TAIPEI, July 13 (Reuters) – Chinese fighter jets monitored a U.S. Navy patrol plane that flew through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Thursday, as China carried out a third day of military exercises to the south of the island Beijing views as China’s sovereign territory.
China has been incensed by U.S. military missions through the narrow strait, most frequently of warships but occasionally of aircraft, saying China “has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction” over the waterway. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying it is an international waterway.
The U.S. Navy’s 7th fleet said the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance plane, which is also used for anti-submarine missions, flew through the strait in international airspace.
“By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations,” it said in a statement.
China’s military described the flight as “public hype”, adding it sent fighters to monitor and warn the U.S. plane.
“Troops in the theatre are always on high alert and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability,” the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement on its WeChat account.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said Chinese warplanes and warships carried out a third day of exercises to the island’s south on Thursday, and that it detected 26 aircraft including advanced Chinese J-16 and Su-30 fighters flying out to sea and “responding to” the U.S. Poseidon.
The ministry said the U.S. aircraft had stuck to the strait’s median line and flew in a southerly direction on Thursday morning, and that Taiwan’s forces kept watch.
The median line normally serves as an unofficial barrier between Taiwan and China.
However, since last August when China held large-scale war games around Taiwan, Chinese military aircraft have been frequently crossing the line, though generally quite briefly.
China’s latest drills near Taiwan have involved fighters, bombers and warships, with the aircraft mainly flying to the island’s south and out into the Pacific through the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines, according to maps provided by Taiwan’s defence ministry.
China has not commented on the exercises, which have taken place less than two weeks before Taiwan stages its own annual drills and as NATO alliance leaders said China challenges its interests, security and values with its “ambitions and coercive policies”.
Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Alex Richardson and Emma Rumney
HELSINKI, July 13 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Thursday gave his assurance that the United States would stay committed to NATO despite “extreme elements” of the Republican Party, in remarks during a visit to Finland to welcome it as the alliance’s latest member.
“I absolutely guarantee it,” Biden told a press conference when pressed by a Finnish reporter about the U.S. commitment to NATO given political instability in the United States. Biden’s predecessor, Republican former President Donald Trump, threatened to take the United States out of the alliance.
“No one can guarantee the future, but this is the best bet anyone could make,” Biden said. Biden, a Democrat, is running for re-election in 2024 and Trump is the front-runner for Republicans.
Concern lingers in Europe about the reliability of U.S. pledges and global alliances, years after Trump’s norm-busting presidency ended. Trump clashed with NATO leaders over funding the alliance and threatened to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Germany.
Biden said there was overwhelming support for NATO from the American people, from Congress and from both Democrats and Republicans, “notwithstanding the fact there’s some extreme elements of one party,” referring to Republicans.
“I’m saying as sure as anything could possibly be said about American foreign policy, we will stay connected to NATO,” Biden continued, showing a flash of irritation.
Biden’s visit comes almost exactly five years after Trump struck a conciliatory tone with Russian President Vladimir Putin at talks in Helsinki.
Biden was in the city to participate in a summit with the leaders of Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway. He came directly from this week’s NATO summit held in Vilnius, Lithuania, where he said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had only made the alliance stronger.
Biden said NATO had officially elevated its relationship with Ukraine and created a pathway for its membership “as it continues to make progress on the necessary democratic and security reforms required of every NATO member.”
Ukraine could not join the alliance in the middle of a war, he said.
“It’s not about whether they should or shouldn’t join, it’s about when they can join. And they will join NATO,” he said of Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks as he holds a press conference with Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto in Helsinki, Finland, July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Biden said Putin had “already lost the war,” as there was no possibility of Russia winning.
“NEW ERA”
Finland’s decision to join NATO broke with seven decades of military non-alignment and roughly doubled the length of the border NATO shares with Russia.
The country repelled an attempted Soviet invasion during World War Two but lost territory. It maintained accommodating relations with Russia until President Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine invasion in February 2022.
Ahead of his bilateral meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Biden hailed Finland as an “incredible asset” to the NATO military alliance.
Niinisto said Finland’s NATO membership heralded “a new era in our security”, and applauded Biden for creating unity at the Vilnius summit, which focused on supporting Ukraine.
“You will be one of those who wrote it to history,” he said to Biden about Finland joining the alliance.
Niinisto also said Finland was open to hosting a NATO base on its territory.
“We are discussing the defence cooperation agreement and it has a lot of elements. They are still open. But we are open to negotiations and I know that our counterparties are also very open.”
Biden and the Nordic leaders said in a statement following the talks that they would continue to support Ukraine for as long as necessary.
Biden also welcomed Sweden’s prospective entry to NATO. Sweden had applied to join NATO alongside Finland, but its bid was held up by Turkey, which says Sweden is doing too little against people Ankara sees as terrorists. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan dropped objections to its application this week.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson thanked Biden for his support in the country’s push to join NATO.
Reporting by Steve Holland and Essi Lehto; Writing by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons, Rosalba O’Brien and Alistair Bell
HONG KONG, July 3 (Reuters) – Hong Kong police on Monday accused eight overseas-based activists of serious national security offences including foreign collusion and incitement to secession and offered rewards for information leading to their arrest.
The accused are activists Nathan Law, Anna Kwok and Finn Lau, former lawmakers Dennis Kwok and Ted Hui, lawyer and legal scholar Kevin Yam, unionist Mung Siu-tat, and online commentator Yuan Gong-yi, police told a press conference.
“They have encouraged sanctions … to destroy Hong Kong and to intimidate officials,” Steve Li, an officer with the police’s national security department, told reporters.
