LAHORE: Acting Chinese Consul General in Lahore Cao Ke has said that China and Pakistan as key members of the Global South and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, jointly defend sovereignty and territorial integrity.
This was stated by him at a seminar to mark 80th anniversary of the Chinese victory in World War-II here on Sunday.
The Chinese people, he said, won the great victory of this devastating war and restored Taiwan from the illegal occupation, declaring complete victory in the `World Anti-Fascist War.’
Former foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmed Khan said that contributions and sacrifices of China in World War II were far greater than those countries that exploited the war’s outcomes and used them to serve their own interests, mostly Western allies.
Former Air Vice Chief Sajid Habib recalled that the city of Lahore had played a role in the independence of China as hundreds of Chinese pilots were trained at the Walton airport and they served in the Chinese War of resistance.
Recalling the remarkable harmony among the nation during the 1965 war, he called for forging unity in the present time, stressing that no leader was above the national interest, an apparent reference to Imran Khan.
Remembering that ‘stage-managed’ Manchurian attack had been used as an excuse by Japan to attack China, former rear admiral N.A. Rizvi said that India too used Pulwama and then Pahalgam incidents as pretexts to wage a war against Pakistan.
PU Pakistan Study Centre Director Prof Dr Amjad Abbas Magsi emphasized that the world must recognize China’s immense sacrifices in WW-II and its role in containing fascism. These sacrifices, he said, helped reshape the world.
PU History and Pak Studies department Chairperson Prof Dr Ruksana Iftikhar and educationist Dr Iftikhar-ul-Haq said that Chinese war of resistance and the recovery of Taiwan were defining moments that left profound lessons and a lasting legacy for China and the world.
FARYAB: Over four decades of war, Afghanistan wielded limited control over five major river basins that flow across its borders into downstream neighbouring nations.
But as Taliban authorities swept to power and tightened their grip on the country, they have pushed for Afghanistan’s water sovereignty, launching infrastructure projects to harness precious resources in the arid territory.
Dams and canals have sparked tensions with neighbouring states, testing the Taliban authorities’ efforts to build strong regional ties, as they remain largely isolated on the global stage since their 2021 takeover.
At the same time, the region is facing the shared impacts of climate change intensifying water scarcity, as temperatures rise and precipitation patterns shift, threatening glaciers and snowpack that feed the country’s rivers.
Here are key points about Afghanistan’s transboundary water challenges:
Central Asian states to the north
Afghanistan is emerging as a new player in often fraught negotiations on the use of the Amu Darya, one of two key rivers crucial for crops in water-stressed Central Asia, where water sharing relies on fragile accords since Soviet times. Central Asian states have expressed concern over the Qosh Tepa mega canal project that could divert up to 21 per cent of the Amu Darya’s total flow to irrigate 560,000 hectares of land across Afghanistan’s arid north, and further deplete the Aral Sea.
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are likely to face the biggest impact, both joined by Kazakhstan in voicing alarm, even as they deepen diplomatic ties with the Taliban authorities — officially recognised so far by only Russia.
“No matter how friendly the tone is now,” water governance expert Mohd Faizee warned, “at some point there will be consequences for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan when the canal starts operating”. Taliban officials have denied that the project will have a major impact on the Amu Darya’s water levels and pledged it will improve food security in a country heavily dependent on climate-vulnerable agriculture and facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
“There is an abundance of water, especially when the Amu Darya floods and glacial meltwater flows into it” in the warmer months, said project manager Sayed Zabihullah Miri, during a visit to the canal works in Faryab province, where diggers carved into a drought-ridden plain dotted with camels and locusts.
Iran to the west
Iran is the only country with which Afghanistan has a formal water sharing treaty, agreed in 1973 over the Helmand river, which traverses Taliban heartland territory, but the accord was never fully implemented.
Longstanding tensions over the river’s resources have spiked over dams in southern Afghanistan, particularly in periods of drought, which are likely to increase as climate shocks hit the region’s water cycle.
Iran, facing pressure in its parched southeastern region, has repeatedly demanded that Afghanistan respect its rights, charging that upstream dams restrict the Helmand’s flow into a border lake.
