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- By RFE/RL
Blinken Blasts Kremlin For Instigating Crisis Over Ukraine But Says Diplomatic Solution 'Still Possible'
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a diplomatic solution to deter a Russian invasion of Ukraine is “still possible” but warned that the West is ready to “respond forcefully” if that fails.
Speaking at the State Department in Washington on January 7 ahead of his meetings with allies and Russian officials to address the buildup and European security in general, Blinken blasted the Kremlin, accusing it of instigating the crisis along Ukraine’s border in an attempt to carve out a sphere of influence.
Blinken said the West is going into the talks “committed to diplomacy” but will not compromise on key principles, such as NATO’s open-door policy and the right of Ukraine to join the alliance.
Russia massed about 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine and in Crimea in the late autumn before presenting the United States and NATO with a list of demands for security guarantees, including an end to the alliance’s eastward expansion.
The United States has said the buildup could be a prelude to another invasion of Ukraine, something the Kremlin has denied.
Blinken said Russia is trying to turn three sets of talks next week into a debate about NATO but that Ukraine will be “front and center on the agenda...because that's what precipitated this crisis.”
U.S. officials will meet with their Russian counterparts on January 10 in Geneva followed by a NATO-Russia Council meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels on January 12. A meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) -- which includes the United States, Ukraine, and Russia -- will be held in Vienna on January 13.
Blinken used his address at the State Department to lay out what the United States sees as the root cause of the crisis, highlight Russian "malign" activities that have destabilized Europe, and counter various Russian interpretations of events.
Blinken dismissed Russian allegations that Ukraine was to blame for the current crisis as “absurd” and more “gaslighting.”
The top U.S. diplomat said the root cause of the crisis lies in Russia’s inability to accept Ukraine’s decision to pursue a democratic path.
He listed a long series of Russian aggressions against the country -- including territorial annexation, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, energy strangulation -- ever since Ukrainian citizens ousted Kremlin-leaning President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
Blinken also rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims that the West broke an agreement with the Soviet Union not to expand NATO and that the alliance is a threat to Russia.
He said no such agreement was ever reached between the West and Moscow and said that NATO had reduced the size of its forces following the end of the Cold War until Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014.
Blinken did not exclude that Russia's "nonstarter" demands could be a ruse to justify military action against Ukraine, saying it’s “part of [the Kremlin’s] playbook.”
He also said Russia could try to instigate an incident and then use it as a justification to attack Ukraine, “hoping that by the time the world realizes the ruse, it'll be too late.”
He said another attack against Ukraine likely will only work counter to Putin’s stated goals as NATO would be forced to bolster its presence on the continent.
However, Blinken held out hope the West and Russia could make progress on some issues, including increasing transparency, instituting new risk reduction measures, and on arms control.
He said Russia must address the concerns of the West about its malign actions across the continent.
“We go into [these meetings] committed to diplomacy, committed to dialogue, but equally committed to stand up for the principles that Russia is putting at risk,” he said.
- By RFE/RL's Radio Farda and
- Stuart Greer
'They Beat Us So We Don't Come Back': Afghan Refugees Face Deportation From Iran
Afghan refugees in Iran say they are facing hunger, abuse, and deportation. The flood of Afghans seeking refuge in Iran and other countries increased after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021. RFE/RL's Radio Farda spoke to several Afghans struggling to survive in Iran who are desperate to stay in the country despite the hardships.
In Shock Verdict, Bulgarian Journalists Convicted Of Defamation, Fined
Two journalists in Bulgaria and a website have been convicted of defamation and ordered to pay the equivalent of some $35,000 for articles published in 2018 in what is being described as an unprecedented verdict, RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service reports.
The Sofia City Court (SCC) found that Boris Mitov, now a journalist for RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service, and Stoyana Georgieva had caused physical and mental anguish to Svetlin Mihailov, a former chairman of the SCC, and ordered them and the website that published the articles four years ago to pay him damages amounting to 60,000 Bulgarian lev ($34,659).
In 2018, Mitov was covering for the news website Mediapool Mihailov’s bid to become head of the SCC, Bulgaria’s largest district court. At the time, Georgieva was the editor in chief of Mediapool.
Four of those articles were examined by the court, and Judge Daniela Popova ruled on December 21 that they contained “defamatory allegations against [Mihailov].”
Lawyers for Mitov and Georgieva argued that the articles in question contained information about Mihailov, including questions about his sizable wealth and property, that had appeared at the time and since then in other publications.
RFE/RL President Jamie Fly called the court’s decision “outrageous” and said it was meant to intimidate some of Bulgaria’s finest investigative journalists for reporting publicly known facts.
“The public has a right to accountability, and intimidation tactics like this will not keep RFE/RL from informing its audience about issues of public interest,” Fly said in a statement.
In her ruling, Popova did not specify exactly what extracts from the articles in question she found “indecent, vulgar, and cynical.”
Popova ordered the two journalists and Mediapool to each pay Mihailov 20,000 lev ($11,553).
Lawyers for the two journalists and Mediapool have appealed the ruling, although no date has been set yet for that hearing.
Vox Pop: Armenians Respond To The Deployment Of Troops To Kazakhstan
A straw poll of residents in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, indicated that they were mostly unhappy about the decision to send their country's troops as part of a Russian-led military intervention to shore up the authoritarian regime in Kazakhstan. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) mission was requested by Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev after days of anti-government protests swept the country.
- By RFE/RL
Iran Offers 'Bilateral' Talks With States That Lost Nationals In Downing Of Ukrainian Airliner
Iran said on January 7 that it is prepared to meet bilaterally with countries whose nationals died in Iran's accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet two years ago, but it couched the offer in defiant terms that echoed days of denials after the tragedy played out in the skies over Tehran.
The statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry followed a joint announcement by Ukraine, Britain, Canada, and Sweden that they were abandoning a two-year effort to negotiate with Tehran over reparations for the victims and would pursue the matter through international legal channels.
Iranian officials eventually blamed the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a branch of Iran's armed forces, for firing on Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 with 176 people aboard because of technical and human error and with tensions high between Tehran and the United States.
"Despite certain countries' illegal actions and attempts to exploit this tragic event..., Iran remains ready to negotiate bilaterally with each of the relevant states," Iran's Foreign Ministry said via state media.
