Latest news with #Kiev
Russia Today
19 minutes ago
- Business
- Russia Today
Zelensky and Kiev mayor ‘at war'
Vladimir Zelensky's longstanding feud with Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko has escalated into 'war,' The Times has reported. The Ukrainian leader has 'forced' the former world champion heavyweight boxer – who is said to harbor presidential ambitions – into a 'political clinch,' the British daily wrote on Friday. Zelensky is reportedly seizing power from the capital's civilian government, having taken control of its military administration away from Klitschko in the early months of the conflict. Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau has made seven arrests among Klitschko's subordinates, with a further three under investigation, The Times wrote. In turn, the Kiev mayor has accused the Zelensky administration of paralyzing the city council with 'raids, interrogations, and threats of fabricated criminal cases' that prevent his team from meeting the legal quorum required for decision-making. 'This is a purge of democratic principles and institutions under the guise of war,' The Times cited Klitschko as saying. 'I said once that it smells of authoritarianism in our country. Now it stinks.' The dispute is as much personal as it is political, according to the newspaper. Zelensky made personal attacks against Klitschko after the mayor criticized his approach to peace negotiations. The Kiev mayor has accused Zelensky of overreach, playing into fears that his use of wartime powers has come at the expense of democracy, The Times said. Despite his presidential term expiring last May, the Ukrainian leader has repeatedly postponed elections, citing martial law. Klitschko said that Zelensky is also usurping power from other mayors in the country, but that his celebrity status grants him some protection. While boxing champion has brushed off allegations against him as mudslinging, arrests in the Kiev administration are real manifestations of corruption in the capital, the Times wrote, citing analysts. Kiev's flourishing corruption would be 'impossible without the city government,' Zelensky-appointed city military administration head Timur Tkachenko told The Times. Corruption has been a serious and long-standing issue in Ukraine. Top officials in Washington, which has been Kiev's biggest military sponsor, have expressed concern that US aid has been systematically misappropriated during the Ukraine conflict.
Russia Today
6 hours ago
- Business
- Russia Today
Ukraine on brink of default
Ukraine will not pay $665 million it owes to international creditors, the country's Finance Ministry said in a statement on Friday. Kiev earlier failed to agree on restructuring terms with a group of debt holders led by hedge funds. The payment on the country's GDP-linked securities – debt with annual payouts tied to economic growth and amounting to $2.6 billion – is due on June 2. Ukraine was originally scheduled to make the payment a year ago, but a moratorium on bond settlements, approved by the authorities in Kiev, allowed the cash-strapped country to avoid default. The moratorium will remain in place until the debt is restructured, the statement says. The Finance Ministry noted that, under an agreement reached with international creditors in 2024, the so-called cross-default clause was removed from contracts. That clause had stipulated that failure to make payments on the GDP warrants could trigger a default on other debt obligations, such as the country's international bonds. The ministry emphasized that the removal of the clause means Ukraine does not need to declare a default on its international bonds. In April, Ukrainian authorities said they had failed to reach a deal to restructure part of the country's debt, with a nominal value of $3.2 billion. According to Bloomberg, Ukraine offered investors two options during the unsuccessful talks, including a full exchange for sovereign bonds by reopening existing notes. However, creditors reportedly agreed only to restructure the May payment and demanded over $400 million in cash, as well as the conversion of more than $200 million into new bonds – a condition Kiev rejected.
