Ukraine
Dueling moments of silence in UNSC illustrate intractable nature of year-long Ukraine war
As the Council met on Friday, the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kiev's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for a moment of silence to honour the victims of Moscow. Russia's Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia reluctantly joined in while appearing to object. He next asked for another moment of silence for all victims of what has happened.
Sweden to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine
"On Germany's initiative and after discussions in what we refer to as the 'leopard family,' we have decided to deliver Swedish Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine in close coordination, in particular, with Germany," Swedish Television (SVT) quoted Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson as saying at a press conference, Xinhua news agency reported.
Canada to send four more battle tanks to Ukraine
Trudeau said on Friday that Canada will also donate an armoured recovery vehicle and over 5,000 rounds of ammunition, and impose new sanctions on nearly 200 more individuals and entities including members of Russia's lower house of parliament and ministers, Xinhua news agency reported. Also on Friday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly announced a contribution.
Russia warns West, Ukraine against 'provacation' over rebel Moldovan region
In a statement on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry, citing data from the Defence Ministry that Ukraine has amassed considerable numbers of military personnel, as well as hardware and artillery on its border with Transnistria, warned the "US, NATO member states and their Ukrainian underlings against any further adventurous steps", RT reported.
India tells Pakistan to revisit its past responses to taunts; some weaponised humour
Pratik Mathur, a counsellor at India's UN Mission, said on Thursday: "India chooses this time not to respond to Pakistan's mischievous provocations. Our advice to the delegate of Pakistan is to refer to our numerous rights of reply that we have exercised in the past. "Pakistan has only to look at itself and its own track record as a state that harbours and provides safe havens to terrorists and does so with impunity."
As Joe Biden visits Ukraine, China's top diplomat heads to Russia
Wang Yi - who was promoted as Chinese leader Xi Jinping's top foreign policy advisor last month - is due to arrive in Moscow this week as part of his eight-day Europe tour, a trip that brings into focus China's attempted diplomatic balancing act since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine a year ago, CNN reported.
Geopolitical power shifts divide the world into three groups
Rudolf G Adam, a former vice president of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service wrote in GIS Reports that the world will remain divided into three groups that face each other with suspicion and open hostility: Western liberal democracies (US, Canada, EU, UK, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand)
'Russia's Wagner group suffers over 30K casualties since Ukraine war began'
Kirby made the remarks during a White House press briefing on Friday. Of the overall figure, "approximately 9,000 were killed in action and about half of those were killed since mid-December", Kirby said.
The Wagner Group, which is owned by Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Prigozhin, currently currently has approximately 50,000 personnel deployed.
Ukrainian Defence Minister says to retain his position
Speaking with foreign journalists, Reznikov said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked him to remain in his post in the coming months, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a report by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. Earlier this month, David Arakhamia, parliamentary faction leader of the Party of Servant of the People, said that Reznikov would be replaced by Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine's intelligence chief.
Russian army has lost up to half of its battle tanks
That rises to as much as 50 per cent for some of the key tanks used in combat, forcing Russia to reach into its still sizeable cold war-era stocks, The Guardian reported. Ukraine's tank numbers are estimated to have increased because of the number it has captured and supplies of Soviet-era tanks from its western allies.
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