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The Kremlin said Wednesday that its army's recent battlefield successes in Ukraine had bolstered its position in talks to end the fighting, as both Moscow and Kyiv prepared for more negotiations with the United States.US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner negotiated into the early hours with Vladimir Putin but no breakthrough for a peace settlement was announced.The Kremlin said the two sides had failed to find a "compromise" on the crucial issue of territories and that Ukraine's participation in Nato remained a "key" question in the talks.The White House had previously voiced optimism about its plan to end Europe's worst conflict since World War II but that hope appeared to fade Wednesday, with Moscow saying it had found parts of the plan "unacceptable".Witkoff and Kushner brought an updated version of a US plan to end the war.Russia's advance in eastern Ukraine gathered pace last month and Putin has said in recent days that Moscow is ready to fight on to seize the rest of the land it claims if Kyiv does not surrender it."The progress and nature of the negotiations were influenced by the successes of the Russian army on the battlefield in recent weeks," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov — who took part in the US-Russia talks — told reporters, including AFP."Our Russian soldiers, through their military exploits, have helped make the assessments of our foreign partners regarding the paths to a peace settlement more appropriate," he added.Moscow insisted it was incorrect to say Putin rejected the plan in its entirety.It also said Russia was still committed to diplomacy, despite Putin's stark warning that Moscow was prepared to fight Europe if it wanted war."We are still ready to meet as many times as is needed to reach a peace settlement," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.The fresh talks come as Nato pledges to buy hundreds of millions of dollars worth of US arms for Kyiv.Nato chief Mark Rutte said it was positive that peace talks were ongoing but that the alliance should make sure that "Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to keep the fight going".Russian troops have been grinding forward across the front line against outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian forces.Earlier this week, Moscow claimed to have captured the important stronghold of Pokrovsk but a Ukraine army unit fighting in the city said urban combat was still ongoing."The enemy is bogged down in urban combat for Pokrovsk and currently cannot seize the city using weapons," the 7th Air Assault Corps said. According to Ukrainian online map project DeepState, most of the city is occupied by the Russians.European countries have expressed fears Washington and Moscow will reach agreements without them and have spent the last weeks trying to amend the US plan so that it does not force Kyiv to capitulate.In Moscow, tensions with Europe were palpable, with Putin delivering an exceptionally hawkish statement on Tuesday."We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now," he said.Britain has downplayed Putin's hawkish messaging, calling it "yet more Kremlin claptrap from a president who isn't serious about peace".Moscow went to war in Ukraine in February 2022, saying it wanted to prevent Kyiv joining Nato — a prospect that Ukraine and the Western alliance have called a pretext to start the fighting and that they say was not going to happen.Since the full-scale offensive, Kyiv has said that joining the Western alliance would protect it from future Russian attacks.Trump has repeatedly ruled out Ukrainian membership in the bloc.Ushakov said the issue was "key" at the talks.Zelensky's top negotiator Rustem Umerov held a lengthy meeting with European security advisors on Wednesday as the Kyiv team was expected to meet Trump's envoys later."I gave my colleagues a detailed update on the negotiations in Geneva and Florida, and on the next steps in the diplomatic process," Umerov said."It's important that Europe stays an active part of this," he added.Zelensky has said that any peace deal for the conflict should make sure Moscow will not attack again.Moscow's offensive in Ukraine, which has killed thousands, has also been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent at home unseen since the Soviet era. 

Iraq plans to invite a select group of major US oil companies for direct negotiations over the acquisition of Lukoil PJSC’s stake in the giant West Qurna-2 oil field, as Baghdad accelerates efforts to reshape ownership of one of its key energy assets.The Oil Ministry said in a statement that it will approach “a limited number” of leading American producers as part of a process to transfer the Russian company’s share in the southern field.The US announced sanctions on Lukoil in October, a move that has pitted the company into selling its international assets. A key detail in the process is that the Trump administration would prefer that Lukoil’s global assets are taken over by a US entity, a fact that may limit the pool of potential buyers, people with knowledge of the matter said last month.“Transferring the management of the West Qurna-2 field to one of the US oil companies will serve mutual interests, strengthen the stability of global markets and ensure Iraq’s oil production and market share,” the ministry said.The ministry didn’t disclose which firms would be invited or the expected timeline for a final agreement. However, Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp were among US oil companies interested in at least some of Lukoil’s international assets, Bloomberg previously reported.Spokespeople for both US oil giants declined to comment after the ministry’s statement.Baghdad has already increased its oversight of the project.In November, the government assumed responsibility for marketing Lukoil’s crude output from the field, ensuring flows continued despite the sanctions. Lukoil has operated West Qurna-2 since the early 2010s, helping ramp up production at a field that holds close to 13bn barrels of recoverable reserves.Iraq, Opec’s second-largest producer, has been seeking to rebalance foreign participation in major upstream assets to attract Western investment and bolster technical capabilities.Securing a US operator would dovetail with Washington’s strategic preferences while signalling Baghdad’s intent to deepen energy ties with American firms.Further details on the selection and bidding process are expected in the coming weeks. 