It said any talks should respect "sovereignty, domestic laws, and international obligations."
It was unclear what illegalities the Iranians believed any other countries had committed.
More than 130 of the passengers had ties to Canada. Citizens or residents of Afghanistan, Britain, Iran, Ukraine, and Sweden were also killed.
Canada said in June that it found no evidence of premeditation in the downing of the aircraft.
In May, Human Rights Watch accused Iranian security agencies of harassing and abusing the victims' families to "squash any hope for justice."
A Canadian court last week awarded $84 million and interest to the families of six of the victims.
The Iranian government said separately on January 7 that it has begun paying compensation to the families of those killed.
"The Transport Ministry has made transfers to a certain number of [victims'] families," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Arash Khodaei, a vice president of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, said that "the sum of $150,000 has been transferred" to some families, while "the process has begun" for others.
The payment "does not infringe upon [their[ right to take legal action," state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
Ukrainian and Canadian officials strongly criticized the announcement, saying compensation should not be settled through unilateral declarations.
The Foreign Ministry statement marked the second anniversary of the downing of the flight on January 8, 2020. Three days after the Kyiv-bound flight was shot down, the Iranian armed forces admitted its forces had acted "by mistake."
With reporting by Reuters and AFP
EU Leadership Says 'No Solution' To Russia-Ukraine Tensions 'Without Europe'
The European Commission chief and the EU's new French leadership have stressed the need for European involvement as Russia and the West continue to square off diplomatically over the possible threat of escalated conflict in Ukraine.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on January 7 that "one thing is clear: no solution without Europe. Whatever the solution, Europe has to be involved."
The United States and its EU partners have stepped up warnings of major consequences if Russia invades Ukraine as Moscow masses troops near the border and presses demands for security guarantees against NATO expanding eastward.
Von der Leyen said the European Union was "very present" in Ukraine, including through giving billions in financial assistance to Kyiv and the bloc's reliance on Russian natural gas shipments via Ukraine.
Speaking alongside von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed direct U.S.-Russian talks slated for next week but stressed that "European security architecture" was "up to us to build."
France officially took up the six-month, rotating European Union presidency at the start of January.
Western leaders are said to be working on what they have pledged are tough financial and other punitive measures to be implemented if Russia escalates militarily against Ukraine.
Macron said, "it's a good thing that there are discussions between the United States and Russia," and added that "coordination between the Europeans and Americans is exemplary on the matter."
But he called for the European Union to hold its own talks with Moscow.
"Dialogue does not mean making concessions," he added.
NATO foreign ministers are scheduled to meet virtually on January 7 to coordinate members' approaches to Russia.
U.S. and Russian officials are to meet in Geneva on January 10. This will be followed by NATO-Russian and EU gatherings with discussion of the Ukraine crisis high on the agenda.
Based on reporting by AFP
Paris Echoes U.S. Hints At 'Progress' In Iran Nuclear Talks, Says 'Time Running Out'
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has expressed optimism over an eventual return to a hobbled nuclear deal with Iran but warned that "time is running out" on those international negotiations.
"I remain convinced we can reach a deal. Bits of progress have been made in the last few days," Le Drian told BFM TV and RMC Radio on January 7. "We have been heading in a positive direction in the last few days, but time is of the essence, because if we don't get an accord quickly there will be nothing to negotiate."
The United States, whose withdrawal from 2015's multiparty Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA) three years ago led to renewed unilateral sanctions to pressure Iran's leadership, said this week that a round of talks begun on January 3 had seen "modest progress."
The talks restarted late last year after a pause accompanying the installation of a new, hard-line Iranian president last summer.
Tehran took steps to breach the JCPOA after the U.S. withdrawal and frustrated international inspection efforts more recently, and has insisted the United States lift its sanctions before it returns to a deal.
Western leaders urging a return to the deal have resisted specific deadlines but warned that there are "weeks not months" to hammer out an agreement to salvage the six-year-old agreement.
Iran has consistently rejected Israeli and Western accusations that it is seeking a nuclear weapons capability, even as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has cited deception and obfuscation in the past by Tehran over sensitive nuclear activities.
Based on reporting by Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Tennis Ace, Anti-Vaxxer Djokovic Spends Christmas Holiday In Australian Limbo
Top world tennis player Novak Djokovic is spending Orthodox Christmas in a Melbourne immigration center as he awaits a hearing over his quashed vaccine exemption to enter the country to defend his Australian Open title.
His case continues to cause ripples ahead of the new year's first Grand Slam tennis event, particularly as news emerged that a Czech women's tennis player in Australia on a COVID-19 exemption had been detained after Djokovic's complications this week, despite the fact that she had already been competing in a warm-up event in Melbourne.
Djokovic and most of his native Serbia mark the holiday on January 7 along with most of the Orthodox world.
The 34-year-old Serbian national hero's mother has spoken out against his placement in a sparsely equipped detention center for potential migrants in Melbourne, saying "they are keeping him like a prisoner."
"It’s just not fair, it’s not human," Dijana Djokovic said in Belgrade after speaking with her son by phone. "I hope he will stay strong as we are also trying, to give him some energy to keep going. I hope he will win."
The multimillionaire, 20-time Grand Slam singles champion's accommodations are "terrible...with bugs, it’s all dirty, the food is terrible," she added.
Djokovic thanked "people around the world" for their "continuous support" on Instagram on January 7.
"I can feel it and it is greatly appreciated," he said.
Australian officials have said Djokovic is free to leave -- just not to enter Australian territory as a federal court prepares for a hearing on January 10 over his injunction request against deportation.
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has said that two other exemptions granted in connection with the Australian Open are also under investigation.
A general consul of the Czech Republic in Sydney confirmed on January 7 that a Czech player, doubles specialist Renata Voracova, was among "several other tennis players" in quarantine at the same immigration hotel.
Australian ABC news outlet said Voracova had "already played in a warm-up tournament in Melbourne" before she was detained on January 6. It suggested she entered Australia last month after getting an exemption based on previous COVID-19 infection and recovery.
It was unclear if the 38-year-old Voracova, who is ranked 81st in global doubles rankings, similarly planned to challenge her possible deportation.
