Page 95 - Latest Updates on Ukraine peace talks

G7 price cap on Russian oil, recent action by Indian refiners working: US

Since October, the US has enforced the price cap with sanctions including designating in February Sovcomflot (SCF), Russia's state-owned shipping company

Nato debates plan to provide long-term military support to Ukraine

NATO is debating a plan to provide more predictable military support to Ukraine in coming years as better armed Russian troops assert control on the battlefield, the organisation's top civilian official said Wednesday. We strongly believe that support to Ukraine should be less dependent on short-term, voluntary offers and more dependent on long-term NATO commitments, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said before chairing a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers in Brussels. Earlier on Wednesday, Ukraine lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 to help replenish its depleted ranks after more than two years of war. A shortage of infantry combined with a severe ammunition shortfall has helped hand Russian troops the initiative. The reason why we do this is the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine. It is serious, Stoltenberg told reporters. We see how Russia is pushing, and we see how they try to win this war by just waiting us out. The plan is to have NATO ...

Ukraine lowers conscription age to 25 to plug shortfall in troop numbers

Ukraine on Wednesday lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its depleted ranks after more than two years of war following Russia's full-scale invasion. The new mobilisation law came into force a day after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed it. Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed it last year. It was not immediately clear why Zelenskyy took so long to sign the measure into law. He didn't make any public comment about it, and officials did not say how many new soldiers the country expected to gain or for which units. Conscription has been a sensitive matter in Ukraine for many months amid a growing shortage of infantry on top of a severe ammunition shortfall that has handed Russia the battlefield initiative. Russia's own problems with manpower and planning have so far prevented it from taking full advantage of its edge. The average age of Ukrainian soldiers, like those on the Russian side, is around 40, military analysts s

PM Modi facilitated return of Indian students from Ukraine: Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi facilitated the return of 22,500 stranded Indian students from Ukraine after speaking with leaders of Russia, Ukraine and the US, which no other world leader could do. Addressing an election rally in western Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, the veteran BJP leader also lauded Modi for transforming India's reputation on the global stage since becoming prime minister in 2014. "India has become a powerful country. The world did not take India seriously... But our PM Modi has done a miracle. Today when India speaks on the international stage, the whole world listens carefully. This is India's reputation which has grown rapidly," Singh said. Referring to the Russia-Ukraine conflict that has been continuing for the last two years, the defence minister said, "Around 25,000 Indian students were studying in Ukraine. Their parents demanded from our prime minister that the children must be brought back... Every parent in ..

Will deliver hundreds of armoured vehicles to Ukraine: French minister

French Defence Minister Sbastien Lecornu said France is to deliver hundreds of armoured vehicles by the beginning of next year to Ukraine as part of a new package of military aid for the country that just entered its third year since the Russian invasion. In an interview with the French newspaper La Tribune's Sunday edition, Lecornu said that to hold such an extensive front line, the Ukrainian army needs, for example, our armoured personnel carriers. It's absolutely key for troop mobility. The French military is currently replacing its old VAB armoured personnel carriers that started being used in 1979 by a new generation of armoured vehicles. This old equipment, still operational, is going directly to Ukraine in large quantities. We're talking about hundreds (of vehicles) in 2024 and early 2025, Lecornu said. Lecornu also said France will provide Ukraine with more anti-aircraft missiles. The move comes as France's government is pushing its military industry to boost its production

Ukraine Foreign Min Dmytro Kuleba discusses peace plan in India meeting

India, with deep economic and political ties with Russia, has consistently pushed for dialog and diplomacy to end the conflict. It has not publicly criticized or voted against Russia at the UN

As cases of asset seizures rise, Vladimir Putin's tycoons seek safeguards

With most Russian billionaires having been sanctioned over the past two years, the next concern is which decades-old privatisation decisions might be reversed

Russia vetoes UN resolution on N Korea sanctions amid Ukraine war

The dynamics have shifted amid the Ukraine crisis, leading to increased reliance on North Korea for munitions by Russian President Vladimir Putin

S Jaishankar meets Ukranian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in New Delhi