The ceasefire in Gaza is holding as Qatar continues intensive efforts to advance to the second phase of the Gaza agreement, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dr Majid bin Mohammed al-Ansari said during the weekly media briefing Tuesday.Dr al-Ansari, Advisor to the Prime Minister and official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reaffirmed Qatar’s commitment to strengthening its global partnerships while sustaining its role as a key mediator in the Gaza negotiations. He cautioned, however, that ongoing Israeli violations were “alarming".Qatar, alongside the United States and Egypt secured a long-elusive truce in Gaza, which came into effect on October 10 and has mostly halted two years of fighting between Israel and Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.“Efforts are continuing through the monitoring room in Cairo to follow up on Israeli violations, and we have confidence in the plan of US President Donald Trump, his role, and the role of the mediators,” he said. Qatar believes the parties “should be pushing to stage two very, very soon,” he added.Highlighting Doha’s diplomatic role, the spokesperson stressed that Qatar is urging all sides to stay engaged in negotiations. “This is the longest-standing truce, and we are playing our part in implementing the agreement, monitoring violations, and trying to prevent its collapse,” he said.Under the second phase of the deal, which gained UN backing in November, Israel is to withdraw from its positions in the territory, an interim authority is to govern Gaza and an international stabilisation force is to be deployed.Dr al-Ansari also condemned Israel’s continued killing of Palestinian journalists, saying such actions aim to silence reporting on the reality in Gaza.On Qatar's efforts regarding the Russia-Ukraine crisis, al- Ansari stated that Qatar engaged from day one in exploring possible mediation efforts and supported all global initiatives aimed at resolving the conflict.He highlighted Qatar's success in reuniting over 115 children affected by the war with their families from both sides, underlining the Qatari message to all parties is that conflicts are ultimately resolved through peaceful means, and the dialogue table remains the path to crisis resolution.Turning to domestic developments, he announced that the 23rd Doha Forum will be held on December 6–7, 2025, under the theme “Establishing Justice: From Promises to Tangible Reality.” The event will bring together world leaders, policymakers, and experts from more than 150 countries, reflecting Qatar’s growing role as a hub for dialogue, cooperation, and shared progress. 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held high stakes talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida Sunday, as the United States pushes to end Russia's war against its neighbour.The negotiations come as Kyiv faces mounting military and political pressure, along with the fallout from a corruption scandal. They could set the stage for next week's visit to Moscow by President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, who is expected to discuss Ukraine diplomacy."This is not just about peace deals. It's about creating a pathway forward that leaves Ukraine sovereign, independent and prosperous," Rubio said at the start of the negotiations.Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner were also attending the meeting in Hallandale Beach, north of Miami.Ukraine's security council secretary Rustem Umerov led Kyiv's delegation, which also included Andrii Hnatov, the chief of staff of Ukraine's armed forces, and presidential adviser Oleksandr Bevz."We are discussing about the future of Ukraine, about the security of Ukraine, about no repetition of aggression of Ukraine, about prosperity of Ukraine, about how to rebuild Ukraine," Umerov said as the talks kicked off.The US talks come amid turbulence for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government. A blockbuster corruption probe forced him to sack his chief of staff and top negotiator, Andriy Yermak, on Friday.Rubio had met with Yermak only a week ago during another round of talks in Geneva that both sides hailed as "constructive."In a separate post on the platform X, Umerov said he was in "constant contact" with Zelensky as the Florida meeting progressed."We have clear directives and priorities: safeguarding Ukrainian interests, ensuring substantive dialogue, and advancing on the basis of the progress achieved in Geneva," Umerov wrote."We are working to secure real peace for Ukraine and reliable, long-term security guarantees. The delegation will report to the president of Ukraine following the conclusion of today's meetings."Washington has put forward a plan to end the nearly four-year conflict and is seeking to finalise it with Moscow and Kyiv's approval.An initial 28-point proposal -- drafted without input from Ukraine's European allies -- would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.The United States pared back the original draft following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but the current contents remain unclear.After the Florida negotiations, French President Emmanuel Macron is set to host Zelensky for talks in Paris today.Separately next week, Rubio is set to skip a meeting of Nato foreign ministers despite allies' concerns about the US plan for Ukraine. However, Witkoff is expected in Moscow to discuss Ukraine diplomacy.The flurry of diplomacy comes as the war — which has killed tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel and