Ukrainian President 'disappointed' with the West; Russian, Chinese leaders to 'reunite' soon; Israel-Hamas unexpectedly speak with one voice

A thorny term of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the situation in the Gaza Strip, Vladimir Putin about to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping again, Iran sets election date... are some of the outstanding international events in the past 24 hours.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has entered a difficult five-year term as leader of the Eastern European country. (Source: Office of the President of Ukraine)

Europe

* Ukraine 'disappointed' with Western aid provision: On May 20, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Western allies of taking too long to make important decisions on military assistance to Ukraine.

Describing the provision of Western aid as "disappointing", especially air defence systems such as the Patriot system that Ukraine relies heavily on in its conflict with Russia, Mr Zelensky called it "a big step forward, but before that, two steps back".

President Zelensky proposed ways in which allies could help more directly, including shooting down Russian missiles on Ukrainian territory in certain cases, and said Kiev needs at least 120, 130 aircraft to resist in the sky, mentioning F-16s.

The Ukrainian leader also said Kiev was negotiating with international partners to use their weapons to attack Russian military assets on the border and further inside Russian territory. (Reuters)

* Europe and the United States have completely failed in their strategy on Ukraine , according to Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, on May 21.

The conflict in Ukraine is nowhere near ending, and sanctions have had a serious impact on the European economy, while Western European countries that “are very proud of being free of Russian energy sources” are actually buying it indirectly, for example through oil supplies from India, Szijjarto said. (Prensa Latina)

* On May 20, 2022, the fifth anniversary of Zelensky's thorny term as President of Ukraine , the leader admitted that the country's military is going through "one of the most difficult times" since the conflict with Russia broke out on February 24, 2022.

Currently, Ukraine has not held a new presidential election due to martial law.

However, UN Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: “For us, Mr. Zelensky remains the President of Ukraine and the UN Secretary-General's point of contact when he needs to contact the Ukrainian leader.” (Topwar)

* UNHCR concerned about decreasing international attention to Ukraine: On May 20, the Representative in Ukraine of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Karolina Lindholm Billing said that humanitarian aid to Ukraine is decreasing again, while the situation is getting worse, with about 4 million people displaced.

The UN's 2024 humanitarian plan for Kiev amounts to $3.1 billion this year, including $599 million for UNHCR, but in the first quarter it was only about 15 percent funded, less than half the level of the same period last year.

As the conflict becomes a “long-distance race”, Karolina Lindholm Billing added: “Cash assistance, in-kind humanitarian aid, help with shelter, home repairs, and psychosocial support are now less available and less predictable.” (UNHCR)

* The UN Security Council vetoed Russia's draft resolution on preventing an arms race in space at its meeting on May 20. Seven countries supported, seven countries opposed and one country abstained.

Responding to this, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya stated that Western member states of the Security Council have prevented the organization from making a balanced and appropriate decision to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes only.

Mr. Nebenzya warned that the West's militarization of space would require Russia's analysis and response, but the country would remain committed to fulfilling its obligations under international law and, together with responsible UN member states, would continue to make every effort to maintain peace in space.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on May 21 that the US "once again demonstrated that its real priority in the space sector is not to keep space free of any weapons, but to deploy weapons in space." (AFP)

* Poland arrested nine people for domestic sabotage, according to an announcement by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, on the evening of May 20 (local time).

The acts of sabotage included destruction and arson, affecting not only Poland but also neighboring countries such as Lithuania, Latvia and possibly Sweden. (Reuters)

* The President of Slovakia canceled a meeting with political parties in the National Assembly on May 21 due to a lack of consensus among the parties.

The meeting was planned to calm the situation and eliminate violence in Slovak society following the assassination of Prime Minister Robert Fico on May 15.

Commenting on the issue, the Freedom and Solidarity Party (SaS) said that the cancellation of the roundtable was evidence that some Slovak politicians "have not yet overcome their own shadow". (TASR)

Asia-Pacific

* The leaders of Russia and China will meet again in July in Kazakhstan, according to information given by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on May 20, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

This will be the second meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in just two months, after the two leaders met in Beijing on May 16 and pledged to strengthen political, diplomatic, economic and military ties amid growing pressure from the West.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China and Russia need to strengthen mutual support and step up joint efforts to ensure stability in the common region, stressing that a closely-knit SCO “not only meets the common interests of member states, but also conforms to the trend of multipolarity in the world.”

