Tbilisi, Georgia — Just ahead of Georgia’s parliamentary elections on Saturday, a Bloomberg investigation has revealed a yearslong Russian hacking campaign targeting Georgia’s government, major companies and critical infrastructure. 

Analysts see the large-scale cyberattack, which gave Moscow access to sensitive intelligence and the ability to disrupt essential systems, as part of Russia’s efforts to undermine Georgia’s pro-Western aspirations. 

“One of the most shocking revelations was that the [Georgian] Ministry of Foreign Affairs was hacked 114 times, with information gathered from embassies and even high-level officials,” Giorgi Iashvili, a Tbilisi-based cybersecurity expert, told Voice of America’s Georgian service. 

“It shows just how deeply the Russian cyber campaigns have penetrated our systems. Not only public institutions were affected, but also the private sector — telecom operators, key energy infrastructure and service providers.”  

Between 2017 and 2020, Bloomberg reported, Russia’s GRU and FSB intelligence agencies successfully infiltrated key Georgian ministries as well as the country’s energy sector and telecommunications networks. They accessed Georgia’s central bank, election commission and oil terminals, exposing the country’s vulnerabilities.  

“What the Russians are now trying to do here is to identify the weaknesses for potential sabotage, to identify where and how they can intervene in Georgia’s domestic politics, more clearly and more aggressively if the need arises, and thirdly, build a network of agents of influence,” said former Georgian Interior Ministry official Shota Utiashvili.  

The Georgian government, widely seen as tilting toward Moscow, dismisses those concerns. 

In an interview with VOA, Archil Talakvadze, a member of parliament from the ruling Georgian Dream party, said: “In the field of cybersecurity, we now have stronger systems in place. The State Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is better prepared to address this threat.” 

Others, however, are not convinced. 

Giga Bokeria, a former secretary of Georgia’s National Security Council and now the chairman of the opposition Federalists party, argues that Russian actions go beyond hacking and espionage efforts in Georgia.  

“We have the government which is allowing, embracing and even financing Russian infiltration into our political life, economic sphere and the security services because they are natural allies. And we have overwhelming evidence of that,” he told VOA.  

Last month, U.S. officials told VOA that Washington has readied sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire Georgian Dream founder and former prime minister, accusing him of acting under Russia’s direction. Ivanishvili is widely seen as the power broker behind Georgia’s government. 

Bokeria pointed to the shielding of an Ivanishvili associate, Otar Partskhaladze, from U.S. sanctions as evidence of the government’s alignment with Russia. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Partskhaladze, a former Georgian chief prosecutor, for allegedly advancing Russian interests and assisting Russia’s intelligence services.  

“This is a man who is very close associate of our de facto ruler, oligarch [Bidzina Ivanishvili],” Bokeria said. “We know it from his own confessions. When he was sanctioned, the whole Georgian government and the state apparatus behaved embarrassingly, to accommodate him, to clean out his bank accounts, to give him time [before] the sanctions could create any discomfort to him.” 

Utiashvili noted that during the last 12 years, not a single Russian spy has been arrested in Georgia.  

“There’s no way one can believe that Russian intelligence does not work here. So no, there are [these] multitude of examples that show that Russians enjoy complete safety,” he said.  

Safety, however, is not guaranteed for Georgia’s own security officers. In 2019, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was assassinated in Berlin, in broad daylight.  

Khangoshvili, an ethnic Chechen, was a former Georgian security operative who joined the Chechen militants fighting Russia in the first Chechen war, which made him a target of Russian intelligence. While he later helped Georgia’s security services identify Islamists in the country, Georgian authorities failed to protect Khangoshvili, prompting him to leave the country. 

“The government has not yet answered the question, why did it leave its own citizen defenseless in face of the Russians?” Utiashvili said.  

The Georgian government remained silent after Khangoshvili’s death and never raised the issue publicly. In a recent prisoner swap, Russian President Vladimir Putin went to great lengths to secure the release of Khangoshvili’s killer, Vadim Krasikov.   

“We know how important it was for Vladimir Putin to release Khangoshvili’s murderer,” Utiashvili said. “He pretty much let most of the high-level political prisoners go in exchange for the killer. That gives you an idea of how high level this murder was planned and how important it was for the Russian regime.” 

