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by Stuart Williams © Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Wednesday said she would back closer ties between NATO and Russia and pull Paris out of the alliance’s military command, if she defeats Emmanuel Macron for the presidency. Le Pen faces Macron on April 24 in a run-off vote after she came second in the April 10 first round, with the latest polls showing the president holding on […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday he was “irritated” by Kyiv’s rejection of a proposed visit by Germany’s president, a snub that has ruffled diplomatic feathers at a time when the war-hit nation is seeking more weapons from Berlin. The Ukrainian presidency has instead said it wants to welcome Scholz to Kyiv, but the chancellor indicated he had no plans to visit anytime soon. Asked by RBB public radio when he would […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s defence ministry said Wednesday more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered in Mariupol, a strategic port city in eastern Ukraine that has been besieged by Moscow’s troops for over a month. “In the city of Mariupol… 1,026 Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th marine brigade voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered,” the ministry said in a statement. The ministry said that the soldiers surrendered near the “Mariupol Metallurgical […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain is trying to verify reports that Russia has used chemical weapons in an attack on the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, London’s top diplomat said on Monday. Western officials have previously expressed concerns that Russia, finding its February 24 invasion of its neighbor grinding into a protracted conflict, could resort to more extreme measures, including chemical weapons. “Reports that Russian forces may have used chemical agents in an attack […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Vladimir Kara-Murza, one of the main opponents of the Kremlin and its offensive in Ukraine still living in Russia, was arrested Monday near his home, his lawyer said. “I learned of his arrest less than 10 minutes ago, I will join him,” lawyer Vadim Prokhorov told the Interfax news agency. The reasons for the arrest were not immediately known and there was no immediate comment from the authorities, but Kara-Murza […]
by Marina LAPENKOVA Agence France Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Like many members of Russia’s affluent middle class, advertising producer Rita Guerman had long opposed Kremlin strongman Vladimir Putin. But punishing Western sanctions following Putin’s decision to send troops to Ukraine in late February has changed her opinion of the Russian leader. “I have opened my eyes,” said the 42-year-old, praising the Russian president for defending the country “against NATO”. The West has pummelled Russia […]
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — French police officers arrived in Ukraine on Monday to help the country investigate alleged Russian war crimes after hundreds of civilian bodies were discovered in towns around Kyiv, the French ambassador to Ukraine said. “Proud to welcome to Lviv the detachment of technical and scientific gendarmes who came to assist their comrades in investigations of war crimes committed near Kyiv,” Etienne de Poncins said on Twitter. “France is the first […]
by Jurgen HECKER, Adam PLOWRIGHT and Stuart WILLIAMS Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Monday kicked off a final fortnight of bruising campaigning for the French presidency in a run-off that polls predict risks being tight. With 97 percent votes counted, Macron came in first in Sunday’s first round of voting with 27.6 percent of the vote. Le Pen was second […]
At least two bodies were discovered inside a manhole at a petrol station on a motorway outside Kyiv on Sunday, an AFP reporter saw. The bodies appeared to be wearing civilian clothing. AFP saw police and military at the site, using a tanker to suck water from inside the manhole. There appeared to be two bodies inside, one under a sleeping mat. The bodies were discovered on a motorway west of Kyiv, near the village […]
by Sam KINGSLEY Agence France Presse HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Finland is preparing for a potentially historic decision “before midsummer” on whether to apply to join NATO as a deterrent against Russian aggression. The Nordic nation of 5.5 million has traditionally been militarily non-aligned, in part to avoid provoking its eastern neighbour, with which it shares a 1,300 kilometre (830 mile) border. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 saw public support for […]
by Herve BAR Agence France Presse Ukraine is preparing for “big battles” against Moscow’s forces in the east of the country, officials in Kyiv said, as thousands of civilians flee in fear of an imminent Russian offensive. Evacuations resumed on Saturday from Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, where a missile strike killed 52 people at a railway station a day earlier, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became the latest Western leader to visit Kyiv. Hailing […]
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson walked through the streets of Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on a surprise visit Saturday, weeks after the city was attacked by Russian forces and remains vulnerable. Zelensky’s office published a video of the pair walking through the largely empty city centre guarded by what appeared to be snipers and other heavy security. They walked through Kyiv’s main Kreshchatyk street to the Maidan square, […]
