#state-antony-blinken

#state-antony-blinken

Members of a Ukrainian reconnaissance team fly a drone this week at the front line near Bakhmut, Ukraine.(Sergey Shestak/AFP/Getty Images)Ukraine reclaimed more than a mile of territory near Bakhmut, military officials said Wednesday, marking a crucial breakthrough after months of pitched battles for control of the besieged city in the country's east.

Vladimir Putin has told Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine that the whole country is praying for them, as he used his Victory Day speech to defend his invasion of Ukraine.Speaking on the 78th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Russian president drew historical parallels between the second world war and fighting in Ukraine.

Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday, an apparent show of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin amid sharpening East-West tensions over the war in Ukraine and the latest sign of Beijing's emboldened diplomatic ambitions.Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine is expected to dominate Putin and Xi's discussions.

In this image made from video provided by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Sunday, a Ukrainian soldier poses for the camera with his finger to his lips.The video shows troops gesturing for silence suggesting that no formal announcement of a possible counteroffensive against Russia will be made.Text appears in the video saying: "Plans love silence.

Russia acknowledged its forces had fallen back north of the ruined eastern city in a retreat the head of Russia's Wagner private army called a rout'.Ukraine forces are advancing along parts of the front line against Russian troops near the war-torn eastern town of Bakhmut.Our soldiers are moving forward in some areas of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower, Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, said on social media on Saturday.

At least two Armenian forces have been wounded after Baku used drones in the direction of Sotk, according to Yerevan.Renewed border clashes have erupted between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces, according to Yerevan, a day after deadly fighting threatened to derail European Union-led weekend peace talks between the Caucasus arch-foes.

Ukrainian soldiers prepare self-propelled howitzer shells in Chasiv Yar, near Bakhmut, where Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the chief of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, said Ukrainian forces were in "full swing."(Iryna Rybakova/AP)Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Wagner head Yevgeniy Prigozhin shared conflicting reports on the much-anticipated Ukrainian spring counteroffensive, with Zelensky saying his country needed to wait for more equipment to arrive and that starting the campaign now would result in "unacceptable" losses.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, left, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hold a joint news conference in Washington on Tuesday.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Britain and the United States will continue supporting Ukraine regardless of whether its military can recover territory from Russia in a planned counteroffensive, two senior officials said on Tuesday.

The leaders of France and Germany have urged their counterparts in Kosovo and Serbia to agree on holding new municipal elections in northern Kosovo, hoping that another ballot would quell a flare-up of ethnic tensions that have led to violent protests in the region.Speaking at a summit in Moldova on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had advocated for fresh mayoral elections in four municipalities and questioned the democratic legitimacy of the votes held in northern Kosovo in April.

NATO on Thursday ramped up pressure on its member Turkey to drop its objections to Sweden's membership as the military organization seeks to deal with the issue by the time U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet next month.Fearing that they might be targeted after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Sweden and Finland abandoned their traditional positions of military nonalignment to seek protection under NATO's security umbrella.

Bakhmut, the midsize Ukrainian city that used to have a population of 80,000, is now reportedly in Russian hands after a bloody nine-month military operation that turned the area into a wasteland.But regardless of who controls Bakhmut, the war will go on for the foreseeable future - the U.S. intelligence community assesses the fighting will progress well into 2024.

Footage of a drone exploding over the Kremlin the centre of Russian power and the symbolic heart of the country has triggered a wave of accusations that stretch from Moscow to Washington, igniting social media-fuelled conspiracy theories and confounding experts around the world.Russia accuses Ukraine of carrying out a daring assassination attempt on president Vladimir Putin.

A firefighter seen Thursday at the site of a train station hit by a Russian military strike on Kherson.(Carlos Barria/Reuters)Air raid alarms sounded in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia early Thursday, a day after the Kremlin claimed that Ukraine attempted to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin in a drone attack.

Chinese President Xi Jinping gestures while speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, March 20, 2023.Sergei Karpukhin, AP Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping discussed Beijing's proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine during a first day of talks in Moscow and they were meeting again on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping were set to hold a second day of talks on Tuesday, as the internationally isolated Russian leader said he was open to discussing China's proposals on the fighting in Ukraine and the US called on Xi to press him to halt the war crimes.Xi's trip to Moscow has been viewed as a major boost for his strategic partner Putin, who is subject to an international criminal court warrant over accusations of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.

Ambassador Rahm Emanuel never was going to stay diplomatically quiet in Japan for long.The former Chicago mayor has reemerged in recent weeks, taping an encouraging video for Brandon Johnson (who may or may not have welcomed the gesture), rubbing elbows with "dear friend" Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the G7 summit in Hiroshima and celebrating the new 10-year, $100 million, quantum-centric supercomputing partnership between the University of Chicago, the University of Tokyo and IBM.

