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Mexico handed over 29 alleged drug lords to the United States for reasons of national security and outside the countries’ extradition treaty, the attorney general said Friday. The transfers were carried out in this way due to concerns that some judges were deliberately seeking to delay the handover, Alejandro Gertz told a news conference.”This is a national security request that the United States justified based on the criminal conduct of those individuals in that country,” he said.Gertz and Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said the decision to use a national security law instead of the extradition treaty followed reports that some of the suspects could be freed by courts.”There was a risk that some of these targets requested by the US government would be released or that their extradition processes would continue to be delayed due to agreements with some judges,” Garcia Harfuch said.The suspects handed over included Rafael Caro Quintero, who allegedly ordered the kidnap, torture and killing of US Drug Enforcement Administration special agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in the 1980s.Caro Quintero was on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s list of 10 most-wanted fugitives until his capture in 2022. He pleaded not guilty to narcotics charges in a New York court on Friday.If convicted, Caro Quintero and several others could face the death penalty, the US Department of Justice said.Mexico does not use the death penalty — something that Gertz said the United States should respect. The others delivered to the United States included the ex-leaders of the ultra-violent Zetas cartel, brothers Omar and Miguel Angel Trevino Morales.Former Juarez cartel boss Vicente Carrillo Fuentes and a brother of Nemesio Oseguera, who is the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations, were also on the list.The surprise handover came as Mexico scrambles to seal a deal with Washington to avoid being hit with trade duties that Trump has linked to illegal migration and drug flows.

If US President Donald Trump is to be taken at his word, Mexican imports to the United States will be hit with 25-percent tariffs on Tuesday.But exporters in Mexico, the United States’ biggest trading partner, remain upbeat about the future of the $840-billion business relationship.Mexico’s economy has gone from strength to strength on the back of the free trade agreements it has enjoyed with the United States and Canada since 1994.The value of its exports to the United States now far exceeds that of its imports from its northern neighbor — a major bone of contention for Trump.On Tuesday, the tariffs he announced on all Mexican imports shortly after taking office are due to go into effect, after being suspended for a month.Mexican manufacturers, however, are not as worried as you might imagine.- Been there, done that -Marco Antonio Lopez has experience when it comes to navigating economic upheaval, from the sudden devaluation of the Mexican peso in 1994 that sent the economy into meltdown to Trump’s first presidency, when the Republican threatened to pull the plug on the North America free trade deal.In the end, the US leader renegotiated parts of the deal, but trade remains mostly tariff-free.Lopez’s company SMK Electronica, based in the city of Tijuana on the border with the United States, manufactures electronic components for the automotive, audiovisual and telecoms industries.The Tijuana region is home to hundreds of “maquiladoras” — factories that assemble imported parts into finished products for export, particularly to the United States.”We have faced many crises. The previous Trump administration was not as drastic, but it was very similar and we learned to adapt,” Lopez said.”The border industry is highly adaptable… and the investment is so great that there is no risk of it disappearing.”The automobile industry is under particular threat from the impending tariffs.A representative of an auto parts maker with operations in Mexico who did not want to be identified said that US-Mexico trade was too big to fail, but that tariffs could have an impact on production nonetheless.”Products will become more expensive and there will be a clear loss in competitiveness,” the person told AFP.- Interdependence -Besides tequila and avocados, Mexico is one of the United States’ biggest suppliers of cars, car parts and mechanical and electronic equipment.Free trade has made North America a seamless manufacturing platform, with products like car key fobs, which are assembled in Mexico, crossing borders on the continent several times during the manufacturing process.The aerospace industry is another example: Mexican companies manufacture components for US partners such as Boeing and General Electric in the northern city of Monterrey as well as in the central state of Queretaro.The mere development of a part for an aircraft engine can take between two and three years. “Changing suppliers in this sector is a rather complicated process,” said Erik Palacios, director of the Monterrey aerospace cluster, which groups some 40 companies.He predicted that US customers “will continue buying at a higher price” until they can develop a local supply chain.Citing a recent conversation with an executive from US carmaker Ford, Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that the brand’s two most productive plants are in Mexico.That fact alone, he said, suggested that there were no plans to relocate them north of the border.- The long-term view -Companies that AFP spoke to said that decisions to locate manufacturing plants in Mexico were taken years in advance, and would likely outlast Trump’s four years in office. “Decisions in these companies are not made six months or a year in advance. They are made five or ten years ahead of time,” SMK Electronica’s Lopez said.German automaker BMW, which has an assembly plant in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, subscribes to that view. “We do not base our long-term strategic decisions on policies or political incentives,” a company spokesman told AFP.The spokesman pointed to the company’s announcement in early 2023 of an 800-million-euro ($830 million) investment in the production of lithium batteries in Mexico and the decision to start producing electric vehicles in Mexico in 2027.That, they said, was proof that BMW was banking on the Latin American country for years to come.

