Category: Євросоюз

As Turkey and Israel take their biggest step in years toward reviving strained relations, some analysts say the two regional powers prefer going it alone in another diplomatic effort — trying to mediate a peaceful resolution of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog in Ankara on Wednesday, calling it a “historic visit that will be a turning point in relations” that have been strained for more than a decade. Herzog, who holds a largely ceremonial role, is the most senior Israeli official to visit Turkey since the last visit by an …

READ MORE

Rich Russians are trying to shift some of their wealth from Europe to Dubai to shield assets from a tightening wave of Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, financial and legal sources said. Dubai, the Gulf’s freewheeling financial and business hub, has long been a magnet for the globe’s ultra-rich and the United Arab Emirates’ refusal to take sides between Western allies and Moscow has signaled to Russians that their money is safe there. The UAE, which over the years has deepened its ties with Russia, has not matched sanctions imposed by Western nations and its central …

READ MORE

The Biden administration publicly warned Wednesday that Russia might seek to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine as the White House rejected Russian claims of illegal chemical weapons development in the country it has invaded. This week, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova — without evidence — accused Ukraine of running chemical and biological weapons labs with U.S. support. White House press secretary Jen Psaki called Russia’s claim “preposterous” and said it could be part of an attempt by Russia to lay the groundwork for its own use of such weapons of mass destruction against Ukraine. “This is all …

READ MORE

Millions of elderly and disabled Ukrainians are “at high risk” because they are unable to flee the fighting, the United Kingdom Disasters Emergency Committee alliance of leading aid charities warned Thursday. More than 2 million people have fled Russia’s military assault and “older people and those with disabilities in Ukraine risk being left behind and urgently need protection and assistance,” the DEC said. There are more than 7 million people age 60 or older in Ukraine and 2.7 million people with disabilities, according to the European Disability Forum. “Many cannot escape from affected areas nor seek shelter from bombings due …

READ MORE

Against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a European Union summit later this week aims to assert the bloc’s energy independence from Russia — and strengthen its collective defense. For VOA, Lisa Bryant reports from Paris. Camera: Lisa Bryant Produced by: Rob Raffaele …

READ MORE

A French court on Wednesday sentenced to jail terms of up to 13 years three men charged with connections to the brutal 2016 jihadi killing of an 85-year-old priest.  Father Jacques Hamel was found with his throat slit at the foot of the altar on July 26, 2016, at his small church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, a working-class suburb of Rouen in northwest France.  Two 19-year-old assailants, Adel Kermiche and Abdel-Malik Petitjean, also seriously wounded a worshipper after bursting in during Mass and taking hostages before being killed by police as they tried to leave the church.  They claimed in a video …

READ MORE

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris travels to Poland’s capital, Warsaw, Wednesday as the Biden administration and its NATO allies debated the best ways to fortify Ukraine while avoiding being drawn directly into the fighting, which would risk a wider European war. U.S. officials say Harris will be carrying a message to Poland that the United States stands “firmly and resolutely” with NATO allies and will continue to provide aid to Ukraine. Her visit, however, coincides with diplomatic turbulence over a Polish offer, which caught Washington by surprise, to donate its Soviet-era MiG-29 warplanes to the U.S. for the fighter jets …

READ MORE

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is headed to Turkey ahead of a meeting Thursday with his Ukrainian counterpart at a Turkish resort. Ankara, which has close ties with Moscow and Kyiv, has been seeking to mediate since Russia invaded Ukraine. Turkey’s resort city of Antalya will be the venue for the first meeting between Lavrov and Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, since Russia invaded Ukraine. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will host the summit.  Senior Turkish presidential advisor Ilnur Cevik said the fact that the meeting is happening is a success in itself. “The fact that the Russians …

READ MORE

WASHINGTON — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will collaborate with Poland and Romania on next steps to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and reassure them of Washington’s support during her meetings with leaders of both countries starting Thursday.  The countries have been increasingly anxious about Russia’s aggression in the region and are NATO’s easternmost members. They share a border with Ukraine, where thousands of refugees are flooding in. Harris will focus on ways NATO members can implement the economic sanctions put in place and how they can stay aligned and move forward together, senior administration officials said.  She will …