The timing of her detention could suggest that Australian officials revisited hers and other cases after Djokovic's case was made public amid growing outrage among Australians over the exceptions.
The Australian Open is scheduled to begin on January 17.
Djokovic has been an outspoken critic of vaccination against COVID-19 and sought, and initially received, an exemption from local Australian officials despite tight restrictions on foreigners' entry amid a spike in infections.
Tennis Australia says his exception “was granted following a rigorous review process" although neither side has revealed the basis of the request.
After his arrival at Melbourne airport, the Australian Border Force on January 5 rejected his exemption as invalid, canceled his visa, and moved him to the immigration hotel.
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said that two other exemptions granted in connection with the Australian Open are also under investigation.
With reporting by AP, Metro, and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
NATO Chief: No Compromise On Core Principles As Alliance Prepares For Talks With Russia
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has pledged to engage "in good faith and on substance" in talks with Russia next week, but he said the alliance will not compromise on core principles, including the right of nations to decide whether they want to join.
Stoltenberg spoke at a press conference on January 7 in Brussels after a videoconference of NATO foreign ministers, saying the meeting had stressed "that any further aggression against Ukraine would have significant consequences and carry a heavy price for Russia."
But he appeared to dismiss a key Russian demand on NATO expansion.
“We will not compromise on core principles, including the right for every nation to decide its own path, including what kind of security arrangements it wants to be a part of,” Stoltenberg told reporters.
Stoltenberg also said a Russian military buildup near Ukraine has continued.
"We see armored units, we see artillery, we see combat ready troops, we see electronic warfare equipment, and we see a lot of different military capabilities,” he said.
The buildup, combined with Russia's security demands, and its track record in Ukraine and Georgia, "sends a message that there is a real risk for a new armed conflict in Europe,” Stoltenberg said.
The U.S. Mission to NATO said earlier that NATO’s 30 members were united against Russian military action in Ukraine.
"Ahead of the forthcoming NATO-Russia Council, they underlined the need for diplomacy, dialogue, and de-escalation," the mission said on Twitter.
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics echoed the U.S. mission’s comments, saying on Twitter the alliance is “ready to engage in dialogue with Russia but not at the expense of our values or key principles."
The foreign ministers held the videoconference amid Western warnings about tens of thousands of Russian troops amassed near the border and with Russian President Vladimir Putin demanding guarantees that NATO won't allow Kyiv to join the transatlantic military alliance.
Ukraine, which has been fighting a war with Russia-backed separatists in its east since Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014, has repeatedly asserted its strategic and foreign policy goal of NATO membership since the alliance promised eventual full membership in 2008.
Moscow has responded by accusing the United States of destabilizing the Black Sea and other nearby regions and saying its troop movements are an internal matter.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on January 6 about "risk reduction near Ukraine’s borders," according to the Pentagon.
The NATO foreign ministers’ meeting was the first in a flurry of high-level talks involving NATO, senior U.S. and Russian officials, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) over the next week.
The first is scheduled to take place in Geneva on January 10 when veteran U.S. and Russian diplomats are scheduled to gather in an effort to avert a crisis. The same day, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit NATO headquarters in Brussels.
The NATO-Russia Council is then slated to meet for the first time since 2019 on January 12 to discuss Ukraine, transparency, and risk reduction.
EU foreign ministers then meet in northwestern France on January 13-14, with reports suggesting they and their allies are preparing harsh punitive measures to be enacted if Russia escalates militarily against its neighbor.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed direct U.S.-Russian talks slated for next week but stressed that "European security architecture" is "up to us to build."
France officially took up the six-month, rotating European Union Presidency at the start of January. Macron spoke alongside European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on January 7, both stressing the need for European involvement.
"One thing is clear: no solution without Europe. Whatever the solution, Europe has to be involved," von der Leyen said.
Von der Leyen said the European Union is "very present" in Ukraine, including through billions in financial assistance to Kyiv and the bloc's reliance on Russian natural-gas shipments through Ukraine.
Western leaders are said to be working on what they have pledged are tough financial and other punitive measures to be implemented if Ukraine escalates militarily against Ukraine.
Macron said "it's a good thing that there are discussions between the United States and Russia," and added that "coordination between the Europeans and Americans is exemplary on the matter."
But he called for the European Union to hold its own talks with Moscow.
"Dialogue does not mean making concessions," he added.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa, and Politico
Bulgaria's Population Falls 11.5 Percent In Decade
Bulgaria’s population has declined by 11.5 percent over the past decade, according to preliminary census results.
The population fell by more than 844,000 people, from 7.3 million to 6.5 million people, the National Statistics Institute said on January 6.
Experts attribute Bulgaria’s demographic decline to low birth rates, high mortality and an aging population, low fertility rates, and emigration from the EU's poorest member.
Only in the capital, Sofia, did the population increase. Decreases were registered in all other parts of the country, with a dramatic 26 percent drop in the northwestern provinces of Vidin and Montana, and the northeastern province of Dobritch.
The National Statistics Institute expects the final results from the census by the end of 2022.
The last census was held in 2011.
British Warship Collided With Russian Submarine, UK Defense Ministry Confirms
A British warship hit a Russian hunter-killer submarine with the ship’s sonar equipment while on patrol in the North Atlantic, the U.K. Ministry of Defense has revealed.
The Royal Navy’s HMS Northumberland was tracking the Russian submarine in late 2020 when the Type 23 frigate’s towed array sonar – a long cable with hydrophones that trails underwater behind a ship – collided with the submarine.
The incident was captured by a film crew for a Channel 5 documentary, Warship: Life at Sea, that is airing in the UK.
The Ministry of Defense had previously never commented on the collision but has confirmed it now because it was captured on camera.
“In late 2020 a Russian submarine being tracked by HMS Northumberland came into contact with her towed array sonar," the Ministry of Defense said in a statement provided to several British media outlets on January 6. "The Royal Navy regularly tracks foreign ships and submarines in order to ensure the defense of the United Kingdom."
A Defense Ministry source told the BBC that it was unlikely the submarine deliberately collided with the sonar cable.
In the television program, there is a scene of the moment the crew on the HMS Northumberland realizes something happened. The crew shouts: “What the hell was that?”
It is unclear whether the Russian submarine suffered any damage.
However, the HMS Northumberland had to return to port in Scotland to replace the damaged sonar.
- By RFE/RL
Kazakh President Gives Stark 'Shoot-To-Kill' Order Amid Unprecedented Uprising
President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has issued a stark warning to protesters in Kazakhstan that he has given security personnel a green light to “shoot to kill” even as the nation’s police forces, bolstered by a Russian-led troop contingent, appeared to be in control of most cities in Kazakhstan after dozens were killed in unprecedented anti-government demonstrations..
Though sporadic gunfire could still be heard in the main city of Almaty on January 7, the unrest over a fuel price hike that has ravaged many cities in recent days appeared muted, with RFE/RL correspondents in several cities saying law enforcement had taken control of the situation.
The Interior Ministry said Republican Square in Almaty, one of the main flash points of violence in clashes between police and protesters, had been cleared “of criminal groups.” RFE/RL journalists said they saw three bodies in different locations around the square as they surveyed it.
Dozens of people -- including 18 security officers -- were killed in the clashes as protesters torched and ransacked public buildings in several cities in the worst violence in the Central Asian state's 30 years of independence.
The number of people detained reached 3,811, the Interior Ministry said, according to state television channel Khabar 24.
Toqaev said early on January 7 that order had "basically" been restored in the country, but later followed up those comments in a televised state address by saying that “bandits” -- a word officials have used repeatedly to describe protesters who have threatened his authoritarian government’s survival -- would be dealt with severely.
"I have given the order to law enforcement agencies and the army to shoot to kill without warning," Toqaev said in the address while rejecting international calls for dialogue.
The protests erupted in the western region of Mangystau on January 2 over the doubling in the price of subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) before spreading and morphing into calls for political reform in the tightly controlled country.
Mobs have stormed government buildings, setting some of them on fire, looted businesses, and torched and overturned cars as they called for reforms after decades of stifling rule in the oil-rich former Soviet republic.
In response, Toqaev declared a nationwide state of emergency until January 19, with curfews, restrictions on movements, and bans on mass gatherings.
The spiraling violence also prompted him on January 5 to ask the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a regional military alliance, to help "stabilize” the situation, which Toqaev has blamed on foreign-trained "terrorists."
I think one lesson in recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave."-- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
The first Russian paratroopers quickly arrived, followed by troops from CSTO member Belarus on the evening of January 6. More Russian troops were expected to arrive on January 7 alongside units from Armenia and Tajikistan, which approved sending 200 troops to its neighbor. On January 7, Kyrgyzstan also approved sending 150 troops and military equipment to Kazakhstan.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington has questions about Kazakhstan’s request for assistance from the CSTO. The top U.S. diplomat said the Kazakh authorities “certainly have the capacity to deal appropriately with protests” in a way that respects the rights of protesters while maintaining law and order.
“So it's not clear why they feel the need for any outside assistance, so we're trying to learn more about it,” Blinken said on January 7. “I think one lesson in recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave."
Blinken also said the U.S. hopes the government can quickly address the problems, which he said were "fundamentally economic and political in nature."
China, which also shares a long border with Kazakhstan, has backed Toqaev so far. State television on January 7 said President Xi Jinping spoke with Toqaev, noting that Beijing opposed any use of force to destabilize Kazakhstan and threaten its security.
The speed at which the CSTO arrived on the scene in Kazakhstan was seen by some analysts as another sign of the Kremlin's strategy to act quickly to safeguard its influence in the former Soviet Union.
Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan's BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the government, told the Reuters news agency on January 7 that claims by Toqaev and officials in Moscow that “foreign-trained terrorists” were behind the protests were an attempt to distract people from the fact that the unrest is a result of internal problems caused by the government.
He added that Kazakhstan is now the focus of a geopolitical play with Russian President Vladimir Putin looking to use the situation to "methodically impose his program: the re-creation of a structure like the Soviet Union."
Ablyazov, is the leader of the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement, which for months has openly called on Kazakhs to rally against the government. The authorities labeled the DVK "extremist" and banned it in March 2018.
Ablyazov managed BTA when it was the country's largest private bank, but he later had a falling out with government officials -- he accused former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, and many of Nazarbaev's family members of being involved in large-scale corruption and embezzlement -- and fled to London in 2009. The bank was subsequently nationalized by the Kazakh government.
The Interior Ministry said 26 "armed criminals" had been "liquidated" and more than 3,000 detained. Eighteen police and national guard troops had been killed since the start of the protests this week, it added.
The Health Ministry said on January 6 that more than 1,000 people had been injured and 400 hospitalized since three days of protests erupted into violence on January 5. Sixty-two people are in intensive care, it said.
An unknown number of people have reportedly also been killed in at least two smaller towns, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported.
Some journalists reported at least a partial restoration of Internet services that had been cut off in much of the country, but connection problems were still hampering communication.
A report from regional website kg.24 claimed that two airplanes that belong to the family of 81-year-old Nazarbaev, who ruled the country firmly for almost three decades, had landed at Manas Airport in neighboring Kyrgyzstan overnight, and at least one had then left Manas shortly after midnight local time.
But RFE/RL could not confirm that report, and there was no word on who might have been aboard the aircraft.
In an attempt to distance himself from the past, Toqaev on January 5 dismissed Nazarbaev from the powerful post of head of the country's Security Council and relieved a longtime Nazarbaev associate of his post as chairman of the National Security Committee (KNB).
With reporting by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, AFP, AP, dpa, and Reuters
Statue Of Iranian Commander Soleimani Torched Hours After Being Unveiled
A statue erected to honor top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani has been torched by unknown assailants hours after it was unveiled in southwestern Iran, domestic media reported on January 6.
Soleimani, who headed the elite Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, was killed on January 3, 2020, in a U.S. drone strike at Baghdad airport.
Earlier this week, a statue to honor him was unveiled in the southwestern Iranian city of Shahrekord. But it was set on fire in the evening, Iranian media reported.
"This treacherous crime was carried out in darkness, just like the other crime committed at night at Baghdad airport," when Soleimani was killed, Shahrekord Friday Prayers Leader Mohammad Ali Nekounam said in a statement published by the semiofficial ISNA news agency.
