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Ukraine's Allies Push Back on a US Peace Plan Seen as Favoring Moscow

A handout photo made available by the Presidential Press Service shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (C-R), his wife Olena Zelenska (C-L) together with top officials and service members visit the Holodomor Genocide complex of the National Museum in Kyiv, Ukraine, 22 November 2025. EPA/PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the Presidential Press Service shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (C-R), his wife Olena Zelenska (C-L) together with top officials and service members visit the Holodomor Genocide complex of the National Museum in Kyiv, Ukraine, 22 November 2025. EPA/PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / HANDOUT
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Ukraine's Allies Push Back on a US Peace Plan Seen as Favoring Moscow

A handout photo made available by the Presidential Press Service shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (C-R), his wife Olena Zelenska (C-L) together with top officials and service members visit the Holodomor Genocide complex of the National Museum in Kyiv, Ukraine, 22 November 2025. EPA/PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the Presidential Press Service shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (C-R), his wife Olena Zelenska (C-L) together with top officials and service members visit the Holodomor Genocide complex of the National Museum in Kyiv, Ukraine, 22 November 2025. EPA/PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / HANDOUT

Ukraine’s Western allies rallied around the war-torn country on Saturday as they pushed to revise a US peace plan seen as favoring Moscow despite its all-out invasion of its neighbor. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed Ukrainians “will always defend” their home.

A Ukrainian delegation, bolstered by representatives from France, Germany and the UK, are preparing for direct talks with Washington in Switzerland on Sunday, The Associated Press reported.

The 28-point blueprint drawn up by the US to end the nearly four-year war sparked alarm in Kyiv and European capitals, with Zelenskyy saying his country could face a stark choice between standing up for its sovereign rights and preserving the American support it needs.

The US plan foresees Ukraine handing over territory to Russia, something Kyiv has repeatedly ruled out, while reducing the size of its army and blocking its coveted path to NATO membership. It contains many of Moscow’s long-standing demands, while offering limited security guarantees to Kyiv.

On Saturday, leaders of the European Union, Canada and Japan issued a joint statement welcoming US peace efforts, but pushed back against key tenets of the plan.

“We are ready to engage in order to ensure that a future peace is sustainable. We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force. We are also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack,” the statement said. It added that any decisions regarding NATO and the EU would require the consent of member states.

The French, German and UK prime ministers met during the day on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, to discuss ways to support Kyiv, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters at the summit that “wars cannot be ended by major powers over the heads of the countries affected,” and insisted Kyiv needed robust guarantees.

Merz added that envoys from Germany, France, the UK and the EU will join Ukrainian negotiators as they meet a US delegation in Geneva on Sunday to discuss Washington's proposal. Zelenskyy confirmed the meeting on Saturday, after President Donald Trump set a deadline for Kyiv to respond to the plan by next Thursday.

European leaders have long warned against rushing a peace deal, seeing their own future at stake in Ukraine’s fight to beat back Russia, and insist on being consulted in peace efforts.

Kyiv's key allies in Europe reiterated their reservations about the Kremlin's readiness to end the war.

“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but their actions never live up to their words,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters ahead of the G20 summit, days after a Russian strike on western Ukraine killed over two dozen civilians.

European leaders have long accused Russia of stalling diplomatic efforts in the hope of overwhelming Ukraine's much smaller forces on the battlefield.

Kyiv has repeatedly accepted US ceasefire proposals this year, while Moscow has held out for more favorable terms.

“An end to the war can only be achieved with the unconditional consent of Ukraine,” Merz said during G20 summit briefing, adding that he had told Trump in a long phone call on Friday that Europe needed to be a part of any peace process, and that Russia had previously failed to keep its promises to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity.

"From my perspective, there is currently a chance to end this war,” Merz added. “But we are still quite a way from a good outcome for everyone.”

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that a key principle for Kyiv's European allies was “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

French President Emmanuel Macron echoed that sentiment in a speech at the G20 summit on Saturday, saying “there can be no peace in Ukraine without respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty.” He did not mention the US peace plan.

Zelenskyy, in a video address published Saturday, said Ukrainian representatives at the talks in Switzerland “know how to protect Ukrainian national interests and exactly what is needed to prevent Russia from carrying out” another invasion. “Real peace is always based on security and justice,” he added.

Nine officials are to take part in the talks, including Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andrii Yermak and top envoy Rustem Umerov, according to a statement posted on the Ukrainian presidency’s website, which also stated that the negotiators are empowered to deal directly with Russia.

On Saturday, Ukraine commemorated the “great famine” that Soviet leader Josef Stalin imposed in the early 1930s, which led to millions of deaths.

“We all know how and why millions of our people died, starved to death, and millions were never born. And we are once again defending ourselves against Russia, which has not changed and is once again bringing death,” Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram marking Holodomor Memorial Day.

