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Ukraine's Yermak meets senior Trump advisers, source says

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Ukraine's Yermak meets senior Trump advisers, source says

Ukrainian delegation met on Wednesday with senior representatives of President-elect Donald Trump, a source familiar with the meeting said, as Ukraine seeks support from the incoming team in its war to repel Russian invaders.

The Ukrainian delegation was led by Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The group met in Washington with Trump’s choice for White House national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and his Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, the source said, without providing details.

The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment about the meeting.

Trump has vowed to bring about a negotiated end to the nearly three-year-old conflict between Ukraine and Russia, but has thus far not provided details.

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The Wheel of Time Season 3 Trailer Asks: Must Moiraine Die for Rand to Live?! — Plus, Get Release Date

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The Wheel of Time Season 3 Trailer Asks: Must Moiraine Die for Rand to Live?! — Plus, Get Release Date


‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3 Release Date, Trailer: Must Moraine Die?



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Syrian insurgents reach gates of Damascus, threatening decades-long Assad regime

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Syrian insurgents reach gates of Damascus, threatening decades-long Assad regime

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Insurgents’ stunning march across Syria accelerated Saturday with news that they had reached the gates of the capital and that government forces had abandoned the central city of Homs. The government was forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country.

The loss of Homs was a potentially crippling blow for Assad. It stands at an important intersection between Damascus, the capital, and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus — the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base.

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The pro-government Sham FM news outlet reported that government forces took positions outside Syria’s third-largest city, without elaborating. Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Syrian troops and members of different security agencies withdrew from the city, adding that rebels entered parts of it.

The insurgency announced later Saturday that it had taken over Homs. The city’s capture was a major victory for the rebels, who have already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama, as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began Nov. 27. Analysts said rebel control of Homs would be a game-changer.

TRUMP URGES US TO STAY OUT OF SYRIAN CIVIL WAR, BLAMING OBAMA FOR FAILURE AS ISLAMISTS CLOSE IN ON CAPITAL

The rebels’ moves around Damascus, reported by the monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters.

For the first time in the country’s long-running civil war, the government now has control of only three of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Latakia and Tartus.

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The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. In their push to overthrow Assad’s government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army.

The rapid rebel gains, coupled with the lack of support from Assad’s erstwhile allies, posed the most serious threat to his rule since the start of the war.

The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called Saturday for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Assad’s chief international backer, said he feels “sorry for the Syrian people.”

In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands went to Syria’s border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country.

Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those still open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some were selling items at three times the normal price.

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“The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions.

“People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.”

It was the first time that opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The U.N. said it was moving noncritical staff outside the country as a precaution.

Syrian opposition fighters remove a government Syrian flag from an official building in Salamiyah, east of Hama, Syria Syria, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Assad’s status

Syria’s state media denied social media rumors that Assad left the country, saying he was performing his duties in Damascus.

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He has had little, if any, help from his allies. Russia is busy with its war in Ukraine. Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up Assad’s forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday posted on social media that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria. Separately, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser said the Biden administration had no intention of intervening there.

Pedersen said a date for talks in Geneva on the implementation of a U.N. resolution, adopted in 2015 and calling for a Syrian-led political process, would be announced later. The resolution calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections.

Later Saturday, foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran, along with Pederson, gathered on the sidelines of the Doha Summit to discuss the situation in Syria.

In a statement, the participants affirmed their support for a political solution to the Syrian crisis “that would lead to the end of military activity and protect civilians.” They also agreed on the importance of strengthening international efforts to increase aid to the Syrian people.

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The insurgents’ march

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were marching toward the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added.

A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus.

HTS controls much of northwest Syria and in 2017 set up a “salvation government” to run day-to-day affairs in the region. In recent years, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has sought to remake the group’s image, cutting ties with al-Qaida, ditching hard-line officials and vowing to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance.

The shock offensive began Nov. 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama, the country’s fourth-largest city.

Opposition activists said Saturday that a day earlier, insurgents entered Palmyra, which is home to invaluable archaeological sites had been in government hands since being taken from the Islamic State group in 2017.

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To the south, Syrian troops left much of the province of Quneitra, including the main Baath City, activists said.

Syrian Observatory said government troops have withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces.

The Syrian army said in a statement that it carried out redeployment and repositioning in Sweida and Daraa after its checkpoints came under attack by “terrorists.” The army said it was setting up a “strong and coherent defensive and security belt in the area,” apparently to defend Damascus from the south.

The Syrian government has referred to opposition gunmen as terrorists since conflict broke out in March 2011.

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Diplomacy in Doha

The foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey, meeting in Qatar, called for an end to the hostilities. Turkey is a main backer of the rebels.

Qatar’s top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting in recent years to address the country’s underlying problems. “Assad didn’t seize this opportunity to start engaging and restoring his relationship with his people,” he said.

Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by how quickly the rebels have advanced and said there is a real threat to Syria’s “territorial integrity.” He said the war could “damage and destroy what is left if there is no sense of urgency” to start a political process.

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Biden administration unveils new $988m US military aid package for Ukraine

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Biden administration unveils new 8m US military aid package for Ukraine

In the waning days of his presidency, Biden seeks to bolster Ukraine’s defences amid its years-long fight against Russia’s invasion.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has announced that the United States will provide nearly $1bn in additional military aid to war-torn Ukraine, as it attempts to fend off an ongoing Russian invasion.

In unveiling the aid package on Saturday, Austin offered some pointed remarks aimed at the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump.

“The baton will soon be passed,” Austin said. “Others will decide the course ahead. And I hope that they will build on the strength that we have forged over the past four years.”

The package, valued at $988m, comes on the heels of a separate $725m in military assistance announced on December 2.

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The latest announcement includes drones and munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARs) that the US has previously provided.

In total, the US has given $62bn in military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

But the latest rush of funds and supplies to Ukraine arrives in the waning days of President Joe Biden’s administration. His term is set to end on January 20, when Trump takes office.

Under Trump, it is unclear whether the US will continue its support for Ukraine. Trump has threatened to pull funding from Ukraine’s fight and other military alliances, including NATO.

Speaking at a meeting of national security officials at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, Austin briefly addressed the uncertainty ahead.

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“This administration has made its choice. So has a bipartisan coalition in Congress. The next administration must make its own choice,” Austin said.

He added that Reagan, a Republican icon, “would have stood on the side of Ukraine, American security and human freedom”.

The Biden administration has largely been using “presidential drawdown authority” to withdraw excess defence materials from US stockpiles and transfer them to Ukraine, without congressional approval.

Approximately $6bn remains in the president’s hands under his drawdown authority.

But Saturday’s $988m package comes instead from the $2.21bn remaining in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows for the purchase of weapons and military supplies.

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The USAI is designed to supply Ukraine with longer-term weapons systems to bolster its military capabilities.

Trump, meanwhile, participated in a brief, closed-door meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Saturday.

Both were in Paris, France, to celebrate the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral.

When Trump campaigned for re-election earlier this year in Savannah, Georgia, Trump criticised Zelenskyy as the “greatest salesman on Earth” for extracting military aid from the US.

“Every time Zelenskyy comes to the United States, he walks away with $100bn,” Trump said, citing a made-up statistic.

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He blamed Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, his rival in the presidential race, for enmeshing the US in Ukrainian affairs.

“I will settle the war in Ukraine and end the chaos in the Middle East,” he added. “Biden and Kamala got us into this war in Ukraine, and now they can’t get us out.”

He added, “We’re stuck in that war unless I’m president.”

Trump has made clear he plans to pursue an “America First” policy during his second term.

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