Issuing wanted notices and offering rewards of HK$1 million ($127,656) each, police said the assets of the accused would be frozen where possible and warned the public not to support them financially.
The notices accused the activists of asking foreign powers to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and China.
The activists are based in several countries, including the United States, Britain and Australia. Yam is an Australian citizen. They are wanted under a national security law that Beijing imposed on the former British colony in 2020, after the financial hub was rocked by protracted anti-China protests the previous year.
The United States on Monday condemned the move through a U.S. State Department spokesman, who said it set “a dangerous precedent that threatens the human rights and fundamental freedoms of people all over the world.”
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly criticised the decision to issue the arrest warrants and said his government “will not tolerate any attempts by China to intimidate and silence individuals in the UK and overseas”.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her government was “deeply disappointed.” Australia, she said, has consistently expressed concern about the broad application of the national security law.
Some countries, including the United States, say the law has been used to suppress the city’s pro-democracy movement and has undermined rights and freedoms guaranteed under a “one country, two systems” formula, agreed when Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities say the law has restored the stability necessary for preserving Hong Kong’s economic success.
ACTIVISTS DEFIANT
Several of the accused activists said they would not cease their Hong Kong advocacy work.
“It’s my duty … to continue to speak out against the crackdown that is going on right now, against the tyranny that is now reigning over the city that was once one of the freest in Asia,” Yam, a senior fellow with Georgetown University’s Center for Asian Law, told Reuters by telephone from Australia.
“I miss Hong Kong but as things stand, no rational person would be going back,” added Yam, who police accused of meeting foreign officials to instigate sanctions against Hong Kong officials, judges and prosecutors.
Former Democratic party lawmaker Ted Hui told Reuters the “bounty” adds to the arrest warrants already issued for him under the national security law, but “free countries will not extradite us”.
“The bounty … makes it clearer to the western democracies that China is going towards more extreme authoritarianism,” he said in Australia, where he has lived since 2021 on a bridging visa.
Anna Kwok, executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council, told Reuters from Washington she would not back down.
“One key thing I urge President Biden to do immediately is to say a strong and firm NO to (Hong Kong chief executive) John Lee’s possible entry into the United States for November’s APEC meeting in San Francisco,” Kwok wrote.
“He’s the man who has orchestrated the far-reaching transnational repression,” she said. “Bar John Lee.”
Finn Lau, an activist based in London told Reuters the reward was motivated by the fact that many democratic countries had suspended extradition treaties with Hong Kong.
Nathan Law, who obtained refugee status in the UK two years ago, said that people in Hong Kong should not cooperate. “We should not limit ourselves, self-censor, be intimidated, or live in fear,” he said on Twitter.
Police told the press conference 260 people had been arrested under the national security law, with 79 of them convicted of offences including subversion and terrorism, but admitted that the chances of prosecution were slim if the defendants remained abroad.
“We are definitely not putting on a political show nor disseminating fear,” Li, the police official, said.
“If they don’t return, we won’t be able to arrest them, that’s a fact,” he said. “But we won’t stop wanting them.
Reporting by James Pomfret and Jessie Pang; additional reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Robert Birsel, Alison Williams and Conor Humphries
MEXICO CITY, July 3 (Reuters) – The U.S. wants Mexico’s government to build strong institutions to protect worker rights as companies aiming to avoid supply chain disruptions in far-off production spots bring more jobs to the country, a top U.S. labor official told Reuters.
Mexico has begun to benefit from “nearshoring” in which companies seek to move production closer to the U.S. market while maintaining competitive costs.
The trend is further testing a trade deal known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), in effect since July 2020.
The pact has tougher labor rules than its 1994 predecessor and underpins new Mexican laws that empower workers to push for better wages and conditions after years of stagnant salaries and pro-business union contracts.
Three years into the deal, experts say, some workers have begun to benefit but broad impacts are still far off.
“Hopefully that will ensure that Mexico doesn’t become a dumping ground for companies looking for cheap labor and lax regulations,” said Thea Lee, U.S. Deputy Undersecretary for International Labor Affairs who polices USMCA compliance.
She said in an interview that Mexico was working to fulfill its commitments, backed by leadership keen on helping workers.
Mexico’s new regulations favor companies taking on higher ethical standards, she said.
“Maybe 20 years ago it was okay for a multinational corporation to throw up their hands and say, ‘we have no idea what’s in our supply chain, what the labor conditions are,’” she added.
“That doesn’t seem to be acceptable anymore.”
Mexico has made progress improving labor courts, resolving worker complaints faster and easing union organization, but needs to do more, Lee said.
“Our hope is that Mexico will be well-poised to take advantage of nearshoring … if they continue on the path towards really building labor institutions that work, where workers can have confidence.”
Since 2020, several U.S. labor complaints in Mexico have paved the way for independent unions to land pay raises and even expand. Lee said such examples inspire workers who in the past may have feared threats or dismissals for trying to organize.
Yet one employer that faced two USMCA complaints, U.S.-based VU Manufacturing that makes interior car parts in the northern city of Piedras Negras, recently dismissed dozens of employees just months after a new union, La Liga, pressed for better wages. VU did not respond to a request for comment.
Lee said the company risks penalties if it does not uphold an agreement around worker rights. But La Liga members have already been laid off, and fear the company aims to discourage organizing, said union leader Cristina Ramirez, who lost her job.
“It’s very disappointing and frustrating,” Ramirez said. “We wanted to fight for things to improve.”
Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by David Gregorio
[1/2]A view shows a residential building destroyed in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 14, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Pavel Klimov/File Photo
July 3 (Reuters) – Russia has brought some 700,000 children from the conflict zones in Ukraine into Russian territory, Grigory Karasin, head of the international committee in the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, said late on Sunday.
“In recent years, 700,000 children have found refuge with us, fleeing the bombing and shelling from the conflict areas in Ukraine,” Karasin wrote on his Telegram messaging channel.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion on its western neighbour Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow says its programme of bringing children from Ukraine into Russian territory is to protect orphans and children abandoned in the conflict zone.
However, Ukraine says many children have been illegally deported and the United States says thousands of children have been forcibly removed from their homes.
Most of the movement of people and children occurred in the first few months of the war and before Ukraine started its major counter offensive to regain occupied territories in the east and south in late August.
In July 2022, the United States estimated that Russia “forcibly deported” 260,000 children, while Ukraine’s Ministry of Integration of Occupied Territories, says 19,492 Ukrainian children are currently considered illegally deported.
(This story has been refiled to fix typographical errors in paragraph 3)
Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Michael Perry
HANOI, July 3 (Reuters) – Vietnam has banned Warner Bros’ highly-anticipated film “Barbie” from domestic distribution over a scene featuring a map that shows China’s unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea, state media reported on Monday.
The U-shaped “nine-dash line” is used on Chinese maps to illustrate its claims over vast areas of the South China Sea, including swathes of what Vietnam considers its continental shelf, where it has awarded oil concessions.
“Barbie” is the latest movie to be banned in Vietnam for depicting China’s controversial nine-dash line, which was repudiated in an international arbitration ruling by a court in The Hague in 2016. China refuses to recognise the ruling.
In 2019 the Vietnamese government pulled DreamWorks’ animated film “Abominable” and last year it banned Sony’s action movie “Unchartered” for the same reason. Netflix also removed an Australian spy drama “Pine Gap” in 2021.
[1/2]Actor Margot Robbie is photographed during a photocall for the upcoming Warner Bros. film “Barbie” in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 25, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake
“Barbie”, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was originally slated to open in Vietnam on July 21, the same date as in the United States, according to state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper.
“We do not grant license for the American movie ‘Barbie’ to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line,” the paper reported, citing Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Department of Cinema, a government body in charge of licensing and censoring foreign films.
Warner Bros did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vietnam and China have long had overlapping territorial claims to a potentially energy-rich stretch in the South China Sea. The Southeast Asian country has repeatedly accused Chinese vessels of violating its sovereignty.
Reporting by Phuong Nguyen; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with U.S. and Indian technology executives in Washington on Friday, the final day of a state visit where he agreed new defense and technology cooperation and addressed challenges posed by China.
U.S. President Joe Biden rolled out the red carpet for Modi on Thursday, declaring after about 2-1/2 hours of talks that their countries’ economic relationship was “booming.” Trade has more than doubled over the past decade.
Biden and Modi gathered with CEOs including Apple’s (AAPL.O) Tim Cook, Google’s (GOOGL.O) Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) Satya Nadella.
Also present were Sam Altman of OpenAI, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, and Indian tech leaders including Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group, and Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, the White House said.
“Our partnership between India and the United States will go a long way, in my view, to define what the 21st century looks like,” Biden told the group, adding that technological cooperation would be a big part of that partnership.
Observing that there were a variety of tech companies represented at the meeting from startups to well established firms, Modi said: “Both of them are working together to create a new world.”
Modi, who has appealed to global companies to “Make in India,” will also address business leaders at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.
The CEOs of top American companies, including FedEx (FDX.N), MasterCard (MA.N) and Adobe (ADBE.O), are expected to be among the 1,200 participants.
NOT ‘ABOUT CHINA’
The backdrop to Modi’s visit is the Biden administration’s attempts to draw India, the world’s most populous country at 1.4 billion and its fifth-largest economy, closer amid its growing geopolitical rivalry with Beijing.
Modi did not address China directly during the visit, and Biden only mentioned China in response to a reporter’s question, but a joint statement included a pointed reference to the East and South China Seas, where China has territorial disputes with its neighbors.
Farwa Aamer, director for South Asia at the Asia Society Policy Institute, in an analysis note described that as “a clear signal of unity and determination to preserve stability and peace in the region.”
Alongside agreements to sell weapons to India and share with it sensitive military technology, announcements this week included several investments from U.S.-firms aimed at spurring semiconductor manufacturing in India and lowering its dependence on China for electronics.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the challenges presented by China to both Washington and New Delhi were on the agenda, but insisted the visit “wasn’t about China.”
“This wasn’t about leveraging India to be some sort of counterweight. India is a sovereign, independent state,” Kirby said at a news briefing, adding that Washington welcomes India becoming “an increasing exporter of security” in the Indo-Pacific.
“There’s a lot we can do in the security front together. And that’s really what we’re focused on,” Kirby said.
Some political analysts question India’s willingness to stand up to Beijing over Taiwan and other issues, however. Washington has also been frustrated by India’s close ties with Russia while Moscow wages war in Ukraine.
DIASPORA TIES
Modi attended a lunch on Friday at the State Department with Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Asian American to hold the No. 2 position in the White House, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In a toast, Harris spoke of her Indian-born late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who came to the United States at age 19 and became a leading breast cancer researcher.
“I think about it in the context of the millions of Indian students who have come to the United States since, to collaborate with American researchers to solve the challenges of our time and to reach new frontiers,” Harris said.
Modi praised Gopalan for keeping India “close to her heart” despite the distance to her new home, and called Harris “really inspiring.”
