Germany's Merz defends partial weapons halt to Israel
"We will continue to help this country to defend itself," Merz told German public broadcaster ARD on Sunday, adding that despite this stance, the German government could not supply weapons to a conflict where hundreds to thousands of civilians could be killed.
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The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Zelenskiy says he warned Trump that Putin is 'bluffing'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (not pictured), on the day they attend a virtual meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders on the upcoming Trump-Putin summit on Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany, August 13, 2025. REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that he warned U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of his talks with Vladimir Putin this week that the Russian leader is "bluffing" about his desire to end the war. Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska on Friday, where Kyiv and its allies are worried the two leaders may try to dictate the terms of peace in the 3-1/2-year war. "I told the U.S. president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing," he said at a joint briefing in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. "He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine." Zelenskiy's comments, made after a virtual call with Trump and European leaders, come as Russian forces step up pressure on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, aiming to force Kyiv to give up land. Zelenskiy, who said he hoped the main topic of the talks in Alaska would be an immediate ceasefire, added that any discussions regarding territory should be covered during a three-leader meeting. "Regarding our principles and territorial integrity, in the end this is all decided at the level of leaders," he said. "Without Ukraine, it is impossible to decide this. And, by the way, everyone also supports this." Zelenskiy said Trump told him he would debrief him about his talks with Putin. (Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Additional reporting by Max Hunder; writing by Dan Peleschuk; editing by Mark Heinrich and Giles Elgood)
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
European leaders comment on teleconference with Trump on Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (R) wait for the beginning of a virtual talk between European leaders with the US President on the Ukraine war ahead of the summit between the US and Russian leaders, in Berlin, Germany, on August 13, 2025. European leaders will hold online talks with US President Donald Trump, hoping to convince him to respect Ukraine's interests when he discusses the war with Putin in Alaska on Friday. JOHN MACDOUGALL/Pool via REUTERS (Reuters) -Donald Trump joined a teleconference with European leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday, two days before the U.S. leader is due to hold a summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin on a possible peace deal for Ukraine. Following are some quotes from the leaders following the call: UKRAINE'S PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY "Everything concerning Ukraine must be discussed only with Ukraine's participation. We must be preparing a trilateral format (along with Trump and Putin) for talks. "A ceasefire must be the number one priority... There should be security guarantees. Truly reliable." FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON "President Trump was very clear that the United States wanted to achieve a ceasefire at this meeting in Alaska... "The second point on which things were very clear, as expressed by President Trump, is that territories belonging to Ukraine cannot be negotiated and will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president." "There are currently no serious territorial exchange schemes on the table." GERMAN CHANCELLOR FRIEDRICH MERZ "The principle that borders cannot be changed by force must continue to apply. "Negotiations must include robust security guarantees for Kyiv. The Ukrainian armed forces must be able and remain able to effectively defend the sovereignty of their country. They must also be able to count on Western aid in the long term. "Negotiations must be part of a common transatlantic strategy. Then they can ultimately be most likely to succeed. This strategy must continue to rely on strong support for Ukraine and necessary pressure against Russia. This also means, if there is no movement on the Russian side in Alaska, then the United States, we and Europeans should and must increase the pressure. "President Trump knows this position, he shares it very extensively and therefore I can say: We have had a really exceptionally constructive and good conversation with each other." (Reporting by Reuters bureauxCompiled by Gareth Jones)
New Straits Times
4 hours ago
- New Straits Times
NST Leader: Israel's killing fields of journalists
We may be living in the 21st century, but in our midst is an uncivilised state — Israel — led by a despicable tribe of genocidal barbarians. If the genocidal intent was private before, it has now been made public from the prime minister downwards. The Zionist regime led by Benjamin Netanyahu has made a mockery of every piece of international law and the legal institutions that rule on it. Even foreign state ministers and their families are threatened by its secret service, Mossad, for taking Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), like South Africa's former foreign minister and her family were. Even the ICJ was slammed for hearing the genocide case against Israel brought by South Africa. Mossad did the same to the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, pressuring her to abandon her war crime probe. Israel's pressure on Karim Khan, who is on leave as the chief prosecutor of the ICC, has a more dastardly twist. He now stands accused of sexual misconduct. From Khan's statements to the media, it is now clear that Netanyahu was trying to stop the ICC from issuing arrest warrants for alleged war crimes against him and his former defence minister. We are not surprised. Just recently, Netanyahu recruited the help of US President Donald Trump, who promptly said in his social media post that the trial should be cancelled immediately or a pardon given to "a GREAT HERO". An alleged war criminal on a genocidal rampage, a great hero? A week later the court said it was delaying the case on "security" grounds. What an unruly world we live in. Perhaps all this has to do with Israel's dark history. After all, Israel was an outcome of a lie by the European Jews and the West: the European Jews were people without a land and Palestine, a land without people. Historical facts have proven it to be a fabricated lie for a colonial project. That foundational lie has turned the Zionists into serial liars. The latest lie is that the Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al Sharif, killed by Israel's military on Sunday, was a Hamas leader. The fact is, as rights advocates are saying, he was targeted for his frontline reporting on Gaza. To a lying regime, speaking truth to power is a crime. It goes against the Zionist regime's DNA. Al Sharif was one of the 237 journalists assassinated since Oct 7, 2023. Were they all Hamas leaders? Were the four journalists killed along with Al Sharif Hamas leaders, too? As Emma Graham-Harrison writes in her op-ed in The Guardian, Israel is running two campaigns in Gaza: one for the military control of the strip and another for the narrative control of how the world understands what happens there. Israel's answer is to ban foreign journalists, and if they still manage to get in, kill them. Netanyahu, the truth has long ago been out: the pen is mightier than all the weapons you have been supplied.