displaced millions of Ukrainians — shows no sign of easing.Ahead of the Florida talks, Russia's forces targeted Ukraine's capital and the region for two nights in a row as they advanced on the front line.A drone attack in the outskirts of Kyiv killed one person and wounded 11 on Saturday night, the regional governor said.Hours earlier, a Ukrainian security source said Kyiv was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers in the Black Sea that it believed were covertly transporting sanctioned Russian oil.One of Russia's largest oil terminals halted operations on Saturday following an attack by sea drones.The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), a group that includes US oil majors Chevron and ExxonMobil and which owns the terminal, called the strike a "terrorist attack".Ukraine, which did not comment on the incident, regularly targets Russian energy facilities in a bid to sap the country's war chest as the conflict grinds through its fourth year.The CPC pipeline, which begins in Kazakhstan and ends at the terminal, is a major conduit for Kazakh oil and one of the world's largest by volume, handling around one percent of global supplies. 

Global climate negotiations eked out an agreement that manages to nudge forward efforts to curb planet-warming emissions. But the final result — in avoiding explicit reference to fossil fuels — will leave big questions hanging over the efficacy of international climate politics.Two weeks of talks in the rainforest city of Belem, Brazil, served as a rebuttal of sorts to the idea that climate multilateralism is no longer viable. In the end, nearly 200 countries agreed to an eight-page document that calls for stronger efforts on national goals on emissions and boosting financial support to poor countries that need help defending against intensifying heat, storms and droughts.But the outcome of COP30 revealed deep fractures, particularly around which countries should pay for adaptation and how to get the world off fossil fuels. The Global Mutirao decision, a title using the Brazilian hosts' term for collective action, left out key provisions about winding down fossil fuel use that had been the benchmark for success by dozens of more ambitious countries.The two largest economies and historical emitters, the US and China, were conspicuous in their lack of impact. President Donald Trump declined to send representatives as the US exits from global climate accords; China focused more on its own interests in trade rather than stepping into a stronger leadership role.For some diplomats and experts, the outcome at best prevents a backslide on previous deals while doing little more to curb the oil, gas and coal that remain the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions. “This COP was the manifestation of a new geopolitical reality,” said Linda Kalcher, executive director at Strategic perspectives.**media[386956]**Brazil, host of the UN summit on the edge of the Amazon, announced it would work on two initiatives to combat deforestation and transition away from fossil fuels that will take shape over the next year and could inform COP31 talks in Turkiye. To understand what happened and where it leaves the world, we’ve compiled six key takeaways.The fossil fuel gap is still too wideA proposed road map for the transition away from oil, gas and coal was a focal point of this year’s COP, with backing from roughly 80 countries, including Colombia, the UK, Germany and Kenya. So when the draft that Brazil released on Friday didn’t mention it, many delegates were disappointed and angry.Ultimately, COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago pledged to create a road map focused on a just transition away from fossil fuels, which will continue over the next year. While that measure won robust applause Saturday, it’s not the full plan incorporated in formal COP processes that supporters wanted.“Staying silent on fossil fuels” isn’t sufficient, said Harjeet Singh, a founding director of the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation.Nearly 200 countries agreed in Dubai in 2023 to phase out fossil fuels. But that belies a deep, persistent divide on the issue. Some nations insisted that COP30 spur concrete action to help economies make the shift. For others, such as China and oil producers such as Russia and Saudi Arabia, any new obligation relating to the phaseout was a red line.Adaptation has jumped up the agendaIn climate policy, adaptation — learning to live with the effects of a warmer world — has long taken a back seat to emission-cutting work of mitigation. But adaptation was elevated at this year’s COP, a recognition that climate damage is happening now and the need to adapt is here. Worsening storms, floods, droughts and fires pose a huge burden, especially on developing countries and small island states.COP30 adopted a call to triple adaptation finance by 2035. That timeline is five years longer than what developing nations were pushing for, though. “In the Marshalls, our adaptation needs are overwhelming,” Kalani Kaneko, foreign minister of the Marshall Islands, said at the summit.The 2035 timeline is hard but achievable, according to experts. “Tripling the adaptation goal is possible,” climate finance specialists at the World Resources Institute wrote in an analysis earlier this month. “But every relevant source of finance will need to step up, and the system will need to work better as a whole.”Trade and critical minerals are climate issues, tooTrade is a flashpoint in global politics right now, and it created