Ukraine updates: Merz to join Zelenskyy at US peace talks – DW – 08/17/2025
Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz will accompany Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for peace talks with US President Donald Trump, the German government said Sunday.
The talks, in Washington D.C, on Monday, will also be attended by other European leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO chief Mark Rutte and Finnish President Alexander Stubb will also travel to Washington.
"The talks will address, among other things, security guarantees, territorial issues, and continued support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression. This includes maintaining pressure on sanctions," the German government said.
The talks follow a much-anticipated summit between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, aimed at bringing the war to an end.
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Serbia's President Vows 'Strong Response' After Days Of Unrest
Serbia's president on Sunday vowed a "strong" response to anti-government protests, after nearly a week of violent clashes involving his supporters, police and demonstrators across the country. Clashes have erupted in the capital, Belgrade and other cities for five nights in a row, with fireworks, stones, stun grenades and tear gas used. More than 130 police officers have been injured so far, the right-wing president, Aleksandar Vucic, said at a press conference in Belgrade, with dozens of citizens also reporting injuries and seeking medical assistance. On Saturday, violence flared in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Valjevo, where a small group of masked men attacked and set fire to the empty offices of Vucic's ruling Serbian Progressive Party. "You will see the full determination of the Serbian state. We will use everything at our disposal to restore law, peace and order," Vucic said. He added that the government needed a few days to prepare "the legal and formal framework" for the response. "It will be very different from what you have seen so far," he added, without disclosing details, but said that declaring a state of emergency was not being considered. Vucic compared anti-government protesters with "terrorists", a term he has frequently repeated since mass demonstrations began late last year. Almost daily protests have gripped Serbia since November, following the collapse of a railway station roof that killed 16 people. The tragedy became a symbol of deep-rooted corruption in the Balkan nation, with demands for a transparent investigation growing into calls for early elections. At their peak, the protests drew hundreds of thousands onto the streets. The mostly peaceful demonstrations deteriorated earlier this week when large groups of pro-government supporters -- many masked and some armed with batons and fireworks -- attacked protesters. That sparked violent clashes, further fuelled by videos shared online showing police striking unarmed demonstrators with batons. Police have denied allegations of brutality, and accused demonstrators of attacking officers. The European Union's commissioner for enlargement, Marta Kos, earlier this week said violence reported at protests was "deeply concerning". Vucic said he had also received personal messages from other European officials recently, but did not provide further details. The protests were also being followed in Russia, which remains a close Serbian ally despite Belgrade's declared path to the EU. Russia's foreign ministry issued a statement on Friday saying that it may offer further support to Vucic and decribing the protests as "violent riots". "Russia cannot remain unresponsive to what is happening in brotherly Serbia," it said. While the protests have so far led to the resignation of the prime minister and the collapse of the government, Vucic has remained defiant. He has repeatedly rejected calls for early elections and denounced the demonstrations as part of a foreign plot to overthrow him, claiming that "billions of euros" had allegedly been invested in the scheme. While the protests have led to the resignation of the prime minister and the collapse of the government, President Aleksandar Vucic has remained defiant AFP
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Middle East: Israelis call for hostage deal, end to war – DW – 08/17/2025
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No more German visas for Kremlin critics fleeing Russia? – DW – 08/17/2025
Hundreds of opponents of the Moscow regime have fled Russia and are now stuck in countries where they aren't safe. Many hope to come to Germany on a humanitarian visa, but Berlin has just suspended these visa programs. Some 300 Russians and Belarussians may be prevented from obtaining visas for Germany after Berlin suspended its humanitarian visa programs at the end of July, according to the Ark project (Kovcheg). Founded in March 2022, The Ark supports Russians fleeing persecution by the Russian authorities, in particular opponents of Russia's war against Ukraine. In all these cases, visas had already been approved by the German Foreign Office — but the Ministry of the Interior has stopped them from being issued. One of those affected is Alexei Moskalev, a Russian man who was persecuted in his homeland because of a drawing his young daughter did in school. The drawing showed Russia firing rockets at Ukraine, with a