EU, Indonesia strike political agreement to advance free trade deal
The trade deal, dubbed Cepa for Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, will create more opportunities in key industries such as agriculture and the automotive sector, von der Leyen added.
'There's a lot of untouched potential in our trade relationship, and therefore this agreement comes at the right time because the new agreement will open new markets', she said at a press conference with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.
Said Subianto: 'We consider Europe to be very important to us. That's why we would like to see more European presence and more European participation in our economy. I think that in this era of instability or confusion, we are setting a right example.' Reuters
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Straits Times
13 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Trump sours on Putin, but bromance may not be over
Find out what's new on ST website and app. US President Donald Trump (right) who had vowed to end the Ukraine war, said he was 'disappointed' in Russian President Vladimir Putin. Washington - Ever since his political rise a decade ago, Donald Trump has sung the praises of Vladimir Putin – the Russian president was a 'strong leader' who, perhaps more important, would often say 'very good things' about him. With his announcement July 14 of new arms for Ukraine via Europe and tariff threats on Russia, Mr Trump's bromance with Mr Putin has hit a new low – but it may not have run its course. Mr Trump, who had vowed to end the Ukraine war within a day of returning to the White House, said he was 'disappointed' in Mr Putin, who has kept attacking Ukraine as if the leaders' telephone conversations 'didn't mean anything.' 'I go home, I tell the first lady, 'You know, I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation. She said, 'Oh really? Another city was just hit.' ' 'I don't want to say he's an assassin, but he's a tough guy. It's been proven over the years. He's fooled a lot of people,' Mr Trump said. Mr Trump quickly rejected that he was among those fooled and again insisted that the 2022 invasion of Ukraine was the fault of his predecessor Joe Biden, who championed a hard line on Russia. Brandishing his favorite weapon, Mr Trump gave Russia 50 days to comply before facing 100 per cent tariffs on countries that purchase from Russia, but stopped short of backing a bill before Congress for up to 500 per cent tariffs. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World In reversal, Trump arms Ukraine and threatens sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil Multimedia From local to global: What made top news in Singapore over the last 180 years? Singapore HSA intensifies crackdown on vapes; young suspected Kpod peddlers nabbed in Bishan, Yishun Singapore Man charged over distributing nearly 3 tonnes of vapes in one day in Bishan, Ubi Avenue 3 Opinion Sumiko at 61: When beauty fades, why do some accept it better than others? Singapore Public healthcare institutions to record all Kpod cases, confiscate vapes: MOH, HSA Singapore Man allegedly attacks woman with knife at Kallang Wave Mall, to be charged with attempted murder Singapore Ex-cop charged after he allegedly went on MHA portal, unlawfully shared info with man Russia's own trade with the United States has slowed down to a trickle. Mr Trump had 'promised that he could get Putin to the negotiating table, and he has failed to do that,' said Ms Heather Conley, a former State Department policymaker on Russia now at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. His tariff threat 'shows frustration that he has failed to do it, but I don't see it as a big policy change,' she said. The great deal-maker? Mr Trump stunned European allies on Feb 28 when he publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, telling him he was ungrateful for billions of dollars in weapons under Mr Biden. Mr Trump then briefly held up new military and intelligence. For the US president, a transactional-minded businessman, Mr Putin committed a key offence – undermining Mr Trump's self-image as a deal-maker. 'For six months, President Trump tried to entice Putin to the table. The attacks have gone up, not down,' Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who has led the push for tough new sanctions on Russia, told CBS News show 'Face The Nation.' 'One of the biggest miscalculations Putin has made is to play Trump,' Mr Graham said. Yet Mr Trump has repeatedly shown a willingness to trust Mr Putin, despite firm warnings from within the US government. Most famously, he sided with Mr Putin over US intelligence at a 2018 news conference having met in Helsinki after the Russian president denied meddling to support Mr Trump in his first election. For observers of Mr Putin, the longest-serving leader in Moscow since Stalin, there was never much chance he would accept compromise on Ukraine or work with the West. Mr Putin has rued the demise of Russia's influence with the fall of the Soviet Union as a historic calamity and rejected the idea that Ukraine has its own historical identity. With Russia making small but steady gains on the battlefield and bringing in North Korean troops, Mr Putin has put his entire country on war footing, Ms Conley said. 