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Pakistan’s army chief was received in Tehran by Iranian and Pakistani interior ministers; Israeli airstrikes hit multiple locations in Lebanon after evacuation warnings issued in southern areas.

Middle East roundup, May 22: Pakistan's CDF lands in Iran; Israel airstrikes kill 10 in Lebanon

BRUSSELS: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has proposed making Ukraine an &quot;associate member&quot; of the EU without voting rights, while Kyiv goes through the lengthy process of joining fully, a letter seen by AFP Thursday said. The plan -- first floated by Merz with EU counterparts last month -- would see Ukraine&#39;s leader attend the bloc&#39;s summit but not be able to cast a vote. Kyiv would have a representative at the top table of the EU&#39;s executive, the European Commission, and non-voting members of the European parliament. Under the proposal, outlined by Merz in a letter to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/eu-imports-of-russian-gas-highest-since-ukraine-invasion-report" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">EU chiefs</a>&nbsp;Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, the bloc&#39;s mutual assistance clause would apply to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/kyiv-says-russia-has-returned-528-bodies-to-ukraine" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ukraine</a>, and it could benefit from parts of the EU&#39;s budget. &quot;It is obvious that we will not be able to complete the accession process shortly, given the countless hurdles as well as the political complexities of ratification processes,&quot; Merz wrote. &quot;What I envisage is a political solution that brings Ukraine substantially closer to the European Union and its core institutions immediately.&quot; Ukraine is pushing to speed up its bid to join the 27-nation European Union as it fights Russia&#39;s invasion on the battlefield. &#39;Full member&#39; Kyiv&#39;s progress was blocked by Hungary&#39;s nationalist former premier Viktor Orban, but his ouster by rival Peter Magyar has raised hopes Kyiv could now move forward. Merz&#39;s plan could face skepticism from both Germany&#39;s EU counterparts and from Ukraine. Kyiv is desperate to keep up momentum towards joining the bloc and fears that any suggested interim solutions will see it stranded in a halfway house. The German leader insisted he still wants Ukraine to eventually become a &quot;full member&quot; and urged launching &quot;all negotiation clusters&quot; immediately. &quot;It would not be a membership light,&quot; he wrote. Ukraine sees membership of the EU as vital to its future recovery and security, as the United States has essentially closed the door on it joining NATO.

Europe

Ukraine sees membership of the EU as vital to its future recovery and security, as the United States has essentially closed the door on it joining NATO.

Germany's Merz pitches making Ukraine EU 'associate member'

