Truth walks path through Indigenous culture and history
Indigenous leaders have set off on a 370-kilometre journey, joined by hundreds of supporters to raise awareness of Australia's first formal truth-telling process.
Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man Travis Lovett begun a 25-day walk from Portland in Victoria's southwest to Melbourne, to highlight the Yoorrook Justice Commission's coming report on injustices against First Nations people since colonisation.
A ceremonial event and smoking ceremony were held on Sunday a short distance from where Edward Henty landed in 1834, establishing the first permanent European settlement in the state.
Lovett, who is deputy chair of the commission, described the journey as a "historic moment" for Victoria's truth-telling journey.
The commission has been working for the past four years, detailing the official record of the impact of historical and ongoing injustices endured by First Peoples in Victoria.
Thousands of people are expected to join sections of the walk over the coming month as it moves through cultural and historical sites across Victoria including Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Colac and Footscray.
Mr Lovett, who has strong family ties to the region, is expected to be the only walker for the entire route.
He hoped the walk would bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward in unity.
"Since colonisation it has been an important way to advocate for change," Lovett said.
"Today we begin another important and historic walk - to bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward united."
Indigenous leaders have set off on a 370-kilometre journey, joined by hundreds of supporters to raise awareness of Australia's first formal truth-telling process.
Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man Travis Lovett begun a 25-day walk from Portland in Victoria's southwest to Melbourne, to highlight the Yoorrook Justice Commission's coming report on injustices against First Nations people since colonisation.
A ceremonial event and smoking ceremony were held on Sunday a short distance from where Edward Henty landed in 1834, establishing the first permanent European settlement in the state.
Lovett, who is deputy chair of the commission, described the journey as a "historic moment" for Victoria's truth-telling journey.
The commission has been working for the past four years, detailing the official record of the impact of historical and ongoing injustices endured by First Peoples in Victoria.
Thousands of people are expected to join sections of the walk over the coming month as it moves through cultural and historical sites across Victoria including Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Colac and Footscray.
Mr Lovett, who has strong family ties to the region, is expected to be the only walker for the entire route.
He hoped the walk would bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward in unity.
"Since colonisation it has been an important way to advocate for change," Lovett said.
"Today we begin another important and historic walk - to bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward united."
Indigenous leaders have set off on a 370-kilometre journey, joined by hundreds of supporters to raise awareness of Australia's first formal truth-telling process.
Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man Travis Lovett begun a 25-day walk from Portland in Victoria's southwest to Melbourne, to highlight the Yoorrook Justice Commission's coming report on injustices against First Nations people since colonisation.
A ceremonial event and smoking ceremony were held on Sunday a short distance from where Edward Henty landed in 1834, establishing the first permanent European settlement in the state.
Lovett, who is deputy chair of the commission, described the journey as a "historic moment" for Victoria's truth-telling journey.
The commission has been working for the past four years, detailing the official record of the impact of historical and ongoing injustices endured by First Peoples in Victoria.
Thousands of people are expected to join sections of the walk over the coming month as it moves through cultural and historical sites across Victoria including Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Colac and Footscray.
Mr Lovett, who has strong family ties to the region, is expected to be the only walker for the entire route.
He hoped the walk would bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward in unity.
"Since colonisation it has been an important way to advocate for change," Lovett said.
"Today we begin another important and historic walk - to bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward united."
Indigenous leaders have set off on a 370-kilometre journey, joined by hundreds of supporters to raise awareness of Australia's first formal truth-telling process.
Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man Travis Lovett begun a 25-day walk from Portland in Victoria's southwest to Melbourne, to highlight the Yoorrook Justice Commission's coming report on injustices against First Nations people since colonisation.
A ceremonial event and smoking ceremony were held on Sunday a short distance from where Edward Henty landed in 1834, establishing the first permanent European settlement in the state.
Lovett, who is deputy chair of the commission, described the journey as a "historic moment" for Victoria's truth-telling journey.
The commission has been working for the past four years, detailing the official record of the impact of historical and ongoing injustices endured by First Peoples in Victoria.
Thousands of people are expected to join sections of the walk over the coming month as it moves through cultural and historical sites across Victoria including Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Colac and Footscray.
Mr Lovett, who has strong family ties to the region, is expected to be the only walker for the entire route.
He hoped the walk would bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward in unity.
"Since colonisation it has been an important way to advocate for change," Lovett said.
"Today we begin another important and historic walk - to bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward united."
