peace

A Russian ballistic missile strike on port infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa port in the south has killed at least eight people and wounded 27, as Moscow intensifies attacks on the strategic Black Sea region and talks to end the war remain in a critical stage.

The attack late on Friday hit critical logistics infrastructure, with some of the wounded trapped on a bus at the strike’s epicentre as trucks caught fire in a car park.

Ukrainian officials say the bombardment is part of a sustained Russian campaign against Odesa’s civilian infrastructure that has left more than two million people without electricity, water and heating for days amid freezing temperatures in the war’s fourth punishing winter.

Moscow struck the same port again on Saturday, hitting reservoirs in what Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba described as deliberately targeting civilian logistics routes.

The escalation comes as both sides trade blows across multiple fronts, while United States-led negotiations and numerous high-level meetings in Europe to end the war lumber on without a breakthrough.

Russia claimed on Saturday to have seized the villages of Svitle in the eastern Donetsk region and Vysoke in the northeastern Sumy region, though the reports could not be independently verified.

Ukraine has responded with a widening campaign against Russian military and energy assets.

On Friday night, Ukrainian drones struck the Filanovsky oil rig belonging to Russian energy giant Lukoil in the Caspian Sea, along with a military patrol ship patrolling near the platform.

The attack marked the first officially acknowledged Ukrainian strike on Caspian drilling infrastructure, though the rig had been hit at least twice before in December.

Between December 14 and 15, Ukrainian forces used sea drones to strike a Russian Kilo-class submarine at the Novorossiysk Naval Base in the Black Sea, according to a United Kingdom Defence Intelligence assessment.

Miami talks

The attacks unfold as American and European officials gather in Miami for weekend talks aimed at ending the nearly four-year war, with Russian and Ukrainian teams also in attendance.

Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on Saturday he was heading to Miami.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would not force Ukraine into any agreement, though he described the conflict as “not our war”.

Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are leading discussions with Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and officials from the UK, France and Germany. Russian representatives, including Kremlin key negotiator Dmitriev, are meeting separately with American officials.

The key obstacle remains territorial concessions, with reports suggesting Washington is pushing Kyiv to cede parts of the eastern Donetsk region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin showed no signs of compromise at his annual choreographed news conference on Friday, pledging to press ahead with military operations and predicting new successes before the year’s end.

Putin’s remarks were the latest in a drumbeat of often-repeated maximalist Russian positions nearly four years after he ordered troops into the neighbouring country.

The issue of territory gained, lost, to be ceded or not, delves into the heart of the matter on one of the most contentious issues in the talks to end the war so far.

Putin has demanded Ukraine cede all territory in four key regions his forces have captured and occupied, along with Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed in 2014.

He also wants Ukrainian troops to withdraw from parts of eastern Ukraine that Russian forces have not yet taken in the eastern Donetsk region, where fighting remains attritional – conditions Kyiv has rejected outright.

As talks continue, so does the fighting, with Russia controlling large parts of Ukraine’s eastern and Black Sea coastal regions.

Putin projected confidence on Friday about battlefield progress, saying Russian forces had “fully seized strategic initiative” and would make further gains before the year ends.

However, that narrative is on shaky ground this week, as Moscow’s assertion of inevitable victory flew in the face of facts on the ground.

Ukraine steadily took back control of almost all of its northern city of Kupiansk after isolating Russian forces within it, belying Russian claims to have seized it.

Russian forces were also unable to dislodge Ukrainian defenders from the eastern city of Pokrovsk in the eastern area of Donetsk to back up Moscow’s claims of total control.

Ukraine received a boost on Friday when European leaders agreed to provide a 90 billion euros ($105bn) loan to cover military and economic needs for the next two years.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who met Polish President Karol Nawrocki in Warsaw the same day to reinforce regional unity against Russia, said the funds would go towards defence if the war continues or reconstruction if peace is achieved.

Responding to reports that Hamas may be willing to partially disarm, handing over heavy weaponry but keeping its small arms, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said peace will never happen if the group has the capability to “threaten or attack Israel.”

The Ukrainian president says Kyiv could drop its long-held ambition of joining NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees.

