World Briefing: February 16, 2025
France is discussing with its allies holding an informal summit of European leaders to discuss Ukraine, a French presidency official said on Saturday, and four European diplomats said the meeting was likely to go ahead on Monday. Speaking on a panel at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski also said that French President Emmanuel Macron had called for a summit of European leaders in Paris. "President Trump has a method of operating, which the Russians call reconnaissance through battle. You push and you see what happens, and then you change your position, legitimate tactics. And we need to respond," Sikorski said. Following pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to end the war in Ukraine, Europe's focus is shifting to what concrete role it can play in providing security guarantees for Ukraine, as well as how to strengthen Europe’s collective security. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Saturday for the creation of a European army, saying the continent could no longer be sure of protection from the United States. The four diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said discussions were continuing about who should be invited to any summit. Two of them said non-EU member Britain had been invited. The Dutch news agency reported that Prime Minister Dick Schoof would go to Paris on Monday for the summit. It was unclear whether Volodymr Zelenskiy would be invited - France 24
UK Prime Minister, Sir Kier Starmer, is expected to attend the emergency summit in Paris, calling it a “once-in-a-generation moment for our national security, BBC reported. Meanwhile, senior American officials are due to meet with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Saudi Arabia in coming days, US officials have said.
Macron’s speed in trying to unite European leaders behind a joint response shows the extent of anxiety in Europe about US efforts both to control the process and exclude European governments from any detailed negotiations between the US and Russia, The Guardian said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a phone call on Saturday and agreed on regular contacts to prepare for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, Russia's Foreign Ministry said. The phone call was held at the initiative of the U.S. side, it added. "The two sides expressed their mutual willingness to interact on pressing international issues, including the settlement around Ukraine, the situation around Palestine and in general in the Middle East and other regional directions," the ministry said in a statement. A Russian read out said the two sides discussed moving swiftly to lift restrictions on Russian diplomatic missions in the U.S. The statement also said: “They agreed to maintain regular contact, including discussions on preparations for a potential high-level Russian-American summit.”
“Judging by the rounds of applace President Zelensky received in Munich, he’s certainly learned the ingredints of the Kool-Aid the Europeans like to drink”
Russia’s spy services have a shadowy new unit taking aim at the West with covert attacks across Europe and elsewhere, Western intelligence officials say. Known as the Department of Special Tasks, it is based in the Russian military-intelligence headquarters, a sprawling glass and steel complex on the outskirts of Moscow known as the aquarium. Its operations, which haven’t been previously reported, have included attempted killings, sabotage, and a plot to put incendiary devices on planes. The department’s creation reflects Moscow’s wartime footing against the West, the officials said. It was set up in 2023 in response to Western support for Ukraine and includes veterans of some of Russia’s most daring clandestine operations in recent years, according to two European intelligence chiefs, and other U.S., European and Russian security officials - WSJ
A crush at New Delhi Railway Station has left at least 15 people dead and 10 injured. Dr Ritu Saxena, deputy medical superintendent of Lok Nayak Hospital in New Delhi, confirmed the numbers to BBC Hindi after thousands of people reportedly crammed into the railway station on Saturday evening. Reuters news agency reported that three of the dead were children, while 10 were women. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his thoughts were "with all those who have lost their loved ones" in a post on X - BBC
A 14-year-old boy died and four other people were injured in a knife attack in southern Austria on Saturday, police said, adding they have arrested a 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker. "A man randomly attacked passers-by with a knife," police spokesman Rainer Dionisio told AFP of the incident in the city of Villach. Two other men suffered serious injuries, while another two men were lightly injured, Dionisio added. The incident happened on Saturday just before 4 pm local time (1500 GMT) in the centre of the city in Carinthia province. The man under arrest is a Syrian asylum seeker with a valid residence permit and without a criminal record according to preliminary information, he added - France 24
After years of debate and technical reviews, China has given the green light to a deep-sea research facility that could redefine marine exploration, while amplifying Beijing’s geopolitical leverage in one of the world’s most resource-rich areas. The “cold seep” ecosystem research facility will be anchored 2,000 metres (6,560 feet) below the surface of the strategically significant South China Sea, which is also subject to a number of competing territorial claims. The facility – one of the deepest and most technologically complex underwater installations ever attempted – is scheduled to be operational by around 2030, with room for six scientists on missions that will last as long as a month - SCMP
The first of two vessels carrying 1,000-tons of a Chinese-made chemical that could be a key component in fuel for Iran’s military missile program has anchored outside the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on Thursday. It could be a signal that Iran’s missile production is back to business as usual after the devastating, and embarrassing, attacks by Israel on key factories last year. The ship, Golbon, left the Chinese port of Taicang three weeks ago loaded with most of a 1,000-ton shipment of sodium perchlorate, the main precursor in the production of the solid propellant that powers Iran’s mid-range conventional missiles - CNN
Canada’s envoy to Ukraine has called for the immediate release of Dmytro Shabanov and Maksym Petrov - former national staff members of the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine who’ve now been held in Russian captivity for over 1,000 days. They were wrongly sentenced to 13 years on bogus charges of high treason based on lies. “Dmytro and Maksym were denied justice. Their cases blatantly ignored their immunity and the international legal protections they deserve,” Ambassador Natalka Cmoc wrote on Facebook
Around 70 percent of people who fled Ukraine since Russia’s full scale invasion three years ago won’t return home if the conditions of their stay remain the same, says the president of the All-Ukrainian Association of International Employment Companies Vasyl Voskoboynyk. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as of February 2, 2023, 1,563,386 Ukrainians had arrived in Poland, 1,055,323 in Germany, and 486,133 in the Czech Republic. In Germany, Ukrainians can receive child support money and unemployment benefits. There, a family can live in housing provided by the German government, pay only for utilities, and receive unemployment benefits and child support. “Every day the probability that those Ukrainians who are in Germany will learn the language, find a high-paying job, and return to their homeland decreases. Especially since last year Germany significantly simplified the conditions for obtaining its citizenship: now, to apply for it, you need to live in the country for 5 years or more, not 8, as it was before. This period is even shorter for those who are engaged in public or social activities – only 3 years. Ukraine is entering its 4th year of war, and in fact, this year, among the Ukrainians who left for Germany after the start of the large-scale Russian offensive, there will be individuals who are close to obtaining German citizenship, which is the key to a secure old age.” - UNIAN