JERUSALEM: Israel said on Sunday it targeted an energy infrastructure site in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, linked to the Houthi rebels behind repeated attacks on Israel during the Gaza conflict.
A military statement said Israeli forces “struck… deep inside Yemen, targeting an energy infrastructure site that served the Houthi regime” in the area of the rebel-held capital, without naming the site.
The Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV, citing a civil defence source, reported “an aggression targeting the Haziz power station” south of the city. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
A photographer reported significant damage at the site. An employee of the power station said that “two aggressive strikes by the Israeli enemy” hit the site in the early morning, but there were no casualties.
The Houthis have repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Israel, claiming to be acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Most Houthi attacks have been intercepted, but have prompted Israeli air strikes on rebel targets in Yemen.
The military said its latest “strikes were conducted in response to repeated attacks” by the Houthis.
On Sunday afternoon, the Israeli military said it intercepted another missile fired from Yemen, after sirens went off in several regions. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree later claimed the attack for the group, saying they had targeted Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport with a ballistic missile.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a post on X that the Houthis would “pay with compound interest for every attempt to fire at Israel” and that Israel was “imposing an air and sea blockade” on the group. In June, Katz threatened a blockade, without any notable follow up.
Beyond attacks on Israel, the Houthis have also targeted ships they say are Israeli-linked in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden off Yemen.
The Iran-backed group broadened its campaign to target ships tied to the United States and Britain after the two countries began military strikes aimed at securing the waterway in January 2024.
In May, the rebels cemented a ceasefire with the United States that ended weeks of intense US strikes, but vowed to continue targeting Israeli ships.
KARACHI: The Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Karachi on Sunday marked the 80th anniversary of Indonesia’s independence with a solemn flag-hoisting ceremony that highlighted unity and cultural pride.
The event was led by H.E. Mr. Dewanto Priyokusumo, Chargé d’Affaires of the Consulate.
This year’s celebration was anchored in the theme “Bersatu Berdaulat Rakyat Sejahtera Indonesia Maju,” which translates to “United, Sovereign, Prosperous People for a Progressive Indonesia.” The ceremony was attended by Indonesian citizens living in Karachi, including mixed-married families of Indonesian and Pakistani descents, as well as Indonesian students, all participating in a solemn and respectful manner.
In his address, Dewanto Priyokusumo conveyed key messages from President Prabowo’s national address, which underscored the critical importance of freedom from poverty and hunger, as well as the necessity for economic sovereignty to meet the needs of the populace.
He called upon all segments of society to unite in the pursuit of independence ideals by upholding the rule of law and combating corruption. President Prabowo also highlighted the government’s achievements in enhancing welfare through initiatives such as the Free Nutritious Meals program and infrastructure development, emphasizing the vital role of education in fostering a healthy and productive generation.
After the ceremony, Indonesian Diaspora in Karachi is entertained with various fun engaging games and Indonesian traditional dishes. The celebration was a sensory feast, bringing the exquisite flavours of Indonesia to Karachi.
These activities created atmosphere of joy and camaraderie, thereby strengthening the bonds of friendship among Indonesian families residing in Sindh Province. This celebration not only marked Indonesia’s significant journey toward independence but also reinforced the spirit of unity and collaboration among its citizens, both domestically and abroad.
LAHORE: Chinese Consulate Acting Consul General Lahore Cao Ke has said that China and Pakistan, as all-weather strategic cooperative partners, key members of the Global South and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, are glued together to safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core, safeguard the international order based on international law, and jointly defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Such heart-warming statement came up when Pakistan had recently celebrated blissful joy of Marka-e-Haq showing its military and diplomatic mettle inflicting defeat to India in the month of May.
Acting Chinese Consul General Cao Ke was addressing a seminar titled 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression, the world anti-fascist war, and the restoration of Taiwan held at local hotel here on Sunday. The seminar was organised by Institute of International Relations and Media Research.
According to the press release issued by IIRMR Cao Ke said that Chinese people fought valiantly against Japanese militarism in World War II, sacrificing more than 35 million civilians and military personnel to fracture the Axis strategy, causing 70 percent of Japan’s total WW II casualties.
“China’s resistance, the first to ignite and last to extinguish, fundamentally reshaped WW II’s trajectory,” he added.