mother standing in front of a child, holding up a hand to ward them off. Masha Moskaleva from the Russian region of Tula was 13 years old when she did the drawing in an art class in the spring of 2022, not long after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The drawing was seized on by the international media after the Russian authorities took an interest in it. According to the girl's father, Alexei Moskalev, the school administration reported the drawing to the police, and Masha was interviewed by members of Russia's domestic intelligence service, the FSB. In 2023, Moskalev was sentenced to two years in prison. The court found him guilty of discrediting the army in anti-war comments he was said to have made on a Russian social network, Odnoklassniki. State authorities sent his daughter Masha to an orphanage before later handing her over to her mother, who had been estranged from the family for several years. Moskalev left Russia after his release from prison in October 2024, as he was in danger of being arrested again. "When I was in prison, in Vladimir Putin's dungeons, FSB officers came to see me twice," he says. "They always stressed, at the end of our conversation, 'We're not going to leave you alone, even after you're released.'" To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Anton K. (name changed for security reasons) left Russia at the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Back home, the former activist and journalist worked with publications branded "foreign agents" by the authorities. Today, he works for an online medium whose editor-in-chief is in custody, accused of inciting terrorism. Anton K. also took part in anti-Kremlin protests, and was arrested many times in consequence. Russia's "Center for Combating Extremism" took his fingerprints so that, if necessary, it could find him more easily. Like Alexei Moskalev, Anton K. is also currently in one of the CIS states. The Commonwealth of Independent States is an organization of Soviet Union successor states, and in addition to Russia it consists of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Lawyer Anastasia Burakova is the founder of Kovcheg, the Ark Project that supports Russian dissidents abroad. She told DW that it was dangerous for opponents of the regime to stay in these countries long-term. "There's always the risk of an extradition request from Russia if a person is wanted in a politically motivated case," Burakova says. "There are abduction attempts, like those we've seen in Armenia, but there are also successful abductions, as in Kyrgyzstan; those people ended up in Russian prisons." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Anton K. and Alexei Moskalev were very aware of these risks, so they applied for humanitarian visas for Germany, along with some 300 other Russians and Belarusians. German authorities can issue this visa to independent journalists, activists, and politicians who are persecuted in their home countries. According to The Ark, around 2,600 people from Russia have been granted these visas for Germany in the past three-and-a-half years of the war. "More than 2,600 people have been given the chance to come to a safe place, to evade a Russian prison sentence, torture, and persecution for their civil society activism and their opposition to the war," Anastasia Burakova stresses. At the end of July this year, Germany's Ministry of the Interior announced that it was suspending the humanitarian visa program. The reason given was the coalition contract between the governing parties, the CDU/CSU and the SPD, which refers to a toughening of migration policy. Anton K.'s visa was almost in the bag. At the beginning of July, he was invited to present his passport at the German embassy in order to receive the visa. However, at this point the procedure was broken off. Anton's passport is still at the embassy. Alexei Moskalev had a similar experience. He says the German Foreign Office had already approved his visa, but because of the new government's decision, he hasn't received it. It has been more than six months since he submitted the required documents. The German Ministry of the Interior told DW that the governing parties' coalition agreement included the intention to "terminate voluntary federal admission programs as far as possible," and said they were currently examining how this could be implemented with regard to the various programs. "We cannot preempt the outcome of this review," it stated. "Until a decision is made, procedures for the admission of persons in order to safeguard the political interests of the Federal Republic of Germany under Section 22, Paragraph 2 of the Residence Act are also generally suspended, meaning that, in principle, new admissions will not be declared nor visas issued, except in urgent cases." The ministry added that exceptions could be made "in particularly special individual cases." Anastasia Burakova hopes that this wording means that it will indeed make exceptions. It will become clear in practice what exactly the German authorities regard as "urgent cases," she says. In August of this year, there were 1,043 people categorized by the Russian human rights organization Memorial as political prisoners in Russia. According to the independent Russian news portal The Bell, which operates outside the country, around 700,000 people have left Russia since the start of its all-out war against Ukraine.
