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Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called US military aid "the most profitable investment into world's security" during a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kyiv on Wednesday. Kuleba said he and Blinken had “an open, sincere and friendly conversation” and reiterated that the US support for Ukraine is long-standing. “Anyone in the world who has doubted that Ukraine and the US will stand shoulder to shoulder until the end of this war have received a powerful signal today that they are wrong. We are moving forward together because we understand this war is not just about the future of Ukraine, but the future of the world,” he said. The leaders also ate at a McDonald’s in Kyiv, which had recently reopened.

Persons: Dmytro Kuleba, Antony Blinken, ” Kuleba, Kuleba, United States “, Blinken, ” Organizations: “, Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, Tactical Missile Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, United States, Ukrainian, Romania

In remarks ahead of their talks, Putin told Erdogan that Russia is “open to negotiations” on the grain deal. Shifting power balanceErdogan and Putin last met face-to-face in October on the sidelines of an Asia summit in the Kazakh capital Astana. Ahead of his re-election, Erdogan hailed his “special” relationship with Putin as Western states pressured Ankara to join sanctions against Moscow. “(Erdogan) has not really gotten in the direction of trying to please Putin,” Ulgen told CNN. The reconfigured power balance between the two leaders could yet yield positive results with the efforts to revive the Black Sea grain deal, experts say.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Erdogan, Monday’s, ” Putin, ”, Sinan Ulgen, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, “, ” Erdogan, CNN’s Becky Anderson, Asli Aydintasbas, ” Aydintasbas, ” Ulgen, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ulgen, Turkey’s, “ Putin, ” “ Erdogan Organizations: CNN, TASS, Astana, Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, Brookings Institution, “ Locations: Russia’s, Sochi, Moscow, Black, Russia, Turkey, Qatar, Russian, Turkish, Asia, Kazakh, Ukraine, Ankara, Istanbul, Washington , DC, United States, ”, Finland, Sweden, East

Ever since members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization sprang into action to help Ukraine try to thwart Russia’s invasion last year, China has warned about a similar U.S.-led security alliance forming in Asia that would seek to hobble Beijing’s ambitions and provoke a confrontation. President Biden’s Camp David summit on Friday with the leaders of Japan and South Korea most likely reinforces Beijing’s perception. The talks saw Japan and South Korea put aside their historical animosities to forge a defense pact with the United States aimed at deterring Chinese and North Korean aggression. Mr. Biden, who met with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea, sought to emphasize at a news conference that the summit was not “anti-China.” But Beijing will almost certainly find Mr. Biden’s assertion unpersuasive. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has accused the United States of leading Western countries in the “all-around containment, encirclement and suppression of China.”

Persons: hobble, Biden’s, David, Mr, Biden, Fumio Kishida, Yoon Suk, Xi Jinping, ” Organizations: Atlantic Treaty Locations: Ukraine, China, U.S, Asia, Japan, South Korea, United States, ”, Beijing

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been advocating for a common regional policy to end deforestation by 2030, promising his country will reach zero deforestation. However, the failure to agree on a common policy to end deforestation in the Amazon is concerning, as the fate of the rainforest is critical to the health of the planet. It is home to a unique array of animal and plant life, and is crucial to maintaining a global climate balance because it stores a huge amount of carbon and strongly influences global weather patterns. According to CNN affiliate CNN Brasil, Guyana, Suriname and Bolivia left the meeting refusing to agree on a goal. On Monday, Colombia backed an indigenous-led global pact to protect 80% of the Amazon by 2025.

