Page 10 - Us Russia

US sanctions on Russian oil shipments a worry for Indian refiners

Enhanced enforcement of sanctions by Western powers may increase procurement costs and reduce the appeal of discounted Russian crude

Foreign envoys from Russia, US, Israel wish India on 75th Republic Day

On the occasion of 75th Republic Day, the envoys of various countries, ranging from the United States, Israel and Russia wished India and called for further prospering ties with New Delhi

Amid growing tensions, Chinese foreign minister visits North Korea

North Korea said on Friday it was hosting a visit by a Chinese government delegation led by Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong, as it continues its efforts to strengthen ties with Beijing and Moscow in the face of deepening confrontations with Washington. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Sun's delegation arrived in the capital, Pyongyang, on Thursday after crossing the land border between the countries. The report didn't provide further details about the visit. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been trying to boost the visibility of its partnership with China and Russia as he tries to break out of diplomatic isolation and strengthen his regional footing by joining a united front against the United States. Kim travelled to Russia's Far East in September for a rare summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and some experts say he is also likely seeking a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. While Kim has prioritized his ties with Russia, which has raised

N Korea stresses alignment with Russia against US, hints at Putin's visit

North Korea said Sunday it has agreed to further strategic and tactical cooperation with Russia to establish a new multi-polarised international order, as the two countries work to build a united front in the face of their separate, intensifying tensions with the United States. In describing North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui's meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov in Moscow last week, the North's Foreign Ministry said Putin also reaffirmed his willingness to visit Pyongyang and said that could come at an early date. North Korea has been actively strengthening its ties with Russia, highlighted by leader Kim Jong Un's September visit to Russia for a summit with Putin. Kim is trying to break out of diplomatic isolation and strengthen his footing as he navigates a deepening nuclear standoff with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo. In a separate statement on Sunday, the North's Foreign Ministry condemned the U.N. Security Council for calling a

Russian minister rejects US offer to resume talks on nuclear arms control

Russia's top diplomat dismissed the United States proposal to resume a dialogue on nuclear arms control, saying Thursday that it's impossible while Washington offers military support to Ukraine. Speaking at an annual news conference, Sergey Lavrov accused the West of fuelling global security risks by encouraging Ukraine to ramp up strikes on the Russian territory and warned that Moscow will achieve its goals in the conflict regardless of Western support for Kyiv. Commenting on a US proposal to resume contacts in the sphere of nuclear arms control, Lavrov said that Moscow has rejected the offer. He said that for such talks to be held, Washington first needs to revise its current policy toward Russia. Lavrov charged that Washington's push for the revival of nuclear talks has been driven by a desire to resume inspections of Russia's nuclear weapons sites. He described such US demands as indecent in view of Ukraine's attacks on Russian nuclear-capable bomber bases during the ...

France ramps up weapons production for Ukraine, says Russia testing West

French manufacturers have reduced the manufacturing times for some of the weapons systems they supply to Ukraine by half or more, as France increasingly switches away from its previous policy of dipping into its own military stocks to support the war effort against Russia's invasion, France's defense minister said in an interview published on Thursday. The logic of ceding materiel taken from the armies' stocks is reaching its end, the minister, Sbastien Lecornu, said in the interview with Le Parisien. From now on, the solution is to directly connect French defense industries with the Ukrainian army. He cited the Caesar self-propelled 155 mm howitzer, made in France by Nexter, as an example of how French defense contractors are adopting a war footing. Caesars are among an array of Western-supplied artillery systems that have given Ukrainian gun crews an edge, especially when paired with high-precision munitions, against Russian artillery batteries using older Soviet-designed ...

2 yrs into war, West seeks ways to steer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine

It's been nearly two years since the United States and its allies froze hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian foreign holdings in retaliation for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. That roughly USD 300 billion in Russian Central Bank money has been sitting untapped as the war grinds on, while officials from multiple countries have debated the legality of sending the money to Ukraine. The idea of using Russia's frozen assets is gaining new traction lately as continued allied funding for Ukraine becomes more uncertain and the US Congress is in a stalemate over providing more support. But there are tradeoffs since the weaponisation of global finance could harm the US dollar's standing as the world's dominant currency. At this week's World Economic Forum meetings in Davos, Switzerland, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a strong decision this year for the frozen assets in Western banks to be directed towards defense against the Russian war and for reconstruction of ...

