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☆ In Beijing, Xi and Putin left no question of their close alignment in a divided world
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Putin’s two-day state visit comes as Western leaders have leant on Xi to ensure that soaring exports from his country aren’t propping up the Russian war effort – a claim Beijing denies. Putin also traveled to Beijing with top security officials who the Russian president said Thursday would join informal talks on Ukraine. Beijing, which says it is neutral on the war, has repeatedly defended its trade with Russia as part of normal bilateral relations. Xi, analysts say, is seeking to keep Putin as a close partner, while not stepping over Western red lines. For that reason, she added, “he’s okay with on-going dependency between Russia and China – and with inequality in this relationship.”

Persons: Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin’s, Xi, Putin, Putin’s, Andrey Belousov, Sergey Shoigu, “ Putin, he’s, Kurt Volker, “, ”, Alexandra Prokopenko Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, United, –, Israel, Hamas, Russian, Russian Security, Chinese Communist Party, Chinese Foreign Ministry, Observers, CNN, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center Locations: Hong Kong, Beijing, United States, Taiwan, Gaza, Russian, China, ”, Russia, North Korea, Ukraine, China’s Harbin, Siberia, Europe

☆ Finland follows France and raises possibility of deploying troops to Ukraine, says report
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Finland's Foreign Minister says the West shouldn't rule out deploying troops against Russia. AdvertisementFinland's Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said the West can't rule out the possibility of deploying troops against Russia, Politico reports. "We are not right now sending any troops and not willing to discuss that," she said. He again said that sending Western troops into Ukraine shouldn't be ruled out, though he said the current situation doesn't require it, AP reported. Despite the Biden administration's firm stance against sending US troops to Ukraine, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby stressed on Friday that the decision ultimately lies with individual nations.

Persons: Elina Valtonen, Macron, —, Valtonen, Emmanuel Macron, Le Monde, Olaf Scholz, Putin, Vladimir Putin, ALEXANDER NEMENOV, Ukraine shouldn't, Jonathan NACKSTRAND, Ivo Daalder, Kurt Volker, John Kirby Organizations: Finland's, Politico, Service, NATO, Stalin's Red Army, Getty, Reuters, AP, NATO Nordic, AFP, Biden, National Security Locations: Russia, Finland, Sweden, Soviet Union, Moscow, Paris, Ukraine, Russian, Swedish, AFP Ukraine, Avdiivka

☆ Russia was ridiculed at the start of the war. Two years on, it has reasons to be confident
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Internal political frictions and the replacement of popular military chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi has also fueled concerns over military strategy going forward. "I think for Ukraine, there's really quite minimal difference between a president who can't deliver lethal aid and a president who won't deliver lethal aid. Russia's President Vladimir Putin listens while then-U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in Helsinki, Finland, in 2019. Russian President Vladimir Putin smiles while visiting an aviation plant on February 21, 2024, in Kazan, Russia. "The dispute over mobilization is happening at a time when most authorized U.S. military aid is close to exhausted and Congress has yet to pass a new aid package."

Persons: Moscow —, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, there's, James Nixey, that's, Putin, Donald, Trump, Nixey, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Brendan Smialowski, Alexei Navalny, Kurt Volker, he'd, Avdiivka, Volker, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, David Kirichenko, Kirichenko Organizations: Anadolu, Getty, Kyiv —, U.S, Russian, AFP, NATO, CNBC, Analysts, Institute for, Russia, Manpower, Kremlin, Center for, Armed Forces of, Bloomberg Locations: Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Kyiv, Avdiivka, Eurasia, Helsinki, Finland, West, U.S, Russian, Kazan, Donetsk, Armed Forces of Ukraine

☆ Congress acted to protect NATO. But it might not be enough to stop Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Zachary Wolf | Analysis Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Bettmann Archive/Getty ImagesPulling American generals out of NATO might force other NATO countries to seek their own nuclear deterrents. More members hit 2% benchmarkTrump frequently complains that NATO members other than the US don’t pay dues, which is a misstatement of facts. Multiple NATO countries do not hit that benchmark, although spending has risen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “It’s just like any relationship,” said Bergmann of the likelihood of permanent damage if Trump were to materially alter the NATO alliance. I know exactly what he has done and will do with the NATO alliance,” Rubio said, although he added, “But there has to be an alliance.”

