Poland must prepare army for full-scale conflict, army chief says
WARSAW — Poland needs to prepare its soldiers for all-out conflict, its armed forces chief of staff said on Wednesday, as the country boosts the number of troops on its border with Russia and Belarus.
Poland’s relations with Russia and its ally Belarus have deteriorated sharply since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, starting a war that is still being fought.
“Today, we need to prepare our forces for full-scale conflict, not an asymmetric-type conflict,” army chief of staff General Wieslaw Kukula told a press conference.
“This forces us to find a good balance between the border mission and maintaining the intensity of training in the army,” he said.
Speaking at the same event, deputy defense minister Pawel Bejda said that as of August, the number of troops guarding Poland’s eastern border would be increased to 8,000 from the current 6,000, with an additional rearguard of 9,000 able to step up within 48 hours notice.
In May, Poland announced details of “East Shield”, a 10 billion zloty ($2.5 billion) program to beef up defenses along its border with Belarus and Russia, which it plans to complete the plans by 2028.
The border with Belarus has been a flashpoint since migrants started flocking there in 2021 after Belarus opened travel agencies in the Middle East offering a new unofficial route into Europe — a move the European Union said was designed to create a crisis.
Warsaw has ramped up defense spending to more that 4% of its economic output this year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kukula also said the current high interest from candidates to join the army posed a dilemma over whether to take in more recruits than budgeted for at the expense of military equipment procurement, especially as he said interest was expected to start declining sharply from 2027.
The size of the armed forces stood at about 190,000 personnel at the end of last year, including ground, air, naval, special forces and territorial defense forces. Poland plans to increase this to 300,000 troops within a few years.
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US veteran killed in Ukraine finally laid to rest in California
American soldier Jericho Magallon went to fight in Ukraine in March 2022. He was killed in September near Bakhmut. In late June, his body was brought back home to California for a funeral. VOA Russian Service spoke with his mother and siblings about his life in this story narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Vazgen Varzhabetian.
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Ukraine reports downing 14 aerial drones as Russia attacks port of Odesa
French left, centrists, tussle to form government
PARIS — Leaders from the left-wing bloc that topped France’s legislative election on Sunday and the runner-up centrists continued on Wednesday a frenzied race to try to put together rival bids to form a viable government.
The unexpected outcome of the snap election, in which the left benefited from a surprise surge but no group won an absolute majority, has plunged France into uncertainty, with no obvious path to a stable government.
The New Popular Front (NFP) alliance of the hard left France Unbowed, Communists, Socialists and Greens and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists both tried to woo lawmakers from each other’s camp and beyond.
“I think there is an alternative to the New Popular Front,” Aurore Berge, a senior lawmaker from Macron’s Renaissance group told France 2 TV. “I think the French don’t want the NFP’s platform to be implemented. I think they don’t want tax increases.”
“We are the only ones who can extend (our base),” she said, adding that the conservative The Republicans could be an option for such a deal.
Phones are ringing constantly, with some calls made by centrists trying to poach enough lawmakers from the mainstream left to create the basis for a government, political sources have told Reuters.
Meanwhile, leftist leaders also took to the airwaves to stress that, having topped the election, they should run the government – with a prime minister and cabinet the different parties that constitute the NFP are yet to agree on.
Strained finances
Amid warnings from rating agencies, what France does with its strained public finances will be an early test of whether it can still be governed. Financial markets, the European Commission and its euro zone partners are all watching closely.
It would be customary for Macron to call on the biggest parliamentary group to form a government, but nothing in the constitution obliges him to do so.
Options include a broad coalition and a minority government, which would pass laws in parliament on a case-by-case basis, with ad hoc agreements.
Macron “must allow the left to govern,” leftist leader Francois Ruffin told Le Monde.
Macron, whose term ends in 2027, looks unlikely to be able to drive policy again, having been beaten by the far-right National Rally in last month’s European election and by the left in the snap legislative election he called against the will of some of his own supporters.
Carole Delga, from the Socialist Party, stressed that the left on its own cannot govern, and must extend its hand to others – but on the basis of the NFP’s tax-and-spend program.
