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US President Donald Trump on Monday said his administration could push to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, reclassifying it as a less dangerous drug.”We are considering that,” Trump told reporters after he was queried whether an executive order on the issue was being discussed.”A lot of people want to see it, the reclassification, because it leads to tremendous amounts of research that can’t be done unless you reclassify, so we are looking at that very strongly.”At the federal level, marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I substance, in the same league as drugs like heroin and LSD. The government considers these drugs to have high abuse potential without accepted use for medical treatment.But dozens of US states already have legal medical marijuana programs, and many also have approved its recreational use.According to a recent Washington Post report, Trump is aiming to push for a reclassification to Schedule III — substances that are considered to have medical value and less potential for abuse.That class includes ketamine and anabolic steroids.Rescheduling is not legalization or decriminalization — but easing federal restrictions could have ripple effects, including lowering barriers to pursue research, as authorizing clinical studies on Schedule I substances can require many layers of approval.It could also have major tax implications for companies that legally grow and sell cannabis.The US president cannot unilaterally reclassify a drug. The Post reported that Trump is expected to sign an executive order directing federal agencies to pursue reclassification.Joe Biden’s administration had previously pursued reclassification, but efforts stalled and were not completed before Trump took office in early 2025.The US has a patchwork of state-level regulations regarding the commercial distribution, recreational possession and personal cultivation of cannabis. In small amounts it is already legal for recreational use in 24 US states as well as Washington DC.

Donald Trump faced a storm of condemnation on Monday after posting “perverse” and “sick” remarks suggesting Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered because of the celebrated filmmaker’s criticism of the US president.Among those voicing shock were some staunch Trump loyalists, and the remarks triggered a wave of unusually negative responses on the Truth Social network he uses to communicate with his base.As tributes poured in, Trump claimed the Reiners had died “reportedly due to the anger” that the director had sparked by criticizing the Republican leader.Trump boasted of his own political success and said Reiner had “driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession” with attacking the president.The comments came as police announced that Reiner’s son, Nick, had been arrested on suspicion of murder — a development that intensified the backlash.”I’d expect to hear something like this from a drunk guy at a bar, not the president of the United States,” Nebraska Republican Don Bacon, who retires from the House of Representatives next year, told CNN.Marjorie Taylor Greene, once one of Trump’s fiercest allies in Congress, scolded Trump over his response to a “family tragedy” that was “not about politics or political enemies.””Many families deal with a family member with drug addiction and mental health issues. It’s incredibly difficult and should be met with empathy especially when it ends in murder,” she posted on X.- Trump doubles down -Thomas Massie, another Trump critic on the Republican side of the House of Representatives, called the president’s comments “inappropriate and disrespectful” while New York moderate Mike Lawler called the remarks “wrong.”Trump has long trafficked in incendiary social media posts, but open rebukes from within his own party were once almost unimaginable.Asked at a White House medal ceremony whether he stood by his remarks, Trump was unapologetic — doubling down and further vilifying the “When Harry Met Sally” director.”I think he hurt himself… career wise. He became like a deranged person, Trump derangement syndrome,” Trump said. “So I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all in any way, shape or form. I thought he was very bad for our country.”Miles Taylor, a former Trump administration homeland security official who became a prominent internal critic after anonymously publishing a 2019 tell-all book, accused the president of “mocking the dead” and branded him a “sick creep.””His attacks on (Republican senator) John McCain after the veteran’s death pushed me to speak out from within his administration. (The) taunting of Rob Reiner’s murder makes me even more determined to defy Trump.”Reiner was an outspoken critic of Trump, calling the billionaire a threat to American democracy and raising funds for Democratic candidates.David Axelrod, the former chief strategist to Democratic President Barack Obama, described Trump’s post as “perverse.””The absence of empathy & grace for the Reiner family in their moment of profound loss and grief is sad and revealing. For @POTUS, his grievances trumps their grief.”Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said Trump had “lost it.””Now saying Rob and Michele Reiner caused their own murder because they didn’t support him. So sick,” he wrote.

