Page 118 - Russia

Iranian prez denies sending drones, other weapons to Russia to use in war

Iran's president on Monday denied his country had sent drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine, even as the United States accuses Iran of not only providing the weapons but helping Russia build a plant to manufacture them. "We are against the war in Ukraine," President Ebrahim Raisi said as he met with media executives on the sidelines of the world's premier global conference, the high-level leaders' meeting at the UN General Assembly. The Iranian leader spoke just hours after five Americans who had been held in Iranian custody arrived in Qatar, freed in a deal that saw President Joe Biden agree to unlock nearly USD 6 billion in frozen Iranian assets. Known as a hard-liner, Raisi seemingly sought to strike a diplomatic tone. He reiterated offers to mediate the Russia-Ukraine war despite being one of the Kremlin's strongest backers. And he suggested that the just-concluded deal with the United States that led to the prisoner exchange and assets release could "help build trust"

China's foreign minister Wang Yi heads to Moscow after meeting US NSA

China's top foreign policy official is heading to Russia for security talks after two days of meetings with US President Joe Biden's national security adviser over the weekend in Malta. Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who simultaneously holds the ruling Communist Party's top foreign policy post, will be in Russia from Monday to Thursday for a round of China-Russia strategic security consultations, the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement. The US and China are at odds over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. China has refrained from taking sides in the war, saying that while a country's territory must be respected, the West needs to consider Russia's security concerns about NATO expansion. It has accused the US of prolonging the fighting by providing arms to Ukraine, weaponry that the US says is needed to defend against Russian aggression. China and Russia have grown closer in recent years as relations with the West have deteriorated for both. China is looking for support as it seeks to .

Ukraine, its allies battle Russian bid to have genocide case tossed out

Ukraine's legal battle against Russia over allegations of genocide used by Moscow to justify its 2022 invasion resumes on Monday at the United Nations' highest court, as Russia seeks to have the case tossed out. Hearings at the International Court of Justice, also known as the Word Court, will see Ukraine supported by a record 32 other nations in a major show of support. Kyiv launched the case shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, arguing that the attack was based on false claims of acts of genocide in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of eastern Ukraine and alleging that Moscow was planning genocidal acts in Ukraine. It wants the court to order Russia to halt its invasion and pay reparations. Filing its case last year, Ukraine said that Russia has turned the Genocide Convention on its head making a false claim of genocide as a basis for actions on its part that constitute grave violations of the human rights of millions of people across Ukraine. Ukraine brought the case to the ...

The elusive nature of reality

Egginton gestures at connections between the work of Heisenberg, Kant and Borges, between physics and metaphysics, fiction and fact

N Korea's Kim Jong Un receives 5 explosive drones as gifts from Russia

In Vladivostok on Saturday, he met with the Russian Defence minister and viewed cutting-edge armaments, including a hypersonic missile system

Poland imposes EU ban on all Russian-registered cars in latest sanctions

Poland began to enforce a European Union (EU) ban Sunday on all Russian-registered passenger cars seeking to enter the country the latest in a series of sanctions on Russia in punishment for its war against Ukraine. Under the EU's decision, motor vehicles registered in the Russian Federation are no longer allowed to enter the territory of the 27-member bloc. A car registered in Russia has no right to enter Poland, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said Saturday, announcing the ban that took effect hours later at midnight. This is another element of the sanctions imposed on Russia and its citizens in connection with the brutal war in Ukraine, due to the fact that the Russian state today constitutes a threat to international security, Kaminski said. The move comes just days after the nearby Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia banned vehicles with Russian license plates from entering their territory a joint move in line with a recent interpretation of the EU's ...

South Korea's Yoon warns against Russia-North Korea military cooperation

South Korea's president said the international community will unite more tightly to cope with deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, as he pushes to raise the issue with world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly this week. Worries about Russian-North Korean ties have flared since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia last week for a summit with President Vladimir Putin and to tour a slew of high-profile military and technology sites. Foreign experts speculate Kim could refill Russia's ammunition inventory drained in its 18-month war with Ukraine in return for economic aid and technologies to modernize his weapons systems targeting South Korea and the U.S. Military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is illegal and unjust as it contravenes U.N. Security Council resolutions and various other international sanctions, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said in written responses to questions from The Associated Press before his departure to .

Kim Jong Un discussed arms cooperation with Russian minister: N Korea media

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held discussions with Russia's defence minister on strengthening strategic and tactical coordination between the countries' militaries, the North's state media said Sunday, as Kim continued a visit to Russia's Far East that has raised concerns about an arms alliance that would fuel Moscow's war on Ukraine. The talks with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu came after Kim on Friday was shown some of Russia's most advanced weapons systems deployed for its war on Ukraine, including nuclear-capable bombers and hypersonic missiles, and a key warship of its Pacific fleet, the Korean Central News Agency said. Kim's trip, highlighted by a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, has underscored how their interests are aligning in the face of separate, intensifying confrontations with the West. US and South Korean officials have said North Korea could provide badly needed munitions for Putin's war on Ukraine in exchange for sophisticated Russian .