But others took a harder line.
“The NFP has the greatest number of deputies in the National Assembly, it is therefore up to the NFP to constitute a government … this is what we are working towards,” Manuel Bompard, from France Unbowed, told LCI TV.
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Russian election meddlers hurting Biden, helping Trump, US intelligence warns
WASHINGTON — Russia is turning to a familiar playbook in its attempt to sway the outcome of the upcoming U.S. presidential election, looking for ways to boost the candidacy of former President Donald Trump by disparaging the campaign of incumbent President Joe Biden, according to American intelligence officials.
A new assessment of threats to the November election, shared Tuesday, does not mention either candidate by name. But an intelligence official told reporters that the Kremlin view of the U.S. political landscape has not changed from previous election cycles.
“We have not observed a shift in Russia’s preferences for the presidential race from past elections,” the official told reporters, agreeing to discuss the intelligence only on the condition of anonymity.
The official said that preference has been further cemented by “the role the U.S. is playing with regard to Ukraine and broader policy toward Russia.”
The caution from U.S. intelligence officials comes nearly four years after it issued a similar warning about the 2020 presidential elections, which pitted then-President Trump against Biden.
Moscow was using “a range of measures to primarily denigrate former Vice President Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia ‘establishment,’” William Evanina, the then-head of the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said at the time.
“Some Kremlin-linked actors are also seeking to boost President Trump’s candidacy on social media and Russian television,” he added.
A declassified post-election assessment, released in March 2021, reaffirmed the initial findings. Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized “influence operations aimed at denigrating President Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party” while offering support for Trump, the report said.
U.S. intelligence officials said they have been in contact with both presidential campaigns and the candidates but declined to share what sort of information may have been shared.
Trump pushback
The Trump campaign Tuesday rejected the U.S. intelligence assessment as backward.
“Vladimir Putin endorsed Joe Biden for President because he knows Biden is weak and can easily be bullied, as evidenced by Putin’s years-long invasion of Ukraine,” national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told VOA in an email.
“When President Trump was in the Oval Office, Russia and all of America’s adversaries were deterred, because they feared how the United States would respond,” she said.
“The only people in America who don’t see this clear contrast between Biden’s ineffective weakness versus Trump’s effective peace through strength approach are the left-wing stenographers in the mainstream media who write false narratives about Donald Trump for a living,” she added.
The Biden campaign has so far not responded to questions from VOA about the new U.S. assessment.
Russian sophistication
Russian officials also have not yet responded to requests for comment on the latest allegations, which accuse the Kremlin of using a “whole of government” approach to see Trump and other American candidates perceived as favorable to Moscow win in November.
“Moscow is using a variety of approaches to bolster its messaging and lend an air of authenticity to its efforts,” the U.S. intelligence official said. “This includes outsourcing its efforts to commercial firms to hide its hand and laundering narratives through influential U.S. voices.”
Russia’s efforts also appear focused on targeting U.S. voters in so-called swing states, states most likely to impact the outcome of the presidential election, officials said.
Some of those efforts have already come to light.
Russia and AI
Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the seizure of two internet domains and of another 968 accounts on the X social media platform, part of what officials described an artificial intelligence-driven venture by Russian intelligence and Russia’s state-run RT news network.
A Justice Department statement said Russian intelligence and RT used specific AI software to create authentic-looking social media accounts to mimic U.S. individuals, “which the operators then used to promote messages in support of Russian government objectives.”
A joint advisory, issued simultaneously by the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands, warned Russia was in the process of expanding the AI-fueled influence operation to other social media platforms.
The U.S. intelligence official who spoke to reporters Tuesday described such use of AI as a “malign influence accelerant,” and warned the technology had already been deployed, likely by China, in the run-up to Taiwan’s elections this past January.
China waiting
For now, though, U.S. intelligence officials see few indications Beijing is seeking to interfere in U.S. elections, as it did in 2020 and 2022.
China “sees little gain in choosing between two parties that are perceived as both seeking to contain Beijing,” said the U.S. intelligence official, noting things could change.
