https://www.voanews.com/z/611 Accurate, objective news coverage from the U.S. and around the world. https://www.voanews.com/Content/responsive/VOA/en-US/img/logo.png https://www.voanews.com/z/611 en 2026 - VOA 60 Tue, 07 Apr 2026 16:22:55 -0400 Pangea CMS – VOA The Vatican issued an update Saturday on the health of Pope Francis, who remains in Rome’s Gemelli hospital under the care of doctors, saying that while his prognosis remains "complex," the pope is no longer in "imminent danger" of death. On Friday, the Vatican’s Holy See Press Office announced that since Francis’ condition is now considered stable, barring any major developments, updates on his health will be less frequent. The 88-year-old pontiff has spent four weeks in the hospital and is receiving treatment for double pneumonia. Medical bulletins from the pope’s doctors, which had been almost a daily occurrence since his admission to Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14, will be issued only when there is new information, the press office said Friday. The office emphasized that Francis’ recovery is progressing, but that it will require time to make sure the improvements continue. This also means the Holy See's daily morning update about how the pope spent the night will no longer be issued, which leaves only the evening news briefing for journalists. The Vatican said that this is a "a positive sign" for the Catholic faithful, meaning that no news is essentially good news. Francis is continuing his prescribed medical treatments, which included motor physiotherapy Friday. He alternates between noninvasive mechanical ventilation at night and high-flow oxygenation with nasal cannulas during the day, according to the Vatican. Francis had part of a lung removed as a young man after a pulmonary infection and has in recent years battled recurring bouts of bronchitis. On Thursday, the press office said Francis celebrated the 12th anniversary of his papal election surrounded by health care staff. Part of the pope’s hospital stay comes during the Christian season of Lent. It is the annual 40-day period of prayer, fasting and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. Lent began on March 5. https://www.voanews.com/a/vatican-francis-stable-out-of-imminent-danger-of-death/8011730.html https://www.voanews.com/a/vatican-francis-stable-out-of-imminent-danger-of-death/8011730.html Sat, 15 Mar 2025 14:09:19 -0400 EuropeAmericaswebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Britain’s leader encouraged his global counterparts to continue pushing for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine at the start of a virtual meeting Saturday intended to end the fighting between the two countries. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a virtual meeting of mostly European leaders that “sooner or later” Russia would have to engage in talks on reaching a ceasefire in the three-year conflict. He addressed the group, described as a “coalition of the willing,” of mostly European leaders as well as those from Australia, New Zealand and Canada but not the United States. “Sooner or later, he’s going to have to come to the table,” Starmer said of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Moscow to accept a ceasefire deal agreed to by U.S. and Ukrainian delegations in Saudi Arabia, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said “the ball is in Russia's court.” Putin has said he agrees with a ceasefire in theory, but Russia still has certain conditions and questions that must be addressed before accepting any agreement. In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that Putin is stalling and has demanded so many preconditions “that nothing will work out at all.” Meanwhile, the U.S. has expanded sanctions on Russian oil and gas as well as its financial sectors. Saturday’s discussion among world leaders could address future military and financial support for Ukraine and Zelenskyy’s security concerns if a peace deal is reached. Zelenskyy attended Saturday’s online video session. https://www.voanews.com/a/starmer-sooner-or-later-russia-must-yield-to-peace/8011681.html https://www.voanews.com/a/starmer-sooner-or-later-russia-must-yield-to-peace/8011681.html Sat, 15 Mar 2025 11:56:05 -0400 UkraineEuropewebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Relations between Russia and China are indeed closer than at any point since the 1950s, but they are shaped more by pragmatism, economic necessity and shared opposition to Western influence than by deep trust or historical affinity. https://www.voanews.com/a/russian-foreign-minister-exaggerates-russia-china-relations-ignores-nuances/8011464.html https://www.voanews.com/a/russian-foreign-minister-exaggerates-russia-china-relations-ignores-nuances/8011464.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 20:53:12 -0400 PolygraphEast AsiaEuropeChina Newswebdesk@voanews.com (Leonid Martynyuk) CHARLEVOIX, QUEBEC, CANADA — Top diplomats from the Group of Seven leading democracies urged Russia on Friday to accept a U.S.-proposed ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war or face the possibility of additional sanctions. “We called for Russia to reciprocate by agreeing to a ceasefire on equal terms and implementing it fully,” the diplomats said in a joint statement from the site of their talks talks in Canada. “We discussed imposing further costs on Russia in case such a ceasefire is not agreed, including through further sanctions, caps on oil prices, as well as additional support for Ukraine, and other means.” The statement said the G7 countries affirmed their “unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity and right to exist, and its freedom, sovereignty and independence.” The statement comes as the Kremlin said that much remains to be done on a Ukraine ceasefire deal, signaling its reluctance to fully endorse the U.S. proposal. The White House said U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that U.S. officials would convene this weekend after Witkoff returns to Washington to closely examine Russia’s position and determine the next steps. “Suffice to say, I think there is reason to be cautiously optimistic. But by the same token, we continue to recognize a difficult and complex situation," Rubio told reporters following his meetings with counterparts. On Friday, Canadian Foreign Minister Malie Joly said, “All G7 foreign ministers agree with the U.S. proposal of a ceasefire that is supported by Ukrainians,” and the focus now is on Russia’s response. She added, “The ball is now in Russia's court when it comes to Ukraine.” British foreign minister David Lammy echoed this sentiment during interviews with the media, saying, “there is unity that now is the time for a ceasefire with no conditions. Ukraine has set their position out. It is now for Russia to accept it.” Lammy also noted that a “coalition of the willing” is forming to provide Ukraine with the necessary “security architecture” and monitoring mechanisms to support the ceasefire. The G7 joint statement comes as the Kremlin said that much remains to be done on a Ukraine ceasefire deal, signaling its reluctance to fully endorse the U.S. proposal. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin still awaits answers after raising several questions about the ceasefire's implementation. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Putin's response as “deliberately” setting conditions that complicate and “drag out the process.” “An unconditional 30-day interim ceasefire is the first crucial step that could bring us significantly closer to a just and lasting peace,” Zelenskyy wrote Wednesday in a post on the social media platform X. The G7 talks in Charlevoix, Quebec, brought together ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. Position on China Beyond Ukraine, G7 foreign ministers also discussed China’s role in global security, stability for the Indian and Pacific Ocean regions, and maritime security behind closed doors. On Friday, G7 foreign ministers held a session focused on strategic challenges posed by China, North Korea, Iran and Russia. Many foreign policy analysts and military officials refer to these four nations as the “Axis of Upheaval,” describing their growing anti-Western collaboration. The G7 joint statement said the group remains “concerned with China’s military build-up and the continued, rapid increase in China’s nuclear weapons arsenal.” They called on China “to engage in strategic risk reduction discussions and promote stability through transparency.” The foreign ministers also reaffirmed their serious concerns over the situations in the East and South China Seas, strongly opposing any unilateral attempts to alter the status quo, particularly through force or coercion. G7 members also emphasized the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, reiterating their opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. On Friday, Secretary of State Rubio told VOA during a press gaggle that he believes leaders from the U.S. and China will meet at some point. “Whether they agree on things or not, they should communicate for the safety and well-being of the world,” Rubio said after wrapping up meetings with G7 foreign ministers. A potential ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war could affect the U.S. presence in the Indo-Pacific, as officials and analysts suggest that ending the conflict would allow Washington to redirect resources toward addressing challenges in the region. “I don’t think an endless, ongoing conflict in Europe or in Ukraine is good for the Indo-Pacific region. It diverts a lot of the world’s attention, time and resources away from areas where we continue to see growing threats,” Rubio told VOA earlier this week during a briefing aboard a military plane. “In many ways, we could be spending even more time focused on the Indo-Pacific if somehow we could bring peace to the European continent,” the top U.S. diplomat noted. https://www.voanews.com/a/g7-urges-russia-to-accept-ceasefire-or-face-further-sanctions/8010842.html https://www.voanews.com/a/g7-urges-russia-to-accept-ceasefire-or-face-further-sanctions/8010842.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 12:35:50 -0400 UkraineEuropewebdesk@voanews.com (Nike Ching) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that there were reasons for "cautious optimism" regarding a proposed ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia, following talks between a U.S. envoy and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Speaking to reporters in a telephone news briefing, Peskov referenced comments from Putin on Thursday in which he expressed qualified support for a U.S. ceasefire proposal to halt Russia's war with Ukraine for 30 days but said some questions needed to be answered. Peskov said that while much remains to be done, Putin "expressed solidarity with [U.S. President Donald] Trump's position." He said Putin held late-night talks Thursday with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, during which Putin "conveyed information and additional signals to President Trump." The Kremlin spokesman said both sides agreed Putin and Trump should speak, adding that the timing of the conversation would be agreed upon once Witkoff had conveyed the new information to Trump. Trump said in a post on his Truth Social website Friday morning that "there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end." He also said he had "strongly requested" that Putin spare the lives of "thousands" of Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk border region who were "completely surrounded" by the Russian military. "This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II," Trump wrote on social media. Later Friday, Putin told the National Security Council in Moscow that if the Ukrainian troops laid down their arms and surrendered, they would not be killed. Ukraine's military, however, denied that its forces in Kursk were surrounded by Moscow's troops and said reports to that effect were Russian manipulation. In his nightly address to his nation Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Putin's comments to Witkoff were "very manipulative," and that he thought Putin's qualified support for the U.S. plan was an effort to lay the groundwork for rejecting it. "He is in fact preparing a rejection at present, because Putin is, of course, scared to tell President Trump that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians," Zelenskyy said. He noted Ukraine had accepted the U.S. proposal and was ready to organize monitoring and verification. "We are not setting conditions that complicate the process; Russia is," Zelenskyy said. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday that no discussions between Trump and Putin had been scheduled, but she said that could change. She called the talks in Moscow on Thursday "a productive day for the United States of America and for the world in terms of peace." On Thursday at the White House, ahead of talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump said it would be "very disappointing" if Russia ended up rejecting U.S. efforts to end the fighting. Meanwhile, Britain's Defense Ministry said Friday that Russia's prioritization of funding its war with Ukraine had likely resulted in insufficient funding for average Russians' health care, leading to shortages of medical staff and equipment. In its Defense Intelligence report, the ministry said Russia reportedly closed at least 160 hospitals in 2024, including 18 maternity facilities and at least 10 children's clinics. The report said Russia's small towns and villages had been particularly affected. The Defense Ministry said the 500,000 casualties Russia has sustained in the war in Ukraine most certainly continue to put a strain on all levels of care in the Russian military medical system. https://www.voanews.com/a/kremlin-reasons-to-be-optimistic-about-ceasefire-deal/8010812.html https://www.voanews.com/a/kremlin-reasons-to-be-optimistic-about-ceasefire-deal/8010812.html Fri, 14 Mar 2025 12:13:20 -0400 UkraineUSAEuropewebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had trapped the remaining Ukrainian soldiers in its western Kursk region, where they have held on for more than seven months in one of the most important battles of the war. Putin told reporters in Moscow that the situation in Kursk was "completely under our control, and the group that invaded our territory is in isolation," according to Reuters. Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Kursk last August to divert Russian forces away from the front lines and grab land to trade for its own occupied territory. Ukraine's top commander denied this week that his men were being encircled. Putin on Wednesday made a surprise visit to troops in Russia's western Kursk region Wednesday, ordering soldiers to swiftly retake the region from Ukrainian forces. "If a physical blockade occurs in the coming days, then no one will be able to leave at all, there will be only two ways — to surrender or die," Putin said at the Thursday press conference, according to Reuters. At the press conference, Putin also offered his qualified support for a U.S. ceasefire plan. Putin's comments came after Russian aerial attacks overnight killed at least two people in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, officials said Thursday. Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram that his region came under attack by Russian drones and shelling, and that one other person was injured. In the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, Governor Serhiy Lysak said at least three people were hospitalized after a Russian attack hit the city of Dnipro. Lysak said on Telegram the attack damaged multiple apartment buildings, including blowing out windows. Officials in the Sumy region reported Thursday that Russian drones fell on a set of garages, setting about 20 of them on fire. Ukraine's military said Thursday it shot down 74 of the 117 drones that Russian forces launched overnight. The intercepts took place over the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy, Vinnytsia and Zaporizhzhia regions, the military said. Russia's Defense Ministry said it shot down 77 Ukrainian drones, most of them in regions located along the Russia-Ukraine border. Vladislav Shapsha, governor of the Kaluga region, said the attacks injured one person and damaged an industrial building, a communication tower and a power line. The Russia military said it destroyed 30 of the drones over Bryansk, while officials in the region reported no damage or casualties. Russian air defense also shot down drones over Kursk, Voronezh, Rostov and Belgorod, the military said. The daily aerial attacks continue amid a U.S. push to secure a cease-fire in the conflict. The U.S. has proposed a 30-day halt in fighting, which Ukraine has said it would accept. U.S. officials are expected to discuss the plan with Russian officials in the coming days. Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters. https://www.voanews.com/a/putin-says-ukrainians-must-surrender-or-die-/8010430.html https://www.voanews.com/a/putin-says-ukrainians-must-surrender-or-die-/8010430.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 22:50:59 -0400 Europewebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) The national assembly of Bosnia's Serb-controlled Republika Srpska on Thursday adopted the draft of the new Republic Constitution, introduced by the autonomous republic's president, Milorad Dodik, that includes articles that violate Bosnia's constitution. Bosnian state prosecutors on Wednesday had ordered the arrest of Dodik and his aides for ignoring a court summons for allegedly trying to undermine Bosnia's constitution. Republika Srpska is an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Last month, a Bosnian court sentenced Dodik to one year in prison and banned him from politics for six years over his separatist activities and for defying decisions by the international High Representative that oversees the 1995 Dayton Accords. That agreement ended an ethnically rooted war that lasted more than three years and killed 100,000 people. Dodik rejected the arrest warrant, telling journalists in the regional capital, Banja Luka, on Wednesday that it was politically motivated and that he would ask Russia to veto an extension of the presence of EUFOR, the European Union's peacekeeping force in Bosnia, at the U.N. Security Council. In an interview Thursday with VOA's Bosnian Service, Dodik's lawyer, Anto Nobilo, said Dodik does not recognize either the Bosnian court or state prosecutor's office, and thus does not need legal defense. "I do not believe there will be Dodik's arrest," Nobilo said. "Mr. Dodik will not cooperate, or name his defense team, because he does not consider the proceedings legitimate. ... Bosnia needs this situation defused immediately. This is a huge constitutional and legal and political crisis and has to be resolved politically." Nenad Stevandic, president of Republika Srpska's national assembly and a close ally of Dodik, denounced the moves against the Serb-controlled autonomous republic as an attack on the constitutional order. "We are absolutely right," he said Wednesday. "However, to be right in Bosnia and Herzegovina means to be persecuted." Meanwhile, in Washington, three members of the U.S. Senate — Chuck Grassley, Jeanne Shaheen and Jim Risch — led a group of nine other members of the U.S. Congress in calling on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prevent further deterioration in Bosnia. "We are deeply concerned about the recent actions of Milorad Dodik, the leader of the Republika Srpska entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina," they wrote in a letter to Rubio. "For years, he has engaged in secessionist activity, challenging Bosnia and Herzegovina's state institutions, undermining the constitution and threatening the territorial integrity of the country." The U.S. imposed sanctions on Dodik and his "patronage network" in 2023 and again in January of this year. Asked by VOA while en route Monday to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, if the U.S. was considering "any punitive action against Dodik," Rubio said the Trump administration did not want to see a partition of Bosnia. "The last thing the world needs is another crisis, and we've spoken out about that already," he said. "As far as what we maybe do next, we're reviewing those options. But it's been abundantly clear that whatever differences may exist internally there, this cannot lead to a country breaking apart, and it cannot lead to another conflict." Experts say the actions of Dodik and the Republika Srpska national assembly have precipitated Bosnia's most serious constitutional crisis since 1995. "First of all, it is a reflection of [Dodik's] disrespect for fundamental state institutions, meaning, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and all those fundamental postulates on which the constitutional-legal order rests," Milos Davidovic, professor of law at the University of Sarajevo, told VOA's Bosnian Service. Ahmed Kico, a political and security expert, told VOA the actions of Dodik and the Republika Srpska national assembly were among "hybrid operations … realized at the behest of the Russian Federation and Serbia … therefore, it is a really dangerous situation where they are trying to show and prove that Bosnia and Herzegovina's survival is not possible as a democratic state." Amid the growing crisis, additional European peacekeepers arrived in Bosnia on Wednesday to bolster those of EUFOR. https://www.voanews.com/a/constitutional-crisis-shakes-bosnia/8010418.html https://www.voanews.com/a/constitutional-crisis-shakes-bosnia/8010418.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 21:57:43 -0400 Europewebdesk@voanews.com (Aid Mrsic) CHARLEVOIX, QUEBEC — Top diplomats from the Group of Seven leading industrial nations gathered Thursday in Charlevoix, Quebec, as host country Canada outlined its top agenda, focusing on achieving a “just and lasting peace in Ukraine” and strengthening security and defense partnerships as the G7 marks 50 years. During the opening remarks, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said, “Peace and stability is on the top of our agenda, and I look forward to discussing how we can continue to support Ukraine in the face of Russia's illegal aggression.” Joly also emphasized the importance of addressing maritime security challenges, citing threats such as “growing the use of growing shadow fleets, dark vessels” and “sabotage of critical undersea infrastructure.