KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday hailed the “extraordinary” Gaza ceasefire as bringing hope that US President Donald Trump could broker an end to the Russian invasion of his country.
“When peace is achieved for one part of the world, it brings more hope for peace in other regions,” Zelensky said on social media.
He added: “If a ceasefire and peace have been achieved for the Middle East, the leadership and determination of global actors can certainly work for us too, in Ukraine.”
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, setting off the largest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Tens of thousands have been killed, millions forced from their homes and much of eastern and southern Ukraine decimated.
Trump had once vowed he could end the war in a matter of hours, but despite several rounds of talks and a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, there has been no significant progress toward a peace deal.
Russia has refused multiple calls for a ceasefire and outlined hard-line demands, essentially calling for Kyiv to capitulate in exchange for peace.
The US leader has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin in recent weeks and recently said he could see Ukraine reclaiming every inch of territory seized by Russia.
Moscow’s army currently controls around a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula which it captured and annexed in 2014.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also urged Trump to carry the momentum from brokering the Israel-Hamas ceasefire into efforts on Ukraine.
“We also hope that the American president will now use the influence he has exerted on the parties involved in the (Middle East) to work with us on the Russian government,” Merz said in Egypt, where he was to attend a summit of world leaders including Trump.
Merz added that he will discuss the Russia-Ukraine war settlement with Trump at the summit.
Gaza deal brings hope for Ukraine: Zelensky
https://arab.news/yw2dj
Gaza deal brings hope for Ukraine: Zelensky
- “When peace is achieved for one part of the world, it brings more hope for peace in other regions,” Zelensky said
South Sudan officers face court martial over civilian massacre
- The increasingly unstable country is seeing a surge of fighting between government and opposition forces
JUBA: South Sudanese soldiers, including two officers, will face a court martial over a civilian massacre last month, the army spokesman said Wednesday.
The increasingly unstable country is seeing a surge of fighting between government and opposition forces, much of it in eastern Jonglei state where at least 280,000 people have been displaced since December according to the UN.
At least 25 civilians, including women and children, were killed in Ayod County in Jonglei state on February 21, according to the opposition.
Army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said that two officers, including a major, and several non-commissioned officers, had been arrested and would face charges in the capital Juba, “before they are arraigned before a competent military court martial.”
He said the deaths were attributed to “some elements” under Gen. Johnson Olony, who was filmed in January ordering troops to “spare no lives” in Jonglei.
Koang said the soldiers had “moved out without the knowledge or authorization of the division commander.”
He also said they had been part of a militia group allied to opposition forces, parts of which had not yet been fully integrated into the army.
Military integration was among the core principles of a peace agreement that ended South Sudan’s five-year civil war in 2018 between President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival, Riek Machar, but it was never implemented.
Koang said the army regretted the loss of lives, adding: “We would like to once again remind our forces that their mandate is to protect civilians and their property, not to do the opposite.”
It followed an impassioned plea from the Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference on recent civilian killings — in Ayod, and also in Abiemnom County near the Sudan border where at least 169 people were killed on Sunday.
“We implore you to deploy resources to protect vulnerable populations and foster a climate of dialogue and reconciliation instead of violence and revenge, consoling the bereaved and supporting the afflicted,” it said in a statement.
