Category: European Union

ROME — The Vatican carried on with its Holy Year celebrations without the pope Saturday, as Pope Francis battled pneumonia and a complex respiratory infection that doctors say remains touch-and-go and will keep him hospitalized for at least another week. Francis slept well overnight, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said in a brief early update Saturday. But doctors have warned that the main threat facing the 88-year-old Francis would be the onset of sepsis, a serious infection of the blood that can occur as a complication of pneumonia. As of Friday, there was no evidence of any sepsis, and Francis was responding to the various drugs he is taking, the pope’s medical team said in their first in-depth update on the pope’s condition. “He is not out of danger,” said his personal physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone. “So, like all fragile patients, I say they are always on the golden scale: In other words, it takes very little to become unbalanced.” Francis, who has chronic lung disease, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened. Doctors first diagnosed the complex viral, bacterial and fungal respiratory tract infection and then the onset of pneumonia in both lungs. They prescribed “absolute rest” and a combination of cortisone and antibiotics, along with supplemental oxygen when he needs it. Carbone, who along with Francis’ personal nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, organized care for him at the Vatican, acknowledged he had insisted on staying at the Vatican to work even after he was sick “because of institutional and private commitments.” He was cared for by a cardiologist and infectious specialist in addition to his personal medical team before being hospitalized. Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the head of medicine and surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, said the biggest threat facing Francis was that some of the germs that are currently located in his respiratory system pass into the bloodstream, causing sepsis. Sepsis can lead to organ failure and death. “Sepsis, with his respiratory problems and his age, would be really difficult to get out of,” Alfieri told a press conference Friday at Gemelli. “The English say, ‘knock on wood,’ we say ‘touch iron.’ Everyone touch what they want,” he said as he tapped the microphone. “But this is the real risk in these cases: that these germs pass to the bloodstream.” “He knows he’s in danger,” Alfieri said. “And he told us to relay that.” … “Pope’s doctors say sepsis could threaten his fight against pneumonia” →

Preparations are underway for a face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said Saturday, marking a dramatic shift away from Western isolation of Moscow over its war in Ukraine. Speaking to Russian state media, Sergei Ryabkov said a possible Putin-Trump summit could involve broad talks on global issues, not just the war in Ukraine. “The question is about starting to move toward normalizing relations between our countries, finding ways to resolve the most acute and potentially very, very dangerous situations, of which there are many, Ukraine among them,” he said. But he said that efforts to organize such a meeting are at an early stage, and that making it happen will require “the most intensive preparatory work.” Ryabkov said that U.S. and Russian envoys could meet “within the next two weeks” to pave the way for further talks between senior officials. Russian and U.S. representatives on Tuesday agreed to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties, according to the two countries’ top diplomats, at a high-level meeting in Saudi Arabia that marked an extraordinary about-face in U.S. foreign policy under Trump. After the meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the AP that the two sides agreed broadly to pursue three goals: to restore staffing at their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow; to create a high-level team to support Ukraine peace talks; and to explore closer relations and economic cooperation. He stressed, however, that the talks — which were attended by his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and other senior Russian and U.S. officials — marked the beginning of a conversation, and that more work needs to be done. Lavrov, for his part, hailed the meeting as “very useful.” No Ukrainian officials were present at the meeting, which came as the beleaguered country is slowly but steadily losing ground against more-numerous Russian troops, three years after Moscow launched an all-out invasion of its smaller neighbor. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country would not accept any outcome from the talks since Kyiv didn’t take part, and he postponed his own trip to Saudi Arabia scheduled for last Wednesday. European allies also have expressed concerns they are being sidelined. …

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been branded “a dictator without elections,” but rivals are already circling for his job as expectations mount of a vote later this year. U.S. President Donald Trump’s broadside at Zelenskyy hit a sensitive spot. Presidential elections in Ukraine should have been held in March or April 2024. But they were not — due to Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ukraine’s constitution bars elections during martial law, which was imposed by Kyiv just a day after the Kremlin launched its all-out war in February 2022. There are also major security concerns. Packed polling stations would make tempting targets for a Russian military that has repeatedly struck civilian targets, including schools, hospitals and apartment buildings. RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service found people in Kyiv opposed to the idea when it spoke to them on Feb. 20. “We have Russian-occupied territory where people will not be able to vote and will not be able to make their own choice,” said one woman. “Who can run a campaign in a time of war?” said another voter. The same day, some 130 Ukrainian civic groups issued a joint statement declaring the impossibility of holding elections under current circumstances. “Only after the end of the war and the achievement of a stable peace … will it be possible to organize elections freely, fairly, democratically, and accessibly,” they wrote. Nevertheless, presidential hopefuls are already making what appear to be their first cautious moves. There’s expectation in the air that some kind of ceasefire or peace deal will emerge this year, making elections possible within a matter of months. Former President Petro Poroshenko has even given a date, Oct. 26, which he says was revealed by insiders in Zelenskyy’s office and which would coincide with other elections. “According to the constitution, there should be parliamentary elections at the end of the year. Although they should have taken place two years ago. And at the end of October, we should have had local elections,” he said. Zelenskyy’s party denied any plans for Oct. 26. The president has said elections could take place this year if martial law is lifted — something that would be possible after a deal to stop the fighting. Pro-Russian figures have also started getting active. Yuriy Boyko, who came in fourth in the 2019 election, launched a TikTok campaign in December that echoed Kremlin talking points and earned him an invitation for questioning from … “As war rages, Ukraine’s politicians circle presidential ‘electric chair’” →

