World
Will Xi-Putin summit deliver a breakthrough on Ukraine war?
![Will Xi-Putin summit deliver a breakthrough on Ukraine war? Will Xi-Putin summit deliver a breakthrough on Ukraine war?](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/AP23076307649540.jpg?resize=1920,1440)
Chinese language President Xi Jinping is on his option to Moscow, on a “voyage of friendship”, “cooperation” and “peace”, weeks after Beijing unveiled a 12-point place paper calling for a ceasefire within the Russia-Ukraine struggle and days after it mediated a shock rapprochement between longtime Center East foes, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Xi’s three-day go to, which begins on Monday, will characteristic one-on-one talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a person the Chinese language chief has described as his “greatest good friend” and who’s now wished by the Worldwide Prison Court docket on struggle crimes accusations.
The summit in Moscow would be the fortieth assembly between the 2 males.
The go to by Xi – who was just lately reappointed as China’s chief for an unprecedented third time period and who’s searching for a larger function for Beijing on the world stage – has raised hopes in some quarters of a breakthrough in ending the struggle in Ukraine. The battle, now in its second 12 months, has claimed tens of hundreds of lives, pressured hundreds of thousands from their properties, and induced widespread financial ache, with inflation hovering throughout the globe and provides of grain, fertiliser and power in brief provide.
The hopes have been kindled not solely by Beijing’s mediation within the Saudi-Iran détente and its proposal for a truce and dialogue between Moscow and Kyiv but in addition by media stories that Xi intends to observe on his summit with Putin with a digital assembly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
If it takes place, the dialog between Xi and Zelenskyy can be their first since Russian tanks rolled throughout Ukraine’s border in February of final 12 months.
International peacemaker?
Regardless of the surge in China’s world diplomacy, most observers say Xi’s state go to is extra about cementing the “no limits” partnership that he introduced with Putin final 12 months than about brokering peace in Ukraine. That’s as a result of, for starters, neither of the fighters seems prepared or prepared to finish the preventing.
“Until and till Russia and Ukraine have exhausted their will to proceed preventing and are in search of off-ramps for this battle, it’s not doable to finish it,” mentioned Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia Program on the German Marshall Fund of the USA. “And I don’t assume that China needs to get in the course of it.”
China’s 12-point paper on Ukraine, Glaser mentioned, was a abstract of its positions and never a “peace plan”, particularly because it didn’t define any particular space the place Beijing was prepared to play a extra lively function.
Certainly, the paper – unveiled on the anniversary of the struggle – displays China’s ambiguous stance on the battle. Whereas the doc helps Ukraine’s sovereignty and requires the struggle’s swift decision, it lays blames for the disaster on what it calls a “Chilly Battle mentality”, that’s NATO’s growth eastwards and the West’s disregard for Russia’s safety considerations. It additionally condemns the West’s “unilateral sanctions” in opposition to Russia, regardless of Beijing largely having adhered to the measures over the previous 12 months.
“The paper incorporates a complete paragraph on the necessity for humanitarian help, however the place is China offering this assist? So, it’s not a peace plan and China shouldn’t be enjoying the function of peacemaker,” Glaser mentioned.
She went on so as to add that the Saudi-Iran settlement – which ended seven years of estrangement and challenged the US’s longstanding function as the principle energy dealer within the Center East – didn’t imply that China was now going to emerge as a serious mediator for world disputes.
“The lesson of the Saudi-Iran deal is that China may be very nicely attuned to alternative,” she mentioned. “It turned more and more clear that Saudi Arabia and Iran have been in search of a option to begun to enhance their relationship. And China seized that chance to assist convey that throughout the end line.”
And for the Russia-Ukraine struggle, that “second has not but arrived”, she added.
Nonetheless, the battle is more likely to characteristic excessive on Xi’s agenda.
Writing within the Russian newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, a day by day revealed by the Russian authorities, Xi on Monday referred to as for a “rational method” out of the Ukraine battle and mentioned China’s place paper “serves as a constructive consider neutralising the results of the disaster and selling a political settlement”.
Regardless of the deep scepticism within the West about China’s capability to be an sincere dealer within the Russia-Ukraine battle, it seems in a greater place than most nations to play mediator.
China is Russia’s most necessary ally, in any case.
And whereas it has adhered to Western sanctions and avoided coming to Moscow’s navy assist, it has saved up regular commerce ties, changing Germany as the biggest importer of Russian oil final 12 months. Bilateral commerce in non-sanctioned sectors has additionally ballooned, reaching a record-breaking $190bn final 12 months.
