Zephir
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Germany and the Czech Republic denied requests for Taiwan President Lai Ching-te to transit through Europe earlier this month, dooming his last-minute effort to circumvent a China-backed blockade of his first diplomatic trip to Africa bloomberg.com/news/articles/…



⚡️Russia destroys mass graves near Mariupol, satellite images suggest. The site was used to bury residents who died during the Russian siege of the city in 2022, according to Ukraine’s Center for the Study of Occupation. kyivindependent.com/russia-destroy…


❗️The U.S. has extended the license for operations involving Russian oil. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has extended a license allowing transactions involving Russian oil and petroleum products that were loaded onto vessels before April 17. Such transactions are now permitted until May 16. The decision was made two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that there were no plans to continue the exemption.

🤔🇺🇸🇺🇦🇪🇺 WSJ: Separately, the Pentagon notified Congress on Monday that it intended to divert about $750 million in funding provided by NATO countries through the PURL program to restock the U.S. military’s own inventories, rather than to send additional assistance to Ukraine. The first official said it was unclear whether European countries providing their funds for the initiative to bolster Ukraine understood how the money was being spent.


💥🇵🇱🇭🇺 SCOOP: On March 23, after celebrating Polish-Hungarian friendship day in Przemyśl with Hungarian president Tamás Sulyok, Polish president Karol Nawrocki is planning a quick trip in the afternoon to Budapest to meet and endorse Viktor Orbán in his election campaign. This would be an official visit, also aimed at mending ties after Nawrocki canceled his planned December 4 trip due to Orbán's prior meeting with Vladimir Putin. However, the timing is again quite bad for Nawrocki: March 23 also happens to be the "Grand Assembly" of the Patriots for Europe far-right alliance in Budapest, with well-known pro-Kremlin politicians such as Matteo Salvini and Marine Le Pen participating. Nawrocki's visit would also come amid a string of reports on Russian intelligence meddling in Hungary's election campaign to keep Viktor Orbán in power. These are current plans, according to my sources — but as last time, the political risk for the new standard-bearer of the Polish political right of being associated with pro-Kremlin politicians may ultimately prove too high. This information comes from sources informed on Nawrocki's visit, who spoke to @VSquare_Project on condition of anonymity. For more scoops, sign up to our 'Goulash' newsletter, link in thread.👇










