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Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff meets Vladimir Putin ahead of Russia-Ukraine peace deadline, the Kremlin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday, the Kremlin said, days before the White House's deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or potentially face severe economic penalties that could also hit countries buying its oil. The Kremlin did not immediately provide more details of the meeting. Earlier, Witkoff took an early morning stroll through Zaryadye Park, a stone's throw from the Kremlin, with Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president's envoy for investment and economic cooperation, footage aired by TASS showed. Dmitriev played a key role in three rounds of direct talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul in recent months, as well as discussions between Russian and U.S. officials. The negotiations made no progress on ending the three-year war following Russia's invasion of its neighbor. Trump's deadline for Putin ends on Friday. Washington has threatened 'severe tariffs' and other economic penalties if the killing doesn't stop. Trump has expressed increasing frustration with Putin over Russia's escalating strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine, intended to erode morale and public appetite for the war. The intensified attacks have occurred even as Trump has urged the Russian leader in recent months to relent. Overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, Russian forces hit a recreational center in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, killing two people and injuring 12, including two children, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said Wednesday. Russian forces launched at least four strikes on the area and initially attacked with powerful glide bombs. 'There is zero military sense in this strike. Only cruelty to intimidate,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram. Russia also struck the Ukrainian power grid and heating gas facilities, Zelenskyy said, as Ukraine makes preparations for winter. Western analysts and Ukrainian officials say Putin is stalling for time and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian forces push to capture more Ukraine land. A Russian offensive that started in the spring and is expected to continue through the fall is advancing faster than last year's push but is making only slow and costly gains and has been unable to take any major cities. The situation on the front line is critical for Ukrainian forces but defenses are not about to collapse, analysts say. On Tuesday, Trump said 'we'll see what happens' regarding his threat to slap tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil, which could increase import taxes dramatically on China and India. 'We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow,' Trump said. 'We're going to see what happens. We'll make that determination at that time.' The president said that he has not publicly committed to a specific tariff rate. Stepping up diplomatic and economic pressure on the Kremlin risks stoking international tensions amid worsening Russia-U.S. relations. The Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis warned in an assessment this week that there are 'clear signs that the Kremlin is preparing for a broader confrontation with NATO,' including a military build-up along Russia's western flank with alliance countries in recent years. Putin has strengthened Russia's military ties with China, North Korea and Iran. NATO, meanwhile, said Tuesday it has started coordinating regular deliveries of large Western weapons packages to Ukraine. European allies and Canada are buying most of the equipment they plan to transport from the United States. The Trump administration is not donating any arms to Ukraine. Putin has given no hint that he might be ready to make concessions. Instead, the Russian leader and senior Kremlin officials have talked up the country's military strength. Putin announced last week that Russia's new hypersonic missile, which he says cannot be intercepted by current NATO air defense systems, has entered service. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, meantime, warned that the Ukraine war could bring Russia and the U.S. into armed conflict. Trump responded to that by ordering the repositioning of two U.S. nuclear submarines. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday welcomed Witkoff's visit. 'We consider (talks with Witkoff) important, substantive and very useful,' he said. Trump initially gave Moscow a 50-day deadline, but later moved up his ultimatum as the Kremlin continued to bomb Ukrainian cities. However, Trump himself doubted their effectiveness, saying Sunday that Russia has proven to be 'pretty good at avoiding sanctions.' 'They're wily characters,' he said of the Russians. The Kremlin has insisted that international sanctions imposed since its February 2022 invasion of its neighbor have had a limited impact. Ukraine maintains the sanctions are taking their toll on Moscow's war machine and wants Western allies to ramp them up.
