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Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur and anti-woke asset manager turned Republican presidential hopeful, has a plan for ending Russia's year-and-a-half war on Ukraine – sort of. The 38-year-old political newcomer will unveil what he describes as a plan to bring the brutal conflict to a close by halting American support for Kyiv and "negotiating a peace treaty with Russia that achieves a vital US security objective: ceasing Russia's growing military alliance with China". In remarks to be delivered on Friday in New Hampshire to the Belknap County GOP Lincoln Day, Mr Ramaswamy will say his plan is the mirror-image approach of the late US president Richard Nixon's effort to break up the Soviet Union's alliance with the People's Republic of China, citing what he describes as Russian President Vladimir Putin's status as "the new Mao". The Independent obtained a copy of his speech ahead of Friday's event. It cites a two-decade-old treaty between Russia and the PRC, as well as the "no limits" partnership unveiled by Mr Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping as evidence that a Sino-Russian alliance "presents the greatest military risk the US has ever faced" and accuses President Joe Biden of "pushing Russia into a closer military alliance with China which increases the risk of nuclear war" through his quarterbacking of US and Western support for Ukraine's defence. While Mr Ramaswamy's prepared remarks call his solution to the conflict a "peace treaty," what he lays out does not appear to meet the definition of the term. Peace treaties, by and large, represent final settlements to armed conflicts. Famous examples include the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the First World War, and the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco that formally brought an end to the Second World War. What he instead proposes is an analogue to United Nations-enforced armistice that has been in force on the Korean Peninsula since 1953. Under the terms of his plan, Kyiv would legitimise Russia's occupation of Ukraine's Donbas region by ceding it to Russia. The US and the West would end all sanctions on Russia, cease defence assistance to Ukraine, and Nato would prohibit Ukraine from ever becoming a member of the 31-nation defensive pact. The alliance would also roll back troop deployments that have taken place on its eastern frontier since 2016 – including closing all bases on Nato territory in Eastern Europe. In return, he proposes that Russia would exit its 2001 treaty with China, end the "no limits" partnership while ceasing any military cooperation with Beijing, rejoin the New START arms control treaty, withdraw any forces deployed in Latin America and remove "all nuclear weapons and delivery capabilities" from Belarus, any Ukrainian territory it has annexed, as well as the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad, which is Russia's only ice-free port for its Baltic Fleet. His prepared remarks do not offer any evidence that Russia would be willing to cease cooperation with China or give up its military presence in Kaliningrad, which has housed a major naval base since the Soviet era. Nor does he provide any evidence to support his claim that Moscow would be willing to cut off decades of warm relations with Beijing in return for an end to Western sanctions, particularly since the Sino-Russian relationship has existed since the dawn of the 21st century. Despite multiple credible reports from US officials and other Western governments which say Kyiv's defence forces have dealt a major blow to Russia's conventional warfare capability, he plans to say that he believes Ukraine "will not defeat Russia militarily" without "extraordinary intervention" on the part of the United States, which he claims would lessen America's ability to respond to a Chinese attack on Taiwan. "Under my peace plan, Ukraine will still emerge with its sovereignty intact and Russia permanently diminished as a foe. Ukraine's best path to preserving its own security is to accept a US-negotiated agreement backstopped by Russian commitments to the US," he will say. The rollout of his plan for the Ukraine conflict represents the political neophyte's first foray into foreign policy waters since he launched his presidential campaign earlier this year. His opposition to continuing US defence assistance to Kyiv is in line with much of the pro-Trump wing of the GOP, which tends to view Russia far more favourably than the general US population. In a press release, the Democratic National Committee condemned the plan as "siding against our ally as Vladimir Putin wages an unjust and violent war in Ukraine" and derided Mr Ramaswamy as a "MAGA Republican presidential hopeful". "Vivek Ramaswamy is promising to end America's support of Ukraine – posing a threat to our allies on the ground and democracy itself," the DNC said. The DNC also pointed out that Mr Ramaswamy's position syncs up with much of the GOP presidential field, including the two highest-polling candidates: Mr Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Mr Trump, who has long professed an affinity for Mr Putin and has described him in positive terms despite his having ordered an unprovoked invasion of another country, praised the war crime-laden invasion as "savvy" and "genius" just days after Russian tanks crossed over the Ukrainian border. Mr DeSantis, who is a distant runner-up to Mr Trump in most polls of the GOP primary electorate, downplayed war – the largest land-based conflict on the European continent since 1945 – as a "territorial dispute" and a flight over "borderlands". But James Stavridis, a retired four-star US Navy admiral who served as Nato's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe from 2009 to 2013, was far more generous in his reaction to the plan. Mr Stavridis told The Independent in an email that he is "all for creative ideas in international diplomacy" and said he "would love to be able to say that there is a chance of this type of settlement occurring". But he added that he could not say there would be such a chance. For one, the former Nato commander said Mr Putin is "so deeply invested in the relationship with China" that there is "zero chance" he'd abandon his partnership with Mr Xi. He added that in his estimation, Russia would "never" agree to give up Kaliningrad as a base for nuclear-capable forces, and said there is also no chance that Kyiv would agree to cede approximately 20 per cent of its territory to Moscow. "Nor do I think that the west would be willing to completely walk away from Ukraine and deny providing them appropriate security guarantees, or even membership in NATO. The red lines for both sides are significant," he said. But Mr Stavridis did say he believes a "Korean-style armistice" is the most likely outcome of the 14-month-old conflict, with the caveat that "it's too soon to know where those boundary lines might be or where the trade-offs could occur". "Our job in the west is obvious, which is to give the Ukrainians everything they need in terms of material and training, so they can be at the best position when the negotiations ultimately begin," he said, adding later that "one thing [he knows] for sure" is that the Ukraine war presents "deeply complex issues with enormous, competing equities on all sides," with the chances of a simple settlement "within 24 hours" as Mr Trump suggested at a recent CNN town hall "approach[ing] negative infinity". While the ex-Navy admiral was measured in his evaluation of Mr Ramaswamy’s plan, a prominent GOP foreign policy veteran was far less generous when asked to opine on his proposal. Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime member of the upper’s chamber’s foreign relations committee, told The Independent on Thursday that the anti-woke businessman’s plan amounted to “rewarding aggression” and called him “somebody who really doesn’t understand how the world works”. He added that rewarding Mr Putin for his aggression would result in China feeling empowered to take Taiwan. “You know, I’m glad people don’t think that way when it came to our freedom,” he said. “Go study history and give me an example where aggression was rewarded where you got less of it”. Senior Washington Correspondent Eric Garcia contributed reporting from Capitol Hill Read More Trump's welcome of Scott into 2024 race shows his calculus: The more GOP rivals, the better for him Zelensky salutes ‘powerful support’ from allies at Moldova summit – as he increases pressure over jets A six-year-old Ukrainian girl saved by adoption or a murderous adult imposter: Who really is Natalia Grace? The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

