Category: Americas

President Donald Trump on Wednesday ruled out offering US security guarantees or NATO membership for Ukraine as his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky prepared to visit to seal a deal on handing over natural resources.

Trump, who has upended US policy by reaching out to Russia and seeking a quick end to the three-year war, said that European allies would bear responsibility for Ukraine’s security.

Addressing reporters at a cabinet meeting, Trump said Zelensky would visit Friday and sign the agreement after intense US pressure to hand over rare earths used in aerospace and other technology.

“It’s a great deal for Ukraine, too, because they get us over there,” Trump said.

“We’ll be on the land and, you know, in that way, it’s this sort of automatic security, because nobody’s going to be messing around with our people when we’re there,” Trump said.

But Trump ruled out the United States providing more formal security guarantees, as sought by Kyiv.

I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much,” Trump said.

“We’re going to have Europe do that,” Trump said. “Europe is their next-door neighbor, but we’re going to make sure everything goes well.”

Asked what concessions would need to be made to end the war, he ruled out Ukrainian membership in NATO, again repeating Russia’s stance that the issue was behind its invasion.

“NATO — you can forget about,” Trump said. “I think that’s probably the reason the whole thing started.”

Former president Joe Biden backed Ukraine’s eventual membership in NATO without offering a concrete timeframe.

The United States on Monday sided with Russia at the United Nations and against nearly all its European allies with a resolution that called for an end to the war without stressing the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

“We’re going to do the best we can to make the best deal we can for both sides,” Trump said Wednesday.

“But for Ukraine, we’re going to try very hard to make a good deal so that they can get as much back as possible.”

Trump insisted that his diplomacy was bringing a new spirit of compromise from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who earlier “wanted the whole thing” in Ukraine.

“He’s a very smart guy. He’s a very cunning person,” Trump said of Putin.

“I think we’re going to have a deal. If I didn’t get elected, I believe he would have just continued to go through Ukraine.”

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday told Trump that the Europeans would consider sending troops to protect any deal but that US support was critical as a means to guarantee security.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to deliver a similar message when he meets Trump on Thursday.

(AFP)

Delta Air Lines is offering $30,000 (approximately Ksh3,884,400) to each person on board a plane that crash-landed in Toronto on Monday – all of whom survived.

As it landed in the Canadian city, the plane skidded along the runway in flames before flipping over and coming to a halt upside down. Passengers described their amazement as most of them walked away without injuries.

It remains unclear what caused the incident, which is under investigation.

There were 76 passengers and four crew on the flight, which had travelled from the US city of Minneapolis before making its crash-landing in Canada.

No strings attached

A spokesperson for Delta said the money offer had no strings attached and did not affect customers’ rights.

The plane crew and emergency responders were praised for their quick work in removing people from the wrecked vehicle. The plane’s various safety features have also been credited for ensuring no loss of life.

All but one of the 21 passengers who were taken to hospital had been released by Wednesday morning, the airline said.

Delta’s chief told BBC’s US partner CBS News that the flight crew were experienced and trained for any condition.

The airline’s head Ed Bastian told CBS the plane crew had “performed heroically, but also as expected”, given that “safety is embedded into our system”. He said Delta was continuing to support those affected.

Several theories about what caused the crash have been suggested to the BBC by experts who reviewed footage, including that harsh winter weather and a rapid rate of descent played a role.

Hanging upside-down

One passenger recalled “a very forceful event”, and the sound of “concrete and metal” at the moment of impact. Another said passengers were left hanging upside down in their seats “like bats”.

The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been recovered from the wreckage. The investigation is being led by Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB), supported by US officials.

The accident was the fourth major air incident in North America in a space of three weeks – and was followed on Wednesday by a crash in Arizona in which two people lost their lives when their small planes collided.

Experts continue to insist that air travel is overwhelmingly safe – more so than other forms of transport, in fact.

That message was emphasised by US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who told CBS on Wednesday there was no pattern behind the incidents, each of which he said was “very unique”.

Earlier in the day, Zelensky remarked that Trump’s recent comments suggest the American president may be living in a “Russian disinformation” space.