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump bashed NATO and appeared to renew his threats over Greenland after a closed-door meeting with alliance chief Mark Rutte, during which he was expected to discuss possibly leaving the pivotal security bloc. Trump&#39;s outrage at NATO allies over their failure to join in his war against Iran had prompted fears he would seek to pull the United States out of the nearly eight-decade-old alliance. However, in his first remarks after the meeting, he simply reiterated his frustration. &quot;NATO WASN&#39;T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON&#39;T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN,&quot; he posted on Truth Social. &quot;REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!&quot; he added, without any further explanation. Before Trump launched his war on Iran, his threat to seize the vast Arctic Island from NATO ally Denmark was a key issue roiling the alliance. Rutte &mdash; the former Dutch premier dubbed the &quot;Trump whisperer&quot; for his skill in flattering the mercurial US leader &mdash; entered the West Wing through a side gate and their meeting was held behind closed doors. &quot;It was a very frank, it was a very open discussion,&quot; Rutte later told CNN in a televised interview. Asked multiple times if Trump had said if he would leave the alliance, Rutte did not answer directly. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters ahead of the meeting that a possible withdrawal is &quot;something the president has discussed, and I think it&#39;s something the president will be discussing in a couple of hours with Secretary General Rutte.&quot; The Wall Street Journal meanwhile reported that Trump was alternatively looking at punishing some NATO members he believed were unhelpful during the conflict by moving US troops out of their countries. The meeting came one day after the United States and Iran agreed to a fragile two-week ceasefire. The US president has branded NATO a &quot;paper tiger&quot; for refusing to lead efforts to open the strategic Strait of Hormuz and for limiting US forces from using bases on their territories. Trump has lashed out at several leaders personally, lambasting UK Prime Minister Keir Sta rmer as &quot;no Winston Churchill&quot; and ridiculing Britain&#39;s aircraft carriers as &quot;toys.&quot; The plan reported by the Wall Street Journal would fall short of Trump&#39;s oft-hinted threats to pull the United States out of NATO entirely &mdash; a move for which he would need the approval of Congress. NATO&#39;s secretary general, however, boasts a record of pulling Trump back onto his side. Ahead of the White House visit, Rutte met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to talk about Iran, Russia&#39;s war against Ukraine and NATO responsibilities. &quot;The two leaders discussed Operation Epic Fury, ongoing US-led efforts to bring a negotiated end to the Russia-Ukraine war, and increasing coordination and burden shifting with NATO Allies,&quot; said State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott. Rutte is also expected to meet with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth during his time in Washington. NATO has been buffeted by crisis after crisis since Trump returned to power last year &mdash; most acutely by his threat to seize Greenland. In recent months, he has also pulled the rug out from under Ukraine in its war against Russia and threatened to not protect allies unless they spend more on defense. Russia and China have been watching with glee as Trump rubbishes the alliance. Rutte has been central to allied efforts to flatter and mollify the US leader, whom he called &quot;daddy&quot; at a summit last year. On Iran, he has sought to thread the needle by calling US efforts to degrade Tehran&#39;s military capability something to &quot;applaud.&quot;

Trump's outrage at NATO allies over their failure to join in his war against Iran had prompted fears he would seek to pull the United States out of the nearly eight-decade-old alliance.



Trump blasts NATO after closed-door Rutte meeting

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ISLAMABAD: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has stated that his country will not become involved in the ongoing Middle East conflict, emphasizing that it is not in the nation&#39;s best interest. Addressing a press conference at Downing Street on Wednesday, Starmer made it clear that while the UK is actively pursuing diplomatic efforts to de-escalate, it will avoid direct involvement in the war. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been absolutely clear that this is not our war, and we&rsquo;re not going to get dragged into it,&rdquo; he said, while addressing a press conference in Downing Street on Wednesday. Responding to a question on remarks by Donald Trump about potentially&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-says-us-may-end-iran-operations-within-two-to-three-weeks" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">pulling out of NATO</a>, Starmer reaffirmed Britain&rsquo;s strong commitment to the alliance, calling it &ldquo;the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen&rdquo; that has ensured security for decades. He warned that the conflict is already impacting global stability and could affect Britain&rsquo;s future, particularly through rising energy prices linked to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. Starmer announced that the UK will host a meeting with international partners to push for reopening the vital shipping route, which has been disrupted amid escalating tensions. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is set to lead talks with multiple countries to ensure maritime security in the Gulf. &ldquo;And today I can announce that later this week, the foreign secretary will host a meeting that brings those nations together for the first time, where we will assess all viable diplomatic and political measures that we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers, and resume the movement of vital commodities.&rdquo;&nbsp; The UK PM added that easing tensions in the Middle East is key to controlling the cost of living, as energy supplies remain under pressure. Separately, Starmer signaled a shift in foreign policy, saying it is &ldquo;increasingly clear&rdquo; that the UK&rsquo;s long-term interests require closer ties with European allies and the European Union. He announced plans for a new summit with EU partners in the coming weeks, aimed at strengthening economic and security cooperation in what he described as a &ldquo;dangerous world.&rdquo; Acknowledging economic challenges ahead, Starmer said the path forward would not be easy but reaffirmed that the government has measures in place to support households, including energy bill caps and fuel duty relief. He reiterated that Britain remains focused on diplomacy, stability, and long-term economic resilience.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivering his first address as prime minister of the United Kingdom, 10 Downing Street, London, July 5, 2024. (Photo: AFP/File)

Starmer says that while the UK is actively pursuing diplomatic efforts for de-escalation, it will avoid direct involvement in the war.

