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☆ Opinion: If Marjorie Taylor Greene wins on Ukraine aid, we’re headed for dangerous territory
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Julian Zelizer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is the new boss in town. Greene is intent on blocking funding to Ukraine — a massive blow to both NATO and the US’ own commitment to the post-World War II international order. This standoff demonstrates just how far the Republican Party has moved from the era of Ronald Reagan. Long before Greene, a growing number of Republicans began expressing increased skepticism toward international institutions like the United Nations. With Greene keeping Johnson’s feet to the fire when it comes to aid to Ukraine, the GOP’s revolution is almost complete.

Persons: Julian Zelizer, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mike Johnson, Johnson, Greene, ” Greene, —, we’ve, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Long, “, John Bolton, New York “, Jesse Helms of, George W, Bush, Saddam, Frances’s Jacques Chirac, Donald Trump, Bush’s, Putin, Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, Trump, MAGA Organizations: CNN, Princeton University, The New York Times, America, CNN — Republican, Republican, Ukraine, NATO, Republican Party, Soviet, United Nations, GOP, Republicans, UN, Senate Foreign, Iraq, Trump, Caucus Locations: Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Ukraine, United, United States, New York, Jesse Helms of North Carolina, Kyoto, Iraq, Russia, Helsinki, America

☆ Alexander Lukashenko: Belarus’ president to stand for re-election in 2025
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( Sophie Tanno | Robbert Iddiols | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says he will run for another term in elections set to be held in 2025, a move likely to extend the long rule of a key ally of Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Lukashenko, while speaking to journalists at a polling station after voting in parliamentary and local council elections, was asked whether he planned to stand in the next contest. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, will be confident of winning again, with votes in Belarus widely seen as neither free nor fair. The last presidential vote, in 2020, triggered riots when preliminary results showed Lukashenko had won in a landside victory. Tihkhanovskaya demanded a recount after the country’s Central Election Commission announced Lukashenko had won with 80.23% of the vote, while Tikhanovskaya stood at 9.9%.

Persons: Alexander Lukashenko, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko, “, ”, BelTA, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, “ Lukashenka, Putin, –, “ Europe’s, ” Lukashenko, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin’s Wagner, Tihkhanovskaya, Tikhanovskaya Organizations: CNN, Belarusian, Belarus –, Russian, Observers, Commission Locations: Belarusian, Belarus, Ukraine, Soviet, Kyiv, Moscow

☆ Europe wants to Trump-proof in case of a second term. But that is not an easy task
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Former US President Donald Trump briefly returned as a central character in European politics earlier this week. Multiple EU officials and diplomats noted to CNN that his sudden recollection came at a particularly sensitive time, as the EU attempts to build its own defense capabilities outside of the US-led NATO alliance. Whether Trump actually made these comments or not is largely immaterial to European officials. And his hostility toward the Ukraine war effort has an impact even now, playing into the Republican Party’s reluctance to pass more US funding for Ukraine. Christine Lagarde, head of the European Central Bank, said only this week that Trump’s return would be a “threat” for Europe.

Persons: Donald Trump, Thierry Breton, Trump, Ursula von der Leyen, ” Breton’s, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Letitia James, Spencer Platt, ”, Joe Biden, Europe’s, Ian Bond, ” Donald Trump, Jim Watson, Angela Merkel, Jesco Denzel, there’s, Christine Lagarde Organizations: CNN, Former, European, Republican, NATO, New York, Getty, Ukraine, “, Trump, EU, Centre, Economic, European Central Bank Locations: Europe, Iowa, Ukraine, New York City, Brussels, EU, United States, America, China, Davos, AFP, Russia, Beijing, Moscow, Charlevoix , Canada, European

☆ China's Xi, seeking end to Israel-Hamas conflict, calls for ceasefire and two-state solution
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A two-state solution to establish an independent Palestine is the “fundamental way out” of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Xi Jinping said Thursday in the Chinese leader’s first public comments on the war since it broke out nearly two weeks ago. Xi also praised Egypt for playing an “important role” in cooling tensions, adding that China supports its efforts to let in humanitarian aid to Gaza, CCTV reported. Israel’s subsequent bombardment and siege of Gaza has killed some 3,500 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, according to local health authorities. Hours before Biden landed in Israel, Russia’s Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum. During their meeting, the two leaders discussed the conflict in the Middle East, which Putin said was a “common threat” that brought Russia and China closer together.

