HANOI: US President Donald Trump hailed “a very special relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as they met in Vietnam for a second summit on Wednesday and said he was satisfied with the pace of denuclearization talks despite some criticism they were not moving quickly enough.
The US president appeared upbeat with Kim even as on the other side of the world in Washington his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen called Trump a “conman” who knew in advance about the release of stolen emails aimed at hurting his Democratic rival in the 2016 election campaign.
“Great meetings” and a “Very good dialogue,” Trump said on Twitter after dinner with Kim at Hanoi’s French-colonial-era Metropole hotel while the White House said the two planned to sign a “joint agreement” after further talks on Thursday.
Facing increasing political and legal pressure at home over investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 US election, Trump has devoted significant time and effort to trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for promises of peace and development, a foreign policy goal that has confounded multiple predecessors.
The Hanoi meeting was Trump’s second meeting with Kim in eight months and he appeared to reiterate recent statements that he was in no rush.
“We had a very successful first summit,” he told Kim. “I felt it was very successful, and some people would like to see it go quicker; I’m satisfied; you’re satisfied, we want to be happy with what we’re doing.”
Asked by a reporter if he was “walking back” on denuclearization demands, Trump said “no.”
Trump and Kim held a 20-minute, one-on-one chat before they sat down to dinner with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trump’s acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Kim’s top envoy Kim Yong Chol and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho.
On Thursday, the two leaders are scheduled for a series of meetings at the Metropole, beginning with another one-on-one session lasting 45 minutes, the White House said.
The two leaders would hold a “joint agreement signing ceremony,” at the end of the meetings, which would be followed by a news conference by Trump at 3:50 p.m. Hanoi time (0850 GMT).
The White House has given no indication as to what the signing ceremony might involve, although the two sides have held discussions that have included the possibility of a political statement to declare the 1950-53 Korean War over, which some critics say would be premature.
Asked if he would declare a formal end to the Korean War, which concluded with an armistice, not a peace treaty that North Korea has long sought, Trump said: “We’ll see.”
Their summit in Singapore in June was the first meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader and ended with fanfare but little substance.
Trump and Kim pledged to work toward denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean peninsula, but there has been little progress since. Kim said they had overcome obstacles to meet a second time and praised Trump for his “courageous decision” to begin a dialogue.
“Now that we’re meeting here again like this, I’m confident that there will be an excellent outcome that everyone welcomes, and I’ll do my best to make it happen,” Kim said.
“We’re going to have a very busy day tomorrow,” a smiling, relaxed-looking Trump, said seated beside Kim at a round dinner table with the other four officials and two interpreters.
“Our relationship is a very special relationship.”
Observers said the pair were at pains to show their relationship had improved since June, with their body language closely mirroring each other.
Leverage
Trump said late last year he and Kim “fell in love,” but whether the bonhomie can move them beyond summit pageantry to substantive progress on eliminating a North Korean nuclear arsenal that threatens the United States is the big question.
Trump indicated a more flexible stance in the run-up to Hanoi, saying he was in no rush on denuclearization as long as North Korea, which has not tested a nuclear weapon or intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017, maintained that freeze.
Trump risks squandering vital leverage if he gives away too much, too quickly, critics said.
Evans Revere, a former US negotiator with North Korea, said Trump was under pressure given his domestic problems and “Kim may be tempted to push Trump even harder for concessions, knowing how much the president wants and needs that testing pause.”
Daniel Russel, who served as the top US diplomat for East Asia until early in Trump’s presidency, said telling Kim that he could take his time was anything but strategically wise.
“The yardstick for assessing ... results is not whether Trump proclaims himself ‘happy,’ but whether the outcome takes North Korea measurably closer to revealing and dismantling its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.”
US intelligence officials have said there is no sign North Korea will give up its entire arsenal of nuclear weapons, which Kim’s ruling family sees as vital to its survival, and analysts say Pyongyang is unlikely to commit to significant steps without an easing of punishing US-led sanctions.
The two sides have discussed partial denuclearization measures, such as allowing inspectors to observe the dismantlement of North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear reactor, US and South Korean officials say.
US concessions could include opening liaison offices or clearing the way for inter-Korean projects.
Trump has appeared to be betting on his personal relationship with Kim, and the economic incentive after 70 years of hostility between their countries.
“Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize,” Trump said on Twitter ahead of the meeting.
