Tariffing India won't stop Putin: House Foreign Affairs Committee
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First Post
17 minutes ago
- First Post
Trump says Ukraine deal ‘close' as Putin seeks Donbas, Crimea recognition and Nato block
At their Alaska summit, Trump and Putin discussed a peace framework in which Russia would return small occupied areas of Ukraine in exchange for Kyiv ceding larger eastern territories, halting Nato ambitions, and recognising Crimea. While Trump claimed the two leaders were 'close to a deal,' Ukraine and its allies remain firm on rejecting land-for-peace concessions. Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump pose on a podium on the tarmac after they arrived to attend a meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, US. Reuters Under peace offers discussed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump at their Alaska meeting, Russia would give up small areas of occupied Ukraine and Kyiv would give up large areas of its eastern territory that Moscow has been unable to seize, according to sources briefed on Moscow's thinking said. The account emerged the day after Trump and Putin met at an Alaskan air force station, the first meeting between a US president and the Kremlin top since before the Ukraine crisis began. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to visit Washington on Monday to explore a possible resolution to Putin's full-scale war, which began in February 2022. Although the summit failed to secure the ceasefire he said he had wanted, Trump said in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity that he and Putin had discussed land transfers and security guarantees for Ukraine, and had 'largely agreed'. 'I think we're pretty close to a deal,' he said, adding: 'Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they'll say 'no'.' The two sources, who sought anonymity to discuss issues that are sensitive, said their understanding of Putin's suggestions was mostly based on talks among leaders in Europe, the United States, and Ukraine, and that it was incomplete. Trump briefed Zelenskyy and European leaders on his summit talks early Saturday. It was unclear if Putin's recommendations were intended to serve as a starting point for discussions or as a final offer that was not open to reconsideration. Ukrainian land for peace At face value, at least some of the demands would present huge challenges for Ukraine's leadership to accept. Putin's offer ruled out a ceasefire until a comprehensive deal is reached, blocking a key demand of Zelenskyy, whose country is hit daily by Russian drones and ballistic missiles. Under the proposed Russian deal, Kyiv would fully withdraw from the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions in return for a Russian pledge to freeze the front lines in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the sources said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Ukraine has already rejected any retreat from Ukrainian land such as the Donetsk region, where its troops are dug in and which Kyiv says serves as a crucial defensive structure to prevent Russian attacks deeper into its territory. Russia would be prepared to return comparatively small tracts of Ukrainian land it has occupied in the northern Sumy and northeastern Kharkiv regions, the sources said. Russia holds pockets of the Sumy and Kharkiv regions that total around 440 square km, according to Ukraine's Deep State battlefield mapping project. Ukraine controls around 6,600 square km of Donbas, which comprises the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and is claimed by Russia. Although the Americans have not spelled this out, the sources said they knew Russia's leader was also seeking - at the very least - formal recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014. It was not clear if that meant recognition by the US government or, for instance, all Western powers and Ukraine. Kyiv and its European allies reject formal recognition of Moscow's rule in the peninsula. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD They said Putin would also expect the lifting of at least some of the array of sanctions on Russia. However, they could not say if this applied to US as well as European sanctions. Trump said on Friday he did not immediately need to consider retaliatory tariffs on countries such as China for buying Russian oil - which is subject to a range of Western sanctions - but might have to 'in two or three weeks.' Ukraine would also be barred from joining the Nato military alliance, though Putin seemed to be open to Ukraine receiving some kind of security guarantees, the sources said. However, they added that it was unclear what this meant in practice. European leaders said Trump had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine during their conversation on Saturday and also broached an idea for an 'Article 5'-style guarantee outside the Nato military alliance. Nato regards any attack launched on one of its 32 members as an attack on all under its Article 5 clause. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Joining the Atlantic alliance is a strategic objective for Kyiv that is enshrined in the country's constitution. Russia would also demand official status for the Russian language inside parts of, or across, Ukraine, as well as the right of the Russian Orthodox Church to operate freely, the sources said. Ukraine's security agency accuses the Moscow-linked church of abetting Russia's war on Ukraine by spreading pro-Russian propaganda and housing spies, something denied by the church which says it has cut canonical ties with Moscow. Ukraine has passed a law banning Russia-linked religious organisations, of which it considers the church to be one. However, it has not yet started enforcing the ban.
