Luck of The Irish Needed for Peace in Ukraine
Irish PM zips it during visit to Trump's Oval Office
The prime minister of Ireland, Micheal Martin, visited the White House yesterday burdened by many of the same looming issues that accompanied other European leaders, among them Russia’s war in Ukraine and the fate of the delicate ceasefire in Gaza. Donald Trump took up much of the spotlight, holding court in an Oval Office sit-down. As the US president took questions from the news media, Martin appeared relatively silent. When he did speak, Martin offered warm praise for the Irish-American alliance and the historic ties between the two countries. He also touted Trump’s self-professed role as a peacemaker, as did French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer when they visited the White House in late February. Much of the attention during their meeting also fell on the ongoing war in Ukraine - with Trump acknowledging that US envoys were already on their way to Moscow to encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept. Putin, however, has pledged not to commit to a temporary ceasefire, for fear Ukraine could re-arm. “What I did to Russia was very tough. I was the toughest ever,” Trump said, comparing himself to his predecessors, Joe Biden, Barack Obama and George W Bush. He hinted he could take economic actions against Russia, something he has hinted at before. But then he demurred. “ In a financial sense, yeah, we could do things very bad for Russia. It would be devastating for Russia. But I don’t want to do that because I want to see peace, and we’re getting close to maybe getting something done,” Trump said. - Al Jazeera
“Diplomacy is a delicate art. Sometimes its an exercise in saying nothing” - Keith Duggan, Irish Times
Russia has presented the U.S. with a list of demands for a deal to end its war against Ukraine and reset relations with Washington, according to two people familiar with the matter. It is not clear what exactly Moscow included on its list or whether it is willing to engage in peace talks with Kyiv prior to their acceptance. Russian and American officials discussed the terms during in-person and virtual conversations over the last three weeks, the people said. They described the Kremlin's terms as broad and similar to demands it previously has presented to Ukraine, the U.S. and NATO. Those earlier terms included no NATO membership for Kyiv, an agreement not to deploy foreign troops in Ukraine and international recognition of President Vladimir Putin's claim that Crimea and four provinces belong to Russia. Russia, in recent years, also has demanded the U.S. and NATO address what it has called the "root causes" of the war, including NATO's eastward expansion.
Separately, President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected in Moscow shortly. And the White House says the US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has spoken to his Russian counterpart, as has the CIA director. For his part, President Putin donned military garb to visit the Kursk region in western Russia, claiming territory seized by Ukraine in August would soon be “fully liberated” by advancing Russian forces. Ukraine’s military commander, Oleksandr Syrsky, said his troops were manoeuvring to more favourable positions to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers - BBC
Hungary has threatened to cancel sanctions on 2,000 Russians unless EU exempts Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman is removed from the bloc’s travel bans and asset freezes. The EU must renew its two sets of sanctions on Russia — including measures targeting more than 2,400 individuals and entities, as well as a separate framework of economic restrictions — every six months through a unanimous vote. Last month, Hungary delayed the renewal of economic sanctions until the European Commission agreed to include Budapest in discussions on resuming gas transit into the EU via Ukraine. Hungary, which shares relatively warm relations with Russia, has repeatedly used sanctions renewal votes as leverage - FT/Moscow Times
President Donald Trump openly challenged U.S. allies on Wednesday by increasing tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25% as he vowed to take back wealth “stolen” by other countries, drawing quick retaliation from Europe and Canada. The Republican president’s use of tariffs to extract concessions from other nations points toward a possibly destructive trade war and a stark change in America’s approach to global leadership. It also has destabilized the stock market and stoked anxiety about an economic downturn. “The United States of America is going to take back a lot of what was stolen from it by other countries and, frankly, by incompetent U.S. leadership,” Trump told reporters . “We’re going to take back our wealth, and we’re going to take back a lot of the companies that left.” Trump removed all exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals, in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10%. His moves, based off a February directive, are part of a broader effort to disrupt and transform global commerce. He has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging “reciprocal” rates starting on April 2. - AP
Foreign ministers from the G7 group of major industrialised democracies are meeting in Canada Thursday amid mounting tensions with US President Donald Trump. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to debrief Washington's allies on this week’s efforts to strike a 30-day ceasefire deal in the Ukraine war, which Kyiv has said it supports. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments - France 24
Poland has charged a Belarusian with espionage and sabotage on behalf of Russia following an arson attack on a large retail store in Warsaw last year. The national prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday that the suspect, identified only as Stepan K, could face between 10 years and life in prison if found guilty of burning down part of the hardware store last April and working for Russian intelligence. The vandalism, which caused damage estimated at 3.5mn zlotys (€840,000), is one of several arson attacks in Poland and other countries in the region linked to Russia, including one last May on the largest shopping mall in Warsaw - FT
A Chinese official has been arrested after succumbing to a “honey trap” overseas and supplying classified information to a foreign spy agency, according to Beijing’s top anti-espionage service. In a report on its official social media account on Thursday, the Ministry of State Security said the official, surnamed Zhang, was posted overseas for a Chinese institution and during that time was a frequent visitor to luxury “venues”. Through these visits, Zhang came in contact with a foreign spy surnamed Li who was undercover as a local business association member. Zhang went on to use his position in the overseas mission to provide “a large amount of classified information to foreign spy intelligence agencies through printing, taking photos, writing and dictating, and received a large amount of funds from the other party”. When he was about to leave his overseas posting and return to China, Zhang even signed a “letter of commitment” with the foreign agencies, agreeing to continue working for them after returning to China, it said. Zhang was arrested by the ministry soon after his return to China and was “severely punished for providing state secrets to foreign espionage agencies”, it said, without giving further details about the process or penalty - SCMP
A dog shot its owner in Tennessee after jumping on a gun trigger, causing it to discharge. Memphis Police responded to an emergency call from a man who told them he was lying in bed with a gun when his dog jumped up, causing the weapon to fire. Jerald Kirkwood was in his bedroom when his one-year-old pit bull, Oreo, leapt onto the bed and got his paw stuck in the trigger guard of his gun. As a result, the gun went off, and a bullet grazed the top of Mr Kirkwood’s left thigh, according to local news station WREG. Following the incident, a woman who had been in bed with Mr Kirkwood allegedly left the house with the gun, while the injured man was ferried to hospital in a non-critical condition. The Memphis Police Department said that officers were able to locate “one spent shell casings on the front room floor”, according to People Magazine. The woman, who was not named, told Fox 13: “The dog is a playful dog, and he likes to jump around and stuff like that, and it just went off.” - The Telegraph
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