Latest news with #Zelenskyy
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Just when the world desperately needs wise elders, its fate is in the hands of old and ruthless patriarchs
Let's attempt something delicate: talking about age without slipping into ageism. Never before in modern history have those with the fate of the world in their hands been so old. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are both 72. Narendra Modi is 74, Benjamin Netanyahu 75, Donald Trump 79, and Ali Khamenei is 86. Thanks to advances in medical science, people are able to lead longer, more active lives – but we are now also witnessing a frightening number of political leaders tightening their grip on power as they get older, often at the expense of their younger colleagues. This week, at their annual summit, the leaders of Nato – including Emmanuel Macron and Mette Frederiksen (both 47), Giorgia Meloni (48) and Pedro Sánchez (53) – were forced to swallow Trump's demand for increased military spending. The average age of Nato heads of state is 60. Germany's Friedrich Merz is 69, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is 71. All bowed to a new 5% defence spending target – an arbitrary figure, imposed without serious military reasoning or rational debate, let alone serious democratic debate at home. It was less policy, more deference to the whims of a grumpy patriarch. Nato's secretary general, Mark Rutte – himself just 58 – went so far as to call Trump 'Daddy'. That's not diplomacy. That's submission. This generational clash plays out in other arenas. Ukraine's 47-year-old president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is resisting the imperial ambitions of septuagenarian Putin. Septuagenarian Xi eyes a Taiwan led by a president seven years his junior. Netanyahu, three-quarters of a century old, is overseeing devastation in Gaza, where almost half the population is under 18. In Iran an 86 year old rules over a population with an average age of 32. Cameroon's Paul Biya, 92, has been in power since 1982 in a country where the median age is 18 and life expectancy just 62. There is no gerontocratic conspiracy at work here – no senior citizens' club bent on global domination. But there is something disturbing about a world being dismantled by the very people whose lives were defined by its postwar architecture. Khamenei was six when the second world war ended. Trump was born in 1946, the year the United Nations held its first general assembly. Netanyahu was born a year after Israel was founded. Modi was born in 1950, as India became a republic. Putin entered the world in October 1952, months before Stalin died. Xi in June 1953, just after. And Erdoğan was born in 1954, two years after Turkey joined Nato. These men are the children of the postwar world – and as they near the end of their lives, they seem determined to tear it down. It almost looks like revenge. Dylan Thomas urged us to 'Rage, rage against the dying of the light'. Rarely has the line felt so literal. Yes, the rules-based international order was always messier in practice than on paper. But at least the ideal existed. There was a shared moral framework – shaky, yes, but sincere – built on the conviction that humanity must never repeat the atrocities of the first half of the 20th century and that dialogue and diplomacy were better. That conviction has now evaporated, not least in the minds of those who should cherish it most. This is an unprecedented moment. The architects of the previous global disorder – Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao – were all in their 30s or 40s when they rose to power. A new generation built a new world, and lived with its consequences. Today, that new world is being unmade by an old generation – one that will not live to see the wreckage it leaves behind. It's easier to shout 'drill, baby, drill' when you're statistically unlikely to experience the worst of climate collapse. Après nous le déluge, as the French say. You might think that a generation so fortunate to benefit from longevity would leave behind a legacy of care, gratitude and global stewardship. Instead, we are witnessing the worst resurgence of repression, violence, genocide, ecocide and contempt for international law in decades – waged, more often than not, by ruthless septuagenarians and octogenarians who appear more interested in escaping prosecution than preserving peace. But it doesn't have to be this way. After leaving office, Nelson Mandela founded the Elders, a network of former world leaders working to promote peace, justice and human rights. Inspired by African traditions of consensus and elder wisdom, the Elders are an example of how age can bring clarity, compassion and conscience – not just clout. The problem isn't old age. It's how some have chosen to wield it. The world doesn't need more ageing strongmen clinging to power. It needs elders who are willing to let go – and guide. The kind who think about legacy not as personal glory, but as the world they leave behind. In this age of age, what we need is not domination, but wisdom. And that, in the end, is what separates a ruler from a leader. David Van Reybrouck is philosopher laureate for the Netherlands and Flanders. His books include Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World and Congo: The Epic History of a People Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Zelenskyy calls for restricting supply of AI models suitable for military use to Russia
