Ukraine's Zelenskiy Says Latest Phone Call with Trump His Most Productive Yet
"Regarding the conversation with the president of the United States, which took place a day earlier, it was probably the best conversation we have had during this whole time, the most productive," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
"We discussed air defense issues and I'm grateful for the willingness to help. The Patriot system is precisely the key to protection against ballistic threats."
Zelenskiy said the two leaders had discussed "several other important matters" that officials from the two sides would be considering in forthcoming meetings.
Trump told reporters on Friday that he had a good call with Zelenskiy and restated his disappointment at a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin over what he said was Moscow's lack of willingness to work toward a ceasefire.
Asked whether the United States would agree to supply more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, as requested by Zelenskiy, Trump said: "They're going to need them for defense... They're going to need something because they're being hit pretty hard."
Russia has intensified air attacks on Kyiv and other cities in recent weeks. Moscow's forces launched the largest drone attack of the 40-month-old war on the Ukrainian capital hours after Trump's conversation with Putin on Thursday.
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Arab News
27 minutes ago
- Arab News
The strange case of Evgeniya Mayboroda, Russia's rebel retiree
WARSAW: The elegant 72-year-old Russian put her hand on her heart as the verdict fell. Five and a half years in prison for posts opposing the war in Ukraine. Then, according to a witness who saw her in the dock, 'her nose began to bleed.' Yet only a few years before, Evgeniya Mayboroda had been an ardent fan of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and had celebrated his annexation of Crimea. A photo taken in the court in Shakhty shows her shock as the sentence was pronounced — her punishment held up as an example of what can happen to even model citizens if they question the war. Mayboroda — who comes from the Rostov region bordering Ukraine — was accused of sharing 'false information' on the Russian army on social media and of 'making a public appeal to commit extremist activities.' Even before she was convicted in January 2024, the posts on her social media feed — thick with pictures of cats and flowers — had put her on the Russia's 'terrorist and extremist' watchlist. Curious to discover how a pro-Kremlin pensioner could so quickly become an enemy of the state, AFP tracked her down to a penal colony where she said her faith and prayers were sustaining her. We also talked to those who know her and were able to piece together a picture of this unlikely rebel, whose strange story says much about today's Russia. Evgeniya Nikolaevna Mayboroda was born on June 10, 1951 near the coal-mining town of Shakhty and met her husband Nikolai at the local technical institute. They both got jobs at a facility just outside the city — he was a miner in an elite squad, while she worked in the power station above ground. They had a son, Sergei, in 1972. The Mayborodas were the ideal Soviet family. As mine workers they occupied a privileged place in the communist hierarchy and were able to travel regularly across the Eastern Bloc. But when the USSR collapsed in 1991 so did their world. Not only was there no money to pay their wages but the socialist values they believed in were replaced by a wild, cowboy capitalism. Then on Miners' Day 1997, an important date in the Soviet calendar, Sergei, their only child was killed in a car accident. He was 25. 'We were at the burial. Evgeniya was in such a state that she can't remember it,' a friend of the family, too afraid to give her name, told AFP. 'Her son was everything to her.' The mine shut down in 2002 and, less than a decade later, her husband died after a sudden illness and Mayboroda found herself alone. She took refuge in religion and was soon back on her feet, again taking pride in her appearance. Photos show that even on a budget, she kept her sense of style, always with a little touch of mascara. 'She is a leader in life,' a friend said. 'She is hard to break.' At the end of 2017, she discovered social media and joined VK (Russia's equivalent to Facebook). Her page shows her political evolution. For five years she shared hundreds of pictures of cats and flowers, religious messages or nostalgic reminiscences about life in the good old USSR. And she was effusive in her praise of President Vladimir Putin, posting some 30 photos of him from March to August 2018, hailing him as a marvellous leader who was making Russia great again. In one of them, Putin tells Donald Trump that Russia would give Crimea back to Ukraine 'if the United States gives Texas back to Mexico and Alaska back to Russia.' She also called former Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko — who accused Putin of having him poisoned — a 'moron.' Like many Russians laid low by the crisis of the 1990s, Mayboroda was receptive to the Kremlin's rhetoric that Russia had regained its power and stability under Putin. Then something changed. In the summer of 2018, a sudden raising of the retirement age saw discontent with the government spread beyond the big cities. 'Normally Putin, as a great popular leader, likes to position himself as referee, guaranteeing the interest of the people,' said French sociologist Karine Clement, a specialist on Russian protest movements. 'But this was the first time he spoke up to defend a reform that, let's say, went against the interests of the poor.' While his popularity plummeted, there were no large protests. At around the same time, the mood of Mayboroda's posts about politics began to change. She started to share posts denouncing poverty in Russia, contrasting it with the country's vast natural resources. Tatyana Vasilchuk, a journalist from the independent outlet Novaya Gazeta, said the Maiski area where Mayboroda lived was wracked by neglect and unemployment when she visited. 