The Hill
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump's envoy meets Putin ahead of Russia-Ukraine peace deadline, the Kremlin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday, the Kremlin said, days before the White House's deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or potentially face severe economic penalties that could also hit countries buying its oil. The Kremlin did not immediately provide more details of the meeting. Earlier, Witkoff took an early morning stroll through Zaryadye Park, a stone's throw from the Kremlin, with Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president's envoy for investment and economic cooperation, footage aired by TASS showed. Dmitriev played a key role in three rounds of direct talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul in recent months, as well as discussions between Russian and U.S. officials. The negotiations made no progress on ending the three-year war following Russia's invasion of its neighbor. Trump's deadline for Putin ends on Friday. Washington has threatened 'severe tariffs' and other economic penalties if the killing doesn't stop. Trump has expressed increasing frustration with Putin over Russia's escalating strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine, intended to erode morale and public appetite for the war. The intensified attacks have occurred even as Trump has urged the Russian leader in recent months to relent. Overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, Russian forces hit a recreational center in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, killing two people and injuring 12, including two children, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said Wednesday. Russian forces launched at least four strikes on the area and initially attacked with powerful glide bombs. 'There is zero military sense in this strike. Only cruelty to intimidate,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram. Russia also struck the Ukrainian power grid and heating gas facilities, Zelenskyy said, as Ukraine makes preparations for winter. Western analysts and Ukrainian officials say Putin is stalling for time and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian forces push to capture more Ukraine land. A Russian offensive that started in the spring and is expected to continue through the fall is advancing faster than last year's push but is making only slow and costly gains and has been unable to take any major cities. The situation on the front line is critical for Ukrainian forces but defenses are not about to collapse, analysts say. On Tuesday, Trump said 'we'll see what happens' regarding his threat to slap tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil, which could increase import taxes dramatically on China and India. 'We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow,' Trump said. 'We're going to see what happens. We'll make that determination at that time.' The president said that he has not publicly committed to a specific tariff rate. Stepping up diplomatic and economic pressure on the Kremlin risks stoking international tensions amid worsening Russia-U.S. relations. The Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis warned in an assessment this week that there are 'clear signs that the Kremlin is preparing for a broader confrontation with NATO,' including a military build-up along Russia's western flank with alliance countries in recent years. Putin has strengthened Russia's military ties with China, North Korea and Iran. NATO, meanwhile, said Tuesday it has started coordinating regular deliveries of large Western weapons packages to Ukraine. European allies and Canada are buying most of the equipment they plan to transport from the United States. The Trump administration is not donating any arms to Ukraine. Putin has given no hint that he might be ready to make concessions. Instead, the Russian leader and senior Kremlin officials have talked up the country's military strength. Putin announced last week that Russia's new hypersonic missile, which he says cannot be intercepted by current NATO air defense systems, has entered service. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, meantime, warned that the Ukraine war could bring Russia and the U.S. into armed conflict. Trump responded to that by ordering the repositioning of two U.S. nuclear submarines. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday welcomed Witkoff's visit. 'We consider (talks with Witkoff) important, substantive and very useful,' he said. Trump initially gave Moscow a 50-day deadline, but later moved up his ultimatum as the Kremlin continued to bomb Ukrainian cities. However, Trump himself doubted their effectiveness, saying Sunday that Russia has proven to be 'pretty good at avoiding sanctions.' 'They're wily characters,' he said of the Russians. The Kremlin has insisted that international sanctions imposed since its February 2022 invasion of its neighbor have had a limited impact. Ukraine maintains the sanctions are taking their toll on Moscow's war machine and wants Western allies to ramp them up.
