Tag: Sanctions and embargoes

South Korea’s Yoon will call for strong response to North’s nuclear weapons at ASEAN and G20 summits

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SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s president says he’ll tell world leaders about the need to faithfully enforce U.N. sanctions on North Korea and block the country’s illicit activities to fund its weapons programs when they converge in Indonesia and India for annual summits this week.

President Yoon Suk Yeol is to visit Jakarta for four days starting Tuesday to attend a series of summits scheduled on the margins of a meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders. On Friday, he’ll travel on to New Delhi for a summit of the leading rich and developing nations.

“At the upcoming ASEAN-related Summits and the G20 Summit, I intend to urge the international community to resolutely respond to North Korea’s ever-escalating missile provocations and nuclear threats and to work closely together on its denuclearization,” Yoon said in written responses to questions from The Associated Press.

“As long as the U.N. Security Council sanctions currently in place are faithfully implemented, North Korea’s financial means for developing (weapons of mass destruction) can be blocked to a significant extent,” Yoon said.

Despite the economic troubles deepened mainly by its draconian pandemic curbs, North Korea has been performing a record number of missile tests since last year. South Korean officials believe the North’s weapons programs are increasingly financed by illicit activities like cyber hacking and the export of banned items. A large number of North Korean workers has also reportedly remained in China and Russia despite a U.N. order for member states to repatriate all North Korean guest workers — a key source of foreign currency for the North — by December 2019.

Yoon said he will particularly use the Group of 20 summit to underscore “the need to actively deter North Korea from stealing cryptocurrency, dispatching workers overseas, facilitating maritime transshipments and other illegal activities — the main funding sources for its nuclear and missile development.”

North Korea’s advancing nuclear arsenal is the most vexing security concern for South Korea, but it also poses serious threats to the United States and Japan. North Korea’s long-range missiles target the mainland U.S., while its shorter-range missiles are capable of reaching South Korea and Japan, both key U.S. allies.

In a trilateral summit at Camp David in August, Yoon, President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to hold annual trilateral exercises and put into operation by year’s end the sharing of real-time missile warning data on North Korea. The three also decided to establish a trilateral working group to boost cooperation to combat North Korean cyber threats and block its cyber-enabled evasion of sanctions.

North Korea reacted angrily, accusing the three leaders of plotting nuclear war provocations on the Korean Peninsula. Leader Kim Jong Un called Yoon, Biden and Kishida “the gang bosses” of the three countries.

Yoon, citing unspecified recent assessments, said North Korea is in its worst economic condition since Kim took power in late 2011.

“North Korean authorities are wasting scarce financial resources on the development of nuclear and missile capabilities. Consequently, the hardships faced by North Koreans in their everyday lives are worsening, and its economy continues to register negative growth,” Yoon said. “Amid such circumstances, unless North Korea stops its nuclear development, the regime’s instability will continue to increase.”

North Korea has been trying to deepen cooperation with China and Russia, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council who have repeatedly blocked the U.S. and others’ attempts to toughen U.N. sanctions on the North despite its run of prohibited missile tests. Foreign experts also believe China and Russia have not fully implemented U.N. sanctions on North Korea.

U.S. officials suspect North Korea has shipped artillery shells and other ammunition to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine. Last week, the White House said Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged letters as Moscow looks to Pyongyang for more munitions.

Yoon said China “seems to have considerable leverage” over North Korea, adding that about 97% of North Korea’s total external trade volume last year was with China.

“What really matters is whether Beijing will use its leverage, and if so, how much and in what way,” Yoon said.

Yoon said China must put forth “constructive efforts to denuclearize North Korea” if the North continues its banned missile tests. He said China must realize that North Korea’s nuclear program has “a negative effect on China’s national interests by further disrupting regional order among other things.”

The exact status of North Korea’s nuclear capability is unclear, with experts divided over whether the country possesses functioning nuclear-tipped missiles. But most agree that Kim won’t likely voluntarily abandon his nuclear program, the backbone of his authoritarian rule. They believe North Korea would eventually aim to use its enlarged nuclear arsenal to win sanctions relief from the U.S.

Last week, North Korea said it conducted missile tests to simulate nuclear attacks on South Korea and rehearsed an occupation of the South’s territory in response to the summer South Korea-U.S. military drills.

“The international community must clearly demonstrate that its determination to stop North Korea’s nuclear program is much stronger than North Korea’s will to continue developing it,” Yoon said.

In Jakarta, Yoon is to attend the South Korea-ASEAN summit, the ASEAN Plus Three (South Korea-Japan-China) summit, and the East Asia Summit, a gathering of Indo-Pacific nations including the U.S., China and Russia.

Yoon said the joint South Korea-U.S.-Japan statement issued after the Camp David summit clearly emphasizes the importance the three countries place on ASEAN and Pacific Island countries by prioritizing cooperation with them over any other regional issues.

Yoon said he sees the G20 summit as an opportunity for South Korea to lead G20 cooperation to resolve the challenges humanity is facing. He said South Korea will expand its contributions to help climate-vulnerable countries and strengthen cooperation with the international community for the transition to clean energy.

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Find more AP coverage of the Asia-Pacific region at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

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September 3, 2023
Japan sanctions 3 groups and 4 individuals for supporting North Korea’s missile program

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Japan’s government is imposing sanctions against three groups and four individuals for supporting North Korea’s missile and nuclear development program

ByMARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press

September 1, 2023, 3:03 AM

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno attends a press conference in Tokyo Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. Japan’s government announced Friday it will impose sanctions against three groups and four individuals for supporting North Korea’s missile and nuclear development program. (Kyodo News via AP)

The Associated Press

TOKYO — Japan’s government announced Friday it will impose sanctions against three groups and four individuals for supporting North Korea’s missile and nuclear development program.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Friday that the sanctions, in tandem with the United States and South Korea, are in response to North Korea’s attempted launch of a spy satellite Aug. 24 and its firing of two missiles Wednesday, as United Nations Security Council resolutions ban any North Korean launches using ballistic missile technologies.

The additional sanctions, approved during Friday’s Cabinet meeting, freeze the assets of the three North Korea-based hacker groups linked to cyberattacks — Andariel, BlueNoroff and Korea Expo Joint Venture — as well as four individuals, three of them based in China, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

The United States imposed sanctions Thursday on two people: a North Korean and a Russian linked to a Moscow-registered firm accused of supporting the North’s ballistic missile program.

Japan, the United States and South Korea have been stepping up their strategic three-way cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region to jointly deal with their shared concern of growing threats of North Korea and China.

Matsuno said Japan’s government strongly calls on the North to take concrete actions to respond to Tokyo’s proposal to settle the issues of abductions of Japanese nationals during the 1970s and 1980s by North Korea, along with its nuclear and missile programs.

He said relatives of the abductees are getting old and that Japan seeks talks between Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as soon as possible.

North Korea has failed twice in recent months to launch a spy satellite. The nation’s National Aerospace Development Administration said it would make a third attempt in October.

