Russia’s war in Ukraine took on new urgency Wednesday at the gathering of the U.N. General Assembly, following a major escalation from President Vladimir Putin.

“If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people – this is not a bluff,” Putin said in a televised address to the nation early Wednesday.

In New York, President Joe Biden said such “overt nuclear threats” show a “reckless disregard” for Moscow’s responsibilities under nonproliferation rules.

Biden also criticized Putin’s plans to mobilize 300,000 military reservists and to hold referenda in four Ukrainian regions where his troops hold some territory.

“This world should see these outrageous acts for what they are,” Biden told a packed assembly hall.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was calling an urgent meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers Wednesday night in New York, following what he said was a “major escalation” by Putin.

“By the threat of using nuclear weapons, he is trying to intimidate Ukraine and all countries that support Ukraine,” Borrell told reporters on the sidelines of the General Assembly. “But he will fail, he has failed, and he will fail again.”

He said the international community cannot accept such a threat and that leaders gathered at the U.N. this week must react.

New sanctions?

As for the European Union, he said the bloc would continue its military and economic support to Kyiv and would consider new sanctions on Russia, especially if it went ahead with the referenda.

Borrell said he had no plans to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who has arrived in New York. Lavrov will attend a ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, where he is likely to clash with his Western counterparts.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was allowed to address the assembly in a prerecorded video.

He told the international community that a crime has been committed against his nation and Russia must be punished for it. He laid out five preconditions for peace, which include financial reparations from Moscow.

“Punishment for aggression, protection of life, restoration of security and territorial integrity, security guarantees and determination to defend oneself,” he said in English. “This is the formula of crime and punishment.”

His wife, first lady Olena Zelenska, was at Ukraine’s table in the General Assembly.

“We are ready for peace, but true, honest and fair peace,” he emphasized.

Zelenskyy’s speech was met with lengthy applause, with some delegates rising to their feet.

Nuclear safety

Meanwhile, international concerns continue around nuclear safety in Ukraine. There was fresh shelling around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Wednesday and a few days earlier around another nuclear station, the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said he has met separately in New York with both the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia to discuss the parameters for a safety and security protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia plant.

“There is, I would say above differences that do exist, there is a conviction that the establishment of this zone is indispensable,” Grossi told reporters. “Let’s be clear: This nuclear power plant is being shelled, so you need to protect it in some way. We have the means, the technical knowledge as the IAEA, to know what needs to be done and how to do it.”

He said he is working with Ukraine and Russia on the “very concrete aspects” of what is required to establish the zone, and each side will focus on what is feasible for them.

The nuclear watchdog chief said he hopes to travel to both countries soon to continue discussions.

“Given the urgency of the situation, and the gravity of what’s going on in the field, we have to move fast,” he said.

Prisoner exchange

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the exchange of more than 250 prisoners of war between Ukraine and Russia on Wednesday.

“This is no small feat, but much more remains to be done to ease the suffering caused by the war in Ukraine,” his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said. He added that Guterres will continue to support any additional efforts that may be undertaken, “including further exchanges under an ‘all for all formula’ approach.”
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U.S. President Joe Biden called out Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations, as the Russian leader significantly escalated war efforts and threatened nuclear retaliation.

Speaking to the annual gathering of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) in New York Wednesday morning, Biden used most of his address to condemn Moscow.

“Let us speak plainly. A permanent member of the United Nations Security Council invaded its neighbor, attempted to erase a sovereign state from the map,” Biden said. “Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations Charter, no more important than the clear prohibition against countries taking the territory of their neighbor.”

In the biggest escalation of the Ukraine war since Russia’s February 24 invasion, hours before world leaders gathered at the U.N. headquarters, Putin in Moscow announced the partial mobilization of his country’s military, calling up 300,000 reservists and vowing he would consider all options to protect what he considers Russian territory, raising concerns of a nuclear attack.

“If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people – this is not a bluff,” Putin said in a televised address to the nation.

Biden called out Putin’s “overt nuclear threats against Europe” as a “reckless disregard for the responsibilities of the Non-Proliferation regime” – the various international treaties that prohibit the use of nuclear weapons.

“And the Kremlin is organizing a sham referendum to try to annex parts of Ukraine, an extremely significant violation of the U.N. Charter,” he added, referring to Putin’s move to hold referendums on four occupied Ukrainian regions to join Russia, widely seen as a prelude to annexation of those territories.

The Russian leader’s announcement came after his troops suffered battlefield setbacks in northeastern Ukraine and came at a fortuitous time for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Western allies, who were concerned that war fatigue had set in among U.N. members gathering this week, observers noted.

“You never want to talk about escalation, particularly when they’re vague nuclear threats, as a positive thing,” said David Bosco, who teaches international studies with a focus on the U.N. Security Council at Indiana University. “But from a diplomatic standpoint for Ukraine and for Ukraine’s backers, I do think this helped sharpen the focus on that conflict and also probably had the effect of isolating Russia to an even greater degree than it’s already been isolated,” Bosco told VOA.

Zelenskyy was to deliver remarks Wednesday afternoon. Last week, a majority of the General Assembly’s 193 member states allowed the Ukrainian leader an exception to U.N. rules that say speeches in this year’s high-level session must be delivered in person.

Belarus, Cuba, Eritrea, Nicaragua, North Korea and Syria supported Russia in voting against allowing Zelenskyy’s video speech. Since Putin is not attending in person, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will make the address on behalf of his country on Saturday, as ministers are given later speaking slots than leaders.

Traditionally, as host, U.S. presidents always speak second after Brazil, but Biden forfeited his Tuesday speaking slot as he was returning from London, where he attended Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

China

In his UNGA remarks, Biden called out Beijing’s “horrible abuses against pro-democracy activists and ethnic minorities” in China’s Xinjiang region and “the increased repression of women and girls by the Taliban in Afghanistan.”

Human rights groups have accused China of detaining more than 1 million minorities in camps, restricting freedom of movement, and engaging in torture, forced sterilization and sexual violence under the guise of Beijing’s campaign against religious extremism in Xinjiang. China has denied the accusations.

Biden touched on other global conflicts, including the war in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the violence in Haiti and political oppression in Venezuela, and reiterated support for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian people.

As negotiations stalled, Biden said the United States will never allow Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons. He also said the U.S. stands with “the brave women of Iran,” in reference to protests this week over the death of 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, under suspicious circumstances after she was arrested in Tehran by the morality police – a unit that enforces headscarves and strict dress codes for women.

Authorities have denied that Amini suffered any mistreatment at their hands and say heart problems caused her death. Her family said she had no history of heart trouble.

Security Council reform

In a jab to Russia, which has used its veto power to block Security Council action on Ukraine, Biden said UNSC members including the United States should refrain from wielding the veto, “except in rare, extraordinary situations,” to ensure that the council remains credible and effective.

“Russia’s use of the veto in the Ukraine situation has really brought new attention to veto and it’s obviously very unpopular with the U.N. members as a whole,” Bosco said.

In his remarks, Biden threw his support behind expansion of the membership of the Security Council “to become more inclusive, so they can better respond to the needs of today’s world.”

“This includes permanent seats for those nations we have long supported and permanent seats for countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean,” he said.

By showing that it’s open to reform, the administration hopes it can put China and Russia in a corner, said Richard Gowan, U.N. director at the International Crisis Group. “The U.S. will want to highlight the fact that they are blocking improvements to the U.N.,” Gowan told VOA.

Observers have voiced skepticism that progress on the decades-long UNSC reform debate is imminent. The U.N. Charter must first be amended, which requires a two-thirds vote of its members, and any reform must be agreed to by the five permanent members with veto power.

Last week, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, noted that since 2009, Russia has cast 26 vetoes and that in 12 cases it was joined by China, while the U.S. has used its veto only four times since 2009.