Ukraine has indicated it is prepared to drop its long-held ambition of joining NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said ahead of meetings with US envoys and European allies in Berlin.

Zelenskyy described the proposal on Sunday as a concession by Kyiv, after years of pressing for NATO membership as the strongest deterrent against future Russian attacks. He said the United States, European partners and other allies could instead provide legally binding security guarantees.

“From the very beginning, Ukraine’s desire was to join NATO; these are real security guarantees. Some partners from the US and Europe did not support this direction,” Zelenskyy said in response to questions from reporters in a WhatsApp chat.

“Thus, today, bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the US, Article 5-like guarantees for us from the US, and security guarantees from European colleagues, as well as other countries – Canada, Japan – are an opportunity to prevent another Russian invasion,” he said.

“And it is already a compromise from our part,” Zelenskyy added, stressing that such guarantees must be legally binding.

The shift would mark a significant change for Ukraine, which has long sought NATO membership despite Moscow viewing the alliance’s expansion as a threat.

While the move aligns with one of Russia’s stated war objectives, Kyiv has continued to reject demands to cede territory.

Zelenskyy said he was seeking a “dignified” peace and firm assurances that Russia would not launch another attack, as diplomats gathered to discuss what could become Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. He also accused Moscow of prolonging the war through sustained attacks on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.

Pressure to reach a settlement

The talks come amid pressure from US President Donald Trump to reach a settlement. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner on Sunday arrived in the German capital city of Berlin for discussions involving Ukrainian and European representatives.

The decision to send Witkoff, who has previously led negotiations with both Kyiv and Moscow, suggested Washington saw scope for progress.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine, Europe and the US were reviewing a 20-point plan that could culminate in a ceasefire, though he reiterated that Kyiv was not holding direct talks with Russia. He said a truce along current front lines could be considered fair, while noting that Russia continues to demand a Ukrainian withdrawal from parts of Donetsk and Luhansk still under Kyiv’s control.

Despite diplomatic efforts, Russian attacks have continued, leaving thousands without electricity in recent strikes. Ukrainian officials say Moscow is deliberately targeting the power grid to deprive civilians of heat and water during winter.

Fighting has also intensified in the Black Sea. Russian forces recently struck Ukrainian ports, damaging Turkish-owned vessels, including a ship carrying food supplies. An attack on Odesa set grain silos ablaze, according to Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba. Zelenskyy said the strikes “had no … military purpose whatsoever”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned against further escalation, saying the Black Sea should not become an “area of confrontation”.

“Everyone needs safe navigation in the Black Sea,” Erdogan said, calling for a “limited ceasefire” covering ports and energy facilities. Turkiye controls the Bosphorus Strait, a vital route for Ukrainian grain and Russian oil exports.

A ceasefire deal appears distant as energy facilities are hit in Ukraine and Russia says a drone has killed two people.

Russian attacks have left thousands without power in Ukraine, while a drone attack killed two people in Russia, as United States-led peace talks on ending the war, deep in its fourth year, press on.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that Russian night-time attacks damaged more than a dozen civilian facilities, disrupting power in seven regions.

“It is important that everyone now sees what Russia is doing… for this is clearly not about ending the war,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “They still aim to destroy our state and inflict maximum pain on our people.”

Kyiv and its Western allies have repeatedly said Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponising” the cold.

Russian attacks left parts of the Kherson region, including the regional capital, Kherson, without power, according to regional head Oleksandr Prokudin.

Drone on Russia’s Saratov region

Russian authorities in the southwestern Saratov region, home to an important Russian army base, said a drone killed two people and damaged a residential building. Several windows were also blown out at a kindergarten and clinic.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it had shot down 41 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight.

The latest round of attacks came after Kremlin adviser Yury Ushakov said on Friday that Russian police and National Guard will stay on in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas, which comprises the fiercely contested Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and oversee the industry-rich region, even if a peace settlement ends Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine.

Ukraine has rejected Moscow’s demands to maintain its presence in Donbas post-war as US-led negotiations drag on.