Referring to the Georgian authorities, Utiashvili added: “When you force such a citizen to go, that means that you don’t want to intervene. You only don’t want it to happen on your territory. But, you’re basically signing a death warrant.” 

Kakhaber Kemoklidze, a former Georgian security service official under the Georgian Dream government, blames Georgia’s political leadership for failing to counter Russian influence, which, he said, has reached into the government’s high ranks. 

“They are really implementing Russian intelligence services goals,” he told VOA.   

The influx of Russian emigres into Georgia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has only heightened espionage risks.  

“There might be a big-scale infiltration within the different segments of the Georgian society or businesses,” Kemoklidze said. 

Western countries, including the United States, have spent millions to help Georgia defend itself from Russian hybrid tactics, including espionage and hacking, and to secure its information space. In 2020, NATO, funded by the United Kingdom, launched a project aimed at countering Russian hybrid threats in Georgia.  

However, as New Lines magazine reported in May, the Georgian government misused this initiative to spread anti-Western messages and target critics on social media. 

The oversight team for Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said this abuse led to the removal of fake accounts linked to the Georgian government.  

“The Western governments, the Americans, the Brits, the Europeans, have been helping the Georgian government to become resilient in the fight against the enemy propaganda and any disinformation,” Utiashvili said. 

“However, the units that were set up in the Georgian government with the help of donors’ money were used not to fight the Russian propaganda, but to enhance it, because, again, Georgian Dream and Russia share their propaganda assets in Georgia.” 

From shielding Russian allies to failing to protect its own operatives and using Western funds to spread Russian narratives, Georgia’s government is helping Moscow fulfill its strategic objectives, analysts say. 

“Russian intelligence officers on a senior level would be very much happy seeing what the current Georgian government is doing,” former Georgian security service official Kemoklidze said.  

According to Bokeria of the opposition Federalists party, Russia’s goal is to ensure Georgia and other neighbors remain under Kremlin control.  

“A successful statehood on its borders for Russia means that it is becoming a part of the free world, regardless of NATO or EU enlargement,” he said. “And that is unacceptable for them.”  
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that Russia is expected to deploy North Korean soldiers to combat as early as Sunday. 

In a statement posted to his official X social media account, Zelenskyy said the prediction is based on military intelligence he received in a Friday briefing from armed forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. 

Zelenskyy called the move a “clear escalation by Russia,” adding that “the world can clearly see Russia’s true intentions: to continue the war.” 

Calling for a “principled and strong response” from global leaders, Zelenskyy said, “North Korea’s actual involvement in combat should not be met with indifference or uncertain commentary, but with tangible pressure on both Moscow and Pyongyang, to uphold the U.N. Charter and to hold them accountable for this escalation.” 

Responding Thursday to a Ukraine intelligence report that the North Korean troops were in Russia’s Kursk region, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was up to Moscow to decide how they might be deployed, including possibly sending them to fight on the front lines against Ukraine. He did not deny a U.S. claim that North Korea has dispatched some 3,000 troops to fight alongside Russian forces. 

On Friday, North Korean state broadcaster KCNA carried a statement by Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong Gyu, who would not comment directly on reports of the deployment, but said if there were such a thing, “I think it will be an act conforming with the regulations of international law.” 

Ukraine has argued North Korean participation in the war violates international law; U.S. officials earlier this week called such a deployment a major escalation. But Putin argued the West had escalated the war in Ukraine by sending NATO officers and instructors to help Kyiv defend itself against Russian aggression. 

Meanwhile, in an interview with Russian television Friday, Putin spoke about possible cease-fire negotiations with Ukraine, saying Russia was ready to seek compromises. He said Turkey had presented a number of peace initiatives to both Russia and Ukraine, which he claimed Ukraine has rejected. 

Regarding possible compromises, Putin said: “Any outcome must be in Russia’s favor. … This outcome should be based upon the realities which are taking shape on the battlefield. Without any doubt, we are not going to make any concessions. There will be no exchange [of territory], whatsoever.” 

Putin blamed Ukraine for what he described as “irrational behavior” in negotiations, saying, “It is not possible to build any plans on this basis.” 

