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NEW DELHI, July 14 (Reuters) - Indian refiners have settled some payments for Russian oil imports in Chinese yuan, but the U.S. dollar remains the dominant currency for such payments, a senior government official said. Reuters reported earlier this month that Indian refiners have started turning to the yuan for some payments for Russian oil. "Use of yuan for payment by India will remain limited, given India doesn't accumulate much yuan as export to China is low," the official, who did not want to be named, told Reuters. The official also said the Reserve Bank of India will release guidance for banks in two to three days to resolve some teething issues on the rupee trade mechanism. "The issue with rupee trade is that it can only work as a barter currency," the official said.

Persons: Sergei Lavrov, Shivangi Acharya, Aftab Ahmed, Nikunj, Devika Organizations: U.S, Reuters, Reserve Bank of India, Russian, Thomson Locations: DELHI, India, Moscow, Ukraine, China, Russia

[1/7] Indonesian President Joko Widodo greets Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn during the Courtesy Call at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 14, 2023. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/PoolJAKARTA, July 14 (Reuters) - Foreign ministers of two dozen countries meet in Indonesia on Friday with U.S.-China rivalry, the war in Ukraine and North Korean missiles set to dominate roundtable talks in Southeast Asia's annual security gathering. In opening remarks to foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), chairman Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the gathering aimed to seek solutions rather than exacerbate regional and global problems. LAVROV: WESTERN 'DOMINATION'The 10-member ASEAN hosts an East Asia Summit on Friday morning before holding a separate meeting with Blinken. China's Wang also met with Lavrov, and said the two sides would "strengthen strategic communication and coordination".

Persons: Joko Widodo, Prak Sokhonn, Antony Blinken, Wang Yi, Nancy Pelosi, Matthew Miller, Wang, Blinken, Sergei Lavrov, China's Wang, Lavrov, Myanmar's, Martin Petty, Michael Perry Organizations: Cambodia's, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, REUTERS, U.S, North Korean, Friday's ASEAN Regional Forum, ASEAN, State Department, ARF, enraging, Washington, Department, U.S . Navy, East Asia Summit, United Nations Security Council, Russian, Thomson Locations: Jakarta, Indonesia, JAKARTA, China, Ukraine, North, United States, Russia, Taiwan, enraging Beijing, LAVROV, Australia, Japan, Britain, South Korea, Myanmar

☆ Blinken to meet China's Wang Yi in Jakarta -State Department
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi attends during a trilateral meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaJuly 12 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on Thursday as officials gather in Indonesia for ASEAN meetings, the State Department said in announcing the latest in series of interactions between the rival superpowers. Wang is representing China at the Jakarta meetings involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and partner countries after Beijing said Foreign Minister Qin Gang would not attend due to health reasons. Blinken met Qin and Wang in Beijing last month, marking the first visit to China by a U.S. secretary of state in five years. Wang, who is the foreign policy chief for the Chinese Communist Party, ranks above Qin, who as the foreign minister is the government's foreign policy chief.

Persons: Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi, Retno Marsudi, Sergei Lavrov, Antony Blinken, Wang Yi, Wang, Qin Gang, Blinken, Qin, Janet Yellen, John Kerry, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Daniel Kritenbrink, David Brunnstrom, Simon Lewis, Dan Whitcomb, Michael Perry Organizations: Central Foreign Affairs Commission, Indonesian Foreign, Russia's, REUTERS, ASEAN, State Department, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Foreign, U.S, Treasury, Chinese Communist Party, Pentagon, NATO, senior State Department, East, Thomson Locations: Jakarta, Indonesia, China, Beijing, United States, Asia, U.S, Lithuanian, Vilnius, Pacific, East Asia

☆ Top diplomat says China, ASEAN pushing ahead with free trade area talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar UlfianaBEIJING, July 13 (Reuters) - China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are pushing ahead with talks on a third version of a free trade agreement at an ASEAN summit in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, China's top diplomat Wang Yi said on Thursday. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is the world's largest trade bloc backed by China. "We will continue to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership with ASEAN," Wang said. According to customs data on Thursday, the value of China-ASEAN two-way trade hit $447.3 billion in January-June, down 1.5% year-on-year.