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has emphasised the need to impose restrictions on the supply of ready-made artificial intelligence (AI) models suitable for military use; also, tools and services for training AI, including cloud-based solutions; high-performance computing equipment, as well as specialized data sets, including commercial satellite imagery to addressing the Fair Play Conference on Friday, Zelenskyy called for the creation of a new international platform for controlling the export of dual-use goods, which he stressed would not only help Ukraine defend itself against Russia but also indirectly against its "accomplices," such as the regimes in North Korea and said, "We must already be working to ensure that cutting-edge technologies - particularly in the field of artificial intelligence - are prioritised in export control policies by partner states, as AI is increasingly being integrated into weaponry. It is necessary to immediately impose restrictions on the supply to Russia of ready-made artificial intelligence models suitable for military use; also, tools and services for training AI, including cloud-based solutions; high-performance computing equipment, as well as specialised data sets, including commercial satellite imagery.""Therefore, our sanctions must be highly specific in each area and as up-to-date as possible. A new international platform for controlling the export of dual-use goods must be established, which should help us not only to defend ourselves directly against Russia, but also indirectly against its accomplices, such as the regimes in Pyongyang and Tehran. I would like to specifically acknowledge the work of everyone involved in limiting Russia's earnings from energy resources," he emphasised that Russian missiles, drones and all other military equipment on the battlefield, finances, their tech companies and communications rely on how Russia trades with the world, how Russia sells oil and other goods and imports technologies. He stated that Russia's weeapon manufacturing relies on access to modern machine said, "Russian missiles, drones, nearly all the equipment on the battlefield that is actually effective, Russian finances, their tech companies and communications - all of this depends on how Russia trades with the world, how Russia sells oil and other goods, and imports technologies, equipment, and components. Russian weapons production directly depends on access to modern machine tools. Russian missiles and drones are made up of dozens of critical components that they import from other countries through various schemes. The Russian budget is critically dependent on oil and gas revenues."Zelenskyy stressed that the Russian economy and oligarchs cannot function without financial ties to global jurisdictions. He called for ending ties with Russia as long as it continues to have conflict with said, " The Russian economy and Russian oligarchs cannot function properly without financial ties to global jurisdictions. And no less important are the personal assets of Putin's so-called 'elite' - all those murderers and their accomplices. They love money. They love their life of luxury. They hoard stolen wealth, want a good education for their children, particularly in Europe, and need proper healthcare. The longer Russia wages war, the less of the "proper" remains in Russia.""It is precisely the so-called 'Putin's elite' that understands this very well - and desperately wants the West not only to avoid introducing new sanctions, but also to ease all the existing ones. That is why our common task is clear: as long as Russia invests in this war, the entire world must remain as closed to them as possible. This is about security - ours and yours - and about basic human justice. And it is exactly what we must ensure through sanctions regimes - both ours and those of our partners," he noted that even Western countries continue to supply Russia with equipment and critical components. According to him, Ukrainian experts have already identified hundreds of types of various components found in Russian drones and missiles. He called for imposing more pressure on every action that helps Russia to maintain its further stated, "Just over the past year, deliveries of machine tools to military-industrial facilities in Russia have been recorded from at least 12 countries - including China and Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Turkiye, and the United States. There is also information about supply contracts already planned for the upcoming year, 2026. All of this must be stopped. Absolutely. Further pressure is also needed on every actor in the world who helps Russia maintain its exports, who helps it transport oil, or find ways to circumvent financial restrictions."
