Latest news for 12 May 2025

UKRAINE

Zelensky and Putin to have in-person talks?

Ukraine’s Volodomyr Zelensky has said he’ll “wait for Putin on Thursday in Turkey”, after the Russian leader dangled the possibility of direct talks in Turkey to (again) side-line a Trump-proposed immediate 30-day ceasefire. (BBC)

Comment: While hosting European leaders in Kyiv, Zelensky has really put Putin in a bind here: if Putin agrees to a ceasefire, he has to explain what his million casualties were for. If he again refuses, the world gets more clarity that maybe Ukraine’s self-defence wasn’t the problem, after all.

UNITED STATES

Hamas to release last living US hostage.

Ahead of President Trump’s visit to the Middle East from tomorrow (Tuesday), Hamas has agreed to release Edan Alexander, a dual US-Israeli citizen, as part of what it’s describing as efforts to “reach a final agreement to end the war”. (NBC)

POLAND

Warsaw says Moscow behind mall fire.

PM Donald Tusk has announced he has definitive evidence that the 2024 burning of a Warsaw shopping centre “was the result of arson ordered by Russian services”. Neighbouring Lithuania recently accused Moscow of attempting a similar attack in an Ikea store. (CNN)

Comment: Europe has long accused Russia of waging a hybrid war to impose costs on the West’s support for Ukraine’s self-defence. The risk of that hybrid strategy is that, at some point, it might just jolt Europe awake instead.

INDIA

Wobbly ceasefire with Pakistan holds.

There’ve been mutual accusations of breaches since the US announced an India-Pakistan ceasefire on Saturday evening, but hostilities have now halted. (Guardian)Comment: The two sides are both claiming victory but the truce doesn’t appear to address the underlying drivers, like India wanting an end to cross-border terrorism — and meanwhile, the real winner here might be China, whose J-10C jet downed some of India’s French-made Rafales. Stocks in the J-10C’s maker have soared.

ALBANIA

Uncertainty over election results.

In a puzzling move, Albanian outlets have yet to publish any exit polls from Sunday’s critical election, with artist Edi Rama seeking an unprecedented fourth term, and pledging to bring Albania into the EU within five years. (Politico)

IRAN

The US and Iran agree! (to more talks)

Wrapping their latest nuclear talks in Rome, the two sides are still far apart (Iran wants a nuclear program, the US says no), but they’re still talking. (France24)

Comment: Trump’s two-month ‘deal or war’ deadline for Iran expired last week, but his impending visit to Iran’s rivals in the region is a way to maintain pressure.

PANAMA

Former president gets asylum in Colombia.

After more than a year living in Nicaragua’s embassy in Panama City, Panama’s ex-president Ricardo Martinelli is now over the border in Colombia, which has granted him asylum. He argues his money laundering conviction is political. (AP)

Comment: These asylum deals often work along ideological lines, but we now have left-leaning Colombia helping right-leaning Martinelli. Colombia’s Petro probably wanted to bolster his regional credentials, help fellow leftist Nicaragua out of a bind, and help neighbouring Panama move on from Martinelli’s destabilising presence.

AFGHANISTAN

Taliban bans chess.

The ruling group’s new chess ban claims the game could lead to gambling. (BBC)