Persons: Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi, Retno Marsudi, Sergei Lavrov, Wang Yi, Wang, Lv Daliang, Liz Lee, Ellen Zhang, Bernard Orr, Clarence Fernandez, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Central Foreign Affairs Commission, Russia's, REUTERS, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, Economic, Trans, Pacific, Thomson Locations: Indonesian, Jakarta, Indonesia, BEIJING, China, China's, Asia, Pacific, Australia, Japan, U.S, ASEAN

☆ Blinken to meet China's Wang Yi in Jakarta - State Department
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Myanmar crisis, South China Sea tensions loom over ASEAN meet
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Kate Lamb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JAKARTA, July 11 (Reuters) - Southeast Asia's top diplomats will gather in Indonesia on Tuesday amid pressure to address a bloody political crisis in Myanmar and resolve tensions in the South China Sea where some ASEAN members have overlapping territorial claims with China. The meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comes as doubts mount over the credibility and unity of the bloc in dealing with the region's thorniest challenges. Indonesia is also seeking during this week's forum to accelerate talks on a long-stalled code of conduct on the South China Sea. More than $3 trillion in trade passes through the South China Sea each year, and overlapping territorial claims by China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei have led to a spate of confrontations. ASEAN will also hold the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Regional Forum later this week, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov both slated to attend.

Persons: Human Rights Volker Turk, Retno Marsudi, Antony Blinken, Sergei Lavrov, Stanley Widianto, Kanupriya Kapoor Organizations: ASEAN, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, United, United Nations, Human Rights, . Security, International Criminal Court, East Asia Summit, ASEAN Regional Forum, U.S, Russia's, Thomson Locations: JAKARTA, Indonesia, Myanmar, South China, China, ASEAN, United Nations, Jakarta, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei

☆ Russian, Turkish ministers talk after Turkey sends Ukrainian commanders home
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 9 (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey spoke by telephone on Sunday, a day after Ankara angered Moscow by sending five Ukrainian commanders home with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in what Russia called a violation of a prisoner exchange agreement. The Russian and Turkish foreign ministries said Sergei Lavrov and Hakan Fidan discussed the situation in Ukraine, as well as a Black Sea grain export agreement that lifted a Russian de facto blockade of Ukrainian ports last year. Russia captured the city last year after laying it to waste, killing thousands of civilians in a three-month siege. The captured Azov commanders, lionized as heroes in Ukraine and vilified in Russia, were released in a prisoner swap in September, under terms that required them to stay in Turkey until the war ends. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday that Turkey had violated agreements in permitting their release, and had failed to notify Russia in advance.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Sergei Lavrov, Hakan Fidan, Tayyip Erdogan, Ankara's, Zelenskiy, Dmitry Peskov, Alexander Marrow, Peter Graff Organizations: United Nations, Kremlin, Russia, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia, Turkey, Ankara, Moscow, Turkish, Ukraine, Russian, Ukrainian, Mariupol, Kyiv, Azov

☆ Russian, Turkish foreign ministers discuss Ukraine, grain deal in phone call
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MOSCOW, July 9 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the situation in Ukraine and the Black Sea grain deal in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Sunday, Russia's foreign ministry said. Moscow has been threatening to quit the deal allowing the safe export of grain and fertilizer from Ukrainian ports because several demands to dispatch its own grain and fertiliser have not been met. The deal expires on July 17. Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he was pressing Russia to extend the deal, brokered last year by Ankara and the United Nations, by at least three months. Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sergei Lavrov, Hakan Fidan, Tayyip Erdogan, Alison Williams Organizations: Russia's, Turkish, United Nations, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Ankara

☆ Biden administration did not sanction unofficial talks with Russians, State Dept says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It was not clear how frequently the group, which included former Pentagon officials, held discussions with other prominent Russians thought to be close to the Kremlin, NBC News reported. "The Biden administration did not sanction those discussions," a State Department spokesperson said in response to questions from Reuters. "And as we've said repeatedly, nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine." The spokesperson was referring to an administration policy of not discussing possible negotiations on ending the war without involving Ukrainian officials. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said in an interview with CBS News that the White House was aware of the unofficial discussions.

Persons: Joe Biden's, Sergei Lavrov, Lavrov, Richard Haass, Biden, we've, John Kirby, Jonathan Landay, Simon Lewis, Eric Beech, David Gregorio Our Organizations: U.S, Russian, White House and State Department, NBC News, Foreign Relations, White, Pentagon, Kremlin, State Department, Reuters, House, CBS News, NBC, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, New York, U.S, Russia

☆ Putin’s Options for Dealing With the Wagner Group Aren’t Great - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Colin P. Clarke | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

(Those who did participate could join Mr. Prigozhin in Belarusian exile.) Even if Wagner fighters do decide to join Russian military units en masse, it won’t be easy for Moscow to integrate them. Another option would be for Mr. Putin to leave Wagner’s overseas operations as is, and install a new leader to replace Mr. Prigozhin. Mr. Prigozhin was revered by Wagner fighters, many of whom may chafe at the prospect of new leadership or a drastic change in organizational culture. Corporation is another Russian private military company, founded by Russian nationalist Igor Mangushev, with some experience abroad, but is much less influential and experienced than Wagner.

