BRUSSELS — NATO’s secretary-general said he wants to discuss ways to put Ukraine in a position of strength for any future peace talks with Russia during a meeting Wednesday with Ukraine’s president and a small number of European leaders.

But Mark Rutte appeared frustrated at growing speculation in NATO capitals about when those peace talks might start and whether European peacekeepers would be involved, saying that speaking publicly about it plays into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“High on the agenda is to make sure that the president, his team in Ukraine, are in the best possible position one day when they decide to start the peace talks,” Rutte told reporters as he welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his residence in Brussels.

The focus, Rutte said, must be “to do everything now to make sure that when it comes to air defense, when it comes to other weapons systems, that we make sure that we provide whatever we can.”

He said that another issue up for discussion would be “how to make sure that when peace comes one day that we also think about the economy of Ukraine now, but also after a future peace deal.”

Zelenskyy posted on Telegram that he would hold talks with the leaders of the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands and Poland and U.K. representatives, who were in Brussels. He’s also due to take part in an EU summit in the Belgian capital on Thursday.

Zelenskyy said that the meeting would provide “a very good opportunity to speak about security guarantees for Ukraine, for today and for tomorrow.” Ukraine sees NATO membership as the ultimate security guarantee, but the U.S. and Germany lead a group of countries that oppose this while war continues.

After separate talks with Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron said his country is making reinforced support for Ukraine its ″absolute priority″ and will continue giving Ukraine ″the means to defend itself and to make Russia’s war of aggression fail,″ according to Macron’s office.

Noting his recent meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Zelenskyy, Macron said he will maintain a ″tight dialogue with Ukraine and its international partners to work for a return to a fair and lasting peace,″ the statement said.

At NATO headquarters earlier, Rutte had said the terms of any peace talks should be up to Ukraine, Russia and any others at the negotiating table. “If we now start to discuss amongst ourselves what a deal could look like, we make it so easy for the Russians,” he said.

“I think we would be very wise to put some lid on this and focus on the business at hand, and the business at hand is to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to prevent Putin from winning,” Rutte added.
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Washington — “Ehtisham was the darling of the family. He was very fond of cricket. His only obsession was that one day he would go to Europe and poverty would end at home.”

This is a statement from Fazlur Rehman, a close relative of 35-year-old Ehtisham Anjum, who went missing after a migrant boat he was in capsized in Greek territorial waters on Saturday. According to locals, 10 of the passengers, including Anjum, were from Helaan, a village in Pakistan’s central Punjab province.

The initial list of 47 survivors released by the Pakistani embassy in Greece does not include Anjum’s name. But the family is holding out hope that he is still alive. However, according to Pakistan embassy in Greece, the rescue operation for the missing has been called off by the Greek authorities.

According to the embassy in Athens, three boats carrying 175 illegal migrants of different nationalities including Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Egyptians and Sudanese crew members, capsized off the Greek coast.

While all the passengers on two of the boats were rescued, only 39 out of 83 have been rescued from the third. Several teens were on board and at least one 12-year-old Pakistani was among the passengers.

In a video shared with VOA, several Pakistanis give the details of their perilous journey and the poor condition of the boats ferrying them to Greece from Tobruk, Libya.

One survivor of the boat that capsized said the sea was rough, and the boat was small and not in good working condition. Despite that, he said, the smugglers put many people on board, way over the boat’s capacity.

That man and another said the boat hit a coast guard ship or cargo ship before it capsized. They said they were in the water for an hour and a half before being rescued.

Last year more than 350 Pakistanis lost their lives when an overcrowded boat carrying hundreds of illegal migrants sank en route to Greece from Tobruk, Libya.

According to Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights, Pakistan, “in the year 2023 alone over 6,000 Pakistanis undertook illegal journeys to reach European shores” — though some estimates put the number significantly higher. A report released by the commission in May of this year said most of the illegal migrants were motivated by economic concerns.

Human smugglers are a big part of this journey and one of the locals in Helaan village told VOA’s Urdu service that a local agent had asked for the equivalent of $14,380 each from the clients to get them to Europe. The agent went missing after the news of the accident.

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency intensified its crackdown on human smugglers in the wake of the tragedy off Greece last year. In 2023, 189 cases were registered, leading to 854 arrests.

Fazlur Rehman, the relative of Ehtisham Anjum, says four youngsters from the same village died four years ago while trying to get to Europe illegally. He adds that people are becoming greedier and will soon forget the dangers involved.

This story originated in VOA’s Urdu Service, with Ehtisham Shami and Ishraq Nazir contributing.
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Russia has long considered the Balkans a part of its sphere of influence, but its current focus on its war in Ukraine is creating a power vacuum in the region and giving an opportunity for Turkey to expand its role. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet Wednesday with NATO chief Mark Rutte and European leaders in Brussels as Ukraine seeks to bolster its defenses against Russian forces.

Zelenskyy on Tuesday cited an urgent need to boost military aid to Ukraine, especially air defense systems.

“We must do everything possible to destroy Russia’s ability to wage war from as far away as possible,” Zelenskyy said. “For this, we need more drones, more modern artillery, and long-range missiles.”

