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Trump makes shocking move, supports pro Pakistan Turkey, president Erdogan claims ‘Friend Trump' will lift CAATSA sanctions, S-400 and F-35…, reveals…

Trump makes shocking move, supports pro Pakistan Turkey, president Erdogan claims ‘Friend Trump' will lift CAATSA sanctions, S-400 and F-35…, reveals…

India.com18-05-2025
(File)
New Delhi: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made a significant revelation regarding American President Donald Trump. He stated that he believes that due to President Trump's 'more open, more creative' approach, the U.S. Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) sanctions on Turkey's defense sector will soon be 'lifted.'
When asked by journalists about the recent U.S. approval for potential missile sales to Turkey during a flight returning from Albania, Erdogan said he can 'easily say that there is an easing in CAATSA,' referring to the 'Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.
Erdogan referred to Trump as a friend as he mentioned that he has discussed this matter with Trump and the new U.S. ambassador to Ankara. According to transcripts of the comments made during the flight, he said, 'With my friend Trump's assumption of office, we reached a stage of more open, more creative, and more honest communication.'
The USA imposed CAATSA sanctions on Turkey in 2020 as a punishment for purchasing the S-400 missile defense system from Russia, despite being a NATO member. However, Turkey has never used the S-400 missile system, and it remains inactive to this day.
The U.S. also removed Turkey from the F-35 programme due to the purchase of the S-400. What is the CAATSA sanction?
The full form of CAATSA is Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. The U.S. created it as a punitive measure against its adversaries. This law was first enacted on August 2, 2017, and was implemented in January 2018. The purpose of this law is to confront the aggression of America's adversary countries, mainly Iran, Russia, and North Korea.
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Just as Russia's Most-famous dissident seemed set to go free, tragedy struck
Just as Russia's Most-famous dissident seemed set to go free, tragedy struck

