New Delhi, Nov 11 (ANI): US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen addresses at the inaugural session of the 9th meeting of India-US Economic Financial Partnership, in New Delhi on Friday. (ANI Photo)
Yellen was addressing the media ahead of the first G20 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meeting set to begin here from Friday…reports Asian Lite News
On the eve of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claimed on Thursday that Vladimir Putin’s war has been a strategic failure for Kremlin.
Yellen was addressing the media ahead of the first G20 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meeting set to begin here from Friday.
The US Treasury Secretary said that the twin goals of degrading Russia’s military-industrial complex and reducing the revenues that it can use to fund its war are succeeding.
“The Russian military is struggling to replace over 9,000 pieces of heavy military equipment that it has lost since February 2022. It has suffered production shut-downs at key defence-industrial facilities. Further, Russia’s economy has become increasingly isolated. Estimates indicate that nearly a million Russians may have left the country last year. This is putting downward pressure on its productive capacity going forward,” Yellen claimed.
Commending its defiance of Russia’s aggression, Yellen reiterated the US’ continued support for Ukraine.
“The United States has provided over $46 billion in security, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Our military assistance includes key defensive weapons that Ukraine has asked for – such as the Patriot missile defence system. And our economic assistance is making Ukraine’s resistance possible by supporting the home front — funding critical public services and helping keep the government running. In the coming months, we expect to provide around $10 billion in additional economic support for Ukraine” she said.
Continued, robust support for Ukraine will be a major topic of discussion during my time here in India,” Yellen said.
Putin has said he is suspending participation in New START and sought to blame the West for the Ukraine conflict….reports Asian Lite News
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin made a “big mistake” when he announced that his country was suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty.
Biden – who was walking into a meeting with the Bucharest Nine at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, first smiled and responded, “I don’t have time” when a member of the US press asked for his response to Putin. He then paused and said “big mistake,” before walking in for a photo with other leaders.
The Bucharest Nine group was formed in 2015 after the Russian annexation of Crimea, and it consists of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Biden is meeting with NATO leaders in Poland as the Ukraine war approaches the one-year mark.
While in Moscow, Putin met with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi on Wednesday. Earlier, Wang met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Putin has said he is suspending participation in New START — the only remaining major nuclear arms control treaty with the US — and sought to blame the West for the Ukraine conflict.
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, Russia’s Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, unanimously passed a bill on suspending the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).
The bill passed the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, earlier Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced it.
The decision to restore Russia’s participation in New START can only be made by Putin, according to TASS.
On Tuesday, Putin announced his decision to suspend Russia’s participation in the treaty in his address to the Federal Assembly.
Hours after Putin’s speech, Russia’s foreign ministry said the decision to suspend participation in the treaty was “reversible” and that “Washington must show political will, make conscientious efforts for a general de-escalation and create conditions for the resumption of the full functioning of the Treaty and, accordingly, comprehensively ensuring its viability.”
The treaty was essentially paused since Russia had recently refused to open its arsenal to inspectors.
Biden met with the leaders of Bucharest Nine NATO Allies and the NATO Secretary General to reaffirm the United States’ unwavering support for the security of the NATO Alliance.
Biden met with leaders of the eastern flank of NATO on Wednesday, praising the leaders of the Bucharest Nine and saying democracy and freedom are at stake in helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia.
“You’re the front lines of our collective defence, and you know better than anyone what’s at stake in this conflict. Not just for Ukraine but for the freedom of democracies throughout Europe, and around the world,” Biden said at the top of the meeting.
“Article 5 is a sacred commitment the United States has made. We will defend literally every inch of NATO, every inch of NATO,” he added.
It’s the principle that an attack on one member of NATO is an attack on all members. It’s been a cornerstone of the 30-member alliance since it was founded in 1949 as a counterweight to the Soviet Union.
NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine must get the help it needs and that Russia could not be allowed to chip away at European security.
“We must sustain and step up our support for Ukraine. We must give Ukraine what they need to prevail,” Stoltenberg told a summit of the Bucharest 9 countries.
Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong/IANS)
“When Russia invaded – it wasn’t just Ukraine being tested. Democracies across the globe faced a question. Would we respond? Or look the other way? One year later, we know the answer. We would respond – strong and united,” he said.
Meanwhile, addressing 30,000 people in Warsaw, Biden said, “There is no sweeter word than freedom, no nobler goal than freedom, and no higher aspiration than freedom. All that we do now must be done so our children and grandchildren will know it as well: Freedom.”