Persons: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Lula da Silva’s, Jair Bolsonaro, haven’t, ” Lula da Silva, Evaristo Sa, Susana Muhamad Organizations: CNN, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, Brazilian Amazon, Peoples of, Getty, Amazon Alliance, CNN Brasil, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, Colombian Locations: Brazil, Brazilian, Belém, Para State, AFP, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Amazonia

BELEM, Brazil, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Eight Amazon nations agreed to a list of unified environmental policies and measures to bolster regional cooperation at a major rainforest summit in Brazil on Tuesday, but failed to agree on a common goal for ending deforestation. The failure of the eight Amazon countries to agree on a pact to protect their own forests points to the larger, global difficulties of forging an agreement to combat climate change. Bolivia and Venezuela are the only Amazon countries not to sign onto a 2021 agreement among more than 100 countries to work toward halting deforestation by 2030. But tensions emerged in the lead up to the summit around diverging positions on deforestation and oil development. Fellow Amazon countries also rebuffed Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro's ongoing campaign to end new oil development in the Amazon.

Persons: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Marcio Astrini, Lula, Luis Arce, Mauro Vieira, Ricardo Stuckert, Gustavo Petro's, Petro, Alexandre Silveira, Silveira, Jake Spring, Steven Grattan, Brad Haynes, Rosalba O'Brien, Jason Neely, Peter Graff, Aurora Ellis, Richard Chang Organizations: Climate, Reuters, Bolivian, Brazil's, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, REUTERS, Amazon, Brazil's Energy, United Nations, Thomson Locations: BELEM, Brazil, Brazilian, Belem, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela

[1/2] A general view shows the water conditions of the Piraiba river before a summit of Amazon rainforest nations, in Belem, Para state, Brazil August 5, 2023. Leaders are expected to announce the final agreement, known as the Belem Declaration, late on Tuesday afternoon. Presidents from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Peru and Venezuela will attend, while Ecuador and Suriname will send other representatives. ACTO Executive Director Carlos Lazary said the final agreement may include Brazil's plans for a regional center in Manaus where Amazon countries can coordinate police operations. Norway and Germany, which have funded Amazon preservation, and France, which controls the Amazon territory of French Guiana, will also participate.

Persons: Ueslei Marcelino, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Jair Bolsonaro, Carlos Lazary, Jake Spring, Brad Haynes, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, Ueslei, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, CNN Brasil, European Union, Thomson Locations: Belem , Para, Brazil, Ueslei Marcelino BELEM, Brazilian, Belem, Belem Declaration, Bolivia, Colombia, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Suriname, policymaking, Manaus, Congo, DRC, Indonesia, Norway, Germany, France, French Guiana

☆ Brazil courts private sector help to reforest the Amazon, minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Lisandra Paraguassu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] An aerial view shows trees as the sun rises at the Amazon rainforest in Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil October 26, 2022. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly/File PhotoBRASILIA, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Brazil's government wants the private sector to help reforest large swathes of the Amazon, the country's Environment Minister Marina Silva said in an interview, using concessions to replant some 12 million hectares (120,000 square km) of forest by 2030. The plan's outlines were sketched out in a briefing last week by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has vowed to end Amazon deforestation by 2030. Concessions could also be granted to generate other products, like oilseeds, fibers and resins, along with potential carbon credit schemes. The vast Amazon rainforest is a key buffer against climate change.

Persons: Bruno Kelly, Marina Silva, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Silva, Andre Lima, Jair Bolsonaro, Lisandra, Gabriel Stargardter, Brad Haynes, Richard Chang Organizations: REUTERS, country's, Reuters, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, Thomson Locations: Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil, BRASILIA, Brasilia, Colombia, Peru, Belem

[1/3] A general view shows the water conditions of the Piraiba river before a summit of Amazon rainforest nations, in Belem, Para state, Brazil August 6, 2023. REUTERS/Ueslei MarcelinoSAO PAULO, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Eight Amazon rainforest nations are expected to face divisions over proposals to block new oil drilling and end deforestation when they meet on Tuesday for their first summit in 14 years. But at a pre-summit meeting last month, Colombian President Gustavo Petro pushed his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to block all new oil development in the Amazon. Brazil is weighing whether to develop a potentially huge offshore oil find near the mouth of the Amazon River. "Are we going to let hydrocarbons be explored in the Amazon rainforest?

