Politics
Trump says Putin ready to make deal on Ukraine, US hopes to include Zelensky
Trump is scheduled to meet with Putin in Alaska tomorrow.
The US president said he is unsure whether an immediate ceasefire can be achieved, but expressed interest in brokering a peace agreement.
“I believe now, he’s convinced that he’s going to make a deal. He’s going to make a deal. I think he’s going to, and we’re going to find out,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News Radio’s ‘The Brian Kilmeade Show’.
Trump also mentioned during the Fox interview that he has three locations in mind for a follow-up meeting with Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, though he noted that a second meeting is not guaranteed.
He said staying in Alaska for a three-way summit would be the easiest scenario.
“Depending on what happens with my meeting, I’m going to be calling up President Zelensky, and let’s get him over to wherever we’re going to meet,” Trump said.
He said a second meeting, featuring Trump, Putin and Zelensky, would likely dig deeper into boundary issues. Zelensky has been adamant about not ceding territory that Russian forces occupy.
“The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that’s going to be a meeting where they make a deal. And I don’t want to use the word ‘divvy things up’, but you know, to a certain extent, it’s not a bad term, okay?” he said.
“But there will be a give and take as to boundaries, lands, etc, etc. The second meeting is going to be very, very, very important. This meeting sets up like a chess game. This [first] meeting sets up a second meeting, but there is a 25 per cent chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting,” he said.
He said it would be up to Putin and Zelensky to strike an agreement.
“I’m not going to negotiate their deal. I’m going to let them negotiate their deal,” he said.
Earlier today, Putin spoke to his most senior ministers and security officials as he prepared for a meeting with Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, that could shape the endgame to the largest war in Europe since World War Two.
In televised comments, Putin said the US was “making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict”.
This was happening, Putin said, “in order to create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, and in Europe, and in the world as a whole — if, by the next stages, we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons.”
His comments signalled that Russia will raise nuclear arms control as part of a wide-ranging discussion on security when he sits down with Trump.
A Kremlin aide said Putin and Trump would also discuss the “huge untapped potential” for Russia-US economic ties.
A senior Eastern European official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Putin would try to distract Trump from Ukraine at the talks by offering him possible progress on nuclear arms control or something business-related.
“We hope Trump won’t be fooled by the Russians; he understands all [these] dangerous things,” the official said, adding that Russia’s only goal was to avoid any new sanctions and have existing sanctions lifted.
Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine, and Zelensky and the Europeans worry that a deal could cement those gains, rewarding Putin for 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian land and emboldening him to expand further into Europe.
An EU diplomat said it would be “scary to see how it all unfolds in the coming hours. Trump had very good calls yesterday with Europe, but that was yesterday”.
Trump had shown willingness to join the security guarantees for Ukraine at a last-ditch virtual meeting with European leaders and Zelensky on Wednesday, European leaders said, though he made no public mention of them afterwards.
Friday’s summit, the first Russia-US summit since June 2021, comes at one of the toughest moments for Ukraine in a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Speaking after Wednesday’s meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had said the transatlantic Nato alliance should not be part of any security guarantees designed to protect Ukraine from future attacks in a post-war settlement.
However, Trump also said the US and all willing allies should be part of the security guarantees, Macron added.
Expanding on that, a European official told Reuters that Trump said on the call he was willing to provide some security guarantees for Europe, without spelling out what they would be.
It “felt like a big step forward,” said the official, who did not want to be named. It was not immediately clear what such guarantees could mean in practice.
On Wednesday, Trump threatened “severe consequences” if Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine and has warned of economic sanctions if his meeting on Friday proves fruitless.
Russia is likely to resist Ukraine and Europe’s demands and has previously said its stance had not changed since it was first detailed by Putin in June 2024.
- Eleven people, including train crew injured stabbing incident.
- Suspect unknown to security services, says transport minister.
- Five victims discharged from hospital by late on Sunday.
British police said a 32-year-old British man was charged on Monday with 10 counts of attempted murder over a knife attack on a train on Saturday, an incident officers had already said was not being treated as terrorism-related.
Eleven people were injured in the mass stabbing on the train, including a member of the train crew who remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition. That person was hurt while trying to stop the accused from stabbing others.
The attack, on a London-bound train which then stopped at Huntingdon about 80 miles north of London, shocked the country, and prompted statements from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles, who sent their sympathies to those affected.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said Anthony Williams, 32, was charged with 11 counts of attempted murder, one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of possession of a bladed article.
Ten of the attempted murder charges were linked to the train attack, British Transport Police said, while the eleventh charge was connected to an incident at a station in east London earlier on the same day.
Williams, who is from Peterborough in eastern England, will appear at Peterborough Magistrates Court later on Monday, they said, adding that the charges were brought after a review of CCTV footage from the train, amongst other evidence.
Transport minister Heidi Alexander confirmed on Monday that the man was not known to security services. She declined to comment on whether he was known to mental health services.
Five of the injured had been discharged from the hospital by late Sunday.
DUBAI: As the UAE celebrates Flag Day today, authorities have issued a reminder that any act of disrespect toward the national flag, such as using its design on cakes, decorations, or promotional items, is a serious crime punishable by up to 25 years in prison and a fine of Dh500,000 (almost Rs37.8 million).
The warning comes ahead of UAE National Day celebrations on December 2, when citizens and expatriate communities across Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi typically mark the occasion with flag hoisting, parades, and cake-cutting ceremonies. Officials have urged everyone to ensure the national flag is treated with the utmost respect.
Residents are advised to follow a set of dos and don’ts issued by the government. Flags must be made of high-quality polyester, kept clean and undamaged, and should never touch the ground. Nothing else should be attached to the flagpole, and flags must be properly folded after use.
Authorities have also clarified that no emblem, logo, or decorative edge should be added to the flag, and it should not appear on food items or altered for promotional designs such as balloons, logos, or typography.
The UAE flag, featuring red, green, white, and black colours symbolising Arab unity, was first raised by the nation’s founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, during the Eid Al Etihad celebrations in 1971.
As the country prepares for its 53rd National Day, the message is clear: the flag represents the UAE’s pride and unity, and must be honoured accordingly.
- ED freezes INR30.84bn in Ambani Group assets.
- Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai holdings seized, says source.
- Alleged $350 million siphoned via shell companies.
NEW DELHI: India’s financial crime agency has provisionally frozen 30.84 billion Indian rupees ($350.87 million) in assets linked to Reliance Anil Ambani Group as part of a money-laundering investigation, a government source said on Monday.
The case involves loans taken by the group, owned by the younger brother of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, from India’s YES Bank between 2017 and 2019 in excess of $568.86 million. Investments made with the funds delivered no returns.
The Enforcement Directorate has now blocked any transactions from taking place on residential units and land parcels across Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai, including industrialist Anil Ambani’s family residence in Mumbai, the source added.
Reliance Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Investigators allege the funds raised by Reliance Home Finance Ltd and Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd were part of a “well-planned” scheme to siphon off 30 billion Indian rupees ($350 million) in loans from YES Bank to many shell companies.
The loans were originally invested through mutual funds and routed to group-linked entities in violation of regulations. The Reliance Group entities are also accused of paying bribes to YES Bank officials before loans were disbursed, a government source had said earlier.
The Enforcement Directorate has cited weak borrower profiles, missing documentation and misuse of funds, the source said, in a case that involves the diversion and laundering of public funds.
The agency is also probing Reliance Communications Ltd and affiliates, where over 136 billion Indian rupees ($1.55 billion) were allegedly diverted through loan evergreening and fund rerouting.
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