Latest news with #HongKongToday
RTHK
6 days ago
- Politics
- RTHK
Trump says '25pc chance of failure' for Putin meeting
US President Donald Trump insisted Thursday he would not be intimidated by Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the eve of a high-stakes summit and said Ukraine would be involved in any deal on its flies to Alaska on Friday at the invitation of Trump in his first visit to a Western country since he ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has killed tens of thousands of Russia made gains on the battlefield, the Kremlin said the two presidents planned to meet one-on-one, heightening fears of European leaders that Putin will cajole Trump into a settlement imposed on insisted to reporters at the White House: "I am president, and he's not going to mess around with me.""I'll know within the first two minutes, three minutes, four minutes or five or not we're going to have a good meeting or a bad meeting," Trump said."And if it's a bad meeting, it'll end very quickly, and if it's a good meeting, we're going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future," said Trump, who gave the summit a one in four chance of has voiced admiration for Putin in the past and faced wide criticism after a 2018 summit in Helsinki where he appeared to accept the Russian's denials of US intelligence on Moscow's meddling in US Washington correspondent, Simon Marks, said Putin was keen to improve ties with the US."It is absolutely apparent from everything that we've heard from the Kremlin that the Russians are very interested in talking to the United States about improving Russia's frozen bilateral relationship with Washington," he told RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme "The Arctic is of particular interest to President Putin, who is likely to argue that there are economic cooperation possibilities for the two countries to embark upon together in that particular region and more broadly in terms of getting American investors once again back into the Russian market."Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to the Alaska summit, which he has denounced as a reward to Putin, and has refused Trump's calls to surrender promised not to finalise any deal with Putin and said he hoped to hold a three-way summit with Zelensky, possibly immediately afterward in Alaska."The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that's going to be a meeting where they make a deal. And I don't want to use the word 'divvy' things up. But you know, to a certain extent, it's not a bad term," Trump told Fox News talks are set to begin at 11:30am (1930 GMT) Friday, local time at the Elmendorf Air Force Base, a major US military installation in Alaska that has been crucial in monitoring Russia."This conversation will take place in a one-on-one format, naturally with the participation of interpreters," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow. (AFP/RTHK)
RTHK
6 days ago
- Politics
- RTHK
Trump says '25pc chance of failure' for Putin meeting
US President Donald Trump insisted Thursday he would not be intimidated by Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the eve of a high-stakes summit and said Ukraine would be involved in any deal on its flies to Alaska on Friday at the invitation of Trump in his first visit to a Western country since he ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has killed tens of thousands of Russia made gains on the battlefield, the Kremlin said the two presidents planned to meet one-on-one, heightening fears of European leaders that Putin will cajole Trump into a settlement imposed on insisted to reporters at the White House: "I am president, and he's not going to mess around with me.""I'll know within the first two minutes, three minutes, four minutes or five or not we're going to have a good meeting or a bad meeting," Trump said."And if it's a bad meeting, it'll end very quickly, and if it's a good meeting, we're going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future," said Trump, who gave the summit a one in four chance of has voiced admiration for Putin in the past and faced wide criticism after a 2018 summit in Helsinki where he appeared to accept the Russian's denials of US intelligence on Moscow's meddling in US Washington correspondent, Simon Marks, said Putin was keen to improve ties with the US."It is absolutely apparent from everything that we've heard from the Kremlin that the Russians are very interested in talking to the United States about improving Russia's frozen bilateral relationship with Washington," he told RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme "The Arctic is of particular interest to President Putin, who is likely to argue that there are economic cooperation possibilities for the two countries to embark upon together in that particular region and more broadly in terms of getting American investors once again back into the Russian market."Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to the Alaska summit, which he has denounced as a reward to Putin, and has refused Trump's calls to surrender promised not to finalise any deal with Putin and said he hoped to hold a three-way summit with Zelensky, possibly immediately afterward in Alaska."The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that's going to be a meeting where they make a deal. And I don't want to use the word 'divvy' things up. But you know, to a certain extent, it's not a bad term," Trump told Fox News talks are set to begin at 11:30am (1930 GMT) Friday, local time at the Elmendorf Air Force Base, a major US military installation in Alaska that has been crucial in monitoring Russia."This conversation will take place in a one-on-one format, naturally with the participation of interpreters," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow. (AFP/RTHK)
RTHK
23-06-2025
- Politics
- RTHK
Iran vows payback as Trump hints at regime change
