10/11/2001, Mayor Giuliani Says New York City Won’t Accept $10 Million “Relief” Check From Saudi Prince-NY Times

10/11/2001, “Giuliani Says City Won’t Accept $10 Million Check From Saudi,“ NY Times, Jennifer Steinhauer

10/12/2001, Image caption: “One month after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, right, hands New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a check for $10 million for relief efforts on Thursday, October 11, 2001, in New York. Prince Alwaleed, a member of the Saudi royal family who was sixth on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s richest men for 2001, also visited ground zero. (AP Photo/Stan Honda, pool)”

10/11/2001, “Giuliani Says City Won’t Accept $10 Million Check From Saudi,“ NY Times, Jennifer Steinhauer

“Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said today that New York City would not accept a $10 million charitable donation from a wealthy prince from Saudi Arabia who criticized the American government’s policies in the Middle East.

.Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Alsaud… attended a memorial service at the site today, where he handed the mayor a check for $10 million for the Twin Towers Fund, one of various charity funds set up to benefit survivors of the attack.

Mr. Giuliani initially accepted the check….Along with it was a letter from the prince, in which he expressed his condolences for “the loss of life that the City of New York has suffered.”…

…..

What the letter did not say was what a press release attached to a copy of the letter did:
………

“However, at times like this one, we must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack. I believe the government of the United States of America should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance towards the Palestinian cause.” The press release attributed the statement to the prince.

….

“‘Our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of Israelis while the world turns the other cheek,’ Prince Alwaleed stressed,” the release read….

……

The mayor, who had been told of the press release just moments before his daily briefing but after receiving the check, was visibly annoyed by it.“I entirely reject that statement,” he said….

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“There is no moral equivalent for this act,” the mayor said. “There is no justification for it….

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And to suggest that there’s a justification for it only invites this happening in the future. It is highly irresponsible and very, very dangerous.”…

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His press office released a statement attributed to the mayor that the check would not be accepted….
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The (Prince’s) letter added, “I would also like to condemn all forms of terrorism and in doing so I am reiterating Saudi Arabia’s strong stance against these tragic and horrendous acts.”… 

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A spokesman for the prince, Amjed Shacker, who was reached on his cell phone as he prepared to board a plane for Saudi Arabia, said he knew of no such rejection and indeed seemed perplexed to learn of it. “The mayor took the check at 9 a.m.,” he said. “We have no knowledge of that. He accepted the check.”…

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Added: CNN, 10/12/2001: “Giuliani rejects $10 million from Saudi prince”

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10/12/2001, “Giuliani rejects $10 million from Saudi prince,“ CNN

“Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Thursday the city would not accept a $10 million donation for disaster relief from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal after the prince suggested U.S. policies in the Middle East contributed to the September 11 attacks.
 
“I entirely reject that statement,” Giuliani said. “There is no moral equivalent for this [terrorist] act. There is no justification for it. The people who did it lost any right to ask for justification for it when they slaughtered 4,000 or 5,000 innocent people.”

Prince Alwaleed gave the mayor a check after a Thursday morning memorial service at Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center towers destroyed in the attacks.

The prince offered his condolences to the people of New York, but after the ceremony he released a statement suggesting the United States “must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack.” 

“The check has not been deposited. The Twin Towers Fund has not accepted it,” Giuliani said in a statement late Thursday.

The prince’s statement said the United States “should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause.

“While the U.N. passed clear resolutions numbered 242 and 338 calling for the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip decades ago, our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of Israelis while the world turns the other cheek,” the statement said. 

Giuliani flatly rejected the prince’s position. “To suggest that there’s a justification for [the terrorist attacks] only invites this happening in the future,” he said. “It is highly irresponsible and very, very dangerous.

“And one of the reasons I think this happened is because people were engaged in moral equivalency in not understanding the difference between liberal democracies like the United States, like Israel, and terrorist states and those who condone terrorism.

“So I think not only are those statements wrong, they’re part of the problem,” Giuliani said.” 

 

 

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German court finds Google liable for incorrect AI statements in landmark case-Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 6/12/26

6/12/26, “Court finds Google liable for false AI answers in landmark case,“ Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Christian Charisius/dpa

“Google can be held directly liable for false answers generated by its in-house artificial intelligence (AI), a German court has ruled in a case that could have major implications for tech companies.

Two Munich-based publishers sued the internet company, alleging that its “AI Overview” feature, which appears at the top of searches, falsely linked the companies to fraud schemes, dubious business practices and subscription traps.

The AI mixed information about other, genuinely questionable companies with the plaintiffs and invented connections that did not exist even in the sources Google attached.

