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Turkey to Repeat Offer to Host Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks at London Summit

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov (not pictured) in Ankara, Turkey, February 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo

Turkey’s foreign minister will reiterate at Sunday’s meeting of European leaders in London an offer from Ankara to host peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Saturday.

NATO-member Turkey hosted initial talks between the sides months after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, helping secure a deal for the safe passage of grain exports in the Black Sea. It has said any future peace talks must include both countries.

While repeatedly calling for a ceasefire since 2024, Ankara has welcomed the US initiative to end the war, which was derailed by a public argument between the presidents of Ukraine and the United States in Washington on Friday.

On Sunday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will brief European leaders on Turkey’s efforts to find a “fair and lasting peace” to the war, the source said, adding he will also affirm Ankara’s commitment to Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Fidan is expected to “underline that Turkey, which hosted direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in March 2022, is ready to take up this role in the coming period,” and emphasize that all parties must jointly focus on lasting regional security and stability, as well as economic prosperity, in negotiations, the person added.

A Black Sea littoral state like Ukraine and Russia, Turkey has maintained good ties with both since the start of the war. It has provided Kyiv with military support, while refusing to participate in Western sanctions against Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Turkey last month, on the same day US and Russian representatives met for talks – without Kyiv’s participation – in Riyadh aimed at ending the war.

On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also held talks in Ankara. On Saturday, Fidan and Lavrov discussed the latest developments around the Ukraine-Russia war in a phone call, the source said, marking the third contact between them in the past two weeks.

On Thursday, delegations from the United States and Russia met in Istanbul for talks aimed at addressing bilateral issues regarding the operations of their respective embassies.

Zelensky said last week that he saw Turkey as an important security guarantor for Ukraine.

The post Turkey to Repeat Offer to Host Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks at London Summit first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Beersheba Resident Arrested on Suspicion of Espionage for Iran

Doron Bokobza, who was indicted after Iran recruited him to collect intelligence Photo: i24/ Social media / 27A

i24 NewsAn indictment was filed against a resident of Beersheba, Doron Bokobza, who contacted Iranian intelligence and offered to sell them information including secrets to the nuclear research facility in Dimona.

In February, Bokobza was arrested on suspicion of committing security offenses, involving contact with Iranian police intelligence agents and carrying out tasks for them in exchange for money. He claimed to have access and knowledge of the nuclear facility.

According to the indictment filed against him, last December, Bokobza approached an Iranian recruiter via the Telegram app, writing: “I am Israeli, I want to cross over to you.” When asked by the recruiter why he was interested in doing so, the defendant replied that it was due to the government and his difficult financial situation.

Bokobza allegedly photographed military installations and transferred information to the Iranian handlers several days later.

The post Beersheba Resident Arrested on Suspicion of Espionage for Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Captive IDF Soldier Nimrod Cohen Identified from Horn Video Hamas Released

Nimrod Cohen, an IDF soldier who was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, by Gazan terrorists and has been held for more than 500 days. Photo: Hostages and Missing Families Forum

i24 NewsThe family of the Israeli soldier Nimrod Cohen, held captive in the Gaza Strip, said on Saturday that they had identified their son in the video published the day before by Hamas.

In this recording, Eitan and Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and other hostages whose faces have been blurred can be seen. The Cohen family says they recognized Nimrod, who appears wearing a t-shirt and bearing a characteristic tattoo.

In the video broadcast with the agreement of the Horn family, brothers Eitan and Iair are seen embracing. Iair Horn, freed on the 498th day of the war, declares: “They are making me leave my little brother here, to die,” while his brother Eitan, still in captivity, adds: “It is illogical to separate families in this way.”

“Get everyone out and don’t separate families, don’t destroy our lives,” Eitan said in the video. “Tell mom and dad to continue the protests and for this government to sign phase two to bring us all home.” He addressed the Prime Minister directly: “[Benjamin] Netanyahu, if you have a bit of heart, sign, sign today.”

Father Yehuda Cohen said during a demonstration of hostage families that his “son Nimrod is a soldier who was kidnapped from a burning tank. He is alive and he, like all the hostages, begs us from this hell to save them now. All of them, and all at once.”

“We are addressing President Trump – there are still 59 hostages in Gaza who are living a Holocaust,” he added. “Netanyahu is trying to sabotage your agreement, Mr. President. He is the one creating the current crisis in the negotiations. Don’t let him fail the agreement.”

About two weeks ago, Cohen revealed in an interview with Channel 12 that the family had received a message from Nimrod. “We got news from him last week, from two hostages who spent eight months with him in the tunnels,” the father explained. “I’m doing fine, don’t worry about me. I love you,” Nimrod conveyed to his parents through the former captives.

The post Captive IDF Soldier Nimrod Cohen Identified from Horn Video Hamas Released first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel’s Right-Wing Camp Hails Order to Block Goods from Entering Gaza

Jewish Power party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks following the announcement of exit polls in Israel’s general election, at his party headquarters in Jerusalem November 2, 2022. REUTERS/Corinna Kern

i24 NewsIsrael’s right wing hailed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision on Sunday to halt goods and supplies from being brought to the Gaza Strip, demanding that hostages continue being released.

“I welcome the decision to halt the humanitarian aid, if it is implemented,” said former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir. “The decision has finally been made – better late than never. This should be the policy until the last of the hostages is returned. Now is the time to open the gates of hell, to shut off the electricity and water, to return to war, and most importantly, not to settle for just half of the hostages, but to return to President Trump’s ultimatum all the hostages immediately or hell will break loose on Gaza.”

Ben Gvir referred to US President Donald Trump’s warning that “all hell” would break out if all the hostages are not returned, while saying that it was ultimately Israel’s decision.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another right-wing firebrand, said that “the decision we made tonight to completely halt the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza until Hamas is destroyed or completely surrenders and all our hostages are returned is an important step in the right direction.”

He called for Israel to continue until “complete victory.”

Meanwhile, the far-right Order 9 movement, which opposed the entry of goods including humanitarian assistance into Gaza, said that its activists “reached the Kerem Shalom crossing area and it is indeed closed. We will stand guard that it will indeed remain so until the last of the kidnapped are returned”

“The transfer of aid that has strengthened the murderous terrorist organization Hamas for the past year and a half will stop until all the kidnapped are returned,” the movement said. “For many months, we have fought tooth and nail against the terrible failure to transfer aid to the enemy, which has now become clear that it will strengthen it for many months to come. We are now on the ground and will continue to stand guard well, and to ensure that this severe harm to the kidnapped will stop.”

The post Israel’s Right-Wing Camp Hails Order to Block Goods from Entering Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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