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Amnesty International Says Trump Setting ‘Dangerous Precedent’

U.S. President Donald Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump

Amnesty International has taken aim at U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders the global watchdog says are abandoning human rights, accusing them of setting a "dangerous precedent" for other governments to follow.

In an annual report released on February 22, Amnesty International Secretary-General Salil Shetty warns that in the current political climate "it is abundantly clear that none of us can take our human rights for granted."

"The specters of hatred and fear now loom large in world affairs, and we have few governments standing up for human rights in these disturbing times," Shetty says.

"Instead, leaders such as al-Sisi, Duterte, Maduro, Putin, Trump and Xi are callously undermining the rights of millions," he says, referring to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"Last year our world was immersed in crises, with prominent leaders offering us a nightmarish vision of a society blinded by hatred and fear," Shetty continues. "This emboldened those who promote bigotry, but it inspired far more people to campaign for a more hopeful future."

The report, titled The State Of The World's Human Rights, singles out Trump's controversial travel ban to the United States that targets people from six predominantly Muslim countries.

The travel ban -- a revised version of a plan Trump introduced early in his term -- severely restricts the ability of people from Iran, Chad, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen to enter the United States.

"The transparently hateful move by the U.S. government in January [2017] to ban entry to people from several Muslim-majority countries set the scene for a year in which leaders took the politics of hate to its most dangerous conclusion," Shetty says.

Amnesty's report includes a survey of 159 countries and territories in an exercise to show how people have been suffering from conflict, displacement, discrimination, or repression.

Signs of regression cited in the report also include restrictions on the right to protest in France and attempts to roll back women’s rights from the United States to Russia and Poland.

The annual report also says that the "feeble response" to crimes against humanity and war crimes from Burma to Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen underscore the lack of leadership on human rights.

"We saw the ultimate consequence of a society encouraged to hate, scapegoat, and fear minorities laid bare in the horrific military campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya people in Myanmar," Shetty says, using another name for Burma.

In addition to the negative effects, the report also says that regressive policies have "inspired" many people to join long-standing struggles, with human rights activists helping to secure many “victories” across the globe.

These include lifting the total abortion ban in Chile, achieving a step toward marriage equality in Taiwan, and securing a landmark victory against forced evictions in Abuja, Nigeria.

"Defenders of human rights around the world can look to the people of the United States to stand with them, even where the U.S. government has failed," says Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA.

"As President Trump takes actions that violate human rights at home and abroad, activists from across the country remind us that the fight for universal human rights has always been waged and won by people in their communities," she adds.

Amnesty also says that the rise of "the willingness of prominent leaders to tout fake news" has increased the importance of the role of free speech in the battle for human rights.

Central Asia

The space for civil society continued to shrink across the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, and a discourse hostile to human rights remained prevalent, Amnesty says.

Human rights defenders, activists, the media and political opposition were frequently targeted by authorities. Across the region, the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of opinion and expression came under attack.

Public protests were met with a range of restrictive measures and excessive use of force by police. Governments continued to implement counterterrorism measures that disproportionately restricted people’s rights in the name of security, the report says.

Afghanistan

According to Amnesty International, widespread human rights violations and abuses resulted from the continuing conflict pitting the Taliban and other extremist groups, including Islamic State (IS), against the government.

Thousands of civilians were killed or injured in the violence, while the number of people internally displaced by conflict rose to more than 2 million. In addition, about 2.6 million Afghan refugees lived outside the country.

Violence continued against women and girls, by state and non-state actors, with a reported increase in armed groups publicly executing and lashing women.

Human rights defenders received threats from both state and non-state actors while journalists faced violence and censorship, Amnesty said.

Armenia

Amnesty says there was “limited accountability” for the “unnecessary and excessive force" authorities used to suppress largely peaceful demonstrations in Yerevan the previous year.

The trials of opposition members accused of hostage-taking and other violent crimes violated the right to a fair trial, according to Amnesty, which also said that a human rights defender faced criminal charges.

Azerbaijan

The report accuses authorities of intensifying a crackdown on the freedom of expression, particularly following what it said were revelations of large-scale political corruption.

It noted that independent news outlets were blocked and their owners arrested and critics of the government continued to face politically motivated prosecution and imprisonment following unfair trials.

Members of the LGBT community were arbitrarily arrested and ill-treated, the report says, adding that suspicious deaths in custody were still not being investigated effectively.

Belarus

Amnesty says the country’s security authorities violently cracked down on peaceful protests and returned several people who were seeking international protection to their home countries despite fears of torture and other ill-treatment.

It says heavy legislative restrictions on media, NGOs, political parties and public assembly remain in place.

It also notes that the government in Minsk continued to refuse to cooperation with the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Belarus.

Bosnia-Herzegovina

The report says minorities continued to face widespread discrimination and threats and attacks against journalists and media freedom persisted.

Meanwhile, access to justice and reparations for civilian victims of war remained limited.

Georgia

The country continues to be plagued by an impunity for human rights abuses committed by law enforcement officials, which underlines the need for an independent investigation mechanism, according to Amnesty.

A legal dispute over a pro-opposition TV channel has sparked concerns about judicial independence and media freedom, while the fencing of the de facto borders with the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia continue to have a negative impact on local residents’ economic and social rights.

Iran

The report says Iranian authorities heavily suppressed the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, as well as freedom of religion and belief, and imprisoned scores of people who voiced dissent.

In the justice system, trials were systematically unfair and torture and other ill-treatment such as floggings and amputations were widespread and committed with “impunity.”

The authorities endorsed pervasive discrimination and violence based on gender, political opinion, religious belief, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Hundreds of people were executed, some in public, and thousands remained on death row, including people who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime occurred.

Moldova

Amnesty says the government recalled a draft law on NGOs which contained undue restrictions for organizations that receive foreign funding.

The report is critical of an “unfair” trial where nine activists were convicted of attempting to organize mass disturbances in 2015 and given conditional prison sentences.

It also notes that an LGBTI Pride in the capital Chișinau was stopped by police due to alleged security concerns, while President Igor Dodon made homophobic statements and discrimination against Roma persisted.

Pakistan

Amnesty says a crackdown on freedom of expression intensified last year, with The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 being used to intimidate, harass and arbitrarily detain human rights defenders for online comments.

Enforced disappearances were widespread and impunity was prevalent.

It highlighted blasphemy-related violence that claimed the life of a student, triggering rare condemnation from the government. Meanwhile, large demonstrations in support of blasphemy laws, which were used to convict people expressing opinions online.

Journalists were attacked by unidentified assailants and minorities continued to face discrimination in the enjoyment of economic and social rights. Killings of women continued in so-called “honor” crimes, despite a 2016 law criminalizing the practice, and attempts to restrict child marriage were blocked by parliament.

Russia

Amnesty says that there were further restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly in Russia. Harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and independent NGOs continued. Cultural rights were reduced, including through reprisals and self-censorship. Religious minorities continued to face harassment and persecution.

It said the right to a fair trial was frequently violated and that torture and other ill treatment persisted with the work of independent monitoring bodies for places of detention eroding further.

“Serious” human rights violations continued in the North Caucasus and migrants and refugees were denied protection of their rights. Some forms of domestic violence were decriminalized.

LGBT people continued to face discrimination and violence. For example, it says gay men in Chechnya were targeted through a coordinated campaign of abduction, torture, and killings by the Chechen authorities.

Ukraine

An investigation into the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) for its alleged secret prisons failed to make any progress, according to the report, while law enforcement officials continued to use torture and other ill-treatment.

The Ukrainian authorities increased pressure on their critics and independent NGOs, including journalists and anticorruption activists. They launched criminal investigations and passed laws aimed at restricting the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association, among other things, Amnesty said.

The de facto authorities in the separatist-controlled territories continued to unlawfully detain and imprison their critics. In Russian-controlled Crimea, critics of the authorities faced intimidation, harassment, and criminal prosecution.

The number of attacks on LGBT events rose across the country and the government failed to adequately address sexual and domestic violence.

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Egypt Developing Alternate Plan To Rebuild Gaza Without Forcing Out Population

Youths walk amid the ruins of Gaza City during the current cease-fire.
Youths walk amid the ruins of Gaza City during the current cease-fire.

Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip that would not entail forcing Palestinians out of the territory, as Arab nations scramble to counter U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to move out residents and allow the United States to take control.

The plan, according to a report by Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram newspaper, calls for establishing “secure areas” within territory where Palestinians would initially stay while Egyptian and other international construction firms remove ruins and rebuild infrastructure.

Three safe zones would be designated within Gaza under the plan during an initial six-month period. Mobile houses and shelters would be established and humanitarian aid would flow in.

The rebuilding project – expected to last five years -- would also provide tens of thousands of jobs to Gazans, an Egyptian official told AP.

Two Egyptian officials and Arab and Western diplomats told AP that Cairo has been discussing the plan with officials in Europe, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Possible funding matters are high up on the agenda.

On February 4, Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a White House news conference that "the U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it."

Trump said Palestinians currently living there would be resettled permanently to Arab nations in the region and that the United States would lead an effort to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

More than 2.3 million people live in the Gaza Strip, although most have been displaced following 16 months of attacks by the Israeli military, which has vowed to wipe out the influence of Hamas -- the U.S.- and European Union-designated terrorist organization that ruled the territory.

Palestinians have widely said they would not leave their homeland.

Media reports have stated that Saudi Arabia is leading an urgent effort by Arab nations to develop a plan for Gaza to counter Trump's proposal. Egypt, Jordan, and the U.A.E. are reportedly involved in the effort.

Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab nations have rejected calls to take in Gaza’s population.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived in Israel on February 15 for a Middle East tour, expressed full support for Israel’s war aims in the Gaza Strip and said that “must be eradicated.”

“As long as [Hamas] stands as a force that can govern or as a force that can administer or as a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible,” Rubio said in a joint news conference with Netanyahu on February 16.

Israel and Hamas have reached a cease-fire deal that mostly ended the fighting that was triggered by the extremist group’s invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people.

But the truce remains fragile, even Hamas frees Israeli hostages in exchange for Tel Aviv’s release of imprisoned Palestinians.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Russia Reportedly Frees U.S. Prisoner As Crucial Talks In Saudi Arabia Set To Begin

A man identified as Kalob Byers Wayne, 28, was shown behind bars in Moscow this month.
A man identified as Kalob Byers Wayne, 28, was shown behind bars in Moscow this month.

On the eve of U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, Moscow has released Kalob Wayne Byers, who had been held since February 7 on drug charges, U.S. and Russian media reports say, following a series of prisoner swaps and releases by Moscow in recent weeks.

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The move disclosed late on February 17 appears to be another step aimed at reducing U.S.-Russia tensions ahead of the Saudi talks as Washington steps up diplomatic moves to end the fighting in the Ukraine war.