Iranian authorities have unveiled several sculptures dedicated to Soleimani since his assassination two years ago, and his portraits dot the landscape across Iran.
State broadcaster IRIB condemned the latest attack as an "insulting" act, that comes as Iran marks the second anniversary of Soleimani's killing.
Soleimani was considered a main architect of Iran's Middle East military strategy and his assassination brought the United States and Iran close to a military conflict. Tehran retaliated by launching a missile strike targeting U.S. forces in Iraq.
With reporting by AFP
Doctors Without Borders Leaves Polish-Belarusian Border Zone Without Reaching Migrants
The international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says its teams have left Poland's border with Belarus after being repeatedly denied access by the Polish authorities to the migrants and refugees they went to help.
Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, said it spent three months seeking permission for its emergency response workers to enter the forested border zone where asylum seekers are reportedly stranded in freezing winter weather.
“Since October, MSF has repeatedly requested access to the restricted area and the border guard posts in Poland, but without success,” Frauke Ossig, the group's emergency coordinator for Poland and Lithuania, said in a statement on January 6.
The European Union accuses Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka of flying in migrants and funneling them to the borders of EU member states Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania to retaliate for sanctions the bloc imposed over a sweeping crackdown since last year’s disputed presidential election.
Poland has also taken steps in response to the migrant crisis, including building a barbed wire fence and massing thousands of soldiers along its 400-kilometer border with Belarus. Reporters and humanitarian workers need special permission to enter.
“We know that there are still people crossing the border and hiding in the forest, in need of support, but while we are committed to assisting people on the move wherever they may be, we have not been able to reach them in Poland,” Ossig said.
Based on reporting by AP and dpa
Prominent Iranian Sociologist Prevented From Leaving Country To Conduct Research At Yale
Iranian authorities have prevented a prominent Iranian sociologist from leaving the country to begin a one-year research program at Yale University.
Saeed Madani, a scholar and former political prisoner, said earlier this week that he had been prevented from boarding a flight out of Tehran by the intelligence branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which confiscated his passport.
In a January 4 letter to Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, Madani said he was interrogated by the Intelligence Ministry before his planned departure in early December and told that he was free to travel.
Iranian authorities have in past years prevented a number of activists, journalists, and scholars from leaving the country by confiscating their passports.
Madani has been arrested and sentenced to prison several times in the past over his membership in a banned nationalist-religious opposition group.
- By RFE/RL
Russian Troops Deploy To Timbuktu In Mali After Withdrawal Of French Troops
Russian soldiers have deployed to the city of Timbuktu in northern Mali to train Malian forces at a base vacated by French troops last month, Mali's army spokesperson said on January 6.
Mali's government said last month that "Russian trainers" had arrived in the country, but Bamako and Moscow have so far provided few details on the deployment, including the number of deployed Russians.
Last month, over a dozen Western countries strongly condemned the deployment in Mali of Russian mercenaries working for the Vagner group, accusing Moscow of providing material backing for the fighters.
The countries, who included, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, said the deployment can deteriorate the security and human rights situation in Mali.
The U.S. State Department said last month hat Vagner Group forces “will not bring peace to Mali, but rather will destabilize the country further."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the Vagner Group does not represent the Russian state and is not paid by it. He has also said private military contractors have the right to work and pursue their interests anywhere in the world as long as they do not break Russian law.
Mali's government has denied any deployment of Russian mercenaries, saying “Russian trainers” are in the country as part of a bilateral agreement.
"We had new acquisitions of planes and equipment from [the Russians]," the Malian Army spokesperson told Reuters. "It costs a lot less to train us on site than for us to go over there ... What is the harm?"
He did not say how many Russians had been sent to Timbuktu.
Local residents told Reuters that uniformed Russian men were seen driving around town.
There was no immediate comment from Russian officials.
France helped to recapture Timbuktu from Al-Qaeda-linked militants in 2013. France's withdrawal from the city is part of a significant drawdown of a previously 5,000-strong task force in West Africa's Sahel region sent to battle jihadist groups.
Mali has experienced sustained political instability since 2012. A military transitional government took power in May.
With reporting by Reuters
Serbian Residents Voice Support For Novak Djokovic
Several hundred people demonstrated on January 6 outside the Serbian parliament in Belgrade in support of Novak Djokovic. The world tennis No. 1 has been denied entry into Australia after initially being granted a medical exemption from the country's COVID-19 vaccination requirements so that he could play in the Australian Open. The 34-year-old Serb and public critic of vaccines has been confined to a hotel room in Melbourne since Australian border forces rejected his vaccination exemption.
- By RFE/RL
U.S., Russian Defense Chiefs Discuss 'Risk Reduction' Near Ukraine's Borders
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke on January 6 with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu and discussed "risk reduction near Ukraine’s borders," the Pentagon said in a brief statement.
"We're obviously still very concerned by what we're seeing," a U.S. defense official told Reuters, without commenting on the call itself.
The conversation comes amid Western concerns that Russia's buildup of around 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders could part of preparations for a potential invasion. Moscow has denied it.
Russia has demanded guarantees that Ukraine and other former Soviet countries will not join NATO and that there will be a rollback of the alliance’s military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.
The West has rejected Moscow’s ultimatums regarding NATO and threatened severe sanctions and other measures if Russia launches a fresh incursion into Ukraine.
Russia illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 and continues to rule the peninsula.
With reporting by Reuters
Ukrainian Court Seizes Property Of Ex-President Poroshenko Following Treason Accusations
A court in Ukraine has frozen property owned by former President Petro Poroshenko as part of a formal investigation into alleged high treason by the former head of state, which he denies.
"The court decided to seize the suspect's property, which belongs to him on the right of ownership," the Prosecutor General's office said in a statement on January 6.
The State Investigation Bureau said last month that Poroshenko had been placed under formal investigation for high treason, accusing him of "facilitating the activities" of separatists fighting government forces in a conflict that has claimed more than 13,200 lives since April 2014.
During his presidency, Poroshenko is suspected of helping the separatists to sell some 1.5 billion hryvnyas ($54 million) worth of coal to Kyiv in 2014 and 2015, it said in a statement.
