Ukraine Has Received 300,000 of EU’s Promised Million Shells, Says FM 

A local resident stands outside an apartment building damaged by recent shelling in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on November 28, 2023, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. (AFP)
A local resident stands outside an apartment building damaged by recent shelling in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on November 28, 2023, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. (AFP)
TT

Ukraine Has Received 300,000 of EU’s Promised Million Shells, Says FM 

A local resident stands outside an apartment building damaged by recent shelling in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on November 28, 2023, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. (AFP)
A local resident stands outside an apartment building damaged by recent shelling in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on November 28, 2023, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. (AFP)

The European union has delivered about 300,000 of its promised million shells to Ukraine so far, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Wednesday while attending a NATO meeting in Brussels.

Speaking to reporters on the event's sidelines, Kuleba called for greater alignment of Ukraine's and NATO's defense industries to ensure Kyiv has the supplies it needs to defeat Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

"We need to create a Euro-Atlantic common area of defense industries," Kuleba said, adding this would ensure both Ukraine's security and that of NATO countries themselves.

Kyiv has for the last several months engaged in a concerted drive to entice leading global arms manufacturers to set up operations in Ukraine, part of a bid to diversify its reliance on weapons and ammunition given by its allies.

Kuleba also said he had a "productive" meeting on Tuesday with Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar.

Slovakia's newly-elected President, Robert Fico, promised to halt military aid to Ukraine, although later clarified that he would not block arms purchases from private companies.

"He reiterated that the maintenance hub for Ukrainian heavy equipment will continue to function in Slovakia. Contracts between Ukrainian and Slovak companies producing weapons will continue," Kuleba said.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
TT

Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.