On Friday evening, Modi will address members of the Indian diaspora, many of whom have turned out at events during the visit to enthusiastically fete him, at times chanting “Modi! Modi! Modi!” despite protests from others.
Activists said Biden had failed to strongly call out what they describe as India’s deteriorating human rights record under Modi, citing allegations of abuse of Indian dissidents and minorities, especially Muslims. Modi leads the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has held power since 2014.
Biden said he had a “straightforward” discussion with Modi about issues including human rights, but U.S. officials emphasize that it is vital for Washington’s national security and economic prosperity to engage with a rising India.
Asked on Thursday what he would do to improve the rights of minorities including Muslims, Modi insisted “there is no space for any discrimination” in his government.
“There is no end to data that shows Modi is lying about minority abuse in India, and much of it can be found in the State Department’s own India country reports, which are scathing on human rights,” said Sunita Viswanath, co-founder Hindus for Human Rights, an advocacy group.
Reporting by Steve Holland, Simon Lewis and Jeff Mason; additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Doina Chiacu, David Brunnstrom and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Don Durfee and Grant McCool
Jeff Mason is a White House Correspondent for Reuters. He has covered the presidencies of Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden and the presidential campaigns of Biden, Trump, Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain. He served as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association in 2016-2017, leading the press corps in advocating for press freedom in the early days of the Trump administration. His and the WHCA’s work was recognized with Deutsche Welle’s “Freedom of Speech Award.” Jeff has asked pointed questions of domestic and foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. He is a winner of the WHCA’s “Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure” award and co-winner of the Association for Business Journalists’ “Breaking News” award. Jeff began his career in Frankfurt, Germany as a business reporter before being posted to Brussels, Belgium, where he covered the European Union. Jeff appears regularly on television and radio and teaches political journalism at Georgetown University. He is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a former Fulbright scholar.
June 23 (Reuters) – Russia urged the International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday to ensure Ukraine does not shell the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, saying it was otherwise operating safely.
Alexei Likhachev, chief executive of the Russian state nuclear energy firm Rosatom, made the comments at a meeting with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in the Russian city of Kaliningrad, Rosatom said in a statement, after Grossi visited the plant last week.
“We expect concrete steps from the IAEA aimed at preventing strikes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, both on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and on adjacent territory and critical infrastructure facilities,” Rosatom quoted its chief as saying in a statement.
The IAEA said this week that the power plant was “grappling with … water-related challenges” after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam emptied the vast reservoir on whose southern bank the plant sits.
It also said the military situation in the area had become increasingly tense as Kyiv began a counteroffensive against the Russian forces that have seized control of swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Moscow and Kyiv have regularly accused each other of shelling Europe’s largest nuclear power station, with its six offline reactors. International efforts to establish a demilitarised zone around it have so far failed.
Ukraine this week accused Russia of planning a “terrorist” attack at the plant involving the release of radiation, while Moscow on Friday detained five people who it said were planning to smuggle radioactive caesium-137 at the request of a Ukrainian buyer in order to stage a nuclear incident.
Ukrainian general reports “tangible success” in south
Ukraine is in early stages of counteroffensive
Officials signal that main part of offensive lies ahead
President orders audit into recruitment centres
Each side says the other has suffered heavy losses
KYIV, June 23 (Reuters) – Ukraine signalled on Friday that the main push in its counteroffensive against Russian forces was still to come, with some troops not yet deployed and the operation so far intended to “set up the battlefield.”
And one of its top generals reported “tangible successes” in advances in the south – one of two main theatres of operations, along with eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine says it has retaken eight villages in the early stages of its most ambitious assault since Russia’s full-scale invasion 16 months ago, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this week that gains had been “slower than desired.”
Addressing the pace of the Ukrainian advances, three senior officials on Friday sent the clearest signal so far that the main part of the counteroffensive has not yet begun.
“Offensive operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue in a number of areas. Formation operations are underway to set up the battlefield,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter.
“The counteroffensive is not a new season of a Netflix show. There is no need to expect action and buy popcorn.”
Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said the “main events” of the counteroffensive were “ahead of us.”
“And the main blow is still to come. Indeed, some of the reserves – these are staged things – will be activated later,” Maliar told Ukrainian television.
General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of Ukraine’s “Tavria,” or southern front, wrote on Telegram: “There have been tangible successes of the Defence Forces and in advances in the Tavria sector.”
Tarnavskyi said Russian forces had lost hundreds of men and 51 military vehicles in the past 24 hours, including three tanks and 14 armoured personnel carriers.
Although the advances Ukraine has reported this month are its first substantial gains on the battlefield for seven months, Ukrainian forces have yet to push to the main defensive lines that Russia has had months to prepare.
‘EVERYTHING IS STILL AHEAD’ – UKRAINIAN COMMANDER
“I want to say that our main force has not been engaged in fighting yet, and we are now searching, probing for weak places in the enemy defences. Everything is still ahead,” the Guardian quoted Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, as saying in an interview with the British newspaper.
Moscow has sought to portray the Ukrainian counteroffensive as a failure. It says Kyiv’s forces have suffered heavy losses, while Ukraine says Russia has lost many soldiers in heavy fighting since the counterattack began.
Reuters is unable to verify the situation on the battlefield but has reached two of the villages recaptured by Kyiv.
Ukraine has prepared new military units for its long-awaited counteroffensive, including 12 new brigades, but only three of them have been seen in combat so far. It has also received an array of weapons from its Western allies to help it take back swathes of territory occupied by Russia.