Several hours later, Trump criticized Zelensky for his unwillingness to hold elections, called him a “dictator” and also suggested that the Ukrainian leader wants to keep the “gravy train” going amid the grinding conflict with Russia.

“The idea that Zelensky is going to change the president’s mind by badmouthing him in public media, everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration,” Vance was quoted as saying in an interview.

Vance said he believes Zelensky’s advisers provided him with “bad advice” regarding how to engage with the Trump administration, and for the past three years, they have led him to believe that he could do no wrong.

“That is the policy of the President of the United States. It is not based on Russian disinformation. It’s based on the fact that Donald Trump, I think, knows a lot about geopolitics and has a very strong view, and has had a strong view for a very long time,” Vance said.

President Trump has spent the day attacking Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him a “dictator” and deepening the rift between the two leaders.

His attacks came after Zelensky, reacting to US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia from which Kyiv was excluded, said the US president was “living in a disinformation space” governed by Moscow.

Speaking at a Saudi-backed investment meeting in Florida, Trump said the only thing Zelensky “was really good at was playing Joe Biden like a fiddle”.

The “dictator” slur quickly prompted criticism from European leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said “it is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelensky his democratic legitimacy”.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made it clear he backed Zelensky in a phone call to the Ukrainian president.

A Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir “expressed his support for President Zelensky as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader”.

It was “perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during war time as the UK did during World War Two,” the spokesperson added.

Zelensky’s five-year term of office was due to come to an end in May 2024. However, Ukraine has been under martial law since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and elections are suspended.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also criticised Trump’s use of the word “dictator” while German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the comments “absurd”.

“If you look at the real world instead of just firing off a tweet, then you know who in Europe has to live in the conditions of a dictatorship: people in Russia, people in Belarus,” she told broadcaster ZDF.

Speaking in Florida, Trump called Zelensky a “dictator”, just hours after using the same word in a Truth Social post about the Ukrainian president.

“He refuses to have elections. He’s low in the real Ukrainian polls. How can you be high with every city being demolished?” Trump said.

He also referenced his attempt to get rare-earth minerals from Ukraine, accusing Zelensky’s government of “breaking the deal”.

His address echoed his wording of the Truth Social post where Trump said Zelensky “has done a terrible job, his country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died.” In the meantime, the US was “successfully negotiating an end to the war with Russia,” he said.

A White House official said Trump’s post was in direct response to Zelensky’s “disinformation” comments.

On Tuesday US and Russian officials held their first high-level, face-to-face talks since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The former prime minister of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, told the BBC that Russia was “popping champagne right now” in response to Trump’s comments.

“Volodymyr Zelensky is a completely legitimate president,” he said. “We cannot hold elections under martial law.”

The war of words began with comments made by Trump on Tuesday at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, when he blamed Ukraine for the war.

Trump was asked by BBC News what his message was to Ukrainians who might feel betrayed, to which he replied: “I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat, well, they’ve had a seat for three years and a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily.”

“You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” Trump added.

Trump did not mention that President Vladimir Putin took the decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022.

Then on Wednesday, Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv: “We are seeing a lot of disinformation and it’s coming from Russia. With all due respect to President Donald Trump as a leader… he is living in this disinformation space.”

He added that he believed “the United States helped Putin to break out of years of isolation”.

Later in the day, the Ukrainian leader said the world faced the choice to be “with Putin or with peace” and announced he would be meeting Washington’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, on Thursday.

1:18Zelensky says Trump ‘living in disinformation space’ created by Russia

Earlier, Zelensky also rejected Trump’s attempts to access Ukraine’s rare minerals, saying no security guarantees were offered in exchange.

Trump has attempted to make an issue out of Zelensky’s popularity, claiming the Ukrainian president had only a 4% approval rating. But BBC Verify reports that polling conducted this month found 57% of Ukrainians said they trusted the president.

In Wednesday’s explosive Truth Social post, Trump also took aim at Europe, saying the war in Ukraine is “far more important to Europe than it is to us”.

