COMMENT | Kaushik Basu | Ukraine’s failure to secure an invitation to join NATO during the alliance’s annual summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, has disappointed many, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. But although the summit’s concluding statement did not offer a definitive timetable for Ukrainian accession, it did demonstrate a degree …
Read More »Europe’s support for Ukraine serves U.S. interests, weakens itself: Putin
Moscow Russia | Xinhua | Europeans are seeing that providing ceaseless support to Ukraine does not serve their own interests, but only benefits the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. “We are seeing that public opinion in Europe is changing. Both Europeans and … European elites see that …
Read More »Moscow to view ships sailing to Ukrainian ports in Black Sea as ‘carriers of military cargo’
Moscow, Russia | Xinhua | Russia will regard all ships sailing in the waters of the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports as “potential carriers of military cargo,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Wednesday. “Due to the termination of the Black Sea Initiative, and the curtailment of the …
Read More »Russia suspends participation in Black Sea grain deal
Moscow, Russia | AGENCIES | Russia has suspended the participation in the Black Sea grain export deal, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday. The Initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian ports, also called the Black Sea Grain Initiative,is an agreement among Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and …
Read More »Türkiye’s Erdogan says ready to host Putin in August
Istanbul, Türkiye | Xinhua | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin may visit Türkiye next month for talks on several issues. “We are preparing to host Putin in August,” Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers at an Istanbul mosque. According to Erdogan, one of …
Read More »This week’s NATO Summit
How did we come so late to the claim of Putin’s megalomania as the cause of European instability? THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | NATO leaders meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, have resolved that once the war in Ukraine ends, that country will be admitted into the alliance. Since the war began, …
Read More »Russia considers supply of F-16 fighters to Ukraine a nuclear threat
Moscow, Russia | Xinhua | Russia considers the deployment of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as a nuclear threat, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday. Lavrov made the comment in an interview with the Russian news agency Lenta.ru, during which he discussed the potential consequences of the decision of …
Read More »NATO summit sparks global security concern, internal rifts remain
NEWS ANALYSIS | Xinhua | The two-day Vilnius Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) concluded here on Wednesday amid divisions among members and criticism from the international community. During the summit, Türkiye green-lighted Sweden’s accession to the military bloc, and NATO adopted its “most comprehensive defense plan since …
Read More »NATO fails to give timetable for Ukraine membership at summit
NATO members have been divided on how to bring Ukraine closer to their bloc. Vinlius, Lithuania | Xinhua | Leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Tuesday failed to set a timetable for Ukraine’s membership of the alliance, following the first day of the NATO summit in the …
Read More »Sales of Chinese cars in Russia hit new high in first half of 2023
St Petersburg, Russia | Xinhua | In the first half of 2023, Chinese automakers sold more cars in Russia than the whole year of 2022, hitting a new high. According to figures released on Monday by Otkritie Auto, the auto business unit of Russia’s Otkritie Bank, 168,000 Chinese cars were …
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