“We defended, defend, and will always defend Ukraine. Because only here is our home. And in our home, Russia will definitely not be the master,” he added.

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World

US Treasury Chief Blames Commerce Dept for Failure in Nvidia Scandal

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during the National Committee on US-China Relations 60th Anniversary Gala Dinner in New York City, US, November 10, 2026. (Reuters)
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during the National Committee on US-China Relations 60th Anniversary Gala Dinner in New York City, US, November 10, 2026. (Reuters)
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US Treasury Chief Blames Commerce Dept for Failure in Nvidia Scandal

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during the National Committee on US-China Relations 60th Anniversary Gala Dinner in New York City, US, November 10, 2026. (Reuters)
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during the National Committee on US-China Relations 60th Anniversary Gala Dinner in New York City, US, November 10, 2026. (Reuters)

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday blamed the Commerce Department for failing to blacklist Megaspeed, the Singapore company at the center of a scandal that prompted Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang to resign.

Speaking on CNBC, Bessent said Treasury, the Defense Department, the US Trade Representative's office and the State Department had backed adding Megaspeed to the Washington's trade blacklist, "for months."

"But Commerce has the pen," Bessent said. "You will have to ask them about their internal processes."

He said he was "frustrated" because President Donald Trump "made it very clear that China should not receive any Nvidia chips above H100s."

"Any leakage is very frustrating because it hurts our great companies, and in the AI race gives the Chinese an advantage," he said.

The remarks are a rare public rebuke of one cabinet department by another. Commerce is led by Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Megaspeed is suspected of helping Chinese firms get around US export controls by buying Nvidia chips for its data centers in Southeast Asia and routing them to China.

The company reportedly traded more than $4 billion worth of Nvidia chips over two years.

Its former director Alice Huang was this week identified in US media as an alleged Chinese intelligence asset who had a relationship with Jensen Huang. The two are not related. Beijing has denied the spying allegations.

Jensen Huang acknowledged an extramarital affair in a November 8 letter to Nvidia employees that did not name the woman involved and resigned his position on Thursday.

Nvidia's board has said it will investigate, and three US Congress committee chairs have asked him to attend a closed-door briefing on November 18.

Bessent said coverage of the affair had focused too much on Huang's private life.

"The story thus far has been on Jensen Huang's personal foibles," he said. "The real story here should be: Did Nvidia know their client, and was there a robust effort at Nvidia to make sure that there was no leakage."

He questioned whether Nvidia had been selling to "what were obviously pass-through shell companies."

"I think it's important that anyone at the company there be held accountable for that," Bessent said.

He said there was "a lot of leakage in the system" and that the administration was "constantly working to close that down."

World

UN Chief Urges Drastic Emissions Cuts as COP31 Wrestles with Fossil Fuels

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at a press conference on the fifth day of the COP31 annual UN climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye, 13 November 2026. (EPA)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at a press conference on the fifth day of the COP31 annual UN climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye, 13 November 2026. (EPA)
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UN Chief Urges Drastic Emissions Cuts as COP31 Wrestles with Fossil Fuels

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at a press conference on the fifth day of the COP31 annual UN climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye, 13 November 2026. (EPA)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at a press conference on the fifth day of the COP31 annual UN climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye, 13 November 2026. (EPA)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for an "immediate and drastic reduction" in greenhouse gas emissions, as divisions over fossil fuels dominated the first week of COP31 climate talks in Türkiye.

Big fossil fuel producers and consumers at the talks are resisting any deal that would specify firm new targets or a shift away from oil, gas and coal, observers said as the first week of talks drew to a close.

That poses a challenge for summit host Türkiye and lead negotiator Australia, which have another week to land the kind of ambitious agreement climate advocates such as Guterres say is needed.

"The central question is in the hands of member states, particularly the big emitters. They must recognize the need for an immediate and drastic reduction in emissions to keep the 1.5 goal still possible by the end of the century," he said, referring to the warming limit countries had agreed to ‌pursue under the 2015 ‌Paris Agreement.

A UN report last month found the world is on course to exceed ‌the 1.5 ⁠degrees Celsius (2.7 ⁠degrees Fahrenheit) warming threshold, a limit scientists say should prevent the worst effects of climate change.

As temperatures have risen, this year has been marked by extreme heatwaves across Western Europe and a glacier collapse in Nepal that triggered a flood that killed more than 1,450 people. Thousands more are still missing.

'DISPROPORTIONATE INFLUENCE'

Major oil producers have traditionally resisted language constraining fossil fuels, while large developing economies such as India have opposed measures they say could limit their development and energy choices, a dynamic that has compromised the outcomes of past deals.

The world’s biggest oil consumer, the United States, meanwhile, has skipped the talks for the second year ⁠in a row under President Donald Trump, who has called global warming a hoax and promoted ‌continued use of fossil fuels.

"We must confront the disproportionate influence of the fossil ‌fuel lobby. The future of our planet cannot be negotiated on the terms of those profiting from its destruction," said Guterres, who is leaving ‌his job at the end of December after two five-year terms.

"But I remain hopeful. I've also seen something extraordinary over ‌these 10 years. Renewable energy has moved from the margins to the mainstream. The economics have changed. The technology has advanced. A cleaner, safer, and more secure energy future is in our hands. The question is whether we have the courage and speed to reach for it."

ELECTRIFICATION AND NO FIRM TARGETS

COP31 host Türkiye is striving to place a proposal to expand global electrification at the center of an eventual deal, saying the ‌plan will lead to emissions cuts by speeding the shift away from fossil fuel-powered cars, boilers and other equipment.

The proposal does not require the increased electricity use to come ⁠from renewable sources, although some ⁠countries, including last year’s COP host Brazil, are advocating for progress on a plan to require countries to more clearly map out their transition away from fossil fuels.

Katrine Petersen, an observer for the non-governmental organization E3G, said whether those measures survive the talks depends on conversations in the days to come.

"We've also heard quite clearly from countries like India, the G77, that they don't want any firm targets. They don't want any kind of technology or fuel-specific language," she said. "(These are) the kind of consistent and ongoing divides that we've seen from those different parties before."

Diana Acconcia, head of the EU delegation, said Europe backed the electrification goal.

"Electrification is, in a way, an inclusive agenda because it is non-prescriptive in a way on how the electrification is achieved," she said. "Of course, for the European Union electrification is to be achieved by clean sources of energy."

The Australian team, which is leading negotiations under a split presidency arrangement, spent the first few days of the summit gathering views on what should be included in a political text agreed by consensus that will be followed by all the negotiated technical points.

Australia is taking further submissions from countries until Saturday night, with a view to formulating a draft text early next week.

World

Europe’s Security Cannot Be Part of Ukraine Peace Talks, EU Leaders Say

13 November 2026, Ireland, Dublin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the EU summit at the Convention Centre in Dublin. (dpa)
13 November 2026, Ireland, Dublin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the EU summit at the Convention Centre in Dublin. (dpa)
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Europe’s Security Cannot Be Part of Ukraine Peace Talks, EU Leaders Say

13 November 2026, Ireland, Dublin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the EU summit at the Convention Centre in Dublin. (dpa)
13 November 2026, Ireland, Dublin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the EU summit at the Convention Centre in Dublin. (dpa)

EU leaders said on Friday that Europe's security structure should not be a subject for Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations, but they did not answer the question of who should speak for Europe in any future talks.

The Kremlin said on Friday that Russia would be open to European countries taking part in Ukraine peace talks if it saw they were ready to contribute to the peace process.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the Kremlin's comments as "the same old game" and said that Europe and the United States agreed on a clear message.

"There will be no discussions about ‌Ukraine without ‌Ukraine, and no discussions about Europe without Europe. Furthermore, there is no need ‌to ⁠talk about European ⁠security architecture. We have that already," Merz told reporters during a summit of European Union leaders in Dublin.

Russian officials have called for a broad agreement on Europe's security architecture to be reached before tackling the specifics of the war. Before its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia demanded the withdrawal of NATO forces from countries that joined the alliance after 1997. NATO rejected the demand.

US negotiator Jared Kushner said in Moscow on Thursday that he had begun discussions with European partners on ⁠the continent's security architecture.

EUROPE PRIORITIZES CEASEFIRE IN RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

EU foreign policy chief ‌Kaja Kallas said Russian calls for discussions about Europe's ‌security architecture risked diverting attention from the need for a ceasefire. Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs called such ‌discussions "a trap".

During a meeting on Thursday, leaders from Poland, the Baltics and Nordic states warned ‌against brainstorming with the US or Russia about Europe’s security architecture, according to a European diplomat and a European official.

Forty European countries, meeting as a broader group in Dublin on Thursday, signed a declaration saying that any matter affecting European security should be decided with the involvement of Europeans.

EU leaders broadly agreed that Europe ‌needed to speak with one voice, but did not settle on a single individual to do so. Merz said discussions would continue.

"There are ⁠established institutional forms ⁠of (EU) representation — Kaja Kallas, for instance, is part of this — but the E3 format has also proven very effective," he said, in reference to an informal security grouping of France, Germany and Britain, which is no longer an EU member but a prominent NATO ally.

"Moreover, we always include Italy and Poland," Merz added.

Representatives from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the EU attended Russia-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi earlier this week, where both Moscow and Kyiv cited some progress, though there was no sign of a breakthrough on key issues such as territory.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Britain, one of Europe's top three military powers, certainly had to be included in any future talks and that the five countries plus EU institutions would make sense.

"I'm quite flexible on that, so I think what we actually say is more important than the exact configuration of the people in the room," he said.