(RFE/RL) -- A handful of clergymen who make up the Russian Orthodox Church's governing body have selected a man regarded as a steady advocate of greater independence from the state to serve as interim leader until a wider synod picks a successor to Patriarch Aleksy II, according to RFE/RL's Russian Service and agency reports.

The 12 bishops who make up the Holy Synod made the choice of Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad at the patriarch's residence in Peredelkino, outside Moscow.

"By a secret ballot, His Holiness Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill was elected patriarchal guardian," the church said on its website.

The interim leader should serve until a broader synod that includes clergy and lay people makes its choice within six months.

But the Holy Synod carries considerable weight in the process, and some observers suggest the interim pick, known as the "guardian of the throne," stands a good chance of becoming patriarch.

Divisive Pick?

Since Aleksy's death, many observers saw Kirill and Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk among the three or four most likely picks as a permanent successor. Metropolitan Yuvenaly, who heads the Moscow diocese, was also named among the favorites.

The Kremlin will almost certainly seek to exert influence over the selection process, particularly as advocates of close ties to the government vie against those who think the church should operate with greater independence.

Kirill, who has amassed considerable contacts in his role directing the Russian Orthodox Church's external affairs, could seek reconciliation with the Roman Catholic Church, a position that stokes fierce debate within the church but could please the Kremlin.

He has spoken warmly of ties between his church and the Russian Church Abroad since their historic reunion in May 2007.

Kirill is seen by most as a staunch advocate of increased authority for the church but by some critics as a renegade who is incautious in his public statements.

In August 2007, he drew the ire of civic leaders in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan by suggesting that a word that traditionally describes only ethnic Russians ("russky") should be used for all Russian citizens. He described the term "rossiyanin," which refers to Russian citizens but not necessarily to ethnic Russians, as "artificial."

End Of Aleksy Era

The gathering of bishops also confirmed funeral arrangements for the late patriarch, who led the church for 18 years before his death of heart failure on December 5.

Aleksy was to lie in state at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral, which was rebuilt under his patriarchate, before being buried at the Epiphany (Bogoyavlensky) Cathedral on December 9.

Aleksy was being mourned in solemn tributes by the resurgent ranks of Orthodox believers in Russia, as well as abroad, and hundreds of red and white roses were left at the patriarch's Moscow office one day after his death.

He is widely hailed as a moderate among Russians and a uniter who ensured the church did not run afoul of the Kremlin and resisted the temptation to tack toward fundamentalism in the 1990s.

Polls show Orthodox believers to be a strong majority in Russia, a far cry from the situation that Aleksy inherited in 1990, when there were thought to be hardly more than a dozen fully functioning parishes.

President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have led tributes to Aleksy, who became patriarch in 1990, for his role in Russian life after the collapse of the Soviet Union and communist rule.

Aleksy entered seminary during Stalin's reign of terror and ascended through church ranks in the 1970s, a time when the KGB mostly controlled the church and rebel clerics were imprisoned.

with additional agency reporting

BUDAPEST -- Hungary's parliament has passed an amendment that will ban the annual LGBT Pride march on the grounds that it could be considered "harmful to children."

The amendment to the country's assembly law was fast-tracked through parliament by the ruling right-wing Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and passed with 136 votes in favor, 27 against, and no abstentions.

The amendment explicitly prohibits assemblies that violate the prohibition set out in the Child Protection Act, that "promotes and displays deviations from the gender identity corresponding to the sex at birth, gender change, and homosexuality."

Hungary’s annual Pride march, which is part of the Budapest Pride Festival, usually takes place on the first Saturday of July.

The newly amended law will target not only the organizers of Pride gatherings but also participants.

Under the amended law, violators could face misdemeanor charges and fines of up to 200,000 forints (around $540). The amendment also authorizes the use of facial-recognition systems to identify participants at prohibited rallies.

During the debate in parliament, Fidesz deputies, which have a majority in the National Assembly, argued the amendment would protect children's interests and was necessary to prevent potential abuse.

Organizers Say Pride Will Still Take Place

The amendment follows a statement Orban made in February suggesting the organizers of Pride should not bother preparing this year's parade and calling it "a waste of money and time." Several officials from the ruling party, which has been in power since 2010, also called for banning the Pride parade altogether.

In response to the parliamentary amendment, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony, who is in opposition to Fidesz, declared on Facebook that "Pride will happen! It may even be bigger than ever."

He emphasized that Budapest will protect those who stand up for "their self-esteem, their community, for freedom, and for the power of love."

The session in parliament was disturbed by protests from deputies from the center-left Momentum party, who filled the chamber with red, white, and green smoke -- the colors of the Hungarian flag -- played the Soviet anthem and distributed photo-montages that depicted depicting Orban and Putin embracing.

Despite the ban, however, Pride organizers have said they are still planning to go ahead with the march.

European Union politicians said they are continuing their push into possible support for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty after the US government moved to cut the Prague-based broadcaster's funding amid concerns its closure would be a blow to pro-democracy media.

Czech European Affairs Minister Martin Dvorak told reporters in Brussels on March 18 that several nations have supported the initiative so far but the bloc must act quickly as "it would be a big mistake to let this institution die."

"We must initiate some interest and meet with commissioners and some states. At this point, that initiative has been supported by seven other nations, and after we make the initiative public at the General Affairs Council, more countries will join us," Dvorak said, adding the issue needs to be resolved in a matter of "several weeks."

At the initiative of the Czech Republic, a meeting of foreign ministers from the bloc's 27 members on March 17 addressed the issue with the future of RFE/RL unclear due to the cutting of its Congress-approved funding by the administration of President Donald Trump over the weekend.

EU Countries Voice Their Support Of RFE/RL

While Dvorak said he did not want to reveal the names of the countries that have voiced their support for the move, diplomatic sources told RFE/RL that Germany, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the three Baltic nations are among those who support the initiative.

"The financial challenges faced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty put independent journalism at serious risk in regions where the free press is silenced, from Russia and Belarus to Iran and Afghanistan," Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said in a post on X.

" If RFE/RL disappears, disinformation and propaganda will fill the void. That would a direct win for those who seek to undermine democracy.... Europe cannot let that happen. Protecting a free press means protecting democracy. Access to fact-based reporting is not just a principle, it is a necessity for security and fundamental freedoms," he added.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said after the March 17 foreign ministers meeting that he sensed "a certain interest" from other EU members in his country's initiative, and that "it is our responsibility to seriously deal with this issue."

Radio Free Europe's Cold War History

Lipavsky's Polish counterpart, Radek Sikorski, also voiced support for RFE/RL, recalling how his father listened to the station as well as the Voice of America broadcaster during the Cold War.

"It's how we learned the basic facts about our own countries because communist propaganda was so tightly controlled," he told reporters. "And these institutions continue to do similar work for autocracies today."

Trump signed an executive order late on March 14 that aims to reduce seven federal agencies -- including the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other federal broadcasters.

The order, which also targets agencies that deal with homelessness, labor disputes, and community development, gave the heads of each governmental entity named seven days to submit a report confirming full compliance.

Hours after the executive order was published, a letter from USAGM said the Congress-approved grant that funds RFE/RL, headquartered in the Czech capital, Prague, had been terminated.

RFE/RL President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Capus said canceling the grant agreement would be "a massive gift to America's enemies," a point that was echoed by many media rights watchdogs, democracy advocates, and politicians.

Added US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "The Trump administration's latest effort to dismantle entities established and funded by Congress that provide accurate, unbiased information to hundreds of millions of people in countries where press freedom is under attack undermines the US commitment to democracy."

'Critical Lifeline'

“If President Trump gets his way, those who depend on US-supported independent media as alternatives to Chinese and Kremlin run media outlets and those living under authoritarian regimes will lose a critical lifeline."

The USAGM is an independent US government agency that oversees the broadcasting of news and information in almost 50 languages to some 361 million people each week.

The total budget request for the USAGM for fiscal year 2025 was $950 million to fund all of its operations and capital investments.

This includes media outlets such as RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Marti), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Open Technology Fund.

"Sweden has cosigned a Czech initiative to look for ways in which the EU and its member states can support Radio Free Europe and its role as a voice of freedom, where it is needed the most," Swedish EU Affairs Minister Jessica Rosencrantz said.

Trump, who has taken several moves to slash government spending since taking office for a second term in January, clashed with the USAGM over editorial independence and the direction of programming during his first term.

He has reiterated those concerns again since retaking office. Supporters of the broadcasters say they are an important arm of US diplomacy.

RFE/RL operates in 23 countries and 27 languages across Central and Eastern Europe, the Near East, and Central Asia.

The chairperson-in-office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Elina Valtonen, demanded respect for Bosnia-Herzegovina's constitutional framework during a visit to Sarajevo on March 18, as a political crisis centering on the country's Bosnian Serb entity Republika Srpska deepens.

Valtonen, who is also the Finnish foreign minister, was visiting the country at a time when Republika Srpska's under-pressure, pro-Russian President Milorad Dodik appears to be pushing his territory ever closer to secession while ignoring arrest warrants for him and other top politicians issued by Bosnia-Herzegovina's Prosecutor's Office.

"I call on all political leaders to respect the constitutional framework and to refrain from any actions that could lead to further destabilization of the country. Constructive dialogue is very important for moving forward," Valtonen said.

Valtonen additionally stressed the importance of the Dayton Accords, an agreement that ended war in Bosnia three decades ago and now underpins a complicated system of governance wherein the Bosniak-Croat Federation coexists with the ethnic Serb-dominated Republika Srpska under a weak central government.

Valtonen said the country should continue to pursue reforms that she called "a fundamental element on the path to EU integration."

Dodik, a veteran of the political scene in Republika Srpska, was once seen as a moderate who advocated for cooperation with the international community and supported Dayton.