Donald Trump’s aid freeze was announced as a review that would last 90 days. Instead, the US president has unleashed sweeping cuts that relief groups say have already hurt millions around the world. With the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, leading Trump’s drive to slash spending to make way for tax cuts, the State Department announced Wednesday it had identified 92 percent of projects for elimination.Secretary of State Marco Rubio axed 5,800 awards with $54 billion in value, the State Department said, after the Trump administration ignored a court order to unfreeze aid, which is appropriated by Congress.The UN children’s agency UNICEF said that “millions of children” had already felt the initial effects of the suspension and then termination of grants from the United States.”Without urgent action, without funding, more children are going to suffer malnutrition. Fewer will have access to education, and preventable illnesses will claim more lives,” the agency’s spokesman James Elder told a news conference in Geneva.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters the world body was alarmed by the “severe cuts” by the United States — until now the world’s largest donor in dollar terms.”The reduction of America’s humanitarian role and influence will run counter to American interests globally. I can only hope that these decisions can be reversed based on more careful reviews,” Guterres told reporters.- ‘Innocent civilians’ -The International Rescue Committee said at least two million people the non-governmental group assists will be affected by the cancellation of 46 US grants.”The countries affected by these cuts — including Sudan, Yemen, Syria — are home to millions of innocent civilians who are victims of war and disaster,” said the group’s president David Miliband, a former British foreign secretary.In South Africa, where around 13 percent of the population is HIV positive, a halt in US funding to the country’s HIV/AIDS program is forecast to contribute to more than 500,000 deaths over 10 years, the head of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation said.PEPFAR, the anti-HIV/AIDS initiative launched under former US president George W. Bush, is credited with saving some 26 million lives over the past two decades, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.The program until recently enjoyed wide bipartisan support, including from Rubio, a former senator. But some aid workers say PEPFAR will be gutted without funding for related work, and notices seen by AFP showed that the United States was ending assistance to South African anti-AIDS organizations.Trump’s Democratic opponents say the cuts only benefit adversary China, which seeks to show the United States is unreliable.- Better off ‘in fireplace’? -Trump and his allies have argued that foreign assistance is wasteful and does not serve US interests. Representative Brian Mast, the outspoken chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, at a recent hearing cited initiatives related to LGBTQ issues and tourism promotion funded by the now-eliminated US Agency for International Development (USAID).”I think the fact is clear that America would have been better off if your money had been simply thrown into a fireplace,” Mast said.Aid groups say much of the assistance supports US interests by promoting stability and health overseas.By spending one dollar overseas in disease prevention, “we don’t have to spend $10, $20, $100 here to combat diseases,” said Tessie San Martin, CEO of the group FHI 360.She said 90 percent of the group’s work has been terminated, including HIV medication delivery, infectious disease treatment and malnutrition reduction.”This has consequences that are not easily reversible,” she said.Mark Feinberg, president and CEO of vaccine developer IAVI said there has been “really tremendous progress” in recent years toward producing a vaccine against HIV and that, had funding not stopped, it was possible to begin to “think about how we can bring the AIDS pandemic to an end.””This is setting us back decades,” he said.”Without question, we’re going to see increased numbers of infections, we’re going to see increased resistance and we’re going to see really going back to where things were decades ago, which is really sad.”Another aid group leader, who requested anonymity for fear of repercussions, said: “We all knew that there was going to be a change with the administration.”But I don’t think anyone anticipated actions that were so malicious, incompetent and ignorant.”

