Category: European Union

SARAJEVO — Bosnian state prosecutors on Wednesday ordered the arrest of Russian-backed Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and his aides for ignoring a court summons, raising the stakes in a standoff that threatens the Balkan country’s stability. The decision was taken two weeks after a separate case in which Dodik was sentenced to a year in jail for defying the rulings of an international peace envoy, a spokesperson from the state security agency, SIPA, said. Prosecutors have sought the help of Bosnia’s State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in the arrest, which comes after Dodik and aides ignored a court summons. It was not clear if the plan was to detain Dodik or to accompany him to answer the summons. The state prosecutors’ office was investigating Dodik, the pro-Russian nationalist president of Bosnia’s autonomous Serb Republic, for what it described as an attack on constitutional order after he initiated the adoption of laws barring state judiciary and police from the region after his sentencing. “We have received a request from the court police of Bosnia and Herzegovina to assist them,” SIPA spokeswoman Jelena Miovcic said. Serb Republic television, citing the regional government, reported that the state prosecution has also ordered the arrest of Serb Republic Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic and regional parliament president Nenad Stevandic over ignoring summons in the case of the attack on constitutional order. The Serb Republic is one of two regions created to end a 1992-95 war that killed more than 1000,000 people in multi-ethnic Bosnia. They are linked by a weak central government in a state supervised by an international authority to stop it slipping back into conflict. …

TBILISI — Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been imprisoned since 2021, was sentenced on Wednesday to nine more years in jail after being found guilty of embezzlement. Saakashvili, in office from 2004 to 2013, had been convicted of embezzling $3.3 million via expenses claims for what prosecutors called “luxury” spending. In a post on X after the sentencing, Saakashvili, who denies the charges and says the expenses were legitimate, called the verdict an “outrageous case of political persecution.” Saakashvili was already serving a six-year sentence for abuse of power, having been jailed after returning to Georgia in 2021. He has spent much of that time in a prison hospital. The sentences will run concurrently, so Wednesday’s ruling will keep him in jail until 2030. He is also on trial for entering Georgia illegally in 2021 and, separately, for a crackdown on protesters in 2007. Georgian television showed a commotion in court after the verdict was announced, with Saakashvili’s supporters calling the judge a “slave” of the government. Now a deeply polarizing figure, Saakashvili rose to power on a tide of acclaim in the 2003 Rose Revolution. He reorientated Georgia towards the West and introduced public sector reforms that delivered rapid improvements in governance and the economy of the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million. However, the latter part of his tenure was marked by authoritarianism, police brutality, and a disastrous 2008 war with Russia. In 2012, his United National Movement lost an election to a coalition headed by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire businessman who is still Georgia’s de facto leader. After leaving office, Saakashvili moved to Ukraine, where he briefly served as governor of the Odesa region. He returned in 2021, despite having been convicted in absentia of abuse of power, and was jailed on arrival. The ruling Georgian Dream party regularly accuses all opposition parties, including those critical of Saakashvili, of having links to him. In recent years, Georgian Dream has clamped down on opposition and steered the former Soviet republic closer to Moscow again. …

Ukrainian officials said Wednesday a Russian missile attack hit the southern port city of Odesa overnight, killing four Syrians and injuring several other people. Oleksiy Kuleba, vice prime minister for reconstruction, said on Telegram that the missile struck a cargo ship that was being loaded with wheat set to be exported to Algeria. Russia is attacking Ukraine’s infrastructure, including ports that are involved in ensuring the world’s food security,” he said. Another missile attack hit Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown in the Dnipropetrovsk region, killing at least one person and injuring nine others, according to the regional governor. Governor Serhiy Lysak said the region also came under attack from Russian drones, and that the assaults damaged high-rise and administrative buildings, as well as a school. Officials in the Zaporizhzhia region said a Russian drone struck a medical van. Ukraine’s military said Wednesday it shot down 98 of the 133 drones that Russian forces launched overnight. The intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr regions, the military said. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it destroyed 21 Ukrainian drones, with air defenses downing the aircraft over the Bryansk, Kursk and Kaluga regions, as well as the Black Sea and Russia-occupied Crimea. Officials in those areas did not report casualties or damage from the Ukrainian attacks. Some information for this story was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters. …