WASHINGTON — This week, thousands of conservative politicians, activists and influencers convened outside Washington for the Conservative Political Action Conference, the premier annual gathering of the American right. The four-day event, hosted by the American Conservative Union since 1974, features U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, among other high-profile speakers from around the world. Dubbed the “Woodstock for conservatives,” CPAC was once the go-to event for conservative Republicans and presidential hopefuls, with its presidential straw poll serving as a barometer of grassroots support. However, Trump’s political rise in recent years has transformed it into a platform for populism. Driven by the rise of populist movements globally, the conference has ventured overseas in the past decade. It launched its first international conference in Japan in 2017, expanded to Australia, Brazil and South Korea in 2019, then added Hungary, Mexico and Israel in 2022. Argentina joined the fold last year following the election of populist President Javier Milei. The international conferences, CPAC says, serve to “unite conservatives from all over the world, strengthen the movement, and challenge globalism.” They are also used for public outreach, recruitment and mobilization, according to a recent paper on CPAC by Grant A. Silverman, a research assistant at George Washington University in Washington. CPAC’s growing international outreach mirrors a recent surge in far-right populism worldwide. Last year’s foreign speakers included Presidents Nayib Bukele of El Salvador and Javier Milei of Argentina, as well as Prime Minister Victor Orbán of Hungary. Here’s a look at some of the foreign speakers for this year’s CPAC and what they’re saying: Javier Milei, Argentine president Milei, wielding a chain saw, electrified the CPAC crowd Thursday when he shared the stage with billionaire Elon Musk and presented Musk, Trump’s cost-cutting czar, with his signature campaign prop. “This is the chain saw of bureaucracy,” Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, shouted, waving the tool. As head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk, who made his first CPAC appearance, is spearheading the Trump administration’s massive governmentwide cost-cutting efforts. This marks Milei’s third CPAC appearance. The self-styled “anarcho-capitalist” campaigned in 2023 on shrinking Argentina’s government, often brandishing a chain saw at rallies. At last year’s Washington conference, he vowed to eliminate unnecessary government agencies, declaring, “We will not surrender until we make Argentina great again!” Speaking at CPAC Argentina in December, Milei declared that the “new winds of freedom are sweeping … “Amid rising worldwide populism, America’s premier conservative conference goes global” →

Uncertainty looms over U.S.-Ukraine relations as Ukraine enters the fourth year of war with Russia. Recent shifts in Washington’s rhetoric have raised fears that Ukraine could be pressured into an unfavorable peace deal — or be left to confront Russia without U.S. support. While most Ukrainians are now in favor of peace talks, many insist any settlement be on Ukraine’s terms. Myroslava Gongadze has the story from Warsaw, Poland, with reporting from Anna Chernikova in Kyiv, Ukraine. …

Pope Francis’ medical team said Friday that his medical condition was not life-threatening, but that the pontiff was not out of danger. “If the question is, ‘Is he out of danger?’ the answer is, ‘No,’ ” Sergio Alfieri, the head of the team of doctors at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital taking care of the pope, said. “But if you then ask us if, at this moment, his life is in danger, the answer is [also], ‘No.’” The doctors said Francis was in good spirits and had maintained his sense of humor. Alfieri said when he greeted the pope Friday in the pope’s hospital suite as “Holy Father,” the pope returned the greeting with “Holy Son.” Francis, the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics, was admitted to the hospital last week after a case of bronchitis worsened. At the hospital, he was diagnosed with double pneumonia and a complex bacterial, viral and fungal infection, and doctors placed Francis on a strengthened drug therapy. Francis also has been receiving supplements of oxygen when needed, his doctors said Friday. Alfieri said Francis was not on a ventilator. Alfieri said there was a possibility that germs from Francis’ respiratory tract could enter his bloodstream, causing sepsis, but there was currently no evidence that it had happened. Sepsis is a complication of an infection that can lead to organ failure and death. The 88-year-old pontiff has been able to get out of bed and do some work, according to his doctors. They said Francis would remain in the hospital “at least” through next week. With his hospitalization, there has been speculation about Francis stepping down from his duties as head of the Roman Catholic Church, a post he has held since 2013. His immediate predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, was the first pope in 600 years to resign. In a recent memoir, Francis addressed the possibility of his own resignation if he became incapacitated. He said such a move would be a “distant possibility,” justified only if he were facing “a serious physical impediment.” However, in 2022, Francis confirmed he wrote a resignation letter not long after becoming pope. He said it was written in case medical issues prevented him from executing his papal duties. The Catholic faithful around the world have been encouraged to pray for Francis’ rapid recovery. On Friday in the Philippines, a hourlong prayer was held for Francis at the Manila Cathedral. Francis … “Pope’s condition not life-threatening, but his life is still in danger, doctors say” →

