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Forbes
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Trump's Russia-China Pitch Upends The G7 Summit
Protestors in a "Designated Demonstration Zone" at the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre during the ... More Group of Seven (G-7) Leaders' Summit in Banff, Alberta, Canada, on Monday, June 16, 2025. US President Donald Trump proposed that Russia and China be invited to join the G-7 during his time at the Group of Seven summit. Photographer: Gavin John/Bloomberg Against the breathtaking backdrop of Canada's Rocky Mountains in Alberta, U.S. President Trump jolted the Kananaskis G7 meeting with a bold and divisive proposal: expand the G7 to reinstate Russia and welcome China as members. This idea, presented as a somewhat inane gesture of pragmatic engagement, instead provoked strong opposition from world leaders, who condemned it as both strategically misguided and morally indefensible. While the debate over whether to engage or isolate adversarial states has long divided foreign policy circles, Trump's call to welcome two authoritarian powers into an alliance of democracies risks undermining not only the G7's moral authority but also the reason for its existence. Russia's exclusion from the G8 in 2014 was not a bureaucratic oversight or political whim. It was a direct consequence and revulsion of its illegal annexation of Crimea and military intervention in Eastern Ukraine. That year, the planned Sochi summit was cancelled, and the group—then including Canada under Prime Minister Stephen Harper—chose to reconvene without Russia, formally reconstituting as the G7. Russia's return was made contingent on adherence to international law, a condition the Kremlin has continued to disregard. President Trump's assertion that Russia's exclusion 'made them feel left out,' potentially provoking further aggression, inverts both logic and historical fact. It was not exclusion that prompted invasion—it was invasion that necessitated exclusion. Trump's inaccurate attribution of Russia's ouster to 'Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau'—a factual error reported by multiple news outlets, as Justin Trudeau was not yet prime minister—only underscored the lack of diplomatic grounding in his proposal and at best, Trump's poor memory. That memory also seems to omit the direct obligation the United States undertook in 1994 when Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal. In signing the Budapest Memorandum with the U.S., along with the U.K. and Russia, all guaranteed Ukraine's sovereignty in exchange for Kyiv relinquishing its third-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. But today the G7's consensus remains clear: Russia was removed due to its violations of sovereignty and international law, not out of spite. It is clear to the G7 that reinstating Moscow without accountability would not deter further aggression—it would reward it. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the global community has documented a harrowing list of atrocities: summary executions in Bucha, mass civilian graves in Mariupol and torture centres in Kherson. These were not isolated war crimes; they form part of a systematic campaign of brutality. Ukrainian Attorney Oksana Matviychuk, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and head of Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties, has played a pivotal role in documenting these crimes and pursuing international justice. Her work—backed by the UN Human Rights Reports about Ukraine—reveals Russia's ongoing disregard for the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Inviting Russia back into the G7 while such abuses persist would not only be diplomatically premature; it would amount to a moral capitulation. Moreover, doing so would send a chilling message to survivors and victims: that justice is negotiable. It would erode the already fragile trust in international mechanisms designed to uphold human rights and prosecute war crimes. And for democracies seeking to defend a rules-based order, it would blur the line between accountability and acquiescence. Trump's suggestion to include China in the G7 only heightened concerns. Though Beijing wields significant global influence, it does so through a governance model that is antithetical to the G7's founding principles: a one-party authoritarian state that represses