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Trump, in Rhetorical Shift, Says Ukraine Can Retake All Its Land 

US President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the 80th United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, New York, US, September 23, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the 80th United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, New York, US, September 23, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trump, in Rhetorical Shift, Says Ukraine Can Retake All Its Land 

US President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the 80th United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, New York, US, September 23, 2025. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the 80th United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, New York, US, September 23, 2025. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he believed Ukraine could retake all its land occupied by Russia and that Kyiv should act now with Moscow facing "big" economic problems, in a sudden and striking rhetorical shift in Ukraine's favor.

But there was no sign that Trump's words would be matched by a change in US policy, such as a decision to impose the heavy new sanctions on Moscow sought by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as he traveled to New York this week.

"Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act," Trump wrote on Truth Social, shortly after meeting Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

"After seeing the Economic trouble (the war) is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form," he said.

That would ostensibly require Kyiv to expel Russian forces from 20% of its territory, including the Crimean peninsula Moscow has held since 2014, in what would be an extraordinary reversal.

Trump has previously suggested Kyiv should consider giving up territory in order to make peace, fueling Ukrainian fears of behind-the-scenes talks for a deal that would seek to recognize its occupied lands as legally Russian.

Europe's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, praised Trump's statements, saying: "These have been very strong statements that we haven't heard before in such formats, so it is really good that we are in the same understanding now."

GOOD, CONSTRUCTIVE MEETING

The US president's tone was in stark contrast to his red-carpet treatment for Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska last month, part of an ostensible push to expedite an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Zelenskiy told reporters at a briefing that he had a "good, constructive" meeting with Trump, declining to go into detail, while praising Trump's statement on Truth Social as a "big shift."

Zelenskiy later told Fox News that he thought the positions of the Ukrainian and US teams were "closer than any time before," and that he thought Trump's position had changed.

The US statement criticized Russia, saying it had been fighting "aimlessly" in a war that a "real military power" would have won in less than a week. That, Trump added, made Russia look very much like a "paper tiger".

Nonetheless, the only firm commitment from Trump on Truth Social was to "continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them," an apparent reference to a new mechanism allowing European countries to buy US weapons for Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's remarks to the UN Security Council suggested the United States had not given up hope of a peaceful resolution.

"This war needs to end. But if it does not, if there is no path to peace in the short term, then the United States and President Donald J. Trump will take the steps necessary to impose costs for continued aggression."

Zelenskiy has been urging the United States to ramp up sanctions pressure on Russia to coerce it into entering negotiations to end the war launched in February 2022, a call he repeated at the United Nations.

Addressing the General Assembly earlier, Trump said he was ready to impose strong economic measures if Russia did not end its war, but that allies would have to do the same. He also derided some European powers for continuing to buy Russian oil.

Zelenskiy said he and Trump discussed Russia's stuttering economy and "there was an understanding" that Trump would be ready to provide security guarantees to Ukraine when the war ended.

He said that Trump had the power to prove a "game-changer" for Ukraine in the war. Zelenskiy noted China retained influence over Russia, though he added he had seen no sign from Beijing that it wanted the war over.

Speaking to reporters, Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy played down the significance of Trump's statement on Truth Social.

"Don't get so excited about every tweet," said Polyanskiy.

Former Democratic US Representative Tom Malinowski said the Trump statement was "an amazing 180-degree turn, which might not last long".

Malinowski, also a former assistant US secretary of state, added on X: "But Putin will have only one question back. What more is Trump actually going to do to help Ukraine win? If nothing, then it's just words."

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World

Australia Bans Visitors from Iran

Commuters walk past Wynyard Station in Sydney, Australia, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Commuters walk past Wynyard Station in Sydney, Australia, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
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Australia Bans Visitors from Iran

Commuters walk past Wynyard Station in Sydney, Australia, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Commuters walk past Wynyard Station in Sydney, Australia, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Hollie Adams

Australia banned visitors from Iran on Thursday, saying war in the Middle East increased the risk they would refuse to fly home once their short-term visas expired.

