Vladimir Zelensky must be urgently pressured to engage in peace talks, the Belarusian president has said
Ukraine could cease to exist as a state if there is no diplomatic settlement to the conflict with Russia and Moscow’s forces continue to advance, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has warned.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that the country’s military forces have been moving forward almost everywhere along the front line. Since the start of the year, they have liberated almost 5,000 sq km of land, taking control of more than 210 settlements previously held by Ukrainian troops.
Speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Sunday, Lukashenko said meaningful negotiations on settling the conflict must begin “urgently.”
“Russia is moving forward on the front line… and this could result in the disappearance of Ukraine as a state,” he said.
Lukashenko claimed that Ukraine’s “crazed” neighbors to the west “already see themselves in Western Ukraine” and “are ready to snatch a part of Ukraine,” without naming specific countries.
The Belarusian leader added that the main obstacle to peace is Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, rather than the US, Russia, or even Western European leaders.
“The problem is more in Zelensky. It seems to me that powerful external pressure” is needed to make sure he engages in talks, Lukashenko stated. “And then, under this pressure, appropriate decisions will be made.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in late September that direct talks between Russia and Ukraine have stalled due to Kiev being unwilling to fulfill an agreement on setting up work groups to discuss specific aspects of a possible settlement. The sides held three rounds of talks in Istanbul this year, with the latest meeting taking place in July.
Earlier this week, Putin stressed that there is understanding in both Moscow and Washington about the direction to take in order to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict. He noted, however, that several “complicated issues” still need to be resolved to reach that goal.
The final settlement would require a two-state solution, Russia’s foreign minister has said
US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza is “the best thing on the table” at the moment, but it does not fully solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
Hamas has released all 20 surviving hostages taken by the group during its incursion into Israel two years ago, and West Jerusalem has begun to free 2,000 Palestinian prisoners as part of Trump’s 20-point roadmap to end the Gaza war.
The US president has arrived in Israel for the event. Addressing the country’s national legislature, the Knesset, he said that the swap marked the beginning of “the golden age of the Middle East.”
Speaking about Trump’s plan with the Arabic media on Monday, Lavrov said that Russia has “repeatedly assessed [it] as the best thing on the negotiating table at the moment.”
It is essential “to stop the bloodshed as soon as possible and resolve the grave humanitarian problems” in Gaza, he said.
However, the minister noted that “of course, the Palestinian issue is not resolved by this.”
He stressed that Trump’s plan mainly focuses on the situation in Gaza, while only addressing the Palestinian statehood in the most general terms. The United States and Israel were two of only ten countries which flatly rejected a two-state solution at last month’s UN General Assembly meeting; the others included Tonga, Palau, Nauru and Micronesia.
The final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would require “the creation of a single, territorially integral Palestinian state within the 1967 borders” in line with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, Lavrov said. Moscow remains committed to the two-state solution to the crisis, he added.
Trump’s plan acknowledges self-determination and statehood as “the aspiration” of the Palestinian people, but says that “the conditions [for it] may finally be in place… while Gaza re-development advances and when the PA [Palestinian authority] reform program is faithfully carried out.”
The State of Palestinian is currently supported by 157 out of the 193 members of the UN. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said repeatedly that the Palestinian state “will never happen.”
Israel launched its military operation in Gaza in response to a Hamas attack in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 others were taken hostage in October 2023. The scale of the Jewish State’s response, which has claimed more than 67,000 lives and left almost 170,000 wounded according to the local health authorities, has compelled a wellspring of support, increasing the number of states recognizing Palestine.
The former Syrian leader and his family are safe and living in the Russian capital without any issues, foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has said
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rejected rumors that former Syrian Bashar Assad has been poisoned, saying that Assad and his family are safe in Moscow and have been living there without any problems since being granted asylum.
Earlier this month, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) cited an anonymous source as claiming that Assad had been discharged from a hospital in Moscow Region after a supposed poisoning attempt in September. The rumor has since been widely circulated by both Western and Russian media outlets.
