International
Zelenski asks for “guarantees” from the US, the EU and Turkey for a possible peace agreement with Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky advanced this Tuesday in Ankara, moments before his meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who will ask for “security guarantees” from the United States, the European Union and Turkey for any peace agreement reached with Russia.
“As a country, we want peace, we want the war to end. But we want the end of the war to be based on certain security guarantees,” Zelenski said in an interview with the Turkish agency Anadolu.
“We hope that these security guarantees will be offered by the United States, the European Union, Turkey and the whole of Europe,” specified the Ukrainian president, whose meeting with Erdogan is simultaneous to the beginning of the United States’ negotiations with Russia in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
By also referring to “all of Europe”, Zelenski also seems to ask for guarantees from other countries such as the United Kingdom or Norway, which have given great support to Ukraine but are not partners of the EU.
The Ukrainian president said he would like to “see Turkey involved” in the peace process “if Turkey can offer Ukraine the necessary security guarantees,” and stressed Ankara’s role as a mediator with Moscow in the past
At the same time, Zelenski ruled out officially ceding parts of Ukrainian territory to Russia.
“We will never, under any circumstances, recognize that our temporarily occupied territories are part of Russia. They are part of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian president told the aforementioned agency.
He also insisted that neither in past negotiations had he accepted an “ultimatum” and that he would not accept it now.
The president stressed that, as the French president, Emmanuel Macron, had told him in a telephone conversation held yesterday, the current negotiations do not deal with the issue of prisoners of war, which he considered fundamental.
“If a truce is negotiated, first of all, our people must be allowed to return,” Zelenski said.
The president made these statements during an inauguration ceremony of a new building of the Ukrainian embassy in Ankara, moments before starting his meeting with Erdogan at the presidential palace.
He stressed the presence at the event of a delegation of Crimean Tatars, a Turkish-speaking ethnic group that Ankara considers persecuted by the Russian authorities, and thanked Turkey and Qatar for their help in promoting the release of Tatar political prisoners in Crimea.
International
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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