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☆ Opinion | Janet Yellen: Use Russia’s Assets to Support Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Janet L. Yellen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

We are at a critical time in Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s continued assault on the country requires that we take bold and decisive action. It is time for the United States and our allies to unlock the value of immobilized Russian assets so that Ukraine can get the financial support it urgently needs. The United States and our global coalition including the Group of 7, Europe and countries around the globe are engaged in a battle of wills with Vladimir Putin. We have equipped Ukraine with weapons, equipment and financial support.

Persons: Russia’s, Vladimir Putin, Putin Organizations: Russian Locations: Ukraine, United States, Europe, Russia, Ukrainian

☆ Live Updates: U.S. to Sign 10-Year Pact With Ukraine as G7 Leaders Meet
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( David E. Sanger | Steven Erlanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

Mr. Biden and Mr. Zelensky will meet on Thursday and sign a security agreement, said Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser. Mr. Biden faces the hurdle of convincing his allies, starting with Mr. Zelensky, that the United States plans to stay in the fight with Ukraine, no matter what happens in November. Mr. Biden told Mr. Zelensky last week, in France, that “I apologize for the weeks of not knowing what was going to pass,” and put the onus on Republicans in Congress. During a trip to Normandy last week, Mr. Biden appeared to have persuaded France, one of the last holdouts, to support the deal. “The administration has been quick to get aid to Ukraine once Congress moved, and that’s to its credit,” he said.

Persons: Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr, Zelensky, Jake Sullivan, “, ” Mr, Sullivan, we’ll, ”, Vladimir Putin, Pope Francis, Donald J, Trump, Rishi Sunak, Emmanuel Macron, Biden’s, Vladimir V, Putin, Claudia Greco, John E . Herbst, Evelyn Farkas, Barack Obama, Ms, Farkas, ” Alan Rappeport Organizations: Ukraine, U.S, Kremlin, Group, Air Force, “, hobble, NATO, Mr, Reuters, European, World Bank, Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council, United, McCain Institute, Arizona State University Locations: Ukraine, United States, Italy, Israel, Russia, hobble Russia, Europe, France, Congress, Savelletri, Normandy, Belgium’s, U.S, Eurasia

☆ Will Biden’s Help for Ukraine Come Fast Enough and Last Long Enough?
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( David E. Sanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

So on Thursday, he rolled out a new set of alternative steps, each designed to demonstrate to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and to the Ukrainians, that the United States and its allies have no intention of packing up and leaving, as they did in Afghanistan, even if Ukraine remains outside NATO for years. He signed a 10-year security pact — albeit one with vague commitments and an early exit option — with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr. Biden portrayed the agreement as a long-term guarantee of continued arms, intelligence support, advice and technology to win the current war and deter a new one. And he said the United States would take the lead in providing a loan of about $50 billion to Ukraine to rebuild its devastated ports and power plants, buy weapons and close its budget gap. The money is to be repaid from interest generated from $300 billion in assets that Mr. Putin, inexplicably, left in Western financial institutions before his February 2022 invasion.

Persons: Biden, Vladimir V, Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Organizations: NATO Locations: Europe, Ukraine, NATO, Russia, United States, Afghanistan

☆ Their City Has a Plaque From Putin. They Want Zelensky to Tear It Down.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A small copper plaque mounted across the piazza from the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari, Italy, pledges “friendship and cooperation” between the city and the Russian people. It is signed by someone who, for the past two years in Europe, has pursued anything but: President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The plaque is a replica of a letter Mr. Putin sent in 2003, nearly two decades before his invasion of Ukraine, and for years it drew little notice from Bari’s residents or the tens of thousands of pilgrims who visit the site annually to venerate the saint, whose remains are interred there. But a growing number of people now see it as sign of Mr. Putin’s hypocrisy — particularly among a diaspora of local Ukrainians who want it taken down. For the many residents of Bari who have wanted the plaque removed since the war began, the gathering nearby is seen as a chance to enlist Mr. Putin’s fiercest international critics to their cause.

