Foreign News
Trump accuses Zelensky of ‘gambling with World War Three’
Donald Trump has clashed with Volodymyr Zelensky in a furious exchange at the White House, with the US president telling his Ukrainian counterpart to make a deal with Russia “or we are out”.
The pair interrupted each other repeatedly in front of the media during what was supposed to be a prelude to the two leaders signing a minerals deal.
After relations first became strained over Trump’s handling of Ukraine peace talks with Russia, the minerals agreement was supposed to be a stepping stone towards further security ties between the countries.
But Zelensky was told by the Americans to leave before the deal could be signed.
At one point, Trump told Zelensky he was not thankful enough for US military and political support, and that he was “gambling with World War Three”.
Zelensky had earlier argued there should be “no compromises” with Russian President Vladimir Putin – but Trump said Kyiv would have to make concessions to reach a peace deal with Russia.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and currently controls around 20% of Ukrainian territory.
The meeting to discuss the US-Ukraine deal, which involved access to Ukrainian oil, gas and rare minerals, came after the new US president appeared to blame Zelensky for the war and chided him for not starting peace talks with Russia earlier.
His tone had softened in recent days, with Trump saying he had a lot of respect for the Ukrainian leader.
But Friday’s conversation soured after the US Vice-President JD Vance – who was sat alongside other politicians in the room – told Zelensky that the war had to be ended through diplomacy.
Zelensky responded by asking “what kind of diplomacy?”, referencing a previous ceasefire deal in 2019, agreed three years before Russia’s full-scale invasion when Moscow was supporting and arming separatist fighters in Ukraine’s east.
The vice-president then accused Zelensky of being disrespectful and “litigating” the situation in front of the media.
From there, the discussion escalated quickly, as Trump and Vance accused Ukraine’s president of being ungrateful for three years of US support during the war with Russia, with Trump saying Zelensky was in no position to tell the US how it should feel.
Not long after the meeting – and well ahead of the pre-planned schedule – Zelensky was seen leaving the White House in his official vehicle.
Trump took to Truth Social, the social media platform he owns, to say ‘Zelensky disrespected the US in its cherished Oval Office’.
“I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations,” the Republican president continued. “I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE.”
Zelensky also posted on social media, thanking the president and the US four times.
In a later interview with Fox News, Zelensky said the public spat “was not good” – but the relationship between him and Trump could be salvaged.
“Because the relations are more than just two presidents,” he said, adding that it was also about “strong relations between our two people.”
Reaction to the White House meeting among US politicians appeared to fall along partisan lines, with Republicans praising Trump and Democrats criticising him.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham – once a staunch supporter of Ukraine – told reporters: “What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful and I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelensky again.”
He said Zelensky “either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change”.
Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries described Zelensky’s treatment as “appalling”, adding that it “will only serve to further embolden Vladimir Putin”.
In Ukraine, there was broadly appreciation for Zelensky holding his ground over what is, for them, an existential war.
“Trump’s administration was so arrogant,” one man in Kyiv told the BBC. “When you look at Zelensky’s face, you understand that the discussion behind the closed doors was not so polite.
“They are so rude, they don’t respect the people of Ukraine. They even don’t hide it.”
The Oval Office spat also prompted words of support for Zelensky from key European allies, including France.
A spokeswoman for UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – who has cast himself as a mediator between the US and Europe as the Trump administration adopts a more isolationist approach to the continent – said he had spoken to both leaders.
She said Sir Keir “retains unwavering support for Ukraine, and is doing all he can to find a path forward to a lasting peace”.
Friedrich Merz, who is expected to become Germany’s next chancellor, wrote that he stood with Ukraine “in good and testing times”, adding: “We must never confuse aggressor and victim in this terrible war.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that “today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge”.
Russia, meanwhile, said Trump and Vance had acted with restraint. A foreign ministry spokeswoman said it was a miracle the pair hadn’t hit Zelensky.
[BBC]
More than a thousand people have been left with respiratory problems after a sandstorm swept across Iraq’s central and southern parts of the country, health officials said.
One official in Muthanna province reported to the AFP news agency at least 700 cases of what they said was suffocation.
