Connect with us

World news

Kremlin Says Will Judge Trump By His ‘Actions’ On Ukraine

Published

on

The Kremlin has said it will judge Donald Trump, who has vowed to swiftly end the Ukraine conflict, on his “actions” in office, as many in the West fear his second term could spell disaster for Kyiv.

Many in Russia cautiously welcomed Trump’s win, with people telling AFP on the streets of Moscow they hoped he would deliver on promises to end almost three years of fighting.

Trump has repeatedly said he would end the conflict, launched by the Kremlin in February 2022, “in 24 hours”, without giving details on how.

He has also lambasted the billions of dollars in US aid for Ukraine that are critical for its defence, and several times blamed Kyiv for the conflict.

The Kremlin said it would wait to see what Trump would be like when he takes office in January, expressing some caution with relations between Moscow and Washington at an all-time low since the Cold War.

“We will draw conclusions based on concrete steps and concrete words,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

He added he was “not aware” of any plans for Putin to congratulate Trump, since the United States is an “unfriendly country” that is “at war” with Russia.

Moscow has said it would accept a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine only if Kyiv surrenders vast swathes of its territory.

After Trump declared victory, it said that its position on Ukraine would remain the same and that with the new Republican administration, its priority would still be to achieve “all set” goals in Ukraine.

“Our conditions are unchanged and are well known in Washington,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.

‘Chance’
Russia has advanced fast on the battlefield in recent months and as Trump claimed victory, Moscow announced the capture of another two eastern Ukrainian villages.

Some Russian officials saw Trump’s imminent return to the White House as an opportunity for a diplomatic breakthrough over Ukraine.

“It’s possible that there will be a chance for a constructive approach,” Leonid Slutsky, a parliamentary foreign policy official, told Russian media.

On the streets of Moscow, many echoed this feeling, hoping the conflict could be settled on terms that Russia would accept.

“I hope that if Trump is elected in America, the situation in Ukraine will improve and develop,” said Alexander, a 48-year-old engineer.

Many ordinary Russians have been hit hard by the conflict.

Sanctions have stirred economic volatility and complicated travel in and out of the country, while hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to have emigrated and the Kremlin has carried out a massive crackdown on dissent.

Loading

Continue Reading

World news

Biden pardons son Hunter in final weeks of US presidency

Published

on

US President Joe Biden on Sunday issued an official pardon for his son Hunter, who was facing sentencing for two criminal cases, despite assurances that he would not intervene in his legal troubles.

“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong,” the president said in a statement.

The move is sure to bring about fresh scrutiny over the independence of the US judicial system — especially at a time when incoming president Donald Trump has moved to appoint loyalists to the FBI and Justice Department himself.

The younger Biden was convicted earlier this year of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun — a felony — and has also pleaded guilty in a separate tax evasion trial, but had not faced sentencing.


Joe Biden, who is in the final weeks of his presidency before Trump takes office on January 20, had repeatedly said he wouldn’t pardon his son.

“I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” President Biden said in Sunday’s statement.

“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” he added.

“I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”

The pardon comes as criminal cases against President-elect Trump have stalled after a sweeping ruling on presidential immunity by the Supreme Court — all but ensuring Biden’s Republican rival will likely never see a jail cell, even after his landmark conviction for falsifying business records in May.

– Plea deal gone awry –

US presidents have previously used pardons to help family members and other political allies.

Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother for old cocaine charges and Trump pardoned the father of his son-in-law for tax evasion, though in both cases those men had already served their prison terms.

Trump has vowed to pardon supporters who stormed the US Capitol in a deadly riot on January 6, 2021, in a bid to reverse his 2020 election loss.

He referenced them in a social media post late Sunday, writing, “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”

Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in a tax evasion trial in September, facing up to 17 years in prison. For the separate gun charge, he was facing 25 years in prison.

His lawyers have said he was only being brought before the court because he is the son of the president.

Hunter has paid the back taxes, as well as penalties levied by authorities, and previously reached a plea deal that would have kept him out of jail — but that agreement fell apart at the last minute.

His case has long been a thorn in the Biden family’s side, particularly during this election year when Republicans have charged that Hunter was being treated too leniently.

President Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris took much of the zeal out of the Republican drive to make an example out of his son.

Still, prosecutors appeared unwilling to cut him any slack, rejecting a so-called “Alford plea,” whereby Hunter Biden would admit guilt because of the high probability of conviction, but would maintain his innocence.

In a statement to US media, Hunter Biden, who has grappled with drug addiction, said he would “devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering.

Loading

Continue Reading

World news

Pope Urges Lebanon To Elect New President Immediately

Published

on

Pope Francis called on Lebanese politicians on Sunday to urgently elect a new president, to get the country’s governing institutions functioning again.

“I address an urgent invitation to all Lebanese politicians to elect the president of the republic immediately,” the pontiff said at Saint Peter’s Square at the end of Sunday Angelus prayer.

Lebanon’s institutions need to “start functioning normally again to undertake the necessary reforms and sustain the country’s role as an example of peaceful cohabitation between different religions”, Francis said.


Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri has called a presidential election for January 9 in a bid to end a two-year leadership vacuum.

Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun’s term ended in October 2022.

Neither of the two main blocs in parliament — the Iran-backed Hezbollah and its opponents — have the majority required to elect a head of state and they have been unable to agree on a consensus candidate.

AFP

Loading

Continue Reading

World news

Trump Threatens BRICS Countries With 100% Tariff If They Replace Dollar

Published

on

President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on the BRICS group nations if they undercut the US dollar.

“We require a commitment… that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty US Dollar or, they will face 100 percent Tariffs,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website, referring to the grouping that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and others.

The statement comes after a BRICS summit held last month in Kazan, Russia, where the countries discussed boosting non-dollar transactions and strengthening local currencies.

The BRICS group has expanded significantly since its inception in 2009, and now includes countries such as Iran, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Altogether the BRICS coalition accounts for a significant minority of the world’s economic output.

At the Kazan summit in October, Moscow secured a joint declaration encouraging the “strengthening of correspondent banking networks within BRICS and enabling settlements in local currencies in line with BRICS Cross-Border Payments Initiative.”

But at the end of the summit Putin indicated that little progress had been made on launching a possible competitor to the Belgium-based SWIFT financial messaging system.

“As for SWIFT and any alternatives, we have not created and are not creating any alternatives,” Putin told reporters at the end of the summit.

He added: “As for a unified BRICS currency, we are not considering that question at the moment.”

Trump has vowed to pursue a protectionist agenda, threatening hefty tariffs on neighbors and rivals.

If BRICS countries continue with their plans, Trump warned, they “should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful US Economy,” he wrote.

“They can go find another ‘sucker!’ There is no chance that the BRICS will replace the US Dollar in International Trade, and any Country that tries should wave goodbye to America.”

AFP

Loading

Continue Reading

Recent Posts




JOIN US ON FACEBOOK

Trending