Page 92 - Latest Updates on Ukraine peace talks

Will push Ukraine further back if Kyiv gets long range US missiles: Kremlin

The White House last October said it had provided Kyiv with a type of ATACMS capable of hitting targets up to 165 kilometres (102 miles) away

Now go win the fight: US Congress passes Ukraine aid after months of delay

The four bills were combined into one package in the Senate, which President Joe Biden said he would sign into law on Wednesday

Senate passes $95.3 bn package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and Indo-Pacific

The Senate has passed USD 95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars. The bill passed the Senate on an overwhelming 79-18 vote late on Tuesday after the House had approved the package on Saturday. Biden, who worked with congressional leaders to win support, said in a statement immediately after passage that he will sign it on Wednesday and start the process of sending weapons to Ukraine, which has been struggling to hold its front lines against Russia. "Tonight, a bipartisan majority in the Senate joined the House to answer history's call at this critical inflection point," Biden said. The legislation would also send USD 26 billion in wartime assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief to citizens of Gaza, and USD 8 billion to counter Chinese threats in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific. US officials said about USD 1 billion

International law falling apart amid wars in Gaza, Ukraine, says Amnesty

The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned on Wednesday as it published its annual report. The human rights organisation said the most powerful governments, including the United States, Russia and China, have led a global disregard for international rules and values enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with civilians in conflicts paying the highest price. Agnes Callamard, Amnesty's secretary general, said the level of violation of international order witnessed in the past year was "unprecedented". "Israel's flagrant disregard for international law is compounded by the failures of its allies to stop the indescribable civilian bloodshed meted out in Gaza," she said. "Many of those allies were the very architects of that post-World War Two system of law." The

Aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan advances in Senate for final approval

The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to move ahead with USD 95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, bringing the bill to the brink of passage after months of delays and contentious internal debate over how involved the United States should be abroad. The vote to end a filibuster drew the support of 80 senators -- 10 more than supported the bill when the Senate first passed it in February -- virtually guaranteeing that the bill will soon reach President Joe Biden's desk. A final vote could come as soon as Tuesday evening. The USD 61 billion for Ukraine comes as the war-torn country desperately needs new firepower and as Russian President Vladimir Putin has stepped up his attacks. Ukrainian soldiers have struggled to hold the front lines as Russia has seized the momentum on the battlefield and gained significant territory. Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday the US will send badly needed air defence weaponry as soon as the legislation is ...

Aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan heads to Senate for final approval

The Senate is returning to Washington on Tuesday to vote on USD 95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, taking the final steps in Congress to send the legislation to President Joe Biden's desk after months of delays and contentious internal debate over how involved the United States should be abroad. The USD 61 billion for Ukraine comes as the war-torn country desperately needs new firepower and as Russian President Vladimir Putin has stepped up his attacks. Soldiers have struggled to hold the front lines as Russia has seized the momentum on the battlefield and forced Ukraine to cede significant territory. Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday the US will soon send badly needed air defence weaponry. The House approved the package Saturday in a series of four votes, sending it back to the Senate for final approval. The President has assured me that the package will be approved quickly and that it will be powerful, strengthening our air defense as .

Biden will send air defence weapons, artillery after approval: Zelenskyy

President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday the US will send badly needed air defence weaponry once the Senate approves a massive national security aid package that includes USD 61 billion for Ukraine. Zelensky said in a posting on X that Biden also assured him that a coming package of aid would also include long-range and artillery capabilities. Ukraine is awaiting US Senate approval after the House this weekend approved the USD 95 billion package that also includes aid for other allies. It comes after months of delay as some Republican lawmakers opposed further funding for Ukraine and threatened to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., if he allowed a vote to take place. Kyiv badly needs new firepower as Moscow has stepped up its attacks against an outgunned Ukraine. The Senate is expected to vote on the package this week, and Biden has promised to quickly sign it into law. Zelenskyy said he and Biden also discussed Russia's air terror using thousands

West teetering on brink of conflict between nuclear powers. says Russia

'United States and NATO were obsessed with the idea of inflicting "strategic defeat" on Russia,' says Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

Ukraine set to send $20 bn rework proposal to bondholders by early May

The freeze was struck after Russia's invasion of the country in February 2022 hit its economy hard

EU foreign ministers to discuss air defence for Ukraine, Iran sanctions

After a video conference of NATO defence ministers with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday, Stoltenberg said he expected announcements soon

Highlights: For 60 yrs, Cong could not find a tribal who could be country's President, says PM Modi

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Zelenskyy, Netanyahu thank US lawmakers for passage of aid package