The 2 neighbours – who share a protracted border – have additionally saved up the tempo of their joint navy workouts, holding large-scale naval drills within the East China Sea in late December. In addition they held joint drills with South Africa in February and Iran earlier this month.
Accountable, nice energy
China’s leverage over Russia, in addition to its need to be perceived as a accountable third pressure in world politics, might push Xi, some analysts mentioned, to press Putin for “mini-steps” within the route of a truce and dialogue in Ukraine.
“China needs to be perceived as a accountable nice energy,” mentioned Moritz Rudolf, fellow and analysis scholar in regulation on the Paul Tsai China Middle of the Yale Legislation Faculty. “It’s exceptional that China is presenting its personal place in any respect, when it’s really a couple of struggle in Europe. This can be a true new high quality of the China’s engagement on the worldwide degree and I feel it’s right here to remain.”
Rudolf mentioned though China’s place paper lacked substance, Beijing has positioned itself because the “solely nation that’s probably capable of, or no less than, be one of many nations that can should be a part of a peaceable answer” in Ukraine. This, he mentioned, is in keeping with China’s ambitions to reshape a world order that it perceives as skewed unfairly to the West and one the place the US and its allies set the foundations to their benefit.
Whether or not Xi is searching for an lively function within the Ukraine disaster will in all probability grow to be clearer after his Moscow journey, Rudolf mentioned.
If the Chinese language chief have been to go to different European capitals after his journey to Russia – as reported by the Wall Road Journal – and if he have been to talk to Zelenskyy quickly after his summit with Putin, it will present if Xi was certainly making an attempt to play a critical function, he added.
With expectations of a breakthrough on Ukraine low, Xi and Putin’s discussions of substance will in all probability give attention to increasing and deepening their financial and navy ties.
“All in all, it is a vital go to signifying the significance of Russia-China strategic partnership for one another,” mentioned Anna Kireeva, affiliate professor within the Division of Asian and African Research at Moscow’s MGIMO College.
“New financial agreements will be anticipated, particularly in power … Russia urgently wants to search out various locations for its exports, and China is greater than prepared to purchase Russian power sources and uncooked supplies at discounted costs,” she mentioned.
This might translate right into a deal on a brand new pipeline, Energy-of-Siberia 2, to ship gasoline to China by way of Mongolia, she mentioned.
Xi and Putin can even use their summit to sign the soundness of the relations between their two nations, regardless of the turbulence in world politics, thereby presenting a united entrance in opposition to the US and growing Moscow’s world standing, Kireeva mentioned.
“So long as Moscow and Beijing retain their strategic partnership, it means they can’t be absolutely geopolitically encircled,” she added.
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World
A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13
![A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13 A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13](https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/dcac1a4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/700x394+0+28/resize/1440x810!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F90%2F29%2F4e3c1cc7446089a9101a7bdff4c8%2Fdefaultshareimage-copy.png)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police in the Afghan capital say a suicide bomber carried out an attack Monday, killing at least six people and injuring 13 others.
The blast took place in the southwestern Qala Bakhtiar neighborhood in Kabul, said Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Kabul police chief.
The dead included one woman, he said, while 13 people were wounded, all of them civilians who were taken to a hospital for treatment.
A police investigation is underway. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.
The Islamic State group’s affiliate, a major rival of the ruling Taliban, has carried out previous attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and Shiite areas throughout the country.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 during the chaotic departure of U.S. and NATO troops after 20 years. Despite initial promises of a more moderate stance, the Taliban gradually reimposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, as they did during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
World
Germany's right wing poised for major wins as centrist parties stumble
![Germany's right wing poised for major wins as centrist parties stumble Germany's right wing poised for major wins as centrist parties stumble](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-2169317905.jpg)
Germany’s right wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is expected to win its first election since the party was formed in 2013, as anti-mass immigration sentiment sends voters to the polls.
Exit polls on Sunday showed AfD securing a winning 33.5% share of the vote in Thuringia and 31.5% in Saxony. Meanwhile, the center-left Social Democratic Party – to which Chancellor Olaf Scholz belongs – brought in less than 8% of the vote in both states, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The election follows a wider trend of success for conservative groups across Europe in recent months. French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron’s government narrowly quashed a conservative takeover of the French parliament earlier this year.
Analysts say the ultimate impact that AfD and other party politicians can have will be determined by how willing centrists are to work with them.
GERMAN RIGHT WING CANDIDATE STABBED IN LATEST ATTACK AHEAD OF ELECTIONS
DRESDEN, GERMANY – AUGUST 29: A skinhead supporter of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party waves a German flag while taunting leftist, anti-fascist protesters following the final AfD Saxony election rally prior to state elections on August 29, 2024, in Dresden, Germany. The AfD is currently leading in polls in both Saxony and Thuringia ahead of state elections scheduled for Sunday in both states. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
“The center-right will decide to what extent an AfD win would be a turning point: So far, they have been relatively consistent in excluding cooperation — more so than in other Western European countries,” Manès Weisskircher, a political scientist at the Dresden University of Technology, told the Journal.
