Trump again criticizes Putin as Ukraine war heats up; Kremlin proposes June 2 direct talks with Ukraine

Trump again criticizes Putin as Ukraine war heats up; Kremlin proposes June 2 direct talks with Ukraine
Russia's President Vladimir Putin. (SPutnik/Pool via AFP)
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Updated 29 May 2025
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Trump again criticizes Putin as Ukraine war heats up; Kremlin proposes June 2 direct talks with Ukraine

Trump again criticizes Putin as Ukraine war heats up; Kremlin proposes June 2 direct talks with Ukraine
  • Trump says he is not yet prepared to order new sanctions
  • Zelensky says Russia has gathered 50,000 troops near Sumy

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/KYIV: US President Donald Trump again expressed frustration on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the intensifying Ukraine conflict, a day after warning that Putin was “playing with fire” by resisting ceasefire talks while escalating drone and missile attacks.

But Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office that he was not yet prepared to impose new sanctions on Russia because he did not want the penalties to scuttle a potential peace deal.

Russia has proposed holding the next round of direct talks with Ukraine on June 2 in Istanbul, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. There was no immediate response from Kyiv.

The public squabble between the US and Russia unfolded as the three-year-old war heats up, with swarms of drones launched by both Russia and Ukraine and Russian troops advancing at key points along the front.

Delegates from Russia and Ukraine met earlier this month in Istanbul under pressure from Trump to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War Two, but the talks failed to yield the ceasefire that Kyiv and its Western allies have pushed for. Moscow said certain conditions needed to be met before a ceasefire agreement.

Asked whether the Russian leader might be intentionally delaying negotiations, Trump said, “We’re going to find out whether or not he’s tapping us along or not, and if he is, we’ll respond a little differently.”

After speaking to Trump on May 19, Putin said he had agreed to work with Ukraine on a memorandum which would set out the contours of a peace accord including the timing of a ceasefire.

Ukraine has not yet officially agreed to Russia’s proposed meeting on June 2. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Wednesday that Kyiv had already submitted its memorandum on a potential settlement and called on Russia to produce its version immediately, rather than waiting until next week.

“We are not opposed to further meetings with the Russians and are awaiting their ‘memorandum’, so that the meeting won’t be empty and can truly move us closer to ending the war,” Umerov said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday about Moscow’s preparation of “concrete proposals” for upcoming talks in Istanbul but gave no details.

Putin’s demands for ending the war include a written pledge from Western leaders that NATO will not expand eastward to former Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Georgia and the lifting of some sanctions on Russia, according to Russian sources with knowledge of the negotiations.

In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump had warned Putin that he was “playing with fire” and that “really bad” things would have happened to Russia already if not for Trump himself.

Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, told a state TV reporter that Trump’s remark suggested he is not well-briefed on the realities of the war.

War heating up

Russia said on Wednesday it had downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions overnight, while Ukraine’s military said it had struck several Russian weapon production sites.

Ukraine said Russia had launched 88 drones and five ballistic missiles.

After Russia said in late April it had ejected Ukrainian forces from the western Kursk region, Moscow’s forces have pushed over the border into the neighboring Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine and taken several villages there.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia has gathered 50,000 troops near the northern Sumy region, but added that Kyiv had taken steps to prevent Moscow from conducting a large-scale offensive there.

Speaking in Berlin during a visit by Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Germany and Ukraine will develop the joint production of long-range missiles, a move the Kremlin said was irresponsible and amounted to stoking the war.

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said that the US-led NATO military alliance was using the Ukrainian crisis to build up its presence across eastern Europe and the Baltic but that Russia was advancing along the entire front in Ukraine.

Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops.

Russia currently controls just under one fifth of Ukraine. Though Russian advances have accelerated over the past year, the war is costing both Russia and Ukraine dearly in terms of casualties and military spending.