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — Foreign ministers from the G7 group of leading industrial nations are set to gather for several days of talks in Quebec, Canada, including meetings focused on support for Ukraine in its battle against a three-year Russian invasion. The talks follow a decision by the United States to resume intelligence sharing and security assistance to Ukraine, after senior officials from the two countries met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. After nearly eight hours of talks, Ukraine announced Tuesday its readiness to accept a U.S. proposal for “an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire” in the war with Russia, pending Kremlin approval. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the 30-day ceasefire proposal, saying Wednesday on X that it is “an important and correct step towards a just peace for Ukraine.” “We stand with Ukraine and the United States and welcome the proposals from Jeddah. Now it is up to Putin,” Scholz said. The Kremlin had no immediate comment on a ceasefire proposal from the U.S. and Ukraine. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said only that negotiations with U.S. officials could take place this week. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters late Tuesday that Ukraine has taken a concrete step toward ending the war. “Now hopefully we’ll take this offer now to the Russians. And we hope that they’ll say yes. That they’ll say yes to peace. The ball’s now in their court,” he said. National security adviser Mike Waltz, who joined Rubio in leading the U.S. side in Jeddah, said he would speak with his Russian counterpart “in the coming days.” On Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will visit the White House. All these discussions are part of the efforts to advance the peace process. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not participate in the U.S.-Ukraine talks, but he said during his nightly address Tuesday that the ceasefire plan was a “positive proposal.” …

WASHINGTON — For more than 70 years, Irish leaders have visited the White House for the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration of Irish-America heritage. But this year, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheal Martin will need to present President Donald Trump with more than just the traditional gift of a bowl of shamrock, as he navigates potential friction over Ireland’s low defense spending, support for Palestinians in Gaza and Ukrainians, and the large trade imbalance between the two countries. While past Irish prime ministers enjoyed warm White House hospitality from former President Joe Biden, who often highlighted his “fierce pride” of his Irish ancestry, Wednesday’s meeting will largely be a test of Martin’s diplomatic acumen as he navigates the relationship with a crucial partner his country depends on economically. Martin appeared clear-eyed about the stakes of his visit. “I am very, very conscious that in a very challenging world, thousands and thousands of jobs depend on the economic relationship between the United States and Ireland,” he said Monday at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, where he began his U.S. tour. “And my overriding objective is to copper fasten that for the time ahead and to protect those people who are working in jobs,” Martin said. The meeting comes amid concern in Ireland about Trump’s moves to impose steep new tariffs on Canada and Mexico, neighboring countries that have large trade imbalances with the United States. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Ireland holds the fourth-largest trade surplus with the U.S., about $87 billion, behind Vietnam, Mexico and China but ahead of Canada. Trump has also threatened to apply tariffs on goods from the European Union, which would also affect Ireland, an EU member. Ireland is also highly dependent on long-standing investment from U.S. multinational companies for jobs, tax revenue and exports. According to data from the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, around 970 U.S. companies directly employ 211,000 people and indirectly support a further 168,000 jobs across Ireland. Major American companies including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta and Pfizer have established European headquarters in the country, lured by its English-speaking and skilled workforce, access to the European single market, and its low corporate tax rate of 12.5%. As president-elect, Trump pledged to slash the U.S. corporate tax rate to match the Irish rate and “reshore” American companies, bringing back their business activities and their tax dollars. The … “Irish PM visits White House amid divisions on economy, Ukraine, Gaza” →

NUUK, Greenland — Polling stations closed in Greenland on Tuesday in a parliamentary election brought into the international spotlight by U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge to take control of the mineral-rich island, firing up a debate over its independence. Voting had been extended by half an hour past a 2200 GMT deadline amid high turnout at several of the 72 polling stations across the arctic island, where 40,500 people were eligible to cast their ballots. There were no exit polls, and a final tally of the vote could take between three and five hours to complete, Greenland’s election authority has said. Since taking office in January, Trump has vowed to make Greenland — a semiautonomous territory of Denmark — part of the United States, saying it is vital to U.S. security interests. The vast island, with a population of 57,000, has been caught up in a geopolitical race for dominance in the Arctic, where melting ice caps are making its resources more accessible and opening new shipping routes. Both Russia and China have intensified military activity in the region. Greenland is a former Danish colony and a territory since 1953. It gained some autonomy in 1979 when its first parliament was formed, but Copenhagen still controls foreign affairs, defense and monetary policy and provides just under $1 billion a year to the economy. In 2009, it won the right to declare full independence through a referendum, even though it has not done so out of concern living standards would drop without Denmark’s economic support. “I strongly believe that we will very soon start to live a life more based on who we are, based on our culture, based on our own language, and start to make regulations based on us, not based on Denmark,” said Qupanuk Olsen, candidate for the main pro-independence party Naleraq. Inge Olsvig Brandt, a candidate for the ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit Party, said: “We don’t need the independence right now. We have too many things to work on. I think we have to work with ourselves, our history, and we are going to have a lot of healing work with us before we can take the next step.” Trump’s interest has shaken up the status quo, and coupled with the growing pride of the Indigenous people in their Inuit culture, put independence front and center in the election. In the final debate on Greenland’s state broadcaster KNR late … “Voting ends in Greenland election dominated by Trump’s control pledge” →

The United States praised Ukraine Tuesday for accepting a ceasefire offer and taking a step forward on the path to ending the war with Russia. Moscow is expected to weigh in next on the American proposal. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports. …

