Latest news with #NatoSummit
BreakingNews.ie
12 hours ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
EU foreign affairs chief criticised over ‘clear lack of understanding of Ireland's history'
A vice-president of the European Commission has been criticised over a 'clear lack of understanding of Ireland's history', following a debate in the European Parliament. Kaja Kallas, the former Estonian prime minister who now serves as one of the vice-presidents of the Commission, singled out Ireland during a debate on the upcoming 2025 Nato summit in the Hague. Advertisement Ms Kallas said Ireland got to 'build up their prosperity' during peace after the second World War while countries behind the Iron Curtain experienced 'atrocities, mass deportations, suppressing your culture and language'. The remarks have been criticised as 'deeply inaccurate' by Sinn Féin MEP Kathleen Funchion, who said the vice-president was dismissive of the post-war experience of people on the island of Ireland. Ms Kallas address to the opening session focused on the 'direct threat to the European Union' posed by Russia, as she called for member states to act with Nato allies and increase defence spending. Ms Funchion noted the sovereign right of each member state to choose its own foreign policies and whether or not they participate in military alliances such as Nato – particularly emphasising Ireland's longstanding policy of military neutrality. Advertisement 'I hope each of you too recognises the sovereign right of my country, Ireland, to maintain its historical policy of neutrality. 'We in Ireland have a proud history and tradition of UN peacekeeping, and long may that continue.' Sinn Féin MEP Kathleen Funchion. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA She added: 'I feel it is important to reference the creeping militarisation into EU politics. 'This debate has been a combination of maddening and depressing for the past two hours, listening to the vast majority of speakers. Advertisement 'I would also remind people that, at its core, the EU is supposed to be a peace project and we should not move away from this.' In response, Ms Kallas warned that while Europe is a 'peace project', it 'only takes one to want war' 'We very clearly see right now the talks about the ceasefire that Russia doesn't want peace.' She added: 'I also want to address our Irish colleagues. Yes, peace doesn't mean that the human suffering will stop. Advertisement 'If you surrender, you have the aggressor, and you say, 'OK, take all what you want', then it doesn't mean that the human suffering will stop. 'Our experience behind the Iron Curtain after the Second World War, countries like Ireland got to build up their prosperity, but for us it meant atrocities, mass deportations, suppressing your culture and language. 'This is what happens. It is also peace, but it's actually not freedom. It's not freedom of choice for people, and that is what the European Union is all about, and that is what we are also fighting for.' In a statement, Ms Funchion said Ms Kallas' comments were 'ill-advised and deeply insensitive to the experiences of Irish communities still seeking justice to this day'. Advertisement 'Ireland too endured atrocities, from the Ballymurphy massacre to Bloody Sunday, where innocent civilians were shot and killed by British soldiers. 'Our people suffered internment without trial, and widespread discrimination in housing and employment, particularly in the North. 'Furthermore, the suppression of Irish language and culture has been an ongoing battle, as evidenced by the decades-long campaign for an Irish Language Act in the North. She added: 'I have written to the vice-president asking her to withdraw her remarks and to acknowledge the reality of Ireland's past. 'I would also like to welcome Leas-Uachtaran Kallas to Ireland to meet with campaigners, victims, and families affected by legacy issues. A visit like this would offer her a valuable insight into the historical injustices many are still fighting to address.' Ms Kallas' office has been contacted for comment.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Russia can defend itself, says Putin, as North Korea sends more soldiers
Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he was ready to meet with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy but only during a 'final phase' of negotiations 'so as not to sit there and divide things up endlessly, but to put an end to it'. Putin made his customary false accusation that Zelenskyy is not Ukraine's legitimate president. In a round-table interview in St Petersburg with international news agencies, Putin said on Nato: 'We do not consider any Nato rearmament to be a threat to the Russian Federation, because we are self-sufficient in terms of ensuring our security.' Russia has brought in thousands of North Korean soldiers to help defend Kursk; and has relied on a flood of arms and ammunition from North Korea as well as Iranian drones and missiles to wage war on Ukraine; while also receiving suspected help from China to continue arming a 'special military operation' that Putin thought would be over in three days. The potential collapse of the Iranian regime would be a serious blow to Putin, Russian affairs reporter Pjotr Sauer writes. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to attend the Nato summit in The Hague on 24-25 June, a source in the Ukrainian presidency told the AFP news agency on Wednesday. 