President Joe Biden wrapped up a busy week of summits in Europe on Wednesday, as the United States reclaimed a leadership role among its democratic allies. Mike O’Sullivan reports. 
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The Taliban said Friday its leaders already had conveyed to Turkey their opposition to any foreign troops remaining in Afghanistan after the U.S. and NATO forces leave the war-torn country by a September 11 deadline.The insurgent group’s statement comes a day after U.S. officials said President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed in their meeting Monday that Turkey would continue providing security at the international airport in Kabul, the Afghan capital, following the troop pullout.“The clear commitment from the leaders was established that Turkey would play a lead role in securing Hamid Karzai International Airport, and we are now working through how to execute to get to that,” Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, told reporters Thursday.Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, when asked for a response to Sullivan’s comments, told VOA that guarding the airports and other locations in the country is the responsibly of Afghans.FILE – Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.“If foreign forces want to retain a military presence here in the name of airport security, Afghans will not allow it and will view them as invaders, be it Turkey or any other country,” Mujahid told VOA.He insisted the Taliban maintain “diplomatic ties” with Turkey and seek “brotherly” relations with the Islamic country. “In recent meetings and discussions with Turkish diplomats they had shared with us [Turkey’s] proposed continued military presence here, but we told them it was unacceptable for us. And they assured us that our stance will be conveyed to their leadership,” Mujahid said. He added that Turkey and America can discuss their bilateral issues, but it is for Afghans alone to decide on how to conduct their “internal affairs and expect others to respect it.”Turkey has about 500 troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led non-combatant military mission in the country and has long provided security for the airport. Kabul airport security is crucial for the working of diplomatic missions in Afghanistan amid concerns intensified hostilities between the Taliban and Afghan forces could plunge the country into another round of civil war following the withdrawal. Australia, which has roughly 80 remaining troops in Afghanistan announced the sudden closure of its diplomatic mission in Kabul earlier this month. US-Taliban dealThe U.S.-led military drawdown, which formally began on May 1, is stemming from an agreement Washington negotiated with the Taliban in February 2020, to end nearly 20 years of American involvement in the Afghan war.   NATO Assistance Essential as US Withdraws from Afghanistan, CENTCOM Chief Says Top US commander in the region says help from NATO allies will be important to keep the pressure on terror groups 
The Taliban say Turkey’s plans to guard and run the Kabul airport will be a violation of the U.S.-Taliban deal. Peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban, however, which resulted in the deal, have had little success and have mostly been stalled, with each side blaming the other for the deadlock.Russia also endorsed Friday the Taliban’s assertions. Russian media quoted Moscow’s presidential envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, as saying that Turkey’s proposed plans run counter to the U.S.-Taliban agreement. “Of course, this is a violation,” Kabulov said.Taliban advancesThe Taliban also have stepped up attacks and made significant battlefield gains across the country since the foreign troop withdrawal started, capturing fully or partially more than two dozen districts.Mainstream Afghan TV channel Arian News reported Friday the insurgents have seized control of 37 districts in the past month or so.Afghan forces have launched counteroffensives to regain the lost territory, leaving scores of combatants dead on both sides. The Defense Ministry claimed Friday that Afghan forces had killed nearly 300 insurgents across different provinces in the last 24 hours. The Taliban also made similar claims of inflicting heavy casualties on government forces, and it released videos on its social media platforms showing scores of Afghan forces surrendering to the insurgents or joining their ranks. Both Afghan rivals routinely issue inflated claims about the fighting, which are difficult to verify from independent sources and the real situation remains unclear. The increase in hostilities also is inflicting casualties on Afghan civilians, who have borne the brunt of the long conflict.
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More than 40 African migrants were rescued after their boat ran aground on the rocky coast of Lanzarote in Spain’s Canary Islands late on Thursday, emergency services said, while over 100 people on two more boats made it safely to other islands.Rescue workers pulled the body of a young boy out of the ocean on Friday afternoon, bringing the total death toll to four, while police divers were preparing to begin searching for one person who remains missing.The bodies of a man and two women, one of whom was pregnant, had been recovered earlier in the day, an emergency services spokesperson said.Local resident Marcos Lemes, who was first on the scene and alerted emergency services, told Reuters he had begun pulling people out of the water after giving his phone to a boy to use as a torch.”I ran out of the house with two buoys that I keep at home and when I got there it was madness … I saw a huge number of people on the reef.”A dozen of the rescued group, including two babies and two young children, were transferred to hospital, the regional emergency services said.Another boat carrying 58 people made it to Fuerteventura and a third with 52 people landed on the tiny island of El Hierro.So far this year more than 5,700 migrants have made the dangerous crossing from Africa to the Canaries archipelago, over twice as many as in the same period in 2020, which itself saw an eight-fold increase from 2019.A record 850 died on the route last year, according to the United Nations migration agency, which suggested COVID-19 had prompted many workers in struggling industries like fishing or agriculture to migrate.With arrival facilities on the Canaries packed to capacity, authorities have housed of migrants thousands in camps where conditions have criticized by rights groups.
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U.S. President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed in a meeting this week that Turkey would take a lead role in securing Kabul’s airport as the United States withdraws troops from Afghanistan, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday. The two leaders, however, could not resolve the long-standing issue of Turkey’s purchase of a Russian S-400 defense system, Sullivan said, a bitter dispute that strained ties between the NATO allies. He added that dialogue on the issue would continue. Sullivan told reporters that Biden and Erdogan, in their meeting on Monday at the NATO summit, had discussed the Afghanistan issue. Erdogan sought certain forms of U.S. support to secure the airport, and Biden committed to providing that support, Sullivan said. “The clear commitment from the leaders was established that Turkey would play a lead role in securing Hamid Karzai International Airport, and we are now working through how to execute to get to that,” Sullivan said, giving the first details from the U.S. side of the meeting, for which the Turkish presidency has not provided details. FILE – People arrive at the domestic terminal of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, May 8, 2018.Turkey and the United States have been at odds over a host of issues including Ankara’s purchase of Russian weaponry and policy differences in Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean, and expectations for a breakthrough in first face-to-face meeting between Erdogan and Biden were slim. The leaders sounded upbeat after their meeting, although they did not announce what concrete progress they made. One potential area of cooperation has been Afghanistan, where Ankara has offered to guard and operate the Kabul airport after U.S. and NATO forces withdraw in coming weeks. The security of the airport is crucial for the operation of diplomatic missions out of Afghanistan as Western forces pull out. Last week, a Taliban spokesman said Turkey should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan under the 2020 deal for the pullout of U.S. forces, but Sullivan said the Taliban comments did not deter the “detailed and effective” security plan the United States was putting together. “Obviously we take seriously the concern that Taliban or other elements in Afghanistan will attack the Western or the international presence. … We do not believe that what the Taliban has said publicly should or will deter the efforts under way right now to establish that security presence,” he said. As president, Biden has adopted a cooler tone toward Erdogan than had predecessor Donald Trump. Biden quickly recognized the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide — a position that angers Turkey — and stepped up criticism of Turkey’s human rights record. But it was not clear whether Biden raised the human rights issue with Erdogan during his meeting, and Sullivan provided little detail on how, if at all, the impasse over the S-400, which prompted Washington to remove Ankara from the F-35 fighter jet program and impose sanctions, would be resolved. FILE – First parts of a Russian S-400 missile defense system are unloaded from a Russian plane near Ankara, Turkey, July 12, 2019.”They discussed it. There was not a resolution of the issue. There was a commitment to continue the dialogue on the S-400, and the two teams will be following up on that coming out of the meeting,” he said. 
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In an effort to escape the insecurity and war in Afghanistan, thousands of Afghans make a difficult journey to Turkey illegally each year. VOA’s Lima Niazi brings us the story of two friends whose journey through Turkey and Europe ended, back in Afghanistan. Bezhan Hamdard narrates.Camera: Lima Niazi   Produced by: Lima Niazi 
 
