With this move, Finland complies with the guidelines of the European Commission issued on September 8.
As of midnight, Finland will close its borders to passenger cars registered in Russia, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press statement.
“In the future, only EU citizens permanently residing in Russia or their family members, diplomats or equivalent individuals, or people travelling for humanitarian reasons, can enter Finland with a passenger car registered in Russia,” the statement said on Friday.
With this move, Finland complies with the guidelines of the European Commission issued on September 8, prohibiting the entry of passenger cars registered in Russia into the European Union, Xinhua news agency reported.
The decision aims to prevent Russian citizens from circumventing sanctions imposed on the country, the Ministry said.
Cars that are already in Finland and have Russian license plates must leave the country by March 16, 2024, the Ministry added.
The move follows similar decisions made by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania earlier this week to bar the entry of vehicles registered in Russia.
People on the sanctions list include journalists from the BBC, the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph newspapers, as well as prominent politicians like Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, Minister of State for Defence Annabel Goldie and International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan, reports Asian Lite News
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it has banned 54 British nationals, including journalists and politicians, from entering the country due to their alleged involvement in “propaganda support of the activities of the (Ukrainian) Zelensky regime” and of being “Russophobic”.
“We would like to emphasise again that any efforts by London to further spin the anti-Russian sanctions flywheel will inevitably receive a decisive response from our side,” CNN quoted the Ministry as saying in a statement late Friday.
“Work on expanding the Russian ‘stop list’ in response to the actions of the British authorities will continue,” it added.
People on the sanctions list include journalists from the BBC, the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph newspapers, as well as prominent politicians like Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, Minister of State for Defence Annabel Goldie and International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan.
In its statement, the Ministry said Khan featured on the list due to his involvement “in issuing a warrant for the arrest of the Russian leadership”.
In March this year, the International Criminal Court had issued the arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting children from Ukraine, which Moscow denies, the BBC reported.
With regards to banning Frazer, the Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that she was “actively lobbying for the international sports isolation of Russia.”
Lucy Frazer, UK’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Earlier this year, Frazer said in a social media post that she asked sponsors of the Olympic Games “to join 35 like-minded nations and press the IOC for a continued ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing in international sporting competitions”, adding that “we must continue to ensure that Russia and Belarus cannot use sport for their propaganda purposes”, reports CNN.
Meanwhile, the Ministry accused Goldie of being “responsible for the supply of weapons to Ukraine, including depleted uranium shells”.
Russia has already barred a number of British journalists and defence figures as well as hundreds of elected MPs.
In June last year, the BBC’s Clive Myrie and Orla Guerin were among journalists who have reported from Ukraine to be banned.
BBC director general Tim Davie was also on the list.
The UK is among Western countries to have sanctioned Russia in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
These include a ban on the import of goods from Russia such as diamonds, oil and gas.
Earlier this month, the British government announced what it described as the “largest ever UK action” targeting Russia’s access to foreign military supplies, the BBC reported.
More than 1,000 Russian businesses and individuals have been sanctioned by the US, EU, UK and other countries.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has arrived in Jeddah to participate in a summit of national security advisers and other officials being hosted Saudi Arabia on Saturday to discuss the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Doval was welcomed at the Jeddah Airport by Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Suhel Khan and Consul General Mohammed Shahid Alam.
“Shri Ajit Doval, NSA arrived in Jeddah to take part in National Security Advisors’ meeting on Ukraine. He was welcomed at Jeddah Airport by Ambassador Dr Suhel Khan and Consul General Mohd Shahid Alam,” the Indian Embassy in Riyadh said on Twitter.
Shri Ajit Doval, NSA arrived in Jeddah to take part in National Security Advisors' meeting on Ukraine. He was welcomed at Jeddah Airport by Ambassador Dr Suhel Khan and Consul General Mohd Shahid Alam.@MEAIndia@IndianDiplomacypic.twitter.com/wmLQ10f17l
— India in Saudi Arabia (@IndianEmbRiyadh) August 5, 2023
The meeting is being organised in the coastal city of Jeddah to discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plan for peace amid the ongoing conflict with Russia.
The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday confirmed India’s participation in the summit.
“India will participate in this event and our participation is in consonance with our long-standing position that dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
“Yes, India has been invited to a meeting being hosted by Saudi Arabia on Ukraine in Jeddah,” Bagchi said while replying to a question at a press briefing of the Ministry of External Affairs.
Russia’s state-run Tass news agency reported Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov as saying: “Russia will keep an eye on this meeting” but would need “to fully understand what goals are being set.”
The Wall Street Journal, on July 29 first reported on the summit citing “diplomats involved in the discussion”, and said the talks would take place on August 5 and 6, in the city of Jeddah, with some 30 countries attending.
