TheNewsGuru

Tag: Ukraine

  • Turkish President Recep, UN’s Guterres travel to Ukraine to meet Zelensky

    Turkish President Recep, UN’s Guterres travel to Ukraine to meet Zelensky

    United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine on Thursday.

    Guterres arrived in Lviv on Wednesday evening, the UN said.

    The meeting, planned to take place in the western city of Lviv, will discuss efforts aimed at “ending the war between Ukraine and Russia through diplomatic channels,” among other topics, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.

    The three leaders will also discuss maintaining Ukrainian grain exports to world markets, Ankara said.

    Guterres and Erdoğan helped bring Russia and Ukraine to an agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain at the end of July, breaking a blockade on Ukrainian ports since Russia’s invasion in February.

    The UN chief is also scheduled to visit the joint coordination centre for monitoring grain exports across the Black Sea in Istanbul on Saturday.

  • WAR: UN warns Russia over attack on external facilities in Ukraine

    WAR: UN warns Russia over attack on external facilities in Ukraine

    The United Nations has warned Russia to stop attacking European facilities in Ukraine, describing its latest action as suicidal.

    Russia had sent rocket fire around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in central Ukraine.

    The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said that “any attack on nuclear power plants is a suicidal thing.”

    Addressing reporters in Tokyo, Japan, in a news bulletin shown on a Cable TV, the UN boss added, “I hope that these attacks will end.”

    He further called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to be given access to the plant.

    The Zaporizhzhia plant is Europe’s largest and occupies an extensive site on the river Dnipro.

    The nuclear power station was captured by Russian forces in early March and has continued operating at reduced capacity.

  • After Ukraine, US fishes for new war in Taiwanese waters – By Owei Lakemfa

    By Owei Lakemfa

     

    IN Nigeria, there are people who traditionally rejoice at the prospect of war. They are uncomfortable when there are no wars or new territories to conquer, plunder or destabilise. The United States establishment has this same psychological make-up. It appears allergic to peace, and as one conflict drags to a bloody close, it is instigating a new one.

    The US, since its painful birth by its surrogate British mother which it turned round to fight, has been perpetually at war. In fact, since its 1777 independence, it has been at war for 90 per cent of the time. If it is not carrying out genocide against the indigenous Indian population, then it would be at war with its Mexican neighbours, European cousins such as the Spanish, its Latin American ‘backyard’ countries or further afield with countries like Libya, Somalia, Egypt, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, France, Old Yugoslavia.

    Although with no boots on the ground, it is actively involved in the on-going wars in Yemen, Syria and Ukraine. No war is too small for it as the US, like an elephant taking on an ant, has militarily fallen on fingerlings like Grenada and Panama.

    The American psychology for conflict can be gleaned from its defence budget increases, from $714 billion in 2020, $768 the following year to its projected growth to $900 billion in 2030. Its Cow Boy gun culture has resulted in 393 million guns in private homes. Its war industry is also booming with the Lockheed Martin Corporation alone grossing $58.2 billion in 2020. The US between February and July, 2022 supplied $6.1 billion military aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia.

    Seventeen days after the last US soldier left Afghanistan, President Joe Biden on September 15, 2021 announced a new trilateral military alliance of Australia, UK and US with the acronym, AUKUS. It was in preparation for a possible conflict with China. Now, as the Russo-Ukrainian War is beginning to lose steam with Ukraine left high and dry, the US is fishing for a new war in the waters of Taiwan. This Tuesday, August 2, 2022 the fishing game began with an official visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

    This is curious because the US knows that Taiwan is not a separate state, does not recognise it as a country nor has it diplomatic relations with it having cut such ties since January 1, 1979. In fact, the world, under the United Nations, UN Resolution 2758 of October 25, 1971 delisted Taiwan as a separate country. In that resolution, the UN declared the Peoples Republic of China as “the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations”.