Russia Today
a day ago
- General
- Russia Today
Moscow questions Macron's commitment to Ukraine peace
French President Emmanuel Macron's statements in support of the Ukraine peace process are not credible, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. In a Telegram post on Friday, Zakharova cited a recent France Info article about a Ukrainian intelligence unit known as the 'International Revenge' tactical group, where foreign fighters, including French nationals, are training for frontline operations. French citizens 'were taken aback by a blunt publication' that the country's soldiers are already 'serving the Kiev regime,' Zakharova wrote. According to the report, the unit includes both civilians and military personnel from France. Some told the outlet they had already been deployed to the front. Zakharova pointed to what she described as the unit's neo-Nazi ideology, saying that its name was no coincidence. 'The group's symbols bear all the hallmarks of neo-Nazi revanchism,' she wrote, citing skull insignias, dark imagery, and the Latin slogan 'Memento Audere Semper' ('Remember to dare always'). The motto is known to have been used by Italian fascist and Mussolini ally Gabriele D'Annunzio in reference to the MAS, or 'Motoscafo Armato Silurante' – a class of fast torpedo boats used by the Italian Royal Navy in both World Wars. 'These French revanchist neo-fascists are not even hiding,' Zakharova added. 'They openly talk about coming from France to fight Russians 'without sparing bullets' and say they hope to one day face Russia in battle.' Zakharova said the revelations cast doubt on Macron's talk of commitment to the peace process. France has provided more than €3.7 billion ($4.1 billion) in military aid to Ukraine since the escalation of the conflict in February 2022, according to the Kiel Institute. Macron has advocated deploying French troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal between Kiev and Moscow, arguing that it could help deter Russia. In March, he announced a French-British plan to prepare such a 'reassurance force' in the event of a ceasefire. The announcement sparked protests in Paris against what demonstrators called NATO's militaristic stance. Moscow has repeatedly warned it will not accept any NATO presence in Ukraine, citing the military bloc's expansion in Europe as a core reason for the conflict. Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Istanbul on May 16 for their first formal talks since 2022. The meeting led to the largest prisoner exchange to date and an agreement to draft written proposals ahead of the next round of talks, which Russia proposed for June 2.
Russia Today
a day ago
- General
- Russia Today
Putin open to talks with Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to holding high-level direct talks with Kiev on resolving the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Friday. However, the Russian leader insists that first, results must be achieved in the negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, Peskov explained. He announced that Russia's team of negotiators is already heading to Istanbul to prepare for the next round of direct talks with Kiev, which is expected to be held on Monday, June 2. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has also confirmed that the Russian team will be in the Turkish city to present the Ukrainian side with Moscow's draft memorandum outlining a path towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict, as well as other ceasefire proposals. She noted that the talks are expected to be bilateral and stressed that there are no discussions about Türkiye or any other countries mediating the negotiations. Zakharova also acknowledged that Moscow has heard US presidential envoy Keith Kellogg's statements to the effect that representatives from Washington, London, Paris, and Berlin would be present in Istanbul on June 2. However, she stated that Moscow 'does not see any connection' between their arrival and the Russia-Ukraine talks.
Russia Today
a day ago
- General
- Russia Today
Ukraine trying to trick Trump
Ukraine is trying to trick US President Donald Trump, who wants to achieve peace in the ongoing conflict, into returning Washington to an anti-Russian stance, Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow's envoy to the UN, has said. During his speech at a UN Security Council briefing on Ukraine on Thursday, Ambassador Nebenzia reminded of the intensification of Ukrainian drone incursions into Russia over the past week. A total of 1,465 drones had been shot down by air defenses, but nonetheless led to civilian casualties and deaths, including among children, he said. Kiev and its NATO backers 'are trying to make us believe that Russia is deliberately shelling residential areas of Ukrainian cities' during its retaliatory strikes, the envoy stressed. Moscow's attacks 'target exclusively objects related to Ukraine's military-industrial complex, and we are successfully destroying them or rendering them inoperable,' Nebenzia said, reiterating the stance consistency voiced by the Russian Defense Ministry throughout the conflict. 'The plans concocted by [Vladimir] Zelensky and his posse are way too plain and clear. Their task is to trick and mislead American President Donald Trump, who is taking decisive steps toward peace; they are ready to go to any lengths only to return the US – which has already wasted hundreds of billions of dollars helping Ukraine – to an anti-Russian and Russophobic course,' he insisted. However, the envoy stressed that 'promoting Ukrainian and Western lies about Russia is becoming increasingly difficult, since the actual steps of the Kiev regime, its deliberate choice in favor of war and the further suffering of its citizens speak volumes.' Moscow is eager to continue 'serious direct negotiations' with Kiev in order to find a solution to the Ukraine conflict that would address its root causes, he said. He reminded that Russia has invited the Ukrainian delegation to Istanbul on Monday to discuss the memorandums on approaches to negotiating peace prepared by the sides. 'The ball is in Ukraine's court: either talks followed by peace or imminent defeat on the battlefield with different conditions for ending the conflict,' the envoy insisted.
