Headline

Trump Blasts Zelensky As ‘Disrespectful’ After Heated Exchange At White House

Published

7 months ago

March 1, 2025

US President Donald Trump cut short a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday and said the Ukrainian leader is “not ready” for peace with Russia in an extraordinary meltdown in the Oval Office that threw question marks over chances for a truce.

Zelensky was meant to be making a full White House visit to sign a US-Ukrainian deal for joint exploitation of Ukraine’s mineral resources, as part of a post-war recovery in a US-brokered peace deal.

Instead, an ugly clash blew up almost immediately in the Oval Office where Trump and Vice President JD Vance shouted at Zelensky, accusing him of not being thankful for US help in the three-year war against Russian invasion.

Trump berated Zelensky, telling him to be more “thankful” and that without US assistance Ukraine would have been conquered by Russia.

“You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out,” Trump added. “And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”

Zelensky left in his motorcade shortly after, without holding a planned joint press conference.The resources deal was left unsigned, the White House said

Trump took to his Truth Social platform to castigate Zelensky saying “he disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office.”

Zelensky is “not ready for Peace,” Trump wrote. “He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

Compromise row

The extraordinary meltdown came after Trump said Ukraine will have to make “compromises” in a truce with Russia, which has occupied swaths of Ukraine, destroying entire cities and towns along the way.

“You can’t do any deals without compromises. So certainly he’s going to have to make some compromises, but hopefully they won’t be as big as some people think,” Trump said.

But showing Trump pictures of war atrocities and referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky said there should be “no compromises with a killer on our territory.”

“Crazy Russians,” he said, deported Ukrainian children and committed war crimes during their three-year invasion of his country.

The dramatic public breakdown in the long-tense relationship between Zelensky and Trump came after their meeting — in front of a large group of journalists — had appeared to get off to a friendlier start.

Zelensky had said, “I think President Trump is on our side.”

Truce talks in doubt

The clash left in doubt efforts led by Trump to cast himself as mediator in the war.

The leaders of France and Britain also came to the White House this week, seeking to persuade Trump not to take the Russian line and to bolster US support for Ukraine in a future truce.

After the drama in the White House, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk told Zelensky: “You are not alone.”

Trump has alarmed Kyiv and European allies with his abrupt U-turn in US policy, ending what had been full-throated support for Ukraine’s attempt to defeat the Russian invasion and casting himself as a mediator between Putin and Zelensky.

Trump said in the Oval Office that he had “spoken on numerous occasions” to Putin — more than has been publicly reported beyond the lengthy call between the two leaders earlier this February.

Speaking before the shouting match erupted, Trump told Zelensky that a truce is “fairly close.”

The US leader also said that the proposed minerals deal would be “very fair.”

The proposal was to give Washington financial benefits for helping Ukraine in a truce, even if Trump has repeatedly refused to commit any US military force as a back-up to European troops who might act as peacekeepers.

Dictator without elections’ –
The clash came after Trump has flip-flopped in his tone on Zelensky.

Trump called him a “dictator” last week and has repeatedly blamed Ukraine for Russia’s February 2022 invasion and echoed a series of Kremlin talking points about how the war started.

But on Thursday, Trump said at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer: “I have a lot of respect for him.”

“We’re going to get along really well,” he said.

Trump, who has repeatedly expressed admiration for Putin, said this week he trusts Putin to “keep his word” on any ceasefire.

Senate Democrats accused Trump and Vance of siding with Putin.

They are “doing Putin’s dirty work. Senate Democrats will never stop fighting for freedom and democracy,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on social media.

“Disgraceful,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen.

As tensions between Moscow and Washington escalated, Russia’s assault on Ukraine continued.

Russian infantry were on Friday storming the Ukrainian border from the Russian region of Kursk, near areas of the region that were seized last summer by Ukrainian forces, Kyiv said Friday.

Headline

Court Jails Two For Targeting President With Sorcery

Published

14 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

A Zambian court on Monday sentenced two men to two years in prison with hard labour on charges of attempting to use witchcraft to kill the country’s president.

