WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about ending the Ukraine war, with territorial concessions by Kyiv and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant likely to feature prominently in the talks.
“We want to see if we can bring that war to an end,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One during a flight to the Washington area from Florida. “Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance.
“I’ll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work’s been done over the weekend.”
Trump is trying to win Putin’s support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted last week, as both sides continued trading heavy aerial strikes early on Monday and Russia moved closer to ejecting Ukrainian forces from their months-old foothold in the western Russian region of Kursk.
Asked what concessions were being considered in ceasefire negotiations, Trump said: “We’ll be talking about land. We’ll be talking about power plants ... We’re already talking about that, dividing up certain assets.”
Trump gave no details but he appeared to be referring to the Russian-occupied facility in Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear plant. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of risking an accident at the plant with their actions.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a regular briefing on Monday that “there’s a power plant that is on the border of Russia and Ukraine that was up for discussion with the Ukrainians, and he (Trump) will address it in his call with Putin tomorrow.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Monday that Putin would speak with Trump by phone but declined to comment on Trump’s remarks about land and power plants.
The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin had sent Trump a message about his ceasefire plan via US envoy Steve Witkoff, who held talks in Moscow, expressing “cautious optimism” that a deal could be reached to end the three-year conflict.
In separate appearances on Sunday TV shows in the United States, Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Trump’s National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, emphasized there were still challenges to be worked out before Russia agrees to a ceasefire, much less a final peaceful resolution to the war.
Asked on ABC whether the US would accept a peace deal in which Russia was allowed to keep Ukrainian territory that it has seized, Waltz replied: “We have to ask ourselves, is it in our national interest? Is it realistic? ... Are we going to drive every Russian off of every inch of Ukrainian soil?“
“We can talk about what is right or wrong but also have to talk about the reality of the situation on the ground,” he said, adding that the alternative to finding compromises on land and other issues was “endless warfare” and even World War Three.
“Ironclad guarantees”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he sees a good chance to end the war after Kyiv accepted the US proposal for a 30-day interim ceasefire.
However, Zelensky has consistently said the sovereignty of his country is not negotiable and that Russia must surrender the territory it has seized. Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and now controls most of four eastern Ukrainian regions since it invaded the country in 2022.
Zelensky has not responded publicly to Waltz’s remarks.
Russia will seek “ironclad” guarantees in any peace deal that NATO nations exclude Kyiv from membership and that Ukraine will remain neutral, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Russian media outlet Izvestia in remarks published on Monday that made no reference to the ceasefire proposal.
“We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement,” Izvestia cited Grushko as saying.
Putin says his actions in Ukraine are aimed at protecting Russia’s national security against what he casts as an aggressive and hostile West, in particular NATO’s eastward expansion. Ukraine and its Western partners say Russia is waging an unprovoked war of aggression and an imperial-style land grab.
Moscow has demanded that Ukraine drop its NATO ambitions, that Russia keep control of all Ukrainian territory seized, and that the size of the Ukrainian army be limited. It also wants Western sanctions eased and a presidential election in Ukraine, which Kyiv says is premature while martial law is in force.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said on Monday that the conditions demanded by Russia to agree to a ceasefire showed that Moscow does not really want peace.
Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said the onus should be on Russia as the invading country, not Ukraine, to make concessions “because otherwise you would be compromising international law.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that “a significant number” of nations — including Britain and France — were willing to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Russia. Defense chiefs will meet this week to firm up plans.
Russia has ruled out peacekeepers until the war has ended.
“If they appear there, it means that they are deployed in the conflict zone with all the consequences for these contingents as parties to the conflict,” Russia’s Grushko said.
“We can talk about unarmed observers, a civilian mission that would monitor the implementation of individual aspects of this agreement, or guarantee mechanisms. In the meantime, it’s just hot air.”
Trump and Putin to discuss power plants, land in talks to end Ukraine war
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Trump and Putin to discuss power plants, land in talks to end Ukraine war
- Trump said: “We’ll be talking about land. We’ll be talking about power plants ... We’re already talking about that, dividing up certain assets”
Trump says Putin understands US sanctions may be coming
- Trump on Friday discussed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the possibility of sending Patriot air defense missiles to Kyiv
- Russia had earlier stepped up its attacks on Ukraine on the day Putin and Trump discussed talked by phone about a ceasefire
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he has discussed sanctions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is worried about them and understands they might be forthcoming.