But over time he has cultivated a more nationalist image, often confronting both Bosnia's central government and the Office of the High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina -- a position established under Dayton in order to oversee the implementation of civilian aspects of the agreement.

Bosnia's current crisis stems from Dodik's conflict with Hans Christian Friedrich Schmidt, the diplomat who has occupied the role of high representative since 2021.

It has accelerated toward a breaking point ever since the state Bosnian Court sentenced Dodik to jail over his failure to execute Schmidt's decisions in a first-degree verdict on February 27.

Since then Republika Srpska has passed laws barring state-level law enforcement and judicial organs from the entity while adopting the draft of a new constitution for the territory.

The last of those steps is arguably the most radical of all, aiming to redefine the Serb entity as a state of the Serbian people, grant it the right to self-determination, and establish its own national army.

Valtonen was appearing in Sarajevo alongside Elmedin Konakovic, Bosnia's Foreign Minister, who blasted Dodik and Republika Srpska's Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic for escalating the standoff.

"This best describes the current state of the country: On one side, we have threats called Dodik, Viskovic, and others, and on the other side, we have opportunities to develop our economy and provide prospects for the people of Bosnia," Konakovic said, stressing the country's desire for integration with the EU.

Dodik had the right to reman in office and appeal against the February 27 verdict that sentenced him to a year in jail and barred him from political activity.

But instead he ignored a court summons, triggering the arrest warrants issued for him, Viskovic, and parliamentary speaker Nenad Stevandic by state-level prosecutors on March 12.

"We will not respond.... If they think the solution is to see Dodik in handcuffs, that is their prerogative, but that does not mean they can do it. I will do my job and I will never leave Republika Srpska," Dodik vowed at a press conference.

The OSCE said the recent moves made by the Respublika Srpska leadership directly violate the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The laws passed by the entity's parliament in recent weeks have also earned condemnation from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and several foreign embassies in the country.

WASHINGTON -- Mainstream Washington has often fretted over encounters between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin.

The US leader has shown an affinity for the authoritarian Kremlin ruler that has stumped critics and even some allies, leading many to wonder whether the crafty former KGB colonel may use flattery and other means to get his way on issues.

Now, as Trump prepares to speak with Putin in a high-stakes call on March 18 about ending the war in Ukraine, the world is waiting to see whether he will stand his ground and demand an unconditional temporary cease-fire or acquiesce to some of Russia's demands.

For Ukraine, much is at stake, including its territorial integrity.

"It is important that President Trump stick to his guns and insist on a clean cease-fire. And if the Russians don't, he needs to be ready to implement the promises he made to increase pressure on Moscow," John Hardie, the deputy director of the Russian Program at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told RFE/RL.

Ukraine on March 11 accepted Trump's proposal for a 30-day, unconditional cease-fire, putting the ball for halting the more than three-year full-scale war squarely in Putin's court.

In a news conference in Moscow three days later, the Russian leader sought to politely punt the ball over to Trump, telling the world that while he agreed with the US president's proposal in principle, he wanted certain issues addressed before agreeing to any deal.

Putin said he is concerned Ukraine could use the pause in fighting to mobilize, train, and rearm at a time when his forces have the advantage on the battlefield.

He also questioned how the more than 1,000-kilometer front would be monitored during a cease-fire and wanted peace talks to consider the "reality on the ground," namely Russia's control of Ukrainian land.

Experts have been warning for some time that Putin is only interested in ending the war on his terms, including fully occupying four Ukrainian territories Russia claims to have annexed in 2022, disarming Kyiv, and keeping the country out of NATO.

Speaking at an annual geopolitical conference in New Delhi on March 18, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha stated Kyiv's belief that it could "achieve long-lasting, just peace" with Trump's leadership and was waiting for an "unconditional yes for a cease-fire" from Russia.

"Our approach: Now is a time for diplomacy, for strong diplomacy," Sybiha said.

In an interview with Current Time, Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said that a potential negative outcome from the Putin-Trump phone would be if Putin persuaded Trump to exert "a new wave of pressure on Ukraine, with the aim of extracting more concessions from Ukraine before beginning the negotiations."

At the same time, said Fesenko, it will be a priority for Putin "to preserve the potential for future negotiations with Trump," giving him an incentive for talks that show progress.

"What is important to understand: political declarations about readiness for a cease-fire or the beginning of talks on a cease-fire does not mean a cease-fire itself," Fesenko said.

"For a cease-fire you don’t need politicians to sit around a table and say something, but rather military representatives from both warring countries, with mediators of course, [who] should agree on the line of contact. And that is very difficult when the front is very unstable – it is changing every day in some sections."

Trump has made ending the war as soon as possible a top priority for his administration and, with Moscow and Kyiv so far apart in their demands, some fear Trump could pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make more compromises than Putin.

Prior to starting cease-fire talks, the US president said he objected to Ukraine's NATO membership and said Kyiv will have to forfeit land -- seemingly conceding to Putin on two key demands -- though Trump has not agreed to them as a precondition for the cease-fire deal.

The Russian leader believes he is winning the war and that time is on his side, so he will seek to drag out talks on a cease-fire rather than reject the proposal outright so as not to irritate Trump, experts have said.

Nonetheless, Trump has expressed optimism about the upcoming call, telling reporters late on March 16 that "a lot of work's been done over the weekend" to achieve a cease-fire.

Trump dispatched his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Moscow to meet with Putin last week in preparation for the March 18 call.

Trump said he would be discussing with Putin both "land" and "power plants," the latter a possible reference to Europe's largest nuclear power plant that Russia controls in Ukraine.

"I think we have a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We're already talking about that, dividing up certain assets," Trump said.

"I think we have a very good chance" to bring the war to an end, he said.

John Herbst, the former ambassador to Ukraine from 2003-06 and an analyst at the Atlantic Council, told RFE/RL that the rhetoric coming from the Kremlin doesn't jibe with the upbeat view from the White House.

Russia hasn't given any signs it is ready to make concessions, Herbst said.

'A Good Thing'

Ian Bremmer, founder of the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said in a March 17 video statement posted on X that Trump's push for a cease-fire was an "important thing to do" considering Ukraine's struggles on the battlefield.

Russia has been on the march in eastern Ukraine since late 2023 -- following Ukraine's failed counteroffensive -- despite large-scale losses in men and material. With Russia possessing a significant manpower advantage, some military experts say they don't see a path for Ukraine to regain its territory.

"We would be better off today had [former President Joe] Biden been more willing to push Zelenskyy and push the European allies and show that America recognized that Ukraine was weakening in their position vis-a-vis Russia, and that the war was only leading to more expense and more lives being lost on both sides," Bremmer said.

Using Trump's terminology, Bremmer said the US president with the backing of allies holds the cards in these negotiations but cautioned that Putin can play a weak hand well.

Hardie shared that concern, saying Putin will try to use the call "to shape" Trump's views of the conflict with disinformation. He pointed out that Trump last week repeated Putin's exaggerated claim that Ukrainian forces in Kursk were surrounded by Russian forces.

It wasn't the first time Trump uttered a Putin talking point following conversations with the Kremlin leader.

At the same time, Trump has also talked tough on Russia. He has threatened to impose tariffs and sanctions on the country if the Kremlin did not agree to the cease-fire. But he has not publicly stated a time frame, giving the Kremlin some wiggle room to negotiate.

Chief among the tools in his box are oil sanctions, Hardie said.

Trump could lower the $60 price cap imposed by the United States and European Union in 2022 on Russian oil exports shipped using Western vessels or insurance. The US president could also sanction more of Russia's own oil tanker fleet. Oil exports fuel Russia's economy and defense spending, accounting for about a third of federal budget revenues.

Trump heavily criticized US military aid to Ukraine on the campaign trail, potentially limiting his ability to use weapon deliveries as leverage should Russia refuse the cease-fire proposal.

But Trump could tap the $3.8 billion for military support to Ukraine remaining from the $61 billion aid package passed last April, Hardie said. The US president could also structure aid as a loan, he said.

More than 300 people were reported killed after Israel launched deadly air strikes in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and southern Syria in what it said were targeted attacks against extremists planning terror assaults, reigniting tensions that threatened to engulf the region in a new, bloody conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he instructed the military to take "strong action" against Iran-backed Hamas -- deemed a terrorist organization by the United States and EU -- in response to the Islamist group's refusal to release all remaining hostages and its rejection of new cease-fire proposals.

"Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

The strikes represent the biggest escalation in the conflict since the cease-fire was reached in mid-January.

Citing medical officials under the control of Hamas, several media outlets reported that the death toll across the Gaza Strip had reached at least 326 people from the attacks.

The information could not independently be confirmed.

The United Nations' Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory called the strikes "unconscionable" and demanded an immediate reinstatement of the ceasefire.

"People in Gaza have endured unimaginable suffering. An end to hostilities, sustained humanitarian assistance, release of the hostages and the restoration of basic services and people’s livelihoods, are the only way forward," Muhannad Hadi said in his statement.

Israel's military said the Gaza strikes targeted mid-level Hamas commanders and leaders and the group's infrastructure.

Along with the strikes against Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli military said it conducted air strikes in southern Lebanon and southern Syria as well.

It said it was prepared to continue attacks against Hamas for as long as necessary and would expand the campaign beyond air strikes. Israeli tanks and soldiers operated extensively in Gaza during the previous retaliatory action.

The White House was consulted by Israel in its latest strikes on Gaza, a White House spokeswoman told Fox News.

"As President [Donald] Trump has made it clear -- Hamas, the Houthis [in Yemen], Iran, all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel, but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay. All hell will break loose," press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox.

Trump on March 5 warned Hamas that there would be “hell to pay” if it does not immediately release all hostages after the White House confirmed that it had conducted secret talks with the extremist group.

