President Yoweri Museveni’s government has frequently defended military trials, citing national security concerns.

Uganda’s parliament has passed a controversial bill authorising military tribunals for civilians, drawing condemnation from opposition figures and rights groups, who accuse the government of trying to silence opponents, which it denies.

The practice has long been used in Uganda, but was struck down by the country’s top court in January. The Supreme Court had ruled that the military tribunals lacked legal competence to try civilians and failed to meet fair trial standards.

Despite that ruling, lawmakers moved ahead Tuesday with the legislation, which permits civilians to be tried in military courts.

“Today, you proved you are fearless patriots! Uganda will remember your courage and commitment,” said General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, head of the military and son of President Yoweri Museveni, in a post on X.

Earlier this month, Kainerugaba said that he was holding a missing opposition activist in his basement and threatened violence against him, after the man’s party said he was abducted.

Museveni’s government has frequently defended military trials as necessary for national security amid concerns about armed opposition and alleged threats to state stability.

Military spokesperson Chris Magezi said the legislation would “deal decisively with armed violent criminals, deter the formation of militant political groups that seek to subvert democratic processes, and ensure national security is bound on a firm foundational base”.

But critics say the move is part of a broader pattern of repression. “There’s no legal basis to provide for the trial of civilians in the military court,” opposition MP Jonathan Odur told parliament during debate on the bill. He described the legislation as “shallow, unreasonable and unconstitutional”.

Uganda has for years used military courts to prosecute opposition politicians and government critics.

In 2018, pop star-turned-opposition-leader Bobi Wine was charged in a military court with illegal possession of firearms. The charges were later dropped.

Kizza Besigye, a veteran opposition figure who has challenged Museveni in multiple elections, was arrested in Kenya last year and returned to Uganda to face a military tribunal.

Following the Supreme Court’s January ruling, his trial was moved to a civilian court. His party, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF), has denounced the charges as politically motivated.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has previously criticised Uganda’s military courts for failing to meet international standards of judicial independence and fairness.

Oryem Nyeko, senior Africa researcher at HRW, said earlier this year: “The Ugandan authorities have for years misused military courts to crack down on opponents and critics”.

On the campaign trail last year, Donald Trump promised to end the Russia-Ukraine war. But in the five months since taking office, the United States president has struggled to get the two sides to agree to a ceasefire.

On Monday, Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for two hours – their third officially announced call since January – but failed to secure a truce. Instead, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to “immediate ceasefire” talks.

Trump also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his “excellent conversation” with Putin. He made another call to leaders from the European Union, France, Italy, Germany and Finland as well as Zelenskyy.

While Ukraine and its Western allies want an immediate ceasefire, Russia says its concerns need to be addressed before talks, reiterating that a ceasefire can be agreed upon after addressing “the root causes of this crisis.”

Here is more about the much anticipated calls and how Ukraine and Europe have responded:

What happened?

Trump and Putin said they were on the call for about two hours on Monday.

“Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War,” Trump posted after the calls.

He said the conditions for such a ceasefire could be negotiated only between Russia and Ukraine.

After his call with Trump, Putin called the conversation “productive”.

“I expressed my gratitude to the president of the United States for the support provided by the United States in facilitating the resumption of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine aimed at potentially reaching a peace agreement and resuming the talks,” Putin told reporters in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The Trump-Putin call came days after the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine since 2022 in Turkiye. Friday’s talks in Istanbul yielded no breakthrough on a ceasefire, but the two sides agreed to a prisoner exchange.

A US delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also in Istanbul as part of the Trump administration’s push to end the more than three-year war – Europe’s worst since World War II.

Trump has been critical of his predecessor President Joe Biden’s Ukraine policy, which shipped billions of dollars of weapons and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Some of the aid has already been cut by the Trump administration.

A day before the calls, Ukraine accused Russia of launching its largest drone attack of the war, killing at least one woman. Moscow has yet to respond to these allegations.

What did Russia agree to?

Putin said Trump on Monday presented his position on the prospects for a ceasefire. “I noted that Russia also supports a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis as well. What we need now is to identify the most effective ways towards achieving peace,” Putin said.

“We have agreed with the president of the United States that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace accord,” he said.

Putin added that this memorandum would define “the principles of settlement [and] the timing of a possible peace agreement”.

“I would like to note that, on the whole, Russia’s position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis,” Putin said. “We just need to determine the most effective ways to move towards peace.”

Russia wants Ukraine to drop its efforts to join NATO and withdraw its troops from Ukrainian regions partially occupied by Russian forces – demands Kyiv has rejected.

