RIYADMEDIA

An overnight shooting in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, that killed two people and wounded more than a dozen is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack, Norwegian police said Saturday.

In a news conference Saturday, police officials said the man arrested after the shooting was a Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin who was previously known to police but not for major crimes.

They said they had seized two firearms in connection with the attack: a handgun and an automatic weapon.

The events occurred outside the London Pub, a bar popular with the city’s LGBTQ community, hours before Oslo’s Pride parade was due to take place. Organizers canceled all Pride events planned for Saturday on the advice of police.

“Oslo Pride therefore urges everyone who planned to participate or watch the parade to not show up. All events in connection with Oslo Prides are canceled,” organizers said on the official Facebook page of the event.

Police spokesperson Tore Barstad said 14 people were receiving medical treatment, eight of whom have been hospitalized.

Olav Roenneberg, a journalist from Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, said he witnessed the shooting.

“I saw a man arrive at the site with a bag. He picked up a weapon and started shooting,” Roenneberg told NRK. “First I thought it was an air gun. Then the glass of the bar next door was shattered and I understood I had to run for cover.”

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a Facebook post that “the shooting outside London Pub in Oslo tonight was a cruel and deeply shocking attack on innocent people.”

He said that while the motive was unclear, the shooting had caused fear and grief in the LGBTQ community.

“We all stand by you,” Gahr Stoere wrote.

Christian Bredeli, who was at the bar, told Norwegian newspaper VG that he hid on the fourth floor with a group of about 10 people until he was told it was safe to come out.

“Many were fearing for their lives,” he said. “On our way out we saw several injured people, so we understood that something serious had happened.”

Norwegian broadcaster TV2 showed footage of people running down Oslo streets in panic as shots rang out in the background.

Norway is a relatively safe country but has experienced violent attacks by right-wing extremists, including one of the worst mass shootings in Europe in 2011, when a gunman killed 69 people on the island of Utoya after setting off a bomb in Oslo that left eight dead.

In 2019, another right-wing extremist killed his stepsister and then opened fire in a mosque but was overpowered before anyone there was injured.
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With Ukraine’s seaports blockaded or captured by Russian forces, neighboring Romania’s Black Sea port of Constanta has emerged as a main conduit for the war-torn country’s grain exports amid a growing world food crisis.

It’s Romania’s biggest port, home to Europe’s fastest-loading grain terminal, and has processed nearly a million tons of grain from Ukraine — one of the world’s biggest exporters of wheat and corn — since the Feb. 24 invasion.

But port operators say that maintaining, let alone increasing, the volume they handle could soon be impossible without concerted European Union support and investment.

“If we want to keep helping Ukrainian farmers, we need help to increase our handling capacities,” said Dan Dolghin, director of cereal operations at the Black Sea port’s main Comvex operator.

“No single operator can invest in infrastructure that will become redundant once the war ends,” he added.

Comvex can process up to 72,000 metric tons of cereals per day. That and Constanta’s proximity by land to Ukraine, and by sea to the Suez Canal, make it the best current route for Ukrainian agricultural exports. Other alternatives include road and rail shipments across Ukraine’s western border into Poland and its Baltic Sea ports.

Just days into the Russian invasion, Comvex invested in a new unloading facility, anticipating that the neighboring country would have to reroute its agricultural exports.

This enabled the port over the past four months to ship close to a million tons of Ukrainian grain, most of it arriving by barge down the Danube River. But with 20 times that amount still blocked in Ukraine and the summer harvest season fast approaching in Romania itself and other countries that use Constanta for their exports, Dolghin said it’s likely the pace of Ukrainian grain shipping through his port will slow.

“As the summer harvest in Romania gathers momentum, all port operators will turn to Romanian cereals,” he warned.

Ukraine’s deputy agricultural minister, Markian Dmytrasevych, is also worried.

In an address to the European Parliament earlier this month, Dmytrasevych said that when Constanta operators turn to European grain suppliers in the summer “it will further complicate the export of Ukrainian products.”

Romanian and other EU officials have also voiced concern, lining up in recent weeks to pledge support.

On a recent visit to Kyiv with the leaders of France, Germany and Italy, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said his country was seeking possible ways of overcoming the “weaponization of grain exports by Russia.”

“As a relevant part of the solution to the food insecurity generated by Russia, Romania is actively involved in facilitating the transit of Ukraine exports and in serving as a hub for grain,” to reach traditional markets in the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Asia, he said.

The solutions discussed in Kyiv, Iohannis said, included speeding up Danube barge shipments, increasing the speed of their unloading at Romanian ports, new border crossings for trucks with Ukrainian grain and reopening a decommissioned railway linking Romania with Ukraine and Moldova.

A Romanian analyst said finding alternative routes for Ukraine’s grain exports goes beyond private logistics companies or any single country, echoing Iohannis’s call in Kyiv for an international “coalition of the willing” to tackle the problem.

“The situation in Ukraine will not be solved soon; the conflict may end tomorrow but tensions will last. … That is why new transport routes must be considered and consolidated,” said George Vulcanescu.

He said that in that sense there are just three financially viable routes for Ukrainian exports — via Romania, Poland or the Baltic states.

However, he added, “port operators need financial support from Romanian authorities, but the funding should come from the European Union.”

Vulcanescu said a combination of fast and “minimal, not maximal” investment is needed.

“Big investment cannot be done quickly — we need to look for fast solutions for expanding the (existing) storage and handling capacities of Romanian ports,” he added. “If we want to help Ukraine now, we need to look for smaller investment to improve the infrastructure we already have.”

Comvex’s Dolghin said the operator wants to help as much as possible, but added: “We hope to see concrete action, not only statements in support of the port operators.”
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Morocco said 18 migrants died trying to cross into Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla on Friday, after a violent two-hour skirmish between migrants and border officers that also led to scores of injuries.

About 2,000 migrants stormed a high fence that seals off the enclave. This led to clashes with security forces as more than 100 migrants managed to cross from Morocco into Melilla, Moroccan and Spanish authorities said.

Morocco’s Interior Ministry initially said five migrants had died in the border raid, some after falling from the fence surrounding Melilla and others in a crush, and that 76 migrants were injured. It later said an additional 13 had died.

Some 140 members of Moroccan security forces were also injured, it added, five seriously, though none of them died.

Over the past decade, Melilla and Ceuta, a second Spanish enclave also on Africa’s northern coast, have become magnets for mostly sub-Saharan migrants trying to get into Europe.

Friday’s attempt began about 6:40 a.m. in the face of resistance from Moroccan security forces.

Two hours later, more than 500 migrants began to enter Melilla, jumping over the roof of a border checkpoint after cutting through fencing with a bolt cutter, the Madrid government’s representative body there said in a statement.

Most were forced back, but about 130 men managed to reach the enclave and were being processed at its reception center for immigrants, it added.

Footage posted on social media showed large groups of African youths walking along roads around the border, celebrating entering Melilla, and the firing of what appeared to be tear gas by the authorities.

Spanish authorities said the border incursion led to 57 migrants and 49 Spanish police sustaining injuries.

‘Human trafficking mafias’

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez paid tribute to officers on both sides of the border for fighting off “a well-organized, violent assault” which he suggested was organized by “human trafficking mafias.”

He underscored the improvement in relations between Madrid and Rabat. In March, Spain recognized the position of Morocco toward the Western Sahara, a territory the North African nation claims as its own but where an Algeria-backed independence movement is demanding establishment of an autonomous state.

“I would like to thank the extraordinary cooperation we are having with the Kingdom of Morocco which demonstrates the need to have the best of relations,” he said.

AMDH Nador, a Moroccan human rights group, said the incursion came a day after migrants clashed with Moroccan security personnel attempting to clear camps they had set up in a forest near Melilla.

The watchdog’s head, Omar Naji, told Reuters that clash was part of an “intense crackdown” on migrants since Spanish and Moroccan forces resumed joint patrols and reinforced security measures in the area around the enclave.