“The PRC is seeking to expand its ability to collect and monitor data on U.S. social media platforms, probably to better understand and eventually manipulate public opinion,” the official said. “In addition, we are watching for whether China might seek to influence select down-ballot races as it did in the 2022 midterm elections.”
The Chinese Embassy in Washington, which has denied previous U.S. allegations, responded by calling the U.S. “the biggest disseminator of disinformation.”
“China has no intention and will not interfere in the US election, and we hope that the US side will not make an issue of China in the election,” spokesperson Liu Pengyu told VOA in an email.
‘Chaos agent’
The new U.S. election threat assessment warns that in addition to concerns about Russia and China, there is growing evidence Iran is seeking to play the role of a “chaos agent” in the upcoming U.S. vote.
“Iran seeks to stoke social divisions and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions around the elections,” according to an unclassified version of the assessment.
It also warned that Tehran “has demonstrated a long-standing interest in exploiting U.S. political and societal tensions through various means, including social media.”
As an example, officials Tuesday pointed to newly declassified intelligence showing Iran trying to exploit pro-Gaza protests across the U.S.
“We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters,” said National Intelligence Director Avril Haines.
Haines cautioned, though, that Americans who interacted with the Iranian actors “may not be aware that they are interacting with or receiving support from a foreign government.”
Iranian officials have not yet responded to VOA’s request for comment.
your ad hereBiden: Ukraine to get 5 more air defense systems
Pentagon — Ukraine is receiving five additional air defense systems to protect its sovereign territory, including three additional Patriot batteries from the United States, Germany and Romania.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced the five systems as NATO members commemorated the 75th anniversary of the alliance during a summit in Washington.
Allies marked the anniversary at Mellon Auditorium, the site of the original signing of the North Atlantic treaty that established the defensive bloc in 1949.
Topping the summit agenda is support for Ukraine’s battle against Russia’s illegal invasion.
The Netherlands and other partners are donating Patriot components to build a fourth Patriot battery, while Italy is donating an additional SAMP-T system, according to a joint statement Tuesday by the leaders of the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NATO members in April that Ukraine needed a minimum of seven Patriot or other high-end air defense systems to counter Russian air strikes.
NATO allies say they are coordinating closely with Kyiv to make these systems available as soon as possible. They also said they are working to make another announcement about additional strategic air defense systems for Ukraine later this year.
“Not even our support for Ukraine has been a given,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday. “The reality is there are no cost-free options with an aggressive Russia as a neighbor. There are no risk-free options in a war, and remember, the biggest cost and the greatest risk will be if Russia wins in Ukraine.”
Since the U.S. Congress approved new aid for Ukraine following months of delays, the United States has provided Ukraine with hundreds of millions of dollars in equipment pulled from U.S. stockpiles, including the additional Patriot battery announced Tuesday and multiple rounds of long-range missiles known as ATACMS, two U.S. officials told VOA.
The ATACMS have a range of up to 300 kilometers (about 185 miles) and nearly double the striking distance of Ukraine’s missiles.
In addition, the U.S. has provided billions of dollars of funding for Kyiv’s long-term defense needs, including last week’s $2.2 billion Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package that is being used to purchase interceptors for NASAMS (medium-range ground-based air defense system) and Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine.
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Vatican sets in-depth review of women’s church leadership roles
Hundreds of Ukrainian children evacuated from hospital hit by Russian missile
geneva — U.N. agencies have condemned a wave of Russian missile attacks Monday on densely populated areas of Ukraine that has killed dozens of people and forced the evacuation of hundreds of children from a hospital in the capital city Kyiv, severely damaged by a probable “direct hit” by a Russian missile.
“Yesterday’s massive missile attacks across Ukraine, including the horrifying strike on Okhmatdyt, Ukraine’s largest children’s referral hospital, once again lay bare the disastrous consequences of the war waged against Ukraine by the Russian Federation,” Volker Türk, high commissioner for human rights said.
Türk who presented his latest report on the situation in Ukraine to the U.N. human rights council Tuesday, said he was “outraged by the sight of children, already so vulnerable in war, suffering the terror of attack while receiving medical treatment.”