Presidential adviser Podolyak said that the time Ukraine had needed to persuade its Western partners to provide the necessary weapons had given the Russian military the opportunity to dig in and strengthen their defence lines.
“Breaking the Russian front today requires a reasonable and balanced approach. The life of a soldier is the most important value for Ukraine today,” he said.
Zelenskiy, meanwhile, ordered the creation of a special commission to carry out an audit of heads of military draft offices in regions across Ukraine.
In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said he had instructed commander in chief General Valery Zaluzhniy to remove the head of an office in the southern port of Odesa after media reports that the official owned property in Spain.
“It is very unpleasant, openly immoral and incorrect that this person remained in his position despite everything,” he said.
Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka, Writing by Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage, Ron Popeski and Jonathan Oatis
HANOI, June 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan will stop at Central Vietnam’s port city of Danang on Sunday in a rare visit for a U.S. warship to the southeast Asian nation, as tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea remain high.
The ship will arrive on Sunday afternoon and stay at Danang until June 30, local media reported the spokesperson for Vietnam’s foreign affairs ministry as saying. The spokesperson did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The visit of the USS Ronald Reagan is only the third for a U.S. aircraft carrier since the end of the Vietnam War.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt stopped in Vietnam in 2020 to mark 25 years since the Vietnam War ended in 1975.
This year Washington is seeking to upgrade its formal ties with Vietnam, amid Hanoi’s frequent disputes with Beijing over boundaries in the South China Sea. China claims the waters almost in their entirety, including the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam and other countries in the region.
U.S. carriers frequently cross the energy-rich sea, which contains crucial routes for global trade. The warships are often shadowed by Chinese vessels.
On Wednesday, the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong and a group of escorting vessels sailed south through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, Taiwan’s defence ministry said.
MEXICO CITY, June 12 (Reuters) – Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said she will step down on Friday to pursue the ruling party’s candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, bidding to become the country’s first female leader.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s leftist National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) on Sunday agreed that on Sept. 6 it would announce the winner of its internal selection process. Sheinbaum is one of the two favorites.
MORENA is heavily favored to win the June 2024 presidential election, lifted by Lopez Obrador’s personal popularity.
He cannot seek re-election because Mexican presidents are restricted by law to a single six-year term. Close aides to Lopez Obrador have told Reuters they believe he would like Sheinbaum to succeed him. He denies having any favorite.
Announcing her resignation plan at a press conference on Monday, the 60-year-old Sheinbaum underlined her credentials as a scientist and environmentalist, saying she would continue Lopez Obrador’s “transformation” of Mexico with her “own stamp.”
“I have made the decision to leave the post definitively on June 16, with the goal of becoming the first woman in the history of Mexico to lead the fate of the nation,” she said.
MORENA’s leadership at the weekend agreed that the contenders should step down this week to compete.
[1/3] Outgoing Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, one of the leading candidates for the presidential nomination of the ruling MORENA party, gestures during a press conference in Mexico City, Mexico June 12, 2023. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha
Most opinion polls have tended to give Sheinbaum a slight advantage in the race over her rival Marcelo Ebrard, who stood down as foreign minister earlier on Monday to compete.
Sheinbaum highlighted that past polling had put her ahead and said she was confident it would remain that way.
Five polls open to the general public are due to determine MORENA’s presidential nominee.
Sheinbaum also cited a study published last month by the national statistics agency showing that over two-thirds of Mexicans strongly backed a woman holding the presidency.
“It’s time for women,” she said.
Ebrard had argued that prospective candidates should leave their posts to ensure a level playing field. Interior Minister Adan Augusto Lopez, another contender, is also expected to resign.
Ebrard, speaking to reporters after his resignation, said improving security was his first priority, and stressed the need to beef up public healthcare and education.
In an earlier radio interview, he argued that Mexico had a “golden opportunity” to double “or more” economic growth, spurred by companies’ bringing manufacturing capacity to the country due to economic tensions between China and the United States.
Reporting by Dave Graham in Mexico City; Writing by Sarah Morland and Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Leslie Adler
Apartment block and warehouses hit in missile attack
President Zelenskiy condemns strike on his hometown
Air strike is latest of many since Russia invaded
KRYVYI RIH, Ukraine, June 13 (Reuters) – Eleven civilians were killed in a Russian missile attack that struck an apartment building and warehouses in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih on Tuesday, local officials said.
Emergency services said four were killed in the apartment block and seven at the warehouses, where officials said a private company stored goods such as fizzy drinks. Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said none of the targets had military links.
A further 25 people were wounded, two of whom suffered severe burns and were in critical condition, the chief doctor of one of Kryvyi Rih’s hospitals told reporters.
Residents sobbed outside the burnt-out apartment block, from which smoke billowed after the early-morning attack on the central Ukrainian city.
Olha Chernousova, who lives in the five-storey apartment block, said she was woken by an explosion which sounded like thunder and thrown out of her bed by a violent blast wave.
“I ran to my front door, but it was very hot there… the smoke was heavy,” she said.
“What could I do? I was sat on the balcony, terrified I would lose consciousness. Nobody came for a long time… I thought I would have to jump into a tree.”
[1/6] Police officers stand next to the bodies of people killed by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine June 13, 2023. REUTERS/Andrii Dubchak
Around her, the street and courtyard were strewn with glass and bricks. At least five cars were ruined husks.
Ihor Lavrenenko, who lives in a different part of the building, said he heard two blasts.
“I woke up from the first bang, a weak one, and went straightaway onto the balcony. Then the second one erupted overhead, I watched from my balcony as hot debris fell,” he said.
