What Sky’s correspondents think about the Trump-Putin phone call
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone on Tuesday for at least 90 minutes.
Russia has agreed to a partial ceasefire on targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure as a result, for a period of 30 days.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that future talks about Ukraine without Kyiv at the table will not bring any results.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meeting in 2018. File pic: AP
Here’s what two of Sky’s correspondents make of the Trump-Putin phone call.
Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent
I think Vladimir Putin will be very satisfied with the outcome of this call because even if he hasn’t gained a whole lot, he crucially hasn’t lost anything.
By agreeing to a ceasefire on energy infrastructure, he has given Donald Trump enough to ensure the wider US-Russia rapprochement remains intact.
There’s been talk in the last month of a reset of relations, of the lifting of sanctions – and Putin certainly doesn’t want to jeopardise that.
Follow live updates on aftermath of call
At the same time, though, Putin didn’t want to dilute any of his red lines. And by the sounds of it, they’re as indelible as ever.
The Kremlin’s readout of the call talks of a need to “eliminate the root causes of the crisis”, which is Kremlin code for “Russia’s security concerns regarding NATO expansion need to be met”.
One thing this call has given him though is the time to press home Russia’s military advantage.
This is particularly important to Putin in Russia’s Kursk region, where his forces are seemingly on the verge of eradicating Ukraine’s foothold, which would be of huge symbolic importance to the Kremlin.
James Matthews, US correspondent
They’re calling it “ceasefire-lite”. In Kyiv, they’ll choke on it.
The respective readouts of the Trump-Putin phone call don’t read well for Ukrainians relying on a US ally to do their bidding.
They had already agreed to a 30-day ceasefire with the Americans who said they were “on the 10th yard line of peace”.
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Moscow, clearly, has different ideas. To extend the American football metaphor, Vladimir Putin still has hands on the ball.
The Russians know Donald Trump. Prisoner exchanges present a trophy achievement.
There was, of all things, talk of US vs Russia ice hockey matches. In Moscow, they know Trump’s comfortable talking sport and that many Americans think hockey before they think Ukraine.
Read more: What are the options for peace in Ukraine?
It was dressing around a deal that is deeply flawed from Kyiv’s perspective.
Russian talk of eliminating “root causes of the crisis” speaks to Moscow’s desire to demilitarise Ukraine and lay claim to its territory.
Then there was Putin’s insistence on a “cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv”.
To cut the supply of weapons and intelligence would weaken Ukraine while Russia strengthens. For Kyiv, it’s a line so red, it’s purple.
What Trump does next is pivotal. What he’s done so far boxes Ukraine into a corner, European allies too.
A common thread in the readouts was the positive talk of US-Russian relations to come – “an improved bilateral relationship… has huge upside” was Washington’s take.
It’s clear Trump and Putin share the vision of a geopolitical shift, built on shared priorities. The fate of Ukraine isn’t necessarily top of the list.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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Who is being targeted in Trump’s immigration raids?
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
Read more:
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Read more from Sky News:
Kate’s ’emotional’ words for tearful tennis star
Music festival cancelled as headliner pulls out
Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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