He said May saw the highest monthly verified civilian casualty number in nearly a year, with 174 civilians killed and 690 injured because of the Russian ground offensive and aerial strikes.
Speaking from Kyiv Tuesday, Danielle Bell, the head of the U.N. human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, called the attack on the hospital “one of the most egregious” that we have seen since the onset of the full-scale invasion.
She told journalists in Geneva, “We have assessed the factors and the likelihood that it was a direct hit of a KH101 missile launched by the Russian Federation, which suggests that it was a direct hit.”
“Analysis of the video footage and assessment made at the incident site indicates a high likelihood that the children’s hospital suffered a direct hit rather than receiving damages due to an intercepted weapons system.”
Bell said, “We do not have the competence to make the determination with 100 percent certainty whether it was a direct hit or not,” but added that “our military experts visited the site yesterday and observed damages at the site that were consistent with a direct hit.”
Russia has denied targeting the hospital, claiming it was hit by a Ukrainian air defense missile.
The Okhmatdyt hospital is one of two hospitals in Kyiv that treat children and women that came under fire Monday. The United Nations reports deadly strikes also hit civilian infrastructure and key energy infrastructure facilities in the cities of Kryvyi Rih, Pokrovsk and Dnipro.
Ukrainian authorities report Russian airstrikes killed at least 41 people and injured more than 190.
At the time of the attack, 670 child patients, mainly inpatients, were at the hospital together with more than 1,000 medical staff. Joyce Msuya, acting undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said 27 civilians, including four children, reportedly were killed and 117 people, including seven children, were injured.
“The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is verifying figures while rescue workers, hospital staff and volunteers continue to clear rubble in search for people trapped under debris,” she said.
Monitoring Mission head Danielle Belle said the casualty toll would have been much higher had the staff not moved the children to a bunker Monday morning when the air raid sirens went off.
“The explosion destroyed the toxicology department where children were receiving dialysis only minutes before the missile impacted. The attack also damaged the intensive care, surgical and oncology wards,” she said, emphasizing that 600 children, many suffering from cancer and kidney disease, have been transferred to other hospitals in and around Kyiv.
“This terrible attack shows that nowhere is safe in Ukraine,” Bell said.
Echoing that sentiment, Catherine Russell in a statement Monday said that “Hospitals should be safe havens, and they are afforded a special level of protection under international law.
“Civilians, including children and the facilities and services they rely on, must always be protected,” she said.
Unfortunately, data from the World Health Organization show that far from being protected, civilians are being flagrantly attacked and prevented from receiving health care.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, WHO has verified 1,882 attacks on health care facilities, resulting in 150 deaths, 379 injuries and 1,624 impacted health facilities.
It says 40% of these attacks affected primary health care, impeding Ukrainians from accessing basic health facilities.
“Attacks on health care deprive vulnerable populations of urgently needed care, undermine health systems, and jeopardize long-term public health goals,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said.
“Attacks on civil infrastructure, particularly energy sources and transmission centers, have caused power outages and disruptions in the water supply. This increases the risk of waterborne disease outbreaks and undermines the surveillance system’s ability to detect and respond timely to possible cases of waterborne, foodborne and other infectious diseases,” he said.
In his intervention at the U.N. human rights council, human right chief Türk called on Russia immediately “to cease its use of armed force against Ukraine” and to “scrupulously respect international humanitarian and human rights law.”
“My office will continue meticulously to monitor, document and report on the ground realities of this awful war, including in occupied territory,” he said. “Accountability must be served.”
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Суд у Росії стягнув майже 17 млрд рублів із Volkswagen за вихід із російського ринку
Volkswagen постачав ГАЗ дизельні двигуни німецького виробництва для малотоннажних вантажівок та мікроавтобусів «ГАЗель Next»
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Кабмін виділив 100 мільйонів гривень на відновлення «Охматдиту» – Шмигаль
Прем’єр-міністр запевнив, що дитяча лікарня буде повністю відбудована
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French parties scramble for influence after inconclusive vote
Paris — French parties sought to project strength and gather allies on Tuesday, with the government adrift following an election in which no one political force claimed a clear majority.
