KYIV: President Donald Trump said in an interview published on Friday that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” the latest example of the US leader pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the war while it remains under siege.
“Zelensky understands that,” Trump said, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, “and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time.”
The US president made the comments in a Time magazine interview conducted on Tuesday. Trump has been accusing Zelensky of prolonging the war by resisting negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Crimea is a strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine. It was seized by Russia in 2014, while President Barack Obama was in office, years before the full-scale invasion that began in 2022.
“They’ve had their submarines there for long before any period that we’re talking about, for many years. The people speak largely Russian in Crimea,” Trump said. “But this was given by Obama. This wasn’t given by Trump.”
Meanwhile, Russia has continued its bombardment. A drone struck an apartment building in a southeastern Ukraine city, killing three people and injuring 10 others, officials said Friday, a day after Trump rebuked Russia’s leader for a deadly missile and drone attack on Kyiv.
A child and a 76-year-old woman were among the civilians killed in the nighttime drone strike in Pavlohrad, in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, the head of the regional administration, Serhii Lysak, wrote on Telegram.
Russian forces fired 103 Shahed and decoy drones at five Ukrainian regions overnight, Ukraine’s air force reported. Authorities in the northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions reported damage to civilian infrastructure but no casualties.
The war could be approaching a pivotal moment as the Trump administration weighs its options. Senior US officials have warned that the administration could soon give up attempts to stop the war if the two sides do not come to an agreement. That could potentially mean a halt of US military aid for Ukraine.
Amid the peace efforts, Russia pounded Kyiv in an hourslong barrage Thursday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 87 in its deadliest assault on the Ukrainian capital since July.
The attack drew a rare rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin from Trump, who has said that a push to end the war is coming to a head.
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying.” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”
Trump’s frustration is growing as his effort to forge a deal between Ukraine and Russia has failed to achieve a breakthrough.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to meet with Putin in Moscow on Friday, their second meeting this month and the fourth since February.
Trump accused Zelensky on Wednesday of prolonging the “killing field” by refusing to surrender the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula as part of a possible deal. Russia illegally annexed that area in 2014. Zelensky has repeated many times during the war that recognizing occupied territory as Russian is a red line for his country.
Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plan to arrive in Rome on Friday for the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square on Saturday. It wasn’t immediately clear if they would meet separately.
An explosion in Moscow targets a senior officer
Meanwhile, a senior Russian military officer was killed by a car bomb near Moscow on Friday, Russia’s top criminal investigation agency said.
The attack follows the killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov on Dec. 17, 2024, when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked outside his apartment building exploded as he left for his office. Russian authorities blamed Ukraine for the killing of Kirillov.
Since Russia invaded, several prominent figures have been killed in targeted attacks believed to have been carried out by Ukraine.
Russian forces used Thursday’s attack on Kyiv as cover to launch almost 150 assaults on Ukrainian positions along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, Zelensky said late Thursday.
“When the maximum of our forces was focused on defense against missiles and drones, the Russians went on to significantly intensify their ground attacks,” he wrote on Telegram.
Western European leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in the negotiations and seeking to grab more Ukrainian land while his army has battlefield momentum.
Zelensky noted Thursday that Ukraine agreed to a US ceasefire proposal 44 days ago, as a first step to a negotiated peace, but that Russian attacks continued.
During recent talks, Russia hit the city of Sumy, killing more than 30 civilians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, battered Odesa with drones and blasted Zaporizhzhia with powerful glide bombs.
Trump says ‘Crimea will stay with Russia’ as he seeks end to war in Ukraine
https://arab.news/b3ckt
Trump says ‘Crimea will stay with Russia’ as he seeks end to war in Ukraine
- “They’ve had their submarines there for long before any period that we’re talking about, for many years. The people speak largely Russian in Crimea,” Trump said
- “But this was given by Obama. This wasn’t given by Trump”
Indonesia threatens to ban Musk’s Grok AI over degrading images of children and women
- Grok has been complying with user requests to alter images of real people
- Other countries, including Malaysia and France, have also threatened action against X
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Communications Ministry threatened on Wednesday to ban Elon Musk’s X and its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok after degrading pictures of women and children generated without consent surged on the social media platform.
Grok has been complying with requests from X users to modify images of real women and children stripped to their underwear, creating a viral trend that has sparked concerns across the globe.
A preliminary investigation found that Grok “does not yet have explicit and adequate regulations to prevent the production and distribution of pornographic content based on real photos” of Indonesian citizens,” Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs said in a statement.
Indonesia has strict laws against the production and distribution of pornography, with the government regularly instructing internet service providers to block access to websites containing such content.
“The obligation to comply with Indonesian laws and regulations applies to all digital platforms operating in Indonesia,” the ministry said.
“Should there be non-compliance or lack of cooperation, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs may impose administrative sanctions, including termination of access to Grok’s AI services and the X platform.”
Indonesia has joined a growing list of countries, which includes Malaysia, India and France, that are calling for investigations and threatening action against Grok.
Concerns grew after a December update to the chatbot made it easier for users to post photographs of people and ask for their clothing to be removed.
In a report published on Tuesday, European non-profit organization AI Forensics said Grok is “systematically ‘undressing’ women.”
Its analysis of 20,000 images generated by Grok between Dec. 25 and Jan.1 found that 53 percent of them contained individuals in minimal attire, with 81 percent of them being women, while two percent of the images depicted persons appearing to be 18 years old or younger.
Indonesia’s Communications Ministry said AI service providers and users are also subject to administrative or criminal sanctions under Indonesian law if they are proven to have produced or distributed pornographic content or modified personal images without permission.
“Every digital platform must ensure that the technology they provide does not become a medium for privacy violation, sexual exploitation or the degradation of a person’s dignity,” said Alexander Sabar, director-general of digital space at the ministry.
“We urge all parties to use artificial intelligence technology responsibly. The digital space is not a lawless space; every citizen’s privacy and right to their image must be respected and protected.”
