Category: Євросоюз

Russia said Thursday it is shutting down the operations of German broadcaster Deutsche Welle in Moscow and stripping its staff of their accreditation in a retaliatory move after Berlin banned Russian broadcaster RT DE. Moscow said it would stop the German channel being broadcast in Russia and start proceedings that would see it declared a “foreign agent,” a designation that carries a negative Soviet-era connotation. The Russian foreign ministry said it also would bar entry to Russia for German officials involved in the move to ban RT DE. State-funded Deutsche Welle said it formally protested the move and would take …

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The World Health Organization’s European region director says that while COVID-19 cases on the continent continue to rise, he sees a plausible endgame for the pandemic in Europe in coming months. Speaking during his weekly virtual news briefing from his headquarters in Copenhagen, WHO Europe Region Director Hans Kluge told reporters the region recorded 12 million cases in the past week, the highest weekly case incidence since the start of the pandemic, largely driven by the omicron variant. But Kluge said, while hospitalizations continue to rise – mainly in countries with lower vaccination rates — they have not risen as fast …

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All eyes are on Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he has amassed more than 100,000 troops near the borders of Ukraine. Experts say Putin may have placed himself in a difficult position in an effort to elevate Russia’s standing in the world. VOA’s Cindy Saine reports. Producer: Mary Cieslak …

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The United States is moving forces into Eastern Europe as Russia continues its buildup near Ukraine. The Pentagon says the U.S. is responding to allies’ requests regarding a possible Russian invasion. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb reports. Cameras: Mike Burke, Adam Greembaum, Carla Babb. …

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Russia and China will discuss closer gas and financial ties during President Vladimir Putin’s trip to Beijing for the Winter Olympics, the Kremlin said Wednesday, and a long-held idea for a new gas pipeline to China is being examined. Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will have lunch together Friday, and could sign more than 15 agreements, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, with lots of new deals being prepared in relation to natural gas. Competition got underway Wednesday in the Beijing Winter Olympics as the shadow of war in Ukraine and the impending arrival of Putin, who will …

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The Kremlin is ramping up a disinformation offensive aimed at demoralizing Ukraine and Western powers, using Russian state-owned broadcasters and trolls on social media platforms to portray the West as the aggressor and the government in Kyiv as a puppet of NATO, say Western officials and information war experts.  Scare stories in recent days have included claims that Ukrainian commandos are planning to launch so-called “false flag” attacks in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine to justify NATO military action and that the United States is planning to attack Russia during this week’s Winter Olympics in China.  The core message …

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With tens of thousands of Russian troops deployed near the Ukranian border, residents in Kyiv are anxiously watching what Russian leader Vladimir Putin will do next as he continues his campaign to pressure Ukraine and NATO. Oksana Lihostova in Kyiv spoke with residents about their hopes and fears in this story narrated by Anna Rice. …

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Speaking to VOA from his New York apartment, Dmitry Savchenko, 34, recalls the prosperous life he recently left behind. “In Belarus, we had everything. My wife had several cafes. I had two businesses myself, some real estate, an apartment, a car,” he said. Savchenko and his family had never intended to leave their home. But in the last few months, for him and many other Belarussian citizens, what was once unthinkable became a dire necessity. “We were faced with a dilemma: either go to prison or run and hide in another country,” he said. Long described as “Europe’s last dictatorship,” …

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A bipartisan effort in the U.S. Senate has come together to produce what the chairman of the body’s Foreign Relations Committee has dubbed “the mother of all sanctions” to be levied against Russia in the event of a new invasion of Ukraine.  According to committee chairman Robert Menendez, senators are on the cusp of agreeing to a package of measures meant to make the financial cost of aggression in Ukraine extremely high for high-ranking government officials and ordinary Russians.  The bill being considered, Menendez said in an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” show, involves “massive sanctions against …

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The top diplomats from the United States and Russia are expected to speak by phone Tuesday, a day after United Nations representatives from the two countries faced off at the U.N. Security Council over Russian-denied allegations that it is planning a large-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine.  Tuesday’s diplomatic efforts to address the crisis also include a trip by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.  “We urge Russia to step back and engage in dialogue to find a diplomatic resolution and avoid further bloodshed,” Johnson said in a statement.  Britain, like the United …

