Hundreds of people blocked roads at several locations in Serbia on January 3 to protest a prospective lithium mine that they say will damage the environment.

For weeks, demonstrators have staged regular protests and blocked roads demanding the government reject a possible lithium mine in western Serbia.

London-based Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest metals and mining company, is studying the possible development of a lithium mine in Serbia, believed to be one of the largest in Europe.

The mine has the potential to generate significant export revenue and jobs for Serbia, especially if the country pursues plans to refine it locally and develop lithium battery plants.

Demand for lithium battery-powered electric cars is expected to surge in the coming years as the United States, Europe, and China seek to cut carbon emissions.

Rio Tinto says it would respect laws and environmental standards, but ecology groups worry dirty lithium mining will damage the environment. To date the company has only carried out explorations.

“Rio Tinto must leave Serbia,” said Aleksandar Jovanovic, one of the protest leaders.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who backs the projects, called the protests political.

Speaking at a military base, Vucic there will be no lithium mining until more environmental evaluations are completed.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has endorsed Viktor Orban in Hungary’s upcoming parliamentary elections, describing the nationalist prime minister as a “strong leader.”

In a statement on January 3, Trump wrote that the Hungarian leader has his "complete support and endorsement" in elections expected in April.

Orban “has done a powerful and wonderful job protecting Hungary, stopping illegal immigration, creating jobs, trade and should be allowed to continue to do so in the upcoming election.”

It is highly unusual for a former or sitting U.S. president to publicly endorse candidates in foreign elections.

Orban’s critics say his ruling Fidesz party has dismantled democratic institutions in Hungary, while trashing judicial independence and controlling the media.

He has also stepped up an anti-LGBT campaign as part of an ongoing drive to depict itself as the guardian of Christian values against Western liberalism that also includes a hard-line anti-immigration policy.

In 2016, Orban was the first leader of a European Union nation to endorse Trump’s bid for the presidency. Trump later hosted Orban at the White House in 2019.

Orban also supported Trump’s candidacy against President Joe Biden in 2020.

Hungary was the only EU member state to not receive an invitation to Biden's virtual Summit for Democracy in December.

Orban, who has been in power since 2010, faces a challenge to his rule with multiple opposition parties agreeing to unite behind one candidate for the first time.

Recent polls suggest a close race against the coalition's candidate for prime minister, Peter Marki-Zay.

With reporting by AFP, AP, and dpa

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, will visit Ukraine this week in a sign of the bloc’s support for Kyiv as it faces a Russian military buildup near its border.

The European Commission said on January 3 that Borrell will travel to Ukraine from January 4 to January 6, visiting the “contact line” where Russia-backed separatists battle Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine before meeting with officials in Kyiv.

The West is concerned that a Russian buildup of around 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders could be preparation for a potential invasion.

U.S. and Russian officials are set to hold talks in Geneva on January 9-10 on the crisis after Moscow demanded sweeping security guarantees from the United States and NATO.

Those bilateral talks will be followed days later by meetings between Russia and NATO and separate discussions under the framework of the Organization For Security and Cooperation In Europe (OSCE).

Brussels wants to avoid being left out of talks between the United States and Russia over security on the continent.

“The EU must be present at these negotiations,” Borrell said in an interview with Germany’s Die Welt newspaper last week. “We do not want to be…spectators that are not involved and over whose heads decisions are made.”

The United States has said no decisions will be made about security in the region without its European allies and Ukraine. In the latest consultations, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with nine eastern flank NATO allies on January 3 to discuss Russia’s military buildup and the need for “a united, ready, and resolute” alliance.

Russia has demanded guarantees that Ukraine and other former Soviet countries will not join NATO and wants a rollback of the alliance’s military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

The West has rejected Moscow’s ultimatums regarding the NATO alliance and threatened Moscow with severe sanctions and other measures if it launches a fresh incursion into Ukraine.

Meanwhile, representatives from Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France are to meet on January 6 in Moscow under the so-called Normandy format, the Interfax news agency reported.

The four nations are trying to find a political solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine but haven’t met since 2019 under this format.

Russia and Ukraine blame each other for failing to meet their commitments under the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements aimed at putting an end to the war, which has killed more than 13,200 people since 2014.

With reporting by dpa and Interfax

The world's five leading nuclear powers -- all permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- have pledged to stop the spread of atomic weapons and to do all they can to ensure a nuclear war never occurs.

In a rare joint statement issued on January 3, France, the United States, Russia, China, and the United Kingdom said they were determined to prevent nuclear war and avoid a nuclear arms race.

"We affirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be waged," the statement said.

"In view of the far-reaching consequences of the use of nuclear weapons, we also affirm that they, as long as they exist, must be used for defensive purposes, deterrence and prevention of war. We firmly believe in the need to prevent the further spread of these weapons," it added.

