Zelensky rallies support on first visit to NATO HQ since invasion

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky makes a statement at the start of his first visit to NATO's headquarters since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, in Brussels. (AFP)
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Updated 11 October 2023
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Zelensky rallies support on first visit to NATO HQ since invasion

  • The US is hosting a meeting of the Ukraine contact group to seek more weapons

BRUSSELS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday urged allies to step up weapons supplies, on his first visit to the military alliance headquarters since the start of Russia’s all-out war.
Zelensky made a plea for air defense, long-range missiles and ammunition in the face of fears that the Hamas attack on Israel could distract key backer the United States from the conflict in his country.
“How to survive during this next winter for us is big,” Zelensky said as he addressed the media with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg before meeting alliance defense ministers.
“We are preparing, we are ready. Now we need some support from the leaders. That’s why I’m here today.”
Kyiv’s international backers were meeting to discuss arms deliveries, with a focus on keeping Ukraine’s counter-offensive advancing and providing air defenses to protect against an expected winter onslaught by Russia.
“We will stand by you provide support to Ukraine, because this is really important for the whole of NATO,” Stoltenberg told Zelensky.
The Ukrainian president has expressed worries that the crisis in Israel could deflect attention from the war raging in his homeland.
Zelensky urged the West to rally around the Israeli people as it had around Ukraine after Russia’s invasion last year, and show them they are not “alone.”
“My recommendation to the leaders to go to Israel and I think to support people, just people I’m not speaking about any institutions, just to support people who have been under terrorist attacks,” he said.
The United States has sought to reassure that the decision to step up military support for Israel after the surprise assault by Hamas will not harm Washington’s ability to keep arming Ukraine.
The crisis in Israel comes as the White House is scrambling to find a way to keep weapon supplies flowing to Ukraine after turmoil in the US Congress.
Biden has sought to calm nerves among allies over Washington’s backing for Kyiv after new assistance was dropped from a deal in the US Congress to avoid a government shutdown this month.
The United States has given as much military support to Ukraine on its own as all European NATO members and Canada combined since Moscow launched its all-out invasion last year.
Western diplomats at NATO insist there is no danger of arms supplies to Ukraine drying up in the near future.
“It’s vital to underline our support for Ukraine,” Dutch defense minister Kajsa Ollongren said ahead of the talks between Zelensky and his Western supporters in Brussels.
“The war in Ukraine has our attention, and Ukraine has our full support.”
Ukraine is pushing to become a member of NATO in a bid to ensure its long-term security in the face of Moscow.
Alliance leaders at a summit this summer simplified Kyiv path for joining, but did not offer a clear invitation or deadline for Ukraine to become a member.


Norway to extradite man to Rwanda for trial on murder charges in 1994 genocide

Updated 3 sec ago
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Norway to extradite man to Rwanda for trial on murder charges in 1994 genocide

The Oslo district court ruled in September 2023 that the conditions for extradition had been met

COPENHAGEN: Norway will extradite a man to Rwanda on the East African country’s request, to stand trial on charges of committing murder during the 1994 Rwanda genocide, Norwegian police said on Tuesday.
The Oslo district court ruled in September 2023 that the conditions for extradition had been met, and Norway’s supreme court in June last year affirmed the ruling after the defendant appealed the initial decision, police said in a statement.
Norway’s justice ministry decided on February 14 that the man, who was arrested in the Nordic country in 2022, should be extradited to Rwanda, citing its obligation under the United Nations Genocide Convention to do so, police said.

Suicide bombers detonate and breach wall of a military facility in Pakistan’s northwest

Updated 20 min 33 sec ago
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Suicide bombers detonate and breach wall of a military facility in Pakistan’s northwest

  • Plumes of gray smoke rose into the air and there were gunshots after the explosions
  • Bannu is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where militant groups like the Pakistani Taliban are active

PESHAWAR: Twin blasts struck a military facility Tuesday in the northwest Pakistani city of Bannu after suicide bombers blew themselves up to breach the wall, officials said.
Plumes of gray smoke rose into the air and there were gunshots after the explosions, said police officer Zahid Khan.
The army said two suicide bombers detonated near the wall of a sprawling military area in Bannu, which mainly houses offices and homes of security forces.
Bannu is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where militant groups like the Pakistani Taliban are active.
“After a breach in the wall, five to six more attackers attempted to enter the cantonment but were eliminated. Operations in the area are still ongoing,” the army said in a statement.
The blasts happened after sunset, when people would have been breaking their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
A group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban, Jaish Al-Fursan, claimed responsibility for the attack, the third militant assault in Pakistan since Ramadan started Sunday.
In a statement, Jaish Al-Fursan said its fighters had killed dozens of security personnel. The army did not immediately provide casualty figures.
Armed groups have targeted Bannu several times. Last November, a suicide car bomb killed 12 troops and wounded several others at a security post.
In July, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle and other militants opened fire near the outer wall of the military facility.


Hungary PM Orban to meet French president for talks on Ukraine on Wednesday

Updated 43 min 43 sec ago
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Hungary PM Orban to meet French president for talks on Ukraine on Wednesday

  • Orban also said that he sees more chance to find ways to cooperate on common EU security

BUDAPEST: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Tuesday that he would meet French President Emmanuel Macron to talk about Ukraine on Wednesday ahead of an extraordinary summit of European Union leaders scheduled for Thursday.
Orban also said that he sees more chance to find ways to cooperate on common EU security than on Ukraine at Thursday's summit. Replying to a reporter's question Orban confirmed that he had a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump in Sunday and that they discussed 'everything.'


