Latest news with #demilitarisation
Telegraph
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Trump's peace summit has only bought Putin more time
Vladimir Putin will be delighted. He flew to Alaska expecting to concede ground. Instead, he left having gained it. Donald Trump had warned of 'very severe consequences' if the Russian leader refused a ceasefire during their Anchorage talks. Yet, as so often before, the US president emerged echoing Putin's talking points. The Kremlin has long argued that there can no halt to the war without tackling its 'root causes', which in Putin's view means demilitarising Ukraine, toppling its government, forcing it to cede eastern territory and barring it from Nato. Now the leader of the free world appears to believe he has a point. 'It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times does not hold up,' Mr Trump wrote on social media. Of the victories Putin secured in Alaska, this may be the sweetest. A timeline for peace talks – one Moscow will surely seek to manipulate and delay – will emerge in due course. In the meantime, Russia is free to keep waging war, seizing territory and terrorising Ukraine's cities. European leaders had pleaded with the US president not to abandon the demand for an immediate ceasefire. They failed. By Saturday morning, they were scrambling to respond. A joint statement from Sir Keir Starmer and his European counterparts glossed over the ceasefire setback, hailing instead Mr Trump's support for a peace deal backed by possible US security guarantees – the one consolation Ukraine's allies can take from the summit. But they stressed their rejection all of Putin's chief demands. 'No limitations should be placed on Ukraine's armed forces or its cooperation with third countries,' the statement read. 'Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine's pathway to [the] EU and Nato. 'It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory. International borders must not be changed by force.' It was, in truth, a rearguard action. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, will fly to Washington on Monday to urge Mr Trump to revive the threat of tougher sanctions if Putin 'tries to evade an honest end to the war'. But optimism is in short supply. Relief in European chancelleries that there was no outright carve up of Ukrainian territory cannot disguise the dismay – and bewilderment – at how readily the US president once again appeared to yield. At an uncharacteristically brief press conference, Mr Trump's body language suggested that even he knew he had been bested in the so-called Tumble in the Tundra. The US president, who relishes projecting dominance, looked subdued and uncertain, ceding the floor to Putin, making only a short statement of his own and taking no questions. The Russian leader achieved what no other world figure has managed: silencing Mr Trump on home soil. The White House will seek to present the summit as the necessary start to patient diplomacy to end a war of this magnitude. Perhaps that claim will be vindicated – strengthening Mr Trump's cherished case for a Nobel Peace Prize. But critics are unlikely to be convinced. To them, the Alaska summit simply shows Mr Trump indulging the Russian leader once again, exposing anew the hollowness of his threats. Before the talks began, observers saw three possible outcomes: Mr Trump might confront Russia, sell out Ukraine, or abandon the effort entirely. For now, he seems to have ruled out the first, is edging towards the second and may yet do the third. In the meantime, Putin can revel in a treble victory. He has been elevated from pariah to honoured guest – a stark contrast to Mr Zelensky's White House humiliation in February – spared any new punishment for the slaughter in Ukraine, and granted the freedom to continue inflicting it.
SBS Australia
4 days ago
- Politics
- SBS Australia
‘It's largely meaningless': Marco Rubio rebukes Australia's support of Palestinian Statehood
'It's largely meaningless': Marco Rubio rebukes Australia's support of Palestinian Statehood Published 13 August 2025, 9:32 am The Australian Government maintains Palestinian statehood will isolate Hamas, after Hamas praised the move to recognition. The Prime Minister is under pressure to explain how he will ensure the Palestinian Authority can deliver on its assurances to demilitarise and uphold democracy.
