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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with U.S President Trump in the Hague during the NATO Summit on Wednesday June 25, 2025.

(Ukraine Presidential Press Office/EYEPRESS)

What We’re Watching: Ukraine to get key US weapons again, Trump makes fresh tariff threats, Afghan refugees under triple threat

Now Zelensky has a reason to say ‘thank you’

In a major White House U-turn, US President Donald Trump declared that his government would resume sending key defensive weapons – including Patriot missiles – to Ukraine. The move, which undoes a Pentagon order from last week to pause the shipments, is a big win for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as Ukraine has recently been suffering Russia’s worst aerial attacks of the entire war. The decision also reflects Trump’s growing impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has rebuffed White House calls for meaningful talks on a ceasefire.

Trump’s latest tariff extravaganza

The Trump administration has announced a new schedule of tariffs on 14 countries, which appears to replace some of the “reciprocal tariffs” that he announced on April 2. While the rates are similar to those earlier ones – standouts include 25% rates on close US allies Japan and South Korea – Trump has also extended the deadline for negotiations from July 9 until Aug. 1. A preliminary deal with the EU, a major trading partner which has played a bit of hardball with Trump, is reportedly close, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said further announcements are due in the next 48 hours.

Afghan refugees face triple deportation threat

Iran plans to deport at least one million more people back to their home country of Afghanistan, adding to the 1.2 million already deported from both Iran and Pakistan this year. The move is part of a larger crackdown on the millions of migrants from Afghanistan, many of them undocumented, who have fled war to settle in both countries over the past two decades. Meanwhile, Germany has also pledged to increase deportations to Afghanistan amid rising anti-immigrant sentiment. Aid groups warn that Afghanistan is ill-prepared to cope with the arrivals.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pictured at the Group of Seven summit venue in Kananaskis, Canada, on June 17, 2025.

Kyodo

What We’re Watching: Disappointing day for Zelensky, Tensions flare on Thailand’s border, Armenia and Turkey turn a new leaf

Bad day for Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky left the G7 without getting a meeting with US President Donald Trump. To add insult to injury, the Trump administration has suspended a working group meant to pressure Russia into speeding up peace talks with Ukraine. This all comes as the US is planning to send Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg to meet with Russian-aligned Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko – the highest ranking US official to meet with the authoritarian leader since 2020.

Border tensions flare between Thailand and Cambodia

Thousands of protestors gathered in Cambodia’s capital of Phnom Penh on Wednesday to show support for the government’s decision to deploy the armed forces to the country’s border with Thailand. Tensions between the two countries have escalated in recent weeks following a brief military clash in their disputed border zone late last month, which left one Cambodian soldier dead. This comes as Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s ruling coalition appears on the verge of collapse over perceptions that she has been too diplomatic in her approach to Cambodia.

Armenia’s PM to make rare visit to Turkey

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Friday, in a bid to repair one of the world’s most antagonistic relationships. The bad blood originates from World War One, when the Ottoman empire killed masses of Armenians. More recently, it has revolved around Armenia’s post-Soviet wars with Azerbaijan, a Turkish ally. Russian-aligned Armenia – a tiny, isolated nation – lost the last round of conflict with Azerbaijan in 2023, and sees rapprochement with Turkey as a way to broaden its ties to the West.

Crowds at a rally for Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki, the Law and Justice candidate, on May 29, 2025.

Photo by Dominika Zarzycka/Sipa USA

What We’re Watching: Polling day for Poland, China courts Pacific Islanders, Russia readies more troops

Poles go to the polls

On Sunday, conservative Karol Nawrocki and liberal candidate Rafal Trzaskowski will face off in the second round of Poland’s presidential election. There isn’t a clear favorite. A Trzaskowski win would give Prime Minister Donald Tusk a key ally for both his domestic reform plans and stable relations with the EU, while victory for Nawrocki would saddle Tusk with a determined political enemy who can block his legislative agenda.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attend a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, on May 15, 2025.

REUTERS

So far, no steps toward peace in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky kept a low-level Russian delegation waiting in Istanbul on Thursday while he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan in Ankara.