Food security and global health

Global food prices have dramatically increased because of supply chain disruptions and rising energy and fertilizer costs brought upon by the pandemic and exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Biden announced more than $2.9 billion would be used to address global food insecurity, in addition to the $6.9 billion already committed by the administration this year, according to the White House.

“A multiyear drought in the Horn of Africa has created a dire humanitarian emergency, with parts of Somalia at risk of famine for the second time in just over a decade. This new announcement of $2.9 billion will save lives through emergency interventions and invest in medium- to long-term food security assistance in order to protect the world’s most vulnerable populations from the escalating global food security crisis,” the White House said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the U.S. convened a Global Food Security Summit co-chaired by Secretary of State Antony Blinken with the leaders of the European Union, African Union and Spain, and hosted with Colombia, Germany, Indonesia and Nigeria.

Beyond aid, the world needs a much more robust international agenda to meet the U.N. goal of ending hunger by 2030, which it is currently not on track to meet, said Rob Vos, economist at the International Food Policy Research Institute.

“We do need a lot more investments in food systems for the coming decades to make them more resilient,” Vos said in an interview with VOA, “to monitor much more closely the risk of food crisis from breaking out.”

Later Wednesday, Biden delivers remarks at a Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria replenishment conference. His administration has proposed a $6 billion pledge over the next three years to meet the $18 billion the Global Fund is seeking to fight the three diseases.

The Global Fund has helped reduce AIDS-related deaths by 70 percent and new infections by 54 percent, but the gains are fragile, according to the ONE Campaign, a group working to end preventable diseases by 2030.

“In just two years, two decades of progress against AIDS slammed on the brakes as COVID-19 and other global crises took center stage,” ONE Campaign’s president, Tom Hart, said in a statement.

ONE’s analysis shows that falling just $1 billion short could result in 25 million more new cases of the three diseases in countries where the Global Fund invests from 2024 to 2026.

VOA’s Michael Lipin contributed to this report.
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President Joe Biden sat down with his British counterpart for the first time Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, calling Britain “our closest ally in the world” and resolving to work together on issues from dealing with the conflict in Ukraine to maintaining peace in Northern Ireland as Britain exits the European Union.

Biden and Prime Minister Liz Truss chose to meet in New York, rather than in London, where Biden was just days earlier for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Both began their brief public comments by mentioning the queen, who reigned for 70 years.

“She was the rock on which modern Britain was built,” Truss said, after thanking Biden and first lady Jill Biden for attending the queen’s funeral on Monday.

“There’s no issues I can think of global consequence where the United States and United Kingdom are not working in cooperation,” Biden said ahead of the meeting between top U.S. and British officials. “And I expect that we’ll be able to continue to be able to do that. And we have a full agenda today from supporting Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia, and Putin’s challenges, as well as China, and as posed by preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons as well. There’s a lot on the agenda.”

Truss also said her nation would boost defense spending to meet the challenges posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We face huge challenges as autocracies seek to cement and increase their assertiveness around the world,” she said. “And that is why we’re stepping up in terms of our defense spending, we’re going to be moving to 3% of GDP on defense spending. And that’s why we want to work more closely with the United States, especially on energy security, on our economic security, but also in reaching out to fellow democracies around the world to make sure that democracies prevail, and we protect the freedom and future of our citizens.”

One analyst said the link between defense spending and democracy promotion is thin.

“Prime Minister Truss is doubling down on the democracy vs. autocracies agenda but with little detail on how raising the UK’s defense budget will help democracies prevail,” said Leslie Vinjamuri, director of the U.S. and Americas Program at British think tank Chatham House.

“The U.S. is under pressure to demonstrate that democracy can deliver … and it feels like the prime minister is a little behind the curve. The U.S. would probably see a lot of value in a UK that returns to its role as a champion of international development, especially at a time when the challenge of food security and longer development issues are top of the global agenda,” Vinjamuri said.

Both leaders also agreed to discuss how to uphold the 1998 Good Friday agreement that ended conflict in Northern Ireland.

Biden did not answer shouted questions about mounting protests in Russia over President Vladimir Putin’s Wednesday announcement that he would mobilize 300,000 more troops for the conflict in Ukraine. And when asked if the U.S.-UK relationship was still “special,” Truss simply nodded.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday the partial mobilization of his country’s military reserves in a move that follows Ukrainian gains in a counteroffensive in northeastern Ukraine.    

Putin said in a televised address the mobilization is necessary to protect Russia’s homeland and sovereignty.    

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military would be calling up 300,000 reservists.    

Putin said the West is trying to weaken and destroy Russia, and that his country will “use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people.”  

“In its aggressive anti-Russian policy, the West has crossed every line,” he said. “This is not a bluff. And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them.” 

European Council President Charles Michel tweeted that Putin made his announcement as countries gathered for the U.N. General Assembly to “work for cooperation, security and prosperity.” 

“In this war, there is only one aggressor, Russia, and one aggressed country, Ukraine,” Michel said.  “EU’s support to Ukraine will remain steadfast.” 

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement that Putin and Shoigu “have sent tens of thousands of their own citizens to their deaths, ill equipped and badly led.” 

“No amount of threats and propaganda can hide the fact that Ukraine is winning this war, the international community are united and Russia is becoming a global pariah,” Wallace said. 

Putin also reiterated Russia’s goal in its now seven-month-old invasion of Ukraine is to “liberate” Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, saying the people there do not want to be part of Ukraine.

The separatist leaders of the Moscow-controlled Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the Donbas said Tuesday they are planning to hold votes starting late this week for the territories to declare themselves as part of Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed what he called “Russia’s attempts to stage new sham referenda.”

“The situation on the front line clearly indicates that the initiative belongs to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. “Our positions do not change because of the noise or any announcements somewhere. And we enjoy the full support of our partners in this.”

Referendum voting in the region, populated by many Russian-speaking people, would most likely go in Moscow’s favor.

But any declaration that the territory is part of Russia would not be recognized by either Ukraine or by the United States and its Western allies who have supplied the Kyiv government with billions of dollars in armaments to fend off Moscow’s seven-month invasion.

The White House immediately rejected Russia’s plans for the referendums, saying they may be an effort by Moscow to recruit troops in the region in the wake of its recent defeats on the battlefront.

Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, said the referendums violate the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity since the lands in question are part of Ukraine. He said Biden in a Wednesday speech at the United Nations General Assembly would issue a “firm rebuke” to Russia for its war against Ukraine.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said, “Sham referendums have no legitimacy and do not change the nature of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. This is a further escalation in Putin’s war. The international community must condemn this blatant violation of international law and step up support for Ukraine.”

If Russia were to claim the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces as its own, it could set the stage for an escalation in the fighting if Ukrainian forces try to take them back.

Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk region, said that the “long-suffering people of the Donbas have earned the right to be part of the great country that they always considered their motherland.”

He said the vote will help “restore historic justice that millions of the Russian people were waiting for.”

Since early September, Kyiv’s forces have swiftly recaptured large swaths of land in the Kharkiv region of northeast Ukraine that Russian troops took over in early weeks of the war. Moscow-backed leaders in the Russian-occupied Kherson region of southern Ukraine and pro-Russia activists in the partly occupied Zaporizhzhia region have also called for referendums on becoming part of Russia.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Britain pledged on Wednesday to cap wholesale electricity and gas costs for businesses at less than half the market rate from next month, helping relieve the pressure of soaring energy costs but adding to the government’s fast-rising spending.

Wholesale prices for electricity will be capped at about 211 pounds ($239) per megawatt hour (MWh) and for gas at 75 pounds per MWh, compared to forecast market rates of 600 pounds and 180 pounds respectively.

“We have stepped in to stop businesses collapsing, protect jobs and limit inflation,” finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng said.

Wholesale gas and electricity prices in Europe surged after Russia invaded Ukraine and have remained volatile since.

Groups representing businesses from pubs to steelmakers welcomed the intervention, saying the government had thrown a lifeline to companies battling to survive.

