Ukraine’s Zelenskyy to send delegation for Russia talks after Putin no-show
Al Jazeera
Volodymyr Zelenskyy sends team led by defence minister for talks with Russian delegation in Turkiye’s Istanbul.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is sending a team headed by his defence minister to Istanbul for the first direct talks with a Russian delegation since the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Zelenskyy’s announcement on Thursday came after the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had no intention to meet with him in Turkiye, sending instead a junior delegation for the planned talks – a move that Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said was “like a slap in the face”.
The Ukrainian delegation will be headed by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov with the aim “to attempt at least the first steps toward de-escalation, the first steps toward ending the war – namely, a ceasefire”, he said.
Russia’s team is headed by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, a former culture minister, who said that he viewed talks with Kyiv as a “continuation” of failed negotiations in 2022.
The terms under discussion back then, when Ukraine was still reeling from Russia’s initial invasion, would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. They included a demand by Moscow for deep cuts to the size of Ukraine’s military.
Residents of Tehran exchange new year’s wishes as US and Israeli attacks continue through the spring equinox.
Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since he replaced his slain father as Iran’s supreme leader.
The F-35 fighter jet landed safely and the pilot is in stable condition, CENTCOM spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hints war funding may change, leaving timeline decisions to President Trump.
Prices are likely to rise substantially if the Strait of Hormuz remains, in effect, closed, market watchers say.
Trump has called on other navies to help open the strait, but countries are instead striking deals with Iran.
If the death of Esmaeil Khatib is confirmed, it would be the third major high-profile assassination in successive days.
Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi says US-Israeli assassinations will not topple Tehran’s ‘strong political structure’.
Kent is the highest-level official to leave Trump administration over the US president’s decision to wage war on Iran.
The attacks are part of an escalating cycle of violence between US forces and Iraqi groups aligned with Tehran.
UN rights office says more than 36,000 Palestinians forcibly displaced in a year due to Israeli settler, army violence.
Rare US-Hamas talks come as the war on Iran strains the battered Gaza ‘ceasefire’ and post-war plans.
Israel’s Defence Minister Katz has claimed that Iran’s security chief has been assassinated