Why is Zelensky in Turkey at all? It was in fact Vladimir Putin who proposed peace talks there in response to a recent European call for a 30-day ceasefire, but the Russian president is not attending personally. Putin’s decision to send junior officials is seen as an indication that he is not really interested in ending his invasion of Ukraine.

European leaders have warned that if Putin does not agree to stop the invasion, they will intensify sanctions on Russia and increase military aid to Ukraine.

But Donald Trump, who also called for peace talks in a social media post, seemed to reduce the pressure on Putin when he told reporters in Qatar that he was not expecting much from the meeting.

“Look, nothing is going to happen until Putin and I get together,” he said.

And while there was some speculation that Trump and Putin could yet show up in Turkey on Friday — a development that would substantially increase chances of a breakthrough — there was no sign of that by Thursday afternoon.

If that holds, the negotiations are unlikely to yield much of substance, and the basic deadlock will remain: Putin, keen to play for time while his army slowly advances, is demanding impossible conditions from Zelensky, while Trump, who pledged a swift end to the war, has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin but so far seems unwilling to apply more pressure on him.

Members of US and Russian delegations, led by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin, attend a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on April 25, 2025.

Sputnik/Kristina Kormilitsyna/Pool via REUTERS

Putin and Zelensky’s diplomatic dance

Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have called for direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul this Thursday.

Behind these calls for talks, though, is a battle over whether the US will continue funding Zelensky’s army.

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- YouTube

Trump's weekend of geopolitical success

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Hi, everybody. Ian Bremmer here and a Quick Take to kick off your week. A very good weekend for President Donald Trump. Certainly the most success he has had on the global stage since the start of his second term, and I expect that's going to continue with his trip to the Gulf this week. But let's start with the last few days.
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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer address the media after trade talks with China in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 11, 2025.

Keystone/EDA/Martial Trezzini/Handout via REUTERS

The US hits the reset button with China

Mother’s Day is a time to build bridges, apparently, as the United States and China both agreed to slash tariffs by 115 percentage points each for 90 days following talks in Geneva over the weekend. US tariffs on Chinese imports will plunge from 145% to 30%, while Chinese tariffs on US imports will sink from 125% to 10%.

What’s spurring a settlement? Both countries’ economies have taken a hit ever since the two countries started a trade war around a month ago.

Will businesses buy the truce? At the height of the US-China trade war last month, Apple said they will shift iPhone production to India. We’ll be watching to see if there’s any plans to reverse course.

Bloodbath or breakthrough? Ukraine demands truce before talks

Peace talks between Ukraine and Russia are tentatively scheduled for May 15 in Istanbul, where Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky says he’ll be waiting to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But Kyiv insists that an unconditional 30-day ceasefire take effect as of Monday – a condition Moscow has so far rejected.

What’s the White House view? US President Donald Trump called on Ukraine to accept Russia’s offer to meet regardless of a truce, “to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH.”

But does Russia really want peace? Iran is reportedly preparing to send Fath-360 missile launchers to Moscow, though Tehran denies this. If true, it casts doubt on Moscow's commitment to ending the conflict.

Speaking of the Middle East, Hamas said it would free Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage, ahead of Trump’s visit to the region this week. It’s unclear what Hamas is getting in return.

Doubts loom over Kashmir truce

India and Pakistan announced a ceasefire in Kashmir on Saturday after the worst fighting in the disputed region in over two decades. The US claimed to have brokered the deal; however, India downplayed its role while Pakistan lauded Washington’s involvement.

But can it hold? The current truce is fragile: leaders from each side said they were keeping the peace, yet explosions were reported in the area. There may be peace for now, but all parties have their work cut out to maintain it.

A photovoltaic power station with a capacity of 0.8 MW covers an area of more than 3,000 square metres at the industrial site of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Kyiv region, Ukraine, on April 12, 2025.

Volodymyr Tarasov/Ukrinform/ABACAPRESS.COM

The US-Ukraine minerals deal is finally done

Two months after their infamous White House fight, the US and Ukraine announced on Wednesday that they had finally struck a long-awaited minerals deal.

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