President
Trump said Saturday he could be open to changes in the administration’s 28-point plan for ending the war in Ukraine after Kyiv, European governments and even some Republican lawmakers denounced it as far too heavily weighted in Moscow’s favor.
“No, not my final,” Trump said at the White House after he was asked if the terms were nonnegotiable. “We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago.” He didn’t specify what changes were possible in the plan.
The Trump Administration is making another run at ending the war in Ukraine, and a lasting peace with honor would be a laudable achievement. But for three years the only peace on offer has been Ukraine’s surrender, and the latest American offer—really, an ultimatum—is merely another dressed-up version.
The 28-point plan that was mooted in the press but became public on Thursday includes a reduction in Ukraine’s military and a cap on its manpower at 600,000, from about 900,000 now. It isn’t clear if foreign peace-keeping troops would be allowed on Ukraine’s soil or if it could maintain long-range weapons.
The deal hands Mr. Putin all of the Donbas in the east. He’d pocket the territory he’s already seized there—and get the rest that Ukraine still holds despite nearly four years of Russian assaults.
Ukraine would forfeit its right to join a defensive Western alliance in NATO. Oh—and the U.S. and Ukraine would recognize Russian control of Crimea, which Mr. Putin took by force in 2014. Mr. Putin has made these demands since 2022 after his failed storming of Kyiv.
President Trump has said he wants Ukraine to agree to a 28-point peace plan by Thanksgiving. The problem for Kyiv is that many of the points cross their red lines and reflect demands long made by Moscow. The Kremlin has said it wasn’t consulted on the plan.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the key points in the plan and how Ukraine and its European allies might respond.
President
Trump said he wants Ukraine to accept a sweeping U.S. deal to end its nearly four-year-old war with Russia by Thanksgiving, giving Kyiv less than a week to decide whether to agree to a draft plan that would make major concessions to Russia.
“Thursday is, we think, an appropriate time,” Trump told Fox News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade in response to a question about whether he has given Ukraine a Thanksgiving deadline to agree to the plan. “We’re in it for one thing. We want the killing to stop.”
European officials pushed back against a U.S. proposal for ending the Ukraine war, saying that Kyiv must approve any plan and that the conflict must not end with a Ukrainian capitulation.
The Trump administration drafted a
28-point peace plan that calls for Ukraine to make major territorial concessions to Russia and drops demands for a peacekeeping force to deter future attacks by Moscow, U.S. officials said, resurrecting ideas that Kyiv has already rejected.
Scotland secure qualification to the World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico with a win over Denmark.
Scotland fans (Image: SNS Group)
Scotland have qualified for the World Cup for the first time in near 30 years.
Scotland will have to rely on a World Cup play-off for the chance to return the World Cup after a near-three-decade wait.
The Tartan Army will be back on football’s world stage next summer for the first time since France 1998 after Scotland topped Group C and beat out Denmark, Greece and Belarus to automatic qualification.
Scotland defeated Denmark 4-2 tonight in front of a capacity Hampden crowd.
The group commenced in September with a steady goalless draw against the Danes before comfortably beating Belarus 2-0 away in Hungary.
The October meetings saw the National Team batter Greece 3-1 at Hampden and struggle to a 2-1 victory over the Belarusians in Glasgow.
All hopes of automatic qualification were pinned on picking up a draw or win away in Piraeus in order to create a winner takes all tie against Denmark today.
Everything seemed lost as the Scots slipped up against Greece. However, thanks to Belarus securing a draw in Copenhagen, Scotland were given a lifeline.
This meant if Scotland beat the Danes tonight, they would automatically qualify for the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Under the guidance of Craig Brown, Scotland sealed their place in the 1998 French World Cup with a hard-fought 2–0 win over Latvia at Celtic Park in October 1997 with Kevin Gallacher and Gordon Durie bagging the goals.
That squad went to France in ’98, but failed to make it out of the group stage – collecting just one point from three matches.
Since then, Scotland have endured six straight failed qualification campaigns. Qualification now sends Scotland to the 2026 World Cup, a tournament that, for the first time, will host 48 teams to give more nations a fighting chance on the world stage.
Under Steve Clarke, Scotland have now qualified for three international tournaments but have yet to win a game at any.