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The Advertiser
a day ago
- The Advertiser
Albanese will need some nuance in facing a female opposition leader
Anthony Albanese loves a trophy, especially a human one. He prides himself on his various "captain's pick" candidates - good campaigners he has steered into seats. Way back in the Gillard days, he was key in persuading discontented Liberal Peter Slipper to defect. Slipper became an independent and Labor's speaker. The exercise helped the government's numbers, but the bold play didn't end well for Labor or for Slipper. The government was tarnished, and Slipper, relentlessly pursued by the Coalition and mired in controversy, eventually had to quit the speakership. The affair did produce Julia Gillard's famous misogyny speech, however. Now Albanese has another gee-whiz prize - Western Australian senator Dorinda Cox, who has defected from the Greens. Cox, after being defeated in a bid for Greens deputy leader, approached Labor and the PM drove her course to being accepted into the party. The manoeuvre makes a marginal but insignificant difference to Senate numbers - Labor will still need the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. Taking in Cox is a risk, and some in Labor are looking at it askance. The prime minister's embrace of Cox contradicts Labor's argument when its Western Australian senator Fatima Payman defected to become an independent. It said then hers was a Labor seat and she should therefore resign. But this wouldn't be the first time expediency trumped consistency in politics. Cox, who is Indigenous and was spokeswoman for First Nations and resources in the last parliament, has been a fierce critic of extending the North West Shelf gas project, which the government has just announced. Albanese says he is confident she "understands that being a member of the Labor Party means that she will support positions that are made by the Labor Party". She has also faced allegations of treating staff badly. Labor discounts the claims against her, saying they are overblown and a product of Greens factionalism and toxicity. Certainly, she was given a tough time by the hard-left faction represented by deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi. Labor would be wise to ensure Cox feels supported in her new party home. Albanese perhaps calculates that the worst that can happen is there's a blow up and she defects to the crossbench. Labor could shrug and say, she was never really one of us. Snatching a senator from the Greens is particularly satisfying to Albanese because he hates the party so much. Last term, lower house Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather (defeated at the election) really got under his skin. More generally, the Greens held up important legislation, most notably on housing. In the new Senate, Labor will need only the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. How new Greens leader Larissa Waters - who replaced Adam Bandt after he lost his seat - handles the party's relationship with the government will be crucial for the more contentious parts of Labor's legislative program. The usually low-key Waters will be under a lot of pressure. The Greens had a bad election, losing three lower house seats. Now they have lost a senator at the start of Waters' watch. Waters conceded on the Serious Danger podcast in late May that Labor had successfully run the narrative of the Greens as blockers. "So I do think we're going to need to be quite deft in how we handle balance of power in this term, [...] People want us to be constructive. They don't just want us to roll over and tick off on any old shit. They want meaningful reforms." Waters will want to pick her fights carefully, and also find ways of pursuing the Greens' agenda where the party co-operates. The first deal is likely to be on the government's legislation to increase the tax on those with large superannuation balances, which contains the controversial provision to tax unrealised capital gains. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and her team will confront some of the same problems as the Greens - when to oppose and when to seek to negotiate with the government. For his part, Albanese will have a novel challenge with Ley - what stance to adopt against the first female opposition leader, especially but not only in parliamentary clashes. After facing two alpha male Liberal leaders, Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, a new approach will obviously be necessary. As one Labor man succinctly puts it, "Labor can't monster a woman". There can be no repeat of Albanese, a frontbencher a decade ago in the Shorten opposition, interjecting to urge a female colleague engaged in a stoush with Ley to "smash her". For Ley, trying to deal with the Liberals' multiple difficulties in attracting women voters and candidates must be high on her agenda. Former Liberal federal president Alan Stockdale, one of the three-person group currently running the NSW division of the party, showed himself part of the problem when this week he told the NSW Liberal Women's Council, "The women in this party are so assertive now that we may need some special rules for men to get them pre-selected". READ MORE: Stockdale said later he was being "light-hearted". Tone deaf might be a better term. Ley jumped on him. "There is nothing wrong with being an assertive woman. In fact I encourage assertive women to join the Liberal Party." The jury is out on whether Ley will be able to make any sort of fist of her near-impossible job. But in the short time she's been leader, she has shown she is willing to be assertive. She emerged from the brief split in the Coalition looking much steadier than Nationals leader David Littleproud, even though she had to persuade her party room to accept the minor party's policy demands. In her frontbench reshuffle, she was willing to wear the inevitable criticism that came with dropping a couple of senior women who had under-performed. As deputy leader, Ley