Five things to know after Trump and Putin ceasefire talks
The meeting, which Mr Putin was welcomed to with a red carpet, did not include Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
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Irish Examiner
28 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
European leaders to join Zelenskyy when he meets Trump at the White House
European leaders will join Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy when he meets Donald Trump for peace talks at the White House on Monday. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finnish president Alexander Stubb were the first leaders to confirm they will join Mr Zelensky in Washington DC. Mr Zelenskyy's Oval Office rendezvous with the US president will take place after Western allies meet for a coalition of the willing video call on Sunday afternoon. The call will be hosted by British leader Keir Starmer, France's Emmanuel Macron and Mr Merz. Downing Street would not comment on whether Sir Keir plans to travel to Washington to join other European leaders on Monday. The show of unity by European leaders comes as Mr Trump appears poised to urge the Ukrainian leader to agree to a Russian land grab of his country's territory, according to reports. Several news outlets have reported Russian president Vladimir Putin has demanded full control of Donetsk and Luhansk – two occupied Ukrainian regions – as a condition for ending the war. In exchange, he would give up other Ukrainian territories held by Russian troops, several news outlets said, attributing sources familiar with Mr Putin and Mr Trump's negotiations in Alaska on Friday. Mr Trump is said to be inclined to support the plan, and will speak to Mr Zelenskyy about it when they meet in the Oval Office The European leaders may also fear a repeat of Mr Zelenskyy's last visit to the White House at the end of February. The tumultuous spat resulted in a souring of relations between the US and Ukraine.
Irish Times
28 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Thousands of Guatemalans deported from US with nothing more than the contents of a white plastic sack
'Maybe you have left your family in the US but the same god who is here in Guatemala is there in the US,' says a local church volunteer at La Aurora Air Force Base in Guatemala city. The volunteer is leading more than 90 Guatemalans in prayer. They have just stepped off a US deportation flight and are being processed at the Centre for Returnees. Before being deported, the Guatemalans were held at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) facility in Alexandria, Louisiana. Amid a far-reaching crackdown on immigration by US president Donald Trump , La Aurora base has received more than 266 US deportation flights this year, according to Witness at the Border. More than 24,000 Guatemalans have been deported from the US in 2025, according to data from the Guatemalan Institute for Migration. An official at the state-backed reception centre for returnees at La Aurora base says most people now being deported have spent long periods in the US and often have children with US citizenship. READ MORE Wearing the standard grey tracksuit supplied at US detention centres, 45-year-old electrician Pablo Vélez says he had feared being detained in the months leading up to his arrest by Ice in California. 'My father was murdered in Guatemala and both my mother and brother were granted asylum in the US,' says deportee Pablo Vélez. Photograph: Hannah McCarthy 'A lot of the Guatemalan community in California are staying at home and not even leaving for work right now,' he says. Vélez was detained while attending court to apply for asylum two months earlier. 'My father was murdered in Guatemala and both my mother and brother were granted asylum in the US,' says Vélez. He didn't apply for asylum when they did, but later travelled with a smuggler – known locally as a 'coyote' – to join his family in the US. In California he married an American-born Mexican woman, with whom he has an 18-year-old son. Vélez says he was deported from the US in 2008 but returned in 2015 with help from another smuggler. Now separated from his wife, he's unsure whether he'll find work as an electrician in Guatemala. Vélez says a nephew is going to pick him up and he says he will begin to build a life in Guatemala once again. [ What it would take for America to deport 11 million immigrants Opens in new window ] Under Trump's new Detained Parents Directive , family separations are likely to increase as Ice's obligations to facilitate reunification of parents with their children before deportation are weakened. An official at the airbase recalls one distressed woman arriving earlier this year who had been separated from her young daughter when she was deported from the US. The official says more than 800 Guatemalan minors have been deported this year and the youngest child he saw on a deportation flight was three years old. In July the US Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which allocated record funding to the US's deportation system, including $45 billion for detention, $14.4 billion for deportation and $10 billion to expand Ice. 'The budget for immigration detention is now more than 62 per cent larger than the budget for the entire Federal Bureau of Prisons,' stated the Washington Office on Latin America, a nonprofit advocacy group. 