World

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping told Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday that world powers should help Russia and Ukraine restart direct negotiations during a visit to Beijing branded a "peace mission" by the European leader.

Orban's trip to China comes a day before NATO is due to hold a summit to mark its 75th anniversary, with setbacks in Ukraine expected to dominate discussions, and follows surprise visits by the Hungarian premier to Russia and Ukraine in the past week.

Orban's trip to Moscow sparked criticism from the European Union, which said it threatened to undermine the bloc's stance on the conflict, while Kyiv's foreign ministry said the visit was made "without any agreement or coordination with Ukraine".

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV quoted Xi as saying the "international community should create conditions and provide assistance for the two sides to resume direct dialogue and negotiations".

"Only when all major powers exert positive energy rather than negative energy can the dawn of a ceasefire in this conflict appear as soon as possible," Xi told Orban, according to CCTV.

CCTV said in a readout: "Xi Jinping stressed that it is in the interests of all parties to cease fire and seek a political solution as soon as possible."

"The current focus is to abide by the three principles of 'no spillover of the battlefield, no escalation of the war, and no fueling of the flames by all parties' to cool down the situation as soon as possible," it added. 

Following the talks, Orban wrote on social media platform X that China was "a key power in creating the conditions for peace" in the Russia-Ukraine war.

“This is why I came to meet with President Xi in Beijing, just two months after his official visit to Budapest,” he said. 

Orban — who said his unannounced trip to Beijing was a “Peace mission 3.0” — wrote on his Instagram page he would be heading to Washington after Beijing.

EU presidency 

Orban, the friendliest EU leader towards Moscow, held talks on Friday with President Vladimir Putin, who said Ukraine must withdraw its troops from regions that Russia has annexed if it wants peace.

Hungary took over the European Union’s rotating presidency at the start of July, and the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Orban’s trip to Russia was purely a bilateral affair and he “has not received any mandate from the EU Council to visit Moscow”.

Close to both Xi and the Kremlin, Orban has refused to send weapons to Kyiv, unlike his fellow EU leaders.

China and Russia’s strategic partnership has grown closer since the invasion of Ukraine. 

Beijing presents itself as a neutral party in the war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.

It has however offered a critical lifeline to Russia’s isolated economy, with trade booming since the conflict began.

Major investment 

Xi visited Hungary in May this year, for the final leg of a European tour that also took him to France and Serbia.

Following a meeting then with Orban, Xi said Beijing placed “great importance” on its relations with the EU.

Despite its small size, the Central European country of 9.6 million people has attracted a flood of major Chinese projects in recent years, mostly related to battery and electric vehicle manufacturing.

The Hungarian government boasted about having around 15 billion euros ($16 billion) worth of ongoing projects originating from the Asian country.

Orban has been championing an “Eastern opening” foreign policy since his return to power in 2010, seeking closer economic ties to China, Russia and other Asian countries.

Last October, the Hungarian premier was the sole EU leader to attend the summit for Xi’s flagship Belt and Road initiative in Beijing.

PARIS — French voters turned out in large numbers Sunday for the final round of a high-stakes election that is expected to leave the far-right as the biggest force in a deeply divided parliament.

By 5:00pm (15:00 GMT), according to interior ministry figures, some 59.71 per cent of voters had turned out — the most at this stage of a legislative race since 1981, with three hours of polling to go. 

President Emmanuel Macron called the snap elections three years ahead of time after his forces were trounced in June's European parliament vote, a gamble which seems to have backfired.

The mood in France is tense, with 30,000 police deployed to head off trouble and voters anxious about a potential electoral earthquake shifting the political landscape.

In the village of Rosheim, outside the eastern city of Strasbourg, an "anguished" 72-year-old Antoine Schrameck said he feared France would see "a turning point in the history of the republic".

And in Tourcoing, near the northeast city of Lille, 66-year-old retiree Laurence Abbad said she feared violence after the results are announced. “There’s so much tension, people are going mad,” she said.

The president was to assemble Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and the leaders of the parties in his outgoing centrist coalition at the Elysee Palace while voting continued, sources in his camp told AFP.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) came top in the June 30 first round, and is on course to repeat the feat in Sunday’s run-off races.

But she may not win the outright majority that would force Macron to appoint Le Pen’s lieutenant, the RN Party leader Jordan Bardella, 28, as prime minister just weeks before Paris hosts the Olympics.

A hung parliament with a large eurosceptic, anti-immigration contingent could weaken France’s international standing and threaten Western unity in the face of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.

European Union officials, already learning to deal with far-right parties in power in Italy and The Netherlands, are watching France closely. 