US President Donald Trump said Monday that a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine was closer than ever, as European leaders proposed a “multinational force” to enforce a potential peace accord.The upbeat remarks came as key powers met in Berlin with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to push forward efforts to end the war — although Russia had yet to react to the latest proposals.”I think we’re closer now than we have been ever,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that he had “very long and very good talks” with Zelensky and others, including the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and NATO.The European leaders in a joint statement at the Berlin talks proposed a force as part of US-backed “robust security guarantees” aimed at guaranteeing that Russia would not violate an agreement to end the war, which started with Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion.Zelensky said earlier that talks with Trump’s envoys were “not easy” but brought “progress” on the question of security guarantees.He met for a second day with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner for talks aimed at ending the war, building on a proposal initially put forward by Trump.Zelensky hailed new security guarantees offered by Washington but also said differences remained on the question of what territories Ukraine would have to cede to Russia.”There has been sufficient dialogue on the territory, and I think that, frankly speaking, we still have different positions,” Zelensky told reporters.- US security guarantees -An upbeat German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the talks had created the “chance for a real peace process” and praised the US for offering “substantial” security guarantees.The European statement — whose signatories included the leaders of Britain, France and Germany — also outlined what it said were other points of agreement between the European leaders and US officials.Ukraine’s military should continue receiving extensive support and maintain a peacetime strength of 800,000 troops, it said.Peace would also be maintained by a “US-led ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism” that would identify violations and “provide early warning of any future attack”.US officials warned Ukraine must accept the deal, which they said would provide security guarantees in line with NATO’s Article Five — which calls an attack on one ally an attack on all.”The basis of that agreement is basically to have really, really strong guarantees — Article Five-like — also a very, very strong deterrence” in the size of Ukraine’s military, a US official said on condition of anonymity.”Those guarantees will not be on the table forever. Those guarantees are on the table right now if there’s a conclusion that’s reached in a good way,” he said.Trump has previously ruled out a formal entry of Ukraine into NATO and sided with Russia in calling Kyiv’s aspirations to the alliance a reason for the full-scale invasion by Moscow.Merz said “substantial legal and material security guarantees” from the United States were “truly remarkable” and “a very important step forward”.- ‘Criminal attack’ -Zelensky said of the talks with the US side that “these conversations are always not easy” but that it had been “a productive conversation”.An official briefed on the US-Ukrainian talks earlier told AFP that US negotiators still want Ukraine to cede control of the eastern Donbas — made up of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.Moscow controls almost all of Lugansk and about 80 percent of the Donetsk region, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War.Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants territory”, said the official, adding that the United States was demanding that Ukraine “withdraw” from the regions and that Kyiv was refusing.One of the US officials acknowledged that there was no agreement on territory. Trump has called it inevitable that Ukraine would need to surrender territory to Russia, an outcome unacceptable to Zelensky.Russia, meanwhile, has signalled it will insist on its core demands, including on territory and on Ukraine never joining NATO.Moscow has previously objected to any European-led force in Ukraine to police a peace agreement.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russia was expecting the United States to “provide us with the concept that is being discussed in Berlin today”.burs-fz/rlp/rmb

Rob Reiner’s cinematic career spanned decades and defied categorization, embracing courtroom drama, fantasy, horror, comedy, and satire.Each success was distinguished by incisive writing and a deep humanity that wove his work into the fabric of popular culture.Few filmmakers have matched Reiner’s breadth — or left behind so many lines that endure in memory, quoted everywhere from comedy stages to political podiums.In the wake of his shocking killing, that legacy has only come into sharper focus, as tributes pour in to a filmmaker whose work blended wit, empathy and moral clarity with rare consistency.Here are five Reiner classics, endlessly rewatched and quoted, that now stand as both entertainment and epitaph.- This Is Spinal Tap (1984) -Reiner’s directorial debut didn’t merely lampoon rock culture — it helped invent the modern mockumentary.The film chronicles a hapless British heavy-metal band on a US tour gone spectacularly awry.Initially overlooked, earning just $6 million and no major awards, it later joined the US National Film Registry for its cultural significance.Home video and its endlessly quotable dialogue transformed it into a cult phenomenon.Notable quotable: “These go to 11.” — Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) with a deadpan declaration about an amplifier’s volume knob that has become shorthand for trying to turn everything up beyond the limit.