Bio lab construction 

In an exclusive report Friday, The Washington Post said satellite images from the past two years have shown substantial construction at a site-restricted military facility northeast of Moscow that was once a major research center for biological weapons.  

The report said the site has a history of experiments that included viruses that cause smallpox, Ebola and hemorrhagic fevers. 

The satellite imagery of the Russian site, called Sergiev Posad-6, shows construction vehicles renovating the Soviet-era laboratory and breaking ground on 10 new buildings, totaling more than 250,000 square feet, with several of them bearing hallmarks of biological labs designed to handle extremely dangerous pathogens. 

The report said there has been no sign such weapons are being used in the Ukraine conflict, but the construction is being closely watched by U.S. intelligence agencies and bioweapons experts. 

Ukraine’s Kyiv Independent reported Friday the apparent deployment of North Korean troops could be at least in part a result of Russia’s losses on the battlefield. 

In a report on its Facebook social media account, the Ukraine General Staff of the armed forces reported Russia has lost 685,910 troops since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. This includes, the general staff report said, 1,630 casualties over a 24-hour period ending Friday. 

Ukraine has closely guarded its battlefield troop casualties, even from Western allies, but a U.S. official in September estimated Ukraine has likely seen an estimated 57,500 troops killed and 250,000 wounded, according to a report by The New York Times. 

Battlefield casualties are difficult to verify, and Russia has made claims that Ukrainian casualties are much higher than those indicated by Ukrainian and U.S. estimates. 

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to deepen defense ties with New Delhi and bring the two countries’ militaries closer, he said on Friday, after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Germany has not traditionally had close defense ties with India, but is now pitching to join the latter’s effort to wean its arms base from decades of dependence on Russia, at a time when the West seeks to counter China’s growing influence.

“Our overall message is clear, we need more co-operation, not less,” Scholz said.

“At our inter-governmental consultations with India, we also want to deepen co-operation in defense and agree to bring our militaries together.”

Scholz, accompanied by most of his cabinet, is leading a high-level delegation to New Delhi, betting that greater access to the vast Indian market can reduce Germany’s reliance on China.

German Thyssenkrupp is one of two bidders to have partnered with Indian firms to build six conventional submarines in India, in a deal estimated to be worth $5 billion.

The Indian Navy is expected to pick between the German company or Spain’s Navantia soon.

New Delhi and Berlin are working on renewable energy projects, Modi said, among many possible investments in transport infrastructure.

“India is completely transforming its physical infrastructure,” Modi told the Asia-Pacific conference of German business in the Indian capital, attended by Scholz.

“Record investments are being made. This offers many possibilities for German and Indo-Pacific region companies.”

In 2022 Germany pledged 10 billion euros to help India achieve its climate goals.

German state lender KfW’s unit DEG, which focuses on the private sector, plans to more than double investment in India to $1 billion over the next few years, focusing on renewable energy and infrastructure, an official, Jochen von Frowein, has said.

India-EU FTA

Scholz reiterated his economy minister’s push for swift progress on talks for a free-trade pact between India and the European Union.

“I am sure that if we work on this together, prime minister, this could happen in months rather than years,” Scholz said.

Earlier, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal warned that India would be unable to strike such a deal if the bloc insisted on getting access to the Asian giant’s dairy industry.

A trade deal could be swiftly reached if sensitivities were respected on both sides, Goyal told the conference, following Thursday’s comments by German Economy Minister Robert Habeck that agriculture was the talks’ “most problematic” area, and suggesting that they first tackle the industrial sector.

Progress has been slow on the talks, initially targeted to be wrapped up by the end of 2023, with India blaming the EU for what it called “irrational” standards, as one reason.
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SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday promised support for Bosnia as the troubled Balkan country struggles with reform needed to advance toward membership in the European Union.  

Von der Leyen was in Bosnia as part of a trip this week to aspiring EU member states in the Western Balkans to assure them that EU enlargement remains a priority for the 27-nation bloc. From Bosnia, von der Leyen went on to neighboring Serbia.  

The Western Balkans countries — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are at different stages in their applications for EU membership. The countries have been frustrated by the slow pace of the process, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has propelled European leaders to push the six to join the bloc.   