tension in Belém as well. China and other countries voiced displeasure with the European Union’s carbon levy. The measure is designed to prevent carbon “leakage” when heavy-emitting industries relocate offshore, but critics say it penalises other countries' exports to the bloc.Those frustrations made it into the final agreement, which includes a swipe at such unilateral trade actions. The document reaffirms that measures taken to combat climate change “should not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade.” It also sets up a dialogue and a high-level event in 2028 to consider the role of trade policy.And for the first time at a COP, delegates included language on critical minerals such as lithium and cobalt in a draft negotiating text that highlighted the risks associated with their extraction and processing. Although it was left out of the final decision, the proposal underscored mounting concerns that the shift away from polluting fossil fuels could leave the world more reliant on minerals tied to environmental and social ills.Political freedom makes a COP comebackTens of thousands of people took to the streets of Belém on November 15 to call for a stronger response to climate change. The previous day, Indigenous activists blocked the entrance to the Blue Zone of the COP30 venue, staying put until they could have a dialogue with the Brazilian officials leading the summit. And before that, a small group of protesters forced their way into the Blue Zone after being denied access.Such scenes in democratic Brazil were a far cry from the past three COPs, held in countries where political expression is heavily restricted. While many activists said the summit did not adequately include or listen to them, civil society was a bigger part of these talks than it had been for years.With COP31 set to be held in Turkiye, protests may once again recede. The country has seen one of the sharpest pullbacks on freedom of expression over the past decade, according to Freedom House.Forests got money — but not make-or-break supportBrazil went into COP30 with a signature initiative: the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a fund to support rainforest conservation worldwide. The country hoped for tens of billions in pledges, but the fund fell far short.Norway, Germany and Indonesia and others have committed more than $6bn so far. Norway’s pledge came with conditions that include raising more investment from others, meaning much work remains to be done.The Global Mutirão decision also recognises the critical role of forests in storing carbon and maintaining a liveable climate. However, a proposed road map to stop deforestation did not make it into the final text, with Corrêa do Lago instead propping up a second initiative akin to the fossil fuel one. It’s an omission that some found galling given the setting of the talks.“If we cannot agree on ending deforestation here in the Amazon, the question is, ‘then where?’” asked Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez, the special representative for climate change from Panama.The US makes its absence feltThis was the first COP without American attendance since President Donald Trump returned to the White House — and that absence was felt, for both good and bad.Developed country negotiators, like those in the EU, missed the presence of the US to act as a driver of ambition, using its diplomatic heft during critical moments with countries like China and Saudi Arabia. There was little sign of others being willing to step up into the vacuum. Beijing submitted an underwhelming climate pledge ahead of the summit and kept a low profile at the talks. Europe remained on the defensive against accusations of not providing enough finance and unfair trade measures.Yet there was also relief that the US didn’t disrupt talks. In the weeks before COP30, the US played the role of spoiler in negotiations at the International Maritime Organisation, which had been working for years to adopt a new global charge on the shipping industry’s enormous emissions. 

The Muslim World League (MWL) has welcomed the signing of an immediate ceasefire agreement between the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan. In a statement issued by its General Secretariat, MWL Secretary-General Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al Issa commended this positive step and the two governments' agreement to establish mechanisms aimed at consolidating lasting peace and stability through negotiations. He noted that this would spare both countries and their peoples the dangers and tragedies of armed conflict, affirming the League's full support for this positive step.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the war with Russia to be frozen along current battle lines before the two sides can enter peace negotiations, even as his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin continues to demand that Ukraine cede the entire Donetsk region in the east to Russia. Zelenskyy affirmed the need to end the war, especially from the contact line between the two armies. To end the war and return to peace negotiations, the Ukrainian president stressed that the soldiers need to stay where they are, so as to not cede anything more to Putin. During a phone call with US President Donald Trump on October 16, the Russian president demanded that Kyiv cede full control of Donetsk as a condition for ending the war, the Washington Post reported, citing unidentified senior officials. The Ukrainian president has repeatedly refused to cede any territory to Russia.