Mint

time21 minutes ago

  • Mint

Just as Russia's Most-famous dissident seemed set to go free, tragedy struck

Roger Carstens was rushing across Tel Aviv to meet Roman Abramovich, knowing he would have to ask the White House for forgiveness rather than permission. Twice before, the Biden administration had turned down requests by the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs to meet this enigmatic Russian oligarch, one of the handful of people Carstens considered a 'back channel wizard" with the influence to untangle the thorniest diplomatic knots. But in November 2023, when Carstens traveled to Israel to help American families whose loved ones Hamas had taken hostage, a message reached his phone saying Abramovich was also in town. It seemed like an unmissable chance to advance a prisoner swap that could free U.S. citizens jailed in Russia—and at the same time, rescue Vladimir Putin's archnemesis, the Russian dissident leader Alexei Navalny. The hostage envoy had been on the ground in six wars but joked the most combat he'd ever seen was wearing a suit and tie in Washington, 'trying to get anything done." He had a plan to free Navalny and the Americans but the White House didn't think the time was right to move on it. He often joked that he felt like Gulliver, tied down by Lilliputians. His perceived adversaries: senior White House and State Department officials who had been working, albeit more cautiously, toward the same end, and were weighing the geopolitical and moral risks of trading prisoners with Putin. Carstens complained to colleagues he was stuck reporting to decision makers who, in his view, had never been to combat, never smelled cordite and who sat at their desks, offering reasons why his proposals wouldn't work. This time, the former Green Beret wasn't going to give anyone enough time to tell him no. On Nov. 30, he shot off an email to Washington, where the day was still young, saying he was poised to sit with Abramovich. Minutes later, he walked into a hotel chosen for the meeting. Sitting opposite, the billionaire said he could see prisoner talks—between the Central Intelligence Agency and Russia's FSB spy service—were stalled. 'I'm not sure the FSB is passing on our messages," Carstens said. He reiterated the latest offer from the White House: a mix of prisoners that included neither Navalny—whom Germany wanted—nor Russia's own must-have, an FSB officer named Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence for murdering a Putin opponent in downtown Berlin. Carstens felt that proposal was never going to fly. 'But let me run another idea by you," he ventured, 'Not officially, but just to get your view." Carstens pitched an idea he called 'enlarging the problem." Germany would free Krasikov, if Russia freed Navalny. As an add-on, the U.S. and European allies could return various deep-cover sleeper spies in their possession, and Russia would release two Americans held on espionage charges the U.S. government strongly denied: former Marine Paul Whelan, and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. It sounded intriguing, Abramovich said, but added that he couldn't imagine Putin would free Navalny. After 30 minutes, Carstens left, reopening his phone to see cascading messages ordering him not to hold the meeting. A few days later, Carstens heard back from Abramovich, who seemed as surprised as anybody. Putin, he said, was willing to free Navalny. That same week, guards bundled the 47-year-old dissident onto a prison train and locked the door with no word of where he was heading. Hours turned to days as Navalny read the books he'd been allowed to take from the IK-6 prison camp. He couldn't see the towns passing outside, but the train was snaking across the Ural Mountains, then north toward the Arctic Circle to the 'dead railway," built by political prisoners under Stalin. It took two weeks to reach his ice-covered destination, known as 'Polar Wolf." 'I am your new Santa Claus," he wrote in his first letter home to his wife, Yulia. 'Unfortunately, there are no reindeer, but there are huge, fluffy and very beautiful German shepherds." A few weeks after he arrived, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz logged on to a private videoconference with Joe Biden, officially to discuss the war in Ukraine. Unofficially, the prisoner trade was on the agenda. Hours earlier, the Journal's editor in chief, Emma Tucker, had met with Scholz's top aides in Switzerland. Biden had just met Paul Whelan's sister, Elizabeth, a portrait painter who struck up an easy rapport with the president. Sullivan had been in constant contact with his opposite number in Berlin ahead of the meeting. The idea was so delicate Scholz was too nervous to mention specifics over the call. 'I will fly to see you," Scholz said. 