The former leader of a brutal Mexican cartel, Rafael Caro Quintero, described by the White House as the world’s “most evil” drug boss, pleaded not guilty to narcotics charges in New York Friday.In a letter to the Brooklyn court opposing bail, the Justice Department called Caro Quintero, who appeared in a Brooklyn court handcuffed, “one of the most notorious drug lords of the modern era.”Mexico sent Caro Quintero, one of its most notorious imprisoned drugs lynchpins, to the United States on Thursday in an effort to escape sweeping tariffs from President Donald Trump.Dubbed the “Narco of Narcos” by law enforcement, he was among 29 such cartel detainees handed over by Mexico, including a fellow kingpin, Vicente Carillo Fuentes, who also pleaded not guilty.”Two extremely powerful dangerous cartel kingpins… will face the consequences of their actions,” said US attorney John Durham outside court where the two men appeared to be arraigned.He called their arrival in the United States Thursday a “historic moment.”Caro Quintero allegedly ordered the kidnap, torture and killing of DEA special agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in the 1980s, and was on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s list of 10 most-wanted fugitives until his capture in 2022.”It demonstrates you can never kill a DEA agent. You will never get away with it,” said Durham.If convicted, he and several others could face the death penalty, the US Department of Justice said, adding that prosecutors would also consider terrorism charges.- Officers ‘celebrating’ -The surprise extraditions come as Mexico scrambles to seal a deal with Washington to avoid being hit with trade duties that Trump has linked to illegal migration and drug flows.Trump has designated eight Latin American drug trafficking organizations — including six Mexican cartels — as terrorist organizations.”As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups, and this Department of Justice is devoted to destroying cartels and transnational gangs,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.”We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law in honor of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers — and in some cases, given their lives — to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels,” she added.The handover of so many suspects at the same time was historic, Mike Vigil, a former chief of international operations at the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), told AFP.In the past, Mexico would extradite only a few suspects at once, he said, adding: “They’re certainly hoping that it will have a positive impact on the tariff negotiations.”The DEA was “celebrating” Caro Quintero’s extradition in particular, he said.

US President Donald Trump cut short a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday and said the Ukrainian leader is “not ready” for peace with Russia in an extraordinary meltdown in the Oval Office that threw question marks over chances for a truce.Zelensky was meant to be making a full White House visit to sign a US-Ukrainian deal for joint exploitation of Ukraine’s mineral resources, as part of a post-war recovery in a US-brokered peace deal.Instead, an ugly clash blew up almost immediately in the Oval Office where Trump and Vice President JD Vance shouted at Zelensky, accusing him of not being thankful for US help in the three-year war against Russian invasion.Trump berated Zelensky, telling him to be more “thankful” and that without US assistance Ukraine would have been conquered by Russia.”You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out,” Trump added. “And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”Zelensky left in his motorcade shortly after, without holding a planned joint press conference.The resources deal was left unsigned, the White House saidTrump took to his Truth Social platform to castigate Zelensky saying “he disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office.”Zelensky is “not ready for Peace,” Trump wrote. “He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”- Compromise row -The extraordinary meltdown came after Trump said Ukraine will have to make “compromises” in a truce with Russia, which has occupied swaths of Ukraine, destroying entire cities and towns along the way.”You can’t do any deals without compromises. So certainly he’s going to have to make some compromises, but hopefully they won’t be as big as some people think,” Trump said.But showing Trump pictures of war atrocities and referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky said there should be “no compromises with a killer on our territory.””Crazy Russians,” he said, deported Ukrainian children and committed war crimes during their three-year invasion of his country.The dramatic public breakdown in the long-tense relationship between Zelensky and Trump came after their meeting — in front of a large group of journalists — had appeared to get off to a friendlier start.Zelensky had said, “I think President Trump is on our side.”- Truce talks in doubt -The clash left in doubt efforts led by Trump to cast himself as mediator in the war.The leaders of France and Britain also came to the White House this week, seeking to persuade Trump not to take the Russian line and to bolster US support for Ukraine in a future truce.After the drama in the White House, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk told Zelensky: “You are not alone.”Trump has alarmed Kyiv and European allies with his abrupt U-turn in US policy, ending what had been full-throated support for Ukraine’s attempt to defeat the Russian invasion and casting himself as a mediator between Putin and Zelensky.Trump said in the Oval Office that he had “spoken on numerous occasions” to Putin — more than has been publicly reported beyond the lengthy call between the two leaders earlier this February.Speaking before the shouting match erupted, Trump told Zelensky that a truce is “fairly close.”The US leader also said that the proposed minerals deal would be “very fair.”The proposal was to give Washington financial benefits for helping Ukraine in a truce, even if Trump has repeatedly refused to commit any US military force as a back-up to European troops who might act as peacekeepers.- ‘Dictator without elections’ -The clash came after Trump has flip-flopped in his tone on Zelensky.Trump called him a “dictator” last week and has repeatedly blamed Ukraine for Russia’s February 2022 invasion and echoed a series of Kremlin talking points about how the war started.But on Thursday, Trump said at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer: “I have a lot of respect for him.””We’re going to get along really well,” he said.Trump, who has repeatedly expressed admiration for Putin, said this week he trusts Putin to “keep his word” on any ceasefire.Senate Democrats accused Trump and Vance of siding with Putin.They are “doing Putin’s dirty work. Senate Democrats will never stop fighting for freedom and democracy,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on social media.”Disgraceful,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen.As tensions between Moscow and Washington escalated, Russia’s assault on Ukraine continued.Russian infantry were on Friday storming the Ukrainian border from the Russian region of Kursk, near areas of the region that were seized last summer by Ukrainian forces, Kyiv said Friday.