dissent, crushes free expression, and marginalizes ethnic and religious minorities. Allegations of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience—particularly Falun Gong practitioners—have been substantiated by multiple investigations. The Kilgour-Matas Report (2006) and the Human Harvest documentary (2014) offer detailed evidence, supported by later public admissions from Chinese officials such as China's Vice Health Minister Huang Jiefu who admitted in 2015 that organs were harvested from death row inmates—finally put an end to the practice. In 2019, an independent China Tribunal in London, chaired by former prosecutor Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, concluded that forced organ harvesting had occurred 'on a significant scale.' These actions, gained recognition in many circles as genocide under international law and raise significant ethical concerns that should disqualify China from participating in a forum based on democratic accountability. President Trump framed his proposal as a strategy for peace through engagement, but critics argue that it represents appeasement disguised as diplomacy. Engagement must never come at the cost of principle. As the Council on Foreign Relations has noted, targeted sanctions and exclusion are crucial tools for upholding global norms and deterring impunity. There is also a practical dimension to exclusion: alliances derive their strength from internal cohesion and shared values. Diluting those principles to accommodate authoritarian outliers invites dysfunction and ideological drift. History teaches us that appeasement rarely yields peace—it emboldens aggression. The G7 is not merely a gathering of economic powers; it is not just about money and power; it represents a declaration of shared ethical values. Including states that reject those values sends a dangerous signal—that convenience outweighs accountability, and power overshadows principle. If Trump's proposal were to gain traction, the consequences would be severe. Ukraine's ongoing cases at the International Criminal Court, including the kidnapping of Ukrainian children that has resulted in an arrest warrant issued for President Putin, could lose credibility if Russia is re-legitimized. Allowing China and Russia entry would strengthen other autocratic regimes, reducing the deterrent influence of democratic alliances. The G7 could very well encounter internal divisions, which could weaken its ability to tackle global crises like climate change, cybersecurity and fair trade. Before many of the world's most serious problems could be discussed, Trump suddenly left the summit on its first evening, returning to Washington. But it needs to be said that Trump is not America, and even if he is not, America is still a democracy. Let us recall that Donald Trump, tried to overturn a lawful election, encouraged a violent mob to disrupt the transfer of power on January 6th, demanded loyalty from judges and officials over fidelity to the law, and labelled the press and political opposition as enemies. He has attacked American universities on dubious grounds. This conduct shows contempt for democratic norms. Meanwhile America remains a democracy so long as it has a free press, its courts enforce the rule of law, its universities and most other institutions still honour the Constitution. These fundamental safeguards—an independent judiciary, protected speech, and electoral accountability—have thus far contained Trump's authoritarian impulses and preserved democratic order despite repeated tests. Founded in the 1970s as a coalition of leading democracies, the G7 represents more than just GDP. It embodies a commitment to civil liberties, free press, open societies, and the rule of law. Admitting states like Russia and China to the G7 would fundamentally alter that identity. While strategic engagement with adversaries is a legitimate foreign policy tool, there is a difference between discussing matters across the table and granting those same adversaries a seat at it. One does not join with a Hitler, but seeks to restrict him. Therefore, until Russia ends its war and China demonstrates tangible human rights reform, their participation in the G7 should remain not only unwelcome—but unthinkable. Meanwhile, the Kananaskis G7 meeting seriously needs to reconsider whether they want a 'friend of Putin's' to sit at their table as they discuss their security in a turbulent world.