Having defied expectations to top the polls, new MPs from the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance began showing up to visit their new workplaces in parliament ahead of a first session on July 18.
But the coalition of Greens, Socialists, Communists and the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) is still debating over who to put forward as a potential prime minister and whether it could be open to working in a broader coalition.
Combined, the left-leaning parties’ hold 193 of 577 seats in the National Assembly and are well short of the 289-seat threshold for a majority.
Nevertheless, members plan to name a potential prime minister “by the end of the week,” leading LFI figure Mathilde Panot said.
In the French system, the president nominates the prime minister, who must be able to survive a confidence vote in parliament — a tricky proposition with three closely-balanced political forces in play.
Any left-leaning government would need “broader support in the National Assembly,” influential Socialist MP Boris Vallaud acknowledged in an interview with broadcaster France Inter.
Macron’s camp came second in Sunday’s vote, taking 164 seats after voters came together to block the far-right National Rally (RN) from power.
This left the anti-immigration, anti-Brussels outfit in third place with 143 MPs.
The president has kept Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s government in place for now, hoping horse-trading in the coming days and weeks could leave an opening for him to reclaim the initiative.
However, “there has been an institutional shift. Everyone thinks it’s up to the newly-elected National Assembly to bring forth a solution, which (Macron) would simply have to accept,” wrote commentator Guillaume Tabard in conservative daily Le Figaro.
‘None can govern alone’
In a sign that some divisions remain, the left parties’ MPs planned to enter the parliament at different times throughout the day.
The Socialists are still hoping to glean a few more members for their group to outweigh LFI and have a greater say over the alliance’s direction.
Meanwhile, members of Macron’s camp were eyeing both the centre-left Socialists and conservative Republicans as possible allies of convenience for a new centrist-dominated coalition.
“None of the three leading blocs can govern alone,” Stephane Sejourne, head of Macron’s Renaissance party, wrote in daily Le Monde.
“The centrist bloc is ready to talk to all the members of the republican spectrum,” he added — while naming red lines including that coalition members must support the EU and Ukraine and maintain business-friendly policies.
These requirements, he warned, “necessarily exclude LFI” and its caustic founder Jean-Luc Melenchon.
Markets are paying close attention to the EU’s second-largest economy.
Ratings agency Moody’s warned it could downgrade its credit score for France’s more than three-trillion-euro debt pile if a future government reverses Macron’s widely-loathed 2023 pension reform, echoing a Monday warning from S&P on the deficit.
What next?
Even as politicians struggle to define the immediate path ahead, eyes are also already turning to the next time French voters will be called to the polls.
Macron’s term expires in 2027 and he cannot run a third time — potentially leaving the way open for his twice-defeated opponent, RN figurehead Marine Le Pen, to finally capture the presidency.
The far-right outfit has been digesting a disappointing result after polls suggested it could take an absolute majority in parliament.
On Tuesday, party sources told AFP its director-general Gilles Penelle had resigned.
Penelle, elected last month to the European Parliament, was the architect of a “push-button” plan supposed to prepare the RN for snap elections, which ultimately failed to produce a full roster of credible candidates.
The far right outfit’s progress is undeniable, having advanced from just eight MPs soon after Macron’s first presidential win in 2017 to 143 today.
Greens and LFI leaders nevertheless called Tuesday for the RN to be shut out of key parliamentary posts.
“Every time we give them jobs, we increase their competence. It’s important not to give them jobs with responsibilities,” leading LFI lawmaker Mathilde Panot said.
“Today we represent 10 million French people with 143 MPs,” retorted RN representative Thomas Menage, calling the appeal “anti-democratic”.
As for Macron, he has sought to stay above the fray, planning for a trip to Washington for a NATO summit starting on Wednesday where allies may be in need of reassurance of France’s stability.
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Україна підписала Фінансову угоду з ЄС на 5,27 мільярда євро – уряд
«Це остання угода яка необхідна для того, щоб повністю запустилася програма Ukraine Facility»
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Support for Ukraine in focus as NATO opens summit in Washington
UN Security Council to hold emergency Ukraine meeting as nation mourns
NATO alliance meets under cloud over President Biden’s future
President Joe Biden welcomes members of the newly enlarged NATO alliance this week for a summit aimed at planning for Ukraine’s future defense — and, some observers say, “Trump-proofing” it if Biden loses the November poll amid growing doubts over his future. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from the White House.