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he hopes a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine could take place within days if the Kremlin agrees. He also plans to urge G7 foreign ministers to focus on ending the Russia-Ukraine war. The G7 talks in Quebec follow U.S.-Ukraine talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine said it is ready to accept a U.S. proposal for "an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire." "Ukraine is committed to moving quickly toward peace, and we are prepared to do our part in creating all of the conditions for a reliable, durable, and decent peace," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote Wednesday in a post on social media platform X. He added that "Ukraine was ready for an air and sea ceasefire," and "welcomed" the U.S. proposal to extend it to land. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia supports the U.S. ceasefire proposal in principle, but key details still need to be worked out. “Ceasefire, they can't be coming with conditions, because all these conditions just blur the picture. Either you want to end this war, or you don't want to end this war, so we need to be very firm,” said European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas during an interview with CNN International. “What we need to keep in mind is that Russia has invested, like over 9% of its GDP on the military, so they would want to use it,” Kallas said, adding the European nations “are massively increasing” their “defense investments.” The G7 talks bring together ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.  Rubio has underscored the need for monitors if a ceasefire is implemented. He told reporters on Wednesday that “one of the things we'll have to determine is who do both sides trust to be on the ground to sort of monitor some of the small arms fire and exchanges that could happen.” Beyond Ukraine, G7 foreign ministers also discussed China’s role in global security, Indo-Pacific stability, and maritime security behind closed doors. Rubio is expected to have a pull-aside meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on Thursday. https://www.voanews.com/a/ukraine-peace-global-security-top-g7-agenda-as-diplomats-convene-in-canada-/8010030.html https://www.voanews.com/a/ukraine-peace-global-security-top-g7-agenda-as-diplomats-convene-in-canada-/8010030.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 17:46:06 -0400 UkraineUSAEast AsiaEuropeAmericaswebdesk@voanews.com (Nike Ching) PARIS — On the way to investigate the scene of a historic asteroid collision, a European spacecraft swung by Mars and captured rare images of the red planet's mysterious small moon Deimos, the European Space Agency said Thursday. Europe's HERA mission is aiming to find out how much of an impact a NASA spacecraft made when it deliberately smashed into an asteroid in 2022 in the first test of our planetary defenses. But HERA will not reach the asteroid — which is 11 million kilometers from Earth in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter — until late 2026. On the long voyage there, the spacecraft swung around Mars on Wednesday. The spacecraft used the planet's gravity to get a "kick" that also changed its direction and saved fuel, mission analyst Pablo Munoz told a press conference. For an hour, HERA flew as close as 5,600 kilometers from the Martian surface, at a speed of 33,480 kilometers an hour. It used the opportunity to test some of its scientific instruments, snapping around 600 pictures, including rare ones of Deimos. The lumpy, 12.5-kilometer-wide moon is the smaller and less well-known of the two moons of Mars. Exactly how Deimos and the bigger Phobos were formed remains a matter of debate. Some scientists believe they were once asteroids that were captured in the gravity of Mars, while others think they could have been shot from a massive impact on the surface. The new images add "another piece of the puzzle" to efforts to determine their origin, Marcel Popescu of the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy said. There are hopes that data from HERA's "HyperScout" and thermal infrared imagers — which observe colors beyond the limits of the human eye — will shed light on this mystery by discovering more about the moon's composition. Those infrared imagers are why the red planet appears blue in some of the photos. Next, HERA will turn its focus back to the asteroid Dimorphos. When NASA's DART mission smashed into Dimorphos in 2022, it shortened the 160-meter-wide asteroid's orbit around its big brother Didymos by 33 minutes. Although Dimorphos itself posed no threat to Earth, HERA intends to discover whether this technique could be an effective way for Earth to defend itself against possibly existence-threatening asteroids in the future. Space agencies have working to ramp up Earth's planetary defenses, monitoring for potential threats so they can be dealt with as soon as possible. Earlier this year, a newly discovered asteroid capable of destroying a city was briefly given a more than 3% chance of hitting Earth in 2032. However further observations sent the chances of a direct hit back down to nearly zero. Richard Moissl, head of the ESA's planetary defense office, said that asteroid, 2024 YR, followed a pattern that will become more common. As we get better at scanning the skies, "we will discover asteroids at a higher rate," he said. The ESA is developing a second planetary defense mission to observe the 350-metre-wide asteroid Apophis, which will fly just 32,000 kilometers from Earth on April 13, 2029. If approved by the ESA's ministerial council, the Ramses mission will launch in 2028, reaching the asteroid two months before it approaches Earth. https://www.voanews.com/a/asteroid-probe-snaps-rare-images-of-martian-moon/8009850.html https://www.voanews.com/a/asteroid-probe-snaps-rare-images-of-martian-moon/8009850.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 15:29:34 -0400 Science & HealthEuropewebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) Western politicians have repeatedly called on China to limit or cease tacit support for Russia’s bloody war against Ukraine. In response, China’s leadership insists it is committed to peace and respect for the territorial integrity of other nations. But unlike most United Nations member states, China has never condemned Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and their military-diplomatic partnership — from joint bomber flights near the U.S. state of Alaska to votes in the U.N. Security Council — has only helped the Kremlin overcome its international isolation. While President Donald Trump has said he has good personal relations with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, there is a consensus among experts in Washington that the China-Russia partnership poses a threat to U.S. interests, and that while Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, tried to establish a strategic dialogue with China, the Trump team appears to be prioritizing normalized ties with Russia while punishing China over trade. As the White House talks about the possibility of restoring economic cooperation with Russia, some of its officials are hinting at lifting or reducing the sanctions Washington has imposed on Moscow in recent years. Charles Hecker, an expert on Western-Russian economic ties and risks, and author of the book Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia, says some Western companies will quickly return to Russia if sanctions are lifted, particularly those involved in energy, metals and minerals. “There’s only so much oil in Norway, and there’s only so much oil in Canada; the rest of it is in some countries that have a very high-risk environment,” Hecker told VOA’s Russian Service. “And so, these kinds of companies are accustomed to business in these sorts of places, and they have the internal structures to help protect them. You know, there are energy companies doing business in Iraq right now. And I don’t want to compare Russia and Iraq, but they are high-risk environments.”  