Trump says Putin ready to make deal on Ukraine
'I think he's going to make a deal,' Trump said in a Fox News radio interview, adding that if the meeting went well, he would call Zelensky and European leaders afterwards, and that if it went badly, he would not.
The aim of Friday's talks with Putin is to set up a second meeting including Ukraine, Trump said, adding: 'I don't know that we're going to get an immediate ceasefire.'
Putin earlier spoke to his most senior ministers and security officials as he prepared for a meeting with Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday that could shape the endgame to the largest war in Europe since World War Two.
In televised comments, Putin said the US was 'making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.'
This was happening, Putin said, 'in order to create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, and in Europe, and in the world as a whole — if, by the next stages, we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons.'
His comments signalled that Russia will raise nuclear arms control as part of a wide-ranging discussion on security when he sits down with Trump. A Kremlin aide said Putin and Trump would also discuss the 'huge untapped potential' for Russia-US economic ties.
A senior Eastern European official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Putin would try to distract Trump from Ukraine at the talks by offering him possible progress on nuclear arms control or something business-related.
'We hope Trump won't be fooled by the Russians; he understands all (these) dangerous things,' the official said, adding that Russia's only goal was to avoid any new sanctions and have existing sanctions lifted.
'Like a chess game'
Trump said there would be a press conference after the talks, but that he did not know whether it would be joint. He also said there would be 'a give and take' on boundaries and land.
'The second meeting is going to be very, very, very important. This meeting sets up like a chess game. This (first) meeting sets up a second meeting, but there is a 25 percent chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting,' he said.
Trump said it would be up to Putin and Zelensky to strike an agreement, saying: 'I'm not going to negotiate their deal.' Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine, and Zelensky and the Europeans worry that a deal could cement those gains, rewarding Putin for 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian land and emboldening him to expand further into Europe.
An EU diplomat said it would be 'scary to see how it all unfolds in the coming hours. Trump had very good calls yesterday with Europe, but that was yesterday.'
Trump had shown willingness to join the security guarantees for Ukraine at a last-ditch virtual meeting with European leaders and Zelensky on Wednesday, European leaders said, though he made no public mention of them afterwards.
Friday's summit, the first Russia-US summit since June 2021, comes at one of the toughest moments for Ukraine in a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Speaking after Wednesday's meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had said the transatlantic NATO alliance should not be part of any security guarantees designed to protect Ukraine from future attacks in a post-war settlement.
However, Trump also said the US and all willing allies should be part of the security guarantees, Macron added.
Expanding on that, a European official told Reuters that Trump said on the call he was willing to provide some security guarantees for Europe, without spelling out what they would be.
It 'felt like a big step forward,' said the official, who did not want to be named.
It was not immediately clear what such guarantees could mean in practice.
On Wednesday, Trump threatened 'severe consequences' if Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine and has warned of economic sanctions if his meeting on Friday proves fruitless. Russia is likely to resist Ukraine and Europe's demands and has previously said its stance had not changed since it was first detailed by Putin in June 2024.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Saudi Gazette
an hour ago
- Saudi Gazette
Bolivia set to elect first non-left wing president in two decades
LA PAZ — Bolivia is set to elect a non-left wing president after nearly two decades of near-continuous rule by the incumbent socialist party, according to official preliminary results. Senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira and former president Jorge Quiroga came in first and second place respectively in Sunday's presidential elections. Neither received a high enough share of the vote to secure an outright win, so the vote will go to a run-off between these two candidates, due in October. Paz Pereira, of the Christian Democratic Party, was a surprise vote leader, after opinion polls had suggested Samuel Doria Medina, a businessman, was the frontrunner. The electoral authorities said it can take up to three days to finalise the results. Paz Pereira's campaign focused on redistributing more funds away from central government towards regional entities, and fighting corruption — with his slogan "capitalism for all, not just a few". He has suggested a programme of accessible credit, tax breaks to boost the formal economy, and eliminating import barriers for products that Bolivia doesn't manufacture. Quiroga briefly acted as interim president from 2001-2002 after serving as Vice President to Hugo Banzer, a military dictator until he was later elected. The election of a president from outside the left camp will likely see sharp changes in the Latin American country's foreign policy. In terms of trade, both candidate's capitalist stances could indicate more support for foreign investment in Bolivia's vast lithium reserves — the key ingredient for batteries used in many electric cars, laptops and solar panels. Politically, a change in government could mark closer ties with the US, after two decades of strengthening ties between Bolivia and China, Russia and