Latest news with #peaceefforts
Al Arabiya
5 days ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Russia–Ukraine talks ‘barely' alive: UN
Hope is 'just barely' alive in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, a senior UN official said Thursday, denouncing the recent 'brutal surge in large-scale Russian attacks' against Ukraine. UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council that the 'cautious hope' she expressed a month ago has diminished in the face of recent aggressions. 'According to Ukrainian officials, with 355 drones, Monday's attack was the largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion,' DiCarlo said, adding: 'This topped the previous record from the night before.' Despite no declaration of a ceasefire, DiCarlo praised diplomatic efforts in Istanbul on May 16 when Ukrainian and Russian delegations met, saying 'it is encouraging that the sides have reportedly agreed to continue the process.' Russia's deadly invasion began in February 2022. 'The massive wave of attacks over the weekend is a stark warning of how quickly this war can reach new destructive levels. Further escalation would not only aggravate the devastating toll on civilians but also endanger the already challenging peace efforts,' DiCarlo said. 'The hope that the parties will be able to sit down and negotiate is still alive, but just barely,' DiCarlo said. The US representative added that prolonging the war was not in anyone's best interest. 'If Russia makes the wrong decision to continue this catastrophic war, the United States will have to consider stepping back from our negotiation efforts to end this conflict,' said John Kelley, acting US alternate representative. 'Additional sanctions on Russia are still on the table.' The Kremlin said Thursday that it was awaiting Kyiv's response to its proposal for new talks in Istanbul next Monday. Ukraine, which accuses Russia of buying time, seeks Moscow's conditions before any meeting. 'Serious, demonstrable and good faith efforts are needed—now—to get back on the road that could lead to a just peace. A full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire is such an effort, if only an initial one,' DiCarlo said. According to the UN, a 'just peace' respects sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Ukraine. 'A peace process will not be easy, and it will take time. But it must not wait. The people of Ukraine, especially, cannot wait.'
CNA
27-05-2025
- General
- CNA
Russia accuses Ukraine of trying to derail peace talks
MOSCOW: Russia said Tuesday (May 27) that its massive aerial assaults on Ukraine in recent days were a "response" to escalating Ukrainian drone strikes on its own civilians, accusing Kyiv of trying to "disrupt" peace efforts. Moscow, which has repeatedly rejected proposals from Kyiv and its Western allies for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, fired hundreds of drones at Ukraine between late Friday and early Monday, killing more than a dozen people and saturating the country's air defences. US President Donald Trump, who has been seeking to broker an end to Moscow's three-year offensive, said Vladimir Putin had"gone absolutely CRAZY" and threatened Russia with sanctions over the attacks. Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting have accelerated in recent weeks, with Russian and Ukrainian officials holding direct talks for the first time in three years earlier this month. But Putin has been accused of stalling peace talks and the Kremlin has shown no signs of scaling back its maximalist demands. "Kyiv, with the support of some European countries, has taken a series of provocative steps to thwart negotiations initiated by Russia," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement. Russian air defences destroyed 2,331 Ukrainian drones between May 20 and 27, more than half of which were intercepted in areas outside the battlefield, the ministry said. "Civilians, including women and children, were injured," it said, describing its recent strikes on Ukraine as a direct "response". "At the very least, we can say that these actions by Kyiv are inconsistent with efforts towards a peace process," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Moscow said it had only hit "military targets" in Ukraine but Ukraine said at least 13 civilians were killed in Russian attacks on Sunday. Russia's full-scale military offensive on Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and ravaged large parts of the east and south of the country. EVERYONE IS "EMOTIONAL" Kyiv accused Russia of trying to evade responsibility for the killings. "We need to end this eternal waiting - Russia needs more sanctions," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said Tuesday on Telegram. For three of the past four nights, Russia pummelled Ukraine with hundreds of drones in what Kyiv described as a weekend of "terror". Moscow fired fewer drones at Ukraine overnight into Tuesday but strikes still damaged buildings in the northern Sumy region and hurt multiple people in the regions of Kherson and Kharkiv, officials said. In a rare rebuke of Russia's Putin, Trump said on social media late Sunday Washington time: "I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!" The Kremlin played down Trump's criticism on Monday, saying Putin was taking measures "necessary to ensure Russia's security" and that everyone was feeling "emotional" at the moment. KREMLIN WARNS WEST Ukraine and Russia sent back 1,000 people each over the weekend in their biggest ever prisoner exchange, while Moscow said it was preparing a document outlining its peace terms following their talks in Istanbul. But that document was still not ready on Tuesday, despite Russia announcing it would present it to Ukraine once the prisoner swap was complete. Moscow has consistently rejected a call by Kyiv and its Western allies for an unconditional and full ceasefire, and has called for Kyiv to drop its NATO ambitions and cede territory it already controls. "As soon as the memorandum is ready, it will be sent to Kyiv. We hope that the Ukrainian side is doing the same," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that Istanbul would be a "very good" location for future talks, after the Turkish city hosted previous negotiations earlier this month. Tensions between Europe and Russia spiked this week after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday that Ukraine's key Western backers had dropped range restrictions on arms sent to Kyiv. His comments triggered confusion over the West's policy, and on Tuesday, he said his remarks were not an announcement but referred to a process that had been "happening for months." The Kremlin warned on Monday that any new decision to drop range limits was "at odds" with reaching a peace settlement and would be "quite dangerous".
