Page 81 - Latest Updates on Ukraine peace talks

US treasury dept orders banks to disclose Russian assets for forfeiture

The Treasury Department ordered the nation's banking industry to start disclosing its holdings of Russian assets on Tuesday, with the goal of eventually seizing those billions of dollars in assets and selling them to aid the devastated Ukrainian economy. The disclosure is required under a new law passed by Congress earlier this year known as the REPO Act, which gives the U.S. government the authority to seize Russian state assets held by U.S. banks, with the goal of eventually selling them and giving those funds to Ukraine. While the vast bulk of Russian assets are held in Europe, it is estimated that the U.S. banking system holds as much as $6 billion in Russian assets in trust. Banks will need to report Russian assets on their books no later than Aug. 2 to the Office of Foreign Assets Control. If a bank discovers any new Russian assets on their books after the deadline, those assets need to be reported within 10 days, the Treasury Department said. Russia's war in Ukraine, which ..

Biden's withdrawal from presidential race spells uncertainty for Ukraine

US President Joe Biden's decision to end his campaign for reelection brings a new element of uncertainty for Ukraine, which is struggling to fend off Russian advances even as it worries about the future of American support. The prospect of victory for former President Donald Trump, the Republican contender, has long concerned Kyiv, which fears he would choke off support and force Ukraine to sue for peace on terms that favor Russia. But while the Democrats hope Biden's decision to drop out and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris will inject energy into their campaign, it's unclear whether it makes Trump's defeat more likely. Officials in Moscow, widely thought to favor Trump, were noncommittal. Kyiv resident Yulia Loginova said she found it impossible to predict how Biden's departure would affect Ukraine. I don't know, honestly, she said. Surprises every day. But he did the right thing. Phillips O'Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland,

Russia trades drone, missile attacks with Ukraine; claims gains in east

Russia and Ukraine exchanged drone, missile and shelling attacks on Sunday. At least two people were killed in Ukrainian strikes on the partly Russian-occupied Donetsk region, Russian state media said, while Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes wounded at least five people. Along the front line in the east, Russia said it had taken control of two villages, one in the Kharkiv region and one in the Luhansk region. Ukrainian shelling of Russia-held areas of the Donetsk region killed two people in the village of Horlivka, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said. Three people were wounded by Russian drone strikes in southern Ukraine's partly occupied Kherson region, local officials said Sunday morning. In the country's northeast, officials in the Kharkiv region said two people were wounded when a village was hit by Russian shells. Overnight into Sunday, Ukraine's air defences intercepted 35 of the 39 drones launched by Russia, according to air force commander Mykola Oleschuk. In

Donald Trump has 'very good call' with Zelenskyy over Ukraine conflict

In a post on X describing the call, Zelenskyy said he congratulated Trump on his nomination and condemned the "shocking assassination attempt in Pennsylvania"

EAM Jaishankar, Ukrainian counterpart discuss developing bilateral ties

In June this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy

Blinken highlights support for Ukraine in case US backs away under Trump

Ukraine is on its way to being able to "stand on its own feet" militarily, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, noting that more than 20 other countries have pledged to maintain their own military and financial aid to the country even if the US were to withdraw its support under a different president. Blinken for the first time directly addressed the possibility that former President Donald Trump could win the November election and back away from commitments to Ukraine. The US, under President Joe Biden, has been the most important supporter of Ukraine's more than two-year battle against invading Russian forces. Trump's public comments have varied between criticizing U.S. backing for Ukraine's defense and supporting it, while his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, has been a leader of Republican efforts to block what have been billions in US military and financial assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022. Concerns among Ukraine and its supporters that the country could lo

Samajwadi MP Nadvi asks govt to mediate to stop war in Gaza, Ukraine

India must mediate to stop the war in Gaza and Ukraine as the country has been the biggest example of a humanitarian approach in the world, Samajwadi Party MP Maulana Mohibullah Nadvi has said. In an interaction with PTI editors at the agency's headquarters here, the imam of the Jama Masjid across the road from Parliament rued that the world had closed its eyes to the atrocities on the Palestinians in Gaza. Making a strong case for India to intervene to stop the war in Gaza, Nadvi said, "The way in which we should have stood up for the oppressed (we haven't), like (Mahatma) Gandhi ji, (Jawaharlal) Nehru ji, (Maulana Abul Kalam) Azad were the first people to say that wherever there is oppression, we will stand up against it. "We stood up against it in South Africa. Gandhi ji, in fact, had said that just like every Indian born in India has a right on India, similarly every Arab born in Palestine has a right on Palestine," the Samajwadi Party MP told PTI. Nadvi, 48, said Palestinians

Trump tells Republicans he can 'stop wars with just a telephone call'

Donald Trump promises to restore global peace and stability but does not give details on how he will do this

US calls India 'key partner', urges support for lasting peace in Ukraine

India has always advocated peace and diplomacy for resolving the conflict between Ukraine and Russia

India's national interest paramount: Russian FM Lavrov on energy ties

India is a great power that determines its national interests and chooses its partners, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, describing as completely unjustified the enormous pressure on New Delhi due to its energy cooperation with Moscow. During a press conference here on Wednesday, Lavrov also termed as "insulting" Ukraine's remarks on the recent meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Moscow. I think India is a great power that sets its own national interests, determines its own national interests, and chooses its own partners. And we know that India is being subject to enormous pressure, completely unjustified pressure in the international arena, Lavrov said. Lavrov was responding to a question about Prime Minister Modi's recent visit to Moscow and the opposition faced by India for its energy cooperation with Russia. With Russia presiding over the UN Security Council for the month of July, Lavrov is in New York to chair meetings o

