SUDAN WATCH: Poland

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Sunday, February 16, 2025

“Bastards” one British defence official said of the Americans on hearing US purported plan for Ukraine

HERE below are dozens of news reports covering the past five days that shook US-UK-Europe relations while the 61st Munich Security Conference was held 14-16 Feb 2025. Much of the conference, a centre of international diplomacy, was live-streamed. Recordings can be found here.

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From BBC News Live Reporting
Edited by Alex Therrien and Frances Mao

Published Sunday 16 February 2025 at 20:09 PM GMT - full copy:

Timeline: Five days that shook US-Europe relations

Donald Trump's administration has been accelerating action to end the war in Ukraine, in a drastic shift in US policy on the conflict.

Here's a run-down of the key moments day-by-day:

Wednesday 12 February: Trump shocks European allies by revealing he had a "lengthy" phone call with Russian President, with both leaders agreeing to begin negotiations to end the Ukraine war

Thursday 13 February: Zelensky says Ukraine will not agree to any peace deal drawn up without its involvement. European allies back him

Friday 14 February: JD Vance uses his Munich Security Conference speech to scald European democracies, almost entirely ignoring Ukraine – the conference’s key focus

Saturday 15 February: In his own speech to the conference, Zelensky calls for the creation of an “army of Europe”. The US announces peace talks will be held in Saudi Arabia. But it provokes further consternation by saying Europe will be consulted but not involved in the negotiations

Sunday 16 February: The BBC learns that Kyiv has not been invited to the talks in Saudi Arabia. European leaders schedule an emergency summit in Paris to discuss the war and European security

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From BBC News online

By James Waterhouse

Ukraine correspondent

Reporting from Kyiv

Maia Davies

BBC News

Dated Sunday 16 February 2025, 20:38 PM GMT - excerpt:

Ukraine not invited to US-Russia peace talks, source tells BBC

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out accepting a peace deal negotiated without Kyiv's involvement.

Kyiv has not been invited to talks between the US and Russia aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian government source has told the BBC.

European leaders have also not been asked to join the discussions, and are due to meet instead on Monday [17 Feb] in Paris at a summit hastily arranged by the French president, as fears grow the continent is being locked out of negotiations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out accepting a peace deal negotiated without Kyiv's involvement

Full story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm292319gr2o

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“Bastards” one British defence official said of the Americans on hearing of the purported plan.https://t.co/9PJ2ughD4P
— Rob Crilly (@robcrilly) February 15, 2025

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Final day here of the Munich Security Conference as America tells Europe it needs to look after its own security and defence. #MSC2025 pic.twitter.com/OPSiAHDpTK
— Frank Gardner (@FrankRGardner) February 16, 2025

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Related reports

From BBC News online

By Luke Mintz, The World This Weekend

Chas Geiger, Politics reporter

Dated Sunday 16 February 2025, 18:13 PM GMT - excerpt:

US isolation threatens global democracy, warns Major

Sir John Major has warned that democracy is under threat as the United States steps back from its leading role in the world.

The former prime minister told the BBC that US President Donald Trump's policy of American "isolation" was creating a power vacuum that would embolden nations like Russia and China.

Sir John, who was PM from 1990 to 1997, said the gains made since the collapse of the Soviet Union were now being reversed - and that there was "no doubt" Russia would invade elsewhere before long.

He said that "ugly nationalism" growing concurrently was making for a "very unsettled time".

His comments come as European leaders prepare for an emergency summit on Monday on the war in Ukraine.

US and Russian officials are due to open peace talks in the coming days despite concerns European nations including Ukraine were being locked out.

Full story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gwngxdd1vo

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BBC News Live Reporting - Some Summaries covering 12-16 Feb 2025

Donald Trump says he had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that they agreed to start negotiations to end the war in Ukraine "immediately"

Both Trump and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the two presidents agreed to visit each other's nations during the call

Volodymyr Zelensky's office has confirmed that the Ukrainian president also spoke to his American counterpart in an hour-long phone call

That Trump and Putin have something to talk about is quite promising, our security correspondent Frank Gardner writes - but today's development "has been a bit of a cold shower for both Ukraine and Nato"

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is answering reporters' questions in the briefing room - you can watch live at the top of this page

Earlier, a US House committee heard from witnesses about Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), after Trump signed an executive order to give more power to the body, which is not an official government agency

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he has warned world leaders "against trusting Putin's claims of readiness to end the war"

This comes after the Kremlin confirmed Ukraine will "of course" take part in any peace deal negotiations

Donald Trump spoke to Vladimir Putin on Wednesday before announcing they agreed talks to end the Ukraine war could start "immediately"

After a Nato meeting in Brussels, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said peace negotiations will involve elements neither Moscow nor Kyiv wants while Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said Putin must not be able to "grab another square mile" of Ukraine

Earlier, Trump said there was now a "good possibility" of ending the war

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, eight years after it unilaterally annexed Crimea

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Ukrainian officials will not attend Russia-US talks to be held in Saudi Arabia in the coming days, the BBC has learned

A government source tells BBC News that Ukraine has not been invited and will not send a delegation

Two of Trump's closest foreign policy advisers - Mike Waltz and Steve Witkoff - will travel to Saudi Arabia tonight ahead of the talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly warned he would not accept any deal struck without his country's input

Elsewhere, European leaders will gather in France for an emergency summit tomorrow [Mon 17 Feb], amid US efforts to agree a deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine

It comes after US President Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week to discuss a possible deal

After a chaotic week, Zelensky is trying to re-assert his position, our correspondent in Ukraine James Waterhouse writes

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Report from BBC News Live Reporting

Published Sunday16 Feb 2025 at 18:38 PM GMT - full copy:

Europe has been sending more aid to Ukraine than the US

Who in the West is giving more to Ukraine? Europe has overtaken the US in Ukraine aid, research from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, external shows.