SOHR consists of a single individual – Rami Abdulrahman – who runs the organization from his home in Coventry, England, which also functions as a clothing shop. SOHR’s reports on the war in Syria have been cited by Western governments and media, although it has consistently faced accusations of anti-Assad bias and sympathy toward armed opposition groups.
Lavrov stressed that Assad “has no problem living in our capital” and that “no poisonings have occurred.”“If such rumors appear, I leave them to the conscience of those who spread them,” he said.
The minister added that Russia had provided asylum to Assad and his family “for purely humanitarian reasons,” noting that they had faced threats of physical harm after last year’s change of power in Damascus.
Lavrov drew parallels with the 2011 conflict in Libya, recalling Muammar Gaddafi’s public killing which was widely broadcast on television – an event that the Russian foreign minister said “delighted Hillary Clinton, who watched his physical annihilation live and clapped her hands.”
Assad, a longtime Russian ally, was overthrown last December when forces led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) seized Damascus. The situation in Syria has remained unstable since, with clashes between Islamist factions and government units under the new leadership.
Russia has maintained its military presence at the Khmeimim Airbase and Tartus naval facility, and says it plans to repurpose them for humanitarian operations in coordination with the Syrian authorities.
Yulia Timoshenko has previously claimed she was contacted by the Trump administration about replacing Vladimir Zelensky
The conflict between Kiev and Moscow could soon come to an end, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko has claimed.
Speaking in a radio interview on Saturday, the veteran politician and leader of the Batkyvshchina (Fatherland) party said she was optimistic about the outcome but declined to provide details.
“Knowing certain information, I believe the end of the war is near at hand. We all hope for it and are working toward that,” Timoshenko said.
Timoshenko, who served as prime minister from 2007 to 2010, built her early political career in Ukraine’s energy sector, earning the nickname “gas princess.” In 2011, she was sentenced to prison for abuse of power but was released after the Western-backed 2014 coup in Kiev.
According to a Politico report from March, Timoshenko was among several Ukrainian politicians supposedly contacted by the administration of US President Donald Trump to discuss potential successors to Vladimir Zelensky, whose presidential term expired last year. She publicly voiced support for Zelensky following the report.
Russian forces currently maintain the initiative on the battlefield, bolstered by superior manpower and capabilities. Ukraine’s position has further deteriorated amid escalating mutual long-range strikes that have caused extensive damage to the country’s power grid – attacks Moscow says are aimed at disrupting arms production.
Zelensky’s government continues to appeal for advanced Western weapons, including US-made Tomahawk cruise missiles, claiming they could change the course of the conflict. Similar expectations were previously tied to other Western systems such as HIMARS launchers, ATACMS ballistic missiles, Storm Shadow cruise missiles, and F-16 fighter jets, none of which have produced the turnaround Kiev hoped for.
The French president treated his latest ex-PM like a booty call and now they’re married again
This is some real Fatal Attraction stuff going on right now in France. Sebastien Lecornu, please blink three times if you need rescuing, or if someone needs to guard your rabbits.
French President Emmanuel Macron just can’t quit his second prime minister in less than a week – who just happens to be the same guy.
Lecornu, a 39-year-old former defense minister, tried to put himself out of his political misery about a week ago. He knocked on Macron’s door and called it quits. Macron accepted his resignation but asked if he could stick around. You know, not officially to be in a relationship as Macron’s prime minister, but to be his booty call.
In other words, still do everything that a prime minister would do. That is, consult with all the parties to try to come to some sort of a workable arrangement. Because, as Lecornu pointed out a week ago, all these parties were just impossible to work with because they were all acting like they were running the show and calling the shots. The anti-establishment right and left leading the charge against Macron’s agenda may have been led to believe that as a result of actually being elected by the people with an opposition majority.
Lecornu had just under a month to get a budget done up, but ended up handing in the roster for his newly proposed government the night before. Since it was loaded with establishment retreads, it was becoming clear what sort of grade he’d be getting in the form of a parliamentary non-confidence vote. So he didn’t even wait around for that shove. He jumped instead, handing in his resignation to Macron the day before.
