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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers a speech during United Nations Security Council at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, United Sates of America on September 24, 2024.

The Yomiuri Shimbun via Reuters

Zelensky snubs China’s peace push, Trump vows to end war “very quickly”

Switzerland’s foreign ministry expressed support for the peace plan China and Brazil are pushing to end Russia’s war in Ukraine on Sunday, but it’s a non-starter for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said he “cannot understand the logic of Switzerland’s decision.”The plan would require Ukraine and Russia to begin negotiations in an international peace conference without any guarantee of Ukraine retaining its territorial integrity.

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FILE PHOTO: Rebel Bamar People's Liberation Army soldiers in full armor marching. April 15, 2023.

Matrix Images / Mar Naw via Reuters Connect

Myanmar’s democratic rebels set terms for talks. Will the Junta engage?

An alliance of fighters loyal to the former democratic government and ethnic minority militias has opened the door to talks with the junta in Myanmar over building a civilian-led federal government. The plan comes just ahead of the three-year anniversary of the coup against Aung San Suu Kyi and her brief democratic experiment, and follows three months of successful rebel offensives to take key border crossings to India, China, and Thailand.

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Ukrainian service members fire a mortar towards Russian troops outside the frontline town of Bakhmut, in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 6, 2023.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Serhii Nuzhnenko via REUTERS

What We’re Watching: Battle for Bakhmut, Xi’s diplomatic muscle, AUKUS sub deal

The Bakhmut killing field

Bakhmut, home to about 75,000 people before the war, has become an urban killing field. Western intelligence agencies say up to 30,000 Russians have died or been seriously injured in the fight to take this town. Ukrainian casualties, harder to estimate, are also running high.

Russians appear to be fighting mainly to achieve some victory following months of setbacks followed by stalemate. They also hope the eventual capture of this town can boost their chances of advancing on larger cities in other parts of Donetsk province, though some analysts say they won’t have the manpower or firepower to advance beyond Bakhmut anytime soon. Adding to Russia’s complications, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War argues that the country’s defense ministry has likely pushed large numbers of Wagner Group mercenaries to the deadliest sites of fighting in Bakhmut to reduce the Kremlin influence of Wagner chief and frequent critic of the Russian military Yevgeny Prigozhin by thinning out his force.

Though badly outnumbered, Ukrainian forces have been slow to surrender Bakhmut because they want to inflict as much damage as possible on Russian forces ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive in the coming weeks. For now, the killing continues.

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Kushner on Israeli annexation plans: not now

Kushner on Israeli annexation plans: not now

To understand Jared Kushner's comments in a broader context, here are a few things to consider:

What are the settlements? In the 1967 Six Day War, Israel captured the West Bank from neighboring Jordan, and soon after began setting up communities of Jewish settlers on this land. The West Bank is now home to over 400,000 Jewish Israelis, living in settlements among some 1.9 million Palestinians who, in turn, are not considered citizens of Israel and who must regularly pass through Israeli military checkpoints.

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Kushner to Palestinians: 'Put up or shut up' on peace plan

Kushner to Palestinians: 'Put up or shut up' on peace plan

White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, author of the Trump administration's newly announced Middle East peace plan, had tough words today for Palestinian leaders who immediately rejected the proposal. In a lengthy interview with GZERO Media's Ian Bremmer, he said that Palestinians have long played "the victimhood card," and that for the first time a "practical, rational plan" is on the table for them. Throughout the interview, Kushner hammered home his belief that the political power of the Palestinian leaders, including President Mahmoud Abbas, has been greatly diminished.

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