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During their summit in Geneva on June 16, U.S. President Joe Biden raised the issue of Kremlin pressure against RFE/RL’s Russian-language services in Russia with Russian President Vladimir Putin.   The United States has accused Russia of attempting to drive RFE/RL out of the country by listing it as a “foreign agent” media organization and imposing fines against it for failing to comply with requirements that all its materials be prominently labeled.   President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland.”I also raised the ability of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty to operate and the importance of a free press and freedom of speech,” Biden said at his press conference in Geneva when listing some of the issues the two leaders discussed.   The same day, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) agreed to hear an appeal by RFE/RL against the Russian government over the “foreign agent” label and the labelling requirements.   At his own separate news conference following the summit talks, Putin said that Biden “raised the question of the work of Liberty and, uh, their Free Europes in Russia.”   Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks during a news conference after his meeting with U.S President Joe Biden at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021.He repeated the Kremlin’s assertion that the labeling of RFE/RL’s Russian-language outlets — including Current Time, a network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA — as “foreign agents” was a response to a 2017 decision by the United States to compel Russian state-controlled network RT, sometimes known as Russia Today, to register under a 1938 law called the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Russia Using Foreign Agent Law to Attack Journalism, Media SayExorbitant fines, repressive accounting of all personal spending, and labels that sow distrust are part of Russia’s ‘fight against the spread of ideas,’ say those affected by legislation”It should be noted that Russia Today fulfills all the demands of the [U.S.] regulators and the law — they registered as required and so on,” Putin said. “Unfortunately, the American media don’t completely comply with the requirements of Russian law.”   FARA does not require that every news story be prominently labeled as the product of a “foreign agent” media organization. The U.S. decision to compel RT to register came after a January 2017 U.S. intelligence finding that RT and Russia’s Sputnik news agency spread disinformation as part of a Kremlin effort to undermine faith in the U.S. democracy and influence the 2016 presidential election in favor of Republican candidate and eventual winner Donald Trump.   Moscow has denied any such effort.   In Geneva, Putin expressed the “hope” that “we will manage to settle this” diplomatically.   ‘Patriotic Russians’ In a statement following the Geneva summit, RFE/RL President Jamie Fly rejected the “foreign agent” label.   “RFE/RL journalists are not ‘foreign agents,'” Fly said. “They are patriotic Russians who are only trying to serve their fellow citizens by giving them objective news and information. The Kremlin’s ongoing attacks against our journalists and other independent media outlets only serve to deprive the Russian people of their right to access uncensored information.”   Russia’s so-called “foreign agent” legislation was adopted in 2012 and has been modified repeatedly. It requires nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign assistance and that the government deems to be engaged in political activity to be registered, to identify themselves as “foreign agents,” and to submit to audits.   Later modifications targeted foreign-funded media. In 2017, the Russian government placed RFE/RL’s Russian Service on the list, along with six other RFE/RL Russian-language news services and Current Time. The Russian Service of VOA was also added to the list.   At the end of 2020, the legislation was modified to allow the Russian government to include individuals, including foreign journalists, on its “foreign agents” list and to impose restrictions on them. Several RFE/RL contributors were placed on the list in December 2020.  Putin Signs Laws Imposing Fines for ‘Foreign Agent’ Law Violations, Protest-Related OffensesLatеst versions of the laws target foreign-funded media, including RFE/RL, and raise fines for acts of civil disobedienceThe Russian state media monitor Roskomnadzor last year adopted rules requiring listed media to mark all written materials with a lengthy notice in large text, all radio materials with an audio statement, and all video materials with a 15-second text declaration.   RFE/RL rejects the “foreign agent” designation and has refused to comply with the rules, so the agency has prepared hundreds of complaints against RFE/RL’s projects. The total fines levied could run to more than $3 million.   ‘Coercion and intimidation’ RFE/RL has called the fines “a state-sponsored campaign of coercion and intimidation,” while the U.S. State Department has described them as “intolerable.” Human Rights Watch has described the foreign agent legislation as “restrictive” and intended “to demonize independent groups.”   In April, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that “Russia’s actions against RFE/RL and other media organizations labeled as so-called ‘foreign agents’ reflect significant intolerance and oppressive restrictions.”   “Should the Russian government continue to move to forcibly shut down RFE/RL, we will respond,” Price said, without elaborating.   While RT distributes its programs freely in the United States on cable television, RFE/RL and VOA have no access to cable television in Russia.   RFE/RL once had distribution agreements with nearly 100 radio channels inside Russia, but had lost them all by 2012 following a campaign of pressure by the authorities.   RFE/RL is an editorially independent media company funded by a grant from the U.S. Congress through the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Each week, nearly 7 million people access RFE/RL’s news portals in Russia.   Robert Coalson is a senior correspondent for RFE/RL who covers Russia, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe. 
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U.S. President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, remained tensely civil and cautiously polite before their much-anticipated summit in an eighteenth-century mansion on the shores of Lake Geneva. The press corps less so as American reporters and TV camerapersons were forced to jostle for space with obdurate Russian rivals.For some European newspapers, that seemed an apt metaphor. “If relations between the American and Russian press were anything to go by then the two nations have a real problem. While Mr. Biden and Mr. Putin sat in frosty silence the media contingents from their respective countries were involved in an unseemly scuffle with each other and officials,” Britain’s Daily Telegraph noted.“Mr. President, I’d like to thank you for your initiative to meet today. I know that you’ve been on a long journey,” Putin said before the shorter than expected meeting got under way in earnest.  “Thank you,” Biden responded. “I think it’s always better to meet face to face.”Body languageBut stony faces and body language belied the words. As they spoke, the pair hardly made eye contact, diplomatic observers say, with both mostly casting their glances elsewhere. Biden sat bolt upright; Putin slouched.U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin meet at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021.And in their subsequent solo press conferences following the talks both leaders made clear the huge gulf that divides them with President Biden issuing no threats but a series of clear warnings. That included emphasizing red lines over alleged Russian cyberattacks on the U.S.And the U.S. leader warned of “devastating consequences,” if Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, were to die in jail.  Several of Europe’s leading broadsheet newspapers, including the Financial Times, headlined that admonition.  “It was important to meet in person so there could be no mistake about or misrepresentations about what I wanted to communicate. I did what I came to do,” Biden said, adding the real outcome of the summit would become apparent later.Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen on a screen via a video link during a hearing at the Petushki district court in Petushki, May 26, 2021.“The proof of the pudding is in the eating. We’re going to know shortly,” he said. That remark sums up much of both media and official reaction in Europe to the Geneva summit. President Biden has come under criticism from political rivals in the U.S. for instigating a meeting with Putin, which they say gave the Russian leader a gift.But that criticism hasn’t been echoed much in Europe. Seasoned European politicians say a U.S.-Russian summit was needed so that the Kremlin can be in no doubt now of a change of gears in the West since Donald Trump left the White House.Hours before Biden and Putin met, a former British foreign minister, Malcolm Rifkind, no stranger to summitry, noted: “It seems pretty certain that they will not reach agreement — and may not even make any progress — on Ukraine, or on Russian hacking in the U.S., or on human rights. But there is important common ground on a number of issues, including nuclear weapons arms control, climate change and defeating global terrorism.”Rifkind hoped the summit may have laid the groundwork for at least some cooperation on issues of mutual interest. Not that he expected the Biden-Putin summit would match the breakthrough encounter between Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1984.“By the end of their meeting they understood each other better, were impressed by each other’s personal qualities and, most importantly, had begun to trust each other,” noted Rifkind in a Chatham House commentary. He was in attendance for that breakthrough summit.No kumbaya momentThere was nothing in Geneva Wednesday to suggest to European diplomats or Western commentators that seeds of friendship were sown between Biden and Putin, despite both leaders saying there were areas of agreement, including the need for further talks on nuclear weapons control. Putin said in his post-summit press conference that they “spoke the same language” and called the talks “frank” and “substantive.”“The tone of the entire meeting was good, positive, there wasn’t any strident action taken,” Biden said. Biden’s emphasizing in his solo press conference that there was no “kumbaya moment” was also picked up widely by Europe’s media. “In Geneva, Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin started a strategic dialogue at slow pace,” France’s Le Monde newspaper said.Putin Characterizes Summit with Biden as ‘Constructive’Biden was still responding to reporters’ questions when Putin said both sides agreed to return ambassadors to their posts, hold talks on strategic stability, cybersecurity Some in Europe question whether there will be any improvement in U.S.-Russia relations as a result of this encounter. “Neither side appeared to be under any illusions about the nature of their relationship,” the Daily Telegraph said in an editorial.“The Russian president used a lengthy press conference to, among other things, defend his repressive rule,” it said. “Mr. Biden had said in advance that he wanted a ‘stable, predictable relationship’ with Moscow. Few would consider that an unworthy aim. Given the character and record of the man who shows no sign of loosening his grip on the Kremlin, however, that may turn out to be wishful thinking,” it added mournfully.The same concern was echoed by officials in Brussels midweek. While Washington’s EU allies hope the summit will at least stop what European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called a “negative spiral” in relations with Russia, they harbor few illusions.As the Biden-Putin summit began, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was warning the bloc’s diplomats that Europe’s relationship with Russia is likely only to worsen. Borrell, who came under scathing criticism in February for a three-day visit to Moscow which several of the bloc’s member states saw as a propaganda disaster, said the EU “needs to be realistic and prepare for a further downturn of our relations with Russia.”He told reporters in Brussels that he placed the blame squarely on Moscow. “The deliberate policy choices of the Russian government over the last years have created a negative spiral in our relations,” Borrell said. “This further downturn is the most likely outlook for the time being,” he said at a press conference held to unveil a report outlining a new EU realpolitik approach towards Russia, the three main elements being “Push back, constrain and engage.”Not so dissimilar from what Biden was outlining in Geneva. 
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U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin ended their summit with positive assessments of their meeting, but clear differences remain. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report from Geneva.
Producer: Kimberlyn Weeks
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French forces in Mali have captured a man they describe as a “high-ranking fighter of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara” (EIGS), the French military said Wednesday.  Dadi Ould Chouaib, also known as Abou Dardar, was arrested June 11 in the flashpoint “tri-border” region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, the site of frequent attacks by extremist groups, the military said in a statement. He was carrying “an automatic weapon, a night vision telescope, a combat vest, a telephone and a radio,” but surrendered without resistance. He was located during a helicopter sweep as part of a joint mission between troops from France’s Barkhane operation and Nigerien forces.  Niger’s army said in a statement late Wednesday that the joint operation, launched June 8, had led to a clash Tuesday with “armed terrorists” that left a Nigerien dead and “12 terrorists neutralized.”  The term “neutralized” means “killed” in West African military contexts.  Dardar was formerly a member of the al-Qaida-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), many of whose fighters had joined EIGS. First arrested in 2014, he was handed over to Malian authorities.  But he was one of around 200 prisoners released in October 2020 in exchange for four hostages, including French aid worker Sophie Petronin.  Dardar is suspected to have been one of the armed men who mutilated three people at a market in Tin Hama in northern Mali on May 2, cutting off their hands and feet, according to local sources. According to the United Nations’ Mali mission, MINUSMA, the armed men were suspected of belonging to EIGS.  Dardar’s arrest will come as welcome news for France, after President Emmanuel Macron promised in February to step up efforts to “decapitate” extremist groups in the Sahel region. FILE – French President Emmanuel Macron visits French troops in Africa’s Sahel region in Gao, northern Mali, May 19, 2017.France, the former colonial power in all three “tri-border” countries, is pursuing a strategy of targeting the leaders of militant groups. Its military presence in the semiarid Sahel, Operation Barkhane, recently called for the elimination of a high-ranking fighter of the al-Qaida group in the Islamic Maghreb, an adversary of EIGS in the area.Baye Ag Bakabo was responsible for the kidnapping and death of two French RFI journalists, Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, who were killed in northern Mali in 2013.  Macron recently announced that France will wind down its 5,100-strong Barkhane force, which has battled extremist groups in the Sahel for eight years.  He said earlier this month that he sees France’s future presence as being part of the so-called Takuba international task force in the Sahel, in which “hundreds” of French soldiers would form the “backbone.” FILE – The France-led special operations logo for the new Barkhane Task Force Takuba, a multinational military mission in sub-Saharan Africa’s troubled Sahel region, is seen Nov. 3, 2020.It would mean the closure of French bases and the use of special forces who would be focused on anti-terror operations and military training, he said. But Macron’s plans have fueled fears that certain areas of the Sahel, in particular northern Mali, will pass completely into the hands of extremist groups, as local authorities appear unable to restore their grip on the region. 
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U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have ended their summit in Geneva, with Biden describing it as “good” and “positive.”  
 
