Ukraine’s Zelensky: Front line ‘very, very difficult,’ must do what we can in autumn

Ukraine’s Zelensky: Front line ‘very, very difficult,’ must do what we can in autumn
It was the second time in less than a week that Zelensky referred to the need to act quickly in the coming months in terms of military action. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 01 October 2024
Follow

Ukraine’s Zelensky: Front line ‘very, very difficult,’ must do what we can in autumn

Ukraine’s Zelensky: Front line ‘very, very difficult,’ must do what we can in autumn
  • Russia’s defense ministry said on Monday that its forces had captured the village of Nelipivka, south of the city of Toretsk, one of Moscow’s targets in the area

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that the situation on the front line of the war against Russia was “very, very difficult,” and Ukraine’s forces had to do everything they could over the autumn period.
“Reports on each of our frontline sectors, our capabilities, our future capabilities and our specific tasks: The situation is very, very difficult,” he said in his nightly video address, referring to a more than 2-1/2 hour meeting with top commanders.
“Everything that can be done this autumn, everything that we can achieve must be achieved,” he said.
It was the second time in less than a week that Zelensky referred to the need to act quickly in the coming months in terms of military action.
Ukrainian military bloggers have reported in recent days that Russian forces have been advancing on the hilltop town of Vuhledar, which Ukrainian forces have defended over the course of the war, in the south of the Donetsk region.
The popular blog Deepstate quoted Russian reports as saying Russian forces were shelling the town and “their infantry was moving in the city and among high-rise blocks. The Russians have raised their flag in western districts of the city.”
Russian forces have also been advancing slowly for months further north, with the aim of capturing the entire Donbas region, made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Russia’s defense ministry said on Monday that its forces had captured the village of Nelipivka, south of the city of Toretsk, one of Moscow’s targets in the area.
Ukraine’s General Staff made no acknowledgement of the village changing hands, but said Russian forces had launched 10 attacks in and around it.
Zelensky made similar comments about the need for fast military action after meeting US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in New York on Friday.
Zelensky has taken great care to steer clear of controversy and suggestions of preference in the US presidential election and made no reference to the poll in his calls for fast action.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party candidate, has pledged continuing steadfast support for Kyiv.
Zelensky said in an interview with Fox News after his meeting with Trump that he received “very direct information” from Trump that the former US president would support Ukraine if re-elected.
Trump has questioned US spending on Ukraine’s war effort. During Zelensky’s visit to the United States last week, he repeated earlier statements that he would find a rapid resolution to the conflict if he won the election, without providing details.


Kremlin says topic of another Russia-US prisoner swap is on the agenda

Kremlin says topic of another Russia-US prisoner swap is on the agenda
Updated 33 min 10 sec ago
Follow

Kremlin says topic of another Russia-US prisoner swap is on the agenda

Kremlin says topic of another Russia-US prisoner swap is on the agenda
  • At least 10 Americans remain behind bars in Russia, including two who have been designated as “wrongfully detained” by Washington

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Thursday that the idea of a possible new prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States was on the agenda after Moscow and Washington agreed to start work on restoring relations at all levels.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked by reporters about the possibility of a new swap, said US-Russia talks in Riyadh had contributed to a general rapprochement between Russia and the US.
At least 10 Americans remain behind bars in Russia, including two who have been designated as “wrongfully detained” by Washington. Moscow freed an American citizen, Kalob Byers, days before the Russian and American delegations met in the Saudi capital.


G20 meeting of foreign ministers gets underway in South Africa amid tensions with US

G20 meeting of foreign ministers gets underway in South Africa amid tensions with US
Updated 20 February 2025
Follow

G20 meeting of foreign ministers gets underway in South Africa amid tensions with US

G20 meeting of foreign ministers gets underway in South Africa amid tensions with US
  • Analysts say that Rubio and Bessent’s absence signalled the USwas pulling back from the G20 and demonstrated how strained relations are