Persons: Ueslei Marcelino, Gustavo Petro, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Petro, Lula, Jake Spring, Oliver Griffin, Lucinda Elliott, Brad Haynes, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: REUTERS, Ueslei, Ueslei Marcelino SAO PAULO, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, Brazilian, Miami Herald, Global Forest Watch, Thomson Locations: Belem , Para, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela, Belem, Amazon, Lula's, Leticia, Bolivian, Bogota, Montevideo

[1/5] Brazil's indigenous chief Raoni Metuktire poses for a photo during an interview before a summit of Amazon rainforest nations at the Igarape Park, in Belem, Para state, Brazil August 5, 2023. "I will ask the presidents to commit to guaranteeing the preservation of the forest," he told Reuters. Raoni, an unmistakable figure with his large lip plate and yellow feather headdress, is a chief of the Kayapo people, an Indigenous group that lives along the Xingu River where savannah plains meet the Amazon rainforest. "The deforestation of the Amazon's forests is not good for us Indigenous peoples, and white man needs to rethink and preserve what remains of the Amazon," he warned. Reporting by Leonardo Benassatto and Ueslei Marcelino; Writing by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Raoni Metuktire, Ueslei Marcelino, Raoni, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Sting, Leonardo Benassatto, Anthony Boadle, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, Ueslei, Reuters, Brazilian Congress, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, Thomson Locations: Belem , Para, Brazil, Ueslei Marcelino BELEM, Belem, U.S, France

☆ Amazon nations to set up rainforest science panel, Brazilian minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Lisandra Paraguassu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] A woman passes in front of a graffiti before a summit of Amazon rainforest nations at the Igarape Park, in Belem, Para state, Brazil August 4, 2023. REUTERS/Ueslei MarcelinoBRASILIA, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Amazon countries meeting next week for a summit on cooperation to save the rainforest aim to set up a scientific body like the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to share research, Brazil's environment minister told Reuters. The panel would help produce sustainable development policies for the countries of the region while remaining independent of governments, and monitor the impact of climate change on the Amazon rainforest and ecosystem, she said. Lula has overhauled Brazil's environment policies since taking office in January, succeeding far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who relaxed protection the environment and encouraged development of the Amazon, where deforestation soared. Preliminary government figures showed on Thursday that deforestation in Brazil's Amazon fell in July to its lowest level since 2017, boosting Lula's credibility on environmental policy ahead of the summit.

Persons: Ueslei Marcelino BRASILIA, Marina Silva, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Lula, Jair Bolsonaro, Lisandra Paraguassu, Anthony Boadle, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, Ueslei, Reuters, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, Thomson Locations: Belem , Para, Brazil, Belem

☆ Colombia hopes Amazon summit will be deforestation 'turning point'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Colombia's government is hopeful that an upcoming regional summit in Brazil will represent a turning point in the deterioration of the Amazon, Colombian Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said on Thursday. The eight countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), which include Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru, will meet Aug. 7-8 in the Brazilian city of Belem at the mouth of the Amazon River. The summit - which follows a meeting in Colombia's Amazon city of Leticia a month ago - is aimed at finding ways to prevent further degradation of the Amazon rainforest, the preservation of which scientists say is vital for curbing the effects of climate change. Talks will also include the complicated issue of hydrocarbon exploration, Muhamad said. While Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has voiced concern over oil and gas exploration in the Amazon, Muhamad said the situation was "much more complex" than other topics.

Persons: Susana Muhamad, Muhamad, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Gustavo Petro, Oliver Griffin, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Amazon, Colombian, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, Thomson Locations: BOGOTA, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Brazilian, Belem, Amazon, Leticia, Bogota

☆ Ukraine, US start talks on security guarantees, official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Viacheslav... Read moreAug 3 (Reuters) - Ukraine and the United States started talks on Thursday aimed at providing security guarantees for Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff said, a follow-up to pledges by G7 countries at last month's NATO summit. Ukraine was told that the Group of Seven (G7) would draw up and honour security guarantees and help bolster its military in light of Russia's 17-month-old invasion of Ukraine. The Kyiv government sees the talks as an interim stage pending its accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization military alliance. "It is symbolic that the United States - our biggest strategic partner - became the first country with which Ukraine has started this process," Yermak wrote. Yermak restated Ukraine's position that guarantees "will strengthen Ukraine along the path to future membership of the Euro-Atlantic community, including NATO and the European Union".