Reuters quoted a senior Hamas official as saying that Israel is "unilaterally ending" the Gaza cease-fire agreement and that the action put the fate of the remaining Israeli hostages in jeopardy.

The violence comes amid disputes between Israel and Hamas over ways to maintain the three-phase cease-fire that began on January 19, including the exchange of remaining hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Two weeks ago, Israel cut off all food, medicine, fuel, electricity and other supplies to the territory’s around 2 million people to pressure Hamas to accept a new proposal to extend the cease-fire.

Much of Hamas's leadership was killed during Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza following the extremist group’s bloody cross-border attack in Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Hamas-led militants' attack on settlements in southern Israel killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, with 251 hostages being taken to Gaza. Some two dozen remain in Hamas control.

Israel struck back by launching a devastating war in the Palestinian enclave that has killed tens of thousands of people, according to local authorities, and displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.

Following the cease-fire agreement – which led to the release of numbers of hostages and prisoners -- the Israeli military has often conducted attacks against Hamas as well as strikes against Hezbollah locations in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has also been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, while the EU has deemed its armed wing but not its political section as a terror group. Much of its leadership was also killed during Israel's 14-month war against the group prior to a US-brokered cease-fire in November.

In the renewed attacks, Israel said it struck two Hezbollah leaders in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor. It said the men were “observation operatives.”

The military said other, unspecified strikes were carried out against Hezbollah sites in Lebanon.

In Syria, Israel has seized a buffer zone in the south after the collapse the brutal autocratic regime of Bashar al-Assad in December. It described the move as a preemptive measure against the former Islamist insurgents who overthrew Assad and now control Syria.

On March 17, Syrian authorities said Israeli strikes hit a residential area in the southern city of Daraa, killing three people. The report could not be verified.

Israeli said it was targeting military command centers and weapons sites in southern Syria belonging to remnants of Assad’s forces and that they posed a threat to Israel.

Assad fled Syria and in December and was reported to be in Russia, which along with Iran, was a major backer of his regime. Assad assumed power in 2000 upon the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

A court in Tbilisi has found jailed former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili guilty of illegally crossing the country's border, sentencing him to an additional four years and six months in prison.

Since Saakashvili had already been sentenced to nine years in previous cases, Judge Mikheil Jinjolia in the Tbilisi City Court ruled that the former president would now serve a total of 12 years and six months behind bars.

According to this ruling, Saakashvili will remain imprisoned until April 1, 2034.

Speaking via video link from the Vivamedi clinic in Tbilisi during a separate trial, Saakashvili strongly condemned the ruling.

"This verdict is meant to destroy me in prison, to eliminate me physically," he said.

He declared that he remained a threat to his political opponents, whether behind bars or even in death.

"You cannot destroy the idea of Georgia's freedom or the soul of Saakashvili. We are fighting and will win," the former president declared.

Saakashvili had been wanted by Georgian authorities and secretly returned to Georgia on September 29, 2021, after years of self-imposed exile. Two days later, on October 1, he was arrested. Prosecutors charged him with illegal border crossing.

Last week, the Tbilisi City Court's Judge Badri Kochlamazashvili sentenced Saakashvili to an additional nine years in prison for the large-scale embezzlement of public funds. He ruled that the term would be served concurrently with the six-year prison term Saakashvili was already serving for abuse of power.

Saakashvili, president of Georgia from 2003 to 2013, has consistently denied all the charges.

His steadfast denial of his guilt, echoed by the opposition United National Movement and several other political groups, has garnered sympathy and support among many Georgians. Many argue that the case was driven by political retribution.

Governor In Ukraine

Saakashvili's presidency was marked by ambitious reforms to curb corruption and modernize the country, including significant changes in the police force and the judiciary.

After leaving office, he became involved in Ukrainian politics, serving as the governor of Odesa from 2015 to 2016 before falling out with Ukrainian authorities.

He had been convicted in absentia on charges related to abuse of power, including granting a presidential pardon to individuals involved in the murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani and the beating of opposition lawmaker Valeri Gelashvili. These charges are part of a series of legal battles he has been facing since leaving office.

Since his arrest, he has been held in detention and is currently receiving medical treatment at the Vivamedi Clinic.

Additionally, Saakashvili is still facing trial for his role in the crackdown on protests on November 7, 2007. The trial is seen as a continuation of the legal challenges he has been facing since leaving office.

The arrest of Saakashvili, a key Western ally and a symbol of democratic reforms in Georgia, has sparked international concern over his health and treatment in detention.

The United States has launched extensive air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, aiming to curb their threat to shipping while also signaling a warning to Iran.

In a statement announcing his directive on March 15, US President Donald Trump also warned Iran to “immediately” end its support for the Houthis and vowed to hold Tehran “fully accountable” if it threatened Americans or shipping lanes.

On March 17, Trump turned up the heat, posting on his Truth Social platform that “the hundreds of attacks made by the Houthi, who are hated by the Yemeni people, emanate from, and are created by, Iran.”

"Any further attack or retaliation by the 'Houthis' will be met with great force, and there is no guarantee that the force will stop there,” he wrote.

The strikes come as Iran is weighing its response to a letter by Trump on direct talks over Tehran’s nuclear program, and possibly its regional activities and missile development.

Michael Horowitz, head of intelligence at the Bahrain-based Le Beck International consultancy, said he believes the attack on Houthi targets may well have something to do with Iran’s opposition to direct talks with the Trump administration.

“There is a message being sent in the type of weapons used, including sea-launched missiles,” he told RFE/RL. “Nuclear negotiations haven’t started, and Trump is threatening to use force if diplomacy doesn’t work. This is a way to show that he is serious.”

How Are The Attacks Different From Past Strikes?

Designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the Houthis, who are formally known as the Ansarallah movement, seized power in Yemen in 2014 by toppling the internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government.

Soon after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Houthis began launching attacks on Israel and targeting ships in the Red Sea believed to be sailing to or from Israel. The group said this was in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The attacks stopped after a fragile cease-fire went into force in January, but the Houthis have threatened to resume their attacks if aid does not flow into Gaza.

Last year, US and British militaries carried out multiple air strikes against the Houthis, but the new wave of attacks seems to be different.

Horowitz said the administrations of former US President Joe Biden was focused on defensive and pre-emptive strikes, targeting weapon depots and weapons just before they were launched.

“Trump appears to have widened the scope of those strikes to include Houthi officials and offices. I would not discount that we’ll even see a campaign of targeted assassinations,” he added.

The Houthis have vowed to retaliate and claimed to have launched 18 drones and missiles against USS Harry S. Truman on March 16. The United States has not commented on the claim, but reports citing unnamed US officials say the drones were intercepted and the missiles did not reach the warship.

The Yemeni group claims US strikes have killed dozens of people, including children. But White House national-security adviser Mike Waltz said on March 16 that the United States “took out” multiple Houthi leaders.

How Has Iran Responded To The US Air Strikes?

The X account of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 16 posted a quote from the top Iranian decision-maker dating back to 2020, in which he insisted that the “nation of Yemen is definitely victorious.”

“The only path is that of resistance. That which has caused the US and its allies to panic today is the fact that the Muslim nations are standing firmly and that this resistance will prove to be effective,” the post read.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi criticized the Trump administration for demanding that Tehran cut ties with the Houthis, saying that US government “has no authorities or business dictating Iranian foreign policy.”

Meanwhile, Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), rejected assertions that Iran influences the Houthis, insisting that Tehran “has no role” in the Houthis’ decision-making process.

The Houthi movement is a key member of the Iran-led "axis of resistance," a network of non-state actors that has suffered major setbacks over the past year. The movement has particularly risen in stature as a defender of the Palestinian cause since it started hitting Israel and alleged Israeli-linked vessels.

Horowitz said the Houthis’ rising profile within the axis of resistance gives them some level of autonomy, but they are ultimately an Iranian proxy.

“They are still extremely dependent on Iran for weapons they use regularly so they will follow Iran's lead in my opinion,” he added.

The European Union is looking into the possible support of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty after the US government moved to cut the broadcaster's funding, sparking concern over the silencing of pro-democracy media.

At the initiative of the Czech Republic, a meeting of foreign ministers from the bloc's 27 members in Brussels on March 17 addressed the issue with the future of RFE/RL unclear due to the cutting of its Congress-approved funding by the administration of President Donald Trump over the weekend.

A diplomatic source with knowledge of the discussion told RFE/RL that the Czechs, along with Poland and the three Baltic countries -- Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania -- immediately expressed support for the idea, saying a halt in RFE/RL's operations would "be a gift to Europe's adversaries" and its dissolution would be "irreparable for democratic aspirations around the world."

"It has been a beacon of democracy and very valuable," Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, told journalists after the meeting.

"It is sad to hear that the US is withdrawing its [RFE/RL's] funding. Now the question for us is can we come in with our funding to leave or fill the void that the US is leaving?" Kallas added.

Kallas said the question of funding doesn't have an automatic answer, but there was "really a push from the foreign ministers to discuss this and find the way."

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said he sensed "a certain interest" from other EU members in his country's initiative, and that "it is our responsibility to seriously deal with this issue."

Lipavsky's Polish counterpart, Radek Sikorski, also voiced support for RFE/RL, recalling how his father listened to the station as well as the Voice of America broadcaster during the Cold War.

"It's how we learnt the basic facts about our own countries because communist propaganda was so tightly controlled," he told reporters. "And these institutions continue to do similar work for autocracies today."

Sikorski also voiced support for Lipavsky's initiative to seek alternative avenues of funding for the US broadcasters.

"We will take a look at what can be done," he said. "We are at the stage of brainstorming, but clearly these are worthy institutions whose mission should continue."

