Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said his government is engaged in “very intense” negotiations over natural-gas supplies for next year, including on the transit of the fuel through Ukrainian territory. “We are holding very intense talks at an international level on gas supplies in 2025,” Fico told a press conference on Friday. “There are many hurdles, such as political statements by the Ukrainian side, the pressure for suspension of supplies from the East to the West, proposals on gas deliveries that are much more expensive,” he said. Fico said Slovakia will rebuff pressure to only accept gas supplies from the…
Author: Jones Hayden
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin has opened a “Pandora’s box,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, complaining that the conversation undermines efforts to isolate the Russian leader. “Now there may be other conversations, other calls. Just a lot of words,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address Friday night. “And this is exactly what Putin has long wanted: It is crucial for him to weaken his isolation, Russia’s isolation,” Zelenskyy said. In the telephone call on Friday, Scholz exhorted Putin to “end” his war on Ukraine and to “withdraw troops.” The conversation lasted for about an hour and…
Qatar has suspended its efforts as a mediator in negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release between Israel and Hamas, the Qatari foreign ministry said late Saturday. The Gulf country would resume its work when Hamas and Israel “show their willingness” to negotiate, the ministry said in a statement on X. Qatar has been working alongside the U.S. and Egypt for months to facilitate talks between the warring sides in the Gaza Strip. The move to pause its mediator role comes after senior U.S. officials reportedly said Washington would no longer accept the presence of Hamas representatives in Qatar, accusing the Palestinian…
UEFA has warned the British government that England risks being banned from the Euro 2028 football tournament it is co-hosting if plans for a football regulator proceed, British media reported. England could be excluded from the tournament over “concerns” that a planned independent football regulator could lead to “government interference” in the sport, according to UEFA, European football’s governing body, the BBC and The Times of London reported late Saturday. According to the reports, the warning came in a letter to the United Kingdom’s Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy from UEFA General Secretary Theodore Theodoridis, in which he said there should…
Islamic State on Saturday claimed responsibility for a knife attack in Germany that killed three people and wounded eight others. A manhunt for the assailant continued. The militant group said the attacker is a “soldier of the Islamic State” and that Christians were targeted in the assault, which occurred at a festival in the German city of Solingen late Friday, according to media reports. The killings were “in revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere,” the group said, according to the reports. It was not clear how close the link was between the attacker and Islamic State. German police said…
Mediators in talks on a new Gaza cease-fire agreement said the discussions will resume next week after the U.S. presented a “bridging proposal” meant to resolve the key differences remaining between Hamas and Israel. Following discussions in Doha, the three main international negotiators — the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt — said the proposal by Washington “bridges remaining gaps” between Israel and Hamas and “allows for a swift implementation of the deal,” according to a joint statement on Friday. The statement provided no details about the proposal but said it “builds on areas of agreement over the past week.” It said…