Wars 2022 02/24 Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Saif]

Can the Russia-Ukraine war finally end?

Vital questions remain unanswered after Trump-Zelensky talks

www.thedailystar.net

Can the Russia-Ukraine war finally end?
Vital questions remain unanswered after Trump-Zelensky talks

Following Ukrainian President Zelensky's meeting with US President Trump, we are hopeful that the war between Russia and Ukraine can be brought to an end. The whole world desires peace and undoubtedly this has been one of the most destructive wars in recent history. The death toll has been staggering, and the global fallout—including supply chain disruptions, inflation, and food shortages in parts of the world—has been severe. Moreover, as Trump noted, this war has been so dangerous that the risk of it spiralling into a World War III-like scenario has persisted all along. Therefore, the sooner it can be brought to an end and tensions de-escalated, the better it will be for Ukraine, Russia, and the world as a whole.

While President Trump stressed the importance of reaching a peace deal, the terms under which peace will be achieved remain unclear. Will it come at the cost of territorial concessions by Ukraine? If so, what message would that send if a powerful country can invade another and gain territory in exchange for peace? Would this not set a dangerous precedent—one that makes the world more insecure, unstable, and vulnerable to future acts of aggression?

For peace to be lasting, it must also be just. Therefore, international law should be the sole guiding principle in any peace agreement. No agreement should be imposed by external powers, including the US. It must be remembered that Ukraine is the victim in this war, and its interests should not be sidelined in negotiations.

While discussions of peace have begun—an encouraging first step—it is disappointing that the meeting between the Ukrainian and US presidents did not yield more concrete progress. During their press briefing in the Oval Office, it became evident that tensions persist among all parties involved. Nevertheless, continued dialogue is crucial, as diplomacy remains the only path to peace.

Ending the war between Russia and Ukraine while safeguarding Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty must be a top priority for the global community. The US and Europe, in particular, have a pivotal role to play in achieving a just and lasting peace. To that end, we urge all parties involved to commit to sincere and constructive diplomacy.​

 

[Saif]

Pro-Ukraine protests across US after Trump-Zelensky clash

Pro-Ukraine protests have taken place across the US after Donald Trump and JD Vance’s angry exchange with Volodymr Zelensky at the White House, reports BBConline.

www.newagebd.net

Pro-Ukraine protests across US after Trump-Zelensky clash
New Age Desk 02 March, 2025, 23:53

Pro-Ukraine protests have taken place across the US after Donald Trump and JD Vance’s angry exchange with Volodymr Zelensky at the White House, reports BBConline.

Hundreds of people gathered in New York, Los Angeles and Boston to express their support for Ukraine after the furious row in the Oval Office.

Protesters holding pro-Ukraine signs also lined a road in Waitsfield, Vermont, where vice-president Vance and his family were visiting for a ski holiday.

US media reported the family moved to an undisclosed location from their planned ski resort because of the demonstrations.

A protest in Waitsfield against the Trump-Vance administration had been organised earlier in the week — before the US president and vice-president’s clash with Zelensky — but many signs referenced the row and Russia’s war with Ukraine.

‘I think Friday’s performance at the White House has probably galvanised even more people to come out today,’ Judy Daly, from Indivisible Mad River Valley, the group which organised the protest, told Vermont Public Radio.

‘Vance crossed the line,’ protester Cori Giroux added.

Ahead of the Vance family’s trip, Vermont’s governor Phil Scott had urged people to ‘be respectful’ to them.

Scott, the Republican governor who refused to vote for Trump, said: ‘I welcome the vice-president and his family to Vermont and hope they enjoy their weekend here.

‘It’s no surprise they chose Vermont, we’ve had a lot of snow this winter, which has been good for our economy.’

He added: ‘I hope Vermonters remember the vice-president is here on a family trip with his young children and, while we may not always agree, we should be respectful.

‘Please join me in welcoming them to Vermont, and hoping they have an opportunity to experience what makes our state, and Vermonters, so special.’

Vance, who has three young children with his wife Usha, has not publicly commented on the protests. Counter-protesters supporting Trump and Vance were also reportedly in Waitsfield.

Demonstrators also gathered outside Tesla stores across the US on Saturday to protest against Elon Musk’s push to slash government spending.