And in Rome, Pope Francis chose the day of the French vote to warn against “ideological temptations and populists”, adding: “Democracy is not in good health in the world today.” 

With the country on tenterhooks, last week saw more than 200 tactical-voting pacts between centre and left wing candidates in seats to attempt to prevent the RN winning an absolute majority.

This has been hailed as a return of the anti-far right “Republican Front” first summoned when Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie faced Jacques Chirac in the run-off of 2002 presidential elections.

Opinion polls now forecast that the RN will fall well short of the 289 seats needed for an outright majority in the 577-seat National Assembly, while still becoming the largest party.

‘Catastrophic’ 

Such an outcome could allow Macron to possibly build a broad coalition against the RN and keep Attal as prime minister on a caretaker basis. 

But it could also herald a long period of paralysed politics in France, as it prepares to host the Olympics from July 26.

“Today the danger is a majority dominated by the extreme right and that would be catastrophic,” Attal said in a final pre-election interview with French television on Friday.

Many in France remain baffled over why Macron called an election that could end with the RN doubling its presence in parliament and his contingent of centrist MPs halving in number.

But the president, known for his theatrical gestures, appears intent on executing what he calls a “clarification” of French politics, which he hopes will eventually leave three clear camps of far right, centre and hard left.

The final opinion polls published by two organisations on Friday projected the RN would win between 170 to 210 seats, followed by the New Popular Front (NFP) broad left-wing coalition on 145 to 185 and Macron’s centrists on 118 to 150.

While Macron’s Ensemble (Together) alliance is forecast to come third, the more successful NFP is a fragile mix of several warring factions ranging from traditional Socialists to the hard-left France Unbowed of firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon.

‘Weaken France’s voice’ 

“France is on the cusp of a seismic political shift,” said analysts at the European Council on Foreign Relations, warning that even if Macron controlled the government after the election he would face “legislative gridlocks”.

This would weaken “France’s voice on the European and international stage”.

After voting began on Saturday in France’s overseas territories, polls opened in mainland France at 06:00 GMT and were due to close by 18:00 GMT. 

Projections — which usually give a very close idea of the final outcome — are published shortly afterwards, with the political leaders then reacting rapidly to any frenzy that grips the nation.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis decried the state of democracy and warned against "populists" during a short visit to Trieste in Italy's northeast on Sunday ahead of a 12-day trip to Asia — the longest of his papacy.

"Democracy is not in good health in the world today," Francis said during a speech at the city's convention centre to close a national Catholic event.

Without naming any countries, the pope warned against "ideological temptations and populists" on the day that France holds the second round of a snap parliamentary vote that looks set to see the far-right National Rally (RN) Party take the largest share of the vote.

"Ideologies are seductive. Some people compare them to the Pied Piper of Hamelin: They seduce but lead you to deny yourself," he said in reference to the German fairytale.

"The culture of rejection creates a city where there is no place for the poor, the unborn, the fragile, the sick, children, women, the young," he regretted, urging facilitation of social participation from childhood.

Ahead of last month's European parliament elections, bishops in several countries also warned about the rise of populism and nationalism, with far-right parties already holding the reins to power in Italy, Hungary and the Netherlands.

Francis also urged people to "move away from polarisations that impoverish" and hit out at "self-referential power".

After Venice in April and Verona in May, the half-day trip to Trieste, a city of 200,000 inhabitants on the Adriatic Sea that borders Slovenia, marked the third one within Italy this year for the 87-year-old pontiff, who has suffered increasing health problems in recent years.

Since travelling to the French city of Marseille in September 2023, the Argentine Jesuit has limited himself to domestic travel.

But he plans to spend nearly two weeks in Asia in September visiting Indonesia, Singapore and the islands of Papua New Guinea and East Timor.

He arrived in Trieste shortly before 9:00am (06:00 GMT) and embarked on meetings with various groups from the religious and academic spheres, along with migrants and the disabled.

Pope Francis concluded his visit with a mass in front of some 8,500 worshippers in the city’s main public square before heading back to the Vatican in the early afternoon.

WASHINGTON — NATO's 75th anniversary summit was meant to showcase the triumph of a larger, stronger alliance. Instead, leaders are coming together in Washington in the shadow of setbacks in Ukraine and electoral headwinds on both sides of the Atlantic.

US President Joe Biden, fighting for his political life after a disastrous debate against NATO skeptic Donald Trump, will turn his attention away from campaigning to welcome leaders of the 32-nation transatlantic alliance for three days from Tuesday.

Biden has also invited the leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, a sign of NATO's growing role in Asia in the face of a rising China.

But the star of the summit is set to be Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is looking for firm signs of support although NATO will not be extending his country an invitation to join.

