US wants ‘lasting’ peace in Ukraine, VP Vance says; Zelensky admits his country has ‘low chance to survive’ without American support

Update US wants ‘lasting’ peace in Ukraine, VP Vance says; Zelensky admits his country has ‘low chance to survive’ without American support
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (3L) and US Vice President JD Vance (3R) meet on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany on February 14, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service handout photo/AFP)
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Updated 15 February 2025
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US wants ‘lasting’ peace in Ukraine, VP Vance says; Zelensky admits his country has ‘low chance to survive’ without American support

US wants ‘lasting’ peace in Ukraine, VP Vance says; Zelensky admits his country has ‘low chance to survive’ without American support
  • Vance said ahead of the meeting that the US was prepared to pressure Russia, adding that Europe should “of course” be at the table
  • He also told Europe to “step up” on bolstering its own defense to allow Washington to focus on threats elsewhere in the world

MUNICH, Germany: US Vice President JD Vance pledged Friday that Washington sought to secure a “lasting” peace as he held a first meeting with Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss Donald Trump’s push for a deal with Moscow.
The talks in Munich were seen as a key moment for Kyiv as it tries to keep Washington on its side after Trump stunned allies by announcing peace efforts with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

“We want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that’s going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road,” Vance said as the meeting wrapped up.

In an with NBC on Friday, Zelensky admitted that Ukraine has a “low chance” of surviving Russia’s invasion without military support from the United States.

“You know the difficult situations, you have a chance. But we will have low, low chance to survive without support of the United States,” Zelensky said in a clip from the interview, which will be aired on full Sunday.

During the meeting in Munich, Vance said “good conversations” had been had with Zelensky about how they could reach that goal, and they would have more talks “in the days, weeks and months to come.”
Zelensky also hailed a “good conversation,” saying the encounter with Vance was “our first meeting, not last, I’m sure.”
“We are ready to move as quickly as possible toward a real and guaranteed peace,” Zelensky wrote later on X, adding that an envoy from Washington would visit Kyiv.

Trump rattled Ukraine and its European allies on Wednesday by agreeing to launch peace talks in his first publicly announced call with Putin since returning to office.
The dramatic thaw in relations sparked fears Ukraine could be left out in the cold after nearly three years battling against Moscow’s invasion.

 

US officials have insisted that Zelensky will be involved in negotiations — and the Ukrainian leader said he would be prepared to sit down with Putin after agreeing a “common plan” with Trump.
“Only in this case I’m ready to meet,” Zelensky told the Munich Security Conference before seeing Vance.
Vance said ahead of the meeting that the United States was prepared to pressure Russia, adding that Europe should “of course” be at the table.
But he also told Europe to “step up” on bolstering its own defense to allow Washington to focus on threats elsewhere in the world.
US officials have sent mixed messages over Washington’s strategy after Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth appeared to rule out Ukraine joining NATO or retaking all of its territory.

That has sparked major worries in Kyiv and Europe that Ukraine could be forced into a bad deal that leaves the continent facing an emboldened Putin.
But Vance told The Wall Street Journal that Trump would put everything “on the table” in potential talks, and that Washington could even use “military leverage” against Russia to force a deal.
He did not give more away in a keenly awaited keynote speech, as he avoided addressing the war in Ukraine and focused instead on scolding Europe over immigration and free speech.
Saudi Arabia, after being named by Trump as a likely venue for a meeting with Putin, said it would welcome holding any talks between the two leaders.
Zelensky appeared to play down fears that Trump was cutting out Kyiv, saying the US president had given him his personal number when they spoke.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he assured Zelensky that it’s “Ukrainians alone who can drive the discussions for a solid and lasting peace” with Russia, in a post on X.
In a bid to keep Washington close, Kyiv has held talks over granting access to its rare mineral deposits in return for future US security support.
European allies, who along with Washington are Ukraine’s strongest backers, demanded that they too be included in negotiations that will impact their continent’s security.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned that forcing Ukraine into a bad deal would harm US interests.
“I believe that by working together, we can deliver that just and lasting peace,” she said.