Persons: Andriy Yermak, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, Read, Volodymyr Zelenskiy's, Yermak, Ron Popeski, Grant McCool Organizations: International, REUTERS, NATO, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Presidential, European, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, United States, Vilnius, Lithuania, Russia, Ukrainian

☆ Geopolitical risks are a top global threat to businesses, survey finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Sumathi Bala | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Around 36% of businesses polled view geopolitical tensions as top risks currently — such as those related to issues over Taiwan, South Korea, and Russia-NATO. The latest third quarter 2023 Global Risk Survey covered 127 businesses from July 6-27 this year. Risks aheadGeopolitical risks continue to factor prominently for businesses as a major concern for the next five years. "As reported last quarter, more than three-fifths of respondents view geopolitical risks as a very significant risk to the global economy over the medium term," said Thompson. "An intensification of geopolitical tensions could potentially trigger significant deglobalization of trade and the financial system," he added.

Persons: Fred DUFOUR, FRED DUFOUR, Fred Dufour, Jamie Thompson, Fitch, Biden, Vladimir Putin, Thompson, Kevin O'Leary Organizations: Getty, Afp, Oxford Economics, Fitch downgrades, UBS, NATO, U.S, Reuters, Atlantic Treaty Organization, . Federal, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank Locations: Beijing, Taiwan, South Korea, Russia, Washington, U.S, China, it's, Ukraine, Republic, Silicon

☆ Brazil's Lula: Amazon countries summit to build common policy for first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File PhotoBRASILIA, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday said that next week's summit of Amazon region nations will seek to draw up a common policy for the first time to protect the rainforest. For the first time we are going to have a common policy for the Amazon, for preservation, security, borders," Lula said. The eight countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) will meet Aug. 7-8 in the city of Belem at the mouth of the Amazon river. ACTO was created in 1978 to promote the preservation of the Amazon basin and regulate Amazonian development through cooperation. Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Editing by Mark Porter and Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Johanna Geron, Lula, ACTO, Lisandra Paraguassu, Mark Porter, Aurora Ellis Organizations: EU, LAC, European Union, of, Caribbean, REUTERS, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, Thomson Locations: Caribbean States, Brussels, Belgium, BRASILIA, Brazil, Amazon, Belem, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela

STOCKHOLM, July 27 (Reuters) - Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is "extremely worried" about the consequences if more demonstrations go ahead in which the Koran is desecrated, he said on Thursday, amid growing Muslim anger at a series of attacks on Islam's holy book. Kristersson told Swedish news agency TT that further requests had been filed with police for permission to hold protests where desecration of the Koran was again planned. Sweden's embassy in Baghdad was stormed and set ablaze on July 20 by protesters angered by a planned Koran burning. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson addresses the media ahead of a NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuania July 11, 2023. Members of Sweden Democrats, the biggest party on the right, have repeatedly warned about the "Islamization" of Swedish society and called for immigrants to adopt "Swedish" values.

Persons: Ulf Kristersson, Kristersson, Charlotte von Essen, Ints, Tobias Billstrom, Billstrom, Johan Ahlander, Simon Johnson, Terje Solsvik, William Maclean Organizations: Atlantic Treaty Organization, TT, Swedish, NATO, REUTERS, United Nations, of Islamic, Sweden Democrats, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, Swedish, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey, Ukraine, Sweden's, Baghdad, Vilnius, Lithuania, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Lebanon

☆ Putin wanted his own version of NATO. Instead he has a failing alliance that has only made him look weaker since the invasion of Ukraine.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Putin wanted his own version of NATOPutin has long viewed NATO as a threat to Russia, even citing it as an excuse for his invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also said that CSTO members states' desires for closer ties with the US weren't new. Russian President Vladimir Putin in Armenia in November 2022. Graham also said the invasion of Ukraine meant Putin is less and less able to deal with CSTO members' complaints.

