Ukraine not attending US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, government source tells BBC
Waltz denies Europe and Ukraine not being included in peace efforts
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz was also among the senior figures who appeared on American morning news shows this Sunday.
Speaking to Fox News, Waltz rejected the notion that European allies and Ukraine are not being included in the latest efforts by the Trump administration to end the war in Ukraine.
Summary
Ukrainian officials will not attend Russia-US talks to be held in Saudi Arabia in the coming days, the BBC has learned
A government source tells BBC News that Ukraine has not been invited and will not send a delegation
Two of Trump's closest foreign policy advisors - Mike Waltz and Steve Witkoff - will travel to Saudi Arabia tonight ahead of the talks, it has been confirmed
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly warned he would not accept any deal struck without his country's input
Elsewhere, European leaders will gather in France for an emergency summit tomorrow, amid US efforts to agree a deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine
It comes after US President Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week to discuss a possible deal
After a chaotic week, Zelensky is trying to re-assert his position, our correspondent in Ukraine James Waterhouse writes
Netanyahu says Israel working closely with US on Trump’s plan for Gaza
Israeli PM and US secretary of state express joint support for ‘bold vision’ that would force 2 million people to leave
Sun 16 Feb 2025 13.50 GMT
Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government is working closely with the US to implement Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, which involves US ownership of the coastal strip, the removal of more than 2 million Palestinians and the redevelopment of the occupied territory as a resort.
The Israeli prime minister was speaking after a meeting in Jerusalem with the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who defended the Trump plan as bold and visionary. Rubio and Netanyahu blamed Iran for the violence in the Middle East and insisted Tehran would be stopped from developing nuclear weapons.
Trump’s shock proposal earlier this month for a “Riviera of the Middle East” has been condemned around the world as a blueprint for ethnic cleansing, but Rubio and Netanyahu insisted it would proceed.
Navalny death anniversary: Scholz hails activist's 'courage'
Russia's most prominent dissident Alexei Navalny died in Russian custody one year ago, leaving behind a largely fragmented Russian opposition. Many of his supporters visited his grave in Moscow.
Late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny died "because he fought for democracy and freedom in Russia," said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the first anniversary of the opposition leader's death.
Navalny died in a Russian Arctic penal colony on February 16 last year. His supporters believe his death came following direct orders from the Kremlin.
Russian authorities never fully explained how the charismatic dissident died. They only said the death happened while he was walking in the prison yard.
Bolsonaro camp in Brazil hopes to capitalise on the ‘Trump effect’
Brazil's right-wing hero and former president Jair Bolsonaro is ineligible to run for office until 2030 following his conviction on abuse of power charges after his supporters stormed parliament on January 8, 2023. But US President Donald Trump's return to power has rekindled the hopes of the Brazilian far right, which is already preparing for next year's presidential election.
US President Donald Trump's return to the White House has reinvigorated Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's former president. In a January interview with the New York Times, he said he felt “like a child”.
“I’m fired up. I’m not even taking Viagra anymore,” he added.
Since Trump's victory, a wave of hope has rippled through the Bolsonaro camp even though he has yet to receive any public messages of support from Washington.
DR Congo’s M23 rebels enter centre of strategic city Bukavu
Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have entered Bukavu, the second largest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), during a rapid advance in the region, the governor of South Kivu province, Jean-Jacques Purusi, says.
“They [the M23] are in Bukavu,” Purusi told the Reuters news agency on Sunday, adding that Congolese troops had withdrawn to avoid urban fighting.
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