Latest news with #BrusselsForum
The Star
08-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
US envoy Kellogg to attend Ukraine aid conference in Rome
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg speaks at the Brussels Forum in a panel on Euro-Atlantic security and Ukraine in Brussels, Belgium June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo ROME (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg will attend a July 10-11 international aid conference on Ukraine in Rome, an Italian government source said, a day after Trump said the U.S. would resume sending weapons to Kyiv. U.S. attempts to end Russia's war in Ukraine through diplomacy have largely stalled and Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear to be looking to stop the conflict, after the two spoke late last week. Trump has appeared to waver in his support for Ukraine at times, however. Monday's announcement of resumed U.S. weapons shipments follows Kyiv's warning last week that the brief halt would weaken its ability to defend against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances. The Rome conference - the fourth such event since Russia's February 2022 invasion of its neighbour - is mainly aimed at mobilizing international support for Ukraine. The source said about 500 billion euros ($590 billion) would be needed for the reconstruction, recovery and modernisation of Ukraine, citing World Bank estimates. Kyiv has been asking Washington to sell it more Patriot missiles and systems that it sees as key to defending its cities. Germany said last week it was in talks on buying Patriot air defence systems for Ukraine to bridge the gap after the Pentagon briefly paused some shipments. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will open the Rome conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected to be in Rome along with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Dutch leader Dick Schoof and Greece's Kyriakos Mitsotakis among others, the source said. ($1 = 0.8509 euros) (Reporting by Angelo Amante, writing by Giselda Vagnoni; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Straits Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
US envoy Kellogg to attend Ukraine aid conference in Rome
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg speaks at the Brussels Forum in a panel on Euro-Atlantic security and Ukraine in Brussels, Belgium June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo ROME - U.S. President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg will attend a July 10-11 international aid conference on Ukraine in Rome, an Italian government source said, a day after Trump said the U.S. would resume sending weapons to Kyiv. U.S. attempts to end Russia's war in Ukraine through diplomacy have largely stalled and Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear to be looking to stop the conflict, after the two spoke late last week. Trump has appeared to waver in his support for Ukraine at times, however. Monday's announcement of resumed U.S. weapons shipments follows Kyiv's warning last week that the brief halt would weaken its ability to defend against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances. The Rome conference - the fourth such event since Russia's February 2022 invasion of its neighbour - is mainly aimed at mobilizing international support for Ukraine. The source said about 500 billion euros ($590 billion) would be needed for the reconstruction, recovery and modernisation of Ukraine, citing World Bank estimates. Kyiv has been asking Washington to sell it more Patriot missiles and systems that it sees as key to defending its cities. Germany said last week it was in talks on buying Patriot air defence systems for Ukraine to bridge the gap after the Pentagon briefly paused some shipments. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore NDP celebrations to be held at 5 heartland sites, including Bishan and Punggol, on Aug 10 Singapore NDP 2025: Tank that bumped into traffic light lost steering and braking power due to faulty part Singapore AI cannot supplant learning, it must enable it: Desmond Lee World 25% on Japan and Malaysia, 40% on Laos: Trump's tariff letters to Asia add pressure for deals by Aug 1 Asia China warns Trump on tariffs, threatens retaliation on supply chain deals Singapore Grab to trial driverless shuttle for staff between Media Circle office and one-north MRT station Singapore Ong Beng Seng's new pre-trial conference date set for July 23 Multimedia 'I suspect he's cheating': She finds proof when spouses stray Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will open the Rome conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected to be in Rome along with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Dutch leader Dick Schoof and Greece's Kyriakos Mitsotakis among others, the source said. REUTERS
The Star
17-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Exclusive-Trump's Ukraine envoy to meet Belarus' Lukashenko, sources say