The incursion was the first significant one since Spain adopted its more pro-Rabat stance over Western Sahara.

In the weeks of 2022 prior to that shift, migrant entries into the two enclaves had more than tripled compared with the same period of 2021.

In mid-2021, as many as 8,000 people swam into Ceuta or clambered over its fence over a couple of days, taking advantage of the apparent lifting of a security net on the Moroccan side of the border following a bilateral diplomatic spat.

 
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the European Union’s decision to grant his country candidate status Friday, a key milestone in joining the bloc. Moldova was also granted accession candidate status.

EU officials described the move as historic but cautioned that both countries will have to make tough reforms before they become full members.

Historic

In a joint televised message to the Ukrainian people, Zelenskyy, flanked by the prime minister and the speaker of parliament, compared the EU decision to other historic moments in Ukraine’s history and said the process was irreversible.

“Today, Ukraine is fighting for its freedom and this war began just when Ukraine declared its right to freedom, to choosing its own future,” Zelenskyy said. “We saw [that future] in the European Union.”

Speaker of the Ukrainian parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk called the decision a powerful political message. “It will be heard by soldiers in the trenches, every family that was forced to flee the war abroad, everyone who helps bring our victory closer,” he said.

Reforms

EU leaders cautioned that the road to full membership for Ukraine and Moldova would not be easy.

“The countries all have to do homework before moving to the next stage of the accession process,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after the decision, referring to political and governmental reforms required before continuing the process.

On Thursday, von der Leyen expressed confidence that Ukraine and Moldova would “move as swiftly as possible and work as hard as possible to implement the necessary reforms, not just because they are required to move ahead in the European accession path, but, first and foremost, because these reforms are good for the countries.”

Those reforms will be difficult and will take time, says analyst Andi Hoxhaj, a fellow in European Union law at Britain’s University of Warwick.

“It’s about strengthening the rule of law and the judicial system. In addition, they would like to see a track record of applying an anti-oligarch law, meaning that they want to root out corruption as well as strengthen independent institutions,” Hoxhaj told VOA. “That will be a really challenging aspect.”

Border uncertainty

For now, Ukraine is focused on repelling Russia’s invasion in the east. The outcome of war will likely also determine the EU’s verdict on Ukrainian membership.

“Will they be able to allow for a big country like Ukraine in, which still would have a lot of problems when it comes to its borders?” Hoxhaj said.

Dashed hopes

Other former Soviet states are eyeing EU membership. Georgia’s hopes of joining Ukraine and Moldova were dashed as the EU demanded further reforms before granting the country candidacy status. Instead, the bloc said it formally recognized Georgia’s “European perspective.”

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili nevertheless said it was an incredibly historic step. “We’re ready to work with determination over the next months to reach the candidate status,” Zourabichvili said.

North Macedonia has been a candidate for 17 years but its progress is being blocked by Bulgaria in a dispute over ethnicity and language. The feud is also blocking Albania’s hopes of progressing toward EU accession.

Bulgarian lawmakers voted Friday to end its veto, but with certain conditions attached, which could yet be rejected by North Macedonia or the EU.

EU ‘short-sighted’

Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo also want to join the EU, but political crises have prevented Brussels from offering candidacy. Arton Demhasaj, the head of Kosovo’s Wake Up anti-corruption watchdog, said the EU’s position is short-sighted.

“If countries who aspire to join EU face delays, they will re-orientate their policies and then we will have an increase of Russian and Chinese influence in the western Balkans and this will create problems within the E.U. itself,” Demhasaj told Reuters.

Hoxhaj of Warick University agrees.

“Bosnia should have been offered a candidate status a long time ago, as well as Kosovo, because it’s preventing them from moving forward,” Hoxhaj said. “But it’s also allowing Russia to have a kind of influence in the Western Balkans, especially in Serbia as well as in Bosnia.”

Kremlin reaction

Russia said Ukraine’s EU candidacy would not pose a threat but Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the West of seeking war.

“When World War II was about to start, Hitler gathered most of the European countries under his banner. Now the EU and NATO are also gathering the same modern coalition for the fight and, by and large, for war with the Russian Federation,” Lavrov said Friday during a visit to Azerbaijan.

NATO and the EU say they do not seek war with Russia and accuse Moscow of upending decades of peace in Europe with its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

 
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The Vatican’s Academy for Life on Friday praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on abortion, saying it challenged the whole world to reflect on life issues. 

The Vatican department also said in a statement that the defense of human life could not be confined to individual rights because life is a matter of “broad social significance.” 

The U.S. Supreme Court took the dramatic step Friday of overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that recognized a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion and legalized it nationwide. 

“The fact that a large country with a long democratic tradition has changed its position on this issue also challenges the whole world,” the Academy said in a statement. 

U.S. President Joe Biden, a lifelong Catholic, condemned the ruling, calling it a “sad day” for America and labeling the court’s conservatives “extreme.” 

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who heads the Pontifical Academy for Life, said the Court’s decision was a “powerful invitation to reflect” on the issue at a time when “Western society is losing passion for life. 

“By choosing life, our responsibility for the future of humanity is at stake,” Paglia said. 

 
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John Kirby, the former Pentagon spokesperson, told VOA’s Ukrainian service on Thursday the United States is “focused on making sure that Ukraine can continue to defend itself and its sovereignty.”

Kirby, who recently became the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, said since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the United States has provided nearly $6 billion worth of assistance, including military equipment, such as HIMARS, high mobility artillery rocket systems.

Ukraine determines “what operations they’re going to conduct. And that’s their right to the material that they get from the United States. [It is] now theirs. It’s Ukrainian property, and they get to determine how they’re going to use it,” Kirby said.

Here is the interview, edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: We know that American HIMARS [High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems] arrived today in Ukraine. What impact do we expect them to make on a battlefield at this stage?

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby: The big difference that these HIMARS, which stands for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, can make is distance, its range. It’s giving the Ukrainians the benefit of farther standoff from Russian forces as they continue to fight them every single day which is now a much more concentrated geographic area.

VOA: The United States is providing Ukraine unprecedented levels of military assistance. Still, some in Kyiv and Washington are saying it’s not enough, it’s not fast enough. Do you think the administration is providing enough weapons to Ukraine to make a difference on the battlefield?

Kirby: All these systems are making a difference. Even today, they’re making a difference. And the Ukrainians will tell you that, and it’s not just the big systems. It’s the small arms and ammunition, which they’re using literally every day in this fight with the Russians. So it’s already making an impact. And we’re obviously the largest donor of security assistance to Ukraine or any other nation around the world … almost $6 billion since the beginning of the invasion. So it’s a lot of material that’s going in and the president has made clear that we’re committed to continuing that assistance going forward.

VOA: Should we expect more HIMARS to be sent to Ukraine? And what is the absolute maximum amount that United States can provide HIMARS and MLRS [multiple launch rocket systems], given its own stocks?

Kirby: I do think you’ll continue to see systems like HIMARS going in in future deliveries. I think that that’s very likely. I don’t want to get ahead of specific announcements here. But again, the president was very clear with [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy. So once again, we’re going to help them as much as we can as fast as we can. And I’ll tell you, the material is going in at record speed. … It’s just unprecedented the speed with which security assistance is actually reaching the front lines in Ukraine. There’s literally shipments going in every single day. And it’s not just from the United States, we are the biggest donor. But more than 40 other nations around the world are also contributing security assistance in some type of form to Ukraine. [U.S. Defense] Secretary [Lloyd] Austin just held the most recent Ukraine contact group in Brussels last week, almost 50 nations showed up, not just from Europe, but from around the world, to look at ways they can continue to continue to support Ukraine and their ability to defend themselves.

VOA: Can you clarify what weapons the administration is providing to Ukraine to defend themselves and to push Russia outside Ukraine?

