“They learn from one another, they work together,” she told journalists in London at the launch of the new report, which finds European far-right parties are increasingly coordinating with authoritarian regimes beyond the continent. “They turn to their own advantage the tools that free and democratic countries give them,” she said. “They know how to exploit the financial and legal systems of Western countries, how to get around restrictions and sanctions.”

Navalnaya’s husband, Navalny, a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in prison in 2024 while serving a 19-year sentence. Five European countries, including Britain, France, and Germany, concluded earlier this year that he was killed by a “rare toxin” from a dart frog and that the Russian state was the prime suspect.

Navalnaya, 50, has become Russia’s leading exiled opposition figure, touring the world to meet foreign leaders, organizing opposition rallies, and publishing investigations into the alleged corruption of Putin’s inner circle. Asked about US special envoy Steve Witkoff recently telling Putin he was a humanitarian, she called the comment “nonsense” and “a pity.”

The HRF collaborated with another US-based non-profit, Action for Democracy, to produce its latest “Authoritarian Collaboration Index” trends report. It relies on data from HRF’s “Tyranny Tracker,” a real-time monitoring tool of ties between autocratic regimes, authoritarian-leaning governments, and far-right parties.

The paper reported that such parties in Europe, such as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France, and Alice Weidel’s Alternative for Germany (AfD), are now formalizing links to “legitimize” each other. The study said the AfD had this year “deepened its relations with Russia” beyond financial support towards more “dialogue and engagement.”

The warnings come ahead of imminent elections in a host of European countries, including Spain, Germany, and France, when far-right parties could make unprecedented gains. The report found that while China and Russia remain the “primary anchors of a global axis of autocracy,” media and technological cooperation has become “institutionalized” between similarly minded countries and parties, particularly across Africa and Southeast Asia.

Domonkos Kovacs, project lead for the index, said that, amid “global democratic backsliding,” the index aimed to “shed light” on this growing “global authoritarian solidarity.” “This is dictators helping each other crush dissent,” he told reporters.

© 2024 AFP

The post Exiled Russian dissident Navalnaya warns dictators becoming ‘more cunning’ appeared first on MagnifyPost.com.

The Kremlin indicated it was “in principle” open to the resumption of trilateral talks involving the two sides and the United States. But attacks did not let up in the wake of the visit. Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said two people had been wounded in huge barrages of 630 drones fired towards the region, 163 of which were approaching the Russian capital. The governor of nearby Tula region said Russian air defences had destroyed 70 drones. Another man was wounded in the Lipetsk region, its governor said.

In Ukraine, the attacks killed one man in Sumy and a woman in Kharkiv, both in the northeast, as well as three people in southeastern Zaporizhzhia and two in the eastern region of Donetsk, authorities said. Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social media strikes had wounded 15 people in the Ukrainian capital. He said the strikes had damaged metro infrastructure at the Pivdenny Bridge, which officials said had restricted traffic between parts of the city. Ukraine’s air force posted a warning in the early hours of “more ballistic missiles towards Kyiv” and instructed residents to stay in shelters.

Witkoff had flown to Russia from a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo on Tuesday, which was aimed at smoothing over a bitter rift between Trump and the Ukrainian leader. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also took part in the talks with Putin remotely. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Russia was “in principle, ready to resume” trilateral talks in mid-November — after the US midterm elections — and that the Kremlin wanted them to focus on post-war security. Zelensky said Ukraine also backed resuming trilateral talks.

Ushakov said Witkoff briefed Putin on “some new aspects in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv” from the Oslo meeting, but that “there wasn’t really much substance in them”. A summit between Putin, Trump and China’s Xi Jinping was also being prepared in China’s Shenzhen for next month, Ushakov said, calling it “the first such meeting in history”.

During their three-hour meeting, Witkoff praised Putin for granting Trump’s request to free US citizen Stephen Hubbard, a retired English teacher in his 70s who had been detained for fighting for Ukraine — charges he denied. “You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian — you are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that,” Witkoff said. Witkoff said on social media the talks with Putin were “constructive” but that “there is still important work left to do”. Discussions would continue between the United States, Ukraine and Russia at the technical level, he added.