The New York Times quoted a Kremlin official as saying the upcoming talks are designed to improve bilateral relations, "so certain events can be viewed in this context."

The Associated Press cited representatives for Byers as saying the man was at the U.S. Embassy awaiting a flight home. The report said the move was a straight release and not a prisoner exchange. His name was also listed by some sources as Kalob Byers Wayne.

A Russian court ordered Byers, 28, to be held in custody after he was arrested at a Moscow airport on drug-smuggling charges when customs officials alleged that they found cannabis-laced marmalade in his baggage.

A court post on Telegram said he faced a charge that carries a prison sentence of up to seven years.

The arrest came days after a U.S.-Russia prisoner swap, which the White House described as a sign of a diplomatic thaw and a step toward ending the war in Ukraine.

Washington and other Western governments have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin's government of arresting citizens of Western countries on fabricated or exaggerated charges and holding them as "hostages" it can trade with the United States and other countries.

The U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia on February 18 remain controversial with America's allies who fear Washington could strike a deal with Moscow that could undermine Ukrainian and wider European security concerns.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in Abu Dhabi, where he was visiting as part of a Middle East tour, that his country would not participate in the talks.

Zelenskyy said earlier that Kyiv was not invited to the session and that, in any case, it considers negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine to serve no purpose.

"We cannot recognize any agreements about us without us," Zelenskyy told reporters in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

"And we will not recognize such agreements," added Zelenskyy, who traveled on to Turkey after his U.A.E. stop.

The U.S. presidential envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, told reporters that no one will force a peace deal on Zelenskyy, and that he and the people of Ukraine would make that call.

"Nobody will impose [a peace agreement] on an elected leader of a sovereign nation," Kellogg said.

Kellogg earlier caused a stir when he said Europe may not be "at the table" if the United States brokers negotiations to end Russia's war against Ukraine. He later clarified to say that, even if Europe were not "at the table," its views would be taken into account.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio -- who will lead the U.S. team in Saudi Arabia -- echoed those remarks, saying Ukraine and other European nations would be included in any meaningful negotiation sessions, if and when they take place.

U.S. President Donald Trump on February 16 also said that Zelenskyy "will be involved" in any peace negotiations, without providing specifics.

Bloomberg, citing unnamed officials, reported on February 16 that Trump wants to secure a cease-fire by Easter, which falls on April 20 this year both for Western and Orthodox churches.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Putin's foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, arrived in Riyadh late on February 17 to take part in the talks with their U.S. counterparts.

The United States will also be represented by national-security adviser Mike Waltz, and special envoy Steve Witkoff, the State Department confirmed.

Kellogg is not scheduled to attend the Saudi sessions, but Zelenskyy said the U.S. presidential envoy will visit Ukraine on February 20.

"I want him to visit the front line with me [...] We will meet [Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr] Syrskiy and maybe some brigade commanders," Zelenskyy said.

Kyiv said Zelenskyy's visit to the region was aimed at boosting economic ties and that there were no plans to meet with U.S. or Russian officials.

The Ukrainian leader is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia on February 19 for what Kyiv said were economic discussions.

Mykhaylo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Zelenskyy, said there were no plans for Ukrainian representatives to attend the U.S.-Russia talks.

Zelenskyy has said he would not engage in negotiations before meeting with allies, including European leaders, to develop a strategy.

In a sign of bipartisan support from the U.S. Senate, Jeanne Shaheen -- the leading Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- Republican Thom Tillis and Democrat Michael Bennet concluded a visit to Kyiv and other cities on February 17.

“It is more important than ever for the United States to stand firm with Ukraine," Bennet said.

With reporting by The New York Times, Reuters, and AP
Updated

Europe ‘Willing’ to Offer Ukraine Security Guarantees, But Eyes U.S. Support

French President Emmanuel Macron (center) speaks with European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron (center) speaks with European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Paris.

Following an emergency summit in Paris, European leaders expressed willingness to offer security guarantees to Ukraine, but they warned that the level of such assurances would be based on Washington’s participation in the event of a comprehensive peace agreement.

Still, many leaders underlined continued support for Kyiv after the February 17 gathering in Paris and ahead of controversial U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia on February 18.

“Ready and willing,” NATO chief Mark Rutte said on X on February 17.

"That’s my take from today’s meeting in Paris. Europe is ready and willing to step up. To lead in providing security guarantees for Ukraine. Ready and willing to invest a lot more in our security. The details will need to be decided but the commitment is clear."

An unnamed EU official told Reuters that European leaders' willingness to give security assurances was largely based on what Washington would also be prepared to provide.

"We are ready to provide security guarantees -- with modalities to be examined with each party -- depending on the level of American support," the official said.

The official added, though, that "we believe it is dangerous to conclude a cease-fire without a peace agreement at the same time."

French President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the event, said that "we seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine."

"To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians."

Simultaneously, the European Union appeared poised to approve “in the near future” a further 5 billion euros ($5.24 billion) in aid for Ukraine, according to a draft document seen by RFE/RL.

The document noted that since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, the bloc has provided Ukraine with 134.5 billion euros ($141 billion) in aid, including 48.5 billion euros ($51 billion) in military assistance.

"The European Union will provide Ukraine with military support for as long as necessary and as intensively as necessary," the draft text said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the Paris summit, briefed Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy following the gathering.

Zelenskyy posted on X that he had a “long conversation” with Macron, who relayed information on his talks with fellow European leaders and others.

“We share a common vision: Security guarantees must be robust and reliable,” Zelenskyy wrote.

“Any other decision without such guarantees -- such as a fragile cease- fire -- would only serve as another deception by Russia and a prelude to a new Russian war against Ukraine or other European nations.”

A White House official said Macron had spoken to U.S. President Donald Trump, with the “friendly” call lasting 30 minutes and touching on the war, the Paris meeting, and upcoming talks in Saudi Arabia -- which will not include European or Ukrainian representatives.

Announcement of the Saudi talks have roiled U.S.-Europe relations amid concern that Washington could strike a deal with Moscow counter to Ukrainian and European security interests.

U.S. officials have attempted to ease those concerns, saying Ukraine and Europe will play a role in any final peace deal.

The idea of sending European peacekeepers to Ukraine following a truce moved to the forefront following remarks by British Prime Minister Kier Starmer.

Speaking to reporters in Paris on February 17, Starmer said he was "prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others, if there is a lasting peace agreement."'

He cautioned that it was still too early to be specific: "We are at early stages of discussions; they haven't started yet."

However, he added that "there must be a U.S. backstop, because a U.S. security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again."

Starmer joined the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, the European Commission, the European Council, and NATO in the French capital to discuss Ukraine's security.

Following the meeting, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said discussions over sending peacekeepers was "completely premature" and "highly inappropriate" while the war is ongoing.

Scholz added that, in his view, there should be no division between Europe and the United States on responsibility for Ukraine's security.

"NATO is based on the fact that we always act together and share the risk, thereby ensuring our security. This must not be called into question," said Scholz, who added that there could be no peace agreement without Kyiv's consent.

Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a meeting of Ukraine's military allies in Brussels that Washington would not deploy troops to Ukraine in any agreed peace deal and that NATO membership is not seen by the White House as part of thesolution to the conflict.

Not all European nations are eager to provide additional assistance to Ukraine, including Hungary -- which has maintained close ties to Russia even after the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which will hit the three-year mark on February 24.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, speaking during a visit to Kazakhstan, was critical of the Paris summit, calling it a gathering of "frustrated European politicians."

He repeated accusations often made by Russian officials alleging that leaders at the summit were looking to prolong the war.

"So today, supporters of the war, anti-Trump, and frustrated European politicians are gathering in Paris to prevent a peace agreement with Ukraine," he was quoted as saying by Hungarian state media at a news conference in Astana.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and dpa


Why Is Saudi Arabia Hosting U.S.-Russia Talks? And Why Now?

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (second from right) is greeted by Saudi officials upon arriving at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on February 17.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (second from right) is greeted by Saudi officials upon arriving at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on February 17.

Saudi Arabia is hosting one of the most important diplomatic meetings between Russia and the United States in years.

On February 18, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh.

The meeting will aim to restore the fraught ties between the two countries. It will focus on ending the war in Ukraine, where Washington has led its European allies in helping Kyiv against a Russian invasion that began three years ago.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (left) meets Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in Riyadh in September.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (left) meets Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in Riyadh in September.

Experts see the talks as a sign that Saudi Arabia is seeking to assume a central role in international diplomacy while deepening its ties with longtime ally Washington.

The discussions will be an opportunity for the oil-rich Arab nation to assert its political clout after it rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate Gaza’s residents while resisting any normalization of relations with Israel.

Reviving Ties

“Riyadh wanted to have a bigger diplomatic footprint,” said Amin Tarzi, an adjunct professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California’s Washington, D.C. Program.

He says that Riyadh is seeking to “revive the relationship” that Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman built with U.S. President Donald Trump during his first administration.

In May 2017, Trump made his first foreign visit to Saudi Arabia.

“Both Riyadh and Washington would like to expand relations under the current U.S. administration,” said Tarzi.

In 2018, Riyadh was diplomatically isolated after its ties soured with Washington following the gruesome murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. He was a Saudi citizen and was killed inside his country’s consulate in Istanbul.

U.S. President Donald Trump (right) meets with Crown Prince bin Salman at the Oval Office in 2018.
U.S. President Donald Trump (right) meets with Crown Prince bin Salman at the Oval Office in 2018.

Saudi Arabia, the richest and most powerful Arab nation, has been diplomatically overshadowed by its smaller Gulf neighbors, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.).

Qatar has been central to the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

The gas-rich country has been assisting Washington in its efforts to resolve intractable issues. Since 2013, it has hosted an office of the Afghan Taliban, which helped the first Trump administration to conclude a peace agreement with the Islamist militant group in February 2020.

To underscore the U.A.E.’s diplomatic clout, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy toured its capital, Abu Dhabi, on February 17 before traveling to Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Zelenskyy has opposed direct negotiations between Russia and the United States on Ukraine, saying Kyiv will not “recognize any agreements about us without us.”

“These U.S.-Russia talks are an opportunity for Riyadh to showcase that it is a diplomatic powerhouse,” Tarzi said.

Matthew Robinson, the director of the Euro-Gulf Information Center, a think tank in Rome, agrees.

He sees it as part of Riyadh’s effort “to be a key global player in resolving major geopolitical problems.”

Gaza Plans

Robinson also sees Riyadh quietly attempting to offset any fallout from rejecting Trump’s plan to take over the Gaza Strip.

On February 4, the U.S. president said Washington would take over the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave after its population is resettled elsewhere to rebuild and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

“The policy dispute will not sour the larger strategic relationship between Riyadh and the Trump administration,” Robinson said.

