The US has said it believes China may be about to provide lethal aid to help Russia in the war in Ukraine, prompting a direct warning against doing so from the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, to China’s top diplomat. Blinken made the warning to the Chinese state councillor Wang Yi on Saturday evening at a meeting on the sidelines of the Munich security conference during which he also rebuked China over the use of an alleged spy balloon over US soil. In a blunt meeting he also urged China…
Tag: Russia
Chinese peace plan for Ukraine greeted cautiously by the west
Western leaders have reacted nervously to a Chinese peace plan for Ukraine due to be revealed this week, but cautiously welcomed the move as a first sign that China recognises the war cannot be regarded solely as a European affair. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, China’s senior diplomat Wang Yi, one of the few external politicians able to influence Russia, announced that China would launch its peace initiative on the anniversary of the war, and has already been consulting Germany, Italy and France on its proposals. He said the…
US reaction to balloon ‘absurd and hysterical’, says top Chinese diplomat
China’s most senior diplomat has described the shooting down of a balloon by the US as “absurd and hysterical”, as well as an abuse of the use of force. Speaking on stage at the Munich security conference on Saturday, Wang Yi said: “It does not show the US is strong; on the contrary it shows it is weak”. The foreign affairs director said he believed the shooting down was part of an attempt to divert attention from the domestic problems of the Biden administration. He asked the US: “There are…
South Africa and Russia Are Old Friends. A War Isn’t Going to Change That.
JOHANNESBURG — While the United States and Europe have pressured countries to turn their backs on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, South Africa has bolstered its longtime alliance with Moscow — a friendship that dates to the struggle against apartheid. Russia and South Africa, along with China, are scheduled on Friday to start 11 days of joint military exercises off the east coast of South Africa that will include a Russian warship bearing the letters Z and V — Russia’s patriotic symbols for its war in Ukraine — and…
For a President Who Spends His Days Confronting Russia and China, a Domestic Focus
WASHINGTON — When President Biden delivered his State of the Union address a year ago, war had broken out in Europe just days before and it appeared inevitable that Vladimir V. Putin would quickly take control of Ukraine. China, the Pentagon kept repeating, was America’s “pacing” challenge, a long-term technological and financial competitor, but not likely not to pose an imminent challenge to Taiwan or the United States. On Tuesday night Mr. Biden faced a changed world. Simultaneously managing an aggressive Russia and a risk-taking China may prove the greatest…
How Russia Is Surviving the Tightening Grip on Its Oil Revenue
Using customs data from India, Mr. Vakulenko, the Russian oil expert, showed that local importers of Russian crude paid almost the same price as Brent crude. A New York Times analysis of the same data produced similar results. The explanation, Mr. Vakulenko suggested, is that at least part of the large discount on the quoted Urals price had been pocketed by Russian exporters and intermediaries, who then charged a higher price to the buyers in India. This revenue will not accrue directly to the Russian government in taxes, said Tatiana…
Russia Sidesteps Western Punishments, With Help From Friends
WASHINGTON — A strange thing happened with smartphones in Armenia last summer. Shipments from other parts of the world into the tiny former Soviet republic began to balloon to more than 10 times the value of phone imports in previous months. At the same time, Armenia recorded an explosion in its exports of smartphones to a beleaguered ally: Russia. The trend, which was repeated for washing machines, computer chips and other products in a handful of other Asian countries last year, provides evidence of some of the new lifelines that…
Hacked Russian Files Reveal Propaganda Agreement With China
Russian officials pushed the lies first. Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, a Russian defense ministry spokesperson resuscitated debunked claims about a U.S.-funded bioweapons program in the region, accusing Ukrainian labs of experimenting with bat coronaviruses in an attempt to spark “the covert spread of deadliest pathogens.” Disinformation is an old Russian government tactic. But this time Russia had help. Within days, Chinese officials and media outlets had picked up the lies and were amplifying and expanding on the biolabs yarn. The Chinese Communist Party tabloid Global Times created two splashy…
South Africa to Hold Naval Drill With Russia and China Amid Ukraine War
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s military announced on Thursday that it plans to hold joint training exercises off its coast next month with Russia and China, a move criticized by the United States, which has been trying to rally other countries to isolate Russia over the war in Ukraine. The exercises will coincide with the one-year anniversary of the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24. South Africa was among three dozen countries that abstained last year in a vote in the United Nations to condemn Russia for its…
UK energy bills to fall to about £2,200 from July as wholesale gas costs drop
Energy bills are expected to fall to about £2,200 from July in a fillip for the government and households struggling with ballooning costs. Leading energy consultancy Cornwall Insight has predicted that, excluding government subsidies, typical annual household energy bills will have fallen from £4,279 now to £3,208 from April, and then will ease to roughly £2,200 for the remainder of the year. The forecasts are about £300 a year lower than its previous expectations because of the recent fall in wholesale gas costs. Nevertheless, bills are set to remain far…