Section: Voice of America (USA)
New Ukrainian President Reinstates Saakashvili’s Citizenship
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has reinstated the Ukrainian citizenship of Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Georgian president who served as governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region in 2015-16. In a decree signed and posted on the presidential website on May 28, Zelenskiy annulled a portion of his predecessor Petro Poroshenko’s July...
Reports of Putin Fathering Twins Test Free Speech in Russia
Normally the delivery of twins is a cause for celebration — and when the head of government is one of the parents and the other is an aspiring politician it opens up the possibility for cute photo-opportunities. Not so in Russia under the command of Vladimir Putin, it would seem, where the private life of Russia’s leader is apparently...
Ukrainian President’s Party to ‘Interview’ Candidates for July Elections
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s newly formed political party has appointed campaign adviser Dmytro Razumkov as its head and will interview prospective candidates to fill its party list ahead of snap parliamentary elections in July, party representatives have said. The announcement was made by Razumkov, who spoke Monday at a press...
Ukraine’s New President Visits Eastern War Zone
Ukraine’s new president has visited military positions in the country’s east, where the army has been fighting Russia-backed separatists for five years. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was inaugurated a week ago, went to two positions Monday in the Luhansk region, according to his office. At one forward position, he was within 400 meters...
Russia Ordered to Release Ukrainian Sailors and Ships
A United Nations tribunal has ordered Russia to immediately release three Ukrainian naval ships and two dozen sailors, who were captured in a November confrontation off the Crimean Peninsula. The Germany-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea issued the order Saturday after a hearing earlier this month. The seizures occurred during a...
Estonian President to EU Centrists: Be a Voice for Disenfranchised
As far-right nationalists look to expand their power in European Parliamentary elections taking place this weekend, Estonia’s president has some advice for politically embattled centrists: don’t blame Brussels for waning political support at home. A once-shining example of democratic growth, progressive e-governance policies and a...
Ukraine’s Leader Disbands Parliament, Calls Snap Election
Ukraine’s new president on Tuesday ordered the dissolution of the nation’s legislature and called a snap election in two months, hoping to ride the wave of his electoral success to get his supporters into parliament. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old comedian who won 73% of the vote last month, announced his intention to disband...
Kremlin Warns Ukraine’s New Leader Against Calls for More Russia Sanctions
The Kremlin on Tuesday warned Ukraine’s new President Volodymyr Zelensky against asking Washington for more sanctions against Russia, suggesting it would not help his efforts to end the war in the east. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman made the comments after US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said in Kiev that Washington intends...
Ukraine’s New Leader Gets Sworn in, Dissolves Parliament
Ukrainian TV star Volodymyr Zelenskiy was sworn in as the country’s new president on Monday, promised to stop the war in the country’s east against Russian-backed separatists and immediately disbanded parliament, which he has branded as a group only interested in self-enrichment. Even before he disbanded the Supreme Rada, which had...
Council of Europe to Allow Russia to Vote Again
The Council of Europe adopted a declaration Friday that allows Russia to start voting again at the continent’s main human rights body following a spat related to its annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Foreign ministers from the council’s 47 member states voted overwhelmingly to support a declaration that says...
