International
The United States, Russia and Ukraine send delegations to Saudi Arabia in the face of a possible negotiation to end the war
The United States, Russia and Ukraine sent delegations to Saudi Arabia at a time of growing speculation about the possible negotiations between Washington and Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.
The US special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, confirmed on Sunday that an American delegation will travel to the kingdom in the next few hours to meet with Russian officials within the framework of contacts aimed at finding a way out of the conflict.
At the same time, a Ukrainian delegation will also be present in the country, although it is not clear whether it will participate in the talks.
In an interview this Sunday with the Fox network, Witkoff revealed that the US delegation will be composed of himself and the White House National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, and explained that they plan to travel tonight.
“We’ll leave tonight. I will travel with the National Security advisor and we will hold meetings on behalf of the president. We hope to achieve significant progress in relation to Russia and Ukraine,” he said.
Witkoff also said that he “belied” that Ukraine would be part of the negotiations with the Russian delegation. “I don’t think it’s about excluding anyone,” he said.
According to local media, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who was in Israel today and tomorrow will arrive in Saudi Arabia as part of his first tour in the Middle East as head of US diplomacy, will also be part of the US delegation.
When the leaders of Russia and the United States spoke on the phone on February 12, Trump announced that he had reached an agreement with Putin to start “negotiations immediately” with the aim of ending the war in Ukraine and appointed Rubio, Waltz, Witkoff and the director of the CIA, John Ratcliffe, as the negotiating team.
Subsequently, Trump announced his intention to hold a summit with Putin in Saudi Arabia, although there is still no date for the meeting.
The Kremlin has not officially announced who will be part of the Russian delegation in the first high-level meeting between the two countries since the beginning of the war in February 2022.
However, according to CNN, which cites sources familiar with the matter, the delegation could include senior political, intelligence and economic officials, including Kirill Dmitriev, who played a key role in the recent prisoner exchange between the two countries.
While the US delegation is heading to Saudi Arabia, the Ukrainian delegation has already arrived in the kingdom, according to Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, announced on Facebook.
Svyrydenko explained that the objective of the trip is to strengthen economic ties with Saudi Arabia and prepare a possible trip for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, although he did not specify whether the delegation will participate in the negotiations between Washington and Moscow.
In an interview broadcast this Sunday by NBC, Zelenski insisted that “no world leader” can reach an agreement on Ukraine without his participation. Asked if Putin is capable of negotiating in good faith, he replied: “He is a liar. He doesn’t want peace.”
According to an advisor close to Zelenski quoted by NBC, until Saturday night Ukraine had not been invited to the talks between the US and Russia and reiterated that Kiev considers it essential that there is a “joint position” between its country, Washington and Europe before any negotiation with Putin.
The eventual meeting between the US and Russia to end the war has generated concern both in the Ukrainian Government, which has warned that it will not accept any agreement without its consent, and in Europe, where this Monday the leaders of the EU, the United Kingdom, the European Commission and NATO will hold a meeting to define their strategy.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
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Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction