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Zelensky says Ukraine, Russia to hold peace talks in Turkiye on Wednesday

Zelensky says Ukraine, Russia to hold peace talks in Turkiye on Wednesday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Kyiv has sent Moscow an offer to hold another round of peace talks this week. (AFP)
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Updated 22 July 2025

Zelensky says Ukraine, Russia to hold peace talks in Turkiye on Wednesday

Zelensky says Ukraine, Russia to hold peace talks in Turkiye on Wednesday
  • Kyiv has sent Moscow an offer to hold another round of peace talks this week
  • Ukraine and Russia have held two rounds of talks in Istanbul, on May 16 and June 2

Peace talks between Ukraine and Russia — the first in seven weeks — are planned for Wednesday in Turkiye, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quoted a senior Kyiv official as saying on Monday.
Zelensky appealed earlier in the day for greater momentum in negotiations.
Russia’s state TASS news agency quoted a source in Turkiye as saying the talks would take place on Wednesday. The RIA news agency, also quoting a source, said they would take place over two days, Thursday and Friday.
The Kremlin said it was waiting for confirmation of the date of the talks but said the two sides were “diametrically opposed” in their positions on how to end the war.
Zelensky said in his nightly video address that he spoke with Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, on Monday in preparation for a prisoner exchange and another meeting with Russia in Turkiye.
“Umerov reported that the meeting is planned for Wednesday. More details will follow tomorrow,” Zelensky said.
Umerov, previously defense minister, was appointed to his current role last week and headed the first two rounds of talks with Russia.
Ukraine has backed US calls for an immediate ceasefire. Moscow says certain arrangements must be put in place before a ceasefire can be introduced.
Russian forces have launched sustained attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, including missiles and hundreds of drones on Monday night that killed two people and injured 15. Ukraine has also launched long-range drone attacks.
Zelensky said: “The agenda from our side is clear: the return of prisoners of war, the return of children abducted by Russia, and the preparation of a leaders’ meeting.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is under increasing pressure from US President Donald Trump to show progress toward ending the conflict, turned down a previous challenge from Zelensky to meet him in person.
Putin has said he does not see Zelensky as a legitimate leader because Ukraine, which is under martial law, did not hold new elections when his five-year mandate expired last year.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “There is our draft memorandum, there is a draft memorandum that has been handed over by the Ukrainian side. There is to be an exchange of views and talks on these two drafts, which are diametrically opposed so far.”
Ukraine and Russia have held two rounds of talks in Istanbul, on May 16 and June 2, that led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers.
But the two sides have made no breakthrough toward a ceasefire or a settlement to end almost three and a half years of war. The Kremlin says Ukraine must abandon four regions Moscow says have been incorporated into Russia.
Trump said last week he would impose new sanctions in 50 days on Russia and countries that buy its exports if there is no deal before then to end the conflict.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, speaking in Kyiv after talks with Zelensky, noted Russia’s refusal to implement an immediate ceasefire as well as its “maximalist” demands.
“Discussions must begin, but on a basis that respects the interests of both parties, because diplomacy is not submission,” he told a news conference. “And diplomacy begins with meetings at the level of heads of state and government, something Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called for.”
Barrot said he favored devising an even tougher sanctions package if Putin did not agree to a ceasefire.


White House restricts WSJ access to Trump over Epstein story

White House restricts WSJ access to Trump over Epstein story
Updated 6 sec ago

White House restricts WSJ access to Trump over Epstein story

White House restricts WSJ access to Trump over Epstein story
  • The punishment of the Wall Street Journal marks at least the second time the Trump administration has moved to exclude a major news outlet from the press pool over its reporting