The government did not publish any estimate of the cost, but reports have put the price of six months of support at up to 42 billion pounds, on top of more than 100 billion pounds for a previously announced scheme to help households.

The final unit prices will be confirmed on Sept. 30.

Suppliers will be compensated for the reduction in wholesale gas and electricity unit prices that they are passing onto non-domestic customers, the government said.

After weeks of political stasis while the governing Conservative Party elected a new leader and the country mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth, Kwarteng is due to give a fiscal statement on Friday.

This is expected to set out some detail on how he will pay for the energy scheme while at the same time delivering on promises to cut taxes, although the total cost of the energy scheme will depend on market prices over the coming months.

Investors say Friday’s statement will be a critical test of confidence in British public finances as borrowing costs rise at the same time as a commitment to higher spending and banking on accelerated economic growth to pay for it.

Kwarteng said on Wednesday he had pledged to get debt down in the medium term, but it was “absolutely right” to help families and businesses in the face of a major economic shock.

The business energy scheme will initially apply from Oct. 1 to Mar. 31, 2023, for all non-domestic energy users, including charities and the public sector such as schools and hospitals as well as businesses.

The government also announced support for households in Northern Ireland on the same level as the equivalent scheme in the rest of the United Kingdom.
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The global consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were in the spotlight Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly, as the annual debate got underway.

Leaders spoke of the urgency to get fertilizer, in particular, to the world’s farmers at a reasonable price and in time for the planting season, which in some parts of the world has started already.

“Without action now, the global fertilizer shortage will quickly morph into a global food shortage,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of what could lie ahead next year.

He said there are reports of farmers in West Africa and other regions cultivating fewer crops because of the price or lack of availability of fertilizers.

“Fertilizers have become three times as expensive as in 2021,” Senegalese President and African Union Chairperson Macky Sall told a ministerial-level meeting on food security on the sidelines of the debate.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, it has imposed quotas on exports of its fertilizer, saying it wanted enough for its farmers. Moscow is a top fertilizer exporter, and the disruptions and shortages it has created have led to steep price increases on international markets. That has made fertilizer unaffordable for some smaller farmers, with the potential to dramatically decrease their harvests.

This threatens global food security, which is already in a bad way. The U.N. says more than 800 million people worldwide are suffering from hunger.

“Russia must end its illegal war against Ukraine, which has threatened an essential source of the world’s food supply,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the food summit. “The truth is that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is trying to blackmail the international community with a large part of the world’s food needs.”

Despite calls for diplomacy, Russia signaled that it plans to persist, with plans for referendums soon for Luhansk and Donetsk to declare themselves part of Russia, which could set the stage for an escalation of the fighting.

While there are no Western sanctions on either Russian food or fertilizer exports, Moscow claims that there are. A deal signed in Istanbul on July 22 has moved more than 4 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain to international markets and is working to build confidence among shippers, insurers and buyers of Russian grain and fertilizer so they will resume at pre-invasion levels.

Guterres called for the removal of “all remaining obstacles” to the export of Russian fertilizers and their ingredients, including ammonia.

“These products are not subject to sanctions — and we are making progress in eliminating indirect effects,” he said.

Appeals for peace

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative along with the U.N., appealed Tuesday for a diplomatic end to the war.

“We would like to launch an appeal to all the international organizations and the countries of the world to support the peaceful initiatives of Turkey to settle this dispute once and for all,” Erdogan told the assembly. “We need a dignified way out of this crisis and that can be possible only through a diplomatic solution which is rational, which is fair, and which is applicable.”

Neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian leader are in New York this week, and no breakthroughs are expected.

“France obstinately will look for peace,” said President Emmanuel Macron, who has kept diplomatic channels open with President Putin. “Our position is clear, and we want to serve this, and that’s why I am engaging in a dialogue with Russia and have done so since the start of the war and over these past months, and I will continue to head this up.”
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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s surprise admission at last week’s summit in Uzbekistan that China had “questions and concerns” about what was happening in Ukraine offered the first clue that Beijing is increasingly worried about the war.   

“You’re talking about huge investments either invested by China directly or with China serving as contractors,” said China expert Victor Gao, citing damages to China-invested shipbuilding projects, iron and steel mills, highways and other infrastructure projects. 

What China may have thought would be a quickly fought “military exercise” has turned into a devastating war that has damaged tens of billions of dollars of China’s own investments in the country, driven up global energy and food prices that in turn hurts China’s economy, and complicates China’s balancing act of offering some support to Russia, but not too much, to avoid antagonizing the United States and Europe, according to observers. 

“China is very much damaged in terms of its extensive investment. This gives China more incentives to promote peace. China wants to see the war wrapped up as soon as possible,” added Gao, a professor at China’s Soochow University and vice president of the Center for China and Globalization.  

China’s balancing act 

China has rejected Western calls to condemn the invasion and refused to join international sanctions against Moscow. 

Putin has relied on Beijing for trade in the face of Western sanctions. Based on Chinese customs data, overall exports from Russia rose by more than 50% from January to August when compared to the same period last year. 

During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting last week with Putin at the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, Xi affirmed that “China is ready to work with Russia in extending strong support to each other on issues concerning their respective core interests,” reported China’s state news agency Xinhua. The report also stated Xi “emphasized that China will work with Russia to deepen practical cooperation in trade, agriculture, connectivity and other areas.” 

But China seems to stop short of circumventing sanctions. 

“We have not seen the Chinese provide any material support to Mr. Putin for the war in Ukraine. And we haven’t had any indications that they are violating sanctions,” said John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the U.S. National Security Council (NSC), in a September 16th interview with VOA.     

The US factor 

China cannot afford to distance itself from Russia due to increasing tensions between Beijing and the United States.  

“The Russo-China relationship is postulated vis a vis the U.S.-China relationship,” said Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. “If the U.S.-China relationship is getting worse, Russia and China will warm up further. At the moment, the U.S.-China relationship [is] not doing well, so it’s only natural the Russia-China relationship will warm up.”  

At the beginning of September, China joined Russia’s military drills in Russia’s far eastern region. 

“China’s got choices to make. And as we’ve said many times before, we would clearly prefer that the choice they make is to condemn what Mr. Putin is doing in Ukraine … and make clear these concerns that they apparently have about what he’s doing there,” Kirby said in his VOA interview.   

“We’re going to continue to keep the lines of communication open with Beijing, as we must. There are issues of disagreement, clearly, between the United States and China, but there’s also areas where we have said we can, and we should, cooperate on,” said the NSC spokesman. 

Beijing’s considerations 

Reliance on Russia as a geopolitical partner, however, is increasingly presenting a dilemma for Beijing, especially given its stance for peace. 

“I don’t think China will go all out to try to make Russia its really close strategic ally,” said Oh. “Except for its military prowess, it’s nothing much to speak of. Its economy is equivalent to one of the more well-to-do provinces in China, perhaps Guangdong. You might as well have India on your side.”  

Observers expect China to continue to stay the course, refraining from giving outright support to Russia, while calling for an end to the war 

“China is both a friend of Russia as well as a friend with Ukraine. China does have conversations with Russia on one hand and Ukraine on the other hand. … Lots of these things can be done more constructively behind the scenes than in the limelight,” Gao said.   

Central Asia opportunity 

As Russia’s war against Ukraine continues, China’s influence in Central Asia seems to be growing, as reflected by last week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Uzbekistan, Xi’s visit to Kazakhstan and deals signed with other Central Asian countries.  

“Of course, China all along wanted to build an oil pipeline through Central Asia, but because of Russia’s opposition, the plans could not be carried out,” said Simon Chen, a political science professor at National Taiwan University. “But now, China’s plans are closer to being realized.”  

The Central Asian countries link China to the West and are crucial in helping Xi achieve his Belt and Road Initiative — building a modern-day Silk Road to easily transport oil and natural gas to China, as well as send China’s products to Europe and other parts of the world.  

