WASHINGTON: White House candidate Donald Trump on Thursday blamed US ally Ukraine for Russia’s invasion, arguing that President Volodymyr Zelensky had failed in his duty to halt hostilities before they started.
The comments — made in an interview with a podcast supportive of him — sparked an immediate backlash as critics accused the 78-year-old Republican former president of being a “traitor” and an “idiot.”
“Zelensky is one of the greatest salesmen I’ve ever seen. Every time he comes in, we give him $100 billion. Who else got that kind of money in history? There’s never been (anyone),” Trump told the two-million-subscriber PBD Podcast.
“And that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help him, because I feel very badly for those people. He should never have let that war start.”
Trump — who is running against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris — immediately pivoted to criticizing President Joe Biden, accusing him of having “instigated” the Ukraine war.
The Trump campaign told AFP the Republican was “clearly talking about Biden” and not Zelensky when he made his remarks about culpability for the war.
Ukraine communicates little about losses for fear of demoralizing its citizens after more than two years of Russia’s invasion, but the Wall Street Journal reported last month that the war had killed or wounded a million soldiers on both sides.
The United States is one of Ukraine’s main backers, and has disbursed more than $64.1 billion in military assistance to Zelensky’s government since the start of the war.
Although Kyiv is a US ally and Moscow is considered an adversary, Trump touted his good relationship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin during a face-to-face meeting with Zelensky in September.
Trump was impeached for withholding vital weaponry from Ukraine after Russia’s smaller-scale 2014 invasion, as he pushed its government unsuccessfully into announcing investigations into Biden, who was then his election rival.
A federal investigation identified numerous links between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, which was found to have interfered in the 2016 US election on the Republican’s behalf.
Criticism over Trump’s apparent closeness to Putin was turbocharged last week by allegations that, while president, he sent the Russian leader Covid tests despite a US shortage and that the Republican and Putin may have been in contact numerous times since 2021.
“What a despicable Traitor,” the Republicans Against Trump lobby group posted on X, alongside footage of Trump’s podcast remarks.
“He’s an idiot, and the whole world wonders why so many Americans don’t see it,” added national security analyst John Sipher, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.
Trump says Zelensky ‘should never have let’ Ukraine war start
https://arab.news/8d2cf
Trump says Zelensky ‘should never have let’ Ukraine war start
Trump threatens Russia with tariffs if war on Ukraine isn’t resolved within 50 days
- “We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days,” the Republican president said
- He said they would be “secondary tariffs,” meaning they would target Russia’s trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow in global economy
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Monday he would punish Russia with tariffs if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days, the latest example of his growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump made the announcement during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days,” the Republican president said. He said they would be “secondary tariffs,” meaning they would target Russia’s trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy. “I use trade for a lot of things,” Trump added. “But it’s great for settling wars.” Besides the tariff threat, Trump and Rutte discussed a rejuvenated pipeline for US weapons. European allies plan to buy military equipment and then transfer them to Ukraine. Trump said there would be “billions and billions” of dollars purchased.
Rutte said Germany, Finland, Canada, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Denmark would be among the buyers to supply Ukraine. He said “speed is of the essence here,” and he said the shipments should make Putin “reconsider” peace negotiations.
Trump exasperated with Putin
Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin, and after taking office in January repeatedly said that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal. At the same time, Trump accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of prolonging the war and called him a “dictator without elections.”
But Russia’s relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump’s patience. In April, Trump urged Putin to “STOP!” launching deadly barrages on Kyiv, and the following month said in a social media post that the Russian leader “has gone absolutely CRAZY!” as the bombardments continued.
“It just keeps going on and on and on,” Trump said on Monday. “Every night, people are dying.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, met with Zelensky in Kyiv on Monday.
Zelensky said he had “a productive conversation” with Kellogg about strengthening Ukrainian air defenses, joint arms production and purchasing US weapons in conjunction with European countries, as well as the possibility of tighter international sanctions on the Kremlin.
“We hope for the leadership of the United States, because it is clear that Moscow will not stop unless its ... ambitions are stopped by force,” Zelensky said on Telegram.
Talks on sending Patriot missiles
Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine’s air defenses are struggling to counter. June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said. Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year, it said.
At the same time, Russia’s bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.
Trump confirmed the US is sending Ukraine more badly needed Patriot air defense missiles and that the European Union will pay the US for the “various pieces of very sophisticated” weaponry.
While the EU is not allowed under its treaties to buy weapons, individual EU member countries can and are, just as NATO member countries are buying and sending weapons.
Germany has offered to finance two Patriot systems, government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said Monday in Berlin. As far as other European countries financing more systems is concerned, that would have to be seen in talks, he said.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was traveling to Washington on Monday to meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Germany has already given three of its own Patriot systems to Ukraine, and Pistorius was quoted as saying in an interview with the Financial Times that it now has only six.
’Weapons flowing at a record level’
A top ally of Trump, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Sunday that the conflict is nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia’s full-scale invasion. It’s a cause that Trump had previously dismissed as being a waste of US taxpayer money.
“In the coming days, you’ll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves,” Graham said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” He added: “One of the biggest miscalculations Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there’s going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table.”
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s envoy for international investment who took part in talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia in February, dismissed what he said were efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington.
“Constructive dialogue between Russia and the United States is more effective than doomed-to-fail attempts at pressure,” Dmitriev said in a post on Telegram. “This dialogue will continue, despite titanic efforts to disrupt it by all possible means.”
