Page 89 - Ukraine

In surprise move, Opec+ cuts daily oil output by over 1 million barrel

The move would likely raise prices at the pump, further straining relations between Riyadh and Washington as the world copes with inflation fuelled in part by the war in Ukraine

War-crimes warrant for Putin could complicate Ukraine peace talks

An international arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin raises the prospect of the man whose country invaded Ukraine facing justice, but it complicates efforts to end that war in peace talks. Both justice and peace appear to be only remote possibilities today, and the conflicting relationship between the two is a quandary at the heart of a March 17 decision by the International Criminal Court to seek the Russian leader's arrest. Judges in The Hague found reasonable grounds to believe that Putin and his commissioner for children's rights were responsible for war crimes, specifically the unlawful deportation and unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. As unlikely as Putin sitting in a Hague courtroom seems now, other leaders have faced justice in international courts. Former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, a driving force behind the Balkan wars of the 1990s, went on trial for war crimes, including genocide, at a United Nations tribunal in Th

Govt turns optimistic on forging G-20 consensus on Russia-Ukraine war

India's top G-20 negotiator, Amitabh Kant, said that the group still isn't close to reaching a settlement over the language in a joint statement at the leaders meeting in September

Over 20 far-right Austrian MPs walk out during Zelenskyy's speech

As he spoke, the Freedom Party (FPO) MPs walked out and left placards on their desk with the party logo that read "space for neutrality" and "space for peace"

Ukraine seeks to join EU within year after start of membership talks

Ukraine is performing the tasks put forward by the EU for the membership "much faster than anyone expected", the minister stressed

French court of appeal rules against extradition of Ukrainian billionaire

A French court of appeal ruled Thursday not to extradite to Ukraine the Ukrainian billionaire businessman Kostyantin Zhevago, who was temporarily detained in France in December. Ukraine's National Bureau of Investigation had said Zhevago, who owns a majority stake in mining group Ferrexpo, was wanted on suspicion of embezzlement and money laundering related to the bankruptcy of Ukrainian bank Finance and Credit. Zhevago was detained in Courchevel, a ski resort in the French Alps. At the time, French judicial officials in Chambery said he was detained pending a formal request for extradition by Ukraine which was ultimately refused. Zhevago was released under judicial supervision in France in January. The court in Chambery said Thursday it had an unfavourable opinion on the extradition request. Zhevago's lawyers said in a joint statement that beyond the respect of the human rights, this decision carries the mark of good sense. The decision can be appealed at the Court of Cassation

Ukraine targets 50% of power from renewables to boost energy security

Shifting to green energy will allow decentralising electricity generation, reducing the vulnerability of the power system, and increasing the security of energy supplies, Galushchenko said

Supporting Ukraine

New IMF loan raises questions

Ukraine receives UK Challenger tanks amid ongoing conflict with Russia

Ukraine has received its first British main battle Challenger tanks and other Western-made armoured vehicles, CNN reported citing Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov

Ukraine gets first batch of Leopard 2 tanks from Germany, says report

Ukraine received the first batch of Leopard 2 tanks from Germany, media outlets reported

Securing peace in Ukraine

This requires a compromise on their current positions by both Russia and the US

The Belarus bombshell

Putin's nuclear threat must be taken seriously

Ukraine demands emergency UN meeting over Putin nuclear plan

Ukraine's government on Sunday called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to counter the Kremlin's nuclear blackmail after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus. One Ukrainian official said Russia "took Belarus as a nuclear hostage. Further heightening tensions, an explosion deep inside Russia wounded three people on Sunday. Russian authorities blamed a Ukrainian drone for the blast, which damaged residential buildings in a town just 175 kilometers (110 miles) south of Moscow. Russia has said the plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus comes in response to the West's increasing military support for Ukraine. Putin announced the plan in a TV interview that aired Saturday, saying it was triggered by a UK decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium. Putin argued that by deploying its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia was following the lead

Russia 'largely stalled' in Bakhmut, moving to defensive strategy, says UK

The top commander of Ukraine's military said on Saturday that his forces were pushing back against Russian troops in the long and grinding battle for the town of Bakhmut, and British military intelligence says Russia appears to be moving to a defensive strategy in eastern Ukraine. The Bakhmut direction is the most difficult. Thanks to the titanic efforts of the defence forces, the situation is being stabilized, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi said in a post on Telegram giving a synopsis of a telephone call with Adm. Sir Tony Radakin, Britain's chief of defence staff. The seven-month fight for Bakhmut, where Russian forces have closed in on three sides, is the longest battle of the war, with Russia deploying both regular soldiers and fighters of the mercenary Wagner Group. Russian forces must go through Bakhmut to push deeper into parts of the eastern Donbas region, though Western officials say the capture of the city would have limited impact on the course of the war. Britain's Defence ...