Footage shared online showed areas cloaked in a thick orange haze, with local media reporting power cuts and the suspension of flights in a number of regions.
Dust storms are common in Iraq, but some experts believe they are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
Pedestrians and police wore face masks to protect themselves from the dust and paramedics were on site to assist people with difficulty breathing, according to AFP.
Hospitals in Muthanna province in southern Iraq received at least “700 cases of suffocation”, a local health official said.
More than 250 people were taken to hospital in Najaf province, and at least 322 patients including children were sent to hospitals in Diwaniyah province.
A further 530 people reported breathing issues in Dhi Qar and Basra provinces.
The sandstorm blanketed Iraq’s southern provinces in an orange cloud that reduced visibility to less than one kilometre (0.62 mile).
The authorities were forced to shut down airports in the provinces of Najaf and Basra.
Conditions are expected to gradually improve by Tuesday morning, according to local weather services.
Iraq is listed by the UN as one of the five countries most vulnerable to climate change as it encounters regular sandstorms, sweltering heat and water scarcity.
A severe sandstorm in 2022 left one person dead and more than 5,000 needing treatment for respiratory illnesses.
Iraq will be experiencing more “dust days” in the future, according to its environment ministry.
[BBC]
Indian businessman Mehul Choksi has been arrested in Belgium following India’s request for his extradition.
Choksi, who left India in 2018, was arrested on Saturday, his lawyer Vijay Aggarwal told the BBC on Monday.
The diamond merchant is wanted by India for allegedly defrauding one of the country’s largest banks of nearly $1.8bn (£1.3bn).
Choksi has not commented publicly on the case, but his lawyer said they would appeal against his detention and also oppose his extradition to India.
“These are the obvious grounds on which we will argue the case, that he is not a flight risk and secondly, that he is extremely sick. He is undergoing cancer treatment,” Mr Agarwal said. He added that they would “contest the extradition on grounds that there isn’t enough evidence against him and the extradition request is politically motivated and the trial in India may not be fair”.
The BBC has reached out to India’s foreign ministry and financial crimes agency – the Enforcement Directorate (ED) – for comment.
According to a Times of India report, Choksi was arrested on the basis of two non-bailable warrants issued by an Indian court in 2018 and 2021 – although it’s not clear why the action came now.
Mehul Choksi and his nephew, Nirav Modi, are wanted by Indian authorities in connection with a $1.8bn fraud case at Punjab National Bank (PNB).
Niray Modi, who’s also been living abroad since 2018, is lodged in a prison in London and is awaiting extradition to India.
Both were high-profile diamond traders. Modi’s jewellery was worn by several Hollywood celebrities such as Naomi Watts and Kate Winslet. One of the biggest Bollywood stars, Priyanka Chopra, was his company’s brand ambassador. Choksi, meanwhile, was the owner of Gitanjali Gems, an Indian jewellery retailer which once had about 4,000 stores across India.
The ED has accused Choksi and Modi of colluding with some employees of PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai city to get fraudulent advances for payments to overseas suppliers of jewels.
These funds were then allegedly diverted and laundered.
Choksi and Modi have denied the allegations against them.
After leaving India, Choksi reportedly travelled to the US and later to Antigua – where he has citizenship. In 2021, he was reportedly arrested in Dominica and deported back to Antigua.
Hariprasad SV, a Bengaluru-based entrepreneur who had in 2016 alerted authorities about the alleged scam at PNB, said Choksi’s arrest was “great news”. “Apart from bringing him back, the most important thing is to get back all those billions of dollars he looted from India,” he told ANI news agency.
[BBC]
US President Donald Trump’s administration has exempted smartphones, computers and some other electronic devices from “reciprocal” tariffs, including the 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports.
US Customs and Border Patrol published a notice late on Friday explaining the goods would be excluded from Trump’s 10% global tariff on most countries and the much larger Chinese import tax.
The move comes after concerns from US tech companies that the price of gadgets could skyrocket, as many of them are made in China.
This is the first significant reprieve of any kind in Trump’s tariffs on China, with one trade analyst describing it as a “game-changer scenario”.
[BBC]
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