He said that Riyadh and Washington's longstanding ties are based on mutual security interests in the region, economic cooperation, and defense partnerships.

Robinson added that ongoing discussions between Riyadh and Washington over the future of Gaza demonstrate that “while allies might disagree on particular policy issues, their broader strategic goals can both enable and fortify bilateral relations.”

Despite U.S. encouragement, Riyadh has refused to normalize ties with Israel before an independent Palestinian state is established. Under the Abraham Accords, the U.A.E. and Bahrain established diplomatic relations with Israel in September 2020 during the first Trump administration.

Tarzi says that, by hosting the talks between Washington and Moscow, Riyadh will preserve all other aspects of its relationship with the United States “and add a peace-building opportunity under its auspices.”

Later this week, Riyadh is hosting a meeting of Arab leaders which is expected to to formulate a response to Trump's Gaza plan.

Ukraine Preparing For Elections, Claims Zelenskyy's Predecessor Poroshenko

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (file photo)
Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (file photo)

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has claimed that Ukrainian authorities are planning to hold presidential elections by the end of this year.

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"Write it down -- October 26 this year," Poroshenko said in an interview published by the Ukrainian news site Censor.net on February 16.

Poroshenko, who currently heads one of the leading opposition parties in Ukraine, claims that the country's state printing service is now calculating the number of ballots needed to hold the elections.

He said he got this information from anonymous insiders in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office who were also quoted by local media outlets.

"According to our sources, the [Ukrainian] Election Commission is starting to make changes in the voter register. [...] This is solely for the purpose of preparing for elections," he said.

However, the parliamentary leader of Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party, denied Poroshenko’s claim.

“During martial law, elections are impossible to hold [...] The leaders of all parties have agreed that elections will not be held until at least six months after the end of martial law,” Davyd Arakhamia said in a statement on Telegram.

Zelenskyy's five-year term in office was supposed to end last year on May 20.

A presidential election was to have taken place in March or April 2024, but was postponed because the country is still under martial law. Under the Ukrainian Constitution, Zelenskyy must continue to perform his duties until a new head of state is elected.

Ukraine has been under martial law since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. It has been extended in 90-day intervals 14 times by parliament, with the most recent extension running until May 9.

Poroshenko's claim on February 16 regarding election preparations came days after Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said that Kyiv had imposed sanctions on the ex-president, including an asset freeze and a ban on withdrawing capital from the country.

"Anyone who has undermined Ukraine's national security and helped Russia must be held accountable," Zelenskyy said on Telegram on February 13, the day after the sanctions were imposed.

Poroshenko slammed the move, calling it “unconstitutional” and “politically motivated.”

"The sanctions imposed against me as the leader of the opposition and the fifth president carry absolutely illegal restrictions," he said on February 13.

One of Ukraine's richest men, who primarily made his fortune building a confectionery empire after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Poroshenko served as president from 2014 to 2019, when he lost out to Zelenskyy in his bid for a second term.

Seen as a possible candidate in any future Ukrainian presidential contest, Poroshenko had previously rejected the idea of holding elections while the country is at war, saying in a visit to Paris last month that the only “winner” of such a vote would be Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Poroshenko said Putin would use propaganda and a “fifth column” to undermine Ukraine during any election campaign.

In an interview with Reuters last week, U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy for Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said Washington wants Kyiv to hold elections, possibly by the end of this year.

When asked about that possibility, Zelenskyy told The Guardian newspaper that Ukrainians were alarmed by such statements.

"It is very important for Kellogg to come to Ukraine. Then he would understand the people and all our circumstances,” Zelenskyy said.

Many analysts and politicians have cited concerns over security, displaced voters, and infrastructure as major impediments to Ukraine holding any type of legitimate election under the current circumstances.

Kellogg is expected to visit Ukraine on February 20, Zelenskyy said at a virtual press conference with Ukrainian reporters on February 17.

Updated

Ukraine Won't 'Recognize' U.S.-Russia Talks In Saudi Arabia, Zelenskyy Says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is greeted upon arrival in Turkey in photo released by Zelenskyy's office.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is greeted upon arrival in Turkey in photo released by Zelenskyy's office.

Ukraine will not participate in the upcoming talks between U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in Abu Dhabi, where he was visiting as part of a Middle East tour, which also includes Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Zelenskyy on February 17 said Ukraine was unaware of the U.S.-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia and considers any negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine to serve no purpose.

"We cannot recognize any agreements about us without us," Zelenskyy told reporters in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

"And we will not recognize such agreements," added Zelenskyy, who traveled on to Turkey after his U.A.E. stop.

Meanwhile, the U.S. presidential envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, told reporters that no one will force a peace deal on Zelenskyy, and that he and the people of Ukraine would make that call.

"Nobody will impose [a peace agreement] on an elected leader of a sovereign nation," Kellogg said.

He earlier caused a stir when he said Europe may not be "at the table" if the United States brokers negotiations to end Russia's war against Ukraine. He later clarified to say that even if Europe were not "at the table," its views would be taken into account.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed those remarks, saying Ukraine and other European nations would be included in any meaningful negotiation sessions, if and when they take place.

"Ultimately, it will reach a point -- if it's real negotiations, and we're not there yet -- but if that were to happen, Ukraine will have to be involved because they're the ones that were invaded, and the Europeans will have to be involved because they have sanctions on [President Vladimir] Putin and Russia as well," Rubio said.

"We're just not there yet."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Putin's foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, arrived in Riyadh late on February 17, set to take part in bilateral talks with their U.S. counterparts in Saudi Arabia on February 18.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the meeting will focus on restoring relations between Moscow and Washington, while Ushakov told Russian state TV that the delegation would be approaching the talks with a "businesslike" attitude.

Upon arrival, Ushakov said that "the main thing is to achieve a real normalization of relations between us and Washington."

The United States will be represented by Rubio, who is already in Riyadh, national security-adviser Mike Waltz, and special envoy Steve Witkoff, the State Department confirmed.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow with his Serbian counterpart ahead of the Saudi talks, Lavrov claimed that Europe had already had several chances to be involved in a settlement on Ukraine but that he didn't know how European politicians could contribute given that they want the war to continue.

While there are different views on Ukraine among European politicians, most agree that they want "a just and lasting peace" to be settled with Ukraine at the table.

U.S. President Donald Trump on February 16 insisted that Zelenskyy "will be involved" in any peace negotiations to end the Russian war, while he also stated that he could meet "very soon" with Putin. Trump did not specify details.

Bloomberg, citing unnamed officials, reported on February 16 that Trump wants to secure a cease-fire by Easter, which falls on April 20 this year both for Western and Orthodox churches.

Trump told reporters his team has had "long and hard" talks with Russian officials and that Witkoff had spoken with Putin for three hours recently.

Kellogg is expected to visit Ukraine on February 20, Zelenskyy said at a virtual press conference with Ukrainian reporters.

"I want him to visit the front line with me [...] We will meet [Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr] Syrskiy and maybe some brigade commanders," Zelenskyy said.

Kyiv said Zelenskyy's visit to the region was aimed at boosting economic ties and that there were no plans to meet with U.S. or Russian officials.

Zelenskyy late on February 17 said he had arrived in Turkey for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkish presidential spokesman Fahrettin Altun said Zelenskyy will meet with Erdogan on February 18 to discuss "regional and global" issues.

Zelenskyy is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia on February 19, although specific details were not disclosed.

Mykhaylo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Zelenskyy, said that "there are no negotiators who will represent Ukraine in Saudi Arabia" in peace talks.

"Today, there is nothing on the negotiating table that could be discussed. Russia is not ready for negotiations," he told Ukrainian TV.

Zelenskyy has said he would not engage in negotiations before meeting with allies, including European leaders, to develop a strategy.

"I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine, never," Zelenskyy told NBC's Kristen Welker on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.


U.S. Official Hints At Ukraine Talks That Could Exclude European Countries
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In a sign of bipartisan support from the U.S. Senate, Jeanne Shaheen -- the leading Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- Republican Thom Tillis and Democrat Michael Bennet concluded a visit to Kyiv and other cities on February 17.

“It is more important than ever for the United States to stand firm with Ukraine," Bennet said.

“As the Ukrainian people continue their brave fight against Vladimir Putin’s aggression, we must keep supporting their fight – for the sake of Ukraine and democracy everywhere.”

With reporting by Reuters and AP

During Israel Visit, Rubio Says Hamas 'Must Be Eradicated' In Gaza

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed full support for Israel’s war aims in the Gaza Strip and said Hamas -- deemed a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union -- “must be eradicated.”

“As long as [Hamas] stands as a force that can govern or as a force that can administer or as a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible,” Rubio said in a joint news conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 16.

"It must be eradicated,” he said of the extremist group that controlled Gaza before Israel military’s 16-month campaign eliminated much of its leadership.

Rubio said Gaza cannot be allowed to remain as a military or government force.

Rubio and Netanyahu later reiterated that Iran will not be allowed to develop or possess nuclear weapons and accused Tehran of fomenting instability the region.

The top U.S. diplomat will also visit the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and Saudi Arabia, where he’s likely to face pushback to President Donald Trump’s proposal to move the Palestinian population out of Gaza and redevelop it under U.S. ownership.

On February 4, Trump told Netanyahu at a White House news conference that "the U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it." He said Palestinians currently living there would be moved to Arab nations in the Middle East.

Netanyahu has welcomed Trump’s plan and said he and the U.S. president have a “common goal” in Gaza.

Media reports have stated that Saudi Arabia is leading an urgent effort by Arab nations to develop a plan for Gaza to counter Trump's proposal. Egypt, Jordan, and the U.A.E. are reportedly involved in the effort.

Israel and Hamas have reached a cease-fire deal that mostly ended the fighting that was triggered by the extremist group’s invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people.

But the truce remains fragile, even Hamas frees Israeli hostages in exchange for Tel Aviv’s release of imprisoned Palestinians.

On February 16, Israel said it carried out an air strike on people who approached troops in southern Gaza. Hamas said the strike killed three police officers who were securing entry of aid trucks near the Rafah crossing at the Egyptian border. The reports could not be verified.

Netanyahu and Trump have threatened to restart the war if Hamas doesn't release the last of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas during the invasion.

Why Trump's Gaza Proposal Is Stirring Global Controversy
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Under the terms of the cease-fire deal brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, the first phase was to last 42 days, to be followed by another round of negotiations to start on February 3.

Those talks were delayed, but officials have said the second round is expected to begin soon.

In the second phase, Hamas would free remaining hostages in exchange for the release of additional Palestinian prisoners, leading to a lasting truce, and the withdrawal Israel’s troops from the Strip.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, told Fox News that “phase two is absolutely going to begin” soon at an undisclosed location.