Persons: it's, Putin, Vladimir Putin, Thomas Graham, NATO Putin, Alexander Cooley, Cooley, Armenia's, Nikol Pashinyan, KAREN MINASYAN, Putin's, isn't Putin, Ilya PITALEV, ILYA PITALEV, Getty Images Graham, Russia's, ANATOLII STEPANOV, you've, Graham, CSTO, Sadyr Japarov, Stanislav Zas, Alexander Lukashenko, Kassym, Tokayev, AP Cooley, – Putin, Vladimir Voronin, Nikol, They've, Hayk Organizations: NATO, Service, Soviet Union, Security, Organization, Yale, Columbia University, REUTERS, Getty Images, SPUTNIK, AFP, CSTO, Kazakh, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, AP, Collective Security, Vladimir Voronin NATO, Putin, Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, UN, US, EU, Armenian Locations: Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Soviet, East, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, The Hague, Netherlands, Yerevan, AFP, Soviet Union, Moscow, Asia, Ukrainian, Oskol, Ukraine's Kharkiv, NATO, USSR, Dushanbe, tatters, Photolure, China, Turkey, United States

Those export controls, which "were imposed for important reasons," remain in place, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office said in statement. "The Prime Minister discussed Sweden's accession to NATO with our partners in Vilnius, including with President Erdogan," the statement said. Ahead of the NATO summit, Turkey, already seeking assurances over the F-16s in talks with Washington, asked that Canada's export controls also be rolled in to the final discussion, the person familiar with the talks said. At Vilnius, Canada outlined its position to Turkey on rules regarding uses of any exported technologies, and was awaiting a response. This means the talks on export controls are no longer frozen, a move that helped play a role sealing Erdogan's pledge over Sweden, the person said.

Persons: Erdogan, Tayyip Erdogan's greenlight, Justin Trudeau's, Joe Biden, Devlet Bahceli, We've, Huseyin Hayatsever, Jonathan Spicer, Steve Scherer, John Irish, Tom Perry, Jamie Freed Organizations: NATO, Atlantic, Organization, Canada, Canadian, Washington, U.S, Kurdistan Workers Party, European Union, Nationalist Movement Party, Erdogan's, Thomson Locations: Turkey, Erdogan, ANKARA, Canada, Ankara, Sweden, Stockholm, Vilnius, Washington, United States, Armenia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Finland, Turkish, Ukraine, Turkey's, Helsinki, European, Istanbul, Ottawa

[1/3] Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg meet during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Yves HermanTOKYO, July 12 (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday he welcomed that Japan and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had agreed on a new partnership programme, ahead of his attendance at the NATO Vilnius summit. At a joint announcement with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, Kishida said he looked forward to furthering cooperation in new areas including cyber-security, and hoped to deepen cooperation with NATO as it increases its engagement with the Indo-Pacific. The new partnership programme comes as NATO explores a deeper engagement with Asia while China increases its military presence. China has lashed out at a communique issued by NATO during its two-day summit in Lithuania's capital Vilnius claiming that China challenged the military alliance's interests, security, and values.

Persons: Fumio Kishida, Jens Stoltenberg, Yves Herman TOKYO, Kishida, Stoltenberg, Sakura Murakami, Kentaro Sugiyama, Michael Perry Organizations: NATO, REUTERS, Japan's, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Thomson Locations: Vilnius, Lithuania, Japan, NATO Vilnius, Asia, China, North Korea, Europe, Lithuania's

