It was during this interaction that Daria Kaleniuk, a Ukrainian activist from the NGO Anti-Corruption Action Centre told him that Ukrainians needed a no-fly zone…reports Asian Lite News
A Ukrainian activist broke down in front of UK PM Boris Johnson on Tuesday as she made an impassioned plea to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine. She urged Johnson to do more to help Ukraine which is under Russian attack. Johnson who is visiting Warsaw, Poland and was taking questions from journalists at the British embassy.
It was during this interaction that Daria Kaleniuk, a Ukrainian activist from the NGO Anti-Corruption Action Centre told him that Ukrainians needed a no-fly zone.
“Ukrainian women and Ukrainian children are in deep fear because of bombs and missiles which are coming from the sky. Ukrainian people are desperately asking for the West to protect our sky,” she said, her voice reverberating with emotion.
“Britain guarantees our security under the Budapest Memorandum so you’re coming to Poland, you are not coming to Kyiv, prime minister .. because you are afraid.”
Britain, along with fellow nuclear powers the United States and Russia, is a signatory to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum under which Ukraine gave up its own atomic weapons in return for security guarantees.
In response, Johnson said that there was “not enough that we can do as the UK government to help … the way that you want.”
“The implication of that (no fly zone) is that the UK would be engaged in shooting down Russian planes, would be in direct combat with Russia. That’s not something that we can do or that we’ve envisaged.”
Kaleniuk condemned what she said was Britain’s refusal to stand by the security commitments it made almost three decades ago and said a no-fly zone was essential in order to get humanitarian aid to central and eastern Ukraine.
“Ukrainian children are sitting in shelters in the bombardments and UK and the United States are saying sorry we will not go into war against Russia, we will not protect your sky … because we are simply afraid of World War Three,” she said.
“So what does this security guarantee mean? Nothing.”
Johnson said he was “increasingly confident” Russia’s invasion would not succeed, adding that Putin “must fail” in his aims in Ukraine…reports Asian Lite News
Vladimir Putin is engaging in “barbaric and indiscriminate” tactics targeting civilians, Boris Johnson has said.
The prime minister said the Russian president had “fatally underestimated” the willingness of the Ukrainian people to fight – and the resolve of the West.
Speaking during a visit to Poland, he also said the UK had set aside £220m in humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said “nothing and no one is off the table” for further sanctions.
The UK is considering calling for Russia to be expelled from the UN Security Council.
Johnson said he was “increasingly confident” Russia’s invasion would not succeed, adding that Putin “must fail” in his aims in Ukraine.
During a news conference with his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki in the Polish capital Warsaw, he said Putin was prepared to “bomb tower blocks, to send missiles into tower blocks, to kill children, as we are seeing in increasing numbers”.
The sixth day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen continued attacks on several fronts, but the Russian advance has reportedly been slowed by Ukrainian resistance.
Earlier, Russia attacked a TV tower in Kyiv – with Ukrainian officials saying five people were killed.
Missiles and rockets have also killed dozens of civilians in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, and satellite images show a huge armoured convoy heading towards Kyiv.
At a further news conference with the Estonian prime minister and the Nato secretary-general in the Estonian capital Tallinn, Mr Johnson said the international community must do everything it can to support Ukrainians, but said “we will not fight Russian forces in Ukraine”.
He said the UK was not actively supporting its citizens to volunteer to fight in Ukraine and ruled out a no-fly zone over the country.
Ukraine has called for help to enforce a no-fly zone – which would be designed to stop Russian air raids – in a bid to protect civilians.
In a speech after the news conference in Warsaw, Mr Johnson announced the emergency aid and said the UK had placed 1,000 troops on standby to help with the humanitarian response in Europe.
He said the government was making it easier for Ukrainians in the UK to bring their relatives out of the country, by extending the scheme to help those fleeing the war – which could see the UK take in more than 200,000 Ukranian refugees.
The scheme is being extended to include immediate Ukrainian family members – meaning adult parents, grandparents, children over 18 and siblings of those settled in the UK.