Founded in 1949 to provide collective defense against the Soviet Union, NATO returned in some ways to its original mission when allies rallied to Ukraine's defense after it was invaded by Russia in 2022.

Ukrainians heartened most of the West by repelling Russia in its push for a quick victory. But Moscow's troops have been grinding on, making advances in the east.

A European official acknowledged the mood ahead of the NATO summit has become "gloomy" with Ukraine slipping on a fragile frontline.

"This summit will be very different from the initial plans because it is happening at a critical juncture for European security," the official said on condition of anonymity. 

"Russia is today in a situation which is quite comfortable. They think they can simply wait it out," he said.

Trump casts shadow 

Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the summit comes at "the best of times, and the worst of times".

“The best of times, in the sense that the alliance knows what it’s about — deterring Russia. Alliance members are spending more,” he said.

“But it’s also sort of the worst of times — obviously because of the war in Ukraine, challenges of ramping up European defense spending, concerns about the reliability of the United States.”

Trump, who has voiced admiration in the past for Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, has long criticised NATO as an unfair burden on the United States, which spends far more than any other ally.

The 2024 Republican presidential candidate — whose first term was marked by an impeachment over his strong-arming of Zelensky — has insisted he can stop the war, with his advisors floating the possibility of conditioning future US assistance on Ukraine entering negotiations to surrender territory.

Trump has enjoyed a narrow lead against Biden in recent polls. Meanwhile France — where President Emmanuel Macron has mulled sending troops to Ukraine — is also facing a political shift with the strong gains in legislative elections by the far-right, which is historically close to Russia.

Those setbacks come as Putin recently hosted Viktor Orban, the Russia-friendly prime minister of Hungary, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

The NATO summit is also expected to mark a diplomatic debut for a new leader — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, after his Labour Party’s landslide election victory. 

Finding a path 

for Ukraine 

NATO’s outgoing secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, has led efforts to put the alliance itself, not the United States, in the lead in coordinating military assistance for Ukraine.

Stoltenberg also wants allies to commit to provide at least 40 billion euros ($43 billion) per year in military aid to Ukraine, ensuring reliable and consistent support as Kyiv prepares for a long war against Russia.

Diplomats have dubbed such measures as “Trump-proofing” the alliance, although few believe that NATO or support for Ukraine could endure in the same way without the United States, which under Biden has approved $175 billion for Kyiv in military and other assistance.

The summit also comes on the heels of two more nations joining NATO — Finland and Sweden — which both overcame earlier reluctance to formally enter the alliance after witnessing the invasion of Ukraine, which had unsuccessfully sought membership.

Diplomats say that the United States is eager to stage a smooth, drama-free meeting and avoid the bitter recriminations at NATO’s summit last year in Lithuania, where Zelensky failed to win firmer commitments for Ukraine to join the alliance.

Ukrainian officials acknowledge there is no chance of a change of heart in Washington. Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have led opposition to Ukrainian membership, believing that admitting a country already at war would be tantamount to NATO itself confronting nuclear-armed Russia.

Biden instead has reached a 10-year security agreement with Ukraine, with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin saying the United States will soon announce $2.3 billion in new military assistance.

WASHINGTON — Joe Biden's presidential reelection bid hung in the balance Saturday, after efforts to put a disastrous debate showing behind him failed to silence voices urging that he quit the White House race.

In what had been billed as a make-or-break TV interview on Friday, Biden's strategy was to flatly deny the falling poll numbers and concerns over his mental and physical fitness triggered by his dismal performance against rival Donald Trump.

He blamed a severe cold for the debate debacle and insisted it was just a "bad night" rather than evidence of increasing frailty and cognitive decline.

And the 81-year-old was adamant that he would not be pressured to end his campaign.

"If the Lord Almighty came down and said, 'Joe, get out of the race,' I'd get out of the race," he said. "But the Lord Almighty is not coming down."

Calls for less divine intervention do, however, appear to be strengthening.

Internal dissent 

Murmurs of dissent within his own Democratic party have — in the case of five individual House representatives — morphed into direct calls to quit, and a number of key donors have threatened to cut off funding if Biden insists on staying the course.

"I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump," Angie Craig, the latest House Democrat to break ranks, said Saturday.

The House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, has scheduled a virtual meeting of senior Democrat representatives for Sunday to discuss the best way forward, and Democrat Senator Mark Warner is reportedly working to convene a similar forum in the upper house.

Biden's campaign team is pushing ahead regardless, with an event planned in Pennsylvania on Sunday and visits to other battleground states later in the month.

At a rally in Wisconsin before Friday's interview, Biden had delivered a forceful, energetic stump speech, unequivocally declaring, "I'm staying in the race. I'll beat Donald Trump."