JOHANNESBURG: A meeting of foreign ministers from G20 countries will get underway in Johannesburg on Thursday, but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will not attend amid diplomatic tensions between South Africa and the US.
Diplomats including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are expected to attend the gathering, while the US will be represented by acting ambassador to South Africa Dana Brown.
The European Union, the United Nations and the African Union, which is part of the G20, will also be in attendance.
Rubio snubbed the meeting after an executive order by US President Donald Trump stopped foreign aid to the country over a law that the White House said amounts to discrimination against the country’s white minority. The US is also displeased with South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola has said that Rubio’s decision was “not a complete boycott of South Africa’s G20.” He said the US would be represented in Johannesburg this week “in one form or shape or another.”
US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent has also confirmed his will not attend a meeting of G20 finance ministers scheduled to take place in South Africa next week.
Bessent said on the social media platform X that he would not participate in the event because of obligations in Washington. A senior Treasury official will attend in his place, he said.
Analysts say that Rubio and Bessent’s absence signalled the US was pulling back from the G20 and demonstrated how strained relations are.
“I think if we want to really know what message the US administration is trying to send, you have to know whether the treasury secretary will come next week or not. And if he chooses not to come as well, that’s a quite serious sign,” said political analyst Daniel Bradlow.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to officially open and address the gathering under the theme “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability,” which Rubio has described as a diversity, equality and inclusion framework — one that the new Trump administration vocally opposes.
South Africa will host over 130 working group meetings and 23 ministerial-level meetings this year as part of their G20 presidency, which began in December last year.
The US is expected to take over the G20 presidency in 2026 after South Africa’s tenure.


China’s sprawling rail projects, from Pakistan to Indonesia

China’s sprawling rail projects, from Pakistan to Indonesia
Updated 20 February 2025
Follow

China’s sprawling rail projects, from Pakistan to Indonesia

China’s sprawling rail projects, from Pakistan to Indonesia
  • In Pakistan, railway linking Gwadar Port with China’s Xinjiang province has long been on the cards
  • If the project moves ahead, a 2023 Chinese study estimated an eyewatering price tag of $58 billion

TOKYO: Vietnam approved plans on Wednesday for a multi-billion-dollar railway with China, boosting links between the two communist countries.
Around the region, China has been financing railways under its Belt and Road Initiative, which funds infrastructure projects globally, but has come under fire with a number of plans stalled or mired in controversy.
Here are some of the key instalments in Asia’s China-backed railway network:
PAKISTAN
In Pakistan, a railway linking southwestern Gwadar Port with China’s northwestern Xinjiang province has long been on the cards but has yet to materialize.

This official route map, posted on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor website, presents a monographic study on transport planning for CPEC’s Railway Network, covering the period from 2014 to 2030. (Photo courtesy: CPEC)

If the project moves ahead, a 2023 Chinese study estimated an eyewatering price tag of $58 billion.
INDONESIA
Indonesia launched Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway in October 2023, after years of delays. The $7 billion China-backed project links the capital Jakarta to the city of Bandung in 45 minutes — slashing the journey by about two hours.

A hi-speed train built in cooperation between Indonesia and China moves along its dedicated track, prior to a dynamic test, in Tegalluar on November 9, 2022. (AFP/File)

Built by a joint venture of four Indonesian state companies and Beijing’s China Railway International Co, it was initially set to cost less than $5 billion and be completed by 2019. But construction challenges and the pandemic led to delays and surging expenses.
Indonesia’s then-president Joko Widodo nevertheless hailed its opening as a symbol of modernization.
LAOS
Laos unveiled its $6 billion Chinese-built railroad in 2021, bringing hopes of an economic boost despite backlash after thousands of farmers had to be evicted to make way for construction.
The 414-kilometer (260-mile) route connects the Chinese city of Kunming to Laotian capital Vientiane, with plans for the high-speed line to ultimately reach Singapore.