The statement was issued after the latest review of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was postponed from January 4 to later in the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NPT, which took force in 1970, allows for signatories to gather every five years to review the treaty's operation. The conference was originally set for April 2020, but delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the January 3 joint statement, the five Security Council members reaffirmed the importance of dealing with nuclear threats and stressed the need "to preserve and respect our bilateral and multilateral agreements and commitments on non-proliferation, disarmament and arms control."

"We remain committed to fulfilling our obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), including that contained in Article VI to 'continue in good faith negotiations on effective measures relating to the cessation of nuclear weapons. early nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament, and on a general and complete disarmament treaty under strict and effective international control.'"

The statement comes amid a rise in to near Cold War levels over a buildup of troops by Moscow close to the Ukrainian border, and tensions between the U.S. and China over human rights issues, a crackdown on pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong, and the situation around Taiwan.

Beijing said the statement will "increase mutual trust" among world powers, while officials in Russia said they hoped the pledge would help to reduce world tensions over global security.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RIA Novosti news agency that even with the pledge, Moscow still considers it "necessary" to hold a summit between the world's major nuclear powers to address outstanding issues.

"We hope that, in the current difficult conditions of international security, the approval of such a political statement will help reduce the level of international tensions," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The troop buildup has raised fears that the Kremlin is planning a new attack on its pro-Western neighbor. Meanwhile, the rise of China under President Xi Jinping has also raised concerns that tensions with Washington could lead to conflict, notably over Taiwan.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on December 30 held a phone call in which Biden said the United States and its allies would impose severe sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine.

During the call Biden warned Putin against invading Ukraine, while the Kremlin leader said anti-Moscow sanctions would be a "colossal mistake." But both leaders indicated support for further diplomacy, and talks between Russia and the U.S. on European security are expected to be held in Geneva early next week followed by other high-level meetings later in the month.

The NPT recognizes China, France, Russia, the U.K., and United States as nuclear weapons powers. India and Pakistan have also developed nuclear weapons, while Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear arms but has never officially acknowledged it has. India, Pakistan, and Israel are not signatories of the NPT. North Korea, which has also developed nuclear weapons, pulled out of the NPT in 2003.

With reporting by AFP, dpa, and Reuters

ZHANAOZEN, Kazakhstan -- Hundreds of people in the western Kazakh region of Mangystau have protested for a second straight day against a sudden, dramatic hike in prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used in vehicles.

More than 1,000 people rallied in the town of Zhanaozen’s main square on January 3 after protesters spent the night there, complaining that the price increase will lead to knock-on effects to the prices of other daily commodities such as food.

Dozens of demonstrators also voiced anger in Aqtau, the regional administrative center, after spending the night in the open.

Smaller demonstrations were also held in villages in the Mangystau region, as well as in several cities and towns elsewhere in the Central Asian country in support of the protesters, including in the capital, Nur-Sultan, where at least three people were detained.

The price per liter of LPG jumped to 120 tenge (28 U.S. cents) at gas stations in Mangystau at the start of this year, compared with a price of 50-60 tenge (12-14 cents) in 2021.

President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev warned the protesters against violating the restrictive law on public gatherings, while the government said it would “implement a package of measures to regulate” LPG prices.

The owners of gas stations in the Mangystau region have agreed to reduce the gas price to 85-90 tenge (20-21 cents) per liter, the government said in a statement.

But Erlan Sargulov, who was among the protesters in Zhanaozen’s main square, said that was not enough.

“Let them reduce the price of gas by 50-60 tenge per liter, or increase our salary to 200,000 tenge ($460),” Sargulov said.

In Aqtau, around 30 people were standing at the city’s Yntymak Square, with dozens of police officers and special forces standing around it.

The protesters said they would continue their protest until the price of gas is reduced to 60 tenge.

An RFE/RL correspondent reported that the cost of taking a taxi from the airport to the city center had tripled to 3,000 tenge ($6.9).

"We run on gas, it's more expensive," the taxi driver explained.

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Near Nur-Sultan’s monument to Khan Kenesary, police detained three people supporting the protesters in Mangystau. Officers also prevented an RFE/RL reporter from filming.

A small group of protesters gathered in front of the local government building were also forced into a police bus, according to video shared on social media.

In Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, Republic Square and Astana Square were closed to the public and guarded by police officers.

One officer told RFE/RL that the squares were closed “in connection with the rally." He did not provide further details.

Toqaev tweeted overnight that "citizens have the right to make public demands to local and central authorities, but this must be done in accordance with the law, in particular the law on peaceful protests."

Human rights groups have said that Kazakhstan’s law on public gatherings contradicts international standards as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies. It also envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies even though the nation’s constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has vowed revenge for the killing of a top Iranian general in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad two years ago unless then-President Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are put on trial.

"If Trump and Pompeo are not tried in a fair court for the criminal act of assassinating General [Qassem] Soleimani, Muslims will take our martyr's revenge," Raisi said in a televised speech on January 3, amid heightened regional tensions on the second anniversary of the death of the Iranian commander.