Meanwhile, a top defence ministry official, Major-General Yevgeny Ilyin, told the lower house, or Duma, that Russia would continue to observe agreed limits on nuclear delivery systems – meaning missiles and strategic bomber planes.
RIA news agency quoted Ilyin as saying it would also continue to provide Washington with notifications on nuclear deployments in order “to prevent false alarms, which is important for maintaining strategic stability”. (ANI)
This remark came as the Russia-Ukraine war is soon to complete one year and still, both countries are facing tremendous problems…reports Asian Lite News
Ukrainian Member of Parliament Vadym Halaichuk quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks, “This is not an era of war,” regarding the Russia-Ukraine war.
Earlier, on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Samarkand on September 16, PM Modi said “today’s era isn’t of war” while emphasising the need to find ways to address the problems of food, fuel security and fertilizers.
“We are grateful to the phrase of PM Modi ‘This is not an era of war’. Given the weight and capabilities of India economically, politically and militarily, we are absolutely sure that Russia would have to listen to that message,” Halaichuk said.
“Unfortunately, they (Russians) didn’t show any understanding, so we hope that message will be repeated that it becomes obvious to Russians that they don’t have any support to continue the war,” he added.
This remark came as the Russia-Ukraine war is soon to complete one year and still, both countries are facing tremendous problems.
Halaichuk recalled the February 24, 2022 time when Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine and said that when he woke up on that day, the bombs started falling all over the country.
Bombs were dropped on civilian infrastructure as Russia believed it to scare everybody in Ukraine and beat the civilians but that wasn’t achieved, he said adding, “Ukraine is stronger now.”
“With the help of the international community, we’ve to fight the aggressor. We don’t believe Russia has shown any seriousness in ceasing the attack. No negotiations right now about ceasefire as we don’t see any desire on the Russian part for serious negotiation,” a Ukrainian MP said.
Referring to the Russian President’s recent speech in Moscow’s federal assembly, Halaichuk said that Putin’s recent speech demonstrated that Kremlin doesn’t have any intentions to de-escalate and start negotiations and it is threatening the world with Russia abandoning the nuclear arms restriction which is a wrong way to respond to what’s going on.
Meanwhile on Monday, in Ukraine, Head of the Office of the Ukrainian President Andriy Yermak, and National Security Advisor to the Indian Prime Minister Ajit Kumar Doval discussed the Ukrainian Peace Plan, a ten-point Peace Formula that provides comprehensive answers to the question of what needs to be done to end the war in a sustainable and just manner.
According to Yermak, Ukraine continues to fight on the battlefield, but at the same time has proposed a peace plan. The draft resolution on support for the principles of the UN Charter, which form the basis of the Ukrainian Peace Formula, will be considered by the UN General Assembly on February 23, according to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s official website. (ANI)
Guterres called for peace in Ukraine…reports Asian Lite News
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that an escalation of the war in Ukraine is “a clear and present danger”.
“Over the past year, not only have we seen suffering and devastation grow, it is also becoming more evident just how much worse it could all still become. The possible consequences of a spiraling conflict are a clear and present danger,” he told a resumed emergency special session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
The war in Ukraine is also fanning regional instability and fueling global tensions and divisions, while diverting attention and resources from other crises and pressing global issues, he said.
“Meanwhile, we have heard implicit threats to use nuclear weapons. The so-called tactical use of nuclear weapons is utterly unacceptable. It is high time to step back from the brink,” he added.
Guterres called for peace, Xinhua news agency reported.
People in Ukraine are suffering enormously. Ukrainians, Russians and people far beyond need peace, he said.
“While prospects may look bleak today, we must all work, knowing that genuine, lasting peace must be based on the UN Charter and international law.”
The longer the fighting continues, the more difficult this work will be, he warned.
“We don’t have a moment to lose.”
The 11th emergency special session of the General Assembly resumed on Wednesday as the war between Russia and Ukraine is approaching its first anniversary.
Robert Masih Nahar, ERC senator, will be the president of the new intergroup…reports Asian Lite News
Under the Presidency of the European Research Council (ERC), some thirty senators from different political formations have created an interparliamentary group to support Tibet’s autonomy from China, reported Europe Press.
The alliance will be formally established this Wednesday. This intergroup will work to garner real support for the resumption of substantive dialogue between the Chinese leadership and the Dalai Lama’s representatives to ensure “genuine and meaningful autonomy” for the Tibetan people. In their opinion, Tibet is an independent country with a thousand-year history that was invaded by China, which continues to be “threatened” by Beijing and needs international support, reported Europe Press.