Persons: Nicholas in, Vladimir V, Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky Locations: Nicholas in Bari , Italy, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Bari

☆ War, what war? Putin looks to woo new business partners willing to overlook its invasion of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-07 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen while visiting the Lakhta Center on June 5, 2024, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Vladimir Putin visited a newly built Lakhta Center, a skyscraper of Gazprom, prior to his meetings at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum SPIEF 2024. Contributor | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesRussia's annual economic forum in St. Petersburg used to be known as the country's "Davos" in a nod to the World Economic Forum that's held in Switzerland every year. A view of the stand of the Russian private bank Alfa-Bank during the 27th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia on June 05, 2024. Guests from foreign countries seen during the first day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2024.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, SPIEF, Max Hess, Peter Szijjarto, There's, Vladimir Putin's, Yuri Ushakov, Putin, anders Pettersson Organizations: Lakhta Center, Saint Petersburg, Economic, Getty, St ., Economic Forum, Foreign Policy Research Institute, CNBC, Hungarian Foreign, Alfa, Bank, Anadolu, West, International Monetary Fund, U.S, Brics Locations: Saint Petersburg, Russia, Gazprom, St . Petersburg, Davos, Switzerland, Ukraine, Asia, Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, Slovakia, Hungary, Hungarian, St, Moscow, Russian, Germany, France, India, China, Johannesburg, South Africa

☆ Biden Will Link Fight for Ukraine With Allied Effort on D-Day
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Michael D. Shear | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

NORMANDY — President Biden will observe the 80th anniversary of D-Day on the beaches of Normandy on Thursday by asserting that the allied effort to stand up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a direct extension of the battle for freedom that raged across Europe during World War II. Mr. Biden, 81, who was a toddler when Americans stormed the beaches here in 1944, will almost certainly be the last U.S. president to speak at a Normandy remembrance who was alive at the time Allied forces began to push Adolf Hitler out of Europe. Now, eight decades later, Mr. Biden is leading a coalition of European and other nations in a very different war on the continent, but for a very similar principle — pushing back against the attempted seizure of Ukraine by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. In remarks at the Normandy American Cemetery, the president will draw a direct line between the two, connected by the defense of a rules-based international order.

Persons: Biden, Mr, Adolf Hitler, Vladimir V, Putin Locations: NORMANDY, Normandy, Ukraine, Europe, Russia

☆ Moscow Could Target Countries Supplying Weapons to Ukraine, Putin Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Neil Macfarquhar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia warned on Wednesday that Western nations supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles and allowing them to be used to attack inside Russia was a “dangerous step” that could prompt Moscow to reciprocate against Western targets. “If someone thinks it possible to send such weapons to a war zone to strike our territory and create problems for us,” Mr. Putin said at a news conference, “then why do we not have the right to send our weapons of the same class to those regions of the world where strikes can be made on sensitive facilities of the countries that do this against Russia?”Mr. Putin singled out Germany, saying that its supply of battle tanks to Ukraine had been an initial blow to Russian-German relations, but its permission to use missiles in Russia was even worse. “Now, when they say that some missiles will appear that will strike targets on Russian territory, this, of course, is ultimately destroying Russo-German relations,” he said.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, ” Mr, “, Mr, ” Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow

☆ With shake-up at defense ministry, ‘Putin’s chef’ gets his wish from beyond the grave
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-02 | by ( Sebastian Shukla | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Berlin CNN —Removing a long-time defense minister from his post is nothing out of the ordinary. Arresting five of his senior staff, however, is clearly more than just a search for fresh blood — especially in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Analysts who spoke to CNN described the defense ministry as one of the most corrupt in the country. Putin was likely awaiting his reelection by the Russian people in March before making moving in on the defense ministry. The defense ministry is central to how that war ends.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Sergei Shoigu, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, ”, Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Prigozhin, Putin, Vladimir Putin, Alexander Kazakov, Stanovaya, Andrey Belousov, – Shamarin, Ivanov Mikhail Komin, Vadim Shamarin, General Vadim Shamarin, Reuters Shamarin, Ria Novosti, Timur Ivanov, Ivanov, Alexey Navalny, —, Turar Kazangapov, Oleg Savelyev, ” Komin, Prigozhin’s, Gerasimov, ” Stanovaya, Komin, “ it’s Organizations: Berlin CNN, CNN, West ., Reuters, Sputnik, Kremlin, Getty, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Putin, European Council of Foreign Affairs, Main, Russian Armed Forces, “, Russian Defence Ministry . Russian Defence Ministry, Ria, Benz, Corruption Foundation, Russian, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Staff, Armed Forces Locations: Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Ukraine, Russia, Kharkiv, Donbas, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Russian, AFP, Vienna, Courchevel, France, Astana, Kazakhstan

☆ Austin reaffirms U.S. commitment to Indo-Pacific, says region is 'more prosperous when we work together'
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-01 | by ( Lim Hui Jie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin speaks at the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on June 1, 2024. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Austin said that Washington's enduring commitment to the region has been a "springboard" that has enabled transformative growth in the region. Austin said that the region is seeing a "new convergence" around nearly all aspects of security in the Indo-Pacific. It's about notions of goodwill, uniting around the interests that we share and the values that we cherish," Austin said. "I respectfully disagree with your point that the expansion of NATO caused the Ukraine crisis," Austin replied, drawing applause from the room.