WSJ also said that Ukrainian and Western officials are hopeful that the efforts could conclude in a peace summit later this year where global leaders would sign up to shared principles for resolving the war.
For the Jeddah summit, the 30 invitees include Chile, Egypt, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Zambia, according to WSJ.
Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on Sunday that officials from several countries would take part in the Saudi Arabian summit but did not say when or in which city the meeting will be held, reported Al Jazeera.
Yermak wrote on Telegram, that discussions will take place on the Ukrainian Peace Formula, which “contains 10 fundamental points, the implementation of which will not only ensure peace for Ukraine, but also create mechanisms to counter future conflicts in the world”.
“We are deeply convinced that the Ukrainian peace plan should be taken as a basis because the war is taking place on our land,” Al Jazeera quoted Yermak as saying.
Regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India has always maintained that the conflict must be resolved by dialogue and diplomacy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said, “India is ready to do whatever it can for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.”
On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War which began in 2014. The invasion has killed tens of thousands on both sides. Russian forces have been accused of mass civilian casualties and of torturing captured Ukrainian soldiers. (ANI)
IAEA chief said the expert team would continue its requests to visit the roofs of the other four reactor units at the facility.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that its experts had found no mines or explosives on the rooftops of two reactor units and turbine halls at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi in a statement on Friday said that “following repeated requests”, the agency’s expert team was given “unimpeded access” on Thursday afternoon to the rooftops of Unit 3 and Unit 4 reactor buildings at the Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine and “could also clearly view the rooftops of the turbine halls”.
Grossi said the expert team would continue its requests to visit the roofs of the other four reactor units at the facility.
On July 23, the IAEA experts stationed at the Zaporizhzhia plant spotted “directional anti-personnel mines on the periphery of the site”.
The IAEA chief said on Friday that experts confirmed “the mines first observed on July 23 were still in place” during an inspection on Aug. 1, but “no new mines or explosives were observed during any walk-downs over the past week”.
Grossi stressed the importance of the IAEA experts being granted timely access to all areas of the Zaporizhzhia plant, saying that “timely, independent and objective reporting of facts on the ground is crucial to continue the IAEA’s efforts to support nuclear safety and security”.
The Russian Embassy in Pakistan has asked the Pakistan Foreign Ministry to provide clarity on the incident, reports Asian Lite News
The Russian Federation has expressed its serious dismay after Russian journalist Ruslan Bekniyazov was expelled minutes before the joint press briefing of Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his visiting Ukrainian Counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, DND News Agency reported.
The matter pertains to the Senior Correspondent of the Russian ITAR-TASS News Agency in Islamabad, Ruslan Bekniyazov being forced out of the press room while he was waiting along with other Foreign Affairs Correspondents before the Joint Press Conference of the Pakistani and Ukrainian foreign ministers at the Ministry of Foreign of Affairs in Islamabad on Thursday. “It is inadmissible to violate reporters’ rights to access information,” the Russian Embassy in Pakistan said on Twitter.
It further said that “it stands in solidarity with the Russian journalist Ruslan Bekniyazov” and the Embassy has requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad to provide clarity on the incident.
Notably, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was on a bilateral visit to Pakistan from July 20-21.
DND News Agency stated citing a report by ‘Pakistan Daily’ that a day before the mentioned joint press stakeout, the Pakistani Foreign Office Press Wing collected and registered the names of Foreign Office Correspondents and Ruslan Bekniyazov’s name was also enlisted to cover this media briefing a day ago by Pakistani Officials.
However, when the journalists in the press room acknowledged the absence of Bekniyazov and asked the spokesman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch about the reason, she was totally “unaware” of the matter, DND News Agency reported. (ANI)
Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrived in Ukraine following a three-day official visit to Poland, reports Asian Lite News
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Saturday, sending a strong signal of support for the war-torn nation, his office said.
Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrived in Ukraine following a three-day official visit to Poland, according to senior presidential secretary for press affairs Kim Eun-hye.
He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later in the day to discuss areas where South Korea can provide additional aid, reports Yonhap News Agency.
Earlier Saturday, Yoon visited the site of mass killings in Bucha, near Kyiv, before visiting Irpin, a civilian residential area that has been subject to large-scale missile attacks, the press secretary said.
He was also scheduled to lay a wreath at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine in Kyiv.
Further details are yet to be disclosed.
Yoon has shown strong support for Ukraine in line with his campaign for freedom, human rights and the rule of law in solidarity with like-minded nations.
