Politics
Trump willing to meet Putin without prior talks with Zelensky
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his willingness to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the Ukraine conflict, even if Putin has not first held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
This statement signals a departure from Trump’s earlier position, which required a meeting between Putin and Zelensky as a prerequisite for any direct engagement with the Kremlin.
Trump has set a Friday deadline for Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, warning of additional sanctions if the demand is not met.
However, when asked by reporters in the Oval Office whether that deadline still stands, Trump gave an ambiguous response.
“That’s going to be up to him (Putin),” he said. “We’ll see what he has to say.”
Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has increased pressure on Russia to end its military offensive against Ukraine.
The Kremlin said Thursday that Putin was set to attend a summit with Trump in the “coming days”, but the Russian leader essentially ruled out including Zelensky.
On Thursday, Zelensky insisted that he had to be involved in any talks.
When Trump was asked if Putin was required to meet Zelensky before a summit, the US president said simply: “No, he doesn’t.”
Putin has named the United Arab Emirates as a potential location for the summit, but this was not confirmed by Washington.
The summit would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021.
Three rounds of direct Russia–Ukraine talks in Istanbul have failed to yield any progress towards a ceasefire. The two sides remain far apart on the conditions they have set to end the more than three-year-long conflict.
Trump and Putin last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump’s first term.
They have spoken by telephone several times since the tycoon returned to the White House this year.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said that “next week has been set as a target date”, adding that both sides have agreed the venue “in principle”, without naming it.
However, Washington later denied that a venue or date had been set.
“No location has been determined,” a White House official said, while agreeing that the meeting “could occur as early as next week.”
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.
Russian bombardments have forced millions of people to flee their homes and have destroyed swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Putin has resisted multiple calls from the United States, Europe and Kyiv for a ceasefire.
At talks in Istanbul, Russian negotiators outlined hardline territorial demands for halting its advance — calling for Kyiv to withdraw from some territory it still controls and to renounce Western military support.
Reports of the possible summit came after US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in Moscow on Wednesday.
Witkoff proposed a trilateral meeting with Zelensky, but Putin appeared to rule out direct talks with the Ukrainian leader.
“Certain conditions must be created for this,” Putin told reporters. “Unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions.”
The former KGB agent, who has ruled Russia for over 25 years, said in June that he was ready to meet Zelensky, but only during a “final phase” of negotiations on ending the conflict.
In his regular evening address on Thursday, Zelensky said “it is only fair that Ukraine should be a participant in the negotiations.”
The Ukrainian leader spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as he called for the continent to be included in any potential peace talks.
“Ukraine is an integral part of Europe — we are already in negotiations on EU accession.
Therefore, Europe must be a participant in the relevant processes,” Zelensky said on social media after the conversation with Merz.
He also said that Ukrainian, European and US security advisers would hold an online meeting on Thursday “to align our joint views.”
“Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side. It is time we ended the war,” he said.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was martyred in US and Israeli strikes, state media confirmed, as another wave of attacks hit the country on Sunday.
Several countries, global bodies and prominent groups responded to the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, urging de-escalation.
Pakistan
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday denounced the targeting of Iran’s supreme leader in joint strikes by the United States and Israel, saying such actions were a “violation of the norms of international law”.
In a post on X, PM Shehbaz said that it was an age-old convention that the heads of state or government should not be targeted.
“Pakistan also expresses concern over the violation of the norms of international law. It is an age-old convention that the heads of state/government should not be targeted.”
Russia
President Vladimir Putin described Khamenei’s killing as a “cynical murder” that violated “all standards of human morality and international law”.
“Please accept my deep condolences in connection with the murder of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyed Ali Khamenei, and members of his family, committed in cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law.”
China
China said it “strongly condemns” the United States and Israel’s assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling again for a halt to military actions.
The assassination was “a serious violation of Iran’s sovereignty and security, a trampling on the aims and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations”, Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this,” it added, calling for an “immediate halting of military operations”.
Malaysia
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday “unreservedly” condemned the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“I unreservedly condemn the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. This act places the Middle East on the edge of grave and sustained instability. I extend my condolences to the Islamic Republic of Iran and to the Iranian people at this profoundly difficult momen,” wrote
Indonesia’s Ulema Muslim Clerical Council
“The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) expressed its deepest condolences for the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, as a result of the Israeli-American attack on February 28.
“The United States, which is playing a central role in managing the Palestinian conflict through the BoP (Board of Peace), faces a major question: is this strategy truly aimed at a just peace, or is it actually strengthening an unequal security architecture and burying Palestinian independence? Therefore, the MUI urges the Indonesian government to revoke its membership from the BoP.”
North Korea
North Korea condemned the US and Israeli strikes as an “illegal act of aggression”.
The attacks “constitute a thoroughly illegal act of aggression and the most vile form of violation of sovereignty in their nature”, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said, according to state media.
Iranian president
“The martyrdom of the Supreme Leader at the hands of Israel and the criminal America was a great disaster for our country… America and Israel should know that it will bring them nothing but embarrassment.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Sunday claimed it had launched ballistic missile strikes targeting a US aircraft carrier, identifying the vessel as the USS Abraham Lincoln, as part of what it called “Operation True Promise 4.”
In a statement, the IRGC’s public relations office said four ballistic missiles were fired at the carrier, adding that Iran’s military campaign had entered a “new phase.” The group warned that both land and sea would become the “burial place” for what it described as aggressors.
Multiple Waves of Strikes Announced
Earlier, the IRGC said it had launched the seventh and eighth waves of strikes under the same operation, in response to what it termed ongoing aggression by the United States and Israel.
Iran claimed it had carried out precision strikes on military targets in Israeli territory, including areas near Tel Aviv and Haifa. It also alleged that Israeli officials had taken shelter due to heightened security concerns.
Targets Across the Gulf
The IRGC further stated that it had targeted US-operated facilities in West Asia, including the US Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain, as well as installations in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
There has been no immediate confirmation from US or Israeli officials regarding the reported missile strikes or the extent of any damage.
Rising Regional Tensions
The developments mark a sharp escalation in regional tensions following reported military exchanges between Iran, Israel and US forces over the weekend.
Independent verification of the claims remains pending, and international observers have urged restraint amid fears of a broader conflict across the Middle East.
A number of Iranian senior leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have embraced martyrdom in the “unprovoked and unwarranted” airstrikes by Israel and the United States.
As crowds gathered in Tehran, explosions rang out, and the Israeli military announced that it was again striking targets in the heart of the city — as more blasts were heard in Jerusalem, Riyadh, Dubai, Doha and Manama.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian declared Khamenei’s assassination a “declaration of war against Muslims” and warned: “Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime.”
Iranian state media have confirmed the killing of several senior figures:
1. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran
2. Ali Shamkhani, representative of the Supreme Leader in the Supreme Defence Council
3. General Abdolrahim Mousavi, Iran’s Armed Forces chief of staff
4. Major General Mohammad Pakpour, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)
5. Aziz Nasirzadeh, Minister of Defence
6. Gholamreza Rezaian, police intelligence chief of Iran
Separately, the daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter of Ali Khamenei also embraced martyrdom in the US and Israeli airstrikes.
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