
‘Sanctions won't stop the war'

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Belfast Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Trump could meet Putin as soon as next week, White House official says
US President Donald Trump could meet in person with Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as next week as he seeks to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, a White House official said. The official cautioned that a meeting has not been scheduled yet and no location has been determined. The official was not authorised to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans. The White House said Mr Trump was also open to a meeting with both Mr Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.


South Wales Guardian
8 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Trump to meet Putin in coming days, Kremlin says
'At the suggestion of the American side, it has been agreed in principle to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days,' Mr Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters. Next week is the target date for a summit, Mr Ushakov said, while noting that such events take time to organise and no date is confirmed. The possible venue will be announced 'a little later', he said. He also played down the possibility of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky joining the summit meeting to discuss ending Russia's three-year-old invasion of its neighbour, which the White House said Mr Trump is ready to consider. 'We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Mr Trump, and we consider it most important that this meeting be successful and productive,' Mr Ushakov said. A meeting between Mr Putin and Mr Trump would be their first since the Republican president returned to office this year. It would be a significant milestone in the war, though there is no promise such a meeting would lead to the end of the fighting, since Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on their demands. Western officials have repeatedly accused Mr Putin of stalling for time in peace negotiations to allow Russian forces time to capture more Ukrainian land. Mr Putin has in the past offered no concessions and will only accept a settlement on his terms. It was not clear whether Mr Trump's Friday deadline for the Kremlin to stop the killing in Ukraine still stood. A new Gallup poll published on Thursday found that Ukrainians are increasingly eager for a settlement that ends the fight against Russia's invasion. The enthusiasm for a negotiated deal is a sharp reversal from 2022 – the year the war began – when Gallup found that about three-quarters of Ukrainians wanted to keep fighting until victory. Now only about one-quarter hold that view, with support for continuing the war declining steadily across all regions and demographic groups. The findings were based on samples of 1,000 or more respondents aged 15 and older living in Ukraine. Some territories under entrenched Russian control, representing about 10% of the population, were excluded from surveys conducted after 2022 due to lack of access. Since the start of the full-scale war, Russia's relentless pounding of urban areas behind the front line has killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations. On the 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line snaking from north-east to south-east Ukraine, where tens of thousands of troops on both sides have died, Russia's bigger army is slowly capturing more land. The poll came out on the eve of Mr Trump's Friday deadline for Russia to stop the killing or face heavy economic sanctions. In the new Gallup survey, conducted in early July, about seven in 10 Ukrainians say their country should seek to negotiate a settlement as soon as possible. Mr Zelensky last month renewed his offer to meet with Mr Putin, but his overture was rebuffed as Russia sticks to its demands, and the sides remain far apart. Most Ukrainians do not expect a lasting peace anytime soon, the poll found. Only about one-quarter say it is 'very' or 'somewhat' likely that active fighting will end within the next 12 months, while about seven in 10 think it is 'somewhat' or 'very' unlikely that active fighting will be over in the next year. Ukrainian views of the American government have cratered over the past few years, while positive views of Germany's leadership have risen, according to Gallup. Three years ago, about two-thirds of Ukrainians approved of US leadership. That has since fallen to 16% in the latest poll, reflecting new tensions between the two countries since Mr Trump took office in January. But although the dip from last year was substantial – approval of US leadership was 40% in 2024 – positive views of US leadership were already dropping before Mr Trump took office, perhaps related to the antipathy that prominent Republican politicians showed towards billions of dollars in US support for Ukraine. Germany has grown more popular among Ukrainians over the past few years, rising to 63% approval in the new poll. Ukrainians are much less optimistic that their country will be accepted into Nato or the European Union in the next decade than they were just a few years ago. In the new poll, about one-third of Ukrainians expect that Ukraine will be accepted into Nato within the next 10 years, while about one-quarter think it will take at least 10 years, and one-third believe it will never happen. That is down from 2022, when about two-thirds of Ukrainians thought acceptance into Nato would happen in the coming decade and only about one in 10 thought it would never happen. Hope for acceptance into the EU is higher but has also fallen. About half, 52%, of Ukrainians now expect to be part of the EU within the next decade, down from 73% in 2022.


