Putin proposes direct Ukraine talks but quiet on 30-day ceasefire
Kyiv, Ukraine: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine in the coming days but did not address a 30-day ceasefire proposal drawn up hours earlier by European allies of Kyiv, reportedly with US backing..Speaking at the Kremlin in the early hours of Sunday, Putin proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15 — hours after Kyiv and the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Poland had called for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire to start Monday. .”We propose to the Kyiv authorities to resume the talks that they broke off in 2022, and, I emphasise, without any preconditions,” Putin said..Trump says Putin wants peace in Ukraine.Russian and Ukrainian negotiators held direct talks in Istanbul in the first weeks of the conflict, but failed to agree to halt the fighting, which has been raging ever since..”We propose to start (negotiations) without delay on Thursday May 15 in Istanbul,” Putin said, adding that he would talk to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan soon to ask his help to facilitate the talks..Putin said he was “committed to serious negotiations with Ukraine” and that he wanted talks to “eliminate the root causes of the conflict and to establish a long-lasting peace”..Russia”s references to the “root causes” of the conflict typically refer to alleged grievances with Kyiv and the West that Moscow has put forward as justification for launching the offensive in February 2022..They include pledges to “de-Nazify” Ukraine, protect Russian speakers in the country”s east, push back against NATO expansion and stop Ukraine”s westward geopolitical drift..”Anti-Russian rhetoric”.Kyiv and the West have rejected all of them, saying Russia”s offensive is nothing more than an imperial-style land grab..”We do not exclude that during these talks we will be able to agree on some new ceasefire,” Putin said..But he also accused Ukraine”s Western backers of wanting to “continue war with Russia” and — without mentioning the specific Ukraine-European proposal for a 30-day ceasefire — slammed European “ultimatums” and “anti-Russian rhetoric”..The address in the Kremlin, attended by AFP, came hours after French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk gathered in Kyiv in a symbolic show of support for Ukraine..Together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, they pressed Russia on Saturday to accept a 30-day unconditional ceasefire starting Monday, threatening Moscow with new sanctions if it did not comply..The United States and other countries back the proposal, they said..”We have just now… decided to support a ceasefire which will begin next Monday, without any preconditions,” Macron told a press conference. .The leaders also held a video conference with their counterparts from about 20 other member countries of the “coalition of the willing” supporting Ukraine..”In the event of a violation of this ceasefire, we have agreed that massive sanctions will be prepared and coordinated between Europeans and Americans,” Macron said..The United States and Ukraine have for weeks pushed a similar proposal, which Russia has not accepted..US President Donald Trump had threatened to walk out of talks over the lack of progress on ending the war, after vowing during the US election campaign to halt the conflict within a day of taking office..Kyiv and its allies had feared that Trump was pivoting towards Moscow because he had clashed with Zelensky. But Trump has recently expressed growing impatience with Putin. .”Absolute unity”.”The position we”ve now got to today is absolute unity across a whole range of countries around the world, including the United States, that there must be that 30-day unconditional ceasefire,” UK”s Starmer said..The five leaders in Kyiv held a “fruitful” call with Trump to update him on the meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said..”For the first time in a long time we had a feeling that the whole free world is truly united,” Poland”s Tusk said..”We know that the real test is before us and before Putin. We will be waiting for Russia”s reaction.”.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also supported the truce that she said “must be implemented without pre-conditions to pave the way for meaningful peace negotiations”..Macron said the ceasefire would be “mainly” monitored by the United States but that “Europeans will contribute”. He said a truce would pave the way for “immediate work and negotiations with parties involved to build a robust and lasting peace”..The symbolic show of European unity came a day after Putin struck a defiant tone at a Moscow parade marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II..Putin had ordered a unilateral three-day truce from Thursday through Saturday for the event. But a Ukrainian army brigade operating in the east told AFP the intensity of fighting had remained “pretty much the same”.
