Ukrainian soldiers dismiss Trump-Russia peace push
Clutching an assault rifle, an infantryman who goes by the call sign 'Rugbyist' recalled Ukraine's fierce resistance in the first weeks of Russia's February 2022 invasion, before Western support poured in, and suggested his country could do it again if needed.
In any case, he had not placed high hopes in US President Donald Trump standing up for Ukraine: 'You can't be betrayed by a person you didn't expect anything from.'
'Maybe they decided something over there - but that's their opinion,' the 21-year-old, whose call sign means 'spring', told Reuters at a training base in southeastern Ukraine.
'Ukrainians won't believe all that.'
Trump's push for a quick peace with Moscow while sidelining Ukraine has caused fear among many Ukrainians and their allies.
But front-line troops say they are determined to fight on, citing three years of bitter sacrifices and the loss of tens of thousands of comrades-in-arms.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed any deals made behind Ukraine's back and has sought strong security guarantees from Kyiv's partners before agreeing to any settlement.
Trump envoy Keith Kellogg said on Friday that he had 'extensive and positive' talks with Zelenskyy during a trip to Kyiv but offered no further information.
Also on Friday, the Kremlin hinted at a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin but said the details had yet to be worked out.
On the battlefield, meanwhile, outmanned and outgunned Ukrainian troops are struggling to hold back Russian advances along much of the sprawling eastern front.
Fighting has been particularly fierce near the embattled logistics hub of Pokrovsk, defended in part by troops from Ukraine's 68th Jaeger Brigade.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
6 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
US Republicans Grill University Leaders in Latest House Antisemitism Hearing
The leaders of three US universities testified before a House of Representatives panel on Tuesday about what they have done to combat antisemitism on campus, saying they were committed to stamping out hatred while protecting academic freedom. At Tuesday's three-hour hearing, Georgetown University interim President Robert Groves, City University of New York Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez, and University of California, Berkeley Chancellor Richard Lyons came under sharp fire from Republicans. Many of them echoed President Donald Trump's recent attacks on universities, which he has described as "infested with radicalism," and questioned whether the presidents were doing enough to protect Jewish students and faculty. "The genesis of this antisemitism, this hatred that we're seeing across our country, is coming from our universities," said Representative Burgess Owens, a Utah Republican. It was the latest in a series of hearings about antisemitism on campus in which university leaders testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which is tasked with higher education oversight. Democrats on the panel used the session to question the Trump administration's gutting of the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, which probes incidents of antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. That has led to a backlog in investigations at a time when Republicans say universities are not doing enough to combat antisemitism. The US Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the administration to resume dismantling the entire department, part of Trump's bid to shrink the federal role in education and give more control to the states. Representative Mark Takano, a California Democrat, called the hearing a "kangaroo court." "This scorched earth warfare against higher education will endanger academic freedom, innovative research and international cooperation for generations to come," Takano said, referring to the administration's efforts to cut off funding to some schools, including Harvard and Columbia, and impose other sanctions. University leaders have come under fire from both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian communities for their handling of protests that broke out after the 2023 attack on Israel by the Hamas group and conflict that emerged from it. On some campuses, clashes erupted between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrators, spawning antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric and assaults in some cases. During the hearing, the university leaders were repeatedly asked about their responses to antisemitic actions by faculty or affiliated scholars. Representative Mary Miller, an Illinois Republican, asked Berkeley's Lyons about a February event in which speakers "repeatedly denied that Israeli women were gang-raped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and argued that Israel was weaponizing feminism." Lyons said the online event in question was organized by a faculty member but the comments that Miller cited did not come from the Berkeley faculty member. He said the school anticipated that some of the ideas discussed at the event would prove controversial. "I did not prevent it from happening because I felt that keeping the marketplace for ideas open was really important in this instance," he said. Previous hearings held by the panel have led to significant consequences for university presidents. In December 2023, Representative Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, raised her own political profile by grilling the presidents of Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She asked them whether "calling for the genocide of Jews" would violate their schools' codes of conduct related to bullying and harassment. Each president declined to give a simple "yes" or "no" answer, noting that a wide range of hateful speech is protected under the US Constitution's First Amendment and under university policies. Their testimony, which many viewed as insensitive and detached, triggered an outcry. More than 70 US lawmakers later signed a letter demanding that the governing boards of the three universities remove the presidents. Soon afterwards, Harvard's Claudine Gay and Penn's Liz Magill resigned. Columbia President Minouche Shafik resigned in August, following her April testimony before the committee.