But Home Secretary Priti Patel said the UK could not waive the need for visas for people fleeing Ukraine as it had to protect national security.
She also announced a “humanitarian sponsorship pathway” for Ukrainians without ties to the UK to come to the UK by working for individuals, businesses, charities and community groups in the UK.
Johnson has also warned there would be a cost to Western economies as a result of sanctions, adding it was essential Europe “wean ourselves off dependence” on Russian oil and gas exports.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has warned “nothing and no-one is off the table” in terms of further sanctions on the Russian economy, Mr Putin and the “highest echelons of the Russian elite”.
She told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva the Russian president was responsible for civilian deaths and more than half a million refugees so far.
On Tuesday evening, the government announced new sanctions against Belarusian individuals and organisations. Belarus is closely aligned with Russia and there is speculation troops from Belarus could join the fight on Russia’s side.
During a visit to a Ukrainian church in west London, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told one parishioner he would “talk to the government” about a no-fly zone.
Sir Keir also said “we need to go further in our support for Ukraine”, adding that he did not think the government had gone far enough to help people who were fleeing.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “Putin’s regime has undertaken anillegal and violent assault against the people of Ukraine.”…reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion can come to the UK if they already have members of their immediate family settled in the country.
As part of a new 40 million pounds humanitarian package for the supply of basic necessities and medical supplies such as medicines, syringes, dressings and wound care pack, Johnson confirmed that any person settled in the UK will be able to bring their Ukrainian immediate family members to join them here.
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Downing Street said this would benefit many thousands of people who at this moment are making desperate choices about their future.
“The UK will not turn our backs in Ukraine’s hour of need. We are providing all the economic and military support we can to help those Ukrainians risking everything to protect their country,” Johnson said.
“In the last days the world has witnessed awe-inspiring displays of bravery and heroism from the Ukrainian people in response to those who seek to obliterate their freedom by force,” he said.
More details of the new Ukrainian visa policy is set to be announced in Parliament this week.
“We want to be as generous as we possibly can, and certainly we want people who have relatives in Ukraine to be able to bring them over as fast as possible. We want to make sure that we have routes for people fleeing disaster, war, persecution in Ukraine to come here,” Johnson told reporters.
UK government humanitarian experts have also deployed to the region to support those fleeing the violence in Ukraine. Downing Street said the weekend assistance package brings the total amount of UK government aid pledged to Ukraine this year to 140 million pounds.
Last week, Prime Minister Johnson also announced the UK would guarantee up to $500 million of loans to Ukraine through Multilateral Development Banks and the UK said it continues to supply defensive military equipment to the Ukrainian military to bolster their resistance against invading Russian forces.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “Putin’s regime has undertaken an illegal and violent assault against the people of Ukraine.”
“The UK will provide 40 million pounds in aid to help our Ukrainian friends, more funding to tackle what is becoming a humanitarian crisis. We stand with Ukraine, shoulder to shoulder, in its hour of need.”
During a visit to the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London on Sunday evening, Johnson delivered a similar message of support saying that the UK would fulfil its neighbourly duty to Ukraine. He also made a clear distinction that it was the Russian leadership led by President Vladimir Putin who was responsible for the crisis and not the Russian people.
“Never in all my study, my memory of politics and international affairs have I seen so clear a distinction between right and wrong, between good and evil, between light and dark. And that is the real reason why Ukraine is our neighbour today,” Johnson said in his address to the congregation.
“I want to stress that there is no hostility in my part towards the Russian people. None whatever. Quite the reverse. My heart aches for the Russian parents who are already losing their children in this vicious and appalling war, just as it aches for the civilians and the people of Ukraine. But when it comes to the Russian leadership that chose this path of violence, and I stress chose, this path of violence and aggression, there can be no possible excuse,” he added.
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He said the people of Ukraine were facing “the darkest times in modern memory” and described Russia’s invasion as a “barbaric and unprovoked attack”.
