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Zelensky on Whirlwind Tour of Europe ahead of US Vote

03 October 2024, Ukraine, Kyiv: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint press conference with New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who makes his first visit in this capacity to Kyiv, capital of Ukraine Photo: Ukrinform/dpa
03 October 2024, Ukraine, Kyiv: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint press conference with New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who makes his first visit in this capacity to Kyiv, capital of Ukraine Photo: Ukrinform/dpa
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Zelensky on Whirlwind Tour of Europe ahead of US Vote

03 October 2024, Ukraine, Kyiv: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint press conference with New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who makes his first visit in this capacity to Kyiv, capital of Ukraine Photo: Ukrinform/dpa
03 October 2024, Ukraine, Kyiv: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint press conference with New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who makes his first visit in this capacity to Kyiv, capital of Ukraine Photo: Ukrinform/dpa

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to visit Britain, France and Italy on Thursday, part of a whirlwind tour of European leaders aimed at securing aid ahead of pivotal US elections next month.
Kyiv could be facing its toughest winter yet this year, as Russia launches fresh waves of strikes on the country's power grid and advances across the eastern front line, said AFP.
The Ukrainian leader will seek to secure as much financial and military backing as possible during the tour, as the prospect of a Donald Trump victory in November's crunch US vote throws support from Washington in doubt.
Zelensky's travel-packed itinerary will see him meet the leaders of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy -- all in their respective countries within the space of less than 48 hours.
According to Downing Street, the Ukrainian leader will visit UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on Thursday, and also meet new NATO chief Mark Rutte there.
In the afternoon he will be in Paris for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, and is later expected to travel to Rome for talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to Italian media.
Zelensky has an audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican on Friday morning, and will meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on the same day, according to a German government spokeswoman.
A key meeting with international allies planned for Saturday was postponed after US President Joe Biden called off a planned European trip to focus on the threat from Hurricane Milton.
Pivotal US vote
Zelensky says his country desperately needs more aid to tip the balance of the war and secure victory on the battlefield as Russia captures dozens of small towns and villages in the east.
He also wants clearance to use long-range weapons supplied by allies, including the United States, to strike military targets deep inside Russia.
Ukraine relies on billions of dollars worth of financial and military aid from Washington to fight Russia's invasion, and the US presidential election in November could prove pivotal.
Republican candidate Donald Trump has promised to end the war "in 24 hours" if he is elected, a prospect Kyiv fears means being forced to make massive compromises to achieve peace.
Vice President and Democratic rival Kamala Harris has said she would not meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin for peace talks if Ukraine was not also represented.
Zelensky has rejected any peace plan that would involve ceding territory to Russia, arguing Moscow must withdraw all its troops from inside Ukraine's borders to achieve lasting peace.

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Philippines Challenges China Over South China Sea at Asean Meet

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convene at a summit hosted by Laos in the capital Vientiane, to tighten diplomatic ties and discuss the ongoing civil unrest in Myanmar and tensions in the South China Sea. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convene at a summit hosted by Laos in the capital Vientiane, to tighten diplomatic ties and discuss the ongoing civil unrest in Myanmar and tensions in the South China Sea. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT
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Philippines Challenges China Over South China Sea at Asean Meet

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convene at a summit hosted by Laos in the capital Vientiane, to tighten diplomatic ties and discuss the ongoing civil unrest in Myanmar and tensions in the South China Sea. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convene at a summit hosted by Laos in the capital Vientiane, to tighten diplomatic ties and discuss the ongoing civil unrest in Myanmar and tensions in the South China Sea. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos challenged Chinese Premier Li Qiang over recent clashes in the South China Sea at regional summit talks on Thursday, as fears grow that conflict could erupt in the disputed waterway.
Li met the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at their gathering in Laos after a day of discussions dominated by the Myanmar civil war.
Recent months have seen a spate of violent clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels in waters around disputed reefs and islands in the South China Sea, AFP reported.
Marcos raised the issue in the meeting with Li, arguing that "you cannot separate economic cooperation from political security," a Southeast Asian diplomat who attended the meeting told reporters.
The Li summit was largely focused on trade, and came the same day the premier met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who said Beijing has agreed to lift sanctions on the lucrative lobster industry.
But Marcos told the meeting that ASEAN and China cannot pretend that all is well on the economic front when there are tensions on the political front, the Southeast Asian diplomat said.
Marcos also said that both sides should hasten talks on a code of conduct in the sea.
On Wednesday, ASEAN leaders repeated longstanding calls for restraint and respect for international law in the South China Sea, according to a draft summit chairman's statement seen by AFP.
The growing frequency and intensity of clashes in the disputed waterway are fuelling fears that the situation could escalate.
"The South China Sea is a live and immediate issue, with real risks of an accident spiraling into conflict," Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong told his fellow leaders in Wednesday's summit.
Beijing claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, a waterway of immense strategic importance through which trillions of dollars in trade transits every year.
But several ASEAN members -- the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Brunei -- also have competing claims to various small islands and reefs.
Clashes at sea
The meeting with Li comes after a slew of violent clashes, particularly with the Philippines around the Spratly Islands.
Chinese coast guard and other vessels have rammed, water-cannoned and blocked Philippine government vessels.
And earlier this month, Vietnam issued an angry condemnation after some of its fishermen were attacked and robbed off the Paracel Islands by what it called "Chinese law enforcement forces".
Beijing responded that the islands are its sovereign territory and its personnel were taking action to stop "illegal fishing" by the Vietnamese.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Thursday and is expected to raise the South China Sea when he holds talks with ASEAN leaders on Friday.
Daniel Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asia, accused China of taking "escalatory and irresponsible steps designed to coerce and pressure many in the South China Sea".
China has for years sought to expand its presence in contested areas of the South China Sea, brushing aside an international ruling that its claim to most of the waterway has no legal basis.
It has built artificial islands armed with missile systems and runways for fighter jets, and deployed vessels that the Philippines says harass its ships and block its fishers.
ASEAN leaders also met Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea on Thursday, and will hold a three-way summit with them and Li.