Le Parlement ukrainien ratifie l’accord “historique” avec Washington sur les minerais

Le Parlement ukrainien a ratifié jeudi l’accord “historique” avec les États-Unis sur l’exploitation des ressources naturelles du pays, signé après des semaines de négociations houleuses et qui pourrait, selon Kiev, ouvrir la voie à une nouvelle aide militaire américaine. Le président ukrainien Volodymyr Zelensky a estimé que ce texte ouvrait d’ores et déjà un “nouveau chapitre” dans les relations entre Kiev et Washington.”A l’heure actuelle, (l’accord) constitue une base solide pour la coopération en matière de sécurité et, à long terme, il offre à l’Ukraine et aux États-Unis l’occasion d’élargir une collaboration économique mutuellement bénéfique”, a ajouté jeudi M. Zelensky, dans un message publié sur les réseaux sociaux.Plus tôt, sur X, la ministre de l’Économie, Ioulia Svyrydenko, avait annoncé la ratification par le Parlement ukrainien d’un “accord de partenariat économique historique”.Ce document concerne l’extraction de minerais, de pétrole et de gaz – 57 types de ressources au total en Ukraine, qui fait face depuis plus de trois ans à l’invasion russe. Selon des députés, 338 parlementaires ont voté en faveur de ce texte, le minimum requis étant de 226.Il ne comporte toutefois pas de garanties de sécurité pour Kiev, qui pourtant insistait sur cette condition. “Cet accord offre la possibilité de bénéficier d’une nouvelle aide militaire (…) de la part de l’administration américaine”, a assuré Mme Svyrydenko. L’administration de Donald Trump a annoncé son intention de mettre un terme rapidement à la guerre entre l’Ukraine et la Russie et ses relations se sont réchauffées spectaculairement avec Moscou, faisant craindre l’abandon de la poursuite du crucial soutien américain à Kiev.L’accord bilatéral avait été signé fin avril après des semaines de tensions entre Kiev et Washington, qui avaient culminé dans une joute verbale entre les présidents Trump et Zelensky dans le Bureau ovale, fin février. Contrairement à ce que voulait initialement M. Trump, le document ne prévoit pas de comptabiliser comme dette de l’Ukraine envers les États-Unis l’aide américaine accordée par son prédécesseur Joe Biden depuis le début de l’invasion en 2022.”L’accord ne mentionne aucune dette, mais uniquement les nouveaux investissements. Et il est très important que ces investissements soient réalisés en Ukraine”, s’est félicité Mme Svyrydenko sur X.Il ne comporte pas de garanties de sécurité mais offre “une occasion de faire pression sur la Russie, car cela montre que les États-Unis sont prêts à protéger leur partenariat et leurs intérêts. Ce ne sont pas seulement mes sentiments, ce sont les mots de la Maison Blanche”, a-t-elle souligné. Le texte prévoit en revanche que la nouvelle aide militaire américaine peut être comptabilisée comme contribution à un fonds d’investissement ukraino-américain, a rappelé la ministre.Ce fonds pour la “reconstruction” de l’Ukraine, ravagée par plus de trois ans de guerre, sera financé et géré à parts égales par les deux parties.La contribution ukrainienne sera, elle, constituée de 50% des redevances tirées de nouvelles licences délivrées pour l’exploitation de ressources naturelles, selon Kiev. 