KYIV, UKRAINE — The images shared by Kremlin-controlled media were shocking: Russian troops hunched, dirt on their faces, as they crept through an empty gas pipeline under Ukrainian defense lines. Since Kyiv launched its audacious cross-border assault into the Kursk region last August, Moscow has been pushing back hard, using unconventional tactics and deploying thousands of North Korean troops against the Ukrainian army. They have since stepped up their advances. In the past five days, Moscow has broken through Kyiv’s defensive lines, reclaiming dozens of square kilometers of territory, according to military bloggers. Russian military bloggers reported Tuesday that Moscow’s troops had entered the town of Sudzha, the largest settlement in the region under Kyiv’s control. “The enemy is retreating in panic and disorder without [having] received any orders. That’s it. It’s a collapse,” a Russian serviceman, who identified himself as Zombie, told Kremlin-run television. The result is that Kyiv may have lost one of its only bargaining chips on swapping land with Russia, which has seized and occupied around a fifth of Ukraine since it took Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. For Ukraine, which has painted a more controlled picture of the fighting, the stakes of its difficult operation in Kursk could hardly be higher. The assault last summer injected a much-needed morale boost into the Ukrainian war effort and represented the first and only incursion by a foreign army into Russian territory since World War II. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the operation was key to future negotiations on ending the war and that holding Russian territory would give Kyiv vital leverage. But that leverage — just as Washington starts rounds of talks with Moscow and Kyiv — is dwindling as Russian forces press forward. Franz-Stefan Gady, a military analyst, said Russia had built up its force in Kursk over recent weeks and escalated strikes on Ukraine’s supply route. “The result is that now that the Russians are pushing a lot. Parts of the front line are actually giving way,” he told AFP. The British defense ministry estimates Ukraine controls around 300 square kilometers of Kursk, a five-fold territorial loss since Kyiv launched its gambit. On Monday, Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky conceded the situation was worsening. He dismissed reports Ukrainian troops were in danger of being encircled but acknowledged they had been forced to fall back and that he was sending forward … “Russia’s gains in Kursk threaten Kyiv’s leverage” →

Paris — European military and political heads are holding high-level talks this week after calls for massively rearming Europe — and boosting aid for Kyiv — amid fears of a less engaged United States. Lisa Bryant has more from Paris. Speaking to top NATO and European Union military brass gathered in Paris Tuesday, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans stressed the urgency of boosting Europe’s defense. While the transatlantic alliance is important, he said Europeans can no longer take U.S. protection for granted. “Europe therefore needs to fortify its security architecture. And we don’t have much time to get this right. We only have one shot,” said Brekelmans. The same message came from European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at the European Parliament. “We need a surge in European defense, and we need it now,” she said. The European Union’s executive arm has proposed an $873 billion plan for rearming Europe and supporting Ukraine. It includes relaxing fiscal rules and some $164 billion in loans for defense investments. It has proposed increasing defense spending by an additional 1.5 percent of member states’ GDP yearly over four years. The proposed surge comes as Washington’s priorities appear to be shifting. And European leaders are worried Russia may not stop at Ukraine — fears their populations appear to share. One Ipsos survey found three-quarters of French and half of Germans are concerned the Ukraine conflict will spread elsewhere in Europe. Another poll, however, found few Europeans want to pay more for defense. Critics, including Hungary’s Viktor Orban, suggest Europe can’t afford to defend Ukraine. Others argue Brussels is assuming too much power. Europeans are also divided over whether to invest in their own defense industry — or buy externally. The U.S. has been a top supplier. Former French Ambassador Michel Duclos said, “They want to continue to sell weapons to European counties.” Duclos is now an analyst at the Montaigne Institute research group in Paris. That’s one argument, he believes, for Washington’s at least short-term commitment to Europe’s security. “What I fear more is not that they [the U.S.] will disengage. It’s more that they will want the Europeans to pay more and more for European protection,” he said. This week sees more high-level meetings on Ukraine and European security. There’s another in Paris Wednesday, gathering Europe’s five top military powers, along with NATO and Ukrainian defense chiefs. …

Belgrade, Serbia — Several hundred student protesters have blocked Serbia’s public television station building in Belgrade as tensions soar in the Balkan country, days ahead of a large rally planned for the weekend and billed as an endgame in months of anti-government demonstrations. The students first blocked the TV building in central Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, late on Monday and several hundred gathered again on Tuesday, after announcing that their blockade will last for at least 22 hours. A similar blockade was organized in the country’s second-largest city of Novi Sad. University students in Serbia are behind almost daily rallies that started after a concrete canopy crashed down in November at a railway station in Novi Sad, killing 15 people. The protests have rocked the populist rule of President Aleksandar Vucic and his firm grip on power. During the blockade late Monday, riot police briefly intervened with batons as the crowd tried to block one of the entrances to the TV building with metal security fences. At least one plainclothes police officer was injured in skirmishes after apparently being struck in the head by a uniformed officer, according to a video released on social media. The students blame public TV for biased reporting and for siding with Vucic and the government during the demonstrations. The Serbian president was the guest of the main TV news bulletin on Monday evening. During the interview, Vucic insulted the student-led protests, warning that security forces will use force against participants of the big rally planned for Saturday. He pledged never to step down because of the massive nationwide demonstrations. “You will have to kill me if you want to replace me,” he said, The TV reporter who interviewed Vucic called the protesting students “a mob,” which the president appeared to approve of. The station, RTS, issued a statement, denouncing the blockade. “Forcibly preventing RTS employees from coming to their workplaces represents a dangerous step into open conflicts with unpredictable consequences,” it said. Some of the TV station’s employees apparently managed to enter the building through a side entrance that’s not publicly known, allowing the program to continue uninterrupted. Meanwhile, Vucic met with U.S. President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who arrived in Belgrade on Tuesday. The purpose of his visit was not immediately known. Pro-Russian Vucic is a vocal supporter of the U.S. president. Many in Serbia believe that the huge concrete construction fell … “Protesters block main state Serbian TV building as tensions soar ahead of planned rally” →

