Align with West or face sanctions
While meeting with senators in the US Congress, Rutte urged the three countries to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin and persuade him to take the peace deal with Ukraine "seriously.
'My encouragement to these three countries, particularly, is: if you live now in Beijing, or in Delhi, or you are the president of Brazil, you might want to take a look into this because this might hit you very hard,' Rutte told reporters.
'So please make the phone call to Vladimir Putin and tell him that he has to get serious about peace talks, because otherwise, this will slam back on Brazil, on India, and on China in a massive way,' Rutte added. This comes after US President Donald Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine and threatened "biting" secondary tariffs of 100% on buyers of Russian exports - unless a peace deal is reached within 50 days. Rutte said Europe would find the funds to ensure Ukraine was in the best possible position during peace negotiations.
He added that under the agreement with Trump, the US would now "massively" supply Ukraine with weapons "not just air defence, also missiles, also ammunition paid for by the Europeans."
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Karnataka's law and parliamentary affairs minister said the Congress, president Mallikarjun Kharge, and top leadership have already issued a directive to stay silent on the matter The Congress high command may have made it clear that there will be no leadership change in Karnataka but voices from within the party continue to push for deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar to be elevated to the chief minister's post. Speaking exclusively to News18, Karnataka's law and parliamentary affairs minister HK Patil minced no words as he discussed the row. 'Those who are speculating about change of chief minister and making such comments should have immediately stopped speaking," he said, stressing that the Congress, party president Mallikarjun Kharge, and the top leadership have already issued a directive to stay silent on the matter. 'The AICC president and the Congress high command have given us a clear signal not to speak about the post of CM or the KPCC chief. 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Despite the top brass's denial of a leadership shift—reiterated recently by AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala—the public push from Shivakumar loyalists has not died down, revealing cracks in the party's internal discipline. Earlier, another Congress MLA, HA Iqbal Hussain, had stirred the pot by saying Shivakumar could be made CM in 'two to three months". 'Everyone knows who put in the effort to bring the Congress back to power. His strategy and programmes are history now," Hussain had said. A letter of warning followed from KPCC chief Shivakumar himself, calling his remarks 'causing embarrassment to the party" and warning of disciplinary action. Meanwhile, Patil is also in the spotlight on another major issue—illegal mining. He now heads a cabinet subcommittee formed to look into cases of illegal mining between 2007 and 2011, a period that includes the tenure of the BJP under BS Yediyurappa and the alliance of the BJP-JDS under then chief minister HD Kumaraswamy. 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In his letter to Siddaramaiah, Patil had claimed that politicians and bureaucrats between 2007 and 2011 'systematically looted the state's wealth", estimating a loss of Rs 1.5 lakh crore to the exchequer. He demanded investigations into the remaining 92.4 per cent of the cases, punishment for the accused, and recovery of losses. According to him, nearly 12,000 cases of illegal mining have been registered in the state, but less than two per cent have reached the trial stage. He raised serious concerns about the role of investigative agencies. 'Nine cases had been handed over to the CBI, but the agency returned six, taking up only three. Even the SIT has not completed investigations in many cases." This is not the first time that Patil has chaired a panel to look into illegal mining in the state. When the Siddaramaiah government came to power in 2013, it constituted a cabinet sub-committee chaired by him to look into the illegal mining scam. The panel went beyond the findings of the Lokayukta report on illegal mining under Justice Santosh Hegde. It was on the basis of former Lokayukta Hegde's report that the then chief minister Yediyurappa and tourism minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy resigned. The alleged Ballari mining scam cost the state an estimated Rs 16,085 crore. Hegde's 466-page report, detailing rampant illegal mining of iron ore in Karnataka, was submitted to Governor HR Bhardwaj and Chief Secretary SV Ranganath on July 27, 2011. Patil's panel report in the previous regime pegged the compounded loss to Karnataka at Rs 1.43 lakh crore through illegal mining—a figure far higher than the Rs 12,228 crore estimated in the original Lokayukta report. However, the Congress government chose to ignore its own committee's findings and the report was shelved. The Lokayukta report, which came with several supporting documents, is still under investigation. It came into focus again when the Congress party's Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi passed through Obulapuram village in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh and entered Karnataka at Bellary—the hub of illegal mining activity where the name of Janardhan Reddy became synonymous with the scam. Shivakumar acknowledged that Patil had chaired a subcommittee during the previous Congress government and had then pointed out several irregularities and made suggestions on how to recover the losses. He said the current cabinet has now sought a report from Patil on the measures to be taken to protect the state's interests, and the subcommittee will submit its report in a month. The cabinet has also decided to extend the tenure of the Lokayukta Special Investigation Team (SIT) by one more year starting July 1. Kumaraswamy, under whose regime Patil had also alleged illegal mining was rampant, and who is now Union minister, hit back at Patil, calling the timing of the letter suspicious. 'Suddenly, Patil has woken up to the illegal mining issue in Karnataka. He claims it's a Rs 1.5 lakh crore scam. You've been the law minister for two years—were you in a Kumbhakarna-like slumber?" he said. He alleged the letter was a 'drama" to divert attention from scams in the housing department and took a dig at Siddaramaiah, saying: 'Even when Siddaramaiah had the sub-committee report under his leadership, he did nothing. What's the point of writing letters now? Throw them in the dustbin." top videos View all Patil also spoke to News18 on the on the proposed amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act in Karnataka, saying: 'We are particular that the law should be made more stringent. Taking into account all social considerations and plugging the loopholes in the previous Act, we are doing our best on this matter." The Karnataka government is set to introduce a bill that will penalise even the planning and engagement of minors, aiming to make child marriage prevention tougher and legally watertight. About the Author Rohini Swamy Rohini Swamy, Associate Editor at News18, has been a journalist for nearly two decades in the television and digital space. She covers south India for News18's digital platform. She has previously worked with More Get Latest Updates on Movies, Breaking News On India, World, Live Cricket Scores, And Stock Market Updates. Also Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : congress DK Shivakumar Illegal Mining Janardhan Reddy Mallikarjun Kharge Siddaramaiah view comments Location : Bengaluru, India, India First Published: July 09, 2025, 12:16 IST News politics 'Stop Speaking': HK Patil's Message To Congress Colleagues Amid Fresh 'Shivakumar For CM' Pitch Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. 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