New York Post
14-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Lefties' assisted suicide push and more: Letters to the Editor — June 15, 2025
Slide to suicide Rep. Elise Stefanik was spot on ('Cruel 'Choice,' ' PostOpinion, June 12)! While the heartless and soul-less 'compassionate' far-leftists who have wormed their way into a near supermajority in the Legislature strike one more blow against faith and humanity, our governor has her licked finger in the air looking for direction and/or donations. While the left and its media sycophants chastise President Trump and Republicans as 'Nazis,' the left quietly goes about passing pro-euthanization laws that would put a smile of the faces of Josef Mengele and Adolf Hilter. They are in favor of aborting the viable and now exterminating the ill. Assisted suicide has now become one of Canada's top causes of death. Our self-serving 'leaders,' who couldn't run even a small business, are pushing New York down a path towards spiritual, moral, economic and physical death. Demetrius Kalamaras, Staten Island Tulsi's nuke fears If Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard wants to get us away from 'nuclear holocaust,' she can begin by supporting stronger arms to Ukraine ('Doom to repeat,' June 12). The conflict began in 2014, when the Obama administration failed to enforce the Budapest Memorandum and punish Russia for illegally annexing Crimea. There's a direct link between that failure and the current administration not being able to convince Iran to give up enriching uranium. The Iranians have seen first-hand what happens when a country does just that. The only way to fix this is a decisive victory for the rule of law. Daniel Kuncio, Tribeca Name games In regards to Connetquot High School and their 'Thunderbirds' team name, there is currently an American Hockey League team in Massachusetts by the name of the Springfield Thunderbirds ('$23M for the birds,' June 11) The team's inaugural season was 2016! If a professional hockey team can call themselves the Thunderbirds (with a bird mascot), there's no reason why a high school can't keep/use the same name. James Lautier, Windsor, Conn. Reining in rats Thank you for 'NYC's rat war family feud now' (June 10). Cleanliness is ideal and a great deterrent. Containerizing trash has been helping, which makes sense. When food isn't available, then there won't be many rodents around. The article also mentions lacing rat bait with birth control. Tactics like this seem far more humane than glue traps, which cause prolonged and severe suffering, all while doing nothing to address root causes. Many people may not like rats, but they shouldn't have that type of agony inflicted upon them. In terms of disease, the Centers for Disease Control advises against glue traps because the urine from stuck animals is out in the open and can spread pathogens. James Scotto, Yorktown Heights Cow control So now our lefty pols are concerned with cow methane and manure pollution ('The War on . . . Cows?' Editorial, June 11). If there were a million cows in New York, it wouldn't compare to the pollution currently created by the methane excreted from the mouths of these brainless progressives. Karl Olsen, Watervliet Want to weigh in on today's stories? Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to letters@ Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy, and style.
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First Post
03-06-2025
- Politics
- First Post
The reason Ukraine chose June 1 for Spider Web drone attack on Russia
The drones were activated precisely 29 years after June 1, 1996, the date when Ukraine officially completed the transfer of its last nuclear warheads to Russia, thereby becoming a non-nuclear weapons state under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty read more A screenshot from a video of the alleged attack released by the SBU on June 1, 2025 (Source: Ukraine's Security Service via Kyiv Independent) On June 1, Ukraine launched a massive drone strike against Russian airbases storing nuclear-capable long-range bombers. The operation, nicknamed 'Spider Web,' featured over 100 unmanned aerial vehicles and was personally supervised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) coordinated the attack after more than 18 months of meticulous preparation and coordination. The timing of the strike was deeply symbolic. The drones were activated precisely 29 years after June 1, 1996, the date when Ukraine officially completed the transfer of its last nuclear warheads to Russia, thereby becoming a non-nuclear weapons state under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This followed the signing of the Budapest Memorandum on December 5, 1994, in which Ukraine agreed to relinquish the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal inherited after the Soviet Union's collapse. In exchange, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation provided security assurances, pledging to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and to refrain from the use or threat of force against its political independence. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Ukraine acquired the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal. Although the warheads were manufactured in Russia, Ukraine's control over them gave it significant strategic leverage, until they were surrendered under the terms of the Budapest Memorandum. The execution of Operation Spider Web reflected a high degree of technical sophistication. According to military sources, first-person view (FPV) drones were smuggled into Russia, concealed within mobile wooden structures mounted on trucks. At the designated moment, the roofs of these mobile units were remotely opened, allowing the drones to launch and strike intended targets. The scope of Operation Spider Web was evident almost immediately after it started, since reports of explosions were received in many time zones throughout Russia, ranging from the Amur area, more than 8,000 kilometres from Ukraine, to Murmansk, located above the Arctic Circle in the extreme north. Ukraine chose June 1 for this coordinated attack in an effort to emphasise the repercussions of breaching international agreements in addition to causing harm to vital military installations. The operation was a clear reminder of the Budapest Memorandum signatories' eventual broken commitments, especially in light of Russia's continued aggressiveness.