The Chinese people, he mentioned, won the great victory of this devastating war and restored Taiwan from the illegal occupation of Japan, declaring the complete victory of the World Anti-Fascist War.
“The restoration of Taiwan, which is a landmark triumph of World War II and constitutes an integral part of the post-war international order. Taiwan’s status as part of Chinese territory has never changed and will never be allowed to change. The Communist Party of China played a pivotal role in the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. President Xi Jinping pointed out that, the CPC fought bravely on the front lines of this War, sustaining the Chinese nation’s hope of survival and becoming the mainstay of the entire nation’s struggle,” he remarked.
While addressing a seminar former foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmed Khan said that contributions and sacrifices of China, one of the world’s major powers, in World War II were far greater than those of countries that exploited the war’s outcomes and used them to serve their own interests, mostly Western allies. “Pakistan-China friendship is not based on transient interests or expediencies rather it is above personalities or any change in domestic or international situation. The CPEC, flagship project of BRI, which on completion will bring overarching socio-economic connectivity.
“At this juncture what we need to understand that we could master our common destiny only if we face it together,” he added.
Speaking at seminar, Air Vice Chief Sajid Habib (retd) said that at the time China under the leadership of its great leader had been fighting against Japanese fascism in word war II, Muslims of subcontinent under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam had been struggling for the creation of Pakistan.
“City of Lahore has a pride that it played a role in the independence of China as Walton airport used to be place to train Chinese pilots that served in Chinese War of resistance against Japan,” he added.
“The relation with China established its roots even before the liberation and later such bond went cemented in all sphere of life including on the level of defence cooperation. We (Pakistan and China) need to deepen their time-tested collaboration and ties to shine together on global landscape,” he prayed.
Vice Admiral N A Rizvi (retd) said that China enjoys a rich history like other few civilizations.
“Chinese nation has amply proved their resilience and perseverance at different juncture of history. The Sino-Japan has witnessed massive Japanese atrocity against China. In Particular the Japanese atrocity in Nanjing are unspeakable. But China showed its ability to bear with patience and then responded perfectly. He praised Pak-China relations based on mutual trust moving in high gear and said China always support Kashmir issue,” he added.
• Israel signals plans to push civilians from Gaza City, supplying tents ahead of major assault • Hamas calls relocation plans ‘a brutal assault’ and ‘blatant deception to cover up massacre’ • Israelis rally seeking end to war, prisoner swap deal
GAZA STRIP: Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed at least 40 people on Saturday, as the Israeli military hinted at an approaching call to push civilians from Gaza City ahead of a new offensive.
The latest toll comes more than a week after Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to capture the Palestinian territory’s largest city, following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions.
According to the civil defence agency, at least 13 of the Palestinians killed on Saturday were shot by troops as they were waiting to collect food aid near distribution sites in the north and in the south.
Ahead of the offensive, COGAT said that starting from Sunday, the military would supply more tents and shelter equipment.
“As part of the preparations to move the population from combat zones to the southern Gaza Strip for their protection, the supply of tents and shelter equipment to Gaza will resume,” it said in a statement.
Hamas later slammed the move, saying the announcement was part of a “brutal assault to occupy Gaza City”.
Earlier, Gaza’s civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said conditions in Gaza City’s Zeitun neighbourhood were rapidly deteriorating with residents having little to no access to food and water amid heavy Israeli bombardment.
The spokesman added that about 50,000 people were estimated to be in that area of Gaza City, “the majority of whom are without food or water” and lacking “the basic necessities of life”.
Bassal told AFP the number of people killed in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday had risen to 40.
On Friday, the Israeli military said its troops were operating in Zeitun.
Hamas said in a statement that Israeli forces had been carrying out a “sustained offensive in the eastern and southern neighbourhoods of Gaza City, particularly in Zeitun”.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army’s chief of staff said Sunday the military was pressing ahead with plans for the next phase of its Gaza offensive, with a focus on Gaza City.
“Today we are approving the plan for the next phase of the war,” Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said during a field visit to the Palestinian territory, according to an army statement.
In response, Hamas said the plans would result in “a new wave of extermination and mass displacement”.
The Palestinian group also condemned the proposals “a major war crime” which it said reflected Israel’s “disregard for international and humanitarian law”.