For the next six months people travelling on Iranian passports will be barred from visiting Australia for tourism or work, the Home Affairs department said.

"The conflict in Iran has increased the risk that some temporary visa holders may be unable or unlikely to depart Australia when their visas expire," it said in a statement.

Some exceptions would be made on a case-by-case basis, the department added, such as for the parents of Australian citizens.

"There are many visitor visas which were issued before the conflict in Iran which may not have been issued if they were applied for now," Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said.

"Decisions about permanent stays in Australia should be deliberate decisions of the government, not a random consequence of who booked a holiday."

More than 85,000 Australian residents were born in Iran, according to government figures, with vibrant diaspora communities found in major cities such as Sydney and Melbourne.

Australia angered Iran this month when it granted asylum to seven players and officials from the visiting women's football team.

The players were branded "traitors" at home after refusing to sing the national anthem before an Asian Cup match -- a gesture seen as an act of defiance against the Iranian republic.

Five of those seven later reversed their decisions to seek sanctuary in Australia, fueling suspicions their families had come under threat.

World

Iran and the US Harden their Positions as Tehran Keeps Its Grip on the Strait of Hormuz

FILE - A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
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Iran and the US Harden their Positions as Tehran Keeps Its Grip on the Strait of Hormuz

FILE - A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Iran and the United States hardened their positions as diplomacy aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the war in the Middle East appeared to be faltering on Thursday. Tehran moved to formalize its control over the crucial Strait of Hormuz while Washington prepared for the arrival of US combat forces in the region that could be used on the ground in the Iranian Republic.

Iran is instituting a “de facto ‘toll booth’ regime,” industry experts say, with some ships paying in Chinese yuan to pass through the strait, where 20% of all traded oil and natural gas is transported in peacetime.

Meanwhile, a strike group anchored by the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli drew closer to the Mideast with some 2,500 Marines. Also, at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne have been ordered to the region, The Associated Press said.

The troop movements don’t guarantee US President Donald Trump will try to use force to compel Iran to open the strait and halt its attacks on Gulf Arab states.

Trump previously deployed a large force in the Caribbean before the American military captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January. In the current situation, the US is seen as focused on possibly seizing Iran’s oil terminal at Kharg Island or other sites near the strait.

US Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, who commands the American military in the region, said his forces have hit more than 10,000 targets since Israel and the US started the war Feb. 28, destroying 92% of Iran's largest ships and more than two-thirds of the country's missile, drone and naval production facilities.

“We’re not done yet,” said Cooper, who heads the US Central Command, in a video message. “We are on a path to completely eliminate Iran’s wider military apparatus.”

Iran seen as operating Strait of Hormuz as ‘de facto toll booth’

With its stranglehold on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which leads from the Arabian Gulf toward the open ocean, Iran has been blocking ships it perceives as linked to the US and Israeli war effort, but letting through a trickle of others.

The Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, quoted lawmaker Mohammadreza Rezaei Kouchi as saying that parliament was working to formalize the process of charging fees to let ships pass.

“We provide its security, and it is natural that ships and oil tankers should pay such fees,” he was quoted as saying.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence called it a “de facto ‘toll booth’ regime.”

The shipping intelligence firm said vessels have to provide manifests, crew details and their destination to Iran’s Guard for sanctions screening, cargo alignment checks that currently prioritizes oil over all other commodities, and for what is described as ‘geopolitical vetting.’”

“While not all ships are paying a direct toll, at least two vessels have and the payment is settled in yuan,” Lloyd’s List said, referring to China’s currency.

Iran's grip on the strait and relentless attacks on Gulf regional energy infrastructure has sent oil prices skyrocketing and concerns of a global energy crisis surging. Brent crude, the international standard, traded at US$104 early Thursday, up more than 40% from the day the war started.