Time of India
17 minutes ago
- Time of India
Trump administration unveils stricter subsidy rules for wind, solar projects
The US Treasury Department on Friday unveiled stricter rules for how solar and wind projects can qualify for federal tax subsidies that President Donald Trump's new tax and spending law is phasing out over the next two years. The revisions change longstanding definitions for what it means for a project to be considered under construction by requiring developers of big solar arrays and wind farms to complete physical work rather than simply show that they have invested capital. The changes are in response to an executive order Trump issued last month directing the Treasury Department to restrict tax credit eligibility unless a substantial portion of a facility is built. Since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly sought to stall development of wind and solar energy, calling them unreliable, expensive, and overly dependent on Chinese supply chains. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act , which Trump signed into law last month, requires projects to begin construction by July of next year or enter service by the end of 2027 to qualify for a 30 per cent tax credit and bonuses that can push the subsidy even higher. Under the new rules, which will affect projects that start construction as of September 2, utility-scale projects will be required to show substantial and continuous physical work to be eligible for the credits. They will still have four years to claim the subsidies. For the last decade, project developers had also been able to "safe harbor" projects for four years by incurring 5 per cent of total costs before a credit expired or stepped down to a lesser value. According to an agency document, "substantial" work does not include permitting, design or holding components in inventory. Small projects of under 1.5 megawatts will still be able to use the 5 per cent "safe harbor" provision, Treasury said, a positive for the residential solar industry. A solar industry trade group said the rules would harm businesses and undermine lawmakers' intentions with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. "This is yet another act of energy subtraction from the Trump administration that will further delay the buildout of affordable, reliable power," Solar Energy Industries Association CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said in a statement. "American families and businesses will pay more for electricity as a result of this action, and China will continue to outpace us in the race for electricity to power AI."
Hans India
17 minutes ago
- Hans India
Market outlook: Global events, GST reforms, FII trends to drive Dalal Street this week
Mumbai: The Indian stock market will take cues from a mix of global and domestic triggers when it reopens for trading this week after the Independence Day holiday. Experts say factors such as the outcome of the Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement on GST reforms, movements in US markets, and the ongoing buying and selling trends of foreign and domestic investors will play a major role in deciding the direction of Dalal Street. Last week, the Nifty and Sensex finally broke a six-week losing streak, closing with gains of around 1 per cent. However, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued heavy selling, offloading shares worth nearly Rs 10,000 crore in the cash market. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) cushioned the fall with strong purchases of about Rs 19,000 crore. Sector-wise, pharma and auto stocks led the recovery while FMCG shares lagged behind. One of the biggest triggers for the coming week is the understanding reached between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Ukraine conflict. Their meeting in Alaska on Friday did not produce a ceasefire but both leaders signaled progress, which could boost market sentiment globally. Back home, Prime Minister Modi's Independence Day announcement of GST 2.0 reforms is being seen as a positive sign for investors. The PM said the government would roll out major rate cuts by Diwali, especially on everyday-use goods, to make the tax regime more business- and consumer-friendly. Analysts believe this could improve market confidence. Global cues from Wall Street will also have an impact. US markets ended mixed last week, with the Dow closing in the green while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped on weak industrial output data despite stronger retail sales numbers. In addition, corporate actions such as dividends, rights issues, stock splits and bonus shares lined up for more than 100 companies this week are likely to add stock-specific movements. Meanwhile, the trend of FIIs and DIIs will remain crucial. Crude oil prices, which cooled off after the Trump-Putin talks, may also provide some relief, said analysts.