Earlier in the day, two armed drones were shot down as they approached a military facility hosting American forces at Baghdad's international airport, security sources said on January 3, amid heightened regional tensions on the second anniversary of the killing of a top Iranian general in a U.S. drone strike.

A counterrocket system at a compound used by the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) extremist group "engaged [the two drones] and they were shot down without incident," a coalition source told AFP.

Describing the unmanned aircraft as “suicide drones," a coalition official told AP that the incident was “a dangerous attack on a civilian airport.”

There were no reports of damage or injuries from the incident, which was confirmed by Iraqi security officials. No one immediately claimed responsibility.

Soleimani, who headed the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and his Iraqi lieutenant Abu Hamid al-Muhandis, were killed on January 3, 2020 in a drone strike near Baghdad airport.

The air strike, ordered by Trump, came in response to a spate of attacks against U.S. interests in Iraq.

Soleimani was considered a main architect of Iran's Middle East military strategy, and his killing ratcheted up tensions between Iran and the United States.

Five days after Soleimani's death, Iran fired missiles at an Iraqi air base hosting U.S. forces and another base near the Iraqi city of Irbil.

The same night, a Ukraine International Airlines flight was downed by Iranian surface-to-air missiles shortly after takeoff from Tehran on January 8, 2020.

Iran has admitted that its forces inadvertently shot down the Kyiv-bound plane amid heightened tensions with the United States.

In another sign of Middle East tensions, the website of a major Israeli newspaper was targeted by hackers on January 2.

The attack on the Jerusalem Post’s website replaced content with an image showing a missile falling from a fist bearing a ring long associated with Soleimani.

The image included an exploding target designed to look like an Israeli nuclear research center associated with Israel's undeclared nuclear weapons program.

The English-language newspaper acknowledged the hack, saying on Twitter: “We are aware of the apparent hacking of our website, alongside a direct threat to Israel.”

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the hacking.

The Jerusalem Post said it was unclear if the hackers were from Iran, supporters from outside the country, or if they were state-sponsored.

The previous day, hundreds of demonstrators turned out in Baghdad to mark the anniversary of the attack that killed Soleimani.

Although the international coalition against the IS group announced the end of its "combat mission" in Iraq in December, some 2,500 U.S. and 1,000 coalition troops remain in the country to advise and train Iraqi security forces.

Also on January 3, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Huthi rebels seized an Emirati-flagged ship in the Red Sea, a crucial route for international trade and energy shipments.

The Shi’ite Huthis acknowledged the incident off the coast of Hodeida, a long-contested prize of the seven-year war in Yemen.

A military spokesman for the group, Yahia Sarei, described the ship as an Emirati “military cargo ship” carrying equipment into Yemen’s territorial waters “without any license” to engage in “hostile acts” against the country’s stability.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Huthis accused the group of committing an act of “armed piracy,” and asserted that the ship carried medical equipment from a dismantled Saudi field hospital in the island of Socotra.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, The Jerusalem Post, and AFP

WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden has reassured Ukraine of U.S. support in the face of a Russian military buildup on Ukraine's borders, telling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a phone call on January 2 that the U.S. and its allies will "respond decisively" if Russia invades the former Soviet republic.

Biden “reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement after the two leaders spoke.

“The leaders expressed support for diplomatic efforts, starting next week with the bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue, at NATO through the NATO-Russia Council, and at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,” Psaki said.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine appreciates the “unwavering” support from the United States, noting on Twitter that he and Biden discussed cooperation between the United States, Ukraine, and other partners "in keeping peace in Europe, preventing further escalation, reforms, de-oligarchization.”

The call was the second in three weeks between Biden and Zelenskiy as the White House attempts to address the Russian troop buildup. U.S. intelligence findings indicate Russia has made preparations for a potential invasion in early 2022, and authorities in Kyiv have expressed concerns that Russia could invade Ukraine in the coming weeks.

U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (Democrat-California), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he feared that Russian President Vladimir Putin was intent on invading Ukraine and “nothing other than a level of sanctions that Russia has never seen will deter him.”

Speaking on January 2 on U.S. broadcaster CBS, Schiff also said that a powerful deterrent “is the understanding that if they do invade, it is going to bring [NATO] closer to Russia, not push it farther away."

Biden’s call with Zelenskiy follows talks between Biden and Putin on December 30 in which Biden said the United States and its allies would impose severe sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine.

SEE ALSO:

'Serious, Substantive': Biden, Putin Agree To Intensify Diplomacy Amid Ukraine Tensions

During the call Biden warned Putin against invading Ukraine, while the Kremlin leader said anti-Moscow sanctions would be a "colossal mistake." But both leaders indicated support for further diplomacy.

Russia has demanded sweeping security guarantees from the United States and NATO, including that Ukraine and other former Soviet countries will not join NATO and a rollback of military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. Putin has urged the West to meet the demands “immediately.”

Russia has defended its troop buildup, saying it could not remain indifferent to perceived NATO aggression on Russia's "doorstep."