READ MORE

Four iconic U.S. food and beverage companies have joined the growing list of Western companies who have either shut down operations in Russia or are exiting altogether over that country’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Fast food giant McDonald’s, which opened its first Russian location in Moscow’s Pushkin Square in 1990, said Tuesday that it was closing all 850 restaurants across Russia while continuing to pay its 62,000 employees. The decision will cost McDonald’s millions of dollars of revenue, as it directly owns 84% of the restaurants in Russia, as opposed to its normal business model of licensing them to independent …

READ MORE

A look at the latest situation on Day 14 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. …

READ MORE

Biden bans Russian energy imports, says won’t subsidize ‘Putin’s war’ …

READ MORE

With Russia intensifying its war on Ukraine, killing civilians and triggering a mass refugee crisis, President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a U.S. ban on imported Russian oil. Critics of Russia have said that sanctioning its energy exports would be the best — perhaps only — way to force Moscow to pull back. A full embargo would be most effective if it included European allies, which are also desperate to stop the violence in Ukraine and the danger Moscow poses to the continent. Yet it’s far from clear that all of Europe would take part in an embargo, though Britain …

READ MORE

The Russian Football Union (RFU) has appealed FIFA and UEFA bans on its football teams. The football governing bodies suspended Russia from competition on February 28 following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. “The RFU will demand the restoration of all men’s and women’s national teams of Russia in all types of football in the tournaments in which they took part (including in the qualifying round of the World Cup in Qatar), as well as compensation for damage,” the RFU said last week. “In order to ensure the possibility of the participation of Russian teams in the next scheduled matches, the …

READ MORE

U.N. and international aid agencies are calling for an end to hostilities in Ukraine as the number of civilian casualties grows and more people flee in terror to safety in neighboring countries.  The latest U.N. figures put the number of civilian casualties at 1,335, including 474 people killed and 861 injured. The U.N. office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which compiles the figures, believes the true number of casualties is much higher than what is recorded. That has led U.N. rights chief Michelle Bachelet to reiterate her call for a quick and peaceful end to the conflict, which …

READ MORE

It’s a global day to celebrate women, but many fleeing Ukraine feel only the stress of finding a new life for their children as husbands, brothers and fathers stay behind to defend their country from Russia’s invasion. The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine reached 2 million on Tuesday, according to the United Nations, the fastest exodus Europe has seen since World War II. One million of them are children, UNICEF spokesman James Elder tweeted, calling it “a dark historical first.” Polina Shulga tried to ease the journey for her 3-year-old daughter by hiding the truth. “Of course it’s hard to …

READ MORE

A growing number of Western businesses are either halting operations in Russia or exiting altogether over that country’s military incursion of neighboring Ukraine. The major hit to Russia’s economy will likely come from the crucial oil and gas industry. British-based BP announced Sunday that it is divesting its $14 billion stake in Russian state-owned oil and gas company Rosneft.   Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden of Britain-based Shell Oil Company issued an apology Tuesday for buying Russian crude oil last week, and said it would end all of its operations in Russia, including pipeline gas and liquid natural gas. …

READ MORE

Jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny has again called for protests against Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, saying the response of Russians to the war “will largely define Russia’s place in the history of the 21st century.” Navalny, the Kremlin critic who is currently serving a 2 1/2-year sentence on what his supporters and Western legal analysts call a trumped-up fraud charge, wrote on Twitter on March 8 that anger against the war was building inside Russia and “the anti-war momentum will keep growing across the society, so the anti-war protests should not be halted under any circumstances.”   “It’s one …

READ MORE

Full developments of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine      …

READ MORE

Russia did not show up to a key international court hearing aimed at putting a legal stop to fighting in Ukraine that is creating Europe’s biggest refugee crisis in years. At issue is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim of “genocide” to justify his invasion of Ukraine. The empty seats allocated to Russia’s legal team at the International Court of Justice were telling. They gave ammunition to Ukraine’s envoy, Anton Korynevych, as he laid out his country’s arguments against Moscow to The Hague-based body. “The fact that Russia’s seats are empty speaks loudly. They are not here in this court of …

READ MORE