May 10, 2025
Ukraine, China, India-Pakistan
3 important things to watch globally this weekend:
Ukraine
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukraine on May 15 in Istanbul that he said should be aimed at bringing a durable peace and eliminating the root causes of the war. "We are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions," Putin said from the Kremlin in the early hours of Sunday. "We offer the Kyiv authorities to resume negotiations already on Thursday, in Istanbul."
China
Senior US and Chinese negotiators spent hours behind closed doors in Switzerland on Saturday as they held high-stakes talks that offer the clearest opportunity yet for the two countries to de-escalate their trade war, with President Donald Trump calling it a “very good” meeting. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are leading the negotiations expected to span two days in Geneva, marking the first publicized, in-person talks since President Donald Trump imposed 145% levies on China and Beijing retaliated with 125% tariffs on many American goods and new export controls on rare earth minerals.
India-Pakistan
NEW DELHI — Over four nerve-racking nights, missiles and drones streaked across the skies of major cities in India and Pakistan, as the nuclear-armed neighbors appeared to be sliding toward all-out war. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, President Donald Trump announced a truce. “India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Saturday, saying the deal had been reached “after a long night of talks mediated by the United States.” Amid celebrations in India and Pakistan on Saturday, and self-congratulations in Washington, Kashmir endured another night of violence, with both sides claiming violations — a grim reminder that the deal seems only to have temporarily contained one of the world’s longest-running conflicts rather than ended it.