Trump, who spoke on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, also told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had discussed the possibility of sending Patriot air defense missiles to Kyiv.
Trump spoke with Zelensky a day Russia stepped up its attack on Ukraine, sending waves of drones and missiles on Kyiv overnight in what Ukrainian officials described as the largest aerial assault since Russia’s invasion began more than three years ago. One person was killed and at least 26 others, including a child, were wounded.
Asked Friday night by reporters about the call, Trump said, “We had a very good call, I think.”
The two leaders how Ukrainian air defenses might be strengthened, possible joint weapons production between the US and Ukraine, and broader US-led efforts to end the war with Russia, according to a statement by Zelenksy.
When asked about finding a way to end the fighting, Trump said: “I don’t know. I can’t tell you whether or not that’s going to happen.”
The US has paused some shipments of military aid to Ukraine, including crucial air defense missiles. Ukraine’s main European backers are considering how they can help pick up the slack. Zelensky says plans are afoot to build up Ukraine’s domestic arms industry, but scaling up will take time.
‘I’m very disappointed’
The attack on Kyiv began the same day a phone call took place between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Asked if he made any progress during his call with Putin on a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine, Trump said: “No, I didn’t make any progress with him today at all.”
“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin because I don’t think he’s there. I don’t think he’s looking to stop (the fighting), and that’s too bad,” Trump said.
According to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, the Russian leader emphasized that Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the “root causes” of the conflict.
“Russia will not back down from these goals,” Ushakov told reporters after the call.
Russia’s army crossed the border on Feb. 24, 2022, in an all-out invasion that Putin sought to justify by falsely saying it was needed to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO.
Zelensky has repeatedly called out Russian disinformation efforts.
Russia has been stepping up its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities. Less than a week ago, Russia launched what was then the largest aerial assault of the war. That strategy has coincided with a concerted Russian effort to break through parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where Ukrainian troops are under severe pressure.
Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine during the night, the country’s air force said. The majority were Shahed drones, but Russia also launched 11 missiles in the attack.
Alya Shahlai, a 23-year-old Kyiv wedding photographer, said that her home was destroyed in the attack.
“We were all in the (basement) shelter because it was so loud, staying home would have been suicidal,” she told The Associated Press. “We went down 10 minutes before and then there was a loud explosion and the lights went out in the shelter, people were panicking.”
Five ambulances were damaged while responding to calls, officials said, and emergency services removed more than 300 tons of rubble.
Trump, Zelensky talks
In Friday’s call, Zelensky said he congratulated Trump and the American people on Independence Day and thanked the United States for its continued support.
They discussed a possible future meeting between their teams to explore ways of enhancing Ukraine’s protection against air attacks, Zelensky said.
He added that they talked in detail about defense industry capabilities and direct joint projects with the US, particularly in drone technology. They also exchanged views on mutual procurement, investment, and diplomatic cooperation with international partners, Zelensky said.
Peace efforts have been fruitless so far. Recent direct peace talks have led only to sporadic exchanges of prisoners of war, wounded troops and the bodies of fallen soldiers. No date has been set for further negotiations.
Ukrainian officials and the Russian Defense Ministry said another prisoner swap took place Friday, though neither side said how many soldiers were involved. Zelensky said most of the Ukrainians had been in Russian captivity since 2022. The Ukrainian soldiers were classified as “wounded and seriously ill.”
Constant buzzing of drones
The Ukrainian response needs to be speedy as Russia escalates its aerial attacks. Russia launched 5,438 drones at Ukraine in June, a new monthly record, according to official data collated by The Associated Press. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said earlier this week that Russia also launched more than 330 missiles, including nearly 80 ballistic missiles, at Ukrainian towns and cities that month.
Throughout the night, AP journalists in Kyiv heard the constant buzzing of drones overhead and the sound of explosions and intense machine gun fire as Ukrainian forces tried to intercept the aerial assault.
“Absolutely horrible and sleepless night in Kyiv,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on social media platform X. “One of the worst so far.”
Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko described “families running into metro stations, basements, underground parking garages, mass destruction in the heart of our capital.”