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Just when the world desperately needs wise elders, its fate is in the hands of old and ruthless patriarchs
Let's attempt something delicate: talking about age without slipping into ageism. Never before in modern history have those with the fate of the world in their hands been so old. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are both 72. Narendra Modi is 74, Benjamin Netanyahu 75, Donald Trump 79, and Ali Khamenei is 86. Thanks to advances in medical science, people are able to lead longer, more active lives – but we are now also witnessing a frightening number of political leaders tightening their grip on power as they get older, often at the expense of their younger colleagues. This week, at their annual summit, the leaders of Nato – including Emmanuel Macron and Mette Frederiksen (both 47), Giorgia Meloni (48) and Pedro Sánchez (53) – were forced to swallow Trump's demand for increased military spending. The average age of Nato heads of state is 60. Germany's Friedrich Merz is 69, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is 71. All bowed to a new 5% defence spending target – an arbitrary figure, imposed without serious military reasoning or rational debate, let alone serious democratic debate at home. It was less policy, more deference to the whims of a grumpy patriarch. Nato's secretary general, Mark Rutte – himself just 58 – went so far as to call Trump 'Daddy'. That's not diplomacy. That's submission. This generational clash plays out in other arenas. Ukraine's 47-year-old president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is resisting the imperial ambitions of septuagenarian Putin. Septuagenarian Xi eyes a Taiwan led by a president seven years his junior. Netanyahu, three-quarters of a century old, is overseeing devastation in Gaza, where almost half the population is under 18. In Iran an 86 year old rules over a population with an average age of 32. Cameroon's Paul Biya, 92, has been in power since 1982 in a country where the median age is 18 and life expectancy just 62. There is no gerontocratic conspiracy at work here – no senior citizens' club bent on global domination. But there is something disturbing about a world being dismantled by the very people whose lives were defined by its postwar architecture. Khamenei was six when the second world war ended. Trump was born in 1946, the year the United Nations held its first general assembly. Netanyahu was born a year after Israel was founded. Modi was born in 1950, as India became a republic. Putin entered the world in October 1952, months before Stalin died. Xi in June 1953, just after. And Erdoğan was born in 1954, two years after Turkey joined Nato. These men are the children of the postwar world – and as they near the end of their lives, they seem determined to tear it down. It almost looks like revenge. Dylan Thomas urged us to 'Rage, rage against the dying of the light'. Rarely has the line felt so literal. Yes, the rules-based international order was always messier in practice than on paper. But at least the ideal existed. There was a shared moral framework – shaky, yes, but sincere – built on the conviction that humanity must never repeat the atrocities of the first half of the 20th century and that dialogue and diplomacy were better. That conviction has now evaporated, not least in the minds of those who should cherish it most. This is an unprecedented moment. The architects of the previous global disorder – Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao – were all in their 30s or 40s when they rose to power. A new generation built a new world, and lived with its consequences. Today, that new world is being unmade by an old generation – one that will not live to see the wreckage it leaves behind. It's easier to shout 'drill, baby, drill' when you're statistically unlikely to experience the worst of climate collapse. Après nous le déluge, as the French say. You might think that a generation so fortunate to benefit from longevity would leave behind a legacy of care, gratitude and global stewardship. Instead, we are witnessing the worst resurgence of repression, violence, genocide, ecocide and contempt for international law in decades – waged, more often than not, by ruthless septuagenarians and octogenarians who appear more interested in escaping prosecution than preserving peace. But it doesn't have to be this way. After leaving office, Nelson Mandela founded the Elders, a network of former world leaders working to promote peace, justice and human rights. Inspired by African traditions of consensus and elder wisdom, the Elders are an example of how age can bring clarity, compassion and conscience – not just clout. The problem isn't old age. It's how some have chosen to wield it. The world doesn't need more ageing strongmen clinging to power. It needs elders who are willing to let go – and guide. The kind who think about legacy not as personal glory, but as the world they leave behind. In this age of age, what we need is not domination, but wisdom. And that, in the end, is what separates a ruler from a leader. David Van Reybrouck is philosopher laureate for the Netherlands and Flanders. His books include Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World and Congo: The Epic History of a People
United News of India
18 hours ago
- Politics
- United News of India
Pro-Kremlin Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk says Zelensky regime will collapse without NATO backing
