Author: staff
The secretary of state added that while the United States is “prepared to do whatever we can to facilitate that and make sure … that [the war] ends in a durable and just way,” if that is “not possible, if we’re so far apart that this is not going to happen, then I think the president is probably at a point where he’s going to say, well, we are done.” Rubio had traveled to the French capital alongside special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg for ceasefire talks on Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron and high-level delegations from Germany,…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the US may be ready to “move on” from efforts for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress in the coming days.Speaking in Paris after a marathon day of landmark talks among US, Ukrainian and European officials, Rubio said the discussions had been constructive and produced an outline for steps toward peace.French officials said a new meeting in the same format is expected in London in the coming days.Rubio said he could join that meeting.”We are not reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible…
It was a week when penguins, bonds, the new German coalition, Louisiana soybeans, fossil fuels, the EU’s Digital Markets Act, France’s creaking politics and American bourbon all became one news story. POLITICO explains what got us all yippy. Apr 11 11 mins read
Following the news that US President Donald Trump had imposed tariffs on most of the world, markets went into freefall.On so-called ‘liberation day,’ on April 2, Trump announced sweeping taxes on imports that triggered market crashes in the US and Asia. After the US president suspended the tariffs for 90 days, prices bounced back slightly and have been extremely volatile since.Trillions were wiped off the stock market after tariff announcements. The biggest losers were undoubtedly billionaires, who saw billions wiped off their market value, including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.But…
Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of French luxury conglomerate LVMH, called on Thursday for a free trade zone between the European Union and the United States and said that unresolved trade tensions could seriously hurt European industries.His remarks, in the wake of the tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, appeared to echo a similar call by Elon Musk on 5 April for a zero-tariff zone between the US and EU. The EU has long pushed for a “zero-for-zero” trade agreement — with both sides dropping tariffs — but Trump has rejected the offer.Speaking at LVMH’s annual shareholder meeting, Arnault said…
Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin said over the weekend that the country would “resist” von der Leyen’s proposals. Putting a new tax on top of strict EU regulation on Big Tech would be “putting petrol on [the] fire,” he said. Ireland is among the European countries most exposed to a trade war with the U.S. because it hosts subsidiaries of U.S. digital giants and also exported over €44 billion worth of pharma products to America in 2024. “Ireland has an extremely concentrated corporate tax base, which is heavily reliant on U.S. multinationals in particular,” said Aidan Regan, a professor of political economy at…
The trouble is, the finance industry makes money from the practice. Governments, heavily lobbied by asset managers, insurers, and others who benefit from the kickbacks, pressured the Commission into removing the ban before the text was even officially proposed back in 2023. A final agreement on the proposal still hasn’t happened. Another proposal, for an EU ticker tape which would publish data on the prices and volume of traded securities in the EU, improving overall price transparency and competition, was hollowed out after — again — pressure from governments lobbied by their stock exchanges, whose business model of distributing that…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez are among the latest voices to support the idea of a European army to ensure a credible and lasting peace in the continent. “It is time to create a European army, EU armed forces with troops from all 27 member countries, working under a single flag with the same objectives,” Sánchez said. “This is the only way that we become a true union.” On paper, the concept is attractive. It could boost the interoperability of military systems, weapons, and forces, and would also involve a joint command structure to improve coordination among…
The Trump administration has announced the imposition of fees on Chinese-built and Chinese-owned vessels docking at US ports, marking a further escalation in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.The decision, revealed by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), follows a one-year investigation initially launched under the Biden administration.“Ships and shipping are vital to American economic security and the free flow of commerce,” said Ambassador Greer. “The Trump administration’s actions will begin to reverse Chinese dominance, address threats to the US supply chain, and send a demand signal for US-built ships,” the USTR said in…
Beyond the political decisions on sanctions, the EU official also pointed to “major safety and security issues” related to the possible reopening of EU airspace to Russian jets, as “it is not known if Russian air operators and air traffic services have been properly maintained over the past three years, putting the airworthiness of the Russian fleet seriously in question.” Since Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russian airlines have been banned from landing in and flying over the territory of the EU and the U.S., as well as from accessing spare parts for aircraft from Western manufacturers such as…