Trump goads Iran for now, but soon he has to make a choice
The event was a chance to spruik the Invest America Act, which would establish tax-advantaged investment portfolios for kids. However, in the characteristic rambling manner of many of Trump's public performances, it veered into US negotiations with Iran over its nuclear capabilities.
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AU Financial Review
an hour ago
- AU Financial Review
Putin is manipulating Trump on Ukraine, again
If a fire alarm had been readily available in Helsinki's presidential palace, the first summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin might have ended with sirens and sprinklers. Fiona Hill, then a White House expert on Russian affairs, was so unnerved by Trump's remarks at the joint press conference that she 'looked around to see if there was a fire alarm' to bring the 'terrible spectacle' to a sudden close. The Telegraph London
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
Will Trump strike a 'land swap' deal with Putin?
Sam Hawley: Donald Trump wants to win a Nobel Peace Prize and so he's desperate to end the war in Ukraine. At the end of the week, he's meeting the Russian president in the first face-to-face encounter the two men have had since Trump returned to the White House. The problem is, the Ukrainian leader won't be there. Today, international relations expert Rajan Menon on Trump's theatrics and what the summit will really achieve. I'm Sam Hawley on Gadigal land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily. Sam Hawley: Rajan, here we go again. Donald Trump negotiating with Vladimir Putin. News report: What could be the mother of all summits, a face-to-face meeting between the US president Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. News report: Vladimir Putin is coming to America. The Russian president will meet Donald Trump in the US state of Alaska in talks designed to move Putin closer to a peace deal with Ukraine. News report: US president Donald Trump has warned that a land swap could form part of a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine. Donald Trump, US President: We're going to get some back, we're going to get some switched. There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both. Sam Hawley: What a turnaround because a few weeks ago he was threatening sanctions against him, wasn't he? Rajan Menon: Yes, it is a remarkable turnaround. It comes, as you know, right on the heels of Steve Witkoff's recent visit to Moscow, his fifth visit, Witkoff being Trump's special envoy both to Russia and the Middle East. And I think Putin put forward the idea of a meeting, Witkoff immediately seized on it, came back and reported to Trump. And the talk of sanctions has sort of fallen by the wayside. And now the meeting appears to be on. And the big question is whether Zelenskyy will be participating in some fashion, if at all. Sam Hawley: Yeah, well, he at this point doesn't seem to be invited. But in an address to the nation, Zelenskyy has said that, you know, you really can't trust the Russian leaders' intentions on this one. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President: We understand Russia's intention is to try to deceive America. We will not allow this. I greatly value the determination with which President Trump is committed to bringing an end to the killings in this war. But the sole root cause of these killings is Putin's desire to wage war and manipulate everyone he comes into contact with. Rajan Menon: You know, there's another problem. Trump is now attacking Zelenskyy for rejecting the idea of land swaps. The idea is that the two provinces that constitute the area called Donbas in Ukraine's east, namely Donetsk and Luhansk, would be given to the Russians, and two other provinces to Ukraine's south, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, the land that Ukraine retains there would remain in Ukraine's hands. Now, who cooked up this idea? I don't know. Perhaps it was Witkoff who misunderstood and proposed it to Trump, but the Russians have officially proposed no such thing. So Zelenskyy has rejected it, and Trump is angry at him. Donald Trump, US President: I was a little bothered by the fact that Zelenskyy was saying, well, I have to get constitutional approval. I mean, he's got approval to go into war and kill everybody, but he needs approval to do a land swap. Rajan Menon: The problem is that the president appears not to understand that Zelenskyy couldn't accept it even if he wanted to, because under the Ukrainian constitution, any change to the territory of Ukraine or its boundaries requires a national referendum. Sam Hawley: So these comments from Trump, once again, he seems to be suggesting that this is a war that Zelenskyy in some way wants or caused. It's extraordinary. Rajan Menon: It is extraordinary. He said this, by the way, not once, but previously as well. And there's no question that all along, he has had little use for Zelenskyy, essentially accused him of being a stick-up man who comes to Washington and walks away with billions of dollars. He said this war would never have happened had he, Trump, been in the White House. He criticised Zelenskyy for not recognising the annexation of Crimea. And he has this unexplained kind of reverence for Putin. I mean, can you imagine him inviting Putin to the White House and savaging him in the way that Zelenskyy was savaged in that famous meeting? So as the summit unfolds, my own sense is that Putin is in a position to win either way. That is to say, he could put forward terms that are adverse to Ukraine's interest and could endorse them. Or there could fail to be a breakthrough and Trump would turn around and say, well, it was Zelenskyy's fault, which