Trump signed an executive order late on March 14 that aims to reduce seven federal agencies -- including the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other federal broadcasters.

The order, which also targets agencies that deal with homelessness, labor disputes, and community development, gave the heads of each governmental entity named seven days to submit a report confirming full compliance.

Hours after the executive order was published, a letter from the USAGM said the Congress-approved grant that funds RFE/RL, headquartered in the Czech capital, Prague, had been terminated.

RFE/RL President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Capus said canceling the grant agreement would be "a massive gift to America's enemies," a point that was echoed by many media rights watchdogs, democracy advocates, and politicians.

Added US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "The Trump administration's latest effort to dismantle entities established and funded by Congress that provide accurate, unbiased information to hundreds of millions of people in countries where press freedom is under attack undermines the US commitment to democracy."

“If President Trump gets his way, those who depend on US supported independent media as alternatives to Chinese and Kremlin run media outlets and those living under authoritarian regimes will lose a critical lifeline."

Belarus opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya is one of those who has seen firsthand how an authoritarian regime works to negate unbiased and fact-based news from outlets such as RFE/RL.

In an August 2020 presidential election, her husband, Syarhey Tsikhanouski, announced he would run as an opposition candidate to authoritarian ruler Aleksandr Lukashenko. He was jailed before the campaign even started and eventually sentenced along with four others to lengthy prison terms.

She ran in his place and claims, along with most Western governments, that she won. Election officials, however, declared Lukashenko the winner, touching off peaceful mass protests that turned deadly when security forces launched a brutal crackdown.

"For us, nations living under tyranny, RFE/RL and VOA News are symbols of the free world -- voices of truth," Tsikhanouskaya, who fled her country fearing for the safety of her family, said in a post on X.

"Many, like [RFE journalist] Ihar Losik, are in prison for working with them. For the United States, they are powerful tools of soft power, making America stronger and safer. Losing them would be a grave mistake."

Losik, a blogger and contributor to RFE/RL's Belarus Service, was convicted in December 2021 on multiple charges, including "organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order," and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

He is one of four RFE/RL journalists and contributors -- along with Vladyslav Yesypenko, Nika Novak, and Farid Mehralizada -- who are currently imprisoned on charges related to their work.

Last year, the Russian government designated RFE/RL an "undesirable organization," a label that effectively banned the broadcaster from working in Russia while also exposing anyone who cooperates with the outlet to potential prosecution.

"We urge the EU to stand up for media freedom by supporting Radio Free Europe," Renew Europe, a pro-European and centrist political group in the European Parliament, said in a statement.

The USAGM is an independent US government agency that oversees the broadcasting of news and information in almost 50 languages to some 361 million people each week.

The total budget request for the USAGM for fiscal year 2025 was $950 million to fund all of its operations and capital investments.

This includes media outlets such as RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Marti), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) and the Open Technology Fund.

"We see these media outlets really as beacons of truth, of democracy, and of hope for millions of people around the world. And of course, at an age of unmoderated content and fake news, journalism, freedom of press...are critical for democracy, and this decision risks benefiting our common adversaries," European Commission spokesperson Audia Paula Pinho said on March 17.

Trump, who has taken several moves to slash government spending since taking office for a second term in January, clashed with the USAGM over editorial independence and the direction of programming during his first term.

He has reiterated those concerns again since retaking office. Supporters of the broadcasters say they are an important arm of US diplomacy.

In addition to the USAGM, the order targets Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; and the Minority Business Development Agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during talks with US President Donald Trump to halt strikes on Ukraine's energy sector and infrastructure for 30 days as a step toward reaching a full cease-fire.

But the first concession by Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three ago still fell short of Trump's goal of an immediate cease-fire across all theaters of the war.

A White House statement of the March 18 call said the two leaders "agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure cease-fire." Russia has devastated Ukraine's power infrastructure in an attempt to demoralize the country's citizens by depriving them of electricity and heat in the dead of winter.

On his Truth Social platform, Trump described the call as "very good and productive."

"We agreed to an immediate Ceasefire on all Energy and Infrastructure, with an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an END to this very horrible War between Russia and Ukraine," he wrote.

"Many elements of a Contract for Peace were discussed, including the fact that thousands of soldiers are being killed, and both President Putin and President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy would like to see it end," Trump added.

But Putin put forward preconditions for any further steps, including a halt of military aid and intelligence to Ukraine, demands that Kyiv will almost certainly reject. Ukraine last week agreed to Trump's immediate cease-fire pending Russia's acceptance of the same terms.

Trump and Putin said their respective diplomats will continue discussions to arrive at a full cease-fire, something that could take months. In the meantime, Russia will continue to pursue its invasion of Ukraine on the ground and in the air.

Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine a priority since taking office two months ago, but Moscow and Kyiv are so far apart on key issues such as territorial control and security guarantees that bridging the gap will be difficult. Trump so far has leaned heavily on Ukraine.

The Kremlin said in its readout of the call -- which lasted more than 90 minutes -- that Putin raised a number of issues including effective monitoring of a possible ceasefire along the entire line of combat contact as well as a halt to Ukrainian mobilization and Western military assistance for Kyiv.

"It was emphasized that the key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict and working towards its resolution through political and diplomatic means should be the complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv," the Kremlin said.

The Kremlin also said peace talks need "to take into account the absolute need to eliminate the root causes of the crisis, and Russia's legitimate interests in the area of security," a reference to NATO expansion and other issues Moscow uses to justify its invasion.

Speaking to reporters from Finland, where he is on a working trip, Ukraine's Zelenskyy said Putin's demands show he is not interested in a cease-fire but in undermining Ukraine's armed forces.

"When Putin talks about the end of mobilization, he does not speak out of [humanitarian] positions, but in an effort to make our army smaller and weaker - the same is to be said about his demands to stop providing military aid and intelligence to us," Zelenskyy said.

"But one thing he is not talking about is a cease-fire -- as straightforward as that -- without various many issues attached to it," he said.

Zelenskyy later said Russia's continued attacks on infrastructure -- including, he said, at least 40 drone strikes late on March 18 following the call -- showed the need to continue pressure on Russia for "the sake of peace."

Experts largely expected Putin to reject Trump's proposal for full-cease fire because the Kremlin leader believes he is winning the war and that time is on his side.

Russia continues to grind forward in eastern Ukraine, but it still doesn't fully control the four regions -- Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson -- that it claims to have annexed in 2022.

A cease-fire now would likely leave Putin short of that goal.

The readout made no mention of security guarantees for Ukraine. Zelenskyy has often stressed that for Kyiv to accept any peace deal it must come with security guarantees for Ukraine from its Western partners, including eventual NATO membership.

"I have insisted [on Ukraine's membership in] NATO, but you know what the answers have been," he said in February, suggesting the path to joining the Western military alliance remains obstructed.

In Berlin, Germany's outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron said they welcomed the cease-fire on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, but said it is only the first step on the road to peace.

"The next step must be a complete cease-fire for Ukraine and as quickly as possible. Of course. it is clear that we both agree on this too," Scholz told a joint news conference with Macron.

Zelenskyy said he had spoken to the German and French leaders following Trump's call with Putin.

With reporting by Reuters

KOCANI, North Macedonia -- The mayor of a town in North Macedonia where dozens were killed in a nightclub fire has resigned.

Ljupco Papazov, the mayor of Kocani, submitted his resignation on March 17, two days after a blaze killed at least 59 people and injured 155 others. Over 40 people remain in critical condition.

Papazov denied any personal culpability and pledged to cooperate with the police in Kocani, which has been gripped by anger and grief.

Protesters took to the streets on March 17, demanding justice for the victims and accusing local officials of corruption.

Officials said a pyrotechnic display used during a concert ignited the fire in the crowded club, which authorities say they suspect did not have proper license to operate.

Interior Minister Pance Toskovski said on March 16 that the police have so far detained 15 people over the blaze, including the owner of the venue and former government officials.

Toskovski added that the authorities have “a reason to believe graft and corruption were involved in this case.”

He said the ceiling at the Pulse nightclub was made of flammable material that caught fire from the pyrotechnic sparks and that thick smoke quickly spread throughout the building. Video posted on social media showed towering flames reaching up out of the building's roof.

"There were about 500 people in the club -- 250 tickets had been sold," he said.

Prosecutor Ljupco Kocevski confirmed, without providing details, that former Economics Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi had been called in for questioning.

Relatives and friends of victims crowded outside local hospitals and city offices, trying to get more information.

Aleksandar Mishev said he and others noticed the flames after the fire erupted and ran toward the nightclub, as young people were fleeing in panic.

"About 10 to 20 young people, we carried them to the hospital, took them out of there and then took them to the hospital," he told RFE/RL.

"I know many of them. And those I don’t know, I know their parents," another man, Stojan Guvchevski, said. "It's terrible."

“The loss of so many young lives is irreparable, and the pain of the families, loved ones and friends is immeasurable,” Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said in a post on X.

Kocani, with a population of some 25,000, is located about 100 kilometers east of the capital, Skopje.

North Macedonia, a country of 1.8 million people, has land borders with Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Serbia, is a member of NATO, and has aspirations of joining the European Union.

The leaders of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania were among those sending messages of condolences following the tragedy.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas expressed "deep regret" over the disaster. "Deep sorrow for the tragic fire, which claimed too many young lives in Kocani," she said in a statement.

US Ambassador Angela Aggeler sent condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed in the fire.

"My heart breaks this morning for the many victims of last night's fire at a nightclub in Kocani," she said.

"Our deepest condolences go to the victims and their loved ones at this awful time, and wishes for a speedy recovery to those who were injured. The loss of so many young lives in one community is a terrible tragedy."

