Terzo veto degli USA al cessate il fuoco a Gaza. Taurus all'Ucraina? 🗞️ Rassegna del 21/02/2024

Israele

(Reuters) US again vetoes UN action in Israel-Hamas war, blocks ceasefire call

• The US on Tuesday again vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution on the Israel-Hamas war, blocking a demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire as it instead pushes the 15-member body to call for a temporary ceasefire linked to the release of hostages held by Hamas.
• Thirteen council members voted in favor of the Algerian-drafted text, while Britain abstained. It was the third such U.S. veto since the start of the current fighting on Oct. 7.
• "Demanding an immediate, unconditional ceasefire without an agreement requiring Hamas to release the hostages will not bring about a durable peace. [...]" Thomas-Greenfield [US Ambassador to the UN] told the council ahead of the vote.

Ucraina

(Kyiv Independent) Polish farmers threaten to extend border blockade until April, block buses from crossing

• Protests at the Polish-Ukrainian border erupted earlier in February as Polish farmers opposed the imports of Ukrainian agricultural products and the EU's Green Deal. Initially restricting the movement of trucks at six crossings, the organizers said they would extend the protest along the entire border on Feb. 20.
• Polish farmers [...] said they planned to extend the border blockade until April and threatened to potentially "intensify" the protest by blocking the passage of buses.
• [...] Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko appealed to Polish authorities to assess the legality of the ongoing blockade and to take steps against anti-Ukrainian rhetoric and actions surrounding the protests.

Russia

(Meduza) Kremlin spokesman rejects E.U. foreign policy chief’s request for international investigation into Navalny’s death

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s request for an international investigation into Alexey Navalny’s death, saying that Moscow doesn’t accept “such demands,” reports Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

(Reuters) Yulia Navalnaya tells West to refuse to recognise Russia's March election

• At a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, the transcript of which was supplied on Tuesday by a spokeswoman [...] Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has asked the European Union to refuse to recognise Russia's March presidential election, in a step that sharply escalates her campaign against Vladimir Putin. [...] "Do not recognise these elections. A president who assassinated his main political opponent cannot be legitimate by definition.", she said.
• Navalnaya, whose new account on the social media network X was briefly suspended on Tuesday for reasons that were not immediately clear, has said details and evidence of why and how Navalny was killed will be released soon by her late husband's allies.

(Meduza) Vladimir Putin upgrades rank of Russian Penitentiary Service deputy head three days after Navalny’s death in prison

• Vladimir Putin has decorated Valery Boyarinev, the deputy director of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), with the rank of colonel general. The accolade comes just days after opposition leader Alexey Navalny died in prison.
• The decree shows that Putin also bestowed new ranks on multiple other FSIN officials.
• According to the independent outlet iStories, Boyarinev personally gave orders for the prison where Navalny was held until December 2023 to limit the amount of money Navalny could spend on food.

Europa

Germania:

(Politico) Germany faces a political crisis over sending Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine

• On Tuesday, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and chair of the Bundestag's defense committee, said she'll support an opposition Christian Democrat measure that explicitly calls for sending the Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv.
• The FDP-Greens-Social Democrat coalition is putting forward a resolution on arming Ukraine that calls for "the delivery of additional necessary long-range weapons systems and ammunition” [...] however, the SPD failed to mention them by name, Strack-Zimmermann tweeted.
• The missiles have a range of about 500 kilometers and a powerful warhead that can destroy reinforced targets or key infrastructure like bridges. That's what's giving Chancellor Olaf Scholz pause, thanks to worries about escalating the conflict with Russia.

Svezia/Ungheria:

(Politico) Sweden makes fresh Ukraine military aid pledge as NATO membership nears

• The Swedish government today announced a $683 million package of military aid to Ukraine. The announcement of extra aid comes as Hungary moves to end its months-long blockade on Sweden joining NATO.
• The parliament could schedule a vote to approve Sweden's NATO membership as soon as next Monday, a senior lawmaker from the ruling Fidesz party, Máté Kocsis, wrote in a letter to the speaker of the parliament, according to a post on his Facebook page.

Politica internazionale

Medio Oriente

Turchia:

(Reuters) Turkey detains six suspected of spying on Uyghurs for China

• Turkish authorities have detained six people suspected of spying on Uyghurs in Turkey for China's intelligence service, and another suspect was being sought by police, state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Tuesday.
• Prosecutors in Istanbul identified seven people believed to be gathering information on notable individuals from the Uyghur community and some associations tied to them in Turkey [...]
• Some 50,000 Uyghurs are estimated to live in Turkey, the largest Uyghur diaspora outside Central Asia.