Tag: conflict

German ministers warn against boycotting Russian oil

FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) – Germany’s finance and foreign ministers cautioned Sunday against banning Russian energy imports as the West searches for ways to tighten the screws on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. With his country fighting for its existence two weeks since the incursion, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has urged his Western allies to levy additional sanctions against Moscow, including boycotting its lucrative oil and gas sector. Earlier Sunday, chief US diplomat Antony Blinken said […]

Continue Reading →

Israeli PM vows more Ukraine talks, even if prospects ‘not great’

  JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel’s premier said Sunday his country had a “moral obligation” to help stem fighting in Ukraine even if chances of success were “not great”, after shuttle diplomacy that saw him visit the Kremlin. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met for three hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday, before flying to Berlin to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The Israeli premier, acting after Kyiv requested him to launch a […]

Continue Reading →

Putin threatens Ukraine ‘statehood’ as Moscow sanctions tighten

by Dave CLARK Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened the existence of Ukrainian statehood as his army’s invasion of the neighbour faces stiff resistance Sunday and his economy is increasingly asphyxiated by sanctions. In the latest efforts to freeze Moscow out of the world economy, US-based card payment giants Visa and Mastercard announced they will suspend operations in Russia, while world leaders vowed to act over the intensifying onslaught. “The current (Ukrainian) authorities must understand that […]

Continue Reading →

Israel PM meets Putin on Ukraine in ‘risky’ diplomatic gamble

by Ben Simon Israel’s premier stepped into the role of mediator Saturday as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine intensified, holding a three-hour meeting at the Kremlin with Vladimir Putin before calling Ukraine’s president and flying to Berlin. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s sit-down with Putin was the first by a foreign leader since the day Russian forces invaded Ukraine last week, and came after Kyiv had asked Israel to launch a dialogue with Moscow. Bennett has so […]

Continue Reading →

Visa, Mastercard suspend operations in Russia

Card payment giants Visa and Mastercard announced Saturday they will suspend operations in Russia, the latest major US firms to join the business freeze-out of Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. “Noting the unprecedented nature of the current conflict and the uncertain economic environment,” Mastercard said it had “decided to suspend our network services in Russia.” Visa, for its part, said that “effective immediately” it would “work with its clients and partners within Russia to cease […]

Continue Reading →

Canada urges citizens to leave Russia

Canada called Saturday on its nationals to avoid all travel to Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine and on Canadians in Russia to leave the country. In an update to its travel advice, the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommended that its nationals “avoid all travel to Russia due to the impacts of the armed conflict with Ukraine.” “If you are in Russia, you should leave while commercial means are still available,” the statement […]

Continue Reading →

Any countries imposing no-fly zone over Ukraine party to conflict: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that any country imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine would be considered by Moscow to have entered the conflict, while threatening his ex-Soviet neighbour’s continued existence. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded with the West to support a no-fly zone as his besieged country resists Moscow’s invasion, but allies have so far ruled out such a move, fearing it would escalate into a wider war with nuclear-armed Russia. Putin […]

Continue Reading →

Ukraine’s Zelensky says held phone call with Biden

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he spoke by phone with his US counterpart Joe Biden on Sunday to discuss financial support and sanctions against Russia as his country faces an intensifying onslaught. “As part of the constant dialogue, I had another conversation with @POTUS,” Zelensky tweeted. “The agenda included the issues of security, financial support for Ukraine and the continuation of sanctions against Russia.” Hours earlier, the Ukrainian leader had addressed US lawmakers by […]

Continue Reading →

Ukraine steps up pleas for warplanes and other military aid

by Paul HANDLEY Ukraine on Saturday urged the West to amp up military assistance to the besieged country, including warplanes, as Russian President Vladimir Putin escalated warnings against NATO. “The highest demand that we have is in fighter jets, attack aircraft, and air-defense systems,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told a small group of journalists on the Poland-Ukraine border. “If we lose the skies, there will be much more blood on the ground,” he said […]

Continue Reading →

Russians pack trains into Finland as sanctions bite

by Sam KINGSLEY Agence France-Presse HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) – It’s one of the few remaining routes from Russia to the EU: trains to Finland are packed with Russians fearful that now is their last chance to escape the impact of Western sanctions. After two years of pandemic, the 6:40 am from St Petersburg was full of largely Russian passengers as it pulled into Helsinki station on Thursday. “We decided with our families to go back […]

Continue Reading →

Fire at Ukraine nuclear plant ‘extinguished’, Kyiv blames Russia

  KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — The fire at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been extinguished, Ukrainian emergency services said Friday, after Kyiv blamed Russian military shelling for the blaze. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of resorting to “nuclear terror” and wanting to “repeat” the Chernobyl disaster after he said invading Russian forces deliberately attacked the nuclear power plant. Ukraine’s emergency services said it was able to put out the fire after the Russian […]

Continue Reading →

Facebook, multiple media sites partially down in Russia: AFP, NGO

Facebook and multiple media websites were partially inaccessible in Russia on Friday, as authorities crack down on critical voices and fighting rages in Ukraine. AFP journalists in Moscow were not able to access Facebook, as well as the sites of media outlets Meduza, Deutsche Welle, RFE-RL and the BBC’s Russian-language service. The monitoring NGO GlobalCheck also said the sites were partially down. On its Telegram account, independent outlet Meduza said that its site was no longer […]

Continue Reading →
1 … 130 131 132 133 134 … 179