'The Kremlin has thrown everything into this,' she said. 'President Putin believes that this is just going to be a slow erosion of Ukraine's position and the West's position, and he will win this conflict on its own merits,' she said. Mr Mark Montgomery, a retired US rear admiral and Senate policy aide, said Mr Putin believed in what has been referred to as TACO – Trump Always Chickens Out. Mr Putin 'thought he could take it to the limit each time, and he found out he was wrong', said Mr Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish research group. 'I don't think this stops until Putin feels either weapons system pain or economic pain that he cannot sustain.' AFP
Business Times
23 minutes ago
- Business Times
Trump gives Russia 50 days to make Ukraine deal
[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump told Russia on Monday to end its Ukraine war within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions as he laid out plans for new infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via Nato. Trump said he was 'very, very unhappy' with Vladimir Putin, underlining his insistence that his patience had finally snapped with the Russian leader's refusal to end his three-year-old invasion of Ukraine. 'We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 per cent,' Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte. The Republican added that they would be 'secondary tariffs' that target Russia's remaining trade partners - seeking to cripple Moscow's ability to survive already sweeping Western sanctions. Trump and Rutte also unveiled a deal under which the Nato military alliance would buy billions of dollars of arms from the United States - including Patriot anti-missile batteries - and then send them to Ukraine. 'This is really big,' said Rutte, as he touted a deal aimed at easing Trump's long-held complaints that the US is paying more than European and Nato allies to aid Ukraine. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Britain were among the buyers helping Ukraine, added the Nato chief. 'If I was Vladimir Putin today and heard you speaking... I would reconsider that I should take negotiations about Ukraine more seriously,' said Rutte. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced he had spoken with Trump and was 'grateful' for the arms deal. 'Very long time' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin would play a 'decisive role' in the new weapons plan. But EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Trump's sanctions deadline was too far into the future. 'Fifty days is a very long time if we see that they are killing innocent civilians every day,' she said. Trump attempted a rapprochement with Putin shortly after starting his second term, in a bid to honor his election campaign pledge to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours. His pivot towards Putin sparked fears in Kyiv that he was about to sell out Ukraine, especially after Trump and his team berated Zelensky in the Oval Office on February 28. But in recent weeks Trump has shown increasing frustration with Putin as the Russian leader, instead of halting his invasion, stepped up missile and drone attacks to record levels. Washington has also U-turned from an announcement earlier this month that it would pause some arms deliveries to Kyiv. Trump said his wife Melania had helped changed his thinking about Putin, a man for whom he formerly expressed admiration. 'I go home, I tell the First Lady, 'you know, I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation.',' Trump said. 'And she said, 'Oh really? Another city was just hit.'' He added of Putin: 'I don't want to say he's an assassin, but he's a tough guy.' 'Better late than never' US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who are pushing a bipartisan bill on Russia secondary sanctions, praised Trump's 'powerful' move. 'The ultimate hammer to bring about the end of this war will be tariffs against countries, like China, India and Brazil, that prop up Putin's war machine,' they said in a statement. Trump's special envoy Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv on Monday for what Zelensky called a 'productive meeting.' One Ukrainian soldier deployed in the war-scarred east of the country, who identified himself by his call sign Grizzly, welcomed Trump's promise of fresh air defense systems. 'Better late than never,' the 29-year-old told AFP. Russian forces meanwhile said on Monday they had captured new territory in eastern Ukraine with the seizure of one village in the Donetsk region and another in the Zaporizhzhia region. Its forces also killed at least three civilians in the eastern Kharkiv and Sumy regions on Monday, Ukrainian officials said. In Kyiv, Zelensky also proposed a major political shake-up, recommending economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko take over new prime minister, and appointing current premier Prime Minister Denys Shmygal as defense minister. AFP
