УКРОПИ

Ariane 6 rocket roars skyward carrying French military satellite

PARIS — An Ariane 6 rocket roared skyward with a French military reconnaissance satellite aboard Thursday in the first commercial flight for the European heavy-lift launcher.

The rocket took off smoothly from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, quickly disappearing into thick clouds. Video images beamed back from the rocket showed the Earth’s beautiful colors and curvature.

The rocket’s mission was to deliver the CSO-3 military observation satellite into orbit at an altitude of around 800 kilometers.

It was the first commercial mission for Ariane 6 after its maiden flight in July 2024.
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EU leaders vow to ramp up funding to defend their countries, Ukraine

European Union leaders vowed to ramp up funding for Ukraine and their own defense at a summit in Brussels on Thursday as they take steps to rearm in ways they haven’t since the end of the Cold War.

The summit, also attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was the first for all 27 EU members since last week’s confrontational White House meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy — and after Washington’s decision to suspend aid and intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.

“Europe faces a clear and present danger to protect itself and defend itself, as we have to put Ukraine in a position to protect itself and to push for a lasting and just peace,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said about her $865 billion “rearm Europe” plan. The plan aims to drastically boost Europe’s defense arsenal against what many here see as a growing Russian threat — and possibly the U.S.’s disengagement from the region.

Von der Leyen spoke alongside Zelenskyy, who was invited for part of the summit.

“We are very thankful that we are not alone, and these are not just words,” Zelenskyy said. “We feel it.”

Beyond boosting Europe’s conventional arsenal, French President Emmanuel Macron has floated extending his country’s nuclear arsenal to other European allies, which he also explained to French voters back home. In a televised address to the nation Wednesday, he called Russia a threat to Europe for years to come, remarks denounced by Moscow.

In Brussels, many EU leaders echoed the urgency of rearming, like Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina, whose own country borders Russia and has already sharply boosted its defense spending.

“We see good proposals [from] von der Leyen, but we see it’s just one step,” Silina said. “We need more proposals going forward. And we see it’s really a good opportunity for Ukraine to get peace — but through strength.”

The EU sees a strong peace deal for Kyiv as serving its own interests as well to ensure Russia doesn’t go beyond Ukraine to attack its own member states. But some European leaders have misgivings, including Hungary’s Viktor Orban, who has friendly relations with Moscow.

Just as important as pouring more money into defense, analysts say, is investing strategically and pooling resources. Ian Lesser, Brussels bureau office head for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said cooperation was necessary.

“The resources that would be needed to rebuild Europe’s industrial capacity, to build what is, in essence, a European army, even within NATO, is going to require some kind of collective action,” he said.

A key question moving forward, analysts say, is to what extent Europe will procure equipment from the United States as it has in the past — one key way to potentially keep close ties — or invest in its own industrial capacity.
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What life is like for Ukrainians in Russian-occupied cities

About 20% of Ukraine’s territory — including thousands of villages and small towns — is controlled by Russia. Life changed dramatically for many Ukrainians after Russia’s invasion, and some places — like Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar and Vovchansk — were almost fully destroyed. Kateryna Besedina looks at how some Ukrainians are coping with the upheaval in this story narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Serge Sokolov.
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France provides military intelligence to Ukraine as US steps back

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Thursday that France is sharing intelligence with Ukraine, a move that followed the United States saying it was cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.

The move comes as European Union leaders gathered Thursday in Brussels, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for a summit to discuss boosting defense spending and bolstering pledges of support for Ukraine in its battle against Russia’s invasion.

French President Emmanuel Macron said ahead of the talks that EU members would “take decisive steps forward,” while he expressed concerns about shifts in U.S. support for Ukraine under new President Donald Trump.

“The future of Europe does not have to be decided in Washington or Moscow,” Macron said.

Trump earlier in the week ordered the U.S. to suspend military aid to Kyiv’s fighters after his contentious meeting last week with Zelenskyy at the White House.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Wednesday that the United States had also, for the moment, ended sharing its intelligence with Kyiv, although it could be short-lived after Zelenskyy said the exchanges with Trump in the Oval Office had been “regrettable” and that Ukraine was ready for peace talks with Russia.

