International
Putin asks to resume peace negotiations with Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin, was in favor of resuming peace negotiations with Ukraine on Friday, although he expressed his doubts about the legitimacy of his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, whose mandate expired on May 20.
“Peace negotiations must be resumed and not through an ultimatum, but with common sense,” Putin said during a press conference in Minsk, the Belarusian capital.
Putin called on Ukraine to return to the negotiating table, although he warned that these should have as their final objective “the signing of legally binding documents.”
He recalled that Ukraine already signed a document of that kind at the end of March 2022 in Istanbul, but withdrew the signature under pressure from the West.
“Again there is talk of the need to return to the negotiations. Let them come back! But that they return not starting from what a party wants (…), but from the current situation on the ground. We are willing,” he said.
Putin wondered: “Who to negotiate with? It is not a trivial question (…) Russia is aware that the legitimacy of the current head of state (of Ukraine) has expired.”
“I believe that one of the objectives of the conference that was announced in Switzerland is that the Western community, the sponsors of the current Kiev regime, confirm the legitimacy of the current or no longer existing head of state,” he said.
When the time comes, Putin stressed that Moscow must be “completely sure” that it is dialoguing with a “legitimate power.”
Putin made this statement just as Russian troops are gaining ground both in the Donbas and in the second front that the Russian army opened in the northeastern region of Kharkov.
The Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmitro Kuleba, attributed this Friday the alleged willingness of the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to declare a ceasefire with the current demarcation line on the front to the fear that inspires him by the possibility of the triumph of the Peace Summit promoted by Kiev that will take place in Switzerland next month.
“Why are there Russian sources suddenly telling the media that Putin is willing to stop the war with the current lines on the battlefield? It’s simple. Putin is desperately trying to derail the Peace Summit of June 15 and 16 in Switzerland,” Kuleba wrote on his social network account X.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister referred to information published in international media that cited four Russian sources according to which Putin would be willing to stop hostilities if Ukraine and the West agree to freeze the conflict.
Kuleba assured that “Putin have no intention at this time to stop the aggression against Ukraine.” According to the Ukrainian minister, the Russian president fears that the Swiss summit will end with a message of “unity” from “a global majority” that forces him to “opt for peace instead of war.”
“This is what the Peace Summit aspires to achieve. And that’s what he fears,” Kuleba said.
International
Biden, Trump campaigns set rules for first pre-election debate on CNN
Campaign committees for U.S. President Joe Biden and businessman Donald Trump agreed on Saturday to the rules for their first debate ahead of the November elections, scheduled for June 27 and hosted by CNN: it will last ninety minutes, be audience-free, and feature muteable microphones.
CNN had indicated since its announcement in May that the debate would proceed without an audience, which is Biden’s preferred format.
It was also disclosed that both candidates’ campaign teams accepted a series of other provisions, including the use of identical podiums and the implementation of muteable microphones to enforce speaking times.
“The microphones will be silenced throughout the debate, except for the candidate who has the speaking turn,” CNN specified, adding that hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash “will use all available tools” to “enforce the timing and ensure a civilized discussion.”
The debate will feature 90 minutes of discussion with just two commercial breaks during which campaign teams cannot interact with the candidates, as specified.
Pre-written notes on the set will also be prohibited, but “the candidates will receive a pen, notepad, and a water bottle” for the event.
Biden and former President Trump (2017-2021) agreed to debate twice before the presidential elections on November 5, on June 27 and September 10. The second debate will be organized by ABC News.
International
Florida declares a state of emergency due to severe floods in five southern counties
The Government of Florida declared a state of emergency on Thursday in five southern counties where severe floods have occurred due to the torrential rains that began last Tuesday.
The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, today issued the order covering Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier, Lee and Sarasota counties, where for now there have been no victims but mainly road flooding, putting drivers and their families at risk.
The state government stressed that tropical humidity will continue to cause heavy scattered rains in southern Florida and that the flood alert will remain in effect throughout this region and the Keys of Florida, a succession of islets in the extreme south of the state.
These storms have also caused tornadoes, highway cuts, suspension of classes and flight cancellations, about 200 this Thursday, at the airports of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, according to the Flightaware platform.
Several areas in the vicinity of Fort Lauderdale airport were impacted, as well as Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach and Lauderdale Lakes, where floods forced the cancellation of transport services.
Although the storm subsided this Thursday, several sectors remained underwater, including Hallandale Beach, whose residents today asked for more pumps to evacuate it. In addition, several vehicles remained stranded and some were even submerged.
Meanwhile, the Brightline train had to temporarily close its stations in Miami and Aventura, the two further south, and several universities and schools have suspended classes.
The mayor of Miami-Dade, Daniella Levine Cava, declared a local state of emergency on Wednesday night, with immediate effect.
International
The IMF approves the disbursement of another 800 million dollars for Argentina
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the eighth revision of the agreement with Argentina, which allows an immediate disbursement of approximately 800 million dollars for the country.
The financial agency indicated in a statement that this disbursement “will support the efforts of the authorities to restore stability and strengthen Argentina’s external viability.”
The total disbursements made under the Fund’s agreement with Argentina amounts to about 41.4 billion dollars.
The IMF stressed that, when completing the review, “the Executive Board considered that the program was firmly on track, with all the quantitative performance criteria until the end of March 2024 met with margins.”
“Non-compliance exementions for a new exchange rate restriction and multiple exchange practices were also approved in the context of some relaxation of the restrictions on the payment of dividends.”
To maintain solid progress, according to the IMF, “it is necessary to improve the quality of fiscal adjustment, to initiate steps towards an improved monetary and exchange policy framework, implement the structural agenda.”
Likewise, “continue efforts to support the most vulnerable, expand political support and ensure agility in the formulation of policies.”
In March 2022, the then Government of the Peronist Alberto Fernández (2019-2023) signed an agreement with the IMF to refinance loans for about 45 billion dollars that the agency had granted to Argentina in 2018, during the presidency of the conservative Mauricio Macri (2015-2019).
The pact includes quarterly revisions such as the one now surpassed on the level of compliance with demanding goals in terms of fiscal discipline, accumulation of monetary reserves and limits on monetary issuance.
The approval for new disbursements to Argentina by the agency depends on the fulfillment of those goals and the approval of each review, funds that, in turn, the South American country uses to cancel its debt to the entity, which amounted to 40,899 million dollars at the end of 2023.
On Tuesday, the Argentine Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, said that he will negotiate a new program with the IMF after the eighth review of the organization: “From there we will begin to negotiate a new program with them,” he said.
The IMF had highlighted in a statement last May that Argentina reached this eighth review with a “stabilization plan” where it could reach “the first quarterly fiscal surplus in sixteen years,” a “rapid fall in inflation” and “a strong reduction in sovereign risk.”
Argentina had passed this last review in May, but that step had to go through a formal procedure and be approved by the Executive Board of the IMF, something that took place this Thursday, to receive the 800 million.
This eighth review corresponds to the first quarter of 2024, a period marked by the drastic change in economic policy in Argentina after the arrival of Javier Milei to the presidency in December and the implementation of a severe adjustment plan to recover the fiscal surplus this year.
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