Pakistan and India accuse each other of waves of drone attacks

India and Pakistan accused each other Thursday of carrying out waves of drone attacks, as deadly confrontations between the nuclear-armed foes drew global calls for calm.The fighting comes two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir, which Pakistan denied.India on Wednesday launched missiles it said targeted “terrorist camps”, and Pakistan retaliated with a barrage of artillery strikes, with at least 48 deaths reported on both sides since the escalation, 32 of them in Pakistan, including children.The South Asian neighbours have fought multiple wars over Kashmir since the end of British rule in 1947.Pakistan’s army said it shot down 28 Indian drones, while New Delhi accused Islamabad of launching overnight raids with “drones and missiles”, and claimed it destroyed an air defence system in Lahore.”Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets… using drones and missiles,” India’s defence ministry said in a statement Thursday, adding that “these were neutralised”.The defence ministry said earlier its military had “targeted air defence radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan”, adding it had been “reliably learnt that an air defence system at Lahore has been neutralised”.On Thursday evening, explosions were reported at the airport of Jammu, a key city in the Indian-held part of disputed Kashmir, a security source who was unauthorised to speak to the media told AFP, without giving further details.Shesh Paul Vaid, a former director general of police for Jammu and Kashmir, also wrote on social media that there were “loud explosions”. – Blasts heard in Lahore -Pakistan’s military said on Thursday it had neutralised 28 out of 29 Israeli-made Harop drones that crossed into the country in “another act of aggression by India”.Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the drones “made attempts to attack military installations” and “targeted civilians”, killing one and injuring four, while four army personnel were also wounded.Among the cities targeted was Rawalpindi, where the military is headquartered and the cricket stadium is hosting the Pakistan Super League. Residents in Lahore reported hearing the sound of blasts, and aviation authorities briefly shut down operations at the main airport there and in the capital, Islamabad.Karachi airport remained closed on Thursday evening.Trading was halted on Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 index after it slumped 6.3 percent on news of the drone attacks.- ‘Shrapnel pierced her chest’ -India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said New Delhi had a “right to respond” following the attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Kashmir last month, when gunmen killed 26 people, mainly Hindu men.New Delhi blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba — a UN-designated terrorist organisation for the Pahalgam shooting, and the nations traded days of threats and diplomatic measures.Pakistan has denied any involvement and called for an independent investigation into the April 22 attack.Pakistan’s military said on Wednesday that five Indian jets had been downed across the border, but New Delhi has not responded to the claims.An Indian senior security source, who asked not to be named, said three of its fighter jets had crashed on home territory.There was trauma on both sides of the disputed border after the exchange of heavy artillery in darkness on Wednesday.”A missile struck the mosque nearby, and a piece of shrapnel from the blast pierced my daughter’s chest,” 50-year-old Safeer Ahmad Awan told AFP in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan Kashmir that was targeted by Indian air strikes.”It was only when her clothes were soaked in blood that we discovered the injury,” he added of the 15-year-old girl, who still has the metal lodged in her body.On the other side of the border in Poonch, a town in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir that was bombarded on Wednesday, and bore the brunt of shelling by Pakistan, Madasar Choudhary said his sister saw two children killed by shells.”She saw two children running out of her neighbour’s house and screamed for them to get back inside,” said Choudhary, 29.”But shrapnel hit the children — and they eventually died.”- Global pressure -Diplomats and world leaders have pressured both countries to step back from the brink.”I want to see them stop,” US President Donald Trump said Wednesday.Top US diplomat Marco Rubio spoke with leaders of both countries Thursday and urged “immediate de-escalation,” his spokeswoman said.Meanwhile Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi, days after visiting Pakistan, as Tehran seeks to mediate.Based on past conflicts, analyst Happymon Jacob — director of the New Delhi-based Council for Strategic and Defence Research, said the latest would “likely end in a few iterations of exchange of long-range gunfire or missiles into each other’s territory”.In a late Wednesday TV address to the nation, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned they would “avenge” those killed by Indian air strikes.”We make this pledge, that we will avenge each drop of the blood of these martyrs,” he said.burs-ecl/des

Trump unveils ‘breakthrough’ US-UK trade deal

US President Donald Trump unveiled a “breakthrough” trade agreement with Britain on Thursday, celebrating the first deal in a tariff war that has rattled the world.Speaking by telephone from the Oval Office to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump said the deal would be the first of many with other countries.The deal will reduce tariffs on British cars and steel, but a 10 percent baseline levy on British goods will remain. Britain will in return open up markets to US beef and farm products despite consumer concerns over their quality.”I’m thrilled to announce that we have reached a breakthrough trade deal with the United Kingdom,” Trump said at the White House.”The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture.” Starmer said it was a “really fantastic, historic day”, noting that it coincided with the 80th anniversary of “Victory Day” for allied forces — including Britain and the United States — over Nazi Germany in World War II.The trade deal slashes export tariffs for British cars from 27.5 percent to 10 percent, Britain said.”That is a huge and important reduction,” PM Starmer said during a visit to a Jaguar Land Rover factory in the central Midlands area of England.Both sides said there would be further negotiations on a fuller deal, but Trump denied overselling the agreement.”This is a maxed-out deal — not like you said it really incorrectly,” he added, answering a reporter’s question on whether he was overstating the breadth of the deal.The deal follows a charm offensive by Starmer, who came to the White House in February armed with an invitation from King Charles III for a historic second state visit for Trump.- ‘Further negotiations’A UK government official likened the deal to a “general terms document” which will set out agreements but also lay out a framework where further discussions are needed.The deal was focused on specific sectors rather than being a fully-fledged free trade agreement sought by the UK following its 2020 departure from the European Union, the official said on condition of anonymity.As well as dealing with steel and car tariffs, it would lay out positions for discussions over possible future tariffs in the key pharmaceuticals sector.”There will be further negotiations to come,” the source added.A US deal is a fresh win for Starmer after Britain this week struck a free-trade agreement with India, its biggest such deal since leaving the European Union.Trump described the British leader, who like the US president won power last year, as a tough negotiator following the latter’s visit to Washington in February.The president slapped 10 percent tariffs on imports from around the world in April, including Britain, but he temporarily froze higher duties on dozens of nations to allow for negotiations.The film industry — a main UK export for the services sector — is also in Trump’s sights.London, however, has not yet retaliated against Trump’s tariffs.London had been keen to achieve some type of accord with Washington ahead of an EU-UK summit on May 19 due to reset ties with the 27-nation bloc.The EU is struggling to reach its own trade deal with the United States.Brussels on Thursday proposed hitting US planes and cars with tariffs if talks fail.burs-dk/aha