Asharq Al-Awsat
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Ukrainian Official Says Major Prisoner Swap with Russia is Underway
An exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine from their 3-year-old war was underway Friday, a senior Ukrainian official said, in one of the few signs of progress in international efforts to halt the fighting. The swap was not yet finished, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Moscow did not immediately confirm the exchange was underway. Ukraine and Russia agreed to the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side a week ago in Turkey in their first direct peace talks since the early weeks of Moscow's 2022 invasion of its neighbor. That meeting lasted only two hours and brought no breakthrough in international diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting, The AP news reported. The Ukrainian comment Friday came after US President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had carried out a large exchange of prisoners. 'A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine,' Trump said on the Truth Social platform. He said it would 'go into effect shortly,' although it was not clear what that meant. 'This could lead to something big???' Trump added in his post, apparently referring to international diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting. White House and National Security Council officials did not immediately respond to requests for further details. After the May 16 talks, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the prisoner swap a 'confidence-building measure' and said the parties had agreed in principle to meet again. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that there has been no agreement yet on the venue for the next round of talks as diplomatic maneuvering continued. European leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts while he tries to press his larger army's battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land. The Istanbul meeting revealed both sides clearly remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting. One such condition for Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, is a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement. The Kremlin has pushed back on a temporary halt to hostilities, and Putin has said any such truce must come with a freeze on Western arms supplies to Ukraine and an end to Ukraine's mobilization drive. A senior Ukrainian official said that in Istanbul, Russia had introduced new, 'unacceptable demands' to withdraw Ukrainian forces from huge swaths of territory. The official, who was not authorized to make official statements, spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The proposal had not been previously discussed, the official said. Putin has long demanded that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the four regions that Russia annexed in September 2022 but never fully occupied as a key condition for a peace deal. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that if Russia continues to reject a ceasefire and make 'unrealistic demands,' it will signal deliberate efforts to prolong the war — a move that should bring tougher international sanctions.
Al Arabiya
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Trump plans tense talks with Putin, Zelenskyy to revive peace amid Russian military push
In this episode of W News Extra, presented by Leigh-Ann Gerrans, Donald Trump gears up for high-stakes phone calls with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a bid to revive stalled peace efforts. As tensions mount in Eastern Europe, Trump's envoy says the former president hopes the talks will 'clear up some of the logjam,' though critics warn his warm stance toward Putin could undermine Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian President Putin enters the talks emboldened by military ambitions, despite Western doubts about his capabilities. We also report on the health of former US President Joe Biden, who has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Leigh-Ann speaks to experts and correspondents about what the diagnosis means for the 82-year-old and how the public and world leaders are reacting.
Al Arabiya
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Putin skips Zelenskyy meeting as Israeli strikes kill over 100 in Gaza
In this episode of W News, presented by Leigh-Ann Gerrans, we report on Russian President Vladimir Putin refusing a challenge to meet face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey, dealing a setback to peace efforts. We also cover US President Donald Trump's arrival in the UAE, the final stop on what he has called a 'historic' Gulf tour. And we bring you the latest from Gaza, where Palestinian rescuers report more than 100 people killed in Israeli airstrikes on the besieged territory. Guests: John Kavulich – Senior editor for outcome modeling analysis at Issue Insight Cengiz Firat – Retired Turkish ambassador Elie Al Hindy – Political scientist
