Best photos of August 17: Largest paper balloon to protests in Serbia
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Al Etihad
2 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Trump greets Zelensky at White House
18 Aug 2025 21:28 Washington (AFP)US President Donald Trump welcomed Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on Monday for high-stakes talks on a possible peace deal with Russia."We love them," Trump told reporters when asked what his message was to the people of Ukraine after shaking Zelensky's also complimented Zelensky on his smart black jacket, after the Ukrainian was criticized by the media for failing to wear a suit during a visit in February that ended in a shouting said that if his meeting with Zelensky went well he expected to hold a trilateral meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin with the objective of ending the Ukraine-Russia war."We're going to have a meeting. I think if everything works out well today we'll have a trilat and I think there will be a reasonable chance of ending the war when we do that," said Trump, sitting alongside Zelensky at the White thanked Trump for hosting the talks, which will be expanded to include European leaders later in the day. "Thank you for (the) invitation and thank you very much for your efforts, personal efforts to stop killings and stop this war," he said.
Al Etihad
2 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Europeans arrive for high-stakes Trump and Zelensky talks
18 Aug 2025 21:06 Washington (AFP)European leaders arrived at the White House on Monday ahead of high-stakes talks with US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky aimed at bridging big differences over a peace deal with leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Finland, as well as NATO chief Mark Rutte and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, are demonstrating support for Ukraine as Trump presses Kyiv to make raid sirens sounded over Kyiv on Monday, AFP journalists heard, at the same time as the Europeans were his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week, Trump said Ukraine must give up Crimea and abandon its NATO ambitions -- two of Moscow's top was due to arrive shortly for a one-on-one with Trump in the Oval Office, scene of an astonishing meeting in February February when the US president and his deputy JD Vance publicly berated the will later meet separately with the European 79, said it was a "big day at the White House" but appeared to be in a combative mood, churning out a string of social media posts."I know exactly what I'm doing," the Republican said on his Truth Social network. "And I don't need the advice of people who have been working on all of these conflicts for years, and were never able to do a thing to stop them." 'Peace through strength' The European leaders held a preparatory meeting with the Ukrainian president in Washington on Monday morning, while Zelensky also met Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith described the talks at the White House as "very serious" -- and sought to flatter Trump ahead of the meeting, by echoing his trademark "peace through strength" language."President Trump has that strength. We have to do everything right to make peace happen," he later called on social media for a "reliable and lasting peace for Ukraine and for the whole of Europe" and said they would discuss Western security guarantees for Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on the plane to Washington: "We've got to make sure there is peace, that it is lasting peace, and that it is fair and that it is just."Reports had said Putin would be open to Western security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of any peace deal -- but had ruled out Kyiv's long-term ambition to join Trump-Putin summit in Alaska failed to produce a ceasefire in the nearly three-and-a-half-year Trump dropped his previous insistence on a ceasefire in favor of seeking a complete peace deal, meaning negotiations could proceed while the war goes on. He also alarmed Kyiv and European capitals by repeating a number of Russian talking said Sunday that Zelensky could end the war "almost immediately, if he wants to" but that, for Ukraine, there was "no getting back" Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and "NO GOING INTO NATO." 'Some concessions' US media reports have said Putin would consider freezing much of the current frontline in Ukraine if Kyiv agreed to completely give up the Donbas region in eastern envoy Steve Witkoff said Moscow had made "some concessions" on such a move is widely viewed as unacceptable for Ukraine, which still holds much of the resource-rich area. Kyiv and European leaders have warned against making political and territorial concessions to Russia, whose assault on Ukraine has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.
Middle East Eye
8 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Opinion: Gaza aid drops: A salve for western guilt
Bulging eyes, visible ribcages and children's cries from hunger are no longer rare sights and sounds in Gaza; they are the norm. But this famine is not caused by a lack of food; it is caused by politics, blockade and the deliberate obstruction of access. While airdropped aid may offer limited relief to Gaza's starving civilians, it also serves a broader political purpose. For western governments - many of which have staunchly supported Israel throughout the conflict - such symbolic gestures help deflect mounting criticism. By backing airdrops, they can project humanitarian concern while distancing themselves from the uncomfortable reality that their allies' policies have played a central role in creating the conditions for mass starvation. At the same time, the method allows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to frame the aid as a concession to international pressure, rather than as an operation facilitated or permitted by Israel itself. For months, Netanyahu has aligned himself with the hardline vision of far-right members of his cabinet - both to preserve his governing coalition and out of personal conviction. People gather as a military transport aircraft flies over the northern Gaza Strip during an aid drop on 27 July 2025 (Bashar Taleb/AFP)
