Prague, July 30 (IANS) The Slovak refinery Slovnaft will suspend the supplies of diesel to Ukraine if the transit of Russian oil via Ukraine to Slovakia is not resumed soon, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico has said.

Ukraine recently stopped the transit of oil from the Russian company Lukoil through the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary, having placed the company on its sanctions list in June. Slovakia’s economy ministry said earlier this month that oil deliveries from Lukoil to Slovakia via Ukraine had already dried up.

In a video message published on Facebook on Monday, Fico said that “further implementation of this senseless sanction” would only harm Ukraine, Slovakia and Hungary, Xinhua news agency reported.

“If the transit of Russian oil via Ukraine isn’t resumed in the short term, Slovnaft, which covers one-tenth of Ukrainian consumption, will discontinue the supplies of diesel to Ukraine,” he said.

In a telephone conversation on Friday, Fico proposed a technical solution to his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal to resolve the dispute, which his office said would require the participation of several countries, including Slovakia.

“On behalf of Slovakia, I repeat that we are ready. I welcome reports which confirm that relevant commercial companies are already considering how to implement this technical solution in the shortest possible time,” he said in Monday’s video message.

Also on Monday, Slovakia’s Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar said after a meeting with Hungarian Ambassador to Slovakia Csaba Balogh that the two countries have jointly called for “immediate action” from the European Commission concerning the interrupted oil supplies.

Last week, Blanar and his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto submitted a similar appeal to the European Commission, claiming that Ukraine’s decision to stop Lukoil transit to Slovakia and Hungary violated the provisions of the Association Agreement concluded between the European Union and Ukraine.

According to the Slovak minister, the European Commission has requested additional information from the relevant parties. “The Commission is postponing the issue, but the people of Slovakia and Hungary cannot wait until there is a shortage of oil and therefore fuel. It will be too late then,” he was quoted as saying by the News Agency of the Slovak Republic.

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Caracas, July 30 (IANS) Venezuela has called on the governments of Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay to withdraw their diplomatic staff accredited in the country.

The measure, announced in an official statement released by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry on Monday, also calls for withdrawing Venezuelan diplomatic staff accredited in those nations, Xinhua news agency reported.

Venezuela has accused the governments of those seven countries of “interference” in its internal affairs, especially the presidential elections held on Sunday that saw President Nicolas Maduro reelected to a third six-year term.

Those countries are “subordinated to Washington and committed to … ideological postulates of international fascism”, according to the statement.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council on Monday declared Maduro the winner of Sunday’s presidential elections.

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London, July 30 (IANS) Two children are confirmed dead in a knife attack on Monday in Southport, Merseyside, in northwest England, according to local police.

Nine other people have been injured, six of whom are in critical condition, Chief Constable Serena Kennedy was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

It is understood that the children were attending classes at the “Taylor Swift Yoga and Dance Workshop” for minors aged seven to 11 when the attacker entered. Among the injured are two adults who were intervening in the attack. “We believe that the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked,” the police said.

A 17-year-old boy from Banks in Lancashire has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

The motivation behind the attack remains unclear as the investigation is still in its early stages, the police said.

Police declared the stabbing a “major incident,” adding that it is not being treated as terror-related at this time.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the attack is “truly awful” and the “whole country is deeply shocked.”

The knife attack was reported at around 11:50 a.m. in a property on Hart Street, Merseyside Police said in a statement earlier on Monday.

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United Nations, July 30 (IANS) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “calm and restraint” as students resumed their protests that were suspended last week, according to his Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

Guterres “remains deeply concerned about the situation in Bangladesh”, Dujarric said on Monday at his daily briefing.

“He notes reports of the resumption of student protests today and reiterates his call for calm and restraint,” Dujarric said.

The UN has raised its concern with “relevant authorities, both in the capital, Dhaka, and here in New York, and we count on Bangladesh to respect and uphold human rights, including as a top troop-contributing country to United Nations peacekeeping missions”, he added.

The students had been protesting against a 30 per cent reservation in government jobs for relatives of freedom fighters who wrested independence for Bangladesh from Pakistan in a bloody civil war in which, according to Dhaka officials, 3 million people were killed in the genocide by Pakistani troops and their supporters.

After the Supreme Court slashed the reservations to 5 per cent, student leaders last week put the protests on hold.

But the demonstrations resumed on Monday because the students said that the government ignored their demand to release all their leaders.

More than 175 people, including police, have been killed and over a thousand injured in the upheaval that has shaken the nation.

Guterres is “alarmed by emerging reports about the excessive use of force by security forces and credible evidence of human rights violations” and “reiterates his call for all acts of violence to be investigated promptly, transparently, and impartially, and for those responsible to be held to account”, Dujarric said.

Last week, the UN said it had “serious concern” about reports that Bangladesh authorities had deployed vehicles with UN insignias during the riots.

Dujarric said on Monday that the UN had taken note of statements from Bangladeshi authorities that UN-marked vehicles are no longer being deployed within the country.

With 5,859 Bangladeshi troops deployed in UN peacekeeping operations, the nation is the third-largest contributor of personnel to current UN missions.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

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New York, July 30 (IANS) The Quad foreign ministers have said that they look forward to India hosting the Quad Leaders’ Summit later this year – a meeting with added symbolism because it will be one of Joe Biden’s last presidential travels abroad.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Foreign Ministers Penny Wong of Australia and Yoko Kamikawa of Japan welcomed the holding of the Quad summit in India in a joint statement after their ministerial meeting in Tokyo on Monday.

This year’s summit, which is India’s turn to host, was originally expected to be held in January, but did not happen because Biden reportedly wasn’t able to make it at that time.

White House National Security Spokesperson Advisor John Kirby confirmed last week that Biden would attend the upcoming summit in India.

“We’re still committed to there being a Quad leader summit this year, but there’s nothing on the calendar right now for it,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host the summit with the participation also of Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese of Australia and Fumio Kishida of Japan.

The timing and venue of the last summit in 2023 were also disrupted by Biden’s travel plans.

By rotation, it was scheduled to be held in Australia, but was cancelled when Biden pulled out at the last minute citing domestic compulsions as he was in the middle of negotiations with Congress on raising the government limits on borrowing.

It was later moved to Hiroshima, but with Australian Albanese acting as the host and held on the sidelines of a summit of the major industrialised countries, the G7.

Biden, who announced this month that he will not be seeking another term as president, last visited India in September for the summit of the major economies, the G20 hosted by Prime Minister Modi.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

–IANS

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