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September 1, 2023
Serbia will increase supplies of Russian natural gas to Hungary if Ukraine pulls out of transit deal

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BUDAPEST, Hungary — Serbia will provide Hungary with increased shipments of Russian natural gas if Ukraine follows through on ending a gas transit agreement with Russia, Hungary’s foreign minister said Sunday.

Speaking in a taped message, Peter Szijjarto said Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vučić, had met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest, and assured him that Serbia would be able to supply more Russian gas to Hungary if Kyiv declines to extend an agreement allowing its transit across Ukrainian territory.

“We’ve heard in recent days that Ukraine would like to terminate the previously concluded natural gas transit agreement with Russia,” Szijjarto said. “Today, the Serbian president made it clear that if Hungary would like to increase natural gas shipments through Serbia to Hungary, then Serbia can ensure the necessary shipment capacities.”

The deal came after Ukraine’s energy minister, German Galushchenko, indicated Kyiv was unlikely to extend the transit agreement which brings Russian natural gas to European countries via Ukraine. That agreement is set to expire next year.

Hungary gets roughly 80% of its natural gas from Russia — primarily via the TurkStream pipeline which passes through Serbia to its south — and has fought vigorously against sanctions on Russian energy proposed by the European Union. Even after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Hungary has sought to streamline its access to Russian fossil fuels, arguing they were essential to its energy security.

During a visit to Moscow in April, Foreign Minister Szijjarto said Russian state energy company Gazprom had agreed to allow Hungary, if needed, to import quantities of natural gas beyond the amounts agreed to in a long-term contract concluded in 2021.

On Sunday, Szijjarto said that Orbán had also met with the president of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedow, and expressed interest in Hungary becoming a future destination and transit point for future gas exports from Turkmenistan.

Orbán is hosting the leaders of Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia, Qatar and a number of Central Asian nations on Sunday as the World Athletics Championships take place in Budapest.

The lineup of guests, devoid of any leaders from Hungary’s allies in the EU and NATO, reflects Orbán’s push to increase diplomatic and political cooperation with autocracies in the Balkans and Asia.

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August 20, 2023
A tanker believed to hold sanctioned Iran oil starts offloading near Texas despite Tehran’s threats

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An American-owned oil tanker long suspected of carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil began offloading its cargo near Texas late Saturday, tracking data showed, even as Tehran has threatened to target shipping in the Persian Gulf over it.

Ship-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Marshall Islands-flagged Suez Rajan was undergoing a ship-to-ship transfer of its oil to another tanker, the MR Euphrates, near Galveston, some 70 kilometers (45 miles) southeast of Houston.

The fate of the cargo aboard the Suez Rajan has become mired in the wider tensions between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic, even as Tehran and Washington work toward a trade of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets in South Korea for the release of five Iranian-Americans held in Tehran.

Already, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has warned that those involved in offloading the cargo “should expect to be struck back.” The U.S. Navy has increased its presence steadily in recent weeks in the Mideast, sending the troop-and-aircraft-carrying USS Bataan through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days and considering putting armed personnel on commercial ships traveling through the strait to stop Iran from seizing additional ships.

U.S. officials and the owners of the Suez Rajan, the Los Angeles-based private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The saga over the Suez Rajan began in February 2022, when the group United Against Nuclear Iran said it suspected the tanker carried oil from Iran’s Khargh Island, its main oil distribution terminal in the Persian Gulf.

For months, the ship sat in the South China Sea off the northeast coast of Singapore before suddenly sailing for the Gulf of Mexico without explanation. Analysts believe the vessel’s cargo likely has been seized by American officials, though there still were no public court documents early Sunday involving the Suez Rajan.

In the meantime, Iran has seized two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, including one with cargo for U.S. oil major Chevron Corp. In July, the top commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s naval arm threatened further action against anyone offloading the Suez Rajan, with state media linking the recent seizures to the cargo’s fate.

“We hereby declare that we would hold any oil company that sought to unload our crude from the vessel responsible and we also hold America responsible,” Rear Adm. Alireza Tangsiri said at the time. “The era of hit and run is over, and if they hit, they should expect to be struck back.”

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the offloading of the Suez Rajan. The state-run IRNA news agency acknowledged this AP story, but did not elaborate. Western-backed naval organizations in the Persian Gulf in recent days also warned of an increased risk of ship seizures from Iran around the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers saw it regain the ability to sell oil openly on the international market. But in 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord and re-imposed American sanctions. That slammed the door on much of Iran’s lucrative crude oil trade, a major engine for its economy and its government. It also began a cat-and-mouse hunt for Iranian oil cargo — as well as series of escalating attacks attributed to Iran since 2019.

The delay in offloading the Suez Rajan’s cargo had become a political issue as well for the Biden administration as the ship had sat for months in the Gulf of Mexico, possibly due to companies being worried about the threat from Iran.

In a letter dated Wednesday, a group of Democratic and Republican U.S. senators asked the White House for an update on what was happening with the ship’s cargo, estimated to be worth some $56 million. They said the money could go toward the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund, which compensates those affected by the Sept. 11 attacks, the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and other militant assaults.

“We owe it to these American families to enforce our sanctions,” the letter read.

The U.S. Treasury has said Iran’s oil smuggling revenue supports the Quds Force, the expeditionary unit of the Revolutionary Guard that operates across the Mideast.

Claire Jungman, the chief of staff at United Against Nuclear Iran, praised the transfer finally happening.

“By depriving the (Guard) of crucial resources, we strike a blow against terrorism that targets not only American citizens but also our global allies and partners,” Jungman told the AP.

On Sunday, Iranian state media released still images from video that showed the USS Bataan with small Guard fast boats trailing it as it traveled through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the world’s oil passes. One image appeared to have been taken from a drone above the Bataan.

Cmdr. Rick Chernitzer, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, acknowledged to the AP that the Bataan had transited through the strait in recent days. He declined to elaborate.

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August 20, 2023
A tanker believed to hold sanctioned Iran oil starts offloading near Texas despite Tehran’s threats

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An American-owned oil tanker long suspected of carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil began offloading its cargo near Texas late Saturday, tracking data showed, even as Tehran has threatened to target shipping in the Persian Gulf over it.

Ship-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Marshall Islands-flagged Suez Rajan was undergoing a ship-to-ship transfer of its oil to another tanker, the MR Euphrates, near Galveston, some 70 kilometers (45 miles) southeast of Houston.

The fate of the cargo aboard the Suez Rajan has become mired in the wider tensions between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic, even as Tehran and Washington work toward a trade of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets in South Korea for the release of five Iranian-Americans held in Tehran.

Already, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has warned that those involved in offloading the cargo “should expect to be struck back.” The U.S. Navy has increased its presence steadily in recent weeks in the Mideast, sending the troop-and-aircraft-carrying USS Bataan through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days and considering putting armed personnel on commercial ships traveling through the strait to stop Iran from seizing additional ships.

U.S. officials and the owners of the Suez Rajan, the Los Angeles-based private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The saga over the Suez Rajan began in February 2022, when the group United Against Nuclear Iran said it suspected the tanker carried oil from Iran’s Khargh Island, its main oil distribution terminal in the Persian Gulf.

