Category: Євросоюз

Fighting raged in two key eastern Ukrainian cities on the 100th day of Russia’s war, with both Moscow and Kyiv claiming progress on the battlefront.  Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Russian troops had succeeded in their main stated task of “protecting civilians” in the separatist-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine.  He added that Russian forces had “liberated” parts of Ukraine and that “this work will continue until all the goals of the special military operation are achieved.” Russian forces have been trying to encircle the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk province.  The Ukrainian head of …

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For some Afghans who were evacuated as their country fell to the Taliban last summer, the journey to the United States has stalled, and perhaps ended, at a sun-baked cluster of tents and temporary housing on an American base in the Balkans.  While more than 78,000 Afghans have arrived in the U.S. for resettlement since August, the future for those who have been flagged for additional security vetting and diverted to Camp Bondsteel, in the small nation of Kosovo, remains up in the air. The U.S. won’t force the dozens there to return to Afghanistan, where they could face reprisals.  …

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The Russians occupied the Ukranian village of Yahidne in the early days of the invasion. When they were driven out in late March, the residents who endured the occupation began telling their story. Anna Kosstutschenko reports from the Chernihiv region of Ukraine. Camera: Oleksiy Yakushev …

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The top African Union official met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to discuss the war in Ukraine and its effects on Africa. A cutoff in grain exports has heightened food insecurity in many African countries, leaving millions of Africans hungry. Senegalese President Macky Sall met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian city of Sochi Friday to discuss the war in Ukraine and the effect it’s having on Africa’s 1.3 billion people. Before the war, the continent annually imported about 30 million tons of wheat and maize from Russia and Ukraine. The war has greatly reduced the exports …

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Horse-loving Queen Elizabeth was thanked for being “in the saddle” for 70 years as head of state at a service on Friday to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee, an event she missed due to her “mobility issues.” Other senior members of the royal family joined a congregation of politicians, charity figures and groups the queen has supported for the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in London to pay tribute to the sovereign’s record-breaking reign. Four days of celebrations began on Thursday when a beaming Elizabeth waved to crowds from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after a military parade …

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For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT. 3:08 a.m.: The latest intelligence update from the U.K. defense ministry says that after failure to seize Kyiv and Ukrainian centers of government at the beginning of the invasion, Russia is now seeing some success in the Donbas. “Russian forces have generated and maintained momentum and currently appear to hold the initiative over Ukrainian opposition,” the update notes. However, the update says, this success had a “significant resource cost” and has not been replicated in other areas …

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More than three months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Justice Department is girding for more Russian cyberattacks, the department’s top national security official said Thursday. “At DOJ, we’re particularly focused right now on the cyberthreat from Russia,” said Matthew Olsen, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “And we are bracing for the possibility of more attacks.” Olsen made the remarks at a conference of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence. The Tallinn, Estonia-based organization this week approved Ukraine’s bid to join as a “contributing participant.” Olsen’s comments echoed repeated warnings by the Biden administration …

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Britain celebrates the second day of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee on Friday, with the highlight a service of thanksgiving attended by senior royals and politicians that the 96-year-old monarch herself will miss due to ongoing mobility issues. The four days of events kicked off Thursday, when a happy-looking Elizabeth waved to crowds from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after a military parade and Royal Air Force flyover, and later led the lighting of the Principal Platinum Jubilee Beacon at her Windsor Castle home. The celebrations continue with a National Service of Thanksgiving at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral to pay tribute …

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The U.S. government said Thursday that it was trying to shut down sanction evasion measures used by Russia’s elites, including President Vladimir Putin, “to attempt to hide and move money and anonymously make use of luxury assets around the globe.” The targets include a yacht brokerage, aircraft, Russian officials and others close to Putin. Targeted yachts include the Russia-flagged Graceful and the Cayman Islands-flagged Olympia, as well as two other yachts, the Shellest and the Nega, both owned by Russian companies. The White House said the new sanctions were imposed “to crack down on evasion and tighten our sanctions to …

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Hidden from much of the world behind a veil of Kremlin censorship, critics of President Vladimir Putin are waging a vigorous campaign of resistance to the war in Ukraine, according to a prominent opposition spokesman. “The war in Ukraine is being fought on three different fronts,” said Leonid Volkov, a top aide to jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who was in Washington last week to pick up the International Republican Institute’s 2022 Freedom Award on Navalny’s behalf. Identifying those three fronts as military, informational and economic, he acknowledged that Russian civil society can’t do much to help Ukraine on the …

