
Kremlin says only to consider summit with Putin if Ukraine talks yield ‘results'
Kremlin says Russia will only consider having a summit with Putin if Ukraine talks yield 'results.'
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Asharq Al-Awsat
7 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
No Way to Restart Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant at Present, IAEA Chief Says
Conditions for restarting Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant do not exist at present due to a lack of water for cooling and the absence of a stable power supply, the head of the UN's nuclear safety watchdog said on Tuesday. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told Reuters in an interview in Kyiv that water would have to be pumped from the Dnipro River for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is currently shut down, to restart. The facility, in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, was occupied by Russia in March 2022, shortly after it launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor. Grossi said the Russians had "never hidden the fact" that they want to restart the plant, but they would not be able to do so soon. "We are not in a situation of imminent restart of the plant. Far from that, it would take quite some time before that can be done," Grossi said. The IAEA chief added that the plant's machinery, which has not been operating for three years, would have to be thoroughly inspected before any restart. Ukraine has said that an attempt by Russian technicians to restart the plant would be dangerous because they are not certified to operate the Zaporizhzhia plant. Grossi said Russian nuclear staff were capable of conducting a restart, and that the issue of certification was a political rather than technical one. Ukraine has also protested at the IAEA's monitoring mission to the plant accessing it via Russian-occupied territory. Grossi said this was to protect the safety of his staff, and that at present he does not have the necessary guarantees from the Russian side to safely transit IAEA staff through the frontlines to Ukraine-controlled territory, as had been done several times before.


Asharq Al-Awsat
7 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iran Seeks to Turn ‘New Page' in Ties with Lebanon
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Lebanese officials on Tuesday that Iran wanted to turn a "new page" in relations with Beirut, hinting at a shift in diplomatic ties that were long grounded in supporting Tehran-backed armed group Hezbollah. Hezbollah was once a powerful armed movement and political party with sway over Lebanon's state, but it was severely weakened by Israel's bombing campaign last year. Since then, Lebanon's army commander was elected president and a new cabinet with curtailed influence for Hezbollah and its allies took power. Araqchi's one-day trip to Beirut on Tuesday was his first since February, when he attended the funeral of Hezbollah's secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, killed in Israeli air strikes in September. Araqchi told both Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi that he wanted to "turn a new page" in Iran's ties with Lebanon, according to statements by Salam and Raggi's offices. "Araqchi affirmed his country's keenness to open a new page in bilateral relations with Lebanon, based on mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs," Salam's office said. Araqchi also extended a formal invitation for Salam to visit Iran. The statement from Raggi's office said the pair had a "frank and direct discussion," including on establishing the state's monopoly on the use of arms - an apparent reference to possible negotiations on the future of Hezbollah's arsenal. The top Iranian diplomat briefly addressed reporters on Tuesday after meeting with Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who is a key Hezbollah ally. Unlike previous addresses by Iranian diplomats, his comments did not mention Hezbollah. The visit followed several turbulent episodes in ties between the two countries. Lebanon's foreign ministry summoned Iran's ambassador to Beirut in April over comments alleging that plans to disarm Hezbollah were a "conspiracy". Last year, then-Prime Minister Najib Mikati also issued a rare rebuke of Iran for "interfering" in internal Lebanese affairs. In February, Iran blocked Lebanese planes from repatriating dozens of Lebanese nationals stranded in Tehran after Lebanon said it would not allow Iranian aircraft to land in Beirut because of Israel's threats that it would bomb the planes.


Arab News
8 hours ago
- Arab News
Macron to visit Meloni after rivalry creates tension on Ukraine, trade
Macron is a fervent pro-European who has had a long rapport with Donald TrumpMeloni is a nationalist with a strong transatlantic tilt who seems more ideologically aligned with the US presidentPARIS/ROME: French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday, seeking to improve relations amid tensions between the two European leaders over Ukraine, trade and relations with the United is a fervent pro-European who has had a long rapport with Donald Trump, while Meloni is a nationalist with a strong transatlantic tilt who seems more ideologically aligned with the US president. They have advocated different — even competing — approaches to the new Trump whose country has a large trade surplus with the US, has sought to keep Europe aligned with the US, using the slogan 'Make the West great again' in a meeting with Trump in Washington in April. Macron has pushed for the EU to take a more independent the Russian war in Ukraine, Meloni has been skeptical about Macron's 'coalition of the willing' and a Franco-British plan put forward earlier this year to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement. Sending troops would be deeply unpopular in flared publicly in recent weeks, with officials close to Macron and Meloni privately or openly criticizing their respective initiatives over Ukraine or was criticized in Italy for not traveling to Kyiv with Macron and the German, British and Polish leaders on May 10 and then for missing a call with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a summit in Albania a few days Meloni explained her absence by saying the meetings were about sending troops to Ukraine, her government was furious that Macron said publicly that the meetings were about a ceasefire and seemed to equate her justification with 'Russian disinformation.'French and Italian officials said Macron had taken the initiative to hold Tuesday's meeting and sought to play down talk of a rift, saying the meeting and a working dinner would be an opportunity for Macron to show 'respect' and 'friendship.''The president is available to all of our European partners, whatever the political persuasion may be,' an Elysee official told Elysee said the two would discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, the Mercosur trade deal and US tariffs, as well as industrial cooperation between the two countries, including Franco-Italian carmaker Stellantis, which appointed a new Italian chief executive last officials said the meeting was meant to 'lay the foundations for a further strengthening of relations' and added that talks would also address the situation in the Middle East and Italy and France are worried Russia might boost its presence in eastern Libya, to keep a foothold in the Mediterranean after Moscow's ally President Bashar Assad was ousted in Syria in December.'This Macron-Meloni meeting isn't about rekindling Franco-Italian friendship. It's about necessity, not nostalgia,' said Francesco Galietti of Rome-based consultancy Policy Sonar, saying the two capitals should find common ground on Libya 'fast.'