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba in New Delhi on Friday as part of a bilateral engagement. Kuleba, who arrived here on Thursday, is on a two-day visit to India. "Welcome FM @DmytroKuleba of Ukraine to Hyderabad House. Look forward to our discussions today," Jaishankar posted on X ahead of their talks. The external affairs minister also shared a photograph of him shaking hands with his Ukranian counterpart at the Hyderabad House. Kuleba's visit comes amid efforts to seek a peaceful resolution to the over two-year-old Russia-Ukraine conflict. On Thursday, Kuleba had posted on X, "I began my visit to New Delhi upon @DrSJaishankar's invitation. The Ukrainian-Indian cooperation is important and we will be reinvigorating ties. Building on the dialogue between @ZelenskyyUa and @NarendraModi, we will pay specific attention to the Peace Formula." During his weekly press briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson

Ukraine requests India to reconsider 'Soviet legacy' of Russia ties

Ukrainian foreign minister has urged India to support it in its war against Russia. India-Russia ties are based on Soviet legacy that is evaporating, he said

We encourage peaceful resolution of Russia-Ukraine conflict, says India

India on Thursday said it continues to encourage a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict through "dialogue and diplomacy". MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said this in response to a query during a press briefing on India's stand on the inaugural Peace Summit in Switzerland. "We continue to encourage peaceful resolution of Russian-Ukraine conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, and remain open to engage, all ways and means, that would help achieve this objective," he said. His comments came on a day Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba arrived here on his maiden visit to India. Kuleba said the bilateral cooperation between Ukraine and India is "important" and it will be strengthened. In response to a question on number of Indians "duped" by agents and sent to Russia to join the military, the MEA spokesperson said, "We are constantly in touch with Russian authorities, we are pressing, we have taken it up strongly for them to have our nationals released a

Russia will not attack Nato, but F-16s will be shot down in Ukraine: Putin

The Kremlin, which accuses the U.S. of fighting against Russia by supporting Ukraine with money, weapons and intelligence, says relations with Washington have probably never been worse

House Speaker Mike Johnson committed to advancing assistance to Ukraine

For over a month, House Speaker Mike Johnson has sat on a funding package that would send desperately needed ammunition and weaponry to Ukraine, mulling how best to gain a grasp of what is expected to be a difficult lift in the House. The Republican speaker has indicated he will attempt to push for approval of tens of billions in wartime funding for Ukraine, as well as Israel, once the House returns in April. Yet it will be perhaps his most difficult task since he took the speaker's gavel late last year. We'll turn our attention to it and we won't delay on that, the Louisiana representative said of the Ukraine package at a news conference last week. Still, Johnson has waited to act at a time when Russia is renewing its missile attacks on Kyiv. In Ukraine's eastern regions, soldiers are running low on ammunition as they attempt to hold off a surge of Russian soldiers to the frontlines. European leaders and analysts are warning that the conflict could grow into a much larger clash tha

Hunter Biden's attorneys push California judge to toss out tax charges

Attorneys for Hunter Biden asked a judge Wednesday to toss out the tax case accusing him of a four-year scheme to avoid paying USD 1.4 million in taxes while living an extravagant lifestyle. President Joe Biden's son has pleaded not guilty to the nine felony and misdemeanour tax offences. His attorneys argued the prosecution is politically motivated, was tainted by leaks from IRS agents who claimed publicly the case was mishandled and includes some allegations from before he moved to California. Prosecutors framed the claims as far-fetched during the three-hour hearing. Prosecutor Leo Wise scoffed at the idea that the case was tainted by the IRS agents "who I couldn't have picked out of a lineup". Defence attorney Abbe Lowell, on the other hand, maintained the case was hopelessly contaminated by partisan politics, calling it "the least ordinary prosecution a person could imagine". US District Judge Mark C Scarsi appeared to be sceptical, telling Lowell the hard evidence for some of

