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Bleak future for Rohingya, as Bangladesh seeks to tackle crisis

Bleak future for Rohingya, as Bangladesh seeks to tackle crisis
A photo dated 2017 shows a Rohingya Muslim refugee child cries as he stands near the Thyangkhali refugee camp at Cox's Bazar. (AFP)
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Bleak future for Rohingya, as Bangladesh seeks to tackle crisis

Bleak future for Rohingya, as Bangladesh seeks to tackle crisis
  • Bangladesh on Monday is holding talks aimed at addressing the plight of Rohingya refugees, even as fresh arrivals cross over from war torn Myanmar and shrinking aid flows deepen the crisis

DHAKA: The rain was relentless the night Mohammad Kaisar fled for his life from his home in Myanmar’s Maungdaw township.
Barefoot and exhausted, he trudged with his parents and four siblings on mud paths until they reached the Naf River.
On a flimsy boat, they crossed into Bangladesh, joining around a million of the largely Muslim Rohingya minority, fleeing a military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
That was in 2017. Eight years later, rain still lashes down on his simple shelter in the sprawling refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar.
But for the 28-year-old refugee, nothing has washed away his despair.
“War is raging. Hundreds are waiting at the border to enter Bangladesh. Every day, a new family from Rakhine takes refuge,” Kaisar told AFP by telephone, speaking outside his cramped hut in Balukhali camp.
“How is it possible to return home? We were destined to stay in this crowded camp, sandwiched between small huts.”

Bangladesh on Monday is holding talks aimed at addressing the plight of Rohingya refugees, even as fresh arrivals cross over from war-torn Myanmar and shrinking aid flows deepen the crisis.
The meetings in Cox’s Bazar are taking place ahead of a UN conference in New York on September 30.
Both Bangladesh and the UN want to provide stable conditions in Myanmar for the Rohingya to eventually return.
That seems unlikely any time soon.
“I consistently hear from Rohingya refugees that they want to return to their homes in Myanmar, but only when it is safe to do so,” Nicholas Koumjian, who heads the UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, warned ahead of the meeting.
“Ending the violence and atrocities against civilians from all communities in Rakhine is critical for the eventual safe, dignified, voluntary and sustainable return of those that have been displaced.”
But Kaisar’s old homeland of Rakhine is the site of intense fighting in Myanmar’s civil war, triggered by the 2021 coup that ousted the democratic government.
Bangladesh has recorded a surge of refugees from Myanmar since early 2024, with 150,000 more Rohingya arriving.
For Kaisar, life in Myanmar was a spacious home, running a small grocery shop.
Today, in the grim camps, it’s a battle for survival.
Safety is fragile. Factional clashes have shaken the camp in recent months.
“We had two armed groups fighting only a few months ago. It was like a hostage situation,” he said.
“Violence is common; children are the most vulnerable.”

In Rahkine, restricted access due to fighting has been compounded by worldwide aid cutbacks spearheaded by US President Donald Trump’s freeze on humanitarian funding.
The World Food Programme — which received nearly half its 2024 donations from the United States — warned this month that 57 percent of families in central Rakhine are now unable to meet basic food needs.
In the camps, food too is a constant worry.
Each refugee receives a ration card worth about $12 a month. Kaisar listed what that buys: 13 kilogrammes of rice, a liter of oil, a handful of onions and garlic, and a packet of salt.
“It fills our stomachs, but there is no nutrition,” he said.
“I have a three-year-old son. He needs milk, eggs, lentils, but we cannot afford them. Nutrition centers in the camps provide support to children under two. After that, we are left to struggle.”

Education is the next looming hurdle, and Kaisar fears for his young son.
“Will he be able to study and get a job? Or will he spend his whole life as a refugee like me?” Kaisar asked.
He recalled how ordinary villagers in Bangladesh once handed him dry clothes and food after his escape. But beyond that generosity, the future looks bleak.
The violence that uprooted him still rages across the border, and Rohingya militants working with the Myanmar junta have tried to recruit refugees, according to camp residents, UN reports and analysts.
“We civilians have been continuously betrayed,” Kaisar said bitterly. “Every side has used us as pawns.”
For now, the father’s appeal is simple: that Dhaka eases restrictions on education, to allow Rohingya children to attend regular Bangladeshi schools.
“At least allow our children to attend school,” he said. “If they can stand on their own, maybe their future won’t be as hopeless as ours.”