But he further described the summit in a realistic tone, saying the next several months would serve as a “test” of whether relations between the two countries can improve.
 
“I am not sitting here saying because the president and I agreed that we would do these things that all of a sudden it’s going to work,” Biden said during the press conference after his more than three-hour meeting with Putin. “I’m not saying that.  
 
“What I am saying is, I think there’s a genuine prospect to significantly improve the relations between our two countries, without us giving up a single, solitary thing based on principle and our values,” Biden said.
 
In his press conference after the summit, Putin, speaking through an interpreter, also described the meeting as “constructive.” He said there were “no hostilities,” calling the U.S. leader a “constructive person, well-balanced and experienced, a seasoned politician.”  
 
After the summit, both the White House and the Kremlin released identical statements, noting that “even in periods of tension,” both countries have demonstrated they are able to make progress on “shared goals of ensuring predictability in the strategic sphere, reducing the risk of armed conflicts and the threat of nuclear war.”  
 
Both governments said they will begin consultations on strategic stability to manage relations. In his press conference, Putin noted that as nuclear powers, the U.S. and Russia have a special responsibility to maintain relations.U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin meet at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021.”The recent extension of the New START Treaty exemplifies our commitment to nuclear arms control. Today, we reaffirm the principle that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,” the White House and Kremlin statements said.
 
“Consistent with these goals, the United States and Russia will embark together on an integrated bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue in the near future that will be deliberate and robust. Through this Dialogue, we seek to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures,” the statement said.
 Sticking points
 
While both leaders noted the talks were productive, it is clear divisions remain.  
 
Biden said there were disagreements, but “it was not done in a hyperbolic atmosphere,” adding that no threats were made during the meeting.
 
Those disputes include the issue of Ukraine, cyberattacks and human rights.
 