Time of India
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Game of drones: Season 3
AI-powered drones, as used by Ukraine deep in Russian territory, are here. India must invest in R&D In a first-of-its kind operation, Ukrainian forces launched a massive drone attack on Russia's bomber fleet, reportedly destroying more than 40 heavy aircraft. In what is being dubbed as Russia's 'Pearl Harbour' moment, the strikes took place at airbases thousands of kilometres away from the Russia-Ukraine frontline. The drones were smuggled into Russia and placed close to their targets on trucks. On Sunday, they were activated – exactly 29 years to the day when Ukraine handed over its last nuclear weapons to Russia as part of the Budapest Memorandum. It now appears that the drones were trained on AI algorithms to identify Russian bomber aircraft and hit them in their most vulnerable parts. Ukraine's 'Operation Spider's Web' again highlights how much drones have transformed warfare. In the Ukraine war, drone innovation is changing in weeks. If 2024 was the year of First-Person-View (FPV) drones, 2025 till last week belonged to fibre-optic FPV drones – an innovation by Russian forces – that are immune to electronic countermeasures. Ukraine now has levelled up with AI-powered drones. Given these developments, the war has ensured that AI-driven, autonomous weapons systems are no longer decades away. They are here. And it's not just aerial UAVs, but also sea drones like Ukraine's Magura and UGVs like Estonia's THeMIS – mini tank-like tracked platforms – that are increasingly being enabled by AI to perform autonomous swarm or group tasks. China recently unveiled an array of bird-mimicking drones or ornithopters that evade human and radar detection. To stay ahead of the curve India too needs to heavily invest in drone R&D. Op Sindoor gave us enough reasons to pursue this course. Plus, if drones worth just a few thousand dollars can take out millions of dollars worth of bombers, innovation becomes critical. But it also enhances asymmetric warfare and longevity of conflicts. That's why the second round of talks between Ukraine and Russia in Türkiye, has again failed to produce a ceasefire. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
Daily Mail
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
How Zelensky's men plotted 'Op Spider's Web' that blew $7bn hole in Putin's 'irreplaceable' nuke bomber fleet: Experts praise 'genius' attack but warn of 'violent' response from humiliated Kremlin
It was a top-secret operation some 18 months in the planning. Codenamed 'Spider's Web', it was executed with devastating effect yesterday afternoon and was as audacious as it was genius. And as Volodymyr Zelensky said, just one day before Ukrainian and Russian delegates were set to meet for negotiations in Turkey's capital Istanbul, the attack on Vladimir Putin's irreplaceable nuclear bombers 'will undoubtedly be in [the] history books'. The attack on the Russian bomber fleet came exactly 29 years to the day after Ukraine handed over dozens of the same strategic bombers to Russia, along with up to 2,000 strategic nuclear warheads and 176 ICBMs in exchange for a promise not to be attacked, under the Budapest Memorandum. First Ukrainian special forces smuggled dozens of first-person view (FPV) kamikaze drones – which allow pilots to control them remotely through a live feed – into Russia. Then came mobile wooden cabins, whose roofs had hidden compartments into which the small flying weapons were stashed. They were loaded on to civilian trucks heading into enemy territory, their hired local drivers seemingly unaware of what they were carrying. Finally, yesterday afternoon, with all the lorries within range of five airfields stretching from northern Russia down to Siberia – a safe 2,500 miles from Ukraine – they struck. The roofs of the wooden cabins were opened remotely and the FPV drones took to the skies. With the help of front-positioned cameras, the missile-loaded drones headed straight for Russia's highly expensive bomber planes. Footage showed decimated enemy planes in flames on the runway and last night Ukrainian security sources claimed to have taken out 41 aircraft worth some £1.5billion. These, they say, include the nuclear capable Tu-95 and Tu-22M as well as the surveillance A-50 'Mainstay' plane, worth an estimated £250,000 that is used as a radar and command centre, of which Russia is only believed to have around ten in operation. 