In his latest phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, Johnson promised further military aid for Ukrainian forces.
“President Zelenskyy said he believed the next 24 hours was a crucial period for Ukraine, and the Prime Minister said he would do all he could to help ensure defensive aid from the UK and allies reached Ukraine. The leaders agreed to continue to stay in close contact and the Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s staunch support for Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Downing Street said in a readout of the call.
PM suggested Putin’s actions were more to do with the fact that his forces were meeting “more resistance than the Kremlin had bargained for,” reports Asian Lite News
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has dismissed President Vladimir Putin’s announcement that he is putting Russia’s nuclear deterrent on high alert as a “distraction” from the struggle his troops are facing in Ukraine.
Putin said on Sunday that he was putting Russia’s nuclear forces on a “special regime of combat duty” in response to “aggressive statements” from western powers.
But Johnson suggested his actions were more to do with the fact that his forces were meeting “more resistance than the Kremlin had bargained for”.
He also cast doubt on possible negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations to try to resolve the crisis.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed that the two sides could meet on the Ukraine-Belarus border, having initially rejected an offer of talks in Belarus.
But Johnson said there was nothing to suggest that Putin was genuine in his offer.
“There’s nothing I’ve seen so far in his behaviour that leads me to think that he could possibly be sincere,” he said.
Earlier, Russian TV footage showed Putin meeting his defence minister and the chief of the general staff, and instructing them to put the nuclear deterrent on a “special regime of combat duty”.
“Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading Nato members made aggressive statements regarding our country,” Putin said.
The expected assault on Kiev again failed to materialise on Sunday.
“This is an innocent people who are facing a totally unprovoked act of aggression against them,” Johnson said.
“And what’s actually happening is that they are fighting back perhaps with more effect, with more resistance, than the Kremlin had bargained for.
“You can see some of the logistical difficulties that the Russian forces are experiencing. The Russian Defence Ministry have themselves conceded that they’re having casualties.
“This is a disastrous misbegotten venture by President Putin.”
In the US, White House press secretary Jen Psaki accused Putin of resorting to the tactics he used running up to invasion, “which is to manufacture threats that don’t exist in order to justify further aggression”.
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also condemned the threat.
“This is dangerous rhetoric,” Stoltenberg said. “This is a behaviour which is irresponsible.”
On Sunday, Johnson addressed the congregation at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London.
He said that while he bore no hostility to the Russian people, there was no excuse for the country’s leaders who had chosen “the path of violence and aggression”.
“Never in all my study or memory of politics and international affairs have I seen so clear a distinction between right and wrong, between good and evil, between light and dark,” Johnson said.
‘SWIFT’ hit on Russia
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that faced with the possible end of his regime, Putin could resort to the “most unsavoury means” in Ukraine.
“I urge the Russians not to escalate this conflict but we do need to be prepared for Russia to seek to use even worse weapons,” Truss told Sky News
After the co-ordinated announcement by the UK, US, EU and Canada late on Saturday that some Russian banks would be excluded from the Swift global payments system, she said it was vital to maintain pressure on Moscow with more economic sanctions.
She said the Foreign Office was drawing up a “hit list” of Russian oligarchs who would have travel bans and asset freezes imposed in the coming weeks.
Truss said there would be an “economic cost” to pay for sanctions but it was essential that Mr Putin was stopped in Ukraine to avert future wars in Europe.
“If we don’t stop Putin in Ukraine we are going to see others under threat – the Baltics, Poland, Moldova — and it could end up in a conflict with Nato,” she said.
“Yes, there will be an economic cost here in Britain, there will be a cost in terms of access to oil and gas markets.
“I firmly believe that the British public understand the price we will pay if we don’t stand up to Putin now.”
PM call with President Zelenskyy
The Prime Minister spoke to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy again yesterday evening.
The Prime Minister lauded the bravery of the Ukrainian people following the Russian invasion and praised the leadership of President Zelenskyy in the face of such adversity.
The resistance of the Ukrainian people was heroic, the Prime Minister added.