For months, the ship sat in the South China Sea off the northeast coast of Singapore before suddenly sailing for the Gulf of Mexico without explanation. Analysts believe the vessel’s cargo likely has been seized by American officials, though there still were no public court documents early Sunday involving the Suez Rajan.

In the meantime, Iran has seized two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, including one with cargo for U.S. oil major Chevron Corp. In July, the top commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s naval arm threatened further action against anyone offloading the Suez Rajan, with state media linking the recent seizures to the cargo’s fate.

“We hereby declare that we would hold any oil company that sought to unload our crude from the vessel responsible and we also hold America responsible,” Rear Adm. Alireza Tangsiri said at the time. “The era of hit and run is over, and if they hit, they should expect to be struck back.”

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the offloading of the Suez Rajan. The state-run IRNA news agency acknowledged this AP story, but did not elaborate. Western-backed naval organizations in the Persian Gulf in recent days also warned of an increased risk of ship seizures from Iran around the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers saw it regain the ability to sell oil openly on the international market. But in 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord and re-imposed American sanctions. That slammed the door on much of Iran’s lucrative crude oil trade, a major engine for its economy and its government. It also began a cat-and-mouse hunt for Iranian oil cargo — as well as series of escalating attacks attributed to Iran since 2019.

The delay in offloading the Suez Rajan’s cargo had become a political issue as well for the Biden administration as the ship had sat for months in the Gulf of Mexico, possibly due to companies being worried about the threat from Iran.

In a letter dated Wednesday, a group of Democratic and Republican U.S. senators asked the White House for an update on what was happening with the ship’s cargo, estimated to be worth some $56 million. They said the money could go toward the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund, which compensates those affected by the Sept. 11 attacks, the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and other militant assaults.

“We owe it to these American families to enforce our sanctions,” the letter read.

The U.S. Treasury has said Iran’s oil smuggling revenue supports the Quds Force, the expeditionary unit of the Revolutionary Guard that operates across the Mideast.

Claire Jungman, the chief of staff at United Against Nuclear Iran, praised the transfer finally happening.

“By depriving the (Guard) of crucial resources, we strike a blow against terrorism that targets not only American citizens but also our global allies and partners,” Jungman told the AP.

On Sunday, Iranian state media released still images from video that showed the USS Bataan with small Guard fast boats trailing it as it traveled through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the world’s oil passes. One image appeared to have been taken from a drone above the Bataan.

Cmdr. Rick Chernitzer, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, acknowledged to the AP that the Bataan had transited through the strait in recent days. He declined to elaborate.

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August 20, 2023
Ex-FBI counterintelligence official pleads guilty to conspiracy charge for helping Russian oligarch

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NEW YORK — A former high-ranking FBI counterintelligence official pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to violate sanctions on Russia by going to work, after he retired, for an oligarch he once investigated.

Appearing before a federal judge in New York City, Charles McGonigal, 55, said he was “deeply remorseful” for work he did in 2021 for the billionaire industrialist Oleg Deripaska.

McGonigal told the judge he accepted over $17,000 to help Deripaska collect derogatory information about another Russian oligarch who was a business competitor. Deripaska has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018 for reasons related to Russia’s occupation of Crimea.

McGonigal was also trying to help Deripaska get off the sanctions list, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Dell said, and was in negotiations along with co-conspirators to receive a fee of $650,000 to $3 million to hunt for electronic files revealing hidden assets of $500 million belonging to the oligarch’s business rival.

McGonigal pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiring to launder money and violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. He could face up to five years in prison. Judge Jennifer H. Rearden scheduled his sentencing for Dec. 14.

McGonigal, who lives in New York, is separately charged in federal court in Washington, D.C. with concealing at least $225,000 in cash he allegedly received from a former Albanian intelligence official while working for the FBI.

McGonigal was special agent in charge of the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York from 2016 to 2018. He supervised investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia later affirmed the sanctions against Deripaska, finding there was evidence he had acted as an agent of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

McGonigal, who became choked up at one point as he described his crime, said Deripaska funneled the $17,500 payment he received through a bank in Cypress and a corporation in New Jersey before it was transferred into his bank account.

“This, as you can imagine, has been a painful process not only for me, but for my friends, family and loved ones,” McGonigal said. “I take full responsibility as my actions were never intended to hurt the United States, the FBI and my family and friends.”

In a release, Matthew G. Olsen, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said, “McGonigal, by his own admission, betrayed his oath and actively concealed his illicit work at the bidding of a sanctioned Russian oligarch.”

“Today’s plea shows the Department of Justice’s resolve to pursue and dismantle the illegal networks that Russian oligarchs use to try to escape the reach of our sanctions and evade our laws,” he added.

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August 15, 2023
What’s behind the tentative US-Iran agreement involving prisoners and frozen funds

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States and Iran reached a tentative agreement this week that will eventually see five detained Americans in Iran and an unknown number Iranians imprisoned in the U.S. released from custody after billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets are transferred from banks in South Korea to Qatar.

The complex deal — which came together after months of indirect negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials — was announced on Thursday when Iran moved four of the five Americans from prison to house arrest. The fifth American had already been under house arrest.

Details of the money transfer, the timing of its completion and the ultimate release of both the American and Iranian prisoners remain unclear. However, U.S. and Iranian officials say they believe the agreement could be complete by mid- to late-September.

A look at what is known about the deal.

WHAT’S IN IT?

Under the tentative agreement, the U.S. has given its blessing to South Korea to convert frozen Iranian assets held there from the South Korean currency, the won, to euros.

That money then would be sent to Qatar, a small, energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that has been a mediator in the talks. The amount from Seoul could be anywhere from $6 billion to $7 billion, depending on exchange rates. The cash represents money South Korea owed Iran — but had not yet paid — for oil purchased before the Trump administration imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.

The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts and will only be able to be used for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear program.

Some in Iran have disputed the U.S. claim, saying that Tehran will have total control over the funds. Qatar has not commented publicly on how it will monitor the disbursement of the money.

In exchange, Iran is to release the five Iranian-Americans held as prisoners in the country. Currently, they are under guard at a hotel in Tehran, according to a U.S.-based lawyer advocating for one of them.

WHY WILL IT TAKE SO LONG?

Iran does not want the frozen assets in South Korean won, which is less convertible than euros or U.S. dollars. U.S. officials say that while South Korea is on board with the transfer it is concerned that converting $6 or $7 billion in won into other currencies at once will adversely affect its exchange rate and economy.

Thus, South Korea is proceeding slowly, converting smaller amounts of the frozen assets for the eventual transfer to the central bank in Qatar. In addition, as the money is transferred, it has to avoid touching the U.S. financial system where it could become subject to American sanctions. So a complicated and time-consuming series of transfers through third-country banks has been arranged.

WHO ARE THE DETAINED IRANIAN-AMERICANS?

The identities of three of the five prisoners have been made public. It remains unclear who the other two are. The American government has described them as wanting to keep their identities private and Iran has not named them either.

The three known are Siamak Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on internationally criticized spying charges. Another is Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist serving a 10-year sentence.

