Category: Євросоюз

Russia’s demand for written U.S. guarantees that sanctions on Moscow would not damage Russian cooperation with Iran is “not constructive” for talks between Tehran and global powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, a senior Iranian official told Reuters Saturday. The announcement by Russia, which could torpedo months of intensive indirect talks between Tehran and Washington in Vienna, came shortly after Tehran said it had agreed a roadmap with the U.N. nuclear watchdog to resolve outstanding issues which could help secure the nuclear pact. “Russians had put this demand on the table [at the Vienna talks] since two days ago. …

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Two men originally from China are among the 1 million refugees fleeing Ukraine into neighboring countries this week after Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24. VOA chronicled the journeys of Ibrahim Abliz, a Uyghur, and Ersin Erkinuly, a Kazakh. Abliz and Erkinuly were among thousands of Uyghurs and Kazakhs who fled China because of its “anti-terrorism” policy in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where rights groups and some Western countries accuse China of crimes against humanity and arbitrarily detaining more than 1 million people in internment camps in recent years. Beijing denies the mistreatment as lies and fabrication and says China’s …

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The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said that attacking a nuclear power plant is a war crime, after Russia on Friday seized a Ukrainian nuclear facility that is the biggest in Europe. The statement on the embassy’s Twitter account went further than any U.S. characterization of Russia’s actions in Ukraine since it launched its invasion Feb. 24. “It is a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant. Putin’s shelling of Europe’s largest nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further,” U.S. Embassy Kyiv said in its post. Russian invasion forces seized Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant in heavy …

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Russia’s blocking of Facebook is a symptom of its broader effort to cut itself off from sources of information that could imperil its internationally condemned invasion of Ukraine, experts say. The often-criticized social network is part of a web of information sources that can challenge the Kremlin’s preferred perspective that its assault on Ukraine is righteous and necessary. Blocking of Facebook and restricting of Twitter on Friday came the same day Moscow backed the imposition of jail terms on media publishing “false information” about the military. Russia’s motivation “is to suppress political challenges at a very fraught moment for (Vladimir) …

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels just hours after Russia’s shelling of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington. …

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The Biden administration is not advocating for regime change in Russia, the White House said Friday, after a U.S. senator called for Russians to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. “That is not the position of the U.S. government and certainly not a statement you’ll hear from — coming from the mouth of — anybody working for the administration,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in response to a question from Voice of America. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, suggested in a televised interview Thursday evening that “somebody in Russia” should assassinate Putin. He repeated his …

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The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday that the reactors at Ukraine’s largest nuclear plant had not been affected during a Russian attack on the site in the early hours Friday that shocked the globe and raised fears of a possible nuclear accident. “We confirm through our contacts at the regulator, but also directly from plant — we were able to confirm that no security or safety systems have been compromised, neither of the reactors themselves have been hit by this projectile,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. Unusually, …

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with leaders of the European Union on Friday, pledging with them to keep pressuring Russia with sanctions in response to its invasion of Ukraine, saying Russia’s aggression is a threat relevant to the entire world. Following a similar meeting with NATO allies in Brussels, Blinken attended a special EU foreign ministers meeting. Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, the top U.S. diplomat said what is at risk with Russia’s invasion — along with the lives of Ukrainians — are fundamental principles of peace and security that the world established during two world …

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Despite its growing strategic ties with the United States, India is resisting pressure from Washington to join the West and other countries in condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine for fear of alienating Moscow at a time when New Delhi views Beijing as its main threat, according to some analysts. India stayed firm in its position at the United Nations over the past week, abstaining from both a Security Council resolution “deploring” Russian aggression and a General Assembly vote condemning the invasion. Analysts say India does not want events in Europe to distract it from its own challenging security …

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The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council overwhelmingly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It voted Friday to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate violations of human rights and international humanitarian law resulting from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted the resolution by a vote of 32 in favor, 13 abstentions and two against. Only Russia and Eritrea voted no to condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  In an indication of how isolated Russia has become, even stalwart allies — China, Cuba, and Venezuela — chose to abstain rather than stand shoulder to shoulder with Moscow in rejecting …

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Countries across Asia are condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some key Asian countries are even joining international sanctions against Moscow. As VOA’s Bill Gallo reports, it is not just U.S. allies that are concerned. …

