logo
Panic in eastern Ukraine as Trump entertains idea of giving parts of it to Russia

Panic in eastern Ukraine as Trump entertains idea of giving parts of it to Russia

CNN5 days ago
On the beaches of Sloviansk's tiny salt lake, where the medicinal waters provide a moment of solace from the whirling violence of the eastern frontlines just a few miles away, talk of a Ukraine land deal at Friday's Alaska summit seems dark and surreal.
'I feel like I just float away from this reality,' said local journalist Mykhailo, in between dips into the water, from the lake's sands overlooked by a large concrete bomb shelter. Shelling is regular near here, which Mykhailo jokingly calls 'the Salt Lake City of Sloviansk'.
But the Kremlin's proposal to US special envoy Steve Witkoff to exchange a ceasefire for the parts of Donbass Russia has yet to conquer means this town, and those near it, could suddenly become Moscow's territory. And even on this quiet beach, it's caused what Mykhailo calls 'panic.'
'Many of my friends want to stay here and we all will have to leave,' he said. 'But frankly speaking I don't think it is going to happen.' There is defiance, and recognition the high stakes diplomacy US President Donald Trump is engaged in with Russian President Vladimir Putin may fall as flat in execution as it has been hurried in preparation.
'What Trump did wrong he took him out of the bog – he took him out and said 'Vladimir, I want to talk to you. I just like you,'' said Mykailo. 'He didn't care that every day Ukrainians die.'
To Ludmila, moving herself to the waters in an arm-propelled wheelchair, the salt lake is a brief moment of buoyancy that provides relief from her injuries from stepping on a land mine two years ago. It is a daily pain that leaves her unimpressed by diplomacy.
'There, they are lying', she said, waving her hand dismissively. 'For them it is all a spectacle. They decide one thing, say another, and do another. That's always been politics.'
Across the Donetsk region, word of Witkoff's emerging deal with the Kremlin, confused in details, and immediately refused by Kyiv, has put lives already ravaged by war into a deeper spin.
The town of Sloviansk was first taken by Moscow's proxy 'separatists' in 2014 before Ukrainian forces retook control. New ditches have been hastily dug to its west to prepare for the possibility Russia's ongoing offensive might threaten the town itself once again. But few imagined their key ally, the United States, might entertain the idea of giving their home away.
In the town's maternity ward, the only functioning facility of its kind for miles, Taisiya strokes Assol, her daughter born Sunday into a world where suddenly the risks of being in Sloviansk have multiplied.
'I saw the news', she said. 'That would be very bad. But we have no influence on that. It's not going to be our decision. People will just give away their homes.'
Births and deaths continue, that of Sofia Lamekhova particularly distressing. Her parents, Natalia and Sviatoslav, had been glad when she and her husband, Mykyta, decided to live with their newborn son Lev in Kyiv. As Sviatoslav said: 'We wanted them to be further from the frontline. Here in Sloviansk, every day there are drone attacks and shelling.'
But the family of three were found in the rubble of the July 31 airstrike on an apartment block in Kyiv, killed together by the building's collapse. Sofia was three months pregnant and due in Sloviansk in a few days, to tell her friends the good news.
'They left from the war, and it was quiet there, but the war caught them there', said Natalia. Sviatoslav added: 'To come to terms with that as a person is impossible. It is impossible to come to terms with the loss of children.'
They had spoken the night before Sofia died. 'She said she really wanted to come to Sloviansk', said Natalia. 'To tell everyone the news, spread the joy. But they didn't return. They came back together, differently.'
Sofia's mother is macabrely referring to the family's burial on the outskirts of town. A Ukrainian jet roars overhead as she and her husband tend the dusty flowers on their burial mounds. The couple cannot leave Sloviansk – their home, but also where they provide food and water aid to many of the locals, often elderly who live alone and survive on handouts.
The nearest train station is Kramatorsk, the de facto capital of Ukrainian held Donetsk, a bustling town, where civilian life sustains among the military who are based there. A vast airstrike took down a central building – tearing through its four storeys and into its basement. Russian drone attacks are regular. But the city brims with the urgent business of survival in war, and the war itself.
The train from Kyiv arrives to air raid sirens on Monday. Dozens sit on the platform to greet and replace those arriving from the capital. Weeping is Tetyana, whose husband Serhiy, has been fighting since the second day of Russia's full invasion and has been given two days off from his tank unit outside Kostiantynivka to celebrate his birthday.
As Tetyana weeps, the soldier gently admonishes her fuss. 'It would have been better if she had not come', he said. 'Calm down.' Tetyana has little interest in the wider machinations of Trump's diplomacy. 'Do you know what my dream is? Just for my husband to come home. I don't care about those territories. I just want him to be alive and come home.'
The train picks up to return to the capital, men placing their hands to its moving glass windows, and a girl etching a heart on a closing door. The sirens continue.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Zelenskyy knows he risks another Oval Office ambush - but has to be a willing participant in peace talks
Zelenskyy knows he risks another Oval Office ambush - but has to be a willing participant in peace talks