“In Central Asia, China will perhaps benefit [from the Ukraine war], but overall, its economy suffers because of inflation in agricultural goods, high wheat and oil prices. To China, the war is not what it wants,” said Chen. 

Last week, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan signed a deal for a feasibility study to build a long-awaited railroad that would pass through the three countries to Europe, bypassing sanctioned-plagued Russia. 
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After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, several nations that have long had a British monarch as their head of state are pondering charting a new course to become republics. In the Americas, this includes Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica and the Bahamas, following the decision by Barbados to shed the monarchy earlier this year. Republicanism has also been on the rise in Australia, where a vote on leaving the monarchy could be held in coming years, according to some experts.

But what about in Canada, a culturally diverse nation with a substantial proportion of French speakers? Observers say the process for abolishing the monarchy in Canada would be nearly impossible to launch in the short term.

“Abolishing the monarchy would require a feat of political maneuvering that has rarely been seen throughout the years, requiring unanimous agreement among the House of Commons, the Senate and all of the provincial legislatures,” wrote Amanda Connolly from Canada’s Global News, in a September 18 article about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ruling out such an effort in the near future.

Canada’s Indigenous people, who long suffered under colonialism and continue to experience its aftereffects to this day, nevertheless issued several statements of condolences to the British people after the queen’s death.

While not calling for the abolition of the monarchy, Indigenous leaders have expressed concern that King Charles III could be less likely to support them in the process of reconciling the colonial past.

French Canadians are seen as less enamored with the monarchy than many of their English-speaking compatriots. French Canadians trace their history back to the colonization of what is now Canada by France before the British conquered French-held lands and expelled many French-speaking inhabitants.

Robert Lacey is a British historian who wrote The Crown: The Inside History.

“Most English-speaking Canadians will probably accept King Charles as their new head of state,” Lacey told VOA. “But whether French Canadians welcome him seems less certain.”

“French Canadians are generally most indifferent or negative toward the monarchy,” said Philippe Lagasse, who teaches international affairs at Ottawa’s Carleton University, speaking with VOA. “This reflects the fact that the monarchy has come to be associated with assimilation, the historical oppression of the French population and, most importantly, a modernizing impulse that accompanied Quebec’s Quiet Revolution in the 1960, which saw the [Catholic] church’s influence greatly diminished and Quebec nationalism rise.”

But despite significant pockets of resistance to the monarchy in Canada, Lagasse sees no easy path to ending it.

“The monarchy will endure in Canada as long as it lasts in the United Kingdom,” he said. “The process for ending the monarchy in Canada is so onerous … that the only plausible path to a republic is if the United Kingdom becomes a republic and forces a change on Canada.”

Asked what leaders in Ottawa might think, Lagasse noted, “The reaction is muted at the moment. A lot will depend on the kinds of decisions that the king makes about his role and the Crown’s presence in the realms. If the king courts controversy, that will cause concern. At the moment, though, it is too early to tell.”

Political scientist David Johnson of Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia said whether or not to retain the monarchy is a topic of discussion.

“Some Canadians said, ‘We don’t get to vote on this? We don’t get a say in what happens?’ The answer is no, we don’t get a say in this,” Johnson told VOA. “The monarchy is the natural default mode to the Canadian constitution. If we want to change that we have to rip out the hardware and software and put in new hardware and software.”

He added that republicans outnumber monarchists but that many Canadians are indifferent.

“The problem for the republican movement is to mobilize and work toward a constitutional amendment and that is difficult,” Johnson said. “There has never been a prime minister or premier who came to power on an abolition platform, not even [in] Quebec.”

“The ascension of King Charles III to the throne does not change anything for Canada,” said Vismay Buch, a University of Toronto undergraduate student with an international relations focus. “He will be following the centuries-old tradition of the British Monarch being the Canadian Head of State.”

A poll in April found two-thirds of Canadians viewed Queen Elizabeth II favorably but that 51% did not favor Canada continuing as a constitutional monarchy.
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French President Emmanuel Macron held face-to-face talks with his Iranian counterpart President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday with the French leader saying he hoped to be able to “discuss all subjects.”

The meeting is Raisi’s first head-to-head with a major Western leader since he was elected last year.

It comes amid a complete stalemate to revive the 2015 nuclear talks and as protests grow in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who fell into a coma and died after her arrest in Tehran last week by the morality police for “unsuitable attire.” 

France said on Monday that there would not be a better offer for Iran to revive a nuclear deal with world powers and it was up to Tehran to make a decision now. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who coordinates the talks, said he saw little chance of progress at the United Nations General Assembly. 

Months of indirect talks between Iran and the United States have foundered over several issues, including Tehran’s insistence the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) close an investigation into uranium traces found at three undeclared sites before the pact is revived, and a U.S. guarantee that Washington would not walk out of any nuclear agreement again
…

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to leaders Tuesday to unite and take action to address the problems of a world “teeming with turmoil.”

“We are in rough seas; a winter of global discontent is on the horizon,” he said at the opening of the annual weeklong gathering of presidents, prime ministers and other officials at the U.N. General Assembly.

“A cost-of-living crisis is raging. Trust is crumbling. Inequalities are exploding.

“And our planet is burning,” he cautioned.

“We need hope …. and more. We need action.” His immediate call was for easing the global food crisis. An essential element of that is addressing what he called the “global fertilizer market crunch.”

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, it has imposed quotas on its exports of fertilizer. Russia is one of the world’s top exporters and the shortages it has created have led to steep price increases on international markets, making it unaffordable for some small farmers, with the potential to dramatically decrease their harvests.

“Without action now, the global fertilizer shortage will quickly morph into a global food shortage,” Guterres said.

He called for the removal of “all remaining obstacles” to the export of Russian fertilizers and their ingredients, including ammonia.

“These products are not subject to sanctions — and we are making progress in eliminating indirect effects,” he emphasized.

While there are no Western sanctions on either Russian food or fertilizer exports, Moscow claims that there are. A deal signed in Istanbul on July 22 is helping to get millions of tons of Ukrainian grain to international markets and is working to build confidence among shippers, insurers and buyers of Russian grain and fertilizer so they will resume at pre-invasion levels.

Two giant screens in the assembly hall above the secretary-general showed a photo of the Brave Commander, one of the ships that carried Ukrainian grain to the Horn of Africa. He said it represents multilateral diplomacy in action.

“Meanwhile nuclear saber-rattling and threats to the safety of nuclear plants are adding to global instability,” he said, alluding to the threatened Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, as well as rhetoric and actions from North Korea and questions around Iran’s nuclear program.

Wider turmoil

Guterres mentioned a litany of crises both new and entrenched from Ethiopia and the Sahel to Haiti, Syria and Myanmar that he said must be resolved.

In Afghanistan, he said human rights are “being trampled,” especially those of women and girls, who have seen their rights disappear under the Taliban.

He warned of the dangerous divisions between the global West and the South and geopolitical tensions splitting between developed and developing countries.

The world’s top diplomat urged making conflict prevention and peace-building a priority.

“In all we do, we must recognize that human rights are the path to resolving tensions, ending conflict and forging lasting peace,” he reminded leaders.

All this conflict is leading to an unprecedented amount of humanitarian need. He said U.N. aid appeals are running a deficit of $32 billion.

In his sea of bad news, he found a few “glimmers of hope.”

“In Yemen, the nationwide truce is fragile but holding,” he said. “In Colombia, the peace process is taking root.”

The world’s youth are also a source of hope, he said, as they work for a better future.

Existential threat

The secretary-general’s strongest words were for the rapidly warming planet.

“The climate crisis is the defining issue of our time,” he said. “It must be the first priority of every government and multilateral organization.”

He worried that climate action has been pushed to the back of the international agenda, despite global public support for leaders to do more.

