Tag Archives: Politics

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Defends His Stance During Oval Office Clash With Trump

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is speaking about his historic Oval Office clash with US President Donald Trump, defending his decision to speak up for his country at a critical juncture in its war against Russia.

The two leaders sparred inside the White House in front of the whole world last month with Trump accusing his Ukrainian counterpart of “gambling with World War III” for arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin can’t be trusted. The episode led to a temporary pause in US aid and intelligence sharing with the country.

In an interview with Time released on Monday, Zelenskyy addressed the fact that Ukrainians rallied around him after his tense exchange with Trump rather than blame him for the diplomatic failure three years into the war.

Zelenskyy explained that Ukrainians “are very emotional, and when it comes to our sense of dignity, freedom, democracy, our people rise up and unite,” noting that his country expected the Trump administration to show that the U.S. still sees Kyiv as an ally.

“But in that moment there was the sense of not being allies, or not taking the position of an ally,” he said. “In that conversation, I was defending the dignity of Ukraine.”

At the infamous White House meeting, the Ukrainian leader said he planned to gift Trump the championship belt of heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk. However, Zelenskyy chose to start out by showing Trump images depicting how badly Russia has treated Ukrainian prisoners of war.

“That’s tough stuff,” Trump said looking at the photos.

In his interview with Time, Zelenskyy defended his choice to give Trump the images, adding that he was hoping to appeal to the president’s humanity.

“What I wanted to show were my values,” Zelenskyy said. “But then, well, the conversation went in another direction.”

After the meeting went off the rails, Zelenskyy left the White House early and never got the chance to give Trump the belt. However, Time reported that a White House staffer found the gift in the Oval Office and placed it in Trump’s dining room.

Since then, Russia and Ukraine have agreed in principle to a limited ceasefire after Putin rejected a US proposal for an unconditional ceasefire which was approved by Kyiv. A US delegation on Monday met with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia a day after holding a separate meeting with their Ukrainian counterparts to discuss the implementation of that agreement.

Meanwhile, White House envoy Steve Witkoff told Tucker Carlson Putin “has got huge respect” for Trump, suggesting that Zelenskyy made a mistake by crossing Trump when he visited the White House.

“You saw what happened in the Oval Office with Zelenskyy and the president, right?” Witkoff said in an interview released on Friday. “Disrespecting him is not a healthy way to have a good relationship.”

“Hopefully we’ll chalk it up to a misunderstanding and we’ll get to a peace solution here,” he continued.

Zelenskyy also spoke out against granting Moscow major concessions with no reciprocation, citing Trump’s previous statement that Russia should rejoin the Group of 7 following its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

“That’s a big compromise,” Zelensky told Time. “Imagine releasing Hitler from his political isolation.”

Read the full Time interview here.

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Keir Starmer Admits UK Was ‘Under Pressure’ To Weigh In On Trump-Zelenskyy Spat

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Keir Starmer has claimed the UK was “under pressure” to speak out after Donald Trump’s explosive spat with Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month.

The US president accused his Ukrainian counterpart of being ungrateful for America’s support for Kyiv since Russia invaded, criticised Zelenskyy for wearing military fatigues in the Oval Office and told him he had “no cards” with which to negotiate a deal with Moscow.

The White House then cancelled a scheduled joint press conference and appeared to kick Zelenskyy out of the building without signing the expected shared mineral agreement.

Trump went on to pull US military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

It was not until, with the UK’s encouragement, Zelenskyy publicly said he backed Trump’s efforts to secure a quick peace in Ukraine and said he was open to a 30-day ceasefire that the US reinstated aid and intel sharing.

Speaking to the New York Times, the prime minister has now revealed that there were plenty of tensions behind the scenes for No.10 around this time.

He said: “On the day in which the Oval Office meeting between President Trump and President Zelenskyy didn’t go particularly well, we were under pressure to come out very critically with, you know, flowery adjectives to describe how others felt.

“I took the view that it was better to pick up the phone and talk to both sides to try and get them back on the same page.”