The third is Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.

Those advocating for their release describe them as wrongfully detained and innocent. Iran has used prisoners with Western ties as bargaining chips in negotiations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

WHY IS THIS DEAL HAPPENING NOW?

For Iran, years of American sanctions following former U.S. President Donald Trump‘s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers has crushed its already-anemic economy.

Previous claims of progress in talks over the frozen assets have provided only short-term boosts to Iran’s hobbled rial currency.

The release of that money, even if only disbursed under strict circumstances, could provide an economic boost.

For the U.S., the administration of President Joe Biden has tried to get Iran back into the deal, which fell apart after Trump’s 2018 withdrawal. Last year, countries involved in the initial agreement offered Tehran what was described as their last, best roadmap to restore the accord. Iran did not accept it.

Still, Iran hawks in Congress and outside critics of the 2015 nuclear deal have criticized the new arrangement. Former Vice President Mike Pence and the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jim Risch, as well as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have all compared the money transfer to paying a ransom and said the Biden administration is encouraging Iran to continue taking prisoners.

WILL THE U.S. RELEASE IRANIAN PRISONERS HELD IN AMERICA?

On Friday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry made a point of bringing up those prisoners. American officials have declined to comment on who or how many Iranian prisoners might be released in a final agreement. But Iranian media in the past identified several prisoners with cases tied to violations of U.S. export laws and restrictions on doing business with Iran.

Those alleged violations include the transfer of money through Venezuela and sales of dual-use equipment that the U.S. says could be used in Iran’s military and nuclear programs.

DOES THIS MEAN IRAN-U.S. TENSIONS ARE EASING?

No. Outside of the tensions over the nuclear deal and Iran’s atomic ambitions, a series of attacks and ship seizures in the Mideast have been attributed to Tehran since 2019.

The Pentagon is considering a plan to put U.S. troops on board to guard commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil shipments pass moving out of the Persian Gulf.

A major deployment of U.S. sailors and Marines, alongside F-35s, F-16s and other aircraft, is also underway in the region. Meanwhile, Iran supplies Russia with the bomb-carrying drones Moscow uses to target sites in Ukraine amid its war on Kyiv.

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Lee reported from Washington.

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August 11, 2023
Niger faces crippling sanctions after coup as one of the last democracies in the Sahel crumbles

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NIAMEY, Niger — West African nations have announced travel and economic sanctions against Niger and have threatened to use force if the leaders of a coup don’t reinstate the democratically elected president within one week.

The sanctions announced after the regional bloc known as ECOWAS convened to respond to last week’s military takeover add to a growing list of penalties against the country, one of the least developed in the world, according to the latest U.N. Human Development Index. Niger relies heavily on foreign aid: analysts fear sanctions could further impoverish its 25 million people.

“In the event the authority’s demands are not met within one week, (the bloc will) take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger. Such measures may include the use of force,” the ECOWAS bloc said in a statement after its meeting on Sunday. One of its demands is the immediate release and reinstatement of Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum, who remains under house arrest and has yet to resign.

Niger, a former French colony, had been regarded by the West as one of the last democratic partners in the Sahel region in its battle against Islamic extremists. The European Union and the United States have poured millions of dollars in military aid and assistance into the country. The French and the US provide training to Niger’s forces and the French military does joint operations in the north.

ECOWAS suspended all commercial and financial transactions between its member states and Niger, as well as freezing Nigerien assets held in regional central banks. Economic sanctions could have a deep impact on Nigeriens: the country relies on imports from Nigeria for up to 90% of its power, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

The sanctions could be disastrous and Niger needs to find a solution to avoid them, the country’s Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou told French media outlet Radio France Internationale on Sunday.

“When people say there’s an embargo, land borders are closed, air borders are closed, it’s extremely difficult for people … Niger is a country that relies heavily on the international community,” he said.

The 15-nation ECOWAS bloc has unsuccessfully tried to restore democracies in nations where the military took power in recent years. Four nations are run by military governments in West and Central Africa, where there have been nine successful or attempted coups since 2020.

In the 1990s, ECOWAS intervened in Liberia during its civil war. In 2017, it intervened in Gambia to prevent the new president’s predecessor, Yahya Jammeh, from disrupting the handover of power. Around 7,000 troops from Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal entered the country, according to the Global Observatory, which provides analysis on peace and security issues.

If the regional bloc uses force, it could trigger violence not only between Niger and ECOWAS forces but also between civilians supporting the coup and those against it, Niger analysts say.

“While this remains to be a threat and unlikely action, the consequences on civilians of such an approach if putschists chose confrontation would be catastrophic,” said Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Morocco-based think tank.

Lyammouri also said he does not see a “military intervention happening because of the violence that could trigger.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken commended Sunday the resolve of the ECOWAS leadership to “defend constitutional order in Niger” after the sanctions announcement, and joined the bloc in calling for the immediate release of Bazoum and his family.

The military junta, which seized power on Wednesday when members of the presidential guard surrounded Bazoum’s house and detained him, is already cracking down on the government and civil liberties.

On Sunday evening it arrested four government officials, including Mahamane Sani Mahamadou, the minister of petroleum and son of former President Mahamadou Issoufou; Kassoum Moctar, minister of education; Ousseini Hadizatou Yacouba, the minister of mines, and Foumakoye Gado, the president of the ruling party. That’s according to someone close to the president, who was not authorized to speak about the situation, and a Nigerien analyst who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal.

The same night, junta spokesman Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane said on state television that all government cars must be returned by midday Monday and banned the use of social media to diffuse messages against state security. He also claimed that Bazoum’s government had authorized the French to carry out strikes to free Bazoum. The Associated Press can’t verify his allegations.

Bazoum has yet to resign. He is still being detained and believed to be in his house in the capital, Niamey. The first photos of him since the coup appeared Sunday evening, sitting on a couch smiling beside Chad’s President Mahamat Deby, who had flown in to mediate between the government and the junta.

In anticipation of the ECOWAS decision Sunday, thousands of pro-junta supporters took to the streets in Niamey, denouncing France, waving Russian flags and telling the international community to stay away.

Demonstrators in Niger are openly resentful of France, and Russia is seen by some as a powerful alternative. The nature of Moscow’s involvement in the rallies, if any, isn’t clear, but some protesters have carried Russian flags, along with signs reading “Down with France” and supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The situation of this country is not good … It’s time for change, and change has arrived,” said Moussa Seydou, a protester. “What we want from the putschists — all they have to do is improve social conditions so that Nigeriens can live better in this country and bring peace,” he said.

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July 31, 2023
China demands US invite Hong Kong leader to economic meeting, adding to strains over crackdown

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HONG KONG — The Chinese government on Friday demanded the United States invite Hong Kong’s leader to an economic conference following a news report that Chief Executive John Lee would be barred due to his role in crushing the city’s pro-democracy movement.

The conflict threatens to complicate Washington’s efforts to revive relations that are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes about security, technology, human rights and other irritants.

The Washington Post, citing unidentified U.S. officials, said Lee would be barred from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in San Francisco in November due to sanctions imposed on him in 2020. Lee oversaw the crackdown as Hong Kong’s top police official before he was named chief executive last year.