US Prez Biden's Canada agenda stocked from Ukraine to climate change

President Joe Biden arrives in Canada on Thursday with a focus on several of the world's largest challenges: the war in Ukraine, climate change, trade, mass migration and an increasingly assertive China. The administration has made strengthening its friendship with Canada a priority over the past two years and Biden's meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the capital of Ottawa is an opportunity to set plans for the future. This visit is about taking stock of what we've done, where we are and what we need to prioritise for for the future, said John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council. We're going to talk about our two democracies stepping up to meet the challenges of our time. National security and air defences will likely be a priority, with a recent Chinese spy balloon floating over North America putting newfound urgency on Canada's plans to update its radar systems and recent purchase of F-35 jets. Trudeau signalled there could be a

IOC's Thomas Bach defends Russia's stance amid pro-Ukraine protest

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach defended his organization's efforts to create a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to competition in a speech in his home country of Germany which took place amid a pro-Ukraine protest. Bach reiterated the IOC's position that it would be discriminatory to exclude Russians and Belarusians based on citizenship alone and argued the Olympics can help promote dialogue at a tense time. Public broadcaster WDR reported nearly 200 pro-Ukraine protesters gathered outside the venue calling for Russia to be excluded entirely from the Olympics. The IOC recommended excluding Russia and Belarus on safety grounds soon after the invasion last year but now argues for letting the two countries' athletes compete as neutrals without national symbols ahead of a packed calendar of qualification events for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Bach said he opposed political influence on sports and any suggestion that Russians should be treated as

World Bank puts cost of rebuilding Ukraine at $411 billion over next decade

A World Bank report released Wednesday puts the cost of Ukraine's recovery and rebuilding from Russia's invasion at $411 billion over the next decade, with the cost of cleaning up the war rubble alone at $5 billion. The report details some of the toll of Russia's war in Ukraine: at least 9,655 civilians confirmed dead, including 461 children; nearly 2 million homes damaged; more than one out of five public health institutions damaged; and 650 ambulances damaged or looted. In all, the World Bank calculated $135 billion in direct damage to buildings and infrastructure so far, not counting broader economic damage. The damage would be even worse if not for the strong defense mounted by the Ukrainian forces, Anna Bjerde, the World Bank vice president for Europe and Central Asia, noted in a call with reporters. She said the worst damage has been confined to the front-line regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk and Kherson. As it is, the World Bank said, Russia's invasion has undone 15 year

Ukranian President posts video claiming Russian missile hit apartment

Ukraine's president posted a video on Wednesday showing what he said was a Russian missile slamming into an apartment building in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. The video appears to be CCTV footage that captures the moment the missile hits the nine-story residential block by a busy road. Ukrainian media carried pictures of the affected apartment buildings, showing charred apartments on several stories and flames billowing from one of them. The number of causalities was unknown. However, Vladimir Rogov, an official with the Moscow-appointed regional administration for the Russia-occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, claimed the building was hit by a Ukrainian air defence missile that was launched to intercept a Russian missile.

Japan's Kishida, Zelenskyy hold talks on wide-ranging issues in Kyiv

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held bilateral talks in Kyiv on Tuesday and discussed wide-ranging issues as they condemned Russian aggression

China's Xi Jinping, Japan's Fumio Kishida end visits to Russia and Ukraine

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has left Moscow, wrapping up a three-day visit, shortly after Japanese PM Fumio Kishida left Kyiv. Kishida made a surprise visit Tuesday to Kyiv, stealing some of the attention from Xi's trip to Moscow where he promoted Beijing's peace proposal for Ukraine, which Western nations have already dismissed. Xi's visit gave a strong political boost to Russian President Vladimir Putin just days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader on charges of alleged involvement in abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine. After the talks, Putin and Xi issued joint declarations pledging to further bolster their strategic cooperation, develop cooperation in energy, high-tech industries and other spheres and expand the use of their currencies in mutual trade to reduce dependence on the West. They said they would develop military cooperation and conduct more joint sea and air patrols, but there was no mention of Chinese wea