Kyiv, June 27 (UNI) Ukrainian opposition politician and chairman of the Other Ukraine movement Viktor Medvedchuk chiding President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that his power will not dissipate without NATO support, the very powers for whose interests he is fighting. "Ukraine was made an anti-Russia with Western money, and now it is not fighting for its own interests, which Zelenskyy is incredibly proud of. The uncompromising stance of the drug lord in negotiations is based on the fact that he promotes not the interests of Ukraine, but the interests of NATO, and receives the support of the alliance. 'It is this support that keeps Zelenskyy in power, otherwise he will not be able to hang on," Medvedchuk said in an opinion article published by the news website, reports TASS. "The 2022 Istanbul agreements were disrupted because the collective West promised Kiev unconditional support, offering assistance on a 'whatever it takes' basis," Medvedchuk wrote. He further asserted that NATO countries have become active participants in the conflict, not merely providing support in words but engaging directly in military actions and acting as instigators. Medvedchuk further accused Zelensky of becoming NATO's champion at the cost of ruining the country, leaving hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian dead, hundreds of thousands more crippled, and millions being forced to leave their homeland and becoming refugees, reports Sputnik. On March 19, the European Commission presented its new defence strategy ReArm Europe, which directs over €800 billion ($937 billion) to strengthen the defence of the EU countries and keep supplying Ukraine with arms and munitions. The move has further been exacerbated by the US' growing frustration with the war, which has repeatedly threatened to back out of the conflict. The pro-Kremlin politician further said that the whole war was a means for NATO to justify its continued existence, as it was formed to contain the erstwhile Soviet Union, which dissolved in 1991. As such, he alleged that the bloc needed a new adversary to keep itself going. Its leadership he claimed, perceives European security as dependent on weakening Russia and dismantling it as a state. Russia has constantly chastised the Western arms supplies to Ukraine, stating that they only hinder the war's resolution, and would involve NATO countries in the crisis, which could potentially trigger a third world war. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine will be a legitimate target for the Russian military. UNI ANV GNK
Al Jazeera
20 hours ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Putin confirms he wants all of Ukraine, as Europe steps up military aid
Ukraine's European allies pledged increased levels of military aid to Ukraine this year, making up for a United States aid freeze, as Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed his ambition to absorb all of Ukraine into the Russian Federation. 'At this moment, the Europeans and the Canadians have pledged, for this year, $35bn in military support to Ukraine,' said NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte ahead of the alliance's annual summit, which took place in The Hague on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 24-25. 'Last year, it was just over $50bn for the full year. Now, before we reach half year, it is already at $35bn. And there are even others saying it's already close to $40bn,' he added. The increase in European aid partly made up for the absence of any military aid offers so far from the Trump administration. In April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered to buy the US Patriot air defence systems Ukraine needs to fend off daily missile and drone attacks. The Trump administration made its first sale of weapons to Ukraine the following month, but only of F-16 aircraft parts. At The Hague this week, Zelenskyy said he discussed those Patriot systems with Trump. At a news conference on Wednesday, Trump said: 'We're going to see if we can make some available,' referring to interceptors for existing Patriot systems in Ukraine. 'They're very hard to get. We need them too, and we've been supplying them to Israel,' he said. Russia has repeatedly made a ceasefire conditional on Ukraine's allies stopping the flow of weapons to it. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated that condition on Saturday. Days earlier, Vladimir Putin revealed that his ambition to annex all of Ukraine had not abated. 'I have said many times that the Russian and Ukrainian people are one nation, in fact. In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours,' he declared at a media conference to mark the opening of the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum on Friday, June 20. 'But you know we have an old parable, an old rule: wherever a Russian soldier steps, it is ours.' 'Wherever a Russian soldier steps, he brings only death, destruction, and devastation,' Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the next day. In a post on the Telegram messaging platform on June 21, Zelenskyy wrote that Putin had 'spoken completely openly'. 'Yes, he wants all of Ukraine,' he said. 'He is also speaking about Belarus, the Baltic states, Moldova, the Caucasus, countries like Kazakhstan.' German army planners agreed about Putin's expansionism, deeming Russia an 'existential threat' in a new strategy paper 18 months in the making, leaked to Der Spiegel news magazine last week. Moscow was preparing its military leadership and defence industries 'specifically to meet the requirements for a large-scale conflict against NATO by the end of this decade', the paper said. 'We in Germany ignored the warnings of our Baltic neighbours about Russia for too long. We have recognised this mistake,' said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday, an about-turn from his two predecessors' refusal to spend more on defence. 'There is no going back from this realisation. We cannot expect the world around us to return to calmer times in the near future,' he added. Germany, along with other European NATO allies, agreed on Wednesday to raise defence spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product by 2035. It was a sign of the increasingly common threat perception from Russia, but also a big win for Trump, who had demanded that level of spending shortly after winning re-election as US president last year. Of that, 1.5 percent is for military-related spending like dual-purpose infrastructure, emergency healthcare, cybersecurity and civic resilience. Even Trump, who has previously expressed admiration for Putin, seemed to be souring on him. 'I consider him a person that's, I think, been misguided,' he said after a moment's thought at his NATO news conference. 'I'm very surprised actually. I thought we would have had that settled easy,' referring to the conflict in Ukraine. 