Germany is set to host Zelenskyy on Monday for talks as peace efforts gain momentum and European leaders seek to steer negotiations. US negotiators have for months tried to navigate the demands of each side as US President Donald Trump presses for a swift end to Russia’s war.

The search for possible compromises has run into a major obstacle over who keeps Ukrainian territory currently occupied by Russian forces. Ukraine, the US and European powers are also still trying to outline the contours of security guarantees for Kyiv that could be accepted by Moscow.

In the absence of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the conflict, hostilities recently intensified in the Black Sea, with Russian forces attacking two Ukrainian ports and damaging three Turkish-owned vessels, including a ship carrying food supplies.

An attack on the city of Odesa on Friday caused grain silos to catch fire at the port, according to Ukrainian deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister, Oleksii Kuleba. Posting video footage on social media of firefighters tackling a blaze on board what he described as a “civilian vessel” in Chornomorsk, Zelenskyy said the Russian attacks “had no … military purpose whatsoever”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday warned that the Black Sea should not turn into an “area of confrontation”.

“Everyone needs safe navigation in the Black Sea,” Erdogan said, calling for a “limited ceasefire” in attacks on ports and energy facilities. Turkiye controls the Bosphorus Strait, a key passage for transporting Ukrainian grain and Russian oil towards the Mediterranean.

Dec. 12 (UPI) — Pope Leo XIV urged Italy’s intelligence officials on Friday to ground national security in ethical principles and cautioned that efforts to preserve peace must not trump human dignity or truth.

The U.S.-born pope marked the centenary of Italy’s Security Intelligence System and noted the nation’s first coordinated intelligence service launched in 1925 established the “foundations for building a more effective and coordinated system, aimed at safeguarding the security of the state.”

He added in remarks that, about a century later, tools and capabilities may have advanced dramatically, but responsibilities and moral risks of such intelligence work have grown.

On Friday, Leo told assembled intelligence professionals visiting the Vatican they bear a “serious responsibility” of “constantly monitoring the dangers that may threaten the life of the nation, in order above all to contribute to the protection of peace.”

He praised sometimes ignored efforts to foresee a crisis before it arises but cautioned that discretion risks misuse without ethics.

The pope stressed that professionalism required “respect for the dignity of the human person.”

“Security activity must never lose sight of this foundational dimension and must never fail to respect the dignity and rights of each individual,” he said.

He urged ethical restraint in gathering intelligence and warned that a sense of urgent common good cannot justify ignoring limits on individual rights.

National security, he added, must never arrive at the expense of individual rights, including “private and family life, freedom of conscience and information and the right to a fair trial.”

The Catholic Church leader underscored the need for strong ethical standards in modern day communication, and cautioned in an era run by constant and instant connection that misinformation, manipulation and exploitation of vulnerable people was a growing threat.

He further warned that confidential information must never be deployed to intimidate, manipulate, blackmail or discredit public officials, journalists or other groups.

In addition, Leo urged attendees to pursue their profession with balance and discernment that prioritizes the common good while staying “firmly anchored to those legal and ethical principles that place the dignity of the human person above all else.”

Right-wing opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was missing from the ceremony awarding her this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. She’s been in hiding for the past year since she accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of rigging the July 2024 election.

Former Clippers point guard Chris Paul says he’s “at peace with everything” after being abruptly dismissed by the team last week.

“Stuff’s been a little crazy in the past few days — to say the least,” Paul told People magazine in an interview published Tuesday. “But honestly, I’m home. My daughter had tryouts yesterday. My nephew had a basketball game. My son has a game coming up on the 12th.”

Paul’s son, Chris Paul II, is a sophomore guard for the Campbell Hall varsity basketball team, which plays Newbury Park on Friday.

“I have never seen my son play a game in person,” the elder Paul said. “Not a middle school game, not a high school game. So I’m excited about seeing him play.”

Also on Tuesday, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue denied an ESPN report from last week that he and Paul hadn’t been on speaking terms in the weeks leading up to the team’s decision to part ways with one of its most iconic players.

“That ain’t true. We were talking,” Lue told reporters at practice. “I mean, he played. How he gonna play [if] I’m not talking to him?

