Trump rules out sending US troops to Ukraine in any peace deal
Donald Trump said he was now trying to arrange direct talks between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin – warning the Russian leader he would face a 'rough situation' if he didn't agree. And he said Ukraine would have to 'show some flexibility' to.
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Spectator
27 minutes ago
- Spectator
Dan Jarvis is the model of a modern flailing minister
I wonder how No. 10 decides which minister is up for the ritual humiliation of the Today programme each morning. Russian roulette? An elaborate lottery? A competition – last person to spell out 'TOOLMAKER' using alphabetti spaghetti? Either way, today's lucky victim for the airwaves was Home Office minister Dan Jarvis. 'Let's speak to someone who should know what's going on in the Home Office,' began presenter Emma Barnett, ominously. Someone enter the word 'should' into the Mr Universe competition: for here it was doing a lot of heavy lifting. Mr Jarvis made an audible gulp as he was introduced as somebody who knew what he was talking about. Given the Starmer government's propensity for sending out its lower-order goons into acts of broadcasting masochism without proper briefing, it's quite possible that until this moment Mr Jarvis believed himself to be giving a word or two about kittens or sunbeams. As he panicked, Mr Jarvis began throwing words around with gay abandon. He circled round himself, looped over himself and tied himself into a knot. 'The reality is there will be a range of different arrangements… no one thinks hotels are the appropriate setting… the appropriate setting will be a range of different arrangements.' Stock phrase called back to stock phrase in chorused glee. We were basically in Gilbert and Sullivan territory: he was the very model of a modern flailing minister. Despite Mr Jarvis's protestations that actually the government was phasing out hotel use, Emma Barnett pointed out that no alternative to hotels had been found and, as it stood, the practice of just piling people into hotels 'was asylum policy and it's in chaos'. The Minister made a noise like a soul escaping the body. Perhaps it was his dignity making a final, Dunkirk-style evacuation because after this, he launched into the same old 'it's not our fault' spiel. It's this familiar nonsense which we are so used to hearing from government ministers as the fruits of their own incompetence are presented to them, like one might present an uneaten dinner to a stubborn toddler or a recently discovered indoor mess to a recalcitrant pet. 'Do you think you're going to fulfil your election pledge to close asylum hotels?' asked Ms Barnett, in a tone which suggested she knew the answer already. Cue a bizarre directional waffle from Mr Jarvis, everything was going to happen 'up stream', 'in the round', 'at source' and 'at pace'. A sort of Hokey Cokey of incoherence. However it is they decide on who goes out to bat first thing in the morning, I bet Mr Jarvis is praying it won't be him again.
Reuters
27 minutes ago
- Reuters
Russia expects India to keep buying its oil and seeks China-India-Russia talks
NEW DELHI, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Russia expects to continue supplying oil to India despite warnings from the United States, Russian embassy officials in New Delhi said on Wednesday, adding that Moscow hopes trilateral talks will soon take place with India and China. U.S. President Donald Trump has announced an additional tariff of 25% on Indian goods exported to the U.S. from August 27, as a punishment for buying Russian oil, which constitutes 35% of India's total imports compared with a negligible 0.2% before the Ukraine war. "I want to highlight that despite the political situation, we can predict that the same level of oil import (by India)," Roman Babushkin, the charge d'affaires at the Russian embassy in India, told a press briefing. He predicted India and Russia would find ways to overcome Trump's latest tariffs in their "national interests". Trade talks between India and the U.S. broke down over the opening up of India's vast farm and dairy sectors, as well as its purchases of Russian oil. The total tariff announced on Indian goods entering the U.S. is 50%. The Indian foreign ministry did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment. It has previously said the U.S. decision to single out India for Russian purchases was "extremely unfortunate". Russia's Deputy Trade Commissioner Evgeny Griva on Wednesday said buying oil from Russia is "very profitable" for India, which will not want to change its supplier. On average Russia gives a 5%-7% discount to Indian buyers, he said, adding that Russia has a "very, very special mechanism" to continue oil supplies to India. In addition, he said Russia had started accepting Indian rupee payments for its goods after the resolution of issues that had trapped billions of dollars worth of funds in Indian banks. As tensions between Washington and New Delhi rise, high-profile visits from New Delhi and Beijing in recent weeks have raised hopes on the part of the Asian neighbours that ties damaged by a 2020 border clash can be repaired. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to visit China for the first time in over seven years later this month. The planned visit was reported by Reuters last week, even as other high profile exchanges, including Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's two-day visit to New Delhi, concluded. At the same time, Russia is trying to revive long-standing plans for a trilateral meeting with India and China to help them forge a "greater Eurasian partnership". "As far as the trilateral is concerned, we are quite hopeful that this format will be resumed sooner rather than later because its importance is not questioned," Babushkin said. "This is closely linked to the Russian initiative of the establishment of the greater Eurasian partnership," Babushkin said. Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Modi in New Delhi by the end of year, he said. Putin, Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are also expected to all attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation starting August 31.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Trump is ready to ‘crush' the Russian economy if Putin doesn't meet with Zelensky, says Lindsey Graham
Sen. Lindsey Graham has said that Donald Trump is ready to 'crush' the Russian economy if Vladimir Putin refuses to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky in the coming weeks to discuss an end to the Ukraine war. Graham has reportedly been pressuring Trump for months to support a sweeping sanctions bill designed to punish the Kremlin by placing massive tariffs on any country that continues to buy Russian oil and gas, thereby indirectly helping to bankroll its invasion of its western neighbor state. The legislation would most obviously hurt rival superpowers China and India, who currently account for 70 percent of Russia's energy exports and would face 500 percent U.S. tariffs if it were to be enacted. The Independent 's Owen Matthews has argued that Zelensky's European allies have already missed their opportunity to hold Putin to account by starving Russia of fossil fuel revenues. However, the senator believes there is still time. 'If we don't have this thing moving in the right direction by the time we get back, then I think that plan B needs to kick in,' Graham told the Associated Press in a phone interview this week. His bipartisan bill has been endorsed by 85 of his fellow senators to date, but does not have the expressed support of the White House. Graham argues that its moment may come when the upper chamber of Congress reconvenes in September following its summer recess. Graham said he had spoken to Trump on Tuesday, a day after he hosted several European heads of state and senior officials at the White House, including Zelensky, Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz, Giorgia Meloni, Ursula von der Leyen and Mark Rutte. 'Trump believes that if Putin doesn't do his part, that he's going to have to crush his economy. Because you've got to mean what you say,' Graham told reporters in his home state after his call with the president. 'There will come a point where if it's clear that Putin is not going to entertain peace, that President Trump will have to back up what he said he would do. And the best way to do it is to have congressional blessing.' Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat in support of Graham's bill, has warned against excessive optimism regarding the prospects of a peace deal, given that the Russian leader emerged from his Alaska summit with Trump last week without making any definite commitments, suggesting he could be employing 'rope-a-dope' tactics. 'The only way to bring Putin to the table is to show strength,' Blumenthal told the AP. 'What Putin understands is force and pressure.'
