Month: August 2022

Євросоюз

Putin to Allow Inspectors to Visit Russia-Occupied Nuclear Plant 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed that independent inspectors can travel to the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the French presidency said Friday, as fears grow over fighting near the site.  According to French President Emmanuel Macron’s office, Putin had “reconsidered” his demand that the International Atomic Energy Agency travel through Russia to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear site.  The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s chief, Rafael Grossi, “welcomed recent statements indicating that both Ukraine and Russia supported the IAEA’s aim to send a mission” to the plant.  Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Moscow’s forces occupying Zaporizhzhia not to disconnect the facility from the …

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Євросоюз

Swiss Prosecutors Asked to Probe Attack on Journalist in Ukraine 

A rights group has asked Switzerland to investigate an alleged attack on a Swiss photojournalist by Russian troops in Ukraine earlier this year, prosecutors confirmed Friday. Ukrainian NGO Truth Hounds has asked Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to probe an attack on Swiss freelance journalist Guillaume Briquet in southern Ukraine in March as a possible war crime, according to the Swiss-based Civitas Maxima group that helped it file the complaint. The OAG confirmed to AFP that it had received the complaint, which it said would “now be examined according to usual procedure.” “This is the first criminal complaint …

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Євросоюз

Nord Stream 1 Pipeline to Shut Briefly in Latest Fuel Blow to Europe

Russia will halt natural gas supplies to Europe for three days at the end of the month via its main pipeline into the region, state energy giant Gazprom said Friday, piling pressure on the region as it seeks to refuel ahead of winter.  The unscheduled maintenance order on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, deepens an energy standoff between Moscow and Brussels, which has already helped send inflation surging in the region and raised the risk of rationing and recession.  Gazprom said the three-day shutdown was necessary because the pipeline’s only remaining gas …

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Євросоюз

VOA Interview: US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm

Almost a year ago, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm led a U.S. delegation to Kyiv to attend a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the independence of Ukraine. Almost six months since Russia invaded Ukraine, VOA Ukrainian Service’s Iuliia Iarmolenko sat down with Granholm to discuss how the Russian war in Ukraine has affected European energy security, what the U.S. can do to help stabilize the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and what the future holds for U.S.-Ukraine cooperation in the energy sector. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. VOA: Secretary Granholm, thank you so …

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