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BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage in peace talks with Ukraine, in the first call between the leaders in almost two years.

In the call, Scholz "condemned Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and called on President Putin to end it and withdraw troops", the chancellor's spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said.

The German leader "urged Russia to show willingness to negotiate with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace", Hebestreit added in a statement.

Scholz also stressed "Germany's unwavering determination to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression for as long as necessary".

The call comes at a crucial juncture in the war. Ukrainian troops are coming under pressure and the election of Donald Trump in the United States has cast doubt over Washington's continued support for Kyiv.

The call between the two leaders was the first time they have been in contact since December 2022. The conversation lasted "for an hour", a German government source told AFP.

Scholz "particularly condemned the Russian air strikes against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine", said a government source.

"He made it clear that sending North Korean soldiers to Russia for combat missions against Ukraine would lead to a serious escalation and expansion of the conflict," the source added.

The Kremlin, in its readout of the conversation, said the two leaders had had a "frank exchange of views", adding that the call had been initiated by Germany.

"Possible agreements should take into account the security interests of the Russian Federation, proceed from the new territorial realities and, most importantly, address the root causes of the conflict," the Kremlin added.

- Limited contact -

Before picking up the phone to Putin, Scholz spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Hebestreit said. 

The German and Ukrainian leaders spoke "beforehand and will do so again after the conversation with the Russian president", the spokesman said.

Launched in February 2022, Russia's full-scale of invasion of Ukraine is headed into its third winter, with Kyiv's troops increasingly on the back foot. 

Germany has been one of Ukraine's biggest military supporters, second only to the United States in the aid it has sent to Kyiv. 

But the election of Trump, who criticised aid to Ukraine on the campaign trail, has called into question Washington's continued support.

Scholz's December 2022 call with Putin was the last known phone call between the Kremlin chief and the leader of a major Western country.

Putin has not spoken to most NATO and Western leaders since 2022, when the EU and the US imposed massive sanctions on Russia for launching its shock Ukraine offensive.

Within the NATO bloc, Putin maintains contact with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- who is critical of Western policy on Russia -- and with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Putin has not met other Western leaders in person since days before launching the offensive in February 2022, when a flurry of Western officials visited Moscow in a bid to deter the Kremlin chief from attacking Ukraine.

He will skip a meeting of G20 leaders in Brazil next week, which Scholz will attend, on the grounds that his presence would "wreck" the gathering.

Putin denied an International Criminal Court warrant out against him, for Russia's actions in Ukraine, was a factor in his decision to steer clear of the summit, where Moscow will be represented by Russia's foreign minister.

The German and Russian leaders "agreed to remain in contact", the German government source added.

THE HAGUE — The Netherlands' right-wing government averted collapse on Friday after a junior minister resigned over alleged racist comments by cabinet colleagues related to last week's attacks on Israeli football fans.

Deputy Finance Minister Nora Achahbar handed in her resignation late Friday, setting in motion crisis talks between leaders of the four-party Dutch coalition government. 

Achahbar decided to exit the government after a heated cabinet meeting discussing the violence that flared on the streets of Amsterdam after a football match between local club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

"The polarising interactions of the past weeks made such an impact on me that I am no longer able to effectively carry out my duties as deputy minister," Achahbar said in her resignation letter to parliament.

Her departure prompted speculation that other members of her New Social Contract (NSC) party would follow, with the acting party leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven saying before emergency meetings that "we will see" about continuing in the ruling coalition.

After a five-hour scramble, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced late Friday that the coalition was intact, and his not-yet-five-month-old government had survived.

"Nora Achahbar has decided not to continue as deputy minister," the premier said after the coalition leaders' talks at his official residence in The Hague.

"We have as a cabinet decided that we have the confidence to continue together."

Addressing "the incidents in Amsterdam last week", Schoof said: "There is a lot of upheaval in the country. It was an emotional week, a heavy week and a lot has been said and a lot happened."

But he added: "There has never been any racism in my government or in the coalition parties."

 'Racist statements' 

The Netherlands is grappling with the political fallout of what Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema called a "poisonous cocktail of anti-Semitism and hooliganism".

In attacks that sparked outrage around the world, Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were briefly hospitalised after coming under assault following a match with the local Ajax team on November 7.

Prime Minister Schoof described the attackers as men "with a migration background", while far-right leader Geert Wilders claimed that the perpetrators were "all Muslims" and "for the most part Moroccans".