President Zelenskyy said he believed the next 24 hours was a crucial period for Ukraine, and the Prime Minister said he would do all he could to help ensure defensive aid from the UK and allies reached Ukraine.
The leaders agreed to continue to stay in close contact and the Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s staunch support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Humanitarian aid to Ukraine
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces £40 million of further humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
The funding will help aid agencies respond to the deteriorating humanitarian situation, creating a lifeline for Ukrainians with access to basic necessities and medical supplies such as medicines, syringes, dressings and wound care packs. UK Government humanitarian experts have also deployed to the region to support those fleeing the violence in Ukraine.
Prime Minister spoke again to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy who updated him on the critical need for humanitarian assistance as people are forced to flee their homes and seek safety.
The UK will send £40m more in aid to provide vital medical supplies and assistance to Ukraine, widening economic and military support to bolster the Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion. pic.twitter.com/9QziIeokdf
The UK also continues to support those Ukrainians who wish to remain close to home through logistical and humanitarian support to Ukraine’s neighbours.
The Prime Minister said, “In the last days the world has witnessed awe-inspiring displays of bravery and heroism from the Ukrainian people in response to those who seek to obliterate their freedom by force.”
Putin and Macron discussed the need to step up the search for diplomatic solutions to the escalating crisis in eastern Ukraine in a phone call on Sunday, reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s commitments to French President Emmanuel Macron were a welcome sign that the Kremlin chief may be still willing to engage in a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis.
Johnson spoke to Macron after Macron held a call with Putin.
“The Prime Minister noted that President Putin’s commitments to President Macron were a welcome sign that he might still be willing to engage in finding a diplomatic solution,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
“The Prime Minister stressed that Ukraine’s voice must be central in any discussions,” the spokesperson said.
The message I am taking to @MunSecConf today is that allies must speak with one voice to stress to President Putin the high price he will pay for any further Russian invasion of Ukraine.
We need western solidarity to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.
Putin and Macron discussed the need to step up the search for diplomatic solutions to the escalating crisis in eastern Ukraine in a phone call on Sunday, the Kremlin said.
Meanwhile, multiple explosions were heard on Sunday in the centre of the separatist-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, a Reuters witness said.
A loudspeaker in the area asked citizens to exercise caution. The origin of the explosions was not clear.
Western allies can’t keep offering an olive branch while Russia continues to dial up tensions along the Ukrainian border, European Council President Charles Michel said Sunday.
“The big question remains: does the Kremlin want dialogue?” Michel asked at the Munich Security Conference.
“We cannot forever offer an olive branch while Russia conducts missile tests and continues to amass troops,” he added.
A Russian invasion of Ukraine now seems “far more likely than unlikely” and all the signs suggest it is “very, very imminent”, Britain’s minister for Europe said on Sunday.
“Unfortunately, at the moment, an attack, an invasion seems far more likely than unlikely but we will continue to work to try and avert that,” James Cleverly told Sky News.
“Everything that we see indicates that invasion is very, very, highly likely and very, very imminent.”
UK embassy temporarily relocated
In view of the ongoing buildup of Russian forces on Ukraine’s border followed by the threat of Russian invasion on the country, the British embassy in Kyiv has been relocated to Western Ukraine’s Lviv while the government has urged British nationals in Ukraine to leave the country till the commercial flights are still available.
A statement issued by UK’s Foreign Office said, “Since January 2022, the build-up of Russian forces on Ukraine’s borders has increased the threat of military action. The British Embassy office in Kyiv is temporarily relocating. Embassy staff are operating from the British Embassy office in Lviv.”
Citing that any Russian military actions in Ukraine will affect the British government’s ability to provide consular assistance in Ukraine, the Ministry said that the British nationals should not expect increased consumer support and help in regard to the evacuation in the circumstances. Further addressing those who wish to remain in Ukraine, the ministry asked them to remain vigilant throughout their stay due to potential combat operations in the coming days while public demonstrations are presently being carried out across the country.
