Trump offers to ‘settle’ Ukraine invasion as Biden calls Putin ‘war criminal’- debate

Trump offers to ‘settle’ Ukraine invasion as Biden calls Putin ‘war criminal’- debate
Zelensky says China trying to undermine Ukraine peace summit

Donald Trump has offered to “settle the war” in Ukraine started by Vladimir Putin as he suggested Russia would have never attacked its smaller neighbour if the US had a “real president” in the office.

“Before I take office on 20 January, I’ll have that war settled,” he said at the first presidential debate with Joe Biden.

However, Mr Biden called Mr Putin a “war criminal” and warned that if Russia is allowed to succeed, the Russian president would not stop at Kyiv. “He wants all of Ukraine. That’s what he wants,” Mr Biden said. “He’s killed thousands and thousands of people,” the US president said.

Mr Putin was repeatedly referenced by both US presidential candidates during Thursday’s election debate as they vied to show who was tougher on foreign policy. “Go ahead, let Putin go in and control Ukraine, and then move on to Poland and other places. See what happens then. He has no idea what the hell he’s talking about,” Mr Biden said of Mr Trump.

This comes as Ukraine’s military said its forces had forced Russian troops out of a district in the town of Chasiv Yar on the war’s eastern front seen as Moscow’s next target in its slow advance through the area.

Rescuers pull injured passengers from train after derailment in northern Russia

A passenger train derailment in northern Russia killed at least two people, and left one other person missing, a state-run railway company said Thursday. The 14-carriage train derailed in Russia’s northern republic of Komi on Wednesday night (26 June), Russian Railways said in a statement, with nine carriages coming off the tracks. Up to 50 people were injured, according to emergency officials, and footage shows rescuers working at the scene to evacuate those who were trapped. The train, carrying 232 passengers, was headed to the southern city of Novorossiysk from Vorkuta, a coal mining town in the north of Komi.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain28 June 2024 12:47

In pictures: Zelensky visits memorial wall in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar visit the Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine today.

(via REUTERS)
(via REUTERS)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain28 June 2024 12:29

Ukrainian PM: Allies pledge $60 bln of annual military support for next four years

Ukrainian Prime Minister said on Friday that military pledges outlined in 20 security agreements Kyiv has signed with its partners total $60 billion annually for the next four years.

“According to these agreements, in the next four years, our partners plan to provide Ukraine with total military support worth $60 billion annually,” Denys Shmyhal said during a governmental meeting.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal (AP)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain28 June 2024 12:15

Russia warns it can take unspecified measures in response to US drone flights over Black Sea

Russia‘s Defense Minister ordered officials to prepare a “response” to U.S. drone flights over the Black Sea, the ministry said Friday, in an apparent warning that Moscow may take forceful action to ward off the American reconnaissance aircraft.

The Russian Defense Ministry noted a recent “increased intensity” of U.S. drones over the Black Sea, saying they “conduct intelligence and targeting for precision weapons supplied to the Ukrainian military by Western countries for strikes on Russian facilities.”

“It shows an increased involvement of the U.S. and other NATO countries in the conflict in Ukraine on the side of the Kyiv regime,” the ministry said in a statement.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain28 June 2024 11:40

-Kremlin says outlook for EU-Russia ties is bad after von der Leyen and Kallas nominations

The Kremlin said on Friday that the outlook for EU-Russia ties was bad after EU leaders nominated Ursula von der Leyen for another term as European Commission president and picked Estonia’s Kaja Kallas as the next EU foreign policy chief.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the bloc’s decision to nominate Germany’s von der Leyen for a second five-year term would not change anything.

“Mrs von der Leyen is not in favour of normalising relations between the EU and Russia. That’s how we know her, that’s how we remember her. Nothing changes in this respect,” said Peskov.

Commenting on the choice of Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas for EU foreign policy chief, Peskov said she was known for her anti-Russian rhetoric.

“Mrs Kallas has not demonstrated any diplomatic inclinations so far either, and is well known in our country for her absolutely intransigent and sometimes even openly anti-Russian statements,” he said.

“Therefore, we do not think that European diplomacy will contribute in any way to the normalisation of relations. The prospects, in terms of relations between Moscow and Brussels, are bad.”

Maryam Zakir-Hussain28 June 2024 11:06

Kremlin declines to comment on Biden-Trump debate

Russia has no comment on the U.S. presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump as it is an internal U.S. matter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Biden stumbled frequently in the encounter with Trump, which revived discussion about his age. Russia loomed large in the debate as both men tried to show who was tougher on foreign policy.

Trump said if the U.S. had a “real president” who was respected by Putin, he would never have invaded Ukraine on Biden’s watch.

Biden responded: “Go ahead, let Putin go in and control Ukraine, and then move on to Poland and other places. See what happens then. He has no idea what the hell he’s talking about.”

Putin said earlier this month he did not believe the outcome of the election would make much difference for Russia.

(via REUTERS)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain28 June 2024 10:41

Belarus to reinforce its border with Ukraine after security incident

The border service of Belarus and the country’s Ministry of Defence are taking measures to further reinforce the Belarusian border with Ukraine after a security incident, the Belarusian border service said in a statement.

The border service said its staff had brought down a quadrocopter on Wednesday after it had illegally crossed the border from Ukraine to collect information about Belarusian border infrastructure.

Earlier in the week, it said materials for a homemade bomb had been found concealed in the same area and that it was aware that a unit of pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters was present in a Ukrainian region bordering Belarus.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain28 June 2024 10:23

Ukraine’s Zelensky scolds officials who shirk their duties in the country’s war effort

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signaled Wednesday that he is getting tough on officials he suspects are shirking their duties in the war with Russia that is now in its third year.

Zelensky and Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi visited troops in the eastern Donetsk region who have weathered fierce Russian ground and air assaults in recent months. They also discussed with local officials the drinking water supply, social issues, evacuation plans and the rebuilding of local homes, Zelenskyy said.

He added that back in Kyiv he would speak to “officials who must be here and in other areas near the front line — in difficult communities where people need immediate solutions.”

Maryam Zakir-Hussain28 June 2024 09:47

US to confront Russia at UN over North Korean weapons

The United States will confront Russia at the United Nations Security Council on Friday over violating a North Korea arms embargo, and will push for China’s view on growing ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, said deputy U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood.

The meeting of the 15-member council comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Pyongyang last week to sign a pact with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in which they agreed to provide military assistance if either faces armed aggression.

“This should be of great concern to the entire global community,” Mr Wood told Reuters ahead of the meeting, accusing Russia of “in essence siding with a rogue state to violate countless U.N. Security Council resolutions.”

“This is unprecedented, and we need to call it out for what it is,” he said. “We also want to see what China has to say about this growing military cooperation between DPRK and Russia. They cannot view this as a positive development.”

(Sputnik)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain28 June 2024 09:31

What to know from the first day of US journalist Evan Gershkovich’s trial in Russia

Here’s a look at what we know about the first day of the trial for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been charged in Russia with espionage — charges that he, his employer and the US government deny.

Where was the trial held?

It was held on Wednesday in the Sverdlovsky Regional Court in the city of Yekaterinburg, about 880 miles (1,416km) east of Moscow. Gershkovich was arrested in the city in March 2023 while on a reporting trip.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain28 June 2024 09:04

Source: independent.co.uk