Hamas said Israel’s statements on this, including its plans for the installation of tents in southern Gaza, were “a blatant deception to cover up the imminent massacre and forced displacement”.
Israelis rally
Demonstrators across Israel called on Sunday for an end to the Gaza war and a deal to release prisoners still held by Hamas, a push lambasted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies.
The protests come more than a week after Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to capture Gaza City.
A huge Israeli flag covered with portraits of the remaining captives was unfurled in Tel Aviv’s so-called Hostage Square – which has long been a focal point for protests throughout the war.
Demonstrators also blocked roads, including the highway connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem where they set tires on fire, according to local media footage.
Some Israeli government members who oppose any deal with Hamas slammed Sunday’s demonstrations.
Famine warnings
The Israeli plans to expand the war into Gaza City and nearby refugee camps have sparked an international outcry as well as domestic opposition.
UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in.
TEHRAN: The streets of Tehran have become a confusing maze for driver Farshad Fooladi amid widespread GPS disruption, still ongoing nearly two months after the end of Iran and Israel’s unprecedented 12-day war.
“For weeks I have been unable to work,” said Fooladi, who uses Iran’s homegrown ride-hailing app Snapp to find customers. “Most of the time was wasted wandering around aimlessly,” the 35-year-old Iranian driver added.
Unprecedented disruption has plagued users of GPS, which stands for Global Positioning System, in Iran since Israel’s surprise attack in mid-June which triggered a deadly 12-day war.
Iran’s communications ministry has said the disruptions were necessary for “security and military purposes”, without giving further explanation.
Navigation activity on Neshan falls by 20pc
Missiles, drones and rockets often use GPS or other similar technologies, which involve triangulating signals from multiple satellites, to find their targets.
Iran has long employed GPS jamming and spoofing around sensitive military sites but the recent disruptions have been the most sustained and widespread.
It remains unclear how long the measures will last or how much damage they have caused to Iranian businesses.
Ride-hailing apps, delivery platforms, and even basic mapping services like Google Maps and its Iranian equivalent, Neshan, have buckled under the interference.
In many areas, especially around Tehran, users often spot themselves on the maps hundreds of kilometres away from their actual locations.
“To get around, you either need a sharp memory for routes or already know the city well,” Fooladi said.
But the driver, originally from the western Lorestan province and less familiar with the capital’s winding backstreets, also finds himself running into dead ends. “I only pick up passengers who know the directions,” he said, adding the strategy had severely cut his income.
‘Collateral damage’
In early August, Neshan mapping app chief executive Javad Amel said in a video interview that daily disruptions through GPS spoofing had been ongoing for years, especially in Tehran.
But he explained in recent weeks that Neshan’s daily active users “had dropped by 15pc, while navigation activity on the app fell by 20pc”.
The continued disruption has also heightened fears of a deepening economic crisis among Iranians amid international sanctions, compounded by the revival of US President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign earlier this year.
Nuclear talks with Washington, which began in April, have also stalled since the United States joined its ally Israel to strike Iranian nuclear sites in June.
“This war has upended our lives and frozen our future plans,” said Fooladi.
In a report last week, the Khabar Online news agency warned against the disruption of GPS, saying it caused “collateral damage” to the digital economy and public safety, including delays to emergency services.
Former communications minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi argued the disruption was costly and would likely have limited defensive results. “Drone manufacturers and operators are not stupid either. If the GPS is disrupted and another positioning system replaces it, they will also use the new system,” Jahromi said according to his Telegram channel.
‘Unclear future’
With the significant impact on civilian lives, deputy communications minister Ehsan Chitsaz suggested that Iran could consider alternatives to GPS.
“Disruptions are created by domestic systems on GPS, and this has pushed us toward alternative options such as BeiDou,” he told Iranian daily Ham Mihan in July.
The Chinese satellite system BeiDou, fully operational since 2020, is emerging as a global rival to GPS.
Chitsaz said Iran was “drafting a program” so some of the country’s location-based services for transport, agriculture could “gradually migrate from GPS to BeiDou”. He acknowledged disruptions in Iran, coupled with years-long internet restrictions, have damaged businesses and created “social distrust and despair”.
But experts say that replacing GPS would be complex.