Amid tensions with Pakistan, China’s new mega dam triggers fears of water war in India

Amid tensions with Pakistan, China’s new mega dam triggers fears of water war in India
Updated 17 sec ago

Amid tensions with Pakistan, China’s new mega dam triggers fears of water war in India

Amid tensions with Pakistan, China’s new mega dam triggers fears of water war in India
  • India fears Chinese dam will reduce flow on major river by up to 85 percent in dry season
  • Delhi says mega dam of its own will mitigate risks, but faces heavy local resistance

PARONG, India: India fears a planned Chinese mega dam in Tibet will reduce water flows on a major river by up to 85 percent during the dry season, according to four sources familiar with the matter and a government analysis seen by Reuters, prompting Delhi to fast-track plans for its own dam to mitigate the effects.

The Indian government has been considering projects since the early 2000s to control the flow of water from Tibet’s Angsi Glacier, which sustains more than 100 million people downstream in China, India and Bangladesh. But the plans have been hindered by fierce and occasionally violent resistance from residents of the border state of Arunachal Pradesh, who fear their villages will be submerged and way of life destroyed by any dam.

Then in December, China announced that it would build the world’s largest hydropower dam in a border county just before the Yarlung Zangbo river crosses into India. That triggered fears in New Delhi that its longtime strategic rival — which has some territorial claims in Arunachal Pradesh — could weaponize its control of the river, which originates in the Angsi Glacier and is known as the Siang and Brahmaputra in India.

India’s largest hydropower company in May moved survey materials under armed police protection near a prospective site of the Upper Siang Multipurpose Storage Dam, which would be the country’s biggest dam, if completed. Senior Indian officials have also been holding meetings about accelerating construction this year, including one organized in July by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office, according to two of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive government matters.

Delhi’s concerns were described in the undated Indian government analysis of the Chinese dam’s impact, the specifics of which Reuters corroborated with four sources and is reporting for the first time.

Beijing hasn’t released detailed plans about the dam’s construction, but the analysis drew on past work conducted by Indian government-affiliated institutions like the Central Water Commission and accounted for the expected size of the Chinese project, which broke ground in July and will cost nearly $170 billion.

Delhi estimates the Chinese dam will allow Beijing to divert as much as 40 billion cubic meters of water, or just over a third of what is received annually at a key border point, according to the sources and the document. The impact would be especially acute in the non-monsoon months, when temperatures rise and lands become barren across swathes of India. The Upper Siang project would alleviate that with its projected 14 BCM of storage capacity, allowing India to release water during the dry season. 

That could mean the major regional city of Guwahati, which is dependent on water-intensive industry and farming, would see a reduction in supply of 11 percent, according to the sources and the document, as opposed to 25 percent if the Indian dam isn’t built.

The project could also mitigate any move by Beijing to release devastating torrents of water downstream, the sources said. If the dam is at its minimum drawdown level — where water is stored at less than 50 percent of its height — it would be able to fully absorb any excess water released from a breach in Chinese infrastructure, according to the document and the sources. India is considering a proposal to keep 30 percent of its dam empty at any time in order to account for unexpected surges, two of the sources said.

A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said in response to Reuters’ questions that the hydropower projects “have undergone rigorous scientific research on safety and environmental protection, and will not adversely impact the water resources, ecology, or geology of downstream countries.”

“China has always maintained a responsible attitude toward the development and utilization of transboundary rivers, and has maintained long-term communication and cooperation with downstream countries such as India and Bangladesh,” the spokesperson added.

Modi’s office and the Indian ministries responsible for water and external affairs did not respond to Reuters’ questions. State-owned hydropower major NHPC also did not return a request for comment.

India’s foreign ministry has said that top diplomat S. Jaishankar raised concerns about the dam during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart on Aug. 18. A Jaishankar deputy also told lawmakers in August that the government was implementing measures to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of citizens in downstream areas, including building the dam.

