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Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe after Russia, gaining independence from the Soviet Union and declaring neutrality in 1991. In February 2022, Russia's President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine under the auspices of a "special military operation" to "de-nazify" the country. The move turned Moscow into a global pariah, and the Ukrainian army - backed financially and militarily by the US and western European countries - continues to fight off the invading forces. Nuclear-armed Russia has warned of consequences if Nato interferes in the war, while strategic ally China urges a peaceful, diplomatic solution.
Chinese president did not avoid difficult questions from his French and EU counterparts, and visits to Serbia and Hungary reinforced established ties.
As in Hong Kong in 2019, the US-funded National Endowment for Democracy has fingerprints all over protests in Tbilisi.
Presidents Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron not only aired their bilateral differences, but also discussed terms of engagement for challenging days ahead.
Talks on trade imbalances and Ukraine war await Chinese president as he first heads to France in pursuit of ‘pragmatic’ European policy, then Serbia and Hungary, before returning to host Vladimir Putin.
Latest US protectionist moves targeting Chinese steel and aluminium imports, together with other measures, risk another damaging round of trade war.
State Department’s No 2 now admits Aukus joint submarine project between three of the Five Eyes is tied to Taiwan and mainland China.
- Beijing’s tightened export restrictions could reduce concerns about China’s sales of dual-use products to Russia, expert says
- But measures could also speed up decoupling of two nations’ defence industries, analysts said
The peace plan calls for the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine and the restoration of the country’s territorial integrity.
Ukraine is enlisting prisoners to help replenish the army ranks, with up to 20,000 being mobilised. Inmates taking part will have their remaining sentences cleared.
‘Those who complain about China’s overcapacity are not concerned about China’s production capacity, but rather their own market share,’ Wu Hongbo tells state-owned outlet in wide-ranging interview.
US President Joe Biden has lifted restrictions on Ukraine using weapons supplied by the United States against targets on Russian territory, but only to defend the under-fire Kharkiv region.
The Kremlin said Nato member were “provoking” Kyiv into prolonging the conflict in Ukraine, whose leaders are appealing to Western countries to allow it to target Russia.
Such an explosion would be to cow the West into refusing to allow Ukraine to use its arms against targets inside Russia, Council for Foreign and Defence Policy member says.
Clear that Beijing has ‘picked sides’ by supplying Moscow dual-use components for conflict, says Washington’s envoy to transatlantic security alliance.
Main causes for growing Sino-Russian relationship are Moscow’s decision to invade Ukraine and ‘China’s choice to enable Putin’s war’, official adds.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin warned the West that such action could trigger a global conflict, saying Nato members were playing with fire with such proposals.
Ukraine’s top commander said on Monday he had signed paperwork allowing French military instructors to visit Ukrainian training centres soon.
Spanish media report that the deal would include new Patriot missiles and Leopard tanks, as Ukraine battle a Russian ground offensive in Kharkiv.
The St Petersburg forum, which once hosted Western CEOs and investment bankers, has changed significantly amid the Ukraine war, which has triggered a crisis in Russia’s relations with the West.
Gitanas Nauseda elected to a second, five-year term as rival Ingrida Simonyte concedes defeat. Russia’s war in Ukraine dominated the presidential campaign in the Nato member nation of 2.8 million.
Emmanuel Macron on Sunday began the first state visit to Germany by a French president in a quarter-century.
Zelensky appealed to the two presidents to show their ‘leadership in advancing the peace – the real peace and not just a pause between the strikes’.
Russia’s TASS state news agency cited a security source claiming that a missile strike destroyed a “military store and command post” inside the shopping centre.
The US has been pushing its G7 partners to back a loan that could provide Ukraine with as much as US$50 billion in the near term.
The Russian president has indicated he would be ready to settle for what land he has now and freeze the conflict at the current frontlines.
Development comes after Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets top Brazilian envoy and marks first such Beijing initiative since the armed conflict began.
Kyiv has been battling a fresh Russian land assault in the Kharkiv region since May 10, when thousands of Moscow’s troops stormed the border, making their biggest territorial advances in 18 months.
Russia on Friday said for the first time that Islamic State coordinated the March concert hall attack in Moscow, the country’s deadliest terror attack in two decades.
Russia has arrested a number of generals and military leaders in recent weeks, seeking to overhaul an army hierarchy seen as corrupt and inefficient.
US President Joe Biden will likely miss a Ukraine peace summit next month because it conflicts with a campaign fundraiser in California he’s set to attend alongside George Clooney, Julia Roberts and other stars.
Russia will identify US property, including securities, that could be used as compensation for losses sustained as a result of any seizure of frozen Russian assets in the United States.
Janet Yellen expected to restate American call for firms and financial institutions in China and elsewhere to ‘cease’ backing Moscow’s defence complex.
America’s top diplomat describes Beijing as seeking ‘better relations with Europe’ while fuelling its ‘greatest security threat’ since the Cold War.
The exercises are taking place in Russia’s Southern Military District, which borders and includes parts of Ukraine that Moscow claims to have annexed.
The United States said that arch-enemy Iran sought assistance over a helicopter crash that killed president Ebrahim Raisi, as Washington meanwhile offered condolences.
US general gives briefing on US commitments to Ukraine after France opened the door to sending troops to train Kyiv’s forces.
