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Zelenskyy Will Have Face-to-face Talks In Istanbul, But Will Putin?

The Ukrainian leader will travel to meet Turkiye’s Erdogan and see if his Russian counterpart turns up. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will travel to Turkiye this week and wait to have face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid intensive pressure from the United States administration and European leaders to find a settlement to end the more than three-year-long war. Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that he will be in Ankara on Thursday to conduct the negotiations. He will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the two will wait for Putin to arrive, he said. Zelenskyy and Erdogan would then both travel to Istanbul. Putin has not yet said whether he will be at the talks he proposed. Moscow has not directly responded to Zelenskyy’s challenge for Putin to meet him in person at the negotiating table. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov again refused on Tuesday to tell reporters whether Putin will travel to Istanbul and who else might represent Russia at the potential talks. “As soon as the president considers it necessary, we will make an announcement,” Peskov said. Russia has only said it would send a delegation to Istanbul “without preconditions”. If Zelenskyy and Putin were to meet on Thursday, it would be their first face-to-face meeting since December 2019. Much has changed since then. United States President Donald Trump has urged the two sides to attend as part of Washington’s efforts to stop the fighting. Trump has offered to join the talks himself. Trump said on Monday he was “thinking about actually flying over” to Istanbul to attend the negotiations. That was welcomed by Zelenskyy, but there was no reaction from Moscow. “All of us in Ukraine would appreciate it if President Trump could be there with us at this meeting in Turkiye. This is the right idea. We can change a lot,” Zelenskyy said. Trump publicly asked Zelenskyy to attend, after Putin on Sunday proposed the direct talks following a rejection of a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine and its Western allies insisted should come first. The Ukrainian leader said he would, but that Putin should also attend in person. On Tuesday, his adviser Mykhailo Podolyak reiterated that Zelenskyy would only meet Putin and no other members of the Russian delegation. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pressed again for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire on Tuesday. “We are waiting for Putin’s agreement,” he said. “We agree that, in case there is no real progress this week, we then want to push at European level for a significant tightening of sanctions … We will focus on further areas, such as the energy sector and the financial market,” Merz added. He welcomed Zelenskyy’s readiness to travel to Istanbul, “but now it is really up to Putin to accept this offer of negotiations and agree to a ceasefire. The ball is in Russia’s court.” I have just heard President Trump's statement. Very important words. I supported @POTUS idea of a full and unconditional ceasefire — long enough to provide the foundation for diplomacy. And we want it, we are ready to uphold silence on our end. I supported President Trump… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 12, 2025 Meanwhile, Ukraine said its air defence units destroyed all 10 drones that Russia launched overnight on Tuesday. This is the lowest number of drones that Russia has launched in an overnight attack in several weeks. The Ukrainian military’s general staff said as of 10pm (19:00 GMT) on Monday, there had been 133 clashes with Russian forces along the front line since midnight, when the ceasefire proposed by European powers was to have come into effect. Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskii, was quoted by Zelenskyy as saying the heaviest fighting still gripped the Donetsk region, the focus of the eastern front, and Russia’s western Kursk region, nine months after Kyiv’s forces staged a cross-border incursion. Meanwhile, Russia accused Ukraine of attacking Belgorod, with Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov saying on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces used 65 drones and more than 100 rounds of ammunition to attack the region in the past day. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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India Expels Pakistan Diplomat As War Of Words Simmers In Place Of Fighting

Pakistan reiterates its commitment to the ceasefire but warns it will respond forcefully to any future Indian attacks. India has ordered a Pakistani diplomat to leave the country within 24 hours as tensions simmer in the wake of heavy military exchanges between the nuclear-armed neighbours before a ceasefire was agreed last week. The unnamed official, stationed at Pakistan’s embassy in New Delhi, was accused by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday of “indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status”. The move comes after a brief but intense military confrontation last week that threatened to erupt into the fifth full-scale war between the two countries. While the truce brought a temporary halt to cross-border missile and drone strikes, sporadic skirmishes continue along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border  in disputed Kashmir, a region claimed by both nations. On Tuesday, Pakistan reiterated its commitment to the ceasefire but warned it would respond forcefully to any future