While Europe nervously monitors the US stance on Ukraine, there is little ambiguity on Trump’s determination to get Europe to spend more on its defense.
Fears that Vance could announce a major US troop reduction in Europe did not materialize, but he repeated warnings that Washington needed to focus more on other parts of the globe.
On the sidelines of the conference, Vance also met with leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, according to German press.
It comes as Vance criticized Germany for blocking the far right from possibly sharing power in upcoming elections.
The conservative candidate and poll favorite Friedrich Merz insists he would not govern with the AfD or actively seek its support.
Amid the diplomatic flurry in Munich, Zelensky said that back on the ground in Ukraine a Russian drone had struck a cover built to contain radiation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, though he added that radiation levels were normal.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 133 drones across the country overnight, including attack drones, targeting northern regions of the country where the Chernobyl plant lies.
Zelensky said the attack was evidence that “Putin is definitely not preparing for negotiations — he is preparing to continue deceiving the world.”
 


US says South Africa’s ambassador ‘is no longer welcome’

US says South Africa’s ambassador ‘is no longer welcome’
Updated 9 sec ago
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US says South Africa’s ambassador ‘is no longer welcome’

US says South Africa’s ambassador ‘is no longer welcome’
  • Rubio accused Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool of being a “race-baiting politician” and Trump hater
  • Trump earlier signed an executive order that cut aid and assistance to the Black-led South African government

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that South Africa’s ambassador to the United States “is no longer welcome” in the country.
Rubio, in a post on X, accused Ebrahim Rasool of being a “race-baiting politician” who hates President Donald Trump and declared him “persona non grata.” He didn’t give further reasoning.
The State Department did not have additional details, and it was unclear whether the ambassador was even in the US at the time the decision was made. Rubio posted as he was flying back to Washington from a Group of 7 foreign ministers in Quebec.
It is highly unusual for the US to expel a foreign ambassador, although lower-ranking diplomats are more frequently targeted with persona non grata status.
At the height of US-Russia diplomatic expulsions during the Cold War and then again over Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, allegations of interference in the 2016 election and the Skripal poisoning case in Britain, neither Washington nor Moscow saw fit to expel the respective ambassadors.
It comes after Trump signed an executive order that cut aid and assistance to the Black-led South African government. In the order, Trump said South Africa’s Afrikaners, who are descendants of mainly Dutch colonial settlers, were being targeted by a new law that allows the government to expropriate private land.
The South African government has denied its new law is tied to race and says Trump’s claims over the country and the law have been full of misinformation and distortions.
Phone calls to the South African Embassy seeking comment, made at the end of the work day, were not answered.
Rasool previously served as his country’s ambassador to the US from 2010 to 2015 before returning this year.
As a child, he and his family were evicted from a Cape Town neighborhood designated for whites. Rasool became an active anti-apartheid campaigner, serving time in prison and proudly identifying as a comrade of the country’s first post-apartheid president, Nelson Mandela. He later became a politician in Mandela’s African National Congress political party.
Trump said land was being expropriated from Afrikaners — which the order referred to as “racially disfavored landowners” — when no land has been taken under the law.
Trump also announced a plan to offer Afrikaners refugee status in the US They are only one part of South Africa’s white minority.
The Expropriation Act was signed into law by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year and allows the government to take land in specific instances where it is not being used, or where it would be in the public interest if it is redistributed.
It aims to address some of the wrongs of South Africa’s racist apartheid era, when Black people had land taken away from them and were forced to live in areas designated for non-whites.
Elon Musk, a close Trump ally and head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, has highlighted that law in social media posts and cast it as a threat to South Africa’s white minority. Musk grew up in South Africa.


Fasting on the frontline: Karachi ambulance driver navigates chaos to save lives during Ramadan

The Edhi Foundation, one of the world’s largest charities, operates nearly 1,800 ambulances. (Supplied)
The Edhi Foundation, one of the world’s largest charities, operates nearly 1,800 ambulances. (Supplied)
Updated 15 March 2025
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Fasting on the frontline: Karachi ambulance driver navigates chaos to save lives during Ramadan

The Edhi Foundation, one of the world’s largest charities, operates nearly 1,800 ambulances. (Supplied)
  • For Ghulam Nabi and hundreds of other Edhi ambulance drivers, Ramadan does not change their daily duties
  • Nabi says his iftar often consists of just dates and water, eaten on the road between emergencies

KARACHI: In Karachi, where traffic is relentless and sirens are a constant, 63-year-old Ghulam Nabi has spent the past 14 years behind the wheel of an Edhi Foundation ambulance, responding to emergencies in a city where every second can mean the difference between life and death.