Russian firms find it difficult to get paid by China amid US sanctions

Those delays come after the US in June widened the parameters for determining whether to impose secondary sanctions by broadening the definition of Russia's military-industrial base

Ukraine will find war solutions no matter who wins US election: Defence min

Ukraine will find a way to battle Russia's invading forces even if former President Donald Trump wins a second term and imperils vital US support for its defence, Ukraine's defence minister said Wednesday. In carefully framed comments to an audience of US policymakers and journalists, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov reflected the diplomatic and military difficulty facing Ukraine as Trump and running mate JD Vance gain momentum in the US presidential race. Vance, an Ohio senator, has battled in Congress to block US military and financial aid to Ukraine as it fights Russian forces and cross-border attacks, while Trump has said he will bring the war to an immediate end if he wins in November. Trump, a Republican, has not said how he would do that. Analysts say that could include withdrawal of US aid to Ukraine unless it agrees to a cease-fire on Russian terms, including surrendering Ukrainian territory to Russia. We believe in US leadership, and we believe America wants its partners an

Ukraine faces twin challenges of fighting Russia, shifting US politics

After almost 30 months of war with Russia, Ukraine's difficulties on the battlefield are mounting even as its vital support from the United States is increasingly at the mercy of changing political winds. A six-month delay in military assistance from the US, the biggest single contributor to Ukraine, opened the door for the Kremlin's forces to push on the front line. Ukrainian troops are now fighting to check the slow but gradual gains by Russia's bigger and better-equipped army. The next two or three months are going to be probably the hardest this year for Ukraine, military analyst Michael Kofman of the Carnegie Endowment said in a recent podcast. Lurking in the background is another nagging worry for Ukraine: how long will Western political and military support critical for its fight last? On Monday, former President Donald Trump chose Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate for the Republican ticket in November's U.S. election, and Vance wants the United States to attend to

US urges India to utilise its relations with Russia to end Ukraine war

The spokesperson of the US State Department, Matthew Miller, in a press briefing on Monday not only noted the strong Delhi-Moscow ties but also urged India to tell Putin to respect the UN Charter

Tell Putin to end 'illegal war' against Ukraine: US urges India

State Department Spokesperson Mathew Mille recently stated at a conference that India should use its long-standing relationship with Russia to urge President Putin to end his illegal war.

India seeks to boost exports to Russia after PM Modi's Moscow trip

Surging Russian exports to India accounted for $61.43 billion of the $65.7 billion in trade between the two countries in the last fiscal year that ended in March

Amid Ukraine war, Russia upgraded to 'high-income' nation; here's why

Thriving in a war economy: Amid heavy sanctions, Russia's economy defied expectations, achieving a high-income status for the first time since 2014, according to the World Bank

Basement to battlefield: Ukrainian startups creating robots to fight Russia

Struggling with manpower shortages, overwhelming odds and uneven international assistance, Ukraine hopes to find a strategic edge against Russia in an abandoned warehouse or a factory basement. An ecosystem of laboratories in hundreds of secret workshops is leveraging innovation to create a robot army that Ukraine hopes will kill Russian troops and save its own wounded soldiers and civilians. Defense startups across Ukraine about 250 according to industry estimates are creating the killing machines at secret locations that typically look like rural car repair shops. Employees at a startup run by entrepreneur Andrii Denysenko can put together an unmanned ground vehicle called the Odyssey in four days at a shed used by the company. Its most important feature is the price tag: USD 35,000, or roughly 10 per cent of the cost of an imported model. Denysenko asked that The Associated Press not publish details of the location to protect the infrastructure and the people working there. T

Peaceful pre-Olympic protest in Paris honours fallen Ukrainian athletes

In a powerful tribute to the hundreds of Ukrainian athletes who have perished since the Russian invasion of their homeland, the Union of Ukrainians of France led a peaceful march of several hundred people in Paris on Saturday. The demonstration, held in the run-up to this month's Olympic Games, aimed to honour these fallen sports heroes and highlight the ongoing impact of the conflict on Ukraine's athletic community. Several hundred athletes including some who competed at elite levels plus coaches and other people closely involved in professional and amateur sports in Ukraine have been killed in the full-scale invasion since 2022, some while fighting as soldiers on the front lines. The human losses, the ongoing war, and the widespread destruction of sports facilities threaten to erode Ukraine's edge, both at the Paris Games that open July 26 and in the future, as a powerhouse of Olympic sport after the breakup of the former Soviet Union. What is tragic today is that we have hundr

Ukraine's Zelenskyy takes his case for military aid to US state governors

Away from Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sought to broaden support for US military aid by telling state governors Friday the world's leaders should see for themselves the carnage wrought since Russia invaded his country more than two years ago. Zelenskyy's plea at the National Governors Association summer meeting in Salt Lake City came days after NATO leaders met in the US capital and pledged more help for Ukraine. The only thing we ask for is sufficient support air defence systems for our cities, weapons for our men and women on the frontline, support in protecting normal life and rebuilding, Zelenskyy told the governors. This is all we need to withstand and drive Russia from our land and to send a strong signal to all other potential aggressors which are watching. NATO members this week agreed to a new programme to provide reliable military aid to Ukraine and prepare for its eventual membership in the alliance. They declared Ukraine was on an irreversible .