Category: Євросоюз

Finland announced Thursday a $169 million aid package for Ukraine that includes three Leopard 2 tanks. Finland’s defense ministry said in a statement that the tanks are equipped for de-mining, and that the aid package includes training for their use and maintenance. The announcement comes a day after Spain said it would send six of its own Leopard 2A4 tanks. The German-made tanks are part of a wave of tanks being sent to Ukraine after Ukrainian officials requested them in order to better match up with Russian forces. Germany initially resisted authorizing the transfers amid concerns about escalating the conflict …

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Residents along the Turkey-Syria border were just beginning to return home to inspect the damage from the massive Feb. 6 earthquake when another tremor struck this week, said Myanmar psychology student Aung Naing Shwe, who is in the region serving as a humanitarian aid volunteer. “It went on for what felt like 10 minutes,” Aung said in a Zoom interview with VOA from Hatay, the city hit hardest by the earlier quake. “We looked on in shock as we saw debris caused by collapsed structures, women crying and people fleeing their homes into the middle of the road,” he said. …

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Vitaly Antyshchuk was a Ukrainian soldier who died in a Russian missile strike in the Zaporizhzhia region in May. He left behind his wife, Yulia, and their 6-year-old daughter, Alyssa. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb met up with them in Warsaw, Poland, where they fled to escape the war. …

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A U.S.-based search-and-rescue team is back home, having deployed to Turkey after the country suffered devastating earthquakes earlier this month. Begum Donmez Ersoz reports on the specialized team from Fairfax County, Virginia, and the lifesaving duties it performed. Camera: Tezcan Taskiran. …

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Around the world, prominent women are leaving their jobs to pursue other interests and focus on other priorities. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has the story. …

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NATO’s chief said Wednesday that the military alliance has seen “some signs” that China may be planning to support Russia in its war in Ukraine, and he strongly urged Beijing to desist from what would be a violation of international law. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also told The Associated Press in an interview that the alliance, while not a party to the war, will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes.” Asked whether NATO has any indication that China might be ready to provide arms or other support to Russia’s war, Stoltenberg said: “We have seen some signs that …

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Early in Russia’s full-scale assault on Ukraine, its forces came near the capital, Kyiv, and committed some of the conflict’s worst massacres in the communities of Irpin and Bucha. Anna Chernikova recently returned to the scene and has this report. Camera: Eugene Shynkar. Please note this report contains images some may find disturbing. …

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Russian narratives calling the invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation” are being heard in some countries, thanks to a Russian disinformation campaign targeting specific areas of the world. VOA’s Virginia Gunawan reports. Ukrainian Service contributed to this report. Camera: Laurentius Wahyudi, Naras Prameswari, AP, AFP, Zoom (with license) …

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Russia and China forged closer ties Wednesday, with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying relations between the two countries had reached “new frontiers,” even as the U.S. has expressed concern that Beijing could supply weapons to Moscow to help its war effort against Ukraine.  China has refused to criticize Russia’s year-long invasion of Ukraine but has denied providing military support to Moscow’s forces. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Beijing’s representatives had already addressed the issue and “have, in fact, strongly denied it. There is nothing to add here.”  But Putin welcomed China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, to the Kremlin, telling him …

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Pope Francis Wednesday noted what he called the “sad anniversary” of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  Speaking during his weekly general audience, the pope called the conflict an “absurd and cruel war.”  “Let us remain close to the martyred Ukrainian people and ask ourselves: has everything possible been done to stop the war?” the pope said.  “I appeal to those in authority over nations to make concrete efforts to end the conflict, to reach a cease-fire and to start peace negotiations.”  Pope Francis has repeatedly called for peace since Russia sent its troops into Ukraine on February 24 last year.  …

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U.S. President Joe Biden meets Wednesday with leaders from NATO’s eastern flank to show support for their security.  The so-called Bucharest Nine includes Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, and most are among the strongest supporters of military aid to Ukraine.  Biden Tuesday used a speech in Poland’s capital, Warsaw, to defend NATO’s year-long effort to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion and vowed it would not stop.        “One year ago, the world was bracing for the fall of Kyiv,” Biden told the over ten thousand Poles gathered outdoors at Poland’s Royal Castle complex. …

