Politics
Putin envoy Dmitriev says US, Ukraine, Russia close to ‘diplomatic solution’ on war
- Dmitriev arrives in Washington to meet US officials.
- Visit comes amid new US sanctions on Russian oil firms.
- EU nations working with Ukraine on new proposal for ceasefire.
Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, said on Friday he believes his country, the United States and Ukraine are close to a diplomatic solution to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Speaking to CNN after arriving in Washington for talks with US officials, Dmitriev said that a meeting between Donald Trump and Putin had not been cancelled, as the US president described it, and that the two leaders will likely meet at a later date.
The planned summit was put on hold on Tuesday, as Russia’s rejection of an immediate ceasefire cast a cloud over attempts at negotiations.
Trump said he cancelled the planned meeting with Putin in Budapest because of a lack of progress in diplomatic efforts toward ending the war and a sense that the timing was off.
However, Dmitriev on Friday said, “I believe Russia and the US and Ukraine are actually quite close to a diplomatic solution.”
Dmitriev, in his comments, did not offer details of what this would entail.
European nations are working with Ukraine on a new proposal for a ceasefire in the war along current battle lines, European diplomats told Reuters this week, mainly incorporating ideas already under discussion while pressing to keep the United States in a central role.
“It’s a big move by President Zelenskiy to already acknowledge that it’s about battle lines,” Dmitriev said.
“You know, his previous position was that Russia should leave completely – so actually, I think we are reasonably close to a diplomatic solution that can be worked out.”
Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump had announced last week that he and Putin would meet soon in Hungary to try to bring an end to the war.
But Putin has been unwilling to consider concessions. Russia has long demanded that Ukraine agree to cede more territory before any ceasefire.
Dmitriev’s visit to the United States for a long-planned meeting takes place against the backdrop of newly announced US sanctions on two of Russia’s biggest oil companies – a move aimed at pressing Putin to end the war.
Despite the move, Dmitriev said dialogue between Russia and the United States will continue.
“It is certainly only possible if Russia’s interests are taken into account and treated with respect,” Dmitriev earlier told Reuters.
Dmitriev declined to say who he was meeting and predicted that the US oil sanctions would backfire. “They will only lead to gasoline costing more at American gas stations,” Dmitriev said.
The US news outlet Axios reported that Dmitriev would meet Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Miami on Saturday. The Russian state TASS news agency quoted Dmitriev as saying he would also meet other people whom he did not name.
- Indian envoy summoned to express “grave concern”, says ministry.
- India dismissed reports of vandalism as “misleading propaganda”.
- Bangladesh-India ties deteriorate since ex-PM Hasina fled New Delhi.
DHAKA: Bangladesh on Tuesday summoned the top Indian envoy as fresh protests erupted outside its high commission in New Delhi over the mob lynching of a Hindu worker in Dhaka.
The garment worker was accused of blasphemy and lynched on December 18 as anti-India sentiment rises in the neighbouring majority Muslim nation. Seven suspects have been arrested over the killing.
On Tuesday, hundreds of demonstrators converged near Bangladesh’s High Commission in New Delhi waving saffron flags and banners, including one that read: “Stop Killing Hindus in Bangladesh”.
“Hindus are warning Bangladesh that it is taking the wrong approach,” said Puneet Gautam, 37, a protester and member of the right-wing Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) organisation.
VHP members and security personnel clashed outside Dhaka’s outpost as the crowd shoved its way through yellow metal barricades around 300 metres from the building.
Earlier on Tuesday, Bangladesh’s foreign ministry had summoned Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma to express “grave concern” over previous protests outside its visa centres.
In its statement, the ministry cited “regrettable incidents” and vandalism outside its visa centres in New Delhi and Siliguri last week. India has dismissed reports of vandalism as “misleading propaganda”.
Ties between the neighbours have deteriorated since ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the pro-democracy uprising last year and sought refuge in India.
India says it is still considering Dhaka’s requests to extradite Hasina, who was sentenced to death in absentia for orchestrating a deadly crackdown on the uprising.
Bangladesh has been in political turmoil since the end of Hasina’s rule, with violence marring the campaigning ahead of next year’s election.