Germany called on US President Donald Trump to increase pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine following his successful mediation to end the war in the Gaza Strip. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, during a meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart Georgi Georgiev in Sofia, that Trump has made a decisive contribution to the agreement on the Gaza Strip, and "Germany is calling on him to continue his efforts to secure negotiations between Russia and Ukraine." Wadephul added that the German government has high expectations of the US administration, as President Trump has convincingly demonstrated his interest in participating in concluding peace agreements in various parts of the world. He indicated his country's readiness to support Trump in such a peace initiative, stressing that "it is worth making every effort to launch a new attempt at a peace process in Ukraine now, before large-scale fighting flares up again." The US president has sought to end the war in Ukraine since taking office. He sent his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Russia several times and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach a peace agreement between the two sides, but without any success due to the wide gap in the two countries' positions.

Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Jamal Rushdi, has lauded the State of Qatar's role in the negotiations that were held to reach a decision to cease the warfare in the Gaza Strip. He pointed out that the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit, scheduled to be held later today, caps a long and arduous course of negotiations on this matter. Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Rushdi said the State of Qatar played a remarkable role in the mediation to bring the war in Gaza to a close, affirming that the mediation role was tough and encountered hitches throughout the negotiations between the two parties to reach compromise solutions. However, mediators from the State of Qatar and Egypt had demonstrated tremendous patience and perseverance to stop the bloodshed and halt the war in the Gaza Strip, helped by the United States, Rushdi underlined. Rushdi further indicated that the key objective of mediators in the State of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States is to put an end to the massacre, culminating in solutions that protect the Palestinians and formulate a pathway toward a political settlement to achieve the best situation for the Palestinians. He pointed out that the Sharm El-Sheikh Summit is a very high-stakes event, a product of two years of arduous negotiations that ultimately led to achieving the primary goal, which is to stop this massacre and genocide against the Palestinian people. Finally, Rushdi hoped that the Palestinian people would enjoy stability after ending the warfare in the Gaza enclave, stating that perseverance and determination to accomplish that objective brought this moment, which is not the end of the road but rather a new beginning for the Palestinian people.

US President Donald Trump said today that ongoing negotiations between the United States and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to end the war in the Gaza Strip and secure the release of prisoners are making rapid progress. In a statement posted on his social media platforms, Trump said the talks have been very successful and proceeding quickly, adding that technical teams are expected to meet again in Egypt later today to finalize the details of the agreement. He noted that the first phase of the agreement is scheduled to begin this week, urging all parties to move swiftly to end the suffering and achieve peace. The US President said the agreement his administration is seeking to conclude between Israel and Hamas represents a great deal for Israel, welcoming Hamas's response, which included its acceptance of several key provisions of the 20-point US proposal. The plan includes a cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Trump stressed that his plan aims to end the conflict and restore stability to the region. However, he warned that he would completely eliminate Hamas if it refuses to relinquish power and hand over control of the Gaza Strip, as stipulated in the agreement. This development comes amid intensified regional and international diplomatic efforts, led by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, to reach a comprehensive agreement that would end the ongoing war in Gaza, pave the way for reconstruction, and establish lasting humanitarian and political stability in the Strip.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that ongoing talks have been taking place for four days with leaders from countries in the region to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the negotiations would continue until a successful agreement that achieves peace is reached. Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the discussions included leaders from several Islamic countries and that the Palestinian movement, Hamas, was fully aware of these negotiations, adding that the Israeli side has been informed of all their details at every level. He noted that optimism was higher than at any time in decades of conflict and that there was genuine willingness and strong enthusiasm to reach a historic agreement, with all parties eager to move beyond what he described as a dark period of death and destruction. Trump expressed pride in being part of these negotiations, saying they must secure the release of hostages and establish lasting peace. Speaking separately to reporters at the White House, he said he was very close to reaching an agreement on Gaza, stressing that any deal would be contingent on the return of hostages and an end to the war. He described his talks with European and Arab leaders as productive and constructive.