Trump touts rapport with North Korea’s Kim at summit, ‘satisfied’ with talks
Trump touts rapport with North Korea’s Kim at summit, ‘satisfied’ with talks
- Trump says ‘great opportunity’ for his ‘friend’ Kim
- US, North Korea leaders meet for second summit in Hanoi
UN agencies tremble as Trump term nears
- With just days to go before Donald Trump again enters the White House, anxiety is rising across UN agencies fearful he could wreak even more havoc than last time
GENEVA: With just days to go before Donald Trump again enters the White House, anxiety is rising across UN agencies fearful he could wreak even more havoc than last time.
During Trump's first term in office, Washington slashed its contributions to United Nations operations and agencies, stormed out of the UN Human Rights Council, exited the Paris climate accord and the education agency UNESCO, and began withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
But while Trump's first administration did not get to the harshest measures until later in the term, experts warn things could move faster this time.
"I don't think Trump is going to hang about so long this time," Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP.
"He's likely to walk away from those UN mechanisms and arrangements that he boycotted before without much ceremony."
The United States remains the largest donor to the UN, which is already facing significant budget pressures, spurring palpable anxiety over the prospect of funding cuts.
UN officials have scrambled to emphasise the value of US partnership.
"The cooperation between the United States and the United Nations is a critical pillar of international relations, and the UN system," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, told AFP.
But the love is not always mutual.
Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, whom Trump has tapped to become his UN ambassador, has described the organisation as "a corrupt, defunct and paralysed institution".
And fears abound that Republicans in Congress could push ahead with a bill calling to defund the organisation completely.
Jussi Hanhimaki, an international history professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute, played down that threat.
"The total exit is unlikely," he told AFP, suggesting that Washington would not want to cede the leverage it has within the UN system.
"The best argument against the US wholesale withdrawal is (that) China will... become more and more influential," he said.
During Trump's first term, China and its allies clearly expanded their influence in the bodies he left in Geneva, like the Human Rights Council.
Outgoing US ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Sheba Crocker, highlighted that "some of our strategic rivals are heavily invested in promoting their interests in Geneva".
That, she told AFP in an email, "is why I believe the United States will remain engaged, and why I believe it is in our interest to do so".
The exiting administration of Joe Biden has protected against another high-profile walk-out from the Human Rights Council, by opting not to re-apply for membership.
Hanhimaki suggested that the World Trade Organization might face "the most challenging times" to start with, pointing to Trump's focus on imposing tariffs on traditional foes and allies alike.
There is particular concern about funding for reproductive rights-linked programmes.
During Trump's first term, Washington cut funding to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which works to improve reproductive and maternal health worldwide.
"We're very worried," said Rachel Moynihan, deputy director of UNFPA's Washington office.
But the agency, which says US contributions allowed it to prevent 3,800 likely deaths during pregnancy in 2023 alone, is accustomed to seeing its funding cut during Republican administrations.
"We are a resilient agency," Moynihan told AFP.
Other agencies may be less prepared, with UN Women expected to be in the firing line, as was the UN rights office.
And word on the street in Geneva is that the new Trump administration aims to withdraw from the WHO on day one.
Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, said that would be a mistake.
"Having a well-functioning, impartial WHO is very much in the US national interest," she told AFP.
Another withdrawal would certainly leave Washington with "a less influential voice", she warned.
The WHO has been seeking to broaden its funding base since the last debacle, but Washington remains its largest donor.
Asked last month about the threat, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters he believed the new administration would "do the right thing".
Moon said the WHO could clearly survive a US withdrawal.
"But it would be painful... The real question is, which priorities get downgraded, which programmes?"
And "what do other countries do on the finances?"
Last time Trump was in power, European countries rallied to keep targeted UN agencies afloat.
But the Europeans now have "made it clear that they do not have spare cash lying around... to ride to the rescue of the UN", said Gowan, of the International Crisis Group.
Agencies likely to see funding slashed are already mulling alternatives and cost cuts, observers say.
Hanhimaki said reflections on alternative sources of funding were healthy.
"It's quite foolhardy to rely upon a country that is politically volatile as your long-term source of funding."
UK’s Starmer arrives in Ukraine for security talks with Zelensky days before Trump is sworn in
- The British government says Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will sign a “100-Year Partnership” treaty in Kyiv
KYIV: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Ukraine Thursday with a pledge to help guarantee the country’s security for a century, days before Donald Trump is sworn in as US president.
The British government says Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will sign a “100-Year Partnership” treaty in Kyiv, covering areas including defense, science, energy and trade.
Starmer’s unannounced visit is his first trip to Ukraine since he took office in July. He visited the country in 2023 when he was opposition leader, and has twice held talks with Zelensky in 10 Downing St. since becoming prime minister.
One of Ukraine’s biggest military backers, the UK has pledged 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago, and has trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil. Starmer is due to announce another 40 million pounds ($49 million) for Ukraine’s post-war economic recovery.