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By Jacqueline Thomsen WASHINGTON Another two members of the far-right Oath Keepers militant group are set to be

Donald Trump sat down with Sean Hannity for a town hall in Iowa on Thursday evening to answer questions from local voters, although almost all of the questions came from the Fox News host himself. Before a raucous and adoring crowd, the Republican former president was asked about domestic and foreign policy topics, claiming he would solve most within six months of retaking office, boasting of his tough stance towards Russia and Iran. When other GOP primary candidates like Ron DeSantis and Asa Hutchinson were brought up, he dismissed the threat they posed as his audience booed and jeered the very mention of their names. But there was no mention whatsoever of Fox’s recent $787m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over the former’s coverage of Mr Trump’s bogus claims that the 2020 presidential election fraud was “rigged” against him by a vast Democrat-led conspiracy to deprive him of a second term. Mr Trump did use the opportunity provided to try to shoot down the latest allegations that he knowingly stored classified Pentagon documents from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, insisting: “I don't know anything about it. All I know is everything did was right.” Read More Trump’s Fox and CNN town halls expose media’s inability to fact-check a fountain of nonsense Trump plays down legal threat of secret papers recording at Fox News town hall Trump surprises crowd by mocking people who say ‘woke’ – including his own son who runs businesses off it

By Fergal Smith TORONTO Greater Toronto Area (GTA) home prices increased in May from April and sales rose