Poroshenko has denied the allegations while accusing Ukrainian authorities of crossing "a red line" by bringing treason charges against a former head of state.
Last month, prosecutors asked a Ukrainian court to arrest Poroshenko with the possibility of bail set at 1 billion hryvnia ($37 million).
Poroshenko has been outside Ukraine since late December and has yet to comment on the ruling.
The politician, who is now a lawmaker and the leader of the opposition European Solidarity party, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
He has said that he plans to come back to Ukraine on January 17.
Poroshenko's allies said the seizure of assets was a result of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's personal vendetta. Zelenskiy succeeded Poroshenko as president after defeating him in a 2019 election.
"A weak president ... uses manual prosecution, manual investigation, and manual justice to punish opponents," Volodymyr Ariev, a lawmaker from Poroshenko's political party said after the court's decision.
"This unlawful decision aggravates the political crisis in the country," Iryna Gerashchenko, another lawmaker from his party wrote on Facebook.
Ahead of the court's decision on January 6, Poroshenko wrote on Facebook that he "will return to Kyiv" to appear in front of a judge "not to defend myself against Zelenskiy, but to defend Ukraine from incompetent leadership."
Zelenskiy has not commented on the court's decisions but previously denied wanting to wield influence over state prosecutors or the judiciary.
With reporting by Reuters
Ukraine, U.K., Canada, Sweden Announce New Tack On Reparations Over Airliner Downed By Iran
Ukraine and a trio of other affected countries on January 6 announced their abandonment of a two-year effort to negotiate with Tehran over reparations for a passenger airliner mistakenly shot down by Iran's military in January 2020.
Kyiv joined the governments of Britain, Canada, and Sweden in saying their related coordination group would "now focus on subsequent actions to take to resolve this matter in accordance with international law."
Last month they told Iran it had three weeks to reverse its refusal to address the reparation demands.
"Despite our best efforts over the past two years and multiple attempts to resolve this matter through negotiations, the Coordination Group has determined that further attempts to negotiate with Iran ... are futile," the group said in a statement.
They did not specify what steps they would take to address grievances related to the deaths of their nationals among the 176 people killed when Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was destroyed shortly after takeoff from Tehran.
Iran obfuscated for days but later said its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a branch of the armed forces, accidentally shot down the Boeing 737 because of technical and human error with tensions high between Tehran and the United States.
More than 130 of the passengers had ties to Canada. Citizens or residents of Afghanistan, Britain, Iran, Ukraine, and Sweden were also killed.
Canada said in June that it found no evidence of premeditation in the downing of the airliner.
In May, Human Rights Watch accused Iranian security agencies of harassing and abusing the victims' families to "squash any hope for justice."
A Canadian court last week awarded $84 million and interest to the families of six of the victims.
Based on reporting by Reuters
- By RFE/RL
U.K. Foreign Secretary Announces Kyiv Visit, Says Russia's Only Path Forward Is De-Escalation With Ukraine
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has announced a visit to Kyiv later this month to stress London's "unwavering" commitment to Ukraine amid continuing Russian aggression against its fellow post-Soviet neighbor.
In remarks to Parliament on January 6, Truss called Ukraine a crucial priority and warned against any concessions to Russia, which has reportedly amassed tens of thousands of troops near its western border seven years into a conflict in nearby eastern Ukraine between pro-Kyiv forces and Russia-backed separatists.
Russia is the aggressor with respect to Ukraine, she said, and should end its malign activity.
"Any further military incursion into Ukraine would bring massive consequences, including coordinated sanctions to impose a severe cost on Russia's interests and economy," Truss said, echoing previous warnings by Western officials. "The U.K. is working with our partners on these sanctions, including high impact measures targeting the Russian financial sector and individuals."
After a conversation with Truss earlier this week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba's office said Kyiv and its allies were making progress on a comprehensive deterrence package targeting Russia.
Britain, the European Union, and the United States have already imposed multiple rounds of sanctions against Moscow since its forcible annexation of Ukraine's Crimea and the start of the separatist conflict in 2014.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said after a meeting in Washington on January 5 that Russia's military buildup was an "immediate and urgent challenge.”
Talks between U.S. and Russian officials are scheduled for January 9-10 in Geneva and the NATO-Russia Council should meet on January 12.
Russian officials have denied participating in the Ukrainian conflict despite evidence of active troop, weapons, and other involvement.
Moscow has accused the United States and other Western governments of increasingly threatening behavior in the Black Sea and other regions around Ukraine, and said its troop movements are an internal matter.
Truss didn't immediately say when she will travel to Kyiv, where Ukraine's leaders have pleaded for greater political and material assistance to rebuff the Russian threat.
She said there's no justification for Russia's "bellicose" stance and the only way forward is for Russia to de-escalate.
Britain won't accept Russia's campaign of subverting democratic neighbors, Truss said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has also expressed major fears over the effect of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which has had German support and will allow Russia to bypass longtime transit partner Ukraine via the Baltic Sea.
Britain opposes Nord Stream 2, Truss said, "and I'm working with allies and partners to highlight the strategic risks of this project."
"Europe must reduce its dependence on Russian gas," Truss added.
With reporting by Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Renewed Clashes Reported As Troops Open Fire On Kazakh Protesters
Renewed clashes and gunfire continue to rock Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, as police, bolstered by troops from a Russian-led military alliance, try to squelch protests in the Central Asian nation's deadliest uprising in the three decades since it declared independence from the Soviet Union.
RFE/RL journalists in Almaty said security forces, some in armored vehicles, opened fired on the demonstrators on January 6 in Republican Square. According to Aigerim Tuleuzhanova, a representative of the group for the establishment of the Democratic Party, most of those who were in the square were unarmed young people.
Earlier, some witnesses reported an explosion and gunfire near the square.
Troops from the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) were sent to Kazakhstan overnight as violence spread since late on January 4 following protests sparked in part by a spike in fuel prices.
Police said early on January 6 that they had killed “dozens” of protesters and detained around 2,000 people over the past day in violent clashes that prompted President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev to ask the CSTO, a military alliance comprised of several former Soviet republics in the region along with Russia, to enter the country to help “stabilize” the situation.
