Category: Євросоюз

The United States and its allies are planning to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and train Ukrainian pilots to fly them, the White House said Friday, a turnaround from President Joe Biden’s monthslong refusal of requests from his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for the aircraft. In a statement provided to VOA, a senior administration official said on Friday Biden informed G-7 leaders that the United States will support a joint effort with allies and partners to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation fighter aircraft, including F-16s, to further strengthen and improve the capabilities of the Ukrainian air force. The training, …

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Hiroshima, Japan, Saturday afternoon to participate in the Group of Seven leaders’ summit, the farthest he has been outside of his war-torn country since Russia’s invasion began in February last year. “Japan. G7. Important meetings with partners and friends of Ukraine. Security and enhanced cooperation for our victory. Peace will become closer today,” he wrote on Twitter upon his arrival. Zelenskyy is scheduled to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the G7 summit with world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, summit host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra …

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New developments: U.S. President Joe Biden has endorsed plans to train Ukrainian pilots on U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, The Associated Press reports. Russia has added International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan to its wanted list. Khan prepared an arrest warrant last March for President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges, Russian media reported on Friday. The Pentagon has overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by at least $3 billion, said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh. The accounting error will allow the Defense Department to send more weapons without asking Congress for additional money. Russia is …

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Tens of thousands of people rallied in Serbia’s capital Friday for the third time in a month to protest the government’s handling of a crisis after two mass shootings in the Balkan country. Officials ignored their demands and claimed protesters were being manipulated by foreign secret services.  In a show of defiance, the nationalist right-wing party of autocratic Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic organized a counterprotest in a town north of Belgrade attended by thousands of his supporters.  The opposition protesters in Belgrade chanted slogans calling on Vucic to “go” and “resign.” They have also demanded the resignations of two government …

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Some 700 people were evacuated from four small towns in western Spain owing to a wildfire fanned by strong winds that have charred some 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres), officials said Friday.  More than 400 firefighters, including 50 agents from the army’s Military Emergency Unit, are battling to bring the fire under control in Las Hurdes, a hilly area west of Madrid.  Officials suspect the fire, which began Wednesday night, was started intentionally as they say two separate blazes erupted almost simultaneously.  The president of the surrounding region of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández Vara, said the person responsible “knew very well what …

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Amid Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s efforts to normalize relations with Damascus and his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s vow to return Syrian refugees to their war-torn country, Syrians in Turkey are watching Turkey’s presidential election runoff closely. In the first round of the presidential election, Erdogan got 49.52% of the votes, while Kilicdaroglu received 44.88%. Because neither candidate passed the 50% threshold, they will meet in the runoff May 28. Ali Al Mohammad, 33, who left Damascus in 2014 and has held Turkish citizenship since 2018, said he was not happy with the election results, but he was relieved, as he …

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Russian-built helicopters arrived in Zimbabwe on May 18 in what authorities say is part of an effort by Russia to strengthen relations between the two countries. Analysts say Russia is rewarding Zimbabwe for not joining with nations seeking to isolate Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. Keith Baptist attended the event in Harare and Salem Solomon has this story. …

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As Greece gears up for uncertain parliamentary elections Sunday, the country’s media landscape is as polarized as ever and press freedom remains in crisis, experts say.  Against a backdrop of political tension and hemorrhaging media freedom, Greeks will vote May 21 to fill all of parliament’s 300 seats for the next four years. The election — which analysts say is unlikely to bring about an outright winning party in the first round — is among the country’s most unpredictable in years.  This election will also take place against a backdrop of general frustration with the Greek government — in particular, …

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Campaigning ahead of Greece’s national elections Sunday ends Friday, leaving at least 17% of voters undecided. Gallup polls predict a tight race, with Greece’s largely disaffected youth holding the key to the outcome. VOA looks back on the monthlong campaign and the unprecedented scramble by political leaders for those votes. At the age of 17 and a junior in high school, Evelina Androulaki says, she is ready to cast her vote for the first time. We have had heated talks at home, and I have decided on the party I will vote for Androulaki says. While she refuses to divulge …

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he landed Friday in Saudi Arabia, host of an Arab League summit attended by long isolated Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a close Russian ally. The previously unannounced visit is Zelenskyy’s first to the Middle East since Moscow’s invasion in February 2022, giving the Ukrainian leader an opportunity to address leaders in the region that has been far less united in its support of Kyiv than staunch Western allies. “Arrived in Saudi Arabia. I will speak at the Arab League summit,” Zelenskyy said on Twitter, adding he plans to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin …

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Members of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies at this year’s summit will place more sanctions on Russia and crack down on those helping it to evade them — a move aimed at hampering Moscow’s ability to fund its war in Ukraine. VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara is traveling with President Joe Biden and reports from Hiroshima, Japan, where the summit begins Friday. …

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More than half of the world’s large lakes and reservoirs have shrunk since the early 1990s, chiefly because of climate change, intensifying concerns about water for agriculture, hydropower and human consumption, a study published Thursday found. An international team of researchers reported that some of the world’s most important water sources — from the Caspian Sea between Europe and Asia to South America’s Lake Titicaca — lost water at a cumulative rate of about 22 gigatonnes per year for nearly three decades. That’s about 17 times the volume of Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States. Fangfang Yao, …

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New developments: Air raid alerts were declared throughout Ukraine early Friday, with some areas reporting explosions. The U.S. overcounted the total of U.S. military aid provided to Ukraine by about $3 billion, a senior defense official and a military official said. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba discussed “ways to stop Russian aggression” in talks with Chinese envoy Li Hui, Ukraine said. Air raid alerts were declared across Ukraine early on Friday, local time, with some areas reporting explosions. Ukraine’s military said on Telegram that Russian aircraft were in the air and there was a threat of strikes from hypersonic Kinzhal …

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Chinese special envoy Li Hui arrived in Kyiv this week to discuss efforts by his country to mediate between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian analysts say Kyiv has no illusions about China’s ability to deliver a peace agreement, but say it is important for Ukraine to maintain a dialogue with China. Anna Chernikova reports from Kyiv. VOA footage by Eugene Shynkar. …

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Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that the German lender should have seen evidence of sex trafficking by Jeffrey Epstein when he was a client, according to lawyers for women who say they were abused by the late financier. A woman only identified as Jane Doe sued the bank in federal district court in New York and sought class-action status to represent other victims of Epstein. The lawsuit asserted that the bank knowingly benefited from Epstein’s sex trafficking and “chose profit over following the law” to earn millions of dollars from the businessman. …

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New developments: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba discussed “ways to stop Russian aggression” in talks with Chinese envoy Li Hui, Ukraine says. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian shelling killed a 5-year-old boy in Kherson. Group of Seven leaders convening in Hiroshima, Japan, later this week are set to engage with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the White House said. “We are anticipating some kind of engagement between G-7 leaders and President Zelenskyy,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Anchorage, Alaska, en route to Japan. “The parameters of that are still being …

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Russia’s media crackdown that followed its invasion of Ukraine has made it more difficult for people outside the country to know what Russians think about the war. Reporter Genia Dulot met some Russian tourists in Egypt who described how their lives have changed. …

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A top Republican lawmaker said Wednesday the funding priorities for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) do not go far enough in addressing the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Biden administration has requested $32 billion in foreign assistance for USAID — $3 billion more than the amount appropriated by Congress in 2023. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul said in a hearing with USAID administrator Samantha Power that it is not clear how the agency plans to spend the requested $400 million in the fund for countering Chinese influence. “Our foreign aid must serve as …

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Iran’s oil minister Javad Owji said that the oil market is on the right track after decisions made by OPEC+, the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim reported on Wednesday. “Iran and Russia have the same views inside OPEC+,” Owji added on the sidelines of an Iranian-Russian conference of economic cooperation held in Tehran. OPEC and its allies led by Russia, known as OPEC+, agreed to cut production in late 2022 to support the market as the economic outlook worsened, hitting prices. Then in a surprise move in early April, Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ members announced further oil output cuts …

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The U.N. special rapporteur for Myanmar said Wednesday that Myanmar’s military has imported at least a $1 billion worth of weapons and weapons materials since overthrowing the democratically elected government in February 2021, with Russia as the junta’s top supplier. “Russia and China continue to be the main suppliers of advanced weapons systems to the Myanmar military, accounting for over $400 million and $260 million respectively since the coup, with much of the trade originating from state-owned entities,” Tom Andrews said. He told reporters at a news conference at U.N. headquarters that weaponry provided by Russian suppliers has been used …

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