Musk, the billionaire chief executive of Tesla, has been tasked by Trump to oversee the Department of Government Efficiency, more popularly known as Doge.

In extraordinary scenes in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump clashed with Zelensky, telling him to make a deal with Russia ‘or we are out’.

At one point, Trump told Zelensky he was not thankful enough for US military and political support during Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion, and that he was ‘gambling with World War Three’.

Vance also accused the Ukrainian president of being disrespectful and ‘litigating’ the situation in front of the media.​

 

[Saif]

UK, France work with Ukraine to end war

Britain and France are working with Ukraine on plans to end the fighting with Russia, prime minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday, as European leaders gathered for crisis talks after a blowout between Kyiv and Washington.

www.newagebd.net

UK, France work with Ukraine to end war
Agence France-Presse . London 02 March, 2025, 23:58

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) hugs Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) to greet him upon his arrival to attend a summit held at Lancaster House in central London on Sunday. | AFP photo

Britain and France are working with Ukraine on plans to end the fighting with Russia, prime minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday, as European leaders gathered for crisis talks after a blowout between Kyiv and Washington.

Speaking ahead of a summit in London with more than a dozen European leaders seeking a way forward on the three-year-old conflict, Starmer urged world leaders to ‘work together’, saying ‘nobody wants to see’ scenes like Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and US counterpart Donald Trump’s clash in the Oval Office on Friday.

‘We have to find a way that we can all work together. Because, in the end, we’ve had three years of bloody conflict. Now we need to get to that lasting peace.’ Starmer told the BBC.

‘The United Kingdom, along with France and possibly one or two others, will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting, and then we’ll discuss that plan with the United States.’

Italian prime minister Girogia Meloni echoed the sentiment, saying as she met Starmer in his Downing Street home that ‘It is very, very important that we avoid the risk that the West divides.’

Ukraine’s allies have been underscoring their steadfast commitment to counter growing concerns that Trump is about to sell Kyiv short in negotiations with Russia.

Starmer warmly welcomed Zelensky to the British capital on Saturday, the day after the Ukrainian leader was kicked out of the White House, extending a loan to strengthen Ukraine’s depleted defences.

The London meeting brings together leaders from around continental Europe, including France, Germany, Denmark and Italy as well as Turkey, NATO and the European Union.

With fears growing over whether the United States will continue to support NATO, the meeting will also address the need for Europe to increase defence cooperation.

Speaking ahead of the summit, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said Warsaw could use its friendly ties with Washington to ‘transcend this dilemma’ and persuade it to be more supportive of Ukraine.

NATO chief Mark Rutte was positive heading into the summit, saying that Europe would increase its defence spending to keep the alliance strong. ‘All in Europe will need to give more,’ he said.

In addition to attending the security summit, Zelensky is also due to meet King Charles III during his visit.

As Zelensky’s convoy swept into London on Saturday, a crowd of supporters cheered.

‘You’re very, very welcome here in Downing Street,’ Starmer told Zelensky before their 75-minute closed-door talks.

Zelensky effusively thanked Britain and its people ‘for their tremendous support from the very beginning of this war’.

The pair discussed Ukraine’s position and how to end the war ‘with a lasting and just peace that will not allow Russia to use the ceasefire to rearm and attack again’, according to a statement released by Zelensky’s office.

They also unveiled a £2.26-billion ($2.84 billion) loan agreement to support Ukraine’s defence capabilities, to be paid back with the profits of immobilised sovereign Russian assets.

Just hours earlier, Zelensky had been shouted down at the White House.

As cameras rolled in the Oval Office, Trump and US vice president JD Vance angrily accused Zelensky of not being ‘thankful’ and refusing to accept their proposed truce terms.

Trump also accused him of gambling with the potential of World War III.

Zelensky meanwhile insisted there should be ‘no compromises’ with Putin as the parties negotiate to end the war.

Trump has alarmed Kyiv and European allies with his abrupt pivoting of Washington’s years-long support for Ukraine.

The recently inaugurated Republican has cast himself as a mediator between Putin and Zelensky, and has side-lined Kyiv and Europe while pursuing rapprochement with Putin.

