World
NZ’s first spying conviction. Netanyahu considers ‘partial’ ceasefire deal. Hong Kong fury over activist asylum. By Jonathan Pearlman.
Trump pledges security for Ukraine as part of peace deal
Great power rivalry
Ukraine: Donald Trump said this week plans were under way for a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after pledging to provide security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace deal.
Following his summit in Alaska with Putin last week, Trump on Monday met with Zelensky, who was accompanied at the White House by a delegation of seven European leaders, or “bodyguards”, as some commentators described them. The delegation included Britain’s Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and the leaders of Italy, Finland, NATO and the European Commission.
At the meeting with Zelensky, which was far more cordial than their previous White House encounter in February, Trump backed a trilateral summit including himself, Zelensky and Putin, and offered to provide Ukraine with “very good protection, very good security”.
“They want to give protection,” Trump said of Ukraine’s European allies.
“They feel very strongly about it and we’ll help them out with it. I think it’s very important.”
Trump later told Fox News he would not send troops to Ukraine but could send air support.
The meeting followed the highly anticipated summit in Alaska, at which Trump welcomed a smiling Putin on a red carpet and held almost three hours of talks but failed to reach a deal or secure backing for a ceasefire. Instead, Trump endorsed Putin’s insistence that talks on a deal could occur without a ceasefire – a condition that favours Russia, which has been making advances in eastern Ukraine.
Macron said this week that European militaries should deploy peacekeepers to support Ukraine once a ceasefire is in place.
The Kremlin said it rejected any military contingent being deployed to Ukraine that would include NATO members. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would consider sending peacekeepers, noting their role would be “not to fight”.
A Putin–Zelensky meeting – their first since Russia’s invasion in 2022 – could potentially be held in Budapest or Geneva. Putin reportedly suggested meeting in Moscow – a proposal Zelensky declined.
The neighbourhood
New Zealand: A soldier in New Zealand with far-right links was sentenced to two years in military detention on Wednesday for spying for an unnamed country, marking the first espionage conviction in the nation’s history.
The soldier was sentenced by a court martial comprising three military officials and a judge after he was caught offering to pass maps of bases and photographs to an undercover officer posing as an agent for the foreign nation.
The man pleaded guilty to espionage, accessing a computer for a dishonest purpose, and possessing an objectionable publication. He had copies on his home computer of a livestreamed video of the killing of 51 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch by a white supremacist in 2019.
The court heard that authorities became interested in the soldier while investigating right-wing extremist groups after the Christchurch shootings. An undercover officer approached the soldier in 2019 after authorities learnt the soldier had tried to defect. The soldier then passed on restricted information such as telephone directories of military camps and claimed he could “possibly get a covert device into army headquarters”, the court heard.
The soldier said in an affidavit he was a member of extremist groups Action Zealandia and the Dominion Movement. He said they were not terrorist groups and he did not condone the Christchurch killings. “Both groups were a positive experience for me,” he said.
During sentencing, Justice Kevin Riordan said: “You tell the court you love your country … I think we can say you love a version of this country that is in your mind.”
The previous espionage case in New Zealand was in 1975, when a public servant was acquitted after being accused of passing information to Russian agents.
War zone
Gaza: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was considering a “partial deal” for a ceasefire in Gaza this week after Hamas accepted the proposal ahead of plans for a major Israeli assault on Gaza City.
As Netanyahu pondered whether to accept a ceasefire or expand the military campaign, he launched an extraordinary personal attack on Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Following Australia’s recent decision to recognise Palestine and its move this week to block right-wing Israeli politician Simcha Rothman from visiting Australia, Netanyahu wrote on X: “History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”
Albanese told reporters on Wednesday he did not “take these things personally” and noted that Netanyahu has attacked other leaders.
“People want to see an end to the cycle of violence that we have seen for far too long,” Albanese said. “That is what Australians want to see as well.”
Hamas said on Monday it accepted a ceasefire proposal from Qatar and Egypt that would involve the release of 10 living and 18 dead hostages as well as a pullback of Israeli forces, additional aid flows and the release of about 200 Palestinian prisoners. The 60-day truce would enable further talks on an end to the war.
Netanyahu was reportedly considering the proposal but said earlier this month he no longer wanted a partial deal because Hamas was “just leading us astray”.
Israel this week called up about 60,000 reservists ahead of plans to capture Gaza City, whose population has swelled from 700,000 before the war to 1.2 million. The military plans to launch its offensive after evacuating much of the city by early October 7 – the second anniversary of the Hamas attacks that sparked the war.
Australia, along with the United Kingdom, Germany and others, has warned the offensive could worsen the catastrophic conditions in Gaza. The United Nations this week said aid flows were “far below what would be required to avert widespread starvation”.
Spotlight: HK fury over activist asylum
Authorities in Hong Kong summoned Australia’s envoy to express anger at the granting of asylum to prominent pro-democracy activist Ted Hui, who fled to Australia in 2020 to avoid prosecution.
Hui, a former Democratic Party lawmaker, confirmed in a Facebook post last Saturday that he and his family had been granted asylum. They live in Adelaide, where he works as a solicitor.
He told ABC News: “From this point on, we can make longer life plans.”
Hong Kong’s government summoned Australia’s consul-general this week to protest against the granting of asylum to Hui. Authorities said in a statement that Australia and the United Kingdom, which granted asylum to activist Tony Chung, were “shielding criminals”.
Consul-General Gareth Williams is understood to have met with Hong Kong officials on Monday and raised Australia’s concerns about the targeting of pro-democracy figures.
Hui was active in the protest movement sparked by China’s imposition of a sweeping national security law in Hong Kong in 2019. Authorities cracked down on the movement, jailing activists and prompting many to flee.
In 2023, police placed a bounty of HK$1 million ($200,000) each on Hui and seven other activists who had fled.
Hui fled to Australia while on bail after being charged with national security offences. In July, authorities issued a fresh warrant for his arrest.
This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on August 23, 2025 as "Trump pledges security for Ukraine as part of peace deal".
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