He said he had "very productive" calls with Netanyahu, Qatari Prime Minister Muhammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad.

Netanyahu's office said his security Cabinet would meet on February 17 to discuss the second phase.

Rubio and Witkoff are expected to meet with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss the war in Ukraine.

With reporting by Reuters and AP
Updated

Britain To 'Consider' Troops In Ukraine If Peace Agreed, But Wants 'U.S. Backstop'

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer (right) with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (file photo).
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer (right) with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (file photo).

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he is prepared to consider deploying British forces in Ukraine to help enforce any peace agreement, but only under certain conditions.

Speaking to reporters in Paris on February 17, Starmer said he was "prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others, if there is a lasting peace agreement."

However, he added that "there must be a U.S. backstop, because a U.S. security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again."

Starmer made his remarks after joining the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, the European Commission, the European Council, and NATO in the French capital to discuss Ukraine's security amid growing concern that Washington could strike a deal with Russia counter to European security interests.

When asked about how many troops the United Kingdom was prepared to send to Ukraine for peacekeeping, Starmer had no direct answer.

"We are at early stages of discussions; they haven't started yet," he said.

Following the Paris meeting, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized idea of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, saying the debate was "completely premature" and "highly inappropriate" while the war is ongoing.

Earlier in the day, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also said his country was not planning to send its troops to Ukraine to ensure security but will continue to provide financial and military aid.

Scholz added that, in his view, there should be no division between Europe and the United States on responsibility for Ukraine's security.

"NATO is based on the fact that we always act together and share the risk, thereby ensuring our security. This must not be called into question," Scholz said.

EU Leaders Hold Emergency Meeting On Ukraine Ahead Of U.S.-Russia Talks
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Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, told a meeting of Ukraine's military allies at NATO headquarters in Brussels that Washington would not deploy troops to Ukraine in any agreed peace deal and that NATO membership is not seen by the White House as part of the solution to the conflict.

Ahead of the talks in Paris, Starmer had said in an article in The Daily Telegraph that London was "ready to play a leading role in accelerating work on security guarantees for Ukraine. This includes further support for Ukraine’s military – where the U.K. has already committed 3 billion pounds [$3.8 billion] a year until at least 2030.”

“But it also means being ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary," he added. "I do not say that lightly. I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way."

"But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine’s security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent and the security of this country," he said. "The end of this war, when it comes, cannot merely become a temporary pause before [Russian President Vladimir] Putin attacks again.”

The Telegraph also reported that an official familiar with Starmer’s thinking stated his decision to go public ahead of the Paris summit was in part due to remarks by U.S. representatives at the Munich Security Conference setting out that Europe would have to play a greater role in its own defense.

“This is the moment for us all to step up – and the U.K. will do so, because it is the right thing to do for the values and freedoms we hold dear, and because it is fundamental to our own national security,” the prime minister wrote in his article.

Starmer is expected to relay to U.S. President Donald Trump the results of the Paris discussions when the two meet, likely later this month, in Washington.

Trump is sending a team of senior U.S. officials to Saudi Arabia to discuss the war with Russian officials, although full details and the timing of those talks have not been disclosed. Ukraine says it has not been invited and will not attend those talks.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on February 16 bid to reassure Ukraine and Europe, saying that they would be part of any "real negotiations" to end the war.

With reporting by The Daily Telegraph
Updated

Zelenskyy Arrives In Middle East, But Kyiv Says Peace Talks Not On Agenda

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the Middle East as the United States prepared to hold talks in Saudi Arabia with Russia on how to end Moscow’s war with Ukraine, but Zelenskyy said Kyiv was not invited and that he had no plans to participate in those discussions.

Zelenskyy, who landed in the United Arab Emirates late on February 16, said he was on a mission to boost economic ties in the region and that he would later travel to neighboring Saudi Arabia, also to discuss business matters.

The trip comes after Zelenskyy on February 15 said Kyiv had not been invited to attend U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia and that he had no intention of engaging in negotiations before consulting with his European allies.

"We don’t have any papers, any invitations, and it's something strange for me to speak in this case, in this format, if before we don't have any negotiations between us and our strategic partners," he said during the Munich Security Conference. "

"As I remember, Russia is not our strategic partner," he added.

White House officials earlier said President Donald Trump is sending a senior team to Saudi Arabia to begin negotiations with Russia.

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy Responds To Question About Saudi Peace Talks
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Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy Responds To Question About Saudi Peace Talks
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On February 16, Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff said he would travel to Saudi Arabia along with national-security adviser Mike Waltz for talks on how to end Russia's war on Ukraine.

"Hopefully we'll make some really good progress," Witkoff told Fox News.

Speaking to CBS, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived in Israel on February 15 after traveling to the Munich conference, said the next few days would determine whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is serious about peace in Ukraine.

“The Ukrainian government delegation’s visit to Saudi Arabia began with a meeting with almost 100 local entrepreneurs. Strengthening our economic ties is strengthening our peoples, our regions, and global security,” Economics Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said from the Middle East nation.

But Mykhaylo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Zelenskyy, said that "there are no negotiators who will represent Ukraine in Saudi Arabia" in any peace talks.

"Today, there is nothing on the negotiating table that could be discussed. Russia is not ready for negotiations," he told Ukrainian TV following Zelenskyy’s comments on February 15.



Separately, European leaders are expected to gather in Paris for an emergency meeting on the war in Ukraine. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte are among those expected to attend the February 17 meeting.

The summit is in response to concerns that Washington is pursuing peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine that will sideline Europe.

Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, caused a stir when he said Europe may not be "at the table" if the United States brokers negotiations to end Russia's war against Ukraine.

Speaking at a panel in Munich on February 15, Kellogg suggested Washington is aiming to make substantial progress within weeks, saying he is operating "on Trump time."

Nevertheless, amid concerns in Kyiv and the European Union that they could be sidelined after Trump spoke to Putin this week and said Moscow and Washington would start negotiations immediately.

But Kellogg and other U.S. officials later said Ukraine and Europe would not be left out.

"You've got to bring the allies with you. Are they going to play a part? Of course they are. You can't do it at the exclusion of anyone," Kellogg said. "We want to make sure it's lasting and it's sustainable peace."

Asked whether he could assure the audience that "the Ukrainians will be at the table and the Europeans will be at the table," however, Kellogg replied, "Oh, well you just changed the whole dynamic.”

"The answer to that last question...is no," he said, apparently referring to Europe. "The answer to the earlier part of that question is yes -- of course the Ukrainians are going to be there."

Zelenskyy and EU leaders have expressed opposition to any talks that would exclude their negotiators from the process.

“I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine, never,” Zelenskyy told NBC's Kristen Welker on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned against a "quick fix" and a "dirty deal" to end the conflict, insisting no peace deal can be implemented without the involvement of Europe and Ukraine.

She added that "appeasement also always fails" and "Ukraine will continue to resist, and Europe will continue to back Ukraine."

Addressing the Munich conference, Zelenskyy called on European countries to create a common army in the face of possible U.S. disengagement and the threat from Russia.

"The time has come, the armed forces of Europe must be created," he said.

"If the Americans decided to go that way, decreasing their presence, it's not good, of course, it's very dangerous," he said, speaking in English.

On the sidelines of the Munich conference, the G7 industrialized nations reaffirmed their "unwavering support for Ukraine."

U.S. Officials In Rare Belarus Visit Seeking Deal On Political Prisoners, Sanctions

U.S. State Department official Christopher Smith (file phioto).
U.S. State Department official Christopher Smith (file phioto).

Three senior U.S. officials traveled to Belarus to negotiate the possible release of a large number of political prisoners in return for an easing of sanctions, The New York Times reported, following the release of three detainees earlier in the week.

The Times on February 15 reported that U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Christopher Smith and two other officials met in Minsk with long-time authoritarian ruler Aleksandr Lukashenko and KGB chief Ivan Tertel to discuss terms of a deal.

The exact timing of the visit and meetings -- Lukashenko's first with senior State Department officials in five years -- was not immediately clear.

The report comes after Smith and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on February 13 said that Washington had secured the release of an unidentified U.S. citizen and two political prisoners from Belarus.

"They were handed over to us, and we brought them back out through Lithuania," Smith told CNN at the time. Another U.S. official told CNN that a fourth person had been released in January as part of the same deal.

The Times report said Smith told diplomats in Vilnius that the releases could be an initial step toward a large-scale deal between Washington and Minsk in return for an easing of sanctions, many of which relate to Belarus's support for Russia's war in Ukraine and for a crackdown on dissent in the country.

Some observers said that, along with the direct benefit of securing the release of prisoners, Washington is also attempting to bring about a decrease in Moscow's influence on Minsk.

Franak Viacorka, chief of staff to exiled opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, was quoted by the Times as saying: “We are very grateful to President [Donald] Trump that he managed to move things forward.”

He added, though, that sanctions should be eased only when “Lukashenko stops repression and new arrests” and “releases all political prisoners, including top figures.”

Many of those detained were arrested amid the crackdown on protests over the 2020 presidential election that saw Lukashenko emerge with his sixth consecutive term. The opposition and Western governments said the vote was rigged.

Lukashenko, as expected, won a seventh term in the 2025 election on January 26, again amid complaints by the West and by exiled opponents of rigging and repression of potential rivals.

Lukashenko ordered a wave of pardons ahead of the election, freeing dozens of people, including many jailed on extremism charges his opponents and rights groups say were politically motivated.

Some observers said the authoritarian leader could have been seeking to signal the West that he is easing off on the persistent clampdown that the state has imposed since the 2020 election.

But the crackdown has shown little sign of abating, with frequent arrests and trials on what activists say are politically motivated charges. At least 1,253 people whom rights groups consider political prisoners remain behind bars, and the real number is believed to be higher.

Lukashenko has tied Belarus closely to Russia and has provided support for the Kremlin's war on Ukraine, including by allowing Russian forces to invade from Belarusian territory, and he says Russian nuclear weapons have been deployed in Belarus, leading to a vast series of financial sanctions against Minsk.

Still, during his 30 years in power, Lukashenko has occasionally attempted to capitalize on Belarus’s position between Russia in the east and NATO and the European Union to the west and north.

With reporting by The New York Times and dpa

U.S. Officials Heading to Saudi Arabia For Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks

Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff and national-security adviser Michael Waltz are among the officials taking part in the talks.
Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff and national-security adviser Michael Waltz are among the officials taking part in the talks.

Amid a flurry of dramatic diplomatic discussions, U.S. President Donald Trump is sending a senior team to Saudi Arabia to begin negotiations with Russia and Ukraine with an eye to ending the nearly 3-year-old war, U.S. officials told multiple media outlets.

U.S. officials on February 15 told journalists that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House national-security adviser Mike Waltz, and Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff will participate in the talks.