“Doing so would require extensive and costly infrastructure changes,” said Amir Rashidi of the US-based Miaan group, adding that Iran is currently “highly vulnerable in cyberspace”.
Many in Iran believe that another confrontation with Israel is on the horizon as Israel and the United States continue to threaten attacks if Iran restarts its nuclear programme, which has been on hold.
“Everything is uncertain, and we can’t plan. The future is unclear,” said Mohammad Hossein Ghanbari, a 32-year-old Snapp driver. “We don’t know whether the war will break out again or what will happen next.”
If you’re confused about the aims, conduct and outcome of the summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025, you’re probably not alone.
As summits go, the meeting broke with many conventions of diplomacy: It was last-minute, it appeared to ignore longstanding protocol and accounts of what happened were conflicting in the days after the early termination of the event.
The Conversation U.S.’s politics editor Naomi Schalit interviewed Donald Heflin, a veteran diplomat now teaching at Tufts University’s Fletcher School, to help untangle what happened and what could happen next.
It was a hastily planned summit. Trump said they’d accomplish things that they didn’t seem to accomplish. Where do things stand now?
It didn’t surprise me or any experienced diplomat that there wasn’t a concrete result from the summit.
First, the two parties, Russia and Ukraine, weren’t asking to come to the peace table. Neither one of them is ready yet, apparently. Second, the process was flawed. It wasn’t prepared well enough in advance, at the secretary of state and foreign minister level. It wasn’t prepared at the staff level.
What was a bit of a surprise was the last couple days before the summit, the White House started sending out what I thought were kind of realistic signals. They said, “Hopefully we’ll get a ceasefire and then a second set of talks a few weeks in the future, and that’ll be the real set of talks.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, here embracing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London on Aug. 14, 2025, is one of many European leaders voicing strong support for Ukraine and Zelenskyy. Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images
Now, that’s kind of reasonable. That could have happened. That was not a terrible plan. The problem was it didn’t happen. And we don’t know exactly why it didn’t happen.
Reading between the lines, there were a couple problems. The first is the Russians, again, just weren’t ready to do this, and they said, “No ceasefire. We want to go straight to permanent peace talks.”
Ukraine doesn’t want that, and neither do its European allies. Why?
When you do a ceasefire, what normally happens is you leave the warring parties in possession of whatever land their military holds right now. That’s just part of the deal. You don’t go into a 60- or 90-day ceasefire and say everybody’s got to pull back to where they were four years ago.
But if you go to a permanent peace plan, which Putin wants, you’ve got to decide that people are going to pull back, right? So that’s problem number one.
Problem number two is it’s clear that Putin is insisting on keeping some of the territory that his troops seized in 2014 and 2022. That’s just a non-starter for the Ukrainians.
Is Putin doing that because that really is his bottom line demand, or did he want to blow up these peace talks, and that was a good way to blow them up? It could be either or both.
Russia has made it clear that it wants to keep parts of Ukraine, based on history and ethnic makeup.
The problem is, the world community has made it clear for decades and decades and decades, you don’t get what you want by invading the country next door.
Remember in Gulf War I, when Saddam Hussein invaded and swallowed Kuwait and made it the 19th province of Iraq? The U.S. and Europe went in there and kicked him out. Then there are also examples where the U.S. and Europe have told countries, “Don’t do this. You do this, it’s going to be bad for you.”
So if Russia learns that it can invade Ukraine and seize territory and be allowed to keep it, what’s to keep them from doing it to some other country? What’s to keep some other country from doing it?
You mean the whole world is watching.
Yes. And the other thing the world is watching is the U.S. gave security guarantees to Ukraine in 1994 when they gave up the nuclear weapons they held, as did Europe. The U.S. has, both diplomatically and in terms of arms, supported Ukraine during this war. If the U.S. lets them down, what kind of message does that send about how reliable a partner the U.S. is?
The U.S. has this whole other thing going on the other side of the world where the country is confronting China on various levels. What if the U.S. sends a signal to the Taiwanese, “Hey, you better make the best deal you can with China, because we’re not going to back your play.”