'Vladimir Putin really has to end that war,' he said. Putin continued his ground war during the week of the NATO summit, launching approximately 200 assaults each day, according to Ukraine's General Staff – a high average. Ukraine, itself, was fighting 695,000 Russian troops on its territory, said Zelenskyy on Saturday, with another 52,000 attempting to create a new front in Sumy, northeast Ukraine. 'This week they advanced 200 metres towards Sumy, and we pushed them back 200–400 metres,' he said, a battle description typical of the stagnation Russian troops face along the thousand-kilometre front. Terror from the air Russia continued its campaign of demoralisation among Ukrainian civilians, sending drones and missiles into Ukraine's cities. Russian drones and missiles killed 30 civilians and injured 172 in Kyiv on June 19. 'This morning I was at the scene of a Russian missile hitting a house in Kyiv,' said Zelenskyy. 'An ordinary apartment building. The missile went through all the floors to the basement. Twenty-three people were killed by just one Russian strike.' 'There was no military sense in this strike, it added absolutely nothing to Russia militarily,' he said. Overnight, Russia attacked Odesa, Kharkiv and their suburbs with more than 20 strike drones. At least 10 of the drones struck Odesa. A four-storey building engulfed in flames partly collapsed on top of rescue workers, injuring three firefighters. A drone attack on Kyiv killed at least seven people on Monday this week. 'There were 352 drones in total, and 16 missiles,' said Zelenskyy, including 'ballistics from North Korea'. A Russian drone strike on the Dnipropetrovsk region on Tuesday killed 20 people and injured nearly 300, according to the regional military administration. Ukraine focused on drone production Ukraine, too, is focused on long-range weapons production. Five of its drones attacked the Shipunov Instrument Design Bureau in Tula on June 18 and 20. Shipunov is a key developer of high-precision weapons for the Russian armed forces, said Ukraine, and the strikes damaged the plant's warehouses and administration building, causing it to halt production. 'Thousands of drones have been launched toward Moscow in recent months,' revealed Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin last week, adding that air defences had shot almost all of them down. But Ukraine is constantly improving designs and increasing production. On Monday, the United Kingdom announced that Ukraine would be providing its drone manufacturers with 'technology datasets from Ukraine's front line' to improve the design of British-made drones that would be shipped to Ukraine. 'Ukraine is the world leader in drone design and execution, with drone technology evolving, on average, every six weeks,' the announcement from Downing Street said. On the same day, Norway said it would invert that relationship, to produce surface drones in Ukraine using Norwegian technology. Zelenskyy said this Build with Ukraine programme, in which Ukraine and its allies share financing, technology and production capacity, would ultimately work for missile production in Ukraine as well. His goal is ambitious. 'We want 0.25 percent of the GDP of a particular partner state to be allocated for our defence industry for domestic production next year,' he said. Among Ukraine's projects is a domestically produced ballistic missile, the Sapsan, which can carry a 480kg warhead for a distance of 500km – enough to reach halfway to Moscow from Ukraine's front line. Asked whether the Sapsan could reach Moscow, Zelenskyy's office director, Andriy Yermak, told the UK's Times newspaper: 'Things are moving very well. I think we will be able to surprise our enemies on many occasions.' Trouble with club membership Ukraine's ambition to join NATO and the European Union, leaving Russian orbit, is what triggered this war, and Russia has said that giving up both those clubs is a condition of peace. NATO first invited Ukraine to its 2008 Summit in Bucharest. But in February, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said NATO membership for Ukraine was not a 'realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement', and a 'final' ceasefire offer from the White House on April 17 included a ban on NATO membership for Ukraine. Despite this, on Wednesday, Rutte told Reuters: 'The whole of NATO, including the United States, is totally committed to keep Ukraine in the fight.' On June 9, Rutte had told a discussion at the Chatham House think tank in London that a political commitment to Ukraine's future membership of NATO remained unchanged, even if it was not explicitly mentioned in the final communique of the NATO summit. 'The irreversible path of Ukraine into NATO is there, and it is my assumption that it is still there after the summit,' Rutte said. If that gave Ukrainians renewed hope, this was perhaps dashed by the European Union's inability last week to open new chapters in its own membership negotiations. That was because Slovakia decided to veto the move to do so in the European Council, the EU's governing body. Slovakia also blocked an 18th sanctions package the EU was set to approve this week, because it would completely cut the EU off from Russian oil and gas imports. Slovakia and Hungary have argued they need Russian energy because they are landlocked. Their leaders, Robert Fico and Viktor Orban, have been the only EU leaders to visit Moscow during the war in Ukraine. Zelenskyy has openly accused Fico of benefiting personally from energy imports from Russia. In a week of disruptive politics from Bratislava, Slovakia also intimated it could leave NATO. 'In these nonsensical times of arms buildup, when arms companies are rubbing their hands … neutrality would benefit Slovakia very much,' Fico told a media conference shown online on June 17. He pointed out that this would require parliamentary approval. Three days later, the independent Slovak newspaper Dennik N published an interview with Austria's former defence minister, Werner Fasslabend, in which he said Slovakia's departure from NATO might trigger Austria's entry into the alliance. 'If Slovakia were to withdraw from NATO, it would worsen the security situation for Austria as well. It would certainly spark a major debate about Austria's NATO membership and possible NATO accession,' Fasslabend said.
