LVIV, Ukraine: Turkey’s president and the UN chief met with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky on Thursday in a high-stakes bid to ratchet down a war raging for nearly six months, boost desperately needed grain exports and secure Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. But little progress was reported.
The gathering, held far from the front lines in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, near the Polish border, marked the first visit to Ukraine by Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan since the outbreak of the war, and the second by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Erdogan has positioned himself as a go-between in efforts to stop the fighting. While Turkey is a member of NATO — which backs Ukraine in the war — its wobbly economy is reliant on Russia for trade, and it has tried to steer a middle course between the two combatants.
At the meetings, Turkey agreed to help rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure, including roads and bridges, and Zelensky asked Guterres to seek UN access to Ukrainian citizens deported to Russia, according to the Ukrainian president’s website. Zelensky also requested UN help in freeing captured Ukrainian soldiers and medics.
On the battlefield, meanwhile, at least 17 people were killed and 42 wounded in heavy Russian missile strikes on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Ukrainian authorities said.
Russia’s military claimed that it struck a base for foreign mercenaries in Kharkiv, killing 90. There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian side.
Heightening international tensions, Russia deployed warplanes carrying state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles to the country’s Kaliningrad region, an enclave surrounded by two NATO countries, Lithuania and Poland.
The three leaders’ agenda included the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine. Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling the complex, and the fighting has raised fears of a nuclear catastrophe.
Zelensky has demanded that Russian troops leave the plant and that a team from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency be allowed in.
Zelensky and the UN chief agreed Thursday on arrangements for an IAEA mission to the plant, according to the president’s website. But it was not immediately clear whether the Kremlin would consent to the proposed terms. As for a pullout of troops, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said that would leave the plant “vulnerable.”
Concerns about the plant mounted Thursday when Russian and Ukrainian authorities accused each other of plotting to attack the site and then blame the other side.
Earlier this month, Erdogan met in Russia with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the fighting. And last month, Turkey and the UN helped broker agreements clearing the way for Ukraine to export 22 million tons of corn and other grain stuck in its Black Sea ports since Russia invaded Feb. 24. The agreements also sought to clear roadblocks to exports of Russian food and fertilizer to world markets.
The war has significantly worsened the global food crisis because Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of grain. Developing countries have been hit particularly hard by shortages and high prices, and the UN has declared several African nations in danger of famine.
Yet even with the deal, only a trickle of Ukrainian grain exports has made it out. Turkey said more than 622,000 tons of grain have been shipped from Ukrainian ports since the deal was reached.
At a news conference Thursday in Lviv, Guterres touted the success of the grain export agreements but added, “There is a long way to go before this will be translated into the daily life of people at their local bakery and in their markets.”
The discussions about an overall end to the war that has killed untold thousands and forced over 10 million Ukrainians to flee their homes were not expected to yield anything substantive.
In March, Turkey hosted talks in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, but the effort to end the hostilities failed, with the two sides blaming each other.
Erdogan has engaged in a delicate balancing act, maintaining good relations with both Russia and Ukraine. Turkey has provided Ukraine with drones, which have played a significant role in the fighting, but it has refrained from joining Western sanctions against Russia over the war.
Turkey is facing a major economic crisis, with official inflation near 80 percent, and is increasingly dependent on Russia for trade and tourism. Russian gas covers 45 percent of Turkish energy needs, and Russia’s atomic agency is building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.
Sinan Ulgen of the Istanbul-based EDAM think tank characterized Turkey’s diplomatic policy as being “pro-Ukraine without being anti-Russia.”
“Turkey believed that it did not have the luxury to totally alienate Russia,” Ulgen said.
Ukraine’s Zelensky hosts talks with UN chief, Turkey leader
https://arab.news/65sxh
Ukraine’s Zelensky hosts talks with UN chief, Turkey leader
- At the meetings, Turkey agreed to help rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure, including roads and bridges
- Zelensky asked Guterres to seek UN access to Ukrainian citizens deported to Russia
Lavrov says Ukrainian attack on Russia with US missiles is a Western escalation
“Without the Americans, it is impossible to use these high-tech missiles”
MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that an attack on Russia’s Bryansk region by Ukraine using US-supplied ATACMS missiles was a clear signal that the West wanted to escalate the Ukraine conflict.
“The fact that ATACMS were used repeatedly in the Bryansk region overnight is, of course, a signal that they want escalation,” Lavrov, speaking in Rio de Janeiro, told reporters.