‘Not our war’: British PM says will not be drawn into Mideast conflict

MIAMI: President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated his disappointment with NATO allies over their refusal to send military to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and said Washington may not help them in future if asked to do so. &quot;They just weren&#39;t there,&quot; he said at an investment forum in Miami. &quot;We spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on NATO, hundreds, protecting them, and we would have always been there for them, but now, based on their actions, I guess we don&#39;t have to be, do we?&quot; &quot;Why would we be there for them if they&#39;re not there for us? They weren&#39;t there for us.&quot; Since the start of the US-Israeli offensive against Iran a month ago, Trump has repeatedly voiced frustration over Western allies&#39; lack of support and reluctance to commit forces to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key sea lane for Gulf oil and gas exports vulnerable to Iranian attacks. Traffic through the narrow waterway has ground to a virtual standstill, leading to a surge in global energy prices. Six key powers including Britain, France, Germany and Japan say they are ready to &quot;contribute to appropriate efforts&quot; but have not made any commitment. Trump has reserved some of his toughest criticism for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Last week, he dubbed its other members &quot;COWARDS,&quot; and declared the alliance was a &quot;paper tiger&quot; without the United States. On Thursday, he said on his Truth Social platform that the United States &quot;needs nothing from NATO.&quot; &quot;NATO nations have done absolutely nothing to help with the lunatic nation, now militarily decimated, of Iran.&quot;

US President Donald Trump speaks at the FII PRIORITY Summit at the Faena Hotel on March 27, 2026 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo: AFP)

Reiterates his disappointment with NATO allies over their refusal to send military to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and said Washington may not help them in future if asked to do so.

Trump says US may not be there for NATO if needed

BRUSSELS: Ukraine is still getting essential defense equipment despite the war in the Middle East, which is depleting stockpiles in Europe and the United States, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Thursday.&nbsp;&quot;The good news is that essential equipment into Ukraine continues to flow,&quot; he told reporters. That included American-made Patriot missile interceptors, which Ukraine desperately needs, he added.&nbsp;The PURL program, launched last year, allows Ukraine to receive US equipment financed by European countries.&nbsp;Some 75 percent of the missiles used by Patriot batteries in Ukraine have been supplied through the program, and 90 percent of the munitions used by other air-defense systems, Rutte added.&nbsp;Questioned about the state of the stockpiles and the pressure they are under due to the need for missile interceptors in Israel and the Gulf states, Rutte declined to comment. But he did call on European countries to increase their own production capacity.&nbsp;&quot;They need to produce more extra production lines, extra shifts, opening new factories. The money is there,&quot; he said.

NATO chief Mark Rutte said Ukraine is still receiving key weapons, including Patriot interceptors, despite Middle East war pressures on Western stockpiles, and urged European countries to expand arms production capacity.

Ukraine still receiving arms despite Mideast war: NATO

Blasts were heard in Doha after Qatar's interior ministry said it was evacuating some key areas