'It was drowning under rubbish,' she said. In 2020, Mayboroda made clear her opposition to a change in the constitution allowing Putin to stay in power until 2036, reposting a message that said: 'No to an eternal Putin... No to eternal lies and corruption.' Then came the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 'One of the motors' for Putin going to war, Clement said, was his need to silence opposition and 'restore control.' On her VK account, Mayboroda — who had family in Ukraine — criticized the invasion and even expressed support for the Azov Brigade, a Ukrainian unit founded by far-right militants. While some Azov members were neo-Nazis, its dogged resistance on the battlefield, particularly during the siege of Mariupol in 2022, won it hero status in Ukraine and recruits beyond ultranationalist groups. In Russia, where all opposition — particularly online — is tracked, her posts did not go unnoticed. The security services have locked up hundreds of people for criticizing the conflict and Mayboroda's turn came in February 2023. Police raided her home and she got her first jail term and a fine. A more serious criminal investigation was also opened, which led to her conviction last year. Investigators accused her of criticizing the Russian assault on Mariupol in which thousands of besieged Ukrainians died. They also said she reposted a disturbing video in which a young girl, sat in front of a screen showing a swastika, holds a knife and declares in Ukrainian that Russians should have their throats cut. The video seems to support the Kremlin line that Russia had gone into Ukraine to fight 'neo-Nazis,' playing on the admiration some Ukrainian nationalist groups have for those who fought with the Germans against Soviet leader Joseph Stalin during World War II. Mayboroda was accused of being a Nazi for reposting the video, which had in fact been published by a pro-Kremlin account on VK. Ukraine's SBU security service claim the clip was part of a Russian 'propaganda campaign.' 'She does not support that ideology,' a source close to the case told AFP. Mayboroda, who regularly crossed the border to visit her Ukrainian relatives before the war, told the court that one was wounded in a Russian strike on a building in Dnipro in the summer of 2022. Yet at the time Mayboroda did not see how dangerous her online comments were, a friend told AFP. She compared the pensioner — who is now 74 — to a 'lost lamb' who she still loved despite being 'in the wrong.' Expert Clement said she could understand how Mayboroda became politicized once she saw through the Kremlin line. Beyond prosecuting its opponents, the Kremlin tries to 'scramble minds' with a fog of often contradictory disinformation to stop 'the forming of mass political movements,' Clement said. This strategy of confusion allows it to present the invasion as 'a fight against Nazism,' she added, even though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish. Russians are cynical about politics after watching oligarchs present their ultraliberal reforms that robbed the poor in the 1990s as an advance toward 'democracy,' the expert argued, a distrust which now works in favor of Putin's authoritarianism. 'You have to be very smart to navigate public life in Russia,' she said, adding that a 'thirst for community' was part of the reason why so many have got behind the war. Despite that, Mayboroda's plight has garnered attention from opposition media and NGOs both in Russia and in exile. The banned group Memorial quickly recognized her as a 'political prisoner,' and Kremlin critics said her jailing showed the growing intensity of repression. Unlike thousands of Ukrainian prisoners who human rights groups say are being held in secret and sometimes tortured, as a Russian citizen Mayboroda's prison conditions are much better. Theoretically she can receive letters, though censored by prison authorities, and occasionally make phone calls. In June, after a six-month wait, AFP was able to talk to her during a mediated and recorded 10-minute call from her prison in the Rostov region. During the spring her friends said she was depressed and unwell. But her tone during this call was surprisingly upbeat given she has been behind bars for 18 months. 'The hardest thing for me was losing my freedom. It's very hard... But my faith and prayers help me,' she told AFP, her voice sometimes cut by the crackly line. Asked why she reshared the video of the girl calling for Russians to be killed, she said 'it happened by accident. It was stupid.' She insisted that she detested 'hate' and 'lies,' and that she believed in 'love and the joy of living.' Her opposition to the war was on simple moral grounds, she said. 'I am a (Christian) believer. Thou shalt not kill.' Nor could she see why the invasion had to happen. 'Why all this? I don't understand.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
an hour ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Netanyahu Says he Believes Trump Can Help Seal Ceasefire Deal
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he believed his discussions with US President Donald Trump on Monday would help advance talks on a Gaza hostage release and ceasefire deal that Israeli negotiators resumed in Qatar on Sunday. Israeli negotiators taking part in the ceasefire talks have clear instructions to achieve a ceasefire agreement under conditions that Israel has accepted, Netanyahu said on Sunday before boarding his flight to Washington. "I believe the discussion with President Trump can certainly help advance these results," he said, adding that he was determined to ensure the return of hostages held in Gaza and to remove the threat of Hamas to Israel. It will be Netanyahu's third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power nearly six months ago. Public pressure is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire and end the war in Gaza, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. Others, including Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, have expressed support. Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a "positive spirit", a few days after Trump said Israel had agreed "to the necessary conditions to finalize" a 60-day truce. But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals. Netanyahu's office said in a statement that changes sought by Hamas to the ceasefire proposal were "not acceptable to Israel". However, his office said the delegation would still fly to Qatar to "continue efforts to secure the return of our hostages based on the Qatari proposal that Israel agreed to". Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a demand the militant group has so far refused to discuss. Netanyahu said he believed he and Trump would also build on the outcome of the 12-day air war with Iran last month and seek to further ensure that Tehran never has a nuclear weapon. He said recent Middle East developments had created an opportunity to widen the circle of peace. On Saturday evening, crowds gathered at a public square in Tel Aviv near the defense ministry headquarters to call for a ceasefire deal and the return of around 50 hostages still held in Gaza. The demonstrators waved Israeli flags, chanted and carried posters with photos of the hostages. The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Gaza's health ministry says Israel's retaliatory military assault on the enclave has killed over 57,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, displaced the population, mostly within Gaza, and left the territory in ruins. Around 20 of the remaining hostages are believed to be still alive. A majority of the original hostages have been freed through diplomatic negotiations, though the Israeli military has also recovered some.