Source: AFP
Trump hails “total reset” in US-China trade relations as talks continue
Geneva: US President Donald Trump hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations, ahead of a second day of talks Sunday between top officials from Washington and Beijing aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout.In a Truth Social post early Sunday, Trump praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner.”The second day of closed-door meetings between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are due to restart in the morning, according to an individual familiar with the talks who was not authorized to speak publicly..China”s consumption slide deepens as tariff war bites.China exports to US fell 17.6% from March to April: official data.Where things stand in the US-China trade war.Asia’s super-rich rapidly scale back US exposure on trade war.US President Donald Trump hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations, ahead of a second day of talks Sunday between top officials from Washington and Beijing aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout..In a Truth Social post early Sunday, Trump praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner.”.The second day of closed-door meetings between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are due to restart in the morning, according to an individual familiar with the talks who was not authorized to speak publicly..”These talks reflect that the current state of the trade relations with these extremely high tariffs is ultimately in the interests of neither the United States nor China,” Citigroup global chief economist Nathan Sheets told AFP, calling the tariffs a “lose-lose proposition.”.The discussions are the first time senior officials from the world”s two largest economies have met face-to-face to tackle the thorny topic of trade since Trump slapped steep new levies on China last month, sparking robust retaliation from Beijing. .The levies imposed by Trump on the Asian manufacturing giant since the start of the year currently total 145 percent, with cumulative US duties on some Chinese goods reaching a staggering 245 percent..In retaliation, China put 125 percent tariffs on US goods, cementing what appears to be a near trade embargo between the two countries..Ahead of the meeting, Trump signaled he might lower the tariffs, suggesting on social media that an “80% Tariff on China seems right!”.However, his press secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified that the United States would not lower tariffs unilaterally, and that China would also need to make concessions..”An important step”.The first day of negotiations occurred Saturday at the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, a discrete villa with sky blue shutters near a large park on the left bank of Lake Geneva..Going into the meeting, both sides played down expectations of a major change in trade relations, with Bessent underlining a focus on “de-escalation” and not a “big trade deal,” and Beijing insisting the United States must ease tariffs first..A commentary published by China”s state news agency Xinhua called the talks “an important step in promoting the resolution of the issue.”.The fact the talks are even happening “is good news for business, and for the financial markets,” said Gary Hufbauer, a senior non-resident fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)..But Hufbauer cautioned he was “very skeptical that there will be any return to something like normal US-China trade relations,” with even a tariff rate of 70 to 80 percent still potentially halving bilateral trade..China “better-equipped”.China”s vice premier went into the discussions buoyed by Friday”s news that China”s exports rose last month despite the trade war..The unexpected development was attributed by experts to a re-routing of trade to Southeast Asia to mitigate US tariffs..Among some of the more moderate Trump officials like Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, “there”s a realization that China is better equipped to deal with this trade war than the US,” said Hufbauer..The Geneva meeting comes after Trump unveiled a trade agreement with Britain, the first deal with any country since he unleashed his blitz of global tariffs..The five-page, non-binding deal confirmed to nervous investors that the United States is willing to negotiate sector-specific relief from recent duties, but maintained a 10 percent baseline levy on most British goods..Following the US-UK trade announcement, analysts have voiced pessimism about the likelihood negotiations will lead to any significant changes in the US-China trade relationship..”It”s nice that they”re talking. But my expectations for the actual outcomes of this first round of talks is pretty limited,” Sheets from Citigroup said..”I think it”s quite possible they”ll walk away from Geneva saying how constructive and productive the talks were, but not actually reducing tariffs at all,” Hufbauer said..In his Truth Social post, Trump said the talks had made “GREAT PROGRESS!!”.”We want to see, for the good of both China and the U.S., an opening up of China to American business,” he added.
Source: AFP
“مزيرعة” بمنطقة الظفرة تسجل أدنى درجة حرارة في الدولة
أكد الرئيس الأميركي دونالد ترامب أن الولايات المتحدة ستزيد بشكل “ملحوظ” التبادل التجاري مع الهند وباكستان.وكتب ترامب ليل السبت على منصته تروث سوشال “سأزيد التجارة بشكل ملحوظ مع هاتين الأمتين العظيمتين”.
قراءة المزيد
Source: مركز الاتحاد للأخبار