Persons: Xi Jinping, ” Xi, Mostafa Madbouly, Xi, Joe Biden, Abdel Fattah el, Biden, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Putin, Israel –, Wang Yi, Zhai Jun Organizations: CNN, Egyptian, US, Israel, World Health Organization, Hamas, Biden, Chinese Foreign Ministry, Middle East Locations: Palestine, Israel, Beijing, China, Egypt, Gaza, Rafah, American, Russia, Europe, Ukraine

Hailed by Xi as a “project of the century,” the BRI has emerged as a glaring symbol of China’s rise as a global power. Chinese investment in BRI projects has tapered off as the world’s second-biggest economy slows. The opening ceremony of Cambodia's Morodok Techo National Stadium, funded by China's Belt and Road Initiative, in Phnom Penh on December 18, 2021. Later that year, Xi pledged that China would not build any new coal-fired power projects abroad. The BRI has also spurred other countries to increase their own efforts toward supporting infrastructure projects in the developing world.

Persons: Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Xi, –, Cambodia's, Lon Jadina, William & Mary, Marshall, China, ” Organizations: Beijing CNN, Initiative, China's, Getty, BRI, Boston, Global, Policy, William &, Marshall Plan, Global Development Policy Center, World Bank, Global Development, United Arab, European Union Locations: Beijing, China, Israel, Asia, Latin America, Africa, Europe, Ukraine, United States, Phnom Penh, AFP, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Sri Lanka, West Africa, America, Southeast Asia, Hambantota, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Italy, East

☆ Belt and Road Forum: Beijing to host global gathering as Xi Jinping lays out China's vision
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Russia’s Vladimir Putin, whose on-going assault on Ukraine is another major point of global instability and division, is expected to attend. The last time he was in Beijing was for the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in early 2022. Winning backing for China’s global leadership from a broad swath of developing and emerging economies is key to Xi’s strategy to push back against perceived international threats, analysts say. Overseas development finance from China’s two major development banks has also decreased significantly since a peak in 2016, the report’s data show. Ten years on, Chinese decision makers are becoming “more selective and more calculating” about the benefits of their financing, she said.

Persons: Xi Jinping, laud China’s, –, weren’t, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, ”, Craig Singleton, “, Kenya . Han Xu, Li Mingjiang, ” Jonathan Fulton, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Cyril Ramaphosa, Narendra Modi, Sergei Lavrov, Alet Pretorius, ” It’s, Liang, Yun Sun Organizations: CNN, Global, Initiative, Foundation for Defense, Democracies, Getty, Communist Party, Hamas, Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, Officials, Atlantic Council, Indian, Russia's, Boston University Global Development, Center, World Bank, Overseas, China’s National, Reform, China Program, Stimson Locations: China, Beijing, United States, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Ukraine’s, Washington, Kenya ., Xinhua, Russia, Moscow, China’s, Abu Dhabi, Fulton, Johannesburg, New Delhi, saddling

“People are looking to their leaders for a way out of this mess,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said ahead of the annual gathering of presidents and premiers, ministers and monarchs at the General Assembly. “Yet in the face of all this and more,” Guterres said, “geopolitical divisions are undermining our capacity to respond.”This year’s week-long session, the first full-on meeting of world leaders since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted travel, has 145 leaders scheduled to speak. The G77, the major U.N. group of developing countries that now has 134 members including China, lobbied hard to make this year’s global gathering focus on the 17 U.N. goals adopted by world leaders in 2015. At a two-day summit to kick-start action to achieve the goals, Guterres pointed to grim findings in a U.N. report in July. At the summit, leaders were then supposed to make pledges to meet the SDGs.

Persons: Antonio Guterres, ” Guterres, Joe Biden, Xi, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Rishi Sunak, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Biden, Guterres, “, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Josep Borrell, ” Borrell Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, —, General, . Security Council, Nepal’s, EU, Arab League Locations: China, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Brussels

☆ Analysis: China may not fear a closer Russia and North Korea like the West
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“China is too important for both North Korea and Russia, so for them it would be foolish to do something behind China’s back that it wouldn’t like,” he said. Shen Hong/Xinhua/Getty ImagesBalance of powerChina, which supported communist North Korea in the Korean War some 70 years ago, has maintained a complicated relationship with its rogue neighbor. “China would support a more capable North Korea in many respects – economically, militarily – and a North Korea that continues to serve as a troublemaker for the US,” said Li. “When you have a more assertive North Korea it will lead to some sort of incentive for the US and South Korea to seek China’s cooperation in terms of dealing with North Korea,” he said. But despite the potential gains, experts also say China is not immune to the risks that can come from a stronger Russia or a stronger North Korea.