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NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Friday to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as Kyiv called on Western allies to implement a no-fly zone or provide them with more planes to protect civilians and infrastructure including nuclear plants. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has consistently called for a no-fly zone since Moscow’s invasion more than a week ago, but NATO allies have resisted a step that could drag them into the war with nuclear-armed Russia. Speaking ahead of the meeting in NATO’s Brussels headquarters, Lithuania said the alliance would be dragged into the war if it were to enforce a …

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As the train from Lviv limps across the Polish border, children peer from the windows, their curiosity undimmed by the horrors they have left behind. Beside them, crammed tightly into the carriages, their mothers and grandparents sit bewildered, terrified and exhausted. As the trains pulls into Przemyśl, teams of Polish guards and volunteers help them onto the platform. They are Europe’s newest refugees. There are only women and children. They leave behind their husbands, their fathers, their sons. The men must stay to fight. The agony of parting is etched in every face. Their shattered lives have been reduced to …

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China has rejected a report that said its officials told their Russian counterparts to delay an invasion of Ukraine until after the Beijing Winter Olympics. Experts say the flap indicates Chinese leaders could have known an attack was coming and that such a discovery would taint China’s reputation in the West. Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called the March 3 New York Times report “pure fake news.” The newspaper cited a Western intelligence report saying senior Chinese officials told senior Russian officials in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Feb. 4-20 Games. The …

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Recent polls show Americans increasingly approve of President Joe Biden’s handling of the invasion of Ukraine. Also, a growing share of Americans agree that paying more for gas because of sanctions against Moscow is worthwhile to defend another democracy. VOA’s Patsy Widakuswara reports. …

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Few countries are more conflicted by the latest war in Europe than Pakistan, which purchases military tanks from Ukraine and has just agreed to import 2 million tons of wheat from Russia. A key non-NATO ally of the United States, Pakistan abstained from voting Wednesday on the U.N. General Assembly’s resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of its neighbor. So did 34 other countries, including three in South Asia: India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Pakistani U.N. representative Munir Akram said Pakistan abstained because the resolution did not address some of Russia’s security concerns. Pakistan’s abstention was all but assured when Pakistani Prime …

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“We’re publishing this text while there’s still time,” independent Russian media site Meduza said. “Within a few days, maybe even today, it is possible that there will be no independent media left in Russia,” read the statement published to Meduza’s website Thursday. The independent media outlet said that Moscow’s regulator, Roskomnadzor, has ordered journalists to refer to Russia’s invasion as a “special military operation.” Roskomnadzor has warned more than a dozen media outlets, including VOA’s Russian language website, that they will be fined or blocked unless they remove content Russia deems illegal or that details military information. VOA Acting Director …

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Washington on Thursday piled another round of sanctions on a circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, hours after Russian and Ukrainian officials said Russian forces had taken control of the strategic Ukrainian port city of Kherson and had shelled major cities in an offensive that has forced more than 1 million people to flee the country. Among the newly sanctioned oligarchs is close Putin ally Alisher Usmanov, one of Russia’s wealthiest individuals. German authorities have seized his 512-foot yacht, estimated to be worth nearly $600 million. Under the directive, his private jet is also open to seizure. The …

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U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken left Thursday for eastern Europe to hold meetings with NATO allies and other European leaders in an effort to find a diplomatic solution to the situation in Ukraine.   In a release, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken will first travel to Brussels for a NATO Foreign Ministerial, as well as meet with his European Union counterparts for the G-7 Ministerial Meeting.     Blinken travels to Poland on Saturday for meetings with Polish leaders, including Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, “to discuss further security assistance in the face of Russia’s continued aggression.”    …

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The parent company of Swedish furniture maker IKEA announced Thursday it will temporarily close its stores in Russia and cease sourcing supplies from Russia and Belarus over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “The devastating war in Ukraine is a human tragedy, and our deepest empathy and concerns are with the millions of people impacted,” brand owner Inter IKEA Holding and Ingka Group said in a joint statement. “The war has both a huge human impact and is resulting in serious disruptions to supply chain and trading conditions, which is why the company groups have decided to temporarily pause IKEA operations …

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