would also make Putin happy. Sam Hawley: All right. So Trump has flagged this potential of a land swap. So that will be discussed, we assume, during this meeting with Vladimir Putin. We don't know, as you say, if Zelenskyy might be asked along at the last minute at this point. But Ukraine has always said, Rajan, that it will not cede its territory to Russia. It just would never do that, would it? Rajan Menon: No, it wouldn't do it voluntarily. The one difficulty that Zelenskyy faces as regards the timing of this summit is that as we speak in Donetsk, which is now the major theatre of war, again, Donetsk province and Luhansk make up the area called Donbas. In Donetsk province, the Russian army has just broken through one of the main defence lines of Ukraine. And the problem is twofold. First, American supplies have ended. So there are no more Joe Biden-like tranches of multi-billion dollars of equipment. Secondly, the Russians just have more of everything and they're prepared to throw a lot of what they have at a front line that's 1,000 miles long. And the Ukrainians can't be fighting everywhere. So militarily, this has not been a good few months for the Ukrainians. And so Zelenskyy doesn't really have a lot of leverage. If you had to press me, I would say Trump would like to walk away from the war and leave the Europeans to handle this. Now, as the elected president of the United States, whatever you and I may think, it's his right to do that. My problem is that as he leaves, he wants to also shape the conflict in Russia's favour. That is not mediation. It's called something else. Sam Hawley: Well, on Fox News, J.D. Vance certainly indicated that he wants to wash his hands of the Ukraine war. He said that the American people don't want to pay for it anymore. JD Vance, US Vice President: Americans, I think, are sick of continuing to send their money, their tax dollars to this particular conflict. But if the Europeans want to step up and actually buy the weapons from American producers, we're OK with that, but we're not going to fund it ourselves anymore. Rajan Menon: Vance is probably the single most articulate and insistent advocate of that position, which has a certain amount of purchase, by the way, in Trump's MAGA movement. So the cost to Trump politically of walking away from war isn't very great. However, if the summit collapses and Russia overruns significant parts of Ukraine and the Ukrainians have their back to the wall, it will certainly come across as if Trump has been outsmarted by Putin. And I don't think he would like to be in that position. So he's got some pressure on him as well. The person who's now really in control of the situation, leaving aside the state of the Russian economy and so on, is Putin. No matter what happens, he can make it work to his advantage, no matter what happens at the summit, that is. Sam Hawley: Well, Donald Trump, Rajan, says he wants this meeting to feel out the Russian leader so he can know whether a deal could actually be done. Rajan Menon: This reminds me of George W. Bush, who said he looked into Putin's eyes and could see the man's soul. I mean, Putin can show a lot of different faces to different people. He also said, by the way, Trump, that, well, I'm going to sit in the room with Putin and in the first two minutes, I'll know whether a deal is possible or not. Donald Trump, US President: So this is really a feel out meeting a little bit. And at the end of that meeting, probably in the first two minutes, I'll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made. Reporter: How will you know that? Donald Trump, US President: Because that's what I do. I make deals. Rajan Menon: And now anyone can make a deal. The question is, you know, at what cost and to whom? Sam Hawley: And even the location of this meeting, Rajan, in Alaska, that favours Putin, right? Even if Trump is a bit confused about which country it's actually in. Donald Trump, US President: And it's embarrassing for me to be up here. You know, I'm going to see Putin. I'm going to Russia. Sam Hawley: That's good for him. Rajan Menon: Absolutely. You know, there is a strain of thinking in Russia that harks back to the fact that Alaska was once part of Russia and has indelible cultural ties with Russia and so on. So, yes, there is that. I don't know what they would call it, irony or whatever, but the choice is very interesting. But to cut to the chase, you know, I don't expect any earth shattering things to happen at the summit, because there is no way in God's green earth that Zelenskyy is going to agree to some scheme that Putin and Trump come up with that involves significant land concessions by Ukraine in return for nothing else. He will just flatly refuse and the Europeans have his back. Now, that said, you know, the United States is a big player in all this, but the summit itself is not going to change the trajectory of the war, which I suspect will be decided ultimately on the battlefield. Sam Hawley: All right. Well, European leaders are pretty concerned about this, aren't they, about this summit, even though Trump says he has a great relationship with all of them. Donald Trump, US President: My relationship with the European leaders, as you saw, is extremely good. Like, it's perfect. It's beautiful. Wait, wait, wait. Sam Hawley: But, you know, this is a worry for Europe, isn't it? Rajan Menon: Yes, it is. And that's another respect in which Trump can win because by siding with Zelenskyy, the Europeans have put themselves in a position where they've not chosen sides in effect. And as Putin sees this, that's yet another fissure occurring in the Western alliance, which he would be very pleased to see develop even further. I mean, one can like or dislike Vladimir Putin, but he is in