Month: June 2024

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Cut off from the West, Russia is pitching its $2 trillion economy to giants like China and Saudi Arabia and longer-term prospects like Zimbabwe and Afghanistan at its premier investment forum in St. Petersburg, which was founded by the czars as a window to Europe. The war in Ukraine has led to the biggest upheaval in Russia’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and Western sanctions have forced a once-in-a-century revolution in Russia’s economic relations. Since Peter the Great laid the foundations of the modern Russian state and made St. Petersburg the capital …

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PARIS — U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday for the first time publicly apologized to Ukraine for a monthslong congressional holdup in American military assistance that let Russia make gains on the battlefield, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for bipartisan U.S. support “like it was during World War II.” Speaking in Paris, a day after they both attended ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, Biden apologized to the Ukrainian people for the weeks of not knowing if more assistance would come while conservative Republicans in Congress held up a $61 billion military aid package for …

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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian air force shot down all five missiles and 48 out of 53 drones over nine regions during Russia’s overnight attack, Ukrainian military said on Friday. The Russian forces attacked Kyiv region with drones and Kh-101/Kh-555 missiles, causing a fire at one of the industrial facilities, according to the governor. Emergency services worked to put out the fire on Friday morning with no casualties reported. Kharkiv region governor Oleh Syniehubov said the drone attack knocked out windows in at least three residential buildings, damaging a store and a post office, among other local infrastructure. Three drones were destroyed …

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UNITED NATIONS — Three European powers have written to the U.N. Security Council detailing Iran’s violations of its 2015 nuclear deal, a step diplomats said Thursday aimed to pressure Tehran to resolve the issue diplomatically and to avoid reimposing U.N. sanctions.  The British, French and German letter did not explicitly threaten to “snap back” U.N. sanctions, but it noted that Security Council Resolution 2231, which enshrined the nuclear deal and provided that power, expires on October 18, 2025.  In its own letter, Iran rejected the European stance, noting that then-U.S. President Donald Trump reneged on the nuclear deal in 2018 and …

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While marking the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, during World War II, U.S. President Joe Biden says global challenges are still present and urged unity in resisting Russian aggression today. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Omaha Beach, Normandy. …

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