Russia to increase missile arsenal for winter onslaught against Ukraine

"Between October 2022 and March 2023, Russia focused long-range strikes against Ukraine's national energy infrastructure," the defence ministry said in the statement posted to X

Kim inspects Russian nuclear-capable bombers on visit to country's far east

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived Saturday at a Russian city near the far eastern port of Vladivostok where he's expected to see Russia's Pacific Fleet. The visit follows Kim's talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny spaceport on Wednesday and his visit Friday to an aircraft-making plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The US and it allies are concerned that Kim's visit is focused on providing Moscow with weapons for its war in Ukraine in a possible arms-for-technology deal.

Bumper harvest of Russian wheat halves world prices from wartime high

"There are not a lot of competitors for Russian wheat," said Helene Duflot, a grain-market analyst at Strategie Grains. "Russia is the price maker at the moment"

UK officially proscribes Russia's Wagner Group as terrorist organisation

The release added that the Wagner group has now been added to the list of proscribed organisations in the UK, alongside 78 organisations

Imports from Russia doubles to $25.69 billion in Apr-Aug on oil, fertiliser

The country's imports from Russia almost doubled to USD 25.69 billion during the April-August period this fiscal due to increasing inbound shipments of crude oil and fertiliser, according to the commerce ministry data. With this, Russia has become India's second-largest import source during the first five months of this fiscal. The imports were USD 13.77 billion during April-August 2022. From a market share of less than 1 per cent in India's import basket before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia's share of India's oil imports rose to over 40 per cent. India, the world's third-largest crude importer after China and the United States, has been buying Russian oil that was available at a discount after some in the West shunned it as a means of punishing Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. The ministry's data showed that imports from China dipped to USD 42 billion during the period against USD 43.96 billion in the same period last year. Similarly, imports from the US ..

Russia raises interest rate as inflation, exchange rate worries continue

The Central Bank of Russia raised its key lending rate by one percentage point to 13 per cent on Friday, a month after imposing an even larger hike, as concerns about inflation persist and the ruble continues to struggle against the dollar. The increase comes as annualised inflation rose in September to 5.5 per cent and the bank said it expected it would reach 6-7 per cent by the end of the year. Inflationary pressure in the Russian economy remains high. Significant pro-inflationary risks have crystallised, namely the domestic demand growth outpacing the output expansion capacity and the depreciation of the ruble in the summer months," the bank's board said in a statement. "Therefore, it is required to additionally tighten monetary conditions. The bank in August increased the lending rate to 12 per cent a jump of 3.5 percentage points as the ruble fell to 100 against the dollar. Although the ruble's exchange rate improved mildly after the rate hike, it remains around 95 to the ...

Kim stops to see fighter jet plant as Russia, N Korea warned off arms deals

Kim Jong Un arrived Friday in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in far eastern Russia and is expected to visit a plant that builds fighter jets as South Korea has said it's concerned his visit is focused on expanding military cooperation in a possible arms-for-technology deal. The visit to Komsomolsk-on-Amur is one of several the North Korean leader is making on a days-long trip to Russia. Arriving on an armoured train from North Korea, he rolled into Russia on Tuesday and was met by officials at a station near the Russia-North Korea border. After a long train trip north, on Wednesday he met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome and was greeted by Putin with a 40-second handshake. On Thursday, he largely disappeared from view, before reappearing local time Friday as his convoy swept out of Komsomolsk-on-Amur station. Putin told Russian state TV after the summit that Kim will travel to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where he will visit an aircraft plant, and then go to Vladivostok to v

LIVE: 3 injured after flight faces runway excursion at Mumbai airport

Catch all the latest updates from across the globe here

Why North Korea's Kim Jong Un prefers trains over planes

North Korea's Kim Jong Un has a penchant for travelling by train, a tradition deeply rooted in his family's history. But why does Kim Jong Un prefer trains over planes? Watch the video to find out

Indian oil firms explore using stranded $600 million to buy Russian oil

Indian oil companies are exploring the possibility of using close to USD 600 million of their dividend income stranded in Russia to buy oil from that country, officials said on Thursday. India's top four oil companies -- Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), a unit of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Oil India Ltd and ONGC Videsh Ltd -- haven't been able to repatriate dividend income they accrue from their investments in Russian oil and gas fields. That money is lying in their bank accounts in Russia but could not be brought to India due to tough Western sanctions that followed Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. This is at a time when Russia has emerged as the top crude oil supplier to India, accounting for more than a third of all purchases New Delhi makes from overseas. Officials said one of the options could be to loan the money lying in Russian bank accounts to entities buying oil. These entities could repay the loan in India. The entities that buy oil from Russia include IOC and BPCL. "W

S Korea expresses concern, regret over Kim-Putin military cooperation talks

South Korea on Thursday expressed deep concern and regret over a meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin that was apparently focused on expanding military cooperation as the two isolated, nuclear-armed leaders align over their escalating confrontations with the United States. Washington has warned that the summit on Wednesday between Kim and Putin could lead to a deal to supply ammunition for Moscow's war in Ukraine. There's widespread concern in Seoul that the North in return would receive advanced weapons technologies from Russia, including those related to military spy satellites, which would increase the threat posed by Kim's military nuclear program. We express our deep concern and regret that despite repeated warnings from the international community, North Korea and Russia discussed military cooperation issues, including satellite development, during their summit, said Lim Soo-suk, South Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesperson. Any

JP Morgan bond index rebalancing: Borrowing costs in India to get cheaper

Index providers are 'increasingly tilted' to include India to fill the gap expected due to Russia's exclusion from JP Morgan's emerging market bond index