"I have offered any assistance and the full resources of the US Embassy to the prime minister, as well as our prayers for all those who suffer today," she added.

U.S. officials vowed to continue hitting Huthi targets in Yemen after launching air strikes aimed at curbing the group’s attacks on maritime shipping and naval vessels in the Gulf region.

Speaking on CBS News on March 16, Secretary of State Marco Rubio also signaled that there were no imminent plans to send US troops to directly engage the Huthis, which Washington has designated a terrorist group.

"I don't think there's a necessity for it right now,” he said.

"This was [also] a message to Iran — don't keep supporting [the Huthis] because you will also be responsible for what they are doing in attacking Navy ships and attacking global shipping," he said.

The March 15 overnight attack – which included fighter jets launched from a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea and missile barrages— killed at least 12 civilians, Huthi authorities said, though the toll could not be independently confirmed.

"Huthi attacks on American ships & aircraft (and our troops!) will not be tolerated; and Iran, their benefactor, is on notice,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X:

The barrage followed warnings from President Donald Trump that "hell will rain down upon" the Huthis if they continue firing missiles on ships in the Gulf region, and at Israel.

"They have waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones," he wrote.

The strikes in Yemen appeared to be the largest US military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office on January 20. Media outlets quoted US officials as saying the strike “is not a one-day event -- this is the first of many days if not weeks of strikes."

Huthi rebels have launched dozens of attacks on shipping over the past 18 months, claiming they are intended to support Palestinians over Israel's war in Gaza.

Many shipping firms have been forced to change their courses to longer and more expensive routes to avoid the Gulf region.

Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, denied Tehran's involvement in Huthi operations.

"Iran will never start a war... but if anyone threatens us," he was quoted as telling state media. Iran "will give appropriate, decisive and final responses."

"I warn all enemies that we will respond to any threat, if it takes on a practical aspect, with a stubborn, decisive, and destructive response," he said.

The US president has ratcheted up pressure on Tehran since taking office in January, seeking to bring it back to negotiations aimed at curtailing its nuclear ambitions.

The White House last week sent Tehran a new proposal regarding its nuclear program but Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has so far rejected the proposal.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda and Reuters

Baluch militants attacked a Pakistani security convoy, killing at least five people, officials said, the latest in a series of attacks in troubled regions bordering Afghanistan.

The March 16 attack came days after another group of Baluch militants hijacked a train and held hostages for 36 hours, a major escalation in its fight against national authorities in Islamabad.

Officials told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that a convoy of Pakistani paramilitary troops was passing through the Noshki district in the province of Balochistan when it was attacked. Three security soldiers were killed, along with two civilians. Reuters cited unnamed officials as saying the attack involved a suicide truck bomb.

The Baloch Liberation Army -- which has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and others -- claimed more than 90 soldiers were killed in the attack.

A vast and resource-rich province, Balochistan has been plagued by insurgency for over two decades, led mainly by the Baloch Liberation Army, and allied separatist groups seeking independence from Islamabad.

The incident came five days after militants seized a passenger train in a remote mountain pass, killing 31 soldiers and civilians, the military said. It was first time the group had hijacked a train, which experts said was a sign of escalation of its fight with Islamabad.

Pakistani authorities have struggled to crack down on growing violence in the border regions, which they say stems in part from militants taking shelter across the border in Afghanistan.

Baluch nationalists blame Pakistan for committing grave rights abuses while trying to suppress the insurgency. They also accused Islamabad of exploiting natural resources without benefiting local communities.

KOCANI, North Macedonia -- At least 59 people were killed when fireworks sparked a blaze during a concert at a crowded nightclub in the eastern town of Kocani, officials said.

More than 150 people were hospitalized, some with severe burns, Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski told a news conference on March 16.

The fire -- one of the deadliest in decades in North Macedonia -- broke out when a pyrotechnic display was used during a concert by the band DNA late on March 15, Toshkovski told reporters.

He said it appeared that the ceiling at the Pulse nightclub was made of flammable material that caught fire from the pyrotechnic sparks and thick smoke quickly spread throughout the building. Video posted on social media late on March 15 showed towering flames reaching up out of the building's roof.

Toshkovski also said an arrest warrant had been issued for four people, though he declined to identify them.

Relatives and friends of victims crowded outside local hospitals and city offices, trying to get more information.

Aleksandar Mishev said he and others noticed the flames after the fire erupted and ran toward the nightclub, as young people were fleeing in panic.

"About 10 to 20 young people, we carried them to the hospital, took them out of there and then took them to the hospital,“ he told RFE/RL.

"I know many of them. And those I don’t know, I know their parents," another man, Stojan Guvchevski, said. "It's terrible."

“The loss of so many young lives is irreparable, and the pain of the families, loved ones and friends is immeasurable,” Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said in a post to X.

North Macedonia's public prosecutor's office said in a statement that "all competent services, including a public prosecutor from the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Kocani, are on the scene."

"The number of victims and injured in the fire is being determined," it said.

Kocani, with a population of around 25,000, is about 100 kilometers east of the capital, Skopje.

BELGRADE -- President Aleksandar Vucic acknowledged the "enormous negative energy and anger" directed at authorities as the Serbian capital witnessed its biggest public protest in decades.

With public ire fueled by allegations that official corruption played a role in a deadly train station accident in November, Vucic tried to position himself as responsive to public demands.

"We will have to change ourselves," Vucic told a news conference late on March 15.

"All people in the government have to understand the message when this many people gather. We will have to change ourselves," he said.

Authorities had estimated the crowd size at between 88,000 and 107,000. However, the Archive of Public Gatherings, an informal organization, put the number of people participating at between 275,000 and 325,000.

The outpouring of crowds was one of the largest Serbia has witnessed in decades.

Protesters skirmished with riot police at several locations in Belgrade, throwing fireworks and bottles.

Minor incidents were reported around 7 p.m. near Pioneer Park, where students had set up a camp, after which participants announced an end to the protest for the night.

A group of people later continued to light torches at the Serbian parliament building as police stood nearby. Most protesters left the area by 11 p.m.

The demonstration was the largest in a wave of student-led protests demanding Vucic's government be held accountable for a deadly cement canopy collapse at a railway station in November.

Vucic also insisted the majority of citizens do not want a "color revolution." That's a term referring to public uprisings in places like Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan that have led to the ouster of governments. The popular protests that paved the way for the ouster of Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic in 2000 are also sometimes classified as a "color revolution" as well.

Earlier in the day on March 15, flag-waving demonstrators gathered at several locations and converged outside the parliament, in what appeared to be one of the country's biggest protests in decades.

"Look how many of us there are," one student told protesters. "Let your voice wake up Serbia."

Participants had streamed into the capital from across the country on foot, bicycles, and motorcycles ahead of the demonstration. Supporters and fellow protesters, including students from Belgrade, laid out a red carpet and cheered as people entered the city center.

Vucic also said 56 people were injured during the protest but none with life-threatening injuries.

He said 22 protesters had been arrested for crimes against property and for assaulting police officers and other people. The number could not immediately be confirmed.

The November 1 collapse of the cement canopy at the railway station in the northern town of Novi Sad has led to what may be the biggest challenge yet to Vucic's political power. Fifteen people were killed in that incident.

Student protests over the accident have evolved into a broader movement opposing what demonstrators say is the crumbling rule of law and systemic corruption under Vucic, the president since 2017 and prime minister for three years before that.

Student protesters have been demonstrating and blocking their university departments for over three months. Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to demonstrate in over 200 cities and towns.

Ljiljana Kovacevic, a teacher from the northern town of Vrbas, told RFE/RL that she came to Belgrade to support the students, her former pupils.

"We hope everything will go smoothly and the students will achieve their goals -- along with us," she said.

The parliament speaker announced a day before the protest that the parliament building would remain closed until March 17 for security reasons.

Government officials accused the protest organizers of planning violence and announced arrests. Students denied the authorities' claims and called for a peaceful gathering.

The US military has launched a large-scale attack against Iran-linked Huthi fighters in Yemen and warned Tehran that it must immediately cease support for US-designated terrorist group.

The March 15 attack -- conducted by warplanes from a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea -- came after President Donald Trump warned the Huthis that "hell will rain down upon you" if they do not stop their extremist actions, including attacks on shipping in the Gulf region and missile launches against Israel.

Trump also warned Iran that "America will hold you fully accountable and, we won't be nice about it!" as it ratchets up pressure to force Tehran back to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.

Trump posted on his social media platform that he had "ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful Military action against the Huthi terrorists in Yemen."

"They have waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, shops, aricraft, and drones."

The US president referred to the Huthi as "thugs" who are "funded by Iran."

US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and informed him of the military operation.

The strikes in Yemen appear to be the largest US military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office on January 20. Media outlets quoted US officials as saying the strike “is not a one-day event -- this is the first of many days if not weeks of strikes."

Huthi officials said at least 12 civilians were killed and another nine injured in the US attacks, but the claims could not be independently confirmed. The officials vowed revenge, without being specific.

Reuters quoted a resident, who gave his name as Abdullah Yahia, as saying that "the explosions were violent and shook the neighborhood like an earthquake."

Huthi rebels have launched dozens of attacks on shipping over the past 18 months, claiming they are in support of Palestinians over Israel's war in Gaza with Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.

The Huthis have also struck shipping vessels, claiming they are only targeting Israeli ships but hitting a number of others registered elsewhere. Many shipping firms have been forced to change their courses to longer and more expensive routes to avoid the violence.

The US Central Command said the action was the beginning of large-scale "operation consisting of precision strikes against Iran-backed Huthi targets across Yemen in order to restore freedom of navigation."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X: "Huthi attacks on American ships & aircraft (and our troops!) will not be tolerated; and Iran, their benefactor, is on notice."

"Freedom of Navigation will be restored," he added.