Int'l Business Times
02-07-2025
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
Trump Says Vietnam To Face 20% Tariff Under 'Great' Deal
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he had struck a trade deal with Vietnam under which the country would face a minimum 20 percent tariff and open its market to US products. The deal comes less than a week before Trump's self-imposed July 9 deadline for steeper tariffs on US trade partners to take effect if agreements are not reached. Shares in clothing companies and sport equipment manufacturers -- which have a large footprint in Vietnam -- rose on the news, but later declined sharply after the president released details including the continued tariffs, which were higher than expected. If confirmed, the terms of the agreement will significantly increase the price of shoes and clothing that Vietnam exports to the United States, but Hanoi escapes the threat of the more severe 46 percent tariff threatened by Trump in April. "It is my Great Honor to announce that I have just made a Trade Deal with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after speaking with To Lam, the Highly Respected General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. He said that under the "Great Deal of Cooperation," imports of Vietnamese goods will face a 20 percent US tariff, while goods that pass through Vietnam to circumvent steeper trade barriers -- so-called "transshipping" -- will see a 40 percent tariff. Trump's trade advisor Peter Navarro has called Vietnam a "colony of China," saying that one third of Vietnamese products are in fact relabelled Chinese goods. Trump said that "in return, Vietnam will do something that they have never done before, give the United States of America TOTAL ACCESS to their Markets for Trade," he said. "In other words, they will 'OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,' meaning that we will be able to sell our product into Vietnam at ZERO Tariff." The president said he believed US-made SUVs, "which do so well in the United States, will be a wonderful addition to the various product lines within Vietnam." In a government statement, Vietnam confirmed that negotiating teams had come to an agreement to address the reciprocal tariff issue, but did not detail any tariff terms. Trump "affirmed that the US will significantly reduce reciprocal taxes for many Vietnamese export goods and will continue to cooperate with Vietnam in resolving difficulties affecting bilateral trade relations, especially in areas prioritized by both sides," the statement said. Trump's announcement comes a week before the threatened US reimposition of steep tariffs on dozens of economies, including the European Union and Japan, many of which are still scrambling to reach deals that would protect them from the measures. Those higher tariffs are part of a package Trump initially imposed in April, citing a lack of "reciprocity" in trading relationships, before announcing a temporary lowering to 10 percent. Without a deal, Vietnam's "reciprocal tariff" would have risen from the baseline 10 percent to 46 percent. Since April, Washington had so far only announced a pact with Britain and a deal to temporarily lower retaliatory duties with China. Both involve the United States maintaining some of Trump's tariffs on the trading partners. The terms of the UK deal are more narrowly focused than those announced by Trump with Vietnam, with London and Washington agreeing to cut US tariffs on cars from 27.5 percent to 10 percent, with a limit of 100,000 vehicles a year. It also fully eliminated the 10 percent tariff on goods such as engines and aircraft parts. In return, Britain agreed to further open its market to US ethanol and beef. US President Donald Trump says Vietnam is taking the unprecedented step of giving exports from the United States 'total access' to the Asian country's markets AFP
Japan Today
25-06-2025
- Business
- Japan Today
Trump says China can buy Iranian oil, but urges it to purchase US crude
An aerial view shows a crude oil tanker at an oil terminal off Waidiao island in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, China January 4, 2023. China Daily via REUTERS/File Photo By Timothy Gardner U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that China can continue to purchase Iranian oil after Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire, a move that the White House clarified did not indicate a relaxation of U.S. sanctions. "China can now continue to purchase Oil from Iran. Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the U.S., also," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, just days after he ordered U.S. bombings of three Iranian nuclear sites. Trump was drawing attention to no attempts by Iran so far to close the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers, as a closure would have been hard for China, the world's top importer of Iranian oil, a senior White House official told Reuters. "The president continues to call on China and all countries to import our state-of-the-art oil rather than import Iranian oil in violation of U.S. sanctions," the official said. After the ceasefire announcement, Trump's comments on China were another bearish signal for oil prices, which fell nearly 6% on Tuesday. Any relaxation of sanctions enforcement on Iran would mark a U.S. policy shift after Trump said in February he was re-imposing maximum pressure on Iran, aiming to drive its oil exports to zero, over its nuclear program and funding of militants across the Middle East. Trump imposed waves of Iran-related sanctions on several of China's independent "teapot" refineries and port terminal operators for purchases of Iranian oil. "President Trump's greenlight for China to keep buying Iranian oil reflects a return to lax