Ukraine and Russia set for fresh peace talks, Zelensky says
"Today, I discussed with (Ukrainian Security Council chief) Rustem Umerov the preparations for a prisoner exchange and another meeting in Turkey with the Russian side," Zelensky said in his daily address on Monday. "Umerov reported that the meeting is scheduled for Wednesday."
Zelensky proposed fresh talks at the weekend, days after US President Donald Trump threatened Russia with "severe" sanctions if there was no ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv within 50 days.
Washington has also pledged new weapons for the Ukrainian military, after Russia intensified attacks.
Moscow has not commented on the peace talks yet. Russia's RIA news agency, quoting a source, said the talks would take place over two days, Thursday and Friday.
A Turkish government spokesperson said Wednesday's talks would take place in Istanbul, the same venue where previous negotiations in May and June failed to work towards a ceasefire, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported.
This week's talks will be yet another attempt to bring an end to the war that has been going on for more than three years, and will come after Trump expressed frustration with Vladimir Putin. The US president told the BBC he was "disappointed" but "not done" with the Russian leader.
I'm 'disappointed but not done' with Putin, Trump tells BBC
Ukrainians unimpressed by Trump's 50-day ultimatum to Putin
The Istanbul talks could focus on further prisoner exchanges and a possible meeting between Zelensky and Putin, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.
Moscow, however, has downplayed the likelihood of reaching any concrete outcome anytime soon.
Commenting on the prospects for a breakthrough, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that the two sides were "diametrically opposed" and "a lot of diplomatic work lies ahead".
Russia has intensified its drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, causing record civilian casualties. It launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022.
Trump threatens Russia with tariffs while unveiling Ukraine weapons plan
Russia's intensifying drone war is spreading fear and eroding Ukrainian morale
Why did Putin's Russia invade Ukraine?
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
a minute ago
- Politico
House Dems Find Their Mojo With the Epstein Saga
In the middle is Trump, who once had a well-documented friendship with Epstein and who has been referenced in court documents surrounding the now deceased financier — though who is not accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Trump has tried to smother the controversy, even scolding his supporters for obsessing. 'Everyone's always talking about Trump being 'Teflon' — obviously that's because all Hill Republicans are pretty much a suit of armor for him, right? But in this instance, they're not,' said a senior Democratic aide discussing the strategy. 'And so it exposes him, I think, to more attacks that otherwise would be brushed off — and makes it easier for us to drag his numbers down while creating chaos among the Republicans.' The most interesting part about the strategy is how organically it came together. After watching the MAGA-sphere melt down over the administration's announcement in early July that there was no 'client list,' Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) grabbed the issue, telling his colleagues that the matter was kryptonite for the GOP, according to people close to him. In the House Rules Committee, ranking Democrat Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and his team had similarly been watching the feeding frenzy with right-wing podcasters and influencers, sensing an opportunity to needle Republicans so clearly out of step with their own base. Khanna found an unexpected ally in libertarian gadfly Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), teaming up to launch a discharge petition that could let House members circumvent Johnson's attempt to keep the issue from a vote on the floor. Through it all, Democratic leaders were cheering on their members. Beyond giving Khanna tacit support to work with Massie, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries set the tone for members early last week. He insisted in press conferences and in private meetings that this issue was a lose-lose situation for Republicans: either Trump and his allies had been lying for years about what was in those files or they were right and were now hiding evidence to protect their cronies. For longtime Hill watchers like myself, Jeffries' embrace of the scandal was a surprise. As Axios wrote last week, Jeffries has been known for an 'often taciturn approach to salacious stories of the day, preferring to remain disciplined and on-message in his public communications.' But like his members, Jeffries sensed the Epstein scandal was different, insisting it could feed into a narrative of corruption that would resonate beyond just the Democratic base.