Still, Hecker cautions, their return to doing business in Russia wouldn’t signal an overall U.S.-Russian rapprochement — let alone a fracturing of Sino-Russian relations. “I think it will be very difficult for the West to pull Russia away from China,” he said. “Allowing Western companies back into Russia doesn’t necessarily change President Putin’s hostility towards the West. President Putin remains antagonistic towards a Western-dominated political and economic system, and he has said over and over again that he wants to create an alternative political and economic environment – an alternative to the West. “Part of that alternative includes China,” he added. “You have never heard President Putin say anything ideologically against China. And the two are now important energy partners.” Limited popular domestic appeal U.S.-based FilterLabs analyzes public sentiment in regions where polling is problematic. According to a recently published assessment of popular attitudes expressed on Russian and Chinese social media networks, Sino-Russian relations are “full of underlying tensions, mistrust, and diverging interests.” One of the report’s authors, Vasily Gatov, told VOA its research found that “the Chinese and Russian populations are far from happy with this alliance of their authorities.” "China does not perceive Russia as a reliable, safe and equal partner,” he said. “Russia annexed the Amur Region from China; Russia adopted a completely colonial policy towards China during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Therefore, in my opinion, it is entirely possible to consider historical frictions as a vulnerability.” A media analyst at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Gatov also noted that, despite the Kremlin’s expectations, China’s economic presence inside Russia today remains “several times smaller” than that of either Europe or the U.S. before Russia invaded Ukraine. Thus, while Russian and China have overlapping interests, they are not “marching in lockstep.” "They are very different, they have very different geopolitical focuses, very different political philosophies,” he said. Other experts, however, question the Filterlabs findings, warning that random Russian and Chinese opinions online are of limited value, especially as those casting the insights aren’t likely to influence policy. "People who have the time and desire to comment on things on social media do not have much influence on how state policy is conducted,” Alexander Gabuev, director of the Berlin-based Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told VOA. “And these people certainly do not have much influence on whether China transfers components for Russia's weapons or takes certain military technologies from it, since the people who comment on this simply do not have real knowledge of what is actually happening.” Gabuev added that “the Chinese leadership has reasons to think that they have something to take from Russia in terms of military technology,” suggesting that China is extremely interested in gaining Russian experience in countering Western weapons during Russia's war in Ukraine. Does Trump see China as a threat? One critical question about whether Washington’s improved ties with Russia will loosen the Sino-Russian pact, say some analysts, is how Trump perceives China. Ali Wyne, senior research and advocacy advisor on the U.S. and China at the International Crisis Group, describes Trump as an anomaly for U.S. policy. “Widespread bipartisan agreement in Congress and from one administration to the next [is] that China is American’s foremost strategic competitor,” he said. But “President Trump, in many ways, is the most prominent dissenter from this alleged China consensus.” “He doesn’t view President Xi [Jinping] in adversarial terms,” Wyne said. “He actually calls President Xi a ‘dear friend’ of his. And he believes that his personal rapport with President Xi will be the decisive dynamic in setting — or resetting — the U.S.-China relationship over the next four years.” https://www.voanews.com/a/can-the-us-pry-russia-away-from-china/8009771.html https://www.voanews.com/a/can-the-us-pry-russia-away-from-china/8009771.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 14:26:15 -0400 USAEast AsiaEuropeChina Newswebdesk@voanews.com (Danila Galperovich) LONDON — A British jury on Thursday convicted a United Nations judge of forcing a young woman to work as a slave after tricking her into coming to the U.K. Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe made the Ugandan woman work as her maid and provide childcare for free. Mugambe, who is also a high court judge in Uganda, was studying for a doctorate in law at the University of Oxford when the offenses occurred. Prosecution lawyer Caroline Haughey told jurors during the trial that Mugambe "exploited and abused" the victim, deceiving her into coming to the U.K. and taking advantage of her lack of understanding of her rights. Mugambe, 49, denied the charges. Jurors at Oxford Crown Court convicted her on all four charges she faced, including an immigration offense, forcing someone to work and conspiracy to intimidate a witness. There were gasps from the public gallery as the verdicts were read out, and the court was cleared after Mugambe appeared unwell. She is due to be sentenced on May 2. According to her United Nations profile page, Mugambe was appointed to one of the global body's international courts in May 2023. https://www.voanews.com/a/un-judge-from-uganda-convicted-in-uk-of-forcing-woman-into-slavery-/8009684.html https://www.voanews.com/a/un-judge-from-uganda-convicted-in-uk-of-forcing-woman-into-slavery-/8009684.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 13:29:28 -0400 EuropeAfricawebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) BRUSSELS — Belgian federal prosecutors announced Thursday the arrests of several people as part of a corruption probe linked to the European Parliament amid reports in local media that Chinese company Huawei bribed EU lawmakers. The arrests came as an investigation by Le Soir newspaper and other media said lobbyists working for the Chinese telecoms giant are suspected of bribing current or former European Parliament members to promote the company’s commercial policy in Europe. About 100 federal police officers carried out 21 searches in Brussels, the Flanders and Wallonia regions, and Portugal, the federal prosecutor’s office said. The suspects would be questioned over “alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament, as well as for forgery and use of forgeries,” prosecutors said. “The offenses were allegedly committed by a criminal organization.” Huawei public relations representatives in London did not respond to an emailed request for comment and could not be reached by phone. The European Parliament said only that the assembly “takes note of the information" and "always cooperates fully with the judicial authorities.” Huawei, which makes cellphones and is the biggest