Bosnia gained candidate status in 2022 while EU leaders in March agreed in principle to open membership negotiations, though Bosnia must still do a lot of work.  

“We share the same vision for the future, a future where Bosnia-Herzegovina is a full-fledged member of the European Union,” said von der Leyen at a joint press conference with Bosnian Prime Minister Bojana Kristo. “So, I would say, let’s continue working on that. We’ve gone a long way already, we still have a way ahead of us but I am confident that you’ll make it.”  

Last year EU officials offered a 6-billion-euro (about $6.5 billion) growth plan to the Western Balkan countries in an effort to double the region’s economy over the next decade and accelerate their efforts to join the bloc. That aid is contingent on reforms that would bring their economies in line with EU rules.   

The Commission on Wednesday approved the reform agendas of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia following a green light from EU member states. That was a key step to allow payments under the growth plan upon completion of agreed reform steps.   

“The accession process is, as you know, merit-based … we do not look at a rigid data but we look at the merits, the progress that a country is making,” said von der Leyen. “The important thing is that we have an ambitious reform agenda, like the other five Western Balkan countries also have. We stand ready to help you to move forward.”  

Long after a 1992-95 ethnic war that killed more than 100,000 people and left millions homeless, Bosnia remains ethnically divided and politically deadlocked. An ethnic Serb entity — one of Bosnia’s two equal parts joined by a common government — has sought to gain as much independence as possible.  

Upon arrival in Bosnia, von der Leyen on Thursday first went to Donja Jablanica, a village in central Bosnia that was devastated in recent floods and landslides. The disaster in early October claimed 27 lives and the small village was virtually buried in rocks from a quarry located on a hill above.  

Von der Leyen said the EU is sending an immediate aid package of 20 million euros ($21 million) and will also provide support for reconstruction later on. 
…

The Biden administration continues to push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and de-escalation between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. In Europe, the administration has revealed intelligence that North Korean troops are being trained in Russia to help its war efforts.

VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara spoke with White House national security communications adviser John Kirby on the latest developments in the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: [U.S.] Secretary [of State] Antony Blinken today warned Israel against a protracted campaign in Lebanon. He warned Israel to avoid civilian casualties, not to endanger U.N. peacekeepers and the Lebanese army. The only way Israel can do that is by operating a targeted campaign. Is it operating a targeted campaign?

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby: We would like to see no civilian casualties and no damage to civilian infrastructure to the maximum extent possible. We have told the Israelis that we don’t support near daily strikes in densely populated areas, and that’s part of the message that [Blinken] delivered when he was there. We believe that there’s still a diplomatic path to be found here to bring this conflict with Hezbollah and Lebanon to a close. That was one of the reasons that Secretary Blinken traveled there.

VOA: Do you support Israeli demands for an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force to include north of the Litani River?

Kirby: I’m not going to get into any specific proposals one way or the other. I don’t think we’re at that point right now. … What we support is de-escalation. What we support is minimization of civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure. We also continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself.

VOA: What about Israel’s efforts to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon? How far can you accept the cost of that?

Kirby: Look, they have done an extraordinary amount of work towards already dismantling Hezbollah’s capability, including the killing of [Hassan Nasrallah], their leader. Hezbollah is not Hamas. They are in many ways superior in terms of military capability and resources. So, it’s a different kind of a fight. It’s a different kind of enemy that they face.

And I would remind that even just in the last 24 hours, more than 100 rockets and drones [were] launched by Hezbollah towards Israeli citizens who are just trying to live their lives on that side of the Blue Line, as well. So, it remains a viable threat to the Israeli people, and we’re going to continue to talk to the Israelis about how they go after that threat, because how they do that matters significantly.

VOA: Ten days ago, the administration set a 30-day deadline for Israel to improve Palestinian access to aid. Can you update us on the progress?

Kirby: There has been some progress, and as you heard Secretary Blinken say during his travels, more needs to be done. But there has been an increase of trucks flowing into North Gaza; specifically, the Erez Crossing is back open. We want to see more.

VOA: Israel announced that Mossad chief David Barnea will meet with CIA Director Bill Burns and the Qatari prime minister in Doha. Is there anything about that meeting that you can tell us?