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — U.S. and Ukrainian officials began talks Tuesday in Saudi Arabia with the Ukrainian side expected to present a partial ceasefire plan with Russia. The Ukrainian plan includes halting long-range missiles strikes and a truce covering the Black Sea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not take part in Tuesday’s meetings, with Ukraine represented by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and military commander Pavlo Palisa. Yermak told reporters just before the start of Tuesday’s meeting that Ukraine is ready “to do everything to achieve peace.” When asked if Ukraine is seeking security guarantees, Yermak said ‘yes’ and that Ukraine wants to ensure that Russia never repeats its aggression. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz led the U.S. delegation amid President Donald Trump’s push to broker a swift end to the war that began in early 2022 with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Rubio said Monday the United States hopes to resolve the pause in aid to Ukraine. He said the U.S. is in a listening mode and aims to understand what concessions Ukraine might be willing to make. “The Ukrainians are already receiving all defensive intelligence information as we speak. I think all the notion of the pause in aid broadly is something I hope we can resolve. Obviously, I think what happens tomorrow will be key to that,” Rubio told reporters aboard a military plane before landing in Jeddah. “We’re not going to be sitting in a room drawing lines on a map, but just get a general sense of what concessions are in the realm of the possible for them [Ukrainians],” Rubio said, adding that there is no military solution to the war, and that both Russia and Ukraine need to “do difficult things.” Later on Monday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Rubio in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah. Salman held a separate meeting with Zelenskyy in Riyadh earlier in the day. Mineral deal? Trump has voiced interest in making continued military aid conditional on access to Ukraine’s raw materials. More than four dozen minerals, including several types of rare earths, nickel and lithium, are considered critical to the U.S. economy and national defense. Ukraine has large deposits of uranium, lithium and titanium. But Rubio clarified that securing a deal on Ukraine’s mineral resources was not … “Ukraine to present peace plan in talks with US” →

NUUK, Greenland — Greenland residents vote on Tuesday in a closely watched election brought into the international spotlight by a pledge from U.S. President Donald Trump to take control of the mineral-rich island. Since taking office in January, Trump has vowed to make Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, part of the United States, saying it is vital to U.S. security interests. The island, with a population of just 57,000, has been caught up in a geopolitical race for dominance in the Arctic, where melting ice caps are making its resources more accessible and opening new shipping routes. Both Russia and China have intensified military activity in the region. Greenland, a former colony and a Danish territory since 1953, is three times the size of Texas. It gained some autonomy in 1979 when its first parliament was formed, but Copenhagen controls foreign affairs, defense and monetary policy and provides just under $1 billion a year to the economy. In 2009, it won the right to declare full independence through a referendum, though has not done so, on concern living standards would drop without Denmark’s economic support. However, Trump’s interest has shaken up the status quo and coupled with the growing pride of the indigenous people in their Inuit culture, put independence front and center in the election. “The question of independence was put on steroids by Trump,” said Masaana Egede, editor of local newspaper Sermitsiaq. “It has put a lid on everyday issues.” Polling stations are open for 11 hours on Tuesday. The final result is expected on Wednesday. No polls or exit polls are expected. A January poll suggested a majority of Greenland’s inhabitants support independence, but are divided over the timing and potential impact on living standards. Reuters spoke to more than a dozen Greenlanders in the capital Nuuk, all of whom said they favored independence, although many expressed concern that a swift transition could damage the economy and eliminate Nordic welfare services like universal healthcare and free schooling. The island holds substantial natural resources, including critical minerals such as rare earths used in high-tech industries, ranging from electric vehicles to missile systems. However, Greenland has been slow to extract them due to environmental concerns, severe weather, and China’s near-total control of the sector, which has made it difficult for companies elsewhere to make a profit or secure buyers. Investment pledges Trump initially declined to rule out military force, … “Greenland election tests independence ambitions as US interest looms” →

