Ukraine war: ‘A just peace’ needed to end conflict, UN chief tells Putin at ‘new global order’ BRICS summit

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2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

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The UN secretary general has told Vladimir Putin that “a just peace” is needed to end the Ukraine war.

Appearing alongside Mr Putin at a BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan, Antonio Guterres called on the Russian leader to agree a peace deal “in line with the UN Charter, international law and UN General Assembly resolutions”.

He said summit attendees: “Across the board, we need peace. We need peace in Ukraine.”

It comes after President Xi Jinping claimed on Wednesday that China and fellow BRICS member Brazil have put forward a peace plan for the war in Ukraine.

He told Mr Putin and other leaders at the three-day summit that they intend to rally further international support in the hope of bringing fighting there to an end.

Mr Xi said: “We must uphold the three key principles: no expansion of the battlefields, no escalation of hostilities, and no fanning flames and strive for swift de-escalation of the situation.”

The BRIC coalition formed in 2009, bringing together Brazil, Russia, India, and China. South Africa joined the following year, changing the name to BRICS.

It was largely disregarded at first – but it has since grown in both membership and influence with Russia’s war in Ukraine and Iran’s involvement in the wars in Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon dominating global geopolitics.

Just weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Mr Putin and Mr Xi signed a “no limits” partnership between their two countries.

Beijing, however, has kept largely quiet on the Ukraine war and not tried to use its influence on Moscow to bring it to an end. This week’s claims of a peace plan could result in new impetus for talks to resolve the conflict.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi added that his country “supports dialogue and diplomacy, not war”.

Mr Guterres has not visited Russia in over two years and the decision sparked criticism from Ukrainian officials.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote on X ahead of the summit that his trip to Kazan would “only damage the UN’s reputation”.

“This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace,” it added, also rejecting the China-Brazil plan.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for Mr Guterres, responded by saying it is “standard practice in attending meetings of organisations with large numbers of important member states, such as the G7 and the G20” – pointing out that BRICS countries represent “half the world’s population”.

Notably, President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, which is a NATO member and hoping to enter the European Union, was also there.

Appearing alongside BRICS members on Thursday, Mr Guterres also called for peace in the conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon, and Sudan.

On the Middle East, Mr Xi called for a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza.

Alternative payment system would counter sanctions

In a joint declaration bringing the three days to a close, BRICS members voiced concern about “the disruptive effect of unlawful unilateral coercive measures, including illegal sanctions”.

Mr Putin’s priority for the meeting was discussions of an alternative global payment system that could be used between members – after Russia was cut off from SWIFT at the outbreak of its invasion, due to Western sanctions.

As such, the attendees’ statement talked of a “faster, low-cost, more efficient, transparent, safe and inclusive cross-border payment instruments built upon the principle of minimising trade barriers and non-discriminatory access”.

Mr Putin said it was important as all the BRICS members “share similar aspirations and values and a vision of new democratic global order”.

Such a system would allow member countries to bypass the US dollar, which is currently used for oil transactions and other major international trade.

On the sidelines of the summit, Mr Putin also met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

He reiterated the “truly friendly” ties between Russia and Iran that he hopes will be solidified with a “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty”, which is due to be signed by the pair on Mr Pezeshkian’s planned trip to Moscow.

A date for that visit has not been decided, Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said.

Commenting on the Middle East crisis, Mr Pezeshkian added: “The flames of war continue to rage in the Gaza Strip and
cities of Lebanon, and international institutions, particularly the UN Security Council as a driver of international peace and security, lack the necessary effectiveness to extinguish the fire of this crisis.”

Mr Modi and President Cyril Ramaphosa have chosen to go to the BRICS summit rather than, as leaders of India and South Africa, attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which is also taking place at the same time and is being visited by UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, among others.

World

Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris reveals planned date for general election

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2 hours ago

November 6, 2024

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Ireland's Prime Minister Simon Harris reveals planned date for general election

Ireland’s prime minister has announced the planned date for a general election to be held this month.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said he hopes the election will take place on 29 November, formally kicking off a truncated campaign which will last mere weeks.

Mr Harris, 38, was appointed Irish prime minister – the youngest in the country’s history – after Leo Varadkar’s shock resignation in March.

He will travel to Aras an Uachtarain on Friday, the official residence of the Irish president, to seek the dissolution of Ireland’s Dail parliament.

Speaking to RTE News on Wednesday, Mr Harris said: “As I would have discussed with the other coalition leaders, it’s my hope that we will have polling day on this country on November 29.”

He added: “I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead and asking the people of Ireland for a mandate.”

There’s a clear reason why this election has been called

So the worst kept secret in Irish politics is finally out, and the people look set to head to the ballot boxes on 29 November.

The taoiseach employs several lofty explanations for why he has decided upon an early election, but it’s hard to look beyond political expediency.

The Fine Gael party has been flying in the polls since Simon Harris became leader in April, while the opposition is in freefall. Sinn Fein, Ireland’s main opposition party, dropped to 16% in one recent poll – the lowest level of support since 2019.

Its leader Mary Lou McDonald – once seen as Ireland’s first female taoiseach in waiting – has been battling a serious decline in support for a year, and is bogged down in firefighting a damaging series of internal party scandals, north and south of the border.

Why wait until next March for an election?

You can read Stephen Murphy’s full analysis here

After refusing to be drawn on the election date for weeks, Mr Harris made the announcement less than an hour after his coalition partner-turned-campaign rival Micheal Martin revealed that the election would be called on Friday.