The U.S. has urged Russia to "engage meaningfully" in upcoming high-level talks on the tense standoff between Moscow and Kyiv.

The first of the three rounds of talks are set for January 9-10 in Geneva. They are to discuss arms control and tensions over Ukraine under their bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue.

That will be followed by a separate meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on January 12. Another meeting will be held in Vienna a day later within the framework of the OSCE, which includes the United States, its European allies, Ukraine, and Russia.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, AP, Reuters, and AFP

U.S. President Joe Biden has told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the United States and its allies will "respond decisively" if Russia further invades Ukraine, according to a White House statement on January 2.

Biden “reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in the statement, which came after the two leaders spoke by phone.

“The leaders expressed support for diplomatic efforts, starting next week with the bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue, at NATO through the NATO-Russia Council, and at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,” Psaki said.

The first of the three high-level U.S. and Russian talks are set for January 9-10 in Geneva.

Zelenskiy noted that the call came early in 2022 and said he and Biden discussed the cooperation between the United States and Ukraine and other partners.

"The first international talk of the year with @POTUS proves the special nature of our relations," Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter. He said he and Biden discussed the joint actions of Ukraine, the United States "and partners in keeping peace in Europe, preventing further escalation, reforms, deoligarchization.

“We appreciate the unwavering support of Ukraine,” he added.

The call was the second in three weeks between the two leaders as the White House attempts to address a Russian troop buildup that has alarmed NATO, while authorities in Kyiv have expressed concerns that Russia could invade Ukraine in the coming weeks.

The call follows on the heels of talks between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 30 in which Biden said the United States and its allies would impose severe sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine.

SEE ALSO:

'Serious, Substantive': Biden, Putin Agree To Intensify Diplomacy Amid Ukraine Tensions

Russia has amassed about 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine as it makes demands for sweeping security guarantees from the United States and NATO.

In particular, Moscow wants NATO to deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

During their call on December 30, Biden and Putin set the groundwork for three sets of upcoming talks aimed at defusing the crisis.

The talks in Geneva next week are to discuss arms control and the mounting tensions over Ukraine under their bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue.

That will be followed by a separate meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on January 12.

Another meeting will be held in Vienna a day later within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which includes the United States, its European allies, Ukraine, and Russia.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on December 31 reinforced that Russia stands by its demands for written security guarantees.

“If no constructive answer comes in a reasonable time and the West continues its aggressive course, Russia will have to take all necessary measures to maintain a strategic balance and remove unacceptable threats to our security,” he told the state news agency RIA Novosti.

The Biden administration and NATO have repeatedly said that the alliance has an open-door policy and that no country should have a veto over the aspirations of another country to join. It also has said it would not discuss Ukraine's security without consulting Kyiv.

The Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, reiterated Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO in an interview with RFE/RL broadcast on January 1.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service

Russian warplanes have bombed a pumping station that provides water to rebel-controlled Idlib city in northwestern Syria, potentially depriving hundreds of thousands of people in the overcrowded city of water, according to witnesses and a monitoring group.

Russian Sukhoi jets dropped bombs in Idlib and several surrounding villages on January 2, witnesses and the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

“Reliable sources said that Russian fighter jets have so far carried out nearly 10 air strikes targeting the vicinity of Al-Sheikh Yusuf village in western Idlib countryside, the vicinity of the central prison near Idlib city, and the vicinity of Sejer water station, which feeds Idlib city and its western villages, leaving the station out of action as pipes have been damaged,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

An official at the city's water utility service confirmed the pumping station was out of action as a result of the strikes.

There was no immediate comment from the Russian or the Syrian armies.

More than 3 million civilians live in jihadist and rebel-controlled Idlib Province, many of them displaced from other parts of Syria during the country’s decade-long civil war. Most of the population in Idlib is dependent on UN humanitarian assistance to survive.

In March 2020, Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, and Turkey, which supports some opposition groups, agreed to a de-escalation zone in Idlib. However, rebel attacks and Russian and Syrian bombing have continued despite the cease-fire.

Turkey has thousands of troops deployed at bases in Idlib to deter a Syrian Army offensive, which it fears would push millions of people across the border as refugees.

Syrian and Russian planes have carried out deadly aerial strikes on schools, hospitals, markets, and other infrastructure in Idlib Province that UN investigators and rights groups say may amount to war crimes.

Jihadist factions have also been accused of carrying out possible war crimes.

With reporting by Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have vowed to boost ties, both sides said.

In a phone call, Putin and Erdogan “reviewed bilateral cooperation and reaffirmed their determination to continue boosting the mutually beneficial partnership between Russia and Turkey," the Kremlin said on January 2.

"The parties also touched upon global issues, including the recent proposals on developing legally binding agreements that will guarantee Russia’s security, the situation in the South Caucasus, and efforts to resolve the Syrian and Libyan crises," the statement added.

Turkey’s Communications Directorate said the call focused on steps to improve relations.