WASHINGTON: The White House on Monday barred The Wall Street Journal from traveling with US President Donald Trump during his upcoming visit to Scotland, after the newspaper reported that he wrote a bawdy birthday message to his former friend, alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The move comes after Trump on Friday sued the WSJ and its media magnate owner Rupert Murdoch for at least $10 billion over the allegation in the article, which Trump denies.
The Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein case has threatened to split the Republican’s far-right Make America Great Again (MAGA) base, with some of his supporters calling for a full release of the so-called “Epstein Files.”
The punishment of the Wall Street Journal marks at least the second time the Trump administration has moved to exclude a major news outlet from the press pool over its reporting, having barred Associated Press journalists from multiple key events since February.
“As the appeals court confirmed, The Wall Street Journal or any other news outlet are not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in his private workspaces,” said Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“Due to The Wall Street Journal’s fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the thirteen outlets on board (Air Force One).”
Trump departs this weekend for Scotland, where he owns two golf resorts and will meet with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice, under Trump-appointed Attorney General Pam Bondi, said there was no evidence suggesting disgraced financier Epstein had kept a “client list” or was blackmailing powerful figures before his death in 2019.
In its story on Thursday, the WSJ reported that Trump had written a suggestive birthday letter to Epstein in 2003, illustrated with a naked woman and alluding to a shared “secret.”
Epstein, a longtime friend of Trump and multiple other high-profile men, was found hanging dead in a New York prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually exploited dozens of underage girls at his homes in New York and Florida.
The case sparked conspiracy theories, especially among Trump’s far-right voters, about an alleged international cabal of wealthy pedophiles.
Epstein’s death — declared a suicide — before he could face trial supercharged that narrative.
Since returning to power in January, Trump has moved to increase control over the press covering the White House.
In February, the Oval Office stripped the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) of its nearly century-old authority to oversee which outlets have access to certain restricted presidential events, with Trump saying that he was now “calling the shots” on media access.
In a statement, the WHCA president urged the White House to “restore” the Journal to the pool.
“This attempt by the White House to punish a media outlet whose coverage it does not like is deeply troubling, and it defies the First Amendment,” said WHCA President Weijia Jiang.
“Government retaliation against news outlets based on the content of their reporting should concern all who value free speech and an independent media.”

 


Zelensky names new ambassadors during Ukraine political shakeup

Yulia Svyrydenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine. (X @Svyrydenko_Y)
Yulia Svyrydenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine. (X @Svyrydenko_Y)
Updated 7 min 17 sec ago

Zelensky names new ambassadors during Ukraine political shakeup

Yulia Svyrydenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine. (X @Svyrydenko_Y)
  • Zelensky launched a major government reshuffle last week, promoting Yulia Svyrydenko, 39, who had served as economy minister and is well known in Washington, to head the cabinet as prime minister

MOSCOW: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed over a dozen new ambassadors on Monday, during a big shakeup that has seen him replace top cabinet officials and envoys to shore up relations with Washington and isolate Russia internationally.
The new envoys named on Monday include ambassadors to NATO members Belgium, Canada, Estonia and Spain, as well as major donor Japan and regional heavyweights South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

Ukraine's deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration Olha Stefanishyna in Kyiv. (AFP file photo)

Zelensky launched a major government reshuffle last week, promoting Yulia Svyrydenko, 39, who had served as economy minister and is well known in Washington, to head the cabinet as prime minister.
Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna is set to become Ukraine’s new envoy to the United States, as Ukraine seeks to mend ties with the Trump administration.
In remarks to the diplomatic corps released by his office, Zelensky said envoys needed to support “everything that causes Russia pain for its war.”
“While the content of our relationship with America has transformed following the change in administration, the goal remains unchanged: Ukraine must withstand Russia’s strikes,” Zelensky said. 

 

 


A recap of the trial over the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus protesters

A recap of the trial over the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus protesters
Updated 41 min 53 sec ago

A recap of the trial over the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus protesters

A recap of the trial over the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus protesters
  • US lawyer William Kanellis said that out of about 5,000 pro-Palestinian protesters investigated by the federal government, only 18 were arrested

