Russia and the US have discussed the “next steps” of how to end the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said yesterday, hours after Kyiv’s European allies urged Moscow to commit to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
The US this week proposed the halt in fighting in the more than three-year war after talks in Saudi Arabia, which Kyiv agreed to.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has given no clear answer, instead listing a string of conditions and raising “serious questions” over the proposal.
Photo: Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said the Kremlin did not want to end the war and warned that Moscow wanted to first “improve their situation on the battlefield” before agreeing to any ceasefire.
Moscow yesterday said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and that the pair had discussed “concrete aspects of the implementation of understandings” at a US-Russia summit in Saudi Arabia last month.
US Department of State spokeswoman Tammy Bruce on Saturday said that the pair had “discussed the next steps” on Ukraine.
The Riyadh gathering was the first high-level meeting between the US and Russia since Moscow launched its invasion.
The call came hours after the UK hosted a virtual summit on Ukraine, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accusing Putin of “dragging his feet” on the ceasefire. “The ‘yes, but’ from Russia is not good enough,” Starmer said, calling for a stop to the “barbaric attacks on Ukraine once and for all.”
Regarding a ceasefire agreement and the stationing of peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, French President Emmanual Macron on Saturday said: “Ukraine is sovereign. If it asks for allied forces to be on its territory, it’s not something for Russia to accept or not.”
Russia has repeatedly rejected the idea of soldiers from countries belonging to the NATO alliance being stationed in Ukraine.
Macron and Starmer have been rushing to consolidate military support for Ukraine.
Macron said any peacekeeping force would consist of “a few thousand troops per country” to be deployed at key locations, adding that a number of European and non-European countries were interested in participating.
Russia and Ukraine have continued aerial attacks on each other in the Kursk region, inflicting injuries and damages, officials said early yesterday.
Yuri Podolyaka, one of the most influential pro-Russian military bloggers, said Russia had pushed back Ukrainian forces to the border in some areas, although intense battles were underway and that Ukrainian forces were fighting back as they retreated.
Battlefield maps from Ukraine and Russia showed two joined pockets of Ukrainian forces on the Russian side of the border in Kursk.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
RSS