Keith Kellogg, Trump's envoy for Ukraine and Russia, is not expected to be at the talks, according to media reports citing U.S. officials.

A Ukrainian official told Politico the reports took Kyiv off-guard and that there were no plans, as of now, to send a delegation. The U.S. officials also told reporters that there were no plans to include representatives from other allies in the talks.

Separately, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called for a meeting of the bloc's foreign minister to discuss Ukraine in Munich on the morning of February 16, to be held on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

Reuters, meanwhile, cited four European diplomats as saying that France was looking to arrange an informal summit of EU leaders to discuss Ukraine as early as February 17. No further details were revealed.

The U.S. officials did not provide details or specifics on when the Saudi meetings would take place. Rubio arrived in Israel late on February 15 after traveling to the Munich conference.

The report comes as major discussions regarding the war -- which has cost thousands of lives and caused billions of dollars in destruction -- were taking place in Munich.

Kellogg caused a stir when he said Europe may not be "at the table" if the United States brokers negotiations to end Russia's war against Ukraine.

Speaking at a lunch panel at the conference on February 15, Kellogg suggested Washington is aiming to make substantial progress within weeks, saying he is operating "on Trump time."

Nevertheless, amid concerns in Kyiv and the European Union that they could be sidelined after Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin this week and said Moscow and Washington would start negotiations immediately, Kellogg said Ukraine and Europe would not be left out.

"You've got to bring the allies with you. Are they going to play a part? Of course they are. You can't do it at the exclusion of anyone," he said. "We want to make sure it's lasting and it's sustainable peace."

Asked whether he could assure the audience that "the Ukrainians will be at the table and the Europeans will be at the table," however, Kellogg replied, "Oh, well you just changed the whole dynamic.”

"The answer to that last question...is no," he said, apparently referring to Europe. "The answer to the earlier part of that question is yes -- of course the Ukrainians are going to be there."

U.S. State Department on February 15 said Secretary of Rubio had spoken by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier in the day.

Rubio spoke with Lavrov “as a follow up to President Donald Trump’s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week,” a short statement said.

“The secretary reaffirmed President Trump’s commitment to finding an end to the conflict in Ukraine. In addition, they discussed the opportunity to potentially work together on a number of other bilateral issues,” the statement said of Rubio, who arrived on February 15 in Israel for his first Middle East trip since taking office.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the two "agreed to maintain an open channel of communication to address long-standing issues in Russian-American relations."

"Both sides expressed a shared commitment to engaging on key international issues, including the situation in Ukraine, developments in Palestine, and the broader Middle East, as well as other regional matters," it said.

Zelenskyy and EU leaders have expressed opposition to any talks that would exclude their negotiators from the process.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas

The EU's Kallas warned against a “quick fix” and a “dirty deal” to end the conflict, insisting that no peace deal can be implemented without the involvement of Europe and Ukraine.

She added that “appeasement also always fails” and that “Ukraine will continue to resist, and Europe will continue to back Ukraine.”

Addressing the Munich conference, Zelenskyy called on European countries to create a common army in the face of possible U.S. disengagement and the threat from Russia.

"The time has come, the armed forces of Europe must be created," he said.

"If the Americans decided to go that way, decreasing their presence, it's not good, of course, it's very dangerous," he said, speaking in English.

On the sidelines of the Munich conference, the G7 industrialized nations reaffirmed their "unwavering support for Ukraine."

"The G7 members discussed Russia's devastating war in Ukraine," a joint statement read. The G7 consists of United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Italy.

"They underscored their commitment to work together to help to achieve a durable peace and a strong and prosperous Ukraine and reaffirmed the need to develop robust security guarantees to ensure the war will not begin again."

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Zelenskyy in a call that London remains committed to Ukraine being on "an irreversible path to NATO" membership.

"The prime minister reiterated the U.K.'s commitment to Ukraine being on an irreversible path to NATO, as agreed by allies at the Washington summit last year," a readout of the call released by Starmer's office said.

Starmer said he agreed that there could be no talks "about Ukraine, without Ukraine." He said Kyiv needs solid sovereignty and security guarantees, along with additional military aid.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ray Furlong in Munich, Reuters, Politico, and CNN

Rubio Arrives In Israel, Expected To Discuss Trump's Plan For Gaza

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar (left) welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio upon his arrive on February 15.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar (left) welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio upon his arrive on February 15.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel late on February 15 to begin his first Middle East tour since assuming his position as the top U.S. diplomat last month.

Rubio, who arrived Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport following his trip to Munich, is due to hold talks with Israeli officials on February 16, when he is expected to speak of President Donald Trump's controversial proposal that would have the United States “taking over” the Gaza Strip.

The Strip, home to some 2.3 million Palestinians, has been devastated by 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, which has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

Rubio is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on February 16. Netanyahu has expressed his gratitude for Trump’s "full support" for Israel's next moves in Gaza.

"Israel will now have to decide what they will do," Trump said in a social media post on February 15.

"The United States will back the decision they make!" he added.

On February 4, Trump told Netanyahu at a White House news conference that "the U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it." He said Palestinians currently living there would be moved to Arab nations in the Middle East.

Details about how the radical proposal, first made in January, would work were not clear, including under what authority the United States could take control of the Gaza Strip, or how the residents would be relocated.

The remarks angered the region’s Arab nations and has also dismayed many traditional U.S. allies elsewhere.

As Rubio arrived, Israel and Hamas completed the sixth exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners as just more than two weeks remained in the initial phase of their agreed Gaza cease-fire.

Three hostages — Argentinian-Israeli Iair Horn, 46; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, 36; and Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov, 29 — appeared to be in better condition than those released a week ago.

The 369 Palestinian prisoners were later released. Israel has committed to releasing some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

The conflict broke out when Iran-backed Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages to Gaza.

The Israeli military has said 34 of those taken are now dead and an estimated 70 remain Hamas’s hands, the military has said.

Under the terms of the cease-fire deal brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, the first phase was to last 42 days, to be followed by another round of negotiations to start on February 3.

Those talks were delayed, but officials have said the second round is expected to begin early next week in Doha.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

Russia Holds American Drug-Smuggling Suspect In Custody For 30 Days

U.S. citizen Kalob Wayne Byers, detained on suspicion of drug smuggling, appears on a screen in the courthouse during a video link to a court hearing in Moscow on February 15.
U.S. citizen Kalob Wayne Byers, detained on suspicion of drug smuggling, appears on a screen in the courthouse during a video link to a court hearing in Moscow on February 15.

A Russian court has ordered an American man to be held in custody for 30 days after he was arrested at a Moscow airport on drug-smuggling charges when customs officials said they found cannabis-laced marmalade in his baggage.

The arrest of the U.S. citizen, whom a Moscow court statement identified as Kalob Wayne Byers, 28, comes days after a U.S.-Russia prisoner swap that the White House described as a sign of a diplomatic thaw and a step toward ending the war in Ukraine.

Police said the American, whom Russian media outlets reported said was detained at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on February 7 following a flight from Istanbul, was accused of smuggling a "significant amount" of drugs into Russia. A court post on Telegram said he faces a charge that carries a prison sentence of up to seven years.

Most suspects ordered held in custody are sent to pretrial jail. Custody orders can be extended repeatedly.

The United States and other Western governments have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin's government of arresting citizens of Western countries on fabricated or exaggerated charges and holding them as "hostages" it can trade with the United States and other countries.

This week, American teacher Marc Fogel, detained at a Moscow airport in 2021 with medical marijuana in his baggage, wasreleased in exchange for Aleksandr Vinnik, a confessed Russian cybercriminal.

A much larger exchange took place in August 2024, when Russia freed 16 people, including RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan. Eight Russians were returned home in that exchange, the largest prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War.

U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison on a drug smuggling charge and spent 10 months behind bars in Russia before her release in December 2022 in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Thousands Block Streets In Central Serbia As Protest Wave Continues

Students hold flags of Serbia and their university departments as they walk to a protest in Kragujevac, Serbia, on February 15.
Students hold flags of Serbia and their university departments as they walk to a protest in Kragujevac, Serbia, on February 15.

KRAGUJEVAC, Serbia -- Thousands of people protested in the Serbian city of Kragujevac on February 15, blocking central streets in the latest in a wave of student-organized demonstrations demanding government accountability for the deaths of 15 people in a canopy collapse at the railway station in Novi Sad in November.

Protesters were joined by students who traveled to Serbia's fourth-largest city on foot as residents served up refreshments to the demonstrators in what was billed as a 15-hour blockade.

The crowd held 15 minutes of silence at 11:52 a.m., the exact time of the concrete canopy collapse on November 1, which has led to what may be the biggest challenge yet to President Aleksandar Vucic's political power.

Students Lead A Blockade In Serbia's City Of Kragujevac
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Students Lead A Blockade In Serbia's City Of Kragujevac
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"We started this fight with one clear goal, which is to fulfill our demands and for the institutions to start doing their work," a philosophy student from Belgrade who came to Kragujevac by bus with fellow students who were hosted by their peers overnight told RFE/RL, declining to give her name for publication.

"The reception was phenomenal," she said.

Student protests over the deadly accident have evolved into a broader movement opposing what demonstrators say is the crumbling rule of law and systemic corruption under Vucic, the president since 2017 and prime minister for three years before that. Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest in over 200 cities and towns.

The date and 15-hour length of the protest in the central Serbian city was symbolic because February 15 is Statehood Day, which marks the adoption in 1835 of the first constitution of what was then the Principality of Serbia, a document known as the Constitution of Happiness.

The 1835 constitution included guarantees of the inviolability of the person, the right to a legal trial, the freedom of movement and residence, the inviolability of the home, and the right to choose an occupation. One of its goals was to limit the overwhelming power of the ruler, Prince Milos Obrenovic.

Later on February 15, thousands of people attended a rally held by Vucic's ruling Progressive Party held a rally in Sremska Mitrovica, a city 80 kilometers west of Belgrade, and Vucic said participants adopted a declaration on the northern province of Vojvodina.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaking at rally in Sremska Mitrovica, February 15
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaking at rally in Sremska Mitrovica, February 15

Vucic's supporters accuse student protesters of advocating the separation of Vojvodina from Serbia, but the students don't mention it in their demands.

Without providing evidence, Vucic repeated his claims that the protest movement is backed by unnamed forces seeking to overthrow the state in a "color revoloution."

"Serbia is not loved by those who organized those protests and who invested three billion euros in the destruction of Serbia," he said without elaborating on the assertion. "Their goal is to make Serbia weak."

Vucic said the protesting students should think about their future and urged them, "Go back to your classrooms."

IAEA Warns About Iran's Accelerated Uranium Production

Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (file photo)
Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (file photo)

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned that Iran continues to increase its monthly production of enriched uranium to near weapons grade and time is running out to reach an agreement to curb Iran's nuclear program.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that Tehran is increasing its monthly production of 60 percent enriched uranium by almost sevenfold.