The United States and other governments have accused Beijing of violating promises of autonomy and Western-style civil liberties after the former British colony returned to China in 1997.

The foreign ministry demanded Washington lift the “illegal and unreasonable” sanctions on Lee, which it called “bullying that seriously violates the basic norms of international relations.” It accused Washington of “undermining the solidarity and cooperation” of the regional forum.

“We demand that the U.S. side immediately correct its wrong move, lift the sanctions against the chief executive and other officials of the SAR, fulfil the due responsibility as APEC host, invite Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to the meeting,” said a ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning.

Lee’s office in Hong Kong said the United States is “obliged to fulfil its basic responsibilities as a host” and should follow the usual APEC practice by inviting him.

“APEC meetings do not belong to any country or economy,” the office said in a statement.

The Washington Post cited U.S. officials as saying Hong Kong could send another representative to APEC.

Washington has launched a flurry of diplomatic missions to restore dialogue suspended by Beijing, mainly over U.S. support for the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan, which the mainland’s ruling Communist Party claims as part of its territory.

Officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and climate envoy John Kerry have traveled to China for meetings.

Chinese officials have demanded concessions, including changes in U.S. dealings with Taiwan, but have given given no indication Beijing might change trade, strategic or other policies that irk Washington and China’s Asian neighbors and other trading partners.

In a July 20 meeting with Henry Kissinger, a former U.S. secretary of state who has been used by Beijing to convey messages to Washington, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said both sides need to make decisions that could result in stable ties and joint success and prosperity.

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Associated Press video producer Liu Zheng in Beijing contributed.

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July 28, 2023
Japanese, US and South Korean officials condemn the North’s weapons plans but urge dialogue

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Japanese, U.S. and South Korean senior officials have condemned North Korea for its recent ICBM-class ballistic missile launches

ByMARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim speaks during the trilateral meeting with Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General for Asian and Oceanian Affairs Takehiro Funakoshi and South Korea’s Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Kim Gunn in Karuizawa, Nagano prefecture, Japan Thursday, July 20, 2023. (Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool Photo via AP)

The Associated Press

TOKYO — Senior officials from Japan, the U.S. and South Korea condemned North Korea over its recent ICBM-class ballistic missile launches and vowed to step up their trilateral cooperation to strengthen deterrence and sanctions against the North, while stressing the need for dialogue with Pyongyang.

Their meeting Thursday in the central Japanese city of Karuizawa comes days after North Korea’s solid-fuel ICBM launch last week, which landed in the water off the western coast of Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido and one day after the launch of two missiles on Wednesday.

The U.S. special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, also said that the United States was “working hard” to gather information about an American soldier who fled to the North earlier this month. The U.S. was seeking to ensure his safety and return him home, Kim said.

Pvt. Travis King, 23, had been held in South Korea on assault charges and was released on July 10 after serving his time. He was taken to the airport Monday but did not board his flight home. Instead, he joined a tourist trip to the border and bolted to the North Korean side.

Kim said he and his Japanese counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, director general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at the Foreign Ministry, and South Korea’s Kim Gunn, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, were to also discuss their leaders’ summit planned for next month in the United States.

In his opening remarks, Japan’s Funakoshi said Tokyo seeks to further strengthen the three-way security cooperation to enhance deterrence and implement sanctions against the North over its missile advancement in violation to the United Naitons’ Security Council resolutions. However, he also stressed the need for dialogue with the North.

He reiterated that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “without any preconditions” to resolve the decades-old issue of North Korea’s abductions of Japanese nationals.

Sung Kim said the United States had “no hostile intent” and that “we are willing and ready to sit down at the negotiating table to work through our differences.”

South Korea’s Kim said the three officials were to affirm their intent for dialogue with North Korea, while discussing ways to strengthen “close communication to bring North Korea back to the path to denuclearization and to encourage China’s constructive role.”

He noted the start of this week’s launch of a nuclear consultation between Seoul and Washington, saying North Korea “undermined its own security”, while its attempt to intimidate the two allies only upgraded their cooperation on nuclear deterrence.

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July 20, 2023
US imposes new sanctions aimed at choking off Russia’s access to battlefield supplies and revenue

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The U.S. has imposed sanctions on roughly 120 firms and people in an effort to choke off Moscow’s access to products, money and financial channels that support its continued invasion of Ukraine

ByFATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press

In this image provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services work at a scene of a destroyed residential area after a Russian attack in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Thursday, July 20, 2023. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The U.S. on Thursday imposed sanctions on roughly 120 firms and people from Russia to the United Arab Emirates to Kyrgyzstan in an effort to choke off Moscow’s access to products, money and financial channels that support its invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions imposed by the Treasury and State departments target dozens of Russian mining, technology and munitions firms and commercial banks. In addition, a group of Kyrgyzstan-based electronics firms and its leadership were targeted as exporters of components and other technology to Russia.

A UAE-based engineering company that sent dozens of shipments of electronics to Russia was also sanctioned.

The latest sanctions build on those imposed on Russia when the U.S. and other Group of Seven nations rolled out a wave of global actions during a Japan summit in May.

“Since Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States, working with our allies and partners, has taken unprecedented steps to impose costs on Russia and promote accountability for the individuals and entities who support its illegal war,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

“We will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” he said.

After the invasion’s one-year anniversary in February, U.S. officials said Russia’s metals and mining sector would be a focus of future sanctions actions, as well as reducing Russia’s energy revenues through the imposition of a price cap on Russian oil.

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said Thursday’s actions represent “another step in our efforts to constrain Russia’s military capabilities, its access to battlefield supplies, and its economic bottom line.”

“As long as Russia continues to wage its unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine, we will impose sanctions to deprive Russia of the technology it needs and disrupt the Russian arms industry’s ability to resupply,” Adeyemo said in a statement.

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July 20, 2023
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol makes surprise visit to Ukraine

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KYIV, Ukraine — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Saturday, offering an apparent show of support for the country in its war against Russia.

Yoon’s office said he traveled to Ukraine with his wife, Kim Keon Hee, following trips to Lithuania for a NATO summit and to Poland. It’s his first visit since Russia invaded Ukraine almost 17 months ago.

Yoon toured Bucha and Irpin, a pair of small cities near Kyiv where bodies of civilians were found in the streets and mass graves after Russian troops retreated from the capital region last year. He laid flowers at a monument to the country’s war dead.

The South Korean leader was scheduled to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later in the day, Yoon’s senior adviser for press affairs, Kim Eun-hye, said in a statement.

South Korea, a key U.S. ally in Asia, joined international sanctions against Russia and has provided Ukraine with humanitarian and financial support to Ukraine.

But the Asian nation, a growing arms exporter, has not provided weapons to Ukraine Ukraine in line with its long-standing policy of not supplying arms to countries actively engaged in conflict.

Earlier this month, Yoon said in written responses to questions from The Associated Press that supplies of de-mining equipment, ambulances and other non-military materials “are in the works” following a request from Ukraine.

