Foreign
Trump urges Russia to ‘get moving’ on Ukraine as Witkoff meets Putin
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US envoy Steve Witkoff wrapped up his latest talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Friday, after President Donald Trump urged his Russian counterpart to move quicker to end what he said was the country’s “senseless war” with Ukraine.
Trump has been pressing Moscow and Kyiv to agree on a ceasefire deal but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin, despite repeated negotiations between Russian and US officials.
The US leader told NBC News last month he was “pissed off” with his Russian counterpart, while top US diplomat Marco Rubio warned last week that Washington would not tolerate “endless negotiations” with Russia over the conflict.
“Russia has to get moving,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding that the conflict, which began in February 2022 when Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, was “senseless” and “should have never happened”.
Kyiv and several of its Western allies suspect Russia of stalling the talks on purpose.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of dragging Beijing into the conflict and on Friday claimed that hundreds of Chinese nationals were fighting at the Ukraine front line alongside Russian troops.
Trump’s post came just before Witkoff’s meeting with Putin at the presidential library in Saint Petersburg, which state news agencies said lasted four and a half hours.
The Kremlin said afterwards only that the meeting had taken place and “focused on various aspects of the Ukrainian settlement”, without elaborating.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said earlier that he expected no diplomatic “breakthroughs” from the talks — Witkoff’s third with Putin since February.
He also said “maybe” to a question about whether a possible meeting between Putin and Trump would be discussed.
– Kellogg’s ‘zones of responsibility’ –
After their last meeting, Witkoff — a long-time Trump ally who worked with the US president in real estate — said Putin was a “great leader” and “not a bad guy”.
The envoy’s praise of a president long seen by the United States as an autocratic adversary highlights the dramatic turn in Washington’s approach to dealings with the Kremlin since Trump took office for a second term.
Despite a flurry of diplomacy, there has been little meaningful progress on Trump’s main aim of achieving a ceasefire.
Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, suggested British and French troops could adopt zones of control in the country, in an interview with The Times published Saturday.
Kellogg suggested they could have areas of responsibility west of the Dnipro river, as part of a “reassurance force”, with a demilitarised zone separating them from Russian-occupied areas in the east.
“You could almost make it look like what happened with Berlin after World War II,” he told the British newspaper.
“I was speaking of a post-ceasefire resiliency force in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty. In discussions of partitioning, I was referencing areas or zones of responsibility for an allied force (without US troops),” he said later on X.
– ‘Using Chinese lives’ –
Kyiv said this week that its forces had captured two Chinese nationals in the eastern Donetsk region fighting for Moscow.
The Kremlin denied the claim, while Beijing warned parties to the conflict against making “irresponsible remarks”.
“As of now, we have information that at least several hundred Chinese nationals are fighting as part of Russia’s occupation forces,” Zelensky told military chiefs from allied countries in Brussels.
“This means Russia is clearly trying to prolong the war — even by using Chinese lives.”
The Ukrainian leader also called out Russia for having refused a complete ceasefire proposed by the United States with Ukrainian approval a month ago.
Putin last month rejected a full and unconditional pause in the conflict, while the Kremlin has made a truce in the Black Sea conditional on the West lifting certain sanctions.
– Question of trust –
Trump has pushed for a broad rapprochement with Moscow, which has yielded some results.
On Thursday, Russia freed dual US-Russian ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina from prison in exchange for suspected tech smuggler Arthur Petrov, the second exchange between Moscow and Washington in less than two months.
Karelina, arrested last January while visiting Russia to see family, was serving a 12-year sentence on “treason” charges after she donated the equivalent of around $50 to a pro-Ukraine charity.
The head of Moscow’s foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, said Friday that Russia would discuss more prisoner swaps in the future.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the swaps helped build confidence between the two sides, which deteriorated under former US president Joe Biden’s administration.
“It helps build trust, which is much needed, but it will take a long time to finally restore it,” he told reporters.