Пан Президент Республіки Корея був сьогодні в Бучі та Ірпені і на власні очі бачив наслідки російської окупації. Але ж Буча та Ірпінь – лише два з тисяч українських міст, які зазнали ударів російського терору. Масштаб принесених Росією страждань і руйнувань – колосальний. Отже,… pic.twitter.com/eiJlkUlt0u
South Korea has provided humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in its protracted war with Russia but denied the country’s requests for lethal weapons.
This will be the second Yoon-Zelensky meeting after one held on the sidelines of a G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May.
At the time, Yoon promised additional non-lethal aid, including demining equipment and ambulances.
Yoon’s visit to Ukraine came at the end of a two-leg trip that earlier took him to Lithuania for the NATO Summit and then to Poland for an official visit.
MOSCOW, March 5, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow, Russia, on March 5, 2020. Russia and Turkey agreed Thursday on a ceasefire in the de-escalation zone in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan which lasted for about six hours. (Sputnik/Handout via Xinhua/IANS)
One of the key issues expected on the agenda is whether the Black Sea Grain Initiative will be prolonged, reports Asian Lite News
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan he is ready to host his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Ankara next month for talks on several issues.
“We are preparing to host Putin in August,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul.
According to Erdogan, one of the key issues expected on the agenda of the two leaders’ talks is whether the Black Sea Grain Initiative will be prolonged, reports Xinhua news agency.
The deal, brokered by Turkey and the UN that allows Ukraine to export grain and other agricultural products from its Black Sea ports, will expire on July 17.
Erdogan had called for extending the deal last week, stressing that poor African countries in particular are in desperate need of grain shipments from Ukraine.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative was launched in July 2022 to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships with food and fertilizer exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
The announcement came following months of debate within the Biden government about whether to provide Ukraine with the controversial weapons banned by over 100 countries including key US allies, reports Asian Lite News
United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday announced that the US will send cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package, reported CNN.
The announcement came following months of debate within the Biden government about whether to provide Ukraine with the controversial weapons banned by over 100 countries including key US allies. “I’m not going to stand up here and say it is easy,” Sullivan told reporters, adding, “It’s a difficult decision. It’s a decision we deferred. It’s a decision that required a real hard look at the potential harm to civilians. And when we put all of that together, there was a unanimous recommendation from the national security team, and President Biden ultimately decided, in consultation with allies and partners and in consultation with members of Congress, to move forward on this strategy.”
President Joe Biden approved the transfer of ammunition this week, as reported by officials to CNN.
As Ukrainian forces have been unable to make significant progress in their counteroffensive against Russia, CNN first reported last week that the administration was seriously considering the action.
The munitions are compatible with the 155 mm howitzers that the US is providing, a crucial piece of artillery that has helped Ukraine retake territory over the past year.
Similar to landmines, cluster munitions disperse “bomblets” over wide areas and have the potential to fail to detonate upon impact, posing a long-term risk to anyone who comes into contact with them. The US and Ukraine have not ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which has been outlawed by more than 100 nations, including the UK, France, and Germany.
Iskander-M ballistic missile with cluster warhead wreckage that was shot down over Kramatorsk by the Ukrainian air defenses. (Photo: National Police of Ukraine)
The provision of the weapons to Ukraine is “not an option” for Berlin because it is a signatory to the agreement, said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Friday. He did not, however, offer his opinion on the US government’s choice, saying, “Those countries that have not signed the convention – China, Russia, Ukraine and the US – it is not up to me to comment on their actions.”
The munitions the US is expected to deliver may have a dud rate of up to 2.35 per cent, according to Pentagon Press Secretary Brig Gen Patrick Ryder. Biden would disregard legislative limitations placed by Congress on exporting weapons with a greater than one per cent “dud” rate, Ryder said on Thursday, as per CNN.
A higher dud rate indicates that more of the small bomblets scattered by cluster munitions do not detonate upon impact, posing a risk to nearby bystanders. According to Ryder, the Russians have been employing cluster munitions, which can have a 40 per cent failure rate.
Since last year, Ukrainian officials have pushed the US to deliver the munitions, claiming that they would increase the ammo for the artillery and rocket systems that the West has provided and assist reduce Russia’s numerical advantage in artillery.
Given how many nations around the world have outlawed the weapons, insiders told CNN that Biden was first reluctant.
However, the Pentagon advised Biden that the munitions be provided to Ukraine at least on a temporary basis until non-cluster ammunition is able to be resupplied, officials said. This was because of the changing battlefield conditions inside Ukraine over the last three weeks, which prompted US officials to give them renewed and serious consideration.