Zelenskiy, who was born in Kryvyi Rih, condemned the attack.
“Russian killers continue their war against residential buildings, ordinary cities and people,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Terrorists will never be forgiven, and they will be held accountable for every missile they launch.”
Russia has repeatedly struck cities across Ukraine since its full-scale invasion in February 2022 but denies targeting civilians. Moscow has also accused Ukraine of cross-border shelling as Kyiv carries out counter-offensive operations.
Ukraine’s military command said air defences had destroyed 10 out of 14 cruise missiles, and one of four Iranian-made drones, fired at Ukraine overnight.
Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly, Anna Pruchnicka and Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Timothy Heritage
AMSTERDAM, June 13 (Reuters) – A Dutch intelligence agency tipped off the CIA about an alleged Ukrainian plan in June 2022 to blow up the Nord Stream pipeline, Dutch national broadcaster NOS reported on Tuesday.
The NOS report, which was compiled with help from leading German media outlets, did not identify its sources.
It said that the Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD had warned the CIA of the existence of such a plan, leading to a warning from Washington to Kyiv not to attack the pipeline.
Unexplained explosions ruptured both Nord Stream 1 and the newly built Nord Stream 2 pipelines, carrying gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, in September.
The blasts occurred in the economic zones of Sweden and Denmark. Both countries said the explosions were deliberate, but have yet to determine who was responsible. Those countries and Germany are investigating.
Washington and NATO called the incident “an act of sabotage”. Moscow accused investigators of dragging their feet and trying to conceal who was behind the attack. Ukraine denies responsibility.
The MIVD could not immediately be reached for comment.
Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Conor Humphries
Putin: Russia may create ‘sanitary zone’ in Ukraine
MOSCOW, June 13 (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that any further mobilisation would depend on what Russia wanted to achieve in the war in Ukraine, adding that he faced a question only he could answer – should Russia try to take Kyiv again?
More than 15 months since Putin sent troops into Ukraine, Russian and Ukrainian forces are still battling with artillery, tanks and drones along a 1,000-km (600-mile) front line, though well away from the capital Kyiv.
Using the word “war” several times, Putin offered a barrage of warnings to the West, suggesting Russia may have to impose a “sanitary zone” in Ukraine to prevent it attacking Russia and saying Moscow was considering ditching the Black Sea grain deal.
Russia, he said, had no need for nationwide martial law and would keep responding to breaches of its red lines. Many in the United States, Putin said, did not want World War Three, though Washington gave the impression it was unafraid of escalation.
But his most puzzling remark was about Kyiv, which Russian forces tried – and failed – to capture just hours after Putin ordered troops into Ukraine on February 24 last year.
“Should we return there or not? Why am I asking such a rhetorical question?” Putin told 18 Russian war correspondents and bloggers in the Kremlin.
“Only I can answer this myself,” Putin said. His comments on Kyiv – during several hours of answering questions – were shown on Russian state television.
Russian troops were beaten back from Kyiv and eventually withdrew to a swathe of land in Ukraine’s east and south which Putin has declared is now part of Russia. Ukraine says it will never rest until every Russian soldier is ejected from its land.
Putin last September announced what he said was a “partial mobilisation” of 300,000 reservists, triggering an exodus of at least as many Russian men who sought to dodge the draft by leaving for republics of the former Soviet Union.
Asked about another call-up by state TV war correspondent Alexander Sladkov, Putin said: “There is no such need today.”
MOBILISATION?
Russia’s paramount leader, though, was less than definitive on the topic, saying it depended on what Moscow wanted to achieve and pointing out that some public figures thought Russia needed 1 million or even 2 million additional men in uniform.
[1/6] Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with war correspondents at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 13, 2023. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via REUTERS
“It depends on what we want,” Putin said.
Though Russia now controls about 18% of Ukraine’s territory, the war has underscored the fault lines of the once mighty Russian armed forces and the vast human cost of fighting urban battles such as in Bakhmut, a small eastern city one twentieth the area of Kyiv.
Putin said the conflict had shown Russia had a lack of high-precision munitions and complex communications equipment.
He said Russia had established control over “almost all” of what he casts as “Novorossiya” (New Russia), a Tsarist-era imperial term for a swathe of southern Ukraine which is now used by Russian nationalists.
At times using Russian slang, Putin said Russia was not going to change course in Ukraine.
Russia’s future plans in Ukraine, he said, would be decided once the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which he said began on June 4, was over.
Ukraine’s offensive has not been successful in any area, Putin said, adding that Ukrainian human losses were 10 times greater than Russia’s.
Ukraine had lost over 160 of its tanks and 25-30% of the vehicles supplied from abroad, he said, while Russia had lost 54 tanks. Ukraine said it has made gains in the counteroffensive.
Reuters could not independently verify statements from either side about the battlefield.
Putin further said Ukraine had deliberately hit the Kakhovka hydro-electric dam on June 6 with U.S.-supplied HIMARS rockets, a step he said had also hindered Kyiv’s counteroffensive efforts. Ukraine says Russia blew up the dam, which Russian forces captured early in the war.
Putin said Russia needed to fight enemy agents and improve its defences against attacks deep inside its own territory, but that there was no need to follow Ukraine’s example and declare martial law.
“There is no reason to introduce some kind of special regime or martial law in the country. There is no need for such a thing today.”
Reporting by Reuters; editing by Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones and Mark Heinrich
As Moscow bureau chief, Guy runs coverage of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Before Moscow, Guy ran Brexit coverage as London bureau chief (2012-2022). On the night of Brexit, his team delivered one of Reuters historic wins – reporting news of Brexit first to the world and the financial markets. Guy graduated from the London School of Economics and started his career as an intern at Bloomberg. He has spent over 14 years covering the former Soviet Union. He speaks fluent Russian.