'The decision will be made on the eve of the summit. This is just the schedule,' the source said, describing the meeting as 'an opportunity to maintain support and promote a ceasefire'. Nato leaders want to keep the summit brief so as not to aggravate Donald Trump and his short attention span, the Times has reported (£). Senior Ukrainian officials at the G7 summit in Canada discussed with US counterparts the possibility of supporting defence projects in Ukraine under a joint investment fund set up in May, Kyiv's first deputy prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, said on Wednesday. The talks included the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, Svyrydenko said. The death toll from Tuesday's Russian attack on Kyiv stood at 28, with more than 130 injured, as the recovery of bodies continued at destroyed apartment blocks. Russia's defence ministry claimed its forces hit a Ukrainian troop position in the Sumy region with an Iskander missile. The Reuters news agency said it could not independently confirm the battlefield report, or determine exactly when it took place. Ukrainian authorities on Monday reported an Iskander missile strike on Konotop damaged flats in multi-storey buildings with no casualties. Ukraine is trying to drive Russian forces from the Sumy region where border areas are gripped by heavy fighting. Slovak police have detained eight people, including defence ministry officials, in an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office into possible misuse of €7.4m for military aid to Ukraine at the start of the war in February 2022. Jaroslav Nad, who was Slovakia's defence minister at the time, has called the police action 'theatre'. Slovakia's pro-Russia current prime minister, Robert Fico, has taken sharp policy turns since taking power in 2023 – stopping military aid to Ukraine and making a trip to Moscow that fuelled large and widespread protests in opposition to his stance on Ukraine.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ukraine left in lurch as Trump exits G7 meeting early without meeting Zelenskyy
Ukrainian diplomats have been left frustrated – and in some cases embittered – at Donald Trump's refusal to make Ukraine a priority after Volodymyr Zelenskyy flew 5,000 miles to the G7 conference in Canada only for the US president to return home the night before the two leaders were due to meet. Trump said he needed to focus on the Israel-Iran conflict. Some Ukrainian officials said they were not sure now if it will be worth Zelenskyy attending the Nato summit in The Hague next week since there was no guarantee that Trump would attend. One said: 'It is an permanent hazard that Ukraine is a victim of events and Trump's short attention span. Vladimir Putin knows that, which may be why there was such a large attack in Ukraine last night. There had been all sorts of promises for this summit – including new US arms deliveries being offered.' Trump has repeatedly evaded setting a clear deadline by which Putin must commit to a ceasefire. The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said Trump had promised to attend the Nato summit. With the US chair at the G7 summit removed, Zelenskyy instead sat down with the other members of the group at a special session dedicated to Ukraine, but the central purpose of the session – to try to enlist Trump's support to put pressure on Putin to agree a ceasefire – had been nullified by the US president's abrupt departure announced to fellow G7 leaders in the afternoon. The sense of upset, impossible for Ukraine to express in public due to the need to retain Trump's support, was intensified by the fact that Zelenskyy was being relayed news of Russia's massive attack across Ukraine as he flew by plane to the meeting in Canada. As he met the G7 host, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, Zelenskyy made no direct reference to Trump's decision to absent himself. Looking downbeat, he said: 'We need the help of our allies to for our soldiers to stay strong until Russia is ready for peace negotiations.' He stressed: 'We are ready for an unconditional ceasefire.' Zelenskyy had billed that the G7 summit as one of two golden chances to apply collective western pressure on Trump, and to discuss Ukraine's plans to buy as much as $30bn to $50bn worth of air defense systems and weapons from the United States as a form of security guarantees. There had been signals that the US was willing to sell the arms to Ukraine, but Trump – who spoke again to Putin this week – sometimes argues that providing Ukraine with arms will only prolong a war he is committed to ending. Zelenskyy had also been seeking US agreement to a cut in the oil cap from $60 a barrel to $45 in a bid to cut Russian oil revenues. The oil price cap requiring complex enforcement was introduced by G7 nations and it would need at least tacit US support for it to be instituted effectively. Although there has been a recent spike in the price of oil due to the Iranian crisis, the debate around lowering the price cap had become centre stage due to the slow fall in the price of oil. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, acknowledged the immediate pressure to lower the cap had been reduced. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion In discussions at the summit, Trump on Monday expressed reluctance to impose any further sanctions, saying Europeans should 'do it first' and that 'sanctions cost us a lot of money, billions and billions of dollars'. On the way to the G7, Zelenskyy had visited Austria to recruit the country as another potential mediator in the conflict with Russia. Austria has strong ties with Russia, and is seen by some Ukrainian leaders as a more trustworthy intermediary than Turkey, which has much to gain commercially from a peace settlement. Speaking in Brussels, the EU foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, addressed the latest Russian attacks, saying: 'Russia remains unrelenting in its attacks, targeting civilians and prolonging its war. This is yet another sign: Russia is just not interested in peace, so we must keep up the pressure.' The EU is close to agreeing an 18th package of sanctions that will include a ban on the importation of Russian oil refined by third-party countries and then exported to Europe. The EU plan intends to designate oil as Russian and therefore banned unless the importer has clear documentation demonstrating it has originated elsewhere. Countries will also have to publish new 'diversification plans' showing how they will end reliance on both Russian oil and gas. Kallas is convinced that although sanctions have taken longer than expected to have an impact, a corner has been turned. She said last week: 'Russia has lost tens of billions in oil revenues. Its economy is shrinking, and its GDP has dropped.' Sanctioning the 'shadow fleet' [of unflagged Russian tankers] has been particularly impactful: after our last sanctions package, the 17th sanctions package, the oil exports from Russia via the Black Sea and Baltic Sea routes declined by 30% in a week. 'Only in the month of May, Russia's sovereign wealth fund declined by $6bn, from $42bn to $36bn, and it could run out of money by next year. By cutting off revenue streams, we prevent them from refilling their war chest'.
Spectator
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Keir Starmer must raise defence spending higher and faster
Mark Rutte, the former prime minister of the Netherlands, has been secretary general of Nato for less than nine months. He knew when he decided to seek the job that it would not be easy, but even the famously phlegmatic and unflappable Dutchman cannot have foreseen the intensity of events. On Monday, he gave a speech at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, better known as Chatham House. Rutte's address was billed as preparation for the annual Nato Summit, taking place in The Hague later this month. It allowed him to sketch out an agenda, and he did so with clarity and frankness, focusing on defence spending and the immediacy of the threat posed to Nato member states by Russia and its network of allies.
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Business Standard
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Ukraine doing everything to ensure June summits 'not hollow': Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that "language of force" against Russia must become the working one across all formats of international engagement in the coming months, referring to the upcoming G7 Summit (from June 15 to 17) in Canada and the Nato Summit in the Netherlands running from June 24-26. "In the coming weeks, important meetings and negotiations will take place in Ukraine, and we are doing everything to ensure that the June summits--the G7 Summit in Canada and the Nato Summit in the Netherlands--are not hollow," he said. "Russia only truly understands one language -- the language of force. That is precisely the language that must become the working one across all formats of international engagement in the coming months," he added. Further, he said that Ukraine is working to secure the release of its prisoners of war and the return of fallen warriors. However, Russia has not provided full lists for exchanging over 1,000 people as agreed upon in Istanbul. "Ukraine continues to do everything possible to secure the release of our POWs and the return of our fallen warriors. The full lists from Russia for the exchange of over one thousand people, as agreed in Istanbul, have still not been provided," he said. Zelenskyy criticised Russia for turning prisoner exchange negotiations into a "dirty political and information game". "In typical fashion, the Russian side is once again trying to turn even these matters into a dirty political and information game. For our part, we are doing everything we can to keep the exchange track moving forward," he said. Recently, a planned exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine did not happen on Saturday due to disagreements between the two sides, CNN reported. Russia claimed that Ukraine postponed the exchange at the last minute, while Ukraine denied this, saying that a date for the exchange of prisoners and bodies of dead soldiers had not been finalised. Ukraine described Russia's claims about the failed exchange as "dirty games." According to Russia, over 1,200 frozen Ukrainian bodies were left waiting in refrigerated trucks at an exchange point. However, Ukraine stated that the two sides had agreed to exchange seriously wounded and young troops, but a specific date had not been set for the repatriation of soldiers' bodies, as per CNN. Despite the failed exchange, Russia and Ukraine agreed to hold another prisoner swap this weekend during peace talks in Istanbul. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