berlin — A man was seriously injured in a stabbing at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial, police said Friday evening, two days before a watershed national election.  Police said they did not know the identity or motive of the male attacker, who was still at large. The investigation was continuing.   Video of the scene showed emergency vehicles and heavily armored police lined along one side of the memorial site, a vast field of grey concrete pillars. The memorial is across a street from the U.S. Embassy.   “An as yet unidentified male suspect attacked a person standing here, who was so seriously injured that he had to be taken by the fire brigade to hospital for emergency treatment,” police spokesperson Florian Nath said.  The attack occurred around 6 p.m. (1700 GMT). The victim’s life was not in danger, and he was being prepared for surgery, Nath said.  He added that police did not believe there was any imminent danger to the public.  The monument, one of the German capital’s most sacred sites, commemorates the 6 million Jews murdered by Adolf Hitler’s Nazis during World War II, one of the darkest episodes in human history and a continuing focus of German historical atonement.  The area surrounding the monument was sealed off.  The national election campaign, in which polls suggest a far-right party could come in second place for the first time in nine decades, has been marred by a series of high-profile attacks. One of those was a stabbing blamed on an Afghan immigrant, which prompted a fraught debate on immigration.  Earlier on Friday, an 18-year-old ethnic Chechen was arrested on suspicion of planning an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Berlin, Bild newspaper reported.   …

BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA — Thousands rallied across Slovakia on Friday to mark the seventh anniversary of the slayings of an investigative journalist and his fiancee. The rallies are part of a wave of protests against the pro-Russia policies of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico. People in Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, observed a minute of silence to honor Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova, both age 27. They were shot to death at their home in the town of Velka Maca, east of Bratislava, on Feb. 21, 2018. The killings prompted major street protests unseen since the 1989 anti-communist Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. The ensuing political crisis led to the collapse of a coalition government headed by Fico. Kuciak had been investigating possible government corruption, among other issues, when he was killed. People applauded the parents of Kuciak and the mother of Kusnirova, who greeted them from the stage. “I believe that our common fight will be successful,” said Jozef Kuciak, the father of Jan. Marian Kocner, a businessman who had been accused of masterminding the killings, has been acquitted twice. Prosecutors have said they believe Kocner paid the convicted triggerman to carry it out and appealed. The current anti-government protests are the biggest demonstrations since the 2018 slayings. They are fueled by Fico’s recent trip to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a rare visit to the Kremlin by a European Union leader since Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine began almost three years ago and his recent remarks that Slovakia might leave the 27-nation EU and NATO. “We’ve had enough of Fico,” people chanted. The crowds at rallies in 47 towns and cities at home and 16 abroad, according to organizers, demanded Fico’s resignation. About 10,000 protesters chanted “Resign, resign,” at Freedom Square in Bratislava. Fico’s views on Russia have sharply differed from the European mainstream. He returned to power last year after his leftist party Smer (Direction) won a parliamentary election in 2023. He has since ended Slovakia’s military aid for Ukraine, criticized EU sanctions on Russia and vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO. He declared Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as an enemy after Ukraine halted on Russian gas supplies to Slovakia and some other European customers. …

BERLIN — German police said Friday they have arrested an 18-year-old Russian man on suspicion of planning a “politically motivated” attack in Berlin, two days before national elections. The man was detained late Thursday in the state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin, police and prosecutors said in a statement. Authorities did not provide further details about the attack plot, but the Tagesspiegel newspaper reported the suspect was Chechen and is believed to have been planning an attack on the Israeli Embassy. The Israeli Embassy could not be reached for comment outside of business hours, while state prosecutors and the Russian Embassy did not immediately respond to written requests for comment from Reuters. German newspaper Bild reported Friday that the investigation had been the result of a tip-off from a foreign intelligence agency. It said the suspect had been trying to leave the country via Berlin’s BER airport when he was detained. Riot police and specialist officers were involved in making the arrest, which came after that tip-off, officials said. “No further details as to the background and motive can be given for the moment to protect the investigation,” they added. The man appeared in court Friday and was remanded in custody. German authorities are on high alert ahead of Sunday’s federal elections. Some material in this report is from Reuters. …