“I pointed out to him we have significant cyber capability, and he knows it. He doesn’t know exactly what it is, but it’s significant,” Biden said, noting that he told Putin that critical U.S. infrastructure should be “off limits” to cyberattacks.
 
Biden appeared to suggest that should Moscow launch such an attack, the U.S. may retaliate “in a cyber way.”
 
“I looked at him, I said, ‘Well, how would you feel if ransomware took on the pipelines from your oil fields?’” Biden said.
 
Putin denies U.S. accusations of election meddling and cyberattacks, including ransomware attacks on American businesses that U.S. intelligence agencies conclude may be coming from within Russian territories.Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference after his meeting with U.S President Joe Biden at the ‘Villa la Grange’ in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021.Biden also said he “made it clear” to Putin the U.S. will continue to raise human rights issues.
 
“Human rights is going to always be on the table,” Biden sid. He said he brought up issues like the detention of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine imprisoned in Russia because “that’s who we are.”
 
Putin remained firm about his position on Navalny. “This man knew that he was breaking the law of Russia. He has been twice convicted,” Putin said, keeping his habit of not saying the opposition activist’s name aloud.  
 
Repeating Russia’s official claim, Putin said Navalny violated bail conditions last year by going abroad while unconscious after an apparent Novichok poisoning and by failing to check in with Russian officials as required.  
 
Biden underscored a demand for press freedom. “I also raised the ability of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to operate, and the importance of a free press and freedom of speech,” Biden said referring to the U.S.-funded media that were branded as “foreign agents” by the Russian government and accused of violating rules that could be punished with heavy fines, even imprisonment.
 
A recent incident in which a commercial airline was forced to land in Minsk, so that Belarusian authorities could arrest a prominent dissident, also was discussed, Biden said, adding that Putin “didn’t disagree with what happened.”
 
“He just said it’s a perspective of what you do about it,” Biden said. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko relies heavily on Putin for support.President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, arrive to meet at the ‘Villa la Grange’, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland.Ukraine sovereignty
 
Ukraine appears to be another issue where the two leaders disagreed.  
 
Biden said he communicated to Putin “unwavering commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
 
“We agreed to pursue diplomacy, related to the Minsk Agreement,” he said, referring to the 2014 deal to halt the war in the Donbas region of Ukraine.
 
Prior to the summit, Ukrainian officials played down the prospect of ending the war in the eastern part of the country, which has been simmering for seven years between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian army.
 
“We have made it very clear to our partners that no agreement on Ukraine reached without Ukraine will be recognized by us,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
 
On the issue of Ukraine’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Putin gave a terse assessment. “I don’t think there is anything to discuss there,” he said.
 
The Kremlin has stated that Ukraine’s entry into NATO is a “red line” for Russia. Asked earlier this week about whether Ukraine should join NATO, Biden said, “It depends on whether they meet the criteria,” including cleaning up corruption.  
 
The administration announced earlier this month that Biden will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the White House sometime this summer. Biden has not invited Putin to Washington.U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin meet for the U.S.-Russia summit at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. (Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via Reuters)No Cold War
 
Biden emphasized the “last thing” Putin wants now is a Cold War. He said that while the summit’s end is not a “Kumbaya moment,” it’s in neither country’s interest to be in a “new Cold War” situation.
 
Biden went on to say he thinks Putin understands this, though it doesn’t mean Putin is “willing to lay down his arms.” Biden assessed the Russian leader is still concerned that the U.S. aims to “take him down.”
 
Putin said in a bid to lower tensions, he and Biden agreed to return their ambassadors to their posts in the future. U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan and Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov left their posts earlier this year amid worsening U.S.-Russia relations. They both participated in expanded bilateral discussions at the summit.   
 
According to a White House official, the summit ended at 5:05 CEST Wednesday when the expanded bilateral between the two delegations concluded. That meeting on the American side included five high-level officials in addition to Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The session was concluded after one expanded bilateral meeting, according to the official, not two as was previously scheduled.
 