The Senate has passed a bipartisan agreement forged by US president Joe Biden and House speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise the $31.4 trillion US debt ceiling after the deal survived a Republican rebellion in the House of Representatives. The Fiscal Responsibility Act, which will also implement new federal spending cuts, cleared the lower chamber with 314 votes in favour and 117 against on Wednesday night. The narrowness of its passage through the House was made possible through the support of Democrats, who stepped in to thwart a Republican rebellion that badly undermined Speaker McCarthy’s claims to control over his increasingly divided party. On Thursday, the Senate rejected 11 proposed amendments before passing the bill 63 for to 36 against. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer will now send the bill to President Biden’s desk for his signature. Full congressional approval was required before Monday 5 June, when the Treasury Department was expected to run out of funds to pay its debts for the first time in American history. Read More Underestimated McCarthy emerges from debt deal empowered as speaker, still threatened by far right Lauren Boebert didn’t turn up to vote on debt ceiling deal she furiously campaigned against What’s next for Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling deal as Senate races to beat default deadline?

A court has upheld reports that a top soldier killed unarmed Afghans - but wider questions remain.

Clashes between police and supporters of Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko left nine people dead, the government said Friday, with authorities issuing a blanket ban on the use of several social media platforms in the aftermath of the violence. The deaths occurred mainly in the capital, Dakar, and Ziguinchor in the south, where Sonko is mayor, Interior Minister Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome said in a statement. Some social media sites used by demonstrators to incite violence, such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have been suspended, he said. “The state of Senegal has taken every measure to guarantee the safety of people and property. We are going to reinforce security everywhere in the country,” Diome said. Sonko was convicted Thursday of corrupting youth but acquitted on charges of raping a woman who worked at a massage parlor and making death threats against her. The court sentenced Sonko to two years in prison. He didn't attend his trial in Dakar, and was judged in absentia. His lawyer said a warrant hadn't been issued yet for the politician’s arrest. Sonko came in third in Senegal’s 2019 presidential election and is popular with the country’s youth. His supporters maintain his legal troubles are part of a government effort to derail his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election. Sonko is considered President Macky Sall’s main competition and has urged Sall to state publicly that he won't seek a third term in office. Corrupting young people, which includes using one’s position of power to have sex with people under the age of 21, is a criminal offense in Senegal that is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to more than $6,000. Under Senegalese law, his conviction would bar Sonko from running in next year’s election, said Bamba Cisse, another defense lawyer. “The conviction for corruption of youth hinders his eligibility, because he was sentenced in absentia, so we can’t appeal,” Cisse said. However, the government said that Sonko can ask for a retrial once he is imprisoned. It was unclear when he would be taken into custody. Shortly after the verdict was announced Thursday, clashes erupted throughout the country with Sonko’s PASTEF party calling for people to take to the streets. In Dakar, protesters threw rocks, burned vehicles and in some places erected barricades while police fired tear gas. Plumes of black smoke and the sound of tear gas being fired were seen and heard throughout the city. Those who weren't protesting stayed indoors, leaving much of Dakar a ghost town with boarded-up shops and empty streets as people feared the violence would escalate. “The verdict cements the criticism that Sall’s government is weaponizing the judiciary to eliminate prominent rivals that could shake his rule,” said Mucahid Durmaz, senior analyst at global risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft. “Despite being presented as a beacon (of) democracy, the Sonko cases demonstrate the structural issues Senegal grapples with. The court decision and the prospect of Sall’s bid for a third term in the election next year will fuel fierce criticism around erosion of judicial independence and democratic backsliding,” Dumaz said. Government spokesman Abdou Karim Fofana said that the damage caused by months of demonstrations has cost the country millions of dollars. “These calls (to protest), it’s a bit like the anti-republican nature of all these movements that hide behind social networks and don’t believe in the foundations of democracy, which are elections, freedom of expression, but also the resources that our (legal) system offers,” Fofana said. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide US reopens embassy in Seychelles after 27-year absence US expands slots for asylum app at land crossings as demand overwhelms supply Restoration lags for Syria's famed Roman ruins at Palmyra and other war-battered historic sites

Apple's decision to manufacture iPhones in India aims at diversifying its supply chains away from China

The Vatican had temporarily relieved Franco Mulakkal of his duties when he was arrested in 2018

The UK government is desperate to find a way to make child care more affordable and encourage more

By Steve Scherer OTTAWA Canada's government is sending the military to the Eastern province of Nova Scotia on