Trump lashes out at Putin, Germany gives Ukraine permission to conduct attacks deep inside Russian territory, and Israel votes to create more illegal settlements in Palestinian land.
TRUMP LASHES OUT AT PUTIN
The week began with US President Donald Trump issuing a rare rebuke to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Over the weekend, Russia conducted its largest drone attack on Ukraine. Following this, Trump said he’s weighing new sanctions on Moscow and said Putin had "gone absolutely CRAZY".
GERMANY REMOVES UKRAINE RANGE RESTRICTIONS
Meanwhile, Germany’s new Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said that Germany, Britain, France and the US will remove range restrictions on weapons delivered to Kyiv for the first time.
He said that this would enable Ukraine to better defend itself against Russia, and they would be able to hit military targets deep inside Russian territory.
However, Merz did not confirm if Germany was sending long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
Nonetheless, the Kremlin called the Western decision on range restrictions “dangerous”, and said it would be “detrimental” to reaching any peace deal.
US TO REVOKE CHINESE STUDENT VISAS
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced that the US will “aggressively revoke” the visas of Chinese students studying in the country.
He added that the US will also “revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong”.
Meanwhile, a US federal appeals court temporarily reinstated Donald Trump’s tariffs, a day after a trade court ruled that they exceeded the authorities granted to the president.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit temporarily blocked the trade court’s decision, but provided no reason, and gave the plaintiffs until June 5th to respond.
ISRAEL TO BUILD NEW SETTLEMENTS IN WEST BANK
And in Israel, the Netanyahu government has said that it will establish 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. This includes the legalisation of outposts already built without government permission.
The move comes after an Israeli security cabinet vote held in secret last week. The motion is said to have been put forward by defence minister, Israel Katz.
Katz said the decision on settlements was “a strategic move” to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