☆ Leaders of Turkey and Greece vow to repair ties after year of tension
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis meets with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan during a NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuania July 12, 2023. Dimitris Papamitsos/Greek Prime Minister's Office/Handout via REUTERSATHENS, July 12 (Reuters) - Greece and Turkey agreed on Wednesday to resume talks and confidence-building measures as they hailed a new "positive climate" in ties after more than a year of tensions between the historic foes. Relations improved when Greece became one of the first countries to send rescue workers to help pull survivors from the rubble after a devastating earthquake hit Turkey in February. "We are cautiously optimistic we can turn a new page," Mitsotakis told reporters after the summit. Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Additional reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Conor HumphriesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Tayyip Erdogan, Dimitris Papamitsos, Erdogan, Mitsotakis, Renee Maltezou, Huseyin Hayatsever, Conor Humphries Organizations: NATO, Minister's, REUTERS, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Greek, Cooperation, Thomson Locations: Vilnius, Lithuania, REUTERS ATHENS, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, United States, Greek, Thessalonki

☆ Ukrainians Die as America Dawdles
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Garry Kasparov | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A woman holding a photo of Ukrainian author Victoria Amelina in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 4. Photo: Alex Chan Tsz Yuk/Zuma PressI will speak this week in Vilnius, Lithuania, on behalf of the antiwar Russian Action Committee. President Biden will attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit there, along with dozens of other heads of state. My first message: Ukraine is the one nation worthy of NATO membership, because it is fighting the war the alliance was built for in 1949. My second message: While America delays, Ukrainians die.

Persons: Victoria Amelina, Alex Chan Tsz Yuk, Biden Organizations: Zuma Press, Russian, Atlantic, Organization, NATO Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, Vilnius, Lithuania, America

☆ Australia PM's Germany, NATO trip to focus on trade, security
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, July 9 (Reuters) - Trade and security will be priorities for Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on a trip this week to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and attend a NATO summit in Lithuania, Albanese's office said. Australia is not a member of NATO but has a decades-long relationship with the Western alliance and attended last year's summit in Madrid as a non-member participant. "Alongside our NATO allies, Australia continues to demonstrate our unwavering support for Ukraine, and our condemnation of Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion," Albanese said in the statement. Last month, Australia promised a new A$110 million ($74 million) package to Ukraine, including 70 military vehicles to defend against Russia's invasion, taking Australia's total contribution for Ukraine to A$790 million ($530 million). Also this week, Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell will travel to Brussels, seeking to advance stalled talks for a free trade agreement between Australia and the EU.

Persons: Anthony Albanese, Olaf Scholz, Scholz, " Albanese, Don Farrell, Valdis, Janusz Wojciechowski, Farrell, Sam McKeith, William Mallard Organizations: SYDNEY, Australian, NATO, Labor, Atlantic, Organization, Ukraine, Australian Trade, EU, European Union, Reuters, Trade, Agriculture, Thomson Locations: Lithuania, Australia, Germany, Lithuanian, Vilnius, Madrid, Russia, Ukraine, Brussels, Sydney

That initiative follows a visit to Japan by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in January when he said the lessons China was learning from Ukraine could influence its decisions. NATO documents have begun to reflect concern about China, East Asia and the Indo-Pacific, but Japan needs to deepen its awareness of those issues, a Japanese official involved in discussions about NATO ties said. Diplomats from two European NATO countries who spoke to Reuters said unease in the alliance about a Tokyo office went beyond France. Another Japanese official involved in preparations for Kishida's NATO visit said the idea of a NATO office in Japan had nothing to do with China, but that is how it became framed, and each NATO country has its own relations with China. Under Yoon, South Korea has set up a liaison office with NATO in Brussels and has embraced a call for unity among like-minded countries.

