Live updates: Trump set for Alaska summit with Putin in push to end the war in Ukraine
Some Ukraine-supporting military analysts were alarmed this week after it appeared advanced Russian units had punched a hole through Ukraine's defenses near the town of Dobropillya. Ukrainian reinforcements rushed to the area, launching a counterattack that was able to stabilize the situation, according to Ukrainian military officials and Russian military bloggers. But the fight there and elsewhere remains desperate for Kyiv's forces.
Compounding the situation is an infantry crisis that has seen Ukraine's once superior troop numbers dwindle, now outnumbered by Russia's conscription of prison inmates and hiring of mercenaries and soldiers from North Korea. 'The entire front has turned into a 'hodgepodge,'' Bohdan Krotevych, the former head of Ukraine's Azov Brigade, posted on X last week. 'This chaos has been growing for a long time, worsening with each passing day.'
Nevertheless, some Western analysts believe that if Ukraine can hold out into next year, then Russia will begin struggling to resupply its losses of personnel and equipment. Though American aid to Ukraine has stalled under Trump, that gap has been largely plugged by European powers, according to Germany's Kiel Institute think tank.
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San Francisco Chronicle
5 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump administration halts visas for people from Gaza after Laura Loomer questions arrivals
WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after conservative activist Laura Loomer posted videos on social media of children from Gaza arriving in the U.S. for medical treatment and questioning how they got visas, the State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a review. The State Department said Saturday the visas would be stopped while it looks into how 'a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas' were issued in recent days. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday told 'Face the Nation' on CBS that the action came after 'outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it." Rubio said there were 'just a small number' of the visas issued to children in need of medical aid but that they were accompanied by adults. The congressional offices reached out with evidence that 'some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas,' he asserted, without providing evidence or naming those organizations. As a result, he said, 'we are going to pause this program and reevaluate how those visas are being vetted and what relationship, if any, has there been by these organizations to the process of acquiring those visas.' Loomer on Friday posted videos on X of children from Gaza arriving earlier this month in San Francisco and Houston for medical treatment with the aid of an organization called HEAL Palestine. 'Despite the US saying we are not accepting Palestinian 'refugees' into the United States under the Trump administration,' these people from Gaza were able to travel to the U.S., she said. She called it a 'national security threat' and asked who signed off on the visas, calling for the person to be fired. She tagged Rubio, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. Trump has downplayed Loomer's influence on his administration, but several officials swiftly left or were removed shortly after she publicly criticized them. The State Department on Sunday declined to comment on how many of the visas had been granted and whether the decision to halt visas to people from Gaza had anything to do with Loomer's posts. HEAL Palestine said in a statement Sunday that it was 'distressed' by the State Department decision to stop halt visitor visas from Gaza. The group said it is 'an American humanitarian nonprofit organization delivering urgent aid and medical care to children in Palestine." A post on the organization's Facebook page Thursday shows a photo of a boy from Gaza leaving Egypt and headed to St. Louis for treatment and said he is 'our 15th evacuated child arriving in the U.S. in the last two weeks.' The organization brings 'severely injured children" to the U.S. on temporary visas for treatment they can't get at home, the statement said. Following treatment, the children and any family members who accompanied them return to the Middle East, the statement said. 'This is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program,' it said. The World Health Organization has repeatedly called for more medical evacuations from Gaza, where Israel's over 22-month war against Hamas has heavily destroyed or damaged much of the territory's health system. 'More than 14,800 patients still need lifesaving medical care that is not available in Gaza,' WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday on social media, and called on more countries to offer support. A WHO description of the medical evacuation process from Gaza published last year explained that the WHO submits lists of patients to Israeli authorities for security clearance. It noted that before the war in Gaza began, 50 to 100 patients were leaving Gaza daily for medical treatment, and it called for a higher rate of approvals from Israeli authorities. The U.N. and partners say medicines and even basic health care supplies are low in Gaza after Israel cut off all aid to the territory of over 2 million people for more than 10 weeks earlier this year.
Politico
6 minutes ago
- Politico
Lindsey Graham's strategy for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine: Peace by pocketbook
Trump in early August hiked tariffs on India to 50 percent due to the country's purchasing of Russian oil. Graham claimed that it was those sanctions that drove Putin to acquiesce to the Alaska visit. And going after China — another major consumer of Russian oil — could prove even more pivotal, he said. 'If we take it to the next level and tell China you're next, then I think we can have an end to this war,' Graham said. 'The second most important person on the planet to end this war is President Xi in China. If he went to Putin and said it's time to end this war, I can't help you anymore because you're putting my country at threat, this war would end.' But Trump was far from threatening in his meeting with Putin last week. He rolled out the red carpet for the Russian leader and the two rode together in the presidential limousine. The meeting ended without a ceasefire or even concrete plans for a trilateral talk involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But Graham was quick to attack those who suggested that meant the confab was a failure. Also on Sunday, special envoy Steve Witkoff said that Russia had consented to 'Article 5-like protections' for Ukraine at the conclusion of the war. 'To all these media analysts who say this was a bust, that's ridiculous,' he said. 'We have progress we didn't have before. We have momentum for peace. We'll see where it goes. So I'll leave it up to Trump.' Zelenskyy — and a selection of European leaders — will journey to Washington on Monday to touch base with Trump on what comes next. Graham insisted that Europe, too, must be willing to further sanction Russia in a bid to stop the fighting. 'To our European allies, up your game. Quit complaining about what we're not doing in America and do more yourself,' he said. 'Put tariffs on every country that buys Russian oil and gas cheaply to benefit Putin's war machine. Do what Trump's doing.'
