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…
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.”
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.
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.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said Tuesday that his country would do everything necessary to withstand the Russian invasion despite Donald Trump’s decision to halt US military aid. “We will do everything to hold out,” he told journalists at a press conference in Kyiv.
Egypt has proposed a $53 billion plan to rebuild Gaza over five years, focusing on emergency relief, infrastructure restoration and long-term economic development, according to a draft document seen by AFP. The proposal, set to be discussed at an extraordinary Arab summit in Cairo later on Tuesday, counters a plan floated by US President Donald Trump last month to assume control of war-torn Gaza and displace its Palestinian population, including to Egypt and Jordan. Palestinians, along with Arab states and many of Israel and the United States’ partners, have condemned Trump’s proposal, rejecting any efforts to expel Gazans. – Early…
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Sunday called for unity between Europe and the United States on Ukraine, saying he hoped an EU summit this week would show Russia that the West “has no intention of capitulating”. “Everything must be done to ensure that Europe and the United States speak with one voice,” he said. The upcoming summit should send a clear message to Russian President Vladimir Putin “that the West has no intention of capitulating before his blackmail and aggression”.
Iran’s parliament sacked the country’s finance minister on Sunday after impeaching him over soaring inflation and a plunging currency, state television reported. Economy and finance minister Abdolnaser Hemmati lost a vote of confidence, with 182 of 273 parliamentarians present backing his removal. On the black market on Sunday, the Iranian rial was trading at more than 920,000 to the US dollar, compared with less than 600,000 in mid-2024. Earlier, President Masoud Pezeshkian defended Hemmati, a former central bank governor, telling lawmakers: “We are in a full-scale (economic) war with the enemy… we must take a war formation”. “The economic problems…