Trump returned to power in January 2025 promising to end the war in 24 hours — but more than a year of US-led talks have failed to produce a breakthrough. In recent days, a frustrated Trump has once again pivoted away from Ukraine and back to Putin, trumpeting what he said was a deal for Russia to sell diesel and reduce prices sent soaring by his Iran war. Trump also delayed the imposition of sanctions on Russia’s war machine — a decision he defended on Wednesday as necessary to secure Hubbard’s release. “If you would’ve put those sanctions on… you could forget about him. You’d never see him again,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Witkoff told Putin Washington was “grateful” for the diesel deal, which sparked outrage in Kyiv and across Europe. The war, Europe’s worst since World War II, has killed tens of thousands of people since Russia’s February 2022 invasion. Putin has consistently rejected face-to-face talks with Zelensky and insisted Moscow intends to seize the rest of east Ukraine.

burs-dk/ceg/jhb –

© 2024 AFP

The post Russian strikes kill 7 in Ukraine after US envoy meets Putin appeared first on MagnifyPost.com.

The Kremlin indicated it was “in principle” open to the resumption of trilateral talks between the two sides with the United States. But attacks did not let up in the wake of the visit, with Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko posting on social media that strikes had wounded 15 people in the Ukrainian capital, eight of whom needed hospitalization. He said in a separate post that strikes had damaged metro infrastructure at the Pivdenny Bridge, which officials said had restricted traffic between parts of the city.

Ukraine’s Airforce posted a warning in the early hours about “more ballistic missiles towards Kyiv” and instructed residents to stay in shelters. Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that two people had been wounded during mostly intercepted barrages of 630 drones directed towards the region, with 163 of them approaching the capital city. Witkoff had flown to Russia from a meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo on Tuesday, which was aimed at smoothing over a bitter rift between Trump and the Ukrainian leader.

Witkoff praised Putin as a “humanitarian” for freeing US citizen Stephen Hubbard, but the Kremlin warned after the meeting that while Moscow was “in principle” willing to restart talks, there was little “substance” in Ukrainian and European peace proposals the US diplomat had delivered. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also took part in the talks with Putin remotely. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Russia was “in principle, ready to resume” trilateral talks in mid-November — after the US midterm elections — and that the Kremlin wanted them to focus on post-war security.

Ushakov said Witkoff briefed Putin on “some new aspects in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv” from the Oslo meeting, adding though that “there wasn’t really much substance in them.” A summit between Putin, Trump, and China’s Xi Jinping was also being prepared in China’s Shenzhen for next month, Ushakov said, calling it “the first such meeting in history.” During their three-hour meeting, Witkoff praised Putin for granting Trump’s request to free Hubbard, a retired English teacher in his 70s who had always denied the charges he was a “mercenary” fighting for Ukraine.

“You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian — you are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that,” Witkoff said. Witkoff stated on social media that the talks with Putin were “constructive” but that “there is still important work left to do.” Discussions would continue between the US, Ukraine, and Russia at the technical level, he added. Trump returned to power in January 2025 promising to end the war in 24 hours — but more than a year of US-led talks have failed to produce a breakthrough, with tens of thousands killed.

In recent days, a frustrated Trump has once again pivoted away from Ukraine and back to Putin, trumpeting what he said was a deal for Russia to sell diesel and reduce prices sent soaring by his Iran war. Trump also delayed the imposition of sanctions on Russia’s war machine — a decision he defended on Wednesday as necessary to secure Hubbard’s release. “If you would’ve put those sanctions on… you could forget about him. You’d never see him again,” Trump told reporters at the White House. The US envoy told Putin that Washington was “grateful” for the diesel deal, which sparked outrage in Kyiv and across Europe.

In Ukraine, Zelensky said that Kyiv also backed resuming trilateral talks. “The American side is proposing to organize this meeting as soon as possible. We are in favor of it,” he told journalists. Putin, who ordered the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has consistently rejected face-to-face talks with Zelensky and insisted Moscow intends to seize the rest of east Ukraine. Witkoff’s ninth meeting with Putin came as Russia continued to strike Ukrainian cities ahead of winter. Kyiv said Russian attacks killed at least four people on Wednesday — including two in the capital and an elderly couple in the eastern Kharkiv region. Russian occupation authorities in the Lugansk region, meanwhile, said a Ukrainian drone strike on a phone company had killed two people.

burs-dk/ceg/tc

© 2024 AFP

The post Kyiv and Moscow trade attacks after US envoy visits Russia appeared first on MagnifyPost.com.