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a peaceful resolution to Russia’s now three-year war in Ukraine. VOA examined several approaches floated by think tanks recently aimed at achieving a lasting peace to the war. Maximum pressure strategy A plan by the Center for European Policy Analysis, or CEPA, titled “How to Win: A Seven-Point Plan for Sustainable Peace in Ukraine,” calls for “a maximum pressure strategy to bring Russia to the negotiating table in good faith.” It proposes that the U.S. and its allies: “Should provide immediate materiel support to Ukraine without caveats, aiming to wear down Russia’s military and thereby improve Ukraine’s negotiating position.” “Should increase sanctions on Russian financial institutions and energy sector entities, release frozen Russian assets to support Ukrainian defense and reconstruction and enact secondary sanctions to intensify economic pressure not only on Russia but also on the authoritarian regimes of China, Iran, and North Korea.”   CEPA says that “Ukraine and Europe” must be included in any peace talks with Russia, that the U.S. should support “a European-led coalition of the willing” to enforce any “ceasefire line with an international force,” and that “European allies must make consistent and as rapid as possible progress toward Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.” One of the report’s authors, Catherine Sendak, CEPA’s director for transatlantic defense and security, told VOA’s Ukrainian service that the United States should enter talks with Russia only having “equipped Ukraine with the strongest possible means” and using its toughest “diplomatic tools.” She added that the issue of Ukraine’s possible membership in NATO should not be included in talks with Russia. “To discuss that with a non-NATO member … I don’t believe it is advantageous to any negotiation,” Sendak said, noting that it would give Russia “veto power, if you will, over … choosing members to join the alliance or not.” Negotiating tactics Josh Rudolph, a German Marshall Fund senior fellow and head of its Transatlantic Democracy Working Group, worked on Russian and Ukrainian policy at the National Security Council during the first Trump administration. Last month, he offered policy recommendations to the current Trump administration on ending the Ukraine conflict. Among them: “Approach [Russian President Vladimir] Putin from a position of strength. Whereas Putin looked tough and capable at the outset of Trump’s first term, his blunder in Ukraine has left him diminished. … As the dominant partner in this relationship, … “Four scenarios for securing peace in Ukraine” →

RFE/RL   — Iya Rashevskaya was told her husband — a member of the country’s armed forces – had gone missing in the frontline in the eastern Donetsk region, in April 2023.  The news of Serhiy Skotarenko’s disappearance came just a month after he had joined the military, having given up his job abroad.  Rashevskaya soon found out that her husband, a native of Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhya region, was alive and being held captive in Chechnya along with several other Ukrainian prisoners of war.  A Ukrainian soldier who was released in a prisoner swap in June 2023 told Rashevskaya that he and Skotarenko had been held in the same jail in Chechnya.  Rashevskaya recalls getting an unexpected, brief video call from her husband in August 2023.  “My husband asked about me and our children. He also asked me to help him to return home, saying we were his only hope,” Rashevskaya said. “He looked awful, he has lost a lot of weight.”  Ukrainian captives in Chechnya “were being held in a basement and survived on instant noodles, bread, and water,” according to Rashevskaya.  Ukrainian authorities estimate that more than 150 Ukrainian POWs are currently being held in Chechnya, a Russian region ruled by authoritarian leader Ramzan Kadyrov.  Kadyrov says the soldiers were captured by Chechen military units fighting alongside other Russian forces in Ukraine.  But Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of POWs has claimed that Chechnya also often “buys” Ukrainian captives from various Russian military units to use them as a bargaining chip in negotiations.  RFE/RL cannot independently verify the claim.  Some of the Ukrainian captives were exchanged with Chechen fighters seized by Ukrainian forces.  Kadyrov, a vocal supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has sent thousands of Chechen fighters to Ukraine since the invasion began three years ago.  In December 2024, Kadyrov threatened to use Ukrainian captives as human shields to protect strategically important buildings in Grozny from Ukrainian drone attacks. He said he would place them on the rooftops of buildings.  He made the statement after Ukrainian drones reportedly hit a police campus in the Chechen capital.  In January 2024, Kadyrov offered to release 20 Ukrainian captives in exchange for the removal of U.S. sanctions against his relatives and horses.  Kadyrov, 48, and several of his family members, including his mother, Aymani Kadyrova, have been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union in recent years.  Kadyrova, 71, … “Russian region holding Ukrainian Prisoners of War as ‘bargaining chip’” →

