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Russian invasion Negotiations
Zelensky to Trump: “Put pressure on Putin, not me”

“Put more pressure on Putin, not me.” That is Volodymyr Zelensky’s message to Donald Trump.

In an interview with Politico, the Ukrainian president says that he believes the US really wants to end the war, and that it is clear to him that Trump’s influence will be decisive.

Donald Trump said last week that he trusts Russian President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to negotiate a ceasefire more than Zelensky.

– Move quickly and make a deal, said the American president.

– We need negotiations, we support it. But we don’t trust Russia. I believe and trust that the US really wants to end the war. I hope they will help us with that, but we need more pressure on Putin, not on me, Zelensky tells Politico.

At the negotiating table in December, the US signaled that it was ready to give Ukraine some kind of security guarantees that would form the basis of a peace agreement. But what those guarantees would entail remains unclear, Zelensky said.

Middle East crisis  The situation in Iran
Analysis: Iran's new leader is like Schrödinger's cat

The new Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ali Khamenei, is like Schrödinger's cat. No one knows if he is alive or not, says Sky News military analyst Michael Clarke.

The new leader has not been seen since he was appointed ayatollah and Iran has stated that he was injured in the attack that killed his father.

- Politically, he is alive. Unless they (Israel and the US) can prove that he is dead, then he is alive, says Clarke.

When Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's National Security Council, announced that Mojtaba had been injured, he said that reports did not indicate any serious injuries. This in turn may indicate that he has not seen Mojtaba himself, writes The Guardian's Patrick Wintour in an analysis.

Opposition groups in the diaspora claim that Mojtaba is in a coma and being treated for his injuries in secret in a hospital, writes Wintour.

"The fact that the government's communications apparatus has still not published a single image, video or even a statement from Mojtaba three days after his appointment has led to speculation that the Assembly of Experts may have, consciously or unconsciously, appointed a corpse or a background figure as the country's leader."