Drones drag Sudan war into dangerous new territoryThu, 08 May 2025 16:00:29 GMT

Paramilitary drone strikes targeting Sudan’s wartime capital have sought to shatter the regular army’s sense of security and open a dangerous new chapter in the war, experts say.Since April 2023, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group has been at war with the army, which has lately recaptured some territory and dislodged the paramilitaries from the …

Drones drag Sudan war into dangerous new territoryThu, 08 May 2025 16:00:29 GMT Read More »

Drones drag Sudan war into dangerous new territory

Paramilitary drone strikes targeting Sudan’s wartime capital have sought to shatter the regular army’s sense of security and open a dangerous new chapter in the war, experts say.Since April 2023, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group has been at war with the army, which has lately recaptured some territory and dislodged the paramilitaries from the capital Khartoum.The latter appeared to have the upper hand before Sunday, when drone strikes began blasting key infrastructure in Port Sudan, seat of the army-backed government on the Red Sea coast.With daily strikes on the city since then, the RSF has sought to demonstrate its strength, discredit the army, disrupt its supply lines and project an air of legitimacy, experts believe.According to Sudanese analyst Kholood Khair, “this is intended to undermine the army’s ability to provide safety and security in areas they control”, allowing the RSF to expand the war “without physically being there”.For two years, the paramilitaries relied mainly on lightning ground offensives, overwhelming army defences in brutal campaigns of conquest.But after losing nearly all of Khartoum in March, the RSF has increasingly turned to long-range air power.Using weapons the army says were supplied by the United Arab Emirates, it has hit strategic sites hundreds of kilometres (miles) away from their holdout positions on the capital’s outskirts.Michael Jones, research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, says the RSF’s pivot is a matter of both “strategic adaptation” and “if not desperation, then necessity”.- Strategic setback -“The loss of Khartoum was both a strategic and symbolic setback,” he told AFP.In response, the RSF needed to broadcast a “message that the war isn’t over”, according to Sudanese analyst Hamid Khalafallah.The conflict between Sudan’s de facto leader, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has split Africa’s third-largest country in two.The army holds the centre, north and east, while the RSF controls nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur and, with its allies, parts of the south.”It’s unlikely that the RSF can retake Khartoum or reach Port Sudan by land, but drones enable them to create a sense of fear and destabilise cities” formerly considered safe, Khalafallah told AFP.With drones and light munitions, it can “reach areas it hasn’t previously infiltrated successfully”, Jones said.According to a retired Sudanese general, the RSF has been known to use two types of drone — makeshift lightweight models with 120mm mortar rounds that explode on impact, and long-range drones capable of delivering guided missiles, including the Chinese-manufactured CH95.On Thursday, rights group Amnesty International published a report that said “Chinese GB50A guided bombs and 155mm AH-4 howitzers” used by the RSF in Khartoum and Darfur were provided by the UAE.- Sparing fighters -The Sudanese government severed diplomatic ties with the Gulf state on Tuesday, accusing it of supplying the advanced weapons systems the RSF has used to attack Port Sudan.Abu Dhabi has repeatedly denied arming the RSF, despite reports from UN experts, US politicians and international organisations.According to Mohaned Elnour, nonresident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, the RSF’s “main objective is to divert the army’s attention” and position itself as a potential government, which it has said it will form.”It’s much easier for them to attack quickly and withdraw, rather than defend territory,” Elnour said.Crossing Sudan’s vast landmass — some 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) from RSF bases in Darfur to Port Sudan — requires long-range drones such as the Chinese-made Wing Loong II, deployed by the UAE, or the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 used by the army, according to Amnesty.Both sides in Sudan are in a race to “destroy each other’s drone capacity”, Khair said.Two years into the devastating war, the RSF has another incentive to rely on drones, she said.”It allows them to spare their troops” after reports that RSF recruitment has dipped since the war began.”Initial recruitment was high based on the opportunity to loot, and there’s very little left to loot now,” she said.Both sides have been accused of war crimes including targeting civilians, but the RSF is specifically accused of rampant looting, ethnic cleansing and systematic sexual violence.