Israelis embrace the ideal of democracy with the same fervor that Americans do.It's why, on Monday, the people of Israel effectively shut down their country's economy in a defiant, urgent statement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's dangerous bid to overhaul - and in doing so weaken - the country's judicial system.

First Lady Jill Biden has once again inflamed anti-LGBTQ+ right wingnuts.This week, Dr. Biden, along with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, hosted the 17th annual International Women of Courage Awards.The State Department has handed out awards to over 180 women from more than 80 countries since 2007.

Two employees of the US Mission in Nigeria have been found alive and safe days after an attack on a US convoy left seven others dead.The US Mission in Nigeria said Friday that those two employees were under the protection of Nigerian authorities in Anambra, and that their families had been informed of their safe recovery.

AFP journalist Arman Soldin walks in a village after a shelling on March 3, 2022 in Ukraine.He was killed by a rocket strike as he reported with colleagues from Ukrainian positions in Chasiv Yar on May 9, 2023.Aris Messinis, AFP French international news agency Agence France-Presse says its Ukraine video coordinator was killed Tuesday during a rocket attack near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul, electronically transmitted a subpoena to the State Department on Tuesday morning for a dissent cable written by US diplomats serving in Afghanistan before the US withdrawal from the country, according to a committee aide.

Vladimir Putin has declared that Russia is suspending its participation in the New Start treaty - the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the US - sharply upping the ante amid tensions with Washington over the fighting in Ukraine.peaking in his state-of-the-nation address, he also said Russia should be ready to resume nuclear weapons tests if the US does so, a move that would end a global ban on nuclear weapons tests in place since the end of the Cold War.

TAIPEI, Taiwan - One year into Russia's war against Ukraine, China is offering a 12-point proposal to end the fighting.The proposal follows China's recent announcement that it is trying to act as mediator in the war that has re-energized Western alliances viewed by Beijing and Moscow as rivals.China's top diplomat indicated that the plan was coming at a security conference this week in Munich, Germany.

When, on March 26, TIME spoke with Imran Khan from his home in Lahore, the former Pakistani Prime Minister was clear on why the government was refusing to hold snap elections as constitutionally mandated.What they are hoping is that by that time, I'll be in jail, he said.As for the response of his supporters were he to be detained, Khan was also plain.

US officials say they are not aware of any details of the attack that Russia claims targeted President Vladimir Putin.Washington, DC The United States has dismissed as ludicrous Russia's claim that it was responsible for a drone attack against the Kremlin, an incident that risks inflaming international tensions.

Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature More on this morning's drone strikes, from Reuters: Ukrainian air defences said they downed 18 out of 24 kamikaze drones that Russia launched in a pre-dawn attack on Thursday.In a statement, Kyiv city administration said that all missiles and drones targeting the Ukrainian capital for the third time in four days, have been destroyed.The Russians have attacked Kyiv using Shahed loitering munitions and missiles, likely the ballistic type, the administration said.Out of 15 Shahed kamikaze drones fired at the Black Sea coastal city of Odesa, air defences destroyed 12, while three struck a university compound.

Russian authorities accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate President Vladimir Putin in an overnight drone attack - a blatant "terrorist" act they said warrants retaliation.The Kremlin's press service said on Wednesday that Russian military and security forces downed two drones before they could strike Putin's residence, tucked inside the Kremlin in the heart of Moscow.

Issued on: 28/04/2023 - 22:34 French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna attends a joint press conference with her Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan following their talks in Yerevan on April 28, 2023.AFP, Karen Minasyan France's foreign minister on Friday urged Azerbaijan to restore "unhindered movement" through the Lachin corridor, the only land link between Armenia and the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that calls from some nations for a cease-fire in Ukraine could be a "very cynical trap" that freezes the conflict where things stand, allowing Russia to consolidate the territory it has illegally seized and "use the time to rest and refit and then reattack."

Vladimir Putin announced on Sunday that he would soon store a small number of Russian nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus.The European Union's high representative for foreign affairs denounced it as "an irresponsible escalation and threat to European security."The Ukrainian foreign affairs ministry called it "yet another provocative step by Putin's criminal regime."

Possibly the only person in the world who has any real influence on Vladimir Putin is his self-declared friend Xi Jinping.China's leader did not let Putin's arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court stop him from visiting Moscow recently.China's influence in Moscow stems from diplomatic decisions and economic dependence: China, the world's second most important economy, has yet to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

At least 34 refugees missing after their boat sinks off Tunisia, raising the total number of missing people to 67 as the number of vessels heading towards Italy sharply increases.At least 34 refugees are missing after their boat sank off Tunisia, officials have said, the latest in a string of tragedies this month.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to the southern region of Kherson, extending his tour of the country's front line after a trip to Bakhmut a day previously.More than 50 villages in Kherson had been "almost completely destroyed," he said in his nightly address Thursday, adding that in some locations 90 percent of the buildings lay in ruins.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the State Department is facing an unprecedented demand for passports, and has increased staffing and resources to deal with it.Blinken said the current wait time for a regular passport is about ten to thirteen weeks, and for an expedited passport about seven to nine weeks.