Kirby: We are really focused on making sure that Ukraine can continue to defend itself and its sovereignty, its people, its territorial integrity. And, obviously, the Ukrainians are in this fight. They determine what operations they’re going to conduct. And that’s their right. The material that they get from the United States is now theirs. It’s Ukrainian property, and they get to determine how they’re going to use it. Now, obviously, we want to see Ukraine’s sovereignty fully respected, we want to see Ukraine’s territorial integrity fully restored. But how that gets determined, and it should be determined by Mr. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin ending this war. But Mr. Zelenskyy is going to get to determine what victory looks like.

VOA: If Ukrainians determined that they want to win this war, push Russians back to the February 23 lines, would you also support that and for them to use the provided weapons to conduct counteroffensives?

Kirby: Well, Ukrainians are already conducting counteroffensives in their own country. I mean, look at what they’ve been doing in the south, look at Khakiv in the north, where the Russians almost had the city completely encircled [and] Ukrainians pushed them away, pushed them back toward the border. Mr. Zelinskyy is the commander in chief of his armed forces. We respect that. He gets to determine how he’s going to use those forces and how he’s going to define victory. Our job is to make sure that he has the tools available to him to do that in the most efficient, effective way.

VOA: Is the administration preparing for this war to become a protracted war? We hear [NATO Secretary-General Jens] Stoltenberg say that we should expect this war to last for a long time. What is the expectation on American side?

Kirby: Once Mr. Putin decided to concentrate on the Donbas, you heard American officials say almost from the very beginning, that this was the potential. That there could be a prolonged fight here in the Donbas region. We have to remember, this is a part of Ukraine that the Russians and Ukrainians have been fighting over literally since 2014. We tend to think of Feb. 24 as a watershed moment, and it was, but Ukrainian soldiers were dying, fighting and dying for their country years before that. So this is a part of the country that both armies know well, and both are digging in. The Russians are making incremental but not consistent progress. Ukrainians are pushing back. And it certainly could end up being a prolonged conflict.

VOA: July 9 will mark 60 days since [U.S.] President [Joe] Biden signed into law the Lend-Lease Act [which would expedite the process of sending military aid to Ukraine]. When is the United States planning to use this mechanism, and would weapons the United States would be sending through this mechanism be any different from what the United States is sending right now?

Kirby: We certainly welcome the support that Congress gave with additional authorities to help Ukraine defend itself. We’re still working our way through that particular act and, sort of, what authorities and capabilities might help us provide Ukraine. In the meantime, we’re already continuing to flow a lot of material through drawdown authority, just pulling it from our own stocks. We have the authorities to do that. The president’s not been bashful about using that. And you’re going to continue to see those flow going forward. We got a supplemental request of some $40 million from Congress just a few weeks ago, not all of it for security assistance, but a lot of it is. And we also have authorities through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. This is authorities, and we just used some last week, where the Department of Defense can go contract for items that go directly to Ukraine. So there’s an awful lot of tools available in the toolbox. And we’re open-minded about using all of them.

VOA: There are some reports indicating that American intelligence agencies have less information than they would like about Ukrainian operations, personnel and equipment losses. Does this administration see this as an issue in the context of providing military aid for Ukraine?

Kirby: I’d rather not talk about intelligence matters here, in an interview. I would just tell you that the relationship with the Ukrainian armed forces is very, very strong. And we’re talking to them literally almost every single day, at various levels, all the way up to the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff down to working staff levels, including military-to-military contact. And the idea of those conversations is to help give us a better idea of what Ukraine needs in the fight. One of the things we didn’t talk about was, when we talked about aid and how much they’re getting and how fast you’re getting it is, we’re doing this in parcels, so that deliberately so that we can continue to give them assistance in ways that are relevant to the fight that they’re in. And the Ukrainians have been very honest and open with us about the fight that they’re in and what they need. And they’ve been honest with the rest of the world. And so those conversations are going to continue. And that’s what really matters.

VOA: We heard from Secretary Austin and [U.S.] Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken that they want to see Ukraine win, that they want to see Ukraine prevail. Is it still the position of the administration?

Kirby: Of course, we want Ukraine to succeed on the battlefield, and we want them to succeed at the negotiating table, if and when it comes to that. Now, obviously, we’re not at that stage right now. But we believe that President Zelenskyy is the one who gets to determine what victory looks like. I mean, it’s his country. He’s the commander in chief, and we respect him. Unlike the Russians, we respect the decision by the Ukrainian voters to elect him into office. And we respect his leadership and his responsibilities.

VOA: What results is President Biden expecting from his visit to Europe – G-7 (Group of Seven) summit, NATO summit. What is the major expectation?

Kirby: This is a very exciting trip. A year ago, when President Biden was at the G-7, and he’s now attended several NATO summits, the theme in the past has been, look, America is back, American leadership is back. And now I think, without getting into specific deliverables ahead of these meetings, I can tell you that we’re very much looking forward to a theme of, now it’s American leadership delivering, delivering for our allies and partners, delivering for the American people, producing results that will actually improve our national security, help with energy security at home and around the world, and also continue to impose costs and consequences on Mr. Putin for this unprovoked war.

VOA: Russia’s envoy in Afghanistan said Moscow can recognize the Taliban government, regardless of the American position. Do you think this kind of move by Russia could further worsen the relationship between Moscow and Washington?

Kirby: I think there’s enough tension between the United States and Russia right now that that we need to continue to focus on what Mr. Putin has done for security across the European continent and, quite frankly, across the globe. Russia can speak for themselves in terms of what governments they intend to recognize or not, we are not at a stage where we’re willing to do that with respect to the Taliban. What we would ask of any nation in the world, certainly any nation bordering Afghanistan is to not make decisions that are going to make it less stable and less secure than it is right now for the Afghan people.

VOA: The White House says Biden’s upcoming meeting with [Saudi] King Salman and Prince [Mohammed] bin Salman will advance national security interests. What’s the rationale for where the White House decides that national interests trump objections to authoritarian leaders? And do you see that anytime in the foreseeable future where the White House might decide it’s in national interest to sit down even with Putin?

Kirby: Well, the president has spoken to Vladimir Putin, spoke to him before the invasion. The president will speak, he will meet, he will discuss with any leader around the world things that he believes are in the national security interests of the American people. That’s his job as commander in chief and he takes that responsibility seriously. And I would, you know, go back on some of the critics here, I mean, the fact that an adherence to values and human rights and civil rights is somehow at odds with a pragmatic foreign policy is just foolishness. They go hand in hand, they have to go hand in hand. And the president has been very clear that our foreign policy is going to be rooted in values and he’s never bashful about espousing and advancing those values as he meets with leaders around the world. The two go hand in hand they have to. 
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When the top leaders of NATO countries meet next week in Spain, the discussion will be dominated by the Ukraine war and how to deter further Russian aggression in Europe.

But in the latest sign the Western military alliance is trying to expand its focus eastward, the NATO summit will also deal with the challenges posed by China, perhaps in a more direct way than any of its previous meetings.

For the first time, the NATO summit will include the top leaders of four Asian countries: Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. None are NATO members, but each is wary of China’s growing influence and coercion.

Since 2020, NATO has stepped up cooperation with the four Asian democracies, which it refers to as “Asia-Pacific partners.”

The engagement underscores a profound shift in the scope and priorities of NATO, which was meant to focus on the collective defense of its North American and European member states.

But China’s growing global presence, as well as its expanding military cooperation with Russia, has made it much harder for NATO to ignore.

While there is no talk of NATO accepting Asian countries as members, the alliance’s new Asia focus will likely endure, according to many observers.

“I do not expect that NATO will now expand into the Indo-Pacific and create a new Asian NATO kind of organization,” said Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, a former political adviser in the European Parliament.

“I do expect, though, that cooperation with [Asian] countries that face the growing threat of China’s economic coercion and aggressive behavior … will converge more and more with European democracies as well as the United States,” said Ferenczy, assistant professor at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan.

