Europe

BRUSSELS, May 13 (Reuters) - Washington and the EU will pledge joint action to tackle concerns focused on China about non-market practices and coordinate their export controls on semiconductors and other goods at a meeting this month, a draft statement showed.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager and other senior officials are due to meet for the fourth edition of the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in Lulea, Sweden, on May 30-31.

MOSCOW, May 13 (Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Saturday that Ukrainian aircraft had struck two industrial sites in the Russian-held city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles supplied by Britain.

Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.

Britain on Thursday became the first country to say it had started supplying Kyiv with long-range cruise missiles, which will allow it to hit Russian troops and supply dumps far behind the front lines as it prepares a major counteroffensive.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Tens of thousands of people marched through the Serbian capital, Belgrade, and blocked a key bridge Friday in the second large protest since two mass shootings that rattled the Balkan country and killed 17 people, including many children.

Protesters gathered in front of the Parliament building before filing by the government’s headquarters and onto a highway bridge spanning the Sava River, where evening commuters had to turn their vehicles around to avoid getting stuck. At the head of the column was a black banner reading “Serbia Against Violence.”

12 May 2023; MEMO: The European Union has described Israel's indiscriminate bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip as "intolerable," calling on Tel Aviv to prevent civilian casualties, Anadolu news agency reported.

"The European Union is deeply concerned by the escalation of violence in recent days in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory," said European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano, at a press conference held in the Belgian capital, Brussels, Thursday.

ROME (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy arrived in Rome on Saturday for talks with Italian officials and Pope Francis, who has said the Vatican has launched a behind-the-scenes initiative to try to end the war launched last year by Russia.

“Today in Rome,″ Zelenskyy tweeted. ”I’m meeting with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister of Italy @GiorgiaMeloni and the Pope @Pontifex. An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine! ”

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: The European Union has proposed formalizing a halt of supplies of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline to Germany and Poland that refused to purchase it earlier at the national level, within the framework of the 11th package of sanctions, Bloomberg said on Friday citing documents seen by the agency.

Meanwhile, exemptions allowing flows through the southern branch of the oil pipeline, which supplies Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will remain in place.

MINSK, May 12. /TASS/: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has vowed that his country will take part in the UN Sustainable Development Summit, the presidential press service said on Friday.

"The head of state thanked the UN Secretary General [Antonio Guterres] for the invitation to the summit and assured that Belarus will actively contribute to its preparation and will take part in this important event at an appropriate level," it said.

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: The only chance of the grain deal being extended is if the Russian part of the agreement is implemented, regardless of any phone conversations that take place between the Russian and Turkish presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday.

ST. PETERSBURG, May 12. /TASS/: Russia will continue to use all available legal instruments to bring those behind the explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipelines to responsibility, but the likelihood of this happening at international court bodies is slim, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

"Naturally, we will continue to use all available legal instruments to hold those responsible accountable but the chances of doing that at international court bodies are negligible," he said at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: Russia welcomes mutually beneficial political, economic and cultural partnership, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a message to participants of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPILF).

"Russia has been invariably in favor of building a mutually beneficial partnership in the political and security sphere, in the economy, science, culture and sports," Putin said in the message uploaded to the Kremlin website on Friday.