Russia launches heavy missile attack on Ukraine; 1 dead, 30 injured

Ukraine came under strong Russian missile attacks early Monday that struck near the front lines of fighting in the east as well as in central and western parts of the country, killing one person and injuring at least 30. The heaviest casualty toll was in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where a woman died in a missile attack outside the city of Kryvyi Rih and 24 were injured in a strike on the town of Novomoskovsk. In Kryvyi Rih itself, more than 20 houses and a shopping centre were damaged in a missile attack, said regional governor Serhii Lysak. At least four missiles hit Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, injuring one person, said mayor Ihor Terekhov. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov also said two people were injured and two more were trapped under rubble after a strike on the village of Zmiiv. In Zaporizhzhia, a major city along the Dnipro River, two people were injured in a missile strike on a residential district, said regional governor Yurii Malashko. Over the past 24 ..

North Korea providing Russia with ballistic missiles, says US govt

US intelligence officials have determined that Russia has acquired ballistic missiles from North Korea and is seeking close-range ballistic missiles from Iran as Moscow struggles to replenish supplies for its war with Ukraine, the White House said on Thursday. Recently declassified intelligence found that North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missile launchers and several ballistic missiles, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. Russian forces fired at least one of those ballistic missiles into Ukraine on December 30 and it landed in an open field in the Zaporizhzhia region, he said. Russia launched multiple North Korean ballistic missiles on Tuesday as part of an overnight attack, the impact of which the US was assessing, he said. Kirby said a Russia-Iran deal had not been completed, but that the US is concerned that Russia's negotiations to acquire close range ballistic missiles from Iran are actively advancing. The Biden administration has repeatedly sou

Western assets will meet same fate if Russian assets are seized: Kremlin

Leaders of the Group of Seven major industralised nations will discuss a new legal theory that would enable the seizure of frozen Russian assets when they meet in February

Prez Putin increases military pressure on Ukraine, expects western support

After blunting Ukraine's counteroffensive from the summer, Russia is building up its resources for a new stage of the war over the winter, which could involve trying to extend its gains in the east and deal significant blows to the country's vital infrastructure. Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be hoping that relentless military pressure, combined with changing Western political dynamics and a global focus on the Israeli-Hamas war, will drain support for Ukraine in the nearly 2-year-old war and force Kyiv to yield to Moscow's demands. As far as the Russian leadership is concerned, the confrontation with the West has reached a turning point: The Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed, Russia is more confident than ever, and the cracks in Western solidarity are spreading, said Tatiana Stanovaya, senior fellow with Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, in a recent analysis. An aid package for Ukraine has stalled in the US Congress as Republicans insist on linking any more money to .

N Korea, Russia clash with US and S Korea over Pyongyang's missile launch

North Korea and Russia clashed with the United States, South Korea and their allies at an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday on Pyongyang's latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch, which it called a warning counter-measure to threats from the US and other hostile forces. North Korean Ambassador Kim Song said this is the most dangerous year in the military-security landscape on the Korean Peninsula, pointing to stepped up US-South Korean military exercises and the US deployment of nuclear-powered submarines and other nuclear assets to the area that have raised a nuclear war danger. The US and nine allies pointed to five North Korean ICBM launches, over 25 ballistic missiles launches and three satellite launches using ballistic missile technology this year, violating multiple Security Council resolutions and threatening the peace and stability of its neighbours and the international community. In a statement read just before the council meeting by US deputy ...

