Starmer's push for fresh Russia sanctions at G7 summit hits Trump roadblock as US president says he wants to 'wait' because they 'cost us a lot of money'... then snubs Zelensky meeting to leave Canada early

Keir Starmer 's push for fresh Russia sanctions have hit a Trump roadblock after the US president complained they 'cost us a lot of money'.
The PM has been talking up the prospect of 'squeezing' Vladimir Putin at the G7 summit in Canada this week.
But Mr Trump has struck a starkly different tone, suggesting during the gathering that the dictator should not have been ejected from the powerful group of nations.
Speaking alongside Sir Keir overnight, Mr Trump was asked about ramping up sanctions and replied: 'Well Europe is saying that, but they haven't done it yet.
'Let's see them do it first.'
Mr Trump added: 'I'm waiting to see whether or not a deal is done… and don't forget, you know, sanctions cost us a lot of money.
'When I sanction a country that costs the US a lot of money, a tremendous amount of money.
'It's not just, let's sign a document. You're talking about billions and billions of dollars. Sanctions are not that easy. It's not just a one-way street.'
Following the photo op with Sir Keir, to unveil details of the US-UK trade deal, Mr Trump opted to leave the summit early and return to Washington amid the crisis between Israel and Iran.
He is missing the G7 discussions on Ukraine today, and a planned meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky.
Downing Street would not expand on what a mooted European sanctions package is likely to include but said it would aim to keep 'up the pressure on Russian military industrial complex'.
A No10 spokesman earlier dismissed suggestions that the limited detail about the announcement reflected divisions within the G7 on the issue of Moscow.
'I don't agree with that characterisation at all,' the official said.
'It's just a point of fact that the G7 has only just begun.
'The sessions are just beginning now, and it would be premature to get ahead of what those sessions will yield.'
In a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday, Mr Trump said the decision to oust Russia from the former G8 had been a 'mistake'.
Moscow was expelled from the group following its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Sir Keir said: 'The fact is, Russia doesn't hold all the cards.
'So, we should take this moment to increase economic pressure and show President Putin it is in his, and Russia's interests, to demonstrate he is serious about peace.
'We are finalising a further sanctions package and I want to work with all of our G7 partners to squeeze Russia's energy revenues and reduce the funds they are able to pour into their illegal war.'
UK intelligence has assessed Russia's forces as likely having sustained approximately 1,000,000 casualties since it launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, but it continues pounding Ukraine with drone and missile attacks.
Mr Zelensky is expected to attend the conference in Kananaskis, along with leaders from Canada, the US, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and Britain.
The Ukrainian president has accepted a US-backed ceasefire proposal and offered to talk directly with Mr Putin, but the Russian leader has so far shown no willingness to meet him and resisted calls for an unconditional truce.