“The Caucasus, Syria, and Libya alongside regional and international developments were discussed in the meeting that reiterated the determination to advance Turkey-Russia cooperation in all fields,” the Turkish side said.

The call comes as NATO-member Turkey, which has the alliance's second-largest army, has angered Moscow by supplying weapons to Ukraine, including armed drones that were used for the first time against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in late October.

Turkey has good ties with both Kyiv and Moscow, but it has criticized Moscow's seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and voiced support for Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Russia has amassed about 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine, raising concerns it is preparing for a possible offensive as it demands sweeping security guarantees from the United States and NATO.

In particular, Moscow wants NATO to deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

Russia and Turkey are also cooperating in a diplomatic push to bring stability to the South Caucasus following Azerbaijan’s victory against Armenian forces in the late 2020 war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkish and Armenian special envoys are expected to meet in Moscow this month to kick-start talks on normalizing relations as part of a broader Russia-mediated regional peace effort involving Armenia and Turkey’s ally, Azerbaijan.

In Syria and Libya, Russia and Turkey back opposing sides but have generally cooperated in trying to reduce conflict.

Five people died and 21 were injured in a passenger bus accident south of Moscow, authorities said.

The bus crashed into a pillar under a railway bridge around 5:45 a.m. in the Ryazan region, an Interior Ministry spokesperson said on January 2.

The accident occurred on a highway near the village of Voslebovo, 270 kilometers south of the capital.

The bus carried a total of 49 passengers who were traveling from the southern city of Astrakhan on the Volga River to Moscow.

There were conflicting reports about the cause of the crash.

According to initial reports, the driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel.

Interfax quoted a regional investigator as saying the driver may have lost control due to ice on the road.

Police and the local branch of Russia's Investigative Committee have launched a probe into the cause of the crash.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, AFP, and Interfax

U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak by phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on January 2 as the two leaders plan to review preparations for upcoming diplomatic engagements aimed at de-escalating tensions over a Russian military buildup near Ukraine.

During the call, Biden intends to "reaffirm U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression," a White House official said.

The call will be the second in three weeks between the two leaders as the White House attempts to address the military threat, which has alarmed NATO, while authorities in Kyiv have expressed concerns that Russia could invade Ukraine in the coming weeks.

The call follows on the heels of talks between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 30 in which Biden said the United States and its allies would impose severe sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine.

Russia has amassed about 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine as it makes demands for sweeping security guarantees from the United States and NATO.

In particular, Moscow wants NATO to deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on December 31 reinforced that Russia stands by its demands for written security guarantees.

“If no constructive answer comes in a reasonable time and the West continues its aggressive course, Russia will have to take all necessary measures to maintain a strategic balance and remove unacceptable threats to our security,” he told the state news agency RIA Novosti.

The Biden administration and NATO have repeatedly said that the alliance has an open-door policy and that no country should have a veto over the aspirations of another country to join. It also has said it would not discuss Ukraine's security without consulting Kyiv.

SEE ALSO:

'Serious, Substantive': Biden, Putin Agree To Intensify Diplomacy Amid Ukraine Tensions

The Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, reiterated Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO in an interview with RFE/RL broadcast on January 1.

Markarova also said Ukraine will receive more armed Mark VI patrol boats in the first half of 2022. She said the United States and Ukraine are cooperating on arranging the delivery of the boats. The number of boats that will be sent is “under discussion,” she said.

In his comments to RIA Novosti, Lavrov noted an increase in weapons supplies to Ukraine and the growing scope of joint military drills, charging that Kyiv "naturally perceives this support as a carte blanche for the use of force.”

SEE ALSO:

Amid Rumblings About A Russian Invasion, 'No Hysteria' In Ukraine  

In his annual New Year's message, Zelenskiy expressed defiance amid the buildup of Russian forces.

"No army on the other side of the border frightens us because a great army on our side of the border protects us,” he said. “I am happy that today [Ukraine's armed forces] have the biggest budget in the history of Ukraine."

During their call on December 30, Biden and Putin set the groundwork for three sets of upcoming talks aimed at defusing the crisis.

U.S. and Russian officials will meet January 9-10 in Geneva to discuss arms control and the mounting tensions over Ukraine under their bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue. That will be followed by a separate meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on January 12.

Another meeting will be held in Vienna a day later within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which includes the United States, its European allies, Ukraine, and Russia.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service

The world junior ice hockey teams from Russia and the Czech Republic were removed from a flight on New Year's Eve after some of the players reportedly violated a mask mandate before the flight departed the Canadian city of Calgary.

Officers responded to reports of a disturbance on an Air Canada flight, according to a Calgary police statement on January 1. The statement didn’t say who caused the disturbance or if there were any arrests.

The Calgary police department's airport unit “assisted Air Canada staff with keeping the peace and deplaning passengers," the statement said. "Passengers were being asked to deplane due to a disturbance involving multiple passengers in the aircraft cabin."