Persons: Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong, ”, Alexander Korolev, China’s, Putin, Kim, what’s, Li Mingjiang, Xi Jinping, Shen Hong, it’s, Li, ” Yun Sun, Leif, Eric Easley Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Relations, University of New, North, Vostochny, Foreign Ministry, Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, “, Korean, Getty, United, US, China Program, Stimson, NATO, Ewha University Locations: China, Hong Kong, Russian, South Korea, Japan, Ukraine, United States, Europe, Moscow, Pyongyang, Russia, North Korea, Beijing, University of New South Wales, Australia, Ukraine –, Xi, Xinhua, United Nations, Korea, Washington, Sun, US, —, “ Beijing, Seoul, “

☆ Kim Jong Un and his daughter celebrate North Korea's 75th. Xi and Putin send their regards
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Gawon Bae | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Seoul, South Korea CNN —Kim Jong Un attended a “paramilitary parade” with his daughter to mark the 75th anniversary of North Korea’s founding on Saturday, the country’s state media have reported. Paramilitary forces and industrial workers marched down Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang as part of the parade, the Korean Central News Agency reported. Kim attended the parade with his daughter, who is believed to be called Kim Ju Ae, and received congratulatory letters from China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, according to KCNA. Kim Jong Un attends the parade marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of North Korea on September 9, 2023. In Xi’s letter, according to KCNA, the Chinese leader said his country was “ready to strengthen the strategic communication, deepen the working-level cooperation and promote the China-DPRK relations” with Pyongyang.

Persons: South Korea CNN — Kim Jong Un, Kim Il, Kim, Kim Ju, China’s Xi, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Liu Guozhong, Alexandrov, KCNA, Kim Jong Un, ”, ” Putin Organizations: South Korea CNN, Paramilitary, Korean Central News Agency, Russian Army, North, REUTERS Locations: Seoul, South Korea, Pyongyang, North Korea, Northeast Asia, China

☆ BRICS Summit: Who stands to benefit from Russia-friendly bloc's expansion?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has never been more prominent on the world stage. Russia’s leader can’t attend the summit because host country South Africa would be obliged to arrest him for alleged war crimes. But nonetheless that family is now entertaining formal bids from nearly two dozen countries to join their bloc of major emerging economies. It held its first summit in 2009 with four members and then added South Africa the following year. An expansion, instead of making the group more potent, could also make it “more unwieldy and ineffective” with more contrasting positions between members, he added.

Persons: can’t, It’s, Russia’s Vladimir Putin –, Putin, Cyril Ramaphosa, BRICS, ” “, Chen Xiaodong, Bhaso, “, China’s Xi, India’s Narendra Modi, Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, –, Goldman Sachs, Jim O’Neill, BRICS Anil Sooklal, Mihaela Papa, ”, Xi, Yun Sun, Putin –, Manoj Kewalramani, Kewalramani, Modi, Lula, Ramaphosa, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Rubens Duarte Organizations: CNN, West, Washington, Sunday, University of Johannesburg, New Development Bank, United Arab, Tufts University, Western, China Program, Stimson, NATO, Takshashila, United Nations Locations: South Africa, Brazil, Russia, India, China, Beijing, United States, New Delhi, Ukraine, African, Argentina, Mexico, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Nigeria, Bangladesh, South, Washington, BRICS, Bangalore, Johannesburg, Russian, – China, Africa, Europe

☆ India downplays SCO Summit but Putin and Xi may not be complaining
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Hong Kong CNN —Last year, the world watched closely as China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi of India and other world leaders within a Moscow-friendly group gathered in the Uzbek city of Samarkand for a high-profile, two-day summit. World leaders pose for a photo during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on September 16, 2022. It remains unknown how tight a grip Putin now has on power in Moscow, and although he attended last year’s SCO summit, he has rarely left Russia since his invasion of Ukraine. Face-to-face meetings, however, can also provide opportunity for world leaders to talk out sensitive issues or push on points of contention that may be handled less delicately in a virtual setting. Given their respective ties with Moscow, both China and India have received pressure from the West to limit their relations or even push Putin toward peace.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, Xi, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi, Putin –, Putin, Modi –, –, Modi, ”, Manoj Joshi, India didn’t, Murat Kula, what’s, Wagner, Steve Tsang, It’s, “, Moritz Rudolf, Paul Tsai, Tsang, Putin “ Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, SCO, “, Observer Research, Anadolu Agency, Getty, SOAS China Institute, University of London, Moscow, Paul Tsai China Center of, Yale Law School, Central, Soviet, Ukraine Locations: Hong Kong, India, Moscow, Uzbek, Samarkand, Ukraine, Eurasia, Russia, China, New Delhi, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, –, Iran, Washington, ”, Europe, Beijing, Belarus, Central Asia, Soviet Union

☆ Russia’s Vladimir Putin Blames U.S. for War in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Ann M. Simmons | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the new U.S. ambassador to Moscow that Washington was responsible for the war in Ukraine, in comments that underscored the extent to which the relationship between Washington and Moscow has frayed over the past year. In a televised ceremony to accept credentials for new envoys, the Russian leader Wednesday lambasted the U.S. for pursuing a foreign policy that he said had intentionally destabilized the world.

