we always expect something and hope for it,' she said. Pensioner Anatolii Kovalenko, 72, said no matter what was discussed between the two leaders, it is clear his country's adversary has won in the sphere of public relations. 'Putin won this meeting 100%,' he said.