enforcement standards," said Scott Modell, a former CIA officer, now CEO of Rapidan Energy Group. In addition to not enforcing sanctions, Trump could suspend or waive sanctions imposed by executive order or under authorities a president is granted in laws passed by Congress. Trump will likely not waive sanctions ahead of coming rounds of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, Modell said. The measures provide leverage given Tehran's demand that any deal includes lifting them permanently. Jeremy Paner, a partner at law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed, said if Trump chooses to suspend Iran oil-related sanctions, it would require lots of work between agencies. The U.S. Treasury would need to issue licenses, and the State Department would have to issue waivers, which require Congressional notification. Oil traders and analysts in Asia said they did not expect Trump's comments to have a near-term impact on Chinese purchases of oil from either Iran or the U.S. Iranian oil accounts for roughly 13.6% of China's oil purchases this year, with the discounted barrels providing a lifeline to margin-squeezed independent refineries. U.S. oil accounts for just 2% of China's imports, and Beijing's 10% tariffs on U.S. oil deter further purchases. PRESSURE ON CHINA China has long opposed what it has called Washington's "abuse of illegal unilateral sanctions." China's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump's post. Larger purchases of Iranian oil by China and other consumers could upset U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter. The impact of U.S. sanctions on Iran's exports, however, has been limited since Trump's first administration when he cracked down harder on Tehran. Trump has "flashed the Glock" this year with sanctions on Chinese trading companies and terminals, Modell said, referring to revealing a gun. But the results have been far more "minimum pressure" than maximum, Modell added. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters that Trump had signaled what he wanted to happen and that his administration is focused on delivering that. She would not say what the process would entail. "But clearly we are focused on making sure that (the) guiding hand of President Trump prevails and moves this government forward, so we will have to wait and see when it comes to what that ends up looking like," Bruce said. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
India Today
15-06-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Trump vetoed Israel's plan to assassinate Iran's Supreme Leader: Report
US President Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, two US officials informed Reuters. One senior administration official was quoted saying, "Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do, we're not even talking about going after the political leadership."When asked about the report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment and said, "There's so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I'm not going to get into that."advertisement"But I can tell you, I think that we do what we need to do, we'll do what we need to do. And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States," Netanyahu added. According to Reuters, top US officials said that Washington has been in constant contact with Israeli counterparts following Israel's large-scale assault on Iran aimed at halting its nuclear program. While it remains unclear whether Trump directly conveyed the decision, sources confirmed he has been in regular communication with PM Netanyahu throughout the a separate televised interview with Fox News, Netanyahu suggested that regime change in Iran could be a consequence of Israel's ongoing military campaign, which began Friday. He confirmed he had notified Trump ahead of the the worsening conflict, Trump struck a dual tone. On his social media platform Truth Social, he issued a stern warning to Tehran, vowing that 'the full strength and might of the US armed forces' would be unleashed if Iran targets American we are attacked in any way, shape, or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US armed forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,' Trump warning to Iran came after Tehran reportedly threatened to target US, UK and French military bases and ships in the region if they attempted to block Iranian strikes on Israel, Reuters the same time, he expressed hope for diplomacy, saying, 'We can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel and end this bloody conflict.'Amid the rising tensions, Trump again urged both Iran and Israel to 'make a deal', saying that diplomacy as a way forward. He also claimed that his past efforts had brought peace between several nations, though he lamented that he 'never got credit' for those also pointed to his administration's role in easing tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, as well as helping to foster peace between Egypt and Ethiopia over earlier Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a phone call with Trump on Sunday, offered Ankara's support as a mediator to help resolve the nuclear dispute fueling the crisis between Israel and Israel launched a third consecutive day of airstrikes on targets inside Iran, some of which reportedly bypassed air defense systems and struck central urban areas. Israel has threatened further to Washington-based Human Rights Activists, an NGO monitoring developments in Iran, at least 406 people have been killed and 654 wounded in the strikes so far. The Iranian government has not released official casualty figures. Diplomatic talks aimed at de-escalating the crisis and addressing Iran's nuclear program were reportedly canceled in light of the ongoing InMust Watch IN THIS STORY#United States of America