'Mainstays' are critical to coordinating Russian fighter jets and air defences, meaning that this will have severely hampered Putin's war effort. Moscow has long stopped producing any of these aircraft meaning, if confirmed, these assets could not be replaced. There are only around 120 Tu-95s and Tu-22Ms in operation and they are vital for Vladimir Putin 's nightly bombing raids on Ukraine. They had been moved to bases thousands of miles away from Ukraine, out of reach of Western-donated Storm Shadows and ATACMS which have a range of up to 185 miles. The FPVs, which can reach just 12 miles, would have been the last thing on Russian minds. The attack drew comparisons to the 1942 SAS raid on the Sidi Haneish airfield in Egypy, when elite British commandos put 40 Luftwaffe aircraft out of action using jeeps mounted with machine guns. While the attack wasn't a pivotal moment in the Desert War, it massively boosted British morale and disrupted Axis logistics in North Africa. It was also one of the pivotal events that helped forge the legendary status of the SAS. Former RAF pilot and military analyst Mikey Kay told the BBC: 'The Russians would never have expected something like this. 'I mean, it's genius, if you think about just the devastating effect that it's had on strategic assets of Putin.' Philip O'Brien, professor of strategic studies at St Andrews University said the raid was 'the most remarkable and successful operation of the war.' He added: 'This is a big blow to Russian strategic air power, which is hard to overestimate. 'We do not know what the Russian reaction will be, however we can assume it will be violent.' A Telegram channel called Fighterbomber, widely believed to be run by Captain Ilya Tumanov of the Russian Army, wrote of the attack: 'Today will later be called a black day for Russian long-range aviation. And the day is not over yet.' Military blogger Roman Alekhin said the incident will go down as 'Russia's Pearl Harbour'. Mr Zelensky, who is said to have overseen the operation over the last year and a half, celebrated the strike on social media last night. The Ukrainian president wrote: 'A result achieved solely by Ukraine. One year, six months, and nine days from the start of planning to effective execution. Our most long-range operation.' He added: 'These are Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly be in [the] history books.' A delegation from Kyiv is due to meet counterparts from Moscow for a second round of peace talks in Istanbul today but it was not clear last night if it would still go ahead. Ukraine has said that its proposals will include a full 30-day ceasefire followed by the return of all prisoners held by each side. Negotiators also want some 20,000 Ukrainian children who were kidnapped by Russia to be repatriated before Mr Zelensky and Putin meet. Russia has so far refused to agree to a 30-day pause in fighting and overnight on Saturday launched its largest strike of the war so far with 472 drones and seven missiles. Kyiv's Operation Spider's Web struck Belaya air base in the Irkutsk region of Siberia; Dyagilevo air base in Ryazan, western Russia; Olenya air base in Murmansk, northern Russia; and Ivanovo air base in Ivanovo, central Russia. The fifth air base was yet to be identified last night. The operation, led by Mr Zelensky and security service boss Lieutenant General Vasyl Malyuk, marks the first time Ukraine has struck targets inside Siberia. Kyiv put the cost of the damage at more than £1.5billion because each A-50 aircraft is valued at around £260million. Last night Russia was arresting the truck drivers, but hours earlier Ukraine had reported that its agents were safely home. FPV drones usually need a pilot within six miles which suggests Ukrainians may have been close to the airfields during the strikes. Hours before the drone strikes a wave of bomb attacks targeted Russian bridges and railway lines in regions bordering Ukraine. Russia declared them 'acts of terrorism' with seven killed and dozens injured when a passenger train travelling to Moscow was derailed by a collapsed bridge in Bryansk on Saturday night. Hours later, in neighbouring Kursk where Ukraine launched its major cross-border incursion last August, a freight train was derailed by another fallen bridge. A Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian army training area killed at least 12 soldiers yesterday and wounded more than 60 others, the Ukrainian army said. Kyiv has carried out a series of daring attacks on Russia since the start of the war, with one of first being the counter-offensive which liberated the city of Kherson in November 2022. Ukrainian armed forces also took swathes of territory in Kursk last August in what was the first occupation of Russian land since the Second World War.