U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg speaks at the Brussels Forum in a panel on Euro-Atlantic security and Ukraine in Brussels, Belgium June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A senior Trump administration official is planning to travel to Belarus in the coming days to meet the country's president, according to four sources briefed on the matter, as ceasefire talks between Ukraine and Russia remain deadlocked. If the official, Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg, meets Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, he would be the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the authoritarian state in years. The precise agenda of the meeting is unclear, though Kellogg in private has portrayed the trip as a step that could help jump-start peace talks aimed at ending Russia's war against Ukraine, said two of the sources, who requested anonymity as the trip has not been made public. The State Department and the Belarusian embassy in Washington declined to comment. Kellogg and the White House did not respond to requests for comment. Planning for such trips requires careful negotiation, and it is possible the trip could be canceled or modified at the last moment. In 2020, during Trump's first term, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Belarus in what was then the highest-level U.S. visit to the eastern European country in over 20 years. The trip was part of a campaign under the first Trump administration to improve relations with Belarus at a time when relations between Minsk and Moscow were at a low point. Trump's successor, Democratic President Joe Biden, shifted course after the 2020 Belarusian election, which international observers condemned as neither free nor fair. Massive street protests followed the election and were met with a brutal crackdown, and Belarus was largely shunned by Western countries. The U.S. suspended operations at its embassy in 2022 as it became clear to Washington that the country would support Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. Under Trump's second term, however, the administration has renewed its efforts to establish a working relationship with Belarus. One U.S. official told Reuters the Trump administration had internally discussed ways to pull Minsk out of Moscow's sphere of influence and toward Washington's orbit, if only marginally. In February, a deputy assistant secretary of state, Christopher Smith, and two other State Department officials traveled to Belarus to retrieve three political prisoners, The New York Times reported at the time. Smith had privately described the trip as the first step of a potential deal that would see scores of political prisoners released in return for an easing of U.S. sanctions, the Times reported. A separate senior U.S. official pointed to the April 30 release by Belarus of Youras Ziankovich, a 47-year-old naturalized American citizen, as a sign that Lukashenko wanted to improve relations with Washington. Western diplomats, however, have expressed skepticism about U.S. efforts to court Belarus, which remains firmly aligned and has deep economic links with its neighbor Russia. (Reporting by Gram Slattery and Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Don Durfee and Leslie Adler)
Straits Times
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Trump's Ukraine envoy to meet Belarus' Lukashenko, sources say
U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg speaks at the Brussels Forum in a panel on Euro-Atlantic security and Ukraine in Brussels, Belgium June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo WASHINGTON - A senior Trump administration official is planning to travel to Belarus in the coming days to meet the country's president, according to four sources briefed on the matter, as ceasefire talks between Ukraine and Russia remain deadlocked. If the official, Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg, meets Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, he would be the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the authoritarian state in years. The precise agenda of the meeting is unclear, though Kellogg in private has portrayed the trip as a step that could help jump-start peace talks aimed at ending Russia's war against Ukraine, said two of the sources, who requested anonymity as the trip has not been made public. The State Department and the Belarusian embassy in Washington declined to comment. Kellogg and the White House did not respond to requests for comment. Planning for such trips requires careful negotiation, and it is possible the trip could be canceled or modified at the last moment. In 2020, during Trump's first term, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Belarus in what was then the highest-level U.S. visit to the eastern European country in over 20 years. The trip was part of a campaign under the first Trump administration to improve relations with Belarus at a time when relations between Minsk and Moscow were at a low point. Trump's successor, Democratic President Joe Biden, shifted course after the 2020 Belarusian election, which international observers condemned as neither free nor fair. Massive street protests followed the election and were met with a brutal crackdown, and Belarus was largely shunned by Western countries. The U.S. suspended operations at its embassy in 2022 as it became clear to Washington that the country would support Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. Under Trump's second term, however, the administration has renewed its efforts to establish a working relationship with Belarus. One U.S. official told Reuters the Trump administration had internally discussed ways to pull Minsk out of Moscow's sphere of influence and toward Washington's orbit, if only marginally. In February, a deputy assistant secretary of state, Christopher Smith, and two other State Department officials traveled to Belarus to retrieve three political prisoners, The New York Times reported at the time. Smith had privately described the trip as the first step of a potential deal that would see scores of political prisoners released in return for an easing of U.S. sanctions, the Times reported. A separate senior U.S. official pointed to the April 30 release by Belarus of Youras Ziankovich, a 47-year-old naturalized American citizen, as a sign that Lukashenko wanted to improve relations with Washington. Western diplomats, however, have expressed skepticism about U.S. efforts to court Belarus, which remains firmly aligned and has deep economic links with its neighbor Russia. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Miami Herald