Robert Masih Nahar, ERC senator, will be the president of the new intergroup.
It will be attended by the representative of the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration, Rigzin Genkhang; the president of the Tibetan community in Spain, Rinzing Dolma; and two members of the Tibetan Parliament in exile representing Europe, Thubten Wangchen and Thupten Gyatso, reported Europe Press.
In addition, a message from the Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration, Penpa Tsering, will also be projected.
According to the promoters of the intergroup, its main objectives are “to promote and defend the fundamental rights of the Tibetan people, especially in order to improve respect for Human Rights in Tibet”, and to achieve “the recognition of the Central Tibetan Administration with headquarters in Dharamshala as the sole and legitimate representative of the Tibetan people,” added Europe Press. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister says New Delhi has goodwill and both Russia and Ukraine know that “if we can be of any use, we will be willing”…reports Asian Lite News
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that India’s relationship with major powers of the world is very good except for China and noted that New Delhi has goodwill and both Russia and Ukraine know that “if we can be of any use, we will be willing”.
Jaishankar said India was involved in some intricacies and had played a role in relation to Ukraine’s concerns about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia power plant by passing some messages to Russia as well as the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency).
Jaishankar said that the remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi made to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Uzbekistan in September last year is a widely shared sentiment. PM Modi had told President Putin “today is not the era of war”.
The External Affairs Minister said PM Modi wants somewhere to create a momentum for peace and recalled that the Prime Minister has had conversations with both the Russian President and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“The sentiment that the Prime Minister voiced is a widely shared sentiment. It’s also a sentiment which is particularly strong in the countries of the South. You asked me what the voice of the global South…Today you have a huge number of countries in Africa, Asia, Central America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Pacific who feel that our issues are being put on the side and the entire oxygen is being sucked up by the Ukraine conflict. So nobody is really worrying about whether I get food and what cost I get food, what’s happening to fuel, fertilizers, and debt. And today remember, even middle-income countries are going into debt,” Jaishankar said.
“What we want to do, and I think that was very much on the Prime Minister’s mind, he wants somewhere to create a momentum for peace. And I think that was his first public expression. Remember he had been talking to President Putin, and President Zelenskyy on the phone.. In practical ways, we have been helping out when this black sea grain deal was done, we did a little bit there to help. When I was in New York, the Ukrainian Prime Minister actually had some concerns about the safety of the nuclear power plant. So I spoke to our PM and then got his approval to both engage the Russians and pass on some messages there and IAEA as well,” he added.
Jaishankar said developing countries were facing a shortage of fertilizers due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“We are working with the UN Secretary General on some issues, particularly, fertilizer because a lot of the countries of the global South, developing countries, are facing serious fertilizer securities because Russia is one of the biggest exporters of fertilizers. I think it would not be fair today to reduce a very complex issue, the Ukraine conflict to a binary of are you on this side or that side. Are you for peace or for war? I think it’s much more intricate than that and we are involved in some of the intricacies. But we have to wait and see where this goes,” he added.
“What both Ukraine and Russia know is that if we can be of any use, we will be willing…our sort of capabilities and sort of goodwill is there for that. We have to wait and see where it goes,” he added.
Answering a query, he said India’s relationship with Russia has been “extraordinarily steady” and “it has been steady through all the turbulence in global politics”.
He also responded to opposition criticism about India’s foreign policy.
“Opposition perhaps it is their job to criticise. It would be nice if they do it with a little bit more information and accuracy. But I do think some of what they say needs to be put through some kind of lens, some kind of filter.”
Answering a query, the minister said China had violated border agreements by amassing troops in eastern Ladakh.
He also said that QUAD has really been a “very, very effective mechanism.”
“You asked me what your nine-year report card is. My relationship (India’s) with the major powers is very good. I grant that China is an exception. And it is an exception, please notice I said China. C-H-I-N-A. It is an exception because China has violated the agreements that we have and today has a posture on our border, for which I have to have a counter-posture,” he said.
“But overall my relationship with the major powers, if you can call them, is very good. I think our relationship with Europe is probably the best ever we have had. Our relationship in the QUAD… The QUAD has really been a very, very effective mechanism,” he added. (ANI)
The three sides will set up a coordination mechanism that will link their defence industries, procurers and governments…reports Asian Lite News
Ukraine, the EU and the NATO will jointly launch a mechanism to coordinate arms supplies to Ukraine, officials said here after the first meeting of the three sides’ high-level representatives.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he discussed with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell the need to ramp up weapons production and improve arms procurement “to ensure that Ukraine gets the weapons it needs”.