Kirby: Without talking to the CIA director’s travel or meetings, I won’t do that. But you saw the prime minister already announced that there’s another meeting in Doha of negotiators, and we’re grateful to see this progress continue. We’re grateful to see yet another meeting here, and we’re hopeful that now, with Mr. Sinwar gone, Hamas might be more willing to sit down and negotiate in good faith and come up with a solution that gets a cease-fire of at least some duration, and gets those hostages home with their families where they belong, as well as to your earlier question, gives us a pause in the fighting that can help us all work towards a more dramatic increase in humanitarian assistance.

I’m not suggesting that more can’t be done now. Even while Gaza remains an active combat zone, more can be done, more should be done. But if you can end the fighting, then you can definitely make it easier to get humanitarian assistance.

VOA: Does the administration see [Yahya Sinwar’s brother] Mohamed Sinwar as somebody with influence on the negotiations?

Kirby: I think it’s unclear right now where the leadership of Hamas goes, and I would just say that we’re watching this very, very closely, as you might imagine, monitoring it.

Regardless of how Hamas tries to fill the vacuum left by Sinwar, they have an opportunity before them right now to help end this war, to get those hostages home and to do the right thing.

VOA: Let’s move on to North Korea and Russia. [Russian President] Vladimir Putin appears to have implicitly acknowledged what you laid out yesterday, that North Korean troops are in Russia to help their war efforts. How do you see this?

Kirby: We see it the same way as we laid out yesterday. We know that there are at least several thousand North Korean soldiers in three military training bases in eastern Russia. Now, exactly what they’re being trained to do, we don’t know. Whether and how they’ll be deployed in this war against Ukraine, we don’t know that either. But it is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that, I would remind you, Russia themselves signed up to. The procurement of arms and ammunition from North Korea is a violation of U.N. Security Council existing resolutions that Russia signed up to. We’re going to watch this very, very closely.

VOA: What is the geopolitical implication for Kim Jong Un now that he’s willing to send his troops to die for Putin? Are you concerned that in return, Russia could help North Korea improve the reach of their ICBMs [intercontinental ballistic missiles] to hit American cities, for example?

Kirby: That’s what we’re watching closely to see. We don’t know exactly what Mr. Kim thinks he’s getting out of this arrangement. And it’s worrisome. As you heard the secretary of defense say the other day, this potential move here by the North Koreans to put soldiers on the ground, literally skin in the game when it comes to fighting Ukraine, is not only going to have implications in Ukraine and on that battlefield, but it’s going to have implications in the Indo-Pacific.

What we don’t know right now is exactly what that looks like. What does Kim think he’s getting out of this? It is possible that there could be some provision by Russia to enhance and improve North Korean military capabilities? Again, that would just further destabilize a very tense region.

VOA: You said these North Korean soldiers are legitimate military targets. But would you consider taking direct military action against them as the head of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Mike Turner, suggested?

Kirby: The United States is not directly involved in combat operations in or around Ukraine. The president has been clear about that. We are providing Ukraine with the kinds of tools, capabilities and weapons that they need to defend themselves. And when we say they’re legitimate military targets, these North Korean soldiers, we mean they would become legitimate military targets of the Ukrainian Armed Forces should they be involved in operations against Ukraine.

VOA: China has said that they have no information on these North Korean troops. Do you believe them?

Kirby: I’ll let the Chinese speak to what they see or they don’t see. What I said yesterday stands today. We’re going to certainly be communicating with our PRC [People’s Republic of China] counterparts about this.

VOA: Last month you also confirmed that Iran transferred shipments of domestic missiles to Russia. Now we have these North Korean troops fighting for Russia. What is your assessment of this trilateral cooperation?

Kirby: Number one, it certainly shows Mr. Putin’s increasing desperation, and quite frankly, his weakness, that he has to reach out to the likes of Kim Jong Un and the supreme leader in Tehran for assistance to fight Ukraine. Clearly, he’s under a lot of military pressure. We know he’s losing 1,200 soldiers a day. He suffered more than 530,000 casualties in the time he’s been fighting in Ukraine. So, he’s clearly under pressure, and he’s not … being honest with the Russian people about what he’s doing and what he’s losing and how bloody and lethal this war has been on his own armed forces.