Mr Harris could have waited until March when the coalition’s five-year term comes to an end to go to the polls, but he has been paving the way for an election in recent weeks, announcing 10.5bn euros (£8.75bn) in tax cuts and spending increases last month.

The election will bring to an end the historic coalition that brought together Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who had been rivals dating back to the civil war.

It saw Mr Martin, the Fianna Fail leader, taking the taoiseach role for the first half of the lifetime of the government, later replaced by then-Fine Gael leader Mr Varadkar.

The last election was seen as a monumentally successful performance for Sinn Fein, which had the highest percentage of first-preference votes, but the party has struggled in more recent local and European elections.

World

Should we be worried about a Donald Trump presidency?

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2 hours ago

November 6, 2024

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Should we be worried about a Donald Trump presidency?

A man described by not one but two of his closest former aides as a fascist will become the most powerful man in the world when he takes office. How worried should we be?

Very, say another dozen White House staffers who served under Donald Trump and watched him in action for his first four years in power.

In a second term, they are warning that those who once tried to prevent him from acting on his worst impulses will no longer be there to rein him in.

Follow latest: Trump wins US election – as world leaders congratulate him

“The grown ups”, as they were called in Mr Trump’s first administration, will have gone, replaced by people more aligned with his agenda and pushing their own.

What is that agenda and what is to come? That is harder to say. We have learned not to take Donald J Trump literally – his empty promises, lies, and false threats come thick and fast.

The first time round, many of his promises came to nothing; to build a border wall and have Mexico pay for it, to bring peace to the Middle East, to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, and Iran’s too.

But we can say what is likely; trade wars with China, Mexico, and Canada seem probable.

The extent of the tariffs Mr Trump imposes are harder to predict but the impact on the global economy will most likely be considerable.

He could rip up more treaties the US has signed, including climate commitments made by his predecessors.

Mr Trump is likely to undo much of the Biden administration’s work to reverse climate change and the negative impact on the planet may be substantial.

And he is likely to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war largely on Moscow’s terms if his words and those of his team are anything to go by.

His running mate JD Vance says Russia will keep the land it has taken and receive a guarantee of Ukrainian neutrality. Putin could not have hoped for more.

Those hoping for an end to the war in Gaza may be disappointed too.

Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are close allies.

He is likely to give the Israelis plenty of latitude when it comes to the conflict. And there are fears he would not restrain Israel in any future confrontations with Iran unlike the Biden administration, with all the risks of a wider Middle Eastern war that might ensue.

NATO’s uncertain future

Trump’s impact on NATO is harder to predict. His team has floated various plans for the alliance. They all arguably weaken America’s support for it.

Without America’s cast-iron guarantee, will other countries seek their own security arrangements? It seems likely.

One of the great pillars of the post-world war order will have been weakened. But Mr Trump in his first term showed contempt for all its multi-lateral, multinational organisations.

America swings through cycles of isolationism, retreating from the world, then having to re-engage at huge cost to protect its interests.

Mr Trump may prove unwilling to learn the lessons of that history.

Those who regard America, for all its faults, as a positive influence in the world, an example to follow, will be most worried and disheartened.

A demagogic populist, regarded as a fascist by some of those who know him best and who openly admires authoritarians and dictators, will be taking up the reins of power again in the world’s most powerful democracy.

Half of American voters have opted for a man who refused to accept election defeat four years ago, used lies and dirty tricks to try and undermine its result, and stood by while an angry mob ransacked the citadel of American government.

All of that will only embolden other strongmen the world over and damage, perhaps beyond repair, the democracy that Americans have long believed stands as an example for all the world to follow.

World

Ireland’s election was a badly-kept secret – and there’s a clear reason why it’s been called

Published

2 hours ago

November 6, 2024

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Ireland's election was a badly-kept secret - and there's a clear reason why it's been called

So the worst kept secret in Irish politics is finally out, and the people look set to head to the ballot boxes on 29 November.

The taoiseach employs several lofty explanations for why he has decided upon an early election, but it’s hard to look beyond political expediency.

The Fine Gael party has been flying in the polls since Simon Harris became leader in April, while the opposition is in freefall. Sinn Fein, Ireland’s main opposition party, dropped to 16% in one recent poll – the lowest level of support since 2019.

Why wait until next March for an election? Going now ensures the voters will be getting the first benefits of the recent bumper €10.5bn (£9bn) giveaway budget (“buying votes” according to the opposition) as the polling cards arrive.

Going the parliamentary distance risks the current government buoyancy being sunk by events. A week is a long time in politics, four months an eternity. Why take the risk?

This election will largely be fought on the same issues as 2020. Four years of this coalition government has done nothing to convince voters that Ireland’s chronic housing problem is healing. Homelessness has hit a record high of 14,500.

The health system still creaks and groans under pressure, despite huge investment.

Immigration may be a new factor; concerns over a surge in asylum-seekers arriving in Ireland mean the topic could be a key issue for the first time in an election here.

A chunky budget surplus, full employment, tax cuts and benefit hikes – what Sir Keir Starmer wouldn’t give to be in Simon Harris’s shoes.

But for many citizens, Ireland is a rich country that often feels like a poor country. So the saying goes, at least.

Success for the government parties in this election will rely on reminding the voters of the first part of that truism and glossing over the latter part.

Extra pre-Christmas cash for punters, a hamstrung opposition and that new leader bounce all help greatly – Mr Harris kicks off this campaign in a strong position to be returned as Ireland’s prime minister.

It’s the government’s election to lose.