Putin strengthens his ties with China's Xi Jinping in the 56th week of the war, but his forces seem to have lost momentum on the battlefield.It was a week of highs and lows for Russian President Vladimir Putin.On Monday, he posed for pictures in Moscow with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping, one of few world leaders who will still be photographed with him.

Leaders of China and Russia in symbolic joint stand
Chinese leader Xi Jinping, accompanied by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, during a welcoming ceremony at an airport in Moscow, on Monday.(Kommersant Photo/via REUTERS)Article Share
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to hold formal talks on Tuesday, as he continues his three-day visit to Moscow, his first since the invasion of Ukraine last year.

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 391st day, we take a look at the main developments.Here is the situation as it stands on Tuesday, March 21, 2023: Fierce fighting continues for control of the centre of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.The eastern town of Avdiivka could soon become a second Bakhmut, with the risk of being encircled, the Ukrainian military said on Monday.

Russian cruise missiles intended for use by Moscow's Black Sea fleet have been destroyed in an explosion in the city of Dzhankoi in the north of the Crimean peninsula, Ukraine's defence ministry has said.Ihor Ivin, the Russian-installed head of the Dzhankoi administration, was quoted as saying the city had come under attack from drones, and that a 33-year-old man had suffered a shrapnel injury from a downed drone.

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 386th day, we take a look at the main developments.Here is the situation as it stands on Thursday, March 16, 2023: The crash of a United States military surveillance drone into the Black Sea after it was intercepted by Russian jet fighters continues to be investigated, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

The United States renewed a warning that it would defend its treaty ally if Filipino forces come under attack in the disputed South China Sea, after a Chinese coast guard ship allegedly hit a Philippine patrol vessel with a military-grade laser that briefly blinded some of its crew.
he Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila sent a strongly worded diplomatic protest to the Chinese Embassy Tuesday that "condemned the shadowing, harassment, dangerous manoeuvres, directing of military-grade laser, and illegal radio challenges" by the Chinese ship.

Washington (CNN)A senior American military officer notified lawmakers in January that China has more land-based fixed and mobile intercontinental ballistic missile launchers than the US, according to a letter sent to Congress.The letter from Gen. Anthony Cotton, commander of US Strategic Command which oversees the US nuclear arsenal says that as of October 2022 China's inventory of land-based fixed and mobile ICBM launchers "exceeds the number of ICBM launchers in the United States."

(CNN)The US Navy released photos Tuesday of its recovery effort of a suspected Chinese spy balloon, which US fighter jets shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.The photos from Sunday show sailors from a Navy explosive disposal team pulling debris from the deflated balloon onto a boat.The debris recovered is being taken to an FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis as the US looks to understand the capabilities of the balloon.

UNITED NATIONS - Russia and Ukraine faced off at the U.N. Security Council on Friday on the first anniversary of their war, with their confrontation even extending to dueling moments of silence for the dead.Are you on Telegram?Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet President Vladimir Putin in Russia between March 20-22 during a state visit, Beijing and Moscow said on Friday.The Kremlin said it will take place "at the invitation of Vladimir Putin."The trip announcement comes as the West increasingly views China as a key supporter of Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine.

BEIJING China says President Xi Jinping will visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday in an apparent show of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.The Kremlin on Friday also announced the visit, saying it will take place at the invitation of Vladimir Putin.Xi and Putin will discuss issues of further development of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction between Russia and China, as well as exchange views in the context of deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation in the international arena, the Kremlin said in a statement.

China says President Xi Jinping will visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday in an apparent show of support for Vladimir Putin.o other details were given but China has declared a "no-limits" friendship with Russia and refused to condemn Moscow's invasion of Ukraine - while declaring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries be respected.

The visit comes as China offers to broker peace in Ukraine, an effort that has been met with scepticism in the West.Chinese President Xi Jinping will be in Russia next week for a state visit after he was invited by President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Friday.The trip two-day trip from Monday to Tuesday comes as Beijing offers to broker peace in Ukraine, an effort that has been met with scepticism in the West given China's diplomatic support for Russia.

China has accused American legislators of trampling on the sovereignty of other nations after the US passed a measure condemning a suspected Chinese spy balloon's intrusion into its air space.he statement issued by the National People's Congress's Foreign Affairs Committee repeated Beijing's insistence that the balloon was an unmanned civilian weather research airship, a claim the US has dismissed, citing its flight route and payload of surveillance equipment.

Beijing slams US president for saying that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had enormous problems' amid ongoing row.The United States was not looking for conflict with China despite heightened tensions over last week's downing of an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon over its airspace, President Joe Biden has told the US broadcaster PBS.

