Ukraine war briefing: Top Trump aide accuses India of financing Russian war by buying oil
Trump on Sunday said special envoy Steve Witkoff may travel to Russia on Wednesday or Thursday, as he warned that he would impose sanctions if Moscow did not agree to a ceasefire in the Ukraine war before Friday. 'There'll be sanctions, but they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions,' Trump told reporters. 'They're wily characters and they're pretty good at avoiding sanctions, so we'll see what happens.'
A power line was damaged and a fire sparked at a railway station building in Russia's southern region of Volgograd from an overnight Ukrainian drone attack, the regional administration said on Monday. An unexploded drone fell on railway tracks near the Archeda train station, it said on Telegram, citing regional governor Andrei Bocharov. No damage to the tracks was reported.
A blaze at a Russian oil depot in Sochi in southern Russia caused by a Ukrainian drone attack was extinguished on Sunday, local authorities said. Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of the surrounding Krasnodar region, said more than 120 firefighters were deployed. The overnight attack on the Ilsky refinery near the city of Krasnodar had set two oil tanks on fire.
The Ukrainian air force said on Sunday that Russia had launched 76 drones and seven missiles against Ukraine overnight. It said it destroyed 60 drones and one missile but 16 others and six missiles hit targets across eight locations. The Russian defence ministry said its air units intercepted 93 Ukrainian drones overnight, including one over the Krasnodar region and 60 over the Black Sea.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners after their latest round of talks in Istanbul in July. 'There is an agreement to exchange 1,200 people,' the Ukrainian president wrote on X, saying the lists of individuals to be swapped was still being determined to 'unblock the return of our civilians'. 'Preparations for a new meeting' were also under way, Zelenskyy said.
A Russian attack killed three people in south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region on Sunday, the regional governor said. Governor Ivan Fedorov, writing on Telegram, said the three were killed in the daytime strike on the town of Stepnohirsk. Private homes were destroyed. The report could not be independently confirmed.
The Russian and Chinese navies are carrying out artillery and anti-submarine drills in the Sea of Japan as part of scheduled joint exercises, the Russian Pacific Fleet was quoted as saying on Sunday. The drills are taking place two days after Donald Trump said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in 'the appropriate regions' in response to remarks by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. However, they were scheduled well before Trump's action.
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The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump envoy Witkoff in Russia this week for stab at Ukraine ceasefire after Kremlin warns US to be ‘careful' over nuclear subs move
Steve Witkoff, the New York real estate developer turned roving peace envoy for President Donald Trump, is heading to Russia this week for yet another round of talks with officials in Moscow with an eye towards pushing Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his years-long war against Ukraine. Trump told reporters on Sunday that Witkoff, who has also been tasked with serving as a mediator in the Israel-Hamas conflict, would be traveling to Russia on either Tuesday or Wednesday for meetings ahead of Friday's deadline for Moscow to call off the war or face more U.S. sanctions. Asked what Putin could do to avoid harsh penalties, including secondary tariffs on goods from countries that purchase Russian oil, he told reporters: 'Get a deal where people stop getting killed.' But the president also expressed skepticism that new sanctions could hurt Russia's economy, citing Moscow's demonstrated ability to evade them. 'Well there will be sanctions but they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions. You know, they're wily characters and they're pretty good at avoiding sanctions. So we'll see what happens,' he said. Trump's Ukraine envoy, retired Army general Keith Kellogg, is understood to be planning travel to Kyiv at the same time Witkoff is in Moscow. Witkoff has visited the Russian capital multiple times since being handed the Russia portfolio, and he has attracted attention in foreign policy circles for his nonchalant and conciliatory attitude towards Putin and his government. He has openly spoken of his admiration for the Russian leader and once presented him with a painting of Trump as a gift. Witkoff has also violated normal diplomatic protocols by arriving without an American translator, instead relying on a Russian one during meetings without any other American witnesses. Kremlin press secretary Dimitri Peskov told reporters on Monday that the Russian government is 'always happy to see Mr. Witkoff in Moscow' and called the talks with the real estate developer 'important, substantive and very useful.' He also suggested that Witkoff could end up meeting with Putin during his time in the Russian capital. The Trump White House envoy's visit comes just days after Trump said he was redeploying a pair of American 'nuclear submarines ' in response to belligerent statements made on X by former Russian president Dimitri Medvedev earlier last week. Writing on Truth Social on Friday, Trump said he was ordering the American warships to 'the appropriate regions' due to what he called 'the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia ' and noted Medvedev's status as a deputy chair of the Russian national security council. Trump said the move was a precautionary measure 'just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.' 'Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances,' he added. The online feud between Trump and Medvedev comes as months of talks in Turkey between Ukraine and Russia have failed to achieve anything beyond arrangements for exchanges of prisoners of war and the bodies of each side's respective war dead. Russia has continued to target Ukraine with nightly attacks by drones and other aerial weapons, with a civilian death toll that has incensed Trump and led him to send more U.S. made weapons to Ukraine after months of indulging the more isolationist-minded members of his government. During an appearance last week alongside British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on the steps of his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland, Trump complained that Putin had too often talked a good game about wanting to reach a ceasefire in the conflict only to resume bombing civilian targets in short order. 'We thought we had that settled numerous times. And then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv, and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever. You have bodies lying all over the street. And I say that's not the way to do it,' Trump said.