“I mean, there was a stretch when we said he wasn’t gonna play, he’s gonna be out of the rotation. That was tough for him because he’s a competitor and what the game means to him and what he brings every single day. But after that it wasn’t really much.”

Paul is a 12-time All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist who ranks second in NBA history with 12,552 assists. He was the first player with at least 20,000 points and more than 10,000 assists.

Playing for the Clippers from 2011-17 — the team’s “Lob City” era — Paul and fellow superstar Blake Griffin led the team to six winning seasons, its first two Pacific Division titles and three playoff series victories. As a 40-year-old free agent in July, Paul signed a $3.6 million deal to return to the Clippers for his 21st, and very possibly final, NBA season.

This season, Paul averaged career lows in points (2.6), assists (3.3.) and minutes (14.3). He didn’t play at all in five consecutive games in mid-November. The Clippers, off to a disastrous 5-16 start to the season, were in Atlanta for a game against the Hawks when Paul made a surprise announcement on social media.

“Just Found Out I’m Being Sent Home,” Paul posted Dec. 3 on social media at around 3 a.m. Eastern time.

Later that morning, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank confirmed the move.

“We are parting ways with Chris, and he will no longer be a part of the team,” Frank said in a statement. “We will work with him on the next step of his career.”

Frank indicated that the team will attempt to trade Paul, who becomes trade-eligible on Monday.

A league source not authorized to discuss the issue publicly told The Times last week that Paul had called out teammates, coaches and Frank this season. Paul apologized, but “everyone was fed up,” the source said.

Lue insisted Tuesday that his relationship with Paul wasn’t an issue.

“I had no problem with Chris,” Lue said. “The guy’s a competitor, he wants to play. You can understand that. So, you know, he was a little frustrated at first, but we got over that. … That’s my guy, my friend before he got here. So you don’t want to see that happen to anybody no matter what the circumstances are.”

Asked why the team ultimately decided the situation with Paul couldn’t be fixed, Lue responded, “You gotta ask Lawrence.”

In his interview with People, Paul didn’t offer any insight on what happened between him and the Clippers. Instead, he seems to be focused on the present — “I’m excited to be back here with my family,” Paul said — and the future.

“More than anything, I’m excited about being around,” he said, “and getting a chance to play a small role in whatever anything looks like next.”

Staff writer Broderick Turner contributed to this report.

Dec. 10 (UPI) — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado did not attend a ceremony in Oslo to receive her award on Wednesday as the Venezuelan opposition leader was in hiding from the regime of President Nicolas Maduro, somewhere in the country.

The Norwegian committee said in a news release that Machado had done everything possible to make what it said would have been a very risky journey, but confirmed she was safe and appeared to suggest her imminent arrival in Norway.

“Machado has done everything in her power to come to the ceremony today. A journey in a situation of extreme danger. Although she will not be able to reach the ceremony and today’s events, we are profoundly happy to confirm that she is safe and that she will be with us in Oslo,” the statement read.

The news followed days of contradictory statements over whether Machado, who has been in hiding since disputed elections in July 2024, would make it to Oslo. Machado, who has been repeatedly threatened with arrest by Venezuelan authorities has not appeared in public since January.

Machado’s daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, received the diploma and medal on her behalf at the ceremony at City Hall in the Norwegian capital.

The committee shared a recording of a phone call with Machado in which she confirmed she would not attend to receive her prize, which was awarded in recognition “her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

“I want to thank the Norwegian Nobel committee for this immense recognition to the fight of our people for democracy and freedom. We feel very emotional and very honoured, and that’s why I’m very sad and very sorry to tell you that I won’t be able to arrive in time for the ceremony, but I will be in Oslo and on my way to Oslo right now.

“I know that there are hundreds of Venezuelans from different parts of the world that were able to reach your city, that are right now in Oslo, as well as my family, my team, so many colleagues. Since this is a prize for all Venezuelans, I believe that it will be received by them.”

Machado, who ran for president in 2011 and attemped to run last year, has been a leader of the country’s democratic movement more than 20 years, opposing and holding to account the administration of Hugo Chavez, first, and then the authoritarian rule of Maduro.