India has itself been accused by Pakistan, a Chinese ally that it briefly clashed with in May, of weaponizing water. Delhi this year suspended its participation in a 1960 water-sharing treaty with Islamabad and is considering diverting flows from another crucial river away from its downstream neighbor.

An international tribunal has ruled that India must adhere to the agreement but Delhi says the panel lacks jurisdiction.

DEVELOPMENT OR DESTRUCTION?

When NHPC workers moved surveying materials near the village of Parong in May, angry locals damaged their machinery, destroyed a nearby bridge and looted the tents of police sent to guard the operation.

Many of them are members of Arunachal’s Adi community, who live off paddy, orange and sweet lime farms in the mist-shrouded hills and valleys nourished by the Siang.

The villagers have set up makeshift watch posts on regional roads to deny access to NHPC workers. That has forced security personnel to trek miles, often under cover of night, to reach a prospective site of the dam.

At least 16 Adi villages are likely to be lost to the storage area of the dam, directly affecting an estimated 10,000 people, according to two of the sources. Community leaders say more than 100,000 people will be impacted overall.

“The cardamom, paddy, jackfruit and pear we grow on this land help educate our children and support our family,” said Odoni Palo Pabin, an Adi grocer and mother of two. “We will fight the dam to death.”

The dam has the support of Arunachal’s chief minister, who is a member of Modi’s party and has called the Chinese project an existential threat. The project will “ensure water security and provide flood moderation to counter any potential water surges,” the state government said in a statement, adding that it decided in June to engage in detailed compensation discussions with families that could be affected by the dam.

Lawmaker Alo Libang, an Adi who represents an area that would be submerged by the Indian project, said he believed locals could be convinced to move if they received generous compensation.

NHPC has plans to spend more than $3 million on education and emergency infrastructure to incentivize the villagers to move elsewhere, three of the sources said, citing instructions from Modi’s office.

In one sign of progress, three villages in the area recently agreed to let NHPC officials carry out dam-related work, according to the Arunachal government and dozens of locals.

India has a history of activist movements against large dams, which have sometimes slowed these projects by years or forced them to scale down.

Even if the Upper Siang dam gets the go-ahead, it could take a decade to build after breaking ground, according to four of the sources. That means the project would likely be completed after China’s project, which Beijing expects to start generating power by the early-to-mid 2030s.

The delay means an Indian project would be vulnerable during construction if Beijing suddenly releases water during the monsoon season, triggering a surge that could wash away temporary dams, two of the sources said.

International experts and Adi activists have also warned that building large dams in seismically active Tibet and Arunachal could heighten risks for downstream communities.

The Chinese “dam is being built in a zone of high seismicity and in a zone that experiences extreme weather events,” said Sayanangshu Modak, an expert on the India-China water relationship at the University of Arizona.

“These kinds of extreme weather events trigger landslides, mudslides, glacial lake outburst flooding,” he said. “So that raises concerns about dam safety... it’s a very legitimate concern and India should engage with China.”


National Guard units in US capital begin carrying firearms as Trump targets more cities

National Guard units in US capital begin carrying firearms as Trump targets more cities
Updated 25 August 2025

National Guard units in US capital begin carrying firearms as Trump targets more cities

National Guard units in US capital begin carrying firearms as Trump targets more cities
  • Trump has repeatedly described some of the nation’s largest cities — run by Democrats, with Black mayors and majority-minority populations — as dangerous and filthy
  • Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is Black, as is Moore. The District of Columbia and New York also have Black mayors

WASHINGTON: Some National Guard units patrolling the nation’s capital at the direction of President Donald Trump have started carrying firearms, an escalation of his military deployment that makes good on a directive issued late last week by his defense secretary.
A Defense Department official who was not authorized to speak publicly said some units on certain missions would be armed — some with handguns and others with rifles. The spokesperson said that all units with firearms have been trained and are operating under strict rules for use of force.
An Associated Press photographer on Sunday saw members of the South Carolina National Guard outside Union Station with holstered handguns.
A statement from the joint task force that has taken over policing in the nation’s capital said units began carrying their service weapons on Sunday and that the military’s rules say force should be used “only as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.” It said the force is committed to protecting “the safety and wellbeing” of Washington’s residents.
The development in Trump’s extraordinary effort to override the law enforcement authority of state and local governments comes as he is considering expanding the deployments to other Democratic-led cities, including Baltimore, Chicago and New York.
Earlier Sunday, the president threatened to expand his military deployments to more Democratic-led cities, responding to an offer by Maryland’s governor to join him in a tour of Baltimore by saying he might instead “send in the ‘troops.’” He earlier said he was considering deploying troops to Chicago and New York.

