|
Hello, I'm Neil Nunes with the BBC News.
Donald Trump has described a potential deal to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict as "very close," although some issues still need to be worked out. Addressing the media after his talks with President Zelenskyy in Florida, he gave a positive assessment but no further details. "We could be very close. There are one or two very thorny issues, very tough issues. But I think we're doing very well. We made a lot of progress today but really we've made it over the last month. This is not a one-day process deal. It's very complicated stuff. But I think when the president says 95, I think, you know, it could be close to 95 percent." Our correspondent Sean Dilley has been following events from Washington. President Trump told reporters that before their meeting he had a two-and-a-half-hour conversation with President Putin and he believed the Russian leader was serious about peace. However, Mr. Trump acknowledged there were still no definitive agreements on some of the thorniest issues in the conflict, such as the transfer of land or what any security guarantee may look like in a post-war Ukraine. Mr. Trump said the world would soon know whether a deal was possible. President Zelenskyy told reporters he also felt an agreement was close but Kyiv did not agree with Russia's position on the transfer of land in the Donbass region. The news conference was warm in tone and constructive in language, with the two leaders both speaking positively of the progress made so far. With reaction from Ukraine, here's Samira Hussain in Kyiv. If you look at what was said at that press conference and if you, sort of, take away from the tone of what President Trump and President Zelenskyy were saying, it would seem that they are getting close to some kind of agreement, that they have said that they will be meeting sometime in January to keep talking. There is probably some signs for being a little bit optimistic for people here. In other news, initial results from Kosovo's election suggest the prime minister's party Vetevendosje may have very narrowly won a majority. With most of the votes counted, the party, whose name means self-determination, was on 50.8 percent way ahead of any rivals. Vetevendosje won elections earlier this year but without a majority and Kosovo has been without a functioning government since then. We get more details now from our Balkans correspondent Guy De Launey. This election was very much a question of whether Kosovo's electorate wanted Albin Kurti and his Vetevendosje party back in power because Mr. Kurti had been asking for a third term. He was also asking for a turnout for his party of more than 50 percent and it looks like he's just about got his wish according to the preliminary results. It does indeed seem that the electorate trusts Mr. Kurti and his party more than it does the alternatives. This is the latest world news from the BBC. Police across China have launched a three-year crackdown on the illegal trade of wild birds. During the winter, poachers set up large nets to capture some of the millions of migratory birds. Some of them are worth hundreds of dollars. From Beijing, here's Laura Bicker. The sky above China is a superhighway for more than 1,500 bird species. In winter, tens of millions of them travel south. But poachers eager to make a quick profit on the black market set up mist nets, traps so sheer they're hard to see with the naked eye. Keeping caged birds as pets is a traditional symbol of wealth and elegance in China. But the police are now trying to crack down on this wildlife crime. Tributes are being paid to the French film star, Brigitte Bardot, who's died at the age of 91. President Macron described her as the "legend of the century." The far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, said she was an "exceptional woman" who was untamable and whole. Bardot made her name in French cinema in the 1950s, becoming an icon of sexual liberation. At the Men's Africa Cup of Nations football tournament, Algeria have become the third country to qualify for the knockout stage in Morocco. Algeria beat Burkina Faso 1-0 with a penalty scored by Riyad Mahrez. Egypt and Nigeria are the other teams that have already qualified for the second round. The earliest known coin, minted in Scotland almost 900 years ago, has been acquired by the National Museum of Scotland. The silver coin from the reign of King David I was discovered by a metal detectorist in a wooded area in Midlothian two years ago. King David introduced Scotland's first indigenous coinage in the 1100s. Before that, coins were minted outside the country. BBC World News. |