Yahoo

time2 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Zelenskyy knows he risks another Oval Office ambush - but has to be a willing participant in peace talks

There will be no red carpet or fly past, no round of applause when Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in Washington DC on Monday. But the bitter memory of his last visit to the White House will feature prominently in the Ukrainian president's thoughts. In February, he was mocked for not wearing a suit and told he didn't "have the cards" by US President Donald Trump, before being walked off the premises early, like an unruly patron being thrown out of the bar. knows he is risking another ambush in the Oval Office but has to present himself as a willing participant in peace talks, out of fear of being painted as the obstacle to a resolution. There was initially measured optimism in Kyiv after Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, because it appeared that no deal had been cut between Washington and the Kremlin without Ukraine in the room, as had been feared. But that restrained positivity quickly evaporated with the release of a statement by Trump the morning after the night before. In the heady heights of a meeting with strongman Putin, he seemed to have abandoned the one key thing that European leaders had impressed upon him - that there had to be an unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine as an absolute starting point to a permanent resolution. Trump had apparently reached the conclusion that no ceasefire was required. "The best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine... is to go directly to a peace agreement," is how he put it on his Truth Social media account. Read more: That sent shockwaves through Kyiv. Many there and elsewhere believe Russia has no intention of stopping the war yet, and will use its military advantage on the battlefield to pressure Ukraine in drawn-out negotiations to give up more territory. In the meantime, the slaughter of Ukrainians will continue. It is the most dramatic of 180s from Trump, who before the meeting and after lobbying from European leaders had said he would not be happy if Putin failed to agree to a ceasefire, and even promised "severe consequences". Yet now reports suggest Trump is giving credence to the Russian position - in a phone call to Zelenskyy he laid out Putin's proposal that Ukraine relinquishes even more territory, in return for an end to the war. The Ukrainian president will have, no doubt, been distressed to see the pictures of Putin being greeted like a king on an American military base in Alaska. It is in direct contrast to how he was hosted on US soil. In Trump's orbit everything is a personality contest, and where he has very obvious deference to Putin, he has disdain for Zelenskyy. That makes the Ukrainian's position very difficult.

The Trump administration wants to end the UN peacekeeping in Lebanon. Europe is pushing back
The Trump administration wants to end the UN peacekeeping in Lebanon. Europe is pushing back

San Francisco Chronicle​

time3 minutes ago

  • San Francisco Chronicle​

The Trump administration wants to end the UN peacekeeping in Lebanon. Europe is pushing back