“What Kyiv endured last night, cannot be called anything but a deliberate act of terror,” she wrote on X.
Kyiv was the primary target of the countrywide attack. At least 14 people were hospitalized, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Zelensky called the Kyiv attack “cynical.” In Moscow, the Defense Ministry claimed its forces targeted factories producing drones and other military equipment in Kyiv.
Russia strikes 5 Ukrainian regions
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 270 targets, including two cruise missiles. Another 208 targets were lost from radar and presumed jammed.
Russia successfully hit eight locations with nine missiles and 63 drones. Debris from intercepted drones fell across at least 33 sites.
In addition to the capital, the Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Kyiv regions also sustained damage, Zelensky said.
Emergency services reported damage in at least five of Kyiv’s 10 districts.
BRICS nations to denounce Trump tariffs for causing economic uncertainty
- Emerging nations representing about half the world’s population and 40 percent of global economic output are set to unite over what they see as unfair US import tariffs
- Since coming to office in January, Trump has threatened allies and rivals alike with a slew of punitive tariffs
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: BRICS leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro from Sunday are expected to decry Donald Trump’s hard-line trade policies, but are struggling to bridge divides over crises roiling the Middle East.
Emerging nations representing about half the world’s population and 40 percent of global economic output are set to unite over what they see as unfair US import tariffs, according to sources familiar with summit negotiations.
Since coming to office in January, Trump has threatened allies and rivals alike with a slew of punitive tariffs.
His latest salvo comes in the form of letters due to be sent starting Friday informing trading partners of new tariff rates expected next week on July 9.
Diplomats from 11 emerging nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, have been busy drafting a statement condemning the economic uncertainty.
Any final summit declaration is not expected to mention the United States or its president by name. But it is expected to be a clear political shot directed at Washington.
“We’re anticipating a summit with a cautious tone: it will be difficult to mention the United States by name in the final declaration,” Marta Fernandez, director of the BRICS Policy Center at Rio’s Pontifical Catholic University said.
This is particularly the case for China, which has only recently negotiated with the US to lower steep tit-for-tat levies.
“This doesn’t seem to be the right time to provoke further friction” between the world’s two leading economies, Fernandez said.
China leader to skip annual meeting
Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be seen as a Chinese-driven counterbalance to Western power.
But the summit’s political punch will be depleted by the absence of China’s Xi Jinping, who is skipping the annual meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president.
“I expect there will be speculation about the reasons for Xi’s absence,” said Ryan Hass, a former China director at the US National Security Council who is now with the Brookings Institution think tank.
“The simplest explanation may hold the most explanatory power. Xi recently hosted Lula in Beijing,” said Hass.
The Chinese leader will not be the only notable absentee. War crime-indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin is also opting to stay away, but will participate via video link, according to the Kremlin.
Hass said Putin’s non-attendance and the fact that India’s prime minister will be a guest of honor in Brazil could also be factors in Xi’s absence.
“Xi does not want to appear upstaged by Modi,” who will receive a state lunch, he said.
“I expect Xi’s decision to delegate attendance to Premier Li (Qiang) rests amidst these factors.”
Still, the Xi no-show is a blow to host President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who wants Brazil to play a bigger role on the world stage.
In the year to November 2025, Brazil will have hosted a G20 summit, a BRICS summit, and COP30 international climate talks, all before heading into fiercely contested presidential elections next year, in which he is expected to run.
No consensus on response to Gaza, Iran wars
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose nation is still reeling from a 12-day conflict with Israel is also skipping the meeting.
A source familiar with the negotiations said the BRICS countries were still in disagreement over how to respond to the wars in Gaza and between Iran and Israel.
Iranian negotiators are pushing for a tougher collective stance that goes beyond referencing the need for the creation of a Palestinian state and for disputes to be resolved peacefully.
Artificial intelligence and health will also be on the agenda at the summit.
Original members of the bloc Brazil, Russia, India, and China have been joined by South Africa and, more recently, by Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia.
Analysts say that it has given the grouping more potential international punch.
But it has also opened many new fault lines.
Brazil hopes that countries can take a common stand at the summit, including on the most sensitive issues.
“BRICS (countries), throughout their history, have managed to speak with one voice on major international issues, and there’s no reason why that shouldn’t be the case this time on the subject of the Middle East,” Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told AFP.
