US and Russian officials are working toward an agreement on territories for a planned summit meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as early as next week, people familiar said.
Putin is demanding that Ukraine cede its entire eastern Donbas area to Russia as well as Crimea, which his forces illegally annexed in 2014. Any deal on those terms would hand Russia a victory that its army couldn’t achieve militarily since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Such an outcome would represent a major win for Putin, who has long sought direct negotiations with the US on terms for ending the war that he started, sidelining Ukraine and its European allies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy risks being presented with a take-it-or-leave-it deal to accept the loss of Ukrainian territory.
Germany will halt deliveries to Israel of military equipment that could be used in operations in the Gaza Strip over concern for humanitarian suffering in the territory. The ban on deliveries of spare parts for tanks and other defense-related goods will be in place until further notice, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said today in a statement. The move was prompted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s move to secure approval for a military takeover of Gaza City.
An Israeli tank moves near the border with Gaza in southern Israel. Photographer: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo
Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill warned the central bank may need to slow its once-a-quarter pace of interest-rate cuts after a resurgence in inflation that risks changing the behavior of households and businesses. Pill — who opposed the BOE’s closely contested decision yesterday to cut rates by a quarter point — said a spike in price pressures may linger for longer than expected, pointing to the impact on household expectations from climbing food bills.
China said its imports of Russian oil are justified, pushing back against US threats of new tariffs after Washington slapped secondary levies on India for buying energy from Moscow. “It is legitimate and lawful for China to conduct normal economic, trade and energy cooperation with all countries around the world, including Russia,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday in a statement to Bloomberg News. Trump said earlier this week he could punish China with additional tariffs over its purchases of Russian oil.
Trade tariffs are adding to challenges facing the Irish whiskey industry, a sector already beset by oversupply, faltering US demand and soaring costs. A clutch of independent distilleries have closed or cut production in recent months, while giants like Diageo and Pernod Ricard are also impacted. The Killarney Brewing & Distilling closed down last month, the latest casualty of the reversal of a short-lived boom for the industry.
Aircraft maker Pilatus Flugzeugwerke has stopped deliveries to the US one day after the 39% tariff rate on Switzerland went into effect. Trump’s surprise decision has roiled local manufacturers. “Massive additional costs” and the resulting competitive disadvantages with US and European competitors are causing increasing uncertainty among customers, the maker of the PC-12 single-engine utility plane and PC-24 10-passenger business jet said in a statement. That led the company to temporarily interrupt its US business, the statement said. Pilatus said it would work with clients to send the planes to other markets.
Zimbabwe and the UK are rekindling diplomatic ties after almost three decades of tensions, driven by a global surge in demand for critical minerals. The former colonial power is pursuing $1 billion in deals with the resource-rich nation. The British Embassy in Harare said those prospective deals are across key sectors such as agriculture, finance, telecommunications, renewable energy and critical minerals.
