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Europe must up pressure on Russia, ministers say after Moscow talks

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Europe must up pressure on Russia, ministers say after Moscow talks

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European ministers called on Wednesday for increased pressure on Moscow following US-Russia talks in which Vladimir Putin appeared to have made no concession to end the conflict in Ukraine.

“Until I see anything different, then I’m going to continue to draw the conclusion that Russia does not want peace,” Sweden’s Maria Malmer Stenegard told reporters upon arriving at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

“That is why we need to stick to the two-point plan – increase the support to Ukraine and increase the pressure on Russia – and we need to hit them where it hurts most, and that is the oil and gas revenues,” she added.

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The NATO ministerial summit, which United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio is skipping, comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner for talks on ending the war in Ukraine.

The latest round of talks came after the leak of a new peace plan proposal hammered out between Washington and Moscow that shocked Ukrainians and Europeans alike with its heavily pro-Russian tilt.

This set off a new flurry of diplomatic contacts across Europe, with Ukrainian negotiators also meeting with Witkoff to refine the plan before the Moscow meet-up.

Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Wednesday said they had not yet been debriefed after the talks, which the Kremlin described as “constructive”, but they took the view that Putin appeared to have stuck to his usual delaying tactic.

US and Russian representatives have held several rounds of negotiations since Trump reopened channels of communication with Putin in February, with the two men meeting over the summer in Alaska. A second such summit was canned by Washington after Russia stuck to its maximalist demands.

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“We see that the United States are engaged in the process, they put the diplomatic efforts to achieve a long-lasting peace,” Lithuania’s Kęstutis Budrys told reporters upon arriving at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

“What hasn’t changed during this half a year is Russia’s position,” he said. “They’re absolutely not interested in either ceasefire or peace agreement, and they continue to do what they are doing. So for us this is the reason to prepare the finances (for Ukraine) for the next year.”

Finland’s Elina Valtonen echoed the analysis, telling reporters that “so far we haven’t seen any concessions from the side of the aggressor, which is Russia”.

The Estonian minister, Margus Tsahkna, agreed: “From our perspective, what we see is that Putin has not changed any goals (…) that’s why the way to put more restrictions on Ukraine is the wrong way. Actually we must put more pressure on Russia,” he said.

“This is exactly what we are going to discuss today: what can we do more?”

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All three countries back using some of the nearly €200 billion in frozen Russian Central Bank assets to create a so-called “reparations loan” to provide financing to Ukraine for the next two years.

The proposal, made at the EU level, is being blocked by Belgium, where the bulk of the assets are currently held.

For Estonia’s Tsahkna, the scheme is the “leverage” Europe has to “actually putting itself around the table to negotiate what kind of deal will be in the future”.

“Putin cannot decide over us. And as well, (the) US cannot make decisions instead of us,” he said.

But Maxime Prévot, Belgium’s foreign minister, doubled down on his country’s opposition to the reparations loan, describing it “as the worst” option on the table that “entails consequential economic, financial and legal risks”.

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“We are not seeking to antagonise our partners or Ukraine; we are simply seeking to avoid potentially disastrous consequences for a Member State that is being asked to show solidarity without being offered the same solidarity in return,” he added.

The European Commission is expected to release later on Wednesday its legal proposal on the options it has previously identified to finance Ukraine’s needs, including the reparations loan.

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Iran closes Strait of Hormuz over ceasefire violations

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Iran closes Strait of Hormuz over ceasefire violations
Iran’s top joint military command, ​Khatam al-Anbiya Central ‌Headquarters, said on Saturday that the Strait ​of Hormuz would ​be closed to vessel ⁠traffic, citing ​alleged violations of a ​ceasefire agreement by the U.S. and Israel, Iran’s ​Mehr state ​news agency reported.
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Keir Starmer reportedly considering stepping down as PM and could announce timetable for departure

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Keir Starmer reportedly considering stepping down as PM and could announce timetable for departure

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reportedly considering stepping down and could announce a timetable for his departure as early as Monday, according to a report published Saturday.

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Britain’s Observer newspaper reported that Starmer was discussing his future with his wife at his Chequers country residence before making a final decision.

The outlet reported that senior Labour Party figures expect a statement addressing his future as early as next week.

A government source told Reuters that Starmer remains focused on governing and pointed to previous comments in which he vowed to remain in office.

AS EPSTEIN-LINKED APPOINTMENT SPARKS BACKLASH, UK PM STARMER FACES PARTY REVOLT AMID RESIGNATION CALLS

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer awaits Switzerland’s Federal President Guy Parmelin on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Evian-les-Bains, France, Tuesday. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Reuters via AP)

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the prime minister’s office for comment.

Pressure on Starmer has been building for months amid growing dissatisfaction within his party and concerns over the government’s handling of the economy and cost-of-living issues.

The political threat to Starmer intensified Friday after rival Andy Burnham won a seat in Parliament, positioning him to mount a formal leadership challenge.