Greenhouse gas emissions are rising at record levels and he said they need to be slashed by 45% by 2030 to have any hope of reaching the net zero target by 2050.

To do that, he urged the world to end its “addiction” to fossil fuels and accelerate its transition to clean, renewable energy. And as part of that, he said, “Polluters must pay.”

“Today, I am calling on all developed economies to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies,” the secretary-general declared, noting that G20 countries emit 80% of all greenhouse gas emissions.

He said those funds should go to help defray the costs of climate change in countries suffering loss and damage from the climate crisis and to people struggling with rising food and energy prices.

He urged unity to develop “common solutions to common problems.”

“Let’s work as one, as a coalition of the world, as united nations,” he said.
…

Russians have held Vladyslav Yesypenko, a Ukrainian journalist employed by VOA’s sister network Radio Free Europe, in captivity in Crimea for 18 months. He was arrested on charges of illegal possession of weapons, which he denies. In February, he was sentenced to a penal colony. Some human rights organizations believe he is a political prisoner. Iryna Solomko has the story.
…

Flags on government buildings returned to full mast and an epic clean-up operation was underway on Tuesday as British public life resumed after the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, although the royal family remains in mourning for another week.

Around a quarter of a million people queued round the clock to view the queen’s coffin as it lay in state in the days leading up to the funeral, the UK government said.

Liz Truss, appointed prime minister by the queen just two days before she died on September 8, flew to the U.N. General Assembly hours after delivering a biblical reading at the lavish funeral.

En route to New York, Truss praised the “huge outpouring of love and affection” shown towards the late monarch, as well as the “huge amount of warmth towards” her successor, King Charles III.

Charles, 73, and his family will remain in mourning for another seven days.

That means no official engagements after he spent an exhausting week touring his new kingdom and attending to the ornate pageantry of a role that he has spent a lifetime preparing to take on.

The royal Twitter account published a picture of the queen hiking in 1971 at her Scottish retreat of Balmoral, where she died at the age of 96 as Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

The photograph was accompanied with the words: “May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest. In loving memory of Her Majesty The Queen.”

The quotation is from the tragic conclusion of Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”, and was also used by Charles in his first national broadcast as king the day after his mother passed away.

Dramas old and new

Britain’s National Grid said there was a drop-off of two gigawatts in usage on the UK power network — the equivalent of 200 million lightbulbs being switched off — from 10:30 am to 11:00 am (0930 to 1000 GMT) on Monday.

“This was because people were stopping their usual activities in time for the funeral,” a spokesman told AFP.

Following a public holiday for the funeral, business life was resuming, and workers were busy clearing up the debris left by the estimated million-plus people who lined the streets of London on Monday.

Members of parliament are set to take an oath of allegiance to their new sovereign, as political life also resumes after the official period of government mourning.

Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said she did not know the final cost of the state funeral at Westminster Abbey, which entailed a vast security operation for hundreds of foreign dignitaries.

But she told Sky News the British public would agree that it “was money well spent.”

“You saw so many thousands out there and I don’t think anybody can suggest that our late monarch didn’t deserve that send-off, given the duty and the selfless service that she committed to over 70 years.”

No date has been fixed for the coronation of Charles, Donelan added.

That event will return the spotlight to Westminster Abbey and to debate over whether the new king can play the same unifying role his mother did.

Disunited kingdom

But with the departure of the only monarch most Britons have ever known, attention was turning back to the country’s soaring inflation problem and the crisis stemming from Russia’s war in Ukraine.

There are also deeper fissures over the very future of the United Kingdom, as Scotland’s nationalist government agitates for another referendum on independence, and as Northern Ireland turns majority-Catholic for the first time.

“Is it possible that in the Windsor vault now lies buried the person who, more than any other, served to cohere these islands?” commentator Jonathan Freedland wrote in The Guardian newspaper.

“The last 10 days have been a holiday from the usual political polarization: admiration for the queen was one of the few things most people could agree on,” he said.

“If that turns out to have been the magic of Elizabeth, rather than the Crown, then it’s not clear how long there will be a United Kingdom for Charles to reign over.”

For most UK media, the focus remained on the unquestionable grandeur with which the country and the world bade adieu to Elizabeth.

“An outpouring of love,” the Daily Telegraph headlined, above a picture of Charles draping military colors held in life by his mother over her coffin in Windsor Castle.
…

Responding to a series of questions on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the leader of the Belarusian opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, told VOA that the democratic world should not be “putting the [Alexander Lukashenko] regime and the Belarusian people into one basket.” 

“Here, it’s very important to distinguish the Belarusian regime that became accomplice to Russian invasion of the war (in Ukraine) and the Belarusian people, who are against this war and who are supporting Ukrainians in this situation,” said Tsikhanouskaya in a sit-down interview with VOA’s New York Bureau Chief Ihar Tsikhanenka. 

Tsikhanouskaya, who is attending the United Nations General Assembly as a member of an unnamed European country’s delegation this week, said that Belarus should not be viewed as “appendix to Russia,” even though [Russian President] “Vladimir Putin wants to drag it back to the Soviet era.” 

Lukashenko, who has been in power in Belarus since 1994, has faced a domestic legitimacy crisis since declaring himself the winner of a sixth presidential term in a disputed 2020 election. Rights activists and opposition politicians, as well as the United States and European Union, allege the poll was rigged. 

A crackdown by the Lukashenko regime has pushed most opposition politicians to leave the country fearing for their safety.

Last month, Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin’s who allowed Russia to stage attacks on neighboring Ukraine from Belarus, wished Ukrainians peaceful skies and success “in restoring a decent life.” He said current disputes could not destroy centuries-old good relations between the Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: It’s been exactly a year and two months since our last interview in Washington, D.C. And so much has happened in the world since then, particularly in the region that you come from. But for now, tell me, please, what are you doing here at the United Nations General Assembly? What are your plans? What’s your agenda?

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: So, first of all, it’s very important to install a good relationship with the U.N. and we understand that the representatives of the regime of Belarus presented here and for us, for democratic society, for democratic movement of Belarus it’s very important that our voice is also heard. So it’s important for us to be here to promote our alternative messages and for two years, we see that the U.N. is trying to do a lot toward Belarus, but much more can be done. And our task is to promote our ideas, to discuss how else the U.N. can be helpful in our situation. 

VOA: So you’re saying Lukashenko’s government is represented here by certain people and who are you representing here? 

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: I’m representing here the Belarusians who are fighting against a dictator in our country. For two years, we are fighting with this cruel machine, with this regime under repressions and tortures, hundreds, thousands of people are in prisons. Hundreds of thousands had to flee Belarus because of the repression. But we want to build another country. People don’t agree to live under dictatorship anymore. And we are making steps towards a democratic Belarus. 

VOA: And who invited you here? 

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: We are a part of one of the European countries’ delegations and I have to say that a lot of countries want to help us, to help girls and boys to be held in different organizations. So I will not name what country helped us this time. But, you know, there are a lot of them who want to help.

VOA: You will have a lot of what’s called bilats, so bilateral meetings with heads of state, their cabinet members. What are your main top two, three messages to the world leaders?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: You know, Belarus now is discussed together with Ukraine because Belarus is beside Ukraine. Belarus became collaborators in this war and here it is very important to distinguish the Belarusian regime that became an accomplice to Russian invasion of the war and Belarusian people who are against this war, who are supporting Ukrainians in this situation. So don’t put the regime and the Belarusian people into one basket. Second is that Belarus and Russia are two different issues, because in Belarus there is an understanding that we are not part of the regime. We are not part of Russia. We are not like an appendix to Russia and our two cases have to be approached differently. And the third one, maybe, is that the U.N. and democratic countries have to be braver and consistent in this situation, in the situation of Belarus and of course Ukraine. Consistency is our weapon, unity is our weapon. And I understand that there was some fatigue about the Russian situation and moreover there is some fatigue about the Ukrainian situation, but we do not have the right to give up now. You know it’s easy to say that look, almost everything is done. What else can we do? You don’t have the right to give up at this very crucial moment so be with us, stay with us, help as much as you can. And together we have to bring our country to democracy.  