"Iran will have about 250 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent by the time the IAEA’s next report is presented in the coming weeks," Grossi said on February 14 in an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the conference.

"It's clearly a sign that should be taken very seriously. So this is why I believe that we shouldn't be wasting more time. I hope that we can refocus on Iran," he said.

Earlier this month he called on the Trump administration and Iran to engage in dialogue to advance the nuclear talks, stressing that dialogue is "absolutely necessary" to make progress.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said last week that talks with the United States were "not smart, wise or honorable" after President Donald Trump restored his "maximum pressure" policy toward Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero to push it into a deal that would severely constrain its nuclear program.

Trump said at the time that he was “unhappy” to sign the maximum pressure order, but said he had to do it “because we have to be strong and firm.” Iran is "too close" to a nuclear weapon, he added, saying he is willing to talk with the Iranian leadership and hoped a deal could be reached.

Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian also supported Ali Khamenei's stance, claiming in a speech on the anniversary of the 1979 revolution that Trump wants to bring the revolution to its "knees."

Grossi said lack of a U.S. special representative for Iran is a hindrance.

"We are eagerly waiting for a U.S. envoy on Iran to be appointed so we can start exchanging views and seeing what the next steps will be," Grossi said. "We are in contact, but we haven't been able to have a political conversation with someone who is implementing the policies of the president."

The IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution in November ordering Iran to urgently improve cooperation with the agency and requesting a "comprehensive" report by spring aimed at pressuring Iran into fresh nuclear talks.

With reporting by Reuters
Updated

Europe May Not Be 'At The Table' For Ukraine Peace Talks, Trump's Envoy Says

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (right) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meet for talks at the Munich Security Conference on February 15.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (right) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meet for talks at the Munich Security Conference on February 15.

MUNICH -- Europe may not be "at the table" if the United States brokers negotiations to end Russia's war against Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy for Ukraine and Russia said.

Speaking at a lunch panel at the Munich Security Conference on February 15, Keith Kellogg suggested Washington is aiming to make substantial progress within weeks, saying he is operating "on Trump time."

"He'll ask you to do this job today, and he'll want to know tomorrow why isn't it solved," Kellogg said. "You got to give us a bit of breathing space and time, but when I say that, I'm not talking six months, I'm talking days and weeks."

Amid concerns in Kyiv and the European Union that they could be sidelined after Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin this week and said Russia and the United States would start negotiations immediately, Kellogg said Ukraine and Europe would not be left out.

"You've got to bring the allies with you. Are they going to play a part? Of course they are. You can't do it at the exclusion of anyone," he said. "We want to make sure it's lasting and it's sustainable peace," he added.

Asked whether he could assure the audience that "the Ukrainians will be at the table and the Europeans will be at the table," however, Kellogg replied, "Oh, well you just changed the whole dynamic."

"The answer to that last question...is no," he said, apparently referring to Europe. "The answer to the earlier part of that question is yes, of course the Ukrainians are going to be there."

"When you sit at the table...there's two protagonists" and an intermediary," Kellogg said, adding that "the fact is we’re looking at – you can have the Ukrainians and the Russians and obviously the Americans at the table."

In an interview with RFE/RL on the sidelines of the conference, Kurt Volker, Trump's envoy for Ukraine negotiations in 2017-19, said Kellogg's remarks indicated "that Ukraine will be at the table and [there is] a little bit of uncertainty about how President Trump is going to handle Europe."

Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, also said the United States is going go find that "we have to put more pressure on Putin so that he concludes he has to do a cease-fire."

"Putin has shown no desire to negotiate other than to see a capitulation” from Ukraine, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said at an evening panel at the conference.

Asked at the same panel what concessions the United States might seek from Russia, Kellogg said, "To me, there's going to have to be territorial concessions," and that Moscow could have to renounce the use of force.

U.S. Official Hints At Ukraine Talks That Could Exclude European Countries
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No specific plans for negotiations have been announced, but Bloomberg News and Politico cited sources as saying senior U.S. and Russian officials would meet in Saudi Arabia next week.

Both reports said Ukrainian officials were also expected, but Bloomberg said Zelenskyy told reporters in Munich that he was unaware of an invitation.

U.S. State Department on February 15 said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier in the day.

Rubio spoke with Lavrov “as a follow up to President Donald Trump’s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week,” a short statement said.

“The secretary reaffirmed President Trump’s commitment to finding an end to the conflict in Ukraine. In addition, they discussed the opportunity to potentially work together on a number of other bilateral issues,” the statement said of Rubio, who arrived on February 15 in Israel for the first Middle East trip since taking office.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the two "agreed to maintain an open channel of communication to address long-standing issues in Russian-American relations."

"Both sides expressed a shared commitment to engaging on key international issues, including the situation in Ukraine, developments in Palestine, and the broader Middle East, as well as other regional matters," it said.

Addressing the conference earlier in the day, Zelenskyy called on European countries to create a common army in the face of possible U.S. disengagement and a continued threat from Russia.

"The time has come, the armed forces of Europe must be created," he said.

"If the Americans decided to go that way, decreasing their presence, it's not good, of course, it's very dangerous," he said, speaking in English.

Zelenskyy’s call came at an annual conference that, this year, has been dominated by the question of Ukraine and the position of the new U.S. administration on ending the war, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives since Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.

Delegates in Munich have voiced concern over statements by senior U.S. officials this week, suggesting Washington is ready to make major concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

U.S. officials have also reiterated calls for European countries to spend more on defense and take on a bigger share of the security burden. And Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb confirmed media reports saying the United Sates had sent European countries a questionnare asking what they could contribute to security guarantees for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy suggested the new U.S. administration had a new approach not only to Ukraine, but to Europe as a whole. "The old days are over," he said, saying Washington needed Europe as a market but not necessarily as an ally.

The answer, he said, was collective strength.

"America needs to see where Europe is heading, and this direction of European policy shouldn't just be promising. It should make America want to stand with a strong Europe."

As Munich Security Conference Opens, Zelenskyy Refutes Talk Of Imminent Deal
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Speaking before Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was glad the United States had reaffirmed its commitments to Ukraine, adding that nothing should be agreed without Kyiv's involvement.

There could be, he said, no "dictated" solution and "no decoupling" of European and U.S. security.

Scholz added that Germany had provided four times more support than the United States for Ukraine, when measured as a percentage of GDP.

The chancellor, who faces federal elections on February 23 that opinion polls predict he will lose, also responded to comments made by U.S. Vice President JD Vance yesterday criticizing standards of democracy in Europe and the levels of migration there.

"We will not accept that people who look at Germany from the outside intervene in our democracy, in our elections," Scholz said.

Vance's speech stunned delegates at the conference, who had been expecting him to lay out details of Washington's plans for peace in Ukraine. Vance also raised eyebrows here by meeting later with Alice Weidel, the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

A meeting between Vance and Zelenskyy on February 14 ended without a deal that would give the United States access to Ukrainian critical minerals, including rare-earth elements, which Trump has indicated he is seeking in exchange for aid to Ukraine.

The following day, Zelenskyy told journalists he had rejected the version of the agreement offered by the United States, saying it lacked "security guarantees" for Kyiv and "does not protect us."

No Agreement On Rare Earths After First Rounds Of U.S.-Ukraine Talks In Munich

A handout photograph released by the Ukrainian presidential press-service
A handout photograph released by the Ukrainian presidential press-service

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to sign an agreement to grant the United States 50 percent of all future reserves of rare earth metals in Ukraine, according to news reports following a meeting between Zelenskyy and U.S. leaders at the Munich Security Conference on February 14.

Zelenskyy “politely refused" when members of the U.S. Congress proposed the agreement, the Washington Post reported.

Zelenskyy and U.S. Vice President JD Vance also discussed a critical minerals deal at the conference, but their meeting ended without an announcement.

"Our teams will continue to work on the document," Zelenskyy said on X. "We are ready to move as quickly as possible towards a real and guaranteed peace. We deeply value President [Donald] Trump’s determination, which can help stop the war and secure justice and security guarantees for Ukraine."

Trump said last week that he wants Ukraine to supply the United States with rare earth minerals as a form of payment for U.S. financial support.

"We're looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they're going to secure what we're giving them with their rare earths and other things," Trump said on February 3 at the White House, discussing how his administration intends to fulfill his campaign promise to quickly end the war in Ukraine.

Dozens of rare earth minerals are considered critical to the U.S. economy and national defense, and Ukraine has large deposits of many of them.

Zelenskyy said in February 4 that Ukraine would be “open to the fact, that all of this can be developed together, along with our partners who can help us protect our lands."

At their Munich meeting, Ukraine gave the U.S. delegation a revised agreement on rare earth metals amid concerns in Kyiv over a U.S. version that was presented to Ukraine on February 12.

The revised draft of the deal could open up its vast resources of key minerals to U.S. investment, according to Ukraine.

Two members of the Ukrainian delegation told Reuters that "some details" still needed to be worked out. It was not immediately clear what the sticking points are.

The U.S. draft version was presented by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who traveled to Kyiv earlier this week with a view to reaching an agreement in Munich.

Bessent told Fox Business Network that the Trump administration's plan to end the war would "intertwine" the Ukrainian economy with the United States and make sure that “U.S. taxpayers receive the return for the money they put in."

Meeting for 90 minutes with a bipartisan group of U.S. senators behind closed doors in Munich, Zelenskyy voiced concern about the U.S. proposal presented by Bessent, according to Reuters, quoting three sources familiar with his presentation.

He "felt he was being asked unreasonably to sign something he hadn't had a chance to read", one of the sources said on condition of anonymity. "I don't think he appreciated being given a take-it-or-leave-it thing."

Zelenskyy discussed his own proposal for a mineral deal with the United States, the source said, saying it was drafted to comply with the Ukrainian constitution.

Two other sources characterized the proposal delivered by Bessent as "one-sided,” but declined to elaborate.

Zelenskyy’s office said in a statement after the talks that Ukraine and the United States "agreed to continue their work on drafting the document on economic partnership between the two countries." The statement also repeated Ukraine's demand for "real security guarantees."

Zelenskyy said on X that also met with a delegation of members of the U.S. House of Representatives led by Representative Michael Turner (Republican-Ohio) and informed the members about the situation on the battlefield, the results of the Kursk operation, and the threats posed by North Korea's involvement in combat operations.

He stressed the need for "reliable security guarantees," adding, "It is important to achieve a guaranteed and lasting peace as soon as possible through our joint strength."

With reporting by The Washington Post and Reuters


Romanian Opposition Welcomes Vance Comments On Election Annulment

U.S. Vice President JD Vance (left) and his wife Usha Vance arrive for the 61st Munich Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on February 14.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance (left) and his wife Usha Vance arrive for the 61st Munich Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on February 14.