Wednesday’s talks come a month before U.S. President Donald Trump takes office, bringing uncertainty about the level of continued U.S. support for Ukraine from the new administration.

Among those expected to meet with Zelenskyy in Brussels were German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Ahead of the talks, Russia launched another round of overnight aerial attacks.

Ihor Taburets, governor of Ukraine’s Cherkasy region, said Wednesday on Telegram that Ukrainian air defenses shot down 13 drones. He said there was no damage to infrastructure in the area.

Khmelnytskyi Governor Serhii Tiurin said Wednesday that Ukrainian forces shot down two drones.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it destroyed two Ukrainian aerial drones over the Belgorod region, along with a drone over Bryansk and another over Kursk.

Moscow attack 

Russia said Wednesday it detained a suspect in the killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces. 

Authorities described the suspect as a citizen of Uzbekistan who was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services to carry out the Tuesday attack in Moscow. 

An official with Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, said Tuesday the agency was behind the attack and called Kirillov a “war criminal and an entirely legitimate target.” 

Several countries, including Britain and Canada, had sanctioned Kirillov, 54, for his actions in Moscow’s nearly three-year war in Ukraine

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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The European Parliament awarded Venezuelan opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia the bloc’s highest human rights recognition. 

Click here to see the full story in Spanish. 
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Ruling parties often have an advantage in elections. But in history’s biggest election year so far, incumbents of all political stripes found that presiding over a period of economic inflation carries a heavy price at the ballot box.
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The outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden plans in its final weeks to “continue tightening the noose” around Russia’s key energy exports with new sanctions to deprive Moscow of revenue for its war on Ukraine, according to Assistant Secretary of State Geoffrey Pyatt. 

Pyatt over the past two weeks has traveled in Europe and Asia to discuss energy security with allies and the G7+Ukraine energy resilience group. 

In an interview with VOA Ukrainian’s Oksana Bedratenko, Pyatt said Europe should use the Dec. 31 expiration of a gas transit contract between Ukraine and Russia to decisively end its dependency on Russian energy. 

He said he is encouraged that Europe sees American liquid natural gas (LNG) as part of its energy solution, noting that countries in Europe and even Japan — which imports 10% of its gas from Russia — understand the need to find alternative energy suppliers. 

The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. 

VOA: Over recent weeks Russia staged several massive attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector. With all of the preparations, with all of the help from Ukraine’s allies before winter, what is your assessment of Ukrainian energy sector resilience?  

Assistant Secretary of State Geoffrey Pyatt: We knew coming into this winter that this was going to be a very fragile period, but I think the good news is support for Ukraine, support for Ukrainian energy workers, is as strong as it’s ever been. We saw another brutal attack on Friday, especially in western Ukraine, in Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk. … And this is the bitterest part of the winter. So we know we need to continue to work together. I’ve just returned from two weeks of travel. I was in Tokyo and before that I was in Paris and London. The message I heard consistently from all of our G7 partners was a very clear focus on doing everything we can to help ensure that Russia’s attempt to weaponize the winter is a failure.   

VOA: The gas transit contract between Russia and Ukraine expires at the end of this year. Do you think Europe is ready for it? There has already been some pressure on Ukraine to continue the gas transit. Do you think this will actually be the end of Europe’s dependency on Russian gas?  

Pyatt: I certainly hope so. And importantly, the pressure that I see is only coming from one or two countries. I was very glad to see the statements over the weekend from the new [EU] Energy Commissioner [Dan] Jorgensen making very clear the need to make progress on gas phaseout, on nuclear, on all forms of dependency on Russian energy, in line with the EU goal of getting to zero by 2027. Obviously, Brussels and Kyiv need to make some decisions in the next couple of weeks. But I think long-term it is very clear that the energy and gas trade in particular has been the principal vector of Russian influence on the Ukrainian economy since independence. So why on earth would anybody be interested in extending that relationship?   

VOA:  Europe has been buying more LNG from Russia. Are there any plans to have more sanctions on Russian LNG projects? 

Pyatt: We welcome Europe’s steps. Just today [Dec. 15], the 15th sanctions package, which is quite substantial. I have said publicly on a couple of occasions recently that there will be more coming from the Biden administration. I’m very confident of that. And we’re working very hard to maintain alignment between Washington, Brussels, London. That’s part of what I was doing in Europe two weeks ago. Everybody’s pace of operations is slightly different. … I was glad to see Commissioner Jorgensen also talk about the important role of American LNG as part of Europe’s energy solution. So, I’m very confident that we are going to continue to tighten the noose. We’re going to do everything that we can to drive down [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s energy revenues, which go to pay for the North Korean missiles and the Russian drones that are destroying Ukrainian civilian infrastructure every day of the week. 

VOA: When we look into the next year, the U.S. support for Ukraine might go down. Do you think that Europe and other allies are ready to step up and continue supporting Ukrainian energy? 