No plan to attack Nato: Putin dismisses Biden's remark as 'nonsense'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly cast the post-Cold War expansion of NATO as evidence of the West's arrogant way of dealing with Russia's security concerns

Russia finalises pullout from Cold War-era deal, blames US for its collapse

Russia on Tuesday finalised its pullout from a key Cold War-era security deal, more than eight years after announcing the intention to do so, the Foreign Ministry said. The development came after both houses of the Russian parliament approved a bill proposed by President Vladimir Putin denouncing the Treaty of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. Putin signed it into force in May this year. The treaty aimed at preventing Cold War rivals from massing forces at or near mutual borders was signed in November 1990, but not fully ratified until two years later. It was one of several major Cold War-era treaties involving Russia and the United States that ceased to be in force in recent years. Russia suspended its participation in 2007, and in 2015 announced its intention to completely withdraw from the agreement. In February 2022, Moscow sent hundreds of thousands of Russian troops into the neighbouring Ukraine, which also shares a border with NATO members Poland, Slovakia, Romania and

US govt sanctions Russian national for helping elites launder money

Zhdanova also used virtual currency exchanges to help oligarchs who had relocated internationally, it said

At China's military forum, Russian minister accuses US of fueling tensions

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Monday the United States is fuelling geopolitical tensions to uphold its hegemony and warned of the risk of confrontation between major countries. Speaking at a defence forum in Beijing, Shoigu also said the US and its Asia-Pacific allies are undermining stability in the region. To maintain its geopolitical and strategic dominance, the United States is deliberately undermining the basis of international security and strategic stability, Shoigu said, according to a simultaneous translation provided at the Xiangshan Forum, which China's biggest annual event centered on military diplomacy. He added that the US and its Western allies are threatening Russia through NATO's eastward expansion. Western countries aim to escalate the conflict with Russia and increase the risk of major country confrontation, he said. This will lead to serious consequences. Turning to Russia's war in Ukraine, Shoigu said Moscow was open to negotiations if conditions

UNSC rejects Russia's resolution on Gaza that fails to mention Hamas

The UN Security Council rejected a Russian resolution Monday night that condemned violence and terrorism against civilians but made no mention of Hamas, whose surprise attack that killed 1,300 Israelis was the worst Jewish massacre since the World War II Nazi Holocaust. Only four countries joined Russia in voting for the resolution China, United Arab Emirates, Mozambique and Gabon. Four countries voted against it the United States, Britain, France and Japan. The other six countries abstained. For a resolution to be adopted it needs a minimum of nine yes votes in the 15-member council. The UN's most powerful body, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, has failed to respond to Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel that killed some 1,300 people and to Israel's retaliatory airstrikes that have killed 2,750 and its order to Gazans in the north to head south to avoid an expected ground war. Britain's UN ambassador, Barbara Woodward, said it would be ...

Putin blames US for Middle East crisis, advocates two-State solution

Putin also expressed concern about Washington's pressure on both sides, suggesting it was an attempt to impose "unilateral solutions" without considering the core interests of the Palestinian people

US expels two Russian diplomats, after two diplomats asked to leave Moscow

The Biden administration on Friday ordered two Russian diplomats expelled from the United States in retaliation for the expulsion of two US diplomats from Moscow last month. The State Department said it had taken the action in response to Russia declaring the two American diplomats persona non grata because of contacts with a Russian national who had once worked for the now-closed US consulate in Russia's far-eastern city of Vladivostok and was arrested this year. The department will not tolerate the Russian government's pattern of harassment of our diplomats, spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. Unacceptable actions against our embassy personnel in Moscow will have consequences. The expulsions come at a time of animosity between Washington and Moscow over the war in Ukraine and as diplomatic relations have plummeted to their worst level since the Cold War. On September 14, Russia's Foreign Ministry accused the first secretary at the US Embassy in Russia, Jeffrey Sillin, a

Urgently declare Gershkovich was arbitrarily detained: His lawyers ask UN

Lawyers for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich asked a United Nations body on Tuesday to urgently issue an opinion that he has been arbitrarily detained by Russia on espionage charges which are patently false. The request to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention says Russia has failed to produce a shred of evidence in support of its accusations since the 31-year-old journalist was arrested on March 29 on a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg, almost 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow. Russia is not imprisoning Gershkovich because it legitimately believes its absurd claim that he is an American spy, the Journal's request said. Instead, Russian President Vladimir Putin is using Gershkovich as a pawn, holding him hostage in order to gain leverage over and extract a ransom from the United States, just as he has done with other American citizens whom he has wrongfully detained. Jason Conti, executive vice president and general counsel of Dow Jones,