“We are thankful that intelligence works…I’m speaking about early warning, what is very important for our people, for children, adults, civilians, because we can hear when ballistic is coming,” Zelensky told reporters in Oslo. After meetings with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, who took part remotely — Zelensky said it was “important that we keep the conversation going…and work together on the decisions needed to end this war”. Flanked by Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, the Ukrainian president insisted that “Ukraine wants peace more than anyone”.

Trump meanwhile said in Washington he wanted Zelensky to “make a deal” with Russia. Relations between Kyiv and Washington have soured since Trump partially lifted sanctions to strike a diesel-supply deal with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and slammed Zelensky as a warmonger for Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. Zelensky has accused the United States of deliberately withholding vital intelligence and delaying military aid, saying on Monday that Ukraine received no early warning of powerful Russian missile strikes that targeted energy facilities in the capital region.

US-led diplomatic efforts to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have stalled in recent months, as Washington has shifted focus towards the war with Iran.

– ‘Needed to protect lives’ –

Ukraine has also reported a reduction in speeds on Starshield, the US military satellite system which it uses for battlefield communications and strikes on Russian-occupied territory. Trump has denied ordering a reduction in speeds on the US government-owned and -controlled Starshield network after Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX developed it, said the order could only have come from the White House.

Ahead of the Oslo meeting, Zelensky said he held “substantive” and “constructive” talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Tuesday, in which he insisted that the Starshield system “needs to be restored” and that ballistic missile interceptors “are needed to protect lives”. Speaking to reporters in Oslo, he said on Starshield, “we decided that maybe in 48 hours we will have again a connection”. Zelensky told US senators on Monday that “the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles” already paid for by European countries, and that the shipment was waiting for US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s signature. He said several European countries were ready to transfer Patriot interceptor missiles from their own stockpiles but were still awaiting US approval. The United States has denied making any changes to intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

– Strained relations –

The US leader has accused his counterpart of not trying to resolve the conflict with Russia. Trump said he was ready to meet Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in China next month to discuss denuclearisation, adding that talks could also cover the Ukraine war — fuelling fears in Kyiv that it was being sidelined. Zelensky insisted Tuesday that Kyiv needed to be represented at any meeting regarding Ukraine’s future.

“I don’t know what the trilateral meeting will be about between America and China, and Russia, it’s up to them. But of course, if there are issues about Ukraine, our future, it can be acceptable only when we are at the table of negotiations. It’s absolutely clear,” he said. Zelensky stressed the need to find a solution quickly. “Of course we are not losing this war,” he said when asked, “but we are losing people…and time”.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said Witkoff was headed on to Russia. “Steve Witkoff will fly tomorrow to St. Petersburg, where he will be meeting with Russian leadership and exchange ideas from this meeting and the proposals that have been worked on by European and American colleagues, and possibly pave the way for a meeting at leaders’ level,” he said.

“We hope that it will be possible to arrange a meeting in the very near future, allowing the American negotiators…Mr. Witkoff, to brief President Putin on their contacts with both the Ukrainians and the Europeans,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

© 2024 AFP

The post Zelensky hails resumption of US advance warning of strikes on Ukraine appeared first on MagnifyPost.com.

“Negotiations are currently under way regarding the commercial terms — that is, on finalisation of the contracts,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Alexander Novak said in an interview with state-run media outlet Vesti. “Once the contracts are signed, the fuel will reach the markets — in this case, the US markets — within 15 to 20 days,” said Novak, without setting a date for signing the contracts.

On Wednesday, the Kremlin’s adviser on international economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, had said the contracts would be signed within days. Unhappiness in the United States at rising pump prices since the beginning of the US and Israeli war on Iran has raised the spectre of heavy electoral losses next month for Trump’s Republicans.

Many experts also believe the diesel accord with Moscow will not fundamentally make a difference when it comes to consumers’ wallets. The United States consumes 3.9 million barrels of diesel a day, whereas the accord with Moscow initially concerns 2.22 million barrels total — barely enough for half a day of US consumption.

© 2024 AFP

The post Russia-US diesel deal delivery to take 15-20 days: Russia appeared first on MagnifyPost.com.