Multiple Oscar-winner Francis Ford Coppola on Friday said he was “thrilled” to accept this year’s tongue-in-cheek Razzie Award for worst director, insisting it shows he has a “courage” sorely lacking in modern Hollywood.The legendary filmmaker behind “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now” poured his own money into last year’s passion project “Megalopolis,” which divided critics, drawing scorn from several.But Coppola, 85, has always made light of the many barbs aimed at his ambitious and idealistic late-career epic, and his game response to the satirical Razzie Award was no different.Coppola said he was “thrilled” to accept the dubious accolade, “at a time when so few have the courage to go against the prevailing trends of contemporary moviemaking!””In this wreck of a world today, where ART is given scores as if it were professional wrestling, I chose to NOT follow the gutless rules laid down by an industry so terrified of risk that despite the enormous pool of young talent at its disposal, may not create pictures that will be relevant and alive 50 years from now,” he wrote on social media.Coppola has said he spent $120 million of his own money to make “Megalopolis”, selling a stake in his California vineyard.Its much-hyped world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last May left the industry confounded. In a plot that is hard to summarize, Adam Driver stars as a seemingly magical architect whose efforts to rebuild a decaying city into a futuristic utopia are thwarted by its resentful mayor (Giancarlo Esposito).The movie boasts a stellar cast including Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf and Dustin Hoffman.Critics’ responses ranged from “a true modern masterwork” to a “catastrophe.”Voted for by some 1,200 members of an irreverent group that any film fan can join, the Razzies — or Golden Raspberries — were created as an antidote to the movie industry’s self-obsessed series of glitzy award shows.This year’s other Razzie “winners” included Dakota Johnson as worst actress for her much-mocked superhero spin-off “Madame Web,” which was also named the worst picture of the year and worst screenplay.Jerry Seinfeld was named worst actor for “Unfrosted,” a somewhat surreal original story for Pop-Tarts pastries.Joaquin Phoenix — who won best actor at the Oscars in the first “Joker” film — was jointly awarded worst screen combo with Lady Gaga for its flop follow-up “Joker: Folie a Deux.”

Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump met Friday to sign a deal on sharing Ukraine’s mineral riches and discuss a peace deal with Russia, despite the US president recently branding his Ukrainian counterpart a dictator.The potentially tense meeting comes after a week-long diplomatic dance that has also seen the leaders of France and Britain come to the White House to persuade Trump not to abandon Kyiv.Trump alarmed US allies and upended Washington’s longstanding Ukraine policy two weeks ago when he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and started talks on ending the three-year-old war — without Kyiv’s involvement.The US leader has demanded a deal granting Washington preferential access to Ukraine’s rare-earth and other natural resources as the price for any continued backing — even though he has refused to commit to giving Kyiv security guarantees as part of a truce with Russia.”We’ll be dig, dig, digging” for Ukraine’s resources, Trump said on Thursday ahead of the meeting — echoing his presidential election campaign slogan about how the United States would “drill, baby, drill” for oil.But Trump has softened his tone on Zelensky in recent days, after berating him last week as a “dictator without elections”, blaming Ukraine for Russia’s February 2022 invasion and echoing a series of Kremlin talking points about the war.- ‘Lot of respect’ -“I have a lot of respect for him,” Trump said of Zelensky on Thursday at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “We’re going to get along really well.” Trump also backtracked on the “dictator” broadside he launched on social media at Zelensky last week — a jibe he had previously refused to retract even as he declined to call Putin a dictator too.”Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that. Next question,” Trump responded when asked about the Zelensky comment.Trump, a billionaire real estate tycoon, insists the minerals deal is necessary for Washington to recoup the billions of dollars it has given Ukraine in military and other aid.Few details have emerged of exactly what it will involve, beyond giving Washington special access to Ukraine’s deep reserves of oil, gas and critical rare-earth minerals used in tech products.Zelensky said ahead of his arrival in Washington that US and Ukrainian officials would determine the nature of security guarantees for Ukraine and the exact sums of money at stake in the accord, he said.But Trump — who said this week he trusts Putin to “keep his word” on any ceasefire and has repeatedly expressed admiration for the authoritarian Russian leader in the past — has refused to commit on security.- ‘Backstop’ demands – Britain and France have both offered peacekeepers in the event of a deal to end the Ukraine war but say there must be a US “backstop” — including American intelligence and possibly air power.The US president told Starmer Thursday he was “open to many things” in terms of security guarantees but that he wanted to get a Russia-Ukraine deal in place first.Putin and Trump said after their February 12 phone call that they had agreed to meet personally — but they have not finalized any meeting yet.US and Russian officials met on Thursday in Istanbul in a new round of talks, after which Russia named career diplomat Alexander Darchiev as new ambassador to the United States, filling a role vacant since last year.But as tensions between Moscow and Washington eased, Russia’s assault on Ukraine continued.Russian infantry were on Friday storming the Ukrainian border from the Russian region of Kursk, near areas of the region that were seized last summer by Ukrainian forces, Kyiv said Friday.

Microsoft on Friday announced it was retiring Skype, the online voice and video call pioneer that the tech titan acquired in 2011.”Starting in May 2025, Skype will no longer be available,” said a post from Skype support on X, directing users to sign into Microsoft’s Teams platform for further use of its services.Skype was founded in 2003 by Scandinavians Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis in Estonia, revolutionizing internet communication by offering free voice calls between computers and affordable rates for calls to landlines and mobile phones.Over the years, and as internet speeds improved, Skype evolved to include video calls, instant messaging, file sharing and group communication features.By 2005, Skype had already reached 50 million registered users, demonstrating its rapid global adoption.Online auction site eBay acquired Skype in 2005 for approximately $2.6 billion, but the expected synergies never panned out, and in 2009, eBay sold a majority stake to a group of investors, who then sold it to Microsoft.In recent years, especially after the rise of the smartphone, Skype failed to hold onto its place against new rivals such as Meta-owned WhatsApp and Zoom, as well as Microsoft’s own Teams.”We’ve learned a lot from Skype… as we’ve evolved Teams over the last seven to eight years,” Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 collaborative apps and platforms, told CNBC.”But we felt like now is the time because we can be simpler for the market, for our customer base, and we can deliver more innovation faster just by being focused on Teams.”Microsoft said that Skype group chats would remain intact in the transition to Teams and that during a 60-day window, messages on Microsoft and Teams will be interoperable so you can message contacts from Teams and those messages will be delivered to friends still using Skype.In one big change, Microsoft is removing Skype’s telephony features, meaning you’ll no longer be able to call regular phone numbers, cell phones, or make international calls through the service.Microsoft told The Verge that these features are no longer as relevant in today’s communication landscape where mobile data plans are less expensive.The name “Skype” derived from “Sky peer-to-peer,” the technology that was fundamental to Skype’s original architecture.The peer-to-peer aspect was crucial as it distributed the network demands across users’ computers rather than relying solely on centralized servers, which was a key innovation that allowed Skype to scale rapidly during its early years.

