Monthly: October 2022

У Кремлі заявили, що Путін і Байден могли б дещо обговорити

«Бажання Сполучених Штатів дослухатися до наших занепокоєнь, тобто фактично бажання Сполучених Штатів повернутися до стану на грудень-січень…»

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У Великій Британії дозволили частково розморозити рахунки підсанкційного Петра Авена

Авен, який має також латвійське громадянство, потрапив під санкції через війну Росії проти України, він оскаржив їх у суді

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У США відреагували на вихід Росії із зернової угоди

Сполучені Штати відреагували на заяву Росії щодо призупинення участі в зерновій угоді.

Президент США Джо Байден назвав рішення Москви «абсолютно обурливим». Глава американської держави зауважив, що такий крок РФ посилить голод і що «нема жодних причин це робити».

Держсекретар США Ентоні Блінкен у заяві 29 жовтня закликав Москву «відновити свою участь в ініціативі», додавши, що з кінця липня угода дозволила експортувати понад 9 мільйонів метричних тонн зерна та «знизити ціни в усьому світі, що було критично важливим для країн з низьким і середнім рівнем доходу».

Читайте також: За час дії зернової угоди з України експортували понад 9 мільйонів тонн харчів – Мінінфраструктури

Напередодні в Організації Об’єднаних Націй заявили, що «життєво важливо, щоб усі сторони утримувалися від будь-яких дій, які можуть поставити під загрозу Чорноморську зернову ініціативу», щодо цього тривають переговори із владою Росії.

29 жовтня Міністерство оборони Росії заявило про припинення участі в угоді щодо експорту українських харчів Чорноморським зерновим коридором. Це рішення відомство пояснило нібито вибухами в Севастополі того дня.

Читайте також: «Терор та шантаж мають програти»: Зеленський про вихід РФ із зернової угоди

Президент України Володимир Зеленський зауважив, що заява Росії щодо призупинення участі в зерновій угоді була очікуваною, оскільки Москва почала загострювати продовольчу кризу ще у вересні нинішнього року.

Як наголосив очільник українського МСЗС Дмитро Кулеба, Київ неодноразово попереджав про плани Росії зірвати Чорноморську зернову угоду.

Представники української влади останнім часом неодноразово заявляли про гальмування Росією експорту зерна Чорноморським коридором.

22 липня представники України та Росії підписали з ООН і Туреччиною окремі дзеркальні угоди, які спрямовані на розблокування експорту зерна з України на тлі глобальної продовольчої кризи, спричиненої повномасштабним вторгненням Росії на українську територію.

Після виходу РФ з зернової угоди голова Міністерства сільського господарства Росії Дмитро Патрушев заявив, що Москва готова надати 500 тисяч тонн зерна «найбіднішим країнам» безкоштовно в найближчі чотири місяці.

Міністр закордонних справ Дмитро Кулеба вказав на те, що обсяг зерна, пропонований російською владою, набагато менший за той, який Кремль погрожує заблокувати в Україні.

 

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Clashes as Thousands Protest French Agro-industry Water ‘Grab’

Thousands of demonstrators defied an official ban to march Saturday against the deployment of new water storage infrastructure for agricultural irrigation in western France, some clashing with police.

Clashes between paramilitary gendarmes and demonstrators erupted with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin reporting that 61 officers had been hurt, 22 seriously.

“Bassines Non Merci,” which organized the protest, said around 30 demonstrators had been injured. Of them, 10 had to seek medical treatment and three were hospitalized.

The group brings together environmental associations, trade unions and anti-capitalist groups against what it claims is a “water grab” by the “agro-industry” in western France.

Local officials said six people were arrested during the protest and that 4,000 people had turned up for the banned demonstration. Organizers put the turnout at 7,000.

The deployment of giant water “basins” is underway in the village of Sainte-Soline, in the Deux-Sevres department, to irrigate crops, which opponents claim distorts access to water amid drought conditions.

Around 1,500 police were deployed, according to the prefect of the Deux-Sevres department Emmanuelle Dubee.

Dubee said Friday she had wanted to limit possible “acts of violence,” referring to the clashes between demonstrators and security forces that marred a previous rally in March. 

The Sainte-Soline water reserve is the second of 16 such installations, part of a project developed by a group of 400 farmers organized in a water cooperative to significantly reduce water usage in the summer.