Pyatt: Everybody is already stepping up. As I think you saw Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken just signed with [Ukrainian] Foreign Minister [Andrii] Sybiha a second energy [Memorandum of Understanding]. This is for the implementation of $825 million in additional energy sector assistance just from the United States. … That very high level of U.S. assistance is exceeded by the assistance that has come from the other G7-plus partners. This is a really important point that it’s not just the United States that’s providing this assistance, and in fact, the majority of assistance in the energy sector has come from the other G7-plus countries.  

VOA: In the MOU there’s a lot of attention going to the protection of Ukrainian companies from political influence. How important are reforms in Ukraine even during the war? 

Pyatt: Well, as you know, I’ve been working on these reform issues for 10 years now. So I can appreciate the progress that has been achieved, and that progress is real. Look for instance at the improved production numbers at Naftogaz. Maybe that improved production is because of better management; maybe it’s because production that was previously skimmed off is now being declared transparently. But either way, it’s a positive outcome. There’s more that needs to be done. … Ukraine will not become a member of the European Union in one day, but I think fulfilling the aspirations that the Ukrainian people expressed during the revolution of dignity, when I was ambassador in Kyiv, is as important today as it’s ever been, and aligning Ukraine’s energy sector with the highest European and OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) standards is very much part and parcel of that larger process of becoming a member of the EU.
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Affected by negative factors such as the Russia-Ukraine war and tariff disputes, China-EU relations in 2024 show no obvious sign of recovery. Observers predict that China-EU relations will most likely remain at a low level in 2025. If U.S.-China relations deteriorate further during President-elect Donald Trump’s term, Beijing will need to maintain a relatively stable relationship with the EU even more, analysts say.

Click here to see the full story in Mandarin.
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London — A lawyer accused of trying to interfere in British politics on behalf of the Chinese government has lost a legal challenge against the U.K.’s domestic intelligence agency MI5.

Britain’s Security Service issued a security alert to all lawmakers in January 2022, warning that London-based lawyer Christine Lee was knowingly engaged in “political interference activities in the U.K.” in coordination with the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, an organization known to exert Chinese influence abroad.

The House of Commons’ Speaker warned at the time that Lee had “facilitated” covert donations to British political parties and legislators “on behalf of foreign nationals.” Members of Parliament are required to declare the source of donations they receive, which must be from U.K.-registered electors or entities.

Lee’s firm, Christine Lee & Co., provided legal services mainly to the British Chinese community and had acted as a legal advisor to the Chinese embassy in London. Her son, Daniel Wilkes, worked for lawmaker Barry Gardiner as a diary manager for five years, while she had donated some 500,000 pounds ($635,000) to Gardiner, mostly for office costs, according to official records.

Lee, who was not accused of a criminal offense, brought a legal action, arguing that the security alert against her was political and that it breached her human rights.

On Tuesday, three judges at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal unanimously dismissed her claim, saying MI5 had issued the warning for “legitimate reasons.”

The tribunal decision came the day after British authorities named Chinese national Yang Tengbo as an alleged spy who cultivated close ties with Prince Andrew and sought to exert influence among British establishment figures on behalf of China’s United Front Work Department.

Yang, 50, also known as Chris Yang, was banned from entering the U.K. last year after MI5 found that he was believed to have carried out “covert and deceptive activity” for China.

Authorities said his relationship with the royal had a covert nature, citing correspondence that referenced getting people “unnoticed in and out of the house of Windsor.”

Yang strongly denied the claims.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Tuesday called the spying allegations against Yang “ridiculous,” while the Chinese Embassy in Britain condemned U.K. lawmakers for “smearing” China.

“We urge the UK side to immediately stop creating trouble, stop anti-China political manipulations, and stop undermining normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK,” a statement released on the embassy’s website said.
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Moscow — Kazakhstan’s state-controlled nuclear resources company said on Tuesday that Russia’s state Rosatom corporation was selling its stakes in vast uranium deposits that it had been developing with the world’s largest uranium producer.  

Kazatomprom said that Rosatom unit, Uranium One Group, had sold its 49.979% stake in the Zarechnoye mine to SNURDC Astana Mining Company Limited, whose ultimate beneficiary is China’s State Nuclear Uranium Resources Development Company. 

Uranium One Group is also expected to give up 30% in the Khorasan-U joint venture to China Uranium Development Company Limited, the ultimate beneficiary of which is China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN, China), Kazatomprom said. 

Kazatomprom’s stakes will remain unchanged, it said. 

Zarechnoye’s uranium reserves amounted to approximately 3,500 tons at the beginning of 2024, according to Kazatomprom.  

Khorasan-U operates at the Kharasan-1 block of Severny Kharasan deposit in the Zhanakorgan district of the Kyzylorda region. Uranium reserves of the deposit amounted to about 33,000 tons at the beginning of 2024, with an expected maturity in 2038, Kazatomprom said. 

Rosatom did not immediately comment. Uranium One produced 4,831 tons of uranium in Kazakhstan in 2023.  

Kazatomprom is the world’s largest producer of uranium and has the largest reserve base. It accounted for approximately 20% of global primary uranium production in 2023.  

 
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