Iran. A recent US Congress report briefing described US-Bolivia relations as "strained" under the socialist party's governance. The country's turn to the right comes as it is experiencing its worst economic crisis in years, with shortages of fuel, foreign reserves and some food items and high inflation and debt. Opinion polls ahead of the election suggested that many voters wanted to vote for change, or to punish the incumbent Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party. The current president, Luis Arce, mired in deep unpopularity, decided not to seek re-election. The punishment of the left is not just electoral, but physical in some cases. The candidate for MAS, Eduardo del Castillo, was booed out of the school where he cast his vote. Bolivian media reported that some fellow voters told him to "wait in line like they do for fuel" rather than skip the voting queue. People also threw stones at the highest-polling left-wing candidate, Andrónico Rodríguez, when he went to cast his ballot. Rodríguez was previously a member of MAS before splintering from the party. Authorities in Bolivia also said that an explosive device was set off at the polling station where Rodríguez cast his vote. There were no reports of significant damage or injuries. Rodríguez described it as an "isolated incident" orchestrated by a "small group" to a Bolivian newspaper. The left has not just faced recent unpopularity over the economy. It is also deeply divided. For the first time in about two decades, the former president, Evo Morales, was not on the ballot. Morales ruled the country from 2006-2019 and was barred from running again, despite attempts to challenge legal and constitutional rulings to let him run for a fourth term. He has urged his supporters to null their vote. Rodríguez was once seen as a protégé of Morales, but has since distanced himself from him. The last election in 2019 was disputed and protests erupted. Morales was accused of fraud after auditors found irregularities with the poll and he resigned under pressure from the military. In 2020, Luis Arce — a former finance minister under Morales — took office as president. Morales then announced he would return to politics in Bolivia, and deprived Arce of a majority — turning the pair from allies to rivals. Deep rifts and power struggles have existed in the ruling MAS party ever since. Morales's supporters have held protests and roadblocks against the re-election ban imposed on him, which have at times turned deadly with some emergency responders being killed. Judges ordered an arrest warrant for Morales over an alleged sexual relationship and rape of a 15-year-old girl. He has called the accusations politically-motivated. He has been living and operating from Chapare in Bolivia, protected at times by his supporters. — BBC
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Hijacked satellites and orbiting space weapons: In the 21st century, space is the new battlefield
WASHINGTON: As Russia held its Victory Day parade this year, hackers backing the Kremlin hijacked an orbiting satellite that provides television service to Ukraine. Instead of normal programing, Ukrainian viewers saw parade footage beamed in from Moscow: waves of tanks, soldiers and weaponry. The message was meant to intimidate, and it was also an illustration that 21st century war is waged not just on land, sea and air but also in cyberspace and the reaches of outer space. Disabling a satellite could deal a devastating blow without a single bullet, and it can be done by targeting the satellite's security software or disrupting its ability to send or receive signals from Earth. 'If you can impede a satellite's ability to communicate, you can cause a significant disruption,' said Tom Pace, CEO of NetRise, a cybersecurity firm focused on protecting supply chains. He served in the Marines before working on cyber issues at the Department of Energy. 'Think about GPS,' he said. 'Imagine if a population lost that, and the confusion it would cause.' Satellites are the short-term challenge More than 12,000 operating satellites now orbit the planet, playing a critical role not just in broadcast communications but also in military operations, navigation systems like GPS, intelligence gathering and economic supply chains. They are also key to early launch-detection efforts, which can warn of approaching missiles. That makes them a significant national security vulnerability, and a prime target for anyone looking to undermine an adversary's economy or military readiness — or to deliver a psychological blow like the hackers supporting Russia did when they hijacked television signals to Ukraine. Hackers typically look for the weakest link in the software or hardware that supports a satellite or controls its communications with Earth. The actual orbiting device may be secure, but if it's running on outdated software, it can be easily exploited. As Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022, someone targeted Viasat, the US-based satellite company used by Ukraine's government and military. The hack, which Kyiv blamed on Moscow, used malware to infect tens of thousands of modems, creating an outage affecting wide swaths of Europe. National security officials say Russia is developing a nuclear, space-based weapon designed to take out virtually every satellite in low-Earth orbit at once. The weapon would combine a physical attack that would ripple outward, destroying more satellites, while the nuclear component is used to fry their electronics. US officials declassified information about the weapon after Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, issued a public warning about the technology. Turner has pushed for the Department of Defense to provide a classified briefing to lawmakers on the weapon, which, if deployed, would violate an international treaty prohibiting weapons of mass destruction in space. Turner said such a weapon could render low-Earth orbit unusable for satellites for as long as a year. If it were used, the effects would be devastating: potentially leaving the US and its allies vulnerable to economic upheaval and even a nuclear attack. Russia and China also would lose satellites, though they are believed to be less reliant on the same kinds of satellites as the US Turner compared the weapon, which is not yet ready for deployment, to Sputnik, the Russian satellite that launched the space age in 1957. 