Contact: +447825218698
June 13 (Reuters) – Russia’s Defence Ministry released video footage on Tuesday of what it said were German-made Leopard tanks and U.S.-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles captured by Russian forces in a fierce battle with Ukrainian troops.
Reuters was able to confirm that the vehicles seen in the video were Leopard tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, but was not able to independently verify the location or date of the footage.
The Defence Ministry said the armoured vehicles and tanks were captured on the Zaporizhzhia front in southern Ukraine, one of the areas where Ukrainian forces have been trying to counter-attack.
Two Leopard tanks were shown in the footage, which was released on the ministry’s official channel on the Telegram messaging application, along with two damaged Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
A still image from a video, released by Russia’s Defence Ministry, shows what it said to be a German-made Leopard tank captured by Russian forces in a battle with Ukrainian forces in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, in this image taken from a handout footage released June 13, 2023. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
The ministry in a short statement accompanying the footage called the captured military hardware “our trophies” and said the video showed soldiers from its Vostok (East) military grouping inspecting the equipment.
It noted that the engines of some of the vehicles were still running, evidence it said of how quickly their Ukrainian crews had fled.
Reuters cannot verify such battlefield accounts.
Ukraine said on Monday its troops had recaptured a string of villages from Russian forces along an approximately 100-km (60-mile) front in the southeast since starting its long-anticipated counteroffensive last week.
Unconfirmed reports from Russian military bloggers suggest Russian forces may have recaptured some territory which they ceded in recent days.
Reporting by Andrew Osborn and Felix Light
Editing by Gareth Jones
June 3 (Reuters) – Iran’s navy commander said his country and Saudi Arabia, as well as three other Gulf states, plan to form a naval alliance that will also include India and Pakistan, Iranian media reported on Saturday.
“The countries of the region have today realized that only cooperation with each other brings security to the area,” Iran’s navy commander Shahram Irani was quoted as saying.
He did not elaborate on the shape of the alliance that he said would be formed soon.
Iran has recently been trying to mend its strained ties with several Gulf Arab states.
In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran ended seven years of hostility under a China-mediated deal, stressing the need for regional stability and economic cooperation.
Naval commander Irani said the states that will take part in the alliance also include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, Pakistan, and India.
Saudi Arabia’s rapprochement with Iran has frustrated Israel’s efforts to isolate Iran diplomatically.
The UAE, which was the first Gulf Arab country to sign a normalization agreement with Israel in 2020, resumed formal relations with Iran last year.
Bahrain and Morocco later joined the UAE in establishing ties with Israel.
Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Toby Chopra
TAIPEI, June 3 (Reuters) – China’s military rebuked the United States and Canada for “deliberately provoking risk” after the countries’ navies staged a rare joint sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait.
The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and Canada’s HMCS Montreal conducted a “routine” transit of the strait on Saturday “through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law”.
“Chung-Hoon and Montreal’s bilateral transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” it said in a statement.
The Eastern Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army said its forces monitored the ships throughout and “handled” the situation in accordance with the law and regulations.
“The countries concerned deliberately create incidents in the Taiwan Strait region, deliberately provoke risks, maliciously undermine regional peace and stability, and send the wrong signal to ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” it said late Saturday.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said the two ships sailed in a northerly direction through the strait and that it had observed nothing unusual.
While U.S. warships transit the strait around once a month, it is unusual for them to do so with those of other U.S. allies.
The mission took place as the U.S. and Chinese defence chiefs were attending a major regional security summit in Singapore.
At that event, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin rebuked China for refusing to hold military talks, leaving the superpowers deadlocked over Taiwan and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
There was no immediate response to the sailing from China’s military, which routinely denounces them as a U.S. effort to stir up tensions.
The last such publicly revealed U.S.-Canadian mission in the narrow strait took place in September.
China has been ramping up military and political pressure in an attempt to force Taiwan to accept Beijing’s sovereignty claims, which the government in Taipei strongly rejects.
Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by William Mallard and Nick Zieminski
Erdogan begins new five-year term after runoff win
Unorthodox rate cuts had exacerbated cost-of-living crisis
Economy under deep strain, Simsek seen reversing course
ANKARA, June 3 (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan signalled on Saturday his newly-elected government would return to more orthodox economic policies when he named Mehmet Simsek to his cabinet to tackle Turkey’s cost-of-living crisis and other strains.
Simsek’s appointment as treasury and finance minister could set the stage for interest rate hikes in coming months, analysts said – a marked turnaround from Erdogan’s longstanding policy of slashing rates despite soaring inflation.
After winning a runoff election last weekend, Erdogan, 69, who has ruled for more than two decades, began his new five-year term by calling on Turks to set aside differences and focus on the future.
Turkey’s new cabinet also includes Cevdet Yilmaz, another orthodox economic manager, as vice president, and the former head of the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) Hakan Fidan as foreign minister, replacing Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony at Ankara’s presidential palace was attended by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other dignitaries and high-level officials.
The apparent U-turn on the economy comes as many analysts say the big emerging market is heading for turmoil given depleted foreign reserves, an expanding state-backed protected deposits scheme, and unchecked inflation expectations.
Simsek, 56, was highly regarded by financial markets when he served as finance minister and deputy prime minister between 2009 and 2018.
Reuters reported earlier this week Erdogan was almost certain to put him in charge of the economy, marking a partial return to more free-market policies after years of increasing state control of forex, credit and debt markets.
