Tag: Russian President Vladimir Putin

Russian space agency wants foreign partners to pay it in rubles

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – The Russian space agency said Wednesday it will insist its international partners pay it in rubles, after President Vladimir Putin said Russia will only accept ruble payments for gas deliveries to “unfriendly countries”. “We will also conclude all our external agreements in rubles,” the Roscosmos space agency head Dmitry Rogozin was quoted as saying by the official Tass news agency. Hours earlier Putin announced that only rubles will be accepted in […]

Russia recruiting Syrians to fight in Ukraine, Pentagon says

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – Russia is recruiting Syrians and other foreign fighters as it ramps up its assault on Ukraine, the Pentagon said Monday. Moscow entered the Syrian civil war in 2015 on the side of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and the country has been mired in a conflict marked by urban combat for more than a decade. Now, US Department of Defense officials said, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was “on a recruiting […]

Shoah survivors condemn Putin’s claim of Ukraine ‘denazification’

VIENNA, Austria (AFP) – Leading groups representing Holocaust survivors have condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that the “denazification” of Ukraine was one reason he invaded the country. “The signatories of this appeal denounce the use of the words ‘denazification’ and ‘genocide’ to justify the attack on Ukraine,” reads the statement sent to AFP on Wednesday. “We cannot accept that these words are tarnished in this way,” it added. The statement was signed by representatives […]

Russia shells Ukraine’s Kharkiv as pressure on Moscow bites

by Serguy BOBOK with Dave CLARK in Kiev and Anna SMOLCHENKO in Moscow Agence France-Presse KHARKIV, Ukraine (AFP) – Russia shelled the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv as it pressed on with its invasion Tuesday, defying mounting global pressure that saw a war crimes probe opened against Moscow, sanctions smash its economy and FIFA ban it from the World Cup. After their first talks since the war started failed to secure a breakthrough Monday, Russia continued […]

US accuses Russia of deploying thousands more troops to Ukraine border

by Aurélia END with David CLARK in Kyiv Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – The United States on Wednesday dismissed reports that Russia was withdrawing troops from Ukraine’s border, instead accusing Moscow of sending more soldiers as fears of an invasion grow. Russia has increased its presence on the border with Ukraine by “as many as 7,000 troops,” some of whom arrived Wednesday, said a senior White House official, slamming Moscow’s announcement of […]

German chancellor to meet Putin as Ukraine’s fate in the balance

by Anna SMOLCHENKO Agence France-Presse MOSCOU, Russia (AFP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was due in Moscow Tuesday in search of a diplomatic solution to avoid a war in Ukraine as the West and Russia signalled tentative hopes of an easing in the tense standoff. His talks with Vladimir Putin are the latest in an intense diplomatic scramble to dissuade the Russian leader from attacking his ex-Soviet neighbour Ukraine. Western leaders consider the Russian troop […]

Biden warns American citizens in Ukraine to ‘leave now’

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – US President Joe Biden on Thursday urged American citizens to leave Ukraine immediately, and warned about potential major conflict with Moscow should US and Russian troops engage each other on the ground. “American citizens should leave, should leave now,” Biden said in an interview with NBC News. “We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. This is a very different situation and things could go crazy […]

China warns US over Ukraine, ‘interfering’ in Winter Olympics

BEIJING, China (AFP) – China’s top diplomat spoke with his US counterpart on Thursday, warning Washington to “stop interfering” in the Winter Olympics and stressing that Russia’s security concerns in Europe should be “taken seriously”. Beijing hopes to turn next week’s Games into a soft power triumph. But the lead-up has been clouded by a US-led diplomatic boycott over China’s human rights record, particularly towards its Uyghur Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region. “The most […]

Biden told Ukraine leader US will ‘respond decisively’ if Russia invades

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – US President Joe Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in telephone talks on Sunday that Washington and its allies would “respond decisively” if Russia moves to invade its pro-Western neighbor, the White House said. In a readout of the Biden-Zelensky call, White House press secretary Jen Psaki also said the US leader expressed support for diplomatic efforts including planned talks between high-level US and Russian officials set for […]

US keeps carrier in Mediterranean amid Russia tensions

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – The United States has ordered an aircraft carrier to remain in the Mediterranean in a bid to reassure European allies amid fears Russia will invade Ukraine, an official said Tuesday. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the USS Harry S Truman aircraft carrier strike group to stay in the region and hold off on its scheduled onward voyage to the Middle East. The “schedule change reflects the need for a […]

Putin will not attend COP 26 climate summit: Kremlin

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin will not go to next month’s landmark UN climate summit, the Kremlin said on Wednesday as the UK stressed the importance of national leaders’ presence. The COP26 conference in the Scottish city of Glasgow has been called humanity’s “last best chance” to get devastating climate change under control. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “unfortunately Putin will not fly to Glasgow”, while stressing that climate change […]

Natural gas market soars to record heights

by Roland JACKSON Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – European and UK gas prices surged Wednesday to record peaks, energised by fears of runaway demand in the upcoming northern hemisphere winter. Europe’s reference Dutch TTF gas price hit 162.12 euros per megawatt hour and UK prices leapt to 407.82 pence per therm in morning deals. However, prices later reversed as supply concerns eased somewhat. “It’s panic and fear with winter just around the corner,” […]