Asharq Al-Awsat
13 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
France, UK and Germany Would Restore UN Sanctions on Iran Next Month without Progress on a Deal
The United Kingdom, France and Germany have agreed to restore tough UN sanctions on Iran by the end of August if there has been no concrete progress on a nuclear deal, two European diplomats said Tuesday. The three countries' ambassadors to the United Nations met Tuesday at Germany's UN Mission to discuss a possible Iranian deal and reimposing the sanctions. The matter also came up in a phone call Monday between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of the three countries, according to two US officials. The State Department said after the call that the four had spoken about 'ensuring Iran does not develop or obtain a nuclear weapon.' The officials and diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The UK, France and Germany are part of an agreement reached with Iran in 2015 to rein in its nuclear program, from which President Donald Trump withdrew the US during his first term, insisting it wasn't tough enough. Under the accord that lifted economic penalties on Iran in exchange for restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear program, a so-called 'snapback' provision allows one of the Western parties to reimpose UN sanctions if Tehran does not comply with its requirements. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters in Brussels Tuesday that the three European countries would be justified in reapplying sanctions. 'Without a firm, tangible, and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest,' Barrot said, according to Reuters. One of the diplomats confirmed his comments to The Associated Press. The diplomats did not provide details of the deal being sought. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in recent days that Tehran would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the US if there were assurances of no more attacks, following Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities. He said there should be 'a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated, stressing that 'the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution." The United States and Iran held several rounds of negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program before the Israeli strikes began in June. Trump and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said last week that talks would happen soon, but nothing has yet been scheduled. Araghchi, whose country insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, said in a July 2 CBS interview that 'the doors of diplomacy will never slam shut.' Iran's UN Mission had no comment Tuesday on the threat of renewed sanctions if there is no deal. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said last week that the US airstrikes so badly damaged his country's nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction. Iran has suspended cooperation with the IAEA.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Trump, White House race to stem Epstein conspiracy fallout
For years, President Donald Trump and his Republican allies benefited from conspiracy theories that fueled the conservative MAGA movement and targeted his political enemies. Now the persisting furor over files related to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has forced Trump into an unfamiliar role: trying to shut a conspiracy theory down. Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, was facing federal charges of sex-trafficking minors when he died by suicide in jail in 2019. He had pleaded not guilty, and the case was dismissed after his death. The saga burst back into the news last week after the Trump administration reversed course on its pledge to release documents it had suggested would reveal major revelations about Epstein and his alleged clientele. That reversal has enraged some of Trump's most loyal followers. In an effort to contain the fallout, Trump and White House officials are weighing a range of options including unsealing new documents, appointing a special prosecutor and drafting executive actions on issues such as pedophilia, according to two White House sources with knowledge of the matter. Trump and senior aides have also reached out to key MAGA-aligned influencers, urging them to dial down their criticism of the administration's handling of the Epstein investigation and shift focus to broader priorities for the America First movement, one source said. The backlash over the Epstein case has laid bare tensions inside Trump's coalition and is testing one of Trump's most enduring political strengths: his ability to command loyalty and control the narrative across the right. The outcry comes amid discontent among parts of Trump's base over the U.S. strikes on Iran, continued involvement in Ukraine and any hint of backsliding on the administration's hardline immigration promises. The two sources said the intra-party friction was damaging to the coalition and that the White House was actively trying to restore unity, though they did not expect the Epstein controversy to dent Trump's core support. Many conservative influencers and hard-right media figures remain unconvinced by a Justice Department memo last week that concluded there was 'no incriminating client list' or any evidence that Epstein may have blackmailed prominent people. The review also confirmed prior findings by the FBI that concluded that Epstein killed himself in his jail cell while awaiting trial, and that his death was not the result of a criminal act such as murder. Trump knew Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s. During the 2021 trial of Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell, the financier's longtime pilot, Lawrence Visoski, testified that Trump flew on Epstein's private plane multiple times. Trump has denied ever being on the plane and has not been accused of any wrongdoing. That history now complicates Trump's response, as he works to reassure a base steeped in long-running suspicions about Epstein and his connection to influential figures. Trump backs Bondi Trump has defended Attorney General Pam Bondi against calls for her firing by some MAGA personalities. He has urged his supporters to move on from the Epstein saga. 'I don't understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case is of interest to anybody,' Trump told reporters on Tuesday. 'It's pretty boring stuff. It's sordid, but it's boring, and I don't understand why it keeps going.' Both White House sources said there were mistakes in how information about the Epstein files was shared with pro-Trump influencers, especially by Bondi, who had previously implied that a list of Epstein's clients existed. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment, and Bondi did not answer questions on Tuesday about Trump's comments on the Epstein files at a press conference. When asked if she expected to keep her job, she said, 'I am going to be here for as long as the president wants me here - and I believe he's made that crystal clear.' In a statement on Tuesday, the White House said Trump's law-and-order team remains focused on 'Making America Safe Again' and 'restoring the integrity of our criminal justice system.' While some prominent voices outside the administration are falling back in line, others are not. Charlie Kirk, a key MAGA influencer who had amplified doubts about the Epstein probe, abruptly reversed course after a call with Trump, one of the sources said. On Monday, Kirk posted on social-media platform X: 'I'm done talking about Epstein. I'm gonna trust my friends in the government.' Trump's call for critics to back off is not landing everywhere. Podcast hosts including Joe Rogan, Theo Von and Tim Dillon, whose large audiences are not necessarily pro-Trump but broadly anti-establishment and helped propel his election victory, are unlikely to let up, according to Angelo Carusone, president of the progressive nonprofit watchdog group Media Matters for America. 'Trump seems very disconnected from the zeitgeist that put him into power in the first place,' Carusone said. Some of Trump's staunchest political allies also are keeping the pressure on. House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson, called on Tuesday for the Justice Department to release more Epstein documents. Representative Lauren Boebert, a hardline MAGA supporter, made her own demand on X: 'We deserve the truth about the Epstein files. I'm ready for a Special Counsel to handle this.'