Europe sours on China

NATO’s eastward shift reflects not only an intensified U.S.-China rivalry, but also changing European attitudes toward Beijing.

For decades, Europe prioritized stable ties with China, which in 2020 overtook the United States as the European Union’s biggest trading partner.

But European views of China have soured under the leadership of Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping, whose government has become more authoritarian at home and more aggressive abroad.

Under Xi, China has obliterated democratic opposition in Hong Kong, increased military threats against democratically ruled Taiwan, and been accused of genocide against Uighur Muslims.

Xi has also steadily expanded China’s military presence beyond its shores, most notably in the South China Sea, where it has created military outposts over the objections of its neighbors, which have overlapping territorial claims with China.

As part of its new “wolf warrior” approach to diplomacy, China has made clear it will retaliate against countries that criticize Beijing or enact policies that go against its wishes.

After Lithuania opened a de facto embassy in Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory, China downgraded diplomatic ties and imposed what some say amounts to a trade boycott. The unannounced embargo affected not only Lithuanian products, but also other European countries’ goods that incorporated Lithuanian components.

The pandemic has also helped worsen Europe-China relations. China has been accused of not cooperating sufficiently with a World Health Organization investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, which first appeared in central China. Instead, Chinese government-controlled media have suggested the virus originated elsewhere, such as the United States or Italy.

Changing NATO approach

Europe’s growing skepticism of China can also be observed in NATO’s recent history.

In 2019, China was included for the first time in a NATO statement – but only in a single sentence saying Beijing “presents both opportunities and challenges.”

By 2021, NATO’s tone had shifted. A joint communique issued in Brussels said China presents “systemic challenges to the rules-based international order.”

The statement also slammed China’s “coercive” policies, “opaque” military modernization, use of “disinformation,” and military exercises with Russia in the Euro-Atlantic area.

A major reason for NATO’s more combative tone is the Ukraine war, which coincided with Beijing and Moscow declaring a “no limits” partnership.

Just weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Beijing, where they announced a broad plan to counter Western influence around the world.

Since Russia’s invasion, China has attempted to portray itself as a neutral party. But many European observers are not convinced, noting China has consistently defended Russia from global criticism and instead blamed Washington for engaging in a “Cold War mindset” that provoked Moscow.

Pierre Morcos, a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the Ukraine conflict has “confirmed the growing strategic rapprochement between China and Russia.”

“The war in Ukraine has also demonstrated that the Euro-Atlantic area and the Indo-Pacific region are deeply inter-connected. A crisis in a region can have deep impacts on the other one,” he said.

That explains why like-minded Asian countries are eager to play an active role in supporting Ukraine and pushing back against Russia, Morcos said.

“I think that we will see growing coordination and consultations between NATO and these countries in the future notably to discuss the aftershocks of the war in Ukraine but also exchange about China’s capacities and activities,” he added.

Speaking at a forum earlier this week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg insisted the alliance does not regard China as an adversary. However, he suggested the coming summit would result in a statement acknowledging “China poses some challenges to our values, to our interests, [and] to our security.”

China has responded angrily to NATO’s eastward focus. At a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry briefing Thursday, spokesperson Wang Wenbin accused NATO of engaging in a “highly dangerous” effort to create hostile blocs in Asia.

“NATO has already disrupted stability in Europe,” he said. “It should not try to do the same to the Asia-Pacific and the whole world.”
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President Joe Biden heads to Europe for two major summits with challenges that include how Western democracies can continue to support Ukraine, how they can counter China’s growing influence, and how the world’s most liberal nations can weather these uncertain times. VOA’s Anita Powell reports.
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The International Energy Agency has warned that Russia could cut gas supplies to Europe entirely in order to boost its political leverage following its invasion of Ukraine. As Henry Ridgwell reports, Europe is scrambling to avoid an energy crisis this winter.
Videographer: Henry Ridgwell
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Poles have generously welcomed refugees from the war in neighboring Ukraine in the past few months. But absorbing more than 3 million refugees is a big challenge for Poland, which has a population of about 38 million. As Greg Flakus reports from Warsaw, other European nations are providing help, but the burden could become untenable for Poles if the war continues much longer.
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Ukraine: It was a word barely mentioned but often alluded to as the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — collectively known as BRICS — gave their opening remarks at a virtual summit Thursday hosted by Beijing. 

 

In his address, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the group’s purpose was to “make the world a more stable place” and “speak out for equity and justice.” He then appeared to take aim at the West, though the U.S. was never referred to by name. 

 

“We must abandon cold war mentality and bloc confrontation and oppose unilateral sanctions and the abuse of sanctions,” the president of the world’s second-largest economy said in apparent reference to U.S. and European Union sanctions against Moscow. 

 

Of the BRICS member states — emerging economies that position themselves as an alternative to the U.S.-led liberal world order — only Brazil voted against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations earlier this year. China, India and South Africa all abstained from condemning the invasion. 

 

Xi’s remarks Wednesday at the BRICS business forum ahead of the main summit were even less equivocal. 

“We in the international community should reject zero-sum games and jointly oppose hegemony and power politics,” he said. 

Avoid ‘spillovers’

 

“Major developed countries should adopt responsible economic policies and avoid negative policy spillovers that may take a heavy toll on developing countries. It has been proved time and again that sanctions are a boomerang and a double-edged sword,” he added. 

 

Unlike the others, Xi did refer directly to Ukraine, saying: “The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis has resulted in disruptions to global industrial and supply chains … and emerging markets and developing countries bear the brunt.” 

 

For his part, Russia leader Vladimir Putin on Thursday thanked Xi and “all our Chinese friends” and took aim at the “selfish actions of certain states” that he said had thrown the global economy into a crisis, referring to sanctions against his government. 

 

Countries in the global South have been hard hit by food insecurity and rising oil prices caused by the Ukraine crisis, and Putin noted that Russia could “count on the support of many Asian, African and Latin American states striving to pursue an independent policy.” 

 

On Wednesday at the business forum, Putin said Russia was actively “redirecting its trade flows” and increasing oil deliveries to India and China. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that instead of closing itself off in the face of disrupted supply chains, Brazil would be seeking to “deepen our economic integration.” 

 

South Africa, one of the democracies in BRICS, has been widely criticized for taking a neutral stance on the Ukraine conflict. At the Thursday summit, President Cyril Ramaphosa was less strident than other leaders. 

 

“In line with our foreign policy principles, South Africa continues to call for dialogue and negotiation toward a peaceful resolution of conflicts around the world,” he said. 

Different views

 

Later, a joint declaration by the group was vague, underscoring the different countries’ divergent views on the matter.

“We have discussed the situation in Ukraine and recall our national positions as expressed at the appropriate fora, namely the UNSC [U.N. Security Council] and UNGA [U.N. General Assembly]. We support talks between Russia and Ukraine” the statement said, adding that BRICS supported U.N. humanitarian assistance to the region.    

 

Not all the talks focused on the Ukraine crisis, however, with leaders, including Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also stressing the need to enhance international cooperation in the fight against COVID-19. 

 

On this matter, Ramaphosa took aim at the West for not adhering to “the principles of solidarity and cooperation when it comes to equitable access to vaccines.” 

 

“We call on developed economies, international agencies and philanthropists that procure vaccines to purchase from manufacturers in developing economies, including in Africa,” he said. 

 

Despite aiming to present a united front against the U.S. and its allies, BRICS member states also have disagreements among themselves, though those do not necessarily stop their cooperation. Bolsonaro has previously made anti-China statements, while India has challenged Beijing on its disputed Ladakh border. 

 

On Wednesday, ahead of the BRICS summit, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with India’s ambassador to China, Pradeep Kumar Rawat. In the ministry’s summary of the meeting, Beijing stated the two countries should continue to look for “solutions through dialogue and consultation” on the “boundary issue” and that “common interests between China and India far outweigh the differences.”

