2 months ago
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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky accused U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff of spreading Russian narratives related to a peace deal focusing on five Ukrainian regions.
👥 Who’s Involved: Volodymyr Zelensky, Steve Witkoff, Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and President Donald J. Trump.
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📍 Where & When: The allegations were made after Zelensky’s press conference in Kiev on Thursday following diplomatic meetings in Paris.
💬 Key Quote: Zelensky stated, “I think that Mr Witkoff has taken the strategy of the Russian side.”
⚠️ Impact: Zelensky’s critique underscores tensions in peace negotiation efforts and complicates U.S.-Russia diplomatic relations.
IN FULL:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff for alleged remarks suggesting that a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine may rely on the status of five contested Ukrainian regions. In a Kiev press conference on Thursday, Zelensky warned that Witkoff’s comments were propagating Russian narratives, posing dangers whether intentional or not.
The controversy arose following Witkoff’s statements in a Fox News interview. In his remarks, Witkoff appeared to reference the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, which came under Russian partial military occupation after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. Witkoff indicated that the peace deal involved these “so-called five territories” and hinted at broader diplomatic shifts.
Responding to these comments, Zelensky asserted the territories in question are inherently Ukrainian. He remarked, “The territories are ours, they belong to our people and… the future Ukrainian people… So I don’t understand what he’s talking about.”
This confrontation between Zelensky and Witkoff is not unprecedented; in March, Zelensky questioned Witkoff’s credentials, with the former comedian suggesting that the American’s expertise lay in real estate rather than diplomacy.
Zelensky also revealed intelligence suggesting China’s involvement in supplying weapons to Russia. Beijing has yet to respond officially.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: As equity markets decline, President Donald J. Trump is ramping up criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for not reducing interest rates. The increased pressure on the U.S. central bank comes a day after its reverse repo operations fell to their lowest level since April 2021.
👥 Who’s Involved: President Donald J. Trump, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the People’s Bank of China.
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📍 Where & When: Trump posted his criticism of Powell to TruthSocial on April 17, 2025.
💬 Key Quote: “The ECB is expected to cut interest rates for the 7th time, and yet, ‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete ‘mess!'” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding: “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”
⚠️ Impact: Trump’s remarks underline tensions over the Federal Reserve’s policy decisions, drawing attention to the central bank’s independence and lack of accountability, and renewed legal arguments over whether the president can remove its chairman.
IN FULL:
President Donald J. Trump blasted Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday morning, arguing that the U.S. central bank chief is too slow to reduce interest rates. Trump’s criticism, posted to Truth Social, comes as U.S. equity markets continue their downward trajectory and the Federal Reserve’s reverse repo operations hit their lowest level since April 2021. Mounting concerns of a liquidity crisis and actions by China’s central bank to prop up its national economy in the face of U.S. tariffs have caused increasing strain between Powell and Trump.
“The ECB is expected to cut interest rates for the 7th time, and yet, ‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete ‘mess!'” President Trump wrote, continuing: “Oil prices are down, groceries (even eggs!) are down, and the USA is getting RICH ON TARIFFS. Too Late should have lowered Interest Rates, like the ECB, long ago, but he should certainly lower them now.”
“Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” the President added.
Trump’s post was prompted by the European Central Bank (ECB) announcing a new quarter-point reduction in its deposit rate to 2.25 percent. This was the seventh time the ECB has cut rates since June last year. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has only enacted one rate cut in the U.S. over the same period, in September. Critics of Chairman Powell argue that the rate cut was a political move intended to boost the economy and aid the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, Kamala Harris.
Last November, following President Trump’s landslide 2024 election victory, Powell was pressed as to whether he’d resign from his Fed chairmanship should he be asked, responding bluntly, “No.” The central bank chief insisted that the White House is “not permitted under the law” to remove him and other senior Fed officials.
Notably, the Federal Reserve Act—the law governing the central bank—does allow the U.S. president to remove the Federal Reserve board members “for cause” in cases of negligence of duty, misconduct, or corruption. However, the law does not allow top Fed officials to be fired over policy differences—a provision intended to ensure the central bank’s independence in managing the country’s monetary policy.
Despite the legal hurdles, Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, indicated earlier this week that the White House has decided on a six-month timeline to replace Powell as the Fed chairman, suggesting interviews for his replacement would occur “sometime in the fall.” The Trump administration is pointing to a pending U.S. Supreme Court case that could overturn the legal restrictions on removing top Federal Reserve officials, along with the heads of other independent government agencies, as the justification for Powell’s replacement timeline.
Should the court rule in the Trump administration’s favor, the White House would likely be legally clear to fire and replace the central bank chief.
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