Month: September 2023

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared before the U.N. Security Council in New York on Wednesday for the first time since Russia’s invasion to garner support for his country and accuse Russia of carrying out “a criminal and unprovoked aggression” that shatters the norms of war and the U.N. Charter. During a somewhat contentious meeting, Zelenskyy promoted action taken, including arming Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia. “Helping Ukraine with weapons in this exercise, by imposing sanctions and exerting comprehensive pressure on the aggressor, as well as voting for relevant resolutions, would mean helping to defend the U.N. Charter,” Zelenskyy said. …

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During Wednesday’s meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Russia’s war in Ukraine took precedence in the speeches of world leaders who have been pulled into the conflict in different capacities. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias took note of what was said and filed this report from New York. …

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Relations between Russia and Iran have reached a new level despite opposition from much of the Western world, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday during his visit to Tehran.  “We are aiming at an entire range of planned activities, despite opposition from the United States and its Western allies,” the Interfax news agency cited Shoigu as saying.  “Sanctions pressure on Russia and Iran shows its futility, while Russian-Iranian interaction is reaching a new level.”  Shoigu met Iran’s top security official, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, on Wednesday and they talked about a wide range of topics, especially the developments in the …

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Europe is in danger of becoming as reliant on China for batteries and fuel cells as it was on Russia for energy before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a European Union report obtained by the Reuters news agency. The paper will form the basis of a summit October 5 in Granada, Spain, on Europe’s economic and energy security. The paper, prepared by the Spanish presidency of the European Union, said that because of the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources like solar or wind, Europe will need ways to store energy to reach its goal of net-zero carbon dioxide …

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Ukraine lodged a complaint this week at the World Trade Organization after several eastern European states imposed import bans on Ukrainian food products, exposing divisions in the European Union as its members try to support Kyiv in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion. Hungary, Poland and Slovakia banned the import of Ukrainian grain and other food products last Friday, saying the shipments were undercutting their own farmers. Kyiv confirmed on Monday that it had filed a complaint at the WTO. “It is crucially important for us to prove that individual [EU] member states cannot ban imports of Ukrainian goods. That …

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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday the government would not force households to take energy efficiency measures as he announced new changes to some of its commitments to tackle climate change. He said that although the nation will continue to subsidize energy efficiency, it “will never force any household to do it.” “The proposal to make you change your diet and harm British farmers by taxing meat or to create new taxes to discourage flying or going on holiday — I scrapped those too,” Sunak said at the press conference. The prime minister also said there would be …

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The new flare-up of hostilities in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the separatist enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh is raising the possibility of geopolitical change in the region, as some in Armenian society say they feel betrayed by what they see as the inaction of Russian peacekeepers. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. …

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Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian authorities in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region reached a cease-fire agreement Wednesday, a day after Azerbaijan launched what it called an “anti-terrorist” operation. The agreement, brokered by Russian peacekeepers, calls for separatist forces to disarm and Armenian forces to withdraw from the area. Azerbaijani authorities and representatives from the ethnic Armenians in the region are also due to hold talks Thursday in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh about the future of the area. The U.N. Security Council is also due to hold an emergency meeting about the situation Thursday. Armenian authorities said the fighting, which had continued …

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At the U.N. General Assembly in New York, U.S. President Joe Biden sought to convince world leaders that his vision of American leadership and multilateral approach to foreign policy will help solve the world’s most pressing problems. He again denounced Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine as a violation of a core tenet of the U.N. Charter. VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report from New York. …

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