Notably, the US government had earlier also announced moving their embassy to Lviv in view of the ongoing conflict. In the statement issued by the White House, it said that the embassy will continue to engage with the Ukrainian government while it remains in the process of temporarily relocating its embassy operations in Ukraine from Kyiv to Lviv.
Meanwhile, Johnson who will be attending the Munich Security Summit is likely to make an appeal to the Western leaders for coming together in solidarity in face of the Russian aggression resulting in a devastating conflict in Ukraine.
This came in the backdrop of the ongoing events in Ukraine which have gained momentum after the Russia-backed separatists have announced their plan to evacuate around 7 lakh people to Russia from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). Following this. speculations have also been raised regarding a possible invasion by Russian powers on Ukraine amid repetitive warnings from Western allies.
PM’s warning
Russia is preparing to plunge Europe into its worst conflict since World War II, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said, warning that any invasion of Ukraine would freeze Moscow out of global finance.
“The fact is that all the signs are that the plan has already in some senses begun,” he said in a BBC interview broadcast Sunday from the Munich Security Conference, after two Ukrainian soldiers were killed in attacks around rebel-held enclaves.
Russian invasion plans would see its troops not just enter Ukraine from the rebel-held east, but from Belarus to the north and encircle the capital Kyiv, Johnson said, citing US intelligence relayed to Western leaders by President Joe Biden.
“People need to understand the sheer cost in human life that could entail,” he said, after previously indicating that the West would continue to support any Ukraine resistance after an invasion.
“I’m afraid to say that the plan we are seeing is for something that could be really the biggest war in Europe since 1945, just in terms of sheer scale.”
In a speech Saturday to the conference in Germany, Johnson warned that Western sanctions in response to any invasion would make it “impossible” for President Vladimir Putin’s regime to access the City of London’s deep capital markets.
He indicated a global reach for the sanctions also involving US measures, telling the BBC that they would stop Russian companies “trading in pounds and dollars” — which he said would hit Russia “very, very hard”.
The UK government has long been accused of turning a blind eye to lucrative flows of Russian-sourced money through London, some of which has ended up in Conservative coffers, although Johnson’s party says all its donations are legal.
The Sunday Times newspaper reported a list of elite party donors which it said had privileged access to Johnson’s government, including Lubov Chernukhin, who is married to Putin’s former deputy finance minister Vladimir Chernukhin.
PM and UN Secretary-General also agree that any Russian invasion of Ukraine would have “catastrophic consequences,” reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday there was “currently little evidence of Russia disengaging” from its military buildup near Ukraine, in a phone call with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“The leaders reiterated states’ responsibility to abide by their obligations under the United Nations Charter and to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of UN members,” Johnson’s office said in a readout of the call.
The pair also agreed that any Russian invasion of Ukraine would have “catastrophic and far-reaching consequences”, a Downing Street spokeswoman added.
The call came on the eve of a UN Security Council meeting Thursday to discuss the crisis on Ukraine’s borders, where Moscow has massed more than 100,000 soldiers.
Britain will be represented at the meeting by its Europe Minister James Cleverly, Downing Street noted.
Johnson and Guterres “reaffirmed the importance of all parties working in good faith” to implement existing agreements struck by Ukraine, Russia and mediating countries concerning the region’s security, it added.
“They agreed to continue working closely together to pursue an urgent diplomatic resolution and avert a disastrous military escalation and humanitarian crisis,” the Downing Street spokeswoman said.
Countries in the alliance have also expressed doubt, as have leaders in Ukraine. Caught between Russia and the West, Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly sought to project calm but also strength during the crisis.
Meanwhile, in a show of resolve, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared Wednesday — tipped by some officials as a possible start for an invasion — a “day of national unity.” To mark the day, demonstrators unfolded a 200-meter (656-foot) national flag at a sports arena in Kyiv.
“We are united by a desire to happily live in peace,” Zelenskyy said in a video address to the nation. “We can defend our home only if we stay united.”