The open-air craters, covered with a plastic tarpaulin, are filled by pumping water from surface groundwater in winter and can store up to 650,000 square meters of water. 

This water is used for irrigation in summer, when rainfall is scarcer. 

Opponents claim the “mega-basins” are wrongly reserved for large export-oriented grain farms and deprive the community of access to essential resources.

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Південна Корея: понад 140 людей загинули в тисняві на святкуванні Гелловіну в Сеулі

За словами голови пожежної станції Йонгсан, багато поранених – у тяжкому стані

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У МЗС Литви розповіли, як забезпечити роботу «зернового коридору» після виходу РФ з угоди

Світ має об’єднатися, щоб захистити перевезення зерна за допомогою військових супроводів, наголосили в МЗС Литви

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«Піар на голоді»: голова МЗС про заяви Москви щодо готовності надати зерно бідним країнам

Кулеба вказав на те, що обсяг зерна, пропонований російською владою, набагато менший за той, який Кремль погрожує заблокувати в України

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Російські військові почали вдвічі щільніше мінувати території – Монастирський

Протягом останніх місяців рятувальники виявили понад 250 тисяч вибухонебезпечних предметів, а ще 130 тисяч – працівники поліції

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Swedes Find 17th Century Sister Vessel to Famed Vasa Warship

Marine archaeologists in Sweden say they have found the sister vessel of a famed 17th century warship that sank on its maiden voyage and is now on display in a popular Stockholm museum.

The wreck of the royal warship Vasa was raised in 1961, remarkably well preserved, after more than 300 years underwater in the Stockholm harbor. Visitors can admire its intricate wooden carvings at the Vasa Museum, one of Stockholm’s top tourist attractions.

Its sister warship, Applet (Apple), was built around the same time as the Vasa on the orders of Swedish King Gustav II Adolf.

Unlike the Vasa, which keeled over and sank just minutes after leaving port in 1628, the sister ship was launched without incident the following year and remained in active service for three decades. It was sunk in 1659 to become part of an underwater barrier mean to protect the Swedish capital from enemy fleets.

The exact location of the wreck was lost over time but marine archaeologists working for Vrak — the Museum of Wrecks in Stockholm — say they found a large shipwreck in December 2021 near the island of Vaxholm, just east of the capital.

“Our pulses spiked when we saw how similar the wreck was to Vasa,” said Jim Hansson, one of the archaeologists. “Both the construction and the powerful dimensions seemed very familiar.”

Experts were able to confirm that it was the long-lost Applet by analyzing its technical details, wood samples and archival data, the museum said in a statement on Monday.

Parts of the ship’s sides had collapsed onto the seabed but the hull was otherwise preserved up to a lower gun deck. The fallen sides had gun ports on two different levels, which was seen as evidence of a warship with two gun decks.

A second, more thorough dive was made in the spring of 2022, and details were found that had so far only been seen in Vasa. Several samples were taken and analyses made, and it emerged that the oak for the ship’s timber was felled in 1627 in the same place as Vasa’s timber just a few years earlier.

Experts say the Vasa sunk because it lacked the ballast to counterweigh its heavy guns. Applet was built broader than Vasa and with a slightly different hull shape. Still, ships that size were difficult to maneuver and Applet probably remained idle for most of its service, though it sailed toward Germany with more than 1,000 people on board during the Thirty Years’ War, the Vrak museum said.

No decision has been taken on whether to raise the ship, which would be a costly and complicated endeavor.

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В ООН відреагували на вихід Росії із «зернової угоди»

В ООН бачили російську заяву про вихід з зернової угоди. Зараз щодо цього тривають переговори із владою Росії

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Москва під надуманим приводом блокує зерновий коридор – Кулеба

«Закликаю всі держави вимагати від РФ припинити голодні ігри та повернутися до своїх зобов’язань»

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«Агонія злочинців»: у ОП прокоментували відмову Росії від зернової угоди

Голова Офісу президента вказав на, за його словами «примітивність» російського шантажу, в тому числі продовольчого

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Росія «поширює неправдиві заяви епічного масштабу» –  Міноборони Британії

На думку британського відомства, Росія намагається «відволікти увагу від катастрофічного перебігу свого незаконного вторгнення в Україну»

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Analyst: Europe Should Rethink China Policy After Party Congress, Ukraine Stance

China has emerged as an even more prominent player in world affairs as a result of the crisis in Ukraine and the weakening of Russia, but not necessarily to its advantage, says a Warsaw-based analyst.

