International
Russians and Ukrainians open peace negotiations three years later but do not stop the war
Russia and Ukraine reopened peace negotiations in Istanbul today, stagnant since the first year of the war (2022), and, although they did not stop the fighting, they agreed to study the plans of both sides for a future ceasefire.
“The direct negotiations with the Ukrainian side, organized on the initiative of the Russian president, have just been concluded. In general, we are satisfied with the results and we are willing to continue contacts,” said Vladimir Medinski, Russian chief negotiator, in an appearance before the press.
The talks, chaired by the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, and which seemed to obviate the most controversial political aspects, lasted for an hour and fifty minutes at the Dolmabahce Palace.
“Today has been an important day for world peace,” Fidan wrote on the X network.
In addition, Moscow and Kiev left the door open to a summit between the presidents of both countries, the Russian Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky, after the former refused to travel to Istanbul.
According to the Turkish network NTV, both delegations will leave the city in the next few hours.
Ukraine, both its president and its negotiators, had repeated ad nauseam in recent days that its main objective was to achieve an immediate cessation of hostilities, for at least 30 days.
There was no agreement – Russia demands guarantees of monitoring and that the enemy will not rearm -, although Moscow opted for a formulation that does not force it for the moment to stop its offensive in the Donbass.
“We have agreed that each party will present its vision of a possible ceasefire and describe it in detail. Once that vision is presented, we consider it convenient – we have also agreed – to continue our negotiations,” said Medinski, who also participated in the March-April 2022 meeting.
In this regard, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Rustem Umérov, commented: “All the (possible) modalities have been discussed. Now our colleagues exchange documents.”
What does this mean? Apparently, Russia wants to buy time. But the patience of the European Union (EU) has a limit and Brussels could apply at any time the 17 package of sanctions approved this week against the Russian banking and energy system.
In fact, at the end of the negotiations, Zelenski and the leaders of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Poland spoke by phone from Tirana with US President Donald Trump.
“Our position: if the Russians reject a total and unconditional ceasefire and put an end to the massacre, there must be forceful sanctions. The pressure on Russia must be maintained until Russia is ready to end the war,” Zelenski wrote on his social networks.
In the same vein, French President Emmanuel Macron considered it “unacceptable that, for the second time, President Putin does not respond to the demands made by the Americans and supported by Ukraine and Europe.”
In addition to the verbal commitment to hold a second round of negotiations, the only concrete agreement reached today is the exchange of a thousand prisoners on each side.
In a clear measure to increase confidence between both sides, Moscow and Kiev announced that they will carry it out “in the coming days”.
This is the largest exchange of prisoners of war – Zelenski had proposed an exchange of all for all – since the beginning of the contest on February 24, 2022.
In turn, Medinski revealed that Kiev had proposed to Moscow a future summit between Putin and Zelenski, who have not been seen since December 2019 in Paris, a few months after the Ukrainian leader came to power.
“The Ukrainian side requested direct negotiations between the heads of state. We have taken note of that proposal,” said the Kremlin advisor.
Then, Umerov confirmed the request after Putin’s refusal to attend the appointment was about to destroy the negotiations.
“We are also preparing a potential meeting between the leaders of both countries,” he said in a brief statement.
Trump, who had shown himself willing to meet with Putin and Zelenski, returned to the United States today after his first foreign tour without fulfilling his wish.
In this regard, he assured on Friday that he is willing to meet with Putin “as soon as we can organize it” and assured that he understands that the Russian president did not go to Istanbul without his presence.
“If I didn’t go, it was guaranteed that Putin wasn’t going to go and he didn’t go. I can understand it, but we’re going to get it,” he said.
The Kremlin today considered this summit “extremely important” to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine.
“Those contacts would be extremely important in the context of the Ukrainian arrangement (…) Without a doubt, that meeting is necessary,” said Dmitri Peskov, presidential spokesman, during his daily telephone press conference.
Yesterday was marked by the crossing of insults and reproaches between Moscow and Kiev and by the confirmation that the presidents of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski; Russia, Vladimir Putin; and the United States, Donald Trump; would not participate in the contacts, the first between Ukraine and Russia since April 2022.
