Latest news with #PoliticoEU
The Hill
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
‘Highly unlikely' Ukraine would recover all occupied territory in Russia deal: Ben Rhodes
Former Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes on Wednesday said he's doubtful that Ukraine will recover all of its territory occupied by Russia amid ongoing peace talks brokered by President Trump. 'Part of what the Ukrainians don't have is a kind of sense of hope, a sense that they have enduring support from the United States, that they have a plan from their allies to support them in the long run,' Rhodes, who was an advisor to former President Obama, said during an appearance on MSNBC's 'Chris Jansing Report.' 'And look, the reality is, I would acknowledge that it is incredibly unlikely that Ukraine would recover certainly all the territory that Russia occupies, certainly Crimea, for instance,' he added. Trump, who's slated to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, has already signaled that a ' land swap ' may be necessary to end the war. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, its military has captured swaths of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the eastern Donbas. Early in the war, Russia illegally moved to officially annex the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzya and Kherson regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said this week that any effort to cede Ukrainian territory would violate Ukraine's constitution, and that Kyiv would not remove its forces from the Donbas in exchange for peace. 'If today we leave Donbas, from our fortifications, from our reliefs, from the heights that we control, we will clearly open a bridgehead for preparing an offensive by the Russians. In a few years, Putin will have an open path to both the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions. And not only that. Also to Kharkiv,' Zelensky told reporters on Tuesday, according to PoliticoEU. Rhodes said ending the war will not only pose questions about land ownership, but also the people living on either side of the dividing line. 'What happens to the Ukrainian children that have been taken into Russia, essentially kidnapped? What happens to the Ukrainians are living on the other side of that front line? Do they choose whether they want to live in Ukraine?' Rhodes said. 'And it really importantly, what happens to the future of Ukraine if they are going to lose territory as a part of some kind of quote, unquote deal here. Do they get security guarantees? Can they join NATO? Can they join the European Union? If they can't join NATO itself?' Rhodes said Trump doesn't seem to be considering these broader questions ahead of his discussion with Putin. 'These are all the kind of complex questions that Trump is not engaging with here, and I think that is why this feels somewhat haphazard here, because there's a whole set of issues here beyond just a real estate deal, which is how Trump has literally talked about this, that get at the survival of Ukraine,' he told MSNBC.
The Hill
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Zelensky doubles down: ‘We will never leave the Donbas'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said the country would not cede portions of the Donbas region to Russia amid ceasefire talks. 'We will never leave the Donbas' Zelensky told reporters on Tuesday, per NewsNation. 'Everyone forgets the first part of the film [Crimea],' he added. His comments come days before President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet in Alaska without Zelensky for peace discussions, which the Ukrainian leader has dismissed. 'Any decisions made against us, any decisions made without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace,' he said Saturday. 'They will bring nothing. These are dead decisions; they will never work.' Trump has already signaled that a ' land swap ' may be necessary to end the war. Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022 and captured most of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions within Donbas. The Kremlin has already expressed a desire to keep Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson before committing to ending the violent strikes in Eastern Europe. However, Zelensky said 'Donbas for the Russians is a springboard for a future new offensive.' 'If today we leave Donbas, from our fortifications, from our reliefs, from the heights that we control, we will clearly open a bridgehead for preparing an offensive by the Russians. In a few years, Putin will have an open path to both the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions. And not only that. Also to Kharkiv,' he added, according to PoliticoEU. Kherson was previously occupied by Russia but eventually liberated by Ukraine in 2022. Ukraine currently controls both Kherson and Zaporizhzhya, which serve as administrative centers in their regions. While Zelensky has nixed the idea of overturning land masses to end the war, he has also urged both Trump and Putin to consider adding finite conditions to any peace agreements to ensure the war's end. 'The territorial issue cannot be raised without security guarantees,' Zelensky told reporters.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
FIFA opens Trump Tower office
FIFA, the international soccer organization, opened an office at Trump Tower in New York ahead of Sunday's Club World Cup final. FIFA President Gianni Infantino unveiled the winner's trophy at the building on Tuesday alongside President Trump's son, Eric Trump and former Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima. Advertisement 'A big thanks to United States President @realdonaldtrump, @erictrump, as well as the @whtaskforcefifa for all your support of the ongoing FIFA Club World Cup, which is uniting the world in peace, happiness, and joy. I also thank all attending FIFA Council members and FIFA Legends for your time today,' Infantino wrote in a Tuesday post on Instagram. 'As New York becomes the capital of world football over this week when we will crown the only official FIFA club world champions, and next year for the FIFA World Cup, I am delighted we will be present to serve our game from this global city,' he added. The move comes a year after FIFA opened an office in Miami, according to reports from PoliticoEU. FIFA is hosting both the 2025 Club World Cup and 2026 World Cup finals at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Advertisement The president is reportedly expected to attend Sunday's Club World Cup final at MetLife stadium in New Jersey, a senior administration official told NBC News. Infantino said 2.26 million fans from over 168 countries have attended the soccer tournament this week. 'This is what football does — what FIFA wants to do — to bring the world together, and our motto, as well, for this FIFA Club World Cup is to 'Unite for Peace,'' he wrote in a Monday statement on Instagram. 'We need peace in these troubled times, and we're all working in this direction.' The White House is already preparing for the World Cup, set to be co-hosted by Mexico and Canada, by launching a task force for the large event in March. Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Spain asks for break on NATO contribution: Report