In total, Europe has allocated €70bn (£58bn) in financial and humanitarian aid as well as €62bn in military aid.

This compares to €50bn from the US in financial and humanitarian allocations and €64bn in military aid. A nine-month battle over spending in US Congress in mid-2023 stalled Ukraine aid.

When considering the aid as a share of donor GDP, Germany, the UK and the US have mobilised less than 0.2% of their annual GDP to support Ukraine. Other rich donor countries like France, Italy and Spain allocated roughly 0.1% of their annual GDP.

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Report from BBC News Live Reporting

Published Sunday 16 Feb 2025 at 19:33 PM GMT - full copy:

US sent questionnaire to Europe on Ukraine security contributions

The US sent a document to European governments asking what the countries could contribute towards Ukraine's security arrangements, it has emerged.

The questionnaire sent last week, obtained by Reuters, also asked European nations what they would need from Washington to participate in security arrangements.

The document consisted of six points and questions, asking which countries could contribute to Ukraine's security, and which would be willing to send troops as part of a peace deal.

It comes after US President Donald Trump shocked Europe this week by phoning Russian President Vladimir Putin and declaring an immediate start to peace talks.

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Sunday, August 20, 2023

London synagogue rescues Muslim family from Sudan

THANKS to a Sudanese reader, living in England after fleeing war in Sudan 20 years ago, for this heartwarming story about courage, the kindness of strangers and remarkable work done by members of Britain’s oldest progressive shul, alongside others at a local mosque and nearby church.

They're home! Salih Adam with his wife and child at Heathrow on Thurs -JN

Article at Jewish News - jewishnews.co.uk
By LEE HARPIN
Dated Thursday 17 August 2023, 12:20 pm - here is a full copy:

London synagogue helps rescue Muslim family from war-torn Sudan

EXCLUSIVE: The family’s arrival in the UK comes as a result of the remarkable work done on their behalf by members of Britain’s oldest progressive shul.

They're home! Salih Adam with his wife and child at Heathrow on Thursday.

A Sudanese-born Muslim man who fled the war-torn state for a new life in Britain has risked his life for a second time to bring his wife and baby daughter to this country with the help of West London Synagogue.

Salih Adam, 35, who received UK citizenship this year, arrived at Heathrow this morning after completing a dangerous journey back to his homeland to rescue his wife Moram, 35, and 10-month-old Warif from the on-going civil war, which has seen more than one million people flee the country.

The family’s arrival in the UK comes as a result of the remarkable work done on their behalf by members of Britain’s oldest progressive shul, alongside others at a local mosque and nearby church.

Nic Schlagman, head of social action and interfaith at WLS, who has become friends with Salih since he was directed to the shul’s homeless shelter by a local charity in 2014, praised his “absolute bravery and determination” to be reunited with his family.

He also reflected on the historical fact that help, often from strangers, had saved countless Jewish families from being wiped out during the Holocaust.

Photograph: Salih meeting the King at West London Synagogue in December 2015

Photograph by Elliott Franks

“Family members living in Germany at the time figured they could get my grandmother, who was five-years-old, out of a small town in Poland and onto a train to London to ensure her safety,” said Shlagman.

“She was taken in and brought up by strangers in London who paid to do this themselves.

“I grew up in a household where we knew that the kindness of strangers was literally the only reason we were alive, when people around us wanted to kill us.

“Helping Salih and his family was not done out of self-interest but a sense that people in the world simply need our help. I feel a tremendous sense of pride that we have been able to complete a circle.”

Alongside other shul members, a group of volunteers had worked tirelessly to organise Salih’s risky route to his family, and their eventual journey back to the UK.

The family reunion was also made possible with the assistance of Rabbi Sybil Sheridan, renowned for her work in providing assistance to the Jews of Ethiopia, who provided a fixer for Salih as he risked his life on the border with Sudan to get passports to his wife and infant child.

Schlagman praised the Home Office, and staff at Labour leader Keir Starmer’s constituency office, near where Salih lives, for their critical help.

Schlagman also confirmed the Saudi Arabian embassy in the UK had also been supportive, as the family escaped the war-ravaged republic by flying out to the city of Jeddah, before catching a final flight to London.

Philanthropist Edwin Shuker, who chairs the Board’s of Deputies’ communities and education division, also had a key role in the mission’s success.

But Schlagman said: “Salih is the real hero in this story, someone who has travelled from Sudan, to Ethiopia, to Saudia Arabia to come home. What he has done is unbelievably brave. He has thrown himself into danger, just to be the best father and husband he could be.”

With his wife living at his mother’s home in Darfur, it took Salih two years to travel, first across Libya, then into Europe, and finally on a boat across the English channel before he would arrive in UK in 2014, with the promise of work through contacts to provide for his family he left behind.

Civil war in Darfur meant his life was at risk if he stayed there. Inside the WLS homeless shelter he was offered vital support, and shul members helped to pay for the doorman’s licence that allowed Salih to work.

At the time WLS shul members were also making monthly trips to Calais to help migrants in the “jungle” camps. Salih offered to volunteer on trips himself.

When Prince Charles visited WLS to celebrate its 175th anniversary in 2015, Salih was one of six people connected to the shul that he spoke with, as the future King praised the social action work of the institution.

Moving to council accommodation in Camden, Salih has continued to do voluntary work for the shul.

View original: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/shul-rescues-muslim-family-from-sudan/

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