At the heart of the legal dispute was the question of whether an AI overview should be treated in law the same way as conventional search results.

Google argued that the company is not responsible for the data processing and does not adopt third-party content shown in the overview as its own.

The court firmly rejected that argument, judging that the AI summary was not a mere display or linking of search results, but content attributable to the search engine operator itself.

Because the AI summarizes results in its own words, evaluates them and presents them in a structured way, Google thereby creates entirely independent, new statements that go beyond the bare links, the judges argued.

Accordingly, the court found that existing case law from the Federal Court of Justice, which protects search engine operators from direct liability for the mere listing of third-party content, does not apply.

Google’s line of defence – that users could check the sources themselves via the links and were aware “that AI-generated information should not be trusted blindly” – was also rejected by the Munich court.

The chamber emphasized that the AI overview constituted “a self-contained statement with independently comprehensible content.”

There was no indication for the reader of any unreliability in the content, which meant that the mere possibility of further research did not free the company from liability for reputational damage, the judges said.

The court ordered Google to cease spreading the false claims and ordered the company to pay 80% of the legal costs.

A Google spokesman said, “We invest heavily in the quality of AI overviews to ensure that the vast majority of answers provide accurate information.” The company would carefully review the decision, which is not yet final, he said.

The potentially landmark ruling was issued by the 26th civil chamber at the Munich Regional Court, which specializes in press and defamation law.”

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War is so easy in US, no pesky need for Congress-William Astore…(US taxpayers twist slowly, slowly in the wind)

“Jared Kushner and Stephen Miller are the two people running Trump administration.“ June 9, 2026, 11:02pm EDT…”Nima R. Alkhorshid: Iran LAUNCHES Immediate Retaliation: Explosions Rock Bahrain After US Strikes,” (speaking from Brazil)…Image, “They Went to Jared: How Donald Trump’s son-in-law used his position to hop in bed with autocrats—and sell out America.” Mother Jones, C. Michel, Artist, Alex Fine

6/4/26, “War Is Too Easy: Tyranny of the Warmongers,“ William Astore, Antiwar.com, Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission.

“Making war shouldn’t be this easy. With the Iran War,

two men determined America’s attack on Iran,

and one was a foreign leader. [The other was Ivanka Trump’s husband, Jared Kushner]. The latest aggression against Iran is

inconceivable without Bibi Netanyahu and Donald Trump. [father in law of Jared Kushner].

Of course, there are plenty of operators and schemers and interests behind these men, but they are proud to take credit as the deciders.

This isn’t supposed to be how America goes to war.

War is supposed to be a constitutional process involving the Congress and the people.

There is to be no war without the consent of the governed.

And there should be no wars of aggression, for a democracy should know that

persistent wars are an insidious and pernicious enemy of freedom and liberty.

In spite of that, war persists in America. If you’re 25 years old or younger in America, you’ve never known a time when your country has been at peace.

Nor is there any prospect of peace in the next three years.

I’ve lost track of the countries the Trump administration has bombed or attacked or snatched the leader of, but

besides Iran the list would include

Venezuela, Somalia, Nigeria, and Yemen. And let us not forget U.S. efforts in the Russia-Ukraine War,

for nuclear-armed Russia surely won’t forget.

There’s simply no end to America’s wars partly because

it’s all just so easy.

A common expression inside the Washington Beltway is that “all options are on the table,” meaning the worst option, that of deadly attacks and even war, is

always an option.

A harsh truth is that it’s increasingly

the only option considered in DC circles.

The U.S. State Department has become a tiny branch of the Pentagon.

Diplomacy takes time. Patience. Expertise. Empathy.

A willingness to compromise.

Within the Trump administration, these are qualities in short supply,

even as they’re not respected.

Washington sees itself as a hegemon, the lone and dominant superpower,

barking out orders and threats with unrestrained profligacy.

It’s a recipe for disaster and that is what it’s produced:

disaster after disaster.

Yesterday, the House finally and narrowly approved a resolution to halt military action against Iran. Its immediate impact is limited and mainly symbolic. As usual, the Democrats fumbled the messaging, making it about gas and grocery prices:

“Enough is enough,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who led the effort.

“It is time for the president to do the right thing,” he said. “The people are tired of suffering because of his war of choice — suffering at the gas pump, suffering at the supermarkets.”

Let’s not focus on the unconstitutional nature of the war, the needless deaths of thousands of Iranians,

the enormous price tag of $100 billion or more.

It’s really about Americans having to pay more to gas up their steroidal SUVs and monster trucks.