Though he refused to apologise after the White House clash, Zelensky indicated that he was still open to signing a deal on Ukraine’s mineral wealth — coveted by Trump.

‘Despite the tough dialogue’, Ukraine and the United States ‘remain strategic partners’, Zelensky said.

‘But we need to be honest and direct with each other to truly understand our shared goals,’ the Ukrainian leader wrote on X.

Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock accused Trump of ‘switching the roles of victim and aggressor’ in the conflict.

‘Yesterday evening underlined that a new age of infamy has begun,’ she said.

Moscow meanwhile branded Zelensky’s Washington trip a ‘complete failure’.

The Kremlin said in remarks aired on Sunday that the United States’s dramatic shift in foreign policy towards Russia largely aligned with its own vision.

‘The new administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations. This largely coincides with our vision,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said an interview with Russian state television recorded on Wednesday.​

 

[Saif]

IMF, Ukraine agree on $400M loan review

The International Monetary Fund and Ukraine reached an agreement Friday on a loan programme review that will unlock around $400 million in much-needed funds more than three years after Russia’s invasion.

www.newagebd.net

IMF, Ukraine agree on $400M loan review
Agence France-Presse . Washington, United States 01 March, 2025, 23:29

The International Monetary Fund and Ukraine reached an agreement Friday on a loan programme review that will unlock around $400 million in much-needed funds more than three years after Russia’s invasion.

The deal was announced during Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s trip to meet Donald Trump in Washington, which was marred by an extraordinary shouting match between the two leaders in the Oval Office that left efforts to end the war with Russia hanging in the balance.

The IMF said its staff had recently completed a nine-day visit to Ukraine, and were happy with the reforms the country had made under a four-year loan programme struck last year worth around $15.5 billion.

The programme ‘continues to provide a strong anchor for the authorities’ economic program in times of exceptionally high uncertainty,’ IMF Ukraine mission chief Gavin Gray said in a statement.

Programme performance ‘remains strong’ and ‘all quantitative performance criteria’ had been met up until mid-December, he continued, adding that the IMF’s board should meet to consider the review ‘in the coming weeks.’

Board approval—which is largely a formality—would allow for the immediate disbursal to Ukraine of around $400 million, bringing the total provided to the country under the program to more than $10 billion, according to the IMF.

Ukraine’s economy ‘has continued to show resilience despite the challenges arising from three years of war,’ Gray said.

But, he warned, the IMF expects growth to moderate this year, ‘reflecting headwinds from labour constraints, damage to energy infrastructure, and the persistence of Russia’s war in Ukraine.’

The IMF also flagged concerns about Ukraine’s inflation rate, which hit 12.9 percent in the year to January, due largely to rising food and labour costs.

‘Given the risks from rising inflation, the recent increases in the policy rate by the National Bank of Ukraine are appropriate,’ Gray said.

‘Further action would be warranted if inflation accelerates further or inflation expectations deteriorate,’ he added.​

 

[Saif]

Russia praises Trump, scolds Europe for being the crucible of war

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday praised US President Donald Trump's "common sense" aim to end the war in Ukraine, but accused the European powers which have rallied around Kyiv of seeking to prolong the conflict. Lavrov said the United States still wanted to be the world's most po

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Russia praises Trump, scolds Europe for being the crucible of war
REUTERS
Published :
Mar 02, 2025 21:19
Updated :
Mar 02, 2025 21:19

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday praised US President Donald Trump's "common sense" aim to end the war in Ukraine, but accused the European powers which have rallied around Kyiv of seeking to prolong the conflict.

Lavrov said the United States still wanted to be the world's most powerful country and that Washington and Moscow would never see eye to eye on everything, but that they had agreed to be pragmatic when interests coincided.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign minister of 21 years said the model of the US-China relationship was the one that should be built between Russia and the United States to do a lot of "mutually beneficial things" without allowing disagreements to collapse into war.

"Donald Trump is a pragmatist," Lavrov told the Russian military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, according to a transcript released by the Foreign Ministry. "His slogan is common sense. It means, as everyone can see, a shift to a different way of doing things."