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Will Russia invade Ukraine? While the world waits, the war of words is picking up steam, with top diplomats from the U.S. and Russia going head-to-head at the United Nations and President Joe Biden vowing that the U.S. is ready “no matter what happens.” VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington. …

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NATO member states are sending thousands of troops, warplanes and ships to allies in eastern Europe as tensions with Russia escalate over Moscow’s deployment of more than 100,000 troops to its border with Ukraine. The West fears an imminent Russian invasion, which the Kremlin denies. Four Danish F-16 fighter jets landed in Lithuania last week to bolster NATO’s air policing mission in the Baltic. Since Russia’s 2014 forceful annexation of Crimea, NATO has deployed between 4,000 and 5,000 troops in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in what the alliance terms an “enhanced forward presence.” US troops  The United States has …

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Mali said it is expelling the French ambassador because of “hostile and outrageous” comments by former colonial power France about Mali’s transitional government. A statement read on national television Monday said French Ambassador Joel Meyer has been given 72 hours to leave the country.  “This measure follows the hostile and outrageous comments made recently by the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the recurrence of such comments by the French authorities with regard to the Malian authorities, despite repeated protests,” the statement said.  French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said last week that Mali’s junta was “illegitimate and …

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President Joe Biden and other Western leaders have repeatedly warned they will impose swift and punitive economic sanctions against Moscow in the event Vladimir Putin orders an invasion of Ukraine. British ministers announced Sunday they plan new legislation to make it easier to impose sanctions on “Putin’s oligarchs” and Russian officials who have investments and assets in Britain. Russians have invested about an estimated $2 billion in the London property market alone, according to Transparency International, an anti-corruption lobbying and research organization in Berlin. And the House of Commons’ own research library noted in a report last year: “For some …

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U.S. President Joe Biden and Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani are meeting at the White House on Monday, with discussions about Qatar supplying natural gas to Europe in the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine at the forefront of their talks.  The emir is the first Persian Gulf leader to meet with Biden in Washington during his year-old presidency.  The meeting’s timing is not coincidental, as the U.S. and Western allies worry that if they impose severe economic sanctions on Moscow in the event it invades its former Soviet republic, Russian President Vladimir Putin could retaliate by …

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The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine:        * The U.S. plans to confront Russia over its actions along Ukraine’s border at a Monday meeting of the United Nations Security Council.     * NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Sunday the Western military alliance has no intention of sending troops to Ukraine if Russia invades its former Soviet republic.     * Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told the “Fox News Sunday” show that a Russian invasion “could happen, really, at any time.”   * The West is demanding that Russia pull its troops and weapons from the Ukraine border, while Moscow is pushing …

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The United Nations Security Council is due to discuss the crisis along the Russia-Ukraine border Monday in a session the United States called to address Russia’s deployment of more than 100,000 soldiers in the region and “other destabilizing acts aimed at Ukraine.”  The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said on ABC’s “This Week” show Sunday that the council will press Russia to justify its massing of troops. “Our voices are unified in calling for the Russians to explain themselves,” she said.   Russia has dismissed the U.S. move, with its Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy calling the session …

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The United Nations Security Council meets Monday to discuss Russia’s buildup of more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s border. Western and Ukrainian officials continue to be on alert for a possible invasion. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …

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Manchester United player Mason Greenwood was arrested on suspicion of rape and assault on Sunday after a woman posted visual and audio allegations on social media of an incident. United said the 20-year-old forward “will not return to training or play matches until further notice.” The police did not name Greenwood but the statement about the investigation was provided after inquiries about the footballer. “Greater Manchester Police were made aware earlier today of online social media images and videos posted by a woman reporting incidents of physical violence,” the force said in a statement. “An investigation was launched and following …

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French President Emmanuel Macron has told his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi that a deal lifting sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear activities is still possible but talks need to accelerate, Macron’s office said on Sunday. France, Germany and Britain, known as the E3, and the United States are trying to save the 2015 Vienna agreement with Iran, but Western diplomats have said negotiations, which have been in their eighth round since Dec. 27, were moving too slowly. Iran has rejected any deadline imposed by Western powers. “The President of the Republic reiterated his conviction that a …

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