BRUSSELS—The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and another senior Kremlin official accused of war crimes, a historic move that focuses attention on tens of thousands of young war victims. The warrants are linked to Russia’s forced deportation of children from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. It marks the first time the leader of a nuclear superpower has been called to account before the court, an independent international institution established in 2002 to end impunity for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

☆ A post-Erdogan Turkey could come in from the cold
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The six-party coalition challenging the ruling AK Party plans to stamp out inflation, which official figures put at 58%. The six-party coalition should probably do this pre-emptively to gain extra economic credibility, though it seems unlikely to do so. These have soared following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, as some Western goods now go to Russia via Turkey. Nathalie Tocci, a former special adviser to two EU foreign policy supremos, shares this view. But it is not too early to think about how to bring Turkey in from the cold if he loses.

☆ Decisions the West Must Make on the Russia-Ukraine War in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Robert B. Zoellick | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky transformed from comedian-president to charismatic war leader. Historians might contend that the Russo-Ukrainian War is a leftover from the surprising, peaceful end of the Soviet empire in 1991. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has never accepted Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty. At age 70, Mr. Putin is determined to restore Greater Russia before Ukraine turns fully to the West. A U.S. intelligence official told me that when an American emissary warned Mr. Putin against an attack late last year, the aging autocrat replied, “What choice do I have?” In the face of resistance, Mr. Putin will double down.

☆ Former Rep. David Rivera of Florida is arrested in Venezuela probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

David Rivera, a Republican who served from 2011 to 2013, was arrested at Atlanta’s airport, said Marlene Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami. To justify the large payments, PDV USA allegedly created “phony contracts” backdated to March 20, 2017 — the day before the consulting agreement took effect. Rivera’s consulting contract had all the hallmarks of a sham, according to PDV USA, which since 2019 has been run by directors appointed by the U.S.-backed opposition. Rivera never met in person with anyone from Citgo or PDV USA while supposedly working on its behalf. “The written record is bereft of any evidence that Interamerican performed any of the contracted services,” PDV USA argues in the new filings.

☆ Trump launches 2024 U.S. presidential run, getting jump on rivals
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Steve Holland | Andy Sullivan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Trump steered clear of the name-calling that has marked other public appearances, opting instead for a critique of Biden’s presidency and a review of what Trump said were the policy achievements of his own time in office. Biden, 79, said last week he intends to run for re-election and will likely make a final decision by early next year. TRUMP’S PRESIDENCYDuring his turbulent 2017-2021 presidency, Trump defied democratic norms and promoted “America First” nationalism while presenting himself as a right-wing populist. Trump has elicited passionate support from many Americans, especially white men, Christian conservatives, rural residents and people without a college education. Ivanka Trump was not at the event, although her husband Jared Kushner was along with her brothers Don Jr. and Eric.

China’s top diplomat signaled that Chinese leader Xi Jinping , fresh from extending his power for a norm-breaking third term, intends to double-down on his tight relationship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin—driving an even deeper wedge between the two authoritarian rulers and the West. In a Thursday phone call with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov , Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing wants to deepen its relationship with Moscow “at all levels,” according to a readout published by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs late that night.

☆ Vladimir Putin Plays for Time as Russian Forces Fall Back in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Alan Cullison | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ukrainian soldiers firing at Russian positions in Ukraine’s Donetsk region last week. Russia’s Vladimir Putin is aggressively trying to prevent further losses in Ukraine by bombarding critical infrastructure and to avert disquiet at home by tightening social controls. The goal: hold on until the winter can give him enough pause to reboot his bogged-down invasion.

☆ China's Xi defends zero-Covid policy and warns Taiwan at opening of Communist Party Congress
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for accelerating the building of a world-class military as he kicked off a Communist Party Congress by touting the country's “zero-Covid” strategy and reiterating policy priorities. Xi described the five years since the last party congress as “extremely uncommon and abnormal”, during a speech that lasted less than two hours — far shorter than his nearly three-and-a-half-hour address at the 2017 congress. Chinese President Xi Jinping, bottom, centre, is applauded by senior members of the government and delegates after his speech on Sunday. The son of a Communist Party revolutionary, Xi has reinvigorated a party that had grown deeply corrupt and increasingly irrelevant, expanding its presence across all aspects of China, with Xi officially its “core”. The day after the congress ends on Saturday, Xi is expected to introduce his new Politburo Standing Committee, a seven-person leadership team.

MOSCOW—Confronted by serious battlefield losses in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin did what he has often done before when facing setbacks: doubled down. In a nationally televised speech early Wednesday, an angry-sounding Mr. Putin said he would call up 300,000 reservists to bolster the war effort and hinted he would consider a nuclear strike, saying he would use “all the instruments at his disposal” to prevail.

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