Persons: Fumio Kishida, ”, Michito Tsuruoka, Kishida, Jens Stoltenberg, Emmanuel Macron's, Yoon Suk Yeol, Yoon, Anthony Albanese, We’ll, Albanese, Sakura Murakami, Tim Kelly, John Irish, Josh Smith, Praveen Menon Organizations: NATO, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Keio University, NATO's, Diplomats, Reuters, Japanese, SYDNEY South, Australian, Asia Pacific, Ukraine, Sky News, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Lithuania, Ukraine, Asia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, U.S, Europe, Russia, NATO, East Asia, China, Taiwan, North Korea, Lithuania's, Vilnius, Tokyo, France, Brussels, Danish, SEOUL, Poland, Paris, Seoul, Sydney

☆ US to send Ukraine cluster munitions, NATO makes membership pledge
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The cluster munitions "will deliver in a time frame that is relevant for the counteroffensive," a Pentagon official told reporters. Cluster munitions are prohibited by more than 100 countries.Russia, Ukraine and the United States have not signed on to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans production, stockpiling, use and transfer of the weapons. BOTH SIDES SHOULD STOP USING CLUSTER BOMBS -HRWHuman Rights Watch has accused Russian and Ukrainian forces of using cluster munitions, which have killed civilians. Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said after meeting Zelenskiy that Ukraine deserved NATO membership and that Ankara would continue working on a negotiated end to the war. "Our summit will send a clear message: NATO stands united, and Russia's aggression will not pay," Stoltenberg said at a news conference in Brussels.

Persons: Washington's, Vladimir Putin, Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden, Anatoly Antonov, Antonov, Igor Ovcharruck, Clodagh, It's, Colin Kahl, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Tayyip Erdogan, Zelenskiy, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Biden, Putin, Martin Griffiths, Griffiths, Robert Muller, Jason Hovet, Pavel Polityuk, Mike Stone, Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Michelle Nichols, Grant McCool, Diane Craft, David Gregorio Our Organizations: NATO, United States, Rights, United Nations, Pentagon, Cluster Munitions, White House, Watch, U.S, Washington, TASS, REUTERS, Treaty Organization, CNN, UN, Initiative, U.N, United, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, U.S, United States, Ukrainian, Kharkiv, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Zelenskiy, Ankara, Prague, Sofia, Brussels, Vilnius, Lithuanian, RUSSIA, Moscow, Odesa, United Nations, Kyiv, Washington

U.S. President Joe Biden, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be among the 31 NATO leaders attending the summit in the small Baltic state. The invasion prompted Finland and Sweden to abandon decades of military non-alignment and apply to join NATO. In Vilnius, Finland will attend its first NATO summit as a member. At the summit, the NATO leaders are also expected to agree they should all spend at least 2% of national GDP on defence - an upgrade on a 2014 pledge to move towards that number. The NATO leaders will also meet with counterparts from Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand as Washington presses the alliance to play a greater role in countering China.

Persons: Joe Biden, Tayyip Erdogan, Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron, Rishi Sunak, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Erdogan, Ulf Kristersson, John Irish, Andrius Sytas, Huseyin Hayatsever, William Maclean Organizations: Russia VILNIUS, NATO, Patriot, U.S, British, Ukraine Council, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Soviet Union, Vilnius, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Vilnius, Sweden, Europe, Lithuanian, Germany, Prague, Eastern Europe, Russia, United States, Bucharest, France, Britain, TURKEY, SWEDEN, Soviet, Finland, Turkey, Stockholm, Ankara, Swedish, Greece, Cyprus, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Washington, China, Istanbul

☆ The Ukraine War Changed This Company Forever
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Patricia Cohen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Yellow and orange excavators slowly danced around a maze of muddy pits, swinging giant fistfuls of dirt as a chorus line of trucks traipsed across the landscape. This 50-acre plot in Oradea, Romania, close to the border with Hungary, beat out scores of other sites in Europe to become the home of Nokian Tyres’ new 650 million-euro, or $706 million, factory. Like an industrial-minded Goldilocks, the Finnish tire company had searched for the just-right combination of real estate, transport links, labor supply and pro-business environment. Geopolitical risk “was the starting point,” said Jukka Moisio, the chief executive and president of Nokian. That was not the case before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Persons: ”, Jukka Moisio Organizations: Nokian Tyres, European Union, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Nokian Locations: Oradea, Romania, Hungary, Europe, Russia, Ukraine

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