This photo taken on October 12, 2024 shows passengers boarding a high-speed train in the railway station in Laos' capital Vientiane. (AFP/File)

Infrastructure-poor Laos, a reclusive communist country of about 7.4 million people, previously had only four kilometers of railway tracks.
It was hoped that the railway would boost the Southeast Asian country’s ailing tourism industry, which struggled to rebound from the pandemic.
But experts also raised concerns over whether cash-strapped Laos — where public debt made up 116 percent of GDP in 2023 — would ever be able to pay back Beijing.
THAILAND
After long delays, Thailand is pressing ahead with a Chinese-backed high-speed line set to partially open in 2028. The $5.4 billion project aims to expand the connection to Kunming, running to Bangkok via Laos by 2032.
Thailand already has nearly 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) of railway but the sluggish, run-down network has long driven people to favor road travel — despite extremely high accident rates.

In this photo taken on March 29, 2023 a train sits below an elevated track, still under construction as part of the Thai-Chinese Bangkok-Nong Khai high-speed railway project at Sung Noen Station in Nakhon Ratchasima province. (AFP/File)

When the new railroad is fully complete, Chinese-made trains will run from Bangkok to Nong Khai, on the border with Laos, at up to 250 km/h.
Unlike Laos, Thailand signed a deal to cover project expenditures itself and has pitched it as a way to boost the economy through trade with China.
KYRGYZSTAN
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov inaugurated construction in December of a railway linking China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, with hopes it will serve as a supply route to Europe.

In this handout picture taken and released by the Kyrgyz presidential press office on December 27, 2024, fireworks explode behind state flags during the commencement ceremony of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project in the settlement of Tash-Kitchu. (Photo courtesy: VCG/File)

“This route will ensure supply of goods from China to Kyrgyzstan and then onto Central Asia” and nearby countries “including Turkiye” and “even to the European Union,” he said.
The project, which Kyrgyz authorities estimate could cost up to $8 billion, includes construction through mountains and in areas of permafrost, where the ground never fully thaws.
VIETNAM
Vietnam this week approved an $8-billion railroad running from its largest northern port city to China. The line will operate through some of Vietnam’s key manufacturing hubs, home to Samsung, Foxconn and Pegatron factories, many of which rely on components from China.

Railway workers guide a train at a railway crossing in Hanoi on February 18, 2025. (AFP/File)

Another yet-to-be-approved line to China would connect Hanoi to Lang Son province, traveling through more areas packed with manufacturing facilities.
MALAYSIA
Malaysia has revived construction of a nearly $17 billion railroad to carry passengers and freight between shipping ports on its east and west coasts. The China-backed, 665-kilometer project was originally launched in 2011 under ex-leader Najib Razak, but shelved due to a dispute about payments.
After blowing past several deadlines and budgets, it now looks set to be operational by 2027.
MYANMAR
In coup-hit Myanmar, talks on building a railway from Mandalay to China’s Yunnan province appear to have stalled.
And in the Philippines, plans for China to fund three railways flopped after Manila backed out of talks in 2023 as the South China Sea dispute heated up.


Europe needs to ‘wake up’ following US policy shift, Greek PM says

Europe needs to ‘wake up’ following US policy shift, Greek PM says
Updated 20 February 2025
Follow

Europe needs to ‘wake up’ following US policy shift, Greek PM says

Europe needs to ‘wake up’ following US policy shift, Greek PM says

ATHENS: Europe should wake up and build its own defense policy following a dramatic shift by the United States over Ukraine and geopolitical developments in recent months, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said late on Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump upended US policy on the Ukraine war this week, denouncing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator” and suggesting Kyiv started the three year war between Ukraine and Russia.
Trump warned that Zelensky had to move quickly to secure peace or risk losing his country, deepening a feud between the two leaders that has alarmed European officials.
The US and Russia held peace talks in Saudi Arabia this week without Ukraine, stunning Kyiv and its European allies.
Ukraine has said it will not accept a deal imposed on it without its consent, which European leaders have echoed, while Russia has ruled out conceding land it has won.
Addressing a business conference in the city of Thessaloniki late on Wednesday, Mitsotakis said that Europe needed to “wake up from the geopolitical and economic lethargy into which it has unfortunately fallen for some time.”
“Recent developments and this different view of things from the United States now oblige us not only to face the truth, but to move at a very high speed and implement decisions that we have been discussing for long,” he said.
Mitsotakis pointed to Europe setting up a defense policy which will allow it to develop its own deterrent power and reduce reliance on the United States.
His comments were made shortly after he joined virtually a second meeting that France convened with European leaders and Canada to discuss Ukraine.
Europe has relied heavily on US might within NATO for security and Trump has consistently demanded Europe spend more on defense. Trump has now demanded that Europe provide more military muscle for any future Ukraine peace(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Michael Perry)