“To make it crystal clear, this war is a catastrophe for world's economies,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters during a visit to Australia.

US maintains negotiations are ongoing but Iran says there are no talks

Using Pakistan as an intermediary, Washington has delivered to Iran a 15-point ceasefire proposal, which includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump, speaking at a fundraiser Wednesday night in Washington, insisted that Iran still wants to cut a deal.

“They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly, but they’re afraid to say it because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people,” Trump said.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview on state TV, however, that his government has not engaged in talks to end the war, “and we do not plan on any negotiations.”

Araghchi said the US had tried to send messages to Iran through other nations, “but that is not a conversation nor a negotiation.”

Press TV, the English-language broadcaster on Iranian state television, said Iran has its own five-point proposal, which includes “sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.”

A wave of Israeli airstrikes hits as Iran fires on Gulf neighbors

Israel said it carried out a wave of attacks early on Thursday targeting Iranian infrastructure, and air defenses were heard in Tehran, while heavy strikes were also reported around Isfahan, a city some 330 kilometers (205 miles) south of the Iranian capital.

Ifahan is home to a major Iranian air base and other military sites, as well as one of the nuclear sites bombed by the US during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June.

Sirens sounded very early on Thursday morning in parts of Tel Aviv and cities in central Israel. Rescue workers said two people were injured in a blast in Kfar Qasim.

Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry said it intercepted multiple drones over its oil-rich Eastern Province, the United Arab Emirates' air defenses also worked to intercept incoming fire, and Bahrain reported extinguishing a blaze in a neighborhood that is home to the Bahrain International Airport.

Since the war began, more than 1,500 people have been killed in Iran, its Health Ministry says. Twenty people have been killed in Israel; two Israeli soldiers have also been killed in Lebanon. At least 13 US military members have been killed. More than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states have also died.

Nearly 1,100 people have died in Lebanon, authorities said. In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militant groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have been killed.

World

Pentagon Reaches Deals with Defense Firms to Expand Munitions Production

A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, DC (AP) 
A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, DC (AP) 
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Pentagon Reaches Deals with Defense Firms to Expand Munitions Production

A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, DC (AP) 
A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, DC (AP) 

The Pentagon said on Wednesday it had reached framework agreements with BAE Systems, Lockheed and Honeywell to boost production of defense systems munitions as part of a push to put the US military on a “wartime footing.”

The ‌announcements come more than three weeks after US President Donald Trump and Israel launched a war on Iran. They also follow Trump's meeting earlier this month with executives from seven defense contractors as the Pentagon sought to replenish weapons stocks depleted by US strikes on Iran and other recent military operations.

The Pentagon also plans to send thousands of airborne troops to ⁠the Gulf to give Trump more options to order a ground assault, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Under the agreements, Honeywell Aerospace will “surge production of critical components for America's munitions stockpile,” as part of a $500 million multi-year investment, the Pentagon said.

BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin will also quadruple production of seekers for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor, while a new framework agreement with Lockheed will accelerate production of its Precision Strike Missile, the Pentagon added.

Honeywell said the agreement would support increased output of navigation systems, missile steering actuators and electronic warfare products used ‌across ⁠US military platforms.

Honeywell Aerospace CEO Jim Currier said the company was ready to help meet the urgent demand.

Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet also said the company was “working closely with the Department of War and the US Army to scale production to meet operational demand.”

Trump in January signed an executive order directing ⁠officials to identify contractors deemed to be underperforming on government contracts while continuing to return profits to shareholders. His administration has also stepped up pressure on defense companies to prioritize production over shareholder payouts.

“We discussed ⁠production and production schedules,” Trump said of the earlier meeting, which included executives from Lockheed Martin, RTX, BAE Systems, Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, L3Harris Technologies and Northrop Grumman.

The United States has drawn ⁠down billions of dollars worth of weapons from its stockpiles since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and during Israel's military operations in Gaza, including artillery systems, ammunition and anti-tank missiles.