Trump and Putin mentioned ending the conflict in Ukraine
President Trump mentioned yesterday that he had a “highly productive” call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, characterizing it as the start of a negotiation to finish the conflict in Ukraine.
Afterward, Trump mentioned he spoke with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. For Putin, the speak was a serious milestone, marking the collapse of Western efforts to isolate him diplomatically over the invasion of Ukraine.
Trump didn’t say how Ukraine’s pursuits would issue into the negotiations. However hours earlier than the cellphone name, Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth mentioned at a NATO assembly in Brussels that it was “unrealistic” for Ukraine to count on a peace deal that will restore its pre-2014 borders. Trump, he added, doesn’t help Ukraine’s membership in NATO as a part of a sensible peace plan.
Background: Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and backed a pro-Russian insurgency in jap Ukraine earlier than finishing up a full-scale invasion in 2022. Russia now occupies about 20 % of Ukraine.
Modi hopes to maintain India off Trump’s goal checklist
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is anticipated to attempt to ease any potential friction between the U.S. and India when he meets with President Trump as we speak in Washington. Modi has spoken of a heat relationship with the president, but Trump can be a fickle friend.
A pair of evident points might complicate Modi’s targets: commerce and immigration. Modi “will likely be attempting to indicate Trump that he’s cooperating on his fixation on tariffs and unlawful immigration,” Mujib Mashal, our South Asia bureau chief, instructed me. “Trump has singled out India as one of many fundamental abusers of tariffs that enjoys a commerce deficit with the U.S., mentioning India in the identical breath as China.”
India’s trade surplus with the U.S. is growing, and Modi might supply decrease duties on U.S. items like bourbon and pecans, that are produced primarily in Republican states.
Deportations: India can be the most important supply of unlawful immigration to the U.S. outdoors of Latin America. Modi’s authorities has made clear it should cooperate with Trump’s deportation effort, even because it brought about an uproar in India final week.
Venezuela helps gasoline violence in Colombia
In northeast Colombia, 54,000 folks fled their houses, and at the very least 80 folks died in a matter of days this month, as two insurgent teams fought for territory.
The violence has its roots in disputes over land and drug cash, however diplomats, analysts and Colombia’s president say there’s a new issue at play. One of many insurgent teams, the Nationwide Liberation Military, or ELN, has discovered refuge in neighboring Venezuela, which is being used as a base to unleash a new wave of destruction in Colombia.
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The brand new season of “The White Lotus,” a collection about rich vacationers in a skewed paradise, takes place on the resort island of Koh Samui in Thailand. Crowds have flocked to the places of seasons previous, and this yr is not any completely different: With a wave of tourists set to reach, the roughly 68,000 residents of the island are about to get familiar with the “White Lotus” effect.
CONVERSATION STARTERS
How will we fall (and keep) in love?
For Valentine’s Day, the “Trendy Love” podcast requested readers to share the moments they knew they had been falling in love. Their tales spanned a long time and areas.
The staff additionally revisited some of the iconic tales they’ve ever revealed: Mandy Len Catron’s piece concerning the 36 questions that may assist us fall in love. Mandy joined the podcast to supply an replace on her romance and to learn her essay, which begins on a bridge at midnight, “staring into a person’s eyes for precisely 4 minutes.”
Listen to the podcast and skim Mandy’s authentic essay here.