But the UK’s role is dwarfed by that of the United States, and there is deep uncertainty over the fate of American support for Ukraine once Trump takes office on Jan. 20. The president-elect has balked at the cost of US aid to Kyiv, says he wants to bring the war to a swift end and is planning to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom he has long expressed admiration.
Kyiv’s allies have rushed to flood Ukraine with as much support as possible before Trump’s inauguration, with the aim of putting Ukraine in the strongest position possible for any future negotiations to end the war.
Zelensky has said that in any peace negotiation, Ukraine would need assurances about its future protection from its much bigger neighbor.
Britain says its 100-year pledge is part of that assurance, and will help ensure Ukraine is “never again vulnerable to the kind of brutality inflicted on it by Russia,” which seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and attempted a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The deal commits the two sides to cooperate on defense — especially maritime security against Russian activity in the Batlic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov — and on technology projects including drones, which have become vital weapons for both sides in the war. The treaty also includes a system to help track stolen Ukrainian grain exported by Russia from occupied parts of the country.
“Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure. Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level,” Starmer said ahead of the visit.
“This is not just about the here and now, it is also about an investment in our two countries for the next century, bringing together technology development, scientific advances and cultural exchanges, and harnessing the phenomenal innovation shown by Ukraine in recent years for generations to come.”
Zelensky says he and Starmer also will discuss a plan proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron that would see troops from France and other Western countries stationed in Ukraine to oversee a ceasefire agreement.
Zelensky has said any such proposal should go alongside a timeline for Ukraine to join NATO. The alliance’s 32 member countries say that Ukraine will join one day, but not until after the war. Trump has appeared to sympathize with Putin’s position that Ukraine should not be part of NATO.
As the grinding war nears the three-year mark, both Russia and Ukraine are pushing for battlefield gains ahead of possible peace talks. Ukraine has started a second offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, where it is struggling to hang onto a chunk of territory it captured last year, and has stepped up drone and missile attacks on weapons sites and fuel depots inside Russia.
Moscow is slowly taking territory at the cost of high casualties, along the 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) front line in eastern Ukraine and launching intense barrages at Ukraine’s energy system, seeking to deprive Ukrainians of heat and light in the depths of winter. A major Russian ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine on Wednesday, and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas.
India’s Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan out of danger after stabbing at Mumbai home
- Khan underwent surgery after being stabbed six times in scuffle with intruder at his home
- A small piece of a foreign body had been identified close to Khan’s spine, hospital CEO says
MUMBAI: Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan was out of danger, police said on Thursday, following stab injuries received in a scuffle with an intruder at his home in India’s financial capital of Mumbai for which he was undergoing surgery.
Among the country’s most bankable stars, Khan, 54, is the son of former India cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore.
“He (Khan) is being treated ... and is out of danger,” senior police officer Gedam Dixit told Reuters.
Earlier, news agency ANI quoted hospital official Niraj Uttamani as saying, “He is currently undergoing surgery,” and adding, “The extent of the damage will be understood once the surgery is complete.”
A small piece of a foreign body had been identified close to the spine, added Uttamani, the chief operating officer of the hospital where Khan was taken at around 3:30 a.m.
Khan, who has featured in more than 70 films and television series, in some also as producer, lives in an apartment in the western suburb of Bandra, along with his wife Kareena Kapoor Khan, who is also an actor, and their two children.
Representatives of his wife confirmed Khan was undergoing a procedure after the burglary attempt, adding, “The rest of the family is doing fine.”
A female employee at their home was also attacked and was being treated, added police, who have launched an investigation and a search for the perpetrator.
Film stars and opposition leaders called for police to beef up security measures in the city.
“If such high-profile people with ... security can be attacked in their homes, what could happen to common citizens?” Clyde Crasto, spokesperson of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, asked on X.
India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies won November elections in the western state of Maharashtra, the capital of which is Mumbai.
Actor and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt also called for a greater police presence in the suburb home to many in the film industry.
“The city, and especially the queen of the suburbs, have never felt so unsafe before,” she said on X, using a popular description for the trendy area.
Reuters has a minority stake in ANI.
US imposes fresh round of sanctions against Russia ahead of Trump return to White House
- Sanctions target Russia’s military industrial base and evasion schemes
- Congressional approval required to lift some sanctions on critical Russian entities
- China-based entities, Kyrgyzstan financial institution among targets
WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday imposed hundreds of sanctions targeting Russia, seeking to increase pressure on Moscow in the Biden administration’s final days and protect some sanctions previously imposed.
