International News
US President Trump calls for ‘immediate’ talks with Putin to end Russia-Ukraine war

Washington, Jan 24: US President Donald Trump has told reporters that Russia “should want to make a deal” with Ukraine to end the “horrible war” and emphasised he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately.
“So, I think Russia should want to make a deal. Maybe they want to make a deal. I think from what I hear, Putin would like to see me. We’ll meet as soon as we can. I’d meet immediately. Every day we don’t meet soldiers who are being killed in the battlefield,” Trump said during an Oval Office signing ceremony.
Trump described the conflict as one of the deadliest conflicts since World War II, emphasising that millions of lives have been lost on battlefields and farmlands, and that millions of soldiers are being killed.
While virtually addressing the World Economic Forum (WEF), Trump said, “Our efforts to secure a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine are now hopefully underway. It’s so important to get that done, millions of soldiers are being killed. Nobody has seen anything like it since World War II. They are laying dead all over the fields, farmlands… It’s time to end it.”
He added, “I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon and get that war ended. That’s not from the standpoint of economy or anything else. It is from the standpoint of millions of lives that are being wasted. Beautiful, young people are being shot on the battlefield. I have seen pictures of what has taken place and it is a carnage. We really have to stop that war, that war is horrible.”
When asked whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is open to negotiating, Trump responded: “He’s lost a lot of soldiers, and so has Russia,” before adding, “But Russia has lost more.”
Earlier this week, Trump posted on Truth Social that he would impose high tariffs and further sanctions on Russia if Putin fails to end the war in Ukraine.
President Trump on Thursday said peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine are “hopefully” underway while speaking virtually at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“Our efforts to secure a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine are now hopefully underway,” the US President said while speaking virtually at the forum in Davos on Thursday.
“It’s so important to get that done,” the President added.
“That is an absolute killing field. Millions of soldiers are being killed.”
And as the Russia-Ukraine war enters into its fourth year, Western officials assess Russia’s incremental gains along the frontline add as many as 1,500 deaths and injuries a day, and the toll nears 700,000 casualties for the war, according to the UK Defence M<inistry. And US officials estimated about a year ago that some 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and nearly twice that number wounded.
Trump’s remarks came even though he vowed to end the war on the first day of his administration.
Trump missed that deadline, though the media previously reported that the US President is trying to set up a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a potential in-person meeting.
He repeated his desire to meet the Russian President while speaking on Thursday: “I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon to get that war ended.”
Trump however was critical of Putin while speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, saying the Russian leader is “not doing so well.” Those remarks are a departure from the typically complimentary rhetoric Trump has for the Russian strongman.
He added that he believes Ukraine “is ready to make a deal”.
The US President said he would seek the assistance of Chinese President Xi Jinping to secure peace in Ukraine.
International News
Netanyahu says Israeli team to travel to Cairo for Gaza ceasefire talks

Jerusalem, Feb 17: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a negotiation team will travel to Cairo on Monday to discuss the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
According to a statement released by his office, Netanyahu said he spoke by phone with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, after which he instructed an Israeli negotiation team to depart for Cairo on Monday.
The team will first discuss the “continuation of the implementation of Phase One of the deal,” and will “receive instructions on continuing negotiations regarding the second phase” after a meeting of the Israeli Security Cabinet scheduled for Monday, the statement said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Witkoff said talks about the second phase have already begun and will continue this week “at a location to be determined so that we can figure out how we get to the end of Phase Two successfully.”
On Saturday, Hamas and Israel completed the sixth prisoner-for-hostage exchange following days of tense negotiations that threatened to undo the precarious ceasefire.
In the exchange, Hamas released three more Israeli hostages held in Gaza, while Israeli authorities freed 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, effective since January 19 and spanning six weeks, 33 Israeli hostages are expected to be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians. So far, 19 Israeli hostages, along with five Thais, have been released from Gaza, while Israeli authorities have released over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Israel and Hamas were supposed to begin talks on the second phase in early February. Hamas said in a statement on February 4 that it had started discussions with international mediators, whereas a spokesman for Netanyahu said on social media platform X on Tuesday that Israel had not yet begun negotiations on the second phase.
The second phase of the agreement is supposed to focus on the release of the remaining hostages, the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave, and the implementation of a permanent ceasefire.
International News
369 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails

Ramallah, Feb 15: The Israeli authorities on Saturday released 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from its jails as part of the sixth batch of prisoner-for-hostage exchanges between Israel and Hamas.
Abdullah al-Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, told news agency that among the freed prisoners were 36 serving life sentences, and 333 detainees who had been arrested by Israel from the Gaza Strip following the October 7, 2023 attack.
Palestinian sources and eyewitnesses said that the prisoners were received in the courtyard of the Ramallah Cultural Palace in the presence of the Red Cross and their families.
Before the release of the prisoners, eyewitnesses said that Israeli forces stormed the city of Beitunia, west of Ramallah, to prevent Palestinians from assembling near the gate of Ofer prison, where the prisoners were being freed.
Earlier on Saturday, the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad released three Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The Israeli authorities have confirmed their arrival in Israel.
The freed hostages — Alexandre Sasha Troufanov, a 29-year-old Israeli-Russian citizen; Sagui Dekel-Chen, a 36-year-old Israeli-American citizen; and Iair Horn, a 46-year-old Israeli-Argentine citizen — were kidnapped in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Troufanov was kidnapped along with his mother, grandmother, and partner, and the three women were released in a previous hostage deal in November 2023. His father was killed on the day of the kidnapping.
Dekel-Chen, a father of three, had a daughter born after his abduction. Horn’s brother, Eitan, remains in captivity in Gaza.
“Thanks to the concentration of our forces in and around the Gaza Strip, and thanks to the clear and unequivocal statement of US President Donald Trump, Hamas has withdrawn and the release of the hostages continues,” said a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump warned on Monday that if “all of the hostages” in Gaza were not freed by noon on Saturday, the truce would be called off, and he would “let hell break out.”
Under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, effective since January 19 and spanning six weeks, 33 Israeli hostages are expected to be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians. So far, 19 Israeli hostages, along with five Thais, have been released.
International News
Three Israeli hostages released in Gaza arrive in Israel

Jerusalem, Feb 15: Three Israeli hostages previously held by the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad were transferred to Israeli authorities and crossed the border into Israel on Saturday as part of an ongoing ceasefire exchange, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced.
The freed hostages — Alexandre Sasha Troufanov, a 29-year-old Israeli-Russian citizen; Sagui Dekel-Chen, a 36-year-old Israeli-American citizen; and Iair Horn, a 46-year-old Israeli-Argentine citizen — were kidnapped in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Troufanov was kidnapped along with his mother, grandmother, and partner, and the three women were released in a previous hostage deal in November 2023. His father was killed on the day of the kidnapping.
Dekel-Chen, a father of three, had a daughter born after his abduction. Horn’s brother, Eitan, remains in captivity in Gaza.
“Thanks to the concentration of our forces in and around the Gaza Strip, and thanks to the clear and unequivocal statement of U.S. President Donald Trump, Hamas has withdrawn and the release of the hostages continues,” said a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump warned on Monday that if “all of the hostages” in Gaza were not freed by noon on Saturday, the truce would be called off, and he would “let hell break out.”
Hamas had initially intended to delay the scheduled hostage release, citing Israeli violations of the agreement. However, by Thursday, the group confirmed it would proceed with the swap of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages.
The three were the sixth group of hostages freed as part of a swap deal between Palestinian militants and Israel under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, with Israel expected to begin releasing 369 Palestinian prisoners later on Saturday.
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