    Since Taiwan until then had sat in the world body as an independent country, the UN, which refused to name Taiwan by name so it does not give it any recognition, resolved to “expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-Shek (the regime occupying Taiwan) from the place which they unlawfully occupy in the United Nations and all the organisations related to it”.

    The Biden administration was quick to distance itself from the Speaker’s visit with the President saying the visit is “not a good idea”. But I do not think Pelosi, who President Donald Trump valued no more than a foot-mat, would have been allowed to engage in such a high profile and potentially risky foreign relations gambit without official state backing. The constitutional duties of the American House which are to make laws and scrutinise the work of government does not include the conduct of foreign relations. Since Pelosi is no tourist looking for exotic beaches to visit, her presence in the Chinese territory is politically motivated; it might be to deliberately heighten tension between Beijing and Washington using Taiwan as a pawn.

    China reacted angrily to Pelosi’s visit, but which serious country will not react to the violation of its territory? Would the US not shoot down any foreign aircraft that flies to the island group of Hawai without permission? Will the United Kingdom not react in a similar manner if Pelosi were to fly to Northern Ireland without official permission? Indeed when in 1995, the self-styled President of Taiwan, Lee Teng-hui, made a stopover in Hawaii en route to Latin America, the US denied him a visa and Teng-hui did not even disembark his aircraft.

    Pelosi writing in The Washington Post of August 2, 2022 said her visit is in line with the American-Taiwanese shared interests and values of “…self-determination and self-government, democracy and freedom, human dignity and human rights”. When these Pelosi claims are subjected to the reality of the American domination, repression and suppression of the Puerto Rican peoples, they are exposed as hypocritical.

    First, how do you talk about self-determination by a territory, such as Taiwan that is part of a country unless there are negotiations or constitutional provisions? Secondly, it is important to understand that until 1949, Taiwan was ruled from mainland China by the grand-parents of the same people who run Taiwan today. There was a civil war in China in which government forces were defeated, and the remnants fled the mainland to occupy Taiwan. So the peoples of China and Taiwan, are the same. In contrast, the people of Puerto Rico and America are not the same people, have no similar cultures, history or language as the former speak Spanish and the latter, English. While Americans are free to vote in the presidential elections, Puerto Ricans are denied the vote.

    Puerto Rico was never part of the US. It was a colony of Spain and when America won the 1894 Spanish-American War, it replaced Spain as the colonial master and until today, has refused to grant that country of 3,285,874 peoples, independence. The US rejected the 1914 the Puerto Rican House of Delegates’ vote for independence and jailed Puerto Ricans who agitated for independence.

    The most famous Puerto Rican jailed in the US for demanding independence is Oscar López Rivera who was set free in May, 2017 after spending 38 years in jail! Also, the US has for three decades now, rejected the United Nations Decolonisation Committee’s recognition of Puerto Rico’s right to self-determination and independence.

    It is hypocritical for Pelosi and her handlers to fly all the way to China to say it is defending Taiwan’s right to self-determination while at home, the US denies the peoples of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands even the basic right to vote. President Tsai Ing-wen vowed before Pelosi that Taiwan “… will do whatever it takes to strengthen its self-defence capabilities”. She will find out like Ukraine, that the US would not risk a single American soul to defend Taiwan.

  • Russia moves to create own international court to try Ukrainians

    Russia moves to create own international court to try Ukrainians

    Russian plans to bring more than 200 Ukrainians to trial for crimes against humanity before an international court it is in the process of creating.

    The Head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin said such a tribunal would be under the leadership of a partner organisation of Russia.

    He said Bolivia, Iran and Syria, among others, have expressed interest in participating in the tribunal.

    Bastrykin added that there are investigations against British, U.S., Canadian, Dutch, and Georgian citizens for mercenary activities.

    “They are accused of fighting on Ukraine’s side.

    “Two Britons and a Moroccan have already been sentenced to death by pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk.

