00:00Hungary and Slovakia announced they would suspend diesel exports to Ukraine amid growing tensions over oil deliveries.
00:10Ukraine and Russia wrapped up the second day of the US brokered talks in Geneva after just under two hours
00:16of talks.
00:20The European Commission announced 28 billion euros in loans for east border regions affected by the war in Ukraine.
00:30The European Central Bank has denied reports that its president Christine Lagarde would resign before the end of her term.
00:43Hungary and Slovakia have announced they are suspending diesel exports to Ukraine amid growing tensions over oil deliveries.
00:51They said they need to secure their energy supplies to replace imports of Russian oil through the damaged Drojba pipeline.
00:58Oil transfers from Russia to Hungary and Slovakia via the Drojba pipeline were halted on the 27th of January.
01:04The Hungarian foreign minister stressed Budapest plays a major role in Ukraine's energy supply.
01:24He added that Hungary will not resume diesel deliveries to Ukraine until crude oil deliveries via the pipeline resume.
01:33The pipeline carrying them was damaged by a Russian airstrike in Ukrainian territory, according to media reports.
01:40Hungary and Slovakia also called on the European Commission to enable the transport of Russian crude oil.
01:46The Commission said on Tuesday that Hungary's and Slovakia's energy security was not at risk, citing sufficient reserves in both
01:54countries.
01:58Ukraine and Russia wrapped up the second day of the U.S. brokered talks in Geneva after just under two
02:05hours of talks on Wednesday.
02:07Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the negotiations included two tracks, military and political.
02:14All three sides were constructive on the military track, he said.
02:19But the political track is more complex, Zelensky admitted.
02:23He said this aspect includes issues related to Ukraine's territories temporarily occupied by Russia.
02:30Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky called the talks difficult but practical.
02:35Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine remain the biggest sticking point in negotiations.
02:41Kiev maintains that freezing current positions offers the most realistic foundation for a ceasefire at this stage.
02:48But Moscow is demanding that Ukrainian forces withdraw from the Donbass as a precondition for any agreement.
02:55This demand includes parts of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which Russia never controlled and still cannot occupy despite 12
03:04years of attempts.
03:06Kiev has repeatedly rejected this request.
03:13The European Commission has released a strategy to support Eastern Bordeaux regions struggling with economic decline, demographic pressure and hybrid
03:24threats stemming from the war in Ukraine.
03:2628 billion euros in loans will be distributed in cooperation with the European Investment Bank and the World Bank to
03:35revive investment and business activity in the affected regions.
03:39The nine EU member states set to benefit from the initiative called East Invest are Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,
03:49Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.
03:51The strategy also covers the European drone wall initiative to strengthen border security, support for integrating Baltic electricity networks into
04:02the broader European grid and educational and employment programs aimed at addressing population decline in border areas.
04:11The detailed allocation of funds among member states has not yet been determined, but EU officials are expected to meet
04:18country representatives at an East Invest event scheduled for the end of February.
04:27The Trump administration has helped Europeans stop hitting the snooze button and wake up, U.S. Ambassador to the EU
04:36Andrew Posner told Euronews.
04:37He hailed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's call for greater alignment between the two in his speech at
04:44the Munich Security Conference as positive for the transatlantic alliance.
04:49Posner also praised European progress in aligning its approach to migration policy with the U.S., pointing to what he
04:55thinks is one of Europe's key issues, the impact of mass migration.
04:59There's a difference between managed migration and mass migration, and I think what we've seen over the past decade is
05:05just flows of people coming onto the continent, and the reaction has not been positive.
05:11When probed with numbers showing that migrants' arrivals in the EU have in fact declined compared with the previous years,
05:19Posner argued that Rubio was, quote,
05:21talking about the impact of the past mass migration and the civilizational challenge that poses.
05:31Ukraine has imposed new sanctions against Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko for helping Russia to sustain its war against Ukraine.
05:41Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke to Euronews about her country's influence on Russia's war.
05:49Russia can use Belarus as a platform for pressure and even aggression against Europe.
05:55Under Lukashenko, Belarus has become deeply integrated into Russia's war machine.
06:01Russian troops train there.
06:03Joint military infrastructure is being modernized.
06:07Russia has deployed nuclear weapons in Belarus and is building infrastructure for systems like the Russian missile.
06:15This creates direct threats not only to Ukraine, but also to Poland, the Baltic states and actually wider Europe.
06:22It shortens warning times and increases escalation risks.
06:27Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that without the assistance,
06:30the number of Russian strikes on energy infrastructure and railways in northern Ukraine would likely have been lower.
06:36Belarusian society is overwhelmingly against the war.
06:40The army's loyalty in such a scenario is not guaranteed.
06:44And Lukashenko understands that direct participation could destabilize his own regime.
06:50So, yes, Moscow will continue to pressure Minsk.
06:53But Belarus remains one of the weakest link in Russia's regional architecture.
06:58A democratic Belarus would remove major military foothold from Russia's western flank.
07:03This is why the Belarusian dimension must be part of any serious discussion about European security and the end of
07:11this war.
07:13The sanctions package comes after the U.S. eased some of its sanctions on Belarus.
07:17And the country joined the controversial Board of Peace introduced by President Donald Trump.
07:25Eleven people have been arrested over the death of far-right activist Quentin Derenc, killed in a violent brawl in
07:33Lyon.
07:34Four departments in western France remain on red alert for flooding until Thursday,
07:40and nine others are on orange alert for rain and flooding with the arrival of Storm Pedro.
07:45After a lull on Tuesday afternoon,
07:48Meteor France announced further widespread disruption in the west of the country.
07:53Already experiencing some of its worst flooding in decades after days of rain,
07:58authorities have spoken of record levels of humidity not seen since 1959 and linked it to climate change.
08:05Charente-Maritime, Gironde, Lotte-Gaon, and Maine-et-Loire are the departments most affected.
08:12The floodwaters forced the evacuation of nearly 2,000 residents between Agen and Bordeaux
08:18and caused thousands of power outages, officials said.
08:22The French government said it will provide support to communities affected by the bad weather.
08:27With most of France still on flood alert, weather authorities have said Storm Pedro,
08:32arriving from Brittany, is set to impact France on Wednesday and Thursday,
08:36bringing another bout of heavy rainfall and winds.
08:44Romania's highest court has ruled a law reforming pensions for judges and prosecutors as constitutional,
08:50with the bill now set to be signed into law by the president.
08:53The new legislation raises the retirement age from 50 to 65
08:57and limits pensions to no more than 70% of the salary they receive in the final month of services.
09:03Nu ne mai putem permite să pensionăm oameni în deplinătatea forței fizice și intelectuale la 50, 51 sau 52 de
09:12ani.
09:13În luna martie vom veni cu un proiect de lege care va continua corecțiile.
09:17Această reformă deschide calea și pentru alte reforme care se tai din privilegii.
09:25Este o sumă totuși importantă, avem ce face cu suma respectivă în bugetul României,
09:30deci eu sper că nu am pierdut această sumă.
09:32The adoption of the draft law is necessary to access the EU funding
09:36through its recovery and resilience funds, which amounts to 231 million euros.
09:41Are încredere că dacă își face bine treaba domnul ministru Păslaru, nu vom pierde acei bani.
09:51After five postponements, the Romanian Constitutional Court sent the law
09:55that changes magistrate pensions to promulgation.
09:58In practice, the payments will be kept to 70% of the last net salary.
10:03At the moment, a retired judge or prosecutor can get more than 4,000 euros,
10:07whilst the average pension in Romania is about 500 euros.
10:12At the same time, Romania is trying to unlock now 231 million euros
10:16that are tied to this reform.
10:19Ruth Novakovic for Euronews.
10:24The European Commissioner for Sport has condemned the participation of Russian and Belarusian
10:30athletes in the Milan-Cortina Paralympic Games under their national flags.
10:34Glenn Mikhelev has announced a boycott of the opening ceremony for that reason.
10:39While Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine continues,
10:42I cannot support the reinstatement of national symbols, flags, anthems and uniforms
10:47that are inseparable from that conflict he wrote on X.
10:52Russians and Belarusians have been prohibited from competing under their flags
10:56in the Olympics and Paralympics since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
11:03They are, however, allowed to participate as individual neutral athletes,
11:08a category that allows people who have qualified for the Games to join the competition under certain conditions
11:15such as not actively supporting the invasion
11:18and not being contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies.
11:24These conditions were applied in Paris 2024
11:27and are also the rules for the current Milan-Cortina Olympics
11:31with 13 Russian and 7 Belarusian athletes participating in the competition.
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