“We are looking for ways to accelerate the deliveries from member states to Ukraine,” Borrell said.
To this end, the three sides will set up a coordination mechanism that will link their defence industries, procurers and governments. This will allow them to not only meet Ukraine’s needs on the frontline but also to replenish the NATO and EU member states’ ammunition stockpiles, Xinhua news agency reported.
Ukraine war.(photo:Instagram)
Since the consumption rate of ammunition is greater than the production rate, the EU and NATO member states need to ramp up production, Stoltenberg and Borrell said. Efforts to ramp up production started at the end of last summer, according to Kuleba.
NATO will help Ukraine develop a procurement system that is effective, transparent and accountable, the NATO Secretary General added. The alliance will also increase its targets for ammunition stockpiles through its Defence Planning Process.
Stoltenberg said he regretted Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with the US, which was announced earlier on Tuesday by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
Russia suspends participation in New START rather than withdraws from it, Putin said.
In early February, NATO called on Russia to “return to full compliance” with New START and allow inspections of its nuclear facilities. That “sounds like some kind of nonsense amid today’s confrontation,” the Russian President added in his annual address to Russia’s Federal Assembly.
He pointed to the combined strike potential of NATO as the UK and France also have nuclear arsenals that pose a threat to Russia.
Moscow said it had information that “certain figures in Washington” are considering conducting tests to develop new types of nuclear weapons.
The President went on to say that when Russia launched its invasion, it wasn’t only Ukraine which was being tested, but the whole world “faced a test for the ages”….reports Asian Lite News
In a fiery address from Warsaw’s Royal Castle, US President Joe Biden assured to continue supporting Ukraine as it enters a second year of the ongoing war and said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “craven lust for land and power will fail”.
Biden delivered his speech on Tuesday following his historic secret trip to Kiev the previous day and just hours after Putin’s State of the Nation address in which the Russian leader continued his tirade against the West and accused it and Ukraine of starting the war.
Biden started his address by saying that nearly a year ago “I spoke at the Royal Castle here in Warsaw, just weeks after Vladimir Putin had unleashed his murderous assault on Ukraine”.
“The largest land war in Europe since World War Two had begun. And the principles that had been the cornerstone of peace, prosperity, and stability on this planet for more than 75 years were at risk of being shattered.
“One year ago, the world was bracing for the fall of Kiev. Well, I have just come from a visit to Kiev, and I can report: Kiev stands strong. Kiev stands proud. It stands tall. And most important, it stands free,” he said to a thunderous applause from the crowd.
The President went on to say that when Russia launched its invasion, it wasn’t only Ukraine which was being tested, but the whole world “faced a test for the ages”.
“Europe was being tested. America was being tested. NATO was being tested. All democracies were being tested. And the questions we faced were as simple as they were profound… One year later, we know the answer.
When Putin rolled tanks into Ukraine, he thought the world would roll over.
But he was wrong: The Ukrainian people were too brave. America and our Allies were too unified.
“We did respond. We would be strong. We would be united. And the world would not look the other way,” said Biden.
In his speech, the President singled out his Russian counterpart by name 10 separate times.
Biden appeared to speak almost directly to Putin in much of the remarks, saying: “Autocrats only understand one word: No. No, no. No, you will not take my country. No, you will not take my freedom. No, you will not take my future. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia. Never.”
The American Persident referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who he met in Kiev on Monday, as “a man whose courage would be forged in fire and steel”.
“When President Zelensky came to the US in December (2022), he said this struggle will define the world and what our children and grandchildren, how they live, and then their children and grandchildren.
“He wasn’t only speaking about the children and grandchildren of Ukraine. He was speaking about all of our children and grandchildren. Yours and mine,” Biden noted.
In response to Putin’s State of the Nation address in which he said that the West was plotting to attack Russia, Biden said that the “US and the nations of Europe do not seek to control or destroy Russia”.
“This war was never a necessity; it’s a tragedy. President Putin chose this war. Every day the war continues is his choice. He could end the war with a word.”
Biden is due to meet leaders of nine countries on NATO’s eastern flank on Wednesday, and he went out of his way to reaffirm American backing for one of the alliance’s key pledges.
Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the Eastern Economic Forum plenary session in Vladivostok, Russia on Sept. 7, 2022. (Kremlin press release/IANS)
Explaining the decision, he noted that the agreement was initially drawn up under completely different circumstances, when Russia and the US did not perceive each other as adversaries…reports Asian Lite News
In a major move, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday announced that his country was suspending its participation in the New Start treaty – the sole remaining strategic weapons reduction treaty between the US and Russia.