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As the U.S. continues its withdrawal in Afghanistan, the commander in the region says help from NATO allies will be essential in keeping the pressure on terror groups. Help has arrived with the deployment of Britain’s newest aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb made a stop on the carrier as the only reporter traveling with the head of the U.S. Central Command.
Camera: Mike Burke
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Germany on Wednesday withdrew a platoon of its forces from Lithuania amid charges of serious misconduct.Allegations include sexual harassment, racially charged comments and “extremist” behavior.”Particularly in Lithuania, where we stand side-by-side with our NATO partners for common values, such behavior by individuals isn’t just completely inexcusable, it’s absolutely shameful to us all,” Defense Ministry spokesperson Christina Routsi told reporters in Berlin.The German defense ministry said some 30 troops would be repatriated, adding that if the allegations prove true, some will face immediate dismissal.”The misconduct of some soldiers in Lithuania is a slap in the face of all those who serve the security of our country day after day in the #Bundeswehr,” wrote Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Twitter, using the word for Germany’s federal armed forces.Kramp-Karrenbauer has vowed to take a tough stance against extremism in the German military. Last year she disbanded a company of soldiers amid revelations some members held neo-Nazi beliefs.    
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The European Union (EU) Wednesday announced it is recommending that member nations lift COVID-19 restrictions on tourists from the United States, potentially making it easier for U.S. tourists to travel to Europe.Nonessential travel from the U.S. and other nations had been banned in the EU as a precaution to avoid the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. But EU member representatives, meeting in Brussels, agreed Wednesday to add the U.S. to the list of nations from which the ban may be lifted.The recommendation is non-binding, and national governments have authority to require test results or vaccination records and to set other entry conditions.EU officials said the decision to add the U.S. to the list was based on the pace of the U.S. vaccination process, among other factors.In addition to the U.S., EU representatives also added North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Lebanon and Taiwan to the tourist travel list. The recommendations are expected to be formalized on Friday and come into effect immediately.The move is part of an attempt to restore tourism within and from outside the bloc. Travel into the EU was all but suspended throughout most of the pandemic, causing tourism-dependent national economies to suffer. Last week, the EU approved digital COVID-19 certificates for fully vaccinated citizens to use during travel among the 27 EU member nations. 
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German police say they are investigating a protest by the environmental group Greenpeace at a soccer match in Munich Tuesday that apparently went wrong, injuring at least two people.Before the start of a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) game between France and Germany at Munich’s Allianz Arena, a man piloting a motorized parachute flew into the stadium.The parachute, with “Kick Out Oil” and “Greenpeace” written on the back, went out of control after hitting overhead cables, landing hard on the field and sending debris into the stands.Police say at least two of those injured were taken to the hospital, but none of the injuries were serious. They say the parachutist was slightly injured but was able to walk as he was led away by police.On its Twitter account, Greenpeace Germany apologized for the act.“This protest was never intended to disrupt the game or injure people. We hope everyone is fine and no one was seriously injured. Greenpeace actions are always peaceful and nonviolent. Unfortunately, not everything went according to plan with this campaign.”In a statement, the UEFA called the stunt an “inconsiderate act” which could have had very serious consequences.“Law authorities will take the necessary action,” the organization said.The Greenpeace protest was apparently aimed at Volkswagen, one of the sponsors of the match, demanding them to stop selling “climate-damaging diesel” and gasoline-powered cars. 
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Iran’s reported desire to purchase a Russian advanced satellite system is not “particularly concerning” to U.S. security in the region, according to the commander who oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East.   In an interview with VOA, Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, said Russia’s Kanopus-V satellite is not effective at targeting. “You really can’t do much with it,” he said. “It would probably allow them to see something the size of a school bus, which is not going to be particularly concerning to us.” Earlier this month, U.S. and Middle East officials told The Washington Post that Iranian military officials have been deeply involved in the satellite acquisition and have made multiple trips to Russia since 2018 to work on an agreement to buy the system. While the Kanopus-V is marketed for civilian use, Iranian military officials have been heavily involved in the acquisition, and leaders of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have made multiple trips to Russia since 2018 to help negotiate the terms of the agreement, the officials said. The Koanupus-V is marketed for civilian use, and McKenzie said some commercial imagery options provide better visuals than what the satellite’s high-resolution camera could capture.   “While it might seem attractive to put it (the satellite) into space on a Russian rocket, if that’s the way they want to spend their money and do it, they should go ahead,” he said.    Drone Attacks   Meanwhile, Iranian-backed militia have continued to attack U.S. and NATO forces in Iraq with small, armed drones.    “We’ve been attacked three times over the last little over a month,” McKenzie said. He and other military officials have told VOA that Iran has shifted to using compact, kinetic attacks because their armed drones can cause damage to U.S. resources without amassing casualties, keeping the threat just below a level that might spark retaliation from the United States. “It’s a very dangerous path that they’re on,” warned McKenzie, “and they’re doing it because, as we should remember, they failed and their principal aim, which was a political objective of having us leave Iraq.”   
 