- The Princess Bride (1987) -A fairy tale brimming with swordplay, true love, revenge, rodents of unusual size and — again — relentlessly quotable dialogue.Another modest box-office performer at $31 million, it blossomed into one of the most cherished films of the 1980s.Though it earned no Oscars, its cultural immortality is unquestioned.Notable quotable: “As you wish.” — Westley (Cary Elwes) with a romantic refrain expressing his devotion to Buttercup — later revealed to mean simply “I love you.”- When Harry Met Sally… (1989) -Two neurotic New Yorkers spend more than a decade debating whether men and women can ever be “just friends.” This became the blueprint for the modern rom-com — sharp, adult and emotionally honest. Nora Ephron’s screenplay earned an Oscar nod, and the film grossed $93 million worldwide, cementing Reiner’s commercial clout.Notable quotable: “I’ll have what she’s having.” — Customer (Estelle Reiner) delivers a deadpan line in an iconic diner scene that steals the movie. So beloved it was placed in the American Film Institute’s list of memorable movie quotes.- Misery (1990) -Reiner plunged into psychological horror with this Stephen King adaptation: a novelist (James Caan) survives a car crash only to be held captive by an unhinged superfan who insists he rewrite his latest book — or else.It was proof Reiner could pivot from straight-up comedy into darkness without missing a beat.He directed Kathy Bates to an Academy Award for her turn as deranged nurse Annie Wilkes and the film netted roughly $61 million worldwide on a modest budget.Notable quotable: “I’m your number one fan!” — Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) makes a chilling proclamation of obsessive devotion that perfectly captures her menace.- A Few Good Men (1992) -A taut courtroom drama about a young Navy lawyer uncovering a deadly conspiracy while defending Marines accused of murder at Guantanamo Bay.Reiner delivered a morally complex thriller at full throttle, powered by Aaron Sorkin’s script and Jack Nicholson’s volcanic performance.The film scored four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and grossed $243 million worldwide — Reiner’s biggest hit.Notable quotable: “You can’t handle the truth!” — Col. Nathan R. Jessup (Jack Nicholson) with a thunderous courtroom declaration that has become one of cinema’s most quoted lines, epitomizing the film’s central moral conundrum.

Born to Hollywood royalty, Rob Reiner made a string of movie hits showcasing remarkable range and was prominent in Democratic Party circles as a backer of liberal causes.The apparent murder of Reiner and his wife, photographer Michele Singer in Los Angeles, stunned the director’s friends and admirers. The arrest of his troubled son in connection with the killings only deepened the tragedy.Reiner’s film career spanned the romcom “When Harry Met Sally,” the nail-biting thriller “Misery,” adapted from a Stephen King novel, and coming of age classic “Stand by Me,” which launched River Phoenix’s career.Reiner worked in almost every genre, often to critical and Box Office acclaim, with many of his productions becoming cult classics.Born into showbusiness on March 6, 1947, in New York, Reiner was the son of comedian and director Carl Reiner of “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” fame.After training in film and theater at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), he embarked on a glittering Hollywood career alongside his father’s friends, including Mel Brooks.His first forays were as an actor in television series, notably “All in the Family,” before moving behind the camera.In 1984, his first feature film, the hilarious mockumentary “Spinal Tap” about an imaginary rock band, was an overnight success.Then in 1986, Reiner directed “Stand by Me,” an adaptation of King’s novel “The Body” in which four teenagers in the early 1960s set out to find the body of a missing boy. A coming-of-age film that has become a cult classic, both tragic and funny, it is widely considered to be his first masterpiece. The following year, Reiner directed “The Princess Bride,” a surprising, swashbuckling fantasy genre romp starring Peter Falk. – ‘My wife and kids’ – In 1989, he changed course again with the timeless romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally” in which Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan made cinema history as the golden couple of the era. Sally’s imitation of a loud orgasm in the middle of a restaurant while her companion looks on stunned remains one of the most memorable scenes in cinema history.”I’ll have what she’s having,” a fellow diner says in the scene’s oft-quoted punchline. Reiner shifted course again in 1990 with “Misery,” also adapted from a King novel. Kathy Bates won the Oscar for Best Actress.A year later, Reiner directed “A Few Good Men,” a chilling courtroom drama starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Jack Nicholson at his terrifying best.That hit was followed by the more modestly received romcom “The American President” and buddy comedy “The Bucket List” among several other cinematic outings that failed to replicate the magic of his 1990s output.Reiner returned to his acting career, appearing in Martin Scorsese’s 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street,” alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. More recently, he starred in the hit TV series “The Bear.”Alongside his Hollywood credits, Reiner was a long-time activist with close ties to the Democratic Party. He championed same-sex marriage and remained a vocal critic of the Trump administration.Prominent Democrats, including former president Barack Obama and former vice president Kamala Harris have paid tribute to him.President Donald Trump issued an extraordinary, crude attack, suggesting that Reiner was to blame for his own murder.For all his success, Reiner told The New York Times last year that “my wife and kids…. That’s the most important to me.”  He told the paper that he had no regrets about his career choices, saying: “Nobody on their death bed ever said, ‘I should have spent more time at the office.'”

Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was found guilty on all three charges in his national security trial on Monday, convictions that rights groups denounced as the death knell for press freedoms in the Chinese financial hub.Prosecutors said Lai was the mastermind behind two conspiracies to ask foreign countries to take action against Hong Kong or China, and accused him of publishing material that “excited disaffection” against the government.The 78-year-old, who pleaded not guilty, faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced. He can appeal against the convictions.”There is no doubt that (Lai) had harboured his resentment and hatred of the PRC,” Judge Esther Toh told the court, referring to the People’s Republic of China.She said he had invited the United States “to help bring down” the Chinese government, “with the excuse of helping the people of HK”.Lai is a British citizen, and the UK government condemned his “politically motivated prosecution” in a statement that called for his release.The media mogul, wearing a light green cardigan and grey jacket, listened impassively as the verdicts were read out.He nodded to his wife Teresa and his son Lai Shun-yan in the public gallery as he left the court, an AFP reporter saw.Defence lawyer Robert Pang told reporters that Lai was “in fine spirits” and that they would need to read the 886-page verdict before deciding on their next steps.Lai’s other son Sebastien urged Britain to “do more” to help free his father.”It’s time to put action behind words and make my father’s release a pre-condition to closer relationships with China,” he told a press conference in London.In Washington, his daughter Claire Lai said that he represented the best in Hong Kong and warned, “Don’t let my father die a martyr in prison. It’s going to be a stain on your history that you won’t be able to erase.”US, EU and French consular representatives were in court, as well as veterans from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp, including Cardinal Joseph Zen and former legislator Emily Lau.The European Union said the conviction was “emblematic of the erosion of democracy and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong since the imposition of the National Security Law”, imposed by Beijing after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.Beijing hit back at the international criticism, saying it opposed the “smearing of the judicial system in Hong Kong by certain countries”.- ‘Dismaying’ -Lai, who founded the now-shut Apple Daily newspaper, has been behind bars since 2020.His case has been widely criticised as an example of eroding political freedoms under the national security law.The Hong Kong Journalists Association described a Hong Kong media climate of self-censorship and fear.Beijing’s national security agency in Hong Kong and its Liaison Office in the city both called Lai a “pawn” for anti-China forces.A former Apple Daily employee surnamed Chan recalled before the verdicts were delivered that Lai wished for a “free and democratic China”.”He loved the country a lot, he just didn’t love the regime,” Chan told AFP.Lai looked thinner on Monday than when he first entered custody, an AFP reporter saw, and some of his supporters who gathered at dawn in front of the court expressed concern for his well-being.”I really want to see what’s happening with ‘the boss’,” said Tammy Cheung, who worked at Lai’s newspaper for nearly two decades.- Health concerns -Lai’s daughter Claire told AFP last week that her father, a diabetic, had “lost a very significant amount of weight” and showed signs of nail and tooth decay.National security police chief superintendent Steve Li said her concerns were smearing.Authorities have said Lai was receiving “adequate and comprehensive” care, and that he had been held in solitary confinement “at his own request”.Prosecutors cited 161 items Apple Daily published in their case against Lai.Those items, including opinion articles with Lai’s byline and talk shows he hosted, were deemed seditious under a colonial-era law because they “excited disaffection” against the government.Prosecutors also accused Lai of being the mastermind and financial backer of the protest group “Stand with Hong Kong, Fight for Freedom”.Lai maintained that he never sought to influence other countries’ foreign policies, saying Apple Daily represented Hongkongers’ core values, including “rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy”.Apple Daily was forced to close in 2021 following police raids. Six top executives were charged as co-defendants and have already pleaded guilty.