    “The appeal proceedings are still ongoing.”

    Russia, however, is facing more than 1,300 criminal proceedings against some 400 people at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes committed against the civilian population in Ukraine.

    In preliminary investigations, some 220 people were convicted of crimes against humanity.

    On the ground, Russian troops made further assault attempts on the Slovyansk-Kramatorsk conurbation in the eastern Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.

    He said most attacks were repelled.

    In the south, the general staff reported heavy artillery battles and Russian air strikes in Kherson.

    The information could not be independently verified.

    The British intelligence said that in addition to its “well documented personnel problems, Russia likely continues to struggle to extract and repair the thousands of combat vehicles which have been damaged in action in Ukraine.”

  • Transfer: I’ve always been an Arsenal fan – Zinchenko

    Transfer: I’ve always been an Arsenal fan – Zinchenko

    Arsenal have completed the signing of versatile Ukraine player Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City.

    The 25-year-old flew back from City’s pre-season tour of the USA to complete the move after Arsenal agreed a £30m deal, which includes £2m in add-ons.

    He has signed a long-term contract with the London club and is their fifth signing of the summer.

    “This is a boyhood dream come true, because I was a massive fan when I was a kid,” said Zinchenko.

    “Since Thierry Henry and young Cesc Fabregas was playing here, I was just enjoying watching those games, that Arsenal. And obviously I started to love this club, so I am so excited and I cannot wait to play for this amazing club.”

    Zinchenko worked with manager Mikel Arteta when the Gunners’ boss was on the coaching team at Manchester City and says the experience played “the most important role” in his decision to move.

    “Since the first day at City I knew that he’s going to be a very good manager,” Zinchenko added.

    “I am here to achieve big things and I hope we can win some titles, and I hope we are going to fight for every title in which we are going to be involved.

    “Even from the last season, I was watching Arsenal’s games and I could smell it’s coming, you know? The team is growing up so quickly and I think it’s time. It’s time to do our best and to achieve something big.”

    Arteta added: “Alex is a high quality player who will give us options and versatility.

    “He’s a player that I personally know really well and continued to follow him after my time at Manchester City.

    “It’s not only about the positions he can play but as well, the versatility he will give us in attack and defence.

    “Alex is a person with great human qualities and character, and I’m delighted that everyone has made this huge effort to bring Alex to the club.”

  • War: Zelensky fires Ukraine’s security chief over alleged collaboration with Russia

    War: Zelensky fires Ukraine’s security chief over alleged collaboration with Russia

     President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has issued executive orders ordering the sacking of Ukraine’s prosecutor general and the head of the powerful Security Service of Ukraine (Sluzhba Bespeky Ukrayiny, or SBU) in the country.

    The orders late on Sunday dismissing SBU chief Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend of Zelenskyy, and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, who led the effort to prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine, were published on the president’s official website.

    Zelenskyy noted that he fired the top officials because he received many cases of members of their agencies collaborating with Russia amid the ongoing war.

    He said 651 treason and collaboration cases had been opened against prosecutorial and law enforcement officials, and that more than 60 officials from Bakanov and Venediktova’s agencies were now working against Ukraine in Russian-occupied territories.

    “Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state … pose very serious questions to the relevant leaders,” Zelenskyy said.

    “Each of these questions will receive a proper answer,” he said.

    Zelenskyy replaced Venediktova with her deputy Oleksiy Symonenko as the new prosecutor general in a separate executive order that was also published on the president’s site.

  • Africans have no inheritance in the House of Zelensky – By Owei Lakemfa

    Africans have no inheritance in the House of Zelensky – By Owei Lakemfa

    Africa for centuries has been entangled in European conflicts and wars in which they suffer from both sides.

    The most terrible for Africans was the Second World War for which youths, including high school kids from various parts of the continent, were conscripted and many never returned home.

