Day: March 24, 2022

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Ukraine urges EU countries not to pay for Russian oil, gas in rubles

Ukraine’s foreign minister on Thursday called on EU countries to refrain from accepting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand to pay for Russian oil and gas in rubles.

“If any EU country bows to Putin’s humiliating demands to pay for oil and gas in rubles, it will be like helping Ukraine with one hand and helping Russians kill Ukrainians with the other,” Dymytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

“I urge relevant countries to make a wise and responsible choice,” he added.

On Thursday, Putin said he instructed the government to transfer into rubles payments for Russia’s energy resources coming from “unfriendly countries” which include all EU members.?

Speaking at a meeting with the government in Moscow, the Russian president said that after the US and EU sanctioned the Russian state debt in dollars and euros, which in economic terms means they announced a default on their financial liabilities to Russia, there is no longer any reason to continue to use these currencies.

As Putin’s remarked fueled oil supply concerns, global crude prices surged over 5% on Thursday.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Russia decries Ukraine’s ‘slowness’ in peace talks

President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s Security Council on Thursday decried Ukraine’s “slowness” in peace talks.

In a meeting, Putin and the council discussed the course of the peace talks, along with the sanctions imposed on Russia and the country’s economic situation, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The meeting participants regretted the “slowness” of the Ukrainian side in ongoing negotiations, the statement said.

Representatives from Moscow and Kyiv have held multiple rounds of talks since the war started on Feb. 24, while their foreign ministers also met earlier this month for talks hosted by Turkiye in its resort town of Antalya.

However, all the discussions have not yielded any concrete results.

“Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu presented a report on the ongoing special military operation of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as the ongoing military efforts to provide humanitarian assistance, ensure security and restore vital infrastructure in the liberated territories,” read the statement.

As the war enters its second month, at least 977 civilians have been killed so far in Ukraine and 1,594 injured, the UN has said, while warning that that true toll is likely much higher.

Over 3.6 million Ukrainians have also fled to neighboring countries, while some 6.5 million more are internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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NATO extends Stoltenberg’s mandate for another year

NATO leaders decided on Thursday to extend the mandate of alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg for another year because of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“Honored by the decision of NATO Heads of State and Government to extend my term as Secretary-General until 30 September 2023,” Stoltenberg announced the decision on Twitter.

“As we face the biggest security crisis in a generation, we stand united to keep our Alliance strong and our people safe,” he added.

Stoltenberg’s term was about to expire on Oct. 1, but NATO leaders decided to extend it because of the changed security environment.

He has been in office since 2014.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which began on Feb. 24, has met international outrage, with the EU, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 977 civilians have been killed so far in Ukraine and 1,594 injured, according to UN estimates, while cautioning that the true figure is likely far higher.

Over 3.6 million Ukrainians have also fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN refugee agency.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Hundreds of war victims find refuge at temporary shelter set up by volunteers in western Ukraine

Volunteers in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Thursday set up a makeshift temporary refugee center for war victims who flocked there amid Russia’s ongoing attacks in the country.

The temporary shelter, located in a gym on the grounds of the Lviv University Veterinary School, went operational after just three hours of effort.

Fleeing the ongoing war in the capital Kyiv, Alexander Keedeesuk came to Lviv to take shelter at the center, which can host hundreds of people.

“We used to stay in an open area as part of the crowd. But now it’s divided into rooms. It became much more organized. This way we can be more comfortable,” Keedeesuk told Anadolu Agency.

“We get news of death every day. Our citizens are dying, our soldiers protecting us are dying. We used to be brothers with Russia. But they ended this brotherhood and became soldiers of the devil,” he said.

Only about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the border of Poland, a NATO member, Lviv is seen by many as safer than the rest of the country, though an airport near Lviv has come under attack.

At least 977 civilians have been killed so far in Ukraine and 1,594 injured, according to UN estimates, while cautioning the true toll is likely much higher.

Over 3.6 million Ukrainians have also fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN refugee agency.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Ex-lawmaker given death penalty for war crimes in Bangladesh

A Bangladeshi court on Thursday sentenced two elderly people to death for alleged crimes against humanity during the country’s independence war in 1971.

They include Abdul Khaleq Mandol, who is a district head for the opposition Jamat-e-Islami party and a former lawmaker, and Khan Rokonuzzaman, who is absconding.

A three-judge bench of the International Crimes Tribunal announced the verdict. The tribunal was set up in 2009 and has been criticized by global rights groups for not following fair-trial standards.

Matiur Rahman Akand, the lawyer representing the Jamat leader, said they will file an appeal in the high court against the verdict.

Mandol, a retired madrasa principal, was arrested in 2015. Later, he was charged with war crimes.