Vice President JD Vance sketched his conservative view of foreign affairs Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, accompanied by foreign politicians who say they support President Donald Trump’s agenda. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington. Camera: Anthony LaBruto …

Pope Francis “had a restful night,” and Thursday morning “got out of bed and had breakfast in an armchair,” the Vatican said in a statement. Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital last week with bronchitis, which then developed into double pneumonia. Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said Thursday that the pope now has focal pneumonia with limited areas of infection in the lungs. Bruni said Francis is breathing on his own, and his heart is stable. An earlier statement Thursday reported the pope’s clinical condition as “stable,” and his blood tests had shown “a slight improvement, particularly in the inflammatory indices.” Wednesday evening, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited the pope for 20 minutes in the hospital’s special papal suite. “We joked as always,” the prime minister said in a statement afterward. “He hasn’t lost his proverbial sense of humor.” Francis, whose birth name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has been the head of the Roman Catholic Church since 2013, when his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, resigned from the papacy. In a recent memoir, Francis addressed the possibility of his own resignation if he became incapacitated. He said such a move would be a “distant possibility,” justified only if facing “a serious physical impediment.” “We are all worried about the pope,” Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, told Agence France-Presse. Zuppi said, however, that the reports about Francis eating and greeting people are good indications that “we are on the right path to a full recovery, which we hope will happen soon.” Speaking at a Vatican news conference about a Mediterranean youth peace initiative, Cardinal Juan Jose Omella Omella of Barcelona compared the papacy to a train to give reassurances that the work of the papacy will continue, even with Francis’ hospitalization. “Popes change, we bishops change, priests in parishes change, communities change, but the train continues being on the move,” the cardinal said. Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse. …

The fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continued Thursday, with Trump doubling down on his claim Zelenskyy is a dictator because he has not held elections since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has reaction from around the world. …

WASHINGTON — Hoping to head off a potential trade conflict, a top European Union official stressed the importance of active engagement and fairness in trade during a four-hour meeting with Trump administration officials. “The top objective as it was presented to us yesterday by our American partners is reciprocity,” Maros Sefcovic, the European commissioner for trade and economic security, told reporters at a Thursday briefing. Sefcovic met on Wednesday with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and Jamieson Greer, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the U.S. trade representative. Trump has thrown the decades long partnership between the U.S. and Europe into turmoil by pledging to charge higher taxes on imports from Europe that he says would match the tariffs faced by American products. But Trump’s plan for fair tariffs would also include the value added tax — which is akin to a sales tax — charged in Europe that could drastically push up import taxes and potentially trigger a broader trade conflict if the EU imposed retaliatory measures. A broader trade war risks both an economic slowdown and higher inflation that could create financial challenges for millions of families and potentially hurt political support for Trump, as voters in 2024’s election specifically wanted him to lower price pressures. Trump also has proposed separate sectoral tariffs on autos, pharmaceutical drugs and computer chips, in addition to having already imposed 25% steel and aluminum tariffs with no avenues to provide exceptions or exemptions. Additionally, the U.S. president also has tariffs ready on Mexico and Canada over his claims that more should be done on illegal immigration and drug smuggling, though he suspended those tariffs for 30 days for ongoing talks. The import taxes that could potentially harm the U.S. auto sector and other industries could potentially begin in March. At Thursday’s White House news briefing, Hassett said that he and Lutnick had talks with a Mexican delegation about resolving the issues. “We want trade to be fair,” Hassett said. The EU official tried in his conversation with White House officials to equate the value added tax as similar to a sales tax as its paid by the final consumer, but he said that the issue had not been resolved. Sefcovic also said they discussed the industrial overcapacity of China, particularly in steel, and that the U.S. and EU should work together to tackle that problem, instead … “EU official meets with Trump counterparts to resolve tariff threats” →

