MOSCOW: Russia and Ukraine on Friday resumed peace talks by video conference, after Moscow reported a Ukrainian strike on a fuel depot in western Russia, a negotiator said.
“We are continuing talks by video conference,” Moscow’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on Telegram. “Our positions on Crimea and Donbass have not changed.”
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Russia-Ukraine talks resume via video: Russian negotiator
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Russia-Ukraine talks resume via video: Russian negotiator
- ‘Our positions on Crimea and Donbass have not changed’
Russia, Ukraine announce fresh prisoner swap
- The warring sides have swapped POWs throughout Russia’s more than three-year invasion
- Russia is believed to hold thousands of Ukrainian prisoners, many of whom were captured in the first year of Moscow’s offensive
KYIV: Russia and Ukraine announced a fresh prisoner swap on Friday as part of agreements reached between them during talks in Istanbul last month.
The warring sides have swapped POWs throughout Russia’s more than three-year invasion. At recent talks in Istanbul, they agreed to free all heavily wounded, ill and under 25-year-old captive troops.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky published photographs of freed Ukrainian troops, wrapped in blue and yellow flags.
“Our people are home. Most of them had been held in Russian captivity since 2022,” he said on social media.
Zelensky said they included servicemen from the army, national guard, border service and transport service, adding: “And also civilians.”
He did not say how many Ukrainians had been returned.
“Ukraine’s goal is to free all our people from Russian captivity,” Zelensky said.
Russia’s defense ministry also reported the swap, saying Kyiv handed over a group of its servicemen who were currently in Moscow-allied Belarus.
It also did not say how many troops were exchanged.
Russia is believed to hold thousands of Ukrainian prisoners, many of whom were captured in the first year of Moscow’s offensive when Russian troops advanced deep into the country.
Kyiv also holds many Russian captives, although that number is believed to be considerably smaller.
The warring sides have swapped POWs throughout Russia’s more than three-year invasion. At recent talks in Istanbul, they agreed to free all heavily wounded, ill and under 25-year-old captive troops.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky published photographs of freed Ukrainian troops, wrapped in blue and yellow flags.
“Our people are home. Most of them had been held in Russian captivity since 2022,” he said on social media.
Zelensky said they included servicemen from the army, national guard, border service and transport service, adding: “And also civilians.”
He did not say how many Ukrainians had been returned.
“Ukraine’s goal is to free all our people from Russian captivity,” Zelensky said.
Russia’s defense ministry also reported the swap, saying Kyiv handed over a group of its servicemen who were currently in Moscow-allied Belarus.
It also did not say how many troops were exchanged.
Russia is believed to hold thousands of Ukrainian prisoners, many of whom were captured in the first year of Moscow’s offensive when Russian troops advanced deep into the country.
Kyiv also holds many Russian captives, although that number is believed to be considerably smaller.
Kremlin says it pays close attention to Trump statements after he voices disappointment with Putin call
- Kremlin leader had told Trump that Russia expects to agree a date for a third round of peace talks with Ukraine
- Russia would prefer to achieve its goals in Ukraine by political and diplomatic means
MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Friday that Russia closely follows all of Donald Trump’s statements after the US president said he was “very disappointed” with his latest conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine.
Trump, who had confidently stated last week that Putin was “looking to settle” the conflict, said after Thursday’s phone call that he did not think the Russian leader was looking to stop it.
Asked about the comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “Of course, we are paying very close attention to all of President Trump’s statements.”
He did not address Trump’s implied criticism of Putin.
Trump, who returned to the White House in January with a promise to swiftly end the “bloodbath” in Ukraine, said after Thursday’s call: “I didn’t make any progress with him at all.”
Peskov said Putin had told Trump that Russia would prefer to achieve its goals in Ukraine by political and diplomatic means, but in the meantime would continue what it calls its “special military operation.”
He said the Kremlin leader had told Trump that Russia expects to agree a date for a third round of peace talks with Ukraine, following earlier talks in May and June.
At least five dead in Pakistan building collapse: police
- Up to 100 people had been living in the building
- Roof and building collapses are common across Pakistan
KARACHI: A five-story building collapse in Pakistan on Friday killed at least five people and left six injured, with more victims trapped under the rubble, police said.
Rescuers and residents in the mega port city of Karachi worked together to pull people from the debris after the incident at around 10:10 a.m. (0510 GMT).
“We have so far retrieved five dead bodies and six injured people,” a senior local police official, Arif Aziz, said.
Up to 100 people had been living in the building, he added.