Droits de douane: Trump célèbre une trêve avec Londres pour le 8 mai

Donald Trump a annoncé jeudi une première trêve dans son offensive commerciale mondiale sous la forme d’un compromis commercial avec Londres, en insistant sur le fait que l’annonce coïncidait avec le 8 mai, date marquant la capitulation il y a 80 ans de l’Allemagne nazie.Le président américain s’est dit “ravi” d’annoncer un accord commercial “historique” selon lui, et ce le jour anniversaire de la victoire des Alliés en 1945.Le Premier ministre britannique, Keir Starmer, s’est joint par téléphone à une conférence de presse dans le Bureau ovale, et a lui aussi salué un “jour historique”.Concernant les détails, Donald Trump a assuré que le Royaume-Uni allait s’ouvrir davantage aux produits américains, pour “plusieurs milliards de dollars”, “en particulier pour le boeuf américain, l’éthanol et quasiment tous les produits que produisent nos chers agriculteurs”.Côté britannique, Keir Starmer a parlé d’un accord “extrêmement important” pour l’industrie automobile et la sidérurgie britanniques. En particulier, la taxe de 25% imposée par les Etats-Unis sur les voitures importées sera réduite à 10% pour les véhicules britanniques, selon Downing Street.Le président américain a assuré qu’il n’exagérait pas la signification de l’accord, décrivant un compromis à la portée “maximale”. – 10% maintenus -Il a toutefois précisé que la taxe plancher de 10% annoncée le 2 avril sur toutes les marchandises importées aux Etats-Unis resterait en place, jugeant qu’il s’agissant d’un taux “bas”.Le républicain, protectionniste convaincu, a lancé une guerre commerciale tous azimuts. En plus de droits de douane sectoriels, il avait annoncé début avril de lourdes surtaxes contre tous les partenaires commerciaux des Etats-Unis, qu’il a toutefois suspendues par la suite, sauf pour la Chine, dont les produits sont frappés par un taux de 145%.Donald Trump a assuré que la Chine – avec laquelle des discussions commerciales sont prévues en Suisse ce week-end – tout comme l’Union européenne voulaient passer des accords avec lui.Il a prévu que les négociations avec Pékin seraient “très substantives” et demandé que le marché chinois “s’ouvre” aux entreprises américaines.Une source du gouvernement britannique a précisé qu’il ne s’agissait pas d’un accord de libre-échange à part entière entre les deux alliés historiques, plutôt d’un “document de conditions générales” établissant des compromis, ainsi qu’un cadre pour des discussions approfondies plus tard –en particulier sur le secteur pharmaceutique.Les prestigieux constructeurs automobiles britanniques, comme Bentley, Aston Martin ou Jaguar, sont en toute première ligne, les Etats-Unis étant leur premier marché hors UE en 2024 (9 milliards de livres, 27,4% des exportations).- Sommet avec l’UE -Le Royaume-Uni, qui a regagné son autonomie commerciale depuis son départ de l’UE en 2020, a toujours pris soin d’épargner dans ses commentaires l’imprévisible président américain, tout comme il s’est gardé de menacer Washington d’une quelconque réplique à ses droits de douane.Le pays bénéficie du fait que le commerce bilatéral de biens est resté à l’équilibre en 2024, selon des statistiques officielles, le Royaume-Uni ayant importé pour 57,1 milliards de livres de produits américains, pour 59,3 milliards d’exportations.La balance commerciale penche cependant largement en faveur de Londres en matière de services, secteur pour l’instant en marge de la guerre commerciale.Si les Etats-Unis sont le deuxième partenaire commercial du Royaume-Uni, ils restent loin derrière l’UE.La ministre britannique des Finances, Rachel Reeves, a d’ailleurs récemment souligné que la relation commerciale avec Bruxelles était “sans doute encore plus importante” qu’avec les Etats-Unis.Londres accueillera le 19 mai les présidents des institutions de l’UE, premier sommet de ce type depuis le Brexit.