Donald Trump slams Vladimir Putin’s offer to help with Iran: ‘I need help with you’
Penny Wong has revealed why Australia has slapped new sanctions on 44 key players in Russia’s “illegal war”.
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Australia has slapped fresh sanctions on dozens of big players in key Russian industries in a bid to cause havoc in Vladimir Putin’s “war economy”.
Among the 44 individuals and entities targeted are the entire board of directors at state-owned Sovcomflot – Russia’s biggest shipping firm.
Executives at Gazprom Neft and Gazprombank were also targeted.
A subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas giant Gazprom, Gazprom Neft is the third-biggest oil producer and refiner in Russia.
Meanwhile, privately-owned Gazprombank is the main facilitator for transactions in Russia’s oil and gas industry.
“Australia has imposed new sanctions targeting 44 individuals and entities linked to Russian industries that help fuel its war economy,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.
“This action is designed to disrupt Russia’s ability to fund its illegal war and reflects our close co-ordination with international partners.”
Australia has already imposed more than 1500 sanctions on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, including penalties on Moscow’s shadow fleet.
The Russian government uses its shadow fleet to illegally trade goods.
Canberra has also given Ukraine north of $1.5bn in military and humanitarian aid to help it fight back against Russia’s invading forces, earning Australia a spot on the Russian President’s list of “unfriendly countries”.
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‘I NEED HELP WITH YOU’: TRUMP SLAMS PUTIN
US President Donald Trump has slammed Vladimir Putin while recounting the Russian President’s offer to assist with the Israel-Iran conflict during a recent phone call between the two.
“As you know, Vladimir called me up. He said, ‘Can I help you with Iran?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t need help with Iran. I need help with you,’” Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to The Hague for the NATO summit.
Mr Trump has spent months trying to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. Most of his public criticisms have been directed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. However, recently, he’s stepped up his broadsides against Mr Putin, who turned down a US proposal for a ceasefire and has continued to pummel Ukraine.
ZELENSKY MEETS WITH CHARLES
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky in the UK en route to The Hague, had lunch with King Charles before discussing defence issues and sanctions on Russia with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Mr Zelensky met with Britain’s King Charles III at Windsor Castle before going on to 10 Downing Street to meet with Sir Keir.
The visit comes ahead of a NATO summit later this week in The Hague.
Mr Zelensky is set to attend on the sidelines but his involvement is being kept to a minimum to avoid a confrontation with US President Donald Trump.
Since returning to office, Mr Trump has up-ended the West’s approach towards Russia’s war on Ukraine by undercutting Kyiv and opening the door to closer ties with Moscow.
According to a statement released late on Monday by Starmer’s office, the two countries will share “battlefield technology”, with “data sets from Ukraine’s front line set to be plugged into UK production lines, allowing British defence firms to rapidly design and build, at scale, cutting edge military equipment available nowhere else in the world.”
“Initial agreements between defence firms in both countries are expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks, with the aim of delivering Ukraine large numbers of battle-proven drones to continue to stave off Russia’s barbaric invasion over the coming months and years”, the statement said.
‘QUANTUM LEAP’
NATO allies are poised to take a “quantum leap” by hiking defence spending to counter the threat of Russia, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on the eve of a two-day summit.
The 32 members of the alliance will pledge to boost defence expenditure to five per cent of gross domestic product, a key demand of President Trump, who has long grumbled that the US pays too much for NATO.
NATO’s members have thrashed out a compromise deal to dedicate at least 3.5 per cent of GDP to core military needs by 2035, and 1.5 per cent to broader security-related items like cybersecurity and infrastructure.
“The defence investment plan that allies will agree in The Hague introduces a new baseline, five per cent of GDP to be invested in defence,” Mr Rutte told reporters at a pre-summit news conference.
“This is a quantum leap that is ambitious, historic and fundamental to securing our future.” The focus at the summit in The Hague will be on keeping Mr Trump happy after his return to power sparked fears he could blow a hole in the seven-decade-old alliance.
In the run-up to the meeting, Spain had sparked fears of undermining a carefully choreographed unity by refusing to commit to the headline figure of five per cent.
But Mr Rutte stressed that Spain had not been granted an “opt-out” from the pledge. “NATO does not have as an alliance opt-outs, side deals, et cetera, because we all have to chip in,” Rutte said.
The NATO chief said that the increase in spending would see the alliance boost its air defences five-fold and add thousands more tanks and armoured vehicles to its arsenals.
“Our focus is ensuring that we have all we need to deter and defend against any threat,” he said.
“Of course, the most significant and direct threat facing this alliance remains the Russian Federation.”
Mr Rutte insisted that the summit would also send a strong signal of support to Ukraine – despite Trump up-ending the West’s stance towards Russia’s war on Kyiv.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend a state dinner with the Dutch king but he has largely been sidelined from the summit’s main event.
Mr Rutte said that Europe was stepping up already to fill the gap left by Washington pulling back from supporting Ukraine.
He said that Europe and Canada had already pledged A$62 billion to help arm Kyiv so far this year.
GIRL AMONG 10 KILLED IN RUSSIAN STRIKES
Russia fired dozens of drones and missiles at Ukraine on Monday, ripping open a housing bloc in Kyiv, killing 10 civilians and burying others beneath the rubble.
A flurry of diplomatic efforts to end the three-year-long war have stalled, with the last direct meeting between Kyiv and Moscow coming almost three weeks ago and no follow-up talks scheduled.
Prosecutors in Kyiv said nine people were killed in the capital’s Shevchenkivsky district, including an 11-year-old girl.
Another person was killed in Bila Tserkva just outside the capital, officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia had launched 352 unmanned aerial vehicles – including Iranian-designed drones – and 16 missiles at Ukraine, adding that some of the munitions were provided by North Korea.
“Everyone in countries neighbouring Russia, Iran and North Korea should be thinking carefully about whether they could protect lives if this coalition of murderers persists and continues spreading their terror,” he added.
Mr Zelensky said a school was hit.
“Sadly, some people may still be trapped under the rubble,” he added. In Moscow, the defence ministry said its air defence systems had downed 23 Ukrainian drones over western regions of Russia.
– with AFP
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Originally published as Donald Trump slams Vladimir Putin’s offer to help with Iran: ‘I need help with you’
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