This month, parliamentary hopeful and vocal India critic Sharif Osman Hadi was shot by masked assailants in Dhaka, with unconfirmed reports suggesting his attackers might have fled to India.
The killing set off protests in Dhaka with arsonists torching several buildings, including two major newspapers deemed to favour India as well as a prominent cultural institution.
Mobs also pelted stones at the Indian High Commission in the port city of Chattogram, where India has since suspended visa services.
On Monday, Dhaka temporarily suspended visa services in Delhi.
Russia has urged Delhi and Dhaka to mend fences.
“The sooner this happens, the better,” Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh, Alexander G Khozin, was quoted as saying in the Dhaka Tribune.
An investigative reporter best known for exposing fraud at Silicon Valley blood-testing startup Theranos sued Elon Musk’s xAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Meta Platforms and Perplexity on Monday for using copyrighted books without permission to train their artificial intelligence systems.
New York Times reporter and “Bad Blood” author John Carreyrou filed the lawsuit in California federal court with five other writers, accusing the AI companies of pirating their books and feeding them into the large language models (LLMs) that power the companies’ chatbots.
The lawsuit is one of several copyright cases brought by authors and other copyright owners against tech companies over the use of their work in AI training. The case is the first to name xAI as a defendant.
Spokespeople for the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Unlike other pending cases, the writers are not seeking to band together in a larger class action – a type of lawsuit they said favours defendants by allowing them to negotiate a single settlement with many plaintiffs.
“LLM companies should not be able to so easily extinguish thousands upon thousands of high-value claims at bargain-basement rates,” the complaint said.
Anthropic reached the first major settlement in an AI-training copyright dispute in August, agreeing to pay $1.5 billion to a class of authors who said the company pirated millions of books.
The new lawsuit said class members in that case will receive “a tiny fraction (just 2%) of the Copyright Act’s statutory ceiling of $150,000” per infringed work.
Monday’s complaint was filed by attorneys at law firm Freedman Normand Friedland, including Kyle Roche, whom Carreyrou profiled in a 2023 New York Times article.
During a November hearing in the Anthropic class action, US District Judge William Alsup criticised a separate law firm Roche co-founded for gathering authors to opt out of the settlement in search of “a sweeter deal.” Roche declined to comment on Monday.
Carreyrou told the judge at a later hearing that stealing books to build its AI was Anthropic’s “original sin” and that the settlement did not go far enough.
- Bill limits most gun owners to four firearms, 10 for farmers.
- Main opposition Liberal party backs amendments.
- Three-quarters of Australians want tougher gun laws, shows poll.
Australia’s most populous state is set to pass tougher gun laws, ban the display of terrorist symbols and curb protests after the state parliament’s lower house cleared a bill late on Monday in an emergency sitting following the Bondi mass shooting.
The terrorism and other legislation amendment bill won support from the opposition Liberal Party in New South Wales state, and is expected to clear the upper house on Tuesday.
The ruling centre-left Labour government has proposed capping most individual gun licences at four firearms and allowing up to 10 for farmers.
Fifteen people were killed and dozens were injured in the mass shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi on December 14, a shock attack that has prompted calls for tougher gun laws and stronger action against antisemitism.
Police said one alleged gunman, Sajid Akram, 50, who was shot dead by officers, owned six firearms. His 24-year-old son Naveed, faces 59 charges, including murder and terrorism.
Although Australia tightened gun laws after a 1996 shooting that killed 35 people, a police firearms registry showed more than 70 people in New South Wales, which includes Sydney, each own over 100 guns. One licence holder has 298 guns.
A Sydney Morning Herald poll on Tuesday found three-quarters of Australians want tougher gun laws. The rural-focused National Party opposed the gun reforms in New South Wales, saying the amendments would disadvantage farmers.
The federal government has also pledged reforms, including tighter gun controls and a gun buyback plan but has resisted calls to set up a royal commission, the most powerful type of government inquiry, into the attack.
Instead, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is facing mounting criticism from opponents who argue his government has not done enough to curb a rise in antisemitism, has announced an independent review of intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
“We need to get to these answers quickly, and we cannot be waiting around for years, which is what a royal commission would take,” Defence Minister Richard Marles told ABC News on Tuesday.
Tariff jitters: US consumer confidence slips in December; inflation and jobs worries deepen – The Times of India
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