International
Rutte and Trump discussed in Florida the issues of “global security” facing NATO
The Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, and the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, met on Friday in Florida (USA) and addressed a “range” of issues on “global security”, the Alliance reported on Saturday.
The meeting took place in “Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday (November 22)” and “discussed the range of global security problems facing the Alliance,” NATO said on its website.
“The secretary general and his team also met with Congressman Mike Waltz and members of the president-elect’s national security team,” the Alliance added in a brief statement accompanied by a photo of Rutte and Trump smiling very much.
Last week, the US president-elect appointed Waltz, a Republican congressman for Florida, as a future national security adviser, and then stressed that he is an expert in “threats from China, Russia, Iran and global terrorism.” “He will be a tremendous champion in our search for peace through force,” he said when announcing his appointment.
Pre-appointment meeting of Trump
Rutte flew to Florida on a government plane from the Netherlands to meet with the future US president, Dutch media announced on Friday.
Rutte, former Dutch minister, used an aircraft of the Dutch government to fly to Palm Beach airport, near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, according to public television NOS.
NATO is responsible for the costs of the flight, since the Alliance does not have its own aircraft for the Secretary-General’s travel and regularly uses Member State aircraft for travel.
The reason for the trip was to hold a meeting with Trump, who was very critical of the Atlantic Alliance during his first term, and who will take office as the new president of the United States at the end of January.
The head of NATO previously mentioned that he had exchanged text messages with the Republican and assured that, during his first term, when Rutte was Dutch prime minister, the cooperation between the two “was positive.”
Trump, who already ruled the country between 2017 and 2021, was during his first term very critical of NATO and criticized his partners in the Atlantic Alliance who do not allocate enough money to collective defense.
During the last election campaign, he even suggested that he would encourage Russia to do what it wanted with European countries that do not increase their defense spending and, in addition, questioned the sending of US military aid to Ukraine.
International
Meta Says Russia Seeks to Ban WhatsApp for Defending Secure Communication
U.S. tech giant Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, said that Russia is seeking to ban the messaging app because it “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication.”
Russian authorities have encouraged citizens to switch to state-backed applications, and in August they already blocked WhatsApp’s calling feature.
On Friday, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that the platform was being used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts in the country, recruit perpetrators, and facilitate fraud and other crimes.”
“If the messaging service does not comply with Russian law, it will be completely blocked,” the regulator warned.
WhatsApp remains one of Russia’s most widely used messaging services, alongside Telegram.
Moscow is pressuring both platforms to grant authorities access to user data upon request for investigations into fraud and activities the government labels as “terrorist.”
Human rights advocates fear the demand could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin, or the war in Ukraine.
International
Archbishop Wenski criticizes Trump’s deportation policies, calls for stronger push for reform
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, has called for increased pressure on the U.S. Congress to advance comprehensive immigration reform and criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies, arguing that they “do nothing to help.”
“We need to apply more pressure on Congress so lawmakers can make the necessary changes. It is also important for the Administration to listen to our voice. We do not want to be anyone’s enemy—we are Americans,” Wenski said in an interview with EFE.
The religious leader, who heads one of the dioceses with the largest Latino and Haitian populations in the United States, issued a call to defend the rights of migrants. He also emphasized that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has maintained a strong and public stance in favor of migrants for decades.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
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