Tag: Ukraine

Putin visits Baltic exclave Kaliningrad as tensions with EU soar

Moscow, Russia (AFP) President Vladimir Putin on Thursday was in Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad, wedged between NATO member countries, with tensions soaring between Moscow and the EU over fighting in Ukraine. As part of his visit, Putin met with Kaliningrad school students to mark the start of the school year, answering questions on topics ranging from the economy, space exploration and Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine. “The mission of our soldiers… is to stop this […]

‘Beginning of the end’: patients hail new treatment for drug-resistant TB

PARIS, France (AFP) – Volodymyr is celebrating a major milestone on Wednesday — it’s his final day of taking a new treatment hailed as a turning point in the fight against drug-resistant tuberculosis. The 25-year-old doctor in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv said he had nasty neurological side effects when he was on a previous drug regimen, which takes up to two years, involves a huge number of pills and is less than 60-percent effective. But the […]

EU ministers agree to suspend Russian visa facilitation deal

Prague, Czech Republic (AFP) EU foreign ministers on Wednesday agreed to suspend a 2007 visa facilitation deal with Russia but stopped short of a wider visa ban as requested by some member states. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the ministers had agreed that relations with Moscow “cannot be business as usual” and the agreement should be “fully suspended”. Following the informal meeting in Prague, he said this would make it “more difficult” and […]

Gazprom halts pipeline gas flow in new jitters for Europe

  by Sophie MAKRIS Agence France Presse Russian energy giant Gazprom suspended gas deliveries to Germany for maintenance on a major pipeline on Wednesday, the latest in a series of supply halts that have fuelled an energy crisis in Europe. Gazprom said supplies via Nord Stream 1 were “completely stopped” for “preventative work” at a compressor unit, shortly after European gas network operator ENTSOG announced that deliveries had ceased. The move comes as European countries […]

War in Ukraine: latest developments

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine: – Zelensky meets UN nuclear inspectors – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ahead of its long-awaited visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, targeted repeatedly by shelling. “This is probably one of the top-priority questions regarding the safety of Ukraine and the world today,” Zelensky says, calling for the “immediate de-militarization […]

Kremlin vows response to restrictions on EU visas for Russians

  Moscow, Russia (AFP) The Kremlin on Tuesday warned it would respond if the European Union makes it harder for Russians to travel to the bloc as part of measures in support of Ukraine. The idea to ban Russian tourists from Europe has divided EU nations, with some in full support and others fearing it would shut the door on dissident Russians fleeing abroad. EU foreign ministers will discuss the issue during a two-day meeting […]

Fighting across southern front as Ukraine wages counter-offensive

  Mykolaiv, Ukraine (AFP) by Thibault MARCHAND Intense fighting was raging on Tuesday across the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson occupied by Russia, Kyiv’s presidency said, as its troops pressed counter-offensives “in various directions”. Most of the region of Kherson bordering the Black Sea — and its provincial capital of the same name — were seized by Moscow’s military at the start of the invasion six months ago. With the war in the eastern Donbas […]

Russia’s Gazprom further cuts gas deliveries to France

  PARIS, France (AFP) — French energy firm Engie said Tuesday that Russian energy giant Gazprom was slashing its natural gas deliveries “due to a disagreement between both sides over the execution of contracts”. Engie added in a statement that Russian gas supplies had already been reduced drastically after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. “Engie had already secured the necessary volumes to guarantee supplies for its clients and for its own needs,” it said. Russia […]

Ukraine launches offensive in south, IAEA team head to nuclear plant

by Joe STENSON Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukrainian forces pressed their counter-offensive to retake the Russian-occupied southern region of Kherson, while a team of UN experts were en route to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant which was targeted by fresh shelling over the weekend. The coastal region of Kherson and its capital city of the same name have been contested by Russian troops since the war broke out six months ago. “Ukrainian armed […]

Kremlin urges ‘pressure’ on Ukraine over nuclear plant

Moscow, Russia (AFP) The Kremlin on Monday called for “pressure” on Kyiv to reduce tensions at the Moscow-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southeastern Ukraine that Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of shelling. “All countries are obliged to put pressure on the Ukrainian side so that it stops endangering the European continent by shelling” the nuclear plant, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. His remarks came as International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi announced […]

Zaporizhzhia mission ‘hardest in history of IAEA’: Ukraine FM

  Stockholm, Sweden (AFP) The UN atomic watchdog’s mission to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine will be the agency’s hardest to date, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned Monday. “This mission will be the hardest in the history of the IAEA, given the active combat activities undertaken by the Russian Federation on the ground and also the very blatant way that Russia is trying to legitimise its presence,” Kuleba said during a visit […]

IAEA chief leading team to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

VIENNA, Austria (AFP) — International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said Monday he was on his way to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which has been the target of strikes in recent weeks. “The day has come, IAEA’s Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya is now on its way,” Grossi tweeted, saying the team from the UN atomic watchdog would arrive at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant “later this week”. In a photograph accompanying his […]