“Without the Americans, it is impossible to use these high-tech missiles, as Putin has repeatedly said,” Lavrov said.
Putin said on Sept. 12 that Western approval for such Ukrainian strikes would mean “the direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States and European countries in the war in Ukraine” because NATO military infrastructure and personnel would have to be involved in the targeting and firing of the missiles.
Russia said on Tuesday that Ukraine had fired six US-made ATACMS missiles into its western Bryansk region.
Lavrov said he hoped Moscow’s new nuclear doctrine, in which President Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike, would be attentively read.
India, UK to resume free trade talks next year
- For India, Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with UK is of ‘immense priority,’ Modi says
- Previous sticking points in talks include India’s demand for more visas for students, professionals
NEW DELHI: India and the UK are set to resume talks on a free trade deal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office said on Tuesday, following his meeting with British PM Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil.
The two countries first started discussing a free trade agreement in 2022, with the aim of doubling bilateral trade by 2030 from over $31 billion then.
The FTA discussions have stalled since, though total trade between India and Britain — currently the world’s fifth- and sixth-largest economies — was worth $42 billion in the 12 months to June this year.
Modi and Starmer met for the first time in Rio de Janeiro, where they agreed to strengthen cooperation and restart the talks.
“Both leaders underlined the importance of resuming the Free Trade Agreement negotiations at an early date and expressed confidence in the ability of the negotiating teams to address the remaining issues to mutual satisfaction,” Modi’s office said in a statement.
“The two leaders directed their ministers and senior officials to work toward faster implementation of the various understandings that form part of the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.”
Free trade negotiations will restart early next year, according to a statement issued by Starmer’s office, with the UK seeking a “new strategic partnership” that covers deeper cooperation in security, education, technology and climate change.
Their strategic partnership was an “immense priority” for India, Modi wrote on X.
“In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as technology, green energy, security, innovation and technology. We also want to add strength to trade as well as cultural linkages,” he said.
The talks have been delayed for a number of reasons, including political turmoil in the UK and elections in both countries, said Shairee Malhotra, deputy director of the strategic studies program at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.
“With a more stable government in the UK now and the deal holding bipartisan support, the time is ripe to resume negotiations,” Malhotra told Arab News.
But there are “contentious issues” that they need to resolve, including India wanting a more liberalized visa regime for its professionals and students and the country’s steep import duty on British whiskey.
“These demands on both sides need ironing out in order for the FTA to be concluded. But there is an immense amount of political will on both sides and India too has recently adopted a more open and forward-looking approach to trade deals,” Malhotra said.
There is also a strong geopolitical aspect attached to the deal now, with both Britain and India seeking to diversify their trade and supply chains to reduce dependencies on China and the victory of Donald Trump in the recent US presidential election likely factoring in during negotiations.
“In the context of a second Trump presidency and his penchant for tariffs, the FTA, with its potential to increase trade, investment and jobs, may assume greater significance,” Malhotra said.
G20 summit calls for more aid to Gaza, end to war in Ukraine
- Declaration refers to “catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and the escalation in Lebanon”
- Affirms Palestinian right to self-determination, reiterates “unwavering commitment” to two-state solution
RIO DE JANEIRO: Leaders of the world’s 20 major economies called for a global pact to combat hunger, more aid for war-torn Gaza and an end to hostilities in the Mideast and Ukraine, issuing a joint declaration Monday that was heavy on generalities but short of details on how to accomplish those goals.
The joint statement was endorsed by group members but fell short of complete unanimity. It also called for a future global tax on billionaires and for reforms allowing the eventual expansion of the United Nation Security Council beyond its five current permanent members.
At the start of the three-day meeting which formally ends Wednesday, experts doubted Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva could convince the assembled leaders to hammer out any agreement at all in a gathering rife with uncertainty over the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, and heightened global tensions over wars in the Mideast and Ukraine.
Argentina challenged some of the language in initial drafts and was the one country that did not endorse the complete document.
“Although generic, it is a positive surprise for Brazil,” said Thomas Traumann, an independent political consultant and former Brazilian minister. “There was a moment when there was a risk of no declaration at all. Despite the caveats, it is a good result for Lula.”
Taking place just over a year after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the declaration referred to the “catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza and the escalation in Lebanon,” stressing the urgent need to expand humanitarian assistance and better protect civilians.
“Affirming the Palestinian right to self-determination, we reiterate our unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-State solution where Israel and a Palestinian State live side by side in peace,” it said.