Persons: Putin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, —, Prigozhin’s, Sergei Lavrov, ”, Wagner’s, Igor Mangushev Organizations: Russian, Ministry of Defense, Russian Ministry of Defense, Central African, Corporation, Gazprom Locations: Russia, Russian, Moscow, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Africa, Mali, Central African Republic . Russia, Syria, Burundi, Central African Republic, Gabon, Yemen

☆ Russia's Lavrov says Moscow is in contact with U.S. about embassies
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 28 (Reuters) - White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has been in touch with Moscow to discuss the respective Russian and U.S. embassies, and the two sides are in talks on the subject, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. On Wednesday, in the text of an interview with Russian television published by Russia's foreign ministry, Lavrov hinted at some of these. Despite the deep freeze in relations, there have been some signs that contact is being maintained. Ambassador Lynne Tracy had spoken to Russian representatives and given "signals" that the United States was not involved in the weekend mutiny by Wagner mercenaries, and hoped that Russia's nuclear arsenal would be kept safe. Lavrov also quoted Tracy as saying the mutiny was Russia's internal affair.

Persons: Jake Sullivan, Sergei Lavrov, Moscow's, Evan Gershkovich, Vladimir Putin, Lavrov, counterbalances, Brittney Griner, Viktor Bout, Lynne Tracy, Wagner, Tracy, Kevin Liffey, Alison Williams, Gareth Jones Organizations: White House, Wall Street, Thomson Locations: Moscow, U.S, Russia, Crimea, Ukraine, American, United States

☆ Senior Russian lawmaker calls for professional army of seven million
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Lawmaker Leonid Slutsky, who early in the 16-month war took part in peace negotiations with Ukraine, said that Russia needs a contract army of at least seven million military and civilian personnel, on top of the current conscript army. He said Wagner fighters can continue fighting with Russian army, go home or go to Belarus. At the end of 2022, Putin backed beefing up the army to 1.5 million combat personnel - including 695,000 contract soldiers - from 1.15 million. Creating a contract army of seven million would require a huge budget allowance. The Russian economy, crippled by the war and subsequent Western sanctions contracted 2.2% percent last year and is expected to rebound only marginally this year.

Persons: Leonid Slutsky, Sergei Lavrov, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Evgenia, weekend's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Lidia Kelly, Stephen Coates Organizations: Russia's, Russian, Qatari Deputy, Foreign, REUTERS, Liberal Democratic Party, Thomson Locations: Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al, Thani, Moscow, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, aborting, Belarus, Melbourne

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden on Monday said a brief uprising by Russian mercenaries against the Kremlin was part of a struggle within the Russian system and that the United States and its allies were not involved in it. "We made clear we were not involved, we had nothing to do with this," Biden said in his first comments on the uprising by Wagner mercenaries that fizzled over the weekend. The Biden administration would not address a widely held perception in Washington that the uprising showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been weakened by his 16-month war against Ukraine. The White House said Biden also consulted on Monday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni about the situation. Kirby said the United States does not know the parameters of the deal reached between Putin and Prigozhin that ended the uprising.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Wagner, John Kirby, Sergei Lavrov, Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Vladimir Putin, Matt Miller, Putin's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Giorgia Meloni, It's, Kirby, We're, Jeff Mason, Steve Holland, Simon Lewis, Jonathan Landay, Phil Stewart, Kanishka Singh, Trevor Hunnicutt, Humeyra Pamuk, Mark Porter, Alistair Bell, Alex Richardson, Deepa Babington, Sandra Maler Organizations: Kremlin, Ukraine, White House, TASS, U.S ., Ukraine . State, NATO, Italian, Putin, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russian, United States, Russia, Moscow, U.S, Washington, Ukraine, United

☆ Lavrov reacts to African peace plan for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Reuters Editorial | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PoliticsLavrov reacts to African peace plan for UkrainePostedRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday (June 17) that Moscow shared the "main approaches" of the African plan for Ukraine.