New York Times
a minute ago
- New York Times
Britain Moves to Curb Migrant Trafficking, and Ease Anger at Home
British authorities on Wednesday imposed sanctions on more than a dozen people and organizations suspected of smuggling migrants into Britain, cutting them off from the country's financial system and barring them from entering. It was the first use of a new legal authority aimed at disrupting the human-trafficking networks run by gangs and organized-crime syndicates that transport desperate migrants into the country. The migrants' journeys often conclude with the dangerous crossing of the English Channel in small, rickety boats. It was also the latest attempt by Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government to confront growing political anger about the rising number of migrants trying to cross the channel. While overall migration, including foreign students and workers, is down, the number of migrants arriving in small boats has spiked to about 42,000 this year as of June 30 — a 34 percent increase over the same period last year. The British Foreign Office said the 25 people and criminal organizations targeted on Wednesday had been supplying the small boats, producing fake passports and specializing in moving money outside traditional financial networks to facilitate the illegal movement of people. Among them were a person who the government said ran safe houses along the smuggling routes and seven people reported to be involved with the Kavac Gang, a Balkan-based group that it said created fake passports. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has called the crackdown part of the country's moral duty to stop the crossings. 'From Europe to Asia, we are taking the fight to the people smugglers who enable irregular migration, targeting them wherever they are in the world and making them pay for their actions,' he said in a statement Wednesday morning. 'My message to the gangs who callously risk vulnerable lives for profit is this: We know who you are, and we will work with our partners around the world to hold you to account.' Mr. Starmer's Labour government has been under increasing pressure since he promised during his campaign to reduce the flow of illegal migration. Small boats account for only about 5 percent of overall immigration into Britain, but the images of migrants jumping off the boats onto the beaches have become a potent political issue. Conservative politicians and their supporters have seized on the growing presence of migrants to attack the prime minister. In Epping, a town at the edge of London, several angry protests erupted in recent weeks after an Ethiopian migrant living in a hotel was charged with sexual assault. It was the latest in a series of protests in Britain about hotels catering to migrants. Chris Philp, the member of Parliament who speaks for the Conservative Party on migration issues, called the sanctions an ineffective and insufficient response and said the government should immediately deport anyone arriving in the small boats. 'The truth is you don't stop the channel crossings by freezing a few bank accounts in Baghdad or slapping a travel ban on a dinghy dealer in Damascus,' Mr. Philp said. 'Swaths of young men are arriving daily, in boats bought online, guided by traffickers who laugh at our laws and cash in on our weakness.' Advocates for migrants welcomed the new efforts on trafficking, in part because they target traffickers and not migrants themselves. But they cautioned that the relatively modest sanctions would probably do little to dissuade people desperate to leave their homes. 'The men, women and children risking their lives in small boats are often fleeing places like Sudan, where war has left them with nowhere else to turn,' said Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, a British-based organization that works with refugees and asylum seekers. 'People do not cross the channel,' he said, 'unless what lies behind them is more terrifying than what lies ahead.' British officials said the new sanctions were part of a broader effort to return more migrants to their home countries if they do not qualify for asylum or refugee status. Since Mr. Starmer's election last summer, the British government has returned 35,000 migrants, according to the Foreign Office, an increase of 13 percent over the previous year. This month, Mr. Starmer announced an agreement with President Emmanuel Macron of France to bolster enforcement to prevent the small boats with migrants from leaving French beaches in the first place. But migration experts say all of Mr. Starmer's efforts face significant challenges and may have little impact on the flow of people. Peter Walsh, a senior researcher at the Migration Observatory at Oxford University, said that many smuggling networks operated almost entirely in other countries, outside British jurisdiction, where the sanctions would have little real-world impact. He also said that Mr. Starmer's promise to 'smash' the gangs would be difficult to fulfill because the groups rely heavily on middlemen working in the informal money-transfer network known as Hawala, which operates outside traditional financial systems. Mr. Walsh said many countries, including Pakistan and India, had tried to combat the middlemen without much success. 'The gangs are pretty difficult to smash,' Mr. Walsh said. 'They are highly decentralized. They are highly adaptive.'
CNN
a minute ago
- CNN
Aid agencies warn of Gaza starvation as Israel urged to end blockade
Update: Date: Title: Aid agencies say they are watching their colleagues 'waste away' amid Gaza food crisis Content: A coalition of more than 100 international humanitarian organizations has called on Israel to end its blockade of Gaza, restore the full flow of food, clean water and medical supplies to the enclave, and agree to a ceasefire. In a joint statement the 111 agencies warned that supplies in the enclave are now 'totally depleted' and that humanitarian groups are 'witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.' 'As the Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families,' the agencies said in the statement. Israel has previously blamed Hamas for its decision to halt aid shipments, alleging the militant group was stealing supplies and profiting from it. Hamas has denied this allegation. Israeli agencies have also blamed UN agencies, accusing them of not picking up aid that is ready to move into Gaza. But the UN asserts that Israeli forces frequently deny permission to move aid within the enclave, and that much more is waiting to be allowed in. Major agencies including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Amnesty International, and the Norwegian Refugee Council are among the signatories of the statement. For context: Gaza was already heavily dependent on aid and commercial shipments of food even before Israel launched its war on Hamas following the October 2023 attack, and shortages of food, medical supplies, fuel and other necessities have only worsened since. The agencies criticized the controversial Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which began operating on May 27. The organizations said shootings occurred almost daily at food distribution sites. Update: Date: Title: Famine is "banging down the door," Oxfam director tells CNN Content: Humanitarian aid agencies are warning their own staff inside Gaza are starving alongside the civilians they are trying to help an aid agency director told CNN Wednesday as Israel continues to restrict the entry of desperately needed supplies into the territory. 'Time is up. Famine is knocking on the door. It's banging down the door right now,' said Scott Paul, director of Peace and Security at Oxfam. 'What we're seeing across the Gaza Strip is families are getting by with one nutritiously poor meal every day. Many cases, people are going without eating,' Paul to CNN's John Vause. Paul added that there is enough food at the borders around Gaza to feed the whole population for two months, but it can't reach those who need it because its distribution is 'being systematically restricted by the Government of Israel.' Israel has said it is allowing ample aid into the besieged Palestinian territory but aid agencies and multiple Western nations say the amount of food reaching Gaza's population under strict Israeli control is a fraction of what is needed. Israel's war in Gaza has also personally affected aid workers – many of them Palestinian – as they wake every morning trying to figure out who the most vulnerable people are in their communities and try to help them, Paul said. Uncertainty over whether aid workers can do their work safely, find enough food and medical care for their children and relatives has not changed in the last 21 months since the war, he added.