Members of the West Virginia National Guard patrol the National Mall on Aug. 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

Thousands of National Guard and federal law enforcement officers are now patrolling the district’s streets, drawing sporadic protests from local residents.
Trump made the threat to Baltimore in a spat with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has criticized Trump’s unprecedented flex of federal power aimed at combatting crime and homelessness in Washington. Moore last week invited Trump to visit his state to discuss public safety and walk the streets.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said Moore asked “in a rather nasty and provocative tone,” and then raised the specter of repeating the National Guard deployment he made in Los Angeles over the objections of California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom.
“Wes Moore’s record on Crime is a very bad one, unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other ‘Blue States’ are doing,” Trump wrote, as he cited a pejorative nickname he uses frequently for the California governor. “But if Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in L.A., I will send in the ‘troops,’ which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime.”
Moore said he invited Trump to Maryland “because he seems to enjoy living in this blissful ignorance” about improving crime rates in Baltimore. After a spike during the pandemic that matched nationwide trends, Baltimore’s violent crime rate has fallen. The 200 homicides reported last year were down 24 percent from the prior year and 42 percent since 2021, according to city data. Between 2023 and 2024, overall violent crime was down nearly 8 percent and property crimes down 20 percent.
“The president is spending all of his time talking about me,” Moore said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “I’m spending my time talking about the people I serve.”
Trump is “spouting off a bunch of lies about public safety in Maryland,” Moore said in a fundraising email.
In Washington, where Trump is surging National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers, a patchwork of protests popped up throughout the city over the weekend, while some normally bustling corners were noticeably quiet. In some of the most populated areas, residents walked by small groups of national guardsmen, often talking among themselves. Videos of arrests and detainments circulated on social media.
Trump has said Chicago and New York are most likely his next targets, eliciting strong pushback from Democratic leaders in both states. The Washington Post reported Saturday that the Pentagon has spent weeks preparing for an operation in Chicago that would include National Guard troops and potentially active-duty forces.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, police SUV patrols the National Mall, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Asked about the Post report, the White House pointed to Trump’s earlier comments discussing his desire to expand his use of military forces to target local crime.
“I think Chicago will be our next,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday, adding, “And then we’ll help with New York.”
Trump has repeatedly described some of the nation’s largest cities — run by Democrats, with Black mayors and majority-minority populations — as dangerous and filthy. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is Black, as is Moore. The District of Columbia and New York also have Black mayors.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, speaking during a religious event Sunday at Howard University in Washington, said the Guard’s presence in the nation’s capital was not about crime: “This is about profiling us.”
“This is laced with bigotry and racism,” he later elaborated to reporters. “Not one white mayor has been designated. And I think this is a civil rights issue, a race issue, and an issue of D.C. statehood.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said there is no emergency warranting the deployment of National Guard troops in Chicago.
“Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he’s causing families,” Pritzker wrote on X. “We’ll continue to follow the law, stand up for the sovereignty of our state, and protect Illinoisans.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said the city doesn’t need “a military occupation” and would sue to block one. He said there has been no communication from the White House about a possible military deployment.
“We’re not going to surrender our humanity to this tyrant,” Johnson said Sunday on MSNBC. “I can tell you this, the city of Chicago has a long history of standing up against tyranny, resisting those who wish to undermine the interests of working people.”