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South Wales Argus

30 minutes ago

• South Wales Argus

US strikes three Iranian nuclear sites

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, quoting a provincial official, confirmed attacks on Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites. The decision to directly involve the US in the war comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country's air defences and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. US and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and the 30,000-pound (13,500-kg) bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily-fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear programme buried deep underground. 'We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,' Mr Trump said in a post on social media. 'All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home.' Mr Trump added in a later post that he would address the national audience at 10pm eastern time, writing: 'This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!' Trump said B-2 stealth bombers were used but did not specify which types of bombs were dropped. The White House and Pentagon did not immediately elaborate on the operation. The strikes are a perilous decision for the US as Iran has pledged to retaliate if it joined the Israeli assault, and for Mr Trump personally, having won the White House on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism. Trump told reporters on Friday that he was not interested in sending ground forces into Iran, saying it's 'the last thing you want to do.' He had previously indicated that he would make a final choice over the course of two weeks, a timeline that seemed drawn out as the situation was evolving quickly. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the United States on Wednesday that strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will 'result in irreparable damage for them'. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei declared 'any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region'. Trump has vowed that he would not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and he had initially hoped that the threat of force would bring the country's leaders to give up its nuclear program peacefully. Israel 's military said Saturday it was preparing for the possibility of a lengthy war, while Iran's foreign minister warned before the U.S. attack that American military involvement 'would be very, very dangerous for everyone.' The prospect of a wider war threatened, too. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they would resume attacks on U.S. vessels in the Red Sea if the Trump administration joins Israel's military campaign. The Houthis paused such attacks in May under a deal with the US. The US ambassador to Israel announced the US had begun 'assisted departure flights,' the first from Israel since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at Thursday's press briefing that Trump had said: 'I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.' Instead, the U.S. president struck just two days later. Trump appears to have made the calculation — at the prodding of Israeli officials and many Republican lawmakers — that Israel's operation had softened the ground and presented a perhaps unparalleled opportunity to set back Iran's nuclear program, perhaps permanently. The Israelis say their offensive has already crippled Iran's air defences, allowing them to already significantly degrade multiple Iranian nuclear sites. But to destroy the Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, Israel appealed to Trump for US bunker-busting bomb, which uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets and then explode. The penetrator is currently only delivered by the B-2 stealth bomber, which is only found in the American arsenal. The bomb carries a conventional warhead, and is believed to be able to penetrate about 200 feet (61 meters) below the surface before exploding, and the bombs can be dropped one after another, effectively drilling deeper and deeper with each successive blast. The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran is producing highly enriched uranium at Fordo, raising the possibility that nuclear material could be released into the area if the GBU-57 A/B were used to hit the facility. Previous Israeli strikes at another Iranian nuclear site, Natanz, on a centrifuge site have caused contamination only at the site itself, not the surrounding area, the IAEA has said. Mr Trump's decision for direct US military intervention comes after his administration made an unsuccessful two-month push — including with high-level, direct negotiations with the Iranians — aimed at persuading Tehran to curb its nuclear programme. For months, Mr Trump said he was dedicated to a diplomatic push to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions. And he twice — in April and again in late May — persuaded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on military action against Iran and give diplomacy more time. The US in recent days has been shifting military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East to protect Israel and US bases from Iranian attacks. All the while, Mr Trump has gone from publicly expressing hope that the moment could be a 'second chance' for Iran to make a deal to delivering explicit threats on Mr Khamenei and making calls for Tehran's unconditional surrender. 'We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding,' Mr Trump said in a social media posting. 'He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.' The military showdown with Iran comes seven years after Mr Trump withdrew the US from the Obama-administration brokered agreement in 2018, calling it the 'worst deal ever'. The 2015 deal, signed by Iran, US and other world powers, created a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Mr Trump decried the Obama-era deal for giving Iran too much in return for too little, because the agreement did not cover Iran's non-nuclear malign behaviour. Mr Trump has bristled at criticism from some of his Maga faithful, including conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who have suggested that further US involvement would be a betrayal to supporters who were drawn to his promise to end US involvement in expensive and endless wars.

The Guardian

32 minutes ago

• The Guardian

Trump raises specter of further attacks against Iran after US military operation

Fresh from ordering military strikes on Iran, Donald Trump on Saturday raised the specter of further attacks against Iran if its leadership did not engage in peace talks in a sweeping and at times ominous televised late night address delivered from the White House. The remarks suggested that the president, who has repeatedly said he wanted to bring peace to global conflicts, at least partly viewed the strikes against Iran's enrichment facilities as a tactic to force negotiations – just days after he had suggested he would given Iran two weeks before deciding on an attack. Flanked by his vice-president, JD Vance; the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth; and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, Trump said from the Cross Hall of the White House that the strikes were aimed at destroying Iran's ability to enrich uranium to a level where it could be used in nuclear weapons. 'The strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier,' Trump said. Trump's address sparked a concerned reaction from some advisers in his orbit who had cautioned against US involvement against Iran because of the potential for the US military to become dragged into a protracted conflict to topple Iran's leadership as Israel has pushed. 'I'm not sure the talk Maga wanted to hear. It sounded open-ended. They either shut down the nuclear power facility, or give up, or surrender. Very open-ended,' Steve Bannon, the former Trump adviser who had a three-hour lunch with the president on Thursday, said in a special broadcast of his War Room show. Trump claimed in the speech that the three nuclear facilities in Iran bombed by the US were 'completely and totally obliterated'. But the address was short on detail about the bombing operation against three nuclear sites at Natanz and Fordow, the key facility buried deep underground, and at Isfahan, where Iran was believed to have stored supplies of uranium that had been enriched to near-weapons grade. A US official speaking on the condition of anonymity said the dark-of-night operation involved six B-2 bombers dropping a dozen of the 30,000lb 'bunker buster' bombs, formally known as GBU-57s, to try to reach the bottom of the Fordow facility located deep under a mountain. One B-2 bomber also dropped two GBU-57s on the Natanz facility, in addition to the US navy launching 30 Tomahawk missiles on Natanz and Isfahan, the official said – a strike package far larger than many defense officials had expected. Aside from his claim of military success, Trump's remarks were most notable in warning of more attacks if Iran did not start negotiations to end the conflict with Israel and accede to his demands to stop enriching uranium. They also appeared to double as a warning against any retaliation by Iran. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion 'There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran,' Trump said. 'Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.' Trump also appeared to offer some justification for the bombing run, making the argument that Iran posed a direct threat to not just Israel but also the US. In doing so, after months of hesitancy, he re-embraced the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and said they had worked together as a team. 'For 40 years, Iran has been saying: 'Death to America, Death to Israel.' They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs, with roadside bombs. In particular, so many were killed by their general Qassem Suleimani. I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue,' Trump said.