his own fashion a strategic thinker. And in this game, there's no question that he has far more knowledge and expertise and experience than Donald Trump does. Sam Hawley: All right. Well, Rajan, ahead of this summit, do you really think that Putin is ready to end this war in any way? It has taken a huge toll on Russia. I mean, it's more than three years now, right? Rajan Menon: No question. But, you know, all indications are that despite supposedly a million casualties and 60,000 of them dead people, this has now been verified pretty extensively. He doesn't mind the loss and he doesn't mind the economic cost because he is riding a tiger. He began this war saying it was in the vital nationalist interests of Russia. He said, my war objectives are Ukrainian neutrality and the conquest of four Ukrainian provinces that are rightfully Russia's. And he has not wavered from that. So this is the question that comes to mind when we talk about land swaps. As far as I know, Putin has not said anything other than he wants all provinces. Now, there's no way that Zelenskyy is going to sign off on that kind of a deal where in order to end the war, he surrenders four provinces. I mean, it doesn't take a genius to end the war. You could go to Putin and say, here, write on a piece of paper what you want and I'll try to force Zelenskyy to agree to the terms. But that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about a negotiation and Zelenskyy very much has got a domestic political constituency to answer to. Plus, he's a Ukrainian nationalist and leader. And I think that he is not going to sign any kind of deal that these two people in Moscow and Washington come up with. So that's why I'm sceptical about the summit creating something extraordinarily new. Sam Hawley: All right. Well, Rajan, what should we expect ultimately from these talks then? Is this just about the United States washing its hands of this war? Rajan Menon: If it wanted to do that, it could easily do it. In a sense, I don't agree with it necessarily, but J.D. Vance's position has a certain coherence. He says, look, there's essentially an ocean between us and Ukraine. Ukraine is far away. Europe, on the other hand, has a direct stake in Ukraine. Europe is wealthy and powerful. The Europeans should lead it. That's a position that one has to take seriously. If that were all, it would be one thing. But my worry is that Trump wants to move away from the war, but also in the summit, put Zelenskyy in a position where he has to say no and then face Trump's wrath for being the person who wrecked the possibility of a deal. Because what Trump wants at the end of the day, I think, is a settlement, no matter how it comes about, which yields him a Nobel Prize. Sam Hawley: Rajan Menon is a professor emeritus of international relations at the City College of New York. This episode was produced by Sydney Pead. Audio production by Sam Dunn. Our supervising producer is David Coady. I'm Sam Hawley. Thanks for listening.
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Ukraine says fighting 'difficult' after reports of Russia's rapid gains
Ukraine said Tuesday it was engaged in "difficult" battles with Russian forces after Moscow had made rapid advances in a narrow but important section of the front line in the country's east. The gains came just days before US President Donald Trump was to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska for talks on the war, the first meeting between a sitting US and Russian leader since 2021. The Ukrainian army said it was engaged in "heavy" battles with Russian forces attempting to penetrate its defences. "The situation is difficult and dynamic," it said in a statement. A map published by Ukrainian battlefield monitor DeepState, which has close ties with Ukraine's military, showed Russia had advanced around 10 kilometres (six miles) over around two days, deep into a narrow section of the eastern front line. The corridor -- now apparently under Russian control -- threatens the town of Dobropillia, a mining hub that civilians are fleeing and that has come under Russian drone attacks. It also further isolates the destroyed town of Kostiantynivka, one of the last large urban areas in the Donetsk region still held by Ukraine. - 'New offensive operations' - The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based observatory, said Russia was sending small sabotage groups forwards. It said it was "premature" to call the Russian advances in around Dobropillia "an operational-level breakthrough". The military's Operational-Tactical Group Donetsk, which oversees parts of the front in the industrial region, also said Russia was probing Ukrainian lines with small sabotage groups, describing battles as "complex, unpleasant and dynamic". Trump has described his summit with Putin on Friday as a chance to check the Russian leader's ideas for ending the war. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky warned ahead of the talks that Moscow was laying the groundwork for further attacks, after Trump said on Monday that both sides would have to swap territory for peace. European leaders have meanwhile sought to ensure respect for Kyiv's interests. "We see that the Russian army is not preparing to end the war. On the contrary, they are making movements that indicate preparations for new offensive operations," Zelensky said in a statement on social media. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, has made costly but incremental gains across the sprawling front in recent months and claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions while still fighting to control them. Ukrainian police meanwhile said that Russian attacks in the past hours had killed three people and wounded 12 others, including a child.