Dutch authorities have however reported that Maccabi fans set fire to a Palestinian flag before the match, chanted anti-Arab slurs and vandalised a taxi.

On Monday, during a cabinet meeting to discuss the violence, "things reportedly got heated, and in Achahbar's opinion racist statements were made," the NOS public broadcaster reported.

"Achahbar reportedly indicated then that she, as a minister, had objections to certain language used by her colleagues," NOS added.

Achahbar's exit threw into question whether the fragile coalition could retain the numbers needed to govern. 

Wilders's anti-immigration Freedom Party (PVV) won the most seats in Dutch elections a year ago, but shares power with the centre-right NSC, the Liberal Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), and the agriculture-friendly Citizen-Farmer Movement (BBB). 

The coalition would lose its majority if the NSC pulled out.

'Hard action' 

During a debate on Wednesday, Wilders further exacerbated tensions by calling for the attackers of the Israeli football fans to be prosecuted "for terrorism".

Premier Schoof has promised "hard action" against those guilty.

Many opposition politicians and commentators have meanwhile stressed that although anti-Semitism is abhorrent, the violence in Amsterdam was not one-sided.

Police have launched a massive probe into the incident which Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel said was "racing ahead", although much remained unclear about the night's events.

The violence took place against the backdrop of an increasingly polarised Europe, with heightened tensions following a rise in anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli and Islamophobic attacks since the start of the war in Gaza.

The Dutch government late Thursday said it needed "more time" to flesh out a strategy to fight anti-Semitism.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Hundreds of protesters marched in support of Palestinians in Rio on Saturday, in a demonstration aimed at world leaders about to converge on the city for a G20 summit.

The march, held peacefully under constant rain along Copacabana Beach, was watched by dozens of police and soldiers deployed as security for the summit to be held Monday and Tuesday.

The meeting will see heads of state and government, including US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, discuss coordination on international issues.

The Rio protesters, a few wearing Arabic keffiyeh scarves, held aloft the Palestinian flag and banners, including one reading "Break Brazil-Israel Relations" and demands that Israeli allies stop financing its military offensives in Gaza and in Lebanon.

"We're here to make a contrast with the G20 summit," said Tania Arantes, 60, from one of the Brazilian unions organizing the protest.

She said the march embraced a number of other leftist issues too, such as climate change, the fight against poverty and a demand to tax the super-rich, because the leaders at the summit "have economic control over nations they believe are subordinate in this globalized world."

One marcher, Giancarlo Pereira, a 43-year-old veterinarian, said the multiple leftist issues converged with the Palestinian cause "because the big companies fueling the war (being conducted by Israel in Gaza) are the billionaires of the world."

A short distance along Copacabana Beach, another protest was being staged with activists placing rows of plates with red crosses on them in the sand.

The 733 plates laid out represented the 733 million people in the world the UN says suffered from hunger last year.

Another demonstration was to take place in Rio later Saturday organized by a Brazilian Indigenous umbrella group, the Articulation of Indigenous People of Brazil, to underline a perceived lack of effort by rich countries to combat climate change.

The various protests were taking place as activists, NGOs and civil society bodies took part in a pre-summit G20 Social event in Rio promoted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Lula was to receive a list of action points drawn up by that event to help inform summit discussions on Monday and Tuesday.

Headline talks to take place at the summit include an initiative by Lula for a Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, and international efforts to mitigate global warming.

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian infantry managed briefly to re-enter the formerly occupied eastern Ukrainian town of Kupiansk before being beaten back by Kyiv's army, local authorities told AFP on Thursday.

The advances on the town in the eastern Kharkiv region that had a pre-war population of around 27,000 people, come as Ukrainian forces are steadily losing territory across the sprawling front.

The head of the Kupiansk military administration said the Russian assaults one day earlier as "very difficult" but said the Russian troops retreated and the situation was again under control.

The official, Andriy Besedin, said that Russian infantry had "partially entered" Kupiansk before "they were destroyed".

"The vehicles were destroyed on the way in," he added.

The military in Kyiv said separately that Kupiansk was "fully" under Ukrainian control.

Russian forces gained control of Kupiansk just days after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when the then-mayor of the town ceded control to Russia.

Ukraine recaptured it in September the same year as part of a lightning offensive that saw them regain large swathes of the Kharkiv region.