Meanwhile, Trump wrote on social media that "we will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective."

The Huthis on March 11 warned they would resume attacks on Israeli ships in the region, ending a period of relative calm that followed the January cease-fire agreement reached by Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The action also comes as Washington steps up pressure on Iran to reenter talks over its nuclear program.

The White House on March 9 warned Tehran that it can be dealt with either through military means or by negotiating a deal regarding its nuclear program, remarks that came hours after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected a US proposal for negotiations between the two bitter rivals.

During his first term in office, Trump withdrew the United States from a 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers and reimposed sanctions that had been lifted under its terms. Trump said the terms of that deal were not strong enough to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has reinstated his "maximum pressure" campaign that was the cornerstone of his Iran policy in his first term, with the aim of slashing Tehran's oil exports to "zero." Experts say the United States is unlikely to be able to stop Iran's oil sales entirely but will be able to substantially reduce it.

Huthi rebels in 2014 seized much of Yemen's northwest and its capital, Sanaa, leading to a war that has killed tens of thousands of people and created a humanitarian nightmare in the Arab world's poorest country.

Many observers described the hostilities as a "proxy war" between Saudi- and Iranian-led groups. Saudi Arabia supports the nationally recognized government that the Huthi rebels seek to overthrow.

With reporting by Reuters

Thousands of Hungarians rallied in Budapest to protest Prime Minister Viktor Orban as the leader of the surging opposition Tisza party vowed to end Orban's 15-year rule.

Orban, meanwhile, stepped up his campaign rhetoric in a separate speech on March 15, pledging to crack down on politicians and journalists who receive foreign funding and again ruling out European Union membership for Ukraine

Hungary is scheduled to hold general elections next year, and opinion polls show the Tisza party, which is headed by former Orban ally Peter Magyar, is surging, in part because of the country’s sputtering economy.

As more than 50,000 backers of Tisza and others rallied in cold weather in Budapest, Magyar pledged to release a popular survey on 12 key economic and political issues in order to hear the "voice of the nation."

"Those who cheat on their own nation should end up in the dustbin of history," Magyar told the crowd. "Our time has come."

Earlier in the day, at a rally to mark the country’s national day, Orban vowed to eliminate what he called a "shadow army" of non-governmental organizations, journalists, and politicians he said were paid from the United States and Brussels.

The comments echoed earlier comments where Orban targeted NGOs and media who received funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development and billionaire George Soros.

"After today's celebrations, comes the big Easter cleaning up as the bugs have survived the winter," Orban said. "We will eliminate the whole shadow army."

Orban’s Fidesz party has proposed constitutional changes that would permit the expulsion of dual citizens deemed to pose a threat to Hungary's sovereignty.

With reporting by Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to reduce seven federal agencies – including the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other federal broadcasters.

The order, signed late on March 14, also targets agencies that deal with homelessness, labor disputes, and community development.

“Within 7 days of the date of this order, the head of each governmental entity listed [in the order] shall submit a report to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget confirming full compliance with this order and explaining which components or functions of the governmental entity, if any, are statutorily required and to what extent,” the order says.

Hours after the executive order was published, media reports circulated a letter from the USAGM saying the Congress-approved grant that funds RFE/RL had been terminated.

The letter was signed by Kari Lake, who lists her title as senior adviser to the (USAGM) acting CEO with authorities delegated by acting CEO.

Lake has been nominated by Trump to take over as head of Voice of America, though her nomination must still be approved by the International Broadcasting Advisory Board.

RFE/RL President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Capus said cancelling the grant agreement would be "a massive gift to America’s enemies."

"The Iranian Ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders, and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the demise of RFE/RL after 75 years. Handing our adversaries a win would make them stronger and America weaker," he said in a statement.

"We’ve benefitted from strong bipartisan support throughout RFE/RL’s storied history. Without us, the nearly 50 million people in closed societies who depend on us for accurate news and information each week won’t have access to the truth about America and the world,” Capus added.

The USAGM is an independent US government agency that oversees the broadcasting of news and information in almost 50 languages to some 361 million people each week.

The total budget request for the USAGM for Fiscal Year 2025 was $950 million to fund all of its operations and capital investments.

This includes media outlets such as RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Marti), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) and the Open Technology Fund.

According to media reports, VOA employees were informed early on March 15 that they had been put on administrative leave with pay, though if they are asked to work, they must do so.

The situation at the other broadcasters was not immediately clear.

“It is outrageous that the White House is seeking to gut the Congress-funded agency supporting independent journalism that challenges narratives of authoritarian regimes around the world,” Carlos Martinez de la Serna, program director at the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement on March 15.

“We call on congressional leaders to protect this critical agency, which provides uncensored news in countries where the press is restricted.”

Trump, who has taken several moves to slash government spending since taking office for a second term in January, clashed with the USAGM over editorial independence and the direction of programming during his first term.

He has reiterated those concerns again since retaking office. Supporters of the broadcasters say they are an important arm of US diplomacy.

In addition to the USAGM, the order targets Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; and the Minority Business Development Agency.

Election authorities have cleared an ultranationalist party leader to run in Romania's May presidential election, days after the Constitutional Court upheld a decision to bar far-right populist Calin Georgescu from the ballot.

The Central Electoral Board (BEC) approved the candidacy of George Simion, leader of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) and an ally of Georgescu's. The March 15 ruling came one day after Simion filed his application for registration as a candidate.

Simion and Anamaria Gavrila, leader of the far-right Party of Young People (POT) and a former AUR member, announced earlier this week they would both seek to enter the race and that if both are cleared, one will withdraw. Gavrila was expected to file her application on March 15, the deadline to do so.

Also on March 15, the BEC rejected the candidacy of another far-right politician, SOS Romania party leader Diana Sosoaca, and approved the candidacy of pro-European centrist Elena Lasconi. Sosoaca had also been rejected when the election was initially held in November.

Georgescu, who is critical of NATO and opposes Romanian support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion, was the surprise winner of the most votes in the first round of the election, on November 24. Simion placed fourth.

After that vote, Romanian intelligence said foreign actors, most likely Russia, had manipulated social media platforms, especially TikTok, to benefit Georgescu. On December 6, with a runoff in pitting Georgescu against Lasconi already under way, the Constitutional Court threw out the entire presidential election.

It was later rescheduled for May, with the first round on May 4 and a runoff, if needed, on May 18.

Supporters of Georgescu have held several protests over the decision to bar him from the ballot.

On March 15, demonstrators from the other side of the political divide held a rally in Bucharest to voice solidarity with what they said are European values.

BELGRADE -- Tens of thousands of people jammed the streets of central Belgrade, the largest in a wave of student-led demonstrations demanding Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's government be held accountable for a deadly canopy collapse at a railway station in November.

Protesters skirmished with riot police at several locations in Belgrade late March 15, throwing fireworks and bottles. No arrests were reported immediately.

Earlier, flag-waving demonstrators gathered at several locations and converged outside parliament, in what appeared to be one of the country's biggest protests in decades. Speakers later addressed the crowd at a square hundreds of meters away.

"Look how many of us there are," one student told protesters. "Let your voice wake up Serbia."

Participants had streamed into the capital from across the country on foot, bicycles, and motorcycles ahead of the demonstration. Supporters and fellow protesters, including students from Belgrade, laid out a red carpet and cheered as people entered the city center.

The atmosphere among protesters was upbeat, but security was tight and there were scattered incidents of violence ahead of the main rally.

The November 1 collapse of the canopy at the railway station in the northern town of Novi Sad has led to what may be the biggest challenge yet to Vucic's political power. Fifteen people were killed.

At a news conference a day earlier, Vucic said he had asked police to show restraint but that "those who endanger peace will be arrested."

Student protests over the accident have evolved into a broader movement opposing what demonstrators say is the crumbling rule of law and systemic corruption under Vucic, the president since 2017 and prime minister for three years before that.

Student protesters have been demonstrating and blocking their university departments for over three months. Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to demonstrate in over 200 cities and towns.

Ljiljana Kovacevic, a teacher from the northern town of Vrbas, told RFE/RL that she came to Belgrade to support the students, her former pupils.

"We hope everything will go smoothly and the students will achieve their goals -- along with us," she said.

The parliament speaker announced a day before the protest that the parliament building would remain closed until March 17 for security reasons.

Government officials accused the protest organizers of planning violence and announced arrests. Students denied the authorities' claims and called for a peaceful gathering.

Large groups of Vucic supporters camped in a park near across from parliament, and tractors were brought in overnight to surround their camp. By morning, however, many of the tractors’ tires were deflated and some of the vehicles bore stickers depicting a bloody hand and a call to protests.

Police said some of the tractors had suffered other damage such as windows smashed or doors torn off. The Interior Ministry said two people had been arrested on suspicion of violating public order.

Police in riot gear blocked entrance to the park, and security guards from the ranks of the students were positioned between police and protesters.

Separately, footage posted online showed a car driving amid a crowd in a Belgrade suburb and a woman falling to the ground off the vehicle's hood. Police said three people were injured and the driver was arrested after exerting "active resistance."

A group of men injured a student and a university lecturer in an attack in central Belgrade early in the day, police said.

France's president said Russia should not have a veto of any deployment of foreign peacekeepers to Ukraine as part of a cease-fire deal.

Speaking in an interview with several French newspapers, Emmanuel Macron also said any peacekeeping force would consist of "a few thousand troops per country" to be deployed at several locations. Several European and non-European countries had expressed interest, he said.

"Ukraine is sovereign. If it asks for allied forces to be on its territory, it's not something for Russia to accept or not," Macron said in the interview published late on March 15.

Macron's comments come as European leaders struggle to reach an agreement on the contours of a possible peacekeeping mission.