“We have a big, beautiful ocean as a separation,” he said.

Europe had “failed to bring peace” in the region, he added.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke to reporters, saying he would meet Trump “with pleasure”.

For its part, the EU said it would place further sanctions on Russia.

The new sanctions target Russian aluminium and dozens of vessels suspected of illegally transporting oil. They would also disconnect more Russian banks from the global Swift payment system and ban more Russian media outlets from broadcasting in Europe.

(BBC)

President Donald Trump sniped at Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky Tuesday and effectively blamed him for Moscow’s invasion — even as he said he was more confident of a deal to end the war after US-Russia talks.

The US president also suggested that he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month as Washington overhauls its stance towards Russia in a shift that has alarmed European leaders.

“I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when asked about the Ukrainian reaction.

“Today I heard, ‘oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years… You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he said.

Zelensky had earlier Tuesday criticised the US-Russia talks for excluding Kyiv, saying efforts to end the war must be “fair” and involve European countries, while postponing his own trip to Saudi Arabia.

The Ukrainian leader’s comments appeared to incense Trump, who proceeded to launch a series of attacks on Zelensky, who has led Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

Asked whether the United States would support demands that Russia wanted to force Zelensky to hold new elections as part of any deal, Trump began by criticising what he said were the Ukrainian’s approval ratings.

“They want a seat at the table, but you could say… wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say? It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election,” said Trump.

“That’s not a Russian thing, that’s something coming from me, from other countries.”

Zelensky was elected in 2019 for a five-year term, but has remained in office as Ukraine is still under martial law.

– ‘Power to end this war’ –

European leaders are increasingly fearful that Trump is giving too many concessions to Russia in his pursuit of the Ukraine deal that he promised to seal even before taking office.

But Trump insisted that his only goal was “peace” to end the largest land war in Europe since World War II.

Trump said he was “much more confident” of a deal after the talks, adding: “They were very good. Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.”

“I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going very well,” Trump said.

The US leader added that he was “all for” European peacekeepers in Ukraine if he can strike a deal to end the war.

“If they want to do that, that’s great, I’m all for it,” he said.

“I know France was willing to do that, and I thought that was a beautiful gesture,” added Trump, saying that Britain had made a similar offer.

The United States would not have to contribute “because, you know, we’re very far away.”

Trump stunned the world when he announced last week that he had spoken to Putin, and that the two leaders had agreed to start peace talks and to travel to meet each other in Moscow and Washington.

The US president then said they would hold a first meeting, most likely also in Saudi Arabia.

Although no date has been announced, when asked if he would met Putin before the end of the month, Trump said “probably.”

(AFP)

Later on Tuesday, Trump said he was more confident after the talks and he would probably meet with Putin before the end of the month.

“Russia wants to do something,” Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida. He brushed aside Ukraine’s concern about being left out of the meeting and said Kyiv should have entered talks much earlier.

“I think I have the power to end this war,” said Trump.

The talks in Riyadh were the first time U.S. and Russian officials met to discuss ways to halt the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. Ukraine has said it will not accept any deal imposed without its consent, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated “there must be no decision over the heads of Ukraine.”

U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told reporters in Riyadh that the war must come to a permanent end, and this would involve negotiations over territory.

“Just a practical reality is that there is going to be some discussion of territory and there’s going to be discussion of security guarantees,” he said.

High-level teams would begin talks on ending the conflict and would separately work to restore the countries’ respective diplomatic missions in Washington and Moscow to ease the talks going forward, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Rubio said he came away from the initial talks convinced that Russia was “willing to begin to engage in a serious process” but that reaching peace would involve concessions from all sides.

RUSSIA OFFERS NO CONCESSIONS

Russian officials did not mention offering any concessions and U.S. officials did not claim to have scored any in Tuesday’s meeting, leading observers to doubt whether the talks would turn into serious peace negotiations.

Addressing Ukrainian and European concerns, Rubio said no one was being sidelined and any solution must be acceptable to all parties.

Rubio later spoke to the top diplomats of France, Germany, Italy, Britain and the EU to brief them on the talks, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

Kyiv says talks on how to end the war should not be held behind Ukraine’s back.