adjusted her style a while before the election, toning down the aggression and sometimes wild attacks, that had characterised her performance earlier in the term. A Liberal source said she found her "line and length". As leader, she will have others, notably deputy Ted O'Brien, to do the head-kicking, giving her room to attempt to develop a positive political persona. Labor leaned into attacking Dutton - never afraid to name him. With Ley, Albanese might adopt the Bob Carr approach of avoiding using his opponent's name. At least until he finds his line and length in dealing with her. Anthony Albanese loves a trophy, especially a human one. He prides himself on his various "captain's pick" candidates - good campaigners he has steered into seats. Way back in the Gillard days, he was key in persuading discontented Liberal Peter Slipper to defect. Slipper became an independent and Labor's speaker. The exercise helped the government's numbers, but the bold play didn't end well for Labor or for Slipper. The government was tarnished, and Slipper, relentlessly pursued by the Coalition and mired in controversy, eventually had to quit the speakership. The affair did produce Julia Gillard's famous misogyny speech, however. Now Albanese has another gee-whiz prize - Western Australian senator Dorinda Cox, who has defected from the Greens. Cox, after being defeated in a bid for Greens deputy leader, approached Labor and the PM drove her course to being accepted into the party. The manoeuvre makes a marginal but insignificant difference to Senate numbers - Labor will still need the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. Taking in Cox is a risk, and some in Labor are looking at it askance. The prime minister's embrace of Cox contradicts Labor's argument when its Western Australian senator Fatima Payman defected to become an independent. It said then hers was a Labor seat and she should therefore resign. But this wouldn't be the first time expediency trumped consistency in politics. Cox, who is Indigenous and was spokeswoman for First Nations and resources in the last parliament, has been a fierce critic of extending the North West Shelf gas project, which the government has just announced. Albanese says he is confident she "understands that being a member of the Labor Party means that she will support positions that are made by the Labor Party". She has also faced allegations of treating staff badly. Labor discounts the claims against her, saying they are overblown and a product of Greens factionalism and toxicity. Certainly, she was given a tough time by the hard-left faction represented by deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi. Labor would be wise to ensure Cox feels supported in her new party home. Albanese perhaps calculates that the worst that can happen is there's a blow up and she defects to the crossbench. Labor could shrug and say, she was never really one of us. Snatching a senator from the Greens is particularly satisfying to Albanese because he hates the party so much. Last term, lower house Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather (defeated at the election) really got under his skin. More generally, the Greens held up important legislation, most notably on housing. In the new Senate, Labor will need only the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. How new Greens leader Larissa Waters - who replaced Adam Bandt after he lost his seat - handles the party's relationship with the government will be crucial for the more contentious parts of Labor's legislative program. The usually low-key Waters will be under a lot of pressure. The Greens had a bad election, losing three lower house seats. Now they have lost a senator at the start of Waters' watch. Waters conceded on the Serious Danger podcast in late May that Labor had successfully run the narrative of the Greens as blockers. "So I do think we're going to need to be quite deft in how we handle balance of power in this term, [...] People want us to be constructive. They don't just want us to roll over and tick off on any old shit. They want meaningful reforms." Waters will want to pick her fights carefully, and also find ways of pursuing the Greens' agenda where the party co-operates. The first deal is likely to be on the government's legislation to increase the tax on those with large superannuation balances, which contains the controversial provision to tax unrealised capital gains. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and her team will confront some of the same problems as the Greens - when to oppose and when to seek to negotiate with the government. For his part, Albanese will have a novel challenge with Ley - what stance to adopt against the first female opposition leader, especially but not only in parliamentary clashes. After facing two alpha male Liberal leaders, Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, a new approach will obviously be necessary. As one Labor man succinctly puts it, "Labor can't monster a woman". There can be no repeat of Albanese, a frontbencher a decade ago in the Shorten opposition, interjecting to urge a female colleague engaged in a stoush with Ley to "smash her". For Ley, trying to deal with the Liberals' multiple difficulties in attracting women voters and candidates must be high on her agenda. Former Liberal federal president Alan Stockdale, one of the three-person group currently running the NSW division of the party, showed himself part of the problem when this week he told the NSW Liberal Women's Council, "The women in this party are so assertive now that we may need some special rules for men to get them pre-selected". READ MORE: Stockdale said later he was being "light-hearted". Tone deaf might be a better term. Ley jumped on him. "There is nothing wrong with being an assertive woman. In fact I encourage assertive women to join the Liberal Party." The jury is out on whether Ley will be able to make any sort of fist of her near-impossible job. But in the short time she's been