Persons: Defence Lloyd Austin, Nhac Nguyen, Lloyd Austin, Austin, we're, Lai Ching, Lai, Cao Yanzhong, Vladimir Putin, Putin Organizations: Defence, Afp, Getty, SINGAPORE, U.S, NATO Locations: Singapore, United States, U.S, Philippines, Australia, Japan, China, Taiwan, Beijing, NATO, Europe, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Europe Banned Russia’s RT Network. Its Content Is Still Spreading.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Tiffany Hsu | Steven Lee Myers | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There, a recent article belittled an international warrant to arrest Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, for war crimes. It repeated, word for word, an article that had appeared a day before under a different byline on the website for RT, Russia’s global television network. RT, which the U.S. State Department describes as a key player in the Kremlin’s disinformation and propaganda apparatus, has been blocked in the European Union, Canada and other countries since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Sites like Man Stuff News, however, have helped RT sidestep the restrictions and continue reaching European and American audiences, according to a new report. Many of the articles were then further disseminated through social media.

Persons: Beard, Labor ”, ”, Vladimir V, Putin, Alex Jones Organizations: Labor, RT, U.S . State Department, European Union, German Marshall Fund, University of Amsterdam, Institute for Strategic, San, San Francisco Telegraph Locations: Canada, Russia, Ukraine, San Francisco

☆ Opinion | America’s Military Is Not Prepared for War — or Peace
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Roger Wicker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“To be prepared for war,” George Washington said, “is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” President Ronald Reagan agreed with his forebear’s words, and peace through strength became a theme of his administration. It is far past time to rebuild America’s military. President Vladimir Putin of Russia has thrown Europe into war and mobilized his society for long-term conflict. Iran and its proxy groups have escalated their shadow war against Israel and increased attacks on U.S. ships and soldiers. Iran has provided Russia with battlefield drones, and China is sending technical and logistical help to aid Mr. Putin’s war.

Persons: ” George Washington, “, Ronald Reagan, America’s, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin Organizations: U.S . Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S . Navy Locations: American, China, Russia, Europe, Iran, Israel, Korea

☆ Optimistic About the War in Ukraine, Putin Unleashes a Purge at Home
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-26 | by ( Paul Sonne | Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Periodic outcries over incompetence and corruption at the top of the Russian military have dogged President Vladimir V. Putin’s war effort since the start of his invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. When his forces faltered around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, the need for change was laid bare. When they were routed months later outside the city of Kharkiv, expectations of a shake-up grew. And after the mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin marched his men toward Moscow, complaining of deep rot and ineptitude at the top of the Russian force, Mr. Putin seemed obliged to respond. Now, with the battlefield crises seemingly behind him and Mr. Prigozhin dead, the Russian leader has decided to act, changing defense ministers for the first time in more than a decade and allowing a number of corruption arrests among top ministry officials.

Persons: Vladimir V, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Putin Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Moscow, Russian

☆ 2 Yale researchers are pulling back the curtain on Russia's sanctions-stricken economy — and it's landed them on a list of Putin's enemies
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-25 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewJeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian, two researchers at the Yale School of Management, have been targeted for their views on Russia's economy since the war in Ukraine began. Soaring prices and ailing consumer sentiment have hit key sectors in Russia's economy, and Moscow is paying a huge cost to keep its war machine running. Steven Tian Courtesy of Steven TianAt that time, Tian and Sonnenfeld began noticing cracks forming in Russia's economy. "Putin has no grand strategy other than to hope Trump wins and cuts a favorable deal with Russia," Tian said. Positive forecasts on Russia's economy are based on a lack of visibility, Sonnenfeld and Tian say.

