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US expected to send Ukraine $150 mn more in munitions to fight Russia

The U.S. is expected to announce Tuesday it is sending an additional $150 million in critically needed munitions to Ukraine, as Russia accuses Ukraine of using U.S.-provided munitions to strike inside Russia or Russian-held territory, according to two U.S. officials. On Monday, Russia summoned the American ambassador to protest what it says was the use of U.S.-made advanced missiles in a Ukrainian attack on Crimea on Sunday that reportedly killed four people and wounded more than 150. Crimea, which Russian seized from Ukraine in 2014 in a move that most of the world rejected as unlawful, long had been declared a fair target for Ukraine by its Western allies. However, the Pentagon said last week that Ukraine's military is also now allowed to use longer-range missiles provided by the U.S. to strike targets inside Russia if it is acting in self-defense. Since the outset of the war, the U.S. had maintained a policy of not allowing Ukraine to use the weapons it provided to hit targets on

Ukraine on irreversible course of Western integration, says top official

Ukraine's top official for Europe says the war-torn country is on an irreversible course of Western integration after the European Union agreed to formally start entry negotiations this week. The decision to launch accession talks this week is a big day for her country, Olga Stefanishyna, the deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, said. This is the utmost will of the Ukrainian people. And this is the irreversibility. And you've seen Ukrainians stand up for their choice, Stefanishyna said, speaking in Kyiv Sunday. It was her first interview since being appointed chief negotiator for EU accession. EU leaders agreed Friday to start the entry talks with Ukraine and Moldova overcoming vocal opposition led by Hungary which takes over the EU's rotating presidency on July 1. Stefanishyna will head the opening of the accession talks in Luxembourg Tuesday, joined by several top government officials. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to give a sp

Russia says U.S. is responsible for deadly Ukrainian attack on Crimea

Television footage on Russian state television showed people running from a beach and some people being carried off on sun loungers

From Pyongyang to Putin: Nuclear diplomacy shifts amid Ukraine standoff

Russian President Vladimir Putin has escalated tensions by threatening to arm North Korea in response to US and allied support for Ukraine

China requests Britain to stop sanctioning Chinese firms over Russian links

Britain last week imposed its first sanctions targeting vessels in Russian President Vladimir Putin's "shadow fleet" that it said was used to circumvent Western sanctions on the trade in Russian oil

Russia, N Korea sign partnership, vows closer ties amid rivalry with West

North Korea is under heavy UN Security Council sanctions over its weapons program, while Russia also faces sanctions by the United States and its Western partners over its aggression in Ukraine

Russian court sentences US soldier to nearly 4 years on theft charges

A court in Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok on Wednesday sentenced an American soldier arrested earlier this year to three years and nine months in prison on charges of stealing and threats of murder, Russian news reports said. Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, flew to Vladivostok, a Pacific port city, to see his girlfriend and was arrested after she accused him of stealing from her, according to U.S. officials and Russian authorities. Russian state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti reported from the courtroom in the Pervomaisky District Court in Vladivostok that the judge also ordered Black to pay 10,000 rubles ($115) in damages. Prosecutors had asked for Black to be sentenced to four years and eight months in prison. Black's sentencing further complicates U.S. relations with Russia, which have grown increasingly tense as the fighting in Ukraine continues. Russia is holding a number of Americans in its jails, including corporate security executive Paul Whelan and Wall Street .

Fleet of Russian warships leaves Havana's port after five-day visit to Cuba

A fleet of Russian warships, including a nuclear-powered submarine, left Havana's port on Monday after a five-day visit to Cuba following planned military drills in the Atlantic Ocean. The exercise has been seen by some as a show of strength by Moscow against the backdrop of tensions as US and other Western nations support Kyiv in Russia's war on Ukraine. The submarine, a frigate, an oil tanker and a rescue tug slowly departed from the port on Monday morning. It's unclear what the fleet's next destination is or where it will dock next in the Caribbean, although US officials said days ago that the vessels could possibly also stop in Venezuela. Officials with the Biden administration said last week that they were monitoring the vessels and confirmed that they did not pose a threat to the region or indicate a transfer of missiles. Still, the United States docked a submarine, the USS Helena, at its Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. The American naval base, located in the southeastern

