YPG militants clash with Syrian forces in Aleppo after ceasefire violation
Clashes have broken out in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo after Kurdish YPG militants allegedly violated a ceasefire agreement and attacked Syrian...
The European Union has failed for a second day to approve a fresh sanctions package against Russia, with Slovakia holding out over concerns tied to the bloc’s Russian gas phase-out plan.
The European Union was unable to reach agreement on its 18th package of sanctions against Russia for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, as Slovakia continued to demand stronger guarantees regarding its future gas supply, EU diplomats told Reuters.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government vetoed the sanctions during a meeting of EU ambassadors, insisting the country needed clearer protections before supporting the broader measures. According to diplomats familiar with the negotiations, Malta also voiced objections.
While Slovakia cannot veto the EU’s separate plan to end Russian gas imports by the end of 2027, which only requires a reinforced majority of support, sanctions packages must be approved unanimously. Bratislava is now linking its consent to the sanctions with assurances that it will not face energy shortages or financial repercussions.
"We consider this [Russian energy phase-out] proposal to be a sanction and therefore naturally link it to the proposal for the... package of sanctions," Fico wrote in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, published by his office on Wednesday.
He added that Slovakia expects a vote on the sanctions only once the "substantial risks" regarding gas supplies from 2028 onwards are addressed.
Slovakia remains reliant on Russian energy and has frequently adopted a more cautious stance on Ukraine-related matters. Officials in Bratislava warn that exiting Russian gas could lead to shortages, higher energy prices and transit costs, as well as possible legal disputes with Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy company.
Fico said the most viable path forward would be an exemption from the EU’s Russian energy phase-out plan, allowing Slovakia to honour its gas contract with Gazprom, which extends to 2034.
The European Commission attempted to ease Slovakia’s concerns in a letter sent Tuesday, but Fico responded that further talks were necessary to clarify what specific commitments the EU executive body would be willing to make.
The sanctions package, once adopted, would be the EU’s 18th set of measures aimed at penalising Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
Heads of state are due to start arriving in the Amazonian city of Belém in a month’s time for the United Nations climate summit, yet much of the infrastructure intended to welcome them remains incomplete.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to meet in person following a friendly video call on Monday, raising hopes of improving relations strained by tariffs and political disputes.
Clashes have broken out in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo after Kurdish YPG militants allegedly violated a ceasefire agreement and attacked Syrian forces and civilians.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to further strengthen his country’s alliance with Russia, in a letter to President Vladimir Putin marking his birthday and praising his leadership.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has alleged that Russian missiles and drones contain tens of thousands of components sourced from Western companies, calling for stricter sanctions to block these supply chains.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment