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Los Angeles Times
14 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Ukrainians welcome U.S. aid but see Trump's 50-day ultimatum to Putin as too long
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainians welcomed President Trump's pledge of more U.S.-made weapons in their three-year fight against Russia's invasion, though it is unclear what exactly they will get and how quickly. The time frame for the further arms deliveries, which European countries have agreed to pay for, is crucial. Russia is making a summer push to break through along the 620-mile front line, and its drones and missiles are hammering Ukrainian cities more than at any time in the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Trump for his 'willingness to support Ukraine.' In Kyiv, resident Nina Tokar, 70, said Tuesday that with more U.S. weapons going to Ukraine 'maybe this will all end faster.' However, following Trump's threat late last week to impose major sanctions on Russia for failing to reach a deal to end the fighting, the president said Monday that Moscow would get 50 days to come to a settlement or face 'very severe' economic sanctions. While some believe strict tariffs on Moscow could be a game changer, the decision to postpone them until September struck some European observers as being too long. Ukrainian officials made no direct comment about the 50-day window, but for Russia, the delay of new sanctions came as a reprieve. Senior Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev commented: 'Oh, how much can change both on the battlefield and with the mood of those leading the U.S. and NATO in 50 days.' Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn't budged when presented with previous U.S. deadlines and threats. In an interview with the BBC broadcast Tuesday, Trump said of Putin: 'I'm disappointed in him, but I'm not done with him.' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow 'would like to understand what is behind this statement about 50 days,' noting that the Kremlin has offered to continue direct peace talks with Ukraine. 'Earlier, there were also the deadlines of 24 hours and of 100 days,' Lavrov said during an official trip to China. 'We've seen it all and really would like to understand the motivation of the U.S. president.' An assessment published Tuesday by Chatham House noted that 'the exact details of what has been agreed remain hazy.' 'Putin will continue to judge Trump by his actions, not by his words — and so far, there is little enough action to be seen,' the London-based think tank said. Military experts are trying to figure out whether Russian forces could use the window left by Trump to achieve significant territorial gains. Russian troops are slowly ramming through the Ukrainian defenses in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, the main focus of the Russian offensive. They are also trying to carve out a buffer zone along the border with the northeastern Ukrainian regions of Sumy and Kharkiv. Russia currently holds about 20% of Ukraine. Ukraine's depleted army has recently been losing more territory, but there is no sign of a looming collapse on the front line, analysts say. Zelensky said he spoke to Trump after the Republican leader's Oval Office announcement Monday on weapons sales, expressing gratitude for the decision to send more Patriot air defense missiles that are vital to defend Ukrainian cities. 'We discussed … the necessary measures and decisions to provide greater protection for people from Russian attacks and strengthen our positions,' Zelensky said on Telegram. 'We agreed to talk more often and coordinate our steps in the future.' Trump and Zelensky have had a notoriously fraught relationship, and Washington's consent to providing more weaponry has eased Kyiv's worries. Even so, some Ukrainians felt the U.S. decision won't alter the course of the war. 'If we take the situation as a whole, it hardly looks like this will fundamentally change anything,' Kyiv resident Oles Oliinyk, 33, told The Associated Press. Tokar, the Kyiv resident, was also skeptical. 'I have very little faith in (Trump). He says one thing today, and tomorrow he may say something else.' Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp expressed misgivings about the 50-day delay on sanctions. 'I do believe that the 50 days that Mr Trump has announced is rather long. It's up to September 2. I think that's rather long,' he said in Brussels on Tuesday. Much remains to be worked out about how and when the weapons, especially the Patriot systems, will be provided, Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said. But, in an indication that Europe is relieved that the U.S. hasn't walked away from the conflict, he added: 'The most important thing is that we now have an American readiness to deliver these most needed weapons.' Some European countries, such as Hungary and Slovakia, still rely heavily on Russia for energy supplies and could be hit hard by Trump's threatened secondary sanctions on countries that buy its oil and gas — an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy. Lithuania's Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said Trump's 50-day delay was a 'signal for Europe to prepare ourselves, because we still have some member states that are exposed to imports of oil and oil products from Russia.' German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said it remains to be seen whether Trump's announcement will be a turnaround but 'what is decisive is that the tone has changed.' The president's threat to impose sanctions after 50 days is 'significant progress,' Pistorius told ARD television. Stepanenko and Cook write for the Associated Press. Cook reported from Brussels.