The German elections this weekend come just days after a Syrian immigrant killed three people in a stabbing spree in Solingen, Germany. ISIS claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack shortly after.
![Emergency services and police at a stabbing scene in Germany Friday](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/Stabbing-scene-Germany.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Emergency services and police are deployed near the scene where three people were killed and injured in an attack at a festival in Solingen, western Germany, the German dpa news agency reported, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (Gianni Gattus/dpa via AP)
Federal prosecutors in Germany identified the suspect as Issa Al H., omitting his family name because of German privacy laws.
GERMAN TERROR ATTACK SUSPECT IDENTIFIED AS A SYRIAN REFUGEE, CHANCELLOR VOWS TO IMPLEMENT STRICT IMMIGRATION
ISIS said the attacker targeted Christians “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
Der Spiegel magazine, citing unidentified security sources, said that the suspect had moved to Germany late in 2022, and sought asylum.
![Scholz gives speech in Berlin](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/06/1200/675/GettyImages-2156486483-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is facing a surge in right-wing sentiment across Germany. (John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images)
Similar attacks by Muslim migrants across Europe have spurred anti-immigration sentiment. Even the left-leaning Scholz called for strengthening immigration laws and ramping up deportations in the wake of the attack.
“We will have to do everything we can to ensure that those who cannot and are not allowed to stay in Germany are repatriated and deported,” Scholz said while visiting the sight where the stabbing happened.
“This was terrorism, terrorism against us all,” he said.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report
World
Seven EU members hadn’t received any post-Covid funding by end-2023
![Seven EU members hadn’t received any post-Covid funding by end-2023 Seven EU members hadn’t received any post-Covid funding by end-2023](https://static.euronews.com/articles/stories/08/69/58/16/1200x675_cmsv2_e50ff906-3ebe-5eb2-bccc-66f739cec99e-8695816.jpg)
Continued delays are jeopardising the EU’s €724bn post-Covid recovery fund, warns a new report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA).
Three years after creating a huge fund to stimulate post-pandemic recovery, EU member states have used under a third of the €724bn in grants and loans, EU auditors said in a report published today (2 September).
By the end of 2023, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden had not received any post-Covid money at all, the EU Court of Auditors said.
Almost all member states have experienced delays in submitting payment requests, whether due to political turmoil, uncertainty over the rules, or national administrative capacity, the report said.
The Netherlands and Hungary did not sign operational agreements, the first step required to access EU funds, while Sweden did not submit a payment application, it added – while others such as the Netherlands were held back by protracted coalition negotiations.
“For the Recovery and Resilience Plan you really need political consensus and support and that the government stands behind the plan, and the Netherlands was waiting for that stability,” Ivana Maletić, senior auditor at the Luxembourg-based EU agency, told Euronews in an interview.
In the more complex case of Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s government has to meet 27 milestones intended to fight corruption and safeguard judicial independence, which he hasn’t yet done.
The other four countries — Belgium, Finland, Ireland and Poland — submitted payment requests later than others, so they were still being assessed by the European Commission, which directly manages and implements the fund, at the end of 2023.
One quarter not completed on time
Unlike cohesion funds, the normal vehicle for EU regional spending, post-pandemic financial support is tied to progress on meeting commitments, and member states are behind schedule in meeting these targets and absorbing funds.
“Timely absorption of the RRF is essential: it helps to avoid bottlenecks in carrying out the measures towards the end of the Facility’s lifespan, and reduces the risk of inefficient and erroneous spending,” said Maletić, who led the audit.
Halfway through the six-year implementation plan for the post-pandemic funds, 24% of the planned reforms and investments have not been completed on time — meaning that a significant number of the trickiest promises have yet to be fulfilled, the ECA found.
With the RRF due to expire in August 2026 and no extension expected, EU auditors are recommending the Commission provide further support to strengthen how similar funds are designed in future.
“It can happen that for some actions, member states receive substantial amounts of funds without finalising them at all because it will not be possible to finalise them within the given time,” a senior auditor told a press conference on Monday (2 September) — though Brussels then doesn’t have the power to claw back money.
The EU executive however rejected auditors’ recommendations to stop funding incomplete actions and recover transfers.
“The Commission does not consider that payments based on progress is a risk and has no legal basis to recover funds already disbursed in relation to milestones and targets already and still fulfilled,” said its response.
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