Number two, I think it certainly speaks to worrisome defense relationships between these countries that are now growing and deepening. They’re worrying not just because of what might be the effects in Ukraine, they’re worrying because of what might be the effects in other parts of the world. You and I were just talking about what Kim Jong Un might be getting out of this. Let’s talk about Iran, because Iran, certainly we know, is interested in advanced aviation capabilities, for instance, from Russia. Now, again, I don’t know that we’ve seen it all consummated yet, but Iran being able to benefit from Russian military technology is also not good for the Middle East region.
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kazan, russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin told BRICS leaders on Thursday that the Middle East was on the brink of a full-scale war after a sharp rise in tension between Israel and Iran, though the Kremlin chief also faced calls to end the war in Ukraine.

The BRICS summit, attended by more than 20 leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan, has shown the depth of Russia’s relations beyond the Western world.

Much discussion at the summit in the Russian city of Kazan was dedicated to the war in Ukraine and the violence in the Middle East, though there were no sign that anything specific would be done to end either conflict.

“The degree of confrontation between Israel and Iran has sharply increased. All this resembles a chain reaction and puts the entire Middle East on the brink of a full-scale war,” Putin, sitting beside Chinese President Xi Jinping, said.

Xi, speaking after Putin, said that China wanted a political settlement in Ukraine, and suggested joint efforts by Beijing and Brasilia offered the best chance of peace.

“We need to work for an early de-escalation of the situation and pave the way for a political settlement,” Xi said.

On the Middle East, Xi said that there should be a comprehensive cease-fire in Gaza, a halt to the spread of war in Lebanon, and a return to the two-state solution under which states for both Israel and Palestine would be established.

Flames of war

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian criticized international organizations, particularly the United Nations, for failing to end the conflict.

“The flames of war continue to rage in the Gaza Strip and cities of Lebanon, and international institutions, particularly the U.N. Security Council as a driver of international peace and security, lack the necessary effectiveness to extinguish the fire of this crisis,” Pezeshkian told the BRICS.

Putin said that unless Palestinians got their state, they would feel the burden of “historical injustice” and the region would remain in “an atmosphere of permanent crisis with inevitable relapses of large-scale violence.”

In their summit declaration, BRICS leaders called for the establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable Palestinian state within the borders of 1967. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attended the summit.

At one of the BRICS+ meetings on Thursday, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar sat in for Modi who also missed one of the group photographs. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he could not travel to Russia due to a head injury.

China, which together with India buys about 90% of Russia’s oil, supported more Global South countries joining the BRICS grouping in various formats, Xi said.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who was criticized by Kyiv for attending the meeting in Russia, said peace was needed in Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan and Ukraine.

“We need peace in Ukraine,” Guterres told the BRICS+ meeting that was chaired by Putin. “A just peace in line with the U.N. Charter, international law and U.N. General Assembly resolutions.”
…

A $50 billion loan to Ukraine from the G7 major industrialized nations is moving forward after months of negotiations, with countries announcing their contributions to the package this week. 

The loan package is aimed at providing Ukraine with an economic lifeline from $280 billion worth of Russian assets frozen since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. According to the plan, the loan will be repaid with interest accumulating on the frozen Russian assets rather than confiscating the frozen assets themselves.

This “creative” solution is intended to provide Ukraine with the economic assistance it urgently needs “without burdening American taxpayers,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement, adding that “these loans will support the people of Ukraine as they defend and rebuild their country. And our efforts make it clear: Tyrants will be responsible for the damages they cause.”

“This will really support us,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement thanking allies for the decision.

The United States will contribute $20 billion to the loan, while Canada and Britain announced contributions of $3.7 billion and $2.94 billion, respectively. The European Parliament on Tuesday approved a European Union decision to provide up to $38 billion as part of the loan.

While the details of the loan are still being worked out, donors announced the funding will cover Ukraine’s economic and defense needs. U.S. deputy national security adviser Daleep Singh told reporters if the U.S. Congress approves the loan contribution, the Biden administration plans to allocate half of the $20 billion to support Ukraine’s economy and the other half for defense support.

The United Kingdom’s $2.94 billion is to be used solely for Ukraine’s military, British Defense Minister John Healey announced this week.