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
American Eagle's stock takes off after Trump weighs in on Sydney Sweeney ad furor
Stock in American Eagle is flying after President Donald Trump weighed in on Sydney Sweeney 's jeans ad controversy. Conversations around the clothing brand's punny 'Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans' ad campaign have consumed the internet, so much so that the president gave his two cents on the matter Monday morning. Since then, the brand's stock has skyrocketed. As of Monday afternoon, the company's stock was up 2.57 points, or nearly 24 percent. At 8.56 a.m. Monday, Trump praised the ad and noted the Euphoria star was a registered Republican and 'has the 'HOTTEST' ad out there,' he wrote on Truth Social. The president also took a jab at what he believed to be 'WOKE,' including singer Taylor Swift, writing: 'Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be.' The company's stock started climbing, reaching 12.47 points by 10.15 a.m. At 10.25 a.m., Trump took down the post and reposted it with a corrected spelling of Sweeney's first name. The stock has continued to rise since. The president first weighed in on the ad campaign Sunday. 'She's a registered Republican?' the president asked while speaking to reporters. 'Now I love her ad.' In one video, the blonde-haired blue-eyed actress, wearing an all-denim getup, looks at the camera and says: 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color.' She adds: 'My jeans are blue.' With a pun on the word 'genes,' the narrator then says: 'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.' The wordplay is at the heart of the online backlash. Critics say the ad's word choices evoke the language of eugenics – the racist and discredited belief that the human race can be improved through selective breeding. American Eagle has defended the ad campaign. It 'is and always was about the jeans,' the retailer said in a statement Friday. 'We'll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way,' the statement continued. 'Great jeans look good on everyone.' Sweeney has yet to make a public statement on the matter. Some social media users have claimed that Trump is commenting on the internet debate to latch onto the latest distraction from the Jeffrey Epstein files after the Justice Department issued a memo related to the late sex offender's case last month. But much to the disappointment of many, the memo contained no new revelations. The DOJ confirmed that Epstein died by suicide and said there was no evidence to support the existence of a 'client list' of high profile individuals involved in his alleged sex trafficking scheme. 'When it comes to identifying a distraction from a real issue, we have a current object lesson: Sydney Sweeney = Distraction Jeffrey Epstein = Real issue,' Sarah Longwell, a GOP political strategist and founder of the conservative news site The Bulwark, wrote on X. 'The thing I like most about Sydney Sweeney is that Donald Trump is in the Epstein files,' another X user wrote Monday. 'Donald Trump is posting about Sydney Sweeney and Taylor Swift because he doesn't want to talk about the fact that he's in the Epstein files, doesn't want to talk about rising prices, and doesn't want to talk about the job market being the worst it's been since the last time he was president,' another wrote. 'It's all distraction politics. Don't take the bait.' A chunk of the MAGA base, and politicians on both sides of the aisle, along with others, have demanded heightened transparency around the Epstein case. Although Trump has denied that his name was in the files, the Wall Street Journal reported that DOJ officials told the president in May that his name, among many others, had appeared. Being named in the files does not suggest any wrongdoing. The president is suing the Journal sexually suggestive birthday card for Epstein in 2003. Trump has denied he drew the card.