The prime minister also recognised Trump has caused “quite a degree of disorientation” just two months into his second administration where he’s announced a string a dramatic orders – including imposing 25% tariffs on British steel.

Starmer then told the NYT that he still believes the best position for the UK right now is to remain as a bridge between the US and Europe, despite growing concerns about the White House’s relationship with Moscow.

He said: “Many people are urging us to choose between the US and Europe. Churchill didn’t do it. Attlee didn’t do it. It’d be a big mistake, in my view, to choose now.”

The PM defended Trump’s call for an increase in defence spending among European allies too, saying the US president “has a point”.

The PM also noted that he has a good relationship with Trump, adding: “I like and respect him. I understand what he’s trying to achieve.”

However the PM made it clear he does not share Trump’s warmth towards the Russian leader after the US president has repeatedly claimed he trusts Putin.

Starmer said: “I don’t trust Putin. I’m sure Putin would try to insist that Ukraine should be defenceless after a deal because that gives him what he wants, which is the opportunity to go in again.”

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The Palestinian Death Toll In Gaza’s War Passes 50,000 As Israel Expands New Airstrikes

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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 50,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the territory’s Health Ministry said on Sunday.

It comes as new Israeli airstrikes killed at least 26 Palestinians overnight, including a Hamas political leader and several women and children.

Israel’s military also sent ground troops into part of the southern city of Rafah as thousands of Palestinians fled after new evacuation orders.

Israel ended the latest ceasefire last week with a surprise wave of strikes that killed hundreds, and it has launched ground incursions in northern Gaza. It says it is targeting militants.

Israel’s Cabinet late Saturday approved a proposal to set up a new directorate for advancing the “voluntary departure” of Palestinians in line with US President Donald Trump’s proposal to depopulate Gaza and rebuild it for others.

Palestinians say they do not want to leave their homeland, and rights groups say the plan could amount to expulsion in violation of international law.

‘Displacement under fire’

The military ordered people to leave Rafah’s already heavily destroyed Tel al-Sultan neighborhood on foot along a single route to Muwasi, a sprawling area of squalid tent camps. The war has forced most of Gaza’s population of over two million to flee within the territory, often multiple times.

“It’s displacement under fire,” said Mustafa Gaber, a journalist who left with his family. He said tank and drone fire echoed nearby. “There are wounded people among us. The situation is very difficult,” he said.

“The shells are falling among us and the bullets are (flying) above us,” said Amal Nassar, also displaced from Rafah. “The elderly have been thrown into the streets. An old woman was telling her son, ‘Go and leave me to die.’ Where will we go?”

The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said it lost contact with a team of medics responding to the strikes. Spokeswoman Nebal Farsakh said some were wounded.

There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military, which says it only targets militants. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.

Strikes kill Hamas leader, women and children

Hamas said Salah Bardawil, a well-known member of its political bureau, was killed in a strike in Muwasi that also killed his wife.

Hospitals in southern Gaza said they received a further 24 bodies from strikes overnight, including several women and children.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said 50,021 Palestinians have been killed in the war and more than 113,000 have been wounded. That includes 673 people killed since Israel’s bombardment on Tuesday shattered the ceasefire.

Dr. Munir al-Boursh, the ministry’s general director, said the dead include 15,613 children, with 872 of them under 1 year old.

The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up over half the dead. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

Ceasefire in tatters

The ceasefire that took hold in January paused more than a year of fighting ignited by Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack into Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage. Most captives have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

In the latest ceasefire’s first phase, 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others were released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces pulled back, allowing hundreds of thousands of people to return to what remains of their homes. There was a surge in humanitarian aid until Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza earlier this month to pressure Hamas to change the ceasefire agreement.

The sides were supposed to begin negotiations in early February on the ceasefire’s next phase, in which Hamas was to release the remaining 59 hostages — 35 of them believed to be dead — in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.

Those talks never began. Israel backed out of the ceasefire agreement after Hamas refused Israeli and US-backed proposals to release more hostages ahead of any talks on a lasting truce.

Hundreds of Israelis gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem on Sunday to protest his handling of the war and his attempt to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service.