Persons: Lavrov, Sergei Lavrov Organizations: Russian Locations: Ukraine, Moscow

☆ Putin rebuts key elements of African peace plan for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Putin opened Saturday's talks with representatives of Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, Congo Republic, Comoros and South Africa in a palace near St Petersburg by stressing Russia's commitment to the continent. But after presentations from the Comoran, Senegalese and South African presidents, he stepped in to challenge the assumptions of the plan - predicated on acceptance of internationally recognised borders - before the round of statements could go any further. And he said Russia had never refused talks with the Ukrainian side, which had been blocked by Kyiv. Peskov said Putin had shown interest in the plan, whose 10 points South African President Cyril Ramaphosa laid out in his presentation, and Russia would continue dialogue with the African countries. Since the International Criminal Court indicted Putin in March on war crimes charges - which he rejects - South Africa, as a member of the court, finds itself in the awkward position of being obliged to arrest him if he sets foot there.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Putin, Pavel Bednyakov, Sergei Lavrov, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Cyril Ramaphosa, Lavrov, Zelenskiy, Kevin Liffey, Andrew Cawthorne, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Saturday, South, RIA Novosti, REUTERS, Russian, Criminal, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Moscow, Russia, Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, Congo Republic, Comoros, South Africa, St Petersburg, Africa, RIA, Black, Russian, Brazil, India, China

MOSCOW, June 8 (Reuters) - For more than 15 months Russia has been fighting a war in Ukraine that the Kremlin refused to call a war - but that is changing: President Vladimir Putin is using the word "war" more often. The Russian media was ordered not to use the word war - and has either complied or shut down. But in response to what Russia said was a major Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow, Putin last week used the word "war" four times in relation to Ukraine, according to a Kremlin transcript of his remarks. "What is more important is what is says about the future: does war mean a more serious approach and what will Russia at war look like?" Attacks far inside Russia that Moscow blamed on Ukraine have stiffened opinion within the Kremlin, emboldening hawks who propose a much tougher approach to a war in which Putin has said Russia has not got even got serious yet.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Pavel Zarubin, Sergei Shoigu, Dmitry Peskov, Sergei Lavrov, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Lyndon B, Johnson, George W, Bush, Leonid Brezhnev, Abbas Gallyamov, Nikita Yuferev, Yuferev, Prigozhin, Putin's, General Augusto Pinochet, Guy Faulconbridge, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Kremlin, Nazi, Red, Motherland, U.S, Soviet, West, Russia, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Ukrainian, Moscow, Ukraine's, Crimea, Soviet, Nazi Germany, Russia's Belgorod, Europe, U.S, Vietnam, Afghanistan, St Petersburg, RUSSIA, Chile, Pinochet

☆ Russia's claim that Ukraine could get nuclear-capable F-16s is baseless fearmongering, expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Sinéad Baker | Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia made the bizarre claim that F-16s being given to Ukraine could be fitted with nuclear weapons. Ukraine has no nuclear weapons, and the F-16s it may get won't have that capacity anyway, he said. While F-16 jets can be made to carry nuclear weapons, Ukraine does not have any nuclear weapons in its arsenal. And none of Ukraine's allies who have given it weapons and military training since Russia's invasion in February 2022 have suggested they will give Ukraine nuclear weapons. Kristensen added: "There's no way at all that any nuclear state in the West would give nuclear weapons, or nuclear weapons capability, to Ukraine.

Persons: —, Sergei Lavrov, Ukraine's, John Kirby, Joe Biden, Kirby, Lavrov, Hans Kristensen, Kristensen, that's, It's, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev Organizations: Service, US, Reuters, Federation of American Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Belarus, Europe

☆ Russia says U.S.-built F-16s could 'accommodate' nuclear weapons if sent to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 6 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets can 'accommodate' nuclear weapons and warned that supplying Kyiv with them will escalate the conflict further. "We must keep in mind that one of the modifications of the F-16 can 'accommodate' nuclear weapons," Lavrov said in a speech at a military base in Dushanbe in Tajikistan, according to a transcript on the ministry's website. "If they do not understand this, then they are worthless as military strategists and planners." But U.S. National Security adviser Jake Sullivan said there was no final decision on Washington sending aircraft. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sergei Lavrov, Lavrov, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Joe Biden, Jake Sullivan, Lidia Kelly, Michael Perry Organizations: Russia's, U.S, Washington, Ukrainian, National Security, Thomson Locations: Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Washington, Melbourne

☆ Russia doesn't know what to do with the $1 billion in rupees it is amassing in India each month
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's amassing $1 billion worth of Indian rupees each month that it's struggling to use. India has been buying Russian oil using rupees as Moscow has been shut out of the USD-denominated global payments system. And it's not like Russia can send the rupees back home either because India has restrictions over capital flows by foreign investors — the country is looking at $2 to $3 billion worth of rupees stuck in India every quarter. India and Russia are now trying to work out how Russia can use its mounting rupee stash. Another option under discussion is having Russia channel the rupees into Indian infrastructure projects in exchange for equity stakes, per the media outlet.