The Lindsey Graham Act — named after the deceased US senator who sponsored the bill — targeted Russia’s energy and defence sectors, as well as Putin and the so-called “shadow fleet” of tankers used by Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions. Zelensky said the decision came the same day as Russia attacked 15 critical power generation facilities across Ukraine in “one of the largest” attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid. “It is important that everyone in America also sees what is really happening,” he said on social media.

The Lindsey Graham Act, he said, was “supposed to impose truly effective pressure on Russia to bring this war to an end,” adding that the act “could have helped enormously — and still can!” “A U.S. sanctions blackout, easing pressure on the aggressor, financial rewards for Putin — all of this only encourages him to keep attacking,” he warned. The Ukrainian leader said Russia wanted to cause a “blackout” in Ukraine ahead of winter: “Russia is trying to leave millions of our people without electricity and heating.” He called on allies to keep up pressure on Moscow to “stop this.”

Last winter saw hundreds of thousands in Ukraine consistently without heat and electricity in freezing temperatures. A day after Trump waived the sanctions, causing Europe and Kyiv to worry which side of the war the White House is on, Ukraine said at least two people were killed in Russian air strikes. Officials said one person was killed in the southern city of Kherson in an attack that also wounded 22 people, including two children, and that another was killed in the northeastern city of Sumy.

– Russia hails Trump move as ‘historic’ –

The Kremlin and Putin have not yet reacted to Trump, but several Russian officials celebrated the move as a win. “The Trump administration’s suspension of the Graham Act is an important and truly historic moment,” Kirill Dmitriev, a Putin envoy, said on social media. Dmitriev said the act would have caused “serious damage first and foremost to the US economy and global markets.” Trump’s waiver comes after he struck a deal with Putin to ease existing sanctions on Russia in exchange for Moscow releasing large amounts of diesel onto global markets. He announced the executive order Friday, shortly after Putin appeared in military uniform and said Moscow aims to capture the rest of east Ukraine.

US-led talks to end the war in Ukraine have not led to a breakthrough. Both Putin and Zelensky have frustrated Trump in the past with a lack of progress in halting the grinding war. Zelensky had rallied his allies Friday on a visit to Brussels for a European Union summit, urging them to keep financing Ukraine’s fight and insisting he was standing up for his country amid the row with Trump.

– Putin vows more –

Ukraine has been struggling to shoot down Russian missiles and has been left scrambling to boost defences ahead of winter. Russia controls large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine and Putin has repeatedly said Moscow intends to seize the rest of east Ukraine by force. “On the whole I see a positive trend in the operations of the troop groupings,” Putin told army leaders Friday, dressed in military attire. “Undoubtedly, one of the main objectives remains the liberation of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” he added, using the Kremlin’s name for the eastern Donetsk region.

European leaders put on a show of unity with Zelensky Friday as he grappled with Trump. “This is no time to withdraw the support to Ukraine. This is no time to relieve Russia’s sanctions,” said European Council chief Antonio Costa. “Now it is time to increase our support, to increase our pressure.”

© 2024 AFP

The post Zelensky says Trump waiving sanctions ‘rewards’ Putin, warns Moscow wants ‘blackout’ in Ukraine appeared first on MagnifyPost.com.

“Granting Moscow the ability to sell Russian diesel freely in global markets damages American security interests and is a betrayal of the people of Ukraine, who continue to defend themselves from Putin’s murderous, illegal war,” they wrote in a letter spearheaded by Democrat Richard Blumenthal. “This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies; it should be rescinded.”

The senators acknowledged the urgent need to reduce energy costs, which have surged amid the US war with Iran, but argued that the Russian supplies would have a negligible effect on prices. Instead, they said, the deal would provide the Kremlin with additional revenue to finance its invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth year.

The Republican signatories included former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and other senators with decades of experience, putting prominent members of Trump’s own party at odds with the president ahead of November’s midterm elections. Trump announced Friday that Putin had agreed to release more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, with another 500,000 tons to follow in November, in an effort to curb fuel prices.

The US Treasury Department subsequently issued a temporary license allowing transactions involving Russian-origin diesel, including its sale and import. The senators urged Trump to revoke the license and use new sanctions powers approved by Congress last month to increase economic pressure on Moscow and countries helping sustain its war, particularly China.