BUCHAREST -- Romanian opposition politicians have welcomed comments made by U.S. Vice President JD Vance in which he questioned the annulment of the country's presidential election after accusations of Russian meddling.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on February 14, Vance said that Romania canceled the election based on the "flimsy suspicions of an intelligence agency and enormous pressure from its continental neighbors."

The first round of Romania's presidential election was canceled by the Constitutional Court on December 6. According to Romanian intelligence reports, foreign actors had manipulated social-media platforms, especially TikTok, to benefit far-right, pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu.

The campaign, the intelligence reports suggested, was likely orchestrated by Russia, which has denied any interference.

As Munich Security Conference Opens, Zelenskyy Refutes Talk Of Imminent Deal
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The president of the reformist opposition Save Romania Union (USR), Elena Lasconi, who was supposed to face Georgescu in the second round of the election before it was canceled, said that Vance's comments “confirm what my colleagues and I have been saying for so long: It is vital that we explain why the elections were canceled.”

"What JD Vance is saying now shows that Romania has not explained to its external partners, nor even to its strategic partners, what happened last December," Lasconi said.

Lasconi has condemned the Constitutional Court’s decision, calling it illegal and immoral.

Deep Divisions In Romania

While Georgescu, who is critical of NATO and opposes Romanian support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion, did not comment on Vance's speech, he made several reposts on X that were excerpting or offering commentary on Vance's speech.

The annulment of the vote has exacerbated deep divisions in Romanian politics. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on February 10 said he is resigning from his position amid an effort by the opposition to have him impeached after he stayed in power following the Constitutional Court's annulment of the election.

The new presidential vote is planned for May 4, with a possible run-off vote scheduled for May 18.

Lasconi said that the country now needed to take "concrete measures to ensure that the elections in May are safe.

Regarding the planned vote, the president of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, who finished fourth in the first round, said he is confident that "the elections in Romania will resume, as is natural, starting with the second round."

In response to Vance's speech, Simion said that "we will organize in the coming period, from petitions to rallies, all the necessary, democratic, peaceful instruments, to put the Romanian people and their will first."

Simion, together with parliamentarians from AUR, filed a request on January 10 for the Constitutional Court to revise its verdict. His party has been leading protests since December against the decision.

In his speech at the Munich conference, Vance called for European politicians to have some perspective.

"You can believe it’s wrong for Russia to buy social-media advertisements to influence your elections. We certainly do. You can condemn it on the world stage, even," Vance said. "But if your democracy can be destroyed with a few hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn’t very strong to begin with."

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who supported the Constitutional Court’s decision to annul the election, posted on X that "Romania remains a defender of the democratic values that Europe shares with the USA. All RO authorities are committed to organizing free & fair elections by empowering citizens and guaranteeing the freedom to vote."

Vance Warns Europe About Free Speech And 'Unvetted' Immigration

U.S. Vice President JD Vance delivers his speech during the 61st Munich Security Conference.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance delivers his speech during the 61st Munich Security Conference on February 14.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance used his address at the Munich Security Conference to warn that free speech appears to be “in retreat” across Europe and that “unvetted” immigration represents a dire threat to the continent.

While the center of attention in the run-up to the three-day conference was the push by U.S. President Donald Trump to seek a peace deal that would end Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine, Vance zeroed in on what he portrayed as Europe’s divergence from core values.'

"The threat that I worry the most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia. It's not China, it's not any other external actor. And what I worry about is the threat from within. The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values," Vance said.

'Free Speech, I Fear, Is In Retreat'

Both Trump and Vance have been sharply critical of what they view as restrictions of free speech in Europe, in particular regarding EU regulation of social media with the stated aim of tackling hate speech and misinformation.

After Car Attack In Munich, Germans And Migrants Warn Of Political Fallout
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“In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town. And under Donald Trump’s leadership, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square,” Vance said.

"Across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat," he added.

Vance also addressed what he called Europe’s decision to open the “floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants," echoing one of the central campaigning issues that Trump ran on in his successful bid for the White House last year.

Munich Attack

His address came one day after an Afghan asylum-seeker was arrested in Munich over a car-ramming attack that left dozens wounded and appears to have had an Islamic extremist motive.

"How many times must we suffer these appalling setbacks before we change course and take our shared civilization in a new direction?" Vance said.

"Why did this happen in the first place? It's a terrible story, but it's one we've heard way too many times in Europe and, unfortunately, too many times in the United States as well,” Vance added, calling migration to Europe “out of control.”

Ahead of his speech, Vance said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that "unfortunately, the will of voters has been ignored by a lot of our European friends" on the issue of immigration.

German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told a news conference on February 14 that outsiders “may not have a full overview of the political debate" in Germany and should not be "meddling in the internal affairs of a friendly country."

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Ray Furlong in Munich, Reuters, AFP, and AP

Russian Drone Strike Damages Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Shield, Zelenskyy Says

Damage from what Ukraine says was a Russian drone strike on a protective sarcophagus at Chernobyl on February 14.
Damage from what Ukraine says was a Russian drone strike on a protective sarcophagus at Chernobyl on February 14.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian drone struck and “significantly” damaged the protective sarcophagus at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant but that radiation levels were normal after the incident.

Zelenskyy said in a statement that the concrete sarcophagus damaged in the strike covered Chernobyl's decaying reactor number four and accused Russia of “completely disregarding the consequences” of such an attack.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed the damage. "During the night of 13-14 Feb, at around 01:50, IAEA team at the Chornobyl site heard an explosion coming from the New Safe Confinement, which protects the remains of reactor 4 of the former Chornobyl NPP (New Safe Confinement ), causing a fire. They were informed that a UAV had struck the NSC roof," the nuclear watchdog posted on X.

“This is a terrorist threat to the entire world,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy said the fire at the site had been extinguished and that authorities are continuing to monitor radiation levels.

His statement comes amid a push by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to negotiate an end to the full-scale invasion that Russian President Vladimir Putin launched against Ukraine three years ago this month.

Zelenskyy said Russia “carries out such attacks against Ukrainian infrastructure and our cities every night” and accused Putin of “definitely not preparing for negotiations.

“He is preparing to continue deceiving the world,” Zelenskyy said.

'Shahed Drones'

Russia's state-run TASS news agency on February 14 cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as calling Zelenskyy's statement a "provocation" and a "fabrication" but provided no evidence for those claims.

The Ukrainian Air Force said on February 14 that Russian forces attacked Ukraine overnight with 133 Shahed drones, 73 of which were shot down.

Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine’s nuclear power facilities have been repeatedly attacked, prompting concerns from the IAEA and the international community about possible radiation leaks.

Near Chernobyl, Residents Recall Brutality Of Russian Invasion
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The sarcophagus that Zelenskyy said was hit in a Russian drone stroke covers reactor number four at Chernobyl, the site of site of the worst nuclear accident in history in April 1986.

The new confinement structure over the damaged reactor was completed in 2019 as part of a $2.2 billion international project involving 45 countries. The United Nations predicted the new shield “should make the reactor complex stable and environmentally safe for the next 100 years."

Svitlana Vodolaha, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, said on February 14 that the scale of the damage to the protective shield was not yet clear.

“For now, we can say that the open fire that broke out as a result of the attack was extinguished by rescuers,” Vodolaha said, adding that rescue teams were “working to eliminate” smoldering in one area.

In a February 14 post on X, European Union Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas accused Russia of “recklessly” attacking the Chernobyl site and said “such attacks on civilian nuclear sites are unacceptable.”

“It shows once again that Russia is not looking for peace,” Kallas wrote.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance was expected to meet Zelenskyy on February 14 at the Munich Security Conference.

Andriy Yermak, chief of Zelenskyy's office, said in a post on X that the Ukrainian side would provide its "American partners" information "about Russia's attack on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, about how they are constantly launching drones over the Chernobyl zone," and about the threats to nuclear safety that they pose.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, Current Time and RFE/RL's Russian Service

Convicted Russian Cybercriminal Returns To Russia After Release Of American

Russian Alexander Vinnik is escorted by police officers as he arrives at a courthouse in Greece in 2017. (file photo)
Russian Alexander Vinnik is escorted by police officers as he arrives at a courthouse in Greece in 2017. (file photo)

Confessed Russian cybercriminal Aleksandr Vinnik, who was released by the United States in a swap for an American citizen held by Russia for more than three years, has arrived in Moscow.

Vinnik arrived at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport late on February 13, according to Russian media reports. Vinnik's lawyer, Arkady Bukh, confirmed to TASS that Vinnik was on a flight that arrived from Turkey. Bukh said earlier that Vinnik’s flight from the United States to Moscow passed through Istanbul.

Vinnik's return was "yet another victory for Russian diplomacy and all services and agencies associated with his liberation," said Leonid Slutsky, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian parliament.

Vinnik, known as Mr. Bitcoin, was released from a California jail on February 12, according to multiple U.S. outlets citing unnamed White House officials.

Earlier that day, U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed American Marc Fogel back to the United States after 3 ½ years in a Russian prison on marijuana possession charges.

Trump hailed Fogel's release as a show of Russia's "good will in terms of the war" in Ukraine as he ramps up diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.

“We were treated very nicely by Russia, actually. I hope that's the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war," Trump said after welcoming Fogel to the White House on February 11.

Vinnik is one of the heads of the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e. He was arrested in 2017 in Greece on charges of facilitating extortion, identity theft, and drug trafficking. He was extradited to France, where he was sentenced to five years in prison for creating malware, and from there extradited to the United States in 2022.

He pleaded guilty last year to operating a digital-currency website used by cybercriminals worldwide to launder money and was scheduled to be sentenced by California Judge Susan Illston in June.

Fogel had been sentenced to 14 years in a Russian jail after being detained by Russian police in 2021 for possession of medical marijuana he says was prescribed to him after back surgery.

He is one of several Americans who have been arrested in Russia in recent years and handed long sentences on spurious charges.

The United States has referred to many of them as “hostages,” saying some appeared to have been set up by Russian law enforcement. Washington has accused the Kremlin of targeting Americans in an attempt to secure the release of important Russian citizens jailed in the West on charges of murder, hacking, and arms dealing.

Vinnik had been held by Western authorities for almost eight years. Russian cybercriminals who plead guilty in the United States rarely receive more than a 10-year sentence, an RFE/RL investigation of more than a dozen recent cases showed, implying that Vinnik might have only received a sentence of time served at his June hearing.

Can The U.S. Bring Russia And Ukraine Together At Crucial Munich Talks?