WASHINGTON (AP) — The future of U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon has split the United States and its European allies, raising implications for security in the Middle East and becoming the latest snag to vex relations between the U.S. and key partners like France, Britain and Italy. At issue is the peacekeeping operation known as UNIFIL, whose mandate expires at the end of August and will need to be renewed by the U.N. Security Council to continue. It was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel's 1978 invasion, and its mission was expanded following the monthlong 2006 war between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah. The multinational force has played a significant role in monitoring the security situation in southern Lebanon for decades, including during the Israel-Hezbollah war last year, but has drawn criticism from both sides and numerous U.S. lawmakers, some of whom now hold prominent roles in President Donald Trump's administration or wield new influence with the White House. Trump administration political appointees came into office this year with the aim of shutting down UNIFIL as soon as possible. They regard the operation as an ineffectual waste of money that is merely delaying the goal of eliminating Hezbollah's influence and restoring full security control to the Lebanese Armed Forces that the government says it is not yet capable of doing. After securing major cuts in U.S. funding to the peacekeeping force, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed off early last week on a plan that would wind down and end UNIFIL in the next six months, according to Trump administration officials and congressional aides familiar with the discussions. It's another step as the Trump administration drastically pares back its foreign affairs priorities and budget, including expressing skepticism of international alliances and cutting funding to U.N. agencies and missions. The transatlantic divide also has been apparent on issues ranging from Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine conflict to trade, technology and free speech issues. Israel has for years sought an end to UNIFIL's mandate, and renewal votes have often come after weeks of political wrangling. Now, the stakes are particularly high after last year's war and more vigorous opposition in Washington. European nations, notably France and Italy, have objected to winding down UNIFIL. With the support of Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Turkey and envoy to Lebanon, they successfully lobbied Rubio and others to support a one-year extension of the peacekeeping mandate followed by a time-certain wind-down period of six months, according to the administration officials and congressional aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic negotiations. Israel also reluctantly agreed to an extension, they said. The European argument was that prematurely ending UNIFIL before the Lebanese army is able to fully secure the border area would create a vacuum that Hezbollah could easily exploit. The French noted that when a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali was terminated before government troops were ready to deal with security threats, Islamic extremists moved in. With the U.S. easing off, the issue ahead of the U.N. vote expected at the end of August now appears to be resistance by France and others to setting a firm deadline for the operation to end after the one-year extension, according to the officials and congressional aides. French officials did not respond to requests for comment. The final French draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, does not include a date for UNIFIL's withdrawal, which U.S. officials say is required for their support. Instead, it would extend the peacekeeping mission for one year and indicates the U.N. Security Council's 'intention to work on a withdrawal.' But even if the mandate is renewed, the peacekeeping mission might be scaled down for financial reasons, with the U.N. system likely facing drastic budget cuts, said a U.N. official, who was not authorized to comment to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity. One of the U.S. officials said an option being considered was reducing UNIFIL's numbers while boosting its technological means to monitor the situation on the ground. The peacekeeping force has faced criticism There are about 10,000 peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, while the Lebanese army has around 6,000 soldiers, a number that is supposed to increase to 10,000. Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon have frequently accused the U.N. mission of collusion with Israel and sometimes attacked peacekeepers on patrol. Israel, meanwhile, has accused the peacekeepers of turning a blind eye to Hezbollah's military activities in southern Lebanon and lobbied for its mandate to end. Sarit Zehavi, a former Israeli military intelligence analyst and founder of the Israeli think tank Alma Research and Education Center, said UNIFIL has played a 'damaging role with regard to the mission of disarming Hezbollah in south Lebanon.' She pointed to the discovery of Hezbollah tunnels and weapons caches close to UNIFIL facilities during and after last year's Israel-Hezbollah war, when much of the militant group's senior leadership was killed and much of its arsenal destroyed. Hezbollah is now under increasing pressure to give up the rest of its weapons. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UNIFIL continues to discover unauthorized weapons, including rocket launchers, mortar rounds and bomb fuses, this week, which it reported to the Lebanese army. Under the U.S.- and France-brokered ceasefire, Israel and Hezbollah were to withdraw from southern Lebanon, with the Lebanese army taking control in conjunction with UNIFIL. Israel has continued to occupy five strategic points on the Lebanese side and carry out near-daily airstrikes that it says aim to stop Hezbollah from regrouping. Lebanon supports keeping UN peacekeepers Lebanese officials have called for UNIFIL to remain, saying the country's cash-strapped and overstretched army is not yet able to patrol the full area on its own until it. Retired Lebanese Army Gen. Khalil Helou said that if UNIFIL's mandate were to abruptly end, soldiers would need to be pulled away from the porous border with Syria, where smuggling is rife, or from other areas inside of Lebanon — 'and this could have consequences for the stability' of the country. UNIFIL 'is maybe not fulfilling 100% what the Western powers or Israel desire. But for Lebanon, their presence is important,' he said. The United Nations also calls the peacekeepers critical to regional stability, Dujarric said. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said deciding on the renewal of the mandate is the prerogative of the U.N. Security Council. 'We are here to assist the parties in implementation of the mission's mandate and we're waiting for the final decision,' he said.

Trump runs into the difficulty of Putin diplomacy and ending a long war
Trump runs into the difficulty of Putin diplomacy and ending a long war

Washington Post

time4 minutes ago

  • Washington Post

Trump runs into the difficulty of Putin diplomacy and ending a long war

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump walked into a summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin pressing for a ceasefire deal and threatening 'severe consequences' and tough new sanctions if the Kremlin leader failed to agree to halt the fighting in Ukraine. Instead, Trump was the one who stood down, dropping his demand for a ceasefire in favor of pursuing a full peace accord — a position that aligns with Putin's .

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store