The two major events that have “shaped or reshaped Europe’s attitude towards China” are the war in Ukraine and how China reacted to it, and the 20th Chinese communist party congress and its outcome, Ireneusz Bil, chairman of the Warsaw-based Amicus Europae Foundation, said in a phone interview with VOA. The foundation was established by former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.

If attitudes toward Beijing were hardened due to its stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the latest policy pronouncements and the lineup of the new leadership at the Chinese party congress lends the EU an additional reason to recalibrate its former largely welcoming approach, Bil said.

Under these circumstances, China’s expanded role in international affairs and in a potentially enlarged footprint in Europe, including in Central and Eastern Europe, will be accompanied with increased scrutiny and greater “vigilance,” according to the analyst.

Europe will be more aware of the consequences of the technological exchanges and investments from China than it was before, more vigilant in the screening process, Bil said, compared with the previous experience when “there was no second thought on Chinese investment into the EU.”

Now, people will look at “who’s behind [Chinese investments], what kind of technology they will have access to, what kind of infrastructure they will have access to, what security risks are behind it,” Bil said.

Given these developments, the German government’s recent decision to send a chancellor-led delegation to Beijing and to allow a Chinese state-owned company stakes in the port of Hamburg is viewed with strong reservation in Poland and most other Central and Eastern European countries, Bil told VOA.

Bil described Berlin’s choice as “a unilateral decision to go so quickly after the 20th party congress” that “could be seen as lending support to rising authoritarianism in China.”

“This is not welcomed in Poland, and I think in a majority of EU — as I said, here Germany is seen as under-performing versus Russia, so now their effort to build some kind of new relationship with China is being seen as not in the interest of the whole of the European Union,” he said.

Bil added that whether this action is in the interest of Germany itself is also questionable, judging from the opposition put forth by Germany’s security agencies, among other groups.

Germany and France — bigger countries in the EU — “have overlooked our [most Central and Eastern European countries] interest and our opinions vis-a-vis Russia, you can imagine that we are now seeing a ‘mirror effect’ in their relations with China,” he said. “This has led to a crisis of trust, towards Germany — and their understanding of the change of [the] geostrategic map.”

At the center of Germany and the EU’s relations with China is to what extent each country, and the EU as a whole, rely on China for its economic well-being. At this week’s policy roundtable organized by the European Parliament’s Research Service in Brussels, two analysts say that dependency is “overblown.”

Jacob Kirkegaard is senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund (GMF) in Brussels and nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) in Washington, D.C. He noted at the event held Thursday that the Ukraine crisis has led European nations to look carefully at potential consequences of a fallout with China, in the event Beijing takes similar actions against Taiwan, as Russia did against Ukraine.

“China is a bigger economy, so sanctioning China following a military invasion of Taiwan is going to be a bigger deal than sanctioning Russia, no doubt about that,” Kirkegaard said.

Although undoubtedly there’s going to be a very large contingent of “European industrial interests who will cry that it’s going to be a disaster,” the reality is, he said, “as we have seen during the pandemic, as we have seen now with the gas dependency on Russia,” the global supply chain possesses much more flexibility, “and the actual true long-term dependencies on China will turn out to be a lot lower than we think,” Kirkegaard said.

Ulrich Jochheim, a policy analyst in the external policies unit of the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) who earlier worked as an economic desk officer for Germany and China in the European Commission, agrees.

“Our [German] export to China makes up less than 10%,” relatively insignificant compared to “a figure of 30% — more or less — for Australia, and 42% in the case of Taiwan,” he pointed out at Thursday policy roundtable.

Earlier this month, the EU identified China as a “tough competitor” at its foreign ministers meeting, known as the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC).

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky described the gathering as providing a platform for “very good and very consensual internal deliberation among EU foreign ministers” about the EU-China relations.

“There is no formal or agreed public outcome of this debate and we do not comment on details of internal debates,” he wrote, in response to VOA’s request for comment. “As customary, the High Representative Josep Borrell as the chairman commented publicly after the meeting and he indeed spoke about ‘a tough competitor, tougher and tougher, and a systemic rival.'”