Azerbaijan’s government has ordered the suspension of the Azerbaijani operation of BBC News, the British news agency confirmed Thursday. In a statement, the BBC said it had made the “reluctant decision” to close its office in the country after receiving a verbal instruction from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We deeply regret this restrictive move against press freedom, which will hinder our ability to report to and from Azerbaijan for our audiences inside and outside the country,” a BBC spokesperson said in a statement. The suspension comes after Azerbaijani state-run media last week reported that the Azerbaijani government wanted to reduce the number of BBC staff working in the country to one. The BBC said it has received nothing in writing about the suspension from the Azerbaijani government. While the news agency seeks clarification, its team of journalists in the country have stopped their journalistic activities, according to the BBC. Neither Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry nor its Washington embassy immediately responded to VOA’s emails seeking comment. The BBC has operated in Azerbaijan since 1994. The news agency says its Azerbaijani service reached an average of 1 million people every week. The BBC suspension marks the continuation of a harsh crackdown on independent media that the Azerbaijani government has engaged in for years. Azerbaijan is among the worst jailers of journalists in the world. As of last week, at least 23 journalists were jailed in the former Soviet country in retaliation for their work, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Many of the journalists jailed in Azerbaijan are accused of foreign currency smuggling, which media watchdogs have rejected as a sham charge. Among those jailed is Farid Mehralizada, an economist and journalist with the Azerbaijani Service of VOA’s sister outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Jailed since May 2024, Mehralizada faces charges of conspiring to smuggle foreign currency and “illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, tax evasion and document forgery.” He and his employer reject the charges, which carry a combined sentence of up to 12 years behind bars. …

U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg met in Kyiv Thursday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but there was no immediate word on whether they had eased U.S.-Ukrainian relations after U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy traded barbs this week over Russia’s three-year war against Ukraine. Kellogg said upon arriving in the Ukrainian capital that he was there to listen to Zelenskyy’s views after officials in Kyiv voiced their anger at being excluded this week when the top U.S. and Russian diplomats met in Saudi Arabia to lay the groundwork for talks to end the fighting. After Kellogg met with Zelenskyy, the two men were expected to hold a news conference, but the Ukrainian side said the Americans asked that it be called off, and it was. Trump and Zelenskyy assailed each other this week. The U.S. president, echoing Russian attacks, called Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections,” while Zelenskyy accused Trump of living in a Russian-influenced “disinformation space” when the U.S. leader indicated that Ukraine started the war. It was Moscow that invaded its neighbor three years ago next week. Ukraine fears that Trump is moving to settle the war on terms more favorable to Moscow. Russia currently controls about a fifth of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory. U.S. Vice President JD Vance told a gathering of conservative activists outside Washington on Thursday that Trump “wants the killing to stop” in Ukraine and that “peace is in the interest of the American people.” He said after the U.S.-Russian talks in Riyadh, “We’re on the cusp of peace.” Vance did not mention Ukraine’s role in settling the conflict, although U.S. officials have said Kyiv and Moscow will both be involved in the settlement and have to make concessions to achieve peace. European leaders have responded to Trump’s recent remarks about Ukraine by pledging to step up spending on defense, and some are considering a U.S.-backed European peacekeeping force for the country if the fighting ends. The Kremlin says the plan is a major cause for concern, but Zelenskyy and NATO have welcomed it. “It is vital that … Russia will never again try to take one more square kilometer of Ukrainian land,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said, adding that a peace pact would have to entail robust security guarantees for Ukraine. “While there is much that still needs to be decided, there is no question that Europe has a vital role to play in securing … “US envoy Kellogg, Zelenskyy talk in Kyiv” →

Spain’s High Court in Madrid on Thursday found former Spanish football federation chief Luis Rubiales guilty of sexual assault for kissing player Jenni Hermoso without her consent following the 2023 Women’s World Cup final. The court fined the 47-year-old Rubiales $10,400, and he was ordered to stay at least 200 meters from Hermoso and refrain from communication with her for at least one year. Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of 2½ years. Rubiales was cleared of charges of coercion. Prosecutors alleged he and three other male Spanish federation members and former women’s team coach Jorge Vilda had pressured Hermoso into supporting Rubiales’ claim that the kiss had been consensual. They all were acquitted. The two-week trial was carried live on Spanish television and had been highly anticipated. Rubiales kissed Spanish women’s team member Hermoso on the lips during the awards ceremony in Sydney, Australia, after Spain beat England 1-0 in the Women’s World Cup final in August 2023. The incident sparked outrage within and outside Spain, marring the victory celebration, with many, including government ministers, players and coaches, demanding his resignation. International football’s governing body, FIFA, opened disciplinary proceedings against him. Rubiales, who had been football federation chief since 2018, initially dismissed the kiss as a “peck” but gave in to pressure and resigned in September 2023 after an investigation began. A recent reform of the Spanish penal code classified a nonconsensual kiss as sexual assault. Following the verdict, Spain’s equality minister, Ana Redondo, told the Reuters news service, the court’s decision proves their law is a good one. “It is a law that protects women against aggression,” Redondo said. “Consent, and this is the important thing, is the cornerstone of every relationship.” Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. …

ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST — Ivory Coast officially took control of the last remaining French military base in the country Thursday as most French forces departed from countries across West Africa. Some 80 French troops will stay in the country to advise and train the Ivorian military, Tene Birahima Ouattara, the Ivorian defense and state minister, said at a news conference with the French minister of the armed forces. “The world is changing and changing fast,” Ouattara said. “It’s clear that our defense relationship also had to evolve and be based more on future prospects in the face of the realities of threats and those of a world that has become complex in terms of security, and not on a defense relationship inspired by the past. “France is transforming its presence. France is not disappearing,” he said. Ivory Coast’s announcement follows that of other leaders across West Africa, where the French military is being asked to leave. Analysts have described the requests as part of a broader structural transformation in the region’s engagement with Paris amid growing local sentiments against France, especially in coup-hit countries. French troops who have long been on the ground have in recent years been kicked out of several West African countries, including Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Chad, considered France’s most stable and loyal partner in Africa. France has now been asked to leave more than 70% of African countries where it had a troop presence since ending its colonial rule. The French remain only in Djibouti, with 1,500 soldiers, and Gabon, with 350 troops. After expelling French troops, military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have moved closer to Russia, which has mercenaries deployed across the Sahel who have been accused of abuses against civilians. However, the security situation has worsened in those countries, with increasing numbers of extremist attacks and civilian deaths from armed groups and government forces. The French government has been making efforts to revive its waning political and military influence on the continent by devising a new military strategy. …

BEIJING — China has been “doing its best” to push for negotiations with the European Union over its tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, a commerce ministry spokesperson said on Thursday, almost four months after the punitive import curbs took effect. The bloc voted to increase the tariffs to as much as 45.3% in October after the European Commission — which oversees EU trade policy — launched an anti-subsidy probe into whether Chinese firms benefited from preferential grants and financing as well as land, batteries and raw materials at below market prices. “China has been doing its best to push for negotiations with the EU,” He Yadong said. “It is hoped that the EU will take notice of the call from industry and promote bilateral investment cooperation through dialogue and consultation.” China launched its own probes last year into imports of EU brandy, dairy and pork products. He told reporters China’s anti-dumping probe into Europe’s pork products and anti-subsidy investigation into the 27-strong bloc’s dairy trade were still ongoing, when asked how the cases were progressing. “We will conduct the investigation in an open and transparent manner in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations and World Trade Organization rules,” he added. China’s commerce ministry in December decided to extend its anti-dumping investigation into EU brandy imports by three months to April 5. …

BRUSSELS — The European Commission said Thursday it had approved 920 million-euro of German state aid, or $960 million, to Infineon Technologies for the construction of a new semiconductor manufacturing plant in Dresden. The measure will allow Infineon to complete the MEGAFAB-DD project, which will be able to produce a wide range of different types of computer chips, the Commission said. Chipmakers across the globe are pouring billions of dollars into new plants, as they take advantage of generous subsidies from the United States and the EU to keep the West ahead of China in developing cutting-edge semiconductor technology. The European Commission has earmarked 15 billion euros for public and private semiconductor projects by 2030. “This new manufacturing plant will bring flexible production capacity to the EU and thereby strengthen Europe’s security of supply, resilience and technological autonomy in semiconductor technologies, in line with the objectives set out in the European Chips Act,” the Commission said in a statement. The Commission said the plant — which is slated to reach full capacity in 2031 — will be a front-end facility, covering wafer processing, testing and separation, adding that its chips will be used in industrial, automotive and consumer applications. The aid will take the form of a direct grant of up to 920 million euros to Infineon to support its overall investment, amounting to 3.5 billion euros. Infineon, Germany’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, which was spun off from Siemens 25 years ago, has said the plant will be the largest single investment in its history. Infineon has agreed with the EU to ensure the project will bring wider positive effects to the EU semiconductor value chain and invest in the research and development of the next generation of chips in Europe, the Commission said. It will also contribute to crisis preparedness by committing to implement priority-rated orders in the case of a supply shortage, in line with the European Chips Act.  …

Tens of thousands of people remained without power Thursday in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa as a result of several days of Russian aerial attacks. Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram that crews were working to restore electricity service, and had brought 40,000 customers back online, with another 49,000 still without power. Russian attacks continued Thursday in multiple parts of Ukraine, including in the central region of Cherkasy where Governor Ihor Taburets said air defenses shot down 14 Russian drones. Taburets said on Telegram there was damage to a business and a power line, but no casualties. Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim reported the military shot down a drone over his region. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday it destroyed four Ukrainian drones overnight, including three over Russia-occupied Crimea and one over Bryansk. Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram there were no reports of damage or casualties.  …