12-06-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Europe Can Bypass Trump to Hit Putin's Oil Empire: Kallas
The European Union may not need the Trump administration's support for its proposal to lower a price cap on Russian oil, the bloc's foreign policy chief has said. The comments by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas followed Brussels' latest sanctions package that included proposing to lower a G7-imposed price cap on seaborne Russian oil from $60 to $45, to curb funding for Vladimir Putin's military machine. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said lowering this price cap would not help stabilize global energy markets. Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment. To cut export revenues for Moscow, the European Commission on Tuesday proposed to lower the G7-imposed price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil from $60 a barrel to $45. This was among the EU's latest sanctions proposals to force Putin to the negotiating table to end the war he started in Ukraine, a package that needs the backing of all 27 bloc members. EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said changing the cap would be discussed when the G7 meets in Alberta, Canada next week but Kallas' comments suggest the EU could proceed with the measure, regardless of the U.S. On Tuesday, the EU Commission announced its 18th package of sanctions on Russia to force it to the negotiating table and curb Putin's war machine. Kallas said the package would sanction firms linked to the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany that have been nonoperational since 2022 following suspected sabotage attacks. The package also targets Russian businesses and banking. The EU Commission suggested any change to the oil price cap would require the backing of the G7 members as the EU also seeks to clamp down on Russia's sanctions-busting "shadow fleet" of vessels transporting the product. However, Kallas told the Brussels Forum on Wednesday that most Russian oil goes via the Baltic and Black Seas. This meant that while U.S. backing was important, if it was not forthcoming, "we can still do it and have an impact." Russia's "shadow fleet" of often older vessels with less reliable insurance, has made the $60 price cap difficult to enforce. The cap also came into force in February 2023 when oil prices were much higher, which Kallas referred to when she said the agreement was intended to be 5 percent below the market price. Kimberly Donovan from the Atlantic Council's Geoeconomics Center, said reducing the price cap to $45 is an acknowledgment that oil prices have dropped considerably and reflects a commitment to restrict Russia's ability to generate revenue. Ivan Hortal Sanchez, European Union Campaigner at Razom We Stand, a Ukrainian campaign group, told Newsweek that the EU, ideally in full alignment with the U.S. and G7, must strictly enforce the price cap and closely coordinate to sanction more vessels. He also said there should be further listings of Russian shadow fleet tankers adding that without massive oil revenues, the Kremlin will not be able to sustain its aggression against Ukraine. EU High Representative Kaja Kallas on lowering the price cap on Russian oil: "The oil going through the channels, it's mostly Europe, it's via the Baltic Sea, it's via the Black Sea. So even if the Americans are not on board, we can still do it." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov: "Such actions do not contribute to the stabilization of international energy markets and the oil market." Ivan Hortal Sanchez, European Union Campaigner at Razom We Stand: "The EU, ideally in full alignment with the USA and G7, must strictly enforce the price cap and closely coordinate to sanction more vessels." Kimberly Donovan, director of the Economic Statecraft Initiative Atlantic Council's Geoeconomics Center: "Russia still relies on revenue from oil exports, so lowering the price cap could negatively affect how much money they can bring in." "Of course, it is important the United States... is together with us, and we have been operating together for quite some time," she said, "but it is also equally important for us what we do alone, because we alone are also a player." The G7 summit will take place in Alberta, Canada from Sunday where the oil price cap and other aspects of the war in Ukraine will be discussed. Meanwhile, Brussels seems optimistic that its eighteenth sanctions package will pass although it requires the backing of all 27 EU members, and the leaders of Slovakia and Hungary have suggested they would block any further measures against Russia. Related Articles Russian War Losses Pass Grim 1-Million MilestoneEurope Delivers 'Final Nail' Into Putin Gas Empire's CoffinMette Frederiksen: Denmark's PM on Trump, Russia and Greenland's FutureMap Shows Russia's Plan to Seize Half of Ukraine 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
