MUNICH, Germany (AFP) – Russia is putting Europe’s security at risk with demands that hark back to the Cold War, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Friday, ahead of the annual Munich Security Conference set to be dominated by the Ukraine crisis. “With an unprecedented deployment of troops on the border with Ukraine and Cold War demands, Russia is challenging fundamental principles of the European peace order,” Baerbock said in a statement. Moscow needs to […]
Tag: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
US, Asia allies meet to deepen bulwark against China
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France-Presse MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) – The top diplomats of the United States, Australia, Japan and India opened talks in Melbourne Friday on deepening their Quad alliance, hoping to blunt China’s expanding power across the Asia-Pacific region. “Together we are a vital network of liberal democracies committed to practical cooperation and to ensuring all Indo-Pacific nations, large and small, are able to make their own strategic decisions, free from coercion,” Australia’s Foreign […]
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 […]
Japan seeks restrictions on US troops after virus surge
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi urged his US counterpart Thursday to consider restricting American troop movement in the country after a surge in Covid cases on bases and surrounding communities. The request to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken comes as virus cases surge in Okinawa, which hosts most of the US forces in Japan and is now seeing a rise in community infections. The region’s governor has blamed the rise […]