“Putin is a tyrant,” they wrote, demanding that Trump instead pursue a settlement that protects Ukraine’s sovereignty and security. The senators’ skepticism over the economic benefits of the deal was echoed Tuesday by European Union economy chief Valdis Dombrovskis. The proposed Russian diesel supplies were “not of any macroeconomic significance,” he told AFP, also questioning whether Moscow could deliver the promised volumes.

The agreement has added to tensions over Trump’s approach to the Ukraine war, with the US president repeatedly criticizing Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries. On Saturday, Trump warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he “better damn well stop” the attacks. Blumenthal accused Putin of exploiting the diplomatic impasse while seeking to inflict further hardship on Ukraine as winter approaches. “Once again, he’s playing Trump for a fool,” he wrote on X.

© 2024 AFP

The post Bipartisan US senators urge Trump to scrap Russian diesel deal appeared first on MagnifyPost.com.

Responding to comments that China and Russia are helping Iran, Trump said in a post on Truth Social: “If they are, it’s at a very low level, but I don’t believe they are at all.” “They have too much to lose, and we would know about it, and know about it very fast!” he added. Trump said in July that he did not believe China and Russia were selling weapons to Iran, warning that “it would be very bad for them” if they did.

China and Russia both maintain strong ties with Iran but have refrained from getting directly involved in the Middle East war, which began with US-Israeli strikes on February 28. Since the outbreak of the war, Russia has sent humanitarian aid to Iran, but has otherwise not officially announced any concrete assistance. The Kremlin has denied US media reports claiming that Moscow passed sensitive intelligence to Iran, including the locations of US warships and aircraft in the region.

China has sharply condemned US and Israeli strikes while also criticizing Iranian attacks on Gulf states and the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz. China has previously supplied Iran with drones as well as equipment that can be used for both civilian and military purposes. Beijing has denied reports that the country’s top semiconductor firm, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, has sent chipmaking tools to Iran.

China and Russia have also been accused of helping Iran circumvent international sanctions targeting its oil sales. Trump has frequently taken a more deferential tone toward Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin than he has toward some of Washington’s own allies, saying that they must be respected as the leaders of major world powers.

© 2024 AFP

The post Trump says does not believe China, Russia helping Iran appeared first on MagnifyPost.com.

Trump’s announcement came two days after he declared a temporary easing of US sanctions on Russian diesel, prompting outrage by European allies and Kyiv, who said it would only embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said early Sunday on Truth Social. “Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!”

Zelensky appeared to express surprise at the announcement, saying he was seeking further details, but added that “Ukraine supports the ceasefire, and it is important that Russia support it as well.” Russia has yet to confirm its agreement. Zelensky later said that multiple Ukrainian power stations had been hit and that “Ukrainian skies have been infested with Russian ‘shaheds’ all day,” referring to a type of drone originally designed by Iran that is now used extensively by Russia.

Since launching a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in 2022, Russia has systematically hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure, leading to energy and heating shortages, prompting Ukraine to hit back at Russian oil refineries it says fund the war. More recently, Trump’s war in Iran has led to oil shortages and ensuing price spikes, creating major headwinds for his Republican Party ahead of midterm elections early next month.

– ‘Up to our people’ –

The ceasefire appeared to garner support on Sunday from Ukraine’s key western allies, including the UK, France, Canada, and the European Commission. Several leaders called on Russia to uphold the deal. But that support was in contrast to broad criticism of the US-Russia diesel deal earlier in the week, which has led to mounting tensions between Trump and Zelensky. Zelensky said the diesel deal was a “weak decision,” while several of Ukraine’s European allies expressed outrage and pledged to increase pressure on Moscow.

Seven US senators – including four Republicans – released a statement Sunday blasting the diesel deal with Russia, saying it was illegal. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney added to the chorus on Sunday after a call with Zelensky, saying the diesel deal “is in direct opposition to the efforts of Ukraine, Canada and our allies to create peace and stability in Europe.” Asked about the criticism on Saturday, Trump said it was “time for Ukraine to get a new president” who would finally settle the war. Zelensky pushed back, telling ABC News that “it’s up to our society, up to our people to choose one or another leader.” He said that fuel prices were rising because of the war in the Middle East and the blocked Strait of Hormuz. “Everybody understands it,” he said.