BRICS expansion 

 

Additionally, China has supported the expansion of BRICS to include other countries. “Bringing in fresh blood will inject new vitality into BRICS cooperation and increase the representativeness and influence of BRICS,” said Xi in his remarks at the summit. 

 

China’s Wang said that “to strengthen the solidarity and cooperation between emerging markets and developing countries,” for the first time, officials and foreign ministers of Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, and Thailand, described as BRICS Plus countries, were invited to a May virtual meeting of BRICS foreign ministers. 

 

The BRICS joint statement declared the countries were in favor of further discussions about expanding bloc membership but “stressed the need to clarify” the details of the process.
…

China ramped up crude oil imports from Russia in May, customs data showed Monday, helping to offset losses from Western nations scaling back Russian energy purchases over the invasion of Ukraine. 

The spike means Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become China’s top oil provider as the West sanctions Moscow’s energy exports. 

The world’s second-biggest economy imported about 8.42 million tons of oil from Russia last month, a 55% rise from a year ago. 

Beijing has refused to publicly condemn Moscow’s war and has instead exacted economic gains from its isolated neighbor. 

It imported 7.82 million tons of oil from Saudi Arabia in May. 

China bought $7.47 billion worth of Russian energy products last month, about $1 billion more than in April, according to Bloomberg News. 

The new customs data came four months into the war in Ukraine, with buyers from the United States and Europe shunning Russian energy imports or pledging to slash them over the coming months. 

Asian demand is helping to stanch some of those losses for Russia, especially buyers from China and India. 

India bought six times more Russian oil from March to May compared with the same period last year, while imports by China during that period tripled, data from research firm Rystad Energy show.   

“For now, it is just pure economics that Indian and Chinese refiners are importing more Russian-origin crude oil … as such oil is cheap,” said analyst Wei Cheong Ho. 

According to the International Energy Agency’s latest global oil report, India has overtaken Germany in the past two months as the second-largest importer of Russian crude. 

China has been Russia’s biggest market for crude oil since 2016. 

‘No limits’

Days before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Chinese President Xi Jinping greeted his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Beijing where the two countries declared a bilateral relationship of “no limits.” 

Although demand in China remains muted because of COVID restrictions, there has been some improvement in the past month as cities loosen controls after the country’s worst outbreak since the early days of the pandemic. 

This has allowed supply chain problems to ease and industrial production to pick up, official data show. 

China’s overall imports from Russia spiked 80% in May compared with a year ago, to $10.3 billion, according to customs data. 

Beijing’s purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas surged 54% from a year ago to 397,000 tons, even as overall imports of the fuel fell. 

China has been accused of providing a diplomatic shield for Russia by criticizing Western sanctions on Moscow and arms sales to Kyiv. 

Joint goals

Once bitter Cold War rivals, Beijing and Moscow have stepped up cooperation in recent years as a counterbalance to what they see as U.S. global dominance. 

This month they unveiled the first road bridge linking the countries, connecting the far eastern Russian city of Blagoveshchensk with the northern Chinese city of Heihe. 

Last week Xi assured Putin of China’s support for Russian “sovereignty and security” in a call between the two leaders.  

The Kremlin said the pair had agreed to ramp up economic cooperation in the face of “unlawful” Western sanctions. 

The West has implemented unprecedented sanctions on Russia in retaliation for its war in Ukraine, forcing Moscow to find new markets and suppliers to replace foreign firms that have left Russia following the invasion. 

The 27-nation European Union agreed in late May to a package of sanctions that would halt the majority of Russian oil imports. 

The United States has already banned all Russian oil, but European nations are much more dependent on these imports. 

Energy is a major source of income for Putin’s government, and Western nations are trying to isolate Moscow and impede its ability to continue the war.
…

European Council President Charles Michel said he is confident EU leaders will vote Thursday in favor of granting candidate status to Ukraine.

EU leaders gathered in Brussels were also set to discuss the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine on global food security, as well as additional EU economic, military and humanitarian support for Ukraine.

The European Commission recommended EU candidate status for Ukraine and its smaller neighbor, Moldova, last week.

The candidacy status is just the first step toward joining the 27-member group. Ukraine will need to meet political and economic conditions, such as meeting standards on democratic principles. Diplomats say the process could take a decade to complete.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation that he had spoken to 11 European Union leaders Wednesday about Ukraine’s candidacy and would make more calls Thursday. Earlier, he voiced his optimism at joining the EU, saying he believed all 27 EU countries would support Ukraine’s candidate status.

Zelenskyy said Russia carried out “massive air and artillery strikes” in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, adding that Russia’s goal is to “destroy the entire Donbas step-by-step.”

The Ukrainian leader called for faster arms deliveries to help his forces match up against those from Russia.

Kharkiv region Governor Oleh Synehubov said Wednesday shelling of the residential districts of Kharkiv or other towns in the region had continued unabated.

“There is no letup in the shelling of civilians by the Russian occupiers,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “This is evidence that we cannot expect the same scenario as in Chernihiv or Kyiv, with Russian forces withdrawing under pressure.”

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in a video address that Russian forces were hitting Kharkiv “with the aim of terrorizing the population” and forcing Ukraine to divert troops, Reuters reported.

Microsoft reported Wednesday that Russian intelligence agencies have conducted multiple efforts to hack the computer networks of Ukraine’s allies.

“The cyber aspects of the current war extend far beyond Ukraine and reflect the unique nature of cyberspace,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in the report.

The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported. In the past, Moscow has denied conducting foreign cyber espionage missions, saying it “contradicts the principles of Russian foreign policy.”

Since the conflict began four months ago, Ukrainian entities have been attacked by Russian state-backed hacking groups, Microsoft reported. Researchers found 128 organizations in 42 countries outside Ukraine were also targeted by the same groups in espionage-focused hacks, the report found. 

Nearly two-thirds of the cyberespionage targets involved NATO members, researchers found.

Some information came from The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. 
…

The European Union’s 27 leaders meet in Brussels this week to consider the membership applications of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. As Henry Ridgwell reports, E.U. leaders also will discuss military support for Ukraine as Russia intensifies its bombardment in the Donbas region.
…

A day before a meeting of European Union leaders, where a vote is likely on Ukraine’s candidacy to the union, Russian forces pounded Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and the eastern Donbas region.

The EU leaders’ two-day summit begins Thursday in Brussels. Olha Stefanishyna, deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, told The Associated Press the vote could come as soon as Thursday.

Last week, the European Commission formally recommended EU-candidate status for Ukraine and its smaller neighbor, Moldova. On Wednesday, Stefanishyna said she was “100%” confident that Ukraine would be accepted as an EU candidate.

The candidacy status is just the first step toward joining the 27-member group. Ukraine will need to meet political and economic conditions, such as standards on democratic principles.

Stefanishyna told AP she thought Ukraine could be an EU member within years. Some European officials have suggested it could take decades.

“We’re already very much integrated in the European Union,” she told AP. “We want to be a strong and competitive member state, so it may take from two to 10 years.”

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation that he had spoken to 11 European Union leaders on Wednesday about Ukraine’s candidacy and would make more calls on Thursday. Earlier, he voiced his optimism at joining the EU, saying he believed all 27 EU countries would support Ukraine’s candidate status.

Meanwhile, Kharkiv region Governor Oleh Synehubov said shelling of the residential districts of Kharkiv and other towns in the region had continued unabated.

“There is no letup in the shelling of civilians by the Russian occupiers,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “This is evidence that we cannot expect the same scenario as in Chernihiv or Kyiv, with Russian forces withdrawing under pressure.”

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in a video address that Russian forces were hitting Kharkiv “with the aim of terrorizing the population” and forcing Ukraine to divert troops, Reuters reported.

On Sunday, Zelenskyy had warned that Russia was likely to intensify its attacks this week, ahead of the EU action.

“Obviously, we expect Russia to intensify hostile activity this week. … We are preparing. We are ready,” he said.

Zelenskyy said Wednesday of Russia’s heavy air and artillery strikes in the eastern Donbas: “Step by step they want to destroy all of the Donbas. All of it.”

Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzianyk told AP that in some battles, for every artillery shell that Ukrainian forces fire, the Russian army fires at least six.

Also, Microsoft reported Wednesday, Russian intelligence agencies have conducted multiple efforts to hack the computer networks of Ukraine’s allies.

“The cyber aspects of the current war extend far beyond Ukraine and reflect the unique nature of cyberspace,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in the report.

The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported. In the past, Moscow has denied conducting foreign cyber espionage missions, saying it “contradicts the principles of Russian foreign policy.”

Since the conflict began four months ago, Ukrainian entities have been attacked by Russian state-backed hacking groups, Microsoft reported. Researchers found 128 organizations in 42 countries outside Ukraine had been targeted by the same groups in espionage-focused hacks, the report found.

Nearly two-thirds of the cyberespionage targets involved NATO members, researchers found.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
…

A no-confidence vote on Wednesday toppled Bulgaria’s government and Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, who had pledged to tackle corruption and took an unusually strong stance against Russia.

Opposition lawmakers brought down the government, which took power six months ago, on a 123-116 vote after the ruling coalition lost its majority over disputes on budget spending and whether Bulgaria should unlock North Macedonia’s EU accession.

They accused the government of failing to implement fiscal and economic policies to tame surging inflation in the European Union’s poorest member state.

Bulgaria now faces possibly its fourth general election since April 2021, putting at risk millions of euros from EU recovery funds and its plans to adopt the euro in 2024.

“This vote is only one small step in a very long way,” Petkov said following the vote. “What they fail to understand is that this is not the way to win the Bulgarian people.”

Petkov, a 42-year-old Harvard graduate who had pledged to combat corruption, has taken a strong pro-European and pro-NATO position since Russia invaded Ukraine, an unusual stance for a country traditionally friendly toward Moscow.

Petkov sacked his defense minister in February for refusing to call the Russian invasion of Ukraine a war, backed EU sanctions against Moscow and agreed to repair Ukraine’s heavy military machinery while stopping short of sending arms to Kyiv.

The ensuing political gridlock may also hinder Bulgaria’s efforts to secure stable natural gas inflows after Moscow cut gas deliveries to the country, which was almost completely reliant on Russian gas, over Sofia’s refusal to pay in rubles.

Deputy Prime Minister Assen Vassilev expressed hope that parliament would vote to approve budget changes drafted to raise state pensions and support households as food and fuel prices surge.  

The former coalition partner ITN left the government after accusing Petkov of disregarding Bulgaria’s interests by pushing to lift its veto on North Macedonia’s EU accession talks under pressure from its EU and NATO allies.

Petkov has argued that any decision on the veto should be put to vote in parliament. Earlier on Wednesday, in a sudden shift, the main opposition GERB party said it would support lifting of the veto, but political bickering prevented a debate on the issue.

Lawmakers will now meet again on Thursday to discuss whether Sofia should unlock Skopje’s EU accession. Petkov will maintain Bulgaria’s veto at the EU summit this week, unless the parliament gives him a different mandate.

Petkov has rejected any coalition talks with opposition parties in the chamber but will seek defections from lawmakers to garner enough support for a new government and avoid early elections.

President Rumen Radev is required to call elections within two months and appoint a caretaker administration should Petkov fail to cobble together a majority for a new cabinet and if two other parties in parliament cannot form a government.

The motion against the ruling coalition was proposed by the GERB party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, which is likely to benefit from fresh polls alongside pro-Russian parties like nationalist Revival in a society polarized by economic problems and the Ukraine war.
…

Ukraine war plays a role in blocking of goods to Russian region of Kaliningrad
…

Risk of infection from the disease, which causes paralysis in children in under 1% of cases, was low because of high vaccination rates
…

European Union leaders hold a key summit Thursday and Friday with a top item on their agenda — okaying Ukraine’s bid to be a candidate for the bloc — appearing to be on track. The meeting comes amid heightened tensions between Europe and Moscow as the war drags on in Ukraine.

Hours before the European Union summit, France — which currently holds the presidency of the Council of the EU — offered a confident assessment of Kyiv’s candidacy application.

France’s Europe Minister Clement Beaune said there is a “total consensus” in favor, following discussions among EU country representatives. Now, he said, it’s up to their leaders to formally vote on the candidate status Thursday, along with those of Moldova and Georgia.

Kyiv has been pushing hard to join the 27-member bloc as soon as possible. Some EU countries like Portugal and Denmark earlier expressed reservations. But last week, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen offered a strong endorsement.

“Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective. We want them to live with us the European dream,” der Leyen said.

But it seems unlikely EU leaders will agree to Ukraine’s call for fast-tracking its application. Being admitted into the bloc can take years, or decades.

‘I think if there were a fast track [for Ukraine], then it would provoke some uproar from the western Balkan countries, who have been in the anti-chamber of this candidate status for a while now,” said Tara Varma who heads the Paris office of the European Council on Foreign Relations policy institute.

“I think the Europeans need to be quite careful about how they deal with this,” Varma said. “Honestly, granting candidate status in such a short period would already be quite a revolution.”

France is pushing for an intermediary association for Ukraine and other non-EU members in the meantime.

This week’s summit follows a visit to Ukraine by leaders of France, Germany and Italy — the EU’s three most powerful members — along with Romania. Beyond the symbolism, they promised to deliver more weapons — a source of tension with Ukraine, among other issues.

But while EU leaders have displayed remarkable unity in agreeing to ever-stronger sanctions against Russia over the war, European citizens are feeling its economic backlash.

“Europeans will also have to think about how they deal with the situation at home as well. Because we’re seeing an increasing sense of worry from the European population side and also the beginning of a war fatigue,” said Varma.

Also up for discussion this summit will be the bloc’s deteriorating relationship with Moscow. Over the past week, Russia has cut off natural gas exports to more EU countries, notably heavyweights France and Germany. It’s also threatened EU and NATO member Lithuania over its rail transit blockade of some goods to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called Russia’s own blockade of Ukraine’s grain exports — which are critical for some of the world’s poorest countries — a war crime.
…

A United Nations study finds 222 million children and adolescents worldwide have had their education disrupted by multiple crises.

Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, produced the study. When the organization was created in 2016, the number of crisis-affected children whose education had been disrupted stood at around 75 million.

ECW Director Yasmine Sherif says multiple crises over the past six years have boosted the number to 222 million among more than 40 countries.  

“Conflicts are raging around the world — we know that, but they also are more and more protracted. But the growing record high number of refugees and internally displaced, as a result of conflicts and climate-induced disasters, have also contributed to this number, as have, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic,” Sherif said. 

The study finds 78.2 million children worldwide have dropped out of school entirely.  Education experts say those children are unlikely to resume their education, resulting in a detrimental impact on their prospects and earning capacity. 

Sherif says she has visited countries where most children currently are out of school, and she has seen what happens to children in crisis-ridden countries such as Mali, Chad, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.  

“When you do not go to school, you are very exposed to being — if you are a boy — forcibly recruited into armed groups, terrorist groups, militia, government groups,” she said. “And, if you are a girl, you are exposed to becoming part of a gender-based violence at homes, sexual violence, trafficking, early marriages, and early childbirth.”   

Sherif says the new data must be a wake-up call for all leaders and policymakers as more children are being left behind due to crises. She says the international community must do more to support their educational needs, or there will be far-reaching negative impacts for human and economic development. 
…

U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a “massive act of aggression,” was a major topic during the Global Chiefs of Mission Conference in Washington on Tuesday.

Speaking at the State Department to VOA’s Russian service, Sullivan said, “I think it’s important to understand the scale of the problem and what the Russian government has done through its actions. Almost 15 million people are either refugees, have left Ukraine or they’re internally displaced persons. We’ve heard the casualty statistics — thousands upon thousands of innocent people, men women and children killed, but millions of refugees.”