“I think on the military front and the intelligence front, the pause [that prompted Ukraine’s president to respond], I think will go away,” Ratcliffe told the Fox Business Network.

“I think we’ll work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine as we have to push back on the aggression that’s there, but to put the world in a better place for these peace negotiations to move forward,” he said.

Since the start of the war in 2022, the United States has provided Ukraine with significant intelligence, including critical information its military needs for targeting Russian forces.

Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. “had taken a step back” and that the administration was “reviewing all aspects” of its intelligence relationship with Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Waltz told CBS News that the U.S. is moving quickly to start peace negotiations to end the war and sign a mineral rights deal with Kyiv.

“I think we’re going to see movement in very short order,” Waltz said.

He said Trump officials will meet with Ukrainian officials as they conduct shuttle diplomacy with Russia.

“I have literally just been on the phone with my counterpart, the Ukrainian national security adviser, talking about times, locations, delegations,” Waltz said.

Reaching a peace deal could prove difficult. Ukraine has long demanded a restoration of its internationally recognized 2014 borders before Moscow unilaterally seized Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. Overall, Russia now holds about a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including much of eastern Ukraine, and has vowed to not return any of it to the Kyiv government.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Moscow aims to exploit US-Europe rift, experts warn

As European Union leaders prepare for emergency talks to ramp up military spending after the Trump administration suspended aid to Ukraine, several Russia experts say Moscow is trying to capitalize on fragmenting Western cohesion.

Following last week’s televised Oval Office clash between U.S. and Ukrainian leaders, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov on Monday accused Europe of seeking to prolong the war, adding that changes in U.S. “foreign policy configurations” largely coincide with Moscow’s vision.

The comments came before an EU financial summit planned for Thursday that aims to grapple with stabilizing continental security and helping Ukraine after decades of dependence on the U.S. defense umbrella.

In a recent interview with the military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called President Donald Trump a “pragmatist” whose motto is “common sense.” He also said, “All tragedies in the world” over the past 500 years “originated in Europe or occurred owing to European policies,” while “the Americans played no seditious, let alone ‘inflammatory,’ role.”

Calling Europe Enemy No. 1 is “becoming the main trend in the Kremlin’s policy,” said exiled independent Russian political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin. “Therefore, having changed his tune … [Lavrov] explained to the audience that the U.S. is, if not a friend, then a reliable partner, and that means Britain and France are always to blame for everything.”

Oreshkin also said the relatively positive U.S. depiction shows the Kremlin is hoping for an “aggravation of contradictions” between Europe and America.

But Novaya Gazeta columnist Andrei Kolesnikov said it was premature for Russian authorities to assume Trump is taking Russia’s side in the war.

Trump’s “interest, which he equates with the interests of the United States, is to end the conflict,” Kolesnikov told VOA. “But there are two sides to the conflict. And if during future negotiations … [Trump] remains dissatisfied with the intransigence of the Russian side, no one will stand on ceremony. New [U.S.] sanctions and measures to reduce oil prices will follow with the same decisiveness and speed as [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy’s ‘punishment.’”

Kolesnikov was referring to the contentious Feb. 28 Oval Office meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, in which top U.S. officials accused him of being insufficiently grateful for U.S. military support.

The meeting concluded without the signing of an expected defense deal involving Ukrainian rare-earth minerals.

With long-held certainties about U.S. reliability as a security partner suddenly in doubt, EU and NATO leaders gathered Sunday in London to map out a path forward.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for uniting “around a new plan for a just and enduring peace,” while French President Emmanuel Macron said his country and Britain had agreed on an alternative peace plan envisaging a one-month partial ceasefire to end mutual attacks on energy infrastructure, followed by a second stage involving sending peacekeepers to Ukraine.

The White House on Monday announced temporary suspension of all U.S. military aid to Kyiv, although Trump during an address to Congress on Tuesday said Zelenskyy had signaled renewed interest in inking the U.S.-proposed defense deal.

According to U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, Trump on Wednesday halted intelligence cooperation with Ukraine.

Against this unclear backdrop, Russian officials have refrained from criticizing the U.S. administration and Trump personally while shifting their line of attack from the United States toward Europe.