leader, she has shown she is willing to be assertive. She emerged from the brief split in the Coalition looking much steadier than Nationals leader David Littleproud, even though she had to persuade her party room to accept the minor party's policy demands. In her frontbench reshuffle, she was willing to wear the inevitable criticism that came with dropping a couple of senior women who had under-performed. As deputy leader, Ley adjusted her style a while before the election, toning down the aggression and sometimes wild attacks, that had characterised her performance earlier in the term. A Liberal source said she found her "line and length". As leader, she will have others, notably deputy Ted O'Brien, to do the head-kicking, giving her room to attempt to develop a positive political persona. Labor leaned into attacking Dutton - never afraid to name him. With Ley, Albanese might adopt the Bob Carr approach of avoiding using his opponent's name. At least until he finds his line and length in dealing with her. Anthony Albanese loves a trophy, especially a human one. He prides himself on his various "captain's pick" candidates - good campaigners he has steered into seats. Way back in the Gillard days, he was key in persuading discontented Liberal Peter Slipper to defect. Slipper became an independent and Labor's speaker. The exercise helped the government's numbers, but the bold play didn't end well for Labor or for Slipper. The government was tarnished, and Slipper, relentlessly pursued by the Coalition and mired in controversy, eventually had to quit the speakership. The affair did produce Julia Gillard's famous misogyny speech, however. Now Albanese has another gee-whiz prize - Western Australian senator Dorinda Cox, who has defected from the Greens. Cox, after being defeated in a bid for Greens deputy leader, approached Labor and the PM drove her course to being accepted into the party. The manoeuvre makes a marginal but insignificant difference to Senate numbers - Labor will still need the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. Taking in Cox is a risk, and some in Labor are looking at it askance. The prime minister's embrace of Cox contradicts Labor's argument when its Western Australian senator Fatima Payman defected to become an independent. It said then hers was a Labor seat and she should therefore resign. But this wouldn't be the first time expediency trumped consistency in politics. Cox, who is Indigenous and was spokeswoman for First Nations and resources in the last parliament, has been a fierce critic of extending the North West Shelf gas project, which the government has just announced. Albanese says he is confident she "understands that being a member of the Labor Party means that she will support positions that are made by the Labor Party". She has also faced allegations of treating staff badly. Labor discounts the claims against her, saying they are overblown and a product of Greens factionalism and toxicity. Certainly, she was given a tough time by the hard-left faction represented by deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi. Labor would be wise to ensure Cox feels supported in her new party home. Albanese perhaps calculates that the worst that can happen is there's a blow up and she defects to the crossbench. Labor could shrug and say, she was never really one of us. Snatching a senator from the Greens is particularly satisfying to Albanese because he hates the party so much. Last term, lower house Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather (defeated at the election) really got under his skin. More generally, the Greens held up important legislation, most notably on housing. In the new Senate, Labor will need only the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. How new Greens leader Larissa Waters - who replaced Adam Bandt after he lost his seat - handles the party's relationship with the government will be crucial for the more contentious parts of Labor's legislative program. The usually low-key Waters will be under a lot of pressure. The Greens had a bad election, losing three lower house seats. Now they have lost a senator at the start of Waters' watch. Waters conceded on the Serious Danger podcast in late May that Labor had successfully run the narrative of the Greens as blockers. "So I do think we're going to need to be quite deft in how we handle balance of power in this term, [...] People want us to be constructive. They don't just want us to roll over and tick off on any old shit. They want meaningful reforms." Waters will want to pick her fights carefully, and also find ways of pursuing the Greens' agenda where the party co-operates. The first deal is likely to be on the government's legislation to increase the tax on those with large superannuation balances, which contains the controversial provision to tax unrealised capital gains. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and her team will confront some of the same problems as the Greens - when to oppose and when to seek to negotiate with the government. For his part, Albanese will have a novel challenge with Ley - what stance to adopt against the first female opposition leader, especially but not only in parliamentary clashes. After facing two alpha male Liberal leaders, Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, a new approach will obviously be necessary. As one Labor man succinctly puts it, "Labor can't monster a woman". There can be no repeat of Albanese, a frontbencher a decade ago in the Shorten opposition, interjecting to urge a female colleague engaged in a stoush with Ley to "smash her". For Ley, trying to deal with the Liberals' multiple difficulties in attracting women voters and candidates must be high on her agenda. Former Liberal federal president Alan Stockdale, one of the three-person group currently running the NSW division of the party, showed himself part of the problem when this week he told the NSW Liberal Women's Council, "The women in this party are so assertive now that we