Persons: —, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Steven Tian, they've, Vladimir Putin's, Tian, Putin, he'd, Sonnenfeld, I've, Biden, Steven Organizations: Service, Yale School of Management, Business, Yale, IMF, Trump Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Russia

☆ Russia-Ukraine war: Putin signals he’s open to peace talks, but Ukraine is right to be wary
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-25 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Eastern Ukraine CNN —Russian President Vladimir Putin’s signaling this week that he is open to peace talks should be viewed with vast, overshadowing caveats, and the weight of Ukraine’s - and the West’s - past experience of Russian diplomacy. Putin questioned the legitimacy of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who Moscow has repeatedly assailed, after Kyiv had to delay elections because of the very war Putin started. Zelensky has said he hopes China - Russia’s most potent ally but only partial supporter in the Ukraine war - will attend. Putin may be talking peace now to suggest to Beijing to not be involved in diplomacy about Russia without Russia present. Valentyn Ogirenko/ReutersUkraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Friday that Putin’s hints at peace talks were directly aimed at sabotaging the summit.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Putin, Moscow’s, Alexander Lukashenko, Volodymyr Zelensky, Viktor Yanukovich, Russian Yanukovich, Lukashenko, Tatyana Makeyeva, –, Zelensky, Valentyn Ogirenko, Dmytro Kuleba, “ Putin, Ukraine ”, MAGA, Dmitri Peskov, Donald Trump, ferociously Organizations: Eastern, Eastern Ukraine CNN —, Reuters, Belarus ’, Kremlin, Kyiv, European Union, NATO, Kharkiv, Reuters Ukraine’s Foreign, Ukraine, American, MAGA Republicans, Congress Locations: Eastern Ukraine, Moscow, Ukraine, Kharkiv, Russia, Istanbul, Kyiv, Donetsk, Belarus, Russian, Syria, Debaltseve, Switzerland, China, Beijing, Valentyn, West, Europe, United States, France, Baltic

☆ Putin has 'both eyes' on a strategic island belonging to new NATO member Sweden, army commander says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewRussian President Vladimir Putin is targeting a strategic Swedish island that offers mastery over the Baltic Sea, the commander-in-chief of Sweden's army warned this week. Putin's goal is to gain control of the Baltic Sea," Micael Bydén told German news outlets, according to Politico's translation of his remarks. Sweden joined NATO in early March, and the alliance is now the dominant force in the Baltic Sea, thanks in large part to its control of Gotland. Advertisement"If Russia takes control and seals off the Baltic Sea, it would have an enormous impact on our lives — in Sweden and all other countries bordering the Baltic Sea," Bydén said. Swedish military officials watch a Swedish C-130H take off from a non-traditional runway on Gotland Island on October 23, 2021.

Persons: —, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Micael Bydén, Bydén, Patrik Orcutt, Ulf Kristersson Organizations: Service, Business, NATO, Nordic, Russia's Ministry of Defence, Moscow Times, US Army, Politico, Sweden's, Financial Times, Gotland Regiment, US Locations: Swedish, Baltic, Gotland, Putin's, Sweden, Russian, Kaliningrad, It's, Rhode, Russia, Bydén, Moscow, Lithuania, Finland, Latvia, Ukraine

☆ Russia Detains Another Defense Official, in New Sign of Putin Shake-Up
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Anton Troianovski | More About Anton Troianovski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Russia has jailed a top defense official, the fourth in a month, state media reported on Thursday, expanding President Vladimir V. Putin’s biggest shake-up of his military leadership since the invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago. A Moscow military court ordered Lt. Gen. Vadim Shamarin jailed for two months on Wednesday on suspicion of “large-scale” bribery, state news agencies said. General Shamarin was a deputy head of the Russian military’s main commanding body, the general staff, and oversaw its communications directorate. Image A photograph of General Shamarin, released by the Russian Defense Ministry. Credit... Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, via Associated PressThe detention of General Shamarin is the latest in a series of high-profile arrests that have coincided with Mr. Putin’s appointment of a new defense minister, Andrei R. Belousov, earlier this month.

Persons: Vladimir V, Vadim Shamarin, General Shamarin, Shamarin, Putin’s, Andrei R Organizations: Russian Defense Ministry . Credit, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, Associated, Mr Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Russian

☆ Why a Prosecutor Went Public With Arrest Warrant Requests for Hamas and Israeli Leaders
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Amanda Taub | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The decision of Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, to publicly seek arrest warrants for the leaders of Hamas and Israel this week will be one of the most significant and contentious of his career. Khan accused three Hamas leaders of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and hostage taking. He also accused Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its defense minister, Yoav Gallant, of war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel’s military operation in Gaza, including the starvation of civilians. Khan didn’t have to announce the warrant applications publicly. He could have waited until they were granted, as with the warrant for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last year — a process that can take weeks or months.