“I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the strategic offensive arms treaty,” he said in his ‘State of the Nation’ address to the Russian Parliament, RT reported.
President Putin noted that Moscow will not exit the New Start Treaty, which limits each side to 1,550 long-range nuclear warheads, but will temporarily withdraw from it. The treaty, signed in 2010, was extended for five years in 2021.
Explaining the decision, he noted that the agreement was initially drawn up under completely different circumstances, when Russia and the US did not perceive each other as adversaries.
Now, however, according to the President, not only is the US issuing ultimatums to Russia, but NATO itself has essentially made an application to become part of the treaty as well.
The bloc members are now demanding an inspection of Russia’s strategic facilities, Putin said, while Moscow’s requests to inspect Western nuclear facilities under the treaty are systematically denied with only formal explanations for the rejection.
He noted that the US has continued to insist on maintaining hegemony, while its NATO partners openly admit that they want to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.
“Russia cannot ignore this. We cannot allow ourselves to ignore this,” he said.
UN urges to resume treaty
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the US and Russia to resume the full implementation of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).
Asked about Guterres’ reaction to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement that his country will suspend its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty, Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday that the Secretary-General’s position is that the US and Russia should resume the full implementation of the treaty without delay, Xinhua news agency reported.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to the media at the launch of a report by Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance over the Ukraine crisis, at the UN headquarters in New York, April 13, 2022. (Xinhua/Xie E/IANS)
“The New START and successive bilateral treaties on strategic nuclear arms reduction between the two countries have provided security not only for Russia and the US, but (also) for the entire international community,” Dujarric added.
A world without nuclear arms control is a far more dangerous and unstable one with potentially catastrophic consequences. Every effort should be taken to avoid this outcome, including through an immediate return to dialogue, he told a daily press briefing.
Asked whether Guterres has plans to talk to Putin on the issue of the New START or the conflict in Ukraine, Dujarric said he had nothing to share with reporters at this point.
Putin also claimed that Russia tried to settle the conflict in Ukraine’s separatist Donbas region by peaceful means….reports Asian Lite News
In his State of the Nation address, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday has blamed the West and Ukraine for starting the war and added that “we are using force to stop it”.
In his address to the Federal Assembly, which was the first since April 2021, the President said that “Ukraine and Donbas have become a symbol of total lies” and accused the West of withdrawing from “fundamental agreements” and giving “hypocritical statements” as well as expanding the NATO defence alliance and “covering us with an umbrella”, reports the BBC.
“I want to repeat: it is them who are culpable for the war, and we are using force to stop it,” he said.
Putin also claimed that Russia tried to settle the conflict in Ukraine’s separatist Donbas region by peaceful means.
“We were doing everything possible to solve this problem peacefully, negotiating a peaceful way out of this difficult conflict, but behind our backs a very different scenario was being prepared.
“They (the West) were just playing for time, closing their eyes to political assassinations, mistreatment of believers,” he said.
🔴 #LIVE: President Vladimir Putin addresses the Federal Assembly (Russia’s two-chamber Parliament). https://t.co/iQgxwU85U4
The Russian leader also continued to refer to the launch of his so-called “special operation” — what the Kremlin calls the invasion of Ukraine.
He also repeated assertion without evidence that Russia was facing a Nazi threat, along with “constant threats and hatred” from the Kiev government.
Putin further claimed that Ukraine was waiting for Russia to come to their assistance.
As he continued his tirade against the West, the President said: “Human sacrifice and tragedies are not accounted by them… They must carry on stealing from everyone, disguising themselves with slogans of democracy and freedom.
“Their aim is to direct aggression eastwards and eliminate competition. The West wants to grow a local conflict into a global one.”
With reference to the domestic impacts of the war, Putin thanked teachers, builders and farmers, among others who have fought on the front line, the BBC reported.
He also acknowledged people in Ukraine’s separatist regions “for your decision to be with Russia, with your motherland”.
The President also pledged support for Russian soldiers with the creation a special government foundation whose job it will be to provide targeted aid to participants in the invasion and their families.
He says it will coordinate social and medical support as well as employment and entrepreneurship and any issues will need to be settled in “real time”.
The State of the Nation comes three days efore the first anniversary of Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and also a day after US President Joe Biden’s historic secret trip to Kiev, during which he reaffirmed his country’s support for Ukraine and promised new sanctions for Russia.