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
European leaders including Starmer to join Zelenskyy in Washington for meeting with Trump
European leaders including Keir Starmer will join Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a White House meeting with Donald Trump on Monday in an extraordinary joint effort to push back on a US-backed plan that would allow Russia to take further Ukrainian territory. As well as the UK prime minister, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, Italy's PM, Giorgia Meloni, and the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, will all accompany Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Nato's secretary general, Mark Rutte, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will also attend. The unprecedented show of support seems designed to prevent a repeat of the public mauling experienced by Zelenskyy during his last trip to the White House, in February, when Trump and the US vice-president, JD Vance, accused him of ingratitude and disrespect and told him: 'You're not in a good position. You don't have the cards right now.' Trump, after his summit on Friday with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, has reportedly endorsed the Kremlin's one-sided plan to end the war in Ukraine. It includes Kyiv giving up territory that Russia has been unable to seize and no ceasefire until a final deal has been agreed. Posting on Truth Social, Trump accused the media of misrepresenting his 'great meeting in Alaska' – an encounter widely seen as a victory for Putin and a humiliation for the US president. On Sunday, Trump claimed he had made 'big progress' on Russia, without giving details. European leaders on Monday will reaffirm their support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and argue against a land swap plan that rewards Russian aggression. They will also seek further clarity on what security guarantees the US is willing to offer in the event of a settlement. In a conciliatory statement announcing his visit to Washington, Starmer praised Trump for his 'efforts to end Russia's illegal war in Ukraine'. At the same time, Starmer reasserted Europe's red lines. He said the 'path to peace' could not be decided without Zelenskyy and said Russia should be 'squeezed' with further sanctions. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN that Putin had agreed for the first time for the US and Europe to provide protection to Ukraine as part of a deal. This would be outside the auspices of Nato but would be the equivalent of the alliance's article 5 self-defence pact, Witkoff indicated. Speaking in Brussels alongside von der Leyen, Zelenskyy rejected Putin's latest demand for more land. The Russians want Ukraine to cede the entirety of the Donetsk region, including a number of Ukrainian-controlled cities, as well as Luhansk province, which Moscow mostly occupies. Zelenskyy said Putin had been trying for 12 years to fully capture Donetsk oblast, without success. He said the current frontline should form the basis for negotiations, adding that territory could only be discussed in a three-way format with Kyiv at the table. A powerful Ukrainian army was the best security guarantee, he added. Starmer, Merz and Macron hosted a video call with European allies on Sunday before their Washington trip. 'Ukraine must be a steel porcupine, indigestible for potential invaders,' von der Leyen said, stressing there could be no Russian-mandated limits on Ukraine's armed forces. According to the New York Times, Trump told European leaders he believed a peace deal could be negotiated if Zelenskyy agreed to give up the Donetsk region. They were unconvinced. The EU shares the Ukrainian view that Putin would use any new territory as a springboard for a further attack. Two sources with direct knowledge of the talks in Alaska told the Guardian that Putin had offered to freeze the frontline in southern Ukraine if he got Donbas. The plan would mean thousands of civilians would be forced to abandon their homes in key eastern cities such as Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, which have withstood years of Russian attacks. Before Friday's Alaska summit, Trump said he wanted an immediate ceasefire. Over the weekend, however, the US president endorsed Russia's demand for a peace deal first and a truce second. Ceasefires 'often times do not hold up', Trump said in a social media post. Trump also appears to have dropped his threat of economic penalties on countries that buy Russian oil if Moscow refuses a deal. He has repeatedly threatened to impose secondary sanctions, setting various deadlines and failing to follow through when they expire. Trump on Sunday expressed his frustration at recent media coverage. 'It's incredible how the Fake News violently distorts the TRUTH when it comes to me,' he posted. 'There is NOTHING I can say or do that would lead them to write or report honestly about me. I had a great meeting in Alaska on Biden's stupid War, a war that should have never happened!!!' He added: 'If I got Russia to give up Moscow as part of the Deal, the Fake News, and their PARTNER, the Radical Left Democrats, would say I made a terrible mistake and a very bad deal.' Speaking to the BBC, the former British defence secretary Ben Wallace described Trump's apparent support for Putin's demands as 1930s-style 'appeasement'. He said the strategy – with pressure piled on Ukraine to agree – may save lives 'in the short term' but in the long term 'would probably put us at greater risk'. A joint statement issued by European leaders on Saturday said they were 'ready to work with US President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy towards a trilateral summit with European support' but 'it will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory. International borders must not be changed by force.' They said they welcomed 'President Trump's efforts to stop the killing in Ukraine, end Russia's war of aggression, and achieve just and lasting peace'. Zelenskyy said in a statement after his conversations with Trump and the European leaders: 'The positions are clear. A real peace must be achieved, one that will be lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions. Killings must stop as soon as possible, the fire must cease both on the battlefield and in the sky, as well as against our port infrastructure. All Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians must be released, and the children abducted by Russia must be returned.' Related: Donald Trump reportedly delivered letter from first lady to Vladimir Putin Olga Tokariuk, a fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis, said Zelenskyy had a 'difficult task' in Washington. He had to 'demonstrate that Ukraine wants peace, but not at any cost, to ensure Ukraine still gets US support,' she said. At the same time he could not make concessions 'unacceptable for Ukrainians'. Trump was unlikely to treat Zelenskyy with the 'same friendliness as Putin', she predicted. 'The US under Trump is no longer willing to stand by its democratic allies, while instead it is embracing the tyrants,' she added. Additional reporting by Peter Walker
