{"id":174002,"date":"2025-12-02T17:33:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T17:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/first-thing-eu-foreign-policy-chief-warns-us-russia-talks-may-pressure-kyiv-to-make-concessions-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T17:33:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T17:33:21","slug":"first-thing-eu-foreign-policy-chief-warns-us-russia-talks-may-pressure-kyiv-to-make-concessions-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/first-thing-eu-foreign-policy-chief-warns-us-russia-talks-may-pressure-kyiv-to-make-concessions-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"First Thing: EU foreign policy chief warns US-Russia talks may pressure Kyiv to make concessions – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Witkoff is due to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Plus, a new book highlights the forgotten builders of the Empire State Building
Don\u2019t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here<\/strong><\/a>
Good morning.
The EU\u2019s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has said she fears talks between the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will pile pressure on Ukraine to make concessions<\/a>.
Witkoff, the property developer turned envoy recently exposed for coaching Russian officials on how to win Trump\u2019s favour, is arriving in Moscow after leading a US delegation in talks with Ukraine at the weekend.
European leaders have been alarmed by a US plan, heavily tilted in Russia\u2019s favor, which originally included granting Moscow territories in eastern Ukraine it did not yet control, while forcing Kyiv to cap the size of its army and abandon its ambition to join Nato.
What did Kallas say?<\/strong> \u201cI am afraid that all the pressure will be put on the victim,\u201d she said. \u201cIn order to have peace, we shouldn\u2019t lose focus that it\u2019s actually Russia who has started this war [and is] targeting civilians\u201d.
What\u2019s happening today?<\/strong> Witkoff is meeting Putin in Moscow. Meanwhile, Ukraine\u2019s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, continues his diplomatic push to rally support from European allies, visiting Ireland today after France on Monday.
This is a developing story.<\/strong> Follow our live blog here<\/a>.
Donald Trump reportedly gave Nicol\u00e1s Maduro an ultimatum<\/a> to relinquish power immediately during their recent call \u2013 but Venezuela\u2019s authoritarian president declined, demanding a \u201cglobal amnesty\u201d for himself and allies.
Sources told the Miami Herald that the US president on 21 November sent a \u201cblunt message\u201d to Maduro, who is the focus of a pressure campaign. Trump has ordered a massive naval deployment off Venezuela\u2019s northern coast.
What did Maduro say?<\/strong> He reportedly refused to step down immediately and allegedly made a series of counter-demands, including worldwide immunity from prosecution and being allowed to cede political control but keep control of the armed forces.
What is the context?<\/strong> The US has undertaken three months of deadly airstrikes<\/a> on alleged drug-smuggling boats that have killed at least 83 people \u2013 attacks the UN and other humanitarian organisations have described as extrajudicial executions. The US accuses Maduro of involvement in drug trafficking.
Is Venezuela a major drug-trafficking route to the US?<\/strong> No. A 2020 report by the US Drug Enforcement Administration estimated 74% of the cocaine reaching the US had arrived via the Pacific, and only 8% on fast boats from the Caribbean islands.
The scale of the damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah is still unclear, but in a speech on Sunday night, Sri Lanka\u2019s president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, described it as the \u201clargest and most challenging natural disaster<\/a> in our history\u201d.
Villages across the island were decimated and many homes, schools and businesses remained under water on Monday, including across the capital, Colombo. Helicopters were dispatched to the worst-affected areas to try to drop food and other essential supplies to those stranded.
\u201cMy family is in shock. We have to rebuild from scratch,\u201d one survivor said.
How badly hit was Sri Lanka?<\/strong> According to the country\u2019s Disaster Management Centre, more than 1.1 million people have been affected by the cyclone. As the country\u2019s emergency and rescue services were overwhelmed, the military was deployed to help rescue efforts. The devastating flooding has killed more than 1,100 people across four countries in Asia.
Luigi Mangione was kept under tight supervision in a Pennsylvania state prison last year because officials \u201cdid not want an Epstein-style situation\u201d,<\/strong> a corrections officer said during Manhattan state court testimony<\/a> on Monday.
Police in Spain have arrested<\/a> three people on suspicion of belonging to the Base,<\/strong> a global neo-Nazi terrorist group promoting race war.
Senior military figures tried to cover up concerns over extrajudicial killings by the British <\/strong>army\u2019s SAS units in Afghanistan<\/strong>, according to a <\/strong>whistleblower<\/a>.
American households will pay 4% more for gas power this year on average, compared with 2024, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Electricity bills have increased by 11%<\/a> since Donald Trump retook the White House.
They wrestled steel beams, hung off giant hooks and tossed red-hot rivets \u2013 all while \u201cstrolling on the thin edge of nothingness\u201d. Now the 3,000 unsung heroes who raised the Empire State Building are finally being celebrated, writes Catherine Slessor<\/a>.
Close to Bel\u00e9m in Brazil, the country that hosted Cop30, the quilombola community of Menino Jesus say they are in a struggle for survival, battling against powerful interests who want to turn their land into a vast dump for trash. Damien Gayle went to meet the forest community<\/a> that says its voices are being ignored.
A paper for the journal Antiquity argues that 12 large shell trumpets found in Neolithic settlements and mines in Catalonia may have been used as long-distance communication devices \u2013 and as trumpet-like musical instruments<\/a>. Researchers were granted permission to test the ancient conch shells. \u201cThe closest instrument today in terms of tone is the french horn,\u201d one co-author said.
First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you\u2019re not already signed up, subscribe now<\/a>.
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steve Witkoff is due to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Plus, a new book highlights the forgotten builders of the Empire State BuildingDon\u2019t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.The EU\u2019s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has said she fears talks between the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump\u2019s special […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-174002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}