00:00Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for a face-to-face meeting between himself and Vladimir Putin in an open
00:07letter sent to Moscow.
00:11The EU is losing hopes in enforcing a full ban on maritime services for Russian tankers.
00:19The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin in an open letter to
00:27the Russian leader, saying he was ready for a, quote, full ceasefire.
00:32The letter marks one of the few times Zelenskyy has appealed directly to Putin since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion
00:40and the first time he has ever sent a letter directly to the Russian leader.
00:44Zelenskyy opened a letter on Thursday saying when Vladimir Putin came to power over 26 years ago, many people in
00:51Ukraine viewed Putin positively.
00:54But that is now in the past, Zelenskyy said.
00:57According to the Ukrainian leader, now the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians view it positively that, quote,
01:04our long-range drones paid a visit to the opening of your forum in St. Petersburg, covering a distance of
01:11more than 1,000 kilometers.
01:12It is not the first time Zelenskyy, who believes only face-to-face talks will yield an agreement on territory,
01:19has called for a meeting with Putin.
01:21But this time, the Ukrainian Presidential Office confirmed the letter was sent to Moscow and was shared with Kiev's partners,
01:28including the U.S.
01:29In response to the letter, the Kremlin said on Thursday evening that Zelenskyy is welcome to meet with Putin in
01:35Moscow anytime.
01:41A coalition of nine EU member states, plus Iceland and Norway, is stepping up pressure to tighten visa conditions for
01:48Russian tourists as the summer holiday season approaches.
01:52The initiative was led by Sweden, with the support of Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and
02:01Poland.
02:01What I want to accomplish is very clear. I want there to be no more shopping weekends.
02:06I want there to be no more fancy trips to Europe while Ukrainians are dying on the battlefield.
02:13All 11 countries signed a joint letter highlighting the uneven implementation of the European Commission's guidelines on handling visa applications
02:21from Russian nationals.
02:23The signatories argue that this fragmentation weakens EU leverage and sends mixed messages about the blocs resolved towards Russia.
02:31The letter also warns that uneven visa practices for Russian tourists may create a security risk across the entire Schengen
02:40area.
02:41The 11 countries are calling on the EU institutions to introduce new binding visa restrictions and monitor the effective implementation
02:49of existing guidelines.
02:56The EU is losing hopes in the chances of enforcing a full ban on maritime services for Russian tankers.
03:02The measure was approved in April as part of the 20th package of sanctions to cripple Moscow's war economy.
03:09It aims to prohibit all maritime-related services, including banking, shipping, flagging and insurance, for tankers carrying Russian oil.
03:17Turmoil in energy markets coupled with persistently high oil prices have hindered the measure's activation.
03:24Events in the Gulf have clearly changed the calculus about anything to do with energy.
03:31For the moment, what all Western economies are struggling with is access to energy at reasonable prices.
03:38So I think at this point, there is no appetite to take additional measures which might aggravate that situation.
03:44The official reason for the pause was a desire to reach an agreement at the G7 level, but other G7
03:50members haven't shown much enthusiasm in backing the ban.
03:54So in the 20th sanctions package, we did indeed include a legal basis to eventually activate a full maritime services
04:01ban.
04:01But we were clear that we would do this in consultation and in cooperation with our G7 partners.
04:07But we do remain committed to all of the measures that we've put in place, like the oil price cap,
04:13and what we can do to minimize revenues that Russia might gain from the situation in Iran.
04:21Additionally, Brussels has not yet secured the support of two member states with interests directly at stake, Greece and Malta.
04:29The former hosts a powerful shipping industry, while the latter controls Europe's largest ship registry.
04:42Speaking from Montenegro, European Council President Antonio Costa called for the EU's enlargement rules to be streamlined by removing the
04:50need for unanimity at each stage of the process.
04:53I believe that we don't need to have the unanimity to open chapters and clusters.
04:59We just need the unanimity to close chapters and clusters.
05:05Greece and Bulgaria have repeatedly vetoed North Macedonia's EU bid over disputes related to constitutional matters and minority rights.
05:14Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban routinely used veto powers to block Ukraine's EU integration.
05:20Costa also suggested the use of more transitional periods in candidate countries' accession in order to make the process more
05:27efficient.