maker of networking gear for phone and internet carriers, has been caught in tensions between the United States and China over technology and trade. Some European nations have followed Washington’s lead and banned Huawei’s equipment from next-generation mobile networks over allegations that it poses a security risk that could help facilitate Chinese spying. The company has repeatedly denied this. European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the EU’s executive branch had no comment regarding the investigation, but underlined security concerns the commission has about Huawei and Europe’s fifth-generation mobile phone networks. “The security of our 5G networks is obviously crucial for our economy,” Regnier told reporters. “Huawei represents materially higher risks than other 5G suppliers.” EU member states should swiftly "adopt decisions to restrict or to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks,” Regnier said. “A lack of swift action would expose the EU as a whole to a clear risk.” The federal prosecutor's office, which did not name Huawei, said it believes there was corruption “from 2021 to the present day" in various forms, "such as remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches." Prosecutors say payments might have been disguised as business expenses and in some cases may have been directed to third parties. They would also look to "detect any evidence of money laundering.” Police seized several documents and objects during the searches. Staff at Huawei’s offices in Brussels declined to comment and turned the lights off inside to avoid photographs taken through the window. According to Follow The Money, an investigative journalism platform, one of the main suspects in the probe is 41-year-old Valerio Ottati, a Belgian Italian lobbyist who joined Huawei in 2019. Before becoming Huawei’s EU public affairs director, Ottati was an assistant to two Italian MEPs who were both members of a European Parliament group dealing with China policy, Follow the Money reported. This is the second corruption case targeting the EU Parliament in less than three years. In December 2022, the legislature was shaken by a corruption scandal in which Qatari officials were accused of bribing EU officials to play down labor rights concerns ahead of the soccer World Cup. https://www.voanews.com/a/belgium-makes-arrests-in-corruption-probe-linked-to-eu/8009509.html https://www.voanews.com/a/belgium-makes-arrests-in-corruption-probe-linked-to-eu/8009509.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 11:42:42 -0400 EuropeTechnologywebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened the European Union with 200% tariffs on wine, champagne and other spirits produced in the 27-nation bloc after the EU levied what he said was “a nasty 50% tariff” on American-distilled whiskey. Trump contended in a post on his Truth Social media platform that the EU is “one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World.” He said it was formed in 1993 “for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States” economically. Later, asked by a reporter at the White House whether he might back off his heightened tariff threats against America’s geopolitical allies, Trump said, "We've been ripped off for years, and we're not going to be ripped off anymore. No, I'm not going to bend at all — aluminum or steel or cars." In the past month, Trump has been waging a tit-for-tat tariff fight with the United States' biggest trading partners — Mexico, Canada, China and the EU — in what he says is an effort to stanch the flow of drugs, especially fentanyl, into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada, and to persuade manufacturers to close their operations overseas and move them to the U.S. to create more American jobs. On Wednesday, Trump levied 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum exports to the U.S. from 35 countries, including the EU bloc. Europe quickly retaliated with its own tariffs on $28 billion worth of U.S. exports to countries that have long had close relations with the U.S., while Canada imposed new tariffs on $20.7 billion worth of U.S. exports to its northern neighbor. Canada also requested World Trade Organization dispute consultations with the U.S. over its imposition of import duties on certain steel and aluminum products from Canada, the trade body said Thursday. The new EU measures will apply not only to steel and aluminum products but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. Motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans also will be hit, as they were during Trump's first term that ran from 2017 to 2021. The EU duties aimed for political pressure points in the U.S. while minimizing additional damage to Europe. EU officials have said its tariffs, which are paid by importing companies and the cost of which is then mostly passed on to consumers, are targeting products from states dominated by Republicans like Trump, such as beef and poultry from Kansas and Nebraska, wood products from Alabama and Georgia, and liquor from Kentucky and Tennessee. Spirits producers have become collateral damage in the steel and aluminum dispute. Chris Swonger, head of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, called the EU move to tax U.S.-produced spirits "deeply disappointing and will severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild U.S. spirits exports in EU countries.” The EU is a major destination for U.S. whiskey, with exports surging 60% in the past three years after an earlier set of tariffs was suspended. On Thursday, Swonger said in a statement, “The U.S.-EU spirits sector is the model for fair and reciprocal trade, having zero-for-zero tariffs since 1997.” He urged the end to a tariff fight over spirits between the U.S. and Europe, saying, “We want toasts not tariffs.” Trump's tariff wars have led to a broad Wall Street stock selloff, with the three major U.S. stock indexes plunging in recent days. The S&P 500 finished Thursday more than 10% below its record high reached last month. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC he was not worried. “We're focused on the real economy,” he said. “I'm not concerned about a little bit of volatility over three weeks. I can't tell you the market is going to go up today, tomorrow, next week.” He dismissed concerns about Trump’s threat to impose bigger tariffs on European spirits. "One or two items with one trading bloc — I'm not sure why that's a big deal for the markets," he said. Trump said in his social media post that if Europe follows through on its 50% tariff on U.S.-distilled whiskey, he will impose the 200% tariff on “all wines, champagne & alcoholic products coming out of France and other E.U. represented countries. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.” Trump also attacked The Wall Street Journal newspaper, the country’s leading business publication, for refusing to support his tariff plans. A Journal editorial said this week that “most Americans understand that tariffs are a tax on consumers and businesses.” The U.S. leader said the newspaper “has no idea what they are doing or saying. They are owned by the polluted thinking of the European Union.” He said the newspaper’s “thinking is antiquated and weak, and very bad for the USA.” https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-threatens-hefty-tariffs-on-european-spirits/8009495.html https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-threatens-hefty-tariffs-on-european-spirits/8009495.