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Israel's new settlement plan breaks international law, UN human rights office says

Israel's new settlement plan breaks international law, UN human rights office says

The UN human rights office said on Friday Israel's decision to build a new settlement near East Jerusalem was illegal under international law and that it put nearby Palestinians at risk of forced eviction, which it described as a war crime.
Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved plans for a settlement that would split East Jerusalem from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, saying the move would 'bury' the idea of a Palestinian state.
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Ukraine's Zelenskyy to meet Trump on Monday after US-Russia summit fails to halt fighting
Ukraine's Zelenskyy to meet Trump on Monday after US-Russia summit fails to halt fighting

National Post

time2 hours ago

  • National Post

Ukraine's Zelenskyy to meet Trump on Monday after US-Russia summit fails to halt fighting

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet Monday in Washington with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has shifted to saying an overall peace agreement — and not a ceasefire — is the next step in ending the 3 1/2-year-old war. Article content Trump's abrupt reversal, aligning himself with a position held by Russian President Vladimir Putin, came in a social media post on Saturday, hours after they concluded a summit in Alaska that produced no agreement to halt the fighting. Putin has long said that Moscow is not interested in a temporary truce, and instead is seeking a long-term settlement that takes the Kremlin's interests into account. Article content Article content After calls with Zelenskyy and European leaders, Trump posted that 'it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.' Article content Article content In a statement after the Trump call, the European leaders did not address whether a peace deal was preferable to a ceasefire, saying they 'welcomed President Trump's efforts to stop the killing in Ukraine, end Russia's war of aggression, and achieve just and lasting peace.' Article content Trump's statement that a peace agreement should be reached before a ceasefire appears to indicate Trump's thinking is 'shifting towards Putin,' an approach that would allow Moscow to keep fighting while negotiating, said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. Article content Zelenskyy, who was not invited to Alaska for the summit, said he had a 'long and substantive' conversation with Trump early Saturday. He said they would 'discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war' on Monday. Article content Article content It will be Zelenskyy's first visit to the U.S. since Trump berated him publicly for being 'disrespectful' during an extraordinary Oval Office meeting on Feb. 28. Article content Article content Trump, who also held calls with European leaders Saturday, confirmed the White House meeting and said that 'if all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin.' Article content Trump rolled out the red carpet on Friday for Putin, who was in the U.S. for the first time in a decade and since the start of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But he gave little concrete detail afterward of what was discussed. On Saturday, he posted on social media that it 'went very well.' Article content Trump had warned ahead of the summit of 'very severe consequences' for Russia if Putin doesn't agree to end the war. Article content Zelenskyy reiterated the importance of involving European leaders, who also were not at the summit. Article content 'It is important that Europeans are involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America,' he said. 'We also discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine's security.'

Zelenskyy to meet Trump on Monday after Putin meeting fails to reach ceasefire deal
Zelenskyy to meet Trump on Monday after Putin meeting fails to reach ceasefire deal

CBC

time3 hours ago

  • CBC

Zelenskyy to meet Trump on Monday after Putin meeting fails to reach ceasefire deal

