Rubio: ‘We need to see a roadmap' on Ukraine peace talks
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Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Protesters in Ukraine denounce law curbing anticorruption agencies
Hundreds of protesters rally in Kyiv to oppose the measure, in a show of antigovernment anger rarely seen since Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a bill that would revoke the autonomy of key anticorruption agencies, a plan that has triggered rare street demonstrations in the capital, Kyiv. Critics say the legislation consolidates power in Zelenskyy's hands and will allow government meddling in high-profile corruption cases. The European Union on Tuesday called the decision a 'serious step back', while hundreds gathered in central Kyiv to oppose the measure – a show of antigovernment anger rarely seen since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Some demonstrators shouted, 'Veto the law!' 'The bill is being rushed through,' 26-year-old game designer Anastasia told the AFP news agency. 'It is clear that this is a targeted effort,' she added. The bill will grant the prosecutor general new authority over investigations and cases handled by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO). NABU investigates instances of corruption among state institutions, while the SAPO prosecutes corruption. The passage of the bill through parliament drew sharp criticism from the heads of both agencies, and the citizen protests were the largest since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Many influential Ukrainians also lashed out on social media after Tuesday's vote, saying it was a betrayal of Ukraine's decade-long geopolitical ambition. Advertisement Fighting corruption is crucial for Ukraine's bid to join the EU and maintain access to billions of dollars in Western aid. It is also seen as critical to erasing a legacy of Russian rule, a sentiment echoed at the protest in Kyiv. Vladyslava Kirstyuk, 18, said that memories of her childhood in occupied eastern Ukraine, after Russia's covert invasion in 2014, left a strong impression on her. 'I know what it means for one person to have all the power, when nothing is transparent and everything is working against you,' the teenager told the Reuters news agency. 'I don't want it to be the same for us here.' On Monday, Ukraine's domestic security agency detained two NABU officials on suspicion of links to Russia and searched other agency employees on unrelated allegations. NABU has uncovered widespread corruption, including among figures in Zelenskyy's administration. Last week, the president carried out a reshuffle of his wartime cabinet, a move widely viewed as further consolidating power within his inner circle.
Al Jazeera
11 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
‘No miracles': Russia downplays Ukraine talks as deadly attacks continue
Russia has played down expectations of any breakthrough in upcoming talks with Ukraine in Turkiye, as Ukrainian officials said one child was killed and more than 20 people were wounded in overnight Russian attacks. 'We don't have any reason to hope for some miraculous breakthroughs,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday, saying this was 'hardly possible in the current situation'. 'We intend to pursue our interests, we intend to ensure our interests and fulfil the tasks that we set for ourselves from the very beginning.' Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's announcement late on Monday that talks would take place generated some hope that negotiators would deliver progress on ending the war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. United States President Donald Trump has been putting more pressure on Russia to hold talks, which have stalled as Russian President Vladimir Putin stood his ground on his demands. The third round of talks in recent months is expected to be held in Istanbul on Wednesday. Previous negotiations led to a series of exchanges of prisoners of war and the bodies of fallen soldiers, but produced no breakthrough on a ceasefire. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy announced on social media that Rustem Umerov, the former defence minister and current secretary of the security council, will head Ukraine's delegation. He also said Ukraine was ready to 'secure the release of our people from captivity and return of abducted children, to stop the killings, and to prepare a leaders' meeting', outlining potential topics for discussion. Russia has not yet announced the composition of its team for the talks. Its delegation at the previous round was led by a hawkish historian and the current head of the Russian Union of Writers, Vladimir Medinsky, whom Ukraine described as not a real decision-maker. Asked on Tuesday if he could give a sense of how the Kremlin saw the potential timeframe of a possible peace agreement, Peskov said he could give no guidance on timing. 'There is a lot of work to be done before we can talk about the possibility of some top-level meetings,' Peskov added, a day after Zelenskyy renewed a call for a meeting with Putin. Despite the upcoming talks, Russia's offensive continues, with its forces driving hard to break through at eastern and northeastern points on the 1,000km (620-mile) front line. Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched 426 drones and 24 missiles overnight, making it one of Russia's largest aerial assaults in months. It said it had downed or jammed at least 224 Russian drones and missiles, while 203 drones disappeared from radars. In one of the attacks, a 10-year-old boy was killed and five people were wounded when guided glide bombs hit a residential building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, according to Mayor Alexander Goncharenko. Kramatorsk is part of a metropolitan area in Donetsk that remains under Ukrainian control three years after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A barrage of Russian strikes was also reported in the capital, Kyiv, sparking several fires and damaging an underground air raid shelter where civilians had taken refuge. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region came under multiple waves of attacks, according to regional authorities. A drone hit a petrol station in the town of Putyvl, wounding four people, including a five-year-old boy, the regional military administration reported. A second drone hit the same location less than two hours later, wounding seven people. Separately, two powerful Russian glide bombs were dropped on Sumy city, wounding at least 13 people, including a six-year-old boy, and damaging five apartment buildings, two private homes and a shopping centre in the attack. The blasts shattered windows and destroyed balconies in residential buildings, acting Mayor Artem Kobzar said. A few weeks ago, Putin announced his intention to create a 'buffer zone' in the Sumy region, effectively by occupying the Ukrainian border areas. In the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, there were initial reports of drone attacks in which at least one person was wounded. Fires broke out in several places in the city, according to regional media. Ukraine also launched attacks, with Russia's Ministry of Defence saying its air power had downed 35 Ukrainian long-range drones over several regions overnight, including three over the Moscow area.