'I would be happy to." The chancellor traveled without telling his own cabinet, giving such short notice that the only plane the German government could book was a medium-haul Airbus A321, which had to refuel in Iceland. There were no aides and no note-takers in the Feb. 9 meeting, just Biden and Scholz. Hours earlier, Tucker Carlson aired an interview with Putin at the Kremlin, where the former Fox host pushed the Russian president to release Gershkovich. Putin, chastened by Carlson, looked embarrassed. The pieces all seemed to be clicking into place. In the Oval Office, Scholz agreed to free the assassin Krasikov as the centerpiece of a broader deal. The chancellor would rescue Navalny from his Arctic prison—and, he hoped, boost the aging U.S. president's chances in what was certain to be a bruising re-election campaign. 'For you, I will do this," Scholz told Biden. On Feb. 15, 2024, the narrow streets of Munich were lined with black motorcades delivering the West's most important leaders to the Bavarian city's annual security conference. Carstens wasn't registered as a speaker or panelist, but he quietly slipped out of Washington on a red-eye flight bound for Germany. By now, the administration was accelerating the Navalny trade toward completion, but preferred to keep Carstens on the periphery of any Russia prisoner talks. Christo Grozev was already there, waiting anxiously in a cafe close to the venue's security perimeter. The Bulgarian investigative journalist and spy-hunter felt the deal was almost done, yet he and Carstens wanted to be as close as possible to the West's top security officials to spot-check that nothing would derail it. Odessa Rae, the 'Navalny" film producer, was texting from Dubai in route to Ukraine after meeting their Russian contact, Stanislav Petlinsky. Vice President Kamala Harris was flying in on Air Force Two, officially to deliver a keynote address, while more quietly representing Biden at a meeting with Slovenian leaders to confirm the trade could include two Russian sleeper spies in their custody: a married couple posing as Argentine nationals. Germany's foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, was at the conference, and still uneasy about the moral line her country was inching toward, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to meet her and soothe any concerns. Navalny's wife, Yulia, was also in Munich, on hand to address lingering doubts. Next to Grozev, messaging contacts to try to piece together the state of play, was Maria Pevchikh, Navalny's friend and head of investigations. Their location felt ominous. Seventeen years earlier, at the same Munich gathering, Russia's president delivered a speech castigating the world order in which America was 'one master, one sovereign," a diatribe considered the starting gun of his war against the West. Now, within touching distance of the biggest East-West prisoner swap since the Soviet collapse, the memory of that speech was like a specter. As the evening wrapped toward a close, Pevchikh raised a question, like a terrible premonition: 'What if they kill him?" After years studying Russian intelligence services, Grozev was confident her concern wouldn't come to pass. There was a protocol, he reassured her, a methodology for prison swaps upheld since the Cold War. The Journal even had prewritten articles, ready to go, the moment Navalny walked free. The next day, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray was sitting down for lunch with the chiefs of Britain's MI6 and Germany's BND intelligence agency. Their discreet and thankless work was about to pay off in the very real gift of freedom not only for Navalny but also for Gershkovich, whose reporting Wray admired. But as the meal unfolded, dignitaries began reaching for their phones, buzzing with news from Russia. The most powerful security czars in the Western alliance turned to each other in horror and bewilderment. 'Alexei Navalny has died in prison," the Kremlin's state newswire announced. 'The cause of death is being established." The guests rose one by one to start fielding calls. Wray rushed upstairs to confer with Blinken. America's top diplomat immediately shot back: 'Get me Yulia." An aide struggled to reach Navalny's wife and came back with the number for Grozev. Weaving through the tightly controlled security cordons, European and American officials were scrambling to find each other and confer on what would happen next. The news spread through the hallways and coffee line where a German diplomat blurted out in full earshot of reporters, 'Oh no! We were working on getting him out!" Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, reacts as she speaks during the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 16, 2024. Grozev guided Navalny's ashen-faced widow through the hotel gates to the secretary of state's suite. The two embraced, then sat down, and Yulia delivered a powerful message: Putin must be punished for the misery he has wrought. Minutes later she walked down toward the lectern in the shellshocked conference hall with delegates standing to applaud, or crying in their seats, her eyes filled with tears and righteous anger. 'I want Putin, his entourage, Putin's friends, and his government to know they will pay for what they have done to our country, to our family, and my husband," she said. Chancellor Scholz wanted to see Yulia but wasn't sure if the woman who had minutes earlier discovered she was a widow would want time with her family. 