Mozambican national Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Zambian village chief Leonard Phiri were arrested in December in possession of charms, including a live chameleon.

Police said they planned to use the charms to harm President Hakainde Hichilema, and they were charged with professing knowledge of witchcraft and possession of charms.

“The motive of the crime was to kill the head of state,” magistrate Fine Mayambu ruled in the capital Lusaka on Monday.

“The convicts were not only enemies of the head of state but all Zambians. I therefore sentence them to 24 months imprisonment with hard labour from the date of their arrest,” he said.

The prosecution said the men had been hired by the brother of opposition MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda, who is facing trial for robbery, attempted murder and escaping custody.

Headline

Two Nigerians Face Jail Terms In Liberia’s Piracy Trial

Published

14 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Criminal Court ‘D’ in Monrovia is set to deliver judgment this week in Liberia’s first piracy trial, involving two Nigerian nationals accused of hijacking a cargo vessel in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to court records, the defendants were arrested earlier this year after a Liberia-flagged ship was seized by armed men while transporting goods through international waters. The crew sent a distress signal, prompting international maritime forces to intervene.

The suspects were subsequently transferred to Liberian authorities under global maritime cooperation protocols.

According to Liberia’s news platform, Front Page Africa, the case has attracted attention because Liberia maintains one of the world’s largest open ship registries, yet prosecutions for piracy within its domestic courts have not previously occurred. Under international law, Liberia holds jurisdiction over crimes involving ships registered under its flag.

On Monday, proceedings took a new turn when defense lawyer, Cllr. Bestman Juah, informed the court that the defendants had admitted responsibility for the hijacking and were requesting a plea-bargain arrangement. State prosecutors did not oppose the request, leaving open the possibility of reduced sentences in exchange for full cooperation.

Resident Judge Mameita Jabateh-Sirleaf, who presides over Criminal Court ‘D’, will rule on whether to accept the plea deal and determine the sentencing framework. The ruling could also address deportation measures following imprisonment.

Criminal Court ‘D’ handles cases involving armed robbery, terrorism, hijacking, and other serious crimes, and the piracy trial represents a growing trend of transnational offenses being prosecuted within Liberia’s judicial system.
As of press time, the court has not announced the date for sentencing.

Headline

Spain Cancels $825m Israel Arms Deal Over Gaza

Published

14 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

The Spanish government has cancelled a contract worth nearly 700 million euros ($825 million) for Israeli-designed rocket launchers.

The move comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced last week that his government would “consolidate in law” a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel over its offensive in Gaza.

The contract, awarded to a consortium of Spanish companies, involved the purchase of 12 SILAM rocket launcher systems derived from the PULS platform made by Israeli firm Elbit Systems, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance.

First reported by local media and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the cancellation was formalised on Spain’s official public contracts platform on September 9.

The following day, Sanchez unveiled measures aimed at stopping what his leftist government called “the genocide in Gaza”.

It includes the approval of a decree imposing a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel due to its military offensive in Gaza, launched after the Hamas attacks in October 2023.

Spain applied the ban as Israel stepped up its military onslaught.

Spain has also formalized the cancellation of another contract for 168 anti-tank missile launchers, which were to be manufactured under license from an Israeli company.

That contract, valued at 287 million euros, had been first reported by the press in June.

According to Spanish daily La Vanguardia, the government is undertaking a broader review to phase out Israeli weapons and technology from its armed forces.

Sanchez has emerged as one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Gaza policy.

Relations between the two countries have been tense for months.

Israel has not had an ambassador in Spain since Madrid recognized the state of Palestine in 2024.

Last week, Spain recalled its ambassador to Israel after heated exchanges over Sánchez’s new measures.

The Barcelona-based Delas Centre, a security research institute, estimated in April that since the start of the Gaza war, Spain had awarded 46 contracts worth $1.044 billion to Israeli companies, based on public tender data.