QUESTION OF INDEPENDENCE
Analysts said that after past episodes in which Erdogan pivoted to orthodoxy only to quickly return to his rate-cutting ways, much would depend on how much independence Simsek is granted.
“This suggests Erdogan has recognised the eroding trust in his ability to manage Turkey’s economic challenges. But while Simsek’s appointment is likely to delay a crisis, it is unlikely to present long-term fixes to the economy,” said Emre Peker, a director at Eurasia Group covering Turkey.
“Simsek will likely have a strong mandate early in his tenure, but face rapidly increasing political headwinds to implement policies as March 2024 local elections draw near.”
Erdogan’s economic programme since 2021 stresses monetary stimulus and targeted credit to boost economic growth, exports and investments, pressing the central bank into action and badly eroding its independence.
[1/12] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with the new Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek as they are flanked by new Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar during a press conference where the new cabinet was announced, in Ankara, Turkey June 3, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
As a result, annual inflation hit a 24-year peak beyond 85% last year before easing.
The lira has lost more than 90% of his value in the last decade after a series of crashes, the worst in late 2021. It hit new all-time lows beyond 20 to the dollar after the May 28 vote.
‘WAYS TO RECONCILE’
Turkey’s longest-serving leader, Erdogan won 52.2% support in the runoff, defying polls that predicted economic strains would lead to his defeat.
His new mandate will allow Erdogan to pursue the increasingly authoritarian policies that have polarised the country, a NATO member, but strengthened its position as a regional military power.
At the inauguration ceremony, attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Erdogan struck a conciliatory tone.
“We will embrace all 85 million people regardless of their political views … Let’s put aside the resentment of the election period. Let’s look for ways to reconcile,” he said.
“Together, we must look ahead, focus on the future, and try to say new things. We should try to build the future by learning from the mistakes of the past.”
Earlier, reading out the oath of office, Erdogan vowed to protect Turkey’s independence and integrity, to abide by the constitution, and to follow the principles of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern secular republic.
Erdogan became prime minister in 2003 after his AK Party won an election in late 2002 following Turkey’s worst economic crisis since the 1970s.
In 2014, he became the country’s first popularly elected president and was elected again in 2018 after securing new executive powers for the presidency in a 2017 referendum.
The May 14 presidential election and May 28 runoff were pivotal given that the opposition had been confident of ousting Erdogan and reversing many of his policies, including proposing sharp interest rate hikes to counter inflation, running at 44% in April.
In his post-election victory speech, Erdogan said inflation was Turkey’s most urgent issue.
Writing and additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Frances Kerry, Giles Elgood and Christina Fincher
[1/2] A Ukrainian military helicopter takes off to carry out a mission, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, during military drills in the north of Ukraine, June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
KYIV, June 3 (Reuters) – Ukraine is ready to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview published on Saturday.
“We strongly believe that we will succeed,” Zelenskiy told the Wall Street Journal.
“I don’t know how long it will take. To be honest, it can go a variety of ways, completely different. But we are going to do it, and we are ready.”
Kyiv hopes a counteroffensive to reclaim territory will change the dynamics of the war that has raged since Russia invaded its smaller neighbour 15 months ago.
Zelenskiy said last month Ukraine needed to wait for more Western armoured vehicles arrived before launching the counteroffensive. He has been on a diplomatic push to maintain Western support, seeking more military aid and weapons, which is key for Ukraine to succeed in its plans.
Russia holds swaths of Ukrainian territory in the east, south and southeast.
A long spell of dry weather in some parts of Ukraine has driven anticipation that the counteroffensive might be imminent. Over the past several weeks Ukraine has increased it strikes on Russian ammunition depots and logistical routes.
On Saturday Ukraine’s military said in a daily report that Mariinka in the Donetsk region in the east was the focus of fighting. Ukrainian forces repelled all 14 Russian troops’ attacks there, the report said.
Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by William Mallard
OSLO, May 24 (Reuters) – The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, sailed into Oslo on Wednesday, a first for such a U.S. ship, in a show of NATO force at a time of heightened tension between NATO and Russia over the war in Ukraine.
The ship and its crew will be conducting training exercises with the Norwegian armed forces along the country’s coast in the coming days, the Norwegian military said.
“This visit is an important signal of the close bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Norway and a signal of the credibility of collective defence and deterrence,” said Jonny Karlsen, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, the operational command centre of the military.
At one spot on the Oslo fjord, dozens of people of all ages gathered on the shore to observe the vessel as it cruised by, taking pictures and videos.
Norwegian media reported the aircraft carrier would sail north of the Arctic Circle. Karlsen declined to comment on the reports.
The Russian embassy in Oslo condemned the aircraft carrier’s Oslo visit.
“There are no questions in the (Arctic) north that require a military solution, nor topics where outside intervention is needed,” the embassy said in a Facebook post.
“Considering that it is admitted in Oslo that Russia poses no direct military threat to Norway, such demonstrations of power appear illogical and harmful.”
NATO member Norway shares a border with Russia in the Arctic and last year became Europe’s largest gas supplier after a drop in Russian gas flows.
The Norwegian military and NATO allies have been patrolling around offshore oil and gas platforms since the autumn, following explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
Reporting by Gwladys Fouche
Editing by Bernadette Baum
Oversees news coverage from Norway for Reuters and loves flying to Svalbard in the Arctic, oil platforms in the North Sea, and guessing who is going to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Born in France and with Reuters since 2010, she has worked for The Guardian, Agence France-Presse and Al Jazeera English, among others, and speaks four languages.
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