“So it imposes an enormous burden on Ukraine itself. It imposes an enormous burden on Ukraine’s neighbors,” he said. “The United States, led by President (Joe) Biden, and our allies and partners, have very consciously provided humanitarian and other assistance to Ukraine, to neighboring countries that are Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria that have had this massive influx of refugees.”

“But it all goes back to the decision of a government, really one person – President (Vladimir) Putin, to launch this war,” Sullivan told VOA.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: From the annual Global Chiefs of Mission Conference in Washington, what is the key message from the U.S. ambassadors of the world in terms of the impact of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine?

U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan: I just returned from Moscow at the end of last week for this conference and it’s amazing how the world has turned upside down since the Russian war, aggression started at the end of February, and it’s a big subject of this conference … (of) U.S. ambassadors worldwide, making sure that the world knows and responds to this massive act of aggression and aggressive war waged on the European continent with artillery shells, rockets landing on ancient cities in Europe, sites that we thought we had left behind us in the 20th century, innocents being slaughtered, women and children, hospitals, schools. All because the Russian government and President (Vladimir) Putin decided that he was going to wage a war of aggression and try to capture some or all of an independent, sovereign country that’s a member of the United Nations. And that’s what we’re dealing with now. President (Joe) Biden and Secretary (of State Antony) Blinken have sought to rally the world to oppose this.

VOA: President Biden on the World Refugee Day on Monday recommitted to engaging in diplomatic efforts to “bring an end to the ongoing conflicts” to help refugees. So, what diplomatic solutions are there to bring an end to this particular war? There were many opportunities before, but Putin is not agreeing to anything.

Sullivan: I think it’s important to understand the scale of the problem and what the Russian government has done through its actions. Almost 15 million people are either refugees, have left Ukraine or they’re internally displaced persons. We’ve heard the casualty statistics: thousands upon thousands of innocent people, men women and children killed, but millions of refugees. So it imposes an enormous burden on Ukraine itself. It imposes an enormous burden on Ukraine’s neighbors, small countries like Moldova, who’ve seen their total population spike because of the vast increase in refugees fleeing the violence that the Russian government has unleashed in Ukraine.

So the United States, led by President Biden, and our allies and partners have very consciously provided humanitarian and other assistance to Ukraine, to neighboring countries that are Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, that have had this massive influx of refugees. … We’ve got a program to admit 100,000 Ukrainian refugees to the United States. But it all goes back to the decision of a government, really one person, President Putin, to launch this war. And it’s a symptom (English playwright William) Shakespeare wrote a famous line from, I believe it’s “Julius Caesar:” “Cry Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war.” A person does that, when a government does that, the consequences are often unforeseeable. I think, in this case, it would have been foreseeable that there would be millions of refugees, but I don’t think the Russian government really cared.

VOA: U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said in an interview with VOA in Kyiv, “We all understand very much what’s at stake and that’s why we’re here to help Ukraine prevail.” How confident are you in Ukraine’s overall success, after four months of full-scale Russian war and advances in eastern Ukraine?

Sullivan: I’m not a military expert, but I say this just as a human being, what (Ukraine) President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy and his government has done to resist this massive aggression is inspirational. I don’t think the Russian government expected the Ukrainian government to stand firm and resist. For President Zelenskyy to stay in Kyiv with a Russian army headed south out of Belarus to get him, that took nerve, that took courage. It was inspirational, it motivated, I’m sure, his fellow Ukrainians, who believe in their country, are fighting for their country and they’re not going to give up. You know, the Russian government, Russian media types like to talk about the strength of Russia. They’ve underestimated the strength of Ukraine.

VOA: Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly said that he is ready for talks with Vladimir Putin. While the peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia have stagnated and as the chief Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamiya, who visited Washington last week, said that Kyiv might resume talks with Moscow only at the end of August. What do you think should happen for Putin to approve a potential meeting or at least a call with Zelenskyy?

Sullivan: Well, it’s something that President Biden, leaders across the world have been urging the Russian government to stop the war, to stop the aggression and negotiate. I’ve seen no indication that the Russian government, that President Putin is interested in negotiating. They want the Ukrainians to give up their resistance, succumb to a Russian invasion, and then they’ll negotiate. And President Zelenskyy, on behalf of his people whom he represents, democratically elected president, said, “No, thanks, we’ll negotiate but not when you’re holding a gun to our head.” I think, as President Biden would say, this conflict will end as all conflicts do — with some form of negotiation. And what the United States is looking to do is to support Ukraine, to support President Zelenskyy, so that the outcome that the Ukrainians want themselves is what’s achieved not only in the battlefield but in the negotiations, eventually, with Russia.

VOA: Do you think that China would have played a much bigger role in urging Russia to negotiate and maybe you had some talks with the Chinese ambassador in Moscow on that issue?

Sullivan: I have not. I know the U.S. government has, my colleagues in the U.S. government have made it clear that our hope and expectation is that China stands with the rest of the civilized world, those who support the U.N. charter, those who are against aggressive war and violence. And I think it’s fair to say there’s disappointment that the rhetoric from Beijing hasn’t been what one would have hoped. But I also don’t know that we’ve seen the type of material support that would actually bolster the physical effort by the Russian government to crush Ukraine.

VOA: Regarding repression of Russian opposition activists and independent media, you met with the deputy foreign minister of Russia on June 10 to protest threats against journalists working for U.S. media outlets in Russia. Also, the repression against opposition leaders like Alexey Navalny, who has been sent to a maximum-security prison, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was detained after his speech in Arizona about Putin’s war. How does the war impact those cases of people whom experts call hostages of the regime?

Sullivan: I’ve been in Moscow well over two and a half years now, and from the day I arrived, there’s been a snowball rolling of the gradual repression of civil rights, civil society, journalists, NGOs (nongovernmental organizations). And it has been law after law that’s been passed, individuals and organizations being designated as foreign agents or extremists, people being driven out of the country. These are loyal Russians who have lived in their homeland their entire lives, who love their country, disagree with actions their government has taken. But they’re forced to flee their country if they’re lucky. If they’re not, they get thrown in a labor camp for a long time. And so this is something I’ve witnessed over the years. It has increased since the war started.

You mentioned Vladimir Kara-Murza. I met with Vladimir in early March, shortly before he was arrested. He’s a friend of mine and he’s a very brave man. He knew the risks he was running, but he loves his country. And he wanted to be there and speak to the Russian people. Of course, he writes for The Washington Post. And it’s tragic what’s happened to him. But it also doesn’t strike me as the sign of a government that’s confident in what it’s doing if they have to treat their people that way. We here in the United States enjoy a competition of ideas and rhetoric, sometimes a little too much, but it’s a strength, it’s not a weakness. And what they’re revealing is weakness not strength.

VOA: Former Marine Trevor Reid has been released from a Russian prisoner in a swap for Russian citizen Konstantin Yoshinaga. Reid’s family said President Biden might have saved their son’s life. Can you give us any details of the negotiations and how difficult it was because it came during the Russian war?

Sullivan: Trevor has been one of the most important cases I’ve worked on since I became ambassador. He was arrested a few months before I was confirmed as ambassador. And I got to know him very well. He’s an amazing American, former Marine. And one of my first visits to him was before he was convicted in a pretrial detention facility in Moscow called SIZO-5. We were having a conversation and just talking about things he needed, books we were going to try to get him, passing messages from his family. And he just looked at me out of the blue and he said, “Ambassador, I want to tell you something. I want you to know I will never do anything to embarrass the United States.” Wow. Usually in my job people want things from me. And to have somebody trying to reassure me that he was going to be OK. Incredibly strong character and I couldn’t be happier for him.

Unfortunately, though, and Trevor himself has noted, that we have other Americans there now — (former Marine) Paul Whelan, (U.S. Women’s National Basketball Association player) Brittney Griner and others who are there, whom we’re focused on now. I really can’t go into any detail on negotiations, if there are any, because it wouldn’t help getting to their release talking about it publicly.