Four confirmed dead in small plane crash at London regional airport
- Video footage had shown a 12-meter (39-feet) plane in flames with a plume of black smoke at Southend-on-Sea
LONDON: Four people were killed when a small plane crashed at a London regional airport at the weekend, UK police said on Monday.
The plane went down around 4:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Sunday, shortly after departing London Southend airport in southeast England for the Netherlands.
“Sadly, we can now confirm that all four people on board died,” Essex Police chief superintendent Morgan Cronin told reporters.
“We are working to officially confirm their identities. At this stage, we believe all four are foreign nationals,” he added.
Cronin said the force was interviewing dozens of witnesses, and detectives and forensic teams were working to “build an accurate picture of what happened.”
He added that the airport “will remain closed until further notice.”
Video footage had shown a 12-meter (39-feet) plane in flames with a plume of black smoke at Southend-on-Sea.
Police evacuated a nearby golf club and rugby club as a precaution.
According to the BBC, the plane was a Beechcraft B200.
Southend-on-Sea is about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of the capital, and its airport is the sixth largest in the London area.
Japanese FM offers support for Palestine in talk with Salameh
- Iwaya reiterates Japan’s support for a two-state solution for Palestine and its commitment to assisting Palestinian state-building efforts
TOKYO: Japanese Foreign Minister IWAYA Takeshi met with Estephan Anton Salameh, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation of Palestine, at CEAPAD IV and expressed his hope that the conference would contribute to promoting CEAPAD’s objectives of expanding assistance to Palestine.
The Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD IV) was held in Kuala Lumpur and Foreign Minister Iwaya reiterated Japan’s support for a two-state solution for Palestine and its commitment to assisting Palestinian state-building efforts.
According to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, Minister Salameh expressed his appreciation for Japan’s continued support for Palestine, including through its initiatives such as CEAPAD. He also elaborated on the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza, stating that an immediate ceasefire is essential for advancing Palestinian development.
Iwaya expressed deep concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza and stated that Japan has been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible.
Nigeria’s former leader Buhari to be buried on Tuesday, official says
LAGOS: Nigeria’s late former President Muhammadu Buhari, who died in a London clinic on Sunday aged 82, will be buried in his northern home state of Katsina on Tuesday, the state governor said.
Buhari, a former military ruler after a coup in the 1980s, returned to frontline politics to become the first Nigerian president to oust an incumbent through the ballot box in 2015. He was re-elected for a second term four years later.
Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima and government officials were in London on Monday to organize the repatriation of the former president’s remains.
Katsina state governor Dikko Umaru Radda said after consultation with Buhari’s family it was agreed the body would arrive in Nigeria on Tuesday for burial the same day in his home town of Daura.
Among those who paid tribute to Buhari was Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who posted on X platform that “his wisdom, warmth and unwavering commitment to India–Nigeria friendship stood out.”
Buhari earned a devoted following for his brand of anti-corruption conviction politics, especially in Nigeria’s largely Muslim north.
He referred to himself as a “converted democrat” and swapped his military uniform for kaftans and prayer caps.
Ibrahim Babangida, another former military ruler who toppled Buhari in a coup in 1985, said he knew Buhari as a deeply spiritual and humble man.
“We may not have agreed on everything — as brothers often don’t — but I never once doubted his sincerity or his patriotism,” Babangida said in a statement.
After leaving office in 2023, Buhari spent most of his time in Daura, away from the public eye.
His successor Bola Tinubu inherited a country grappling with double digit inflation, foreign exchange shortages, economic hardship, low oil production and insecurity that had spread to most parts of Nigeria.
Buhari’s supporters, however, viewed him as Nigeria’s conscience because he had a reputation for shunning the corruption and ostentatious lifestyles often associated with the country’s political elites.
To his critics, Buhari was “an absentee landlord — a leader who governed by delegation, who disappeared for long stretches (often to London for medical treatment), and whose aloofness felt like abandonment,” the local BusinessDay newspaper said.
111 monsoon-related deaths in Pakistan since late June: disaster agency
- Data from the national disaster agency between June 26 and July 14 showed that electrocution was the leading cause of fatalities, followed by flash floods
ISLAMABAD: Monsoon rains in Pakistan have been linked to more than 110 deaths including dozens of children since they arrived in late June, according to government figures released Monday.
Data from the national disaster agency between June 26 and July 14 showed that electrocution was the leading cause of fatalities, followed by flash floods.
In late June, at least 13 tourists were swept to their deaths while sheltering from flash floods on a raised river bank.
In its latest report, the disaster agency said 111 people including 53 children have been killed, with the highest number of deaths in the most populous province of Punjab.
Meanwhile, the national meteorological service has issued a warning for further heavy rainfall in the northern and eastern regions of the country, with the potential for urban flooding, landslides, and infrastructure damage due to strong winds.
Monsoon season brings South Asia 70 to 80 percent of its annual rainfall, arriving in early June in India and late June in Pakistan, and lasting through until September.
The annual rains are vital for agriculture and food security, and the livelihoods of millions of farmers.
But it brings with it flooding, landslides and causes buildings to collapse.
South Asia is getting hotter and in recent years has seen shifting weather patterns, but scientists are unclear on how exactly a warming planet is affecting the highly complex monsoon.
Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its 240 million residents are facing extreme weather events with increasing frequency.
In 2022, unprecedented monsoon floods submerged a third of Pakistan and killed 1,700 people, with some areas yet to recover from the damage.
In May, at least 32 people were killed in severe storms, including strong hailstorms.
