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Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe after Russia, gaining independence from the Soviet Union and declaring neutrality in 1991. In February 2022, Russia's President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine under the auspices of a "special military operation" to "de-nazify" the country. The move turned Moscow into a global pariah, and the Ukrainian army - backed financially and militarily by the US and western European countries - continues to fight off the invading forces. Nuclear-armed Russia has warned of consequences if Nato interferes in the war, while strategic ally China urges a peaceful, diplomatic solution.
Talks on trade imbalances and Ukraine war await Chinese president as he first heads to France in pursuit of ‘pragmatic’ European policy, then Serbia and Hungary, before returning to host Vladimir Putin.
Latest US protectionist moves targeting Chinese steel and aluminium imports, together with other measures, risk another damaging round of trade war.
State Department’s No 2 now admits Aukus joint submarine project between three of the Five Eyes is tied to Taiwan and mainland China.
Putin’s re-election is positive for the increasingly close alliance with Beijing, but China’s diplomatic efforts require striking a fine balance ahead of Xi’s proposed trip to Europe.
- Kyiv has recently U-turned on the plan amid fresh Russian advances on the battlefield
- Only prisoners with under three years left on their sentence can apply
As Russia leverages its advantage in ammunition and manpower to exploit Ukraine’s dwindling stocks of weaponry, it has also increasingly embraced TikTok as part of its parallel information war.
Analysts say the move is insurance against an accelerating “arms race” in the region, as lessons are learned from recent flare-ups such as Iran’s drone and missile attack against Israel last month.
Relaxed mountain setting chosen so Chinese leader Xi Jinping and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron can speak frankly on myriad mutual grievances and grounds for cooperation.
French President welcomes Beijing’s commitment to ‘refrain from selling any weapons or aid’ to Russia, but commerce official reinforces the need to enhance bilateral trade.
The head of Ukraine’s state security service said the failed assassination attempt was supposed to be a ‘gift to Putin’ to mark his inauguration on Tuesday
Putin won a landslide victory in a presidential election in March, more than two years after he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.
Xi says China and Europe can contribute to world peace, ahead of meeting with President Emmanuel Macron and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Some were aware of the risks and joined voluntarily, but others said they were tricked into going to the frontline after being promised cooking and cleaning jobs.
Russia says the drills are in response to ‘provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials’.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, has been a frequent target of attacks in recent weeks.
The president has been a target since the start of Moscow’s invasion, and says he was aware of at least ‘five or six’ foiled assassination attempts against him.
The arrival of Russian personnel in the West African country came in the wake of a decision by Niger’s junta to expel US forces from the country.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines says joint exercises show ‘China definitely wants Russia to be working with them and we see no reason why [Russia] wouldn’t’.
Ukrainian singer Jerry Heil and rapper alyona alyona spoke about promoting their war-torn country’s music, culture and freedom as they set off to represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest.
During an interview with the Economist, Macron said “I’m not ruling anything out”, when asked if he stood by comments earlier this year about the potential to send Western troops to Ukraine.
Moscow exhibit features a US-made M1 Abrams battle tank that was taken out by a ‘guided rocket and kamikaze drones’.
20 companies based in mainland China and Hong Kong were among hundreds of entities hit by the wide-ranging move.
Moscow’s forces are accused of using the choking agent chloropicrin against enemy troops.
Russia, in recent weeks, has unveiled a strange-looking – albeit apparently effective – innovation that has been referred to by some Ukraine war observers as the ‘turtle tank’.
‘Serious delays in support have meant serious consequences on the battlefield’ for Ukraine, said Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Kyiv on Monday.
The Duchess of Edinburgh, wife of Prince Edward, made the visit as part of her work to champion survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, Buckingham Palace said.
Senior Colonel Zhou Bo shares his insights on global and regional challenges, based on long experience in military diplomacy.
The victims, who were 23 and 36, were killed on the premises of a shopping centre in the village of Murnau in Upper Bavaria. Possible motive for the killings was not yet known, police said.
Russian troops ‘will likely make significant tactical gains in the coming weeks’ while Kyiv awaits badly needed weaponry from the US, a Washington-based think tank said.
While the assessment didn’t dispute Putin’s culpability for the death, it found that the timing possibly wasn’t as intended by Putin, the WSJ report said.
‘Our interaction is important for strategic stability on the planet,’ Dong Jun says after meeting with Sergey Shoigu; both chiefs back continued military cooperation.
Ukraine sidelines US-provided Abrams M1A1 battle tanks for now, in part because Russian drone warfare has made it too difficult for them to operate without detection or coming under attack, US officials said.