The Interior Ministry said that 18 security personnel have died in clashes with protesters, with hundreds more injured.
Much of the situation on the ground on January 6 was unclear as the government blocked the Internet and hampered other telecommunication methods.
Still, images of burnt-out cars littering the streets and of buildings, some with smoke billowing out of the windows and pockmarked facades, were emerging to show the depth of the violence that has wracked the country.
Toqaev has blamed foreign-trained "terrorist" gangs but he has also offered no evidence of an international link to the disorder in the post-Soviet Central Asian republic.
The situation in the oil-rich country has sparked international concern, with governments from Washington, Moscow, the United Kingdom and others calling for restraint on all sides.
The U.S. said it was closely monitoring reports about the deployment of troops from the Russian-led CSTO to Kazakhstan and has questions about whether they were legitimately invited to the country.
"We're closely monitoring reports that the Collective Security Treaty Organization have dispatched its collective peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a news briefing on January 6.
"We have questions about the nature of this request and whether it was a legitimate invitation or not. We don't know at this point," Psaki added.
Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for a “peaceful resolution” to the unrest in the country while the European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, expressed “grave concern” about the situation, insisting civilian rights had to be protected and sounding a warning over foreign military involvement.
In a call with his Kazakh counterpart Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Blinken "reiterated the United States' full support for Kazakhstan's constitutional institutions and media freedom and advocated for a peaceful, rights-respecting resolution to the crisis," the State Department said in a brief statement.
"Rights and security of civilians must be guaranteed. External military assistance brings back memories of situations to be avoided," Borrell wrote on Twitter.
“EU is ready to support in addressing this crisis,” he added.
For her part, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet urged all sides in Kazakhstan to refrain from violence.
"People have the right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression. At the same time, protesters, no matter how angry or aggrieved they may be, should not resort to violence against others," Bachelet said in a January 6 statement, as she called for the release of all those detained solely for exercising their right to peaceful protest.
A spokesman for U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said London was "concerned about the violent clashes" and "following developments closely."
"We are urging against further escalation and want to see a peaceful resolution," the spokesman told reporters on January 6.
The wave of protests erupted in the western region of Mangystau four days ago over a sudden hike in prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a popular fuel used in vehicles in the tightly controlled, oil-rich country.
But they have spread to cities and towns across Kazakhstan and broadened to include political grievances.
Russian airborne troops are being transferred to Kazakhstan as part of a CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Force, the organization said in a statement on its website, adding that leading units from Russia’s contingent “have already begun to fulfill the assigned tasks.”
The speed at which the Russian troops arrived on the scene in Kazakhstan was seen by some analysts as another sign of the Kremlin's strategy to act quickly to safeguard its sphere of influence in the ex-Soviet Union.
In the past 15 months Russia has backed Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the authoritarian ruler of Belarus who has faced a massive popular uprising, and acted as an intermediary to stop a war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. It also continues to support separatists in a war in eastern Ukraine and has recently massed tens of thousands of troops near the border with Ukraine, raising fears of a possible invasion.
Timothy Ash, senior strategist at Bluebay Asset Management, said the popular protests in Kazakhstan are a “threat” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and “an affront to his vision of autocracy and sovereign democracy.”
“He hates colored revolutions as these make him fearful that Russians could in turn rise up to overthrow him,” Ash said in a note to his subscribers, adding that Putin also fears “the prospect of a more liberal Kazakhstan turning to the West – he still sees Kazakhstan as falling under the Russian strategic umbrella.”
The CSTO’s Collective Peacekeeping Force will also include troops from the other CSTO members: Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
The CSTO statement said the main tasks of the force will be “the protection of important state and military facilities, assistance to the forces of law and order of the Republic of Kazakhstan in stabilizing the situation and returning it to the legal field.”
On January 5, Toqaev sacked the government, declared a nationwide state of emergency, and appealed for intervention by the CSTO after thousands of anti-government protesters clashed with police and stormed government buildings.
Angry demonstrators, some of whom were armed with rubber truncheons, sticks, and shields, set fire to a presidential residence and the mayor’s office in Almaty, where protesters also seized control of the airport, prompting the temporary suspension of all flights.
Video recordings circulated on social media purportedly showed several bodies of protesters on the streets. RFE/RL could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
Police engaged in pitched battles with the protesters, using tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets to try to disperse the crowds, but were largely unsuccessful.
The operations of RFE/RL's Kazakh Service have been restricted, and its journalists said both Internet and telephone services had deteriorated markedly.
State television reported on January 6 that the National Bank of Kazakhstan has suspended all financial institutions.
In a major move to distance himself from the past, Toqaev on January 5 removed his predecessor, 81-year-old Nursultan Nazarbaev, from the powerful post of head of the country's security council and relieved a longtime Nazarbaev associate of his post as chairman of the National Security Committee (KNB).
Nazarbaev had retained wide authority through the post since stepping down in 2019 as president after three decades in power, the last Soviet-era Communist Party boss still ruling an ex-Soviet state.
With reporting by AFP, dpa, Reuters, AFP, and RFE/RL's Kazakh Service
- By RFE/RL
Australian Judge Postpones Hearing On Djokovic Vaccine Exemption To Next Week
An Australian judge has postponed until next week world tennis No. 1 Novak Djokovic's appeal against his deportation as the furor continues over a canceled local exemption that would have allowed him to defend his title at this month's Australian Open.
The 34-year-old Serb and public critic of vaccines will spend at least another night confined to a hotel room in Melbourne, where he has been held since Australian Border Force officials on January 6 rejected an initial medical exemption from COVID-19 restrictions to enter the country.
Australian Federal Circuit Court Judge Anthony Kelly initially said a filing error had delayed Djokovic's request for an injunction against deportation, before adjourning the hearing process to January 10.
The two-week Australian Open tennis tournament, one of world tennis's premier events with a global audience of hundreds of millions, is scheduled to start on January 17.
Djokovic, a 20-time Grand Slam singles champion who won the last three Australian Opens, has repeatedly stated his opposition to vaccination since the COVID-19 pandemic began nearly two years ago but has never disclosed his vaccine status.