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Largest refugee team to compete at Paris Paralympics
PARIS — The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on Tuesday unveiled a nine-member refugee team for the upcoming Games in Paris.
The team is made up of eight competitors and one guide runner. They will take part in taekwondo, athletics, triathlon, power lifting, table tennis and wheelchair fencing.
“The world has more than 120 million forcibly displaced people worldwide,” said Andrew Parsons, the IPC president.
“Many live in dire conditions. These athletes have persevered and shown incredible determination to get to Paris 2024 and give every refugee around the world hope.”
Ibrahim Al Hussein will be competing in a third Paralympics for the refugee team but is switching from swimming to triathlon, even though he faced the challenge of putting together “all the necessary equipment to compete in triathlon which can be expensive.”
Al Hussein arrived in Greece from Syria 10 years ago.
“Sport has helped me integrate into society,” he said.
Zakia Khudadadi, who represented Afghanistan at the COVID-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021 shortly after being evacuated from the country following the Taliban takeover, and Hadi Hassanzada will compete in parataekwondo.
Hassanzada was born in Afghanistan and grew up in Iran.
“Then I returned to Afghanistan thinking that the country had become peaceful. I was wrong.”
He fled.
“Living in the forests of Turkey with my friends in the cold of winter, there were times when I was close to death,” he said in interview with the IPC.
His journey to the Paralympics showed “refugees can succeed despite all the problems they face,” he said.
Guillaume Junior Atangana sprinted for Cameroon in Tokyo before leaving for Britain. He said his training for the 100m and 400m T11 events in Paris was hampered when his guide, and fellow refugee, Donard Ndim Nyamjua was injured.
“Many people wanted to be on the team. So, I have had to pull out all the stops to be the best,” Atanganga said.
Shot putter Salman Abbariki will compete in track and field at a second Paralympics.
Once Hadi Darvish, a refugee from Iran, found a gym that would take an athlete in a wheelchair and without a bank account, he thrived in power lifting, winning a German title in 2022 in a championship for able-bodied athletes.
The team is completed by Sayed Amir Hossein Pour, who won Asian junior table tennis titles representing Iran, and wheelchair fencer Amelio Castro Grueso.
“No matter how difficult their circumstances, these athletes have found a way to compete at the very highest level of Paralympic sport,” said the team’s chef de mission Nyasha Mharakurwa, who represented Zimbabwe in wheelchair tennis at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
“They are not just representing the forcibly displaced people worldwide but the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities.”
The Opening Ceremony for the Paralympics will be held on Aug. 28 along the Champs-Elysees and in the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
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In photos: Russia’s attack on Kyiv children’s hospital
Turkey’s Erdogan aims to patch relations with NATO allies at summit
After recent years of mistrust, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends NATO’s summit in Washington on Tuesday, hoping to reset relations with Western allies. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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UK can improve ‘botched’ Brexit deal, says Starmer
Belfast — Britain’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised on Monday to secure an improved agreement with the European Union on post-Brexit trading rules and revamp the “botched deal” signed by former premier Boris Johnson.
Speaking in Belfast after talks with the leaders of Northern Ireland, where post-Brexit trade rules have dominated politics for years, Starmer said his new government would first need to implement changes under the current agreement to build trust with the European Union.
“We think we can get a better deal than the botched deal that Boris Johnson brought home and we will work on that,” Starmer, who won a landslide victory last week, told reporters.
“We’re not going to be able to get a better relationship unless we’ve demonstrated commitment to the relationship and the agreements that have already been put in place,” he added.
Labour has ruled out rejoining the EU single market or customs union but has said it is possible to remove some trade barriers with the 27-nation bloc, which Britain left in 2020.
The largest pro-British party in Northern Ireland ended a boycott of the devolved assembly after tweaks to trading rules secured by former prime minister Rishi Sunak in February, but it has since called for more changes.