Ukraine’s underground schools helping children feel safe

Ukraine’s underground schools helping children feel safe
Updated 20 February 2025
Follow

Ukraine’s underground schools helping children feel safe

Ukraine’s underground schools helping children feel safe

ZAPORIZHZHIA: Sofia had hesitated to go back to her school in south Ukraine, afraid that “something might happen because of the war.”
Like hundreds of thousands of other children in her country, she has been learning remotely for years, first due to the coronavirus pandemic and then the risk of aerial attacks since Russia’s invasion.
But after spending a few hours in her new classrooms, seven meters underground in a brightly-lit anti-radiation bunker, the 12-year-old felt reassured.
“There won’t be any shrapnel, any strikes. I am safe,” she told AFP.
The Ukrainian government has been working to bring children like Sofia back to the classroom amid concerns that distance learning is having an impact on their education, three years into the war.
There were at least 576 attacks on educational facilities in Ukraine in 2024, a 96 percent increase compared to the year before, according to the UN.
Underground schools, like Sofia’s in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, allow students to return and socialize with their classmates while keeping them safe from attacks.
The children have adapted quickly, said Lidia Yeremenko, head of the Left Bank Education Department at Zaporizhzhia City Council.
“When they saw their peers, their eyes lit up. That was it, they forgot that there was a war going on,” she said.
Sofia also had a positive impression.
“I like the way it looks from the outside, because it seems that there is no school, everything is underground,” the shy pupil with big dark eyes told AFP.


The sky over Ukraine has become synonymous with danger since Russia invaded in February 2022, launching missiles, bombs and drones at Ukrainian cities on an almost daily basis.
Systemic attacks on the city of Zaporizhzhia have intensified since September, said Oleksandr Kovalenko, spokesman for the region’s military administration.
Moscow’s use of longer-range guided bombs has increased the threat to the city, around 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the frontline.
The region is building a dozen fully underground schools, and Zaporizhzhia’s remaining 138 are working below ground in repurposed shelters.
Going underground was a no-brainer for Tanya Lupar, a 47-year-old mother and teacher at the school.
“I feel safe working here and having my child nearby, and not at home exposed to these horrors,” she told AFP.
She believed in-person learning was vital to recover lost ground after years of online schooling through the coronavirus pandemic and the first years of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
A UNICEF statement based on preliminary surveys from Kyiv’s education ministry warned that pupils studying remotely had shown declining performance.
To try to bring students back to class, the ministry launched the “Offline School” initiative.
It has brought down the number of pupils fully studying online from 600,000 at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year, to 430,000 in February 2025 according to statistics shared with AFP.


Even Valeria Syvash, a top student chosen by the school director to speak to AFP, agreed studying had taken a backseat at home.
“You don’t feel the same way about lessons. They’re not important anymore. You can just log in and go to sleep,” the 12-year-old admitted.
She had enjoyed sleeping at times, but was relieved to be back at school with her teachers and friends.
When the bell rang, some children rushed to get a snack while others sat down to play chess.
Other pupils gathered in a corridor, where they followed a cartoon character on a big screen encouraging them to dance and jump around.
“They love to hug between breaks because they feel protected, we protect them with our emotions,” said Lupar, the teacher.
Children and teachers took turns in leading a group dance every day, she added, one way to keep busy in the absence of a regular playground where they would have safely played in peacetime.
But Sofia and Valeria missed the years when they could walk outside without any worries in the world.
Sofia reminisced about playing hide and seek in the streets.
“I liked it better when we went to school before the war, we could go out, we felt free,” Sofia said softly.