Russia strikes Ukraine's Kharkiv with aerial bombs; 1 killed, 17 injured

Russia struck the northeastern city of Kharkiv with aerial bombs on Wednesday for the first time since 2022, killing at least one civilian and wounding 16 others, local officials said. The airstrikes caused widespread damage, hitting several residential buildings and damaging the city's institute for emergency surgery. Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukraine in recent days, launching several missile barrages on the capital Kyiv and hitting energy infrastructure across the country in apparent retaliation for recent Ukrainian aerial attacks on the Russian border region of Belgorod. Such sporadic attacks, however, have been common throughout the war. The Kharkiv region cuts across the front line where Ukrainian and Russian forces have been locked in battles for over two years since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The region is frequently attacked with missiles and drones. Sergey Bolvinov, head of the investigative police department in Khakiv, said in a .

India has spoken with Russia 'frankly and bluntly' on Ukraine conflict: EAM

Jaishankar, who is on a visit to Malaysia, was interacting with the Indian community during an event

Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba to visit India on Thursday: MEA

Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba is slated to arrive here on Thursday for a two-day official visit during which he will have meetings with his Indian counterpart and others to discuss matters related to the bilateral relationship. His visit comes at the invitation of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement. During his visit, Kuleba will have "a number of engagements, including official meetings with External Affairs Minister and Deputy NSA to discuss matters pertaining to the bilateral partnership and cooperation on regional and global issues of mutual interest," the statement said. He is also expected to interact with the business community. Kuleba's visit comes amid the Russia-Ukraine war. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 20 had held separate conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and asserted that dialogue and diplomacy were the way forward

Two of four Kerala youth forced into Russia-Ukraine war to return home

Two of the four Kerala-based youths who fought in the war against Ukraine after being recruited into the Russian army by private agencies will soon return home to their families, Union Minister of State (Mos) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan has said. The MoS said on Tuesday evening that the Indian Embassy was readying their travel documents to return from Russia. "We expect that they will soon return home," Muraleedharan, who is contesting from the Attingal Lok Sabha constituency in the upcoming 2024 general elections, told reporters. Regarding the remaining two residents of the state, the MoS said the External Affairs Ministry was in talks with the Russian government to bring them back as well. "Rest assured we are taking strong measures to ensure their return," he said. According to the relatives of the three men, he said that they were taken to Russia by a recruitment agency with the promise of a whopping salary of Rs 2.5 lakh. Earlier, Muraleedharan had said that authori

Russia blames Ukraine for concert attack despite its denial, Isis claim

Russian officials persisted Tuesday in saying Ukraine and the West had a role in last week's deadly Moscow concert hall attack despite vehement denials of involvement by Kyiv and a claim of responsibility by an affiliate of the Islamic State group. Without offering any evidence, Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, followed similar allegations by President Vladimir Putin, who linked the attack to Ukraine even as he acknowledged that the suspects who were arrested were "radical Islamists". The IS affiliate claimed it carried out the attack, and US intelligence said it had information confirming the group was responsible. French President Emmanuel Macron said France also has intelligence pointing to "an IS entity" as responsible for the attack. But despite the signs pointing to IS, Putin insisted on alleged Ukrainian involvement -- something that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected, accusing the Kremlin leader of trying to drum up fervour as his forces

Ukraine says a third of Russian warships in Black Sea destroyed or disabled

Ukraine has sunk or disabled a third of all Russian warships in the Black Sea in just over two years of war, the navy spokesman said on Tuesday, a heavy blow to Moscow's military capability. Ukraine's Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told The Associated Press that the latest strike on Saturday night hit the Russian amphibious landing ship Kostiantyn Olshansky that was resting in dock in Sevastopol in Russia-occupied Crimea. The ship was part of the Ukrainian navy before Russia captured it while annexing the Black Sea peninsula in 2014. Pletenchuk has previously announced that two other landing ships of the same type, Azov and Yamal, also were damaged in Saturday's strike along with the Ivan Khurs intelligence ship. He told the AP that the weekend attack, which was launched with Ukraine-built Neptune missiles, also hit Sevastopol port facilities and an oil depot. Russian authorities reported a massive Ukrainian attack on Sevastopol over the weekend but didn't acknowledge any damage