Asked about the prospect of a referendum on a United Ireland after Irish nationalists Sinn Fein became the province’s largest party in parliament, Starmer said he would “act in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement,” the 1998 peace deal that ended three decades of sectarian violence.
Under the deal, a referendum is at the discretion of the British government if “it appears likely” to the minister for Northern Ireland that a majority would favor cutting ties with London.
Starmer, who visited Edinburgh on Sunday, is to continue on a post-election tour of the four nations of the United Kingdom with a visit to Cardiff later on Monday.
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China’s Xi calls on world powers to help Russia and Ukraine resume direct dialogue
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Chinese President Xi Jinping called on world powers to help Russia and Ukraine resume direct dialogue during a meeting Monday with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Orban made a surprise visit to China after similar trips last week to Russia and Ukraine to discuss prospects for a peaceful settlement of more than the two-year war. Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union this month and Orban has since embarked on a peace mission, which, however, lacks the endorsement of other European leaders.
“China is a key power in creating the conditions for peace in the Russia-Ukraine war,” Orban wrote on the social media platform X. “This is why I came to meet with President Xi in Beijing, just two months after his official visit to Budapest.”
Orban is widely seen as having the warmest relations with Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin among European leaders. His visit to Moscow last week drew condemnation from Kyiv and EU officials, who insisted Orbán was not acting on behalf of the whole European bloc.
Their rebuke failed to deter Orban from extending a similar visit to Beijing, which he called “Peace mission 3.0” in a picture posted on X.
During his meeting with Xi, Orban described China as a stabilizing force amid global turbulence and praised its “constructive and important” peace initiatives.
China has been promoting its own six-point peace plan, which it issued with Brazil in May. Beijing says it is neutral in the conflict, though in practice it supports Moscow through frequent state visits, growing trade and joint military drills.
While hosting Orban, Xi called on Russia and Ukraine to cease fire and on other major powers to create an environment conducive to talks. Only when all major powers project “positive energy rather than negative energy” can a cease-fire occur, Xi said, according to CCTV.
Orban hosted the Chinese leader in Hungary only two months ago as part of a three-country European tour that also included stops in France and Serbia, which unlike the other two is not a member of the EU or NATO.
During the trip, China upgraded its ties with Hungary to an “all-weather, comprehensive strategic partnership,” one of its highest designations for foreign relations that in addition to Hungary applies only to Belarus, Pakistan and Venezuela.
Hungary under Orban has built substantial political and economic ties with China. The European nation hosts a number of Chinese electric vehicle battery facilities, and in December it announced that Chinese EV manufacturing giant BYD will open its first European EV production factory in the south of the country.
The Hungarian prime minister broadly opposes Western military aid to Ukraine and has blocked, delayed or watered down EU efforts to assist Kyiv and impose sanctions on Moscow over its invasion. Orban has long argued for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine but without outlining what that might mean for the country’s territorial integrity or future security.
That posture has frustrated Hungary’s EU and NATO allies, who have denounced Russia’s invasion as a breach of international law and a threat to the security of Eastern Europe.
Standing alongside Orban last week in Moscow, Putin declared that Russia wouldn’t accept any cease-fire or temporary break in hostilities that would allow Ukraine “to recoup losses, regroup and rearm.”
Putin repeated his demand that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the four regions that Moscow claims to have annexed in 2022 as a condition for any prospective peace talks. Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected that demand, suggesting it is akin to asking Kyiv to withdraw from its own territory.
China meanwhile has spread its influence in Central Asia and Eastern Europe in recent years beyond its “no limits” partnership with Moscow. Over the weekend, China held “anti-terror” military drills with Belarus — a key ally of Russia — near the border with Poland. The drills came after last week Belarus joined a regional security organization led by China and Russia.
Orban will next head to Washington, D.C., where NATO leaders are holding a summit to discuss ways to assure Ukraine of the alliance’s continued support.
“Next stop: Washington,” Orban posted on his social media account Monday. It was not clear whether he would meet separately with President Joe Biden, or Donald Trump, whose presidential candidacy Orban openly supports.
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