All you need to know about Day 14 of US-Israeli war on Iran

BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul criticized French defense spending on Monday, calling for Paris to do more to turn calls for European security sovereignty into concrete capabilities. The comments marked the latest crack in relations between the two <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-and-europe-belong-together-rubio" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">European giants</a>. French President Emmanuel Macron &ldquo;repeatedly and correctly refers to our pursuit of European sovereignty,&rdquo; Wadephul told public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. &ldquo;Anyone who talks about it needs to act accordingly in their own country.&rdquo; Under US pressure&nbsp;European NATO members are under pressure from the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/rubio-at-munich-security-meet-to-address-europeans-rattled-by-trump" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">United States</a> to build up their defense spending. Though they pledged last June to raise their defense and security-related outlays to five percent of GDP by 2035, Wadephul said progress in Europe so far had been lacking. &quot;Unfortunately, efforts in the French Republic have also been insufficient to achieve this so far,&quot; Wadephul said.&nbsp; &quot;France, too, needs to do what we are doing here with difficult discussions.&quot; Germany last year exempted most defense spending from constitutionally enshrined debt limits and current budgets foresee Berlin spending more than 500 billion euros ($593 billion) on defense between 2025 and 2029. Third-highest debt burden&nbsp;Under financial pressure, France has less room for maneuver. The country has the European Union&#39;s third-highest debt burden as a proportion of GDP after Greece and Italy, almost twice the 60-percent ceiling set in EU treaties. France and Macron needed to be ready to take difficult decisions, Wadephul said, including possible welfare cuts, to build the &quot;breathing space needed&quot;. &quot;That is a call that goes out to all European countries,&quot; Wadephul said.&nbsp; &quot;We will have to hold very open, very honest discussions about this here in our European family.&quot; <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Discord over fighter jet&nbsp;</h2>Wadephul&#39;s call comes amid strains in the Franco-German alliance, traditionally the motor of European cooperation. Germany has slapped down Macron&#39;s repeated calls for so-called eurobonds to boost investment, fearing common EU debt would lead to open-ended subsidies of EU member states with weak finances. Wadephul reiterated that Germany was also opposed to the proposal when it comes to defense spending, adding that NATO member states had last year agreed to reach the five-percent spending goal by their own efforts. &quot;We must also say to all our European partners -- in a spirit of friendship but with clarity -- that what was promised, the five per cent, were commitments to national contributions,&quot; he said. &quot;We are looking forward to and eagerly await another speech by the French president, I believe on the 27th of this month, where he will comment on strategic issues,&quot; Wadephul added. Recent disagreements&nbsp;Nerves are also fraying over plans by Paris and Berlin for a next-generation European fighter jet, where German industry and unions have accused French aerospace firm Dassault of seeking to dictate the terms of the project. In other recent disagreements, France wanted to block an EU trade deal with a group of South American countries, backed by Germany.&nbsp; Paris also opposed a push by Berlin and Rome to water down a planned EU ban on new petrol and diesel cars by 2035. A European diplomat last week told AFP that right now &quot;the Franco-German axis isn&#39;t working&quot;.

European NATO members are under pressure from US to build up their defense spending; in other recent disagreements, France wanted to block an EU trade deal with a group of South American countries, backed by Germany.

