Your money or their lives
Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Palestine, The Philippines, Venezuela, and Honduras.
Hello,
Here are the five things you need to know today:
UKRAINE. RUSSIA. For Washington, a peace deal is strictly business.
ISRAEL. PALESTINE. Netanyahu uses the alliance to wedge his rivals.
THE PHILIPPINES. The army insists it’s not planning a putsch.
VENEZUELA. Trump threatens himself into a corner.
HONDURAS. Drugs, threats, and fraud mar an election.
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UKRAINE. RUSSIA. Semi-Jared
For Washington, a peace deal is strictly business.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner headed to Moscow after “effective” talks in Miami with Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky headed to Paris for talks with Emmanuel Macron. Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal met EU counterparts in Brussels.
INTELLIGENCE. Ukraine is fighting for its life, and while shorn of its chief negotiator, Andriy Yermak, it won’t easily buckle to diplomatic pressure. Still, the odds are in favour of Russia gaining the Donbas and at least US recognition. Sanctions and inflation may have brought it to the table, but it knows it has economic cards to play. The Wall Street Journal reports Trump has lined up business associates for a range of deals, including over the Nord Stream pipeline.
FOR BUSINESS. Trump can claim Witkoff and Kushner, fresh from Gaza peace talks, are the best diplomats for a deal, but they’re also close business and family partners. Delineating the White House’s strategic and pecuniary motives are impossible and will be debated for years. Yet unless Europe steps up by freezing Russian assets or playing its own military card (rumours persist of a French force being sent to Odesa), Washington’s deal will be done.
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ISRAEL. PALESTINE. Pardon me?
Netanyahu uses the alliance to wedge his rivals.
Benjamin Netanyahu requested a presidential pardon Sunday, arguing that ongoing criminal proceedings were harming the national interest. Netanyahu’s former lawyer said a pardon could only be granted if the prime minister admitted guilt.
INTELLIGENCE. Netanyahu has been on trial for five years, a process slowed by