Tag: International relations

Exclusive | How the U.S. Drafted a Russia-Friendly Peace Plan for Ukraine

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WASHINGTON—It started with an October order from President Trump to his national security team: Come up with a plan to end the Ukraine war just as they had halted the fighting in Gaza.

On a flight back from the Middle East, in the afterglow of brokering a deal between Israel and Hamas, envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner began writing the first draft of what would eventually become a 28-point peace framework to end the four-year war, according to U.S. officials and a person familiar with the situation.

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Robbie Gramer

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Opinion | What a Good Ukraine Peace Looks Like

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President Trump on Monday touted “big progress” on talks to end the Ukraine war, and Kyiv is doubtless willing to make painful concessions to avoid surrender or U.S. abandonment. No one wants the war to end more than the Ukrainians who are fighting and dying.

But the crucial issue continues to be what kind of peace? So it’s worth describing the conditions that would create a peace with honor in Ukraine and deter a new war whenever Vladimir Putin chooses to invade again.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday described the U.S. peace offer as a “living, breathing document,” and we welcome the red pen to the original 28-point plan that bent hard toward Vladimir Putin. That document would leave a neutered Ukraine that is banned from associating with Western security institutions and vulnerable to a new invasion.

The overriding goal of any peace is letting Ukraine survive as an independent nation that can determine its own future. If its people want to align with Russia, so be it. But every indication is that they want to align with the West, including the European Union and NATO.

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The Editorial Board

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School Kidnappings Have Become a Cruel Fact of Life in Nigeria

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The mass kidnapping of children in Nigeria caught the world’s attention over a decade ago when 276 high-school students were abducted from Chibok, sparking the #BringBackOurGirls campaign on social media. The phenomenon returned to the limelight this month with another mass abduction and President Trump’s threats to intervene over what he said was the persecution of Christians in one of Africa’s most strategic nations.

The reality is, the kidnappings never really abated.

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Alexandra Wexler

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China’s Xi Calls Trump in Unusual Move to Discuss Ukraine, Taiwan

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In an unusual diplomatic move, Chinese leader Xi Jinping initiated a phone call with President Trump on Monday, discussing Taiwan and Ukraine as Washington, Kyiv and Moscow try to hammer out a plan to end the war.

China has provided crucial diplomatic and economic support to Russia since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Now as Trump pushes to make a decisive move to end the war, Beijing is seeking to play a more visible role.

[ad_2] Lingling Wei
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ISIS Prisons and Camps Are Festering in a Fragile Syria as Aid Peters Out

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HASAKAH, Syria—In a wing of the notorious Al Sina prison in northeastern Syria, where some of the world’s most dangerous inmates are held, guards wearing balaclavas stood along a corridor lined with cells. A prisoner pressed his face to a small, square hole in one of the cell doors. Behind him, some 20 other prisoners in brown jumpsuits sat barefoot on the floor.

“Is Biden still the U.S. president?” he asked a visiting journalist. The prisoner, a British Islamic State member, didn’t get an answer.

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Sudarsan Raghavan

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Japan’s New Leader Infuriated Beijing. She Isn’t Backing Down.

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Workaholic Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is riding high despite the perils of a fight with Beijing.

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Jason Douglas

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Opinion | Israel Proves the Danger of an ‘Independent’ Justice System

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The Supreme Court could be enabling a criminal conspiracy to prosecute IDF reservists unjustly.

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Avi Bell

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Trump Blasts Ukraine, Europe as They Work to Reshape U.S. Peace Plan

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President Trump criticized Ukrainian and European officials on Sunday, as they launched a diplomatic offensive aimed at reshaping a 28-point peace plan that has been criticized as too favorable to Russia.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump called the war a “loser” for everyone and said Ukrainian leaders had expressed “zero” gratitude for U.S. efforts. He said Europeans continue to buy oil from Russia.

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Matthew Luxmoore

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The Failed Crusade to Keep a Rare-Earths Mine Out of China’s Hands

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For years, a mining project in Africa held the promise of helping free the West from its dependence on China for rare earths. Some weeks back, it fell into Chinese hands.

The failure of Peak Rare Earths, an Australian mining company, to build a China-free supply of rare-earth minerals offers a look at how Beijing came to dominate the global supply of critical minerals—a position it is now deftly leveraging for geopolitical gain. China has choked off the supply of rare earths to wring key concessions from President Trump in his trade war.

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Jon Emont

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Russia Stuck to Its Demands on Ukraine. Many Are Now in Trump’s Peace Plan.

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For the past four years, Russia has stuck by a single set of demands for ending its war in Ukraine. Now, Moscow is sitting back and reaping the fruits of its strategy, as President Trump presses a peace plan that broadly conforms with its demands.

The latest 28-point document that Trump has championed as a path to ending the war includes some of Russia’s most important conditions. Those terms include giving Russia more land in Ukraine’s east, defanging Ukraine’s military and closing off the path for Kyiv to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

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Thomas Grove

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Trump Says Ukraine Peace Plan Isn’t Final After Criticism It Favors Russia

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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.

[ad_2] Robbie Gramer
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Trump’s Tariffs Hand Lula a Political Gift in Brazil

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The Brazilian president is in a stronger position to win in elections next year following his defiant stance on President Trump’s tariffs.

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Samantha Pearson

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Trump Uses Gaza Peace Playbook in Ukraine

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The White House is giving Ukraine less than a week to sign on to a plan requiring major concessions.

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Michael R. Gordon

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Latest Push for Peace Is Zelensky’s Toughest Moment Since Start of War

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The Ukrainian leader is trying to prepare his people for “a very difficult choice” after almost four years of full-scale conflict with Russia.

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Ian Lovett

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Trump’s Peace Plan for Ukraine, Annotated

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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.

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Matthew Luxmoore

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Trump Says He Wants Ukraine’s Answer on Peace Plan by Thursday

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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.”

[ad_2] Ian Lovett
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Zelensky Says Peace Plan Poses Historic Choice: Lose Dignity or U.S. Support

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Ukraine’s president gave his first response to the Trump administration’s proposal, which would hand concessions to Russia.

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Ian Lovett

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