Kremlin Says Biden Has Key to End Ukraine Conflict but Doesn’t Use it

A Ukrainian serviceman is seen at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 26, 2023. (Reuters)
A Ukrainian serviceman is seen at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 26, 2023. (Reuters)
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Kremlin Says Biden Has Key to End Ukraine Conflict but Doesn’t Use it

A Ukrainian serviceman is seen at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 26, 2023. (Reuters)
A Ukrainian serviceman is seen at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 26, 2023. (Reuters)

The Kremlin said on Friday that US President Joe Biden had the key to end the conflict in Ukraine by directing Kyiv, but that Washington had so far not been willing to use it.

"The key to the Kyiv regime is largely in the hands of Washington," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing.

"Now we see that the current White House leader ... does not want to use this key. On the contrary, he chooses the path of further pumping weapons into Ukraine," he added.

Moscow has often accused Washington of giving orders to Ukraine and of prolonging the conflict by supplying Kyiv with weapons. The United States says Russia has unleashed a brutal war of choice and can end it by withdrawing its troops.

Tensions between the two sides have plumbed to historic lows over the past year, with the United States announcing this week that it would supply Ukraine with 31 advanced M1 Abrams tanks worth $400 million in a matter of months.

Russia says any Abrams shipments would be a waste of money as they would "burn" just like other tanks in Ukraine.



Released Pro-Palestinian Protest Leader Sues Trump for $20 Mn

Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
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Released Pro-Palestinian Protest Leader Sues Trump for $20 Mn

Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)

Mahmoud Khalil, one of the most prominent leaders of US pro-Palestinian campus protests, sued the Trump administration Thursday for $20 million over his arrest and detention by immigration agents.

Khalil, a legal permanent resident in the United States who is married to a US citizen and has a US-born son, had been in custody following his arrest in March.

The 30-year-old was freed from a federal immigration detention center in Louisiana last month, hours after a judge ordered his release on bail.

"The administration carried out its illegal plan to arrest, detain, and deport Mr. Khalil 'in a manner calculated to terrorize him and his family,' the claim says," according to the Center for Constitutional Rights which is backing Khalil.

Khalil suffered "severe emotional distress, economic hardship (and) damage to his reputation," the claim adds.

The Columbia University graduate was a figurehead of student protests against US ally Israel's war in Gaza, and the Trump administration labeled him a national security threat.

Khalil called the lawsuit a "first step towards accountability."

"Nothing can restore the 104 days stolen from me. The trauma, the separation from my wife, the birth of my first child that I was forced to miss," he said in the statement.

"There must be accountability for political retaliation and abuse of power."

Khalil has previously shared his "horrendous" experience in detention, where he "shared a dorm with over 70 men, absolutely no privacy, lights on all the time."

President Donald Trump's government has justified pushing for Khalil's deportation by saying his continued presence in the United States could carry "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences."

Khalil's detention came amid Trump's campaign against top US universities in recent months, with the president facing off against Columbia, Harvard and other schools over foreign student enrollment while cutting federal grants and threatening to strip accreditation.

Beyond his legal case, Khalil's team has expressed fear he could face threats out of detention.