German foreign minister slams France over defense spending 

MUNICH: European leaders, worried about threats from a nuclear-armed <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nato-chief-in-kyiv-on-surprise-visit-hours-after-russian-attack" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Russia</a> and doubts about the future of US security commitments, are increasingly debating whether to bolster nuclear arsenals on the continent. While the United States and Russia have thousands of nuclear warheads each, in Europe only France and Britain have atomic weapons, with the combined total in the hundreds. US President Donald Trump&#39;s comments about NATO and his transactional approach to foreign relations have European allies questioning whether they can risk relying on US protection. &quot;Europeans can no longer outsource their thinking about nuclear deterrence to the United States,&quot; an expert group warned in a report published for the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/field-marshal-asim-munir-meets-us-state-secretary-on-munich-security-conference-sidelines" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Munich Security Conference</a>. It called on Europe to &quot;urgently confront a new nuclear reality&quot; in the face of &quot;Russia&#39;s nuclear-backed revisionism&quot;. Speaking at the MSC, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was already holding &quot;confidential talks with the French president about European nuclear deterrence&quot;. Britain&#39;s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK&#39;s nuclear deterrent already protected fellow NATO members but stressed he was &quot;enhancing our nuclear cooperation with France&quot;. Starmer said &quot;any adversary must know that in a crisis they could be confronted by our combined strength&quot; alongside France. US &#39;ultimate guarantor&#39; NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte insisted that &quot;nobody&quot; was considering fully replacing the American nuclear umbrella, which has <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/keep-dreaming-nato-chief-says-europe-cant-defend-itself-without-us" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">shielded Europ</a>e&#39;s NATO countries for decades. &quot;I think every discussion in Europe making sure that collectively the nuclear deterrence is even stronger, fine,&quot; Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, told journalists. &quot;But nobody is arguing in Europe to do this as a sort of replacement of the nuclear umbrella of the United States. &quot;Everybody realizes that is the ultimate guarantor &ndash; and all these other discussions are in addition.&quot; US Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby said that Trump &quot;has made clear the US extended nuclear deterrent continues to apply here&quot; in Europe. He said there is US &quot;receptivity to a greater European contribution to ... the NATO deterrent&quot; &ndash; but that conversations need to be &quot;very sober&quot; and &quot;deliberate&quot; because of concerns about nuclear proliferation and instability. No good options Discussion of nuclear armament has long been viewed as taboo in many other European countries &ndash; but Russian aggression and worries about US commitment have forced the issue into mainstream European politics. Many European officials are convinced that Moscow&#39;s territorial ambitions will not be confined to Ukraine, and that other European countries &ndash; including even NATO members &ndash; could face some sort of attack. The MSC report laid out five nuclear options for Europe, while cautioning that none were good. There was &quot;no low-cost or risk-free way out of Europe&#39;s nuclear predicament&quot;, they warned. &quot;The era in which Europe could afford strategic complacency has ended,&quot; wrote the authors, calling on European policymakers &quot;to confront the role of nuclear weapons in the defense of the continent directly and without delay &ndash; and to invest the resources needed to do so competently&quot;. It listed five options: Continue to rely on American deterrence; strengthen the role of <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/uk-says-conducted-joint-strike-with-france-on-is-site-near-palmyra" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">British and French</a> nuclear weapons in a European deterrent; jointly develop European nuclear weapons as a deterrent; increase the number of European countries with their own nuclear arsenals; or expand European conventional military power to present a more intimidating non-nuclear deterrent. Sticking with the status quo, and relying on America&#39;s unmatched military might, remained &quot;the most credible and feasible option&quot; in the short term, they argued. &#39;We need action&#39; Very few currently believe Europeans can assume full responsibility for deterrence in the short term. &quot;If there&#39;s going to be some kind of bigger European investments in France or the UK&#39;s nuclear deterrence, that&#39;s only a good thing,&quot; Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen recently told AFP. But he quickly added: &quot;If you&#39;re talking about to compensate <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/meta-partners-with-us-nuclear-companies-to-power-ai-data-centers" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">US nuclear</a> deterrence, that&#39;s not realistic at this point.&quot; Experts nevertheless welcomed the increasingly serious political debate on an issue that has long worried military planners. &quot;That&#39;s very positive, but now we need action,&quot; Heloise Fayet of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), a contributor to the MSC report, told AFP. The report noted that both France and Britain would face a range of challenges in growing their arsenals and extending nuclear protection across Europe &ndash; from hefty costs to tricky questions about who holds final authority to launch the warheads. French President Emmanuel Macron, who has previously raised the possibility of extending France&#39;s nuclear umbrella across Europe, is scheduled to deliver a major speech on French nuclear doctrine at the end of February. Macron said in Munich he was considering a doctrine that could include &quot;special cooperation, joint exercises, and shared security interests with certain key countries&quot;.

Polish PM Donald Tusk, Bavarian State Premier Markus Soeder, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Munich Security Conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger give a press statement at the Munich Residence palace, prior to the traditional dinner on the oc

European leaders at the Munich Security Conference debated strengthening the continent’s nuclear deterrence amid concerns over Russia’s aggression and uncertainty about long-term US security commitments to NATO allies.

European debate over nuclear weapons gains pace at Munich Security Conference  

KYIV: NATO chief Mark Rutte was in&nbsp;<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">Kyiv&nbsp;on Tuesday for a surprise visit just hours after Russia launched its largest drone and missile attack so far this year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video of the pair laying flowers at a memorial in central Kyiv to soldiers killed in the Russian invasion. This is a developing story. Please refresh the page to see updated information as it becomes available.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posts a video of the pair laying flowers at a memorial in central Kyiv to soldiers killed in the Russian invasion.

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