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 11:18:14 -0400 USAEconomyEuropewebdesk@voanews.com (Ken Bredemeier) Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for a U.S. ceasefire proposal to halt Russia’s war with Ukraine for 30 days, but he stressed that many details would have to be worked out and that any truce should pave the way to lasting peace. “We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis,” Putin told reporters Thursday in Moscow. He went on to list several issues he said needed clarifying. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Putin’s comments were “very manipulative” and that he thought Putin’s qualified support for the U.S. plan was an effort to ultimately lay the groundwork for rejecting it, according to Agence France-Presse. “He is in fact preparing a rejection at present, because Putin is of course scared to tell President [Donald] Trump that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address, according to Reuters. At the White House, Trump said it would be “very disappointing” if Russia rejected U.S. efforts to end the fighting. “We would like to see a ceasefire from Russia,” Trump told reporters. “A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed. Now we're going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world." Earlier, Putin’s top foreign policy aide dismissed the United States’ 30-day ceasefire proposal, saying it would merely provide Ukraine’s military with a temporary respite from fighting. His comments came after U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to meet with Russian officials on the ceasefire proposal. In his comments, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed he has been in regular contact with U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz and said they agreed these contacts would remain confidential. U.S. officials met earlier this week with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia to present the ceasefire plan. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the U.S. effort, saying Wednesday that Ukraine is “ready for a ceasefire for 30 days as proposed by the American side.” Zelenskyy said the halt in fighting could be used to create a broader peace deal for the conflict, which began with Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskyy said a ceasefire would provide time “to prepare answers to all questions regarding long-term security and a real, reliable peace and put on the table a plan to end the war.” Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, meanwhile, said on Thursday that Ukraine would not agree to a frozen conflict with Russia. “We said very clearly that we will never agree to a frozen conflict,” Yermak said on television, according to Reuters, referring to discussions between Ukraine and the United States in Jeddah. He added that the U.S. was also against a frozen conflict. The talks in Moscow between the U.S. and Russia come as the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that its forces had retaken control of Sudzha, a major town in Russia's western Kursk region, from Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian forces took the town during a surprise attack on the Kursk region bordering Ukraine last August and had been struggling to hold it ever since. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. https://www.voanews.com/a/us-russian-officials-to-discuss-ukraine-ceasefire-proposal/8009215.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-russian-officials-to-discuss-ukraine-ceasefire-proposal/8009215.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 07:16:18 -0400 UkraineEuropewebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Russian aerial attacks overnight killed at least two people in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, officials said Thursday. Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram his region came under attack by Russian drones and shelling, and that one other person was injured. In the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, Governor Serhiy Lysak said at least three people were hospitalized after a Russian attack hit the city of Dnipro. Lysak said on Telegram the attack damaged multiple apartment buildings, including blowing out windows. Officials in the Sumy region reported Thursday that Russian drones fell on a set of garages, setting about 20 of them on fire. Ukraine’s military said Thursday it shot down 74 of the 117 drones that Russian forces launched overnight. The intercepts took place over the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy, Vinnytsia and Zaporizhzhia regions, the military said. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 77 Ukrainian drones, most of them in regions located along the Russia-Ukraine border. Vladislav Shapsha, governor of the Kaluga region, said the attacks injured one person and damaged an industrial building, a communication tower and a power line. The Russia military said it destroyed 30 of the drones over Bryansk, while officials in the region reported no damage or casualties. Russian air defense also shot down drones over Kursk, Voronezh, Rostov and Belgorod, the military said. The daily aerial attacks continue amid a U.S. push to secure a cease-fire in the conflict. The U.S. has proposed a 30-day halt in fighting, which Ukraine has said it would accept. U.S. officials are expected to discuss the plan with Russian officials in the coming days. The latest fighting came as Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to troops in Russia’s western Kursk region Wednesday, ordering soldiers to swiftly retake the region from Ukrainian forces. Dressed in military fatigues, Putin told the troops he was considering setting up a new buffer zone inside Ukraine’s Sumy region, adjacent to Kursk, to prevent any future Ukrainian incursions. "Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible timeframe, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region and still fighting here, to completely liberate the territory of the Kursk region, and to restore the situation along the line of the state border," Putin said. "And of course, we need to think about creating a security zone along the state border." Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters. https://www.voanews.com/a/deadly-russian-aerial-attacks-hit-ukraine-s-kherson-region/8009158.html https://www.voanews.com/a/deadly-russian-aerial-attacks-hit-ukraine-s-kherson-region/8009158.