President Donald Trump closed out a packed week at the White House after hosting a string of eager-to-please guests, and generating the usual eye-popping menu of news items.- ‘Did I say that?’ -Last week, Trump branded elected Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” — but things change fast in this administration.”Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that,” Trump responded with a slight grin when asked if his opinion had evolved.On Friday, Zelensky was meeting Trump to sign a deal granting Washington access to Ukraine’s rare minerals.- RSVP the king -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer laid it on thick with Trump, handing the president a hand-signed letter from King Charles III inviting him for an unprecedented second state visit to London.Reading the invitation in front of a throng of journalists, Trump appeared deeply flattered that he had been invited to Windsor Castle.Starmer also gave him a golf cap in the Trump family tartan, while his wife Melania got a scarf from the posh store Liberty and a Downing Street candle.- AI: Trump and Netanyahu topless -The US president posted an AI-generated video depicting war-ravaged Gaza rebuilt as a seaside Trump-branded resort, with a towering golden statue of himself and bearded belly dancers.The clip’s soundtrack included the lyrics “Donald’s coming to set you free, bringing the light for all to see”, and “Feast and dance, the deal is done, Trump Gaza number one.”Among the AI scenes was Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sipping cocktails in swimsuits by a pool, while another showed Elon Musk dancing under a shower of cash.- US, Russia, NKorea: UN allies -The United States sided with Russia twice at the United Nations, as Washington sought to avoid condemnation of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago.The votes highlighted a seismic shift at the UN, where Washington had previously led votes for resolutions that lambasted its historic competitor and often enemy Moscow.A European-backed text won 93 votes for at the General Assembly and 18 votes against — with Washington siding with Russia, Belarus, North Korea and Sudan.- Ebola prevention ‘accidentally canceled’ -Starring at Trump’s first cabinet meeting, Elon Musk admitted his dramatic government cuts were not perfect.”For example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was Ebola prevention,” he said with a giggle, insisting there no actual interruption.But current and former staff told US media that USAID’s Ebola prevention work has indeed been largely halted since Musk took an axe to the aid agency.- Le Bromance, still on? -They hugged, they gripped hands, they touched knees and they backslapped. French President Emmanuel Macron and Trump rekindled their touchy-feely bromance at the White House.But when Trump repeated a false claim that Europe would get its aid money back from Ukraine, Macron interrupted to explain the cash was “like the US — loans, guarantees, grants.”Trump smirked and said, “If you believe that, it’s OK with me.”

A week ago Donald Trump branded Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator. On Friday he will host the Ukrainian president at the White House and sign a deal granting Washington access to Ukraine’s rare minerals.The extraordinary turnaround caps a week of frantic international diplomacy centered on Washington, as Kyiv seeks to shore up support despite Trump’s recent pivot towards Russia.Trump upended years of US policy on Ukraine two weeks ago when he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and started talks on ending the three-year-old war — without Kyiv.He also alarmed allies as he appeared to turn on Zelensky, berating him as a “dictator without elections” and blaming Ukraine for Russia’s February 2022 invasion.But Trump’s tone has softened in recent days after visits by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.”I have a lot of respect for him,” Trump said of Zelensky on Thursday. “We’re going to get along really well.” Trump also backtracked on the “dictator” broadside he launched on social media at Zelensky last week — a jibe he had previously refused to retract even as he declined to call Putin a dictator too.”Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that,” Trump responded when asked about the Zelensky comment by journalists during a meeting with Starmer.The dictator outburst was sparked in particular by Zelensky’s initial rejection of the deal to give Washington preferential access to Ukrainian natural resources, including oil, gas and rare earth metals.Zelensky demanded US security guarantees as part of any deal but Trump has refused to give any commitments.- ‘Dig, dig, digging’ -Trump, a billionaire real estate tycoon, insisted the deal was necessary for Washington to recoup the billions of dollars it has given Ukraine in military and other aid.Finally, Zelensky relented and agreed to come to the White House to sign it.The deal would give the United States a share in much of Ukraine’s mineral wealth.”We’ll be dig, dig, digging” for Ukraine’s resources, Trump told reporters Thursday.Few details of the minerals deal have emerged. Zelensky told reporters this week that it would act as a framework for broader deals. Further discussions between US and Ukrainian officials would determine the nature of security guarantees for Ukraine and the exact sums of money at stake in the accord, he said.But Trump has repeatedly refused to commit to any guarantees. Britain and France have both offered peacekeepers in the event of a deal to end the Ukraine war but say there must be a US “backstop” — including American intelligence and possibly air power.The US president told Starmer Thursday he was “open to many things” in terms of security guarantees but that he wanted to get a Russia-Ukraine deal in place first.Trump added that there had been a “lot of progress” towards a deal but then added: “It’ll either be fairly soon or it won’t be at all.”After his visit to Washington, Starmer has invited more than a dozen European and EU leaders to a summit on Sunday to “drive forward” action on Ukraine and security.US and Russian officials met on Thursday in Istanbul in a new round of talks. Putin and Trump said after their February 12 phone call that they had agreed to meet personally — but they have not finalized any meeting yet.