Persons: Karim Khan, Court’s, Khan, Israel’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, —, Khan didn’t, Vladimir V, Putin Locations: Israel, Gaza, United States, Russia

☆ Russian Forces Close In on Ukrainian Town in Northeast
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Russian forces on Tuesday inched closer to the central part of Vovchansk, a town in Ukraine’s northeast that they have been attacking for the past 10 days as part of a new offensive in the region. Roman Semenukha, the deputy head of the military administration in the northeastern Kharkiv region, said on television on Monday that Ukrainian forces had lost about 40 percent of the town, with Russian troops pushing from the north. Open-source maps of the battlefield compiled by independent groups also show that Russia now controls the northern part of the town, which had a prewar population of 17,000. Vovchansk, which lies just five miles from the Russian border, has been a prime target of Moscow’s new offensive. Both U.S. officials and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia have said the offensive is part of an effort to establish a buffer zone.

Persons: Roman Semenukha, Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: U.S Locations: Vovchansk, Ukraine’s, Roman, Kharkiv, Russia, Russian

☆ Russia Starts Tactical Nuclear Drills, in a Warning to Ukraine’s Allies
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Paul Sonne | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Russia sent a pointed reminder on Tuesday that it could use battlefield nuclear weapons in Ukraine, releasing video of its forces beginning exercises to practice their use, two weeks after President Vladimir V. Putin ordered the provocative drills. Video released by the Russian Defense Ministry showed a caravan of military vehicles moving down a wooded road, as well as mobile Iskander missile systems — which can deliver conventional or nuclear explosives — getting into position to launch, with their warheads blurred out. The footage also showed a supersonic strategic bomber armed with missiles and an attack aircraft being prepared for takeoff. In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said the exercise, carried out near Ukraine, was aimed at preparing the force for the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons. The goal is to “unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats of individual Western officials,” the ministry said.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, “, Emmanuel Macron, David Cameron, Britain’s Organizations: Russian Defense Ministry, Kremlin Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, France

☆ Opinion: Hardened like diamonds, these Gen Z protesters fight for a European future
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Opinion Will Cathcart | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

They snatch protesters from the crowd and drag them back into a mass of black uniforms. Will Cathcart Will CathcartHundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets across Georgia in recent weeks to protest the government’s adoption of a Kremlin-inspired “foreign agents” bill. As with the foreign agents law, the bill’s authors claim it promotes transparency, an absurd notion. The foreign agents bill is a symptom of a deeper issue – money. The pressures of authoritarian intimidation and systematic violence have hardened Georgia’s young protestors like diamonds.

Persons: Will Cathcart, Mikheil Saakashvili, Cathcart Will Cathcart, Vladimir Putin’s, Putin, Hans Gutbrod, ”, Salome Zourabichvili, aren’t, Gen Z, Europe –, Giorgi Arjevanidze, Bidzina Ivanishvili, Party ” –, Mamuka Mdinaradze, Shalva Papuashvili, – “, “, James O’Brien’s, Ivanishvili, Zviad Organizations: CNN, Tbilisi CNN — Riot, Georgian, Ilia State University, European Union, Getty, Global, Party, Georgian Orthodox Church, US, State, Eurasian Affairs, Fletcher School of Law, NATO, Special Forces Exchange Locations: American, Tbilisi, Georgia, Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Europe, AFP, Georgian, Soviet, Russian, United States, Brussels, Washington, Moscow, EU

☆ Biden denounces ICC for ‘outrageous’ implication of equivalence between Israel and Hamas
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Michael Williams | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The prosecution team is also seeking warrants for Israel’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, along with top Hamas leaders, Khan said. Khan, the ICC prosecutor, batted down criticisms over the tribunal’s efforts to secure the warrants. News that the ICC is seeking warrants for the Israeli leaders sent reverberations of condemnation across the world. Close US allies like Britain said the court’s efforts were “not helpful” in reaching a pause in fighting. Biden administration officials also questioned whether the ICC had the jurisdiction to seek those arrests.