    In Nigeria, it was known as the ‘Burma War’ because that was the war theatre where many of our grandfathers were forced to fight a war they knew nothing about. African resources were seized to fund that war which like the first, was essentially, an All-European War in which the rest of humanity was forced to take sides.

    In fact, three of the most famous generals produced in the Second World War made their fame fighting on African soil and devastating its rich environment. The famous ‘Battle of El-Alamein’ was fought in Egypt. That was where General Bernard Law ‘Monty’ Montgomery “The Spartan General” leading 230,000 British troops became famous. It was also where General Erwin Rommel leading the German Afrika Corps made his name as the “Desert Fox”.

    The desert, in question, is the Libyan desert. It was also where the American General George Patton, the “Old Blood and Guts” scored his first victory against the Germans. Today, 77 years later, there are strenuous efforts by Europe and her American first cousin, employing deafening propaganda, claims of human rights, threats and outright blackmail to drag Africa into another European conflict: the Russo-Ukrainian War.

    As part of these efforts, and imbued with a sense of self importance, Ukraine’s impudent President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 20, 2022 called African presidents to a virtual meeting. Despite pressures from French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, only three African presidents attended his meeting: the organiser and African Union Chair Macky Sall, who is also the President of Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara and Congo Republic President Denis Sassou N’Guesso. All three are former French colonies.

    Also, Mohammed al-Menfi, one of the claimants to the Libyan Presidency, attended. The 51 other African countries ignored the Ukrainian comedian. This emphasised Africa’s position of neutrality; preferring a peaceful resolution of the crisis rather than queuing behind one of the gladiators.

    Besides, Zelensky has not been seen as an even-handed figure. Before becoming Ukranian President on May 20, 2019, he showed himself as a divisive figure and war monger. He described the Ukrainians in Donestsk and Luhansk who had committed themselves to the 2014 and 2015 Minsk Peace Agreements as “Russian puppets” and more or less repudiated the agreements by arguing that it “makes no sense to speak to them”.

    Also, contrary to the agreement, he said the two regions will not be granted special status and he would not grant the rebels amnesty. In April 2019 he said he regarded Russian President Vladimir Putin “as an enemy”. Eighteen days before being sworn in, Zelensky declared that “the border is the only thing Russia and Ukraine have in common”. He also opposed the Nord Stream II gas pipeline project between Germany and Russia on the basis that it is “a dangerous weapon” that would enhance the Russian economy.

    Zelensky made Africans uncomfortable by reducing the rights of foreign students in Ukraine, and with the conflict breaking out in February 2022, he said any African student who leaves Ukraine “will not be welcome here once the war is over”. When the war broke out and Africans joined the droves of Ukrainians fleeing across the borders, they were discriminated against on both sides. Also, Ukraine has been illegally recruiting Africans as mercenaries to fight in its army. Already, a Moroccan, Brahim Saadoun, has been sentenced to death in the Donetsk region.

    Zelensky’s address to the four African leaders was quite uninspiring. He said: “This war may seem very distant to you and your countries. But the food prices that are catastrophically rising have already brought (the war) to the homes of millions of African families.” The truth however is that the war has not affected only African families; it has also affected millions of Asians, Latin Americans and Europeans leading to protests over rising costs in countries like Britain and Chile. Also, he told them: “The unjust level of food prices, which has been provoked by the Russian war, is being painfully felt on all continents.

    Unfortunately, this can be a particular problem for your countries.” No, it is a ‘particular’ problem for many countries across continents.

    Perhaps the most unhelpful claim by Zelensky is that: “Africa is in reality a hostage. He is a hostage of those who started the war against our state.” This is patently false; what holds Africa, and indeed the world hostage, is the refusal to employ diplomatic means, including ceasefire and negotiated agreements, to end the war. I am not sure the admonition by the AU Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat on “the urgent need for dialogue to end the conflict to allow peace to return to the region and to restore global stability”made any impression. Zelensky and his masters in Washington and Brussels are only interested in sending more arms to Ukraine, which keeps the Western war industrial complex busy and profitable, and where they can test their new  weapons.

