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Russian delegation arrives in Turkiye for Ukraine war talks

Russia's Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov attends a meeting on the upcoming direct peace talks with Ukraine, set to be held in Istanbul, chaired by Russian President in Moscow on May 14, 2025. (File/AFP)
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Updated 15 May 2025
AP
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Russian delegation arrives in Turkiye for Ukraine war talks

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin was not part of the delegation from Moscow
  • A Ukrainian delegation including Zelensky was due to arrive in Ankara
Updated 15 May 2025
AP

ISTANBUL: Russia’s delegation arrived in Istanbul for peace talks with Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday, and a Ukrainian official said a delegation including President Volodymyr Zelensky was on its way the the Turkish capital Ankara.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was not part of the delegation from Moscow, however, according to a list released by the Kremlin Wednesday night, prompting criticism from Western officials that the Kremlin isn’t serious about the peace effort.

Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin, will lead the Russian delegation that will also include three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as “experts” for the talks.

Earlier this week, Zelensky challenged the Russian leader to meet in person in Turkiye to talk about ending the more than three-year war. Zelensky said he would travel to Ankara to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and wait for Putin.

A Ukrainian delegation including Zelensky was due to arrive in Ankara on Thursday, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

Also in the delegation are Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak, the official said.

He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons as the team had not yet arrived in Ankara.

“Now, after three years of immense suffering, there is finally a window of opportunity,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a NATO meeting taking place separately in Turkiye. “The talks in Istanbul hopefully may open a new chapter.”

But Zelensky will sit at the table only with Putin, Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said.

Details about whether, when and where the Ukrainian delegation might meet their Russian counterparts are still unclear but is expected to be clarified after Zelensky and Erdogan meet, according to a Ukrainian official who requested anonymity to speak openly about the day’s plan.

Tass said that the talks were to take place in a presidential office on the Bosporus.

Moscow offered talks instead of a ceasefire

Putin on Wednesday evening held a meeting with senior government officials and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov, and National Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu attended the meeting, among others.

Kyiv and its European allies had urged the Kremlin to agree to a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a first step toward peace. Putin effectively rejected the proposal, offering direct talks between Russia and Ukraine instead.

The Kremlin billed Thursday’s talks as a “restart” of peace negotiations that were held in Istanbul in the first weeks of the war in 2022 but quickly fell apart. Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting, while Kyiv said Russia’s demands amounted to an ultimatum rather than something both sides could agree on.

Russia’s delegation then was also headed by Vladimir Medinsky.

Putin’s proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kickstarted by US President Donald Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the devastating war swiftly. The Trump administration in recent weeks indicated that it might walk away from the peace effort if there was no tangible progress soon.

Trump had pressed for Putin and Zelensky to meet in Istanbul but said Thursday he wasn’t surprised that Putin was a no-show. He brushed off Putin’s decision to not take part in the talks.

“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump said during a roundtable in Doha, Qatar

The US and Western European leaders have threatened Russia with further sanctions if there is no progress in halting the fighting.

NATO ministers back Ukraine

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with US State Secretary Marco Rubio and Senator Lindsey Graham in the Turkish city of Antalya late Wednesday night. Antalya on Thursday is hosting NATO foreign ministers to discuss new defense investment goals as the US shifts its focus to security challenges away from Europe.

Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine’s support for Trump’s mediation efforts and thanked the US for its continued involvement, urging Moscow to “reciprocate Ukraine’s constructive steps” toward peace. “So far, it has not,” Sybiha said.

On Thursday morning, Sybiha also met with other European foreign ministers, including his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, who in a post on X reiterated the call for a ceasefire and the threat of “massive sanctions” if Russia doesn’t comply.

“We’re in a very difficult spot right now, and we hope that we can find the steps forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future,” Rubio said Thursday.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, also in Antalya for the NATO talks, accused Moscow of not being willing to to engage in a serious peace process.

“We have one chair empty, which is the chair of Vladimir Putin. So now I guess the entire world has realized that there’s only one party not willing to engage in serious peace negotiations, and that certainly is Russia,” Valtonen said.

Barrot echoed her sentiment: “In front of Ukrainians there is an empty chair, one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin,” he said. “Vladimir Putin is dragging his feet and in all evidence does not want to enter into these peace discussions.”

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Turkiye

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Russian FM Lavrov to visit North Korea this weekend

Updated 2 sec ago
AFP
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Russian FM Lavrov to visit North Korea this weekend

Updated 2 sec ago
AFP
SEOUL: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit North Korea this weekend, state media reported, the latest in a series of high-profile visits by top Moscow officials as the two countries deepen military ties.
Lavrov "will visit the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from July 11 to 13 at the invitation of the DPRK Foreign Ministry," the official Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday.
Russia's security chief Sergei Shoigu has visited Pyongyang multiple times this year, including last month, when the two countries marked the one year anniversary of the signing of a sweeping military pact.
The two heavily-sanctioned nations signed the military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the nuclear-armed North.
Pyongyang has become one of Moscow's main allies during its more than three-year-long Ukraine offensive, sending thousands of troops and container loads of weapons to help the Kremlin oust Ukrainian forces from Kursk region.
Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, Seoul has said, with Shoigu announcing in Pyongyang last month that the nuclear-armed North would send builders and deminers to Kursk.
North Korea only confirmed it had deployed troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine in April, and admitted that its soldiers had been killed in combat.
Leader Kim Jong Un has subsequently been shown in state media images honouring the flag-draped coffins of North Korean soldiers killed helping Russia fight Ukraine.