Around $9.5 billion of the package is in the form of a forgivable loan

Russia says 50 Ukrainian drones targeted at energy infrastructure shot down

Ukraine launched a barrage of drones across Russia overnight, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said Saturday, in attacks that appeared to target the country's energy infrastructure. Fifty drones were shot down by air defences over eight Russian regions, including 26 over the country's western Belgorod region close to the Ukrainian border. Two people a woman with a broken leg and the man caring for her died during the barrage, after explosions sparked a blaze that set their home alight, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on social media. Drones were also reportedly destroyed over the Bryansk, Kursk, Tula, Smolensk, Ryazan, Kaluga regions across Russia's west and south, as well as in the Moscow region. Ukrainian officials normally decline comment about attacks on Russian soil. However, many of the drone strikes appeared to be directed toward Russia's energy infrastructure. The head of the Kaluga region, Vladislav Shapsha, said Saturday that a drone strike had sparked a blaze at

Ukraine claims it shot down a Russian bomber; Moscow says its plane crashed

Ukraine's air force claimed on Friday it shot down a Russian strategic bomber, but Moscow officials said the plane crashed in a sparsely populated area due to a malfunction after a combat mission. Neither claim could be independently verified. Previous Ukrainian claims of shooting down Russian warplanes during their more than two-year war have met with silence or denials from Moscow. Russia's air force is vastly more powerful than Ukraine's, but sophisticated missile systems provided by Kyiv's Western partners are a major threat to Russian aviation as the Kremlin's forces slowly push forward along the around 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line in what has become a grinding war of attrition. The Ukrainian report said the air force and military intelligence cooperated to bring down the Tu-22M3 bomber with anti-aircraft missiles. Russia commonly uses the bomber to fire Kh-22 cruise missiles at Ukrainian targets from inside its own airspace. The plane can also carry nuclear ...

Climate change, war, poverty biggest challenges: World Bank's Ajay Banga

There was no shortage of stressors to the global economy when Ajay Banga took charge at the World Bank almost a year ago: inflation eating at nations drowning in debt, a once-in-a-generation pandemic, climate disasters and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Factor in the Israel-Hamas war and rising tensions between powerful nations, and today's agenda is even fuller as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund hold their spring meetings in Washington this week. The world's intertwined challenges of poverty which clearly we have seen great setbacks over the past few years combined with fragility and conflict and violence, combined with climate change, is coming into a perfect storm, Banga said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We need to put all of our efforts into this. Banga highlighted new initiatives being announced at the meetings, including plans to provide 300 million people in Africa with electricity by 2030 and 1.5 billion people worldwide with health care .

Ukraine PM Shmyhal warns of 'Third World War' if it loses against Russia

"Or, there will be many conflicts, many such kinds of wars, and in the end of the day, it could lead to the third world war," he added

G7 foreign ministers seek urgent defence support for desperate Ukraine

G7 ministers kicked off a second day of talks on the Italian island of Capri by discussing the Middle East crisis and will turn their attention to Ukraine in the afternoon

Germany nabs 2 for spying for Russia, planning sabotage against Ukraine aid

Two German-Russian men have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of espionage, one of them accused of agreeing to carry out attacks on potential targets including US military facilities in hopes of sabotaging aid for Ukraine, prosecutors said Thursday. The two, identified only as Dieter S. and Alexander J. in line with German privacy rules, were arrested Wednesday in the Bavarian city of Bayreuth, federal prosecutors said. They said Dieter S. had been discussing possible acts of sabotage in Germany with a person linked to Russian intelligence since October, and that the main aim was to undermine military support given by Germany to Ukraine. The suspect declared himself willing to carry out bombing and arson attacks on infrastructure used by the military and industrial sites in Germany, prosecutors said in a statement. He gathered information on potential targets, including US military facilities, they added. Alexander J. allegedly helped him to do so starting in March at the latest

What's inside $95 bn House package focused on aiding Ukraine and Israel

Speaker Mike Johnson has unveiled a long-awaited package of bills that will provide military aid to Ukraine and Israel, replenish U.S. weapons systems and give humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza. The package totals USD 95.3 billion in spending, which matches the total that the Senate passed in mid-February. But there are also a few differences with the Senate bill designed to win over some House conservatives. Here's a look at what is in the bills that Johnson hopes to pass by this weekend. UKRAINE The aid to support Ukraine totals about USD 61 billion. Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee said that more than a third of that amount would be dedicated to replenishing weapons and ammunition systems for the U.S. military. The overall amount of money provided to Ukraine for the purchase of weapons from the U.S. is roughly the same in the House and Senate bills USD 13.8 billion. The main difference between the two packages is that the House bill provides more t

Russia reduces railway exports of gasoline by 26.5% in April so far

Russia banned gasoline exports for six months from March 1 except to a Moscow-led economic union and some countries, with which it has direct inter-government agreements on fuel supplies