����ֱ��

ANCHORAGE, Alaska: US President Donald Trump said that nearly three hours of direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday did not yield an agreement to pause Moscow’s war in Ukraine, though he characterized the meeting as “very productive.”
During brief remarks to reporters, the two leaders said they had made progress on unspecified issues, but they offered no details and took no questions.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on. I would say a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite got there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump said, standing in front of a backdrop that read, “Pursuing Peace.”
“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” he added.
It was not immediately clear whether the talks had produced meaningful steps toward a ceasefire in the deadliest conflict in Europe in 80 years, a goal that Trump had set at the outset.
In brief remarks, Putin said he expected Ukraine and its European allies to accept the results of the US-Russia negotiation constructively and not try to “disrupt the emerging progress.”
“I expect that today’s agreements will become a reference point, not only for solving the Ukrainian problem, but will also launch the restoration of business-like, pragmatic relations between Russia and the United States,” Putin said.
There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv.

The anticlimactic end to the closely watched summit was in stark contrast to the pomp and circumstance with which it began. When Putin arrived at an Air Force base in Alaska, a red carpet awaited him, where Trump greeted Putin warmly as US military aircraft flew overhead.
For Putin, the summit — the first between him and a US president since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — was already a big win, regardless of its outcome. He can portray the meeting as evidence that years of Western attempts to isolate Russia have unraveled and that Moscow is retaking its rightful place at the high table of international diplomacy.
Trump hopes a truce in the 3-1/2-year-old war that Putin started will bring peace to the region as well as bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court, accused of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia denies the allegations, and the Kremlin has dismissed the ICC warrant as null and void. Russia and the United States are not members of the court.
Both Moscow and Kyiv deny targeting civilians in the war. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority Ukrainian, and the war has killed or injured well over a million people from both sides.

No ceasefire
Trump and Putin, along with top foreign-policy aides, conferred in a room at an Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska in their first meeting since 2019.
Trump’s publicly stated aim for the talks was to secure a halt to the fighting and a commitment by Putin to meet swiftly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate an end to the war, which began when Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022.
Zelensky, who was not invited to the summit, and his European allies had feared Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict and recognizing — if only informally — Russian control over one-fifth of Ukraine.
Trump sought to assuage such concerns as he boarded Air Force One, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial concessions.
“I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I’m here to get them at a table,” he said.
Asked what would make the meeting a success, he told reporters: “I want to see a ceasefire rapidly ... I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today ... I want the killing to stop.”
Zelensky has ruled out formally handing Moscow any territory and is also seeking a security guarantee backed by the United States.
Trump said he would call Zelensky and NATO leaders to update them on the talks with Putin.
The meeting also included US Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Trump’s special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff; Russian foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov; and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Trump, who once said he would end Russia’s war in Ukraine within 24 hours, conceded on Thursday it had proven a tougher task than he had expected. He said if Friday’s talks went well, quickly arranging a second, three-way summit with Zelensky would be more important than his encounter with Putin.
Zelensky said Friday’s summit should open the way for a “just peace” and three-way talks that included him, but added that Russia was continuing to wage war. A Russian ballistic missile earlier struck Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, killing one person and wounding another.
“It’s time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
 

LONDON: Britain’s human rights watchdog has urged ministers and police chiefs to avoid “heavy-handed” tactics when policing demonstrations over the war in Gaza, saying that such actions risk creating a “chilling effect” on the right to protest, .

In a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, the Equality and Human Rights Commission chairwoman Baroness Kishwer Falkner said the “right to protest is a cornerstone of any healthy democracy” and any interference “must be lawful and assessed case by case.”

Her intervention follows reports of individuals facing police action at recent demonstrations despite not expressing support for any banned organizations.

The EHRC cited the case of Laura Murton, who in July was threatened with arrest under the Terrorism Act by Kent Police in July for holding a Palestinian flag and signs reading “Free Gaza” and “Israel is committing genocide” during a demonstration in Canterbury.

Murton told officers she did not support any proscribed groups but was reportedly warned that her actions were linked to Palestine Action — which in July was banned by the government.

Membership of or support for the group is a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act, carrying a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

“Heavy-handed policing or blanket approaches risk creating a chilling effect, deterring citizens from exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly through fear of possible consequences,” .

“This concern extends beyond those directly affected by police engagement to the broader health of our democracy, because the perception that peaceful protest may attract disproportionate police attention undermines confidence in our human rights protections,” she added.

She called on the UK government and police to ensure “all officers receive clear and consistent guidance on their human rights obligations” so that “the appropriate balance is maintained between public safety and the protection of essential human rights.”

In a separate statement, she said that the right to peaceful protest was fundamental to British democracy and must be protected even when dealing with complex and sensitive issues.

“We recognize the genuine challenges the police face in maintaining public safety, but we are concerned that some recent responses may not strike the right balance between security and fundamental rights,” she said.

“Our role as the national human rights institution is to uphold the laws that safeguard everyone’s right to fairness, dignity and respect. When we see reports of people being questioned or prevented from peaceful protests that don’t support proscribed organisations, we have a duty to speak out,” she added.

Last weekend, more than 500 people were arrested in London, most on suspicion of displaying items deemed supportive of Palestine Action. Police figures indicate that half of those detained were aged 60 or older.

Downing Street has described Palestine Action as “a violent organisation that has committed violence, significant injury, extensive criminal damage,” citing evidence and security assessments presented in closed court. The group has rejected the claims as “false and defamatory,” saying they were contradicted by the government’s own intelligence.

Meanwhile, campaigners including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Quakers in Britain have urged Attorney General Richard Hermer to delay prosecution decisions for those arrested until after a High Court challenge to Palestine Action’s proscription, set for November.

They argued that moving ahead before the court’s ruling “raises significant legal and moral questions” and that delaying action “would demonstrate restraint, fairness and respect for the ongoing legal process.”

Murton’s lawyers have also issued a letter of claim to Kent Police over her case, which they said was intended to remind forces across the country of their obligations to protect peaceful protest.