The Edhi Foundation, one of the world’s largest charities, operates nearly 1,800 ambulances, including over 200 in Karachi, where it was founded by the late veteran philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, who passed away in July 2016. Nabi is one of the hundreds of drivers keeping the wheels of these ambulances going.

Even during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, he remains committed to his duty. Often, his iftar — the evening meal to break the fast, which most people share with their families at home — happens on the road, between dispatches.

“Whether it’s sunny, hot, stormy, rainy, Ramadan or Eid, no matter what, we have to do our duty and serve humanity,” he said in a recent conversation with Arab News.

Living in an old apartment in the city’s historic Kharadar area, he begins his day by walking to the Edhi headquarters nearly a kilometer away. From there, his shift unfolds unpredictably, sometimes requiring him to attend to road accidents, rush cardiac arrest patients to hospitals or transport the deceased to their final resting places.

“Just yesterday, it was time to break the fast. Five-to-ten minutes before iftar, we were informed that an accident had occurred on Mai Kolachi Road,” Nabi recalled, adding that he had to leave iftar and rush to the spot.

“On the way, someone gave us dates, and we broke our fast with them,” he added.

Nabi recalled that at one point during Ramadan, he was asked to pick up a corpse from a house where it had remained unattended for nearly a week. As he reached the place, he realized it was decomposed and in such a condition that no one wanted to go near it.

But Nabi handled it, giving it to the relatives in a casket after completing the required legal procedures.

“We had to carry the body while fasting,” he said.

‘FRONTLINE HEROES’

Muhammad Amin, who oversees the Karachi Control Room at the Edhi Foundation, holds his team, particularly Nabi, in high esteem.

“He is an excellent driver, and all the qualities required in his job are found in him,” he told Arab News. “From keeping the ambulance clean to its general upkeep, following driving protocols and handling emergencies, Ghulam Nabi excels in all these aspects.”

Amin noted Ramadan always brought unique challenges to the drivers since their workload never decreased.

“There was a fire near Chakar Hotel on the Super Highway (yesterday), where our team, which included the drivers, went,” he said. “The drivers were fasting, but they worked through the fire and performed their duties.

“If you look at it, these drivers can truly be called our frontline heroes,” he added.

Nabi said his entry into this line of work was unexpected. He used to run a small business that suffered losses, forcing him to shut it down. As he started looking for employment opportunities, a friend referred him to Edhi in 2010.

“Since that day, I have been engaged in humanitarian work,” he said.

‘SAVING HUMANITY’

Karachi, a megacity with over 20 million people, suffers from broken roads, congested streets and widespread disregard for traffic rules. These conditions significantly increase the challenges of Nabi’s job, making him fear that he might not be able to reach people in need on time.

Despite such hardships, he said he was proud of his work and found fulfillment in transporting patients and the injured to hospitals for treatment.

“Whoever saves a life, saves all of humanity,” he said, his eyes shining.

To Nabi, his work is a continuation of the legacy of Abdul Sattar Edhi, the late humanitarian whose foundation has provided free ambulance services for decades.

“Here, we are carrying forward Edhi Sahib’s mission,” he said. “Humanitarian work will never stop.”

As dusk falls and families across Karachi gather for iftar at home, Nabi finds himself away from his loved ones.

“Our hearts also long to break our fast with our children, but our iftar is often on the road or in the ambulance, and we have to break our fast with dates or water,” he said, as he ended his fast with the evening prayer call while sitting on a roadside bench in a Karachi street.

 


Putin tells Ukraine troops in Russian region to ‘surrender’

Putin tells Ukraine troops in Russian region to ‘surrender’
Updated 14 March 2025
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Putin tells Ukraine troops in Russian region to ‘surrender’

Putin tells Ukraine troops in Russian region to ‘surrender’
  • “We are sympathetic to President Trump’s call,” Putin said
  • “If they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment”