VOA: The last two years have been particularly hard for you. Your own husband has been imprisoned by the Lukashenko regime only because he dared to run against Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for the last 28 years, and your husband was sent to jail for 18 years. It must be tough for you and it speaks volumes about your courage that you stepped in and ran instead of your husband. And it looks like, according to some, to most monitors of the elections, you beat Alexander Lukashenko. And in retrospect, do you have any regrets about this period over the last two years? What are your regrets? What are your joys? In other words, what makes you proud of what you’ve accomplished so far?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: I’m proud by Belarusians. You know, I did what I could in these circumstances, but it’s all Belarusians who sacrifice their comfort, their life, their families, some freedoms, you know, but they understand that they want to live in another country. They want to change our country for democratic and the people are not given up and even every small step of the ordinary Belarusians contributes to these changes. So I think that we achieved a lot during these two years. We are staying united as never before. We managed to build a strong coalition of different democratic countries who are supporting us. We managed to revive the old media that had been ruined in Belarus. Of course, not everything is achieved, so thousands of political prisoners are still in prisons. We didn’t manage to split elites in Belarus. You can say that our strikes failed, but the fact that we are continuing is a huge advantage for us because we don’t have the right to give up now when people are still in prison. So we are continuing to create multiple points of pressure on the regime from inside the country, outside the country in order to make this regime understand that nothing is forgotten, nothing is forbidden. And we will fight this regime until we gain our goals.  

VOA: Speaking of people who are still in prisons, how often do you hear from your husband? Do you talk to him on the phone? Do you get a chance to receive mail from him?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: Actually, it’s very difficult to reach political prisoners and the only way, almost the only way, is to communicate through the lawyer. The lawyer visits my husband and the other prisoners, and we can send messages like this. In 2020 our prisoners got a lot of letters from people. Now, the regime doesn’t allow these letters to be delivered to them. So the regime wants our heroes in prisons to feel that they are abandoned, that everybody has forgotten about them, but it’s not so. We are continuing to work on the release of all of them. My letters are not delivered as well, but the letters of my children are delivered and the only way for my husband to see how the children are growing, that our younger daughter is starting to write letters. You know it’s very important for him to see how they’re growing up. 

VOA: I know you have two kids, two little kids. One is becoming a teenager, I believe. How are they taking this? Do they understand who their mother is? Do they understand where their dad is?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: My daughter is 7, the son is 12 and, yes, they do understand. They saw their daddy the last time two years ago. It was more difficult for me to explain to my younger daughter what’s going on, why your daddy is not telling fairy tales every evening to her. But they know who Lukashenko is, that he’s putting people in jail because they don’t want change in our country. On the primitive level, they realize. But my task is to make everything possible so that my children don’t feel that their daddy is somewhere apart because we are watching movies with him. The pictures of my husband are everywhere in my house for my children to feel the presence of their daddy in their life. 

VOA: You touched a bit in one of your previous answers on the Ukraine topic. Obviously, I’d like to talk to you extensively about this. Are you in touch with President Voldoymyr Zelenskyy on what’s going on there on the ground?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: We haven’t met with the President Zelenskyy, and we can really understand the cautiousness about meeting with me. But we understood more before the start of the war because they didn’t want to spoil the relationship with the regime because they were afraid that war could start only from our territory. But after the 24th of February, when from Belarusian territory in the south had been launched, everything became understandable, but still there was no open communication with President Zelensky, but my team is working with his advisers, with the [Ukraine Foreign Minister] Dmytro Kuleba only working level and we see that they understand Belarusians. They know that we want to contribute to their victory, but still there are some obstacles that, you know, that influence our relationship.

VOA: A lot of people in the West and, obviously, especially in Ukraine view Belarus and Belarusians as co-aggressors because as you mentioned earlier, Alexander Lukashenko offered its territory for [Russian President] Vladimir Putin to attack Ukraine. How did it make you feel when you found out about it? And how do you think most Belarusians feel about it?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: I think that it’s a huge shock for the Belarussian people that Belarus became quite aggressive in this war, especially in the war against Ukrainians, because for many, many years and we had a wonderful relationship as nations, and our soldiers, for example, they don’t want to go and fight against Ukrainians. And it was one of the reasons why our army wasn’t sent to Ukraine to fight alongside the Russians, because the regime knew about the mood among soldiers, that they would definitely defect, change sides, but will not go and, you know, fight to preserve Lukashenko and Putin. They don’t want to fight with Ukrainians. So, of course, people are scared with the war, of course, but they are against the war and they showed this very clearly. And for the first time since 2020, a huge rally took place in Minsk, in this anti-war inspiration. And on this day, about 2,000 people have been detained. So now not only are you an enemy of the regime, not only if you are against the regime, but also if you are against the war.  

VOA: Over the course of the last two years, you’ve been meeting with a lot of European leaders and their cabinet members and understand regional politics rather well by now. Why do you think Vladimir Putin attacked Ukraine?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: As I understand, he doesn’t see Ukraine or Belarus as separate independent and sovereign countries. He wants to track us back to this Soviet era when countries are dependent on the Kremlin, but we are independent countries. He wants to show his empire ambitions, he doesn’t understand that the Belarusians and Ukrainians already formed as nations. They cherish their identity. They cherish their language. So we want to move forward. We don’t want to be part of the Soviet Union again. And the difference between Ukraine and Belarus is that Lukashenko was like an accomplice of Putin, and he gave our territory up without any fight, he became cooperant, it was easy for him, and the Ukrainians like are fighting for the territories. So if in 2020 the democratic movement won, maybe this war wouldn’t even happen.  

VOA: Given what happened on February 24th, what Vladimir Putin has done, in one sentence, who is he to you today?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: He’s the person who doesn’t respect nations, who can sacrifice with the lives of his own people, with the lives of persons in the Ukrainian to gain his ambitions and that’s it. He doesn’t think about people, he doesn’t think about international law, he wants to, you know, to leave something huge behind him, but he’s failed.

VOA: Like a legacy?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: Yeah. But he’s leaving destroyed countries. He’s destroyed [the] fates of people.

VOA: Speaking of that, what is preventing Vladimir Putin from doing the same to your country?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: I think that it’s the presence of the regime there. Lukashenko is very convenient for Putin, you know, he fulfills all the orders, he for sure doesn’t control any military people inside our country, military sites. So Lukashenko, Putin just needs such a person in this regime, and he knows that Lukashenko is dependent on him. Without Putin’s support, Lukashenko wouldn’t survive in 2020. I mean politically survive.

VOA: Some say that Ukraine’s victory over Russia might be the best chance of Belarus becoming a democratic society. Would you agree with that?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: I would say that the victory of Ukraine will give us the opportunity to use this chance, because we understand that when Ukrainians win, it means that Putin is weak, hence, Lukashenko is weak, and we will have to uprise again. We will have to use all the organizations that have been launched since 2020, to use all our political power and human power, you know, to get rid of the regime. For sure the fate of Belarus and the fate of Ukraine are interconnected. But I have to say that you can’t solve only the Ukrainian crisis, because our countries are interconnected, and without free Belarus, there will be no safety for Ukrainians as well. There will be a constant threat to Ukraine and to our Western neighbors. So Belarus is part of this crisis and this crisis has to be solved.  