The Russian military hasn’t given the number of troops or weapons being withdrawn and offered few other details. And while Russian President Vladimir Putin has signalled he wants a diplomatic path out of the crisis, he hasn’t committed to a full withdrawal.
Putin has emphasized that he did not want war and would rely on negotiations to achieve his key goal of keeping Ukraine from joining NATO.
While those comments seemed to change the tenor, Western leaders insisted that the crisis was far from over. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that American officials had not verified Russia’s claim, and British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace also said “it’s too soon to tell” whether the pullback is genuine, noting that the Russians “haven’t taken the foot of the gas.”
UK to double troops in Estonia
The United Kingdom will double the size of the British force in Estonia as part of a NATO deployment and will send equipment, including tanks and armoured fighting vehicles.
“Alongside our NATO Allies, we are deploying troops and assets on land, sea and air to bolster European defences in response to the build-up of Russian military forces on the border of Ukraine,” British defence minister Ben Wallace said in a statement.
“NATO and our allies have been clear that an invasion of Ukraine will be met with severe consequences.”
US agrees
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States is yet to see any evidence of a significant Russian withdrawal of its military forces from near Ukraine’s frontiers, despite claims from Moscow that a pullback is underway.
Antony-Blinken
But the Russian defence ministry said its forces were retreating after exercises in the country’s southern and western military districts.
Meanwhile, Ukrainians were marking a “day of unity” called for by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
NATO commanders to draw up plans
NATO has tasked its commanders to work out details for deployment of battlegroups to the alliance’s southeastern flank, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.
“Ministers decided to develop options to further strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence, including to consider establishing new NATO battlegroups in central and eastern and southeastern Europe,” Stoltenberg told reporters at a two-day meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers in Brussels.
“Our military commanders will now work on the details and report back within weeks,” he added.
After pullout, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, “February 15 will go down in history as the day Western war propaganda failed. The West has been shamed and destroyed without firing a single shot”, reports Asian Lite News
The tense Russia-Ukraine border standoff showed first signs of thaw on Tuesday after Moscow said that it is pulling back some of its forces to their bases. Over 100,000 Russian troops have been stationed along the Ukraine border.
Russian news agencies said that the forces are returning to the bases “after completing their tasks”. After the pullout, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, “February 15 will go down in history as the day Western war propaganda failed,” she wrote. Zakharova further said that the West has been “shamed and destroyed without firing a single shot”.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he is not bolstered by the latest intelligence on Russias military buildup around Ukraine and is receiving “mixed signals”, CNN reported.
“We are seeing Russian openness to conversations. On the other hand, the intelligence that we’re seeing today is still not encouraging,” he said.
“We’ve got Russian field hospitals being constructed near the border with Ukraine, in Belarus for [what] only can be construed as a preparation for an invasion. You’ve got more battalion tactical groups actually being brought closer to the border with Ukraine, according to the intelligence that we’re seeing,” he added, CNN reported.
“So mixed signals, I think at the moment, and all the more reason therefore for us to remain very tough and very united in particular on the economic sanctions,” he said, adding that an invasion could still happen “virtually at any time”, the report said.
Russia announced on Tuesday that some troops would be returning to their bases after completing military drills.
To reassure the UK and other Western leaders, Johnson said they would have to see a “programme of de-escalation” from Russia, the report added.
“That means withdrawing the battalion tactical groups away from a potential theater of conflict, not constructing field hospitals on the border with Belarus and between Belarus and Ukraine; a sense that things are being scaled back, scaled down, that the threat is over and the conversation and negotiation is beginning,” he said.
“We think there is an avenue for diplomacy,” Johnson added.