She was elected to the National Assembly in 2010 but removed in 2014 after being accused of conspiring with other critics and the United States to assassinate Maduro. She denies the charges which she says were based on fabricated evidence.

In October 2023, she won a primary to run against Maduro in last summer’s election, to which the Maduro government responded by banning her from politics for 15 years. She was replaced on the ballot by Edmundo Gonzalez.

The results of the July 2024 were widely rejected by the opposition and internationally, including by Brazil, Colombia and the United States, which instead recognized Gonzalez as the real winner.

He fled the country in September in 2024 and was granted political asylum in Spain.

The build-up to the ceremony has been tinged with shadowy intrigue, after the Nobel institute earlier said Machado’s whereabouts were unknown.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado will not receive the Nobel Peace Prize in person at an award ceremony in Oslo but she will be in the European city, the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute has said.

Machado, 58, was due to receive the award on Wednesday at Oslo City Hall in the presence of Norway’s monarchs and Latin American leaders, including fellow right-wing politicians Argentinian President Javier Milei and Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa.

The opposition leader of the Vente Venezuela party was awarded the prize in October, with the Nobel committee praising Machado’s role in the country’s opposition movement and her “steadfast” support for democracy.

Machado, who holds many right-wing views, dedicated it in part to United States President Donald Trump, who has said he, himself deserved the honour and was infuriated that he did not.

“Although she will not be able to reach the ceremony and today’s events, we are profoundly happy to confirm that Machado is safe and that she will be with us in Oslo,” the institute stated.

She is expected to reach Oslo “sometime between this evening and tomorrow morning,” the institute’s director Kristian Berg Harpviken told the AFP news agency on Wednesday, shortly before the 1pm (12:00 GMT) ceremony, at which her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, is set to accept the award in her place.

“I will be in Oslo, I am on my way,” Machado stated in an audio recording released by the institute.

The announcement was part of a sequence of events more befitting of cloak-and-dagger intrigue, as the institute had earlier stated Machado’s whereabouts were unknown. A planned news conference a day earlier was also cancelled due to her absence.

Machado has a decade-long travel ban on her and has spent more than a year in hiding.

Alignment with right-wing hawks

The political leader has welcomed international sanctions and US military intervention in Venezuela, a move her critics say harkens back to a dark past.

The US has a long history of interference in the region, particularly in the 1980s when it propped up repressive right-wing governments through coups, and funded paramilitary groups across Latin America that were responsible for mass killings, forced disappearances and other grave human rights abuses.

Venezuelan authorities cited Machado’s support for sanctions and US intervention when they barred her from running for office in last year’s presidential election, where she had intended to challenge President Nicolas Maduro. Machado has accused Maduro of stealing the July 2024 election.

Shortly after her Nobel win in October, Machado also voiced support for Israel in a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during its ongoing genocidal war in Gaza.

Machado has previously pledged to move Venezuela’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, as Trump did with the US diplomatic presence during his first term in office, if her movement comes to power. This would be on par with other right-wing Latin American leaders who have taken pro-Israel stances, including Argentina’s Milei and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Machado has aligned herself with right-wing hawks close to Trump who argue that Maduro has links to criminal gangs that pose a direct threat to US national security, despite doubts raised by the US intelligence community.

The Trump administration has ordered more than 20 military strikes in recent months against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and off Latin America’s Pacific coast.

Human rights groups, some US Democrats and several Latin American countries have condemned the attacks as unlawful extrajudicial killings of civilians.

Maduro, in power since 2013 following the death of Hugo Chavez, says Trump is pushing for regime change in the country to access Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. He has pledged to resist such attempts.

Venezuela’s armed forces are planning to mount a guerrilla-style resistance in the event of a US air or ground attack, according to sources with knowledge of the efforts and planning documents seen by the Reuters news agency.

Rights group FairSquare accuses world football governing body of ‘openly flouting’ its own rules on political neutrality.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s effusive praise for Donald Trump and the decision by the world football governing body to award a peace prize to the US president have triggered a formal complaint over ethics violations and political neutrality.

