Bassil, Russian ambassador discuss developments in Lebanon and region
The meeting took place in the presence of former MP Amal Abou Zeid and FPM's International Relations Bureau member, Bashir Haddad.
The discussion reportedly addressed developments in Lebanon, Syria, and the region, in general, and how to deal with their repercussions.
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L'Orient-Le Jour
3 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Lebanese Army denies conducting reconnaissance flights over Syria
The Lebanese Army denied, in a statement on Sunday, reports that it conducted reconnaissance flights over Syria to monitor possible military movements at the border. Online information circulating in recent days claimed that 'gangs' threatened to enter Lebanon and kidnap Lebanese soldiers, and reported that the army had flown over Syria to monitor these movements. 'Some media outlets and websites reported that the Lebanese Air Force is violating Syrian airspace in order to monitor military movements on the Syrian side in the border areas, in response to threats from armed Syrian groups to enter Lebanon and carry out security operations there. Army command clarifies that this information is entirely false,' the statement said. 'Military units are monitoring the situation along the border and taking the necessary measures to control and secure it,' noting contacts and coordination with the Syrian authorities 'to follow developments in the situation.' After the rumors about Syrian groups, Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), who has made opposing the new Syrian regime his latest cause, wrote on X that 'Lebanon is surrounded by extremist religious regimes, one wants a 'Greater Israel' and the other a 'Greater Syria.'' 'Our neighbors covet our land and others covet our decisions,' he added, expressing his desire for a 'Greater Lebanon, moderate and diverse.' Reports have circulated regularly, since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, about alleged Syrian ambitions to seize Lebanese territory, but these have been denied. At the end of March, the Lebanese and Syrian defense ministers met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and agreed to strengthen security and military coordination along their shared border, which is 330 kilometers long, known to be porous, and where various trafficking activities are common. They also signed an agreement in principle to demarcate the border. On April 14, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam traveled to Damascus, where he met the new Syrian president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, to discuss, among other things, border security. In February and March, sporadic clashes took place between clans, reportedly close to Hezbollah, and the new Syrian authorities near border towns.
Nahar Net
9 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Trump-Putin summit: What we know
by Naharnet Newsdesk 17 August 2025, 11:14 Here are the outcomes of a summit meeting on Ukraine between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, based on statements from Saturday: - No ceasefire - Ukraine and European leaders had urged Trump to push for an immediate ceasefire, but this was not agreed to at the summit. Trump said it was determined by all that the best way to end the "horrific war... is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up". This stance appears to be a victory for Putin, whose army has made recent progress in eastern Ukraine and who has called for a peace deal that would address what he says are the "root causes" of the conflict, notably the prospect of NATO membership for Ukraine. According to Kyiv, Russian forces launched 85 drones and one missile at Ukraine overnight Friday to Saturday -- including during the meeting -- while Russia claimed to have taken two more villages in the east of Ukraine. - No 'severe consequences' - Ahead of the summit, Trump had threatened "severe consequences" if Putin failed to agree to a ceasefire. Trump could impose tariffs of up to 500 percent on any country that helps Russia's war effort as part of so-called "secondary sanctions", according to Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham. But when asked about this by Fox News after the talks, Trump said that, "because of what happened today, I think I don't have to think about that now". European leaders, meanwhile, said they would keep pressuring Russia, including with further sanctions, until "there is a just and lasting peace". - Nothing on land concessions - Ukraine's biggest fear ahead of the Alaska summit was that the United States would push it to give up territories currently occupied by Russia, which comprise around 20 percent of its land, including Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. Trump expressed support during a call with Zelensky and European leaders after the summit for a proposal by Putin to take full control of two largely Russian-held Ukrainian regions in exchange for freezing the frontline in two others, an official briefed on the talks told AFP. Putin "de facto demands that Ukraine leave Donbas," an area consisting of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine, the source said. In exchange, Russian forces would halt their offensive in the Black Sea port region of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, where the main cities are still under Ukrainian control. - Security guarantees - Guarantees to secure any future peace deal were not mentioned in the Trump-Putin final declaration. But Trump told Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders that a NATO-style guarantee for Kyiv could be on the table, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and a diplomatic source said -- but without actual NATO membership for Ukraine. France, Britain and others said they could contribute troops as peace deal guarantors in Ukraine, but not on the frontline. - Possible three-way meeting - Trump said he would meet Zelensky in Washington on Monday, and said three-way talks between himself, Putin and Zelensky could be scheduled later. He had said earlier that a deal to end the war depended on Zelensky alone. But Zelensky said that Russia refusing to accept a ceasefire "complicates the situation", and questioned its willingness to achieve a lasting peace.