BOSTON: The Trump administration’s campaign of arresting and deporting college faculty and students who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations violates their First Amendment rights, lawyers for an association representing university professors argued in federal court.
The lawsuit, filed by several university associations, is one of the first against President Donald Trump and members of his administration to go to trial. US District Judge William Young heard closing arguments Monday in Boston.
He did not say or indicate when or how he would rule. But he had some sharp words when talking about Trump.
“The president is a master of speech and he certainly brilliantly uses his right to free speech,” Young told federal lawyers. But whether Trump “recognizes whether other people have any right to free speech is questionable,” he added.
Plaintiffs are asking Young to rule that the policy violates the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act, a law governing how federal agencies develop and issue regulations.
No ideological deportation policy
Over the course of the trial, plaintiffs argued that the crackdown has silenced scholars and targeted more than 5,000 pro-Palestinian protesters.
“The goal is to chill speech. The goal is to silence students and scholars who wish to express pro-Palestinian views,” said Alexandra Conlan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
She went on to say that this chilling effect caused by “intimidating and scaring students and scholars” is “exactly what the First Amendment was meant to prevent.”
But federal lawyers and a top State Department official testifying for the government insisted there was no ideological deportation policy as the plaintiffs contend.
John Armstrong, the senior bureau official in Bureau of Consular Affairs, testified that visa revocations were based on longstanding immigration law. Armstrong acknowledged he played a role in the visa revocation of several high-profile activists, including Rumeysa Ozturk and Mahmoud Khalil, and was shown memos endorsing their removal.
Armstrong also insisted that visa revocations were not based on protected speech and rejected accusations that there was a policy of targeting someone for their ideology.
“It’s silly to suggest there is a policy,” he said.
Were student protesters targeted?
US lawyer William Kanellis said that out of about 5,000 pro-Palestinian protesters investigated by the federal government, only 18 were arrested. He said not only is targeting such protesters not a policy of the US government, he said, it’s “not even a statistical anomaly.”
Out of the 5,000 names reviewed, investigators wrote reports on about 200 who had potentially violated US law, Peter Hatch of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Unit testified. Until this year, Hatch said, he could not recall a student protester being referred for a visa revocation.
Among the report subjects was Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Khalil, who was released last month after 104 days in federal immigration detention. Khalil has become a symbol of Trump’s clampdown on the protests.
Another was the Tufts University student Ozturk, who was released in May from six weeks in detention after being arrested on a suburban Boston street. She said she was illegally detained following an op-ed she co-wrote last year criticizing her school’s response to the war in Gaza.
Hatch said most leads were dropped when investigators could not find ties to protests and the investigations were not inspired by a new policy but rather by existing procedures in place at least since he took the job in 2019.
Patrick Cunningham, an assistant special Agent in charge with Homeland Security investigations in Boston and who was involved in Ozturk’s arrest, said he was only told the Tuft University student was being arrested because her visa was revoked.
But he also acknowledged being provided a memo from the State Department about Ozturk as well as a copy of an op-ed she co-wrote last year criticizing her university’s response to Israel and the war in Gaza. He also admitted that he has focused more on immigration cases since Trump’s inauguration, compared to the drugs smuggling and money laundering cases he handled in the past.
Professors spoke of scaling back activism
During the trial, several green card-holding professors described scaling back activism, public criticism and international travel following Khalil’s and Ozturk’s arrests.
Nadje Al-Ali, a green card holder from Germany and professor at Brown University, said she canceled a planned research trip and a fellowship to Iraq and Lebanon, fearing that “stamps from those two countries would raise red flags” upon her return. She also declined to participate in anti-Trump protests and abandoned plans to write an article that was to be a feminist critique of Hamas.
“I felt it was too risky,” Al-Ali said.

Kanellis, a US government attorney, said “feelings” and “anxiety” about possible deportation do not equate to imminent harm from a legal standpoint, which he argued plaintiffs failed to establish in their arguments.

 