Russia to hold trial of 'CIA asset' US WSJ reporter Gershkovich in secret

Gershkovich was detained by the Federal Security Service on March 29, 2023, in a steak house in Yekaterinburg on charges of espionage that carry up to 20 years in prison

US rebukes Vietnam as Putin set to visit country after repeated invitations

Putin is expected to visit Vietnam on Wednesday and Thursday, after repeated invitations from Vietnamese leaders

Jailed US reporter Evan Gershkovich to stand trial in Russia, say officials

US journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been jailed for over a year in Russia on espionage charges, will stand trial in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, where he was detained, authorities said on Thursday. An indictment of The Wall Street Journal reporter has been finalized and his case was filed to the Sverdlovsky Regional Court in the city about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) east of Moscow, according to Russia's Prosecutor General's office. There was no word on when the trial would begin. Gershkovich, 32, is accused of gathering secret information on orders from the CIA about Uralvagonzavod, a facility in the Sverdlovsk region that produces and repairs military equipment, the Prosecutor General's office said in a statement, revealing for the first time the details of the accusations against him. Gershkovich was detained while on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg in March 2023 and accused of spying for the United States. The reporter, his employer and the US government deni

US expands Russia sanctions, targets chips sent via China amid Ukraine war

Separately, the Commerce Department said it was targeting shell companies in Hong Kong for diverting semiconductors to Russia

Indians in war zone should be brought back: India to Russian officials

According to MEA reports, two Indian nationals who had been recruited by the Russian Army have recently been killed in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine

US to widen sanctions to curb semiconductor sales to Russia's war machine

Russia's war, now in its third year, has seen a renewed offensive and intensified aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities

Vladimir Putin to keep demoted ally Patrushev on Russia's Security Council

Russia's Security Council, chaired by Putin, is a Kremlin consultative body responsible for managing and integrating national security policy

Vladimir Putin running out of time to achieve breakthrough in Ukraine

Putin insists his war goals are unchanged and that Russia will fight for as long as needed to win in Ukraine, regardless of mounting casualties in a war that's in its third year with no end in sight

Russian warships to arrive in Havana, will not carry nukes: Cuban officials

Four Russian ships, including a nuclear-powered submarine, will arrive in Havana next week, Cuban officials said Thursday, citing historically friendly relations between both nations and as tensions escalate over Western military support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Cuba's foreign ministry said in a news release that the ships will be in Havana between June 12 and June 17, noting that none of them will carry any nuclear weapons and assuring their presence does not represent a threat to the region. The announcement came a day after U.S. officials said that Washington had been tracking Russian warships and aircraft that were expected to arrive in the Caribbean for a military exercise. They said the exercise would be part of a broader Russian response to the U.S. support for Ukraine. The officials said that the Russian military presence was notable but not concerning. However, it's taking place as Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that Moscow could take asymmetrical

Russia, China raise concerns with US over UN resolution on Gaza ceasefire

Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip a week ago that he described as an Israeli initiative

Russian warships headed to Caribbean for drills as Ukraine tensions rise

The U.S. has been tracking Russian warships and aircraft that are expected to arrive in the Caribbean for a military exercise in the coming weeks, in a Russian show of force as tensions rise over Western military support for Ukraine, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The ships also are expected possibly to make port calls in Venezuela and Cuba, as Russia establishes a Western Hemisphere military presence that the senior Biden administration officials said was notable but not concerning. The exercise, which will be monitored by the U.S. military, will involve a handful of Russian ships and support vessels, the two officials said. It's not the first time Russia has sent its ships to the Caribbean. This exercise, however, is taking place as Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that Moscow could take asymmetrical steps elsewhere in the world in response to President Joe Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weapons to strike inside Russia to protect Kharkiv, ...

Results of US elections won't change Moscow, Washington relations: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that nothing will change in terms of Russia-US relations regardless of whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump wins the American presidential election in November. We will work with any president the American people elect, Putin said, responding to questions from international journalists on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. I say absolutely sincerely, I wouldn't say that we believe that after the election something will change on the Russian track in the American politics, he added. We don't think so. We think nothing that serious will happen. Putin also said Trump's felony conviction at his hush money trial last week was the result of "the use of the court system as part of the internal political struggle. The Russian leader faced questions for the first time since his inauguration to a fifth term from senior news leaders of international news agencies, including The Associated Press. Putin has used the ann