Thursday’s summit in Brussels comes as the EU is arguably at its weakest point, fragmented by the steady rise of a hard right that is often pro-Russian.

EU leaders are also expected to discuss whether to place more arms contracts with Ukraine’s defense industry, and to help integrate it into the European industrial network.

The Trump administration has demanded that Europeans spend as much as 5% of GDP on defense, well beyond the NATO benchmark of at least 2%. Seven European allies still fall short of even that target. The U.S. spends around 3.4%, according to NATO figures, and a Pentagon audit that could reduce that is pending.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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South Korea, Poland sign deal to boost economic, defense cooperation

WARSAW, POLAND — South Korea and Poland signed a cooperation agreement on Wednesday as the democratic allies increasingly find themselves united by concerns about the global security situation despite the vast geographical distance between them. 

Foreign ministers Cho Tae-yul of South Korea and Poland’s Radek Sikorski signed an action plan which outlines their relations in the areas of politics, economy, defense and culture through 2028. 

“We both reaffirmed that there is a need to further strengthen our cooperation for transregional security cooperation, encompassing both Europe and the Indo-Pacific within the framework of the NATO-IP4 partnership,” said Cho, referring to NATO’s partnership with allies in the Indo-Pacific region, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. 

South Korea and Poland have been strategic partners since 2013, with South Korea in recent years becoming a major supplier of weapons as NATO member Poland carries out a massive investment program to modernize its armed forces. 

“Poland is the largest recipient of Korean military equipment worldwide, and we would like to further develop this cooperation with the prospect of relocating production and technology transfer to Poland,” Sikorski told reporters. “Poland can also serve as a hub for further promotion of Korean military equipment in Europe and for the rebuilding of Ukraine.” 

The two nations share concerns about the situation in Ukraine, which lies on Poland’s eastern border and has sent jitters across NATO’s eastern flank. 

South Korea and Poland, along with other European allies, have also been concerned about North Korea’s support for Russia in the war, including its dispatch of North Korean soldiers to fight alongside the Russians. Seoul worries that Russia could reward North Korea with transfers of sensitive technology to enhance its nuclear and missile programs. 

Cho told a news briefing that his country is launching an assistance package of over $2 billion, building on $400 million provided to Ukraine last year, “to address Ukraine’s urgent needs in energy, infrastructure, health care and education.” 

Sikorski and Cho also discussed expanding access to Polish food products in the South Korean market. 

“Poland is now Korea’s fifth largest trading partner within the EU (European Union), and Korea has become the largest Asian investor in Poland as of 2024. This is a testament to the trust and potential both nations see in each other’s economic future,” Cho said.
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Sanctions and war in Ukraine top Russian tourists’ concerns

You do not hear much from Russian civilians in international media as Russia’s government restricts foreign reporters working in the country. For VOA, Genia Dulot met with some Russian tourists visiting the Indian Ocean republic of Maldives to hear what they think about international sanctions and U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
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Germany stops new aid to Rwanda over DR Congo conflict

BERLIN — Germany said on Tuesday it had halted new development aid to Rwanda and was reviewing its existing commitments in response to the African nation’s role in the conflict in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

The German development ministry said Berlin had informed Rwanda in advance of the move and urged it to withdraw support for the M23 rebel group, which has made advances in eastern Congo.

Congo, U.N. experts and Western powers accuse Rwanda of backing the group. Rwanda denies this and says it is defending itself against ethnic Hutu-led militias bent on slaughtering Tutsis in Congo and threatening Rwanda.

Rwanda’s foreign ministry called Germany’s action “wrong and counterproductive.”

“Countries like Germany that bear a historical responsibility for the recurring instability in this region should know better than to apply one-sided, coercive measures,” Rwanda’s foreign ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The German ministry said Berlin last pledged aid of $98 million to Rwanda in October 2022 for the period 2022 to 2024.

The M23 group has captured swathes of eastern Congo and valuable mineral deposits since January.

The ongoing onslaught is the gravest escalation of a long-running conflict rooted in the spillover into Congo of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and the struggle for control of Congo’s vast mineral resources.
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