Lipavsky continued: “I only have one thing to add — there is a cleared-eyed assessment of China and the recognition that the EU is having the biggest leverage, when acting in unity both internally and externally with like-minded partners. As for Czechia, we appreciated the debate, and we will support continuation of it.”

The Czech Republic currently holds the EU presidency.

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Загрози з повітря не дають можливості українцям повернутися додому – Зеленський

«США є лідерами, вони задають тренд цієї допомоги. З перших днів війни я говорив про закриття неба. На землі Росія з нами нічого зробити не може»

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Британська розвідка вказує на ознаки намірів РФ прискорити виведення військ з Херсона

Напередодні Генштаб ЗСУ повідомляв, що армія РФ продовжує «евакуюватися» із Херсонщини

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Залужний розповів генералу США Міллі, що «противник успіху не має»

Український воєначальник також поінформував американського колегу про ключові завдання ЗСУ

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Poland Picks US Offer for Its First Nuclear Power Plant –PM

U.S. firm Westinghouse Electric Co will build Poland’s first nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday, confirming a long-awaited decision aiming to reduce the country’s carbon emissions and phase out coal.   

With Russia waging war in neighboring Ukraine, Poland’s choice of a partner from the United States underlines the emphasis Warsaw places on relations with Washington at a time when its security is in the spotlight.   

“We confirm our nuclear energy project will use the reliable, safe technology of @WECNuclear,” Morawiecki said on Twitter.   

Westinghouse was competing with South Korea’s state-owned Korea Hydro Nuclear Power, which submitted an offer in April. Warsaw was also talking to French companies about the project.   

“U.S. partnership on this project is advantageous for us all: we can address the climate crisis, strengthen European energy security, and deepen the U.S.-Poland strategic relationship,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a tweet.   

Harris worked to help Westinghouse secure the contract together with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, engaging with Morawiecki several times over the past year, a White House official said. The project would create thousands of American jobs, the official added.   

The selection of Westinghouse and of the United States sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin “about the strength and the meshing together of a U.S.-Poland alliance,” a senior U.S. government official said.   

Warsaw had been seeking a partner to build 6-9 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear capacity and provide up to 49% equity financing for the project. It planned to choose the technology for the first three reactors by the end of 2022, with the first set to start its operations in 2033.   

“We understand that the decision will be for the first three reactors and it is our expectation that Poland intends to eventually construct six AP1000 reactors from Westinghouse and will make a formal decision about the second set of three at a later date,” the U.S. official said.   

Sources have said that Poland would choose the technology first, which would indicate who the partner would be, and discuss the details of the contract afterwards. 

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UN Weekly Roundup: October 22-28, 2022   

Editor’s note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch.    

Russia and Ukraine trade allegations at Security Council

Russia called three meetings of the Security Council this week to press its allegations against Ukraine and its Western allies that they are building dirty bombs to use against Russia and to deny that Moscow had received drones from Iran in violation of a Security Council resolution. Western countries said the dirty bomb meetings were a waste of time and accused Russia of using the council to promote Kremlin disinformation. They have asked the U.N. to send investigators to Ukraine to examine drone debris to determine their origin.

In a private session, International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Grossi updated the council on his efforts to establish a de-militarized protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The Russian-occupied facility has been repeatedly shelled during the conflict and has raised fears of a nuclear incident or accident.

Difficult winter ahead for millions of Syrians

The United Nations appealed Tuesday for more money and access to needy Syrians, as winter sets in and a cholera outbreak strains limited resources. At least 14.6 million people need assistance – more than at any other time during the 11-year civil war. In January, the U.N. Security Council will consider renewing the authorization for the cross-border aid operation from Turkey into northwest Syria. Russia has long sought to end the operation, and the already difficult negotiations will take place against the backdrop of council divisions intensified by the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, a new study of U.N. contracts in Syria found that a large share of donor funds went to companies owned by individuals with troubling human rights records or associated with the Bashar al-Assad regime. The report, by U.K.-based nongovernmental organization Syrian Legal Development Program and the Observatory of Political and Economic Networks, said nearly half of U.N. procurement funds went to “risky” or “highly risky” suppliers.