Human rights group FairSquare said on Tuesday that it has filed a complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee, claiming the organisation’s behaviour was against the common interests of the global football community.

The complaint stems from Infantino awarding Trump FIFA’s inaugural peace prize during the December 6 draw for the 2026 World Cup to be played in the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and July.

“This complaint is about a lot more than Infantino’s support for President Donald Trump’s political agenda,” FairSquare’s programme director Nicholas McGeehan said.

“More broadly, this is about how FIFA’s absurd governance structure has allowed Gianni Infantino to openly flout the organisation’s rules and act in ways that are both dangerous and directly contrary to the interests of the world’s most popular sport,” said McGeehan, head of the London-based advocacy group.

According to the eight-page complaint from the rights group filed with FIFA on Monday, Infantino’s awarding of the peace prize “to a sitting political leader is in and of itself a clear breach of FIFA’s duty of neutrality”.

“If Mr. Infantino acted unilaterally and without any statutory authority this should be considered an egregious abuse of power,” the rights group said.

FairSquare also pointed to Infantino lobbying on social media earlier this year for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Israel-Gaza conflict. Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado ultimately received the prize.

FairSquare said it wants FIFA’s independent committee to review Infantino’s actions.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch also criticised FIFA’s awarding of the prize to Trump, saying his administration’s “appalling human rights record certainly does not display exceptional actions for peace and unity”.

Disciplinary action from the FIFA Ethics Committee can include a warning, a reprimand and even a fine. Compliance training can also be ordered, while a ban can be levied on participation in football-related activity. But it remains unclear if the ethics committee will take up the complaint.

Infantino has not immediately responded, and FIFA said it does not comment on potential cases.

Current FIFA-appointed ethics investigators and judges are seen by some observers to operate with less independence than their predecessors a decade ago, when FIFA’s then-president, Sepp Blatter, was removed from office.

Trump was on hand for the World Cup 2026 draw ceremony on Friday, along with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

But it was Trump who received the most attention during the event at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, DC.

During the event, Infantino presented Trump with a gold trophy, a gold medal and a certificate.

“This is your prize; this is your peace prize,” Infantino told Trump.

FIFA also played a video that touched on some of Trump’s efforts towards so-called peace agreements.

Blair was the only figure named for the board when Donald Trump announced a 20-point plan to end Israel’s war on Gaza.

Tony Blair has been dropped from consideration for a role on a proposed US-led “board of peace” for Gaza after objections from Arab and Muslim governments, the Financial Times (FT) newspaper has reported.

Blair was the only figure named for the board when Donald Trump announced a 20-point plan to end Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza in September, with the US president describing the former UK prime minister as a “very good man”.

Blair praised the plan as “bold and intelligent” and signalled he was willing to serve on the board, which would be chaired by Trump himself.

But diplomats from several Arab and Muslim states objected to Blair’s involvement, the FT reported on Monday.

As British Prime Minister, Blair strongly supported the US-led so-called “war on terror” and sent tens of thousands of British troops to join the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, which was launched based on false claims that Iraq’s then leader, Saddam Hussein, had developed weapons of mass destruction.

In the Middle East region, Blair remains widely viewed as partially responsible for the war’s devastation.

Since leaving office in 2007, he has set up the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), which has worked with governments accused of repression to help improve their image.

His institute was also involved with a project, led by Israeli business figures, developing “day-after” plans for Gaza alongside Israeli business figures.

The project included proposals for a coastal resort dubbed the “Trump Riviera” and a manufacturing hub named after Elon Musk – ideas critics said ignore human rights and threaten Palestinians with displacement.

There was no immediate comment from Blair’s office. An ally quoted by the FT rejected claims that opposition from regional governments had forced him out of Trump’s planned “peace board”, insisting discussions were ongoing.

Another source said Blair could still return in “a different capacity”, noting he is favoured by both Washington and Tel Aviv.

Trump’s Gaza plan led to a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, with Israeli forces continuing attacks across the besieged territory. At least 377 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire took effect in October, according to Gaza authorities. More than 70,000 people have been killed since Israel launched its genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza in October 2023, according to Gaza health authorities.