'If this anti-satellite nuclear weapon would be put in space, it would be the end of the space age,' Turner said. 'It should never be permitted to go into outer space. This is the Cuban Missile Crisis in space.' Mining the moon and beyond Valuable minerals and other materials found on the moon and in asteroids could lead to future conflicts as nations look to exploit new technologies and energy sources. Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy announced plans this month to send a small nuclear reactor to the moon, saying it's important that the US do so before China or Russia. 'We're in a race to the moon, in a race with China to the moon,' Duffy said. 'To have a base on the moon, we need energy and some of the key locations on the moon. ... We want to get there first and claim that for America.' The moon is rich in a material known as helium 3, which scientists believe could be used in nuclear fusion to generate huge amounts of energy. While that technology is still decades away, control over the moon in the intervening years could determine which countries emerge as superpowers, according to Joseph Rooke, a London-based cybersecurity expert who has worked in the UK defense industry and is now director of risk insights at the firm Recorded Future. The end of the Cold War temporarily halted a lot of investments in space, but competition is likely to increase as the promise of mining the moon becomes a reality. 'This isn't sci-fi. It's quickly becoming a reality,' Rooke said. 'If you dominate Earth's energy needs, that's game over.' China and Russia have announced plans for their own nuclear plants on the moon in the coming years, while the US is planning missions to the moon and Mars. Artificial intelligence is likely to speed up the competition, as is the demand for the energy that AI requires. Messages left with Russia's Embassy in Washington were not returned. Despite its steps into outer space, China opposes any extraterrestrial arms race, according to Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for China's Embassy in Washington. He said it is the US that is threatening to militarize the final frontier. 'It has kept expanding military strength in space, created space military alliances, and attempted to turn space into a war zone,' Liu said. 'China urges the US to stop spreading irresponsible rhetoric, stop expanding military build-up in space, and make due contribution to upholding the lasting peace and security in space.' What the US is doing about security in space Nations are scrambling to create their own rocket and space programs to exploit commercial prospects and ensure they aren't dependent on foreign satellites. It's an expensive and difficult proposition, as demonstrated last week when the first Australian-made rocket crashed after 14 seconds of flight. The US Space Force was created in 2019 to protect American interests in space and to defend US satellites from attacks from adversaries. The space service is far smaller than the more well-established services like the Army, Navy or Air Force, but it's growing, and the White House is expected to announce a location for its headquarters soon. Colorado and Alabama are both candidates. The US military operates an unmanned space shuttle used to conduct classified military missions and research. The craft, known as the X-37B, recently returned to Earth after more than a year in orbit. The Space Force called access to space a vital national security interest. 'Space is a warfighting domain, and it is the Space Force's job to contest and control its environment to achieve national security objectives,' it said in the statement. American dominance in space has been largely unquestioned for decades following the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union. But the new threats and competition posed by Russia and China show the need for an aggressive response, US officials say. The hope, Turner said, is that the US can take steps to ensure Russia and China can't get the upper hand, and the frightening potential of space weapons is not realized. 'You have to pay attention to these things so they don't happen,' Turner said.
Al Arabiya
5 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Australian court fines Qantas $59mln for illegal layoffs
An Australian court fined Qantas Aus$90 million (US$59 million) on Monday for illegally laying off 1,800 ground staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said he wanted the fine to be a 'real deterrence' to firms that might be tempted by the financial rewards of breaching employment law. The penalty concluded a years-long court battle between unions and the carrier. Qantas decided to sack the workers and outsource their jobs in August 2020, a period of lockdowns and border closures when no COVID-19 vaccine existed. Australia's Federal Court subsequently found that Qantas had acted illegally despite its stated 'commercial imperatives' and later dismissed an appeal by the airline. Long-dubbed the 'Spirit of Australia', 104-year-old Qantas has been on a mission to repair its reputation, which has been hit in recent years by the illegal sackings, soaring ticket prices, claims of sloppy service and the selling of seats on already-cancelled flights. Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson took over in 2023, promising to improve customer satisfaction. She replaced Alan Joyce, who stepped down earlier than planned as Qantas endured heavy criticism over its treatment of workers and passengers, despite delivering bumper profits for shareholders. Qantas' fine is to be split into two parts, the court said, with Aus$50 million going to the Transport Workers Union and Aus$40 million being held for future payments to the former workers.