When the trial started in 2018, there were four accused, but two of them died due to old age and health-related complications.

Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 after a months-long bloody war.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Speaking to Swedish parliament, Ukraine’s president urges more sanctions on Russia

Ukraine’s president on Thursday called on Western countries to impose more sanctions on Russia to help halt its ongoing war on his country, which today entered its second month.

"We have not seen a destruction of this scale since World War II," said Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an address to the Swedish parliament.

"Just look at what the Russian army has done to our country ... A month of bombings similar to what we have seen in Syria," Zelenskyy said in a speech by video link, adding that 10 million people have been displaced since the war began, or about one-fourth of the entire country.

Saying that Sweden was the first country to decide to send arms to Ukraine in its fight against Russian occupation, he thanked it for standing by Ukraine and supporting sanctions against Russia.

The Swedish government also decided to send 5,000 more AT4 anti-tank guns to Ukraine.

In the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an issue out of Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO, though it is nowhere near membership. He expressed similar opposition to Nordic countries near Russia such as Sweden joining NATO.

A poll taken in early March, just after Russia launched the war, found for the first time a majority of Swedes in favor of joining the NATO alliance.

Since Russia launched its war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, Zelenskyy has addressed parliaments in several countries, including the US, Canada, Germany, France, and Britain.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which began on Feb. 24, has met international outrage, with the EU, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 977 civilians have been killed so far in Ukraine and 1,594 injured, according to UN estimates, while cautioning that the true figure is likely far higher.

Over 3.6 million Ukrainians have also fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN refugee agency.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Jamaica wants to be ‘independent,’ premier tells British royals

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has told Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate that his country wants to be “independent.”

William, second in line to the British throne, and his wife are currently on a weeklong tour of the Caribbean, a trip dogged by public protests calling for reparations for slavery and debates over the continued ties of former colonies with Britain.

Jamaica is a Commonwealth realm with British monarch Elizabeth II as its queen.

Barbados, another former British Caribbean colony, removed the queen as its head of state last November and became a republic.

“There are issues here which, as you would know, are unresolved,” Holness told William and Kate during a photo shoot on Wednesday.

“But Jamaica is as you would see a country that is very proud … and we’re moving on,” he said.

“We intend to fulfill our true ambition of being an independent, fully developed and prosperous country.”

At a separate event attended by Holness and other officials, William expressed his “profound sorrow” for slavery, saying it should never have existed, but stopped short of apologizing.

William said he agreed with his father Prince Charles’ comment that “the appalling atrocity of slavery forever stains our history.”

Jamaica has previously indicated that it is exploring the process of becoming a republic, and announced last year that it will seek reparations from the UK for forcibly bringing around 600,000 Africans to work on plantations in Jamaica.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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US, allies announce new sanctions on Russia over Ukraine war

The US announced sanctions on more than 400 Russian elites, members of the Duma (lower house of parliament) and defense companies in coordination with the European Union and G7 countries due to Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

So far, 600 Russian targets have been sanctioned by the US, according to a White House statement.

“Our sanctions on Russia are unprecedented — in no other circumstance have we moved so swiftly and in such a coordinated fashion to impose devastating costs on any other country,” said the statement.

Those sanctioned include 328 Duma members and the Duma as an entity; Herman Gref, the head of Russia’s largest financial institution, Sberbank, and an advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin since the 1990s; Russian elite Gennady Timchenko, his companies and family members; Russian elite Gennady Timchenko, his companies and family members and 48 large Russian defense state-owned enterprises.

“As long as President Putin continues this war, the United States and allies and partners are committed to ensuring the Russian government feels the compounding effects of our current and future economic actions,” said the statement.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which began Feb. 24, has met international outrage, with the EU, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 977 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 1,594 injured, according to UN estimates, while cautioning that the true figure is likely far higher.

More than 3.6 million Ukrainians have also fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN refugee agency.

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Extraordinary NATO leaders’ summit on war in Ukraine begins in Brussels

An extraordinary meeting of NATO heads of state and government began Thursday in Brussels to discuss the alliance’s response to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The leaders of member states held various bilateral meetings at NATO headquarters ahead of the summit and are expected to continue.

NATO’s long-term stance in Eastern Europe is also expected to be evaluated at the meeting as well as a response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, which entered its second month on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters on the way to the meeting, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that if Russia deployed chemical weapons in the war it would mean a “catastrophe for the people of Ukraine” and involve “widespread and severe consequences.”

At least 977 civilians have been killed so far in Ukraine and 1,594 injured, according to UN estimates, while warning that that true toll is likely much higher.

Over 3.6 million Ukrainians have also fled to neighboring countries, with million more displaced internally according to the UN refugee agency.

Source: Anadolu Agency