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 05:50:57 -0400 UkraineEuropewebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis marks 12 years as head of the Catholic Church on Thursday, seemingly out of danger after a month in hospital but with his health casting a shadow over his future. The 88-year-old was, for a time, critically ill as he battled pneumonia in both lungs at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on Feb. 14. The Argentine's situation has markedly improved since then, with the Vatican confirming his condition as stable on Wednesday evening, and talk is now turning to when he might go home. But his hospitalization, the longest and most fraught of his papacy, has raised serious doubts about his ability to lead the world's nearly 1.4 billion Catholics. Slowing down Francis had before now refused to make any concessions to his age or increasingly fragile health, which saw him begin using a wheelchair three years ago. He maintained a packed daily schedule interspersed with frequent overseas trips, notably a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region in September, when he presided over huge open-air masses. But experts say his recovery could take weeks given his age and recurring health issues, not helped by having part of one lung removed as a young man. "The rest of his pontificate remains a question mark for the moment, including for Francis himself," said Father Michel Kubler, a Vatican expert and former editor in chief of the French religious newspaper La Croix. "He doesn't know what his life will be like once he returns to the Vatican and so, no doubt, reserves the option of resigning if he can no longer cope," he told AFP. Francis has always left the door open to resigning were his health to deteriorate, following the example of Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pope since the Middle Ages to voluntarily step down. But the Jesuit has distanced himself from the idea more recently, insisting the job is for life. While in hospital, Francis has delegated masses to senior cardinals but has kept working on and off, including signing decrees and receiving close colleagues. But he has missed a month of events for the 2025 Jubilee, a holy year organized by the pope that is predicted to draw an additional 30 million pilgrims to Rome and the Vatican. And it is hard to imagine he will be well enough to lead a full program of events for Easter, the holiest period in the Christian calendar that is less than six weeks away. Many believe that Francis, who has not been seen in public since he was hospitalized, has to change course. "This is the end of the pontificate as we have known it, until now," Kubler said. Unfinished reforms Francis struck a sharp contrast to his cerebral predecessor when he took office, eschewing the trappings of office and reaching out to the most disadvantaged in society with a message that the Church was for everyone. A former archbishop of Buenos Aires more at home with his flock than the cardinals of the Roman Curia, Francis introduced sweeping reforms across the Vatican and beyond. Some of the changes, from reorganizing the Vatican's finances to increasing the role of women and opening the Church to divorced and LGBTQ members, have been laid down in official texts. But a wide-ranging discussion on the future of the Church, known as a Synod, is not yet finished. And there are many who would happily see his work undone. Traditionalists have strongly resisted his approach, and an outcry in Africa caused the Vatican to clarify its authorization of non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples in 2023. "Whether we like him or not, he has shifted the dial, but many things are still pending," a Vatican source said. https://www.voanews.com/a/hospitalized-pope-marks-12-years-in-job-with-future-uncertain/8009112.html https://www.voanews.com/a/hospitalized-pope-marks-12-years-in-job-with-future-uncertain/8009112.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 02:26:42 -0400 EuropeArts & Culturewebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) WASHINGTON — A fossil of a partial face from a human ancestor is the oldest in western Europe, archaeologists reported Wednesday. The incomplete skull — a section of the left cheek bone and upper jaw – was found in northern Spain in 2022. The fossil is between 1.1 million and 1.4 million years old, according to research published in the journal Nature. "The fossil is exciting," said Eric Delson, a paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History, who was not involved in the study. "It's the first time we have significant remains older than 1 million years old in western Europe." A collection of older fossils from early human ancestors was previously found in Georgia, near the crossroads of eastern Europe and Asia. Those are estimated to be 1.8 million years old. The Spanish fossil is the first evidence that clearly shows human ancestors "were taking excursions into Europe" at that time, said Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program. But there is not yet evidence that the earliest arrivals persisted there long, he said. "They may get to a new location and then die out," said Potts, who had no role in the study. The partial skull bears many similarities to Homo erectus, but there are also some anatomical differences, said study co-author Rosa Huguet, an archaeologist at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution in Tarragona, Spain. Homo erectus arose around 2 million years ago and moved from Africa to regions of Asia and Europe, with the last individuals dying out around 100,000 years ago, said Potts. It can be challenging to identify which group of early humans a fossil find belongs to if there's only a single fragment versus many bones that show a range of features, said University of Zurich paleoanthropologist Christoph Zollikofer, who was not involved in the study. The same cave complex in Spain's Atapuerca Mountains where the new fossil was found also previously yielded other significant clues to the ancient human past. Researchers working in the region have also found more recent fossils from Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens. https://www.voanews.com/a/archaeologists-find-million-year-old-face-fossil-of-a-human-ancestor/8009101.html https://www.voanews.com/a/archaeologists-find-million-year-old-face-fossil-of-a-human-ancestor/8009101.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 01:43:35 -0400 Science & HealthEuropewebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) The US administration's efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine are putting pressure on the Kremlin. But Moscow has made considerable territorial gains and some in Russia say they are prepared to give up nothing. VOA's Jeff Custer narrates this report from our team in Moscow. https://www.voanews.com/a/russian-officials-expect-to-keep-ukrainian-land-in-peace-deal/8009086.html https://www.voanews.com/a/russian-officials-expect-to-keep-ukrainian-land-in-peace-deal/8009086.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 23:45:22 -0400 UkraineEuropewebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) As the U.S. seeks to strengthen ties with resource-rich Central Asia, the European Union is also reaching out to the region. Having adopted a new strategy for Central Asia in 2019, the bloc appears to be making renewed efforts to implement it. EU Commissioner for External Relations Jozef Sikela has begun a tour of the region ahead of an EU-Central Asia summit in Uzbekistan in April. Click here for the full story in Uzbek. https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-uzbek-eu-boosts-its-central-asia-strategy/8008733.html https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-uzbek-eu-boosts-its-central-asia-strategy/8008733.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 19:13:40 -0400 South & Central AsiaUSAEuropewebdesk@voanews.com (Malik Mansur) The U.S. administration's efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine are putting pressure on the Kremlin. But Moscow has made considerable territorial gains and some in Russia say they are prepared to give up nothing. VOA's Jeff Custer narrates this report from our team in Moscow. https://www.voanews.com/a/some-in-russia-ready-to-open-the-champagne-ahead-of-expected-ukraine-peace-talks-/8008717.html https://www.voanews.com/a/some-in-russia-ready-to-open-the-champagne-ahead-of-expected-ukraine-peace-talks-/8008717.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 18:57:37 -0400 EuropeUkrainewebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)