Live: Putin flaunts nuclear-capable missile as Ukraine war continues

Live news updates: Sarmat missile will 'provide food for thought' to Russia's enemies, says president.

7:16 AM

Australia ‘deeply disappointed’ after Solomons signs China pact

The U.S. and Australian governments have voiced their concern at the signing of a new security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands, a diplomatic victory for Beijing in a region which has usually turned to Washington and Canberra for support.

 

Both the U.S. and Australia said they were concerned about the “lack of transparency” in the new treaty, which Canberra added could “undermine stability in our region.”

 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that the deal had officially been signed, saying Foreign Ministers Wang Yi and Jeremiah Manele had agreed to “an intergovernmental framework agreement on security cooperation the other day.”

 

No final version of the agreement has been made public but an earlier draft, leaked on social media in late March, would allow the Chinese government to send its military to the Solomon Islands, if requested by the Pacific nation. It would also give China’s naval vessels a safe harbor in the Solomon Islands, just 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from the Australian coast.

 

7:07 AM

China Says It Will Keep Strengthening Strategic Ties With Russia

China will continue strengthening strategic ties with Russia, a senior diplomat said, showing the relationship remains solid despite growing concerns over war crimes in Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. 

 

Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng called for deepening ties in a range of fields during a meeting on Monday in Beijing with Russian envoy Andrey Ivanovich Denisov, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement. He said that a nearly 30% jump in trade between the nations during the first three months of 2022 demonstrate “the great resilience and internal dynamism of bilateral cooperation.”

6:47 AM

Financial stability risks risen amid Russia-Ukraine conflict: IMF

Financial stability risks have risen along many dimensions, although no global systemic event affecting financial institutions or markets has materialized so far, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. "Global financial conditions have tightened notably" and downside risks to the economic outlook have increased as a result of the Russian-Ukraine war, according to the newly released Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR). The tightening has been "particularly pronounced" in eastern Europe and Middle East countries with close ties to Russia, reflecting lower equity valuations and higher funding costs, the IMF report was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

6:40 AM

Zelenskyy: Russian army world's most barbaric

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian military is throwing everything it has at Ukraine, with most of its combat-ready forces now concentrated in Ukraine and just across the border in Russia. They have driven almost everyone and everything that is capable of fighting us against Ukraine, he said in his nightly video address to the nation. And despite Russian claims of hitting only military sites, he said they continue to target residential areas and kill civilians. The Russian army in this war is writing itself into world history forever as the most barbaric and inhuman army in the world, Zelenskyy said.