The German chancellor has warned China against arming Russia with weapons, as western foreign ministers repeatedly clashed with the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, at an ill-tempered meeting of the G20 in New Delhi, India. Olaf Scholz told the German parliament: “My message to Beijing is clear: use your influence in Moscow to urge the withdrawal of Russian troops. And don’t deliver any weapons to the aggressor Russia.” China has repeatedly denied suggestions it might arm Moscow, but the US administration has recently said that cooperation between China and Russia…
Tag: Russia
China spends billions on pro-Russia disinformation, US special envoy says
The west has been slow to respond to China spending billions globally to spread poisonous disinformation, including messaging that is completely aligned with Russia on Ukraine, a US special envoy has claimed. James Rubin, a coordinator for the Global Engagement Center, a US state department body set up to “expose and counter” foreign propaganda and disinformation, made the remarks during a European tour this week. “The well has been poisoned by Chinese and Russian disinformation – it’s pernicious,” said Rubin, a broadcaster and former official in the Clinton administration and…
Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 370 of the invasion
The military situation is becoming increasingly difficult around the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday as many of Ukraine’s battlefields turn to mud. “In the Bakhmut sector, the situation is constantly becoming more difficult,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly address. “The enemy is constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions for fortification and defence.” Russia’s defence ministry claimed its forces destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot near the town – the focal point of Russia’s advances in eastern Ukraine – also shooting…
In Central Asia, Blinken Will Urge Distance From Russia, and Ukraine War
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is flying on Tuesday into the heart of what Moscow considers its sphere of influence to urge senior Central Asian officials convening in Kazakhstan to maintain independence from Russia and China. The meetings come at a critical juncture in American efforts to head off Moscow’s global efforts to seek economic aid — and in some cases military aid — as the United States and its allies rush new weapons into Ukraine to try to give the Ukrainians a battlefield advantage over Russian troops. This…
Lukashenko’s planned Xi meeting shows gulf between China and the US
Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus and close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, is due to visit Beijing on Tuesday for a meeting with Xi Jinping, in a high-profile trip symbolising the widening gulf between the US and China over the war in Ukraine. US officials spent the weekend reiterating their concerns that Beijing is considering sending lethal weapons to Russia, amid China’s attempts to position itself as a peacemaker and deny that it would provide arms to Moscow. Speaking to ABC News on Sunday, Jake Sullivan, the White…
The Observer view on the dubious excuses for not backing the UN resolution on the Ukraine invasion | Observer editorial
In times of trouble, a person or country discovers who their true friends are. Such insights can be disillusioning. The war in Ukraine has produced a number of such disturbing moments, for the government in Kyiv but also for the western democracies that are its most ardent supporters. “Whose side are you on?” is a crude but necessary question when international law is flouted and innocent people begin to die in large numbers. The UN general assembly’s non-binding resolution last week condemning Russia’s invasion, demanding its immediate, unconditional withdrawal and…
Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 368 of the invasion
Thousands of people have taken part in a demonstration in central Berlin to protest against giving more weapons to Ukraine, urging the German government to instead pave the way for negotiations with Vladimir Putin. In London, Marina Litvinenko – the widow of a defector poisoned in London – led calls for a Ukrainian victory in the war at a demonstration of several hundred outside the Russian embassy. A meeting of finance chiefs of the Group of 20 leading economies has ended without a consensus, with Russia and China objecting to…
China’s Ukraine peace plan ‘important signal’, says Zelenskiy – video
Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed some elements of a Chinese proposal for a ceasefire in Russia’s war on Ukraine, but said only the country where a war is being fought can be the initiator of a peace plan. Zelenskiy said during a press conference in Kyiv on Friday that the plan was ‘an important signal that they are going to participate in this topic’, but warned Beijing against providing Moscow with arms The Guardian
Russia-Ukraine war live: China role as peacemaker ‘just not rational’, says Biden
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A Year of Russia’s War on Ukraine Is Marked by Protests and Defiance
KYIV, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine marked the anniversary of the Russian invasion on Friday with a show of defiance, as anti-Kremlin protests took place around the world and the United States made a significant commitment of new weaponry to the country. Even as he and his allies braced for a prolonged war, Mr. Zelensky held a marathon news conference in Kyiv, the capital, to rally international support, declaring that Ukraine and the allies supplying it with weapons and other aid would prevail “if we stay as one strong fist…