30/12/2025

TUESDAY | DEC 30, 2025

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Russia firm on Donbas pullout

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said yesterday that Ukraine should withdraw its troops from the part of Donbas that it still controls if it wanted peace, and that if Kyiv did not strike a deal then it would lose yet more territory. Putin and Trump spoke on Sunday ahead of Trump’s meeting in Miami with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said another call was planned very soon. Peskov refused to comment on the idea of a free economic zone in Donbas or on the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is controlled by Russia, saying that the Kremlin felt it was inappropriate. When asked about Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov’s remarks about the decision that Kyiv needed to take on Donbas, Peskov said that Ukraine should withdraw its troops from the parts they still controlled. “We are talking about the withdrawal of the regime’s armed forces from the Donbas,” Peskov said. When asked if that applied to the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions too, he refused to discuss details. Russia controls a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea which it annexed in 2014, about 90% of Donbas, 75% of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and slivers of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to Russian estimates. Russia claims Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as part of Russia, though most countries consider the regions to be part of Ukraine. Peskov said no call between Putin and Zelensky was being discussed. Peskov paraphrased Trump’s remarks that

PUTIN BANS ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN COURT RULINGS MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday signed several laws, including one rejecting the enforcement of foreign court rulings and another expanding the authority of military courts over non-citizen servicemen. The laws were signed as part of a package of more than a dozen legislative acts, many related to international relations and the conflict in Ukraine. All were published on the official government portal. Amendments to the Judicial System of the Russian Federation law prohibit the enforcement of foreign criminal court rulings and decisions of international judicial bodies unless based on a Russian treaty or a binding UN Security Council resolution. Separate amendments grant military courts the authority to try stateless servicemen and foreign citizens for crimes committed during military service, training, or participation in voluntary formations. – Bernama ISRAEL COURT SUSPENDS MOVE TO SHUT ARMY RADIO TEL AVIV: Israel’s Supreme Court has issued an interim order suspending a government decision to shut down Galei Tsahal, the country’s decades-old and widely listened-to military radio station. In a ruling issued late Sunday, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit said the suspension was partly because the government “did not provide a clear commitment not to take irreversible steps before the court reaches a final decision”. He said Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara supported the suspension. The Cabinet last week approved the closure of Galei Tsahal, with the shutdown scheduled to take effect before March 1. Founded in 1950, Galei Tsahal is widely known for its flagship news programmes and has long been followed by domestic and foreign correspondents. – AFP EGYPTIAN ACTIVIST SORRY FOR ‘HURTFUL’ POSTS LONDON: A British-Egyptian activist “unequivocally” apologised yesterday for resurfaced social media posts in which he called for violence against Zionists and the police, but said some had been “completely twisted”. The posts, dating back to 2010, came to light just days after Alaa Abdel Fattah returned to Britain following years of diplomatic efforts by London to secure his release from detention in Egypt. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had said he was “delighted” Abdel Fattah had been reunited with his loved ones, but faced calls to retract his comments when the posts resurfaced. “Looking at the tweets now, the ones that were not completely twisted out of their meaning, I do understand how shocking and hurtful they are, and for that I unequivocally apologise,” Abdel Fattah said in a post on X, responding to the criticism. – AFP HEAVY SNOW TRAPS 19 IN IRAQ’S ERBIL ISTANBUL: At least 19 people have been trapped in two separate locations after heavy snowfall hit the Soran district of Erbil governorate in northern Iraq, according to civil defence authorities. The director of Soran Civil Defence, Karwan Mirawdeli, told local media on Sunday that the fate of eight people who were herding livestock near the Sidekan border remains unknown. Civil defence teams are continuing search operations for the other 11 people, whose identities are known. Mirawdeli said multiple incidents have been reported along mountainous routes, with additional groups requesting assistance in remote passes. Six rescue teams, backed by traffic police and road maintenance crews, were deployed across the Soran and Sidan districts, rescuing dozens of stranded motorists and clearing blocked roads, he said. – Bernama

BR I E F S

o Another Putin-Trump call expected soon

Trump was slightly more cautious, saying that they were 95% of the way to such an agreement, and that he expected European countries to “take over a big part” of that effort with US backing. French President Emmanuel Macron, in an X post published after Trump met Zelensky, said progress was made on security guarantees. Macron said countries in the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” would meet in Paris early next month to finalise their “concrete contributions”. Russia has said any foreign troop deployment in Ukraine is unacceptable. Zelensky said any peace agreement would have to be approved by Ukraine’s parliament, or by a referendum. Trump said he would be willing to speak to parliament if that would secure the deal. Trump said the Russian president pledged to help rebuild Ukraine, including by supplying cheap energy. “Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed,“ Trump said. “It sounds a little strange.” As Trump praised Putin, Zelensky tilted his head and smiled. – Reuters

Ukraine could lose more territory to Russia over coming months unless Kyiv struck a deal. Earlier in Palm Beach, Trump and Zelensky spoke at a joint news conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Sunday afternoon. Both leaders reported progress on two of the most contentious issues in peace talks: security guarantees for Ukraine and the division of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region that Russia has sought to capture. Both offered few details and did not provide a deadline for completing a peace deal, although Trump said it will be clear “in a few weeks” whether negotiations to end the war will succeed. He said a few “thorny issues” around territory must be resolved. Zelensky said an agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine has been reached.

A Melbourne resident passes a mural by Jarrod Grech of Ahmed al Ahmed. – AFPPIC

Bondi hero wanted to protect ‘innocent people’ SYDNEY: Bondi Beach shooting hero Ahmed al Ahmed recalled the moment he ran towards one of the attackers and wrestled the gun from him, saying in an interview published yesterday with a US outlet he wanted to protect “innocent people”. he told CBS News in an interview that aired yesterday. “I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry for the lost.” Ahmed was shot several times in the shoulder after tussling with one of the gunmen and underwent several rounds of surgery. The father of two emigrated to Australia from Syria in 2007, his uncle Mohammed, a farmer, had told AFP in Ahmed’s hometown of Al-Nayrab days after the shooting. “His act is a source of pride for us and for Syria,” Mohammed said.

The Australian government has fast-tracked and granted a number of visas for Ahmed’s family. “Ahmed has shown the courage and values we want in Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement. One of the gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police. His 24-year-old son Naveed remains in custody on charges including terrorism and 15 murders. He has yet to enter a plea. – AFP

Father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram are accused of killing 15 people and wounding dozens on Bondi Beach on Dec 14. Despite the tragedy, tales of heroism emerged of those who tried to stop the two gunmen. Among them was Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit seller, who went viral for ducking between parked cars as the shooting unfolded and then wresting a gun from one of the assailants. “My target was just to take the gun from him, and to stop him from killing innocent people,”

He recalled the moment he “jumped” on the gunman’s back, holding him with his right hand and said: “Drop your gun, stop doing what you’re doing.” “I don’t want to see people killed in front of me, I don’t want to see blood, I don’t want to hear his gun, I don’t want to see people screaming and begging, asking for help,” Ahmed told the television network. Ahmed was at the beach getting a cup of coffee when the shooting occurred.