AFP
Foreign
Pregnant Woman Dies By Suicide After Husband Allegedly Demanded DNA Test For Unborn Child
A 23-year-old pregnant woman allegedly died by suicide after her husband reportedly demanded a DNA test for her unborn child, leading to the arrest of the man and his mother in India’s Telangana state.
The incident occurred in Gadipeddapur village in Alladurg mandal of Medak district, where the victim, identified as G. Sushmita, was found hanging at her home on the evening of June 25. She was five months pregnant.
Police arrested Sushmita’s husband, G. Abhilash, and his mother, Laxmi, on Saturday, June 27, 2026.
“We arrested her husband G. Abhilash and his mother Laxmi. They were produced before the magistrate and remanded to judicial custody,” Alladurg Sub-Inspector D. Shankar said.
According to a police complaint filed by Sushmita’s mother, G. Janabai, her daughter had been subjected to prolonged physical and emotional abuse during her marriage, with the husband’s alleged demand for a DNA test significantly worsening her distress.
Sushmita, a native of Mothkupally village in Vikarabad district, had been married to Abhilash, a bangle seller from Gadipeddapur, for about 18 months.
Janabai told police that on June 23, she and her husband visited the couple’s home to discuss arrangements for Sushmita’s upcoming baby shower ceremony. During the visit, Abhilash allegedly questioned the paternity of the unborn child and demanded a DNA test in the presence of both families.
According to the complaint, the incident led to an argument before community elders intervened. Janabai alleged that the accusation caused her daughter immense humiliation and emotional trauma, with family members claiming the suspicion cast on her character had a devastating impact on her mental well-being.
Two days later, on June 25, Sushmita was found dead at her residence. Villagers later informed her parents of the incident.
Her mother further alleged that continuous harassment by both her husband and mother-in-law drove Sushmita to take her own life.
Based on the complaint, Alladurg police registered a case on June 26 under Sections 85 (cruelty by husband or relatives), 108 (abetment of suicide), read with Section 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Following a post-mortem examination, Sushmita’s body was handed over to her family. Police said investigations into the case are ongoing.
Foreign
Trump Shades Obama As He Shares Their Throwback Photos
U.S. President Donald Trump has sparked fresh online discussion after sharing side-by-side photos of himself and former President Barack Obama from their younger years, just days after Obama joked that he still occupies space in Trump’s thoughts.Trump posted the images on his Truth Social account on Saturday, June 27.
The post followed an AI-generated image of himself holding the Earth while carrying an American flag over his shoulder, as well as a photograph from a recent UFC event held outside the White House.
The side-by-side image featured a photo of Trump during his years at the New York Military Academy next to a picture of Obama at Occidental College, showing the former president wearing a wide-brimmed hat and smoking a cigarette. Obama has previously spoken publicly about his long struggle to quit smoking after picking up the habit as a teenager.
Trump captioned the images, “D. Trump, 20” and “B.H. Obama, 18.” However, the age listed for Trump quickly drew criticism, with his niece and outspoken critic, Mary Trump, noting that he graduated from the New York Military Academy in 1964 at age 17, suggesting the caption may have been inaccurate.
Although Trump did not explain the reason for posting the photos, many social media users viewed the comparison as a response to comments Obama made earlier this week during an appearance on the All the Smoke podcast.
Speaking on the podcast, Obama joked that Trump remains preoccupied with him years after he left office.
“The obsession,” Obama said. “I obviously have a room in his head. A suite in his head. When I was president, the last thing I had time to do was worry about what somebody said or what my predecessor did. They’re gone. I’ve got work to do.”
Obama also claimed that Trump rarely directs such criticism toward him in person.
The latest exchange adds another chapter to the long-running political rivalry between the two leaders. Trump has frequently criticized Obama during campaign rallies and on social media, while in recent weeks he has also shared AI-generated images mocking the former president, including one depicting Obama’s presidential center as a dumpster.
Neither Trump nor Obama has publicly commented further on the latest social media post.