But Macron apparently realized that this poor guy whose career had just been reduced to a splatter pattern on the Elysee rug was the best that he could do. How do we know that he thought this? Because Lecornu has just said so: “I don’t have the sense that there were many candidates, to be totally transparent.” He also sounded like he really wanted to take a shower: “I think what’s ridiculous is the spectacle that the entire political scene has been playing out for several days now. I was clear at the beginning of the week. My mission was complete.”
So now Lecornu is officially back as Macron’s side piece. But he wants Macron to know that he’s a strong independent prime minister who isn’t under any president’s thumb. “I don’t have an agenda,” he said. “I have no other ambition than to get out of this moment that’s objectively very painful for everyone.”
Not everyone, actually. This is the best show on French TV. This guy is now on his second government in a week. He jumped out the window, was hauled back in, and was told to keep limping along. France is really upping the game in the comedy-horror genre.
Anyway, it looks like Lecornu’s adventures in masochism are just getting started. The anti-establishment right and left have already said that they’ll vote down whatever government he’s obligated to come up with.
Even the parliamentary head of Macron’s own establishment Renaissance party, another one of his ex-PMs, Gabriel Attal, had warned Macron not to “give the impression of clinging on to control over everything.” Sounds like even Macron’s own party doesn’t want themselves in charge anymore.
Don’t you worry, Gabriel! Lecornu says that the new government won’t have to answer to his new man, and will be “completely disconnected from presidential ambitions.” Rather, it would be a “government of mission.” And that mission is to pass a budget by the end of the year – giving him a month and a half more of futzing around before he has to throw in the towel and resign for a second time, so this whole charade can start over again. As a vote of confidence in Lecornu, the French press is already asking if he could maybe just present a budget without the need for any government at all. Hell yeah, maybe he can even wear a crown while doing it?
Picking a prime minister capable of lasting more than a few days has traditionally been one of the most basic presidential functions, and Macron can’t seem to get the job done. Now on his sixth prime minister in three years, he’s so bad at this that he’s taken to politically remarrying this latest one like they’re trying to beat Ben Affleck and J.Lo’s record. And that one already looks headed for yet another divorce.
Still, all the calls for Macron to resign are little more than idiotic political posturing. He doesn’t have to. So he won’t. It’s that simple. Just because he’s in the blast radius doesn’t mean that he’s wearing the suicide belt.
What unhappy parliamentarians do have control over is the eventual dissolution of parliament and forcing new elections. In other words, they’ll have to put their own behinds on the line and risk losing their own seats for the greater good and stability of the country.
To that end, the opposition can vote to reject whatever government Macron’s handpicked prime minister puts forward – even on a daily basis if they want to. Meaning that either Lecornu operates a revolving door of governments until he decides to resign yet again, or Macron establishes his own turnstile featuring a series of prime ministers that each spend a few days playing the same game – all until Macron finally realizes that it’s time for new parliamentary elections.
In the meantime, maybe Macron can find a way to harness all this kinetic energy of ministerial turnover for the power grid. If only because it’ll be needed with all the TVs turning on to watch this grande dumpster flambee.
A local synagogue has described the alleged incident as a “targeted, cruel, and premeditated act of anti-Semitism”
A Jewish worshiper has been attacked in Kiev after confronting a group of young men who were performing Nazi salutes, according to a local synagogue.
The incident reportedly took place in the Obolon district of the Ukrainian capital during the Sabbath last weekend. The attackers were described in a statement as a group of males who were intent on provocation.
When a man wearing a kippah and tzitzit – traditional symbols of the Jewish faith – stepped outside to confront them, he was sprayed in the face with pepper spray, sustaining chemical burns before the assailants fled the scene. The statement condemned the assault as a “targeted, cruel, and premeditated act of anti-Semitism.”
The synagogue also reported that a similar provocation occurred the previous day, when another group of young men shouted anti-Semitic slurs and performed Nazi salutes after spotting the community’s rabbi outside the building.