Persons: Washington CNN —, Biden, Karim Khan, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yahya Sinwar, Yoav Gallant, Khan, ”, Biden –, CNN’s Erin Burnett, cajole Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, Moammar Gadhafi, Amanpour, Gallant, Antony Blinken, United States “, Mike Johnson, John Kirby, Independent Sen, Bernie Sanders –, Biden’s –, Sanders, ” Sanders, Kirby, “, Putin, ” Kirby, CNN’s Nikki Carvajal, Haley Talbot Organizations: Washington CNN, International, ICC, Israeli, Israel’s Defense, Biden, GOP, National Security, Independent, Mr Locations: Israel, Rafah, Gaza, Russian, Britain, Germany, United States, Ukraine

☆ The Technocrat Who’s Taking Control of Putin’s War Effort
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-19 | by ( Paul Sonne | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In more than two years of war against Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has found that the technocrats he assembled to manage the Russian economy have turned out to be his most reliable foot soldiers. The Russian leader has now tapped one of them, Andrei R. Belousov, who has no military experience, to become his next defense minister. Mr. Belousov, however, has been a true believer. His rise shows how Mr. Putin is fully redirecting Russia’s economy toward the war effort and suggests that the Kremlin may grow even more deeply involved in mobilizing industry for the fight. Mr. Putin cast his new defense chief, who joined him on a trip to China in recent days, as a much-needed coordinator for a rapidly changing Russian military industrial complex that is critical to success in the war.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Andrei R, Belousov, Rembrandt, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Carl Jung, Mr Organizations: Ukraine Locations: Russia, China

☆ Xi’s Warm Embrace of Putin in China Is a Defiance of the West
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( David Pierson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Days after returning from a trip to Europe where he was lectured about the need to rein in Russia, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, used a summit with President Vladimir V. Putin to convey an uncomfortable reality to the West: His support for Mr. Putin remains steadfast. Mr. Xi’s talks with Mr. Putin this week were a show of solidarity between two autocrats battling Western pressure. The two leaders put out a lengthy statement that denounced what they saw as American interference and bullying and laid out their alignment on China’s claim to self-ruled Taiwan and Russia’s “legitimate security interests” in Ukraine. They pledged to expand economic and military ties, highlighted by Mr. Putin’s visit to a cutting-edge Chinese institute for defense research. Mr. Xi even initiated a cheek-to-cheek hug as he bade Mr. Putin farewell on Thursday after an evening stroll in the Chinese Communist Party leadership compound in Beijing.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Vladimir V, Putin, Xi’s, Mr, Russia’s, Putin’s, Xi Organizations: West, Chinese Communist Party Locations: Europe, Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine, Beijing

☆ Putin’s China Visit Highlights Military Ties That Worry the West
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( David Pierson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Vladimir V. Putin attended a trade fair on Friday in a northeastern Chinese city and toured a state-backed university famous for its cutting edge defense research, highlighting how economic and military ties between the countries have grown despite, or perhaps because of, Western pressure. Mr. Putin’s visit to Harbin, a Chinese city with a Russian past, is part of a trip aimed at demonstrating that he has powerful friends even as his war against Ukraine — a campaign that he is escalating — has isolated him from the West. The visit followed a day of talks between him and President Xi Jinping of China that seemed orchestrated to convey not only the strategic alignment of the two powerful, autocratic leaders against the West, but a personal connection. State media showed Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi, neck ties off after formal talks on Thursday, strolling under willow trees and sipping tea at a traditional pavilion on the sprawling grounds of Zhongnanhai, the walled leadership compound in Beijing, with only their interpreters. As Mr. Xi saw Mr. Putin off in the evening, he even initiated a hug — a rare expression of affection for the Chinese leader.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Putin’s, Ukraine —, Xi Jinping, Xi Organizations: Ukraine Locations: Harbin, Russian, China, Zhongnanhai, Beijing

☆ In Talks With Putin, Xi Hails ‘Powerful Driving Force’ of Cooperation
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( David Pierson | Ivan Nechepurenko | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Putin, whose economy remains largely isolated because of Western sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine, relies on Mr. Xi, China’s leader, for diplomatic cover and a financial lifeline, including huge purchases of Russian oil. But Mr. Putin will need more help to sustain his war machine, especially now as his military makes a push near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, before billions of dollars’ worth of arms arrives from the United States to shore up Ukraine’s depleted forces. In Beijing, Mr. Putin sought to show that Moscow was deepening its ties with Beijing as a bulwark against Western attempts to contain their countries. “We are working in solidarity on the formulation of a more just and democratic multipolar world order,” he said. He also said the leaders discussed working more closely in energy and nuclear power research, though made no mention of a proposed natural gas pipeline to China that Moscow would like to see built.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin of, ” Xi, Mr, Putin, Xi, ” Organizations: Russian Locations: Ukraine, Putin of Russia, Beijing, Kharkiv, Ukraine’s, United States, Moscow, China

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