Leaders in Madrid urged NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to exempt them from a proposed defense spending goal set at 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) ahead of next week's summit at The Hague. 'Committing to a 5% target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive, as it would move Spain further away from optimal spending and would hinder the EU's ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defence ecosystem,' Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote in a letter to Rutte, according to a copy reviewed by Reuters. 'It is the legitimate right of every government to decide whether or not they are willing to make those sacrifices. As a sovereign Ally, we choose not to,' he added. Spain currently has the lowest military spending among member nations, devoting 1.3 percent of its GDP to defense spending last year, according to reports from Politico EU. Member nations agreed to commit 2 percent of their GDP to defense spending in 2014, with the hope of ensuring NATO can sustain continued military readiness. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has sparked concerns about the possibility of a wider war involving Europe amid Russian President Vladimir Putin's push to obtain more land. Spain said the Kremlin poses no current threat to its borders but did not oppose heightened security for other NATO member nations. 'Of course, it is not our intention to limit the spending ambitions of other allies or to obstruct the outcome of the upcoming summit,' Sánchez wrote in the letter. Rutte has suggested that an increase in defense spending levels should ensure 3.5 percent of GDP is allocated to military expenditures, while 1.5 percent is allocated for defense-related items, such as military mobility and cybersecurity, Politico EU reported. However, Sánchez said the policy would force Spain to purchase off-the-shelf equipment instead of cultivating its own industrial base, as recorded in his letter. President Trump has encouraged Rutte's push for growth, citing a mounting concern about the United States's dominant support of the war in Ukraine, a nonmember nation designated as a NATO partner country. Although his administration signed a minerals agreement with the country to recoup the financial commitment for weapons packages and the purchase of military equipment, the president has urged other nations to help back the Eastern European ally. 'I didn't see Spain's comments, I'll make sure the president sees them and I can assure you he wants to see all European countries pay their fair share and meet that 5 percent threshold,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Thursday's press briefing. 'It's only fair considering the American taxpayers have given a significant chunk of money to the tune of billions of dollars to support our mutual interests and our assured defense.' The NATO summit is set to take place June 24-25 and would require all 32 member nations to approve the increase in defense spending to solidify the objective. 'The NATO Summit is coming at a very precarious moment for the transatlantic relationship, marked by uncertainty about the US commitment to Europe, a relative stalemate in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and ongoing tensions over transatlantic trade,' Lauren Speranza, a fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said in a statement. 'As the first NATO summit of President Trump's second term, I do think the meeting will offer us some insight into how the administration will approach the Alliance going forward, following some of the previous criticisms we've heard of NATO and calls for Europe to do more to take greater responsibility for its own defense.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
19-06-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Spain asks for break on NATO contribution: Report
Leaders in Madrid urged NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to exempt them from a proposed defense spending goal set at 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) ahead of next week's summit at The Hague. 'Committing to a 5% target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive, as it would move Spain further away from optimal spending and would hinder the EU's ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defence ecosystem,' Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote in a letter to Rutte, according to a copy reviewed by Reuters. 'It is the legitimate right of every government to decide whether or not they are willing to make those sacrifices. As a sovereign Ally, we choose not to,' he added. Spain currently has the lowest military spending among member nations, devoting 1.3 percent of its GDP to defense spending last year, according to reports from Politico EU. Member nations agreed to commit 2 percent of their GDP to defense spending in 2014, with the hope of ensuring NATO can sustain continued military readiness. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has sparked concerns about the possibility of a wider war involving Europe amid Russian President Vladimir Putin's push to obtain more land. However, Spain said the Kremlin poses no current threat to its borders but did not oppose heightened security for other NATO member nations. 'Of course, it is not our intention to limit the spending ambitions of other allies or to obstruct the outcome of the upcoming summit,' Sanchez wrote in the letter. Rutte has suggested that an increase in defense spending levels should ensure that 3.5 percent of GDP is allocated to military expenditures, while 1.5 percent is allocated for defense-related items, such as military mobility and cybersecurity, Politico EU reported. However, Sanchez said the policy would force Spain to purchase off-the-shelf equipment instead of cultivating its own industrial base as recorded in his letter. President Trump has encouraged Rutte's push for growth, citing a mounting concern for the United States' dominant support of the war in Ukraine, a non-member nation designated as a NATO partner country. Although his administration signed a minerals agreement with the country to recoup the financial commitment seeped in weapons packages and the purchase of military equipment, the president has urged other nations to help back the Eastern European ally. 'I didn't see Spain's comments, I'll make sure the president sees them and I can assure you he wants to see all European countries pay their fair share and meet that 5 percent threshold,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Thursday's press briefing. 'It's only fair considering the American taxpayers have given a significant chunk of money to the tune of billions of dollars to support our mutual interests and our assured defense.' The NATO summit is set to take place from June 24-25 and would require all 32 member nations to approve the increase in defense spending to solidify the objective. 'The NATO Summit is coming at a very precarious moment for the transatlantic relationship, marked by uncertainty about the US commitment to Europe, a relative stalemate in peace negotiations between Russia, and Ukraine and ongoing tensions over transatlantic trade,' Lauren Speranza, a fellow at the Center for European Progress said in a statement. 'As the first NATO summit of President Trump's second term, I do think The meeting will offer us some insight into how the administration will approach the Alliance going forward, following some of the previous criticisms we've heard of NATO and calls for Europe to do more to take greater responsibility for its own defense.'