Ya Libnan
10 hours ago
- Ya Libnan
Trump drops ceasefire demand, adopts Putin's position on Ukraine
US President Donald Trump reversed course after his meeting in Alaska with Russia's Vladimir Putin by abandoning his demand for a ceasefire and adopting a Kremlin position calling for a full peace deal to end the Ukraine war. The leaders of France, Germany and the UK are set to host a video call Sunday to discuss the way forward. Donald Trump on Saturday dropped his push for a ceasefire in Ukraine in favor of pursuing a full peace accord – a major shift announced hours after his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin yielded no clear breakthrough. Prior to the high-stakes meeting in Alaska, securing an immediate cessation of hostilities had been a core demand of Trump and European leaders including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky , who will now hold talks with the US president in Washington on Monday. The shift away from an urgent ceasefire would seem to favor Putin, who has long argued for negotiations on a final peace deal – a strategy that Ukraine and its European allies have criticised as a way to buy time and press home Russia's battlefield advances. 'It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere ceasefire agreement, which often times do not hold up,' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform after the Alaska talks. Before the summit, Trump had warned of 'severe consequences' if Moscow did not accept a ceasefire. In a call with European leaders on his flight back to Washington, Trump said the US was prepared to provide security guarantees for Ukraine – an assurance German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed as 'significant progress.' But there was a scathing assessment of the summit outcome from the European Union 's top diplomat Kaja Kallas , who accused Putin of seeking to 'drag out negotiations' with no commitment to end the bloodshed. 'The harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war any time soon,' Kallas said. The New York Times, citing two European officials briefed on Trump's call with European leaders, said the president had expressed support for Putin's proposal for Ukraine to cede territory it controls to Russia in exchange for an eventual ceasefire. Zelensky back in White House Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington on August 18, 2025. © Ben Stansall, AFP (File) The main diplomatic focus now switches to Zelensky's talks with Trump in Washington on Monday. An EU source told AFP that a number of European leaders had also been invited to attend. The Ukrainian president's last visit to the White House in February ended in an extraordinary shouting match, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berating Zelensky for not showing enough gratitude for US help against the Russian invasion. Zelensky said Saturday after a 'substantive' conversation with Trump about the Alaska summit that he looked forward to his Washington visit and discussing 'all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war.' In an interview with Fox News after his sit-down with Putin, Trump had suggested that the onus was now on Zelensky to secure a peace deal as they work towards an eventual trilateral summit with Putin. Czechoslovakia in 1938 with Sudetenland. Weiner Holocaust Library. The deal struck by the then British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, and his French counterpart, Édouard Daladier, with the German leader Adolf Hitler handed Hitler territory in Germany's neighbour Czechoslovakia in return for what Chamberlain erroneously boasted would be 'peace in our time'. Within months Nazi Germany would take control of much of the rest of Czechoslovakia and in less than a year the whole of Europe would be at war. 'It's really up to President Zelensky to get it done,' Trump said. 'And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit, but it's up to President Zelensky.' The leaders of France, Britain and Germany are due to host a video call Sunday for their so-called 'coalition of the willing' to discuss the way forward. In an earlier statement, they welcomed the plan for a Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit, but added that they would maintain pressure on Russia in the absence of a ceasefire. 'We will continue to strengthen sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia's war economy until there is a just and lasting peace,' the statement said. Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine raged on, with Kyiv announcing Saturday that Russia had launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile during the night. Back in Moscow, Putin said his summit talks with Trump had been 'timely' and 'very useful.' 'The conversation was very frank, substantive, and, in my opinion, brings us closer to the necessary decisions,' he said. In his post-summit statement in Alaska, Putin had warned Ukraine and European countries not to engage in any 'behind-the-scenes intrigues' that could disrupt what he called 'this emerging progress.' (FRANCE 24 with AFP)
