Author: AFP
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday said Russian President Vladimir Putin would “sooner or later” have to “come to the table” as he opened a virtual gathering to drum up support for Ukraine. “My feeling is that sooner or later, he’s going to have to come to the table and engage in serious discussion,” Starmer told about 25 fellow leaders who joined the virtual summit. The talks hosted in a call set up by Downing Street aim to urge participating countries to sign up to a coalition willing to protect any eventual ceasefire in Ukraine. Starmer told allies the…
Hamas accused Israel of a “blatant violation” of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, after the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency reported that nine people were killed Saturday in Israeli strikes in the northern town of Beit Lahia. “The occupation (Israel) has committed a horrific massacre in the northern Gaza Strip by targeting a group of journalists and humanitarian workers, in a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement.
Russia should back a ceasefire deal with Ukraine that could lead to durable peace, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday after a virtual meeting with other leaders. “We reiterate our support to Ukraine’s agreement to a ceasefire. Now Russia has to show that it is willing to support a ceasefire leading to a just and lasting peace,” she said in a message on X, formerly Twitter. She thanked UK premier Keir Starmer for hosting a virtual call with some 25 fellow leaders as they sought to keep up the pressure on Russia and protect any eventual…
Syrians gathered on Saturday to commemorate the 14th anniversary of their uprising in public demonstrations in Damascus for the first time since Baath regime leader Bashar al-Assad was toppled. The demonstration in Damascus’s Umayyad Square is the first in the capital after years of repression under Assad, during which the square was the sole preserve of the ousted president’s supporters. Activists also called on people to gather in the cities of Homs, Idlib and Hama at demonstrations under the slogan “Syria is victorious”. By the afternoon, dozens of people had gathered in the capital’s Umayyad Square, amid a heavy security…
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on Saturday it was vital to keep up the pressure on Russia to come to a ceasefire deal with Ukraine. “It is now important to continue to exert pressure on Russia to come to the negotiating table,” said Schoof in a message on X, formerly Twitter, after taking part in a virtual meeting with other leaders about Ukraine hosted by Britain.
Russia has committed enforced disappearances and torture in its war in Ukraine, both crimes against humanity, a United Nations investigation concluded. The crimes “were perpetrated as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population and pursuant to a coordinated state policy”, the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said in a new report.
Russia on Friday said President Vladimir Putin had sent “additional” signals to counterpart Donald Trump about a Washington-proposed ceasefire in Ukraine, adding it was “cautiously optimistic” about the prospect of a deal. US envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin late Thursday to lay out the details of the joint US-Ukrainian plan, which envisages a 30-day pause in hostilities between Moscow and Kyiv after three years of fighting. The Kremlin said Putin conveyed “additional” signals to Trump via Witkoff, and that the two leaders could speak once Trump had been briefed on these messages. “When Mr Witkoff brings all the information to…
Global oil demand growth is set to accelerate this year but the escalating trade war launched by US President Donald Trump threatens to disrupt the market, the International Energy Agency said Thursday. The IEA noted that crude prices dropped in February and early March as concerns grew about the impact of trade tensions on the global economy and the OPEC+ cartel confirmed plans to raise production next month. Global oil demand is expected to rise by just over one million barrels per day (bpd) in 2025, up from 830,000 bpd in 2024, according to the Paris-based agency. That would take…
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made “a very promising statement” on a possible Ukraine ceasefire, but added that “it wasn’t complete.” Trump’s comments came after Putin said he backed the idea of a 30-day ceasefire but had serious questions about it that he wanted to discuss with his US counterpart. “He put out a very promising statement but it wasn’t complete,” Trump, who was meeting NATO chief Mark Rutte at the White House, told reporters when asked about Putin’s remarks. “I’d love to meet with him or talk to him. But we…
The US plan for a 30-day truce in Ukraine only reflects Kyiv’s position on ending the fighting and needs Russia’s input, a top Kremlin aide said Thursday. “It will be necessary to work on it, think and take into account our position too. Only the Ukrainian approach is outlined in it,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said, as US officials arrived to present the plan in Moscow.