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Anxiety As Trump Gives Russia 50 Days To Make Ukraine Deal

Published

1 month ago

July 15, 2025

US President Donald Trump told Russia on Monday to end its war in Ukraine within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions, as he laid out plans for infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via NATO.

Trump said he was “very, very unhappy” with Vladimir Putin, underlining his insistence that his patience had finally snapped with the Russian leader’s refusal to end the deadly conflict.

“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 percent,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

The Republican added that they would be “secondary tariffs” that target Russia’s remaining trade partners — seeking to impede Moscow’s ability to survive already sweeping Western sanctions.

Russia’s top trading partner last year was China, accounting for about 34 percent, followed distantly by India, Turkey and Belarus, according to the Russian Federal Customs Service.

Trump and Rutte also unveiled a deal under which the NATO military alliance would buy billions of dollars of arms from the United States — including Patriot anti-missile batteries — and send them to Ukraine.

“This is really big,” said Rutte, as he touted a deal aimed at easing Trump’s long-held complaints that the United States is paying more than European and NATO allies to aid Ukraine.

Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Britain were among the buyers helping Ukraine, added the NATO chief.

“If I was Vladimir Putin today and heard you speaking… I would reconsider that I should take negotiations about Ukraine more seriously,” said Rutte.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken with Trump and was “grateful” for the arms deal.

In a BBC interview published Tuesday, Trump expressed disappointment with Putin.

“I’m disappointed in him, but I’m not done with him,” the US president said.

When asked if he trusted the Russian leader, Trump replied: “I trust almost no one.”

– Growing frustration –

Trump attempted a rapprochement with Putin shortly after starting his second term, having campaigned on a pledge to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.

His pivot towards Putin sparked fears in Kyiv that he was about to sell out Ukraine, especially after he and his team berated Zelensky in the Oval Office in February.

But in recent weeks, Trump has shown increasing frustration with Putin, as Russian has stepped up attacks rather than halting them.

Trump said his wife Melania had helped change his thinking about Putin.

“I go home, I tell the First Lady, ‘you know, I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation,’” Trump said. “And she said, ‘Oh really? Another city was just hit.’”

He added of Putin: “I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy.”

Washington has also U-turned on pausing some arms deliveries to Kyiv.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin would play a “decisive role” in the new weapons plan.

But EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Trump’s sanctions deadline was too far into the future. “Fifty days is a very long time if we see that they are killing innocent civilians every day,” she said.

Beijing opposed what it called attempts at “coercion”, including “all illegal unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction.”

“Coercion and pressure will not solve problems,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Tuesday.

– ‘Better late than never’ –
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who are pushing a bipartisan bill on Russia secondary sanctions, praised Trump’s “powerful” ultimatum to Russia.

Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv on Monday for what Zelensky called a “productive meeting.”

One Ukrainian soldier deployed in the war-scarred east of the country, who identified himself by his call sign Grizzly, welcomed Trump’s promise of fresh air defense systems.

“Better late than never,” the 29-year-old told AFP.

Russian forces meanwhile said on Monday they had captured new territory in eastern Ukraine with the seizure of one village in the Donetsk region and another in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Its forces also killed at least three civilians in the eastern Kharkiv and Sumy regions on Monday, Ukrainian officials said.

In Kyiv, Zelensky also proposed a major political shake-up, recommending economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko take over as prime minister, and appointing incumbent Prime Minister Denys Shmygal as defense minister.

AFP

Related Topics:#Trump Puttin Russia Ukraine

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Headline

42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

Published

12 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.

The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.

“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.

“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

AFP

Headline

Venezuela Frees Eight Opposition Leaders

Published

12 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.

Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.

Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.

“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,” two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.

Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.

Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.

The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.

“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.

AFP

Headline

Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Published

12 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that have seen hundreds of POWs released this year, the two sides said.

Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July.

They remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since Russia’s offensive began in 2022.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added. Ukraine did not confirm any figures for the release.

Russia also said that “eight citizens of the Russian Federation—residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv were also returned.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of territory in a major setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack but did not fully reclaim the region until April.

Among the Ukrainians released on Sunday was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Khyliuk was kidnapped in the Kyiv region in March 2022. He is finally home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media.

Also freed was former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, “who spent more than three years in captivity,” Zelensky’s aide Andriy Yermak wrote on X.

“In 2022, he was on the list for return, but Volodymyr voluntarily refused to be exchanged in favour of a seriously ill prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell in a Russian prison,” Yermak said.

AFP