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
North Carolina DMV audit recommends reforms to reverse customer wait times, worker morale
Customers at North Carolina 's Division of Motor Vehicles are waiting longer in lines that are often far away from home, while agency staffing fails to keep pace with the state's surging population, according to agency reviews that also recommend major reforms. Elected Republican Auditor Dave Boliek on Monday released two audits totaling nearly 600 pages that scrutinize the DMV — the bane of motorists in many states. But long lines and frustrations are acute in the ninth-largest state. 'Our DMV affects the economy. It affects people having to take off of work unnecessarily. It takes our students out of the classroom,' Boliek told reporters. 'This has to be fixed and it has to be a top priority.' Constituent complaints, REAL ID brings problems to fore Boliek promised during last year's campaign to conduct a top-to-bottom review of the DMV if elected. Elected leaders' constituents have complained about the inability to book appointments online close to home and the struggles for their teenagers to complete driving tests. It's not unusual for customers to camp outside driver's license offices in the wee hours hoping to get seen later that day. Problems continued as federal REAL ID license security standards took effect in May. Erin Van Dorn of Holly Springs said at Boliek's news conference it took her and her teenage son four trips to the DMV — the last time 130 miles (209 kilometers) away in Mount Airy — to obtain his license. Information technology and staffing shortages were to blame. 'My son has missed a total of four days of school,' Van Horn said. 'It's just been a very big ordeal for us.' New Democratic Gov. Josh Stein's administration brought in former state legislator Paul Tine as the new Division of Motor Vehicles commissioner and has pledged a turnaround. Longer waits, continued examiner shortages A DMV performance audit Monday said average wait times for customers at the state's driver's license locations increased by over 15% since 2019 to 1 hour and 15 minutes. And close to 14% of the wait times lasted over 2 hours and 30 minutes — a 79% increase from 2019. And nearly half of all transactions by customers aren't happening at the license office closest to where they live. 'The employee experience has diminished as well,' Boliek said. The audit said there were 160 vacant license examiner positions as of April. And while the state's population has grown by 29% over the last 20 years, the number of examiner positions has grown by just 10%. Boliek's staff heard DMV employee complaints about burnout, security and low pay — average examiner position salaries were well below $50,000 last year. The audit attributes many problems to DMV's relationship to the Cabinet-level state Department of Transportation that oversees the agency. The auditor said DMV has undersized influence within DOT when it comes to decision-making and getting budget requests approved by the legislature. Agency independence among recommendations Boliek's most significant recommendation is for policymakers to consider turning DMV into an autonomous agency separate from DOT. Boliek said the recommendation is no slight upon Tine and current Teansportation Secretary Joey Hopkins, whom he said are taking steps toward reform. But he said a permanent change is needed to address situations where the commissioner and secretary don't cooperate as well. Other recommendations include creating a public online dashboard measuring keys performance goals and initiating nonconventional initiatives to reduce wait times and backlogs. Boliek said outside driving school instructors could administer road tests required of new drivers. The DMV could open 'pop-up' license offices at a vacant mall anchor store or create 'fast-pass' options for customers who pay extra to reach the front of the line. 'We can't keep doing things the same old way," he said. DMV, DOT chiefs back most recommendations In a written response to the audits, Tine and Hopkins agreed with nearly all of the recommendations and said many already getting carried out. But they opposed the recommendation to separate DMV, saying the agency's core functions align with the Transportation Department's mission to improve highway safety. 'We know that with the right leadership and follow-through, we will get results -– getting people out of lines and empowering our hard-working DMV employees," Stein spokesperson Morgan Hopkins said. The GOP-controlled General Assembly could still attempt to implement the change. A stopgap budget measure on Stein's desk provides funds to hire over 60 license examiners. And a new state law has established a temporary moratorium on renewing standard licenses, allowing them to remain valid within North Carolina for up to two years beyond the expiration date.