Ukrainian police officers evacuate a resident from a residential building in Bilozerske following an airstrike by Russian invading forces on Aug. 17, 2025. Pierre Crom/Getty Images
At least six European leaders are coming to Washington along with Zelenskyy. What does that tell you?
They’re presenting a united front to Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to say, “Look, we can’t have this. Europe’s composed of a bunch of countries. If we get in the situation where one country invades the other and gets to keep the land they took, we can’t have it.”
President Trump had talked to all of them before the summit, and they probably came away with a strong impression that the U.S. was going for a ceasefire. And then, that didn’t happen.
Instead, Trump took Putin’s position of going straight to peace talks, no ceasefire.
I don’t think they liked it. I think they’re coming in to say to him, “No, we have to go to ceasefire first. Then talks and, PS, taking territory and keeping it is terrible precedent. What’s to keep Russia from just storming into the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – next? The maps of Europe that were drawn 100 years ago have held. If we’re going to let Russia erase a bunch of the borders on the map and incorporate parts, it could really be chaotic.”
Where do you see things going?
Until and unless you hear there’s a ceasefire, nothing’s really happened and the parties are continuing to fight and kill.
What I would look for after the Monday meetings is, does Trump stick to his guns post-Alaska and say, “No, we’re gonna have a big, comprehensive peace agreement, and land for peace is on the table.”
Or does he kind of swing back towards the European point of view and say, “I really think the first thing we got to have is a ceasefire”?
Even critics of Trump need to acknowledge that he’s never been a warmonger. He doesn’t like war. He thinks it’s too chaotic. He can’t control it. No telling what will happen at the other end of war. I think he sincerely wants for the shooting and the killing to stop above all else.
The way you do that is a ceasefire. You have two parties say, “Look, we still hate each other. We still have this really important issue of who controls these territories, but we both agree it’s in our best interest to stop the fighting for 60, 90 days while we work on this.”
If you don’t hear that coming out of the White House into the Monday meetings, this isn’t going anywhere.
There are thousands of Ukrainian children who have been taken by Russia – essentially kidnapped. Does that enter into any of these negotiations?
It should. It was a terror tactic.
This could be a place where you can make progress. If Putin said, well, “We still don’t want to give you any land, but, yeah, these kids here, you can have them back,” it’s the kind of thing you throw on the table to show that you’re not a bad guy and you are kind of serious about these talks.
Whether they’ll do that or not, I don’t know. It’s really a tragic story.
If you’re confused about the aims, conduct and outcome of the summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025, you’re probably not alone.
As summits go, the meeting broke with many conventions of diplomacy: It was last-minute, it appeared to ignore longstanding protocol and accounts of what happened were conflicting in the days after the early termination of the event.
The Conversation U.S.’s politics editor Naomi Schalit interviewed Donald Heflin, a veteran diplomat now teaching at Tufts University’s Fletcher School, to help untangle what happened and what could happen next.
It was a hastily planned summit. Trump said they’d accomplish things that they didn’t seem to accomplish. Where do things stand now?
It didn’t surprise me or any experienced diplomat that there wasn’t a concrete result from the summit.
First, the two parties, Russia and Ukraine, weren’t asking to come to the peace table. Neither one of them is ready yet, apparently. Second, the process was flawed. It wasn’t prepared well enough in advance, at the secretary of state and foreign minister level. It wasn’t prepared at the staff level.
What was a bit of a surprise was the last couple days before the summit, the White House started sending out what I thought were kind of realistic signals. They said, “Hopefully we’ll get a ceasefire and then a second set of talks a few weeks in the future, and that’ll be the real set of talks.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, here embracing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London on Aug. 14, 2025, is one of many European leaders voicing strong support for Ukraine and Zelenskyy. Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images
Now, that’s kind of reasonable. That could have happened. That was not a terrible plan. The problem was it didn’t happen. And we don’t know exactly why it didn’t happen.
Reading between the lines, there were a couple problems. The first is the Russians, again, just weren’t ready to do this, and they said, “No ceasefire. We want to go straight to permanent peace talks.”
Ukraine doesn’t want that, and neither do its European allies. Why?
When you do a ceasefire, what normally happens is you leave the warring parties in possession of whatever land their military holds right now. That’s just part of the deal. You don’t go into a 60- or 90-day ceasefire and say everybody’s got to pull back to where they were four years ago.