Straits Times
28 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Berlin pledges decision on Patriots for Kyiv within 'days or weeks'
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a meeting with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas WASHINGTON - Berlin and Washington will take a decision about sending two U.S.-made Patriot air defence systems to Kyiv within days or weeks, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Monday after talks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Germany has offered to buy U.S. Patriot units to supply them to Ukraine which has suffered some of the heaviest Russian attacks of the war over the past weeks. Speaking in Washington, Pistorius said talks would continue at the working level to finalize details, including the number of launchers and missiles that might be included in the agreement. With a deal in place, the first Patriot unit could be sent to Ukraine within months, he said. He declined to comment on whether the talks also addressed offensive weapons for Kyiv. Germany has donated three of its own Patriot units to Kyiv, retaining nine systems - much fewer than the 36 Patriot batteries it had at the height of the Cold War. Pistorius received a warm welcome in Washington, reflecting Germany's evolving role as a major contributor to NATO's largest military buildup since the Cold War after being a laggard in defence spending for decades. As European officials fret over a possible future attack from Russia and brace for a drawdown of U.S. forces, Germany loosened its constitutional debt brake to meet NATO's new core military spending target of 3.5% of national output by 2029. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World In reversal, Trump arms Ukraine and threatens sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil Multimedia From local to global: What made top news in Singapore over the last 180 years? Singapore HSA intensifies crackdown on vapes; young suspected Kpod peddlers nabbed in Bishan, Yishun Singapore Man charged over distributing nearly 3 tonnes of vapes in one day in Bishan, Ubi Avenue 3 Opinion Sumiko at 61: When beauty fades, why do some accept it better than others? Singapore Public healthcare institutions to record all Kpod cases, confiscate vapes: MOH, HSA Singapore Man allegedly attacks woman with knife at Kallang Wave Mall, to be charged with attempted murder Singapore Ex-cop charged after he allegedly went on MHA portal, unlawfully shared info with man The move will boost German defence spending to 162 billion euros ($189 billion) in 2029 from 95 billion euros in the draft budget for 2025. GERMANY ASKS FOR U.S. TYPHON MISSILE LAUNCHERS Pistorius said Berlin had sent a letter of request to Washington for the purchase of U.S. Typhon missile launchers, with a decision on whether to place an order to be taken later. He described the system as a potential stop-gap solution while European partners work to develop their own land-based long-range weapons. "Together with Great Britain and other partners, we are developing land-based long-range systems, but this will take 7 to 10 years," Pistorius told reporters. "This is why we need a stop-gap solution." Capable of launching missiles with a range of some 2,000 km(1,243 miles), Typhon could bridge the gap between the deployment of U.S. long-range missiles to Germany, scheduled from 2026, until the development of European ground-launched long-range weapons, according to the minister. Pistorius did not manage to get clarity, however, on whether Washington remains committed to temporarily deploying long-range missiles to Germany from 2026, as agreed under former President Joe Biden. "I am very confident that last year's agreement is still valid, but we are still waiting for a final decision," he noted, adding the deployment was being reviewed at the moment. The deployment would include systems such as Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of 1,800 km (1,118 miles) and the developmental hypersonic weapon Dark Eagle with a range of around 3,000 km. Russia has criticised the plans as a serious threat to its national security and dismissed NATO concerns that it could attack an alliance member. Another key issue in Pistorius' talks in Washington was an ongoing review of the U.S. force posture worldwide that could lead to troop cuts in Europe where around 80,000 U.S. soldiers serve, including some 40,000 in Germany. European allies have been urging Washington to ensure any drawdown is coordinated to prevent capability gaps that might leave NATO members vulnerable to Russian aggression. Pistorius said Hegseth had agreed to a coordinated and transparent approach should the U.S. actually pull troops from the continent. REUTERS