05:29We learned from the previous enlargement process that we always adopted transitional clauses on policies like agriculture, freedom of movement
05:41and so on.
05:42And now, because we are talking about a very challenging enlargement, perhaps we need also transitional clauses on institutional matters.
05:54EU and Western Balkans leaders meet in Tivat, Montenegro on Friday.
05:59The choice of venue is highly symbolic as Montenegro could become the 28th EU member state as early as next
06:06year.
06:10Protests have continued in Albania against a massive coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of
06:18U.S. President Donald Trump.
06:20Hundreds of demonstrators on Wednesday took to the streets of Tirana for the fourth day to voice their opposition to
06:27the projects that the government says would be transformational for the former communist nation.
06:53The luxury projects linked to Kushner's investment firm and Ivanka Trump spans an abandoned island and a nearby country.
07:12On Tuesday, Ramah said Albania should not be a country that fears an extraordinary project like this one, adding that,
07:20quote,
07:21there is absolutely no chance that the investment will stop as long as I am here.
07:29Supporters and loved ones of Alexei Navalny gathered at his grave on Thursday, the 4th of June to mark what
07:36would have been his 50th birthday.
07:41Spontaneous vigils were held in Russia's largest cities in memory of Navalny, a leading opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin,
07:49who died in a prison camp in 2024.
07:52His parents were among the attendees.
07:56Today is the day of memory of Alexei.
08:01Because he would have been 50 years old, but he would have been killed on February 16th of 1924.
08:07In Moscow, dozens of people, including the parents of his colleagues, were also there.
08:13In St. Petersburg, people brought flowers to the Solevsky Stone and the monuments to the victims of political repression.
08:20Memorial events were also held in dozens of cities around the world.
08:24I feel the energy of Alexei, that he is indeed the person who supported people, supported people, helped him, supported
08:34him.
08:34And all the people that greatly understand him, so they come to remember him, to remember him.
08:40Today I came here, to be able to remember his memory of a man in his 50th anniversary.
08:56One of President Putin's most outspoken opponents, Alexei Navalny, died in prison while serving a sentence on charges his supporters
09:05say were fabricated and politically motivated.
09:09Investigative journalists later discovered that the politician had been poisoned with a highly toxic substance.
09:21British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has accused Elon Musk of attempting to whip up division over the murder of teenager
09:27Henry Novak in the UK.
09:30It comes after a series of posts by Musk on his social media platform asks about the murder, many of
09:36which have used far-right themes and talking points.
09:39And look, we need to also assert who we are as a country, because Musk has been interfering in our
09:46politics in the last few days, trying to whip up division.
09:49That is not who we are in Britain.
09:51In Britain we are reasonable, tolerant people.
09:54When we have a terrible case like Henry's case, Henry Novak, we react calmly as his family have done.
10:01When it comes to disgusting images on Grok, we take Grok on and fight, because that's who we are as
10:07a country.
10:08Novak was stabbed on his way home from a night out in December by Vikram Digwa, a Sikh man who
10:14was found guilty of his murder last month.
10:17The incident drew huge public attention after it emerged Digwa had falsely told police who attended the scene that he
10:23had been the victim of a racist attack.
10:26Two men have been charged following violent protests over Novak's killing, where hundreds clashed with police in the city of
10:32Southampton.
10:33Also attended by far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
10:41French-Iranian author and illustrator Marjan Satrapi, a leading voice for freedom of expression, has died at the age of
10:4856 in Paris.
10:50Satrapi's family said she died of grief just over a year after the death of her husband.
10:55Satrapi was best known for the graphic novel Persepolis, as well as its 2007 film adaptation.
11:02The story is about Satrapi's early life in Tehran, struggling under the restrictions imposed by Iran's Islamic leadership after the
11:101979 revolution, before she was sent to Europe by her parents.
11:15Despite living in exile, Satrapi remained deeply connected to Iran, using her work to amplify the voices of the Iranian
11:22people.
11:24Other celebrated works by Satrapi include her graphic novel Chicken with Plums, which she also directed the adaptation of, as
11:31well as comedy horror film The Voices, starring Ryan Reynolds, and Radioactive, a 2019 biopic of two-time Nobel Prize
11:38winner Mary Currie.
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