With a stroke of his pen Biden has just rendered UN resolutions barring the use of cluster munitions null and void. Pandoras box has been opened, and the consequence of this decision will be felt for years to come. pic.twitter.com/IvipZHx1ea
If the counteroffensive carries on, officials and military analysts said it’s unclear whether the large amount of artillery ammunition that the Ukrainians have been using daily could be sustained without the cluster explosives. In the end, Biden agreed with their analysis.
Boris Gryzlov, the Russian ambassador to Belarus, described the US action as “a move of desperation.”
“As part of the continued assistance to the Kyiv regime, Washington is considering the possibility of sending cluster munitions to Ukraine. There has been talk about it since spring,” Gryzlov told Russian state news agency TASS on Friday.
“Now, the ‘hawks’ in the West have realized that the much-advertised counter-offensive of the Ukrainian armed forces did not go according to plan, so they are trying at all costs to give at least some impetus to it. In fact, it is a move of desperation,” Gryzlov added, reported CNN. (ANI)
Dubbed 'Putin's chef' in the West, Yevgeny Prigozhin takes credit for setting up Wagner Group
Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the Wagner mercenary group, said the “evil” in the Russian military leadership must be stopped and vowed to “march for justice”, but the Wagner chief clarified that he was not attempting a military coup, reports Asian Lite News
The Kremlin has ordered the arrest of Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the Wagner mercenary group, after Russian intelligence accused him of calling for an “armed rebellion”.
Late Friday night, the Federal Security Service (FSB) urged Wagner mercenaries to “stop the columns” and detain their leader after the latter vowed retaliation over the Russian military allegedly killing a “huge amount” of Wagner fighters during a strike on a camp earlier in the day, reports CNN.
Russian state TV also interrupted programming Friday night to report a Defence Ministry statement claiming Prigozhin’s comments “did not correspond to reality” and demanded him to halt “illegal actions”.
In the wake of the developments, security has been stepped up around Moscow and in the city of Rostov near southeast Ukraine, according to state media reports.
Earlier on Friday, Prigozhin claimed that his forces crossed the border into Russia from Ukraine, but did not give any proof to back his allegation, reports the BBC.
“Many dozens, tens of thousands of lives, of Russian soldiers will be punished. I ask that nobody put up any resistance.”
He also said the “evil” in the Russian military leadership must be stopped and vowed to “march for justice”, but the Wagner chief clarified that he was not attempting a military coup
Russian President Vladimir Putin with Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu. (Photo: Twitter@mod_russia)
According to the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin is aware of the situation and is receiving “constant” updates.
Since Russia launched its ongoing war against Ukraine in February 2022, there has been a power struggle between Prigozhin and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, media reports say.
Their battle initially centred around Bakhmut — while the regular Russian army struggled elsewhere, the Wagner group managed to make gains.
Prigozhin used his forces’ success as an opportunity to build his own profile and criticise the troops under Shoigu, reports the BBC.
He accused the Defence Ministry of denying his mercenaries ammunition, even threatening to pull out.
And when victories occurred, both sides tried to take credit.
Prigozhin has however, always avoided criticising President Putin.
In the hours before the alleged attack on the Wagner camp, he posted more inflammatory comments on social media, accusing the Defence Ministry of deceiving Putin about the threat posed by Ukraine ahead of his February 2022 invasion, reports CNN.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed meets Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Photo: Iliya Pitalev, RIA Novosti Host Photo Agency)
President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed AL Nahyan reiterated the UAE’s principled position aimed at de-escalation and the necessity for a negotiated political solution to the crisis in Ukraine, reports Asian Lite News
UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has reinforced the importance of communication and dialogue to support regional and international stability and peace.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed meets Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He reiterated the UAE’s principled position aimed at de-escalation and the necessity for a negotiated political solution to the crisis in Ukraine.
His Highness also stressed the importance of accelerating efforts to mitigate the humanitarian repercussions of the crisis and supporting prisoner-exchange initiatives on both sides.
The UAE President’s call for dialogue and diplomacy came during a working visit to St. Petersburg today, where he met with Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation.
The two leaders discussed the longstanding relations as part of the UAE-Russia strategic partnership framework. His Highness and President Putin expressed their ongoing commitment to further build on the bilateral ties between the two nations.
The working visit of His Highness comes as part of the UAE’s continuous communication with all nations in an effort to build bridges and foster positive partnerships to ensure regional and international security and stability.
Before the talks, Vladimir Putin and Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan toured the stands of the United Arab Emirates at the SPIEF 2023. (Photo: Alexei Nikolskiy, RIA Novosti Host Photo Agency)
The UAE President was accompanied during the working visit by a delegation including H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Special Affairs Advisor at the Presidential Court; Ali bin Hammad Al Shamsi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for National Security; Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology; and Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Ambassador to the Russian Federation.
