#peace-talks

#peace-talks

In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea. This blockade has effectively brought Iran's economy to a standstill, as it relies heavily on international maritime trade.

Colombia's government has announced it will resume peace talks with the powerful Gulf Clan, also known as the Gaitanist Self-Defence Forces (ECG), after the criminal group expressed concern about a recent deal with the United States. Tuesday's announcement addresses a temporary suspension the Gulf Clan announced earlier this month, in the wake of a meeting between Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his US counterpart, Donald Trump.

Russia targeted a passenger train in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine killing five people, authorities said. A Russian drone hit a carriage carrying nearly 200 passengers, Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on social media. The train strike occurred just hours after drones pounded the southern city of Odesa, killing three people and wounding 25 Russia has intensified attacks on energy infrastructure, leaving Ukrainians without power in freezing temperatures.

"We must ensure full implementation of everything agreed with President Trump in Davos regarding air defense," he stressed.

Saudi Arabia says it will soon host a dialogue between Yemen's main players. For almost a decade, the Southern Transitional Council has been the main player in southern Yemen while the country reeled from division and civil strife. But in a matter of hours, the separatists lost control of all the territory they had previously held.

Gustavo Petro's rise to power once again sparked hopes that the elusive goal of peace with the ELN, pursued by nearly every Colombian government this century, was finally attainable. The leftist president even signed an unprecedented six-month ceasefire with guerrilla commander Antonio Garcia in mid-2023, the first milestone in the now-weary policy of total peace.

United States President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for talks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and said the two leaders were getting a lot closer, maybe very close to a deal to end the war in Ukraine. Trump and Zelenskyy reported progress on two of the most contentious issues in the peace talks: security guarantees for Ukraine and the division of eastern Ukraine's Donbas region that Russia has sought to capture.

Mr Zelensky's visit to Dublin comes as the Ukrainian leader is under pressure from the US to sign a peace deal. Representatives of the US, Russia and Ukraine have held talks in the past week in the United Arab Emirates in an attempt to come to an agreement that would end almost four years of Russia's full-scale invasion. It also comes days after the resignation of Ukraine's chief negotiator in those talks, Mr Zelensky's chief of staff Andrii Yermak, whose residence was searched last week by anti-corruption investigators.