A concert in Italy by Russian conductor Gergiev is canceled after protests
Gergiev had been invited to conduct during a summer festival at the Royal Palace of Caserta near Naples next Sunday. The regional governor, Vincenzo de Luca, had defended the invitation, saying that 'the logic of preclusion … does not help peace.''
The invitation had been widely criticized by human rights activists, Russian opposition figures and European parliamentarians.
Gergiev, who is head of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Russian state theaters, is considered close to President Vladimir Putin.
Milan's La Scala was the first theater in the West to cut off relations with Gergiev, who was engaged at the theater when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, after he failed to respond to Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala's appeal to speak out against the war.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
6 minutes ago
- Reuters
Zelenskiy speaks with Trump ahead of Putin ceasefire deadline
KYIV, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that he had had a "productive" conversation with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on ending the war, sanctions on Russia and the finalisation of a U.S.-Ukraine drone deal. Trump, who has signalled frustration with Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, has given the Russian president until August 8 to make peace in Ukraine or face tougher sanctions. "President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities," Zelenskiy wrote on X, referring to intensifying drone and missile attacks. Trump has threatened to hit Russia with new sanctions and impose 100% tariffs on countries that buy its oil, but sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters, opens new tab that Putin was unlikely to bow to the ultimatum. Zelenskiy said Ukraine was also ready to conclude a deal with the U.S. on the purchase of Ukrainian drones that would amount to "one of the strongest agreements". He had earlier said the deal was worth around $30 billion. Ukraine is increasingly seeking financing and investment from its foreign partners to bolster its burgeoning domestic arms industry. Zelenskiy said Kyiv's European partners had so far pledged to buy more than $1 billion in U.S. weapons for Ukraine as part of a new scheme.
Reuters
36 minutes ago
- Reuters
Zelenskiy spoke with Trump ahead of peace deal deadline
KYIV, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that he had had a "productive" conversation with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump that covered ending the war, sanctions on Russia and the finalisation of a U.S.-Ukraine drone deal. Trump, who has signalled frustration with Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, has given the Russian president until August 8 to make peace in Ukraine or face tougher sanctions. "President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities," Zelenskiy wrote on X, referring to intensifying drone and missile attacks. He added that Ukraine was also ready to conclude a deal with the U.S. on the production of Ukrainian drones that would amount to "one of the strongest agreements". Ukraine is increasingly seeking financing and investment from its foreign partners to bolster its burgeoning domestic arms industry.
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Russia doomsday missile launch fears grow amid warning invasion NATO states is 'realistic'
Vladimir Putin has shut the airspace where Russia carries out tests on multiple new missiles as fears grow over the use of a 'game-changing weapon' following a previous test Russian President Vladimir Putin has closed the airspace over the missile test site from which he launched his notorious new doomsday Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine last year. This week's closure happens as his former speechwriter predicts the Kremlin dictator will go to war against NATO in the Baltics. Airspace is now shut around the Kapustin Yar site when the nation carries out tests on multiple new missiles, but it is unclear if the current closure from 4 to 8 August is linked to another imminent Oreshnik launch. Putin has only used the 'game-changing weapon' once - in a 'test' launch in November 2024 against Ukrainian city Dnipro, without a live warhead. The Russians claim Oreshnik is unstoppable by current Western and Ukrainian defences. It comes after a lip reader revealed exactly what Donald Trump and Keir Starmer said to each other on the golf course. New tests are expected and Putin says Oreshnik is now 'up and running' in serial production, with the missile complex due to be supplied to his ally Belarus later this year. 'We have produced the first serial Oreshnik system,' said Putin on 1 August. 'The first serial missile. It has been delivered to the army.' An announcement on 4 August by the Russian foreign ministry that it was abandoning a moratorium on deploying medium- and short-range missiles may be linked to Oreshnik. 'The conditions for keeping the one-sided moratorium on deploying similar weapons are gone and the Russian Federation no longer feels tied to the self-imposed restrictions it agreed to before,' said the ministry. Russian ex-president Dmitry Medvedev said: 'This is a new reality all our opponents will have to reckon with. Expect further steps.' Putin claims targets would be incinerated, by Oreshnik missiles unleashing a temperature of 4,000C, almost as hot as the surface of the sun. Russian state media has said that an Oreshnik launch from Belarus could hit London in eight minutes. From its current test launch base in southern Russia, it would take around 20 minutes. Russia issued a NOTAM - notice to airmen - restricting airspace over Kapustin Yar in its southern Astrakhan region. The flight ban is due to stay in place until Friday - the day Trump's Ukraine deadline expires when the US president will likely have to respond to a Putin failure to engage with a ceasefire and peace moves. Airspace was similarly closed at Kapustin Yar in May but without an Oreshnik launch. Tests on multiple other missiles could be underway at Kapustin Yar. Separately, ex-Putin speechwriter Abbas Gallyamov said a Russian invasion of the Baltic states is now 'realistic'. He told We Can Explain media that Putin 'may tell himself that since it is not possible to solve the problem of Ukraine per se, it must be made part of a more global deal between Russia and the West. 'Or even between the Second and First Worlds. He may decide that this will allow him to avoid the feeling of defeat [in failing to grab the whole of Ukraine].' Opening this 'new front' would 'create huge problems for [Donald] Trump personally. Trump frequently says that the conflict in Ukraine was 'not my war', blaming predecessor Joe Biden for allowing it to start during his presidency. A Putin 'invasion' of the Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - could 'no longer be described as 'not my war' which 'wouldn't have happened if I were president', said Gallyamov. New Russian aggression 'would be considered a personal failure' for Trump - who he accused of appeasing Putin - 'in the same way that Hitler's attack on Poland was considered a failure of [UK premier Neville] Chamberlain, which shamefully ended his previously quite respectable career.' Gallyamov said: 'Perhaps this is precisely why Trump has suddenly hardened his position. 'He feels that Putin, under pressure from 'patriotic' expectations, will soon be ready for a new adventure, and wants to stop him before it happens. 'The American leader is trying to show his Russian counterpart that he should not underestimate him. Like, I'm determined and if necessary, I can hit.'