Trump said on Friday that he is willing to meet with Vladimir Putin “as soon as we can organize it” and assured that he understands that the Russian president did not go to Istanbul without him being present to advance the peace talks between Kiev and Moscow.
“I would go from here, although I want to see my wonderful grandson,” Trump said at a bilateral event with companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in reference to the fact that his daughter Tiffany has just had a child and wants to return to meet him.
“If I didn’t go, it was guaranteed that Putin wasn’t going to go and he didn’t go. I can understand, but we are going to get it,” said Trump, who from the beginning was in favor of facilitating the meeting between Zelenski and Putin in Istanbul this Friday.
The Kremlin considered today “extremely important” a possible summit between the presidents of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the United States, Donald Trump, for the peaceful settlement in Ukraine.
Finally, Putin, who initially proposed the meeting, did not travel to Istanbul to lead his delegation of negotiators, something that Zelenski did, who in the absence of the Russian president continued with an agenda that has now taken him to Albania.
For NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a mistake in sending a delegation in which no member reaches the rank of minister to the negotiations in Istanbul to try to end the war in Ukraine.
Rutte said that he “knows Putin well” from his time as Dutch prime minister and appreciated that the Russian president “knows perfectly well that the ball is in his field, that he has problems and that he has made a mistake by sending a low-level delegation.”
International
Trump to decide soon on deportation exemptions for construction and farm workers
U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday in Florida that he will make a decision in the coming weeks regarding exemptions from deportations for workers in the construction and agriculture sectors.
Trump made these remarks to the media during a visit to the new migrant detention center, ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ located in the middle of a wetland in Florida, the White House reported.
ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids have targeted many of these workers, sparking fear among them and threatening to slow down two sectors that are vital to the U.S. economy.
In construction, 25.7% of workers are immigrants, and 14.1% of the total workforce nationwide is undocumented, according to the American Immigration Council.
In agriculture, the percentage of undocumented employees rises to 42%, according to data from the Department of Agriculture cited by the New York Times.
International
IDB plans $11 billion in sustainable financing to support countries facing currency risks
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) aims to unlock at least $11 billion in sustainable financing to help countries address challenges including natural disasters that strain their currencies and hinder private sector investment.
As the United States and other wealthier countries reduce official development assistance, multilateral lenders face pressure to find new ways to tackle issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss. During the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, IDB President Ilan Goldfajn stated that the measures adopted by the IDB are expected to inspire more private sector contributions, which is a key priority of the conference.
“We are not just announcing ideas; we are launching what the private sector is asking for: credible tools, scalable platforms, and real opportunities to invest with impact and confidence,” he added.
Support will include a new platform designed to help countries manage the risk of large swings in their national currencies that can deter international investors by making returns harder to predict. Based on a program in Brazil that has already attracted $8 billion from the private sector since its launch last year, the plan is to expand the concept to other regional economies over the next three years and at least double the amount mobilized.
Called FX EDGE, the platform will offer a credit line that activates if a currency drops sharply—a common problem during political or debt crises or after natural disasters—ensuring debtors can continue to service their loans in dollars or other foreign currencies.
The platform also aims to enable greater use of long-term currency hedging instruments, such as derivatives, through local banks and financial institutions, backed by the IDB’s credit rating.
International
Maduro’s government appeals to Vatican for help rescuing migrant children
Este lunes, durante su programa semanal ‘Con Maduro +’, el mandatario venezolano anunció que pediría al sumo pontífice su ayuda para rescatar a 18 niños migrantes.
“Yo sé que el papa es un hombre que comprende estos temas. Le pido ayuda a la Iglesia católica, apostólica y romana, al papa León, para que la Iglesia católica de Estados Unidos y la Iglesia católica de El Salvador proteja a los migrantes y nos ayude con sus gestiones para rescatar a estos niños y a estas niñas”, indicó Maduro en el espacio transmitido por VTV.
Más temprano, Rodríguez había pedido al alto comisionado de la ONU para los Derechos Humanos, Volker Türk, y al coordinador residente de la ONU en Venezuela, Gianluca Rampolla, pronunciarse sobre este hecho y exigió a Washington devolver a los pequeños.
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