He said South Korea already provided support to replace the Kakhovka Dam, which was destroyed last month. The Russian and Ukrainian governments have accused the other of blowing up the dam, but the evidence suggests Russia had more of a motive to cause deadly flooding, endanger crops and threaten drinking water supplies in a contested part of Ukraine.

“The government of the Republic of Korea is firmly committed to actively joining the United States and other liberal democracies in international efforts to defend the freedom of Ukraine,” Yoon said in written responses to the AP.

During a January visit to South Korea, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called for the country to provide direct military support to Ukraine, saying Kyiv was in urgent need of weapons to fight off the prolonged Russian invasion.

In May, when Yoon met Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska in Seoul, the president said he would expand South Korea’s non-lethal aid to Ukraine. Yoon’s spokesperson, Lee Do Woon, said at the time that Zelenska made no request for South Korean weapons supplies during her conversation with Yoon.

Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, South Korea has reached billions of dollars worth of deals to provide tanks, howitzers, fighter jets and other weapons systems to NATO member Poland.

An American official said in November that the United States had agreed to buy 100,000 artillery rounds from South Korean manufacturers to provide to Ukraine, although South Korean officials have maintained that the munitions were meant to refill depleted U.S. stocks.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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July 15, 2023
Iran’s president begins a rare visit to Africa ‘to promote economic diplomacy’

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NAIROBI, Kenya — Iran’s president has begun a rare visit to Africa as his country, which is under heavy U.S. economic sanctions, seeks to deepen partnerships around the world.

President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to Kenya on Wednesday is the first to the African continent by an Iranian leader in more than a decade. He is also expected to visit Uganda and Zimbabwe and meet with the presidents there.

Africa is a “continent of opportunities” and a great platform for Iranian products, Raisi told journalists in a briefing. He didn’t take questions. “None of us is satisfied with the current volume of trade,” he said.

Iran’s leader specifically mentioned Africa’s mineral resources and Iran’s petrochemical experience, but the five memoranda of understanding signed on Wednesday by the Islamic Republic and Kenya appeared not to address either one. Instead, they addressed information, communication and technology; fisheries; animal health and livestock production and investment promotion.

Kenyan President William Ruto called Iran a “critical strategic partner” and “global innovation powerhouse.” He expressed interest in expanding Kenya’s agricultural exports to Iran and Central Asia well beyond tea.

Iran also intends to set up a manufacturing plant for Iranian vehicles in Kenya’s port city of Mombasa, Ruto said,

Raisi’s Africa visit is meant to “promote economic diplomacy, strengthen political relations with friendly and aligned countries, and diversify the export destinations,” Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement upon his arrival.

Last month, Iran’s leader made his first visit to Latin America, stopping in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

In March, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties in a major diplomatic breakthrough.

Iran is in a growing standoff with Western nations over its nuclear program, which has made major advances in the five years since then-U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew his country from an international agreement that restricted it. Trump also restored sanctions on Iran that have contributed to a severe economic crisis.

The U.S. last month accused Iran of providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant as Moscow seeks weaponry for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Iran has said it provided drones to Russia before the start of the war but not since.

Kenya is East Africa’s economic hub and an ally of the U.S., with President Joe Biden’s wife, Jill, visiting the country early this year. Last year, the U.S. and Kenya signed a memorandum of understanding on “strategic civil nuclear cooperation.” Kenya has expressed interest in using nuclear power for energy production.

Under Ruto, Kenya is struggling with debt and rising cost of living, with more protests expected on Wednesday in the capital, Nairobi, and elsewhere.

Few details have been released about the Iranian leader’s visit to Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, a U.S. ally on security matters, has previously voiced support for Iran’s controversial nuclear program. During a 2010 visit by former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Museveni asserted that all sovereign countries had a right to pursue peaceful nuclear programs even as he urged the eradication of all nuclear arsenals.

Uganda is trying to set up a nuclear power plant that authorities this year said would be generating electricity by 2031. The plant, which is being developed with the technical support of the China National Nuclear Corporation, would exploit the East African country’s substantial deposits of uranium.

Zimbabwe, like Iran, is under U.S. sanctions. A ministerial delegation from Zimbabwe visited Tehran early this year and agreed to deepen cooperation in areas includiung petroleum trade.

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Associated Press writers Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda, and Farai Mutsaka in Harare, Zimbabwe, contributed to this report.

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July 12, 2023
Serbian president says the real reason for US sanctions against Serbian spy chief is his Russia ties

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Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic says the real reason why the country’s intelligence chief is facing U.S. sanctions is his position toward Russia and not corruption allegations

FILE – Serbian spy chief Aleksandar Vulin listens during a press conference of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic says the real reason why the country’s intelligence agency chief is facing U.S. sanctions is his position toward Russia and not corruption allegations. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)

The Associated Press

BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia’s president said Wednesday the real reason why the country’s intelligence chief is facing U.S. sanctions is his position toward Russia and not corruption allegations.

The U.S. on Tuesday imposed sanctions on Aleksandar Vulin, accusing him of involvement in illegal arms shipments, drug trafficking and misuse of public office.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Vulin used his public authority to help U.S.-sanctioned Serbian arms dealer Slobodan Tesic move illegal arms shipments across Serbia’s borders. Vulin is also accused of involvement in a drug trafficking ring, the Treasury said.

“Sanctions have not been imposed on Aleksandar Vulin for any crime, corruption or anything,” Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic said. “The sanctions were imposed because of his position toward the Russian Federation.”

Serbia is a candidate for European Union membership, but has maintained friendly relations with Moscow.

Vulin, who is openly pro-Russian, was appointed spy chief for the Balkan state last year.

Vulin previously served as Serbia’s interior minister. In that role, he visited Moscow last August, a rare visit by a European state official that underscored Belgrade’s refusal to join Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Vulin then told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that “Serbia is the only state in Europe that didn’t introduce sanctions and was not part of the anti-Russian hysteria.”

Vulin’s ouster has been among the demands of weekslong street protests in Serbia that erupted in the wake of two mass shootings in early May.

Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, said the U.S. “will continue to hold accountable those who further their political agenda and personal gain at the expense of peace and stability in the Western Balkans and advance Russia’s malign activities in Serbia and the region.”

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July 12, 2023
European Union countries agree on a new package of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine

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European Union countries have agreed on a new package of sanctions against Russia for its war against Ukraine

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses the opening session on the first day of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. Ukraine’s allies pledged several billion dollars in non-military aid on Wednesday to rebuild its war-ravaged infrastructure, fight corruption and help pave the country’s road to membership in the European Union. (Henry Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)

The Associated Press

BRUSSELS — European Union countries on Wednesday agreed on a new package of sanctions against Russia for its war against Ukraine.

Sweden, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said that the package includes measures aimed at countering sanctions circumvention and individual listings.

Details of the measures will be unveiled later this week when the sanctions are officially adopted by written procedure.

The EU had previously imposed 10 rounds of sanctions on Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Banks, companies and markets have been hit — even parts of the sensitive energy sector. More than 1,000 officials are subject to asset freezes and travel bans.

Much work has involved closing loopholes so that goods vital to Putin’s war effort don’t get through.

However, it is the first time that plans have been announced to target trade via other countries, apart from sanctions against Iranians alleged to be supplying drones to Russia.

Past sanctions have been agreed on in just months — extremely quickly for the EU. But new measures are becoming increasingly hard to endorse as they inflict damage on the economic and political interests of some member countries even as they aim for the Kremlin.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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June 21, 2023
Why haven’t China and the US agreed to restore military contacts?

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TAIPEI, Taiwan — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has wrapped up a closely watched visit to Beijing during which he and President Xi Jinping pledged to stabilize plunging U.S-China ties. But China refused the biggest U.S. request: restoring military-to-military contacts.

Blinken said he raised the issue of military communications “repeatedly” but was rebuffed by the Chinese. “It is absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications,” he said, adding that it was something the United States will “keep working on.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and President Joe Biden have called often over the past few months for China to reestablish military communication channels with the U.S.

WHY DID CHINA HALT MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS?

China suspended regular contacts with the U.S. military last August after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, challenging Beijing’s principle that other countries should refrain from official exchanges with self-governing Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.

But the problem existed even before Pelosi’s visit. The U.S. says China has declined or failed to respond to over a dozen requests from the Department of Defense for top-level dialogues since 2021.

WHY DOES THE U.S. WANT TO RESTORE MILITARY CONTACTS?

The U.S. and other nations fear a potential accident involving the U.S. and Chinese militaries that could spiral out of control. In recent months, as tensions between Washington and Beijing have accelerated over a range of issues, including a suspected Chinese spy balloon over U.S. territory, there were several near-collisions of Chinese and U.S. military vessels and aircraft.

In early June, a Chinese warship unexpectedly cut in front of a U.S. destroyer in the Taiwan Strait, forcing it to slow down to avoid impact. Days earlier, a Chinese fighter jet flew in front of a U.S. warplane over the South China Sea in a maneuver the U.S. described as “unnecessarily aggressive.”

Washington wants to avoid an incident like one in 2001, when a U.S. Navy aircraft and a Chinese interceptor jet collided in mid-air off the Chinese island of Hainan, leading to the Chinese pilot’s death and the U.S. aircraft forced to make an emergency landing in Hainan without Chinese approval.

“The most important thing for the U.S. side is to avoid these accidents,” said Li Nan, a visiting senior fellow who researches China’s military policy at the National University of Singapore.

WHY IS CHINA PUSHING BACK?

China has attributed its refusal to restart military communications to sanctions imposed by Washington, a possible reference to sanctions on its defense minister, Li Shangfu. They were part of a broad package of measures against Russia, predating its invasion of Ukraine, imposed in 2018 over Li’s involvement in China’s purchase of combat aircraft and anti-aircraft missiles from Moscow.

“The U.S. side is surely aware of why there is difficulty in military-to-military exchanges,” said Yang Tao, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official overseeing North American affairs, during a briefing Monday following Blinken’s visit. “One of the reasons is unilateral sanctions against the Chinese side. They first need to remove impediments and create conditions for military-to-military cooperation.”

Li earlier this month declined an invitation to speak with Austin, his U.S. counterpart, on the sidelines of a defense forum in Singapore. The two officials did shake hands before sitting down at the same table during the forum, a gesture Austin said would not suffice. “A cordial handshake over dinner is no substitute for a substantive engagement,” he said.

The U.S. says the sanctions don’t prevent Li from holding talks with U.S. officials. But culturally, Chinese officials may expect a form of public remedy before agreeing to re-engage after sanctions, said Li Nan of the National University of Singapore.

“You impose sanctions on the guy, and then you also want to have dialogue with the guy,” he said. “From the Chinese perspective, that doesn’t make any sense.”

China is also pushing back against NATO’s increased collaboration with countries in the Asia-Pacific region -– including Australia, Japan and New Zealand -– which Beijing considers part of its own sphere of influence, said Willy Lam, an adjunct professor of China studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT HOW THE COUNTRIES SEE THEIR RELATIONSHIP?

Xi said after his meeting with Blinken on Monday that “The competition among major countries is not in line with the trend of the times,” according to the Foreign Ministry.

Beijing instead sees U.S. policies toward China, such as curbing its access to important technology, as attempts to contain its rise.

“The United States and China are in a sense talking past each other,” said Paul Haenle, a National Security Council official in the Bush and Obama administrations. “At the highest level, there is still not agreement … in terms of how to two major powers should interact, and I think that will make it difficult for the two sides going forward.”

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June 20, 2023
Russia bans ‘unfriendly’ countries’ journalists from showpiece economic gathering

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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Saturday that journalists from countries that Russia regards as unfriendly have been banned from covering this year’s economic forum in St. Petersburg, one of the country’s showpiece events

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Saturday that journalists from countries that Russia regards as unfriendly have been banned from covering this year’s economic forum in St. Petersburg, one of the country’s showpiece events.

The move underlines the intensifying animosity between Russia and countries that have imposed sanctions connected to the fighting in Ukraine or that have criticized Moscow.

The June 14-17 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum has for decades been Russia’s vehicle for touting its development and seeking investors. Putin’s appearances at the forum have been highly visible and he often used the occasion to hold roundtable discussions with international news executives.

“Yes, indeed. It was decided not to accredit media outlets from unfriendly countries to the SPIEF this time,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as telling state news agency Tass.

Russia formally designates scores of countries including the United States, Canada, European Union members and Australia as “unfriendly” in connection with sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine.

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June 3, 2023
Poland imposes sanctions on 365 Belarusians over ‘draconian’ verdict against journalist

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Poland has imposed sanctions on 365 Belarusian citizens and frozen the financial assets of other entities and people associated with Russian capital

WARSAW, Poland — Poland imposed sanctions Monday on 365 Belarusian citizens and froze the financial assets of 20 entities and 16 other people associated with Russian capital in reaction to what it condemned as a “draconian” verdict against a journalist.

Under the sanctions announced by Poland’s Interior Ministry, the 365 Belarusians will be barred from entering the Schengen area, an area of visa-free travel in Europe. The group includes lawmakers, judges, prosecutors, members of state media, athletes and people working for state enterprises.

The move is the latest development amid a tense relationship between Poland, a member of NATO and the European Union, and Belarus, a country on its northeastern border that is allied with Russia and led by an authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, who has held power since 1994.

“These people promoted the Belarusian regime and were also involved in legitimizing and supporting the repressive policy of the authorities in Minsk. They are also responsible for the politically motivated sentence against Andrzej Poczobut, issued on false charges,” the Interior Ministry said.

Belarus’ Supreme Court on Friday upheld an eight-year prison sentence against Poczobut, a prominent member of the country’s sizable Polish minority and a correspondent for a top newspaper in Poland.

The rulings against Poczobut, a 50-year-old reporter with Poland’s liberal Gazeta Wyborcza daily, is seen as part of the Belarusian government’s sweeping crackdown on opposition figures, human rights activists and independent reporters.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called Poland’s move “an important gesture of solidarity with Andrzej Poczobut and all Belarusians who suffer at the hands of the regime.”