'With the vast scope and scale of these resources, the number of people removed after long periods in the US is very certain to grow.' Bags containing belongings confiscated in the US and returned via Guatemalan authorities. Photograph: Hannah McCarthy Some Guatemalan deportees are returning with nothing. Most, however, collect a white plastic sack containing belongings confiscated by US authorities and returned via Guatemalan authorities. Guatemala's government has rolled out a new Return Home Plan that offers some services to deportees. But the usual network of NGOs, churches and state agencies is under strain due to USAid cuts imposed by the Trump administration. Begging has visibly increased in the centre of Guatemala City. Marisela Tzul (35), who asks to be referred to by her middle name, was handed a small brown bag of food and a hygiene pack, and is tying her shoes with new laces – it is standard practice in US detention facilities to remove detainee's laces to prevent self-harm. [ US Ice agents took half their workforce. What do they do now? Opens in new window ] Marisela, originally from Totonicapán, travelled to the US with a coyote in 2023. She was working at a garment factory in Los Angeles until 50 days ago when she was detained by IC agents. 'The owner of the factory saw Ice agents entering the factory beside us and she just handed us over to them,' says Marisela. She and nine others – seven Guatemalans and two Mexicans – were arrested. Over the next 50 days she was transferred from California to Nevada, then Arizona, Texas and finally Louisiana. Marisela says she doesn't want to talk about conditions at the centres – 'it was terrible.' She says she was only informed that she would be deported at 3am two days earlier. 'No one in my family knows I'm here,' she says. She has had no contact with them since she was detained. Guatemalan consular officials have reported challenges in accessing Guatemalan citizens in some US detention facilities. Marisela Tzul (35) was handed a small brown bag of food. Photograph: Hannah McCarthy After being processed most deportees board a large yellow bus to either temporary shelter or Guatemala City's central bus station, where they will make their own way home. But some families are waiting outside the airbase for their loved ones. Young men who appeared stoic moments before crumble as they meet their parents who hold them tightly as they sob.
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Zelensky claims Russia ‘complicating' ceasefire efforts ‘coalition of the willing' meet to discuss peace
The coalition of the willing, the alliance which is planning to police a future peace deal in Ukraine, will meet on Sunday afternoon amid reports Donald Trump favours a Russian land grab to end the war. Following the Alaska summit between Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin on Friday, the American leader suggested he wants to move straight to a full peace deal, rather than negotiating a ceasefire first. The shift in Mr Trump's position appears to echo the Russians' refusal to agree to ceasefire before engaging in peace talks. Several news outlets have cited sources which claimed that during the negotiations Mr Putin demanded full control of Donetsk and Luhansk – two occupied Ukrainian regions – as a condition for ending the war. In exchange, he would give up other Ukrainian territories held by Russian troops. Other outlets reported that Mr Trump is inclined to support the plan, and will speak to Mr Zelensky about it when they meet in the Oval Office. Writing on social media on Sunday morning, the Ukrainian leader railed against Russia's refusal to lay down arms temporarily before agreeing to end the war. Mr Zelensky said: 'We see that Russia rebuffs numerous calls for a ceasefire and has not yet determined when it will stop the killing. 'This complicates the situation.' We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content He added: 'If they lack the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater – peaceful coexistence with its neighbours for decades. 'But together we are working for peace and security. Stopping the killing is a key element of stopping the war.' The British prime minister, alongside French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Friedrich Merz, will host the coalition of the willing on Sunday afternoon. The video conference will see allies who plan to keep the peace in Ukraine gather ahead of Mr Zelensky's visit to Washington on Monday. The Ukrainian leader is expected to attend the Sunday afternoon video call, which is scheduled to take place at 2pm UK time. Friday's summit between Mr Trump and Mr Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, ended without any commitment towards a ceasefire. The Russian president described it as 'timely' and 'useful' after he left. Mr Trump afterwards suggested it was time for Mr Zelensky to make a deal to end the war. Mr Starmer commended Mr Trump's 'pursuit of an end to the killing', but insisted Ukraine's leader must not be excluded from future talks to broker a peace in Ukraine. Mr Starmer and European leaders appeared increasingly confident that Mr Trump will offer a 'security guarantee' of air support to back up allied troops on the ground in Ukraine, should they be deployed to keep the peace. Experts have warned the face-to-face summit has risked legitimising the Russian leader, who has been made a pariah by the international community for invading Ukraine. Mr Zelensky has warned Russia may ramp up its strikes against his country in the coming days 'in order to create more favourable political circumstances for talks with global actors'.