KYIV: President Vladimir Putin on Friday called on beleaguered Ukrainian troops in the Russian region of Kursk to “surrender” as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian leader of seeking to sabotage a ceasefire initiative.
US President Donald Trump urged Putin to spare the lives of the Ukrainian troops as he said his envoy had held “productive” talks with Russia’s leader on a proposed 30-day ceasefire.
Russia has mounted a rapid counteroffensive in the western border region of Kursk over the past week, recapturing much of the territory Ukraine seized in a shock incursion last August.
Defeat in Kursk would be a major blow to Ukraine’s plans to use its hold on the region as a bargaining chip in peace talks for the three-year-old war.
“We are sympathetic to President Trump’s call,” Putin said in remarks broadcast on Russian television.
“If they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment,” Putin said.
Trump said “thousands” of Ukrainian troops were “completely surrounded by the Russian military, and in a very bad and vulnerable position.”
“I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II,” Trump said.
Ukraine’s military leadership denied the claims. “There is no threat of our units being encircled,” Ukraine’s General Staff posted on social media.
Zelensky gave a more sober assessment in comments to reporters in Kyiv. “The situation in the Kursk region is obviously very difficult,” he said, while insisting the campaign still had value.
Russia, he said, had been forced to pull troops from other areas on the front line, easing pressure on Ukrainian troops fighting to keep control of the eastern logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
Trump’s latest comments came as he gave an update on a meeting Thursday between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin on a US-Ukrainian proposal for a 30-day pause in hostilities.
“We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Putin said Thursday that he had “serious questions” about the proposal and that events in Kursk would influence the next moves toward a ceasefire.
Zelensky accused the Russian leader of seeking to undermine the ceasefire initiative.
“He is now doing everything he can to sabotage diplomacy by setting extremely difficult and unacceptable conditions right from the start even before a ceasefire,” Zelensky posted on X.
The Kremlin said Friday that it was “cautiously optimistic” a deal could be reached, but that Trump and Putin had to speak directly before talks could progress.
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said in a Fox News interview that the United States had “some cautious optimism” after Witkoff’s visit.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a meeting of the Group of Seven western powers in Canada that both sides would have to make “concessions.”
G7 foreign ministers warned Russia of new sanctions unless it accepted a ceasefire “on equal terms,” saying sanctions could include “caps on oil prices, as well as additional support for Ukraine, and other means.”
France and Germany accused Russia of seeking to block a ceasefire, and support for Ukraine was to be discussed again in a video conference of some European leaders with Zelensky on Saturday.
Diplomatic sources said EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas would propose that the 27-country bloc supply up to 40 billion euros ($43.5 billion) in new military aid to Ukraine.
Ukraine hoped its hold on Kursk would be a bargaining chips in talks with Russia and way eyeing a potential land swap with Moscow, which has occupied around a fifth of Ukraine since it took Crimea in 2014 and launched its military offensive in February 2022.


Pope marks month in hospital as footballers send messages

Pope marks month in hospital as footballers send messages
Updated 14 March 2025
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Pope marks month in hospital as footballers send messages

Pope marks month in hospital as footballers send messages
  • The Vatican has yet to give an indication as to how long his recovery might take, or when he might return home
  • “Dear Pope Francis, from here, from your home, from your club, from your beloved San Lorenzo, we send you a big hug,” team captain Iker Muniain said

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis marked a month in hospital Friday, with football players sending him messages of support for his recovery from pneumonia, including the captain of his favorite team, San Lorenzo.
Francis, 88, has been in Rome’s Gemelli hospital since February 14 and has suffered a series of breathing crises, with doctors initially warning his life was at risk.
While the head of the Catholic Church was declared out of imminent danger earlier this week, the Vatican has yet to give an indication as to how long his recovery might take, or when he might return home.
“Dear Pope Francis, from here, from your home, from your club, from your beloved San Lorenzo, we send you a big hug,” team captain Iker Muniain said in a video posted Friday.
The Argentine pope loves football and has long supported the San Lorenzo club in Buenos Aires, where he went to watch matches with his father as a boy.
“We wish you a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing you here as soon as possible. A big hug, bye!” Muniain said, standing on a pitch wearing the team’s red and blue kit.
Muniain’s message was posted on the Instagram page of We Play For Peace, a sporting and peace initiative supported by the pope.
Other messages included thoughts and prayers from Brazilian player Neymar — who sent Francis “much strength at this moment” — and from Croatian Ivan Rakitic and Italian Ciro Ferrara.
In another sporting show of support, the organizers of Rome’s marathon said the 30,000 participants would observe 42 seconds of silence — one per kilometer — for the pope ahead of Sunday’s race.
Francis was “stable” Friday, the Vatican press office said, after passing a “quiet night” on the 10th floor of the Rome hospital that has a suite reserved for pontiffs.
Although he is no longer in critical condition, the pope is still receiving respiratory assistance through a nasal cannula during the day and an oxygen mask at night.
On Friday he joined prayer and meditation services at the Vatican via video link, without being seen, as in previous days.
He also did some physiotherapy, the press office said.
Meanwhile the Vatican’s diplomatic corps took part in a mass for Francis led by Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky published a message on X saying he had spoken to Parolin and “wished Pope Francis a speedy recovery.”
Francis marked 12 years of his papacy on Thursday, celebrating with a small piece of cake, according to the press office.
It said it would issue another medical bulletin Friday evening, but might stop sending a daily morning update.
Talk is now turning to when he might go home.
But Francis’s hospital stay, the longest and most difficult of his papacy, has raised doubts about his ability to lead the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics.
“It takes time for an 88-year-old body affected by bilateral pneumonia to recover, also in terms of energy, of strength,” the press office said.