    The West insists on continuing the war it knows that Ukraine- whose Navy and Air Force have evaporated, populace is largely displaced, economy and schools, non-functional –  cannot win. With their troops and populace out of harm’s way, the European Union and United States are mainly watching from the side lines as Ukraine and Russia wear themselves out. They are hoping that the war and sanctions would weaken Russia and strengthen the hegemonic control of the world by a unipolar super power whose word will be law across the world.

    So, when poor Zelensky declared a fortnight ago: “We are obliged to win the war unleashed by Russia for the hopes of all normal people for a peaceful progressive future to be realised,” he was merely hallucinating. Hopping around in green T-shirt and camouflage trousers making endless speeches, he lives under the illusion that he is the great war president destined to defeat Russia and rescue the world from a blood-thirsty dragon and its evil empire.

    Zelensky is like a man who sets his home on fire, refuses the fire be put out and then shouts that it is a universal calamity for which he deserves a mansion as replacement. We Africans cannot be hoodwinked by such a freak; we have no inheritance in the House of Zelensky. We want peace and plenty, not war and scarcity. We have our own challenges and do not want to add avoidable ones to the burden we carry.

  • Amid ASUU strike, FG facilitates admission for Ukraine returnees

    Amid ASUU strike, FG facilitates admission for Ukraine returnees

    Amid the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the federal government of Nigeria has said it is facilitating admission placement for returnees from Ukraine into Nigerian universities.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Francisca K. Omayuli (Mrs), Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs made this known in a statement on Monday.

    Recall that in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the FG evacuated Nigerians, willing to return, from the embattled country. The returnees included students, who the Nigerian government is now working round the clock to place into universities within the country.

    This is even as public universities in the country have been closed for months, following a protracted industrial strike action by ASUU lecturers. The lecturers are asking for better working conditions.

    According to the statement released by Mrs Omayuli, the returned students, who are interested in the offer, are informed to visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website to complete an online registration form on or before 15 July, 2022.

    The statement reads: “The Federal Government of Nigeria wishes to inform Nigerian students who returned from Ukraine following the conflict in that country, that efforts are being made to facilitate their placement into various Nigerian tertiary institutions, to enable them continue their studies.

    In this connection, Interested students should visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website: https://www.foreignaffairs.gov.ng and complete the online Nigerian Student in Ukraine (NSU) registration form with the required information on or before 15 July, 2022”.

  • Russia-Ukraine war: Nigeria set to supply gas to Europe

    Russia-Ukraine war: Nigeria set to supply gas to Europe

    With the ongoing war between two European countries, Russia and Ukraine, the president of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that his nation is set to fill the natural gas gaps in Europe.

    The President made the announcement on Thursday in Lisbon, Portugal, where he is on a State Visit.

    Buhari said with over 200 million mainly young people, Nigeria is ready to be the hub of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

    Commenting on collaboration between Nigeria and Portugal, he urged his host country to consider Nigeria as a valued and trusted partner in Africa.

    The Nigerian leader identified five key areas of cooperation capable of moving both countries forward.

    These are oil and gas, tourism and hospitality industry, air travel, security and joint commission.

    Buhari said with the current war, Nigeria-Portugal partnership has become vital to avoid crisis in the demand and supply chain.

    The West African power is already a major supplier of gas to Portugal.

    On tourism, the President noted that Nigeria had huge potential in the sector and would like to benefit from Portugal’s expertise.

    On air travel, he emphasized the need to sign a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) and establish a direct air link between the two countries.

  • British PM slams Putin after missile hits mall in Ukraine

    British PM slams Putin after missile hits mall in Ukraine

    British Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned Vladimir Putin’s “cruelty and barbarism” after a missile strike on a shopping centre in Ukraine left scores feared dead.