may need some special rules for men to get them pre-selected". READ MORE: Stockdale said later he was being "light-hearted". Tone deaf might be a better term. Ley jumped on him. "There is nothing wrong with being an assertive woman. In fact I encourage assertive women to join the Liberal Party." The jury is out on whether Ley will be able to make any sort of fist of her near-impossible job. But in the short time she's been leader, she has shown she is willing to be assertive. She emerged from the brief split in the Coalition looking much steadier than Nationals leader David Littleproud, even though she had to persuade her party room to accept the minor party's policy demands. In her frontbench reshuffle, she was willing to wear the inevitable criticism that came with dropping a couple of senior women who had under-performed. As deputy leader, Ley adjusted her style a while before the election, toning down the aggression and sometimes wild attacks, that had characterised her performance earlier in the term. A Liberal source said she found her "line and length". As leader, she will have others, notably deputy Ted O'Brien, to do the head-kicking, giving her room to attempt to develop a positive political persona. Labor leaned into attacking Dutton - never afraid to name him. With Ley, Albanese might adopt the Bob Carr approach of avoiding using his opponent's name. At least until he finds his line and length in dealing with her. Anthony Albanese loves a trophy, especially a human one. He prides himself on his various "captain's pick" candidates - good campaigners he has steered into seats. Way back in the Gillard days, he was key in persuading discontented Liberal Peter Slipper to defect. Slipper became an independent and Labor's speaker. The exercise helped the government's numbers, but the bold play didn't end well for Labor or for Slipper. The government was tarnished, and Slipper, relentlessly pursued by the Coalition and mired in controversy, eventually had to quit the speakership. The affair did produce Julia Gillard's famous misogyny speech, however. Now Albanese has another gee-whiz prize - Western Australian senator Dorinda Cox, who has defected from the Greens. Cox, after being defeated in a bid for Greens deputy leader, approached Labor and the PM drove her course to being accepted into the party. The manoeuvre makes a marginal but insignificant difference to Senate numbers - Labor will still need the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. Taking in Cox is a risk, and some in Labor are looking at it askance. The prime minister's embrace of Cox contradicts Labor's argument when its Western Australian senator Fatima Payman defected to become an independent. It said then hers was a Labor seat and she should therefore resign. But this wouldn't be the first time expediency trumped consistency in politics. Cox, who is Indigenous and was spokeswoman for First Nations and resources in the last parliament, has been a fierce critic of extending the North West Shelf gas project, which the government has just announced. Albanese says he is confident she "understands that being a member of the Labor Party means that she will support positions that are made by the Labor Party". She has also faced allegations of treating staff badly. Labor discounts the claims against her, saying they are overblown and a product of Greens factionalism and toxicity. Certainly, she was given a tough time by the hard-left faction represented by deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi. Labor would be wise to ensure Cox feels supported in her new party home. Albanese perhaps calculates that the worst that can happen is there's a blow up and she defects to the crossbench. Labor could shrug and say, she was never really one of us. Snatching a senator from the Greens is particularly satisfying to Albanese because he hates the party so much. Last term, lower house Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather (defeated at the election) really got under his skin. More generally, the Greens held up important legislation, most notably on housing. In the new Senate, Labor will need only the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. How new Greens leader Larissa Waters - who replaced Adam Bandt after he lost his seat - handles the party's relationship with the government will be crucial for the more contentious parts of Labor's legislative program. The usually low-key Waters will be under a lot of pressure. The Greens had a bad election, losing three lower house seats. Now they have lost a senator at the start of Waters' watch. Waters conceded on the Serious Danger podcast in late May that Labor had successfully run the narrative of the Greens as blockers. "So I do think we're going to need to be quite deft in how we handle balance of power in this term, [...] People want us to be constructive. They don't just want us to roll over and tick off on any old shit. They want meaningful reforms." Waters will want to pick her fights carefully, and also find ways of pursuing the Greens' agenda where the party co-operates. The first deal is likely to be on the government's legislation to increase the tax on those with large superannuation balances, which contains the controversial provision to tax unrealised capital gains. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and her team will confront some of the same problems as the Greens - when to oppose and when to seek to negotiate with the government. For his part, Albanese will have a novel challenge with Ley - what stance to adopt against the first female opposition leader, especially but not only in parliamentary clashes. After facing two alpha male Liberal leaders, Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, a new approach will obviously be necessary. As one Labor man succinctly puts it, "Labor can't monster a woman". There can be no repeat of Albanese, a frontbencher a decade ago in the Shorten opposition, interjecting to urge a female colleague engaged in a stoush with Ley to "smash her". For Ley, trying to deal with the Liberals' multiple difficulties in attracting women voters and candidates must be high on her agenda. Former Liberal federal president Alan Stockdale, one of the three-person group currently running the NSW division of the party, showed himself part of the problem when this week he told the NSW Liberal Women's Council, "The women in this party are so assertive now that we may need some special rules for men to get them pre-selected". READ MORE: Stockdale said later he was being "light-hearted". Tone deaf might be a better term. Ley jumped on him. "There is nothing wrong with being an assertive woman. In fact I encourage assertive women to join the Liberal Party." The jury is out on whether Ley will be able to make any sort of fist of her near-impossible job. But in the short time she's been leader, she has shown she is willing to be assertive. She emerged from the brief split in the Coalition looking much steadier than Nationals leader David Littleproud, even though she had to persuade her party room to accept the minor party's policy demands. In her frontbench reshuffle, she was willing to wear the inevitable criticism that came with dropping a couple of senior women who had under-performed. As deputy leader, Ley adjusted her style a while before the election, toning down the aggression and sometimes wild attacks, that had characterised her performance earlier in the term. A Liberal source said she found her "line and length". As leader, she will have others, notably deputy Ted O'Brien, to do the head-kicking, giving her room to attempt to develop a positive political persona. Labor leaned into attacking Dutton - never afraid to name him. With Ley, Albanese might adopt the Bob Carr approach of avoiding using his opponent's name. At least until he finds his line and length in dealing with her.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Takes two to Tango': Trump mulls punishing Ukraine, as well as Russia
The Kremlin also accused Britain on Thursday of being involved in the surprise Ukrainian drone strike on Russia at the weekend. 'Such a kind of attack involves, of course, provision of very high technology, so-called geospaced data, which can only be done by those who have it in possession. And this is London and Washington,' Russian ambassador to London Andrei Kelin told Sky News, as reported by the UK Telegraph. 'I don't believe that America [is involved], that has been denied by President Trump, definitely, but it has not been denied by London.' Downing Street said it would never comment on operational matters at home or abroad. European leaders are worried that Trump, who has expressed frustration over efforts to bring an end to Russia's war in Ukraine, will abandon Ukraine peace talks and US support for Kyiv. Trump said during the meeting with Merz that he believed Germany agreed with him about the need for an end to the conflict with Ukraine. Merz reiterated his support for Ukraine. 'My personal view is clear on that we are on the side of Ukraine, and we are trying to get them stronger and stronger, just to make Putin stop this war,' Merz said. Trump's rhetoric may alarm European partners, who are hoping to convince him to ramp up pressure on Putin to force the Russian leader to the negotiating table. Putin has rejected calls for a ceasefire; Trump is expected to meet with key US allies at the G7 and a NATO summit later this month. Loading 'We are all looking for measures and instruments to bring this terrible war to an end,' Merz said. 'So let's talk about what we can do jointly, and we are ready to do what we can. And you know that we gave support to Ukraine and that we are looking for more pressure on Russia.' Thursday's meeting between Merz and Trump was an early test for the 69-year-old conservative who became Germany's new leader last month. Merz is visiting Washington in a bid to bolster ties strained by Trump's sweeping tariffs and Russia's war in Ukraine — issues expected to dominate their agenda. Merz presented Trump with the birth certificate of his German grandfather, who was born in the village of Kallstadt in 1869 and later immigrated to New York as a 16-year-old and made his fortune in the restaurant business. 'We'll put it up in a place of honour,' Trump said. The gift is part of Merz's charm offensive and is supposed to remind the US president of his German roots. But it clearly also carries a political message for Trump, who has criticised post-war Germany for having benefited from US military protection without having paid its fair share. The timing of Merz's visit is critical for trade talks, with just weeks to go before Trump's threatened 50 per cent tariff on nearly all European Union goods is set to take effect. The EU and the US have been engaged in talks to avert higher import taxes, but the process has been rocky, with Trump bemoaning the level of progress and issuing fresh threats that have heightened tensions. Trump on Tuesday signed an order doubling US steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 per cent, angering European officials, who say the move undermines negotiations and threatened retaliatory measures if a deal is not reached. Trump has suggested that if he is unable to reach deals with trading partners that he will just settle on a tariff level. 'We'll end up, hopefully, with a trade deal or, or we'll do something, you know, we'll do the tariffs,' Trump told Merz on Thursday. 'I mean, I'm OK with the tariffs, or we make a deal with the trade.' Loading Trump's complaints about the EU are longstanding. He recently accused the bloc of slow-walking negotiations and unfairly targeting US companies with lawsuits and regulations. He threatened the higher 50 per cent tariff on the bloc starting June 1, but delayed it until July 9 after a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. At home, the far-right Alternative for Germany wants Merz to break with Brussels to resolve the trade dispute, an idea the chancellor has rejected.