Trump hails ‘productive’ truce talks with Russia, urges Putin to spare Ukrainians

Trump hails ‘productive’ truce talks with Russia, urges Putin to spare Ukrainians
Updated 14 March 2025
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Trump hails ‘productive’ truce talks with Russia, urges Putin to spare Ukrainians

Trump hails ‘productive’ truce talks with Russia, urges Putin to spare Ukrainians
  • The Kremlin said earlier it was “cautiously optimistic” a deal could be reached
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Putin of trying to “sabotage diplomacy”

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Friday his administration had “productive” talks with Russia about a ceasefire in Ukraine, urging counterpart Vladimir Putin to spare Ukrainian soldiers on the front line.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin late Thursday to lay out the details of a joint US-Ukrainian plan, which envisages a 30-day pause in hostilities between Moscow and Kyiv after three years of war.
“We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified to reporters that Trump had not spoken to Putin himself on Thursday.
The Kremlin said earlier it was “cautiously optimistic” a deal could be reached, but that Trump and Putin needed to speak directly before talks could progress.
In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Putin of trying to “sabotage diplomacy” after the Russian leader said he had “serious questions” over how a ceasefire would work.
“He is now doing everything he can to sabotage diplomacy by setting extremely difficult and unacceptable conditions right from the start even before a ceasefire,” Zelensky said in a post on X.
Trump also appealed to Putin over what he said were “thousands” of Ukrainian troops who were “completely surrounded by the Russian military, and in a very bad and vulnerable position.”
“I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II,” he said.
Kyiv quickly denied Trump’s claim, saying there was “no threat” of its troops being encircled.
Russia has in the past week been driving much of Ukraine’s forces out of its Kursk region, parts of which Kyiv occupied last year.
The Kremlin said both Moscow and Washington understood a direct conversation between Putin and Trump “was needed.”
“When Mr.Witkoff brings all the information to President Trump, we will determine the timing of a conversation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said in a Fox News interview that the US had “some cautious optimism” after Witkoff’s visit.
Commenting on Waltz’s remarks, Peskov said Friday: “There are reasons to be cautiously optimistic.”
“There is still much to be done, but the president has nevertheless identified with President Trump’s position.”
Putin said Thursday he backed the idea of a truce with Ukraine, but said he had “serious questions” about how it would be implemented that he wanted to discuss with Trump.
The Russian leader said he wanted any settlement to secure “long-term peace,” alluding to Moscow’s demand that Ukraine be barred from NATO.
Zelensky has called Putin’s ambivalent response a “very manipulative,” while Germany called it a “delaying tactic.”
The ceasefire proposal comes amid a rapid Russian counteroffensive in its western Kursk region.
Moscow has driven much of Kyiv’s forces out of its Kursk province, and has been advancing across the eastern Ukrainian Donetsk region for the past year.
Ukraine hoped its hold on the territory would be one of its few bargaining chips in talks with Russia and was eyeing a potential land swap with Moscow, which has occupied around a fifth of Ukraine since it took Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale assault in February 2022.
Ukraine now risks losing its grip on the border region entirely, denying it this point of leverage.
Russia claims its troops have also crossed into Ukrainian territory in the Sumy region, from where Kyiv launched the shock incursion last August.
Andriy Demchenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian border guard service, told Ukrainian state media that Russian forces were trying to enter Sumy.
“We continue to detect attempts by small assault groups to enter our territory and approach our border,” he said.
In the skies, Ukraine and Russia exchanged drone fire on Friday, but it was less intense compared to previous days.