The military is still conducting forensic analysis right now to determine exactly where the drones used in the latest attacks on U.S. forces originated. 
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Turkey’s Sea of Marmara is battling an explosion of sea algae, dubbed sea snot, which is now threatening an ecological disaster. As Dorian Jones reports for VOA from Istanbul, the mucus-like substance is fast becoming politically toxic as well.
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Several spectators were treated in the hospital for injuries caused by a protester who parachuted into the stadium before France played Germany at the European Championship, UEFA said Tuesday.Debris fell on the field and main grandstand, narrowly missing France coach Didier Deschamps, when the parachutist struck wires for an overhead camera attached to the stadium roof.The governing body of European soccer called it a “reckless and dangerous” act and said “law authorities will take the necessary action.””This inconsiderate act … caused injuries to several people attending the game who are now in hospital,” UEFA said.The incident happened just before the start of the Euro 2020 match between the last two World Cup champions. Deschamps was shown ducking into the team dugout to avoid falling debris.France won the match, 1-0.”We as the German soccer federation condemn it of course, because it wasn’t just him, but others that he endangered and injured. It’s unacceptable from our point of view,” German team spokesman Jens Grittner said. “And the incident is being checked by the police, the authorities here in Munich and at UEFA. But of course we also condemn what happened there. It could probably have turned out much worse.”The protester’s parachute had the slogan “KICK OUT OIL!” and “Greenpeace” written on it.He glided into the stadium and seemed to lose control after connecting with the wires. He veered away from the playing area toward the main grandstand and barely cleared the heads of spectators.The parachutist managed to land on the field and Germany players Antonio Rüdiger and Robin Gosens were the first to approach him. He was led away by security stewards and given medical attention on the side of the field.UEFA and one of its top-tier tournament sponsors, Russian state energy firm Gazprom, have previously been targeted by Greenpeace protests.In 2013, a Champions League game in Basel was disrupted when Greenpeace activists abseiled from the roof of the stadium to unfurl a banner protesting Russian oil and Gazprom, which sponsored the visiting team, German club Schalke.Greenpeace later donated money to a charity supported by Basel, which was fined by UEFA for the security lapse.UEFA defended its environmental credentials in Tuesday’s statement.”UEFA and its partners are fully committed to a sustainable Euro 2020 tournament,” UEFA said, “and many initiatives have been implemented to offset carbon emissions.”
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U.S. President Joe Biden meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the first time Wednesday in Geneva amid deteriorating relations between the world powers. The meeting takes place in the final hours of Biden’s first trip abroad as president during which he has already attended the 47th G-7 summit in the English city of Cornwall, as well as talks with NATO and EU leaders in Brussels. An armored vehicle and a truck block roadway access to the Inter Continental hotel before the arrival of U.S. President Joe Biden, in Geneva, Switzerland, June 15, 2021.In an interview with NBC News, Putin said U.S.-Russia ties had deteriorated to their “lowest point in recent years.” The White House said Saturday that Biden would appear alone at a post-summit news conference, unlike former President Donald Trump who addressed reporters together with Putin following their 2018 summit in Helsinki. At that time, Trump contradicted his own intelligence agencies by saying he had no reason to doubt Putin’s assertion that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrive for a press conference after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018.”A solo press conference is the appropriate format to clearly communicate with the free press the topics that were raised in the meeting — both in terms of areas where we may agree and in areas where we have significant concerns,” a White House official said Saturday. Regarding expectations, a senior U.S. official told reporters Tuesday that Biden would elaborate. “We were going to let him speak to that when he concludes the meeting tomorrow. And the president will make clear that if we see significant types of cyber activity like we did with SolarWinds, he will respond like we did for SolarWinds.”  In April, Biden expelled 10 Russian diplomats and imposed new sanctions on six Russian technology companies that provide support to the cyber program run by Putin’s intelligence services linked to the hacking of the SolarWinds information technology company.   In May, two key U.S. businesses — Colonial Pipeline, which transports fuel in the southeastern U.S., and the JBS meat production company — were targeted in cyberattacks believed to have originated in Russia. Both Colonial and JBS paid millions of dollars in ransom demands to restore their business operations, although U.S. law enforcement officials have recovered some of the money Colonial paid. FILE – An Out of Service bag covers a gas pump as cars line up at a Circle K gas station near uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, May 11, 2021, following a ransomware attack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline, a major East Coast gasoline provider.The White House also said it expects the Biden-Putin meeting “to be candid and straightforward” and that Biden will bring up ransomware attacks originating in Russia, the Kremlin’s aggression toward Ukraine, the imprisonment of dissidents and other issues.  “Ransomware will be a significant topic of conversation,” a senior U.S. official said Tuesday. “They will also discuss the broader issue of cyber norms, cyber rules of the road tomorrow in the discussion.” Putin has rejected U.S. claims that Moscow and Russian hackers are carrying out debilitating cyberattacks on American companies and government agencies. The two leaders are also expected to cover strategic nuclear stability and souring relations between Russia and the West. VOA’s Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
 
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Hungary’s Parliament passed a bill Tuesday banning homosexuality in any content portraying or “promoting” homosexuality or sex reassignment to anyone under 18.
 
Hungary’s National Assembly passed the bill on a 157-1 vote. Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling Fidesz Party has a parliamentary majority, and lawmakers from the right-wing Jobbik Party also endorsed the measure. One independent lawmaker voted against it.
 
Under the law, any educational programs, advertisements, books, movies or television programs depicting homosexuality or other gender minorities in a positive light will no longer be allowed.
 
The ruling party defends the legislation, saying it is designed to prevent pedophilia. But human rights groups say it will be used to harass and stigmatize Hungarian citizens based on sexual orientation and gender identities.
 
The Council of Europe has condemned the bill as “misleading and false,” as have several NGOs, including Amnesty International.
 
On her Twitter account, Lydia Gall, Human Rights Watch senior researcher for Eastern Europe, said, “Associating pedophilia with LGBT people, banning comprehensive sexuality education and stifling free speech is despicable and unworthy of an EU member state.”  
 
She urged the European Commission — the EU’s executive branch — to act.
 
The vote came a day after thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, Budapest, to denounce the law and the government’s “constant propaganda” against the LGBT community.  
 
On his Facebook page Tuesday, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony wrote, “On this shameful day, the opposition should not be in the parliament but on the streets.”  
 
On his Twitter account, German Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Roth wrote, “Today’s decision in Hungary’s parliament represents another severe state discrimination against LGBTIQ people. This law goes against everything we regard as our common European values. Full solidarity and support for LGBTIQ people in Hungary.”
 
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Beijing says NATO’s description that China poses “systemic challenges” to the international community is an exaggeration.   
 
China’s mission to the European Union issued a statement Tuesday in response to a communique issued by the leaders of the trans-Atlantic alliance the day before.  In that statement, NATO leaders pledged to join forces against China’s increasingly aggressive military posture, which it said threatened “the rules-based international order.”
 
The mission said NATO’s accusations were “a slander on China’s peaceful development, a misjudgment of the international situation and its own role, and a continuation of the Cold War mentality and organizational political psychology.”
 
Tuesday’s statement is the second time in as many days that China has countered criticism from Western-based international alliances.  The Chinese embassy in London issued a statement Monday accusing the leaders of the G-7 of interfering in its internal affairs.   
 
The G-7 issued a communique at the end of its summit criticizing Beijing’s human rights record involving its abuses of the Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, including the detention of more than one million Uyghurs into detention camps, and its tightening  control of semi-autonomous Hong Kong.
 