After holding talks in Saudi Arabia, Ukrainian and US officials announced on March 11 that Kyiv had agreed to a 30-day cease-fire proposal, contingent on Russia's agreement.

Moscow has so far reacted coolly to the idea, with President Vladimir Putin suggesting additional conditions, including a freeze on US weapons supplies to Kyiv.

Putin also said questions that must be addressed include what happens in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have been losing ground in recent weeks after a surprise incursion last August, and who might monitor the cease-fire.

Russia has said the deployment of NATO troops would be unacceptable, casting a shadow over Western plans for a potential deployment.

Earlier on March 15, British Prime Minister Keir pledged a "willing" coalition of Western countries would also draft plans to protect Ukraine.

At a news conference after a virtual meeting with leaders from 25 other countries and entities, Starmer said Putin's "yes, but" response to the US cease-fire proposal is "not enough."

"If Putin is serious about peace, it's very simple: He has to stop his barbaric attacks on Ukraine and agree to a cease-fire," Starmer said on the video call, which included leaders of European nations as well as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, but not the United States.

"If Russia finally comes to the table, then we must be ready to monitor a cease-fire to ensure it is a serious and enduring peace," Starmer said in a statement. "If they don't, then we need to strain every sinew to ramp up economic pressure on Russia to secure an end to this war."

After the video call, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urged Ukraine's Western backers to set out "a clear position on security guarantees," including a potential force to be deployed.

"Peace will be more reliable with European contingents on the ground and the American side as a backstop," he wrote on X.

Overnight, Ukraine and Russia battered each other with drones and missiles, while on the battlefield Russian troops continued their drive to push Ukrainian forces out of Russia's Kursk region.

At least three people were injured in the Russian border region of Belgorod when Ukrainian drones hit a private home in the town of Gubkin, igniting a fire at the site, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Voronezh Governor Aleksandr Gusev said air-defense units in three districts had destroyed more than 15 Ukrainian drones. There were no immediate reports of casualties, he said.

Meanwhile, in the Ukrainian town of Nikopol, a 70-year-old woman was killed by artillery, local military administrator Serhiy Lysak reported.

In Chernihiv, local authorities said Russian drones had hit a five-story building, destroying the top two floors. Casualty figures were not immediately available, with officials saying rescue services were at the site.

Ukrainian media also reported a number of explosions were seen near the capital, Kyiv, after authorities issued a warning of possible drone attacks in the region.

Ukraine's biggest private energy provider, DTEK, said on March 15 that Russian air strikes caused "significant" damage to its energy facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions and that some consumers in both regions were left without power.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after seizing Crimea and fomenting war in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region eight years earlier.

President Donald Trump, who has made ending the war a prominent goal, dispatched a key envoy, Steve Witkoff, to meet with Putin in Moscow days after the US-Ukrainian talks in Riyadh.

Speaking on CNN on March 16, Witkoff described his meetings with Putin, which he said lasted around three to four hours as "a solutions-based discussion." He also said he expected Trump and Putin to speak on the phone in the coming week.

"The two sides are today a lot closer," he said. "We've narrowed the differences."

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and Reuters

The United States joined with its Group of Seven (G7) allies in stating "our unwavering support" for Kyiv and welcoming the ongoing efforts to reach a cease-fire as Russia intensifies attacks as part of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"We reaffirmed our unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity and right to exist, and its freedom, sovereignty, and independence," the foreign ministers of the leading industrial nations said in a joint statement on March 14.

The statement was signed by host Canada and the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, along with the high representative of the European Union.

It said the group also "welcomed ongoing efforts to achieve a cease-fire, and in particular the meeting on March 11 between the US and Ukraine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

"We applauded Ukraine's commitment to an immediate cease-fire, which is an essential step toward a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in line with the Charter of the United Nations," it added following the summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada.

"We called for Russia to reciprocate by agreeing to a cease-fire on equal terms and implementing it fully. We discussed imposing further costs on Russia in case such a cease-fire is not agreed, including through further sanctions, caps on oil prices, as well as additional support for Ukraine, and other means."

Some members of the G7 had expressed concerns of the ability to show unity following tensions with the administration of US President Donald Trump, who has shown more willingness to negotiate with Russia and President Vladimir Putin.

"The goal was to keep strong G7 unity," Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said.

Trump on March 14 said he sees a "very good chance" for peace between Ukraine and Russia after "very good and productive discussions" between US officials and Putin.

"We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end," Trump wrote.

His social media post came just hours after the Kremlin said it was "cautiously optimistic" following a meeting late on March 13 between Putin and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

Kyiv agreed to Trump's 30-day cease-fire proposal at a meeting in Jeddah on March 11, putting the onus for peace on Moscow.

Putin said he agrees in principle with the US proposal for a temporary cease-fire with Ukraine, but added that "there are nuances," such as Western weapons deliveries to Kyiv, that he wants addressed first.

The Russian leader also said any agreement should lead to long-term peace that addresses the "root" reasons for the war -- an apparent reference to NATO expansion and other developments Putin claims have put Russia's security in jeopardy.

Questioning Putin's Motives

In a video posted late on March 13, Zelenskyy questioned Putin's motives, saying the Russian leader was preparing to reject the proposal but was afraid to tell Trump.

"That's why in Moscow they are imposing upon the idea of a cease-fire these conditions -- so that nothing happens at all, or so that it cannot happen for as long as possible," Zelenskyy said.

In its joint statement, the G7 said that "we emphasized that any cease-fire must be respected and underscored the need for robust and credible security arrangements to ensure that Ukraine can deter and defend against any renewed acts of aggression."

"We stated that we will continue to coordinate economic and humanitarian support to promote the early recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine," including at the Ukraine Recovery Conference that will take place in Rome on July 10-11.

The statement "condemned" the provision of military assistance by North Korea, which has supplied an estimated 11,000 troops, and Iran, which has delivered deadly drones used by Russia in Ukraine.

The United States has praised Armenia and Azerbaijan for concluding negotiations on a "historic peace treaty," marking a significant step toward ending decades of hostilities between the two nations.

Armenia and Azerbaijan finalized the text of a peace agreement on March 13, which is aimed at establishing formal relations.

"The United States commends Armenia and Azerbaijan for concluding negotiations on a historic peace treaty," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement.

"This is an opportunity for both countries to turn the page on a decades-old conflict in line with President [Donald] Trump's vision for a more peaceful world.

Baku and Yerevan were locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh for years. Armenian-backed separatists seized the mainly Armenian-populated region from Azerbaijan during a war in the early 1990s that killed some 30,000 people.

Azerbaijan retook control of the Karabakh region from Armenian separatists in September 2023 following a lightning offensive.

In a Telegram post, the Armenian government said that the country's prime minister, Nikol Pashinian, had informed Russian President Vladimir Putin about the peace agreement during a telephone conversation.

In a statement, the Kremlin confirmed Pashinian's conversation with Putin, saying that the Russian president stressed that "Russia has always supported and continues to support the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations in the interests of ensuring security, stability, and sustainable socio-economic development in the Transcaucasian region."

Putin said that "Both Armenia and Azerbaijan can always count on any possible assistance from the Russian side in achieving these goals."

When Could The Peace Agreement Be Signed?

The key question now is when the agreement might be signed.

Azerbaijan insists that the treaty cannot be signed until Armenia amends its constitution and legal system to eliminate any mention of territorial claims over areas within Azerbaijan, primarily Karabakh.

The current Armenian Constitution's preamble refers to a 1990 declaration of independence, made while Armenia was still a part of the Soviet Union, which calls for the reunification of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, which was then a part of Soviet Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has argued that, as long as the claim to Karabakh remains enshrined in Armenian law, there will be a danger of governments after Pashinian going back on that declaration and relitigating its claims to Karabakh.

Speaking after the agreement, Pashinian played down the issue, saying that "the constitution of the Republic of Armenia does not have territorial claims against Azerbaijan or any other country." He expressed the view that "the agreed text of the peace agreement addresses and resolves all these concerns.”

However, Azerbaijani political commentator Rauf Mirgadirov told RFE/RL that the peace agreement would not be signed anytime soon.

"Any full-fledged peace agreement requires the unconditional recognition of each other's territorial integrity by the states. The probability that changes will be made to the Armenian Constitution in the next month or two is zero," Mirgadirov said.

Richard Giragosian, head of the Center for Regional Studies in Yerevan, agreed that constitutional amendments were a long-term process but not impossible to achieve.

"The constitutional amendments as a legal process will not be completed earlier than June 2026," he added.

There are other outstanding issues that could prevent the treaty being signed and relations normalized: the withdrawal of both sides' legal claims from international courts, unblocking regional transport routes, and addressing the status of prisoners of war.

In his statement, Rubio urged both sides to "commit to peace, sign and ratify the treaty, and usher in a new era of prosperity for the people of the South Caucasus."

The European Union also urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign the treaty as soon as possible after congratulating them on the peace agreement.

Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, commended both sides for their persistent work and said that the announcement of the peace agreement "represents a decisive step toward lasting peace and security in the region."

US-made weapons continue to be actively used on Ukraine's battlefields despite a temporary pause in military aid from the United States.

Deliveries of ammunition and weapons resumed on March 12 after being suspended for just over a week.

The suspension followed an Oval Office row between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on February 28.

RFE/RL's Maryan Kushnir met frontline troops in the eastern Donetsk region in early March.

He found them using the US Paladin howitzer and Bradley fighting vehicles, as well as the M777 howitzer, which is manufactured in the United States and United Kingdom.

The weapons were under heavy and near constant use.

“The Ukrainian troops have opened intensive fire near [the town of] Kurakhove,” said Kushnir, standing next to a M777. “They've just fired more than 20 shells, and the firing hasn't stopped. This type of artillery arrived in 2022 from the United States. There are many such guns on the front line and they are used widely, as are NATO-caliber shells. The firing never stops, as you can see.”