But if you go to a permanent peace plan, which Putin wants, you’ve got to decide that people are going to pull back, right? So that’s problem number one.
Problem number two is it’s clear that Putin is insisting on keeping some of the territory that his troops seized in 2014 and 2022. That’s just a non-starter for the Ukrainians.
Is Putin doing that because that really is his bottom line demand, or did he want to blow up these peace talks, and that was a good way to blow them up? It could be either or both.
Russia has made it clear that it wants to keep parts of Ukraine, based on history and ethnic makeup.
The problem is, the world community has made it clear for decades and decades and decades, you don’t get what you want by invading the country next door.
Remember in Gulf War I, when Saddam Hussein invaded and swallowed Kuwait and made it the 19th province of Iraq? The U.S. and Europe went in there and kicked him out. Then there are also examples where the U.S. and Europe have told countries, “Don’t do this. You do this, it’s going to be bad for you.”
So if Russia learns that it can invade Ukraine and seize territory and be allowed to keep it, what’s to keep them from doing it to some other country? What’s to keep some other country from doing it?
You mean the whole world is watching.
Yes. And the other thing the world is watching is the U.S. gave security guarantees to Ukraine in 1994 when they gave up the nuclear weapons they held, as did Europe. The U.S. has, both diplomatically and in terms of arms, supported Ukraine during this war. If the U.S. lets them down, what kind of message does that send about how reliable a partner the U.S. is?
The U.S. has this whole other thing going on the other side of the world where the country is confronting China on various levels. What if the U.S. sends a signal to the Taiwanese, “Hey, you better make the best deal you can with China, because we’re not going to back your play.”
Ukrainian police officers evacuate a resident from a residential building in Bilozerske following an airstrike by Russian invading forces on Aug. 17, 2025. Pierre Crom/Getty Images
At least six European leaders are coming to Washington along with Zelenskyy. What does that tell you?
They’re presenting a united front to Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to say, “Look, we can’t have this. Europe’s composed of a bunch of countries. If we get in the situation where one country invades the other and gets to keep the land they took, we can’t have it.”
President Trump had talked to all of them before the summit, and they probably came away with a strong impression that the U.S. was going for a ceasefire. And then, that didn’t happen.
Instead, Trump took Putin’s position of going straight to peace talks, no ceasefire.
I don’t think they liked it. I think they’re coming in to say to him, “No, we have to go to ceasefire first. Then talks and, PS, taking territory and keeping it is terrible precedent. What’s to keep Russia from just storming into the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – next? The maps of Europe that were drawn 100 years ago have held. If we’re going to let Russia erase a bunch of the borders on the map and incorporate parts, it could really be chaotic.”
Where do you see things going?
Until and unless you hear there’s a ceasefire, nothing’s really happened and the parties are continuing to fight and kill.
What I would look for after the Monday meetings is, does Trump stick to his guns post-Alaska and say, “No, we’re gonna have a big, comprehensive peace agreement, and land for peace is on the table.”
Or does he kind of swing back towards the European point of view and say, “I really think the first thing we got to have is a ceasefire”?
Even critics of Trump need to acknowledge that he’s never been a warmonger. He doesn’t like war. He thinks it’s too chaotic. He can’t control it. No telling what will happen at the other end of war. I think he sincerely wants for the shooting and the killing to stop above all else.
The way you do that is a ceasefire. You have two parties say, “Look, we still hate each other. We still have this really important issue of who controls these territories, but we both agree it’s in our best interest to stop the fighting for 60, 90 days while we work on this.”
If you don’t hear that coming out of the White House into the Monday meetings, this isn’t going anywhere.
There are thousands of Ukrainian children who have been taken by Russia – essentially kidnapped. Does that enter into any of these negotiations?
It should. It was a terror tactic.
This could be a place where you can make progress. If Putin said, well, “We still don’t want to give you any land, but, yeah, these kids here, you can have them back,” it’s the kind of thing you throw on the table to show that you’re not a bad guy and you are kind of serious about these talks.
Whether they’ll do that or not, I don’t know. It’s really a tragic story.
Large demonstration in Elk Grove against Gaza massacres – Daily Times
Published on: August 18, 2025 4:01 AM
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