July 12, 2024 10:45 AM

Ukraine urges NATO to lift restrictions on targeting Russia, China denounces criticism

Ukraine on Thursday urged NATO allies to lift restrictions on its use of long-range weapons against targets in Russia, saying that would be "game-changer" in its war with Moscow, while China slammed NATO criticism of its support for Russia as biased and malicious. NATO members issued a declaration in support of Ukraine at a summit in Washington on Wednesday, promising additional aid and pledging to back its "irreversible path" to NATO membership. "At this summit we are turning a corner and p...

July 10, 2024 9:54 PM

Biden, NATO poised to unveil Ukraine aid, reiterate membership pledge at summit

U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders of other NATO member states are poised to unveil new aid and reiterate a membership pledge for Ukraine at a summit in Washington after the U.S. leader vowed to defend Kyiv against Russia's invasion. Biden, 81, who has faced questions about his fitness for office after fumbling a June 27 debate, hopes the international event will help him stage a comeback of sorts ahead of his Nov. 5 reelection bid. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on W...

July 10, 2024 10:32 AM

Ukraine will stop Putin, Biden tells NATO in forceful speech

U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to forcefully defend Ukraine against Russia's invasion at the NATO summit in Washington on Tuesday, using the global stage to try to show allies at home and abroad that he can still lead. Biden, 81, has endured 12 days of withering questions about his fitness for office as some of his fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill and campaign donors fear that he will lose the Nov. 5 election after a halting debate performance on June 27. "(Vladimir) Putin w...

July 5, 2024 4:54 PM

World food prices hold firm in June, UN’s FAO reports

The United Nations world food price index held steady in June data showed on Friday, with increases in vegetable oil, sugar and dairy products offset by a fall in the price of cereals. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 120.6 points in June, unchanged from May. The May figure was revised from an initial reading of 120.4. The FAO index hit a three-year low in February as food prices receded from a record pea...

July 4, 2024 3:24 PM

Xi and Putin set out ambitions for Eurasian security club

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged members of a regional security club on Thursday to resist external meddling, while President Vladimir Putin was due to speak about creating a new Eurasian security system at the group's annual meeting. Putin and Xi have expanded the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a club founded in 2001 with Russia, China and Central Asian nations, to include India, Iran and Pakistan as a counterweight to the West. The group also represents the new key customers for ...

September 16, 2024 6:13 PM

Russia starts secret trial for U.S. reporter Gershkovich on spy charges

U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich went on trial behind closed doors on Wednesday in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, where he faces charges of espionage and a likely sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors say the Wall Street Journal reporter gathered secret information on the orders of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency about a company that manufactures tanks for Russia's war in Ukraine. Gershkovich, his newspaper and the U.S. government all reject the allegations and say that he...

June 25, 2024 10:14 PM

Russia bans distribution of dozens of EU news outlets in retaliatory step

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it was banning access inside Russia to the broadcasts of dozens of European Union media outlets in what it said was retaliation for a similar EU ban on several Russian media outlets. The European Union said in May it was suspending the distribution of what it described as four "Kremlin-linked propaganda networks," stripping them of their broadcasting rights in the bloc. It said at the time that the ban applied to Voice of Europe, to the RIA news agency...

September 16, 2024 6:14 PM

PM Modi may visit Russia in July: Russian state media

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Russia in July, according to reports from Russian state news agency RIA on Tuesday. The potential visit would mark PM Modi's first trip to Russia since 2019 and his first since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022. RIA reported that preparations are underway for the high-level meeting between PM Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin had previously confirmed in March that PM Modi had an open invitation to ...

June 25, 2024 2:21 PM

EU adopts new sanctions against Russia, including LNG

European Union countries adopted a 14th package of sanctions on Russia that aims to close some circumvention loopholes and hits Russia's gas exports for the first time, EU foreign affairs ministers said in a statement on Monday. Western powers imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which has been progressively ramped up since. The package will also add 116 entities and individuals to the sanctions list bringing, the total t...

June 23, 2024 10:44 AM

Russia launches missile attack on Kyiv and surrounding region, Ukraine says

Russia launched three missiles overnight on Ukraine, with air defence systems destroying two of the weapons over the Kyiv region, Ukraine's Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Sunday. In his statement on the Telegram messaging app, Oleshchuk did not say what happened to the third missile. There were no immediate reports from Ukrainian officials of damage or injuries as a result of the attack. Kyiv, its surrounding region and several others across Ukraine were under air raid alerts fo...