Author: AFP
NATO chief Mark Rutte declared himself “cautiously optimistic” Thursday that Ukraine and the United States can overcome the breakdown triggered by last week’s White House clash between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump. Ukrainian President Zelensky has scrambled to re-engage Washington following the Oval Office debacle — declaring himself ready to work towards a peace deal under the US president’s “strong leadership” and to finalise an accord on American access to Ukrainian mineral resources. “I welcome very much that the United States and Ukraine, as we speak, are discussing how to go forward with this, and how to solve some of…
Europe and Ukraine are at a “watershed moment”, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday as the bloc’s leaders kicked off crisis talks in Brussels with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “Europe faces a clear and present danger, and therefore Europe has to be able to protect itself, to defend itself, we have to put Ukraine in a position to protect itself and to push for lasting and just peace,” she told reporters.
Moscow views comments by President Emmanuel Macron about extending France’s nuclear deterrent to European partners as a “threat”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. “Of course, it is a threat against Russia. If he sees us as a threat… and says that it is necessary to use a nuclear weapon, is preparing to use a nuclear weapon against Russia, of course it is a threat,” Lavrov said at a press conference. Macron in an address to the nation Wednesday called Russia a “threat to France and Europe” and said the French were “legitimately worried” about the United States…
France’s defence minister Thursday said Paris was providing military intelligence to Ukraine, after Washington suspended sharing its own with Kyiv. “Our intelligence is sovereign… with our own capacities,” Sebastien Lecornu told France Inter radio. “We are passing this on to the Ukrainians.”
President Donald Trump responded Thursday to growing criticism over unprecedented cuts to the US government overseen by his billionaire advisor Elon Musk, saying they should be carefully targeted. “We say the ‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet,'” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social.
The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye on Thursday lowered its policy rate by 250 basis points, matching market estimates. The benchmark one-week repo rate was lowered to 42.5% from 45%. The bank said its tight monetary policy would remain in place until price stability is achieved through a sustained reduction in inflation. “Accordingly, the policy rate will be determined in a way to ensure the tightness required by the projected disinflation path taking into account realized and expected inflation, and the underlying trend,” it said. The bank stressed that it would make cautious decisions on a meeting-by-meeting basis,…
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was pausing sweeping tariffs he recently imposed on Mexican imports after talks with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, citing their positive relationship. He said fresh tariffs would not apply to trade falling under a pact between the United States, Mexico and Canada for now, adding: “This Agreement is until April 2nd.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Saudi Arabia next Monday, a day before planned talks there between senior Ukrainian and US officials on ending the war with Russia. Zelensky said his trip was to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “After that, my team will stay in Saudi Arabia to work with our American partners. Ukraine is most interested in peace,” he said in a post on X.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will join EU leaders for a Brussels summit on Thursday aimed at cementing the bloc’s support for Kyiv’s three-year fight against Russia’s invasion. “President Zelensky will attend the summit in person,” an EU official said on the eve of the summit gathering all 27 leaders for the first time since Zelensky’s White House clash with President Donald Trump upended US support for Ukraine.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said Wednesday that Donald Trump is “lying” following the US leader’s assertion that the United States is taking back the Panama Canal. “Once again, President Trump is lying. The Panama Canal is not in the process of recovery,” Mulino wrote on X after Trump told US lawmakers on Tuesday night that his administration will be “reclaiming” the waterway.