VOA: At the Belarus Democratic forum that was held last month in Vilnius, some criticized you for being too “indecisive.” They said that the Belarusian democratic forces have to become more aggressive. They have to become, in a way, more violent and assertive. Some even suggested that you have to create your own alternative army to overthrow the Lukashenko regime because clearly peaceful protest hasn’t worked. It’s been over two years now. What are your thoughts on that?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: I still believe in the peaceful decision of the recent crisis. We need more support. We need more assistance from our democratic neighbors. But I understand why these voices rise. Some people are disappointed with the democratic forces, but that’s why we decided to create and organize this United Transitional Cabinet where the representative on military affairs appeared. I understand that military people don’t hear me because I’m not an authority for them. I can’t speak the same language with them. But this person who became representative, his ex-colonel, he knows how to speak, he knows how to proceed, he will get the proper words, you know, to communicate with military officers inside the country. Of course, he helps those military volunteers who are fighting in Ukraine at the moment. I really don’t think that it’s possible to create an alternative army. We don’t have our own territory and no one country will allow us to create an army on their territory, but to train people, to train partisans, can be crucial in one moment.  

VOA: If you don’t believe in the military resolution of the problem, why did you get that person into your Cabinet that is a colonel of the army, retired colonel?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: Like the military part can be a part of changes, but it’s not the only source of changes in our country. And now our military volunteers in Ukraine, the fact that this person is communicating with law enforcement in Belarus, you know, in the army creates stress for the regime. They understand that there can be a crisis or split among the army, that they are not loyal to the Lukashenko regime. So it’s like steps forwards, but, for example, the same partisans are also very dangerous for the regime. So they can play their role in changes. But I will try to do everything possible so that this role will not be main.

VOA: Let me ask you about your former colleagues, your former allies, people who were originally with you and it looks like you no longer communicate with them. They criticize you, they say that you stole the limelight, the spotlight, and you do not share the resources with them and you are holding on to power. What is your response to those people? Is that true?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: I hear the voices that criticize me, but I think that we have to be united. … I didn’t do anything against, you know, Belarusians, and all this gossip about resources, about power, you know it’s not true. We are welcoming all the people who want to work together with us or separately but in one direction. So let’s be together. It’s not necessary to be in one building, at one table, but when you see that you are working in the direction of getting rid of the regime, everybody’s welcome. And it’s very painful to see that the opposition structures are organized in opposition and democratic forces because our task is not to quarrel, is not to fight with each other, our task is to fight with the regime, but politics are unpredictable.

VOA: Have you made any mistakes in the last two years that you really regret?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: Maybe I made mistakes before my participation in the presidential election. My mistake is that I, the same or similar to Belarusians who weren’t involved in politics, I also thought, “What can I do? How can I help?” and lived my own life. As for political mistakes, you know, history will judge us and maybe something could be done better. Who knows? But we were in certain circumstances and, you know, at that moment, I thought that these were important steps. But, anyway, we can’t change anything, so we have to look forward.  

VOA: Let’s transfer from that historic perspective here back to New York, to the United Nations General Assembly. What is your message to the Belarusian people?  

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: It’s difficult times for our country. We have to protect the very existence of our country, the independence and sovereignty of Belarus. But I ask you to stay brave as you have been brave for all these months. I ask you to support each other, to support those who are in a worse position than you are at the moment. And I know that we are not giving up, that we will not give up. I am so proud of you, that you and we understand the responsibility for our country at last. That we woke up at last. And I, from my side, I will do everything possible to be a voice here in our international agenda, but I need all of you and we need each other, and let’s stay together. Let’s stay united and I’m sure we will win.  

VOA: Can you please share your personal emotions at this moment? How does it make you feel to be here at the United Nations General Assembly and represent your people?

TSIKHANOUSKAYA: I’m proud that I can represent such wonderful, hard-working, and brave persons who are not giving up, who know the price of democracy, and who have the right to remind democratic countries that it’s so easy to lose democracy and so difficult to gain it. And on behalf of all Belarussians, I ask you to be with us, no matter how long it will last. And I’m proud. I’m proud to be here as part of a free Belarus. 
…

The price of bread rose by almost a fifth in the European Union in August as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both major exporters of grains and fertilizers, continued to disrupt global markets and headline inflation accelerated.

Global wheat prices have surged since February, after the war halted grain exports from the Black Sea for months and restricted fertilizer shipments as Russian producers lost access to Baltic Sea ports they had used to ship ammonia, a key ingredient in nitrate fertilizer.

The average price of bread in the EU was 18% higher in August 2022 than a year earlier, data from the bloc’s statistics office Monday showed, the highest rise since December 2017 when Eurostat began compiling the statistic.

In August 2021, the average price of bread rose 3% year-on-year, Eurostat said.

Hungary and Lithuania saw the highest annual changes in average bread price in August, with increases of 66% and 33% respectively.

The countries with the lowest average increases were France at 8%, and the Netherlands and Luxembourg which recorded a 10% rise each.

Bread prices have risen consistently in the EU this year, from an average of 8.3% in February, when Russia launched what is calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Combined prices of bread and cereals increased by 16.6% in August, their highest rise since at least January 1997.

Euro zone inflation hit a record high of 9.1% in August, Eurostat confirmed Friday, driven by sharply higher energy and food prices.

It said 2.25 percentage points of the year-on-year change came from food, alcohol and tobacco.
…

As of midnight, Lithuanian border control stopped 11 Russian citizens from entering the country, the Lithuanian Interior Ministry reported. This comes after the prime ministers of four of the five Baltic nations bordering Russia — Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — agreed earlier this month to stop admitting Russian citizens, a move in support of Ukraine.

Going forward, Russians traveling for tourism, culture, sport or business purposes, even if they hold a valid visa, will be denied entry to the four nations. In a tweet, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said he reiterated his proposal to impose an EU tourist ban for Russian citizens.

In May, the European Union tightened travel restrictions on Russian officials and businesspeople and banned all flights from Russia, leaving only rail and road links. While not sharing a border with Russia, the Czech Republic was one of the first EU countries to stop issuing visas to Russian citizens, imposing the restriction the day after Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

However, the most recent ban exempts holders of EU residence cards, family members of EU citizens, those with humanitarian cases, serving diplomats, transportation employees and Russian dissidents or long-stay national visa holders.

Andrzej Romanczuk, a Polish citizen, told The Associated Press that regions on both sides of the borders would suffer economically because border traffic drives local trade.

Bordering countries cannot stop Russians from entering their countries via another third nation, such as Finland, which despite bordering Russia, decided to keep its borders open.

“There is a loophole, and the loophole is Finland,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told Reuters, adding that as a result, the travel restrictions are not entirely effective but still better than nothing.

Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press and Reuters.
…

VOA Eastern Europe bureau chief Myroslava Gongadze spoke to Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov about a United Nations program to deliver Ukrainian grain to the world and his country’s efforts to replace bridges damaged during Russia’s invasion. The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

VOA: After you signed the agreement with the World Food Program under the U.N., and over 3 million tons of grain was delivered to the world, does it mean that the World Food Program and this agreement [are] working?

KUBRAKOV: Yes, you’re absolutely right. … Almost each week, we load in one, two vessels, which is going to Somalia, to Ethiopia, Kenya, and other African countries which are suffering now because you know that according to statistics of United Nations almost 70 million people now, they feel lack of food and there is a huge risk for these countries.

VOA: There was a report about Russia stealing Ukrainian grain. How are you dealing with this issue?

KUBRAVOV: We are trying to block these supplies. Normal countries which appreciate, which try to stick to international laws, they understand this, and they are not accepting such vessels with stolen grain from our country. But still there is Syria. Still there are some other countries oriented on the Russian Federation and they support such transactions.

VOA: And they are accepting the grain, Ukrainian grain under Russian pretext. There are a lot of Ukrainian grains. The world learned how big Ukraine is as an agricultural country and how much impact Ukraine has in the world. How are you planning to actually save Ukrainian grain?

KUBRAVOV: The most important for us is just to increase volume of our exports. Results of August were quite optimistic. We reached almost 5 million. It’s very similar volumes which we had before the war. So, I hope that if we will continue with the same volumes, I think we will save all our agricultural products and nothing will be spoiled. So, we will reach volumes which we had before the war.

