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Perth Now
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Ukrainian troops have little hope for peace
Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield express little hope for a diplomatic solution to the war, as US President Donald Trump's deadline arrived for the Kremlin to make peace and he eyed a possible summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Moscow's invasion. Exasperated that Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Trump, almost two weeks ago, moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement. It was unclear what steps Trump intended to take on Friday. When asked on Thursday whether his deadline would hold, Trump said of Putin: "It's going to be up to him. We're going to see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him. Very disappointed." Trump's efforts to pressure Putin into stopping the fighting have so far delivered no progress. Russia's bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armour while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine stand far apart on their terms for peace. Ukrainian forces are locked in intense battles along the 1000-kilometre front line that snakes from northeast to southeast Ukraine. The Pokrovsk area of the eastern Donetsk region is taking the brunt of punishment as Russia seeks to break out into the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine has significant manpower shortages. Intense fighting is also taking place in Ukraine's northern Sumy border region, where Ukrainian forces are engaging Russian soldiers to prevent reinforcements from being sent from there to Donetsk. In the Pokrovsk area of Donetsk, a commander said he believes Moscow isn't interested in peace. "It is impossible to negotiate with them. The only option is to defeat them," Buda, the Spartan Brigade commander, told The Associated Press. "I would like them to agree and for all this to stop, but Russia will not agree to that. It does not want to negotiate. So the only option is to defeat them," he said. In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a howitzer commander using the call sign Warsaw said troops are determined to thwart Russia's invasion. "We are on our land, we have no way out," he said. The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin had a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, during which the Russian leader informed Xi about the results of his meeting earlier this week with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff. Kremlin officials said Xi "expressed support for the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis on a long-term basis". Putin is due to visit China next month. China, along with North Korea and Iran, have provided military support for Russia's war effort, the US says. Trump said on Thursday that he would meet with Putin even if the Russian leader would not meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy. That stoked fears in Europe that Ukraine could be sidelined in efforts to stop the continent's biggest conflict since World War II. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday that Europe should take the lead in efforts to end the conflict. Orbán said the leaders of Germany and France should go to Moscow "to negotiate on behalf of Europe". The White House said it was still working through the details of any potential meetings between Trump and Putin. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in an assessment Thursday that "Putin remains uninterested in ending his war and is attempting to extract bilateral concessions from the United States without meaningfully engaging in a peace process". "Putin continues to believe that time is on Russia's side and that Russia can outlast Ukraine and the West," it said.

The 42
29-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
World Rugby rebuffs Joe Schmidt's safety claim over Lions' match-winning try
WORLD RUGBY REJECTS Joe Schmidt's claim that the decision not to punish Jac Morgan's clearout in Australia's defeat by the British and Irish Lions on Saturday contravenes the game's player safety principles. Hugo Keenan touched down with 51 seconds left at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, but the match-winning try was only given after the TMO had reviewed Morgan's contact with Carlo Tizzano in the preceding ruck, which was ultimately deemed legal by referee Andrea Piardi. Furious Schmidt, who had seen his Wallabies edged 29-26 to concede the series with one Test to play, insisted it was the wrong call, adding that 'It doesn't really live up to the big player safety push that they (World Rugby) are talking about'. Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh backed Schmidt's view that it was a dangerous clearout and the try should have been disallowed. World Rugby has been conducting a review into the incident in conjunction with Australia, the Lions and the match officials, which will be completed in time for Saturday's final Test between the rivals in Sydney. Advertisement Chief executive Alan Gilpin, speaking at an event revealing ticketing details for the 2027 World Cup, has hit back at Schmidt. 'It's disappointing when the reaction is one of, 'This means player welfare isn't taken seriously,' because we have worked really hard on that narrative,' said Gilpjn, who revealed Schmidt will not face disciplinary action for his comments. 'Everyone knows we are putting player welfare, in its broadest sense, at the top of the agenda. 'You can see that from what we are doing with the instrumented mouthguards, all the research, the science, the investigations. 'The way the laws of the game have evolved in the last few years is all about 'how do we have this great physical contest, but make it as safe as possible?'. That part is challenging, in terms of the player welfare statements.' Gilpin insists Piardi and his assistants Ben O'Keeffe and Nika Amashukeli are being supported amid the backlash against the officials in some quarters. And the World Rugby boss invoked Rassie Erasmus' public criticism of Nic Berry during the Lions' tour to South Africa in 2021 and the experiences of retired referee Wayne Barnes, who has spoken of the abuse his family received, to highlight the importance of protecting officials. 'It's just making them realise they're supported and that we are checking in on them. They're a great unit. They've been together on this tour as a team,' Gilpin said. 'You'll recall that in the last Lions series in South Africa, when the match official in the first Test was very heavily criticised . . . the mental health challenges . . . 'Wayne Barnes has talked about it. We've got match officials who, when they're criticised publicly, see their families targeted outside the school gates. 'That's not good, that's not fair and that's not right, so we've got to support these guys.' Australia 2027 has released details of its ticketing plan for the next World Cup, with fans able to register to access the presale from Tuesday.