Displaying items by tag: negotiations

After months of deadlock, there are new signs that Israel and Hamas could be moving closer to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. The USA, Qatar, and Egypt are reporting greater willingness by both sides to conclude a deal. Talks are reportedly in a decisive stage. Israel’s defence minister has indicated that they are close to an agreement, though challenges remain, including far-right Israeli cabinet opposition and Hamas's conditions. A three-phase plan proposes releasing civilian and women hostages, with Israeli troop withdrawals and a mechanism for displaced Gazans to return. Subsequent stages include freeing remaining hostages and a broader troop withdrawal. Of 96 hostages in Gaza, 62 are believed to be still alive; a hundred others have been freed through negotiation or military action. The negotiations have been given a new push by Donald Trump’s election; he has warned that a ceasefire deal should be reached before he takes office, because otherwise ‘it’s not going to be pleasant’.

Ireland’s general election has set the stage for coalition negotiations to form the next government. Fianna Fáil emerged as the largest party with 48 seats, followed by Sinn Féin with 39 and Fine Gael with 38. With 88 seats needed for a majority, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are expected to renew their coalition, perhaps with support from independents or smaller parties. Micheál Martin, leader of Fianna Fáil, is poised to return as Taoiseach under the coalition's rotation agreement. Fine Gael, led by Simon Harris, will likely alternate leadership roles during the government’s five-year term. Despite Sinn Féin’s gains, the other parties have ruled out collaboration with them. Negotiations will center on policies like enterprise, EU relations, and home ownership. Meetings and talks are expected to last for weeks, with the Dáil returning on 18 December. Ministers will remain in caretaker roles until a coalition agreement is finalised, likely in early 2025.

Sir Keir Starmer made his first visit to Brussels this week, aiming to rebuild UK-EU relations post-Brexit. His visit focused on strengthening cooperation in defence, security, energy, climate change, and tackling irregular migration. While Starmer’s message of 'sensible leadership' was welcomed, the EU remains cautious, particularly regarding Labour’s call to reduce trade barriers. The EU reminded Starmer that these barriers stem from the UK’s decision to leave the single market and customs union, which he reaffirmed will not be renegotiated. Discussions on migration found some agreement, particularly regarding stopping people-smuggling gangs. However, European leaders remain divided on migration policy, with some calling for the UK to open more legal pathways for asylum-seekers. Other negotiations include easing trade restrictions on UK exports and a proposed youth mobility scheme. The EU wants the UK to comply with existing agreements before opening new negotiations, signalling that while cooperation may improve, trade-offs will be required on both sides.

This week has seen intensified Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and steady Russian advances in the Donbas region, balanced by Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region. Diplomatically, both sides continue to show a lack of willingness to compromise. China has reaffirmed its support for Russia through a high-profile visit by premier Li Qiang and a military delegation to Moscow. Meanwhile, India's prime minister Narendra Modi has made a significant visit to Kyiv, signalling India's complex position between its historical ties with Russia and growing relationships with Western nations. Although India has not condemned Russia's actions, Modi's visit to Ukraine and his emphasis on dialogue indicate a potential shift in India's stance. The USA also announced a new military aid package and additional sanctions targeting entities supporting Russia. The diplomatic landscape remains fluid, with all parties manoeuvring for strategic advantage on the global stage.

Health secretary Steve Barclay will hold another round of talks with union leaders ahead of planned strikes by nurses. Whitehall said ministers were working on options for resolving the strikes, which could include a one-off payment to reflect cost of living pressures. They recognised that union leaders ‘have to get something for this year’ before they will consider calling off the current wave of industrial action. What level of payment might be offered, and how it could be funded, is not yet clear. There are also concerns that any payment to resolve the health dispute would set a precedent for other sectors facing industrial strife, including education and transport, potentially landing the taxpayer with a bill running into billions of pounds. The moves came as 25,000 ambulance workers staged a second day of walkouts and unions warned they could boycott talks on the next pay round in April.

Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern have been working behind the scenes to get the UK and EU back to the negotiating table over Brexit and the Stormont government collapse. Hard Brexiter Steve Baker has been transferred to the Northern Ireland office, replacing Conor Burns, who went to the Department for International Trade. UK-EU protocol talks were paused when Russia invaded Ukraine. The already strained relations deteriorated further in June when Liz Truss introduced a bill enabling the UK to remove some Northern Ireland Brexit protocol. Hopes of a thaw in UK-EU relations have been fuelled by the absence of Lord Frost from Truss’s new cabinet. Burns met Europe’s Marcus Šefčovič at the weekend and had ‘constructive and prolonged talks’. He told MPs, ‘I am convinced that if the appetite exists, we can find a way to a negotiated solution to the Northern Ireland protocol.’ 

Officials from Russia and the United States have been holding security talks in Geneva, in a week of diplomatic activity to defuse tensions over Ukraine. Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov and his delegation have begun face-to-face discussions with Wendy Sherman, the US deputy secretary of state, and her team. Ms Sherman is one of the world's most powerful diplomats, nicknamed the Silver Fox because of her snowy white mane and canny deal-making style. Pray that their meetings will kickstart dialogue between Moscow and Washington, whose relations are at a low point over Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine. The negotiations have been particularly gruelling, say analysts, and Ms Sherman will need all the diplomatic tricks she can muster to avoid a major war in Europe. Sergei Ryabkov brings a list of demands the US officials must agree to, including not expanding NATO forces eastward or allowing Ukraine to join NATO. See also the next article and

On 29 November, senior diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia met Iranian officials in Vienna to discuss bringing Tehran back into compliance with the 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which eased sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. The talks could pave the way for the US to rejoin the accord. Israel is making efforts to stop a return to the previous agreement and prevent implementing an interim agreement, a plan the US is considering as a stop-gap if a full agreement cannot be reached. The nuclear talks resumed with upbeat comments despite Tehran's negotiating team demanding that all US and EU sanctions imposed since 2017, including those unrelated to its nuclear programme, be removed.

Last week you prayed for the UK to settle the debt they owe to Iran, so that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe can finally be released from prison. Please keep praying. This week the UK and Iran are in discussions over the £400m that the UK owes for failing to deliver tanks Iran bought in the 1970s. Nazanin believes she has been imprisoned as leverage for the debt. Boris Johnson said ministers were doing ‘everything we can to look after her interests and all the very difficult dual national cases we have in Tehran’. On 1 May Iranian state TV suggested the UK had paid the debt - but the Government said nothing had changed.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been sentenced to a further year in prison and a one-year travel ban after being found guilty of joining a London protest twelve years ago and speaking to the BBC Persian service. Her husband said she has not been taken to prison yet; she plans to appeal against the sentence. Mr Ratcliffe said, ‘The threat is there, and it is bigger than we were fearing. I think the worst case got a bit closer.’ He maintains that his wife was imprisoned as leverage for a debt owed by the UK over its failure to deliver tanks to Iran in 1979; also, her case may be caught up with the negotiations over limiting Iran's nuclear material enrichment. Her sentence may indicate that the Iranian regime is unhappy with the negotiations taking place in Vienna. Things could get worse for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other jailed dual nationals.