A Chinese man who left his country after filming at sites of alleged human rights violations against Uyghurs now faces the risk of removal from the United States, his lawyer and mother told AFP.Guan Heng, 38, underwent an immigration hearing in New York on Monday after being detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in August, his mother said in an interview.The case could see him taken out of the United States and potentially landing back in China.”I’m really, really worried that things will be very bad for him if he is made to return,” Guan’s mother, Luo Yun, told AFP in Chinese.”If he has a chance to remain in the United States, he’ll at least be safe,” she said. “I’m incredibly anxious and upset.”On Monday, the session ended with a next hearing date set for January, said Guan’s lawyer, Chen Chuangchuang. He noted that Guan had been detained over illegal entry into the country, but was seeking asylum.A judge is expected to consider if Guan should instead be sent to Uganda for his asylum application, as it has agreed to accept people deported from the United States.Chen vowed to challenge this attempt, arguing that there is a significant chance Guan could be sent back to China from there.A statement by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission warned Friday on X that Guan “would likely be persecuted” if he returned to China.”He should be given every opportunity to stay in a place of refuge,” the statement added.- ‘Heartbroken’ -In late 2021, Guan had published a 20-minute video online, detailing his travel around the northwestern Xinjiang region in China.He was visiting places identified by a BuzzFeed investigation as detention facilities for Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities — or likely sites for such centers.Beijing has been accused of detaining more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslims since 2017, part of a campaign that the United Nations previously said could constitute “crimes against humanity.”China vehemently denies these allegations, saying its policies have rooted out extremism in Xinjiang and boosted economic development.Guan left China after filming the videos, eventually entering the United States following travels through South America.Around that time, he told his mother he did not plan to return to China.”As for the contents of the clips that he later posted — I didn’t know about them,” his mother said.The pair stayed in touch, and she recalls receiving a text in August from a friend of Guan’s, informing her that he had been detained during an operation by ICE.When she managed to contact him, Luo said, “his emotional state was one of extreme panic and breakdown.”She added that her family members in mainland China had also been questioned by authorities about their ties to Guan, shortly after he published his video.”I’m heartbroken,” she said. “I’m not only crying for my child, but the situation that our family is facing.”Guan’s supporters say he is being held in a Broome County facility in upstate New York. His name appears on an online page of ICE detainees.”I just want my child to be well. He’s still young, and has a long life ahead,” said Guan’s mother.

Observers from the Americas and Europe said Monday there was no reason to suspect fraud in the recent Honduran election but criticized a sluggish vote count, as US President Donald Trump’s preferred candidate maintained a slim lead.The Central American country has not yet certified results from the November 30 election in which Nasry Asfura, a 67-year-old right-wing businessman backed by Trump, holds a razor-thin lead.Salvador Nasralla, a 72-year-old fellow conservative in second place, and outgoing left-wing President Xiomara Castro have alleged tampering.Castro has accused Trump of election interference and the candidate from her leftist camp, Rixi Moncada, has called for the election to be annulled.Eladio Loizaga, a Paraguayan diplomat who headed an Organization of American States (OAS) observer mission, said there was a lack of expertise on the part of vote organizers, but ruled out “any evidence that would cast doubt on the results.”More than 99 percent of the votes have been counted, but the CNE election council says some 2,800 tally sheets — representing nearly half a million votes — need to be re-examined in a special recount for alleged inconsistencies.The CNE legally has a month to call the winner, but the OAS urged it to release the final result “as quickly as possible.””The current delay in processing and publishing the results is not justifiable,” Loizaga said in a report to OAS members.A European Union observer mission also reported Monday to the OAS it had “not observed any serious irregularities that could affect the current preliminary results.”According to representative Despina Manos, EU observers were still on the ground, monitoring the tally.”We are aware that with more than two weeks after the election day, with counting delays and technical setbacks, the post-electoral context remains very uncertain,” Manos added.- ‘Unlawful pressure’ -Nasralla, who had held a slight lead in early tallying, is demanding a full recount.CNE member Cossette Lopez said on X Monday that the special recount had not yet started “because unlawful pressure is being exerted on the CNE, demanding recounts outside the legal framework.”On the latest count, Nasralla trailed Asfura by just over a percentage point, or some 42,000 votes, according to his team.Trump has come under fire for his public backing of Asfura and his threat that if his chosen candidate doesn’t win, “the United States will not be throwing good money after bad.”On the eve of the vote, the US leader also issued a surprise pardon for former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez of Asfura’s National Party.Hernandez was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States, where a jury found him guilty of belonging to one of “the largest and most violent drug trafficking conspiracies in the world.”In what many saw as an attempt at political interference, Hernandez was released despite Trump’s stated commitment to eradicating Latin American drug trafficking.”Ever since Trump said he supported Asfura, we already knew he was going to win. The gringos (Americans) are the ones in charge,” 53-year-old taxi driver Sergio Canales told AFP in Tegucigalpa.Trump has openly sought to pick favorites in Latin American elections this year, as his administration seeks to renew its dominance in the region.