China says EU ‘mentality’, not trade, needs to be rebalanced

Updated 10 min 39 sec ago
AFP
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China says EU ‘mentality’, not trade, needs to be rebalanced

  • EU chief Ursula von der Leyen remarked the EU would seek to rebalance economic ties with China, demanding it eases market access for European firms and loosen export controls on rare earths
Updated 10 min 39 sec ago
AFP

BEIJING: Beijing said on Wednesday that the European Union needed to rebalance its “mentality,” not its economic ties with China, ahead of a summit between the two this month.
“It is hoped that the European side realizes that what needs to be rebalanced right now is Europe’s mentality, not China-EU economic and trade relations,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday the EU would seek to rebalance economic ties with China, demanding it eases market access for European firms and loosen export controls on rare earths.
Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, von der Leyen said Beijing was running the largest trade surplus “in the history of mankind” exporting vast amounts to the EU while making it harder for European companies to do business in China.
The trade deficit between China and the EU was a yawning $357 billion in 2024.
The commission leader, who will travel to Beijing with European Council President Antonio Costa, said the pair will seek to loosen export restrictions on rare earths — while Brussels also looks at “developing alternative supply resources.”
Beijing snapped back on Wednesday, saying that in the “current turbulent situation,” the bloc and China should “properly handle divergences and frictions.”
“We hope that the European Union will truly establish a more objective and rational understanding of China and pursue a more positive and pragmatic China policy,” Mao said.

Topics: EU China

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Taiwan kicks off military drills in face of China threat
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Taiwan kicks off military drills in face of China threat

Updated 28 min 18 sec ago
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Taiwan kicks off military drills in face of China threat

  • The self ruled island faces the constant threat of an invasion by China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it
Updated 28 min 18 sec ago
AFP

TAIPEI: Taiwan kicked off its largest military drills Wednesday with regular troops joined by a record mobilization of reservists for 10 days of training aimed at defending against a Chinese invasion.
The annual “Han Kuang” exercises, which are being held at the same time as civilian defense drills, will run from July 9-18 and feature newly delivered US high-tech rocket systems.
The self-ruled island democracy faces the constant threat of an invasion by China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it.
Chinese military pressure has intensified in recent years, with Beijing deploying fighter jets and warships around the island on a near-daily basis.
In the lead-up to the drills Wednesday, Taiwan detected 31 sorties by Chinese military aircraft and seven warships around the island in the 24 hours to 6:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday), according to the defense ministry.
Taiwan has boosted defense spending and acquired smaller and more nimble weaponry, including drones, to enable its military to wage asymmetric warfare against its more powerful foe.
Twenty-two thousand reservists — the largest ever call-up — are participating in this year’s drills, having begun a training program Saturday.
Reservist training includes familiarization with rifles, squad and platoon machine guns, and tactical maneuvers.
“Because these reservists have been discharged and away for a long time, upon return they need to undergo specialty refresher training,” said an army officer who asked not to be named.
On Wednesday, reservists wearing camouflage uniforms, helmets and boots were put through their paces, practicing cleaning, assembling and aiming 65K2 rifles and machine guns.
Taipei is eager to show the world, especially its key security backer Washington, that it is serious about boosting its military capability.
The drills will “let the international community know that we are determined to defend ourselves, and to pass on to China that the nation’s military has the confidence and ability to defend a free and democratic life,” Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Koo said recently.
This year’s drills have been extended to 10 days and nine nights, from five days and four nights last year.


The Han Kuang began in 1984 when the island was still under martial law.
Troops will simulate various scenarios including “grey zone harassment” — tactics that fall short of an act of war — as well as “long-range precision strikes” to combat a Chinese invasion in 2027, defense officials have said.
Officials in the United States — Taipei’s biggest arms supplier — have previously cited 2027 as a possible timeline for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Recently delivered High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) from the United States will be used during the drills.
There will also be a separate live fire event involving US-made advanced M1A2 Abrams tanks.
Taiwanese defense officials have been closely monitoring the war in Ukraine and their use of a decentralized command and control structure.
“When we think practically about combat, we consider what kind of scenario Taiwan might face,” a senior defense official said on the eve of the drills.
“Commanders at all levels need to be able to decide what to do based on their understanding of their superior’s intent. This usually requires peacetime training to build up their awareness in this regard.”
The exercises are being held as President Lai Ching-te, who is a staunch defender of Taiwan’s sovereignty, tours the island delivering speeches aimed at “uniting the country.”
China has carried out several large-scale military drills around Taiwan since Lai took office last year, as the island rejects China’s sovereignty stance.
China specialists at risk analysis firm Eurasia Group said Beijing was “likely” to carry out more military exercises at the end of July.
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Topics: China Taiwan