 


France summons US Ambassador Kushner over ‘unacceptable’ letter about rising antisemitism

France summons US Ambassador Kushner over ‘unacceptable’ letter about rising antisemitism
Updated 25 August 2025

France summons US Ambassador Kushner over ‘unacceptable’ letter about rising antisemitism

France summons US Ambassador Kushner over ‘unacceptable’ letter about rising antisemitism
  • Macron’s Elysee office was quick to hit back at Netanyahu, calling the Israeli leader’s allegation “abject” and “erroneous”

WASHINGTON: France has summoned the American ambassador to Paris after the diplomat, Charles Kushner, wrote a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron alleging the country did not do enough to combat antisemitism.
France’s foreign ministry issued a statement Sunday announcing it had summoned Kushner to appear Monday at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and that his allegations “are unacceptable.”
The White House and US State Department did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. The summoning of the ambassador is a formal and public notice of displeasure.
Kushner, a real-estate developer, is the father of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The French foreign ministry, in its statement, said “France firmly rejects these allegations” from Kushner and that French authorities have “fully mobilized” to combat a rise in antisemitic acts since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel, deeming the acts “intolerable.”
The contents of the letter were not released.
Kushner’s allegations violate international law and the obligation not to interfere with the internal affairs of another country, the French ministry said, and, “They also fall short of the quality of the transatlantic partnership between France and the United States and of the trust that must prevail between allies.”
The dustup follows Macron’s rejection this past week of accusations from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that France’s intention to recognize a Palestinian state is fueling antisemitism.
France is home to the largest Jewish population in Western Europe, with an estimated 500,000 Jews. That’s approximately 1 percent of the national population.
The diplomatic discord comes as French-US relations have faced tensions this year amid Trump’s trade war and a split over the future of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon. France in particular has objected to the US push to wind down the peacekeeping operation known as UNIFIL, with a vote on the issue set for the end of the month by the UN Security Council.
France and the US have also been divided on support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, but the split has eased with Trump expressing support for security guarantees and a warm meeting with Macron and other European leaders at the White House last week.
Trump at the end of his first term as president pardoned Charles Kushner, who pleaded guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations.
His son Jared is a former White House senior adviser to Trump who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka.


Zelensky calls for talks with Putin as peace efforts stall

Zelensky calls for talks with Putin as peace efforts stall
Updated 24 August 2025

Zelensky calls for talks with Putin as peace efforts stall

Zelensky calls for talks with Putin as peace efforts stall
  • Ukrainian troops had recaptured three villages in its Donetsk region that had fallen under Russian control, says general
  • And on its independence day, Ukraine launched drone strikes on Russia, triggering a fire at a nuclear power plant

KYIV: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted Sunday that a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin remained “the most effective way forward” as the two sides exchange prisoners and the country celebrated Independence Day.
Kyiv’s military chief said that Ukrainian troops had recaptured three villages in its Donetsk region that had fallen under Russian control. And Ukraine launched drone strikes on Russia, triggering a fire at a nuclear power plant.
After a push by US President Donald Trump to broker a Ukraine-Russia summit, hopes for peace dimmed when Russia on Friday ruled out any immediate Putin-Zelensky meeting.
But Zelensky said Sunday that the “format of talks between leaders is the most effective way forward,” renewing calls for a bilateral summit with Putin.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier accused Western countries of seeking “a pretext to block negotiations” and condemned Zelensky for “demanding an immediate meeting at all costs.”
Zelensky, speaking at a ceremony attended by Western officials including US envoy Keith Kellogg — whom he awarded with the Ukrainian Order of Merit — vowed to “to push Russia to peace.”
Also Sunday, Ukraine and Russia said they had each sent back 146 prisoners of war and civilians in the latest of a series of swaps that remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the rivals.
Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomed the release of two Ukrainian journalists, Dmytro Khyliuk and Mark Kaliush, denouncing “their abductions and the abuse they suffered in detention.”

