International News
Russia Must End War, Says Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was up to Russia to end its invasion, ahead of high-stakes talks on Monday with US counterpart Donald Trump, who is pressuring Ukraine to give up Crimea and abandon its NATO ambitions.
The comments came hours before Zelensky and European leaders were scheduled to meet Trump in Washington, a follow-up to a summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska on Friday that failed to produce a ceasefire.
Trump, who dropped his insistence on a ceasefire in favor of a final peace deal after meeting Putin, said late Sunday that Zelensky could end the three-and-a-half-year war “almost immediately, if he wants to.”
“Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”, Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Announcing that he had landed in Washington, Zelensky wrote later: “Russia must end this war, which it itself started.”
“Ukrainians are fighting for their land, their independence,” he said, adding that he hoped “that our joint strength with America, with our European friends, will force Russia into a real peace.”
Trump and Zelensky are expected to meet one-on-one before being joined by the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Finland, as well as NATO chief Mark Rutte and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, according to the White House.
Ahead of Monday’s meeting, China called for “all parties” to agree to peace “as soon as possible.”
It will be the first time Zelensky visits Washington since a bust-up with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in February, when the two men berated the Ukrainian leader for being “ungrateful.”
A Russian drone attack on a five-story apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv just before dawn killed at least seven people, authorities said.
Ukrainian shelling attacks in the Russian-occupied parts of the Kherson and Donetsk regions meanwhile killed two people, Moscow-installed authorities said.
Security guarantees
Since the Oval Office row with Zelensky in February, Trump has grown more critical of Putin and shown some signs of frustration as Russia repeatedly stalled on peace talks.
But Washington has not placed extra sanctions on Moscow, and the lavish welcome offered to Putin in Alaska on his first visit to the West since he invaded Ukraine in 2022 was seen as a diplomatic coup for Russia.
Speaking in Brussels on the eve of his visit to the United States, Zelensky said he was keen to hear more about what Putin and Trump discussed in Alaska.
He also hailed Washington’s offer of security guarantees to Ukraine as “historic.”
Trump said he spoke to Putin about the possibility of a collective defense guarantee for Ukraine similar to the one in place for NATO members.
The promise would be outside of the framework of the Western military alliance that Ukraine wants to join and which is seen as an existential threat by Russia.
Discussion on land
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff said Moscow had made “some concessions” regarding five Ukrainian regions that Russia now fully or partially controls, and that there was an “important discussion with regard to Donetsk and what would happen there.”
“That discussion is going to specifically be detailed on Monday,” he told CNN, without giving details.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 following a referendum denounced as a sham by Kyiv and the West, and did the same in 2022 in four Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia — even though its forces have not fully captured them.
A source briefed on a phone call between Trump and European leaders on Saturday told AFP that the US leader was “inclined to support” a Russian demand to be given territory it had not yet captured in the Donbas, an area that includes the Donetsk and Lugansk regions and that has seen the deadliest battles of the war.
In exchange, Moscow would agree to “freeze” the front line in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, regions where Russian forces hold swathes of territory but not the regional capitals, the source cited Trump as saying.
Russia had until now insisted that Ukraine pull its forces from all four regions as a precondition to any deal.
Zelensky has said he is constitutionally bound not to give away any Ukrainian territory.
AFP
German authorities deported at least 137 Nigerian citizens across five chartered flights between February and June 2026, according to migration monitoring reports.
Data from the DERS Team and Refugees4refugees.org shows the deportations occurred in phases, with 27 Nigerians returned in February, 37 in March through a joint European Union operation, 24 in April, 23 in May, and 26 in June.
The February operation departed from Stuttgart and landed at Lagos Cargo Airport, with Baden-Württemberg listed as a primary participant. The March operation represented the largest single return of Nigerians recorded over three years and was executed in collaboration with Spain, Austria, and Belgium.
The reports indicate a growing reliance on multi-national chartered flights by European states to repatriate undocumented or non-resident individuals to Nigeria.
The United States has condemned the killing of members of the family of Plateau-based cleric, Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, describing the attack as horrific and urging Nigerian authorities to ensure those responsible are brought to justice.
In a statement shared on X on Thursday, the US Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs expressed condolences to the victims’ families and called for stronger measures to prevent further attacks on vulnerable communities across Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
“The United States strongly condemns the horrific killing of members of Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo’s family in Plateau State, Nigeria. The continued violence targeting Christian communities and other vulnerable populations in Nigeria’s Middle Belt is deeply alarming,” the bureau said
The US said it had already engaged Nigerian officials on the worsening security situation, stressing that urgent action was needed to curb recurring attacks and hold perpetrators accountable.
“As I discussed last week with Nigerian officials, we must do more to prevent violent acts. The perpetrators must be held accountable, and urgent action is needed to strengthen security and protect Christians and other vulnerable communities,” the statement added.
The bureau reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to working with the Nigerian government to combat terrorism and violent extremism, stressing that Christians and other Nigerians should be able to practise their faith without fear of violence.
The statement followed the July 12 attack on Kum community in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, where nine members of Rev. Dachomo’s extended family, including a two-month-old baby, were killed.
According to the cleric, the attackers, believed to be armed Fulani militias, asked for him by name before opening fire on his relatives.
Dachomo, who serves as Regional Chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, said his family had repeatedly been targeted because of his outspoken criticism of the violence in Plateau State.
He recalled that his grandmother and an uncle were also killed in previous attacks, adding that days after burying his relatives, he received a written death threat from the same group, warning that he would be their next target.
Saudi Arabia has updated its tourist eVisa programme for 2026, limiting eligibility in Africa to only three countries as part of its list of 66 nations whose citizens can apply through the Kingdom’s online visa platform.
The move leaves most African countries, including Nigeria, outside the simplified entry scheme.
The electronic visa allows eligible travellers to visit Saudi Arabia for tourism, leisure activities, family visits and Umrah, excluding the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Applications are completed online, eliminating the need for embassy visits and lengthy visa processing.
Saudi authorities said the eVisa forms part of ongoing efforts to expand tourism, attract international visitors and simplify travel procedures through a fully digital application system. The visa is available only to citizens of approved countries and territories listed on the Kingdom’s official tourism portal.
Below is the list of African countries eligible for Saudi Arabia’s eVisa.
1. Mauritius
2. Seychelles
3. South Africa
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