As America approaches its 250th birthday, it’s enduring a

tyranny of the warmongers.

Yet again, Americans find themselves under the thumb of a tyrannical and foreign government. It is exceedingly difficult to see how we chart a new course when we are so hopelessly lost.

Take heart, America: At least there will be cage fighting soon on the White House lawn. Bread is dear, but the circuses are here.”

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Added:…US taxpayer funded paratroopers are in Israel.…US hegemon plans to use seized Iranian assets to rebuild Middle East vassals….“US has military bases in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait.”…

 

 

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Curtis Sliwa is back on radio in NY City, joins morning drive on 710 WOR radio, Monday, March 9, 2026

 3/4/26, "710 WOR Adds Veteran NYC Broadcaster Curtis Sliwa To Morning Show"

"iHeartMedia’s 710 WOR, “The Voice of New York,” announced today that Curtis Sliwa joins the station’s weekday line-up with “Curtis Sliwa and Larry Mendte in the Morning,” effective Monday, March 9, 2026. 

The high energy duo teams up for the 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. time slot, bringing in a mix of veteran journalism and streetwise New York perspective to the tri-state area’s morning commute. 

“It’s been four months since the end of the New York City Mayoral election and most places I go people have asked me to come back to talk radio, so that’s what I’m going to do,” said Curtis Sliwa. “I’m going to the best radio station in New York City, joining my friends of 30 years Mark Simone and Sean Hannity. It’s a full circle moment for me as my first radio station appearance for me was in 1971 when WOR’s Arlene Francis interviewed me as a kid, and I’ve been talking on the radio since.”

The new morning show pairs Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels and a legendary fixture for over 35 years in New York talk radio, with 97-time Emmy award-winner Mendte, a major market TV anchorman for decades who joined WOR’s on-air team in 2023.

“I couldn’t be more excited,” said Larry Mendte. “Curtis is not only a legendary talk radio host, but an iconic New Yorker. What an honor to get to team up with him to get New Yorkers started every weekday.”

“Curtis is a true New York original. His passion and knowledge of the city, combined with Larry’s incredible journalistic background, make them the ideal team to wake up New York,” said Tom Cuddy, Program Director for WOR. “We are thrilled to have this powerhouse duo leading the morning charge for WOR.”

Market veteran Mark Simone will follow Curtis and Larry weekdays from 10 a.m. – Noon as he celebrates his 13th year on-air at WOR. Gracie Award winner and 29-year WOR veteran Natalie Vacca will serve as Executive Producer for the new show.”…

 

 

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California Strikes Out: Major League Pitcher Merrill Kelly turns down Padres $40 million offer citing draconian California state taxes-Jonathan Turley

RHP Merrill Kelly, Baseball Reference.…”Kelly agreed to a two-year contract worth an estimated $40 million with the Diamondbacks, according to ESPN. Although the Padres offered a comparable deal at three years instead of two, California’s 13% tax rate on income above $1 million proved a key difference.

“I don’t think it’s any secret on how much money you get taken out of your pocket when you go to California,” the right-hander told “Foul Territory.””

3/1/26, “California Strikes Out: Major League Pitcher Turns Down Padres $40 Million Offer Due to State Taxes,” Jonathan Turley

“This week, “there is no joy in Mudville” – the mighty Padres have struck out.

The California Padres thought that they had secured Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly with an offer of $40 million for just two years. The Diamondbacks were offering that payout over three years, but Kelly took the Diamondbacks. The reason? California’s ruinous tax burden is fueling an exodus of wealthy taxpayers and businesses from the state. It is the latest example of how Democrats [and “Republicans”] have reversed the Gold Rush with a long line of U-Hauls heading to more responsible states.

Explaining his decision, the pitcher told the media that “I don’t think it’s any secret on how much money you get taken out of your pocket when you go to California.”

With the calls for billionaire taxes and attacks on the wealthy as “not paying their fair share,” Democrats and unions have doubled down on their “eat the rich” rhetoric.

The problem is that wealth, like the wealthy, is mobile.

Both are leaving, and the current estimate stands at a possible $2 trillion fleeing the state over the last year. California continues to lead the nation in the loss of citizens to other states.

In the meantime, Democrats are continuing their high-spending pattern under Gov. Gavin Newsom from boondoggle projects to reparations to bloated union pension agreements.

With California’s 13% tax rate on income above $1 million, players view California as illusory in terms of elite contracts. What the team giveth, the state taketh away. That does not include the higher collateral taxes and costs,

including gasoline costs (which are also the highest in the nation).