“With this decision, Ukraine is confident that it will have money to fully fund the critically important expenditures next year, including wages to teachers, doctors, pensions,” Roman Kachur, alternate executive director for Ukraine at the World Bank, told VOA.

According to the International Monetary Fund, the loan is crucial if Ukraine is to meet its financing needs.

“We have talked with [the] Ukrainian government about the ways to close the financing gap, which has opened up because the war takes longer than everybody expected and therefore more budget financing will be needed,” Alfred Kammer, director of the IMF’s European Department, told VOA.

The fund, which has a four-year program for Ukraine, expects the multiyear financing through the loan will help the country cover a financing gap that now exceeds $150 billion, Kammer added.

Washington economist Anders Aslund called the loan plan “excellent,” posting on X: “Finally, Ukraine is about to get relevant financial support.”

The G7 decision has been criticized for falling short of an outright seizure of the frozen Russian assets.

“I don’t think we should be celebrating this as Ukraine is not going to get the underlying $330bn,” economist Timothy Ash of BlueBay Asset Management said in an email to VOA. Ash blamed “the vested interests in Europe” for blocking a decision to seize the assets. 

The plan to divide funding from the loan between economic and military support worries some observers in Ukraine.

“Previously, the discussion was that the funding will go to fund economic stability. Now, we are under the impression that the funding will also be used for defense support,” Oleksandra Betliy, chief researcher at the Institute of Economic Research in Kyiv, told VOA. “This is fine for the next year, where the budget deficit is $38 billion, but the issue is with the 2026 budget.”

She added that Ukraine’s funding needs will remain high for years to come.

“Even if 2026 will be victorious, we will further need to fund the military for it to be strong, and social payments will be even higher than today,”  she said.

To ensure transparency and accountability, funding from the loan will be distributed via an intermediary fund set up by the World Bank, which according to Singh is “subject to robust accountability and transparency measures.”

Kachur agreed, saying the World Bank’s control over the funding will eliminate any perception of misuse. In addition, according to Ukrainian officials, the money will not be repurposed once it is in the World Bank’s fund.

“Even if there is a change in the political will, this funding will still remain available to Ukraine and will be transferred only to Ukraine,” Kachur said.

The details of the loan package have not yet been finalized. G7 finance ministers plan to discuss the loan on the margins of this week’s annual IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington. 
…

CHISINAU, Moldova — Moldova’s pro-European president said on Thursday that mass bribery had affected a presidential election and a referendum on joining the European Union. However, Maia Sandu vowed to press on with a Nov. 3 runoff vote to win a second term, instead of ordering a new election.

Sandu issued her pledge, saying it was up to the people to determine Moldova’s future, after police said pro-Russian fugitive businessman Ilan Shor had channeled $39 million to voters in September and October.

Moldovan authorities have said the campaign for last Sunday’s dual poll was overshadowed by a massive Russia-linked election-meddling scheme aimed at defeating the pro-Europe side.

“Without the buying of votes, the outcome today would have been different. We would have had a convincing victory in the presidential election and the referendum!” Sandu wrote on social media.

She said she had rejected suggestions of ordering a rerun of the ex-Soviet republic’s election as “no one has the right to deny our citizens a mass, sincere and free expression of their will.”

“Let’s go forward to the second round. We count strictly on our people as has always been the case when the fate of the country was on the line,” she said. It was up to the judiciary to “wake up” and tackle the issue of bribery, she added.

Sandu came in first in the presidential election but failed to secure 50% of votes and now faces a runoff against former prosecutor-general Alexandr Stoianoglo, who is backed by a traditionally pro-Russian party.

Sandu has singled out Russia as one of the biggest threats facing Moldova and made EU integration the cornerstone of her administration.

In the referendum, a surprisingly slim majority compared with opinion polls, 50.46% of voters, supported EU accession.  

The police have accused Shor of an attempt to bribe 130,000 voters. He denies wrongdoing, and the Kremlin has denied interfering. It questioned the vote count, in which votes from Moldovans abroad pushed the “yes” vote over 50%.

Moldova’s police chief, Viorel Cernauteanu, told a briefing on Thursday that Shor used Russia’s Promsvyazbank to transfer $24 million in October, in addition to $15 million channeled in September, to pay off voters.  