Asharq Al-Awsat
an hour ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
BRICS Group Condemns Increase of Tariffs in Summit Overshadowed by Middle East Tensions
The BRICS bloc of developing nations on Sunday condemned the increase of tariffs and attacks on Iran, but refrained from naming US President Donald Trump. The group's declaration, which also took aim at Israel's military actions in the Middle East, also spared its member Russia from criticism and mentioned war-torn Ukraine just once. The two-day summit was marked by the absences of two of its most powerful members. China's President Xi Jinping did not attend a BRICS summit for the first time since he became his country's leader in 2012. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who spoke via videoconference, continues to mostly avoid traveling abroad due to an international arrest warrant issued after Russia invaded Ukraine. In an indirect swipe at the US, the group's declaration raised 'serious concerns' about the rise of tariffs which it said were 'inconsistent with WTO (World Trade Organization) rules.' The BRICS added that those restrictions 'threaten to reduce global trade, disrupt global supply chains, and introduce uncertainty.' Trump, in a post on his social media platform late Sunday, said any country that aligns itself with what he termed 'the Anti-American policies of BRICS' would be levied an added 10% tariff. Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who hosted the summit, criticized NATO's decision to hike military spending by 5% of GDP annually by 2035. That sentiment was later echoed in the group's declaration. 'It is always easier to invest in war than in peace,' Lula said at the opening of the summit, which is scheduled to continue on Monday. Iran in attendance Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was expected to attend the summit before the attacks on his country in June, sent his foreign minister Abbas Araghchi to the meeting in Rio. The group's declaration criticized the attacks on Iran without mentioning the US or Israel, the two nations that conducted them. In his speech, Araghchi told leaders he had pushed for every member of the United Nations to condemn Israel strongly. He added Israel and the US should be accountable for rights violations. The Iranian foreign minister said the aftermath of the war 'will not be limited' to one country. 'The entire region and beyond will be damaged,' Araghchi said. BRICS leaders expressed 'grave concern' for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, called for the release of all hostages, a return to the negotiating table and reaffirmed their commitment to the two-state solution. Later, Iran's Araghchi said in a separate statement on messaging app Telegram that his government had expressed its reservation regarding a two-state solution in a note, saying it will not work 'just as it has not worked in the past.' Also on Telegram, Russia's foreign ministry in another statement named the US and Israel, and condemned the 'unprovoked military strikes' against Iran. Russia spared The group's 31-page declaration mentions Ukraine just once, while condemning 'in the strongest terms' recent Ukrainian attacks on Russia. 'We recall our national positions concerning the conflict in Ukraine as expressed in the appropriate fora, including the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly,' the group said. Avoid Trump's tariffs While Lula advocated on Sunday for the reform of Western-led global institutions, Brazil aimed to avoid becoming the target of higher tariffs. Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs against the bloc if they take any moves to undermine the dollar. Last year, at the summit hosted by Russia in Kazan, the Kremlin sought to develop alternatives to US-dominated payment systems which would allow it to dodge Western sanctions imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 Brazil decided to focus on less controversial issues in the summit, such as promoting trade relations between members and global health, after Trump returned to the White House, said Ana Garcia, a professor at the Rio de Janeiro Federal Rural University. 'Brazil wants the least amount of damage possible and to avoid drawing the attention of the Trump administration to prevent any type of risk to the Brazilian economy,' Garcia said. 'Best opportunity for emerging countries' BRICS was founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but the group last year expanded to include Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. As well as new members, the bloc has 10 strategic partner countries, a category created at last year's summit that includes Belarus, Cuba and Vietnam. That rapid expansion led Brazil to put housekeeping issues — officially termed institutional development — on the agenda to better integrate new members and boost internal cohesion. Despite notable absences, the summit is important for attendees, especially in the context of instability provoked by Trump's tariff wars, said Bruce Scheidl, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo's BRICS study group. 'The summit offers the best opportunity for emerging countries to respond, in the sense of seeking alternatives and diversifying their economic partnerships,' Scheidl said. The meeting was also an opportunity to advance climate negotiations and commitments on protecting the environment before November's COP 30 climate talks in the Amazonian city of Belem.