Then came the sit-down with the ABC network that appeared unlikely to soothe the concerns of critics who say that — away from a teleprompter — Biden can struggle to communicate.

Some of his answers ere tentative, meandering and difficult to follow, even as he sought to deflect questions about his mental acuity and dismissed the notion that his party would consider replacing him.

Out of touch? 

Democratic strategist David Axelrod suggested Biden was engaged in a form of denial.

“The president is rightfully proud of his record. But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacities moving forward and his standing in this race,” Axelrod posted on X after the interview aired.

For now, Democrats are largely keeping a lid on any simmering discontent with their leader — at least in public.

But with election day just four months away, any move to replace Biden as nominee would need to be made sooner rather than later, and the meetings of top Congressional Democrats in coming days will be scrutinized for any signs of more open rebellion.

Meanwhile, for Biden and his campaign team, the strategy seems to be to ride it out.

His next major test will be a press conference scheduled for Thursday during the NATO leaders’ summit in Washington.

When pressed in the ABC interview on why he doesn’t take an independent neurological exam, Biden argued that the role of US president meant being subjected to constant mental assessment.

“I have a cognitive test every single day,” he said. “Not only am I campaigning, I’m running the world.” 

LONDON — Newly elected UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday began his first full day in charge with a meeting of his Cabinet after his Labour party's landslide election win ended 14 years of Conservative rule.

Starmer held the first meeting of his top team with Britain's first woman finance minister Rachel Reeves and new foreign minister David Lammy in attendance.

The Labour leader told his ministers they had "a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work".

Starmer spent his first hours in Downing Street on Friday appointing his ministerial team, hours after securing his centre-left party's return to power with a whopping 174-seat majority in the UK parliament.

"The work of change begins immediately," Starmer said on Friday shortly after being confirmed as prime minister by King Charles III as flag-waving crowds of cheering Labour activists welcomed him to Downing Street.

“But have no doubt, we will rebuild Britain,” he added.

Reiterating his five key “missions” for government in his maiden speech, the 61-year-old vowed to put the state-run National Health Service “back on its feet”, ensure “secure borders” and provide safer streets.

But daunting challenges await his government, including a stagnating economy, creaking public services and households suffering from a years-long cost-of-living crisis.

“Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. The world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while,” Starmer said.

 ‘Historic’ result 

World leaders lined up to congratulate the new British leader. 

Starmer spoke by telephone with US President Joe Biden and “discussed their shared commitment to the special relationship between the UK and US and their aligned ambitions for greater economic growth”, according to London.

He also spoke to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

However, former -- and potentially future -- US president Donald Trump ignored Starmer, instead hailing the electoral breakthrough of his ally Nigel Farage’s far-right Reform UK party.

Its capture of five seats and around 14 percent of the vote, alongside Farage becoming an MP on his eighth attempt, was one of the stories of the election.

But it paled in comparison to Labour’s triumphs, after the party neared its record of 418 seats under ex-leader Tony Blair in 1997 by winning 412.

The Conservatives suffered their worst-ever defeat, capturing just 121 constituencies, prompting Rishi Sunak to apologise to the nation and confirm that he will resign as Tory leader once a successor is selected.

Former leader William Hague, a Sunak mentor who represented the same northern English constituency until 2015, conceded it was “a catastrophic result in historic terms”.

A record 12 senior ex-government ministers lost their seats, alongside former prime minister Liz Truss, whose economically calamitous short-lived tenure in 2022 wounded the party irreparably ahead of the election.

It is now poised for another period of infighting between a moderate wing eager for a centrist leader and those who may be willing to court Farage as a new leader.

 ‘Challenges’ 

The election also saw the centrist Liberal Democrats make their biggest gains in around a century, claiming more than 70 seats to become the third largest party in parliament.

But it was a dismal contest for the pro-independence Scottish National Party, which was virtually obliterated in Scotland. It dropped from 48 seats to just nine, with one still to declare early on Saturday.

The Green Party had its best general election, quadrupling its MPs count to four.

Meanwhile, an unprecedented six independent lawmakers were elected -- four of them defeating Labour candidates in districts with large Muslim populations and campaigns centred around the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Delight within Labour at its seats landslide will be restrained by recognition that it only secured around 34 percent of the vote -- the lowest ever to secure a majority.

Meanwhile turnout, at just below 60 percent, was the lowest since 2001, suggesting widespread apathy.

“While this shouldn’t overshadow Labour’s victory today, it may point to some challenges Labour may face,” Chris Hopkins, political research director at the pollster Savanta, said of those factors.

“Simply put, they likely won’t be able to return 400-plus MPs [in the] next election with less than 40 per cent of the vote.”