Israel's foreign minister travelled to Kyiv for the first public visit to Ukraine by a senior Israeli official since Russia's invasion last year.ut there were no signs that Israel was preparing to significantly increase its modest support for Ukraine or meet requests to provide weapons.Foreign minister Eli Cohen's visit came just before the first anniversary of Russia's invasion and as Western nations seek to increase aid to the country.

Russia suspended its only nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. on Tuesday as the country's President Vladimir Putin accused the West of trying to turn his brutal war with Ukraine into a "global confrontation."The U.S. and Russia agreed in 2010 to the New START Treaty, putting restrictions on nuclear warheads and other atomic weapons.

Vladimir Putin has suspended Russia's participation in the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the US, announcing the move in a bitter speech which made clear he would not change his strategy in the war in Ukraine.n his long-delayed state-of-the-nation address, the Russian president cast his country - and Ukraine - as victims of western double-dealing and said it was Russia, not Ukraine, fighting for its existence.

Russia and China have showcased their deepening ties in a series of meetings in Moscow closely watched for signs that Beijing might offer a stronger support to the Kremlin for its war in Ukraine.
he visit by Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party's most senior foreign policy official, comes as the conflict in Ukraine continues to upend the global diplomatic order.

GENEVA - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will help kick off the latest and longest-ever session of the U.N.'s top human rights body on Monday, with Iran's foreign minister, a senior Russian envoy, and the top diplomats of France and Germany among scores of leaders set to take part.Are you on Telegram?

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks in the briefing room of the State Department in Washington, Jan. 7, 2022.Andrew Harnik/AP U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says China's use of a surveillance balloon is an "irresponsible act" and "a violation of international law."The nation's top diplomat canceled a planned trip to China earlier this month when a spy balloon was discovered over Montana.

01:18 File photo of US Vice President Kamala Harris at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on February 19, 2022.Thomas Kienzle, AFP The Munich Security Conference opens on Friday, bringing world leaders together ahead of the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine as Kyiv steps up pleas for more weapons.

Nadia (center) prays at the grave of her son Oleg Kunynets, a Ukrainian military serviceman who was killed in the east of the country, during his funeral in Lviv, Ukraine, on Feb. 7. Emilio Morenatti/AP It has been 12 months since Russia invaded Ukraine, a challenge to the global order not seen since World War II.

Nicaraguan Catholic Bishop Rolando Alvarez speaks to the press at the Santo Cristo de Esquipulas church in Managua, on May 20, 2022.AFP via Getty Images Roman Catholic Bishop Rolando Alvarez of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, is in prison this week.He may be there for 26 years.Bishop Alvarez has protested against the regime of President Daniel Ortega, and was sentenced for what a Nicaraguan court called treason and "undermining national integrity."

Ukraine can not be safe as long as Vladimir Putin remains in power, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said of the Russian president at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday."If he doesn't change by 360 degrees then, no," she said when asked about the long-term prospects for peace in Ukraine.

MUNICH, Germany The United States has determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday, insisting that justice must be served to the perpetrators.Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Harris said the international community has both a moral and a strategic interest in pursuing those crimes, pointing to a danger of other authoritarian governments taking advantage if international rules are undermined.

The US has recently begun seeing disturbing trendlines in China's support for Russia's military and there are signs that Beijing wants to creep up to the line of providing lethal military aid to Russia without getting caught, US officials familiar with the intelligence told CNN.The officials would not describe in detail what intelligence the US has seen suggesting a recent shift in China's posture, but said US officials have been concerned enough that they have shared the intelligence with allies and partners at the Munich Security Conference over the last several days.

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 361st day, we take a look at the main developments.Here is the situation as it stands on Sunday, February 19, 2023: Most of Ukraine has electricity despite a series of major Russian attacks on the power generating system, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made clear that the US has no doubt China was seeking to surveil the US via the balloon that was ultimately shot down off the coast of South Carolina earlier this month.I can't say dispositively what the original intent was, but that doesn't matter because what we saw when it was over the United States was clearly an attempt to surveil very sensitive military sites, Blinken said on ABC's This Week in an interview taped Saturday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday announced $100 million in disaster relief aid for Turkey and Syria as the countries grapple with the aftermath of a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that has killed at least 46,000 people.The top US diplomat, who took a helicopter tour Sunday of some of the hardest-hit areas alongside Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, later told reporters at Incirlik Air Base that it was really hard to put into words the devastation he saw during the tour but said, We are here to stand with the people of Turkey and Syria.

Ukraine and its allies have dismissed such accusations as cynical attempts to spread disinformation, and have accused Moscow of planning incidents itself in a bid to blame Ukraine.Ukraine is planning to stage a nuclear incident on its territory to pin the blame on Moscow ahead of a key United Nations meeting, Russia has alleged without providing evidence.