In recent months, Ukrainian authorities have issued several mandatory evacuation orders for civilians as Russian troops again close in on Kupiansk and the surrounding territory.

"Since September 2022, the enemy has been trying to recapture the town and the community, and they have been unsuccessful," Besedin said, voicing confidence that Ukrainian forces would hold Kupiansk.

Besedin told AFP on Thursday that at the moment there are around 4,000 civilians still still in Kupiansk and the surrounding vicinity.

BRUSSELS — US top diplomat Antony Blinken warned Wednesday that the deployment of North Korean troops alongside Russian forces on the Ukrainian border demanded a "firm response", during talks with top EU and NATO officials.

The secretary of state was in Brussels to confer with Washington's allies on ramping up support for Kyiv before Donald Trump reclaims the White House, potentially jeopardising future aid.

Addressing reporters alongside NATO chief Mark Rutte, Blinken said they had discussed the entry of Pyongyang's forces "into the battle, and now, quite literally, in combat — which demands and will get a firm response".

The US State Department confirmed Tuesday that thousands of North Korean troops have begun "engaging in combat operations" alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region, near the border with Ukraine.

Blinken called it "a profound and incredibly dangerous development", without specifying what form a US response might take.

Rutte meanwhile stressed the crucial role played by China in helping Russia's "war effort", as well as by Iranian weapons deliveries — paid for with Russian funds that were in turn helping Tehran to "destabilis the Middle East".

Blinken's trip came as Trump's election victory, coupled with a political crisis in Germany, heightens fears about the future of assistance for Ukraine at a key point in the fight against Russia's invasion.

The secretary of state told reporters President Joe Biden was "committed to making sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and January 20”, when Trump takes office.

But he also reiterated the call for Washington's allies to step up.

"We're counting on European partners and others to strongly support Ukraine's mobilisation," Blinken said, calling for more artillery, more air defences, more munitions as well as training for Kyiv's forces.

'More of the same'

Blinken took part in a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, NATO's decision-making body, before talks with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga, who urged allies to "speed up all critical decisions”.

"Ukraine's defence cannot be put on hold," Sybiga warned.

The secretary of state also held talks with the European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell and his successor Kaja Kallas, a Russia hawk who is to take over a few weeks from now.

At her confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Kallas said the bloc must support Ukraine "for as long as it takes, and with as much military, financial and humanitarian help as needed".

Trump has in the past voiced admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and scoffed at the $175 billion the United States has committed for Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022.

US media have reported Trump's pick for secretary of state may be Senator Marco Rubio, who has argued Washington should show "pragmatism" in its support as the war hits a "stalemate".

The Biden administration has made clear it plans in its remaining weeks to push through the more than $9 billion of remaining funding appropriated by Congress for weapons and other security assistance to Ukraine.

But despite Kyiv's pleas it seems unlikely Washington will lift its veto on Ukraine's use of long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory and Blinken did not tackle the issue in Brussels.

"Basically it was to do more of the same but more aggressively" for the remainder of Biden's term, was how one NATO diplomat summed up the US goals, as laid out by Blinken.

Trump in his first term aggressively pushed Europe to step up defence spending and questioned the fairness of the NATO transatlantic alliance, robustly defended by Biden.

"Whatever approach the US leadership takes towards Ukraine, Europe will have to step up, and we will have to take the lead in supporting Ukraine's defence efforts and macro financial stability," said Olena Prokopenko of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

BAKU — Global leaders offered competing visions on how to tackle climate change at UN-led talks on Wednesday as a new report warned that the world must reach carbon neutrality much sooner than planned.

Planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from oil, gas and coal rose to record highs this year, according to preliminary research from an international network of scientists at the Global Carbon Project.

The report came as leaders gathered in Azerbaijan for COP29 climate talks aimed at reaching a deal to boost funding for poorer nations so they can adapt to climate shocks and transition to cleaner energy.

The research found that to meet the Paris agreement's ambitious goal of limiting warming to 1.5ºC, the world now needs to reach net-zero CO2 emissions by the late 2030s, instead of 2050.

"This is what the presidency has been promoting since the beginning of this year, the time window is narrowing, shrinking, and we need to act urgently," Yalchin Rafiyev, Azerbaijan's lead negotiator for COP29, told AFP.

"There are still possibilities for keeping 1.5ºC within reach", and striking a deal on climate finance "will definitely pave the way for us to realise this opportunity".