Police did not provide further information, and Air Canada did not respond to RFE/RL’s request for more information.

The teams were heading home from the junior championships, which were canceled midweek because of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Russian coach Sergei Zubov told the Russian newspaper Izvestia that the Russian and Czech Republic teams were removed from the flight for violating the mask mandate. Russian and Canadian media reported that Zubov was among those who violated rules by smoking.

Czech team manager Otakar Cerny said his team complied with all the rules and had likely been treated the same as the Russians because of the similarity of their gray sweatshirts, which had been handed out to all of the players in the tournament.

“And practically only for that reason, they threw us into the same bag as the Russians and told us that the entire Czech and Russian expedition could no longer board the plane,” Cerny told Czech media, according to the AP.

Cerny said Air Canada representatives had apologized and arranged a hotel and a flight home on January 1. The Russian players managed to leave on the next flight after the one that had been delayed by the disturbance.

Passengers who were on the flight told AP and Canada's CTV News that the Russian squad caused the disturbance by smoking cigarettes, vaping, blaring music, and refusing to wear masks. One passenger said the disturbance delayed the flight by three hours.

With reporting by AP, CTV News, and Izvestia

Hundreds of Ukrainians held a torchlight march in the capital, Kyiv, to mark the birthday of the controversial nationalist leader Stepan Bandera.

The January 1 march came amid a buildup of Russian forces near the border with Ukraine, which some believe could be a prelude to an invasion.

“Today, when there is a war with the occupier at the front, and the struggle against the ‘fifth column’ continues in the rear, we remember and honor the memory of Stepan Bandera,” Andriy Tarasenko, leader of the nationalist party Right Sector, said.

Bandera is revered as a hero by many Ukrainians for leading the political wing of the anti-Soviet independence movement, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). Its military wing -- the Ukrainian Insurgent Army -- waged partisan warfare during and after World War II.

But Bandera -- who was killed by a Soviet assassin in Munich in 1959 -- is regarded as a traitor by others for leading an insurgent war against Soviet forces and collaborating with Nazi Germany. His forces also fought against the Nazis at times during the war and are accused of carrying out murderous campaigns against Poles and Jews.

Similar marches also took place in several other cities, including Lviv, where about 500 people gathered at Bandera’s monument to honor him.

With reporting by AP

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) killed six "armed bandits" in the country's southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, the IRGC said in a statement on January 1.

Three local members of the volunteer Basij militia fighting alongside the IRGC forces were killed in the clashes, the statement said, adding that at least five “bandits” were wounded.

Sistan-Baluchistan, one of Iran’s poorest provinces, is a volatile area near Iran's borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan where drug smugglers and militant groups operate.

On December 31, the IRGC shot dead three men believed to have been involved in a deadly attack that left two guards dead on December 25, Iranian media reported.

Based on reporting by Reuters and IRNA

KYIV -- In his annual New Year's message broadcast late on December 31, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed defiance amid a buildup of Russian forces on the other side of the country's border with Russia.

"No army on the other side of the border frightens us," he said, "because a great army on our side of the border protects us."

His remarks came amid high tensions between Moscow and the West over the troop buildup and Moscow's demands for broad "security guarantees" in Europe and Central Asia.

Authorities in Kyiv have expressed concerns that Russia could invade Ukraine in the coming weeks.

Zelenskiy said ending the war between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatist formations in parts of eastern Ukraine remains the "main goal" of his government, promising that "next year will be better."

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The Ukrainian president expressed confidence that Crimea would "one day" be returned to Kyiv's control.

"We can say we have returned Crimea to the global agenda so that one day we can say we have returned Crimea to Ukraine," Zelenskiy said. "And it is important that all the prisoners are returned. Every one."

Zelenskiy also expressed support for citizens of the Russia-occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea who had been detained by the Russia-imposed authorities there.

He said they "did not lose their dignity and told the truth about Crimea, for which they lost their freedom."

While he was speaking, the video showed clips of RFE/RL freelance correspondent Vladyslav Yesypenko, who was detained in Crimea in March and who has said he was tortured while in custody.

Despite increasing tensions with Russia, the Biden administration supports extending the operations of the International Space Station (ISS) through 2030, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.

In a December 31 statement, Nelson said that the Biden administration is committed to working with international partners, including Russia, to continue research being conducted on the orbiting laboratory through the end of the decade.

Nelson called the ISS “a beacon of peaceful international scientific collaboration” and said that it has returned “enormous scientific, educational, and technological developments to benefit humanity” during its more than two-decade existence.

Russia and the United States have had close cooperation aboard the ISS since the first component was launched in 1998.

However, relations between the two nations have deteriorated to their lowest point since the early 1990s, raising questions about whether both sides were ready to continue cooperation.

The station would operate through 2030 if approved by international partners and funded by the U.S. Congress. Currently, Congress has approved funding through 2024.

Nelson said the U.S. commitment to extend its participation in the ISS is critical in light of the growing competition in space.