WITHERNSEA, England — Fires continued to burn on Tuesday after two ships collided off the coast of northeast England a day earlier, adding to concerns the jet fuel carried by one and toxic chemicals aboard the other could cause an environmental disaster. Following the crash, both crews abandoned their ships and 36 people were brought ashore, the coastguard said. Rescue teams on Monday called off a search for a missing crew member from the Portuguese-flagged container ship Solong. The tanker Stena Immaculate, which carries jet fuel for the U.S. military, was at anchor when it was struck by the smaller Solong, releasing fuel into the sea. Equipment to minimize pollution at sea, such as spray dispersants for oil spills and containment booms, were on standby, said the British government, as its agencies prepared for action to protect the North Sea environment and wildlife. The potential environmental impact was being assessed, coordinated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and an East of England environmental group, and the situation was being monitored overhead by plane, the government said. Environmental harm? Two maritime security sources said there was no indication that malicious activity or actors were involved in the incident. The Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel in 16 segregated cargo tanks, but it was unclear how much of it was spilt after at least one tank was hit, Crowley, the U.S. logistics group which operated the vessel, said on Monday. Onboard the Solong were 15 containers of sodium cyanide, a toxic chemical used mainly in gold mining, and an unknown quantity of alcohol, according to a casualty report from maritime data provider Lloyd’s List Intelligence. Those cargoes could pollute the sea, harming large colonies of protected seabirds including puffins and gannets which live on the coast in the area, and the fish on which they feed. The crash occurred on Monday morning in a busy waterway, prompting a significant rescue response from British teams who sent aircraft, lifeboats and other vessels. While Britain’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch will gather initial evidence, overall responsibility for investigating the crash lies with the U.S. and Portuguese authorities, the flag states of the vessels. …

Russian officials said Tuesday that Ukrainian attacks involving more than 90 drones killed at least two people and injured 18 others in the Moscow region.   The assault was part of an overall attack overnight that included more than 300 Ukrainian drones targeting 10 Russian regions stretching from border areas to the Russian capital. Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the Moscow region, said on Telegram that in addition to those hurt, there was also damage to an apartment building from falling drone debris. The attack also forced flight restrictions at Moscow airports and interrupted train services. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 91 drones in the Moscow area, and a total of 337 across all regions. The ministry said it intercepted 126 drones over the Kursk region, 38 over Bryansk, 25 over Belgorod, 22 over Ryazan and others over Kaluga, Lipetsk, Oryol, Voronezh and Nizhny Novgorod. Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that drone debris knocked out power to some part of his region and damaged multiple residential buildings. Ukraine’s military said Tuesday it shot down 79 of 126 drones that Russian forces used in overnight attacks. The intercepts took place over the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr regions, the military said. Officials in Kaluga also reported damage to several buildings, while one person was reported hurt in Lipetsk. Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. …

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — krainian officials are expected to present a partial ceasefire plan with Russia during talks Tuesday with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia. The Ukrainian plan includes halting long-range missiles strikes and a truce covering the Black Sea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not expected to take part in Tuesday’s meetings, with Ukraine represented by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and military commander Pavlo Palisa.  Zelenskyy said on X ahead of the talks that Ukraine hopes for “practical outcomes.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz lead the U.S. delegation amid President Donald Trump’s push to broker a swift end to the war that began in early 2022 with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Rubio said Monday the United States hopes to resolve the pause in aid to Ukraine. He said the U.S. is in a listening mode and aims to understand what concessions Ukraine might be willing to make.  “The Ukrainians are already receiving all defensive intelligence information as we speak. I think all the notion of the pause in aid broadly is something I hope we can resolve. Obviously, I think what happens tomorrow will be key to that,” Rubio told reporters aboard a military plane before landing in Jeddah.  “We’re not going to be sitting in a room drawing lines on a map, but just get a general sense of what concessions are in the realm of the possible for them [Ukrainians],” Rubio said, adding that there is no military solution to the war, and that both Russia and Ukraine need to “do difficult things.”  Later on Monday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Rubio in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah. Salman held a separate meeting with Zelenskyy in Riyadh earlier in the day.  Mineral deal?  Trump has voiced interest in making continued military aid conditional on access to Ukraine’s raw materials.  More than four dozen minerals, including several types of rare earths, nickel and lithium, are considered critical to the U.S. economy and national defense. Ukraine has large deposits of uranium, lithium and titanium.  But Rubio clarified that securing a deal on Ukraine’s mineral resources was not the primary focus of Tuesday’s talks.  “There’s still more details to work out, and at this point, we’re probably — rather than a memorandum of understanding — just wanting … “Ukraine to present peace plan in US talks” →

Russian documentary filmmaker Vitaly Mansky produces Artdocfest, an annual film festival that showcases documentary features from independent film directors. He says most documentary films reflect the negative impact of the war in Ukraine, from resettling Ukrainian refugees to daily struggles of Russians who fled the war and try to set up their life anew in other countries. Click here for the full story in Russian.  …