During the campaign, Shor openly offered to pay Moldovans to persuade others to vote “no” in the referendum and to support a specific candidate, who he did not name publicly. He launched a bot on the Telegram messaging platform for this means.  

Cernauteanu said the police had blocked 97 chatbots before the vote explaining to people how to use the Promsvyazbank banking app and get the money.  

On Monday, Sandu called the campaign “an unfair fight” and claimed victory in the referendum designed to enshrine Moldova’s EU path in the constitution. She said there was “clear evidence” that criminal groups backed by “foreign forces hostile to our national interests” had aimed to buy off 300,000 votes.

Moscow has denounced the vote as not free. On Wednesday, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the United States and European Union had meddled in the campaign.
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Paris — A Lebanon donors’ conference in Paris on Thursday has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the war-battered country — but ending the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah that has devastated the country seems unlikely anytime soon.

The pledges rolled in at the Paris conference. Early on, both Germany and France earmarked around $100 million apiece for Lebanon. The funds will support humanitarian aid in the country, where fighting sparked by Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on Israel has killed hundreds and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.  

Conference host, French President Emmanuel Macron, said families need shelter, children need nourishment and schooling, the wounded need care. Solutions must be found quickly, he said, especially to avoid further population displacements, which could create new divisions in the country. 

Acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati wanted more.

“What we as Lebanese expect from the international community is the following: solidarity and cease-fire,” he said. “Lebanon calls on the international community to come together and support efforts that will end the ongoing aggressions and enforce an immediate cease-fire.” 

But experts doubt there will be a swift ending to the conflict. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not attend the Paris conference. He was in the Middle East, although Washington sent a lower-level delegation. Israel and Iran were not invited.

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu earlier warned that Lebanon could descend into civil war. 

But analyst Antoine Basbous told Europe 1 radio that the more likely scenario was Lebanon descending into chaos.

Former colonial power France hopes parties in Lebanon will move on electing a new president, after a two-year power gap. 

The Paris meeting additionally aimed to find ways to support the Lebanese army and the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country, which includes a large number of European troops. Both the army and the peacekeeping mission say they have come under attack by Israel. 
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Strasbourg, France — The EU parliament awarded the bloc’s top rights Sakharov prize on Thursday to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and her ally, former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

They won the prestigious award for their fight for democracy under President Nicolas Maduro’s iron-fisted rule.

Machado, 57, played a key role in Venezuela’s presidential election in July. Although the authorities proclaimed Maduro the winner, the opposition believes its candidate Gonzalez Urrutia won.

Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, went into exile in Spain in September.

European Parliament chief Roberta Metsola said the two figures represented “all Venezuelans inside and outside the country fighting to restore freedom and democracy”, as she announced the award in the parliament in Strasbourg, France.

“Edmundo and Maria have continued to fight for the fair, free and peaceful transition of power and have fearlessly upheld those values that millions of Venezuelans and this parliament hold so dear: justice, democracy and the rule of law,” Metsola added.

“This parliament stands with the people of Venezuela and with Maria and Edmundo in their struggle for the democratic future of their country,” Metsola said.

“We are confident that Venezuela and democracy, will ultimately prevail,” she added.

There will be an award ceremony in Strasbourg in December. The winner receives a $54,000 prize.

Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia were named for the award by the center-right European People’s Party, the largest political grouping in the EU parliament.

The two other finalists were jailed Azerbaijani activist Gubad Ibadoghlu — backed by the Greens — and Israeli and Palestinian organizations working together for peace, proposed by the Socialists and Democrats group.

Metsola paid tribute to the finalists, saying they “all are bravely standing up for human rights and for freedom of thought in the face of unimaginable challenges”.

She said that the health of Ibadoghlu — under house arrest — was “currently deteriorating significantly” and called on “Azerbaijani authorities to drop all charges against Doctor Ibadoghlu and lift his travel ban”.

Far-right lawmakers had nominated US tech billionaire Elon Musk as a champion of “free speech”, but their eyebrow-raising choice was not accepted.

Named after Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, previous recipients of the award include South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

For Machado, it is her second prize in as many months as she won the top European rights prize awarded by the Council of Europe, which is not an EU institution.
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