LABOUR MP PUTS CABINET ‘ON NOTICE,’ THREATENS TO TRIGGER LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE AGAINST STARMER BY MONDAY

Britain’s Labour party candidate Andy Burnham speaks to supporters after the Makerfield by-election in Ashton in Makerfield, England, Friday. (Jon Super/AP)

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Starmer congratulated Burnham following the victory, writing on X that voters, “chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate.”

When asked about Burnham’s apparent ambitions to replace him, Starmer insisted he intends to remain in office.

“I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that,” Starmer said.

UK’S STARMER JUGGLES TROUBLE AT HOME AS HE WALKS GEOPOLITICAL TIGHTROPE WITH TRUMP

Sir Keir Starmer is battling to save his position and refusing to stand aside despite dozens of Labout MP’s demanding he resigns. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

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Starmer has led the Labour Party since 2020 and became prime minister in 2024.

Calls for his resignation intensified last month, with more than 100 Labour lawmakers publicly urging him to step aside or set out a timetable for his departure. Several parliamentary aides also resigned in protest.

The internal revolt followed a series of disappointing local election results for Labour, which lost hundreds of council seats across England, surrendered long-held ground in Wales and fell behind political rivals in Scotland.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks a news conference at Downing Street in London, March 5. (Tolga Akmen/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)

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Starmer’s popularity has also declined amid a persistently high cost of living, sluggish economic growth and criticism over his acceptance of gifts from wealthy donors.

Fox News Digital’s James Cirrone and Emma Bussey, and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Trump vows Iran will not charge Strait of Hormuz tolls, but says US might

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Trump vows Iran will not charge Strait of Hormuz tolls, but says US might

United States President Donald Trump has pledged there will be no tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, unless they are collected by his own country.

Trump’s statement, made in a Saturday afternoon post on Truth Social, is the latest sign that a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) may be unravelling.

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“There will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired,” Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America.”

Since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, Iran has successfully used the Strait of Hormuz as a pressure point, closing the strategic waterway to traffic.

But under the terms of Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum, the strait is supposed to reopen for an interim period of 60 days. During that time, Iran is barred from charging vessels for passage.

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On Saturday, however, Iran’s joint military command said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing a “clear breach” of the memorandum’s commitments.

US Central Command (CENTCOM), the agency that oversees military operations in the region, denied that report and maintained that the traffic continues to flow through the waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz has long been a flashpoint in the conflict between the US and Iran. Nearly 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas is transported through the strait, as well as about 30 percent of the global fertiliser trade.

Closure of the strait has caused global fuel costs to soar and has tested agricultural sectors across the world.

Trump had responded to Iran’s chokehold over the strait by imposing a US naval blockade on Iran’s ports in the region.

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But that naval blockade was lifted under the terms of Wednesday’s memorandum. The deal also paused fighting on all fronts in the regional conflict, including in Lebanon.

The memorandum, though, was not intended as a long-term deal. It serves as a launching point for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Several points of divergence also went unaddressed in the memorandum. Nowhere does the memo say that future tolls cannot be collected from the strait after the 60-day period expires.

Before the war, there was no charge for passage through the strait. Trump himself said in an interview with The New York Times that the waterway should remain “permanently toll-free”.

But he appeared to reverse course in Saturday’s post, once again floating the possibility that the US could extract tolls in the strait, while barring Iran from doing so.

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No fees should be levied, Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed”.

He explained that such a charge would compensate the US “for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for purposes of both past, present, and future reimbursement of costs”.

Trump used similar language in his New York Times interview earlier this week, floating the US becoming “the guardian of the Middle East” in exchange for 20 percent of its revenue.

Saturday’s post is not the first time Trump has mused about the US imposing tolls in the strait, either.

In April, for instance, he discussed the idea with reporters, saying, “What about us charging tolls? I’d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner. We won.”

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There has been no indication that Trump’s plans have been officially presented to countries in the region, many of whom have struck a careful balance in their dealings with both the US and Iran during the war.

Iranian officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly said they will not rule out imposing tolls in the strait, framing the issue as a matter of sovereignty and regional negotiation. The strait sits between Iran and Oman.

Further discussions are expected on the matter in the coming weeks.

But such negotiations have been thrown into jeopardy amid ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon, which threaten to violate Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum.

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Iran claimed that Saturday’s closure of the strait was a result of new Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, which killed dozens of people after the ceasefire was announced.

Iranian officials have also said that any upcoming talks should focus on proper implementation of the initial memorandum, and that the 60-day negotiating period stipulated in Wednesday’s deal would begin after that was settled.

Pakistan, a top mediator between the US and Iran, has said that follow-up talks are set to begin in Switzerland on Sunday.

Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that an Iranian delegation, led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, has already arrived for the negotiations.

On the US side, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance are expected to attend.

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Vance departed for Switzerland late Saturday.

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