Persons: Russia's, it's, —, Sergei Lavrov, Lavrov, Moscow doesn't, Alexander Isakov, Ian Hall Organizations: Service, Bloomberg, Bank of, Reuters, Treasury, Russian, Bloomberg Economics, Australian Institute of International Affairs, Griffith Asia, Griffith University, Kremlin, Affairs Locations: India, Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, —, Bank of Russia, Australia, Russian

☆ Kenya and Russia to sign trade pact, President Ruto says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya Moses Wetangula shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya May 29, 2023. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERSNAIROBI, May 29 (Reuters) - Kenya will sign a trade pact with Russia aimed at boosting cooperation between businesses, President William Ruto's office said on Monday, after hosting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Nairobi. Kenya's presidency said in a statement that bilateral trade with Russia was still low despite the potential and the pact would give business the "necessary impetus". Russia says its invasion of Ukraine, launched on Feb. 24, 2022, is aimed at protecting its own security against Ukraine's pro-Western leadership. Lavrov has visited the African continent at least three times this year, while Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba travelled to countries including Ethiopia, Rwanda and Mozambique last week.

☆ Ukraine peace plan is only way to end Russia's war, says Zelenskiy aide
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

He pushed back on a flurry of peace initiatives from China, Brazil, the Vatican and South Africa in recent months. "There cannot be a Brazilian peace plan, a Chinese peace plan, a South African peace plan when you are talking about the war in Ukraine," Zhovkva said in an interview late on Friday. Zelenskiy made a major push to court the Global South this month in response to peace moves from some of its members. Moscow has bolstered ties with Global South powers during the war in Ukraine, including by selling more of its energy to India and China. 'PEACE SUMMIT'Zhovkva said the reaction to Ukraine's 10-point peace plan had been extremely positive at the G7 summit.

☆ China says it will make efforts for political solution to Ukraine crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, May 27 (Reuters) - China will make concrete efforts for a political solution to the Ukraine crisis, the Chinese foreign ministry quoted special envoy Li Hui as saying on Saturday. China has always adhered to an objective and fair position on Ukraine, argued for peace and promoted talks, Li was quoted as telling Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Li's visit to Russia was the final stop in a multi-country tour that Beijing said was aimed at discussing a "political settlement" to the Ukraine crisis. Li said China will strengthen exchanges and dialogues with all parties, including Russia, according to the readout from the foreign ministry. Reporting by Ella Cao and Bernard Orr; Editing by Kim Coghill and Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Without a hint of irony over Ukraine, Putin rages against countries that meddle in other states
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev arrive for a working breakfast of the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Moscow, Russia May 9, 2023. Vladimir Smirnov | Sputnik | ReutersRussian President Vladimir Putin slammed countries that he said were trying to "impose their dominance" and rules on others, saying Wednesday that those that do were "completely ignoring the sovereignty" of other states. Russian President Vladimir Putin on a screen at Red Square as he addresses a rally and a concert marking the annexation of four regions of Ukraine — Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — in central Moscow on Sept. 30, 2022. Putin said Tuesday that Russia was going through "difficult times" as it continued its military campaign in Ukraine, but said national pride was growing. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov looks on, next to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they wait for the US-Russia summit at the Villa La Grange, in Geneva on June 16, 2021.

☆ G7 signals long-term Ukraine support to Russia, woos 'Global South'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

* President Joe Biden told G7 leaders that Washington supports the joint allied training programmes, senior U.S. officials said, a significant endorsement as Kyiv seeks to boost its air power against Russia. * Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said G7 decisions at the summit were aimed at the "double containment" of Russia and China. CHINA* G7 leaders outlined a shared approach towards China, looking to "de-risk, not decouple" economic engagement with a country regarded as the factory of the world. * G7 leaders agreed on an initiative to counter "economic coercion," pledging action to ensure that any actors attempting to weaponise economic dependence would fail and face consequences. * G7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a highly decarbonised road sector by 2030 and committed to the goal of achieving net-zero emissions on roads by 2050.

Its oil deals with Russia are seen as undermining Western sanctions by allowing Russia to continue benefiting from energy revenues. A French presidential source told reporters that Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would also meet Zelenskiy while in Hiroshima. [1/9] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives at Hiroshima airport for attending the G7 leaders' summit in Mihara, Hiroshima prefecture, western Japan May 20, 2023., in this photo released by Kyodo. A Chinese foreign ministry statement accused the G7 of attacking China and interfering in its internal affairs, including Taiwan. Reporting by Reuters G7 team in Hiroshima; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Nick MacfieOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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