At Euro 2020, played in 2021, Scotland faced England, Croatia and Czech Republic – only securing one point with a goalless draw against the Auld Enemy at Wembley.
In Germany at Euro 2024, Clarke’s men again only won one point, this time with a draw against Switzerland after an embarrassing display against the hosts and a late-defeat versus Hungary.
For the previous World Cup, Scotland came up short following a 3-1 defeat to Ukraine in the Playoff semi-final.
The World Cup 2026 will be held in 16 cities across USA, Canada and Mexico and will kick-off on June 11.
The draw for the group stage will take place in Washington on December 5 and will see President Donald Trump join FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the John F Kennedy Center.
President Trump dispatched a high-level Pentagon delegation to Kyiv for talks Wednesday in the administration’s latest attempt to revive negotiations on halting Russia’s war with Ukraine, according to senior U.S. officials.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, along with two four-star Army generals, was scheduled to hold discussions with President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials, as well as top military and industry representatives, two of the officials said. Driscoll is planning to meet with Russian officials at a later date.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that he had signed a letter of intent to acquire 100 Rafale F4 fighter jets by 2035, SAMP/T air defense systems, radars, air-to-air-missiles and aerial bombs from France.
A special court in Bangladesh sentenced the country’s former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to death on Monday for her role in the killing of at least 1,400 protesters who participated in nationwide demonstrations last year that ultimately led to her ouster.
The International Crimes Tribunal ruled that Hasina and several of her top officials were guilty of crimes against humanity, including inciting and abetting organized violence against peaceful student protesters in July and August 2024, and conspiring in the killing of civilians, among other charges.
Hamas’s popularity has edged up among Palestinians in Gaza since the cease-fire, ending a slide during the war and posing a challenge to President Trump’s plan to bring peace to the enclave by disarming the militant group.
A major reason is security. Last month, as a cease-fire took root and Israeli forces pulled back, Hamas fighters re-emerged on the streets as police and internal-security forces, patrolling and targeting criminals along with rivals and critics. While many Gazans have a dim view of the U.S.-designated terrorist group and don’t like seeing the group reassert itself, Palestinians have welcomed a reduction in crime and looting.
The new nuclear race has begun. But unlike during the Cold War, the U.S. must prepare for two peer rivals rather than one—at a time when it has lost its clear industrial and economic edge.
China, which long possessed just a small nuclear force, is catching up fast, while Russia is developing a variety of new-generation systems aimed at American cities.
Iran seized a Cyprus-registered fuel tanker Friday, its first such interdiction in the Strait of Hormuz in more than a year.
The seizure of the tanker Talara, which was carrying diesel fuel from the United Arab Emirates to Singapore, comes amid a still unresolved standoff between Tehran and the West over Iran’s nuclear program.
Israeli settlers extended a wave of attacks in the West Bank, drawing rare condemnation from authorities and concern from the U.S. over the escalating violence.
The U.S. is falling behind China in one of the defining technologies of the modern battlefield.
Drones have proven indispensable in conflicts like Ukraine, where troops rely on them to destroy tanks, lay mines, evacuate wounded fighters, and deliver food and medication. Advances in artificial intelligence increasingly allow unmanned systems to operate with minimal human direction, such as tracking and attacking targets on their own.
BERLIN—Germany will build a database of young people detailing their fitness, aptitude and outlook to help it pick whom to draft should the country be attacked.
The proposed move, a step toward reintroducing military conscription, comes as countries across Europe grapple with how to repopulate their armed forces under pressure from Washington and an expansionist Russia that European capitals accuse of waging a hybrid war on the continent.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s coalition came first in this week’s parliamentary election, but Iran-backed militias also had a strong showing, setting up what could be long negotiations over who will be the country’s leader.
Sudani had been seeking a second term, positioning himself as a leader who could make Iraq independent of both the U.S. and Iran, the two rivals that have battled for influence over the country since the 2003 American-led invasion.
Two years on, Israel’s war in Gaza might be finally drawing to a close. The conflict built an unprecedented arms pipeline from the U.S. to Israel that continues to flow, generating substantial business for big U.S. companies—including Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Caterpillar.
Sales of U.S. weapons to Israel have surged since October 2023, with Washington approving more than $32 billion in armaments, ammunition and other equipment to the Israeli military over that time, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of State Department disclosures.