"As more and more nations are active in space, it's more important than ever that the United States continues to lead the world in growing international alliances and modeling rules and norms for the peaceful and responsible use of space," he said.

In November, NATO and the United States condemned Russia for conducting a missile test that blew up a defunct Russian satellite, creating a debris cloud that endangered the ISS -- an accusation dismissed by the Kremlin.

Nelson called the move "reckless."

The German government has scrapped plans to award the country’s highest honor to an Israeli Holocaust historian due criticism about his work on genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had planned to present the Order of Merit to Gideon Greif, but the presidential office and Foreign Ministry said they would review the plans for the award in October.

German news agency dpa reported on December 31 that the Foreign Ministry withdrew the nomination earlier this month.

Greif, who is primarily a Holocaust researcher, chaired an international commission of historians who published a report in July that suggested the Srebrenica massacre at the end of the 1992-95 war in Bosnia was not genocide.

International courts have deemed the mass murder of more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniaks around Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb forces as genocide. Denial of the genocide became a criminal offense in Bosnia in July, in one of the last acts of the former high representative of the international community in Bosnia, Valentin Inzko.

The report was commissioned by Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who has recently pushed for secession of the Serb part of Bosnia, Republika Srpska.

Dodik has repeatedly questioned the nature of events in Srebrenica and criticized laws criminalizing denial of the genocide.

News of the German decision was first reported by klix.ba, a Bosnian news site, citing a letter from the German Foreign Ministry dated December 7.

Based on reporting by dpa

Russia’s dollar-denominated stock index rose about 15 percent this year as high oil prices outweighed growing political risk.

The RTS Index rallied as much as 38 percent in 2021, touching a 10-year high of 1,900 in October, lifted by oil prices, which gained by more than half this year as global economies reopened.

Oil is Russia’s biggest export, while oil companies account for a significant percentage of the RTS index.

However, Russian stocks pulled back about 15 percent from their October highs to close the year just shy of 1,600 following a Russian military buildup on the border of Ukraine that sparked fears of an invasion.

The United States and Europe have warned Russia it faces massive economic sanctions if it invades Ukraine, spooking some investors.

Russia’s stock market was also impacted late in the year by U.S. Federal Reserve comments that it could raise interest rates in 2022.

U.S. rate increases make riskier assets like emerging market stocks and bonds less attractive.

Russia’s ruble closed the year nearly flat at around 75 to the dollar.

The ruble strengthened to 69 in October on high oil prices, but retreated along with Russian stocks amid the Kremlin’s growing standoff with the West.

Nonetheless, Russia’s stock market and currency performed better than some of their emerging market peers.

Turkey’s lira is set to end the year down about 43 percent.

Meanwhile, the broader emerging market index is on track to close about 4.5 percent lower due in large part to China’s crackdown on its largest tech companies.

However, the RTS Index’s advance still trails the U.S. benchmark S&P 500, which is on pace to close the year 25 percent higher.

With reporting by Reuters

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Joe Biden will hold another call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on January 2 as the United States seeks to defuse a crisis sparked by Russia’s military buildup.

During the call with Zelenskiy, Biden intends to "reaffirm U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity" in the face of Russian aggression," a White House official said on December 31 in announcing the date of the call.

The two leaders will also discuss U.S. preparations for talks with Russia next month aimed at de-escalating the situation in the region, the official said.

The upcoming call with Zelenskiy is the latest in a flurry of White House diplomacy to address the Kremlin military threat and comes on the heels of talks between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 30. Biden last spoke to Zelenskiy three weeks ago.

Russia has amassed about 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine as it makes demands for sweeping security guarantees from the United States and NATO.

In particular, Moscow wants NATO to deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Biden administration and NATO have repeatedly said that the alliance has an open-door policy and that no country should have a veto over the alliance aspirations of another country.

Zelenskiy has also shown no signs of backing away from his call for NATO membership. His ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, reiterated Ukraine’s aspiration to join the Western military alliance in an interview with RFE/RL due to air January 1.

Putin has said he would ponder various options if the West fails to meet Moscow’s demands for security guarantees.

Biden warned Putin during their call on December 30 that the United States and its allies would impose severe sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine.

• RFE/RL

Amid fears of a possible invasion, Ukrainian officials say more than 90,000 Russian troops have been deployed along its border -- including on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized by force from Ukraine in 2014. Maxar Technologies, a satellite-imaging company, has released photographs that show the Russian troop buildup.

The Biden administration has been in close contact with allies to demonstrate a united front ahead of talks next month with Russia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Canadian and Italian counterparts on December 31 to coordinate their policies aimed at deterring Russia from attacking Ukraine.

Blinken also spoke with NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg about the upcoming NATO-Russia Council talks.

During their call on December 30, Biden and Putin set the groundwork for three sets of upcoming talks aimed at diffusing the crisis. The State Department said earlier in the week that Biden would speak with Zelenskiy following his call with Putin.