Saad Edhi, of the Edhi welfare foundation that is leading the rescue operation, said there could be “at least eight to 10 more people still trapped,” describing it as a “worn out building.”
He put the death toll at four.
Roof and building collapses are common across Pakistan, mainly because of poor safety standards and shoddy construction materials in the South Asian country of more than 240 million people.
But Karachi, home to more than 20 million, is especially notorious for poor construction, illegal extensions, aging infrastructure, overcrowding, and lax enforcement of building regulations.
After decades of service, Taiwan retires its last F-5 fighter jets
- To keep pace with increased threats from mainland China, Taiwan has been upgrading both its manned and unmanned aerial assets
HUALIEN, Taiwan: After decades in service, Taiwan’s Vietnam-era F-5 fighter jets are being retired as part of the island democracy’s transition to more advanced hardware.
To keep pace with increased threats from mainland China, Taiwan has been upgrading both its manned and unmanned aerial assets, including purchasing 66 of the latest generation F-16V fighters and upgrading existing aircraft to modern specifications.
China claims the island as its own territory and has never dropped its threat to invade since the sides split amid civil war in 1949.
The air force invited journalists on Friday to witness one last flyby by the F-5, which first entered service with Taiwan in 1965 and most of which have now been converted to trainers, reconnaissance planes or decoys.
The planes began moving into a backing role 30 years ago when Taiwan began acquiring more modern American F-16s, French Mirage 2000s and domestically developed Ching Kuos.
The F-5 is one of the world’s most widely produced jets, with Taiwan the largest operator at one point with 336, producing some 100 domestically. Dozens of countries still use them, including the US, which uses them as pretend opponents in training exercises.
The planes gained favor for their high speed and maneuverability, alongside their low cost and ease of maintenance. For Taiwan, they guarded the skies above the Taiwan Strait against mainland China’s Soviet and domestically built fighters.
Taiwan’s F-5s were based along the eastern coast, separated from China by both the 160 kilometer (100 mile)-wide Taiwan Strait and Taiwan’s formidable Central Mountain Range.
Rio to host BRICS summit wary of Trump
- The city, with beefed-up security, will play host to leaders and diplomats from 11 emerging economies
- Tensions in the Middle East, including Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, will weigh on the summit
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: A summit of BRICS nations will convene in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday and Monday, with members hoping to weigh in on global crises while tiptoeing around US President Donald Trump’s policies.
The city, with beefed-up security, will play host to leaders and diplomats from 11 emerging economies including China, India, Russia and South Africa, which represent nearly half of the world’s population and 40 percent of its GDP.
Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will have to navigate the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will miss the summit for the first time.
Beijing will instead be represented by its Prime Minister Li Qiang.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is facing a pending International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, will not travel to Brazil, but is set to participate via video link, according to the Kremlin.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, fresh from a 12-day conflict with Israel and a skirmish with the United States, will also be absent, as will his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, a Brazilian government source said.
Tensions in the Middle East, including Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, will weigh on the summit, as well as the grim anticipation of tariffs threatened by Trump due next week.
“We’re anticipating a summit with a cautious tone: it will be difficult to mention the United States by name in the final declaration,” Marta Fernandez, director of the BRICS Policy Center at Rio’s Pontifical Catholic University said.
China, for example, “is trying to adopt a restrained position on the Middle East,” Fernandez said, pointing out that Beijing was also in tricky tariff negotiations with Washington.
“This doesn’t seem to be the right time to provoke further friction” between the world’s two leading economies, the researcher said.
BRICS members did not issue a strong statement on the Iran-Israel conflict and subsequent US military strikes due to their “diverging” interests, according to Oliver Stuenkel, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.
Brazil nevertheless hopes that countries can take a common stand at the summit, including on the most sensitive issues.
“BRICS (countries), throughout their history, have managed to speak with one voice on major international issues, and there’s no reason why that shouldn’t be the case this time on the subject of the Middle East,” Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said.
However, talks on finding an alternative to the dollar for trade between BRICS members are likely dead in the water.
For Fernandez, it is almost “forbidden” to mention the idea within the group since Trump threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on countries that challenge the dollar’s international dominance.
Brazil, which in 2030 will host the COP30 UN climate conference, also hopes to find unity on the fight against climate change.
Artificial intelligence and global governance reform will also be on the menu.
“The escalation of the Middle East conflict reinforces the urgency of the debate on the need to reform global governance and strengthen multilateralism,” said foreign minister Vieira.
Since 2023, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran and Indonesia have joined the BRICS, formed in 2009 as a counter-balance to leading Western economies.
But, as Fernandez points out, this expansion “makes it all the more difficult to build a strong consensus.”
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