"But the goal is still MAGA (Make America Great Again)," Lavrov said, referring to Trump's political slogan. "This gives a lively, human character to politics. That's why it's interesting to work with him."

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 with thousands of troops, triggering the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the depths of the Cold War.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine began in 2014 after a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine's Maidan Revolution and Russia annexed Crimea, with Russian-backed separatist forces fighting Ukraine's armed forces.

The West and Ukraine describe the 2022 invasion as an imperial-style land grab by President Vladimir Putin and Kyiv has vowed to defeat Russia on the battlefield, although Russian forces control nearly one-fifth of Ukraine.

Putin casts the conflict in Ukraine as part of an existential battle with a declining and decadent West which he says humiliated Russia after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 by enlarging the NATO military alliance and encroaching on what he considers Moscow's sphere of influence, including Ukraine.

EUROPE OF 'TRAGEDIES'

Trump, who spoke to Putin on Feb 12 and says he wants to be remembered as a "peace maker", has upended US policy on the Ukraine war. Lavrov said that the call with Putin had been at Trump's initiative.

Trump said last week that the war could develop into World War Three, that he had spoken to Putin on "numerous occasions" and that he thought that there would be a deal on Ukraine peace.

On Friday, he and Vice President JD Vance clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. Trump accused Zelensky of disrespecting the United States, said he was losing the war and had no cards left.

European leaders leapt to Zelensky's defence.

But Lavrov criticised Europe, saying that for the past 500 years Europe had been the crucible of "all the tragedies of the world" including colonisation, wars, crusaders, the Crimean War, Napoleon Bonaparte, World War One and Adolf Hitler.

"And now, after (former US President Joe) Biden's term, people have come in who want to be guided by common sense. They say directly that they want to end all wars, they want peace," Lavrov said.

"And who demands a 'continuation of the banquet' in the form of a war? Europe."

Lavrov also dismissed European ideas for sending in a contingent of European peacekeepers and said Russia had no trust in Ukraine after the collapse of the Minsk agreements, which were designed to end a separatist war by Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.

Europeans, Lavrov said, could not explain what rights Russian speakers would have under the European peacekeeper plans, adding that Russia did not like the idea of Europeans propping up Zelensky.

"Now they also want to prop him up with their bayonets in the form of peacekeeping units. This will mean that the root causes will not disappear," Lavrov said.​

 

[Lulldapull]

Ukraine is finished as a nation.

Khamenei warned Zalenski 3 years ago to not fall for the stupidity and put his nation on da line.

He didn't listen and got played like Pakistan, Turkey or Sawdi Judea/ GCC.

Chutiya insaan!

 

[Lulldapull]

Steve Bannon sb k mashoor 'dismantle the administrative state' ki doctrine jo hai, vo actualize kari jaa rahi hai.

Disruptor Trump, I'm hopeful good things come from it, spl given his reticence to enter into and fuel needless wars etc

Sharma yaar the whole international set up has been dismantled by Russia/ China/ Iran no?

Ghareeb colluddz got no way out now......

What will become of da ghareeb colludz who talk tough? My lulli 14" long and I'm changaiz khan?

Kheti baarri karne waalay?.......saag parattha chutney peepal?

Colludz peeepal no? like these Arabs and Al-Turkiyan

Ghareeb di maut qaum di wafaat, Shaheed da lahu, khotay di alamat?

Come on Sharma.......what yous can do as colluddz no?

Tarrka daal/ subbjhii? aur vo bhee dalit waali?

@Vsdoc @Guru Dutt

 

[Sharma Ji]

Sharma yaar the whole international set up has been dismantled by Russia/ China/ Iran no?

Ghareeb colluddz got no way out now......

What will become of da ghareeb colludz who talk tough? My lulli 14" long and I'm changaiz khan?

Kheti baarri karne waalay?.......saag parattha chutney peepal?

Colludz peeepal no? like these Arabs and Al-Turkiyan

Ghareeb di maut qaum di wafaat, Shaheed da lahu, khotay di alamat?

Come on Sharma.......what yous can do as colluddz no?

Tarrka daal/ subbjhii? aur vo bhee dalit waali?

@Vsdoc @Guru Dutt

Iran ko kyu putting alongside Russia and China ?

Iran are fuss (for now)