It did not mention Israel’s suffering or of the 100 or so hostages still held by Hamas. Israel isn’t a G20 member. The war has so far killed more than 43,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials, and more than 3,500 people in Lebanon following Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
The omitted acknowledgment of Israel’s distress appeared to run contrary to US President Joe Biden’s consistent backing of Israel’s right to defend itself. It’s something Biden always notes in public, even when speaking about the deprivation of Palestinians.
During a meeting with G20 leaders before the declaration was hammered home, Biden expressed his view that Hamas is solely to blame for the war and called on fellow leaders to “increase the pressure on Hamas” to accept a ceasefire deal.
Biden’s decision to ease restrictions on Ukraine’s use of longer-range US missiles to allow that country to strike more deeply inside Russia also played into the meetings,
“The United States strongly supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Everyone around this table in my view should, as well,” Biden said during the summit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend the meeting , and instead sent his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. Putin has avoided such summits after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant that obliges member states to arrest him.
The G20 declaration highlighted the human suffering in Ukraine while calling for peace, without naming Russia.
“The declaration avoids pointing the finger at the culprits,” said Paulo Velasco, an international relations professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. “That is, it doesn’t make any critical mention of Israel or Russia, but it highlights the dramatic humanitarian situations in both cases.”
The entire declaration lacks specificity, Velasco added.
“It is very much in line with what Brazil hoped for ... but if we really analyze it carefully, it is very much a declaration of intent. It is a declaration of good will on various issues, but we have very few concrete, tangible measures.”
Fraught push to tax global billionaires
The declaration did call for a possible tax on global billionaires, which Lula supports. Such a tax would affect about 3,000 people around the world, including about 100 in Latin América.
The clause was included despite opposition from Argentina. So was another promoting gender equality, said Brazilian and other officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Argentina signed the G20 declaration, bit also had issues with references to the UN’s 2030 sustainable development agenda. Its right-wing president, Javier Milei, has referred to the agenda as “a supranational program of a socialist nature.” It also objected to calls for regulating hate speech on social media, which Milei says infringes on national sovereignty, and to the idea that governments should do more to fight hunger.
Milei has often adopted a Trump-like role as a spoiler in multilateral talks hosted by his outspoken critic, Lula.
Concrete steps for fighting global hunger
Much of the declaration focuses on eradicating hunger — a priority for Lula.
Brazil’s government stressed that Lula’s launch of the global alliance against hunger and poverty on Monday was as important as the final G20 declaration. As of Monday, 82 nations had signed onto the plan, Brazil’s government said. It is also backed by organizations including the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
A demonstration Sunday on Rio’s Copacabana beach featured 733 empty plates spread across the sand to represent the 733 million people who went hungry in 2023, according to United Nations data.
Viviana Santiago, a director at the anti-poverty nonprofit Oxfam, praised Brazil for using its G20 presidency “to respond to people’s demands worldwide to tackle extreme inequality, hunger and climate breakdown, and particularly for rallying action on taxing the super-rich.”
“Brazil has lit a path toward a more just and resilient world, challenging others to meet them at this critical juncture,” she said in a statement.
Long-awaited reform of the United Nations
Leaders pledged to work for “transformative reform” of the UN Security Council so that it aligns “with the realities and demands of the 21st century, makes it more representative, inclusive, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable.”
Lula has been calling for reform of Security Council since his first two terms in power, from 2003 to 2010, without gaining much traction. Charged with maintaining international peace and security, its original 1945 structure has not changed. Five dominant powers at the end of World War II have veto power — the US, Russia, China, Britain and France — while 10 countries from different regions serve rotating two-year terms.
Virtually all countries agree that nearly eight decades after the United Nations was established, the Security Council should be expanded to reflect the 21st century world and include more voices. The central quandary and biggest disagreement remains how to do that. The G20 declaration doesn’t answer that question.
“We call for an enlarged Security Council composition that improves the representation of the underrepresented and unrepresented regions and groups, such as Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean,” the declaration said.
The United States announced shortly before a UN summit in September that it supports two new permanent seats for African countries, without veto power, and a first-ever non-permanent seat for a small island developing nation. But the Group of Four – Brazil, Germany, India and Japan – support each other’s bids for permanent seats. And the larger
Uniting for Consensus group of a dozen countries including Pakistan, Italy, Turkiye and Mexico wants additional non-permanent seats with longer terms.