Despite Trump’s push for immediate talks, Moscow has not shown any rush to resolve the issue.

“There are no deadlines, and there cannot be any. It is clear that everyone wants to do this as quickly as possible, but of course, the devil is in the details,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, according to Russian news agencies.

Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova, reporting from Moscow, said “not much” was agreed to during the telephone call in terms of “concrete steps”.

“He [Putin] believes that the US – because of its influence – can resolve any problems,” she said.

The war began in February 2022 after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A month later, Russia and Ukraine held talks in Turkiye, but they ended without any breakthrough.

Putin on Monday said Ukraine had “thwarted” those talks, but  Zelenskyy said the 2022 negotiations fell apart because Russia demanded Ukraine surrender its long-range weaponry, make constitutional amendments to declare neutrality and concede Ukrainian territory that Russia captured during its invasion.

What else did Trump say?

“I believe it went very well,” the US president said after the call with Putin.

Trump has been trying to get through to his Russian counterpart since he returned to office in January. Monday marked the third lengthy call between the two presidents, and Trump has sent his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Putin in Moscow several times.

As for Trump’s relationship with Zelenskyy, it has often been testy. Trump has accused the Ukrainian president of not wanting to end the war. In February, he publicly berated Zelenskyy at the White House for being “disrespectful” and “gambling with World War III”.

Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, US representatives met separately with Russian and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia as part of efforts to bring peace to Ukraine.

In a break with past administrations, Trump has sought to revive ties with Russia. In February, delegations from the US and Russia met in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh to improve their relations and move towards peace in Ukraine.

“President Trump approaches diplomacy and engages in a very transactional manner with economics as the foundation and driving force behind international affairs,” Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, said in March.

Putin has made trade offers to Trump, saying in a state television interview in February that he is open to offering access to rare earth minerals to Trump, including from Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.

The US president also wrote about the prospect of trade with Russia and Ukraine after the ceasefire.

“Russia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ is over, and I agree. There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth. Its potential is UNLIMITED. Likewise, Ukraine can be a great beneficiary on Trade, in the process of rebuilding its Country.”

“Just completed my two hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I believe it went very well…” –President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/trznsLpKjF

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 19, 2025

Marina Miron, a postdoctoral researcher at the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London, said the “Trump administration will do whatever is in the US interest”.

“If it’s in the US interest to have better relations with Russia than Ukraine, then that’s what’s going to happen,” she said, explaining that there are many things that the Americans can discuss with the Russians, including the Russian influence in the case of normalising relations with Iran.

“Ukraine doesn’t have that same leverage,” she said. The US “has gotten essentially what it wanted from Ukraine”, referring to the minerals deal signed on April 30 that gave the US preferential access to Ukraine’s mineral resources.

How did Zelenskyy react?

Zelenskyy said he spoke to Trump twice on Monday. The first was a one-on-one call with Trump, the Ukrainian leader posted on X, adding that the second time was a group call involving the European leaders.

“At the beginning of our bilateral conversation, I reaffirmed to President Trump that Ukraine is ready for a full and unconditional ceasefire, as has spoken about, particularly the United States,” Zelenskyy wrote. “It is important not to dilute this proposal.”

If Russia is not ready for a ceasefire, Zelenskyy wrote, sanctions on Russia should be scaled up. “Pressure on Russia will push it toward real peace – this is obvious to everyone around the world.”

“Russia must end the war it started, and it can begin doing so any day. Ukraine has always been ready for peace.”

On Tuesday, the European Union and United Kingdom announced sanctions against Russia after the Trump-Putin call ended without a breakthrough.

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv late on Monday, Zelenskyy said he is ready to sign a memorandum with Russia that contains provisions for a ceasefire.

“There could be a respective memorandum in the bilateral format, which may then lead to a roadmap toward ending the war, that is, toward a full agreement. This memorandum, supported by both countries, would include provisions for a ceasefire,” Zelenskyy said.

I spoke with @POTUS twice today. First, we had a one-on-one call before his conversation with the head of Russia, and later we spoke together with President Trump and European leaders President @EmmanuelMacron, Prime Minister @GiorgiaMeloni, Federal Chancellor @bundeskanzler,… pic.twitter.com/mm6a0Pro84

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 19, 2025

Where does the EU stand?

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were on the second call between Trump and Zelenskyy.