3 villages recaptured

With the war having already claimed tens of thousands of lives, Russia has recently claimed new advances, including taking two villages in the eastern Donetsk region Saturday.
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky, said Sunday that three other villages had been reclaimed in Donetsk, which has emerged as the focal point for peace talks.
The drone attacks in Russia on Ukraine’s Independence Day included one shot down over the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in western Russia.
The plant said a fire sparked by the drone had been extinguished and there were no casualties or increased radiation levels.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned of the risks from fighting around nuclear plants following Russia’s full-scale invasion launched in February 2022.
Russian authorities said Ukrainian drones had also been shot down over areas far from the front, including Saint Petersburg in the northwest.
Ten drones were shot down over the port of Ust-Luga on the Gulf of Finland, sparking a fire at a fuel terminal owned by Russian energy group Novatek, local authorities said.
Ukraine’s outgunned army has used drones to target Russia’s oil infrastructure, a key source of Moscow’s revenues to fund the war. Russia has seen soaring fuel prices since the attacks began.
Ukraine said Russia had attacked with a ballistic missile and 72 Iranian-made Shahed attack drones, 48 of which the air force said had been shot down. A Russian drone strike killed a 47-year-old woman in the eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, the governor said.

Ukraine marks Independence Day
Speaking at the ceremony to mark the anniversary of Ukraine’s 1991 independence after the break-up of the Soviet Union, Zelensky said: “Today, both the US and Europe agree: Ukraine has not yet fully won, but it will certainly not lose.
“Ukraine has secured its independence. Ukraine is not a victim; it is a fighter.”
The presence of foreign troops in Ukraine once the war ended would be “important,” he said. Kyiv is still working on security guarantees with its allies.
Russia has repeatedly objected to Western troops being stationed in Ukraine.
But Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, visiting Kyiv on Sunday, said it was not “the choice of Russia how the future sovereignty, independence, liberty of Ukraine is guaranteed.”
Zelensky thanked other world leaders including Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s King Charles and Pope Leo for sending messages to mark the occasion.
Norway announced it would contribute seven billion kroner ($700 million) as part of its joint pledge with Germany to provide Ukraine with two complete US Patriot systems that Germany already possesses.
The systems are in Germany and will be delivered to Ukraine “as soon as possible,” the Norwegian government said.
Russia now controls around a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.
Putin has repeatedly rebuffed calls from Ukraine and the West for an immediate ceasefire.
The fighting has forced millions of people to flee their homes and destroyed cities and villages across eastern and southern Ukraine.
 


US VP Vance says Russia has made significant concessions toward Ukraine peace deal

Vice President JD Vance listens as President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025.
Vice President JD Vance listens as President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025.
Updated 24 August 2025

US VP Vance says Russia has made significant concessions toward Ukraine peace deal

Vice President JD Vance listens as President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025.
  • “I think the Russians have made significant concessions to President Trump for the first time in three and a half years of this conflict,” Vance said

WASHINGTON: US Vice President JD Vance said Russia has made “significant concessions” toward a negotiated settlement in its war with Ukraine and was confident progress was being made despite the lack of clear signs the conflict is nearing an end.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,” Vance said Russian President Vladimir Putin has made several concessions, including that Ukraine will receive security guarantees protecting against future Russian aggression.
“I think the Russians have made significant concessions to President Trump for the first time in three and a half years of this conflict,” Vance said in comments aired on Sunday.
“They’ve recognized that they’re not going to be able to install a puppet regime in Kyiv. That was, of course, a major demand at the beginning. And importantly, they’ve acknowledged that there is going to be some security guarantee to the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, started a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people. In return for ending Russia’s attacks, Putin is demanding that Ukraine give up all of the eastern Donbas region, renounce ambitions to join NATO, remain neutral and keep Western troops out of the country, sources told Reuters last week.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that a group of nations including United Nations Security Council members should be the guarantors of Ukraine’s security.
On Friday President Donald Trump renewed a threat to impose sanctions on Russia if there was no progress toward a peaceful settlement in Ukraine in two weeks, showing frustration at Moscow a week after his meeting with Putin in Alaska.
Vance said sanctions would be considered on a case-by-case basis, acknowledging that new penalties were unlikely to prompt Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine.
Vance pointed to Trump’s announcement this month of an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian goods as a punishment for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil as the kind of economic leverage that would be used in pursuit of peace.
“He’s tried to make it clear that Russia can be re-invited into the world economy if they stop the killing, but they’re going to continue to be isolated if they don’t stop the killing,” Vance said.