26/10/2025

theSun on Sunday OCT 26, 2025

WORLD 8

Putin envoy: Ukraine deal possible

said dialogue between Russia and the United States would continue. “It is certainly only possible if Russia’s interests are taken into account and treated with respect,” Dmitriev said earlier. He declined to say who he was meeting and predicted that the US oil sanctions would backfire. “They will only lead to gasoline costing more at American gas stations,” Dmitriev said. The US news outlet Axios reported that Dmitriev would meet Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff in Miami on Saturday. TASS news agency quoted Dmitriev as saying he would also meet other people, without disclosing their names. – Reuters

Trump had announced last week that he and Putin would meet soon in Hungary to try to bring an end to the war. But Putin has been unwilling to consider concessions. Russia has long demanded that Ukraine agree to cede more territory before any ceasefire. Dmitriev’s visit to the

week, mainly incorporating ideas already under discussion while pressing to keep the United States in a central role. “It’s a big move by President Zelenskiy to already acknowledge that it’s about battle lines,” Dmitriev said. “You know, his previous position

on hold on Tuesday, as Russia’s rejection of an immediate ceasefire cast a cloud over attempts at negotiations. Trump said he cancelled the planned meeting with Putin in Budapest because of a lack of progress in diplomatic efforts toward ending the war and a sense that the timing was off. However, Dmitriev on Friday said: “I believe Russia and the US and Ukraine are actually quite close to a diplomatic solution.” Dmitriev in his comments did not offer details of what this would entail. European nations are working with Ukraine on a new proposal for a ceasefire in the war along current battle lines, European diplomats said this

WASHINGTON: Kirill Dmitriev (pic) , Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, said on Friday he believes his country, the United States and Ukraine are close to a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine. Speaking to CNN after arriving in Washington for talks with US officials, Dmitriev said a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Putin had not been cancelled and that the two leaders will likely meet at a later date. The planned summit was put ‘Talks close to diplomatic solution’

United States for a long-planned meeting takes place against the backdrop of newly announced US sanctions on two of Russia’s biggest oil companies – a move aimed at pressing Putin to end the war. Despite the move, Dmitriev

was that Russia should leave completely. So actually, I think we are reasonably close to a diplomatic solution that can be worked out.” Russia launched its large scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

US sanctions Colombian president WASHINGTON: The US on Friday imposed sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, as President Donald Trump sharply escalated a feud with of committing “murder” with the strikes. Petro, whose term will end in 10 months, has always opposed the strikes.

He has attempted to end Colombia’s six-decade conflict through peace and surrender deals with rebels and crime gangs, but those efforts have borne little fruit. Petro disputes the basis for the US allegations, saying his government has seized cocaine at unprecedented rates and that expansion of coca crops, the base ingredient for cocaine, has slowed every year since 2021. “My government has seized more cocaine than in the whole history of the world.” – Reuters

Washington’s Latin American ally over accusations that Petro has refused to stop the flow of cocaine into the United States. Tensions between Washington and many countries in the region have been mounting for weeks. The US military has ratcheted up activity in the southern Caribbean, striking vessels in international waters that it has alleged without evidence are carrying drugs. Trump this week called Petro an “illegal drug leader” after the leftist president accused the US

Three held over illicit uranium trade TBILIS: Georgia’s internal security service said yesterday that it had arrested three Chinese citizens for attempting to illegally buy two kilogrammes of “nuclear material” uranium. The security of nuclear materials left over from the Soviet era was one of the biggest concerns after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, of which Georgia was a member.

Quick deployment of Gaza force sought KIRYAT GAT: Top US diplomat Marco Rubio voiced hope on Friday of quickly putting together an international force to police the ceasefire in Gaza, as Palestinian factions agreed that a committee of technocrats would run the post-war territory. The deal, spearheaded by President Donald Trump, calls for an international force to oversee security after Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas. Hamas is not part of the PLO, which is dominated by its rival Fatah. Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, has already made it clear that it does not wish to govern the post-war territory, but it has pushed back against the insistence that it disarm its fighters. Palestinian worshippers at a memorial service on Friday at the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City to honour those killed during the war, including victims of the 2023 Israeli strike on the church. – REUTERSPIC

There have been several incidents involving the illicit trade in nuclear materials in Georgia over recent decades. In July, Georgia arrested one Georgian and one Turkish national, charged with the illegal purchase, possession and disposal of radioactive substances. – Reuters

Its deputy head said the three detainees had been planning to buy the uranium for US$400,000 (RM1.7 million) and transport it to China, via Russia. The security official said the detainees faced charges that could see them imprisoned for up to 10 years.

The main Palestinian factions, including Hamas, said on Friday they had agreed during a meeting in Cairo that a temporary Palestinian committee of independent technocrats would take over the running of Gaza. The committee would “manage the affairs of life and basic services in cooperation with Arab brothers and international institutions”, according to a joint statement published on Hamas’ website. The statement also urged a meeting of all forces and factions to “agree on a national strategy and to revitalise the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people”.

The secretary of state visited Israel on the heels of Vice President J.D. Vance as part of an all-out effort by the United States to persuade Hamas and Israel to respect the truce. Rubio said it was critical for the deal to create “the conditions for the stabilisation force to come in as soon as it possibly can be put together”. He expressed optimism for a durable end to the two-year Gaza war as he met Israeli, US and other Western forces monitoring the ceasefire from inside a vast converted warehouse in southern Israel.

Rescued gorilla to stay in Turkiye ISTANBUL: A baby gorilla rescued from trafficking at Istanbul Airport just before Christmas will remain in Turkiye rather than be repatriated to Nigeria.

“We have agreed on the arrangements for the second phase of managing Gaza, affirming that it will be under Palestinian administration, with no separation between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement. “The upcoming meetings will address the relationship with the occupation, the fate of the resistance’s weapons and discussions regarding the presence of international forces.” – AFP

the aim of sending him back to Nigeria, where he began his journey, in line with the regulations in the CITES treaty limiting the trade of protected animals. Following a Nigerian request for his repatriation, Turkiye’s nature conservation and national parks directorate began the process but stopped it after a DNA test confirmed Zeytin belonged to a species that was not native to Nigeria. – AFP

The primate was five months old when he was discovered inside a wooden crate in the cargo section of a plane en route from Nigeria to Thailand, and taken to a zoo outside Istanbul to recover. Named Zeytin, Turkish for olive, he was nursed back to health with