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The Greek government and shipping industry on Thursday called for a global mobilization to free the crews of two oil tankers held by Iran in an ongoing dispute with Athens. “We call on all nations to act in order to end this unacceptable incident, and to ensure it does not happen again,” Merchant Marine Minister Ioannis Plakiotakis told reporters. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Friday seized the two Greek-flagged tankers in the Gulf, days after Athens said it would deliver to Washington Iranian oil it had seized from a Russian tanker in April. Plakiotakis said last week’s incident posed a “threat” …

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Matthew Parker is a U.S. army veteran who served in Iraq alongside a Ukrainian American soldier. When Parker heard Russia invaded Ukraine, he decided he wanted to help Ukrainians defend their homeland. He is among thousands of Americans that Ukraine says have joined its new international legion to help protect the country. VOA’s Myroslava Gongadze caught up with Parker when he arrived in Warsaw, Poland. Camera – Bogdan Osyka. …

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Four days of celebrations honoring Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne get underway with a display of British military traditions stretching from the days of horse and cannon to the jet age, The Associated Press reports. …

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Four days of celebrations honoring Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne got underway Thursday with a display of British military traditions stretching from the days of horse and cannon to the jet age. Formal celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee began with Trooping the Color, an annual military review that has marked the sovereign’s official birthday since 1760. The queen is expected to join the working members of her family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at the end of the event, when 70 aircraft are set to roar overhead. The jubilee is being commemorated with a four-day holiday …

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For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT. 3:45 a.m.: Reuters reported that Russia’s National Settlement Depository will service the country’s Eurobonds after Citibank stopped acting as a fiscal, transfer and payment agent, the finance ministry said on Thursday. The finance ministry also said that a delay in payments on its Russia-2022 Eurobond that were due on April 4 was caused by “unlawful actions” of foreign financial intermediaries. 3:00 a.m.: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC+, said it is working on …

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President Joe Biden has announced that the United States will send advanced rocket systems to Ukraine to help Kyiv resist Russian forces in the eastern part of the country. As VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports, Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Ukraine has assured the U.S. it will not use the systems to hit targets on Russian territory. …

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Queen Elizabeth II will make two appearances on the Buckingham Palace balcony on Thursday, kicking off four days of public events to mark her historic Platinum Jubilee. The extent of the 96-year-old monarch’s involvement in the celebrations for her record-breaking 70 years on the throne has been a source of speculation for months. She has cut back drastically on her public appearances since last year because of difficulties standing and walking — and a bout of COVID-19. But royal officials confirmed that she would take the salute of mounted troops from the balcony after a military parade called Trooping the …

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Russia relentlessly shelled Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, with the Luhansk regional governor conceding that Moscow’s forces now control 70% of the city and that evacuation of civilians had been halted. Some Ukrainian troops were still fighting against the Russian onslaught, Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said, but others had retreated. “There is no possibility to bring in humanitarian aid,” Haidai said in a Telegram post. But Haidai said that Lysychansk — the only other city in the Luhansk region not taken by Russia or Moscow-backed separatists — remains “fully” under Ukrainian control. The battle for Sievierodonetsk remains crucial for …

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The European Commission said Wednesday that Croatia had met all the criteria to join the eurozone, paving the way for the country to become the single currency’s 20th member on January 1. Croatia’s switch from the kuna to the euro will come less than a decade after the former Yugoslav republic joined the European Union, setting a new milestone in the bloc’s further integration. The EU’s executive said Croatia had met the strict conditions to be part of the single currency, including keeping inflation in the same range as its EU peers, as well as embracing sound public spending. Joining …

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Ukraine’s most stalwart backers in the West are promising there will be no let-up in support, despite increasingly tough talk from Russian officials. The U.S. permanent representative to NATO said Wednesday in Washington that recent Russian gains in eastern Ukraine have failed to shake the alliance’s resolve, with members continuing to have faith in Kyiv’s forces. “Collectively at NATO, I think we do hope and believe that Ukraine will ultimately prevail,” Julianne Smith told the Defense Writers Group. “The level of … respect that you see across the alliance for Ukrainian forces right now is quite high,” Smith added. “We …

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