'I want to meet," she responded and arrived, somehow still composed, in the hotel suite where the chancellor was waiting. 'I have one request," Yulia said, before turning to the question of Krasikov. 'Do not release that man." Across the world, the secret club of people who had labored at organizing an exchange were reeling as its one necessary component was lying dead in an Arctic morgue. Officials across the West had worked for months to free not just Navalny but a growing list of Americans seized by the Kremlin as bargaining chips. CIA officers and their European partners had hunted down Russian spies undercover in an Arctic research institute, the front lines of Ukraine and the suburbs of an Alpine capital. The Justice Department had extradited Russian cybercriminals arrested in the Maldives and on a Swiss mountainside helipad—high-wire legal and diplomatic maneuvers that had given the U.S. trading stock for an exchange that was now on ice. In Los Angeles, Journal publisher Almar Latour was visiting a museum exhibit of art made by prisoners from Soviet gulags, and wondering if a dark gray pencil sketch was drawn in the same camp as Navalny, when his phone rang. It was Carstens, who had landed in Munich just in time to learn it was all for nought. The U.S. could have brought Navalny back alive if it had acted with more urgency, Carstens said. 'If only I had moved faster." The special envoy was blaming himself for not putting more pressure on the White House. 'We could have wrapped this up in August!" Rae, on her way to Ukraine, was boarding a flight, talking to a fellow passenger about her film, neither of them aware until she glanced at her phone that its subject, her friend, had just died. In Russia's IK-17 labor camp, Paul Whelan was trading cigarettes to place a call to his family: 'If they are willing to kill Navalny they could do something to me. Poison me. Break my leg?" His sister Elizabeth was quizzing a case officer on Carstens's staff over text messages about the consequences of a death she was sure wasn't an accident. The IK-17 Penal Colony, where American Paul Whelan was transferred to serve a 16-year sentence on espionage charges he and the U.S. government denied. Jake Sullivan was on his office sofa when a delegation from The Wall Street Journal stepped in. Their meeting, pre-scheduled, was meant to deliver good news, but word of Navalny's death, hours earlier, lent it the air of a wake. Sullivan had a habit of looking toward the floor, or to one side, as he carefully deliberated the angles of a problem. After a long pause, he spoke: 'I never thought a deal with Navalny would work." But he also hadn't expected Putin to kill him, and still wasn't sure if he would ever know the truth behind the dissident's death. Navalny's supporters had lost everything—the man they were trying to save and Russia's dreams for a democratic future. And the Journal, whose reporter, Gershkovich, had now spent 323 days in the Moscow jail where Stalin's henchman once executed purged officials, was no closer to freeing him than in the first hours of his arrest. But in the cloud of grief and disorientation, the national security adviser could also glimpse a new possibility. Germany had crossed the psychological threshold of agreeing to free a murderer—and perhaps they would accept other political prisoners in Navalny's place. The question hanging over that analysis was whether Putin had come to the same fatal conclusion. In the weeks to come, CIA officials would fly to meet their Russian counterparts in Saudi hotels, booked under false names, carrying eyes-only hard-copy lists of prisoners the West could trade with the Kremlin. The world would finally see the fruits of their labor when, on Aug. 1, 2024 six planes delivered 24 prisoners and two children to an exchange point outside a Turkish air terminal, a mix of Russian spies, hackers, cybercriminals—and Krasikov—traded for Russian dissidents, German convicts, and Americans including Whelan, Gershkovich, and other journalists. That trade, the largest East-West swap in modern history, would cement a cold, inescapable fact about the emerging world order: taking and trading prisoners, and bending the justice system to do it, is now what powerful countries do, a transactional order of statecraft encapsulated by Navalny's arrest, the campaign to free him, and his tragic death. For now, however, looking up from his office couch, Sullivan engaged the Journal without offering false hope. The newspaper's lawyers had brought Gershkovich's mother, Ella Milman, and she was looking right at him, asking: 'Doesn't this create more urgency to free Evan?" 'It might," he said. 'It's not a breaking point," he added. 'We will get this done. I see a pathway." Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson are leaders on The Wall Street Journal's World Enterprise Team. This piece is adapted from their new book, 'Swap: A Secret History of the New Cold War," which will be published on Aug. 19 by HarperCollins (which, like the Journal, is owned by News Corp).