Al Jazeera
13 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
These 28 countries called for Israel to end its war on Gaza: What they said
On Monday, 28 countries, including the United Kingdom, Japan, and numerous European nations, issued a joint statement calling on Israel that the war on Gaza 'must end now', marking the latest example of intensifying criticism from Israel's allies. The joint statement, signed by the foreign ministers of these countries, condemned 'the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food'. The statement comes as global pressure mounts on Israel over civilian casualties at aid sites, obstruction of humanitarian aid, and violations of international humanitarian law – as the occupied Palestinian territory simmers with starvation. Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 59,000 people and wounded 140,000 since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, in which 1,139 people were killed and more than 200 were taken captive. So, what does the joint statement say? Who are these countries? And how have Israel and its closest ally, the United States, reacted? What did the statement say? The joint statement said the countries are coming together 'with a simple, urgent message: The war in Gaza must end now.' The statement underlined that the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached 'new depths' and that the Israeli government's aid delivery model is 'dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity'. They called on the Israeli government to 'comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law' and immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid. The group of countries also noted that the captives 'cruelly held' by Hamas continue to 'suffer terribly' and called for their immediate and unconditional release. They said in the statement that a negotiated ceasefire offers 'the best hope of bringing [the captives] home and ending the agony of their families'. Demographic change, settler violence: What else did the countries say? The countries criticised Israel's plan to establish a concentration zone – Israel's vision of relocating the entire Palestinian population into a fenced, heavily controlled zone built on the ruins of Rafah – as 'completely unacceptable'. 'Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law,' the joint statement said. The group of countries also marked its opposition to 'any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories' and noted that the E1 settlement plan announced would divide a Palestinian state in two, 'marking a flagrant breach of international law and critically [undermining] the two-state solution'. They also called out that the 'settlement building across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has accelerated while settler violence against Palestinians has soared. This must stop.' Which countries signed the joint statement? The joint statement was signed by the foreign ministers of a total of 28 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. These governments, many of them allies of Israel, issued some of their strongest language yet, condemning the obstruction of aid in the occupied Palestinian territory. Which of those countries recognise Palestine? Out of these 28 countries from the joint statement, nine recognise the State of Palestine as a sovereign state. Cyprus, Malta, and Poland recognised Palestine shortly after the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988. Iceland followed in 2011, and Sweden in 2014. Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain recognised Palestine in 2024. How did Israel respond? Oren Marmorstein, a spokesperson for the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote on X that Israel rejects the joint statement published by the group of countries, 'as it is disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas'. Israel further claimed that instead of agreeing to a ceasefire, 'Hamas is busy running a campaign to spread lies about Israel' and deliberately acting to increase friction and harm to civilians who come to receive humanitarian aid. The statement further said there is a 'concrete proposal for a ceasefire deal' and Hamas 'stubbornly refuses to accept it'. What does Hamas say about the ceasefire? The spokesperson of the military wing of Hamas said Israel was the one that rejected a ceasefire agreement to release all captives held in Gaza. Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obeida said in a prerecorded video, released on Friday, that the group had in recent months offered a 'comprehensive deal' that would release all captives at once – but it was rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right ministers. 'It has become clear to us that the government of the criminal Netanyahu has no real interest in the captives because they are soldiers,' he said, adding that Hamas favours a deal that guarantees an end to the war, a withdrawal of Israeli forces, and entry of humanitarian aid for besieged Palestinians. Hamas is still holding 50 people in Gaza, about 20 of whom are believed to be alive. What is Israel blocking from entering Gaza, claiming that Hamas can use it? Israel continues to block the entry of essential humanitarian supplies into Gaza, claiming that Hamas could divert or repurpose them for military use. Among the items withheld are: Baby formula, food, water filters, and medicines. Medicine and medical supplies face blocks as part of Israel's 'dual-use' restrictions, where items like painkillers and dialysis equipment are held back, ostensibly for possible Hamas exploitation in military contexts. Other medical equipment, such as oxygen cylinders, anaesthetics, and cancer medications, has been restricted. Israeli authorities argue that some items, like certain chemicals or electronics, could have dual-use potential. Aid groups report that the blanket denial of crucial medical items is pushing Gaza's health system towards total collapse, and say that these restrictions are collective punishment and violations of international humanitarian law.