Spain royals to visit flood epicenter after chaotic trip: media
CHIVA, Spain: Spain’s royals will make a highly anticipated return to the epicenter of catastrophic floods on Tuesday after a chaotic trip where survivors hurled mud and insults at them, local media said.
The European country is reeling from the October 29 disaster that has killed 227 people and sparked widespread fury at the governing class for their perceived mishandling of the crisis.
That outrage boiled over in the ground-zero town of Paiporta in the eastern Valencia region when King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited on November 3, in extraordinary scenes that stunned the world.
Furious residents chanting “murderers” pelted them with mud and projectiles as they struggled to wade through the crowds, while Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was hastily evacuated.
The monarchs have since pledged to return to the Valencia region after another trip to the devastated town of Chiva was canceled that day.
The royal palace told AFP it would give details later Tuesday for the visit.
Felipe and Letizia are returning to keep their promise and console survivors in Chiva where the floods ripped away lives and homes, said Vicente Garrido, professor of constitutional law at the University of Valencia.
Residents will be more welcoming on this occasion because “minds are calmer” despite “the enormous pain,” and royal visits are “an honor” for any town, he told AFP.
Public anger
Whereas Sanchez and the Valencia region’s leader Carlos Mazon left early last time, the mud-spattered royal couple braved the popular anger to speak with victims.
That gesture was “viewed very positively by everyone” and will afford them “a reception befitting who they are” this week, said Garrido.
Their willingness to travel and risk personal harm earlier this month “strengthens the image” of the monarchy, Garrido said.
Popular ire has instead targeted elected politicians, particularly Mazon because the regions manage the response to natural disasters in Spain’s decentralized state.
Local authorities in many cases warned residents of the impending catastrophe too late and stricken towns depended on volunteers for essential supplies for days in the absence of the state.
The conservative Mazon admitted “mistakes” and apologized in the regional parliament on Friday but refused to resign and vowed to lead Valencia’s gigantic reconstruction effort.
Sanchez is due to appear in parliament this month to explain the left-wing central government’s handling of the floods.
India, UK to resume free trade talks next year
- For India, Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UK is of ‘immense priority,’ Modi says
- Previous sticking points in trade talks include India’s demand for more visas for Indian students and professionals
New Delhi: India and the UK are set to resume talks on a free trade deal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office said on Tuesday following his meeting with British PM Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil.
The two countries first started discussing a free trade agreement in 2022, with the aim of doubling bilateral trade by 2030 from over $31 billion then.
The FTA discussions have stalled since, though total trade between India and Britain — currently the world’s fifth- and sixth-largest economies — was worth $42 billion in the 12 months to June this year.
Modi and Starmer met for the first time in Rio de Janeiro, where they agreed to strengthen cooperation and restart the talks.
“Both leaders underlined the importance of resuming the Free Trade Agreement negotiations at an early date and expressed confidence in the ability of the negotiating teams to address the remaining issues to mutual satisfaction,” Modi’s office said in a statement.
“The two leaders directed their ministers and senior officials to work towards faster implementation of the various understandings that form part of the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.”
Free trade negotiations will restart early next year, according to a statement issued by Starmer’s office, with the UK seeking a “new strategic partnership” that covers deeper cooperation in security, education, technology and climate change.
Their strategic partnership was an “immense priority” for India, Modi wrote on X.
“In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as technology, green energy, security, innovation and technology. We also want to add strength to trade as well as cultural linkages,” he said.
The talks have been delayed for a number of reasons, including political turmoil in the UK and elections in both countries, said Shairee Malhotra, deputy director of the strategic studies program at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.
“With a more stable government in the UK now and the deal holding bipartisan support, the time is ripe to resume negotiations,” Malhotra told Arab News.
But there are “contentious issues” that they need to resolve, including India wanting a more liberalized visa regime for its professionals and students and the country’s steep import duty on British whiskey.
“These demands on both sides need ironing out in order for the FTA to be concluded. But there is an immense amount of political will on both sides and India too has recently adopted a more open and forward-looking approach to trade deals,” Malhotra said.
There is also a strong geopolitical aspect attached to the deal now, with both Britain and India seeking to diversify their trade and supply chains to reduce dependencies on China and the victory of Donald Trump in the recent US presidential election likely factoring in during negotiations.
“In the context of a second Trump presidency and his penchant for tariffs, the FTA, with its potential to increase trade, investment and jobs, may assume greater significance,” Malhotra said.