Major cyberattacks on Ukraine
Meanwhile, a series of cyberattacks Tuesday knocked the websites of the Ukrainian army, the defense ministry and major banks offline. At least 10 Ukrainian websites were unreachable due to the attacks, including the defense, foreign and culture ministries and Ukraine’s two largest state banks. One European diplomat told Reuters that cyberattacks were a longstanding component of Russian strategy, and had been used by Moscow in past military confrontations with Georgia and Ukraine. “It’s part of their playbook,” the official said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow is ready for talks with the US and NATO on limits for missile deployments and military transparency. Speaking after talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Putin said the US and NATO rejected Moscow’s demand to keep Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations out of NATO, halt weapons deployments near Russian borders and roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe.
US says over 1.5 lakh Russian troops active
Despite Moscow saying some of its troops are returning home, the United States Wednesday warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine remained a distinct possibility. US President Joe Biden, in a televised address, said that reports of pullback of troops are unverified and revised the number of Russian troops encircling Ukraine from 1,00,000 to 1,50,000.
President Joe Biden
Meanwhile, a series of cyberattacks Tuesday knocked the websites of the Ukrainian army, the defense ministry and major banks offline. At least 10 Ukrainian websites were unreachable due to the attacks, including the defense, foreign and culture ministries and Ukraine’s two largest state banks. One European diplomat told Reuters that cyberattacks were a longstanding component of Russian strategy, and had been used by Moscow in past military confrontations with Georgia and Ukraine. “It’s part of their playbook,” the official said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow is ready for talks with the US and NATO on limits for missile deployments and military transparency. Speaking after talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Putin said the US and NATO rejected Moscow’s demand to keep Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations out of NATO, halt weapons deployments near Russian borders and roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe.
That same evening of November 13, 2020, Johnson and his partner Carrie were allegedly violating the lockdown by partying with friends to celebrate the downfall of his then-chief advisor Dominic Cummings…reports Asian Lite News
British finance minister Rishi Sunak is on a meteoric trajectory that could, if Boris Johnson is forced out, propel him next door to 10 Downing Street to become Britain’s first Indian-origin prime minister. It would mark a historic landmark, for a descendant of immigrants from Britain’s old empire in India and East Africa, to take command of the world’s fifth largest economy.
A details-oriented policy wonk, the 41-year-old has promoted a carefully curated image on social media since he took over as chancellor of the exchequer two years ago at the beginning of the Covid pandemic.
In India, he is better known through his wife Akshata. She is the daughter of Indian tycoon Narayana Murthy, the billionaire co-founder of information-technology group Infosys.
Already wealthy through his prior business career, Sunak was named as Britain’s first Hindu chancellor on February 13, 2020, and swears his oath of allegiance as an MP on the Bhagavad Gita.
Later that year, he marked the Hindu festival of Diwali by lighting oil lamps on the front step of his official residence at 11 Downing Street — while urging other Hindus to stick to England’s then Covid lockdown.
That same evening of November 13, 2020, Johnson and his partner Carrie were allegedly violating the lockdown by partying with friends to celebrate the downfall of his then-chief advisor Dominic Cummings.
The apparent rule-breaking and history of mendacity attached to the “partygate” premier are in contrast to the teetotal Sunak, who admits only to a fondness for Coca-Cola and sugary confectionaries.
Sunak was barely known to the British public when Johnson made him chancellor, after only five years in Conservative politics. Covid-19 was then spreading, but not yet grounds for panic.
A month later, Johnson ordered the first nationwide lockdown, forcing the young chancellor to craft a massive financial rescue package to safeguard millions of jobs.
But while UK unemployment is now falling, Britons under Sunak’s watch are also facing a cost-of-living squeeze with inflation accelerating at the fastest pace in decades. While Johnson appears happy to splash the cash, Sunak has earned plaudits from Tory backbenchers for insisting that future generations must not be made to pay the bill.
Fiscal rectitude is key, he says, and his family values mark another return to Tory tradition after the thrice-married Johnson. Sunak is also the first person born in the 1980s to hold one of the so-called four great offices of state: prime minister, chancellor, foreign secretary and home secretary.
He is the member of parliament for Richmond in Yorkshire, northern England — a safe Conservative seat he took over in 2015 from former party leader and foreign secretary William Hague, who described Sunak as an “exceptional individual”.