VOA: This weekend, President Biden departs for the Group of Seven (G-7) Leaders’ Summit in Germany. Many discussions are expected to be about Ukraine. From there, he heads to the NATO summit in Madrid. What are your expectations from these crucial meetings? And is there enough unity being shown among the Western leaders? What do you think?

Sullivan: People have been asking me this question for six months and at every turn the United States and its allies and partners have shown remarkable unity. I am confident that will be the outcome, both of the G-7 meeting and of the NATO leaders’ summit. It’s been a mistake of the Russian government and President Putin underestimating the unity of the NATO alliance, of the United States and our EU partners. That was a mistake because we are unified, and we will resist this aggression.

VOA: There have been some European Union disputes about the Russian gas supplies, an issue that has long been one of the EU’s greatest fears.

Sullivan: It’s a short-term problem that we collectively will overcome, and we won’t make the mistake of being over reliant on such an unreliable aggressive and hostile country like Russia.

VOA: It seems like Russia is operating more through the propagandistic channels inside the country, showing that it’s not a war against Ukraine, but a war against the U.S., against NATO, against the West. What do you think about this? Do you think Russian people, from what you see, are eager to receive this narrative?

Sullivan: It’s difficult. I’ve heard many Russians here in the United States, whom I know, I’ve talked to about this … if that’s the only news you hear, at some point it starts to seep in and that’s just all they hear and it’s difficult for alternative points of view to become well-known.

But there’s an underlying sense, I believe, in Russia that something’s wrong and what’s happening in Ukraine is wrong. They support their country. They love their military. But something’s not right and they know it, and you can sense this lurking. People want to know: When is it going to stop? When is it going to go back to being the way it was? And the message is, unfortunately, it’s not going to be any time soon.
…

Elite swimmer Mykhailo Romanchuk doesn’t know if his father was able to see him winning a medal for Ukraine at the swimming world championships.

Romanchuk’s father is fighting in the east of Ukraine, where pockets of resistance are still denying Russia full military control of the region almost four months after it unleashed its invasion.

“He’s in a hot spot and it’s a hard time,” Romanchuk said after taking bronze in the men’s 800-meter freestyle race on Tuesday.

Romanchuk doesn’t dare talk to his dad out of fear his father’s location could be tracked through the call.

“It’s not possible for them to join the network because the Russians can search everything,” Romanchuk said. “But every morning he sends me (a message) that he is OK.”

The 25-year-old Romanchuk – who intends to race the men’s 1500, then the 10K and 5K races in open water at the worlds – almost never made it to Budapest.

“My mind was to go to the war to defend my home,” said Romanchuk, who spent 10 days agonizing with his wife and family over the best course of action after Russia invaded his country on February 24.

“We decided that I cannot do anything with the gun. For me, it’s better to continue training, to do everything that I do best,” said Romanchuk, who won bronze in the 800 and silver in the 1500 at the Tokyo Olympics last year. “With my swimming, I can tell all the world about the situation in Ukraine.”

As training facilities were destroyed by the war, Romanchuk was invited by German swimmer Florian Wellbrock, who finished second behind American Bobby Finke in the 800, to join him in Germany to train.

Romanchuk and Wellbrock embraced after finishing 1-2 in qualifying for Tuesday’s race. But Finke’s strong finish prevented a repeat in the final. Romanchuk finished 0.69 seconds behind Finke.

Romanchuk said he was both “proud and disappointed” of his third place. He said his medal proves “that Ukrainians will fight to the end, it doesn’t matter what the situation.”

Swimmers from Russia and its ally Belarus have been excluded from the championships. Romanchuk said he doesn’t know how he would have reacted if they hadn’t been.

“My reaction could be maybe aggressive, I don’t know,” said Romanchuk, who referred to Olympic backstroke champion Evgeny Rylov appearing at a pro-war rally in Moscow. “Inside of me, I was ready to go and to kill him,” he said of Rylov. “But before he was a good friend. Before. But everything changed.”

Romanchuk spoke of the destruction Russia has caused in his country, the people killed, the lives shattered.

It makes it hard for him to focus on swimming.

“Especially in the beginning when I moved to Germany to join the group. It was hard because mentally you are in the war and you are sleeping just three or four hours because you are always reading the news,” Romanchuk said. “It was so hard in the beginning, but then you understand that all you can do is to swim, to train, to represent your country.”

For the freshly minted medalist, it’s a time to feel proud.

“I’m so proud of all the people in Ukraine. This is all I can say. I’m proud of the people, of the government, the president. I’m so proud of them,” Romanchuk said. “And I’m really happy to be Ukrainian.”
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Ukraine reported heavy strikes Tuesday in the Sievierodonetsk region as Russian forces push to gain full control of the eastern city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that the military situation in the eastern region of Luhansk “is really the toughest area right now. The occupiers are also putting serious pressure on the Donetsk direction.”

He said Russia has stepped up efforts to evict Ukrainian troops from key areas.

A spokesman for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said at a daily briefing that fighting in Sievierodonetsk was fierce, with Russia conducting airstrikes and shelling on Ukrainian positions.

Serhiy Haidai, governor of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, told The Associated Press in written comments, “It’s just hell there. Everything is engulfed in fire. The shelling doesn’t stop even for an hour.”

“Today, everything that can burn is on fire,” Haidai said. He reported heavy fighting at the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk, where Ukrainian fighters and about 500 civilians are taking shelter.

Russian forces control about 95% of the Luhansk region, AP reported, with Ukraine forces holding just the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk.

Haidai also said Russian forces had brought “catastrophic destruction” to Lysychansk, an industrial city just across a river from Sievierodonetsk.

Zelenskyy acknowledged difficulties trying to defend the country’s eastern region but said Russian forces would continue to be met with Ukrainian resistance.

In Lviv, Ukraine, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland met Tuesday with Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova to announce the creation of a team focused on war crimes accountability, the Justice Department said.

“The United States is sending an unmistakable message. There is no place to hide. We will, we and our partners, will pursue every avenue available to make sure that those who are responsible for these atrocities are held accountable,” Garland told reporters.

The War Crimes Accountability Team will assist Ukraine with criminal prosecution, evidence collection and forensics of human rights abuse, war crimes and other atrocities, the department said, adding that the team’s lead counselor is Eli Rosenbaum, a Justice Department official who once led the effort to track down Nazi war criminals.

“America — and the world — has seen the many horrific images and read the heart-wrenching accounts of brutality and death that have resulted from Russia’s unjust invasion of Ukraine,” Garland said in a statement.

The team also will focus on potential war crimes over which the United States has jurisdiction, including killing and wounding U.S. journalists, the department said.

“In addition, the Justice Department will provide additional personnel to expand its work with Ukraine and other partners to counter Russian illicit finance and sanctions evasion. Among other things, the Department will provide Ukraine an expert Justice Department prosecutor to advise on fighting kleptocracy, corruption, and money laundering,” the DOJ statement said.

Also, Ukraine is set to become an official candidate for European Union membership on Thursday, ministers and diplomats said on Tuesday.

Last week, the European Commission recommended the action. After several days of internal EU discussion, none of the 27 member states have voiced opposition to the plan, three diplomats told Reuters.

“We are working towards the point where we tell (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that Ukraine belongs to Europe, that we will also defend the values that Ukraine defends,” Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg’s foreign affairs minister, said, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday that the United Nations and its humanitarian partners delivered on Monday “12 trucks of critical supplies to help nearly 64,000 people in the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.” He said the cities are close to the front lines of the government-controlled Donetska Oblast.

The humanitarian convoy that reached the two cities carried hygiene supplies, water purification tablets and food assistance, he said.

Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
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Pavlo Vyshebaba joined the military on the first day of the Russian invasion, having no combat experience at all. Then the well-known Ukrainian eco-activist headed straight to his native Donbas region. During brief calm moments on the front line, he wrote about what he was seeing and feeling. Lesia Bakalets has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
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