“I’m worried for the future of this country. And I think it has to stop. We have to change direction,” said one protester, Avital Halperin.

New settlements in the West Bank

Israel’s cabinet passed a measure Sunday creating 13 new settlements in the occupied West Bank by rezoning existing ones, according to Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, who is in charge of settlement construction.

This brings the number of settlements, considered illegal by the majority of the international community, to 140, said anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now. They will now receive independent budgets from Israel and can elect their own local governments, the group said.

Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen keep up attacks

In a separate development, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are allied with Hamas, launched another missile at Israel overnight. The Israeli military said it was intercepted, and there were no reports of casualties or damage.

The Houthis resumed attacks on Israel after it ended the Gaza ceasefire, portraying them as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians. Trump ordered the renewal of US strikes on the rebels last week over its previous attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea.

The rebels have said they are trying to blockade Israel, but most of the ships they have targeted have no connection to the conflict.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

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Nigel Farage Calls Rupert Lowe’s Actions ‘Disgusting’ And ‘Contemptible’

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Nigel Farage called Rupert Lowe’s alleged behaviour “disgusting” and “contemptible” in leaked WhatsApp messages, according to the BBC.

Lowe was suspended from Farage’s Reform UK earlier this month following accusations of workplace bullying and threats of physical violence towards the party chairman. He denies all the allegations against him.

Reform UK’s decision to oust the MP for Great Yarmouth, hire a KC to investigate the claims and report him to the police came hours after Lowe told the Daily Mail that Reform was “a protest party” led by “the Messiah” – Farage.

Reform has insisted that its suspension of Lowe is completely separate to the MP’s criticisms of party leader Farage.

Even so, the two men have exchanged furious insults since the incident, with Lowe accusing Farage of a “malicious witch hunt”.

The BBC has now reported that, in an private exchange shortly after the then-Reform UK MP publicly criticised the party’s leadership, Farage accused Lowe of “damaging the party just before elections”.

Speaking with a source who worked recently with Lowe, Farage said the Great Yarmouth MP was “damaging the party just before elections. Disgusting.”

The Clacton MP went on: “He is contemptible. Thousands of people working hard for May 1st. The KC inquiry was the right thing to do no question. Reputation of the party must be protected.”

He added: “In 30 years I have never seen worse.”

Reform UK’s first major electoral test since securing five MPs in July will come in the May local elections. The party is hoping to win big after significant success in the polls where it has rivalled Labour and the Tories.

Responding to the leaked messages, Farage told the BBC: “The suspension was to protect the party, simple. The newspaper attack on Reform UK is separate but dreadful.”

But Lowe claimed this text exchange proved the Daily Mail interview was the reason behind his removal from the party.

“That interview is why they designed and launched their horrific smear campaign against my name. It is evil behaviour,” he told the broadcaster. “Nigel Farage must never be prime minister. All I have done is tell the truth, and I will continue to do so.”

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In messages, uncovered through a BBC investigation, Nigel Farage personally admits the real reason why he removed me from Reform.

It was because I raised reasonable and constructive criticisms about Reform structure, policy, and communication in the Daily Mail interview.

That… pic.twitter.com/0gifZ8Az2V

— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) March 20, 2025

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In messages, uncovered through a BBC investigation, Nigel Farage personally admits the real reason why he removed me from Reform.

It was because I raised reasonable and constructive criticisms about Reform structure, policy, and communication in the Daily Mail interview.

That… pic.twitter.com/0gifZ8Az2V

— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) March 20, 2025

The BBC report came after it emerged that Farage had travelled to the US for his eighth trip since being elected to represent Clacton in July.

He was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at a fundraiser for Florida Republicans’ ‘Disruptors’ dinner. Seats cost up to $25,000 (£19,000).

Meanwhile, as Farage repeatedly denies that Reform is “riven with in-fighting”, a Tory shadow minister, Greg Smith, has hinted at a partnership between the Conservatives and Reform UK.

Even though Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has repeatedly rejected such an idea, Smith He told TalkTV: “I think if we want to get rid of socialism from this country, there may well be a point where the right-of-centre parties have to play nicely.”

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