End to war in Gaza ‘is Saudi Arabia’s priority’: FM Prince Faisal
- Says Israeli crushing of civilians ‘completely unacceptable and has to stop’
GAZA: A permanent ceasefire and an end to the war in Gaza are Saudi Arabia’s current priority, the Kingdom’s foreign minister said on Friday.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan was speaking on a visit to Moscow, where he was asked about the possibility of Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel.
The Kingdom’s main aim was peace in the Palestinian enclave, he said. “What we are seeing is the Israelis are crushing Gaza, the civilian population of Gaza. This is completely unnecessary, completely unacceptable, and has to stop.”
In 2024, the foreign minister said that there can be no normalization of ties with Israel without resolving the Palestinian issue.
US President Donald Trump said he expected Hamas to respond to his “final proposal” for a ceasefire in Gaza in the next 24 hours.
Hamas said it was still studying the plan and consulting other Palestinian factions.
The militant group is demanding guarantees that talks to end the war would take place during the proposed 60-day ceasefire, and that the pause in fighting would be extended until both sides came to terms.
At least 20 Palestinians were killed early on Friday in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, 15 in an attack on a tent city for displaced people near Khan Younis in the south and the other five in Jabaliya in the north.
At funeral prayers for the dead in Khan Younis, Mayar Al-Farr, 13, wept over the body of her brother Mahmoud. “The ceasefire will come, and I have lost my brother? There should have been a ceasefire long before I lost my brother,” she said.
Adlar Mouamar, whose nephew Ashraf was also killed, said: “Our hearts are broken. We ask the world, we don’t want food ... we want them to end the bloodshed. We want them to stop this war.”
The local health ministry in Gaza says more than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault on the region since an October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
According to Israel, 1,200 people were killed in that attack and more than 250 taken hostage into Gaza.
Ukraine blames Russian strike for power cut to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
- Ukrainian minister says Russian shelling caused the outage
- Ukrainian energy distribution company says it restored power
VIENNA: All external power lines supplying electricity to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine were down for several hours on Friday, the UN nuclear watchdog said, but the station’s management later said power had been restored.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, acknowledged that power had been restored after 3 1/2 hours. But he added in a statement on X that nuclear safety “remains extremely precarious in Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s energy minister blamed Russian shelling for severing the last power line to the plant and its six reactors. The country’s power distribution operator said its technicians had taken action to restore it.
Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, which is not operating but still requires power to keep its nuclear fuel cool, switched during the outage to running on diesel generators, the IAEA said.
The organization has repeatedly warned of the risk of a catastrophic accident at Zaporizhzhia, which is located near the front line in the war in Ukraine. Its reactors are shut down, but the nuclear fuel inside them still needs to be cooled, which requires constant power.
The plant’s Russia-installed management issued a statement on Telegram saying the high-voltage line to the plant had been restored.
The statement said there had been no disruptions to operations at the plant, no violations of security procedures and no rise in background radiation levels beyond normal levels.
The IAEA had earlier said that the plant had lost all off-site power for the ninth time during the military conflict and for the first time since late 2023. “The ZNPP currently relies on power from its emergency diesel generators, underlining (the) extremely precarious nuclear safety situation,” it said.
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galuschenko wrote on Telegram that a Russian strike had cut off the plant.
“The enemy struck the power line connecting the temporarily occupied (Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant) with the integrated power system of Ukraine.”
Ukrenergo, the sole operator of high-voltage lines in Ukraine, said its specialists had brought it back into service.
“Ukrenergo specialists have brought back into service the high-voltage line which supplies the temporarily occupied power station,” it said on Telegram.
Neither the IAEA nor the plant’s Russian-installed management initially cited a cause for the cut-off. Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia station in the first weeks of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Each side regularly accuses the other of firing or taking other actions that could trigger a nuclear accident.
About 24 dead in Texas floods and more than 20 children missing from a girls summer camp
- Missing girls were among 750 attending summer camp at Camp Mystic in Kerr County
- Flooded site is in an area of Texas known as “flash flood alley”
KERRVILLE, Texas: Heavy rains have caused devastating flash floods in Texas Hill Country, killing about two dozen people and leaving many others missing.
At a news conference late Friday Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said “about 24” people were dead after least 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain poured down overnight, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River.