Scottish Sun

36 minutes ago

• Scottish Sun

How Donald Trump hammered Iran's nuke bases with bunker buster bombs and missiles fired from submarines

DONALD Trump has blitzed Iran's nuclear bases to stop the Ayatollah's doomsday project in a complex operation from air and sea. The president has declared the strike a "spectacular success" that "obliterated" the mad mullahs' atomic program. 9 Donald Trump in the Situation Room during the strike Credit: Reuters 9 Tomahawk missiles fired from submarines were used to strike two bases (stock image) Credit: AFP 9 The B-2A Spirit was used to carry the bunker busting bombs Credit: Getty 9 To do that, Trump used some of the US military's most advanced weapons. Six 30,000lb bunker busting bombs - officially called the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) - were used to hit the most difficult target, Trump told Fox News. They were dropped from B-2 bombers flying high in the atmosphere for 37 hours all the way from Missouri, the New York Times reported. The lethal bombers even refuelled several times in the air so they didn't have to land. Read more on world news BOMB BLITZ Trump launches strikes on Iran as three nuke bases blitzed in historic attack B-2 bombers were the only weapon which could do the job - because the Ayatollah's prized Fordow nuclear enrichment plant is 300ft deep underground and encased in steel. Israel has been unable to destroy the site by itself - with Trump declaring on Saturday that only America could destroy it from above. Now, Trump claims he has done so - with six bunker busters able to bury deep through the rock and hit the base. The missiles - 20ft long and carrying a 5,000lb warhead - were dropped by the B-2s, hit the earth, and buried themselves deep into the rock before they exploded. Iran claims that it knew the attack was coming and evacuated anything of value from the base. But two other of Iran's nuclear facilities were also hit - Natanz and Isfahan. How Trump COULD destroy Iran's prize nuclear bunker They were blitzed by 30 Tomahawk missiles fired from submarines 400miles away. Tomahawk missiles are a long-range weapon which can be fired from land or sea and can travel at least 1,000miles. The US keeps a naval base across the Persian Gulf from Iran in Bahrain. The complex at Natanz holds Iran's largest uranium enrichment plant - crucial for getting the material to weapons grade. 9 A US submarine - capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk missiles Credit: AP 9 Isfahan nuclear power plant Credit: AFP 9 One B-2 also dropped two bunker busters on Natanz, according to the New York Times. Isfahan is thought to hold a repository of near bomb-grade nuclear material. Both Natanz and Isfahan had previously been hit by Israel. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, previously said Iran's biggest atomic plant at Natanz was knocked out by the first waves of the Israeli offensive. Mr Grossi said: "The above-ground part of the pilot fuel enrichment plant, where Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60% U-235, has been destroyed". Uranium-235 is essential both for nuclear power stations and also for nuclear weapons. 9 Trump addressing the nation revealed America had 'obliterated' Fordow Credit: Alamy 9 Posting on Truth Social, President Donald Trump announced that US bombers targeted Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan enrichment sites. The bombings come just two days after Trump said he would decide "within two weeks" whether to join key ally Israel in attacking Iran. In a nationally televised speech at the White House, Trump said: "Tonight I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. 'Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier. "There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days."