The warning comes with growing concern about the future of global climate action after the election of Donald Trump, who has vowed to again pull the United States out of the Paris agreement after taking over the presidency in January.

Some leaders in Baku defended fossil fuels during two days of speeches, while others from countries plagued by climate disasters warned that they were running out of time.

Some of the strongest words came from Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who complained that "our speeches full of good words about climate change, change nothing".

Rama skewered the many leaders who skipped this year's event, saying their absences added "insult to injury".

'Slower' path

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, meanwhile, urged a "realistic global outlook" that did not prioritise decarbonisation over "our production and social system's sustainability".

"We must protect nature, with man at its core. An approach that is too ideological and not pragmatic on this matter risks taking us off the road to success," the far-right leader said.

"Currently, there is no single alternative to fossil fuel supply."

And Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned that countries "cannot drive ourselves into industrial oblivion".

Those views stood in sharp contrast to the line from countries beset by climate catastrophes and rising sea levels.

Tuvalu's Prime Minister Feleti Penitala Teo insisted that for Pacific island nations like his, "there is simply no time to waste".

He urged countries to "deliver a clear signal that the world is promptly phasing out fossil fuel".

Money fight

As leaders spoke, negotiators released a fresh draft deal on finance that includes a raft of options to raise funding but leaves unresolved sticking points that have long delayed an agreement.

Most developing countries favour an annual commitment from wealthy countries of at least $1.3 trillion.

This figure is more than 10 times the $100 billion annually that a small pool of developed countries, among them the US, the EU and Japan, currently pay.

Some donors are reluctant to promise large new amounts of public money from their budgets at a time when they face economic and political pressure at home.

They want instead to promise private sector mobilisation, an option NGOs describe as "wishful thinking".

"They always like to look at the private sector as the magic money tree," said Debbie Hillier, global climate policy lead for Mercy Corps.

US climate envoy John Podesta said a deal should include "new contributors", code for China, which is not labelled a developed nation despite being the world's second largest economy and largest polluter.

Already buried under debt, developing countries want new aid in the form of grants instead of loans.

Philip Davis, the prime minister of the Bahamas, which is vulnerable to hurricanes, said that small island nations have spent 18 times more on debt repayment than they have received in climate finance.

"The world has found the ability to finance wars, the ability to mobilise against pandemics," Davis said.

"Yet when it comes to addressing the most profound crisis of our time, the very survival of nations, where is that same ability?"

KYIV, Ukraine — A majority of Ukrainians oppose ceding any land captured by Russia in exchange for peace, even as their army is on the blackfoot against advancing Russian forces, a survey said on Tuesday.

The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology carried out the survey a month before the election of Donald Trump, whose victory rekindled fears Washington may force Ukraine into giving up land.

"As of the beginning of October 2024, despite all the difficult circumstances, the majority of Ukrainians -- 58 per cent -- opposed any territorial concessions," the survey said.

Kyiv, outgunned and outmanned by Moscow, has struggled to hold back steady advances from Russian forces in the eastern Donetsk region for weeks.

On the diplomatic front, it has contended with war fatigue from some Western allies, including from its main backer the United States, where the presidential elections revived debates over aid to Ukraine.

President-elect Trump has claimed he would end the fighting within 24 hours, without giving details how, while his running mate JD Vance has advocated freezing combat along current lines.

But the military and diplomatic setbacks had little effect on the polls, which showed that "between May and the beginning of October 2024, the situation actually did not change -- currently 32 per cent are ready for territorial concessions."

That number has tripled since the beginning of the war, when 10 per cent were in favour of giving up some territory.

Moscow has repeated demands that Ukraine cede the territory occupied by Russian as a precondition to peace talks, a demand ruled out by Kyiv.

While a majority of Ukrainians answered 'no' when asked if they would approve generic territorial concessions, the numbers varied when pollsters asked if giving up some regions would be difficult, but acceptable.

Around 46 per cent of Ukrainians would be ready to accept giving up Donbas and Crimea, the poll said, with 39 per cent of them saying that compromise would be difficult.

Donbas is an eastern region encompassing Donetsk and Lugansk, currently mostly occupied by Russian forces, while Crimea is a peninsula that Russia occupied in 2014 and later annexed.

This summer, Ukraine launched an offensive and seized part of Russian territory, which it hopes could improve its position if it was forced to negotiate.