New Zealand to sack senior diplomat after Trump jibe / Photo: © POOL/AFP/File
-
Rene Eyre Revisits Autobiographical Performance 'Say A Little Prayer' in London
-
London Museum Granted 24/7 License Ahead of November Opening
-
UAE's HCT Holds Record Graduation and Announces Major Training Expansion
-
Dana White Confirms Flight to Washington for Trump Meeting on Press Secretary Role
-
NASA Awards $10B Lunar Contract Framework to SpaceX, Blue Origin
-
Dengue Fever Expands Into High Himalayas as Climate Change Warms Nepal
-
Katy Perry Tells Fans Ex-Husband Russell Brand 'Should Be in Jail' During UK Concert
-
IoT Refrigerator Hacks Disrupt Blood Labs and Supermarkets Across Europe and US
-
South African election results renew debate over identity-based voting
-
Post-election pressures complicate US and Israeli decisions on Iran
-
South African voters report smoother local election but declining IEC trust
-
UN members approve talks on treaty protocol against environmental crime
-
Dolly Parton museum and Nashville hotel open after singer’s death
-
Family-run West Sussex beach café prepares for first winter season
-
George and Amal Clooney attend New York political-comedy reading
-
CT scans reveal health and burial clues from Egypt’s Braided Lady mummy
-
British buyers pay substantial premiums for period-home appearance
-
Oxford faces complaints over lecturer’s classroom attire
-
Thomas Markle released to house arrest after child-abuse-image charge
-
Kyren Wilson and John Higgins reach International Championship snooker final
New Zealand to sack senior diplomat after Trump jibe
New Zealand will sack its top diplomat in London after he made a "deeply disappointing" remark questioning Donald Trump's grasp of history, the foreign minister said Thursday.
High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Phil Goff questioned whether the US president "really understands history" during a panel discussion about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The comments were "deeply disappointing", said a spokesman for New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
"They do not represent the views of the NZ government and make his position as High Commissioner to London untenable."
Goff compared recent Ukraine peace efforts with the 1938 Munich Agreement -- a pact between European powers that allowed Nazi Germany to annex parts of Czechoslovakia.
Some fear Trump could push Ukraine to accept a peace deal in which Russia holds on to large swaths of captured territory.
"I was re-reading Churchill's speech to the House of Commons in 1938 after the Munich agreement," Goff said at London's Chatham House this week, referencing the famed war-time leader.
"He turned to (then Prime Minister Neville) Chamberlain and said: 'You had the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour yet you will have war'."
"President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office, but do you think he really understands history," Goff said.
The United States has "paused" intelligence sharing with Ukraine after a dramatic breakdown in relations between Kyiv and the White House.
Trump and Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky had a public falling out in the Oval Office last week, followed by the United States suspending crucial military aid to Ukraine.
C.Koch--VB