VOA: My understanding that you are developing other ways to deliver grain, tell me about that.

KUBRAVOV: Last month we exported more than 2 million, about 2.2 million tons of different products through three ports on [the] Danube [River] and 1.6 million tons of agricultural products. So, it’s also like a huge contribution to whole export. We are developing our railway lines in direction to Poland, to Romania. It’s also important because we passed over 1 million tons of exports through these channels.

And for sure we are trying to simplify border cross checkpoints and all of these issues with our colleagues from Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Hungary. It’s not so easy, we understand that our points, they were not ready for such volumes. But we are working on this, and the European Commission also supports us.

VOA: We are standing on this bridge. It’s a fresh new building. You are replacing all the bridges that were destroyed during the first stage of invasion. My understanding [is that] a lot of infrastructure would have to be replaced. How are you dealing with that? And how much you are relying on the international community for support?

KUBRAVOV: First of all, we understand that the war is continuing, and now we’re focusing only on the main roads, the main railway roads, the main infrastructure. So, we are standing on a bridge which is part of international road, so that’s why we understand it’s like top priority for us. And we have 320 destroyed bridges. We have 53 temporary bridges which are already constructed. This bridge won’t be temporary. It will be a permanent, normal bridge. I hope that we will finish it in less than one and a half months, before first of November we will open the bridge.

And you asked about support of our international partners. Fortunately, they support us, and recently we have received the decision of the European Commission and European investment Bank, they will provide financing for such recovery of like fast recovery. It’s first part of the most important bridges, railway lines and almost half a billion euro program. So, I hope that it will be enough just to cover all these urgent issues.

VOA: So far, your assessment, how much would have to be replaced?

KUBRAVOV: I can rely on figures of Kyiv School of Economy and World Bank, they are very close because one of the organizations they calculated the date on — the date was beginning of summer — Kyiv School of Economy, they are trying to update almost each week, months. So, they are close to $100 billion of direct losses of infrastructure and number one point in this figure, it’s residential buildings and second issue it’s transport infrastructure.
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The European Union’s executive branch has unveiled plans for new laws that it said would help protect media freedom and independence in the 27-nation bloc at a time of mounting concern about the dangers of political influence in several member countries.

Spurred into action allegations of state spying on reporters, the use of political pressure on news outlets and the placing of advertising to peddle influence, the European Commission said the EU needs a European Media Freedom Act.

“We see a lot of worrying trends regarding media in Europe, and it’s not only a matter of one or two countries,” European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova told reporters in Brussels. She said the proposed legislation is needed “for the times we live in, not for the times we would like to live in.”

The commission has criticized the governments of Hungary, Poland and Slovenia in recent years for trying to pressure their national media. But EU officials say they see the risk of political influence in more than 20 member countries.

“We need to establish clear principles: No journalist should be spied on because of their job. No public media should be turned into propaganda channel,” Jourova said.

The main thrust of the new act is to protect media outlets from governments attempting to determine what they can publish or broadcast, and to prevent countries from spying on media workers.

The legislation also aims to ensure stable funding of public service media and to make media ownership more transparent.

The proposal would only take effect once it has been debated and endorsed by EU member countries and the European Parliament.

The centerpiece of the legislation would create an independent body, made up of national media authorities, to issue opinions on national measures and decisions affecting media markets and media market ownership. But the opinions of the European Board for Media Services would not be binding on national authorities.

Jourova rejected suggestions that the board would be answerable to the European Commission or serve as an oversight body that itself keeps tabs on what reporters and editors are doing.

“We are not going to regulate the media themselves, but the space for media,” she said.

The act would ban the use of spyware against journalists and their families, with exceptions only for investigations of crimes such as terrorism, child abuse or murder. Journalists would have the right to judicial protection, and countries would set up an independent authority to handle complaints.

The allocation of state advertising to media would also be made more transparent. Officials say that 21 countries are at medium to high risk of misusing advertising revenue to influence editors and journalists.

The plan is the commission’s second recent foray into the media world. On Sept. 6, it launched a consortium of 18 European news agencies to “carry out independent reporting on EU affairs.” The European Newsroom benefits from around 1.8 million euros ($1.8 million) in EU funding.
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U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden paid their respects to Queen Elizabeth II Monday, joining world leaders, the royal family and a small group of invited guests at a somber, pomp-filled funeral ceremony at Westminster Abbey that celebrated her 70 years of service as Britain’s longest-serving monarch.

The Bidens arrived late Saturday for the event and have kept a low profile in the British capital, holding no official diplomatic meetings and keeping their public comments to the topic of the queen’s recent death September 8 at the age of 96.

White House officials told VOA before the funeral that Washington’s strong ties to London will continue after the recent change in leadership — which includes the new king, Charles III, and the recently installed prime minister, Liz Truss. Biden will meet with Truss Wednesday in New York, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

“We are confident that with King Charles and with Prime Minister Truss that the special relationship between the United States and Great Britain will endure, we’re not worried about that at all,” National Security Council director of strategic communications John Kirby told VOA.

On Sunday, Biden and his wife paid their respects as the queen’s body lay in state at Westminster Hall, where tens of thousands lined up for hours to pass by her elaborately draped casket, which also bore the Imperial State Crown, orb and scepter — a priceless and instantly recognizable piece capped by the massive, glittering Star of Africa diamond, a 530-carat stone given to the Crown by then-colony South Africa, in 1907.

On Sunday, the Bidens also signed condolence books, and the president praised the queen for her legacy of selfless duty.

“I think what she gave us is a sense of, maybe above all, the notion of service, that we all owe something,” he said. “There’s something within our capacity to do that can make things — not just the world better, but your neighborhood better, your household better, your workplace better. And that’s what she communicated to me anyway.”

The king also hosted a formal state reception for dignitaries Sunday, which Biden attended.

The British crown has extended a controversial funeral invitation to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is widely believed to be responsible for ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. They did not invite the leaders of Russia, Belarus, Syria, Afghanistan or Venezuela.

Elizabeth will be buried privately later on Monday at St. George’s Chapel within the grounds of Windsor Castle, next to her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip.
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The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is being held at London’s historic Westminster Abbey.

Her body has been lying in state since Wednesday at Westminster Hall, where thousands of mourners have filed past her coffin to pay their respects.

Heads of state and dignitaries from around the world have flown into London to attend Elizabeth’s funeral which is certain to be full of British pomp and circumstance.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday there would be no letup in the effort by his country’s military to retake territory from Russian forces. 

Zelenskyy’s comments – made during his regular nightly address – followed gains by Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine during a counteroffensive this month. 

“Maybe now it seems to some of you that after a series of victories we have a certain lull,” Zelenskyy said. “But this is not a lull. This is preparation for the next series… because Ukraine must be free — all of it.” 

U.S. President Joe Biden said in a CBS News interview broadcast Sunday night that Ukraine, with the aid of the United States and other allies, as well as “the incredible bravery and the incredible determination of the Ukrainian people” is not losing the war. 

Biden said winning the war means getting Russia “out of Ukraine completely” and recognizing Ukraine’s sovereignty. 

Asked about the military and humanitarian aid the United States has committed to Ukraine, Biden said the U.S. will continue to support Ukraine “as long as it takes.”    

On Sunday, Ukraine searched for its war dead in Izium and other towns in the northeastern part of the country it reclaimed from Russia. 

Izium Mayor Valery Marchenko told state television that graves are being dug up and remains are being transported to Kharkiv.  

“The work will continue for another two weeks, there are many burials,” Marchenko said. “No new ones have been found yet, but the services are looking for possible burials.”    

Zelenskyy said Saturday that investigators had discovered new evidence of torture inflicted against some of the soldiers buried in Izium, one of more than 20 towns that Ukraine recaptured in the Kharkiv region that Russia had held for months. He said 17 bodies were found at one site, some of which bore signs of torture.  

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters 
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