North Wales Chronicle
8 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Trump to meet Putin in coming days, Kremlin says
'At the suggestion of the American side, it has been agreed in principle to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days,' Mr Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters. Next week is the target date for a summit, Mr Ushakov said, while noting that such events take time to organise and no date is confirmed. The possible venue will be announced 'a little later', he said. He also played down the possibility of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky joining the summit meeting to discuss ending Russia's three-year-old invasion of its neighbour, which the White House said Mr Trump is ready to consider. 'We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Mr Trump, and we consider it most important that this meeting be successful and productive,' Mr Ushakov said. A meeting between Mr Putin and Mr Trump would be their first since the Republican president returned to office this year. It would be a significant milestone in the war, though there is no promise such a meeting would lead to the end of the fighting, since Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on their demands. Western officials have repeatedly accused Mr Putin of stalling for time in peace negotiations to allow Russian forces time to capture more Ukrainian land. Mr Putin has in the past offered no concessions and will only accept a settlement on his terms. It was not clear whether Mr Trump's Friday deadline for the Kremlin to stop the killing in Ukraine still stood. A new Gallup poll published on Thursday found that Ukrainians are increasingly eager for a settlement that ends the fight against Russia's invasion. The enthusiasm for a negotiated deal is a sharp reversal from 2022 – the year the war began – when Gallup found that about three-quarters of Ukrainians wanted to keep fighting until victory. Now only about one-quarter hold that view, with support for continuing the war declining steadily across all regions and demographic groups. The findings were based on samples of 1,000 or more respondents aged 15 and older living in Ukraine. Some territories under entrenched Russian control, representing about 10% of the population, were excluded from surveys conducted after 2022 due to lack of access. Since the start of the full-scale war, Russia's relentless pounding of urban areas behind the front line has killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations. On the 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line snaking from north-east to south-east Ukraine, where tens of thousands of troops on both sides have died, Russia's bigger army is slowly capturing more land. The poll came out on the eve of Mr Trump's Friday deadline for Russia to stop the killing or face heavy economic sanctions. In the new Gallup survey, conducted in early July, about seven in 10 Ukrainians say their country should seek to negotiate a settlement as soon as possible. Mr Zelensky last month renewed his offer to meet with Mr Putin, but his overture was rebuffed as Russia sticks to its demands, and the sides remain far apart. Most Ukrainians do not expect a lasting peace anytime soon, the poll found. Only about one-quarter say it is 'very' or 'somewhat' likely that active fighting will end within the next 12 months, while about seven in 10 think it is 'somewhat' or 'very' unlikely that active fighting will be over in the next year. Ukrainian views of the American government have cratered over the past few years, while positive views of Germany's leadership have risen, according to Gallup. Three years ago, about two-thirds of Ukrainians approved of US leadership. That has since fallen to 16% in the latest poll, reflecting new tensions between the two countries since Mr Trump took office in January. But although the dip from last year was substantial – approval of US leadership was 40% in 2024 – positive views of US leadership were already dropping before Mr Trump took office, perhaps related to the antipathy that prominent Republican politicians showed towards billions of dollars in US support for Ukraine. Germany has grown more popular among Ukrainians over the past few years, rising to 63% approval in the new poll. Ukrainians are much less optimistic that their country will be accepted into Nato or the European Union in the next decade than they were just a few years ago. In the new poll, about one-third of Ukrainians expect that Ukraine will be accepted into Nato within the next 10 years, while about one-quarter think it will take at least 10 years, and one-third believe it will never happen. That is down from 2022, when about two-thirds of Ukrainians thought acceptance into Nato would happen in the coming decade and only about one in 10 thought it would never happen. Hope for acceptance into the EU is higher but has also fallen. About half, 52%, of Ukrainians now expect to be part of the EU within the next decade, down from 73% in 2022.