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking to the press who are traveling with him to the Munich Security Conference
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking to the press who are traveling with him to the Munich Security Conference

The Munich Security Conference that opens February 14 could be a pivotal moment in the ongoing efforts to resolve the all-out war on Ukraine that Russia launched three years ago this month.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a planned meeting in Munich between high-ranking officials from Moscow, Kyiv, and Washington scheduled to take place on the first day of the three-day conference.

“Tomorrow is the meeting in Munich. Russia is going to be there with our representatives. Ukraine is also invited,” Trump told reporters at the White House on the eve of the event.

He did not say who would represent each country in the talks but said it would be “high-ranking people from Russia, from Ukraine, and from the United States.”

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, are expected to attend the Munich conference, as is Keith Kellogg, Trump’s envoy for Russia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian media, however, quoted a spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as denying that a meeting with a Russian representative was planned.

"Talks with the Russians in Munich are not expected," the media reports quoted Dmytro Lytvyn as saying.

High Stakes

The uncertainty about the meeting reflects the intense high-stakes diplomacy that has been under way ahead of the annual conference that draws political leaders, senior military officials, and diplomats to the German city.

Trump announced on February 12 that he spoke by telephone for more than an hour with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said they agreed to begin peace talks to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.

That development elicited mixed reactions from Kyiv and its European allies. Zelenskyy has made it clear that Ukraine will not accept any agreements that do not directly involve it. “We simply cannot accept any agreements without us as an independent nation,” he said.

Kyiv fears it may be excluded from efforts to end the conflict on its own soil and pushed into a cease-fire or peace agreement that benefits Moscow and exposes Ukraine to more Russian aggression.

Spokesman Lytvyn emphasized that the Ukrainian position remains unchanged: Ukraine should first talk to the United States, while Europe should be a participant in "any serious conversation for the sake of real and lasting peace."

European leaders have also voiced concerns about the U.S. strategy, in particular that Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity may be jeopardized if the United States makes concessions to Russia.

"Any quick fix is a dirty deal," said Kaja Kallas, the European Union's foreign policy chief, warning against any agreements that could be seen as appeasement.

Reassurances

Partly in response to those concerns, Vance and Rubio had been scheduled to meet with President Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the conference, although it's not clear if that meeting is still taking place.

The U.S. defense secretary, Hegseth, said at a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels that Trump's plan to negotiate with Russia was "certainly not a betrayal" of Kyiv.

Trump also called Zelenskyy and said on February 13 that he assured the Ukrainian president that he would have a seat at the table during any peace negotiations with Russia.

Squeezing Ukraine out of the peace talks would be seen as a win in Moscow. Putin has said on numerous occasions that Russia and the United States should be the primary mediators on the issue and has attempted to discredit Zelenskyy by falsely claiming he is illegitimate.

Under discussion in any talks, in whatever formats, will be whether Ukraine should cede territory currently occupied by Russia; the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO; the potential deployment of international peacekeeping forces; and the lifting of Western sanctions against Russia.

Trump Proposes Talks With Xi And Putin On Cutting Nuclear Stockpiles

Two activists dressed up as U.S. President Trump and Russian President Putin ride two atomic bomb models during a protest in Berlin for a world without nuclear weapons. (file photo)
Two activists dressed up as U.S. President Trump and Russian President Putin ride two atomic bomb models during a protest in Berlin for a world without nuclear weapons. (file photo)

President Donald Trump said he would like to hold nuclear arms control talks with Russia and China after conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine are resolved.

The chief motivation would be to find ways to save money, Trump said on February 13 at the White House, lamenting the hundreds of billions of dollars being invested in rebuilding the U.S. nuclear deterrent.

“There’s no reason for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons, we already have so many,” Trump said. “You could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over. And here we are building new nuclear weapons, and they’re building nuclear weapons.”

The Congressional Budget Office in 2017, the first year of Trump’s first term as president, forecast that the U.S. modernization program would cost $1.3 trillion over several decades.

All three countries are “spending a lot of money" on their nuclear programs that could be spent on "things that are actually, hopefully much more productive," Trump said, speaking to reporters at the White House.

Trump said he would like hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin and get to commitments to cut their own spending on nuclear weapons.

“One of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China, President Putin of Russia. And I want to say, ‘let’s cut our military budget in half.’ And we can do that. And I think we’ll be able to.”

Trump said he would look to engage in talks with the two countries on denuclearization “once we straighten it all out" in the Middle East and Ukraine.

While the U.S. and Russia have held massive stockpiles of weapons since the Cold War, China has far fewer, but Trump predicted that it would catch up in five to six years.

The United States once had multiple nuclear arms treaties with Russia, but only one, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, remains. It caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the United States and Russia can deploy at 1,550 each and limits the number of deployed strategic delivery systems at 700. It also provides for a verification regime.

Russia warned this week that the outlook for extending the New START did not look promising. The treaty is due to run out on February 5, 2026.

Trump made a failed attempt late in his first term to negotiate limits on other categories of nuclear weapons and to add China to the treaty.

Russia has about 5,800 nuclear warheads, including retired stocks waiting to be dismantled, according to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS). The United States has 5,044 and China about 500. Some nuclear missiles carry multiple warheads.

After a steady decline since the 1980s, the global stockpile of warheads is increasing again, according to FAS. The main driver is China, which experts say seeks to boost its warheads to 1,500 by 2035.

“The bipolar nuclear order -- led by the United States and Russia -- has given way to a more volatile tripolar one,” the Center for a New American Strategy, wrote in a February 13 report.

The Kremlin launched a new, experimental ballistic missile into Ukraine last year after Washington approved Kyiv’s use of long-range weapons into Russia. It was part of nuclear saber rattling by Putin.

Putin last year widened the scope of Russia’s nuclear doctrine. It previously said Russia may use nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional attack that threatens the existence of the state.

The revised version says that Russia may use nuclear weapons in response to a conventional attack posing a “critical threat to our sovereignty,” Putin said.

It also proposed that aggression against Russia by any nonnuclear state with the participation or support of a nuclear state be considered a joint attack on Russia.

The change follows Putin’s warning to the United States and other NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons to hit Russian territory would mean that Russia and NATO would be at war.

Afghan Detained In Munich Attack Sparks Fears Among Rest Of Community

Police investigate the scene after an Afghan asylum seeker drove a car into a crowd in Munich, injuring 28 people.
Police investigate the scene after an Afghan asylum seeker drove a car into a crowd in Munich, injuring 28 people.

MUNICH, Germany -- Police in Munich arrested an Afghan asylum seeker after he rammed a car into a crowd in the German city, injuring 28 people and leaving many Afghans in the country on edge amid calls during an election campaign for tougher immigration laws.

Despite a heavy police presence in the city a day before many high-profile leaders such as U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend the Munich Security Conference, the man, identified by German media as 24-year-old Farhad N., drove his vehicle into a demonstration held by trade unionists.

"The suspect will be brought before an investigating judge tomorrow [February 14]. We are still at the crime scene with our forensic team and specialists," Munich police said.

Police said they fired one shot at the vehicle, a Mini Cooper, and arrested the man at the scene where victims, clothes and even a stroller were strewn around the street.

After Car Attack In Munich, Germans And Migrants Warn Of Political Fallout
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Munich police said authorities have "indications of an extremist motive" and that prosecutors are investigating. Several news outlets, including Der Spiegel, cited sources as saying the man is thought to have posted Islamist content online before the attack.

"Afghans living in Germany are deeply saddened and worried about their future due to this and similar incidents," Rahmatullah Ziarmaal, an Afghan journalist who lives in the city of Limburg, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.

"Many Afghans feel particularly distressed by such events, fearing that anti-immigration parties will exploit them for political gain, making life even more difficult for refugees."

Joachim Herrmann, the interior minister for the state of Bavaria, said the suspect's application for asylum had been rejected, but he hadn't been deported because of security concerns in Afghanistan.

The incident is likely to enflame already heated rhetoric as Germans prepare to vote in parliamentary elections on February 23.

Germany has the largest Afghan community in Europe with an estimated 377,000 Afghan citizens residing in the country at the end of 2022, according to the country's statistics agency.

"We have to continue with deportations...even to Afghanistan, a very difficult country," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters in Munich.

Several violent incidents involving immigrants have bolstered far-right candidates, who narrowly trail center-right conservatives.

Both have been critical of Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz, accusing him of being soft on immigration, which they blame for an increase in violent crime rates.

Yousuf Rahimi, an Afghan resident of Munich who is awaiting approval of his asylum application, told RFE/RL that many Afghans come to the country because of the open immigration policies but fail to assimilate and end up getting involved in crime and drugs.

"People like this create difficulties for Afghans like me who genuinely seek asylum, want to contribute positively to German society, and hope to build a future here," he said.

With reporting by dpa and Reuters

Two Killed In Botched Suicide Bombing Attack On Taliban Ministry

An armed Taliban soldier at a checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan. (file photo)
An armed Taliban soldier at a checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan. (file photo)

A suicide bombing attack on the Taliban-led Ministry for Urban Development office in the Afghan capital, Kabul, has killed two people and injured three more.

Taliban authorities said the attacker was one of the people killed in the February 13 attack.

“The suicide bomber was identified and eliminated at the entrance of the ministry,” said Mohammad Kamal Afghan, a spokesman for the Taliban's Urban Development Ministry.

He told journalists that the attack happened just before noon local time.

No group has immediately accepted responsibility for the attack.

But the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), an ultraradical rival of the Taliban, claimed credit for a separate attack earlier this week.

On February 11, at least eight people were killed in a suicide bank outside a bank in the northern city of Kunduz. IS-K said it targeted the Taliban government employees while they collected their salaries.

Earlier on December 11, an IS-K suicide bomber killed Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani, the Taliban’s refugee minister. Five more people were killed in the attack inside the Refugee Ministry compound in Kabul.

Haqqani, in his 60s, was the most senior Taliban figure killed by IS-K since the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

IS-K has repeatedly targeted Afghanistan's Shi’ite minority and followers of the moderate Sufi orders.

In recent years, the group has embarked on terror attacks internationally. Last year, it claimed credit for attacks in Iran and Russia. Individuals linked to the group have also been detained in the United States and Europe.

On February 10, a meeting of the UN Security Council declared the group a significant threat to global security.

“We remain concerned about IS-K's capabilities to plot and conduct attacks as well as sustain recruitment campaigns, particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” said Dorothy Shea, the interim U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

The Taliban promised security after returning to power three years ago but has not been able to stamp out attacks by the IS-K. It launched a brutal crackdown against the IS-K and claimed to have killed or detained hundreds of its members.

Afghanistan’s tiny Salafist minority, however, has complained of being on the receiving end of the Taliban clampdown on IS-K as its members were unjustly persecuted.

In 2015, the IS-K emerged as the local branch of the Islamic State, which ruled vast swathes of territories in Syria and Iraq.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi, VOA, Reuters, and AFP

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