Theresa May gave the Brexit supporter his first job in government in January 2018, making him a junior minister for local government, parks and troubled families. Sunak’s grandparents were from Punjab in northern India and emigrated to Britain from eastern Africa in the 1960s.
They arrived with “very little”, Sunak told MPs in his maiden speech in 2015. Sunak’s father was a family doctor in Southampton on the southern English coast, and his mother ran a local pharmacy.
Born on May 12, 1980 in Southampton, he studied at Winchester College, one of Britain’s leading private boarding schools, where he was head boy.
After waiting tables in a local Indian restaurant, Sunak studied at the University of Oxford, graduating with a first-class degree in philosophy, politics and economics.
In 2006, Sunak gained a master’s degree in business administration from Stanford University in California, on a Fulbright scholarship.
He met Akshata at Stanford and they lived in California and then returned to Britain, where he worked in finance for Goldman Sachs before making millions in hedge funds.
The Sunaks have two young daughters — along with a photogenic dog — and the minister’s Instagram-ready profile has earned him the media nickname of “Dishy Rishi”.
But if Conservative MPs do tire of Johnson, Sunak’s past investments and relative lack of experience will come under the spotlight.
The prime minister’s office confirmed in a statement that he had been contacted by police. It comes with tensions boiling in Ukraine, and UK nationals warned to evacuate the country over the possibility of a Russian invasion…reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has received a questionnaire from London’s Metropolitan Police as part of the investigation into parties in Downing Street during Covid lockdowns, his office said Saturday.
If he is found to have broken his government’s own Covid rules, the embattled prime minister could be fined and will face even more pressure to stand down from fellow lawmakers already furious at his proximity to the “partygate” affair.
A growing number of lawmakers from his own party are calling for his ouster, and even former leaders have lined up to warn him against attempting to cling to power if he is found to have broken rules.
Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said it would be “very tough” to hang on if the police find that Johnson broke the law, while former Prime Minister John Major accused Johnson and his government of treating the truth as optional and “shredding” the UK’s global reputation.
The prime minister’s office confirmed in a statement that he had been contacted by police. It comes with tensions boiling in Ukraine, and UK nationals warned to evacuate the country over the possibility of a Russian invasion.
Johnson has denied any wrongdoing, but he is alleged to have been at up to six of the 12 events in his 10 Downing St. office and other government buildings that are being investigated by the police.
He has acknowledged attending a “bring your own booze” party in the No 10 garden in May 2020 during the first lockdown, but insisted he believed it would be a work event.
He also allegedly attended a gathering organised by his wife, Carrie, in the official Downing Street residence, during which ABBA songs were reportedly heard.
The police force has written to about 50 people, including the prime minister and his wife, asking for them to account for their activities on the dates under investigation.
The force said questionnaires must be responded to within seven days. They have the same status as information given in an interview under police caution.
Johnson’s Conservative government dropped most remaining Covid-19 restrictions last month…reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested on Wednesday that laws requiring people in England with Covid-19 to self-isolate will be lifted within weeks, bringing an end to all domestic coronavirus restrictions.
Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive a full month early,” Johnson told Parliament.
He added he plans to present his plan for living with the virus when Parliament returns from a short break on February 21.
Johnson’s Conservative government dropped most remaining Covid-19 restrictions last month.
Face masks are no longer mandatory anywhere in England, except on London’s public transport network.
Virus passports for gaining entry to nightclubs and large-scale events were scrapped, as was the official advice to work from home.
The UK has seen a drop in both new infections and Covid-19 patients admitted to hospitals since early January, when the highly transmissible omicron variant drove daily caseloads to more than 200,000 a day.
Current infections average at around 64,000 daily, the lowest recorded since mid-December.
British officials have said the government plans to switch from legal restrictions to advisory measures and treat the coronavirus more like the flu as it becomes endemic in the country.
Britain still has the second-highest virus death toll in Europe after Russia, with over 159,000 dead.