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Joe Biden, Trump, “, Biden, Peter Bergen, Vladimir Putin, CNN’s Jim Sciutto, ” Sciutto, What’s, Kurt Volker, Chip Somodevilla, Volker, ” Volker, “ It’s, ”, Dwight D, Eisenhower, Max Bergmann, Bergmann, It’s, ” Marco Rubio, Sen, Marco Rubio, ” Rubio, he’s Organizations: CNN — Lawmakers, Trump, NATO, Republicans, Ukraine, CNN, Biden, Senate, House Intelligence, Allied, Eurasia Program, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Palais, Bettmann, World Trade Center, Pentagon Locations: Russia, “, Russian, Soviet Union, NATO, United States, Atlantic, Washington ,, Europe, American, Chaillot, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Afghanistan, France, Marco Rubio of Florida, “ State

☆ Biden appears to have found a workaround to the GOP Ukraine aid block — routing weapons via Greece
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewJoe Biden appears to have found a way around the Republican Party's blockade of Ukraine aid using a little-known presidential power. AdvertisementAccording to the report, Greece has weapons such as the S-300 missile-defense systems and Hawk surface-to-air missiles that would prove valuable to Ukraine in its war against Russia. Kurt Volker, a former US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, wrote for the European Center for Policy Analysis recently that the Excess Defense Articles law was one of a number of tools available to Biden to keep weapons to Ukraine flowing. The value of weapons that can be transferred under the Excess Defense Articles law is capped at $500 million. According to reports, Ukraine is running low on vital supplies of ammunition and equipment as it battles a Russian offensive.

Persons: —, Joe Biden, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Antony Blinken, Bradley, Forbes, Blinken, Kurt Volker, Biden, Volker, Mark Cancian Organizations: Service, Republican, Excess, Business, Foreign Armed Forces Financing, Russia, European Center for, Center for Strategic, International Studies Locations: Ukraine, Greece, Athens

☆ The US is finally giving Ukraine's military cluster munitions, deadly and controversial explosives that could be 'devastating' for Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Chris Panella | Jake Epstein | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The US announced a new weapons package that includes cluster munitions for Ukraine on Friday. Cluster munitions are deadly and controversial, but they could boost Ukraine's counteroffensive. The White House and Pentagon announced a new $800 million security assistance package for Ukraine on Friday that, for the first time, includes cluster munitions. Cluster munitions can be dropped from the air or fired as artillery and deal damage over a larger area. Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty ImagesDue to their range and movement, cluster munitions can be unpredictable and hit outside their intended target.

Persons: —, Kurt Volker, Federico Borsari, it's, Wojciech Grzedzinski, Ben Hodges, Borsari, hasn't, Pierre Crom, Biden, Jake Sullivan, Sullivan, willy nilly, Colin Kahl, I'm, Kahl Organizations: US, — Kyiv, Service, Pentagon, Ukraine, NATO, Army Tactical Missile Systems, Center for, The Washington, Getty, Army, Kyiv, Munitions, Amnesty, Rights Watch, National Locations: Ukraine, Hai, Lebanon, Russia, Toretsk, Izium

☆ Former US ambassador says Putin using a nuke would spell 'the end of the Russian military'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A former US ambassador said Russian use of nukes in Ukraine would "end" Putin's military. Putin recently said he wouldn't use nuclear weapons, following earlier hints that he would. US intelligence learned that senior Russian military leaders recently held discussions over using a tactical nuclear weapons, as The New York Times reported. Russia is estimated to have around 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons amid an even larger stockpile of bigger, strategic nukes. "They also know that there would be a devastating military response against Russian forces if they did it," he said.

☆ Russia's latest attacks on Ukraine are a 'show of weakness,' says former U.S. ambassador to NATO
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Natalie Tham | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Russia's latest attacks on Ukraine aren't a show of strength, but a "show of weakness" that reflects its inability to advance and seize Ukrainian territory, said Kurt Volker, a distinguished fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis. On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that he ordered long-range missile strikes on a number of locations in Ukraine targeting military, energy and communications facilities. "Putin's goal was to take over Ukraine, replace the government, have someone in Ukraine that was subordinate to Moscow. That's simply not going to happen," the former U.S. ambassador to NATO (2008-2009) told CNBC's "Capital Connection" on Tuesday. Volker, who was also U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations (2017-2019), added that Russia's increasing aggression is an expected reaction to Ukraine's resistance.

☆ Russia's latest attacks on Ukraine are a 'show of weakness,' says analyst
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailRussia's latest attacks on Ukraine are a 'show of weakness,' says analystKurt Volker, distinguished fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, says the Russians aren't able to "advance and take Ukrainian territory anymore."

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