Britain and the United States “firmly oppose Russia’s campaign to destabilize Ukraine” and call on Russia to de-escalate the situation, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken “& I agreed Russia must immediately de-escalate the situation & live up to the international commitments that it signed up to at […]
Russia will likely remain a “disruptive power” for the next two decades, but its global influence may decline in the face of numerous political, economic, and societal headwinds, according to a U.S. intelligence report released on April 8. The report by the U.S. National Intelligence Council, which is produced every four years, provides a wide-ranging […]
A senior U.S. State Department official has said it is time for Ukraine to tackle corruption and weak institutions, including going after Dmytro Firtash, whose natural-gas holdings have made him one of the country’s most notorious, and powerful, oligarchs. The April 8 comments by George Kent, the deputy U.S. assistant secretary of state who oversees […]
On March 10th, the European Parliament overwhelmingly endorsed the creation of a “carbon border adjustment mechanism” (CBAM) that would shield EU companies against cheaper imports from countries with “weaker” climate policies. The ‘CBAM’ will raise revenues to fund the “Green Transition” or, to use a term which has been elevated to a mantra by European […]
Iran says it will not engage in negotiations with the United States at the planned talks in Vienna next week on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and global powers. “We will not talk directly or indirectly with the United States in Vienna,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on April 4, denying reports […]
Russia’s government has extended a space cooperation agreement with the United States until 2030, one of the few remaining partnerships between Moscow and Washington amid spiraling relations. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin approved and signed the extension on April 3, the government said in a statement. The original cooperation agreement, signed in 1992 and extended […]
A Russian defense industry executive and alleged intelligence officer has been added to the FBI’s most-wanted list for his alleged involvement in the theft of trade secrets from a U.S. aviation company. The FBI said on April 2 on Twitter it is seeking the arrest of Aleksandr Korshunov, 58, saying he is suspected of conspiring […]
The European Union says Iran and a group of world powers will hold virtual talks on April 2 about the possible return of the United States to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal. The move was welcomed by Washington, which said it was ready to take “mutual steps” to return to the nuclear deal. The virtual […]
The U.S. State Department will recommend against the renewal of a general license authorizing transactions with nine state-owned Belarusian companies, spokesman Ned Price said on March 31. Speaking at a briefing, Price said that the human rights situation in Belarus has deteriorated “to what is arguably the worst point in Belarus’s independent history.” The U.S. […]
A U.S. report on human rights around the world highlights a deteriorating picture in many countries, including Belarus, where the report outlines the use of “brute force” against peaceful pro-democracy protesters, and Russia, where opposition politician Aleksei Navalny was targeted. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a briefing on March 30 that in those […]