– Support for Zelensky –

Germany’s foreign minister said Sunday that Berlin continued to “fully support” Zelensky. “Europe needs stability and that means that we are very clearly continuing to stay by the side of Ukraine and its government,” Johann Wadephul said in Berlin. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen also backed the Ukrainian leader “as he leads the fight for his people’s freedom.” UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham also said his country “strongly supports President Trump’s call today for a sustained energy ceasefire to start now.”

In Kyiv, several residents expressed concern about Trump’s call for Zelensky to be replaced. “I believe our president is the best, and Americans should think about their own president,” said 40-year-old Olesia Goncharuk. “We Ukrainians decide our own fate and our own freedom, and we are free people,” she told AFP.

– Daniel STUBLEN with Caleb DAVIS in Warsaw

© 2024 AFP

The post Trump’s ‘energy ceasefire’ sparks confusion as Russia strikes Ukraine appeared first on MagnifyPost.com.

Trump, whose party faces dim prospects in next month’s midterm elections partly over soaring US fuel prices, announced Friday that he had called Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and agreed to allow Moscow to release large amounts of diesel onto global markets.

Ukraine and its European allies expressed dismay at the move, with Zelensky telling reporters Friday it was a “weak decision.” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas meanwhile said on Saturday that lifting sanctions on Russian diesel would only help fuel the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine. “This is not the time to ease pressure on Russia, and Europe won’t,” she wrote online.

Asked about the criticism on Saturday, Trump told reporters that Zelensky had disobeyed his orders not to strike Russian refineries. Trump said the strikes risk worsening global fuel shortages caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. “He better damn well stop,” Trump said of the strikes, before adding that Ukraine should “get a new president.” “I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal, because he could have made many deals that, for some reason, he never does,” Trump said.

Shortly afterwards UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham reiterated his “complete solidarity” with Zelensky in a call. A statement from his Downing Street office said Burnham had also said the UK would “strengthen its sanctions on Russia.” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga also backed his president. “He has the support of the Ukrainian people, and they have the right to decide,” he said in a post on X.

**Deadly Ukraine bombardment**

Moscow has intensified its deadly bombardment of Ukraine in recent months, sending civilian casualties soaring, while US-led efforts to broker an end to the more than four-and-a-half-year conflict remain deadlocked.

Early Saturday, a Russian glide bomb attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed 20 people, including three children, according to Ukraine’s state rescue service. “Today, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” Zelensky said in a post on X. An AFP correspondent at the scene saw rescuers pulling people from the rubble.

“We saw people under the rubble — a woman, her husband and a child,” one rescuer, Daniil Pishkin, told AFP. He added that he saw two people rescued from the wreckage but “unfortunately there was a little girl who died.” A resident of one of the buildings that was hit, who identified herself as Iryna, 69, said she just had time to seek refuge in the bathroom after receiving an air raid warning. Her two neighbors were killed, she said. “They were 75 years old. They were simply thrown out there, onto the street. They didn’t make it to the hospital,” she told AFP.

A Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region killed an 11-year-old boy, the region’s governor said. Russian strikes triggered widespread power cuts in the capital Kyiv, Ukraine’s DTEK energy provider said, as the city’s mayor reported a strike on a restaurant. AFP reporters heard booms over Kyiv earlier Saturday. The Russian defense ministry said it had hit a “data center” used by Ukraine’s military.

**Trump’s talk with Putin**

The announcement Friday of the diesel deal came as US, Ukrainian and European officials were meeting in Miami, in a renewed diplomatic push to end the war. Ukraine’s delegation was headed home on Saturday, an aide to Zelensky said. Trump, who has repeatedly touted his credentials as a peacemaker, has long sought to broker a deal since taking office last January.

US envoy Steve Witkoff posted to X after the meeting that the “constructive discussions” tackled “potential avenues to de-escalate and conclude the war with Russia ahead of winter and advance efforts toward a durable and lasting peace”. The meeting included “the E3, the European Commission, Ukraine and NATO,” he added.

The Kremlin said Saturday that Trump had conveyed his ideas about how to de-escalate the war to Putin during a phone call on Friday. Putin received the proposals “with understanding,” the Kremlin said, without elaborating. Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, now occupies roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.

burs-jj/rh – Daniel Stublen with Victoria Lukovenko in Kyiv and Daria Nazarova in Zaporizhzhia.

© 2024 AFP

The post Trump, Zelensky clash over diesel deal as Russian strikes kill 21 appeared first on MagnifyPost.com.