European leaders on Monday proposed a European-led “multinational force” with US support to enforce a potential peace deal in Ukraine, as key powers met in Berlin to push forward efforts to end the war.The force would be part of “robust security guarantees” for Ukraine from the United States and European powers aimed at guaranteeing that Russia would not violate an agreement to end the war, the leaders meeting in Berlin said in a joint statement.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that talks in the German capital with US President Donald Trump’s envoys on ending the war with Russia were “not easy” but brought “real progress” on the question of security guarantees.Zelensky met for a second day with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner for talks aimed at ending the war that started with Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, building on a proposal initially put forward by Trump.He hailed new security guarantees offered by Washington but also said differences remained on the question of what territories Ukraine would have to cede to battlefield enemy Russia.”There has been sufficient dialogue on the territory, and I think that, frankly speaking, we still have different positions,” Zelensky told reporters.An upbeat German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the talks had created the “chance for a real peace process” and praised the US for offering “substantial” security guarantees.From Washington, Trump said he would hold a phone call later Monday with Zelensky and the European leaders, among them UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.The United States said it had offered strong, NATO-like security guarantees to Ukraine and voiced confidence that Russia would accept, in what Washington said would be a breakthrough in ending the war.- ‘Very strong deterrence’ -US officials described the hours of talks in Berlin as positive and said Trump in his call would seek to push forward the deal.The US officials warned Ukraine must accept the deal, which they said would provide security guarantees in line with NATO’s Article Five — which calls an attack on one ally an attack on all.”The basis of that agreement is basically to have really, really strong guarantees — Article Five-like — also a very, very strong deterrence” in the size of Ukraine’s military, a US official said on condition of anonymity.”Those guarantees will not be on the table forever. Those guarantees are on the table right now if there’s a conclusion that’s reached in a good way,” he said.Trump has previously ruled out a formal entry of Ukraine into NATO and sided with Russia in calling Kyiv’s aspirations to the alliance a reason for the full-scale invasion by Moscow.Merz said any ceasefire must be “secured by substantial legal and material security guarantees from the United States and Europe, which the United States has put on the table here in Berlin in terms of legal and material guarantees”.”This is truly remarkable. This is a very important step forward, which I very much welcome,” he said.- ‘Criminal attack’ -Zelensky said of the talks with the US side that “these conversations are always not easy” but that it had been “a productive conversation”.An official briefed on the US-Ukrainian talks earlier told AFP that US negotiators still want Ukraine to cede control of the eastern Donbas — made up of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.Moscow controls almost all of Lugansk and about 80 percent of the Donetsk region, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War.Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants territory”, said the official, adding that the United States was demanding that Ukraine “withdraw” from the regions and that Kyiv was refusing.One of the US officials acknowledged that there was no agreement on territory. Trump has called it inevitable that Ukraine would need to surrender territory to Russia, an outcome unacceptable to Zelensky.Russia, meanwhile, has signalled it will insist on its core demands, including on territory and on Ukraine never joining NATO.Moscow has also previously objected to any European-led force in Ukraine to police a peace agreement.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russia was expecting the United States to “provide us with the concept that is being discussed in Berlin today”.burs-fz/rlp/rmb