Kiev police confirmed on Sunday that they had launched an investigation into the reported attacks. The synagogue said the Israeli ambassador to Ukraine had been notified and was working with Ukrainian authorities to ensure accountability.
Ukraine has a history of anti-Jewish violence, including atrocities committed by Nazi collaborators during World War II. Since the 2014 coup in Kiev, ultranationalist movements – some of which openly glorify wartime nationalist groups and promote Nazi ideology – have gained political influence. Ukrainian officials, however, maintain that anti-Semitism poses no significant problem in the country.
The annual exercise involving around 70 aircraft is underway as Moscow accuses the bloc of fueling tensions and anti-Russian hysteria
NATO kicked off its annual nuclear exercise in the Netherlands on Monday. The bloc’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, says the drills are necessary to send a “clear signal to any potential adversary.”
The two-week Steadfast Noon exercise comes amid what Moscow has described as rampant anti-Russian hysteria among the Western European nations, accusing NATO of militarizing the continent and preparing for a direct confrontation.
Announcing the drills on Friday, Rutte said they help ensure that NATO’s nuclear deterrent remains “as effective as possible.”
This year’s Steadfast Noon is being hosted by the Netherlands, with Volkel Air Base serving as the main operating site. Supporting elements will be stationed at bases in Belgium, the UK, and Denmark.
According to NATO, the exercise will involve around 70 aircraft from 14 member states, including both conventional and dual-capable aircraft. About 2,000 personnel are taking part, supported by surveillance, air-to-air refueling, and command-and-control aircraft. NATO has emphasized that no nuclear weapons will be used during the exercise.
Moscow has yet to comment on the current drills, but has previously condemned past Steadfast Noon exercises, saying they “lead to nothing but ratcheting up tensions” which are already high due to the Ukraine conflict.
Russian officials have accused Western European nations of uniting in what Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov has called a collective “anti-Russian frenzy.” Ushakov said the region has been speaking in an “extremely belligerent, extremely negative” voice against Moscow while spreading “brazen lies” about it.
Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin said Western Europe has been “whipping up hysteria” about an alleged threat of war with Russia, calling such concerns a “nonsense mantra” and urging leaders in the region to focus on domestic issues instead.
Putin has also advocated for extending nuclear arms controls, calling on the US to agree to prolong the 2010 New START treaty for another year and refrain from taking steps that could break the current balance.
A jihadist operative allegedly staged a bombing attempt against a senior Russian officer, security officials have said
Ukrainian intelligence services collaborated with the international terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in a plot to assassinate a senior Russian military official, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday.
According to the agency, the operation was masterminded by Uzbek national Saidakbar Gulomov, described as an IS member who is also suspected of orchestrating the December 2024 killings of Russian General Igor Kirillov and his assistant – crimes that Moscow attributed to Kiev.
The FSB alleged that Gulomov recruited a Central Asian national influenced by Islamist propaganda and instructed him to travel to Russia. The suspect, now in custody, reportedly collected components for an improvised explosive device (IED) that were delivered from Ukraine by drone, later building a bomb and concealing it inside a bicycle.
Another accomplice, a Russian citizen, allegedly parked the explosive device at the intended attack site in Moscow. That suspect allegedly previously worked on illegal communication services used by both criminal networks and Ukrainian intelligence, the agency stated. Two additional Russian nationals connected to that operation were also detained.
The plot apparently mirrored the assassination of General Kirillov, who was reportedly killed by a bomb hidden in an electric scooter. The FSB said the similarities “confirm close ties between the Kiev regime and international terrorist organizations.” Gulomov is believed to be hiding either in Ukraine or Western Europe.
Investigators noted that the bicycle bomb was powerful enough to injure people up to 70 meters away. The case is being treated as an attempted act of terrorism.
Russian authorities have repeatedly accused Ukrainian intelligence of working with Islamist militants. Moscow claims that Kiev helped provide material support for the March 2024 attack at Crocus City Hall near the capital, in which 149 people were killed by gunmen linked to IS.