Authorities said 237 people had been recued so far, including 167 by helicopter.
Among the missing are more than 20 girls from a summer camp. Officials say the death toll may rise as rescue operations continue. The area, known as “flash flood alley,” is prone to sudden flooding due to its thin soil.
“Some are adults, some are children,” Patrick said during a news conference. “Again, we don’t know where those bodies came from.”
Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in Kerr County, said authorities were still working to identify those who died.
“Most of them, we don’t know who they are,” Kelly said during a news conference.
Pleading for information after flash flood
On the Kerr County sheriff’s office Facebook page, people pleaded for help finding loved ones and posted pictures of them. Patrick said at least 400 people were on the ground helping in the response. Nine rescue teams, 14 helicopters and 12 drones were being used in the search, and Patrick said some people were being rescued from trees.
About 23 of the roughly 750 girls attending Camp Mystic were among those who were unaccounted for, Patrick said.
Search crews were doing “whatever we can do to find everyone we can,” he said.
At Hunt, where the Guadalupe forks, a river gauge recorded a 22 foot rise in about two hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office. Fogarty said the gauge failed after recording a level of 29 and a half feet .
“The water’s moving so fast, you’re not going to recognize how bad it is until it’s on top of you,” Fogarty said.
‘Pitch black wall of death’
In Ingram, Erin Burgess woke to thunder and rain at 3:30 a.m. Just 20 minutes later, water was pouring into her home directly across from the river, she said. She described an agonizing hour clinging to a tree and waiting for the water to recede enough so they could walk up the hill to a neighbor’s home.
“My son and I floated to a tree where we hung onto it, and my boyfriend and my dog floated away. He was lost for a while, but we found them,” she said.
Of her 19-year-old son, Burgess said: “Thankfully he’s over 6 feet tall. That’s the only thing that saved me, was hanging on to him.”
Matthew Stone, 44, of Kerrville, said police came knocking on doors at 5:30 a.m. but that he had received no warning on his phone.
“We got no emergency alert. There was nothing,” Stone said. Then: “a pitch black wall of death.”
Stone said police used his paddle boat to help rescue a neighbor. Stone said he and the rescuers thought they heard someone yelling “help!” from the water but couldn’t see anyone.
At a reunification center set up in Ingram, families cried and cheered as loved ones got off vehicles loaded with evacuees. Two soldiers carried an older woman who could not get down a ladder. Behind her, a woman in a soiled T-shirt and shorts clutched a small white dog.
Later, a girl in a white “Camp Mystic” T-shirt arrived. Standing in white socks in a puddle, she sobbed in her mother’s arms.
‘No one knew this kind of flood was coming’
The forecast had called for rain, with a flood watch upgraded to a warning overnight for at least 30,000 people. But totals in some places exceeded expectations, Fogarty said.
Patrick noted that the potential for heavy rain and flooding covered a large area.
“Everything was done to give them a heads up that you could have heavy rain, and we’re not exactly sure where it’s going to land,” Patrick said. “Obviously as it got dark last night, we got into the wee morning of the hours, that’s when the storm started to zero in.”
Asked about how people were notified in Kerr County so that they could get to safety, Kelly said, “We do not have a warning system.”
When reporters pushed on why more precautions weren’t taken, he responded: “Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming.”
“We have floods all the time,” he added. “This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States.”
Popular tourism area prone to flooding
It’s in an area of Texas known as “flash flood alley” because of the hills’ thin layer of soil, said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, which was collecting donations to help nonprofits responding to the disaster.
“When it rains, water doesn’t soak into the soil,” Dickson said. “It rushes down the hill.”
River tourism industry is a key part of the Hill Country economy, said Dickson. Well-known, century-old summer camps bring in kids from all over the country, he said. Between Hunt and Ingram are many river homes and cabins for rent.
“It’s generally a very tranquil river with really beautiful clear blue water that people have been attracted to for generations,” Dickson said.
Deaths in New Jersey blamed on thunderstorms
The flooding in Texas occurred as severe weather moved through central New Jersey, where thunderstorms were blamed for at least three deaths.
Among them were two men in Plainfield who died after a tree fell onto their vehicle, according to a city Facebook post.
The city canceled its July Fourth parade, concert and fireworks show.
