Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Ukraine’s deteriorating relationship with the United States, government measures to tackle protests across Europe, and the Houthis’ deadliest strike in Yemen since fighting resumed in July.
Zelensky Meets Witkoff in Oslo
As U.S. President Donald Trump looks increasingly interested in currying favor with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes that a face-to-face with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff will be enough to repair ties before the U.S. president throws more support behind Moscow.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Ukraine’s deteriorating relationship with the United States, government measures to tackle protests across Europe, and the Houthis’ deadliest strike in Yemen since fighting resumed in July.
Zelensky Meets Witkoff in Oslo
As U.S. President Donald Trump looks increasingly interested in currying favor with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes that a face-to-face with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff will be enough to repair ties before the U.S. president throws more support behind Moscow.
Zelensky flew to Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday to attend a slew of meetings focused on Russia’s war in Ukraine and European security. They included talks with Witkoff—and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who attended virtually—that touched on allegations of Washington withholding critical intelligence from Kyiv as well as Zelensky’s efforts to get more U.S.-made Patriot missiles.
Last week, Ukraine abruptly lost access to military-grade Starlink satellite services, disrupting several missions. Kyiv and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk accused the Trump administration of ordering the cuts; Trump denied doing so. That, coupled with reports that U.S. military officials had threatened to restrict intelligence-sharing with Kyiv, pushed Zelensky to scrap a Trump-declared truce on energy strikes between Russia and Ukraine.
That move appeared to frustrate the White House. On Monday, Trump said that “Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine,” that “Zelensky is not helping matters much,” and that Ukraine should find “somebody else to negotiate.” He also suggested that the United States is open to talks with Russia and China on the future of Ukraine, worrying European allies that they will be left out.
Trump has recently tried to bring down fuel prices by pressuring Ukraine to give in to Russia’s demands. That included suspending U.S. sanctions on Russian diesel exports, which a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers called “a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our allies,” and a possible multibillion-dollar deal with Russia’s Lukoil (as well as the short-lived truce on energy strikes).
Zelensky initially called the diesel deal a “happy birthday” present for Russian President Vladimir Putin and told the Financial Times last week that Trump has an affinity for dictators. But on Tuesday, Zelensky appeared to change his tune, instead writing on X that Ukraine is “grateful” for continued U.S. support.
Still, Zelensky didn’t fully bend to Trump’s demands. Following his talks with Witkoff and Kushner, Zelensky offered to halt strikes on Russian energy again—but only if Moscow does so as well. Less than 24 hours earlier, Russian forces launched new ballistic missile and jet-powered drone strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Zelensky said that Kyiv did not receive any advance warning of the attack, a nod to the country’s deteriorating ties with Washington and its inadequate supply of Patriot missiles.
Today’s Most Read
- The Iran War Has Changed the World Forever by Kenneth M. Pollack
- Why Is France Perpetually Rioting? by Emile Chabal
- An Underwater Shadow War Is Raging by John Kampfner
What We’re Following
Europe’s season of protest. Several French cities extended their curfews through Tuesday after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu argued that they were “efficient” at quelling widespread unrest. “They helped to restore calm last night,” Lecornu said, vowing to deploy a massive security force ahead of planned demonstrations on Saturday, dubbed “Act II.”
Weeks of anti-government protests over inadequate public services and the rising cost of living transformed over the weekend into one of the country’s worst bouts of rioting in decades. Security personnel arrested more than 2,400 demonstrators, and clashes injured hundreds of police officers.
Experts say the unrest is feeding similar protest movements across Europe, including Spain’s housing reform sit-ins, Albania’s anti-corruption demonstrations, and Belgium’s education reform push. That also includes Italy’s cost-of-living crisis, which this week saw some protesters resort to similar acts of looting and vandalism in Milan.
On Tuesday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that she will send 500 troops to the city to help restore calm. Her government also pledged to approve new security measures in the coming days, such as extending preventive detentions for minors, banning gatherings for people considered a threat to public order, and cracking down on youth gangs.
Deadly Houthi attacks. Houthi rebels launched a devastating ballistic missile strike on a Yemeni military camp on Monday, killing at least 73 people—all new recruits between ages 18 and 20. Monday’s assault was the deadliest strike in the country since Houthi forces restarted fighting in July after a nearly four-year cease-fire.
On Tuesday, the Iranian-backed group launched missile and drone attacks across Saudi Arabia as well as on the besieged Yemeni city of Taiz—part of a monthslong offensive intended to secure control of the strategic Red Sea coast. Such attacks have pushed Riyadh close to its breaking point, prompting the country to implement unorthodox measures to counter the rebel group.
Saudi Arabia this month triggered a mutual defense pact with Pakistan and Turkey; the latter submitted the deal to parliament for ratification on Tuesday. The United Kingdom has announced that it will deploy fighter jets to Saudi Arabia to help defend against Houthi drones. And the Egyptian Parliament is expected to vote next week on whether to authorize its own military support.
But foreign support is unlikely to help Saudi Arabia bear the immediate economic fallout of Houthi attacks. On Monday, the kingdom postponed its annual Future Investment Initiative, originally scheduled for next week, in the wake of several deadly strikes on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport.
Analysts argue that canceling “Davos in the Desert” will hinder Saudi Arabia’s efforts to make its economy less dependent on oil and natural gas profits.
Alberta votes to remain. Alberta residents voted on Monday to remain part of Canada in the resource-rich province’s first separatist referendum. According to results announced on Tuesday, around 76 percent of Albertans rejected independence, delivering a major political victory to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Carney has sought to promote a common Canadian identity to help oppose sweeping U.S. tariffs and other threats from the White House. “Albertans made a clear choice,” Carney said on Tuesday. “They chose unity, to build together, and to take care of each other.”
Carney previously warned Albertans that voting to leave Canada would be “a dangerous bluff that will lead to years of deep division.” Still, this likely isn’t the end of the province’s quest for independence; 62 percent of locals believe that “there will never be an end to the separatist movement,” according to data from Angus Reid Institute pollsters released on Friday.
The nonbinding referendum’s failure also does not signal the end of Carney’s internal dissent challenges. The pro-separatist Parti Québécois narrowly won a provincial election this month, after which it vowed to hold its own independence referendum in Quebec once Trump leaves office.
Odds and Ends
UNESCO recognized Austria’s Wurstelprater amusement park in Vienna as an “immaterial cultural heritage” site on Saturday. Established in 1895, the open-air funfair is one of the oldest amusement parks in the world. However, its significance to the country dates back even further to when the grounds were used as an aristocratic hunting site starting in the 12th century.
Nowadays, Wurstelprater is free to enter and remains open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. So, there is plenty of time to ride the Black Mamba, sit atop its famous Giant Ferris Wheel, or visit the Prater Museum.