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has praised the recent U.S.-Russia talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. “This is a good initiative; it is also beneficial for Kazakhstan,” he said. “We will try to support it as much as possible.” Tokayev’s comments are the first official response from Central Asia to the talks, which sparked serious international debate. Central Asia has been officially neutral in the Ukrainian war and has been largely silent on the three-year-old conflict.  Click here for the full story in the Uzbek.  …

Thousands of residents in Ukraine’s city of Odesa were without electricity or heating after Russia launched a massive drone attack for the second night in a row.  In his address to the nation on Wednesday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said repair work was underway after 80,000 people lost power and the same number lost heating.   Governor Oleh Kiper, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said drone strikes damaged an administration building and triggered a fire at a restaurant and a storage facility. One person was injured.  During the Tuesday attack, four people were injured, including a child. Officials said 500 apartment buildings, 13 schools, a kindergarten, and several hospitals lost heating.  In Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kupiansk, one person was killed Wednesday by a Russian guided bomb, Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Two others were injured in an attack on a village south of the city.  Guided bombs also hit an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Kherson, the head of the city’s military administration posted on Telegram. Three people, including 13-year-old twins, were injured.  One man was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s border region of Belgorod, the regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Wednesday.    Some information for this story was provided by Reuters  …

U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments this week claiming Ukraine was responsible for starting the three-year conflict with Russia and calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “a dictator without elections” drew criticism from congressional Democrats and pushback from some members of the Republican Party. “Clearly, Vladimir Putin is responsible for this war,” Republican Senator Thom Tillis told reporters. “His decision has resulted in the murder, rape, torture and kidnapping of untold numbers of Ukrainians. He owns responsibility for this war. I don’t know how more plainly it can be stated.” Republican Senator John Kennedy told reporters he believes Russia started the war. “I also believe, through bitter experience, that Vladimir Putin is a gangster. He’s a gangster with a black heart,” he added. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune declined to criticize Trump when speaking to reporters Wednesday. “The president speaks for himself,” Thune said. “What I want to see is a peaceful result, a peaceful outcome. And I think right now, there’s a negotiation going on, and let’s see where that ultimately leads.” Republican Senator Josh Hawley said Trump has blamed Russia “as well, and threatened to sanction Russia if they didn’t come to the negotiating table.” The conflict between Trump and Zelenskyy comes as U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday to meet with Zelenskyy. Ukraine was not included in peace talks that began this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between the United States and Russia. Trump brushed off Ukraine’s complaints at not being included in negotiations, saying Tuesday, “You never should have started it.” Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, claiming eastern parts of the country needed to be liberated. U.S. officials say nearly half a million Ukrainian civilians have died in the war and at least 124,000 Ukrainian soldiers. After Trump’s comment, seeming to blame the Ukrainian leader for starting the war, Zelenskyy responded on social media that Trump lives in a “disinformation space” influenced by Russia. Trump responded to Zelenskyy on Truth Social on Wednesday: “Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle. A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.” Hawley … “Trump’s comments on Ukraine draw mixed reaction from US lawmakers” →

President Donald Trump on Wednesday repeated a claim that the United States has spent $350 billion on Ukraine’s war — a figure that far eclipses the amount recorded by the Department of Defense and the interagency oversight group that tracks U.S. appropriations to Ukraine. Since Russia’s illegal invasion in February 2022, the U.S. Congress has appropriated about $183 billion for Ukraine, according to the interagency oversight group that is charged with presenting reports to Congress. Of that, the Pentagon confirmed to VOA that the U.S. has sent $65.9 billion in military aid to Ukraine, and an additional $3.9 billion that Congress has authorized in military aid to Kyiv remains unspent. About $58 billion of the $183 billion in total aid for Ukraine was spent in the U.S., going directly toward boosting the U.S. defense industry, either by replacing old U.S. weapons given to Kyiv with new American-made weapons, by procuring new U.S.-made weapons for Kyiv or by making direct industrial investments. VOA asked the White House to clarify Trump’s comments, specifically seeking any documentation for the mathematical discrepancy. The White House replied by referring VOA back to the president’s comments. In a post Wednesday on his social media site Truth Social, Trump said, “Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle.” Zelenskyy on Wednesday told Ukrainian reporters the total cost of the war since February 2022 was about $320 billion. “One hundred and twenty billion of that comes from us, the people of Ukraine, the taxpayers, and $200 billion from the United States and the European Union,” Zelensky said. “This is the cost of weapons. This is the weapons package — $320 billion.” Trump, who has mentioned the $350 billion figure several times, also said in his Wednesday social media post: “The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back.” The Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a Germany-based nonprofit that tracks military, financial and humanitarian support to Ukraine, says European nations —specifically the EU, United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland — have allocated about $140 billion in total in aid for Ukraine, … “US figures do not support Trump claims on Ukraine spending” →