LONDON — A cargo ship hit a tanker transporting jet fuel for the U.S. military off eastern England on Monday, setting both vessels ablaze and sending fuel pouring into the North Sea. All but one of the 37 crew of the two ships were brought safely ashore. One crew member from the cargo ship, Solong, was missing, the vessel’s owner Ernst Russ said in a statement. The ship owner said “13 of the 14 Solong crew members have been brought safely (to) shore.” The owner of the fuel tanker said all 23 of its crew members were safe. The two ships were still ablaze 12 hours after the collision, British coast guards said. They said they had ended the search for the missing crew member. They confirmed 36 others had been brought ashore, one of whom was hospitalized. The collision triggered a major rescue operation by lifeboats, coast guard aircraft and commercial vessels in the foggy North Sea. The British government said it was assessing “any counter-pollution response which may be required over the coming days.” The Marine Accident Investigation Branch was investigating the cause of the collision. The U.S.-flagged chemical and oil products tanker MV Stena Immaculate was at anchor near the port of Grimsby on Monday morning after sailing from Greece, according to ship-tracking site VesselFinder. The Portugal-flagged container ship Solong was sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands when it struck the tanker’s side. U.S.-based maritime management firm Crowley, which operates the Stena Immaculate, said the tanker “sustained a ruptured cargo tank containing Jet-A1 fuel,” when the container ship struck it, triggering a fire and “multiple explosions onboard,” with fuel released into the sea. The Stena Immaculate was operating as part of the U.S. government’s Tanker Security Program, a group of commercial vessels that can be contracted to carry fuel for the military when needed. The Solong’s cargo included sodium cyanide, which can produce harmful gas when combined with water, according to industry publication Lloyd’s List Intelligence. It was unclear if there had been a leak. Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the alarm was raised at 9:48 a.m. (0948 GMT). Humber Coast Guard asked vessels with firefighting equipment and those who could help with search and rescue to head to the scene about 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of London. Video footage aired by British broadcasters and apparently filmed from a nearby vessel showed … “Cargo ship and tanker collide, catch fire off England; one crew member missing” →

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday the United States hopes to resolve the pause in aid to Ukraine during talks Tuesday with Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Rubio said the U.S. is in a listening mode and aims to understand what concessions Ukraine might be willing to make.  “The Ukrainians are already receiving all defensive intelligence information as we speak. I think all the notion of the pause in aid broadly is something I hope we can resolve. Obviously, I think what happens tomorrow will be key to that,” Rubio told reporters aboard a military plane before landing in Jeddah.  “We’re not going to be sitting in a room drawing lines on a map but just get a general sense of what concessions are in the realm of the possible for them [Ukrainians],” Rubio said, adding that there is no military solution to the war, and that both Russia and Ukraine need to “do difficult things.”  Later on Monday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Rubio in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.  Salman held a separate meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Riyadh earlier in the day.  On Tuesday, Rubio will join U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz for the Jeddah talks with Ukrainian officials as President Donald Trump pushes to broker a swift end to the war.  The Ukrainian delegation includes Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak; Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha; Defense Minister Rustem Umerov; and military commander Pavlo Palisa.  “Strong positions on the front line and strong diplomacy must work together to achieve a just and lasting peace,” Zelenskyy wrote in a social media posting late Monday.   Mineral deal?  Trump has voiced interest in making continued military aid conditional on access to Ukraine’s raw materials.  More than four dozen minerals, including several types of rare earths, nickel and lithium, are considered critical to the U.S. economy and national defense. Ukraine has large deposits of uranium, lithium and titanium.  But Rubio clarified that securing a deal on Ukraine’s mineral resources was not the primary focus of Tuesday’s talks.  “There’s still more details to work out, and at this point, we’re probably — rather than a memorandum of understanding — just wanting to sign a specific agreement. And that would take a little bit more time,” he told reporters.  “I wouldn’t prejudge tomorrow by whether or not we … “Rubio in Saudi Arabia for US-Ukraine talks, hopes to resolve Ukraine aid pause” →

French President Emmanuel Macron denounced Monday what he called “increasingly uninhibited Russian attempts at destabilization” in Moldova as his Moldovan counterpart Maia Sandu visited Paris. Sandu was sworn in for a second term in December, after Russia was accused of interfering in elections in the former Soviet republic that borders Ukraine. “We have decided to again reinforce our cooperation to increase Moldova’s resilience faced with foreign interference,” Macron said as both signed a deal to cooperate on detecting digital disinformation. Sandu said both countries were “committing to join forces in fighting disinformation. … Because in today’s world, truth is as vital as security.” Sandu accused Russia, which launched its invasion of neighboring Ukraine three years ago, of using the “tools of a modern imperialist.” Macron’s office said VIGINUM, the French government agency set up to detect digital disinformation campaigns, would increase its work with the Moldovan Strategic Communication Center, including to “protect electoral processes.” Sandu, the country’s first woman elected head of state, owed her reelection in large part to a strong turnout from Moldova’s large diaspora. But rural areas of the country — sandwiched between NATO member Romania and war-torn Ukraine — and separatist Transnistria, where Russian troops are stationed, remain pro-Moscow, as does the autonomous Gagauzia region. Authorities reported numerous “attempts at destabilizing” the election, including disinformation, vote buying, death threats, cyberattacks and bussing in voters. The Kremlin accused Moldova of suppressing “the opposition and independent media, especially Russian-language outlets.” …