    The prime minister said the attack, on the day Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the G7 summit, would strengthen the resolve of allies to resist Putin.

    Zelensky, who had urged G7 leaders to supply missile defence systems, described the toll of the attack on the site in Kremenchuk as “unimaginable”.

    Johnson said: “This appalling attack has shown once again the depths of cruelty and barbarism to which the Russian leader will sink.

    “Once again our thoughts are with the families of innocent victims in Ukraine.

    “Putin must realise that his behaviour will do nothing but strengthen the resolve of the Ukraine and every other G7 country to stand by the Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

    The massacre at the mall followed days of Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv, as Zelensky prepared to address the G7 remotely.

    Johnson is said to have told fellow leaders that it was “stupid of Putin” to attack Kyiv “when all of us are in the same place because it is only going to make us feel more resolute and united”.

    Earlier, the prime minister said the “price of freedom is worth paying” and the UK must be prepared to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia for as long as it takes in spite of the cost.

    The conflict in Ukraine has added to the rising cost of living by exacerbating turbulence in international energy prices and causing food shortages due to supplies of grain being prevented from leaving the country’s ports by Russia’s Black Sea fleet.

    But speaking at the G7 summit in Germany, Johnson said those pressures will start to ease and the long-term economic impact of defending the rules-based system of international conduct will be beneficial to the global economy.

    If Mr Putin is not resisted, it could give the green light to countries such as China to pursue their own goals of territorial expansion, he suggested.

    The UK has so far contributed around #1.5 billion of economic and humanitarian support to Ukraine plus some #1.3 billion of military assistance.

    The prime minister told the BBC at the summit in the Bavarian Alps: “I think that the economic impacts on the UK will start to abate.

    “We’ll find ways around things and some of the cost pressures will start to come down.

    “But just in terms of staying the course, imagine if you didn’t.

    “Imagine if we allowed Putin to get away with the violent acquisition of huge chunks of another country, a sovereign, independent territory.

    “The lessons for that would be absolutely chilling in all of the countries of the former Soviet Union. You can see what’s happening in the Baltic countries already.

    “But the read across would also be felt in east Asia, as well.

    “So, in terms of the economic effects of that, that would mean long-term instability, it would mean anxiety across the world.”

    Comparing the situation to the defeat of Nazi Germany, Johnson declined to put a limit on UK support.

    “The point I would make to people is, I think that sometimes the price of freedom is worth paying.

    “And just remember, it took the democracies, in the middle of the last century, a long time to recognise that they had to resist tyranny and aggression.

    “It took them a long time, it was very expensive.

    “But what it bought in the end, with the defeat of the dictators, particularly of Nazi Germany, it bought decades and decades of stability, a world order that relied on a rules-based international system.

    “And that is worth protecting, that is worth defending, that delivers long-term prosperity.”

    Mr Johnson has been struck by the unity on show at the G7 amid concerns that a protracted conflict could lead to “fatigue” among leaders and populations.

    There had been concerns that France’s Emmanuel Macron – who has repeatedly held talks with Putin and warned that any peace deal must not leave Russia humiliated – had been wavering in support for a lengthy war.

    But Downing Street insisted there is no dispute between the UK and France over the issue, with the two leaders on the same page over Ukraine and their friendly relationship characterised as “Le Bromance” by No 10 aides.

    A new Anglo-French summit is planned to build on the relationship.

    Zelensky is understood to have told G7 leaders not to let the conflict in his country “drag on over winter” – a season where the frozen ground could give Russian armour an advantage.

    He told the leaders: “If Ukraine wins, you all win.”

    And in a sign that he is not willing to back down and accept a peace deal that gives up swathes of Ukraine to Russia, he said: “We will only negotiate from a position of strength.”

    In a joint statement, the G7 said: “We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military, and diplomatic support and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.

    “As we do so, we commit to demonstrate global responsibility and solidarity through working to address the international impacts of Russia’s aggression, especially on the most vulnerable.”