attacks. The statement came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned in his first national address since the truce that India would strike “terrorist hideouts” across the border if provoked again. The ultranationalist Hindu leader added that India “only paused” its military action against Pakistan. Modi’s remarks were swiftly condemned by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which called them “provocative and inflammatory”. “At a time when international efforts are being made for regional peace and stability, this statement represents a dangerous escalation,” it said. “Pakistan remains committed to the recent ceasefire understanding and taking necessary steps towards de-escalation and regional stability,” the statement continued, adding that any future aggression would receive a response. The conflict ignited after a deadly April 22 shooting attack in the Pahalgam area of India-administered Kashmir, where 25 Indian tourists and one Nepalese visitor were killed. India accused Pakistan’s government of links to the attacks – an accusation Islamabad strongly denied. India launched strikes on what it called “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. According to Islamabad, 40 civilians and 11 Pakistani military personnel were killed in last week’s violence. India said at least 16 civilians and five Indian soldiers were killed. The fighting marked the most severe exchange between the two countries in nearly 30 years and ended only after sustained diplomatic pressure. On Monday, India said it held a rare phone call with Pakistan’s military leaders, agreeing to uphold the ceasefire and explore ways to de-escalate the conflict. Despite the ceasefire, sporadic violence continued on Tuesday with Indian forces reporting a gun battle in southern Kashmir’s Shopian district. The army said three suspected fighters were killed in a “search and destroy” operation launched on intelligence input. On Tuesday, Modi visited Adampur airbase near the border and reiterated India’s stance in a speech to air force personnel. “We will not differentiate between the government sponsoring terrorism and the masterminds of terrorism,” he said. “We will enter their dens and hit them without giving them an opportunity to survive.” Meanwhile, both sides have taken a series of retaliatory diplomatic and economic measures. India has suspended most visa services for Pakistani nationals, halted bilateral trade and announced its intention to unilaterally suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, a World Bank-brokered water-sharing agreement in place since 1960 that is critical for farming. In response, Pakistan banned visas for Indians, closed its airspace to Indian aircraft and imposed a reciprocal trade embargo. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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US And Saudi Arabia Agree To $142bn Weapons Sale During Trump Visit

The White House says an agreement with Saudi Arabia includes investments in weapons and technology totaling $600bn. The administration of United States President Donald Trump says that Saudi Arabia will invest $600bn in the United States, including through technology partnerships and a weapons sales agreement worth $142bn. A fact sheet shared by the White House on Tuesday explains that the agreement, which also includes collaboration in areas such as energy and mineral development, is the largest-ever weapons sale between the two countries. “The deals celebrated today are historic and transformative for both countries and represent a new golden era of partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia,” the fact sheet reads. The pact represents a deepening of economic and military ties between the two countries, a trend that has continued for decades under both Republican and Democratic US presidents. Trump was in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Tuesday as part of a Middle East tour, marking the first major international trip of his second term as president. Later in the week, he is expected to make stops in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. But already, the trip has renewed criticisms that Trump may use the diplomatic outing to advance personal interests. The proposed transfer of a $400m luxury aeroplane, for instance, from Qatar to the US Department of Defence has raised questions in the US about the ethics and constitutionality of accepting gifts from foreign governments. During his first term as president, in 2017, Trump likewise included Saudi Arabia on his first major trip abroad, a voyage that similarly culminated in a multibillion-dollar arms deal. But the global outcry over the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a consulate in Istanbul briefly threatened to upend the relationship. The US government has alleged that forces linked to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman were responsible for the killing. Tuesday’s agreement is designed to help modernise the Saudi military with “state-of-the-art warfighting equipment and services from over a dozen US defense firms”, according to the White House fact sheet. “The first key component of this is upgrading the defence capabilities of Saudi Arabia,” Al Jazeera correspondent Hashem Ahelbarra reported from Riyadh. “This is a country that has been trying to invest vast amounts of money over the last few years” in its military, he added. But the newly minted deal is not limited to security cooperation. The agreement also lays out a plan in which Saudi Arabia will invest $20bn in energy infrastructure and data centres for artificial intelligence in the US, a significant infusion of cash into industries with close ties to the Trump administration. In both areas, US companies stand to reap a potential windfall. “Saudi Arabia wants to become one of the top global investors in artificial intelligence, and that’s why you see many tech CEOs here in Riyadh, who are looking forward to getting some of those contracts,” said Ahelbarra. The deal also includes references to collaboration on energy infrastructure and mineral investments, without offering many details. Various US administrations, including during Trump’s first term in office, have used the inducement of greater collaboration on security and arms sales to push Saudi Arabia to normalise diplomatic relations with Israel. The two countries have never had formal diplomatic ties. But during Trump’s first term, the Republican leader initiated a series of agreements known as the Abraham Accords to boost ties between Israel and various Middle East states. Countries like the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan agreed to recognise Israel as part of the agreements. But Saudi Arabia has been a holdout — and normalising ties between it and Israel could be seen as a crowning achievement for the second Trump administration. Israel’s war in Gaza, however, has complicated those efforts. United Nations experts have warned that Israel’s actions in Gaza were consistent with genocide, and South Africa has accused Israel of genocide before the International Court of Justice. The International Criminal Court, meanwhile, has issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant over accusations of war crimes. The spiralling death toll in Gaza and allegations of human rights abuses have caused outrage in the region and hardened Riyadh’s insistence that normalisation should come only as part of a wider agreement on a Palestinian state, a move Israel is not willing to consider. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Libyas Prime Minister Asserts Control After Deadly Tripoli Violence

After clashes kill six in Tripoli, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah says a military operation restored calm in the capital. A day after deadly clashes shook Tripoli, Libya’s United Nations-recognised government in the west of the country has begun asserting control following the reported killing of powerful militia leader Abdelghani al-Kikli, also known as Gheniwa. The Emergency Medicine and Support Centre confirmed it retrieved six bodies from the Tripoli neighbourhood of Abu Salim on Tuesday, after heavy fighting erupted across the capital the previous night and into the early morning. Explosions and gunfire echoed through the southern part of the city as rival armed factions clashed for several hours. The fighting stemmed from the killing of al-Kikli, commander of the Stability Support Authority, SSA, on Monday by a rival militia, a senior government and health official told the Associated Press news agency. An official and local media say al-Kikli was killed during a meeting at the 444 Brigade’s base, a group loyal to Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah. Al-Kikli had been accused by Amnesty International of war crimes and other serious rights violations over the past decade. Libya analyst Jalel Harchaoui told the AFP news agency that al-Kikli had been ambushed, citing a relative. “Among Tripoli’s most successful armed group leaders,” he was known for outmanoeuvring the prime minister, the analyst added. On Tuesday, Dbeibah declared a military operation had dismantled “irregular” armed groups. The move is seen as a direct effort to reassert state authority and strengthen his position in the capital. “Gheniwa was de facto king of Tripoli,” Tarek Megerisi of the European Council on Foreign Relations told Reuters. “His henchmen controlled the internal security agency … cash transfers from the central bank… numerous public companies and ministries”. Al-Kikli’s forces reportedly operated prisons and held influence over ministries and financial institutions, underscoring a significant shift in the balance of power with his death. Clashes also spread beyond the capital, with fighting between Tripoli-based groups and rival militias from Misrata, a key coastal city to the east. Authorities imposed a temporary curfew before later announcing that calm had returned. Libya, a major oil producer and key route for immigrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean, remains deeply divided between Dbeibah’s UN-recognised administration in the west and a rival eastern government aligned with military commander Khalifa Haftar. Foreign powers including Turkiye, Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates continue to back opposing sides in the ongoing power struggle. Dbeibah said a “military operation” had restored calm and asserted the government’s authority. “What was accomplished today shows that official institutions are capable of protecting the homeland and preserving the dignity of its citizens,” he wrote on X, praising the armed forces’ role. Schools across parts of the capital have been closed until further notice. The UN mission in Libya expressed alarm over the use of heavy weapons in densely populated areas, warning that “attacks on civilians and civilian objects may amount to war crimes” and calling on all sides to “immediately cease fighting”. Libya plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The oil-rich nation has been governed for most of the past decade by rival governments in eastern and western Libya, each backed by an array of fighter groups and foreign governments. Follow Al Jazeera English:...