LONDON — Britain is seeking to finalize a deal on handing sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after U.S. President Donald Trump said last month that he was “inclined” to support the deal. However, critics say the agreement could threaten the security of a joint U.S.-U.K. military base on the islands amid fears of China’s close ties with Mauritius. Many of the original inhabitants of the islands who were forcibly expelled to make way for the base on Diego Garcia in the 1960s and 1970s are also critical of the agreement and say their voices have been ignored. British colony The Chagos Islands, officially known as the “British Indian Ocean Territory,” are one of the last vestiges of the British Empire. They comprise more than 60 islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the largest of which is Diego Garcia. Britain officially took ownership of the archipelago from France after the defeat of French leader and Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815. The islands were administered from Mauritius, which argues it was illegally forced to give up the Chagos Islands in return for its own independence from Britain in 1968. In an advisory opinion in 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled “… the process of decolonization of Mauritius was not lawfully completed when that country acceded to independence.” The judges added that Britain is under an obligation “to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible.” Sovereignty negotiations Negotiations between Britain and Mauritius on ceding sovereignty have been going on for several years. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, has sought to finalize the agreement since winning power in July last year. Speaking to British lawmakers last month, Starmer said a deal was vital to secure the future of the U.S. military base. “This is a military base that is vital for our national security. A number of years ago, the legal certainty of that base was thrown into doubt. … Without legal certainty, the base cannot operate in practical terms as it should. That is bad for our national security and it’s a gift to our adversaries,” Starmer said on Feb. 5. British media report that Britain will cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands and pay Mauritius around $116 million a year for 99 years to lease back Diego Garcia and allow the military … “British plan to cede Chagos Islands sovereignty prompts concerns over China threat” →

Russia said Monday it was expelling two British diplomats based at the embassy in Moscow over spying allegations that the U.K. called “malicious and baseless.”  Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement quoted by the state news agency RIA Novosti that the two diplomats had provided false personal data while seeking permission to enter the country and had engaged in alleged intelligence and subversive activities that threatened Russia’s security. It didn’t offer any evidence.  According to the RIA Novosti report, a decision has been made to revoke the diplomats’ accreditations, and they have been ordered to leave Russia within two weeks. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a separate statement that it summoned a British Embassy official. “Moscow will not tolerate the activities of undeclared British intelligence officers on Russian territory,” it said.  The Foreign Office in London said in a statement: “This is not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff.” It did not say whether the U.K. planned any retaliatory moves.  The FSB last year accused seven British diplomats of spying. Six expulsions were announced in September, and one more in November. The U.K. called the moves at the time “baseless.” The expulsions came amid soaring tensions over the war in Ukraine and after London decided to revoke the credentials of an attaché at the Russian Embassy and limit Moscow’s diplomatic activities in Britain.  Last month, London expelled a Russian diplomat in response to the November expulsion.  In May 2024, the U.K. expelled Russia’s defense attaché in London, alleging he was an undeclared intelligence officer, and it closed several Russian diplomatic properties in Britain that it said were being used for spying. Days later Russia reciprocated and expelled Britain’s defense attaché.  Expulsions of diplomats — both Western envoys working in Russia and Russians in the West — have become increasingly common since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.  In 2023, the Russian news outlet RBC said Western countries and Japan had expelled a total of 670 Russian diplomats between the start of 2022 and October 2023, while Moscow responded by expelling 346 diplomats. According to RBC, that was more than in the previous 20 years combined. …

London — An oil tanker and a cargo ship collided off the coast of eastern England Monday, setting both vessels on fire and triggering a major rescue operation, emergency services said.  At least 32 casualties were brought ashore, but their condition was not immediately clear.  Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, said 13 casualties were brought in on a Windcat 33 vessel, followed by another 19 on a harbor pilot boat.  Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency said several lifeboats and a coast guard rescue helicopter were dispatched to the scene in the North Sea, along with a coast guard plane and nearby vessels with firefighting capability.  The RNLI lifeboat agency said, “there were reports that a number of people had abandoned the vessels following a collision and there were fires on both ships.” It said three lifeboats were working on search and rescue at the scene alongside the coast guard.  Video footage aired by the BBC and apparently filmed from a nearby vessel showed thick black smoke pouring from both ships.  Boyers, the port chief, said he had been told there was “a massive fireball.”  “It’s too far out for us to see — about 10 miles — but we have seen the vessels bringing them in,” he said.  The tanker, believed to be the U.S.-flagged chemical and oil products carrier MV Stena Immaculate, was at anchor at the time after sailing from Greece, according to ship-tracking site VesselFinder. The cargo vessel, Portugal-flagged container ship Solong, was sailing from Grangemouth in Scotland to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.  Coast guard officials said the alarm was raised at 9:48 a.m. local time (0948 GMT). The site of the collision is off the coast of Hull, about 155 miles (250 kilometers) north of London.  …