UNEP: Greenhouse gases need to be drastically cut by 2030

Ten days before leaders meet at the COP27 climate review conference in Egypt, the U.N. Environment Program warned Thursday that the window for preventing a climate catastrophe is quickly closing. The agency’s latest Emissions Gap Report says greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by 45% by 2030 to stop climate change. UNEP says the world is falling far short of the Paris climate agreement goals, with no credible pathway for limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century.

Rights expert calls for new strategy on Myanmar

The U.N. special rapporteur for Myanmar warns that unless the international community changes how it deals with the military junta in that country, the already catastrophic situation will only get worse. Tom Andrews told VOA in an interview this week that countries should form a coalition to implement a coordinated strategy to deprive the military of arms, fuel for their aircraft, financing and the legitimacy the junta seeks.

He singled out Myanmar’s civil society, human rights defenders and journalists as “heroes” who are risking their lives to document atrocities and deserve international support. The junta, he said, has committed crimes against humanity and war crimes.

More atrocities without peace in Ethiopia’s Tigray

A commission of independent U.N. experts examining rights violations and atrocities in the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region said Friday that without an end to the fighting, the risk of further atrocity crimes is growing. The U.N. International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia said that Ethiopian, Eritrean and Tigrayan forces have all committed violations in the hostilities that began two years ago, several of which rise to war crimes and crimes against humanity.  

Read more on the humanitarian crisis in Tigray:

WHO: Blockade of Humanitarian Aid to Tigray Puts Millions at Risk of Deadly Diseases

In brief

—  The International Organization for Migration said Monday that at least 5,684 migrants have died on European migration routes since the start of 2021. The agency said the numbers of deaths are rising on routes across the Mediterranean, on land borders to Europe and within the continent. The IOM said this highlights the need for more legal and safe pathways for migration.

— As protests across Iran enter their seventh week, the U.N. said Friday it is increasingly concerned about reports of increasing fatalities. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric condemned “all incidents that have resulted in death or serious injury to protestors” and reiterated that security forces must “avoid all unnecessary or disproportionate use of force against peaceful protestors.” The U.N. has called for accountability and for the Iranian authorities to respect human rights, women’s rights and the rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of association.

—  The U.N. has expressed concern about outbreaks of cholera and watery diarrhea in at least 29 countries this year, including most recently, Haiti, Syria, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. The situation is even more worrying, as the World Health Organization said recently there is a shortage of cholera vaccines due to the high number of outbreaks.

Good news

On Thursday, the governments of Lebanon and Israel signed separate letters with the United States delineating the maritime border, ending a yearslong dispute. The signing took place at the U.N. peacekeeping premises in south Lebanon. The letters will be deposited with the United Nations. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the agreement can promote increased regional stability and enhanced prosperity for both nations. The deal between the two enemies that have fought multiple wars removes a hurdle to each country being able to exploit hydrocarbon fields along the border.

Quote of note

“A war without witnesses, as you know, can be terrible.” 

Radhika Coomaraswamy, a member of the three-person U.N. International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia to reporters Friday on the need for access to conflict areas in northern Ethiopia.

What we are watching next week

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council will hold an informal meeting on the weeks of protests in Iran sparked by the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The United States and Albania have called the meeting to highlight “the ongoing repression of women and girls and members of religious and ethnic minority groups in Iran.” Briefers will include Nobel Laureate and human rights defender Shirin Ebadi and Javaid Rehman, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Iran.

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Зеленський відповів на петицію про припинення громадянства екссудді Верховного суду, в якого «Схеми» знайшли паспорт РФ

Зеленський доручив профільній комісії перевірити наявність підстав для припинення українського громадянства Богдана Львова

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Березовець і Яковина оголошені в Росії «іноагентами»

У Росії визнання так званим іноземним агентом накладає на організації та людей низку обмежень та вимог, за невиконання яких може загрожувати переслідування, зокрема кримінальне

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США: чоловік Ненсі Пелосі в лікарні після нападу

Пол Пелосі перебуває в лікарні і, «як очікується, повністю одужає»

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Заяви Медведєва про енергопостачання є «офіційним зізнанням у тероризмі» – Подоляк

«Про які перемовини тут можна говорити? Із ким?»

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Кулеба про розмову з главою МЗС Ірану: вимагав негайно припинити поставки зброї Росії

За даними західних ЗМІ, Росія домовилася про придбання в Ірану не лише дронів, але і ракет

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