The soldiers Kushnir interviewed said they believed the suspension of military aid had had little impact so far.

“As far as I know, we are manufacturing shells now, so I don't think we will have any problems with the supply,” one unnamed soldier told Kushnir. “And we will still have these guns, too. If something happens in the future, we can still repair them. They are being repaired and restored so we can use them again.”

“It's not just America that's helping us,” said another unnamed soldier. “We will hold out and this situation will stop.”

According to the Germany-based Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the United States supplied $67 billion of military aid between the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and December 2024.

Europe provide $65 billion in the same period.

Fedir Venislavsky, who sits on the defense committee of the Ukrainian parliament, estimated in early March that Ukraine’s weapons supplies would last just six months without US military aid.

US President Donald Trump said he sees a "very good chance" for peace between Ukraine and Russia after "very good and productive discussions" between US officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a March 14 post on his Truth Social site, Trump also said the United States had urged Russia to spare the lives of "thousands" of Ukrainian soldiers that Putin has said have been isolated by Russian troops in Russia's Kursk region. Ukraine disputes that claim.

The post came just hours after the Kremlin said it was "cautiously optimistic" following a meeting late on March 13 between Putin and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

"We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end," Trump wrote.

Trump added that "thousands of Ukrainian troops are completely surrounded by the Russian military, and in a very bad and vulnerable position."

"I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared," he wrote. "This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II."

Putin said a day earlier that a group of Ukrainian troops were "isolated" in the Kursk region, the site of a surprise incursion by Ukrainian forces last August. Responding to Trump's plea on March 14, he said the soldiers' lives would be spared if they surrendered and urged Kyiv to order them to do so.

Officials in Kyiv have said that while Ukrainian forces have been slowly withdrawing in the Kursk region under heavy pressure from Russian troops, but the armed forces general staff said on March 14 that "[r]eports of the alleged 'encirclement' of Ukrainian units...in the Kursk region are false and fabricated."

"There is no threat of encirclement of our units," it said in a statement on social media.

Zelenskyy Challenges Putin's Motives

Earlier on March 14, Putin's spokesman said there were grounds for "cautious optimism" over Trump's 30-day cease-fire proposal, which Ukraine accepted earlier this week at talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia.

Ukraine, meanwhile, questioned Moscow's sincerity in ending the war, which is now in its fourth year since Russia's full-scale invasion on February 2022.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow that Putin sent Trump a message about his cease-fire proposal after his talks with Witkoff in the Russian capital.

"When Mr Witkoff brings all the information to President Trump, we will determine the timing of a conversation (between Trump and Putin). There are reasons to be cautiously optimistic," Peskov said.

Putin said a day earlier that he agrees in principle with the US proposal for a temporary cease-fire with Ukraine, but added that "there are nuances," such as Western weapons deliveries to Kyiv, that he wants addressed first.

The Russian leader also said any agreement should lead to long-term peace that addresses the "root" reasons for the war, an apparent reference to NATO expansion and other developments Putin claims have put Russia's security in jeopardy.

In a video posted late on March 13, Zelenskyy questioned Putin's motives, saying the Russian leader was preparing to reject the proposal but was afraid to tell Trump.

"That's why in Moscow they are imposing upon the idea of a cease-fire these conditions -- so that nothing happens at all, or so that it cannot happen for as long as possible," Zelenskyy said.

He followed up on March 14 with a post on social media accusing the Kremlin of trying to "complicate and drag out the process."

"Russia is the only party that wants the war to continue and diplomacy to break down," he said on X after a call with the Secretary of State of the Holy See, cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Putin's Response To Trump's Pressure

Kyiv agreed to Trump's 30-day cease-fire proposal at a meeting in Jeddah on March 11, putting the onus for peace in Moscow's lap. Putin's response threw the ball back into US hands, at least to some degree.

Trump called Putin's initial reaction to peace talk developments "promising" but incomplete, though he added he hoped Russia would "do the right thing" and agree to the deal.

"I think the Russians are keen not to be seen as the intransigent party as that could lead to consequences from Trump, such as sanctions. So that informed Putin's comments today," John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia Program at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank, told RFE/RL.

Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine a top priority since taking office for a second term less than two months ago, and is wielding US leverage to get both Kyiv and Moscow to the table.

On March 13, the US administration heightened pressure on Russia by increasing restrictions on the country's oil, gas, and banking sectors.

Among the measures, the Treasury Department was allowing the expiration of a 60-day exemption put in place in January by the Biden administration that let some energy transactions involving sanctioned Russian banks continue. The move would make it more difficult for other nations, especially in Europe, to buy Russian oil.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) -- which includes the United States, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan -- said they discussed imposing more sanctions on Russia and boosting support for Ukraine if the Kremlin does not agree to the cease-fire.

Among the measures discussed during the March 13-14 meeting were caps on the price for Russian oil exports, they said in a joint statement. Western nations in late 2022 imposed a $60-a-barrel price cap on the export of Russian oil using Western ships or insurance. It is unclear if the G7 discussions touched on lowering the price cap. Russia's economy is heavily dependent on oil exports, which account for a third of federal budget revenues.

In a joint statement following the meeting, the G7 said that "we reaffirmed our unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity and right to exist, and its freedom, sovereignty, and independence."

"We welcomed ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire, and in particular the meeting on March 11 between the US and Ukraine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," it added.

Putin also said there were several unanswered questions in the proposal, such as what to do about Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region.

"If we have a cease-fire, does that mean that everyone there would leave?" Putin said. "Should we release them [Ukrainian troops] after they committed crimes against the population? Or would they surrender?"

Ukraine denies committing such crimes, saying it abides by humanitarian law and does not target civilians.

Why Should Russia Agree To A Cease-Fire?

Kyiv seized a swath of the Kursk region in a stealth incursion in August, a move seen as an effort to divert Russian forces from eastern Ukraine and use the territory as a bargaining chip in any peace talks.

That strategy is now failing as Russian forces supported by North Korean troops push the Ukrainians out of Kursk. Russia has regained more than half the territory in Kursk initially captured by Ukraine.

Zelenskyy told reporters on March 14 that the situation in Kursk was "obviously very difficult."

Among the other concerns Putin voiced about the cease-fire proposal is whether Ukraine would use the 30-day period to mobilize and train forces or rearm with the help of the West.

He also raised the question of how the nearly 2,000-kilometer front would be monitored. Zelenskyy told reporters that the front could be monitored by US satellites.

Experts had warned that Putin would likely seek to drag out cease-fire talks because his forces have the upper hand on the battlefield.

Aside from the advances in Kursk, Russia is gaining territory in eastern Ukraine -- albeit at high human and material costs -- due to its significant manpower advantage.

However, Zelenskyy said Ukraine has stopped Russian forces at the gates of Pokrovsk, a key logistical hub in Donetsk region, after months of fighting on the outskirts of the city. Zelenskyy asserted that the incursion into Kursk forced Russia to pull forces from eastern Ukraine, giving his troops time to defend the city.

Russia is seeking to capture at a minimum the entirety of the four regions of Ukraine it claims to have annexed in September 2022: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson. A cease-fire freezing the current front lines would leave them short of that goal.

"One way the Russians could slow down this process without coming out directly and saying 'no', is by dragging out those technical discussions on monitoring" the cease-fire, Hardie said.

"That could also give them ways to try to pin the blame back on Ukraine, by insisting on certain technical matters that Ukraine might find objectionable," he said.

HELSINKI -- A court in Finland's capital, Helsinki, has convicted a Russian citizen on four charges of war crimes committed in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Voislav Torden, a 38-year-old Russian ultranationalist earlier known as Yan Petrovsky, was given a life sentence.

Torden was linked to the deaths of 22 Ukrainian soldiers and the injury of four others.

Rarely does a court ruling on war crimes committed in Ukraine come from a jurisdiction outside of Ukraine.

What Crimes Did He Commit?

Torden, a former commander of the Rusich sabotage group, was fighting against Ukrainian forces in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The paramilitary unit has alleged ties to the Wagner mercenary group and embraces far-right ideology.

The Rusich group closely followed Torden's case and said it had raised money to pay for his lawyers.

According to prosecutors, in 2014, fighters led by Torden ambushed a group of Ukrainian soldiers, killing 22 and seriously injuring four.

Photos and video posted by Rusich group on social media apparently showed that some prisoners were executed. One of the prisoners had the Rusich group's symbol carved into his face.

Prosecutors accused Torden of violating the laws of war and committing acts of cruelty against both injured and deceased enemy combatants, according to the indictment.

Torden has denied all the charges and will appeal the ruling.

Why Was Torden Tried In Finland?

Born Yan Petrovsky in 1987 in St. Petersburg, Torden relocated to Oslo in 2004 with his mother. He then regularly visited Russia, where he met former paratrooper and nationalist Aleksandr Milchakov.

In 2014, they traveled to Ukraine’s Donbas region to support Russia-backed separatists in their fight against Ukrainian forces.

Torden was deported from Norway to Russia in 2016, where he took the name Voislav Torden instead of Yan Petrovsky.

He entered Finland in 2023 as a family member of his wife, who had obtained a study permit.

Torden was detained at Helsinki Airport on July 20, 2023, as he attempted to board a flight to France.

Following his arrest, Ukrainian authorities sought his extradition, but Finland's Supreme Court denied the request, citing concerns over conditions in Ukrainian prisons and the potential for Torden to face humiliation in custody.

Ukraine's Prosecutor-General's Office hailed the court decision, saying the case "marks a key milestone in holding perpetrators of grave violations of international humanitarian law accountable."

With reporting by Reuters