The separate communiques came during U.S. President Joe Biden’s first face-to-face summits with Washington’s traditional allies since taking office in January.
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The United States and the European Union have reached an extended truce in their long-running dispute over aircraft subsidies. Washington is conditionally suspending for five years the tariffs on Europe that were authorized by the World Trade Organization for unfair subsidies to Airbus, which is the largest aircraft manufacturer and prime competitor to Boeing of the United States. “This meeting has started with a breakthrough on aircraft,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the start of formal talks on Tuesday with U.S. President Joe Biden. “This really opens a new chapter in our relationship because we move from litigation to cooperation on aircraft after 17 years of dispute.”The agreement “resolves a longstanding trade irritant in the U.S.-Europe relationship,” US Trade Representative Katherine Tai told reporters on a briefing call. “Instead of fighting with one of our closest allies, we are finally coming together against a common threat. We agreed to work together to challenge and counter China’s non-market practices in this sector in specific ways that reflect our standards for fair competition.” Tai added that the agreement “is a model that we will use to build on for other challenges posed by China and non-market economic competition.” President Joe Biden meets with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the United States-European Union Summit at the European Council in Brussels, June 15, 2021.European leaders rejoiced in welcoming Biden on Tuesday, who is taking the relationship in a different direction from the four years of the Donald Trump presidency in which tariffs, including on wine and cheese, were slapped on trans-Atlantic allies and they were berated for not adequately carrying the financial burden for their common defense in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). “I have a very different view than my predecessor,” Biden remarked as he stood for a ceremonial photograph inside the Europa Building between European Commission President von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel. “America is back on the global scene,” remarked Michel. “It’s great news for allies, also great news for the world.” Von der Leyen told Biden that his trip to Brussels “coming so early in your mandate underlines your personal touch to the EU and we really appreciate that. The last four years have not been easy.” She repeated that last line at the start of the formal meeting. Still unresolved is a trans-Atlantic dispute on steel and aluminum tariffs. The European Union previously decided not to raise tariffs as planned and to hold off for six months to work together on the fundamental issue of overcapacity and find a common way forward on the challenge from China of dumping, subsidization, and overcapacity.  
  
“Those negotiations and discussions are ongoing.  They’ve been very constructive.  They will take some time,” a senior U.S. official told reporters. Meanwhile, a U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council is being launched. “The notion here is that the United States and Europe laid the foundation for the world economy after World War Two and now have to work together to write the rules of the road for the next generation, particularly in the areas of economics and emerging technologies,” according to a senior Biden administration official. Washington and Brussels are also initiating dialogues on “Russia, cyber issues and migration,” according to the White House. Battling the coronavirus pandemic and climate change were also on Tuesday’s agenda.  The U.S. and EU reiterated support for the COVAX facility for ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and to work together on ways to promote a global recovery from the economic impacts of the pandemic. They also discussed efforts to reform the World Health Organization.  On climate change, the United States and the EU said they would reaffirm commitments to upholding the 2015 Paris climate agreement and to become climate neutral economies by 2050. They also said they plan to urge other “major players” to take ambitious climate actions. Adopted by nearly 200 nations when it was initially signed, the Paris climate agreement’s goal is to slow down global warming.
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Battling the coronavirus pandemic and climate change, as well as working together on trade and foreign affairs are on the agenda Tuesday as U.S. President Joe Biden and European Union leaders hold a summit in Brussels. In statements issued ahead of the talks, the two sides said they would reiterate support for the COVAX facility for ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, and to work together on ways to promote a global recovery from the economic impacts of the pandemic. They also planned to discuss efforts to reform the World Health Organization. After both were a major topic at G-7 and NATO meetings this week, Russia and China will again be on the agenda Tuesday.  Both the White House and European Union said the leaders would also express a commitment to supporting democracy and combatting corruption, and to upholding human rights around the world. They are also pledging to cooperate on issues involving cybersecurity and migration. The EU side is being represented in the summit by European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. On climate change, the United States and the EU said they would reaffirm commitments to upholding the 2015 Paris climate agreement and to become climate neutral economies by 2050. They also said they plan to urge other “major players” to take ambitious climate actions. Adopted by nearly 200 nations when it was initially signed, the Paris climate agreement’s goal is to slow down global warming.  
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U.S. President Joe Biden meets with European Union allies on Tuesday after wrapping up a summit with NATO leaders, ahead of his highly anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report from Brussels.  
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Delegations from Russia and the United States involved in nuclear negotiations with Iran held talks in Vienna on Monday, two days ahead of a summit meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The United States is not directly involved in the Vienna negotiations but has regular contacts with participating diplomats. Efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear containment deal for Iran are a rare topic of collaboration between the two global adversaries. Mikhail Ulyanov, a senior diplomat who headed the Russian delegation at the meeting in Vienna, called the talks with U.S. counterparts “fruitful.”  “Our dialogue in Vienna seems to be proof that the two countries can maintain businesslike cooperation on issues of common interest, non-proliferation in this particular case,” Ulyanov wrote in a tweet. The nuclear agreement was scuppered in 2018 when the Trump administration pulled the United States out of the accord, arguing that it handed Iran too many concessions. Diplomats from China, Germany, France, Russia and Britain held joint talks with Iran Saturday and multiple bilateral meetings afterward at a hotel in the center of the Austrian capital. Matthew Rojansky, director of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute in Washington, said Russia was keen to curb some of Iran’s ambitions. “Moscow still prefers to see Tehran checked in its aspiration to develop a weapon, but is much less motivated when it comes to checking Iran’s regional ambitions and its broader global misbehavior,” he told the AP. “At the same time, Russia has a balancing act to perform in Syria, where Iran’s force of arms on the ground could become a problem for Russian ambitions.” The 2015 agreement was designed to keep Iran’s nuclear program peaceful, imposing strict controls on uranium enrichment levels as well as the technology and facilities used for the process. Iran stopped abiding by those limits after the U.S. withdrawal but insists it has no plan to build nuclear weapons — a claim that the U.S. and its Western allies dispute. 
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