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In December, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy summoned his ambassadors from around the world to discuss his foreign policy priorities for the new year. Meeting in Kyiv, Zelenskyy gave the assembled diplomats “tasks and assignments” for the coming year, recalled Ukraine Ambassador-at-Large Anton Korynevych. One of his main priorities for Ukrainian diplomacy, Zelenskyy told the group, was the creation of “an ad hoc special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine,” according to Korynevych, who is Ukraine’s point person on the issue. This was not the first time Zelenskyy was demanding accountability for Russia’s aggressive war, without which, Ukrainian officials …

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As Turkey continues to mourn the tragic loss of human life caused by two powerful back-to-back earthquakes two weeks ago, there are emerging assessments of the cost of rebuilding, plus the broader financial toll it has taken on the vulnerable economy. The Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation estimated the cost of reconstruction at more than $80 billion in its preliminary report issued four days after the quakes. U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley put the housing costs alone at around $38 billion, while JPMorgan said the estimated cost of rebuilding houses and infrastructure would be around $25 billion. Those tallies do …

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South Africa is under fire for hosting joint naval exercises with Russia during the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, with critics saying it will be a propaganda victory for Moscow. But what does the third participant in the drills, China, have to gain from the tripartite exercises taking place this week? Some analysts told VOA that, in China’s case, Exercise Mosi II, off South Africa’s east coast, is less about a real exchange of military prowess and more about important political and diplomatic optics. “China has a lot to gain from these exercises,” said Paul Nantulya, from the …

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Myroslava Gongadze reports from Warsaw on Biden’s visit to reaffirm America’s commitment to Ukraine and bolstering NATO’s eastern flank. …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he is suspending Moscow’s participation in the New START treaty, the last remaining U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control pact.    The treaty signed in 2010 limits each country to a maximum of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads. It is due to expire in 2026.  Speaking during a state-of-the-nation address to the Russian Duma, or parliament, Putin said he is not completely withdrawing from the treaty at this time.  He also said Russia should be ready to resume nuclear weapons testing if the United States does so.  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Russia’s announcement “deeply unfortunate …

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Fresh off his dramatic visit to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, U.S. President Joe Biden was in Poland Tuesday to deliver a highly anticipated speech from Warsaw’s historic Royal Castle, marking the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion by highlighting how the United States has unified NATO and the West in support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s effort to defend his country. Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Advisor, said the speech would build on Biden’s remarks in the same location in March last year and would answer fundamental questions about NATO and U.S. support for Ukraine. “One year later he believes …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin could meet with the Chinese Communist Party’s top diplomat in Moscow, the Kremlin said Monday.  Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “we don’t rule out” Putin’s meeting with Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party’s most senior foreign policy official, who is visiting the Russian capital.  Peskov hailed Russia-China ties as “multidimensional and allied in nature.”  Wang’s visit to Moscow comes as President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Monday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and show U.S. support for Kyiv on the eve of the Russian military operation’s one-year anniversary.  Wang’s …

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Another earthquake struck the border region of Turkey and Syria on Monday, killing at least three people and coming two weeks after the area was devastated by a massive quake that left nearly 45,000 people dead. Monday’s earthquake had a magnitude of 6.4 and centered in the town of Defne, in Turkey’s Hatay province, an area that was severely damaged by the February 6 quake. The new quake was felt in multiple countries, including Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, and was followed by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said three people were killed and more than …

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The U.N. General Assembly will vote this week on a resolution underscoring the urgency to find a lasting peace in Ukraine, one year after Moscow invaded its neighbor. The text, drafted by Ukraine in consultation with allies and discussed with interested countries, will be put to a vote at the end of a special emergency session of the assembly that will start Wednesday afternoon and run into Thursday. It underscores the urgency to find “a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in line with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations” and calls on United Nations members and international …

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