Ukraine ultimately will have a vote on whether to accept a deal negotiated between Washington and Moscow, and could reject a bad one, cautioned Evelyn Farkas, executive director of the McCain Institute and a former senior Pentagon official.

“In the worst case scenario, Ukraine will keep fighting. If their defences crumble, I don’t think that the American people want to see those pictures on television and to be held responsible,” Farkas said.

“Of course, this is unacceptable to us,” he said.

The comments by Lavrov signalled that Russia will keep pressing for further concessions in the negotiations. The opening encounter on Tuesday saw Lavrov and Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov – two veterans who have spent a combined 34 years in their current roles – negotiate with three Trump administration officials in their first month on the job.

“So far I have seen zero evidence that Putin is willing to give one inch in order to negotiate a peace deal,” Michael McFaul, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia under former President Barack Obama, wrote on X.

POTENTIAL ‘ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIPS’

Lavrov said there was “high interest” in lifting economic barriers between the two countries. After the invasion, the U.S. and other Western countries imposed waves of sanctions on Moscow.

Rubio said European countries have also imposed sanctions, so they would have to be involved in talks on lifting the measures. If the conflict ultimately ended, he added, it would “unlock” opportunities for U.S.-Russian cooperation, including “some pretty unique, potentially historic economic partnerships.”

The fast-moving diplomacy, beginning with a Putin-Trump phone call only six days ago, has triggered alarm in Ukraine and European capitals that the two leaders could cut a quick deal that ignores their security interests, rewards Moscow for its invasion and leaves Putin free to threaten Ukraine or other countries in the future.

Tuesday’s talks also sparked concern in Washington, which has backed Ukraine’s defence with billions of dollars of military aid approved by the U.S. Congress on a bipartisan basis.

“Russia has won Round One,” U.S. Representative Jake Auchincloss, a Massachusetts Democrat who is a co-chair of the bipartisan House Ukraine caucus, told Reuters.

“The Kremlin has been normalised in bilateral diplomacy that excludes Ukraine and NATO, and they gave up nothing to get that.”

(Reuters)

US banks are scrambling to move billions of dollars worth of gold from London to New York, fueled by fears of a global trade war sparked by President Donald Trump’s tariff threats against Europe. This massive influx of gold has more than doubled America’s gold inventories since Election Day, with the US now holding around $106 billion in gold, up from $50 billion on November 5.

The gold rush is largely driven by Trump’s tariff threats, which have caused gold prices in London to drop by around $20 since December. Traders are also worried that Trump might impose tariffs on gold, prompting a surge in demand for the precious metal in the US. 

Major banks like JPMorgan and HSBC are flying gold across the Atlantic to cover losses on short positions, with much of the gold landing in New York City, where it’s currently worth more than in London, The Wall Street Journal reported. This development has led to a significant shortage of gold in London, with delivery times increasing from a few days to 4-8 weeks.

Last week, Trump announced 25% import taxes on steel and aluminium, fueling fears that Trump will also impose tariffs on gold.

According to Deputy Governor Sir Dave Ramsden, the Bank of England (BoE) has been inundated with requests due to the significant price difference between London’s cash price and New York’s futures market prices, the Telegraph reported. Gold futures in New York have risen 11% this year, reaching $2,935 a troy ounce, with some analysts predicting a record-high of $3,000 a troy ounce. As a result, approximately 8,000 gold bars, valued at around 2% of the BoE’s total gold reserves, have been moved out of its vaults over the past few months. 

Banks are now capitalising on the price disparity by withdrawing substantial amounts of gold from London vaults and Swiss refineries. This gold is then transported to the US, where it’s delivered into futures contracts, allowing banks to reap the benefits of higher prices in New York.

JPMorgan is leading the charge, with plans to deliver $4 billion worth of gold this month alone. 

How is the gold transported?