U.S. president reverses course, calls for peace deal after leaving Alaska meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday after a Russia-U.S. summit ended without an agreement to stop the fighting in Ukraine after three and a half years. In a reversal only a few hours after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said an overall peace agreement, and not a ceasefire, was the best way to end the war. That statement echoed Putin's view that Russia is not interested in a temporary truce and instead is seeking a long-term settlement that takes Moscow's interests into account. Trump and Ukraine's European allies had been calling for a ceasefire ahead of any negotiations. Zelenskyy, who was not invited to Alaska for the summit, said he held a "long and substantive" conversation with Trump early Saturday. He thanked him for an invitation to meet in person in Washington on Monday and said they would "discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war." It will be Zelenskyy's first visit to the United States since Trump berated him publicly for being "disrespectful" during an extraordinary Oval Office meeting on Feb. 28. Trump, who also held calls with European leaders on Saturday, confirmed the White House meeting and said that "if all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin." Trump rolled out the red carpet on Friday for Putin, who was in the U.S. for the first time in a decade and since the start of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. But he gave little concrete detail afterward of what was discussed. On Saturday, he posted on social media that it "went very well." Trump had warned ahead of the summit of "very severe consequences" for Russia if Putin doesn't agree to end the war. Zelenskyy seeks European involvement Zelenskyy reiterated the importance of involving European leaders, who also were not at the summit. "It is important that Europeans are involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America," he said. "We also discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine's security." He didn't elaborate, but Zelenskyy has previously said that European partners put on hold a proposal to establish a foreign troop presence in Ukraine to deter future Russian aggression because it lacked an American backstop. Zelenskyy said he spoke to Trump one-on-one and then in a call with other European leaders. In total, the conversations lasted over 90 minutes. Trump puts onus on Zelenskyy and Europe Trump said in Alaska that "there's no deal until there's a deal," after Putin claimed the two leaders had hammered out an "understanding" on Ukraine and warned Europe not to "torpedo the nascent progress." During an interview with Fox News Channel before returning to Washington, Trump insisted the onus going forward might be on Zelenskyy "to get it done," but said there would also be some involvement from European nations. In a statement after speaking to Trump, major European leaders said they were ready to work with Trump and Zelenskyy toward "a trilateral summit with European support." WATCH | No deal, but Trump-Putin meeting ends on a friendly note, without Zelenskyy: Media Video | The National : Putin tells Trump 'next time in Moscow,' no deal reached Caption: U.S. President Donald Trump said there's a very good chance of 'getting there' on a deal to end the war in Ukraine after his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin also floated the idea of Trump going to Moscow for a follow-up meeting. Open full embed in new tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. The statement by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the European Union's two top officials said that "Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees" and welcomed U.S. readiness to provide them. "It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory," they said. "International borders must not be changed by force." The leaders did not mention a ceasefire agreement, which they had hoped for ahead of the summit. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that "the harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war any time soon," noting that Moscow's forces launched new attacks on Ukraine even as the delegations met. "Putin continues to drag out negotiations and hopes he gets away with it. He left Anchorage without making any commitments to end the killing," she said. Czech Republic Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the summit confirmed that "while the U.S. and its allies are looking for ways to peace, Putin is still only interested in making the greatest possible territorial gains and restoring the Soviet empire." Ukrainian and Russian forces are fighting along a 1,000-kilometre front line. Since spring, Russian troops have accelerated their gains, capturing the most territory since the opening stages of the war. "Vladimir Putin came to the Alaska summit with the principal goal of stalling any pressure on Russia to end the war," said Neil Melvin, director of international security at the London-based Royal United Services Institute. "He will consider the summit outcome as mission accomplished." Questions on a Trump, Zelenskyy and Putin meeting Zelenskyy voiced support for Trump's proposal for a trilateral meeting with the U.S. and Russia. He said that "key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this." But Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said on Russian state television on Saturday that a potential meeting of Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy has not been raised in U.S.-Russia discussions. "The topic has not been touched upon yet," he said, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Zelenskyy wrote on social media platform X that he told Trump that "sanctions should be strengthened if there is no trilateral meeting or if Russia tries to evade an honest end to the war." Russian officials and media struck a largely positive tone, with some describing Friday's meeting as a symbolic end to Putin's isolation in the West. Former president Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council, praised the summit as a breakthrough in restoring high-level dialogue between Moscow and Washington, describing the talks as "calm, without ultimatums and threats." Russian attacks on Ukraine continued overnight, using one ballistic missile and 85 Shahed drones, 61 of which were shot down, Ukraine's air force said. Front-line areas of Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Chernihiv were attacked. Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 29 Ukrainian drones over Russia and the Sea of Azov overnight.

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