Author: Daily Sabah With Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he would probably meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy next week to discuss Ukraine’s war to repel Russian invaders. Trump did not make clear whether it would be a face-to-face meeting or a video conference. He spoke about the possibility while taking questions from reporters in an Oval Office welcome for Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Trump said he will “probably be meeting with President Zelenskiy next week,” and he also again expressed interest in meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin with whom he said he always had a “good relationship.” Asked for a location…

North Korea said on Saturday its nuclear weapons are not meant for negotiations but are intended for combat use against enemies that threaten its people and world peace, its state media reported. The statement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House on Friday. The two leaders expressed their commitment to ensuring that North Korea ends its nuclear weapons programme. KCNA did not mention the meeting between the U.S. and Japanese leaders but instead cited reported comments by officials of NATO and the EU that reiterated demands for a complete denuclearisation of…

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he would fire some FBI agents who were involved in investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump, speaking at a news conference alongside Japan’s prime minister at the White House, did not give any further details about how many agents would be fired or when.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he would probably meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy next week to discuss Ukraine’s war to repel Russian invaders. Trump did not make clear whether it would be a face-to-face meeting or a video conference. He spoke about the possibility while taking questions from reporters in an Oval Office welcome for Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Trump said he will “probably be meeting with President Zelenskiy next week,” and he also again expressed interest in meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin with whom he said he always had a “good relationship.” Asked for a location…

North Korea said on Saturday its nuclear weapons are not meant for negotiations but are intended for combat use against enemies that threaten its people and world peace, its state media reported. The statement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House on Friday. The two leaders expressed their commitment to ensuring that North Korea ends its nuclear weapons programme. KCNA did not mention the meeting between the U.S. and Japanese leaders but instead cited reported comments by officials of NATO and the EU that reiterated demands for a complete denuclearisation of…

Ukraine’s air force said on Saturday it shot down 67 of 139 Russian drones launched overnight, while another 71 disappeared from radar without reaching their targets.

Billionaire Elon Musk said that he was not interested in purchasing TikTok, the popular short-video app that the United States has been trying to ban over national security concerns with its Chinese owner ByteDance. Musk’s comments, made in late January, were released online Saturday by The WELT Group, a part of the German media company Axel Springer SE, which hosted a summit, where the Tesla chief joined the conference via video. “I have not put in a bid for TikTok,” Musk said a week after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was open to Musk buying the ByteDance-owned app if…

Lithuania said on Saturday it had disconnected its electricity system from Russia’s power grid, part of a plan which the three Baltic states say will integrate them more closely with the European Union and boost security. Latvia and Estonia are expected to follow suit by 0700 GMT on Saturday and, subject to last-minute tests, the three countries will synchronise with the EU’s grid on Sunday after operating on their own in the meantime.

Syria’s new President Ahmed al-Sharaa has been invited to visit Germany, his office said on Friday following a phone call with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The invitation came two days after Sharaa’s office announced he had been invited to visit France. Scholz assured Sharaa of Germany’s willingness to support Syria’s reconstruction, a German government spokesperson said earlier on Friday. In an hour-long phone call, Scholz congratulated the Syrian people on their success in ending the rule of former Baath regime leader Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled in December. Scholz and Sharaa agreed on Syria’s need for an inclusive political process that…

The United States has set a “red line” that Shi’ite armed group Hezbollah should not be a member of Lebanon’s next government after its military setbacks against Israel last year, U.S. deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus said in Lebanon on Friday. Ortagus is the first senior U.S. official to visit Lebanon since U.S. President Donald Trump took office and since Joseph Aoun was elected Lebanese president. Her visit comes amid a stalled cabinet formation process in Lebanon, where government posts are apportioned on sectarian lines. Hezbollah’s ally Amal has insisted on approving all Shi’ite Muslim ministers, keeping the process…