The two countries' top diplomats also exchanged views on "a number of pressing issues, including the Middle East peace process, developments in the Red Sea region and the situation on the Korean Peninsula." (SCMP)

* South Korea and Japan agree to cooperate on cybersecurity: On May 21, South Korean National Police Chief Yoon Hee-keun and his Japanese counterpart Yasuhiro Tsuyuki met in Tokyo and agreed to strengthen cooperation to curb the rise of security issues and cybercrimes, including cyber "terrorism" from North Korea.

The two sides also discussed preparing specific measures at the police agency level to support the high-level cyber advisory group, which Seoul, Tokyo and Washington agreed to establish last year to counter threats from Pyongyang. (Yonhap)

* Australia seeks to boost cooperation in Indian Ocean: This week, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will visit Bangladesh and Singapore to boost Canberra's ties and interests in the Indian Ocean region.

Australia wants to strengthen cooperation with Bangladesh on trade and investment, while finding practical solutions to shared challenges such as climate change, regional maritime security and people trafficking.

Meanwhile, Canberra will seek economic and security cooperation, as well as close ties with Singaporean partners on common regional challenges.

May 20, Canberra also opened the new headquarters of the Australia-India Relations Centre in Parramatta and launched a number of bilateral cooperation initiatives, including consultations on the future economic roadmap for the two countries and negotiations on a new free trade agreement. (New India Abroad)

* Japan among world's top tourist destinations: On May 21, the World Economic Forum (WEF) announced a list of the world's top tourist destinations, with the US taking first place, followed by Spain and Japan.

According to the WEF's Travel and Tourism Development Report, Japan is the highest-ranked country in the Asia-Pacific region, scoring highly in natural resources, culture and transport infrastructure.

Ranked by individual criteria, Japan ranked 2nd for cultural resources such as archaeological sites and recreational facilities, and 4th for ground infrastructure such as road and rail networks. However, the country scored relatively low on price competitiveness, tourism services, and infrastructure indicators.

In the overall ranking that assessed 119 countries and regions, France ranked fourth, followed by Australia in fifth place. Among other Asia-Pacific countries, China ranked eighth, Singapore (13th) and South Korea (14th). (Kyodo)

Middle East-Africa

* Mixed reactions to Israel's proposal to arrest Hamas leaders International Criminal Court (ICC).

Accordingly, both Hamas and Israel unexpectedly had the same reaction when they both objected to ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan's request to order the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders.

The US and UK also opposed the ICC's move. The US House of Representatives even warned that if the court actually ordered the arrest of the Israeli Prime Minister and Minister, Washington would consider retaliatory measures.

However, South Africa issued a statement welcoming the move by the ICC Chief Prosecutor.

Meanwhile, on May 21, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin expressed hope that the ICC would "maintain an objective and impartial stance and exercise its powers in accordance with the law."

Affirming that there is “overwhelming consensus in the international community to immediately end the war in Gaza and end the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinian people,” Mr. Uong Van Binh stressed that Beijing supports “efforts to promote a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to this issue." (Reuters, AFP)

* The Houthis shot down a US MQ9 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in al-Bayda province, southern Yemen on May 21, according to the movement's military spokesman Yahya Saree. (Reuters)

* Iran has set a date for holding a snap presidential election on June 28. Iran's Guardian Council has been asked to start registering presidential candidates by May 28.

The Guardian Council (a super-parliamentary body made up of members of the clergy) is responsible for vetting candidates for executive positions in the country's government, including the presidency of Iran.

The incident took place after the country's President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian died in a helicopter crash on May 19.

On May 21, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jajali affirmed that Tehran will not make any changes to its foreign policy following the deaths of Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian. (TASS)

* Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reshuffled his Cabinet and appointed Aisha Mohammed as the new Minister of Defense on May 20, effective May 21.

The reshuffle marks the return of Aisha Mohammed to the Ministry of Defense, where she briefly served as Ethiopia's first female defense minister in October 2018. At that time, Abiy announced that women made up 50 percent of Ethiopia's Cabinet. (THX)

America

* The US and Saudi Arabia are close to reaching a bilateral security agreement as White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan made significant progress in talks with his counterpart in Riyadh over the weekend.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the two sides were "closer than ever" to a deal that was now in the "near-final stages." (Reuters)

* Latin American countries congratulate Dominican Republic President on re-election: On May 20, the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and many Latin American countries congratulated Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader on his re-election.

After 94.39% of the votes were counted, Mr. Abinader, representative of the ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), achieved 57.18% of the votes, far surpassing his opponent Leonel Fernández (29.32%), who has held three non-consecutive presidential terms in this Caribbean country.

With more than half of the valid votes in favor, incumbent President Abinader won a decisive victory to continue leading the country for a second term without needing another round of voting. (TTXVN)

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