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
EU ministers ask for more info from Israel on their new deal to ramp up aid to Gaza
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is seeking updates from Israel on implementation of a new deal to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, the bloc's top diplomat said Tuesday. Foreign ministers from the EU's 27-member nations were meeting in Brussels in the wake of a new aid deal for Gaza, largely forged by EU foreign policy chief Kallas and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. Saar met with EU leaders on Monday after agreeing last week to allow desperately needed food and fuel into the coastal enclave of 2.3 million people, who have endured more than 21 months of war. 'We have reached a common understanding with Israel to really improve the situation on the ground, but it's not about the paper, but actually implementation of the paper," Kallas said before the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. 'As long as it hasn't really improved, then we haven't all done enough,' she said, before calling for a ceasefire. Details of the deal remain unclear, but EU officials have rejected any cooperation with the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund over ethical and safety concerns. Opening more border crossings and allowing more aid trucks into Gaza is the priority, but officials say eventually they'd like to set up a monitoring station at Kerem Shalom crossing. Kallas said that the ministers will also discuss Iran's nuclear program, concerns over developments in Georgia and Moldova, and new sanctions on Russia. The EU is readying its 18th package of sanctions on Russia, with holdouts within the bloc arguing over the keystone policy of capping oil prices to cut into Moscow's energy revenues. European nations like Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain have increasingly called for the EU's ties with Israel to be reassessed in the wake of the war in Gaza. A report by the European Commission found 'indications' that Israel's actions in Gaza are violating human rights obligations in the agreement governing its ties with the EU — but the bloc is divided over what to do in response. That public pressure over Israel's conduct in Gaza made the new humanitarian deal possible even before a ceasefire, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said. 'That force of the 27 EU member states is what I want to maintain now," he said. Kallas will update EU member nations every two weeks on how much aid is actually getting through to desperate Gazans, Irish Foreign Minister Thomas Byrne said. 'So far we haven't really seen the implementation of it, maybe some very small actions, but there's still slaughter going on, there's still a denial of access to food and water as well," he said. 'We need to see action.' Spanish Foreign Minister José Manual Albares Bueno said that details of the deal were still being discussed and that the EU would monitor results to see if Israel is complying with those. 'We don't know whether it works or if we will know how it works,' he said. 'It's very clear that this agreement is not the end — we have to stop the war." There are regular protests across the continent, like a small one on Tuesday outside the European Commission, where the ministers were discussing the aid plan. Dozens of protesters in Brussels called for more aggressive actions by Europe to stop Israel's military campaign in Gaza. 'It was able to do this for Russia," said Alexis Deswaef, vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights. "It must now agree on a package of sanctions for Israel to end the genocide and for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.' The war in Gaza began after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage, most of whom have been released in earlier ceasefires. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza's Hamas-run government, doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants. The U.N. and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties. The EU has observed some aid trucks entering Gaza, but 'not enough,' said Hajda Lahbib, an EU commissioner for equality, preparedness and crisis management. 'The situation is still so dangerous, so violent, with strikes still continuing on the ground, that our humanitarian partners cannot operate. So, this is the reality — we need to have a ceasefire," she said. ___ Sylvain Plazy contributed to this report. Sam Mcneil, The Associated Press
Business Wire
31 minutes ago
- Business Wire
DDN and Polarise Partner to Deliver Sovereign, Sustainable AI Factories for Europe
CHATSWORTH, Calif. & PADERBORN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- DDN ®, the global leader in AI and data intelligence solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with Polarise, Europe's emerging pioneer in sovereign, sustainable AI infrastructure. This collaboration brings together DDN's world-class AI data platform technology and Polarise's end-to-end capabilities for building and operating NVIDIA-accelerated AI factories across the continent. 'Our collaboration with Polarise represents a major step forward in democratizing AI infrastructure for Europe,' said Paul Bloch, President and Co-Founder of DDN. Through this partnership, DDN and Polarise will deliver high-performance, resource-efficient AI infrastructure designed for the next generation of sovereign European AI workloads—at scale, with speed, and with sustainability in mind. 'Our collaboration with Polarise represents a major step forward in democratizing AI infrastructure for Europe,' said Paul Bloch, President and Co-Founder of DDN. 'By combining DDN's unparalleled AI data platform with Polarise's innovative approach to AI factories and cloud delivery, we are enabling customers to power their AI ambitions responsibly and without compromise.' Polarise specializes in building turnkey AI factories—end-to-end, AI-centric data centers based on the NVIDIA reference architecture. With locations in Germany and Norway, Polarise offers customers a sovereign alternative for consuming AI computing power through colocation, dedicated/private cloud, or direct API access via its own cloud platform. Polarise's operations emphasize renewable energy, heat reuse, and cutting-edge cooling to ensure low-carbon, future-proof AI deployments. 'This partnership allows us to bring best-in-class storage and data intelligence from DDN into our ecosystem,' said Nicolas Kremer, CTO of Polarise. 'Together, we're creating Europe's answer to the age of AI—an agile, sovereign, and sustainable infrastructure that challenges outdated industry norms.' The joint offering will combine: DDN's enterprise-proven AI storage systems, optimized for NVIDIA DGX and AI factory environments, delivering extreme throughput and efficiency for AI model training, inference, and RAG workloads. Polarise's modular AI factory design and cloud delivery model, ensuring flexible, sovereign, and scalable access to AI compute and storage for enterprise and research customers. Shared commitment to sustainability, reducing carbon impact through intelligent infrastructure design and integration with local communities. The companies will initially focus on joint deployments across Germany and Norway, with further European expansion planned in 2025 and beyond. About DDN DDN is the world's leading AI and data intelligence company, empowering organizations to maximize the value of their data with end-to-end HPC and AI-focused solutions. Its customers range from the largest global enterprises and AI hyperscalers to cutting-edge research centers, all leveraging DDN's proven data intelligence platform for scalable, secure, and high-performance AI deployments that drive 10x returns. About Polarise Now is the time to make responsible AI decisions. Polarise's solutions ensure resource-saving AI workloads that have a future—cutting carbon emissions and integrating in existing communities to do an impact for good. Their growing portfolio of state-of-the-art AI factories, in combination with a sovereign cloud platform, provides unparalleled efficiency and customization for Europe's next-generation AI leaders. Follow Polarise: Linkedin