Foreign
Trump threatens to annihilate Iran after new exchange of attacks
Tehran said Sunday it carried out a third day of retaliatory strikes against US attacks on Iranian territory, as both accused the other of violating their fragile ceasefire, straining negotiations meant to end the Middle East war.
The exchanges underscored the fragility of a Pakistan-brokered peace process aimed at ending a war launched by the United States and Israel in February, which disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and rattled global energy markets.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday they were taking measures to control traffic in the vital Strait of Hormuz and that violating vessels would be dealt with more firmly than before.
The only authorised passage by Tehran passes through a corridor running along Iran’s coast.
The Guards said they had also carried out retaliatory strikes in Kuwait and Bahrain.
In a statement, they said the strikes “destroyed eight important US military facilities at the Ali al-Salem base in Kuwait and at the Fifth Fleet naval base in Port Salman in Bahrain”.
“Any enemy aggression, whatever the pretext, even against insignificant targets… will have a crushing response,” the Guards said.
Air raid sirens rang out twice in Bahrain on Sunday, according to the Gulf nation’s interior ministry.
A memorandum of understanding was reached in mid-June under Pakistan’s mediation, aimed at putting a lasting end to the war.
The text signed by the United States and Iran said both countries, and their respective allies, were “not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other”.
– Iran would ‘no longer exist’ –
US President Donald Trump said Saturday that Iran would “no longer exist” if the United States is “forced” to resume the war.
The threat came after US forces said they struck “multiple” Iranian targets Saturday in another tit-for-tat response to attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
“United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” Trump wrote.
– Shipping lanes under fire –
US Central Command said Saturday’s strikes were in response to an Iranian drone attack on the Panama-flagged oil tanker “Kiku,” which was carrying some two million barrels of crude.
The US military said its operation targeted “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities”.
Iranian media reported several explosions in the Sirik and Qeshm areas of southern Iran.
Washington had carried out similar strikes on Friday, saying they were a response to an earlier Iranian attack on another vessel, the “Ever Lovely”.
Israel, meanwhile, launched strikes in Lebanon as Hezbollah’s leader Naim Qassem rejected a deal to end that conflict, which has also threatened to derail the wider US-Iran peace effort.
Iran called “these brutal attacks… a blatant violation” of the interim truce deal.
Iran has warned vessels not to enter or leave the Gulf through the strait without permission, but ships have continued to move, some using a route not authorised by Tehran.
In the memorandum of understanding Iran had previously agreed “safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge, for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman, and vice versa” in the strait.
H.A. Hellyer, of London think tank the Royal United Services Institute, said “Iran is likely to continue calibrated, low-level coercive activity in and around the Strait of Hormuz… to create persistent pressure on international shipping without triggering a wider conflict.”
He said November’s US midterm elections for Congress give Washington “incentives for a quicker agreement” while, for Iran, “a drawn-out negotiation accompanied by controlled pressure in the strait can work to its advantage”.
– Lebanon threats –
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war in early March, when militant group Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in support of Iran. That provoked an Israeli invasion and fighting that has also undermined the US-Iran ceasefire.
Israel and Lebanon signed an agreement on Friday supported by the US aimed at securing long-term peace between the two countries.
Hezbollah’s chief Qassem rejected the deal a day later, calling it “humiliating, shameful and a surrender of sovereignty.”
He instead called for the full implementation of Washington’s deal with Tehran, which includes an end to the fighting in Lebanon.
Hezbollah has repeatedly called for a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, but the Washington deal does not appear to provide for that.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted Israeli troops will remain in the so-called security zone they occupy in southern Lebanon, with civilians prevented from returning until Hezbollah is disarmed.
The Israeli premier called the deal historic on Saturday and “a blow to Iran and Hezbollah.”
But Netanyahu’s far-right security minister Itamar Ben Gvir denounced it as “a big mistake” and insisted that only Israeli forces were capable of disarming Hezbollah.
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