To transport the gold, logistics companies are utilising the cargo holds of commercial flights, which is the most cost-effective method. Here’s a breakdown of the transportation process:

• 1. Ground transport: High-strength, secure vans shuttle the gold to the airport.
• 2. Recasting: The gold is sent to Swiss refiners to recast it into different bar sizes, as required by Comex contracts.
• 3. Air transport: The recast gold is then loaded onto commercial flights, utilising the cargo holds to transport the valuable commodity to the US.

Top US and Russian diplomats will meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for high-stakes talks on resetting relations and exploring a path to end the Ukraine war, though expectations for a breakthrough remain low.

US intelligence has disclosed that Israel is contemplating potential strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, as tensions between Washington, Tel Aviv, and Tehran continue to escalate.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed officials familiar with a US intelligence assessment, Israel’s consideration of such military action has been influenced by what is perceived as a “weakened” Iranian military presence across the Middle East.

The intelligence suggests that this shift in the regional balance has heightened the risk of further high-stakes confrontations.

The report, compiled in the final days of Joe Biden’s administration, also indicates that Israel may seek US backing for the operation.

Israeli officials reportedly believe that current President Donald Trump would be more inclined to support military action against Iran than Biden would have been at the time.

A subsequent intelligence report, produced in the early days of Trump’s administration, reaffirmed Israel’s continued deliberations over striking Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

These revelations come as Trump issued a stark warning on Monday, suggesting that Iran could be stopped from developing nuclear weapons either with bombs or with a written piece of paper.

In response, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for the country to further strengthen its military capabilities, emphasizing the need for enhanced defence measures against external threats.

A federal judge ordered the administration of US President Donald Trump to restore funding for hundreds of foreign aid contractors who say they have been devastated by his 90-day blanket freeze, Politico reported late on Thursday.

The order blocks the Trump administration from cancelling foreign aid contracts and awards that were in place before Trump took office on January 20.

The stated purpose in suspending of all foreign aid was to provide the opportunity to review programmes for their efficiency and consistency with priorities, US District Judge Amir Ali wrote in a filing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

He added: “At least to date, defendants have not offered any explanation for why a blanket suspension of all congressionally appropriated foreign aid, which set off a shockwave and upended reliance interests for thousands of agreements with businesses, non-profits, and organizations around the country, was a rational precursor to reviewing programmes.”

Trump has attempted to dismantle government agencies and ordered them to prepare for wide-ranging job cuts, and several have already begun to lay off recent hires who lack full job security.

The Republican has also embarked on a massive government makeover, firing and side-lining hundreds of civil servants and top officials at agencies in his first steps toward downsizing the bureaucracy and installing more loyalists.

(Reuters)

Apple and Google announced that that TikTok is once again available in their app stores on Thursday, almost a month after a new security law led to its removal.

The social media platform, owned by a Chinese company, is at risk of being banned in the United States due to national security worries regarding user data it collects. The popular video-sharing app went offline for a short period starting January 18, leaving millions of users disappointed when it vanished from app stores.

The service resumed when the new US President, Donald Trump, initiated a 75-day halt on enforcing the law, signed by his predecessor, Joe Biden, and overwhelmingly passed by Congress.

However, Apple and Google had not previously made TikTok available on their app stores until now.

The decision to implement the TikTok ban arose from fears that the Chinese government might utilize the app for spying on Americans or subtly sway US public opinion via data gathering and content manipulation.

The government mandated that the company separate from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a ban.

Trump has proposed a joint venture between the US and ByteDance, although he has not shared specifics on how this might materialise.

“With TikTok, I have the option to either sell it or shut it down,” Trump remarked shortly after mandating the pause.

“We might need to obtain approval from China as well, but I’m confident they would consent or view it as a hostile act,” which could lead to retaliatory tariffs, he stated.

Firms that breach the law, which is still officially in place, could incur penalties of up to $5,000 per user if the app is used.

During his first term, Trump tried to prohibit TikTok in the United States over analogous national security issues but mentioned that he currently has a “soft spot” for the app.

Initially introduced in 2016 as Douyin for the Chinese audience, the international version was branded as TikTok and launched in 2017.

Governments worldwide have intensely examined the platform due to worries about data privacy and potential connections to the Chinese government.