“Together with European leaders, we also discussed possible next steps – in particular, meetings between negotiators and an objective assessment of each side’s proposals. Every proposal at the table deserves an honest evaluation, that’s why the negotiation process must involve both American and European representatives at the appropriate level,” Zelenskyy wrote in his X post.

Ukraine has sought US involvement in the talks. Washington has been its largest weapons supplier since the Russian invasion and has also provided Kyiv diplomatic support at the United Nations.

But the Trump administration does not want to provide security guarantees to Ukraine and instead wants European nations to step up their defence contributions.

On Monday, Merz wrote on X: “We will closely support Ukraine on its path toward a ceasefire.”

Meloni also expressed her support for “an immediate start of negotiations between the parties that can lead to a ceasefire as soon as possible”.

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV has expressed readiness to host direct talks between Russia and Ukraine. “The Holy Father’s willingness to host the talks at the Vatican was considered positive. Italy is ready to do its part to facilitate contacts and work for peace,” Meloni wrote.

What’s next?

Besides the Vatican, Zelenskyy wrote that Turkiye and Switzerland are also being considered as venues for direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

“Contacts among participants of the Istanbul meeting and talks have resumed, which gives reason to believe that we are on the right track overall,” Putin said on Monday.

Trump told reporters later that day that he expected there to be progress in the talks, but if there were no progress, he was “just going to back away.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump has “grown weary and frustrated with both sides of the conflict”. However, she did not specify whether Trump had given Russia and Ukraine a deadline for the next steps.

Zelenskyy has called for continued US engagement to resolve the conflict, adding that it is crucial the US “does not distance itself” from the talks.

But Miron from King’s College, said she “expects the American side to take a more passive stance towards this [Ukraine-Russia war] as the Europeans are trying to get involved or trying to support Ukraine”.

“Unless the US interests are at stake, I don’t think that he’s [Trump’s] going to come back. He will, or his administration will, probably only intervene if it sees a benefit for the Americans. … They have other things to resolve.”

Venezuela’s aviation authority said flights will resume a day after Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

Venezuela has suspended flights from neighbouring Colombia after authorities detained more than 30 people allegedly plotting activities to destabilise the country before Sunday’s parliamentary election.

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced on state television on Monday that the flight ban was “immediate” and would last for a week.

The arrests were announced just as an independent panel of experts released a report documenting serious human rights abuses committed in Venezuela in the aftermath of the July 28, 2024 presidential election.

Cabello said the antigovernment plans involved placing explosives at embassies, hospitals and police stations in Venezuela. He said authorities had detained 21 Venezuelans and 17 foreigners, some of whom hold Colombian, Mexican and Ukrainian citizenship. Cabello said those detained arrived from Colombia, some by plane, others over land, but had set out originally from other – unnamed – countries.

Cabello, without offering any evidence, said the group included experts in explosive devices, human smugglers and mercenaries, and was working with members of Venezuela’s political opposition.

“The scenario they want to present is that there are no conditions in Venezuela for holding an election,” Cabello said, referring to the opposition.

Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement it had not received any information from Venezuela’s government regarding the detention of Colombian citizens.

Colombia’s civil aviation authority confirmed that commercial flights between the countries had been suspended, while Venezuela’s aviation authority said the measure will last until Monday, May 26 at 6pm local time.

‘Political repression’

The government of President Nicolas Maduro, whose re-election in July 2024 to a third term was rejected by much of the international community as fraudulent, frequently claims to be the target of US and Colombian-backed coup plots.

In an interview over Zoom with the AFP news agency last week, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who went into hiding after last year’s presidential election, pledged a voter boycott on Sunday that would leave “all the [voting] centres empty”.

The opposition says its tally of results from the July vote showed a clear victory for its candidate, former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who went into exile in Spain after a crackdown on dissent.

The independent panel of experts backed by the Organization of American States on Monday wrote in their report that Venezuela’s post-election period has seen “the most severe and sophisticated phase of political repression in Venezuela’s modern history”. This included the execution of unarmed protesters, enforced disappearances and an increase in arbitrary detentions. They also noted that the state had expanded its repression targets beyond political opponents and human rights defenders to include poll workers, election witnesses, relatives of opposition members, minors and others.

The diplomatic outcry that followed last year’s election saw Venezuela break off ties and flight routes with several countries. Some airlines have also cancelled operations to and from the country due to unpaid debts.

Venezuela and Colombia reopened flight routes in November 2022, after the election of Colombia’s first-ever leftist President Gustavo Petro, who reinstated bilateral ties broken off in 2019 when then-leader Ivan Duque refused to acknowledge Maduro’s re-election to a second term.