Tag Archives: Diplomats

The top foreign policy official for the European Union had a blunt assessment on Friday of the Trump administration’s apparent willingness to give Russia’s leader, Vladimir V. Putin, much of what he wants in Ukraine, even before negotiations to end the three-year war begin. “It’s appeasement,” the official, Kaja Kallas, declared at the Munich Security Conference. “It has never worked.” …

Secretary of State Marco Rubio walked into the State Department on Tuesday for the first time in his new job, taking the reins of the main agency carrying out U.S. foreign policy at a time of violent global crises and as other nations begin engaging with President Trump. After greeting employees at a ceremonial gathering, Mr. Rubio went into a …

A transition team for President Trump has asked scores of senior career diplomats to resign from their positions on Monday, as soon as Mr. Trump takes office, and many of those asked to step down intend to do so, two U.S. officials said. The practice is common when a presidential transition occurs, but it is happening faster and on a …

Russian nation-state actor Star Blizzard has been running a new spear-phishing campaign to compromise WhatsApp accounts of targets in government, diplomacy, defense policy, international relations, and Ukraine aid organizations. According to a Microsoft Threat Intelligence report, the campaign was observed in mid-November 2024 and represents a tactical shift for Star Blizzard as a response to the recent exposure of the threat actor’s tactics, …

Negotiators raced on Thursday to resolve last-minute disputes in a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas that would free hostages and halt the violence that has devastated Gaza over the past 15 months. The disputes helped delay by at least one day a critical Israeli vote to approve the deal. Even though negotiators for Israel and Hamas reached a provisional …

Saudi Arabia on Sunday called for the lifting of sanctions on Syria after meetings with top diplomats from the Middle East and Europe that focused on the war-ravaged country’s future. The Gulf kingdom, the region’s biggest economy, is seeking to increase its influence in Syria after Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last month, analysts say. “We stressed the …

The European Union backs a peaceful, inclusive transition in Syria, top French and German diplomats said Friday on a Damascus visit to meet with new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock were in the Syrian capital for talks on behalf of the European Union, in the highest-level visit by major Western powers …