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A wildfire that reached Marseille is pushed back but not extinguished

Updated 40 min 8 sec ago
AP
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A wildfire that reached Marseille is pushed back but not extinguished

  • Spurred by hot summer winds, the fire grounded all flights to and from Marseille and halted train traffic in most of the surrounding area
Updated 40 min 8 sec ago
AP

MARSEILLE: A wildfire that reached France's second-largest city and left 110 injured was pushed back overnight but was not yet extinguished Wednesday, authorities said. Marseille's mayor lifted a confinement order for tens of thousands of people.
Mayor Benoit Payan said on broadcaster France-Info that the fire was in ‘’net regression'' Wednesday morning after racing toward the historic Mediterranean port city Tuesday, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate and the population of an entire city district to barricade themselves indoors on official orders.
Spurred by hot summer winds, the fire grounded all flights to and from Marseille and halted train traffic in most of the surrounding area Tuesday. Train, road and plane traffic remained complicated Wednesday.
The mayor said 110 people were treated for smoke inhalation and related injuries.
More than 1,000 firefighters were deployed to tackle the fire, which broke out near the town of Les Pennes-Mirabeau before racing toward Marseille. Some 720 hectares were hit by the blaze, the prefecture said.
The prefecture described the fire as ’’particularly virulent.″ It came on a cloudless, windy day after a lengthy heat wave around Europe left the area parched and at heightened risk for wildfires. Several have broken out in southern France in recent days, including one in the Aude region that has burned some 2,000 hectares and continued to rage Wednesday.
Light gray smoke gave the sky over Marseille’s old port a dusty aspect as water-dropping planes tried to extinguish the fire in the outskirts of the city, which has some 900,000 inhabitants.

Topics: France Europe

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Presidents of five African nations to meet with Trump at White House

Updated 09 July 2025
AFP
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Presidents of five African nations to meet with Trump at White House

  • The presidents of Senegal, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Gabon will convene at Trump's behest
Updated 09 July 2025
AFP

DAKAR: US President Donald Trump will welcome five African leaders to a White House lunch on Wednesday, with commerce and trade expected to feature prominently among a mixed bag of potential agenda items.
The presidents of Senegal, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Gabon — five nations located along Africa’s Atlantic Coast — will convene at Trump’s behest.
Officials from the countries have told AFP that they expect talks to center on trade, investment and security, among other topics as they meet in the executive mansion’s State Dining Room.
But few concrete details have emerged as to the White House’s intentions.
The meeting comes as the Trump administration is focused on tariffs and trade deals, and as it seeks to ensure a stable supply of critical minerals.
But the five nations lack the extreme mineral wealth of other African countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The gathering additionally takes place just days after the Trump administration celebrated the formal shuttering of the US foreign aid agency USAID, trumpeting the move as an end to the “charity-based model.”
Officials from the five countries who spoke to AFP seemed keenly aware of the White House ethos.
Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai accepted the invitation with an eye on no longer being “solely (an) aid recipient,” his press secretary Kula Fofana told AFP on Tuesday.
“Our interest is to look more to trade and engagement partners who will invest,” she said.
Gabonese presidential spokesman Theophane Biyoghe said the meeting marked a chance for synergies “centered around the industrialization of our economy.”


US arch rivals China and Russia have made major incursions into the region recently, including substantial investments by Beijing in a number of the countries.
Moscow, meanwhile, has lent support to the region’s newly formed Alliance of Sahel States (AES), comprised of junta-led Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
The alliance states share borders with several of the counties at Wednesday’s lunch.
Security and drugs could additionally feature on the White House agenda.
In April, Guinea-Bissau said it had turned over four convicted Latin American drug smugglers to the US DEA drug enforcement authority.
The country is often used as a transit zone for moving cocaine from Latin America to Europe and beyond.
Shortly before leaving for Washington, Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo described the visit to the press as “very important” for his country.
“Economically, this is a great opportunity opening for us,” he declared, adding that he hoped his country would also benefit from “the support” the United States provides to other countries.


A number of world leaders have faced brutal political ambushes during White House visits.
Among them are Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who became embroiled in a notorious row with Trump, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
During a visit, Trump showed the South African leader a video of baseless claims of a “white genocide” being committed in his country.
While those episodes happened in front of cameras in the Oval Office, the five African presidents meeting Trump on Wednesday are so far not scheduled to appear before the press.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared few details about the meeting when she told a briefing on Monday only that Trump would “host leaders of five African nations for lunch” in the State Dining Room.
Gabon, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal are among 36 nations that the United States is considering adding to a travel ban barring entry to its territory, according to an internal administration memo last month.

Topics: Africa US

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