It appears that the high-spending, high-taxing policies are not just benefiting red states but also their baseball teams. As a Cubs fan, I would be delighted except for the fact that Chicago and Illinois are also in the hands of Democrats

pursuing the same disastrous policies.

The irony is that Texas and Florida could end up

not only with more jobs

but better baseball players.”

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First Epstein dox only implicate our European betters. Feb. 2026 Ukraine culture change, Chair of Ukraine Parliament submits bill to lower legal age of marriage to 14-Thierry Meyssan

9/6/2025, Ukraine Parliament Chair Stefanchuk (author of bill to lower Ukraine marriage age to 14) with US Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson in Canada. “The Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, met with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2/17/26, “Epstein, Yermak, and Zelensky,” by Thierry Meyssen, Voltaire Net

“While Epstein may have seemed to enjoy committing his crimes, we must not forget that he worked for a secret service, Mossad. The horrors he committed were primarily a means of blackmailing his friends. Although, for the moment, no Ukrainian figure has been directly implicated, numerous elements compel us to investigate who, in Ukraine, supplied children to the Epstein network.”…

[parag. 5]: “We don’t know how the US Department of Justice chose the order in which to release the documents it possesses. For the moment, they only implicate European figures and spare its targets in the United States. Perhaps this is a coincidence, perhaps it’s a way to destabilize allies while waiting for public opinion, disgusted, to tire of the situation….

[parag. 10]: “Among the third of Epstein’s known documents are several Ukrainian passports, but the Department of Justice has redacted the names, addresses, and photos of the holders with whom Epstein associated. Furthermore, other documents attest that Epstein traveled to Kyiv several times and tasked the Frenchman Jean-Luc Brunel with shopping there.

[Image via BBC, 2/21/2022, “Jean-Luc Brunel: Epstein associate found dead in Paris prison cell”]

Brunel was the director of the modeling agencies Karin Models (Paris) and E=MC2 (Miami). He was charged in France with pimping and had the good sense (like Epstein) to “commit suicide” in La Santé prison. Timur Mindich was also the director of the Fire Point modeling agency (Kyiv). However, it is unknown how many young Ukrainian men and women fell into their clutches.

It is in this context that Volodymyr Vatras, a member of the Verkhovna Rada’s (Parliament) Legal Affairs Committee,

submitted a draft reform of the Ukrainian Civil Code on February 6, 2026 [4].

Besides protecting the reputation of those prosecuted for corruption until their final conviction,

this bill lowers the age of marriage to 14.

Let’s be clear about what this means: consequently, any prosecution for child abduction or rape of children aged 14 to 18 will become impossible under other Ukrainian laws. The Ukrainian press refers to this as

“state-sponsored pedophilia“ [5].

Many Ukrainians, relying on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, have launched petitions against this regressive reform [6]. You still haven’t grasped what this is about: this reform will be retroactive and will apply to all events after 2014 (that is, after the Maidan coup). This reform abolishes the provisions of the Ukrainian Penal Code against pedophilia [7].”…

[2/9/26, “The Verkhovna Rada registered a new version of the Civil Code on Jan. 22, formally titled the Code of Private Law. The bill was submitted by Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Chair of the Verkhovna Rada, who described it as the result of nearly six years of work by a recodification group involving hundreds of experts….In a Facebook post marking Ukraine’s Unity Day, Stefanchuk said the 832-page draft was the first full civil code codification submitted by lawmakers of the ninth legislative convocation and aimed to modernize private law in line with European practices.”...”Ukraine’s Top Lawmaker Faces Backlash Over Draft Bill Allowing Marriage at 14,” Kiev Post]

(continuing): “Do you know of any state in the world, today or in the past, that has lowered the age of marriage retroactively? No, of course not.

Let’s remember that the Ukrainian government accuses Russia of having abducted 900,000 children. Moscow, which disputes this figure, argues that it did not capture them, but rather collected them from the battlefield and brought them to Russia to protect them from the war. To date, Ukraine has only released a list of 339 children whose names the Zelensky administration is demanding. Where are the thousands of others?

The answer lies somewhere in the still-secret 6 million pages of the Epstein case.

Hunter Biden’s medical experiments on Ukrainian soldiers outraged you;

the Zelensky clique’s abductions of Ukrainian children will make you sick.

Speaking before the Verkhovna Rada on February 11, MK Inna Sovsun declared: “The standard that the members of the Law Commission are trying to pass, regarding marriage with 14-year-olds, is pure barbarity. It contradicts common sense and European standards. How many other problems there are in this code, we don’t know. Therefore, I join the lawyers’ demands to remove the draft Civil Code from consideration, to examine it carefully again in committee, to discuss it in society, and only then to submit it to Parliament.”

Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada and ideologue of the Servant of the People party (Zelensky’s party), invested considerable effort both in drafting this Civil Code and in defending it before his assembly. He is a scientist and educator who has long worked with children. He, too, is implicated in the Midas case. However, all the experts have pointed out that his statements do not correspond to the text as presented. Stefanchuk was in Washington last week. On February 7, he met with Riley M. Barnes, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Rights. He explained at length that no Ukrainian children had «disappeared», but that 900,000 had been captured by Russia.

Upon returning to Kyiv, Ruslan Stefanchuk faced a public outcry. He admitted that, as it stood, he could not submit the draft of the new Civil Code to a parliamentary vote. But the problem that this reform clumsily attempted to bury remains.

We currently know only a third of the Epstein case. When we have more information, we will have to inventory what information he possessed and examine how Israel used it.”

Thierry Meyssan

Translation
Roger Lagassé

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[1] «Ексречниця Зеленського розкрила шокувальні подробиці про Єрмака: чим він займався», Ігор Бережанський, Телевізійна Служба Новин, 31 січня 2026 р. (“Zelensky’s former spokeswoman revealed shocking details about Yermak: what he did,” Ihor Berezhansky, Television News Service, January 31, 2026).

[2] “Operation Midas exposes the corruption of the Ukrainian ruling class”, Translation Gregor Fröhlich, Voltaire Network, 14 November 2025. “Zelensky’s Final Days: Implicated in the Trump Attack and the Murder of Charlie Kirk?”, by Alfredo Jalife-Rahme, Translation Roger Lagassé, La Jornada (Mexico) , Voltaire Network, 30 November 2025. « WC en or pour le « portefeuille de Zelensky » et son « agence de mannequins » qui construit des drones », par Alfredo Jalife-Rahme, Traduction Maria Poumier, La Jornada (Mexique) , Réseau Voltaire, 20 novembre 2025

[3] «Єрмак після відставки зустрічався з Камишіним, Умєровим та послом України в Ізраїлі», Надія Собенко, Суспільне Мовлення, 6 лютого 2026 p. ((“After his resignation, Yermak met with Kamyshin, Umerov and the Ukrainian ambassador to Israel,” Nadiya Sobenko, Public Radio and Television, February 6, 2026).

[4] «Проект Цивільного кодексу», Верховна Рада, 6 лютого 2026 р. (“Draft Civil Code”, Verkhovna Rada, February 6, 2026).

[5] «“Державна педофілія”: відомий експерт заявив, що в Україні можуть декримінализувати секс дорослих з 14-річними,», Уляна Виноградова, Блік, 8 лютого 2026 (“State-sponsored pedophilia”: A well-known expert has stated that sexual relations between adults and 14-year-olds could be decriminalized in Ukraine, Ulyana Vinogradova, Blik, February 8, 2026.). «Сексуальний підтекст і “дрімучі норми” Цивільного кодексу: шість суперечностей його нового проєкту», Жанна Безп’ятчук, BBC, 9 лютого 2026 (“Sexuality and norms without consequences : of the Civil Code: six contradictions of his new project, Zhanna Bezpiatchuk, BBC, July 9, 2026.).

[6] For example: «Петиція», Верховна Рада, 6 лютого 2026 р. (« Pétition », Verkhovna Rada, 6 février 2026.). «Проєкт нового Цивільного кодексу: чому норма про шлюб з 14 років викликає занепокоєння», Українська Гельсінська спілка, 6 лютого 2026 (Draft new civil code: why the norm on marriage from the age of 14 is a source of concern, Ukrainian Union of Helsinki, February 6, 2026.).

[7] «Шлюб з 14 років: межа між кримінальним злочином та турботою про неповнолітніх (відео)», Українська Служба Інформації , 11 Лютого 2026 (Marriage at 14: the line between a criminal offense and custody of minors (video), Information Service of Ukraine, February 11, 2026).”

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Ivanka’s parasite husband Jared to meet with great world leader Pres. Putin in Moscow

11/26/25, “Trump says Witkoff, Kushner to meet with Putin in Moscow next week,“ Tass.com

“Donald Trump told reporters that his son-in-law Jared Kushner “is involved in the process” of Ukrainian reconciliation.”

“US President Donald Trump said his Special Envoy Steven Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week.

The US leader told reporters that Kushner “is involved in the process” of Ukrainian reconciliation and that he will “maybe” travel to Russia with Witkoff.

“They’re going to be meeting with President Putin, I believe, next week in Moscow,” Trump said.”

 

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