The Age
2 days ago
- The Age
‘Takes two to Tango': Trump mulls punishing Ukraine, as well as Russia
The Kremlin also accused Britain on Thursday of being involved in the surprise Ukrainian drone strike on Russia at the weekend. 'Such a kind of attack involves, of course, provision of very high technology, so-called geospaced data, which can only be done by those who have it in possession. And this is London and Washington,' Russian ambassador to London Andrei Kelin told Sky News, as reported by the UK Telegraph. 'I don't believe that America [is involved], that has been denied by President Trump, definitely, but it has not been denied by London.' Downing Street said it would never comment on operational matters at home or abroad. European leaders are worried that Trump, who has expressed frustration over efforts to bring an end to Russia's war in Ukraine, will abandon Ukraine peace talks and US support for Kyiv. Trump said during the meeting with Merz that he believed Germany agreed with him about the need for an end to the conflict with Ukraine. Merz reiterated his support for Ukraine. 'My personal view is clear on that we are on the side of Ukraine, and we are trying to get them stronger and stronger, just to make Putin stop this war,' Merz said. Trump's rhetoric may alarm European partners, who are hoping to convince him to ramp up pressure on Putin to force the Russian leader to the negotiating table. Putin has rejected calls for a ceasefire; Trump is expected to meet with key US allies at the G7 and a NATO summit later this month. Loading 'We are all looking for measures and instruments to bring this terrible war to an end,' Merz said. 'So let's talk about what we can do jointly, and we are ready to do what we can. And you know that we gave support to Ukraine and that we are looking for more pressure on Russia.' Thursday's meeting between Merz and Trump was an early test for the 69-year-old conservative who became Germany's new leader last month. Merz is visiting Washington in a bid to bolster ties strained by Trump's sweeping tariffs and Russia's war in Ukraine — issues expected to dominate their agenda. Merz presented Trump with the birth certificate of his German grandfather, who was born in the village of Kallstadt in 1869 and later immigrated to New York as a 16-year-old and made his fortune in the restaurant business. 'We'll put it up in a place of honour,' Trump said. The gift is part of Merz's charm offensive and is supposed to remind the US president of his German roots. But it clearly also carries a political message for Trump, who has criticised post-war Germany for having benefited from US military protection without having paid its fair share. The timing of Merz's visit is critical for trade talks, with just weeks to go before Trump's threatened 50 per cent tariff on nearly all European Union goods is set to take effect. The EU and the US have been engaged in talks to avert higher import taxes, but the process has been rocky, with Trump bemoaning the level of progress and issuing fresh threats that have heightened tensions. Trump on Tuesday signed an order doubling US steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 per cent, angering European officials, who say the move undermines negotiations and threatened retaliatory measures if a deal is not reached. Trump has suggested that if he is unable to reach deals with trading partners that he will just settle on a tariff level. 'We'll end up, hopefully, with a trade deal or, or we'll do something, you know, we'll do the tariffs,' Trump told Merz on Thursday. 'I mean, I'm OK with the tariffs, or we make a deal with the trade.' Loading Trump's complaints about the EU are longstanding. He recently accused the bloc of slow-walking negotiations and unfairly targeting US companies with lawsuits and regulations. He threatened the higher 50 per cent tariff on the bloc starting June 1, but delayed it until July 9 after a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. At home, the far-right Alternative for Germany wants Merz to break with Brussels to resolve the trade dispute, an idea the chancellor has rejected.