Ethiopia arrests 82 suspected members of Daesh group

Ethiopia arrests 82 suspected members of Daesh group
Updated 26 sec ago
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Ethiopia arrests 82 suspected members of Daesh group

Ethiopia arrests 82 suspected members of Daesh group
  • Daesh operatives were trained in neighboring Somali Puntland region
  • Ethiopia is part of AUSSOM combating the Al-Shabab group in Somalia

NAIROBI: More than 80 suspected members of the Daesh group have been arrested across Ethiopia, state media said, claiming they intended to carry out a “terror mission.”
The 82 individuals were trained in neighboring Somali Puntland region, according to state outlet Fana Media Corporation, which cited a statement from the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).
Ethiopia shares a long border with Somalia, which for months has been experiencing a resurgence of attacks by the militant Al-Shabab group.
Fana said late Tuesday the suspected Daesh group members were “identified and arrested,” but did not give any further details.
The suspects “had been recruited for a terror mission,” Fana said, noting the arrests took place in several regions across the country, including capital Addis Ababa.
Somalia and Ethiopia have had tense relations for months after Addis Ababa announced an agreement with the breakaway Somaliland region last year, angering Mogadishu and raising fears of regional destabilization.
Relations between Somalia and Ethiopia have since normalized.
Ethiopia is part of the African Union Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) combating the Al-Shabab group in Somalia.
The AUSSOM mission faces funding difficulties, even as fears of the groups resurgence are stoked by attacks in the Horn of Africa nation.


At least 15 injured in Russian attack targeting energy infrastructure in Ukraine

At least 15 injured in Russian attack targeting energy infrastructure in Ukraine
Updated 29 min 34 sec ago
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At least 15 injured in Russian attack targeting energy infrastructure in Ukraine

At least 15 injured in Russian attack targeting energy infrastructure in Ukraine
  • Russia launched 400 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as one ballistic missile, during the night
  • “Russia does not change its strategy,” Zelensky said

KYIV: Russian weapons pounded four Ukrainian cities overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, injuring at least 15 people in an attack that mostly targeted energy infrastructure, officials said.

The latest bombardment in Russia’s escalating aerial campaign against civilian areas came ahead of a Sept. 2 deadline set by US President Donald Trump for the Kremlin to reach a peace deal in the three-year war, under the threat of possible severe Washington sanctions if it doesn’t.

No date has yet been publicly set for a possible third round of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine. Two previous rounds delivered no progress apart from prisoner swaps.

Russia launched 400 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as one ballistic missile, during the night, the Ukrainian air force said. The strikes targeted northeastern Kharkiv, which is Ukraine’s second-largest city, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, Vinnytsia in the west and Odesa in the south.

“Russia does not change its strategy,” Zelensky said. “To effectively counter this terror, we need a systemic strengthening of defense: more air defense, more interceptors, and more resolve so that Russia feels our response.”

Trump on Monday pledged to deliver more weapons to Ukraine, including vital Patriot air defense systems, and threatened to slap additional sanctions on Russia. It was Trump’s toughest stance toward Russian President Vladimir Putin since he returned to the White House nearly six months ago.

But some US lawmakers and European government officials expressed misgivings that the 50-day deadline handed Putin the opportunity to capture more Ukrainian territory before any settlement to end the fighting.

Other US ultimatums to Putin in recent months have failed to persuade the Russian leader to stop his invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed in the war, many of them along the more than 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, and Russian barrages of cities have killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, the United Nations says.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said Tuesday that “Putin holds a theory of victory that posits that Russia can achieve its war aims by continuing to make creeping gains on the battlefield indefinitely and outlasting Western support for Ukraine and Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.”

Trump said the US is providing additional weapons for Ukraine but European countries are paying for them. While Ukraine and European officials were relieved at the US commitment after months of hesitation, some hoped Washington might shoulder some of the cost.

“We welcome President Trump’s announcement to send more weapons to Ukraine, although we would like to see the USshare the burden,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Tuesday. “If we pay for these weapons, it’s our support.”


Japanese Ambassador Magoshi attends ceremony of solar power system to training and autism centres in Lebanon

Japanese Ambassador Magoshi attends ceremony of solar power system to training and autism centres in Lebanon
Updated 57 min 28 sec ago
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Japanese Ambassador Magoshi attends ceremony of solar power system to training and autism centres in Lebanon

Japanese Ambassador Magoshi attends ceremony of solar power system to training and autism centres in Lebanon
  • The initiative was supported through Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Program
  • Al Midan is providing various training opportunities for vulnerable people in Zgharta

BEIRUT: Magoshi Masayuki, Ambassador of Japan to Lebanon, on Tuesday attended the ceremony to hand over a solar power system to the Al Midan training center and the North Autism Center located in Zgharta, North Lebanon.