The Biden administration has repeatedly said it would not discuss Ukraine's security without consulting Kyiv.

U.S. and Russian officials will meet January 9-10 in Geneva to discuss arms control and the mounting tensions over Ukraine under their bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue.

That will be followed by a separate meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on January 12.

Another meeting will be held in Vienna a day later within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which includes the United States, its European allies, Ukraine, and Russia.

Kosovo has ordered the expulsion of a Russian diplomat and member of the United Nations mission in the Balkan country on national security grounds

The Kosovar foreign minister, Donika Gervalla-Schwarz, made the announcement in a December 31 post on Facebook.

“At the request of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Albin Kurti, today I issued the decision to declare a Russian UNMIK official in Kosovo persona non grata because of his harmful activity,” she said.

Gervalla-Schwarz said she has notified law enforcement to implement the decision. She did not name the Russian diplomat, nor did she state what the individual allegedly did to deserve expulsion.

UNMIK stands for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, which was set up in 1999 to provide an interim administration for the region when it was still formally part of Serbia.

Following Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008, the tasks of the UN mission shifted to the promotion of security, stability, and respect for human rights in Kosovo.

Russia, which has close ties to Serbia, does not recognize Kosovo as an independent country.

Kosovo is seeking to join both the European Union and NATO, something Russia opposes.

Kosovo in October kicked out two Russian diplomats for "destabilizing" activities.

Gervalla-Schwarz reiterated Kosovo’s ambition to join NATO and the EU and said the country remains committed to battling Russian influence, “which aims to undermine the achievements of Kosovo.”

In his traditional televised New Year’s greeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Russians had “encountered colossal challenges” in 2021 but had overcome them through “solidarity.”

Putin’s six-minute recorded speech was broadcast on December 31, just as midnight approached in the easternmost of Russia’s 11 time zones. According to the TASS state news agency, it was the longest such address Putin has given.

Without discussing specifics, Putin said Moscow “firmly” defended its interests in 2021, a year marked by a harsh crackdown on civil society and the political opposition in Russia and by heightened tensions with the West amid a buildup of Russian forces near the border with Ukraine.

Putin expressed condolences to those who had lost loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic, which killed at least 87,527 Russians in November.

He said that the government’s main goal “is to improve the well-being and the quality of life of the citizenry.”

“The solution of these tasks will make Russia even stronger,” Putin said.

Former President Dmitry Medvedev posted a similar New Year's greeting that also emphasized that “we remain strong because we are unified.”

“Our people have shown many times that they know how to love, to sympathize, to help, and even to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others,” Medvedev said. “This experience has made us stronger.”

Imprisoned Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny posted on Instagram a New Year’s greeting in which he called on Russians to “remain optimists, no matter what.”

Navalny was arrested in January immediately upon his return to Russia after weeks of medical treatment in Germany following a near-fatal nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on Federal Security Service (FSB) agents acting on Putin’s behest.

He is serving a 2 1/2-year prison sentence that he says was retribution for his political activity.

With reporting by TASS

The head of the North Caucasus region of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, long accused of grave human rights abuses, has been named “distinguished human rights defenders” by the regional human rights ombudsman.

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Ombudsman Nurdi Nukhazhiyev, at a ceremony in Grozny on December 30 that was not attended by Kadyrov, said the Kadyrov family had made an “enormous contribution…to securing human rights and strengthening the state.”

A video of the ceremony was posted on the Internet by Grozny state television.

In addition to Kadyrov, the medals were awarded to his father, former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, and his mother, Aimani Kadyrova.

Akhmad Kadyrov was president of Chechnya from 2003 until his assassination in May 2004.

Earlier in the month, Kadyrov’s daughter, Aishat Kadyrova, who serves as Chechnya’s culture minister, was awarded the medal For the Defense of Human Rights.

Russian and international human rights monitors have for years accused Ramzan Kadyrov of overseeing grave human rights abuses including abductions, torture, extrajudicial killings, and the persecution of the LGBT community.

The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has repeated its “very strong criticism” of Russia’s laws on so-called “foreign agents” and “undesirable organizations” in the wake of a December 28 Russian Supreme Court decision ordering the closure of the venerable Memorial International nongovernmental organization.

The commission’s statement on December 30 criticized the “vague and overly broad terminology” of the laws, adding that “the penalty of liquidation of an NGO should be reserved as a last resort measure for extreme cases of serious violations threatening democracy.”

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The Venice Commission noted that the recommendations in its three previous opinions on the Russian legislation “have not been followed up,” adding that “it becomes even more urgent that they should.”

Rights monitors inside Russia and abroad have accused the government of President Vladimir Putin of using the “foreign agent” laws, and laws ostensibly aimed at combatting extremism, to stifle dissent and persecute political opponents.

After the Russian Supreme Court decision on liquidating Memorial International, the European Court of Human Rights ordered the government to suspend implementation of the decision pending the resolution of a case contesting the “foreign agent” laws brought by a group of Russian NGOs, including Memorial.