Ukraine ‘determined’ to maintain US ties after aid halt

Updated 04 March 2025
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Ukraine ‘determined’ to maintain US ties after aid halt

  • “Ukraine is absolutely determined to continue cooperation with the US,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said
  • “The US is an important partner and we need to preserve this“

KYIV: Ukraine on Tuesday sought to maintain bonds with Washington after President Donald Trump ordered US military aid deliveries be suspended following a public clash with counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump’s stunning decision strengthened fears in Ukraine and in many European capitals that America was pivoting away from its allies — and toward Moscow.
“Ukraine is absolutely determined to continue cooperation with the US,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal told reporters, adding: “The US is an important partner and we need to preserve this.”
US and Western security guarantees were “existentially important” for Ukraine and for Europe, he said, adding Kyiv was ready “at any time” to sign a strategic minerals extraction deal demanded by Trump.
The prime minister’s outreach followed Trump’s decision, which sent shockwaves across Ukraine, but which was also hailed by Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was a “solution which could really push the Kyiv regime to a peace process.”
“If the United States stops (military supplies), this would probably be the best contribution to peace,” Peskov said.
The European Union, which along with Ukraine, has been excluded from US-Russian negotiations toward a potential truce in Ukraine, has been scrambling to up its support for Kyiv.
That urgency heightened on Friday, when Trump and Zelensky clashed in the White House, with Trump warning his Ukrainian counterpart “won’t be around very long” without a ceasefire deal with Moscow.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday presented an EU plan to mobilize some 800 billion euros ($840 billion) for Europe’s defense.
She said the funding would permit EU countries to “massively step up their support to Ukraine” and provide “immediate military equipment for Ukraine.”
Poland’s government noted that America’s decision was made without consulting NATO allies, and the impact was already being seen at a weapons and aid logistics hub for Ukraine it hosts.
“Reports coming in from the border, as well as from our (logistics) hub... also confirm the announcements made by the American side,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said without elaborating.
The US pause has gone into effect immediately and impacts hundreds of millions of dollars of weaponry in the process of being sent to Ukraine, The New York Times reported.
Ordinary Ukrainians who spoke to AFP were shocked and angry at what they viewed as a betrayal by Trump.
“It’s like a stab in the back,” a 33-year-old financial assistant in Kyiv who gave only her first name, Sofia, told AFP.
Trump “wants Ukraine’s surrender, the deaths of our people, the surrender of our territories,” one army volunteer, Sergiy Sternenko, said on Telegram.
With the US aid pause, “everything can change,” a 48-year-old military recruiter in Kyiv, Volodymyr Perkhrest, told AFP. “I don’t think Europe is able to meet these needs,” he said.
Ukraine’s prime minister vowed in a news conference that “we will do everything to hold out” despite the US aid cut.
A Zelensky aide, Mykhailo Pdolyak, said on X his country was “discussing options with our European partners.”
Zelensky has yet to comment publicly on the halt of the US aid.
Last week, he visited Washington to sign the multi-billion-dollar minerals deal — but ended up not doing so after his showdown with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance.
Trump — who has labelled Zelensky a “dictator” — said Ukraine should be “more appreciative” of US support.
Zelensky has accused Trump of succumbing to “a disinformation space” created by Russia, which he says is not serious about pursuing peace.
Ukraine is seeking tough security guarantees around an end to the war.
With the United States opposing its bid to join NATO, Kyiv is turning to other measures backed by Western countries.
After weekend crisis talks in London, Britain and France are investigating how to propose a one-month Ukraine-Russia truce “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure” — potentially backstopped by troops on the ground.


Germany suspends new financial aid to Rwanda over alleged support for M23 rebels in Congo

Updated 04 March 2025
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Germany suspends new financial aid to Rwanda over alleged support for M23 rebels in Congo

  • The ministry said Tuesday that, “in consultation with partners,” it will further restrict bilateral cooperation with Rwanda
  • It said that it will review existing development cooperation with Kigali

NAIROBI: Germany’s development ministry said Tuesday it will suspend new financial commitments to Rwanda over that country’s alleged support of the M23 rebels in neighboring eastern Congo.
The ministry said Tuesday that, “in consultation with partners,” it will further restrict bilateral cooperation with Rwanda.
It said that it will review existing development cooperation with Kigali, suspend high-level participation in development events organized by the Rwandan government and seek “an appropriate reaction” regarding multilateral programs.
Germany said Rwanda was informed of the decision in advance in a conversation in which the position of the European Union and expectations of Rwanda — particularly withdrawal of its troops and an end to support for M23 — were again underlined.
Germany is the latest country to announce measures aimed at piling pressure on Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who previously has been defiant over his country’s efforts to secure its border with a largely lawless part of eastern Congo.
Rwanda recently said similar restrictive measures introduced by the UK were doing nothing to “help (Congo), nor do they contribute to achieving a sustainable political solution to the conflict in eastern (Congo).”
About 4,000 Rwandan troops are fighting alongside M23 rebels in eastern Congo, where the rebels now control the capitals of the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, according to a report by UN experts.
M23 is the most powerful of the many armed groups vying for a foothold in Congo’s east, a region possessing trillions of dollars in largely untapped mineral resources crucial for global technology.