US withdrawing 700 Marines from Los Angeles: Pentagon

US withdrawing 700 Marines from Los Angeles: Pentagon
Updated 57 min 14 sec ago

US withdrawing 700 Marines from Los Angeles: Pentagon

US withdrawing 700 Marines from Los Angeles: Pentagon

WASHINGTON: The 700 US Marines in Los Angeles are being withdrawn, ending a contentious deployment of the troops in the city, the Pentagon announced on Monday.
President Donald Trump ordered thousands of National Guard and hundreds of Marines into Los Angeles last month in response to protests over federal immigration sweeps — a move opposed by city leaders and California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “has directed the redeployment of the 700 Marines whose presence sent a clear message: lawlessness will not be tolerated,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
“Their rapid response, unwavering discipline, and unmistakable presence were instrumental in restoring order and upholding the rule of law,” he added.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also announced the withdrawal of the Marines in a post on X, saying it was “another win” for the city and that the presence of the troops was “an unnecessary deployment.”
The removal of the Marines comes after the Pentagon said last week that Hegseth had ordered the withdrawal of 2,000 National Guard personnel from Los Angeles, roughly halving the deployment of those troops in the city.
As a so-called “sanctuary city” with hundreds of thousands of undocumented people, Los Angeles has been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration since the Republican returned to office in January.
After immigration enforcement raids spurred unrest and protests last month, Trump — who has repeatedly exaggerated the scale of the unrest — dispatched the National Guard and Marines to quell the disruption.
It was the first time since 1965 that a US president deployed the National Guard against the wishes of a state governor.


Judge who drew calls for impeachment over DOGE ruling assigned to Maxwell transcript case

Judge who drew calls for impeachment over DOGE ruling assigned to Maxwell transcript case
Updated 22 July 2025

Judge who drew calls for impeachment over DOGE ruling assigned to Maxwell transcript case

Judge who drew calls for impeachment over DOGE ruling assigned to Maxwell transcript case
  • New York judge was seen as impediment to Musk’s DOGE
  • Florida judge handled Trump lawsuit against Michael Cohen

NEW YORK A federal judge who faced Republican demands for impeachment after blocking Elon Musk’s government review team from accessing sensitive Treasury Department records will consider whether to release grand jury testimony from the criminal case of Jeffrey Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
US District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan was assigned to the case on Monday. Maxwell’s trial judge, Alison Nathan, is now a federal appellate judge.
The assignment came three days after the US government sought to unseal grand jury transcripts related to Epstein, the disgraced financier and sex offender who died by suicide in 2019 in jail after being charged with sex trafficking.
In a Friday court filing, the Department of Justice said the criminal cases against Epstein and Maxwell are a matter of public interest, justifying the release of associated grand jury transcripts.
Backers of conspiracy theories about Epstein have urged President Donald Trump to release a broad array of investigative files related to Epstein, not just grand jury transcripts. Separately, US District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami was assigned on Monday to preside over Trump’s $10-billion lawsuit accusing The Wall Street Journal of defaming him by claiming he created a lewd birthday greeting for Epstein in 2003.
Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal and is part of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, said it will defend against the lawsuit, and had “full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting.”
News Corp. and Murdoch are also defendants.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Journal had been removed from the press pool covering Trump’s July 25-29 trip to Scotland because of its “fake and defamatory conduct.”
“As the appeals court confirmed, the Wall Street Journal or any other news outlet are not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in his private workspaces,” Leavitt said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Dow Jones declined to comment on Leavitt’s statement.
Earlier this year, the White House removed The Associated Press from pool coverage because it had continued to refer to the Gulf of Mexico by that name instead of Trump’s preferred “Gulf of America.”
Many Trump supporters view the judiciary as an impediment to the Republican president’s policy and personal goals.
Each case could take several months or longer to resolve, followed by possible appeals.
Engelmayer and Gayles were appointed to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama. US District Judge Richard Berman, an appointee of Democratic President Bill Clinton, will oversee the government’s request for transcripts in Epstein’s criminal case.
Engelmayer, 64, came under fire and drew Musk’s scorn in February after temporarily blocking Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury systems. Congressman Derrick Van Orden, a Wisconsin Republican, said impeachment was justified because the judge played politics in his decision, “demonstrating clear bias and prejudice against the president and the 74,000,000 Americans who voted for him.”
Judicial impeachments are rare and normally reserved for serious misconduct, not disapproval of individual rulings.
Any unsealed transcripts are likely to be redacted, reflecting privacy or security concerns.
Gayles, 58, has been on the federal bench since 2014, after the US Senate approved his nomination by a 98-0 vote.
The Wall Street Journal case is at least the second Trump lawsuit he has overseen.
Gayles presided in 2023 over Trump’s $500-million lawsuit accusing former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen of breaching fiduciary duties by revealing confidences and spreading falsehoods in books, podcasts, and media appearances. Trump voluntarily dismissed that case after six months. The lawyer who filed that case also filed the Journal lawsuit.