The Titans Cup, an all-Ukrainian wheelchair basketball tournament, was held last month in western Ukraine for the first time in nearly 10 years, bringing together teams from across the country. Holding such an event during wartime is a milestone for Ukrainian adaptive sports. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. VOA footage and video editing by Yuriy Dankevych. …

Rome — Pope Francis is participating in the Vatican’s weeklong spiritual retreat from a Rome hospital as he continued his recovery on Monday from double pneumonia and looks ahead to the 12th anniversary of his election amid questions about what the future of his papacy might look like.  Francis followed the opening of the retreat by videoconference on Sunday. He could see and hear the Rev. Roberto Pasolini, preacher of the papal household, but the priests, bishops and cardinals in the Vatican auditorium couldn’t see or hear him.  Pasolini delivered a meditation on “The hope of eternal life,” a theme that was chosen well before Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 with a complex lung infection.  The retreat, which is an annual gathering that kicks off the Catholic Church’s solemn Lenten season leading to Easter, continues through the week. The Vatican has said Francis would participate “in spiritual communion” with the rest of the hierarchy, from afar.  In its early update Monday, the Vatican said Francis was resting after a quiet night.  At the time of his hospitalization last month, the 88-year-old pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, had what was then just a bad case of bronchitis. The infection progressed into a complex respiratory tract infection and double pneumonia that has sidelined Francis for the longest period of his 12-year papacy and raised questions about the future.  He has now remained in stable condition for over a week, with no fever, respiratory crises and good oxygen levels in his blood for several days, doctors reported.  The doctors said that such stability was in itself a positive thing and showed he was responding well to therapy. But they kept his prognosis as “guarded,” meaning that he’s not out of danger. Doctors were expected to provide a medical update later Monday.  On Thursday, the Vatican will mark the 12th anniversary of Francis’ election, the first with the pope out of sight but still very much in charge. Francis was elected the 266th pope, the first Jesuit pope and first from Latin America, on March 13, 2013, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.  On Sunday, Francis met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the chief of staff, Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, for the third time at the hospital. Such meetings are the routine way the pope governs, and … “Pope following Vatican’s spiritual retreat from afar as he recovers from pneumonia in hospital  “ →

BUCHAREST — Romanian far-right pro-Russian presidential contender Calin Georgescu will challenge a decision to bar him from taking part in a rerun of the election in May, one of his advisers told Reuters on Monday. Georgescu submitted his presidential bid on Friday after allegations of Russian interference in his favor prompted Romania’s Constitutional Court to cancel the original election in December. Moscow denied the allegations of meddling. On Sunday, Romania’s central election authority said it had decided to bar Georgescu’s candidacy, saying it was inadmissible after the Constitutional Court’s annulment of the December vote. Challenges to decisions by Romania’s central election authority must be filed within 24 hours. The Constitutional Court should rule on Georgescu’s appeal by Wednesday. Analysts have said it is unlikely that the top court will allow Georgescu to run again for the presidency in Romania, a member state of the European Union and NATO which shares a long border with Ukraine. The court set a precedent in October when it blocked the candidacy of another far-right candidate, arguing that her anti-European, pro-Russian views made her unfit for office. If the court upholds the central election authority’s decision, the three ultranationalist parties, which hold 35% of seats in parliament and which backed Georgescu’s previous bid for the presidency, risk having no candidate in the May election. George Simion, leader of the opposition Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR), the second largest party in Romania’s parliament, said he would meet with Georgescu on Monday. Asked if he was considering submitting his own candidacy, Simion told reporters: “We wait to see what Mr. Georgescu will say. We are not ruling out any options, but we are not speculators.” Georgescu is under criminal investigation on six counts, including membership in a fascist organization and communicating false information about campaign financing. He has denied any wrongdoing.   …

Russian and Ukrainian officials reported fighting in Ukraine’s Sumy region, with Russian advances in the area creating the potential for cutting off supply lines to Ukraine’s military. The officials said clashes were taking place in the Novenke area. Sumy is located across the border from Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops launched an offensive in August. Russian forces occupied parts of Sumy during the early part of their full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began more than three years ago. Ukraine’s military said Monday it shot down 130 Russian drones overnight that targeted areas across the country. Intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy, Vinnytsia and Zaporizhzhia regions, the military said. Officials in Poltava reported damage to several residential buildings. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday its air defenses destroyed nine Ukrainian drones over Samara, Voronezh, Oryol, Belgorod and Kursk. Some information for this story was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters …