Orban to speak with Putin as Zelenskyy prepares for White House talks with Trump – Europe live | Europe
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Russia sentenced 15 captured Ukrainian fighters to prison
Fifteen members of a Ukrainian militia group were found guilty of participating in a “terrorist organization” by a Russian military court on Friday and sentenced to 15 to 21 years in a maximum security penal colony, Russia’s attorney general said.
The men were members of Ukraine’s Aidar Battalion, captured in 2022. Their trials took place behind closed doors at a military court in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.
There was no immediate comment on the rulings from Ukraine, where the human rights ombudsman had previously described the proceedings as disgraceful. Human rights groups, including Russia’s Memorial, claimed that their prosecution was a violation of the Geneva conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war.
Russia denies this because the accusations are based on alleged activities dating back eight years to the start of a full-scale war between the two countries that begins in 2022. The men were not charged with war crimes.
Russian news source Mash reported that two of the defendants’ lawyers said they had pleaded guilty, while the other 13 said they planned to appeal.
Sweden says China should release bookseller Gui Minhai from prison
Following a visit to Beijing, Sweden’s foreign minister on Friday urged China to release Swedish citizen Gui Minhai A long diplomatic standoff continues between the two countries regarding the Chinese-born bookseller.
Gui, a Hong Kong-based publisher of books critical of China’s communist leaders, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Beijing in 2020 for providing illegal intelligence abroad.
Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer StenergardIn a post published on X, he said he had escalated the matter to the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his visit.
“Our stance is firm: Gui Minhai must be released and reunited with his family,” Malmer Stenergard wrote.
China’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday that Gui is a Chinese citizen and is firmly opposed to any interference in judicial sovereignty by any country, organization or person.
Gui, 61, was first detained in China in 2015 after being kidnapped in the Thai seaside resort of Pattaya. He was released in 2017 and detained again by mainland police in 2018 while he was with Swedish diplomats on a train to Beijing.
A court in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo that convicted Gui said he wanted his Chinese citizenship reinstated. At that time, Sweden stated that it did not want Gui’s Swedish citizenship to be revoked and reiterated its demands for his release.
Morning Opening: Orban to speak to Putin as Hungary prepares to host Trump-Putin meeting
Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban He said he would talk to the Russian President on Friday Vladimir Putin Later in the day, as Budapest prepares to host a meeting between Putin and the US President Donald Trump.
Trump announced earlier this week that he would meet Putin in the Hungarian capital to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. orbanTrump’s ally, who maintains close ties to Russia, said the meeting “will be about peace” and told state radio it could be held within the next two weeks.
“Last night I instructed the establishment of an organizing committee, we identified the most important tasks and started preparations,” Orbán said.
He added: “Budapest is the only place in Europe today where such a meeting can be held, mainly because Hungary is almost the only country pro-peace… For three years now, we are the only country that has consistently, openly, loudly and actively advocated for peace.”
Hungary has refused to supply arms to Ukraine or allow the transfer of weapons across its borders since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Orbán has threatened to veto some EU sanctions against Moscow and stopped the bloc from accepting major EU financing packages for Kiev.
In other developments:
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy will head to the White House on Friday for an important meeting with Donald Trump. Hours after the US president said he had agreed to a new summit with Vladimir Putin in Budapest after a “very productive” meeting. The possible supply of US Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine is expected to be at the top of the agenda During the visit of the Ukrainian president. Trump will give Kiev its longest-range weapon in recent weeks, but has repeatedly hinted that he might deliver Tomahawks that could hit Moscow with accurate, devastating munitions.
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Zelenskyy said on Friday that he had met with the US company that produces Tomahawk missiles and Patriot systems. Kyiv demands strengthening of defense against Russia. “We discussed potential ways of our cooperation to strengthen Raytheon’s production capacity, Ukraine’s air defense and long-range capabilities, and the prospects for Ukrainian-American joint production,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
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Putin convened the Russian Security Council after his phone call with Trump. Russian news agencies reported on Friday. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin gave a detailed briefing to the powerful council about the meeting. Trump and Putin agreed on Thursday to hold a new summit on the war in Ukraine; This was a surprise move at a time when Moscow feared new US military support for Kiev.
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An explosive device exploded under the car parked in front of the home of one of Italy’s leading investigative journalists. It sparked condemnation from prime minister Giorgia Meloni and others on Friday. No one was injured. The report, an investigative series on Italy’s state-run RAI3, said the explosion damaged Sigfrido Ranucci’s car overnight and damaged a second family car and the house next to it in Pomezia, south of Rome. It was stated that the explosion was so powerful that it could kill anyone passing by. Meloni expressed his solidarity with the Report’s main presenter, Ranucci, and condemned the “serious act of intimidation he has suffered.” “Freedom and independence of information are fundamental values of our democracies and we will continue to defend them,” he said in the statement.