Iran on Sunday threatened US bases in the Middle East after massive air strikes that Washington said had destroyed Tehran's nuclear programme, though some officials cautioned that the extent of damage was concern focused on fears that the unprecedented US attacks would deepen conflict in the volatile region after Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran earlier this Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said bases used by US forces could be attacked in retaliation."Any country in the region or elsewhere that is used by American forces to strike Iran will be considered a legitimate target for our armed forces," he said in a message carried by the official IRNA news agency."America has attacked the heart of the Islamic world and must await irreparable consequences."US President Donald Trump urged Iran to end the conflict after he launched surprise strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz."We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the 'bomb' right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!)" he said on social while the US president did not directly advocate regime change in the Islamic republic, he openly played with the idea -- even after his aides stressed that was not a goal of American intervention."It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. "But if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!"RTHK's Washington correspondent, Simon Marks, said Trump's remarks were certain to spark more speculation about his steps."But all of this... raises a massive question, which is, to what extent is Donald Trump committed to moving forward, possibly with more military action or committed to trying to foment some kind of change on the ground in Tehran?" He told RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme "Certainly, that's what (Israeli) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been trying to do from Israel over the course of the last week. But the Americans have been holding back from that. Now, tonight, perhaps Donald Trump is flirting with the idea of adopting that position."Netanyahu, meanwhile, said his country's military strikes will "finish" once the stated objectives of destroying Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities have been achieved."We are very, very close to completing them," he told Iran's leaders struck defiant tones, President Masoud Pezeshkian also vowed that the United States would "receive a response" to the Khamenei adviser, Ali Shamkhani, said in a post on X that "even if nuclear sites are destroyed, game isn't over, enriched materials, indigenous knowledge, political will remain."Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that craters were visible at the Fordo facility, but no one had been able to assess the underground added that attacks on nuclear facilities could cause radiation leaks, but the IAEA had not detected any. (Additional reporting by AFP)
RTHK
18-06-2025
- Politics
- RTHK
'Trump's warning to Iran ought to be taken seriously'
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday demanded "unconditional surrender" from Tehran and warned the United States could easily assassinate its supreme leader as Iran and US ally Israel traded devastating fire for a fifth comments fueled questions over whether Washington will join Israel's attacks after insisting it had no hand in the after a senior US official said Trump had told Israel to back down from plans to assassinate top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the US president appeared to reverse course."We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now," Trump said on his Truth Social Iran against targeting US interests, he also posted, "But we don't want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin," he added, later posting a message saying: "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!"Trump and his National Security Council met on Tuesday to discuss the conflict, ending after an hour and 20 minutes with no immediate public Washington correspondent, Simon Marks, said Trump's latest remarks should be taken seriously."Donald Trump is on a journey, clearly, from a position where he wanted to suggest to the rest of the world that the United States was uninvolved, to a situation where now he is reportedly poised to become absolutely mired in this military operation by supplying the Israelis with the go-ahead to use those American bunker-busting bombs on Iran's nuclear facilities," he told RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme "And while it is evident that Donald Trump has largely extemporised on this issue over the last five or six days, he now puts himself in a position where he's trying to portray himself as the central figure in all of this."Marks added there was was a split among Trump's supporters on whether the US should get involved."Donald Trump is very much indicating through all of his actions that he sides with the former group, the group that believes there is a vital national security interest here for the United States and that it needs completely to eradicate any prospect of Iran developing a nuclear capability." (Additional reporting by AFP)
RTHK
09-06-2025
- Business
- RTHK
China 'better prepared' to deal with US tariff threats
A China expert on Monday said that Beijing is well prepared to deal with US President Donald Trump's tariff threats, with the nation now less dependent on American comments come ahead of expected trade talks between Vice Premier He Lifeng and a US delegation in Britain, the second round of such negotiations between the world's two biggest economies since Trump launched his trade war shortly after returning to the White House in Bo, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, was speaking to RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme "I think China is becoming better prepared because China has dealt with him (Trump) before and China's dependency on America actually has been reduced," Zhou, who is a retired People's Liberation Army senior colonel, said."Throughout this kind of tariff war, you can see that China, from the very beginning, stand firm. China said it would fight to the end if necessary, while China is also open to last Thursday's phone conversation between President Xi Jinping and Trump, Zhou said the exchange was extremely important."Just imagine the largest economies not to talk to each other, then all other people would watch would be a huge relief for people around the world."Zhou also said he was optimistic that both sides will make progress at the talks in London."I think from the Chinese side, the requirement is very simple. China just wants to be respected, China just wants to be treated on an equal footing."I hope, and I'm sure, there will definitely be some kind of positive results," he on Truth Social platform, Trump said in a post that "the meeting should go very well".He added that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer would meet the Chinese delegation. (Additional reporting by AFP)