The initiative was supported through Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Program (GGP).

The ceremony was held in the presence of Rima Frangieh, Founder of Al Midan and NAC; Lamia Yammine, Executive Director of Al Midan, and Former Minister of Labor; Sabine Saad, Executive Director of NAC; Pierro Doueihy, President of the Municipality of Zgharta-Ehden; and Bassam Haykal, President of the Union of Municipalities of Zgharta.

Al Midan is providing various training opportunities for vulnerable people in Zgharta, North Lebanon, while the North Autism Center has been serving youth with autism and other special needs in the region through specialized sessions and learning opportunities.

Given the pivotal roles both centers have played in the region, Japan supported Al Midan with a solar panel system to help address the centers’ pressing need for stable energy supply, which allowed them to increase the number of students and enhance the learning environment.

During the ceremony, Ambassador MAGOSHI highlighted Japan’s recent support for solar power projects across Lebanon in various sectors and emphasized the importance of this initiative.

He also reiterated Japan’s unwavering commitment to supporting Lebanon’s education sector to help Lebanon overcome the ongoing socio-economic challenges.

In return, Rima expressed deep gratitude for the Japanese support, emphasizing the vital role this solar energy system plays in sustaining services at both centers.

She highlighted how the reliable energy supply has already begun to improve the learning conditions for children with special needs and enhance access to essential training programs for the community.

She also reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to creating inclusive and resilient spaces for all.


Europol says pro-Russia hacking group broken up

Europol says pro-Russia hacking group broken up
Updated 16 July 2025
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Europol says pro-Russia hacking group broken up

Europol says pro-Russia hacking group broken up
  • NoName057 was disrupted following raids in 12 countries between July 14 and 17

THE HAGUE: EU anti-crime bodies Europol and Eurojust said Wednesday they had coordinated an international operation to dismantle a pro-Russian hacking group accused of launching thousands of online attacks against Ukraine and its allies.

The network, known as NoName057(16), was disrupted following raids in 12 countries between July 14 and 17, they said.

Germany and Spain led the legal action, while police made arrests in France and Spain.


Saudi Cultural Week concludes at Osaka Expo

Saudi Cultural Week concludes at Osaka Expo
Updated 16 July 2025
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Saudi Cultural Week concludes at Osaka Expo

Saudi Cultural Week concludes at Osaka Expo
  • The event was held in honor of the Kingdom’s designation of 2025 as the Year of Handicrafts
  • Visitors were welcomed into the Saudi Heritage Majlis

TOKYO: The Saudi Ministry of Culture hosted the Saudi Cultural Week in Osaka from July 12 to 15 at the Osaka Expo’s Gallery EAST to celebrate Saudi culture and the cultural intersections between Japan and Saudi Arabia.

The event was held in honor of the Kingdom’s designation of 2025 as the Year of Handicrafts and highlighted artistic exchange between the two countries.

It offered a diverse program of exhibitions, performances and interactive showcases that invited visitors to explore the Kingdom’s cultural heritage and learn about the traditions shared by both nations.

It was organized by the Saudi Ministry of Culture with the participation of the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts, the Saudi Artisanal Company, the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Global Center for Arabic Calligraphy, and the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives.

Visitors were welcomed into the Saudi Heritage Majlis, where they experienced traditional Saudi hospitality and viewed side-by-side presentations of cultural garments, including a Saudi bisht and a Japanese kimono.

Live performances by a Saudi oud musician and a Japanese shamisen musician symbolized the harmony between the two cultures.

The program also featured collaborative demonstrations with Saudi and Japanese artisans presenting crafts together, including Al-Sadu weaving and Japanese tapestry, Khous making and bamboo crafting, and pottery from both traditions.

Visitors participated in hands-on workshops led by craftspeople and students, highlighting the event’s emphasis on cultural exchange and shared learning.

A photographic exhibition curated by the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives chronicled the history of Saudi Japanese relations over the past seven decades.