Djokovic's announcement that he'd been granted an exemption and was headed to Melbourne was met with outrage among some Australians, who have been among the world's most tightly limited populations but are seeing a huge spike in COVID-19 cases since the omicron variant appeared about a month ago.
Longtime rival Spaniard Rafael Nadal said that "in some way I feel sorry for him" but added that "he knew the conditions" many months ago.
"He made his own decisions and everybody is free to take their own decisions, but then there are some consequences," Nadal said.
Nadal, Djokovic, and Switzerland's Roger Federer, who won't be in Australia, are all tied with 20 Grand Slam titles each.
The debate around vaccine mandates has gained steam since omicron's appearance, including when French President Emmanuel Macron suggested on January 5 that he wanted to "piss off" vaccine holdouts by limiting their access to public places.
"Djokovic failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia, and his visa has been subsequently canceled," the Australian Border Force said in a statement on January 6.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Instagram that he spoke with Djokovic over the phone and told him that "the whole of Serbia is with him and that our authorities are undertaking all measures in order that maltreatment of the world's best tennis player ends as soon as possible.”
Many Serbians rallied behind Djokovic when he organized a regional tennis tournament in June 2020 amid massive lockdowns during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in multiple infections, including his own.
He submitted to an application process for a medical exemption ahead of this year's Australian Open, but has never said what his medical issues are.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned that Djokovic would be on the “next plane home” if his evidence for being exempted from COVID-19 vaccination rules was deemed insufficient.
More than 90 percent of Australia's over-16 population is fully vaccinated, but some people still cannot travel interstate or globally because of current measures.
With reporting by the BBC and dpa
- By RFE/RL
U.S., Europe Show Unified Front Ahead Of Talks On Russia's Military Buildup Near Ukraine
The United States and its EU partners stepped up warnings of major consequences if Russia invades Ukraine as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to Washington on January 5 for a meeting dominated by upcoming talks with Russia.
Blinken said he and Baerbock emphasized the “preference to pursue diplomacy and de-escalation” to deal with Russia's troop buildup near Ukraine.
“We would far prefer a diplomatic path and diplomatic solution to the situation,” Blinken said, adding that the talks would “test Russia’s willingness to take that path.”
Baerbock said she and Blinken agreed "on the importance of finding a good path forward to finding a solution together for the process of dialogue.” She emphasized that Germany’s position is that there is no alternative to a political solution.
The meeting took place ahead of talks scheduled to take place next week between U.S. and Russian officials in Geneva and a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council.
Russia wants the talks to discuss its demands for security guarantees against expanding the NATO alliance eastward to include Ukraine and other former Soviet republics such as Georgia.
Russia made the demands after its military buildup raised fears of a repeat of 2014 when Moscow seized the Crimea Peninsula and a Russia-backed insurgency broke out in eastern Ukraine that has since claimed more than 13,000 lives.
Blinken said there is a “real question” of whether Russia is serious about diplomacy and de-escalation, and Germany and the United States “see Russia’s actions toward Ukraine as an immediate and urgent challenge to peace and stability in Europe."
He and Baerbock condemn the military buildup “as well as Russia’s increasingly harsh rhetoric as it continues to push the false narrative that Ukraine seeks to provoke [Russia].”
He likened that to “the fox saying it had no choice but to attack the henhouse because somehow the hens presented a threat.”
Baerbock said she and Blinken “jointly reiterated that Russian actions and activities come with a clear price tag, and a renewed violation of Ukrainian sovereignty by Russia would have severe consequences.”
Western officials have hinted at severe economic sanctions, including a near total cutoff from the international financial system, but there have been very few specifics, and Blinken again declined to discuss them.
"I’m not going to telegraph them publicly, but I can tell you with great confidence that a tremendous amount of work has been done already. There is very strong coordination and collaboration and very strong agreement on measures that would be taken in the event of renewed Russian aggression against Ukraine,” he said.
Blinken also said that the future of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would be affected if Russia invades Ukraine.
“From our perspective, it’s very hard to see gas flowing through that pipeline for it to become operational if Russia renews its aggression on Ukraine," he said.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is complete but has not yet begun delivering Russian gas to Germany because it has not received approval from German regulators.
Asked if Germany is ready to cancel the pipeline, Baerbock said only that the new government backed an understanding reached last year with the United States that Germany would “take effective measures together with our European partners should Russia use energy as a weapon."
As Baerbock visited Washington, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was in Ukraine.
Borrell told a joint news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that Kyiv and Brussels have a common goal to ease tensions through “diplomatic means.”
Borrell earlier paid a visit to the contact line in eastern Ukraine where Russia-backed separatists have battled Ukrainian government forces.
"The conflict on the borders is on the verge of getting deeper and tensions have been building up with respect to the European security as a whole," Borrell said.
"Any military aggression against Ukraine will have massive consequences and severe costs," Borrell said.
Kuleba said he was glad the EU foreign policy chief had a chance to visit the contact line and "feel the consequences of the conflict with his own eyes."
With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP
Belarus Summons Polish Charge D'Affaires Over Diplomat's Expulsion
Poland says that Belarus has summoned the Polish charge d'affaires in Minsk to inform Warsaw about the expulsion of a Polish diplomat.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms the fact that the charge d'affaires was called in in a case related to the expulsion of a Polish consul," spokesman Lukasz Jasina said in a statement on January 5.
Jasina said the expelled diplomat was the Polish consul in the border city of Brest. The spokesman added that “steps are being taken to verify the information provided and to clarify the situation."
There were no immediate comments from the Belarusian authorities.
Tensions have been running high between the two neighbors over a migrant crisis that the European Union and Poland say was engineered by Belarus in retaliation for Western sanctions against the authoritarian government of Aleksandr Lukashenka.
They accused Minsk of waging a “hybrid attack” against the EU, luring thousands of migrants to Belarus from the Middle East and other regions, with the promise of help to get to Western Europe, to use them as pawns to destabilize the 27-nation bloc.
Belarus has denied the charge.
Poland took a tough stance in response to the migrant crisis, building a barbed-wire fence and massing thousands of soldiers along its 400-kilometer border with Belarus.
In some cases, Warsaw has been accused of pushing back migrants to Belarus, in a policy criticized by human rights groups.
Based on reporting by Reuters
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