Trump Accuses Nancy Pelosi Of Using ‘Inside Information' For Stock Market Gains: ‘Degenerate'
Trump Accuses Nancy Pelosi Of Using ‘Inside Information' For Stock Market Gains: ‘Degenerate'

News18

time44 minutes ago

  • News18

Trump Accuses Nancy Pelosi Of Using ‘Inside Information' For Stock Market Gains: ‘Degenerate'

Last Updated: Trump's remarks, targeting one of Washington's most prominent Democrats, come with potential implications for investor sentiment US President Donald Trump accused former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of profiting from 'inside information" in the stock market, escalating long-standing political criticism of her family's investments. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Pelosi a 'disgusting degenerate" and claimed she and her husband 'beat every hedge fund in 2024." He alleged that 'these two very average 'minds' beat ALL of the Super Geniuses on Wall Street, thousands of them," implying the performance was due to insider trading. Trump also questioned whether authorities were 'looking into this?" 'Crooked Nancy Pelosi, and her very 'interesting" husband, beat ever Hedge Fund in 2024. In other words, these two very average 'minds" beat ALL of the Super Geniuses on Wall Street, thousands of them. It's all INSIDE iNFORMATION! Is anybody looking into this??? She is a disgusting degenerate, who Impeached me twice, on NO GROUNDS, and LOST! How are you feeling now, Nancy???" Crooked Nancy Pelosi, and her very 'interesting" husband, beat ever Hedge Fund in 2024. In other words, these two very average 'minds" beat ALL of the Super Geniuses on Wall Street, thousands of them. It's all INSIDE iNFORMATION! Is anybody looking into this??? She is a…— Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) August 9, 2025 Pelosi has previously rejected accusations of wrongdoing related to her husband's trades. While critics have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, no official investigations have resulted in charges against her. Trump's remarks, targeting one of Washington's most prominent Democrats, come with potential implications for investor sentiment. Reports indicate that even without any substantiated evidence, high-profile allegations can stir short-term market volatility, particularly in sectors mentioned in political attacks. view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Intelligence Chief Tulsi Gabbard shares belief in aliens, vows to ‘share the truth' on UFOs
Intelligence Chief Tulsi Gabbard shares belief in aliens, vows to ‘share the truth' on UFOs

Time of India

timean hour ago

  • Time of India

Intelligence Chief Tulsi Gabbard shares belief in aliens, vows to ‘share the truth' on UFOs

Tulsi Gabbard , serving as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) under President Donald Trump 's administration, has publicly expressed her belief in the existence of extraterrestrial life. In a recent interview on the New York Post 's 'Pod Force One' podcast, Gabbard revealed that she personally thinks aliens may be real and hinted that the US intelligence community holds classified information regarding unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), commonly known as UFOs. Gabbard emphasized the delicacy of her position overseeing 18 US intelligence agencies, explaining she must be cautious about what details she shares publicly. Productivity Tool Zero to Hero in Microsoft Excel: Complete Excel guide By Metla Sudha Sekhar View Program Finance Introduction to Technical Analysis & Candlestick Theory By Dinesh Nagpal View Program Finance Financial Literacy i e Lets Crack the Billionaire Code By CA Rahul Gupta View Program Digital Marketing Digital Marketing Masterclass by Neil Patel By Neil Patel View Program Finance Technical Analysis Demystified- A Complete Guide to Trading By Kunal Patel View Program Productivity Tool Excel Essentials to Expert: Your Complete Guide By Study at home View Program Artificial Intelligence AI For Business Professionals Batch 2 By Ansh Mehra View Program Nonetheless, she conveyed a clear commitment to transparency, stating that her office is actively seeking the truth about these phenomena and intends to share it with the American people when the time is right. 'We're continuing to look for the truth and share that truth with the American people,' she said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play War Thunder now for free War Thunder Play Now Undo Asked by Miranda Devine whether "there could be aliens," Gabbard started answering by saying, "I have my own views and opinions" and "in this role, I have to be careful with what I share." When pressed again, Gabbard responded with a 'yes,' while stopping short of disclosing any specific classified information, reported The Sun. Live Events She also acknowledged ongoing unanswered questions surrounding a series of mysterious drone sightings that occurred over New Jersey and other parts of the United States last year. These sightings raised significant public concern, although official explanations from US governments suggested these were likely personal, commercial, or governmental aircraft. Gabbard noted the intelligence community possesses a 'lot of classified information' on these events but refrained from elaborating. In discussing an acknowledged incident—the Chinese surveillance balloon over US airspace in early 2023—Gabbard stated that the intelligence community had a lot of solid information but did not provide further details. The balloon, which traveled across several states and was eventually shot down off the South Carolina coast upon orders from former President Joe Biden , was widely reported and stirred debate over US airspace security. Gabbard's statements mark a notable departure from typical government reticence on UFO/UAP topics, signaling a more open acknowledgment of public interest and possible undisclosed data. Her approach aligns with increasing congressional focus and public demand for transparency on UAP issues, highlighted by several hearings and whistleblower testimonies in recent years. Experts and officials stress that while no definitive public evidence confirms extraterrestrial technology's presence on Earth, the continued investigation into UAPs is a legitimate national security priority.

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