The US State and Treasury departments imposed sanctions on over 250 targets, including some based in China, taking aim at Russia’s evasion of US sanctions and its military industrial base.
As part of the action, the Treasury imposed new curbs on almost 100 entities that were already under sanctions, potentially complicating any future efforts to remove the measures.
Russia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Treasury in a statement said Washington was imposing fresh sanctions on almost 100 critical Russian entities — including Russian banks and companies operating in Russia’s energy sector — that were previously sanctioned by the United States. It said the move increases secondary sanctions risk for them.
The new sanctions are issued under an executive order that a senior Treasury official said requires Congress to be notified before any of the actions can be reversed.
Jeremy Paner, a partner at the law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed, said the actions are “Trump-proofed,” preventing reversal of the additional sanctions without congressional approval.
“You can’t just with the stroke of a pen remove what’s being done,” he said.
Edward Fishman, a former US official who is now a research scholar at Columbia University, called it a “very significant action.”
“It protects these sanctions against sort of any frivolous decision to lift them,” he said. “It gives the new Trump administration more leverage with Russia.”
Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It was unclear how Donald Trump, who succeeds President Joe Biden on Monday, will approach the issue of sanctions on Russia. Trump has been friendly toward Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past and said on Monday that he would aim to meet quickly with him to discuss Ukraine.
When asked about his strategy to end the war, Trump told Newsmax: “Well, there’s only one strategy and it’s up to Putin and I can’t imagine he’s too thrilled about the way it’s gone because it hasn’t gone exactly well for him either.”
Sanctions evasion scheme
Washington also took action against a sanctions evasion scheme established between actors in Russia and China, targeting regional clearing platforms in the two countries that it said have been working to allow cross-border payments for sensitive goods. The Treasury said several Russian banks under US sanctions were participants.
“China firmly opposes any illegal unilateral sanctions and ‘long-arm jurisdiction’,” Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in a statement.
“The normal economic and trade exchanges between China and Russia should not be interfered with or disrupted, and should not be used as a tool to smear and contain China.”
Also hit with sanctions on Wednesday was Keremet Bank, a Kyrgyzstan-based financial institution the Treasury accused of coordinating with Russian officials and a bank identified by the United States as circumventing sanctions.
Keremet Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US State Department also imposed sanctions on Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe.
The plant, located in Ukraine’s south east, was captured by Russia shortly after it launched the invasion in 2022. It is shut down but needs external power to keep its nuclear material cool and prevent a meltdown.
The sanctions will not affect its operations, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday, citing the plant’s spokeswoman.
The Biden administration has imposed rafts of punitive measures targeting Russia over its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has killed or wounded thousands and reduced cities to rubble. Washington has repeatedly sought to counter the evasion of its measures.
Less than a week ago, the administration imposed its broadest package of sanctions so far targeting Russia’s oil and gas revenues in an effort to give Kyiv and Trump’s incoming team leverage to reach a deal for peace in Ukraine.
Speaker Johnson removes chair of powerful House Intelligence Committee
WASHINGTON: House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday removed the GOP chairman of the powerful House Intelligence Committee, who was a vocal supporter of assistance for Ukraine and held other views that put him at odds with President-elect Donald Trump.
Johnson told reporters late Wednesday that Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, would no longer lead the committee, which oversees the nation’s intelligence agencies and holds tremendous influence over law enforcement and foreign policy. During Trump’s first term, the committee became a hotbed of partisanship as its powers were used to assist the then-president. Johnson last year also gave two Trump allies highly-sought spots on the panel.
Johnson said he made the decision to remove Turner because the “intelligence community and everything related to (the committee) needs a fresh start.”
The Republican speaker, who has aligned himself closely with Trump, said he would soon announce the new chair for the committee.
Johnson went on to praise Turner and say he would play an important role in working with NATO. But Turner’s stances on foreign policy had run afoul of the incoming president, who will take the White House next week with a vision of reshaping the federal government’s intelligence and law enforcement capabilities. Trump has picked fierce loyalists to lead agencies with vast power for surveillance.
In a statement, Turner said: “Under my leadership, we restored the integrity of the Committee and returned its mission to its core focus of national security. The threat from our adversaries is real and requires serious deliberations.”
Turner last year also pushed back on Trump’s false claims that Haitian migrants in his Ohio district were eating pets.
Punchbowl News first reported that Turner had been removed as the chair.
The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jim Himes, in a statement called Turner “a serious, security focused lawmaker dedicated at his core to the national security of the United States and to the thoughtful oversight of the Intelligence Community.”
Himes added, “The removal of Chairman Turner makes our nation less secure and is a terrible portent for what’s to come.”
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Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed.