“All political prisoners must be released from prison without any conditions,” Tsikhanouskaya said. “It is also a message to all those who support the regime with their positions and actions. We hope that other countries will follow this example, and those responsible for political court verdicts will be held accountable for their actions.”

As Poland announced the sanctions, migrants were stuck at Poland’s border wall with Belarus. Polish human rights activists said that they heard from the migrants that the Belarusian forces would not let them turn back. Meanwhile, Polish authorities would not allow them in to request asylum.

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May 29, 2023
Belarus opposition group urges EU to maintain sanctions on Belarus state companies

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A member of the Belarus opposition movement is calling on the European Union to maintain sanctions against a Belarusian state fertilizer producer

ByVANESSA GERA Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland — A member of the Belarus opposition movement urged the European Union on Monday to keep sanctions against a Belarusian state fertilizer producer, warning that lifting them would generate a $1.5 billion windfall for Alexander Lukashenko’s regime as it supports Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Pavel Latushka, a former Belarusian minister of culture who is now in exile in Poland, said that he fears the EU might be tempted to lift sanctions against Belaruskali, a producer of potash.

Latushka heads an opposition group, the National Anti-Crisis Management, which has been documenting what it alleges is Lukashenko’s participation in a scheme to deport Ukrainian orphans to camps in Belarus.

The team has been working to bring international attention to its findings in an attempt to stop the deportations and hold Lukashenko to account.

“Belaruskali is the firm that finances the deportation of Ukrainian children,” Latushka, who was sentenced to 18 years of prison in absentia in March by a court in Belarus, told The Associated Press.

His appeal comes as EU foreign ministers were meeting Monday for informal talks expected to focus on sanctions against Belaruskali and the Belarusian Potash Company, which exports Belaruskali’s products.

“This is an opportunity for Lukashenko to generate at least one and a half billion dollars in revenue each year, which he will spend on the war,” Latushka said.

The group alleges that the Ukrainian orphans deported to Belarus undergo a process of Russification before being sent to Russia for adoption, something they say amounts to violations of the Geneva conventions against war crimes.

Latushka and his team are collecting evidence and bringing it to international organizations, hoping that the International Criminal Court will issue an arrest warrant for Lukashenko as it did for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The ICC in March issued arrest warrants for both Putin and his commissioner for children’s rights, with judges in The Hague saying that they found “reasonable grounds to believe” the two are were responsible for war crimes, specifically the unlawful deportation and unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.

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May 22, 2023
Sanctions against Russia and what the G7 may do to fortify them

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HIROSHIMA, Japan — The Group of Seven advanced economies are expected to announce a new set of sanctions against Russia to try to further hinder its war effort in Ukraine during their summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

In traveling to Japan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will help to drive home the need to better enforce measures meant to stifle Moscow’s war machine.

Russia is now the most-sanctioned country in the world, but there are questions about their effectiveness. EU Council President Charles Michel said the plan was to close loopholes and ensure the sanctions are painful for Russia, not for the countries enforcing them.

Here’s a look at what may be next, the sanctions so far, and the impact they have had on Russia’s economy and military effort.

WHAT THE G7 MIGHT DO

Michel said the 27-nation EU was focused on “shutting the door on loopholes and continuing to cut Russia off from critical supplies.” It is working on a plan to restrict trade in Russian diamonds and trace the trade to prevent Russia from skirting the restrictions. Russia exports about $4 billion worth of rough diamonds a year, nearly a third of the world’s total, and the lion’s share are cut and polished in India. The new sanctions follow an online summit in February where G7 leaders pledged to intensify enforcement through their sanctions watchdog Enforcement Coordination Mechanism to improve information sharing and enforcement. It has pledged to impose “severe costs” on other countries that evade or undermine them. “We will starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its war machine,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said.

CHINA ON THE LIST?

Some Chinese companies that are thought to be supplying components to Russia that can be used for military equipment are on the list of entities that might be sanctioned, an EU official said Saturday. China has so far not joined other countries in announcing any restrictions on trade with Russia, but it also has refrained from providing weapons or other materiel.

WHAT THE G7 AND OTHER WESTERN NATIONS HAVE DONE SO FAR

The list is long and growing longer.

On Friday, the United Kingdom announced new sanctions targeting Russian seizures of Ukrainian grain, advanced military technology and Moscow’s remaining revenue sources. It froze assets of 86 more individuals and entities including companies connected to Rosatom that support President Vladimir Putin’s war effort. Russian sovereign assets will stay frozen until “Russia agrees to pay for the damage it has caused in Ukraine,” the British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said in a statement.

The U.S. began by targeting members of Putin’s inner circle and their families and banks considered crucial to the Kremlin and Russia’s military. The U.S. also moved to limit Russia’s power to raise money abroad. Sanctions are imposed on individuals listed on a Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List through the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The list has expanded to include people and companies around the globe allegedly involved in supporting Russia’s military. It works with the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs Task Force, a multi-agency group that cooperates with other countries to investigate and prosecute oligarchs and others allied with Putin.

On Friday, the Department of State announced new sanctions on more than 200 entities, individuals, vessels and aircraft, targeting Russia’s energy, military, technology, and metals and mining sectors. They also focused on entities and people involved in unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children and seizures of Ukrainian grain.

The EU has enforced sanctions largely in line with those imposed by the U.S., Britain and Canada. Since all 27 of its members must agree unanimously, the process can be a bit slower, officials say. The EU has imposed 10 rounds of sanctions on Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24. Banks, companies and the energy sector have been hit. Well over 1,000 officials are subject to asset freezes and travel bans.

Japan stepped up its sanctions in February, freezing assets of Russians and Russian companies and suspending visas for some. It froze the assets of some financial institutions and banned exports of items that can be used for military purposes, dual-use goods, some commodities and semiconductors.

Canada has sanctioned dozens of Russians and Russian companies, including leaders of Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom and six energy sector entities.

WHY THEY SAY MORE SANCTIONS ARE NEEDED

G7 officials say they are seeing more and more evasion of sanctions. “High tech exports to third countries, from micro-processors and sensors for Russian cruise missiles to chips in military communications equipment, make their way onwards to Russia and end up in weapons used against Ukraine on the battlefield. We must put a stop to this,” von der Leyen said Friday.

THE IMPACT OF SANCTIONS SO FAR

Western sanctions have hit Russian banks, wealthy individuals and technology imports. Initially, the ruble plunged, foreign businesses fled and prices soared. A top Treasury Department official said U.S. sanctions and export controls have degraded Russia’s ability to replace more than 9,000 pieces of military equipment lost in the war. But economic life for ordinary Russians hasn’t changed much.

Russia’s exports to China, India and Turkey have surged since sanctions were imposed following the invasion of Ukraine, while those to Western countries and their allies Japan and South Korea have fallen sharply. The sanctions on Russian fossil fuels — such as the price cap on oil — have worked but their impact has been blunted by surging exports to China and India. Russia has managed to continue importing computer chips and other high tech items from the U.S. that have been routed through other transit points like Hong Kong and Taiwan.

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May 19, 2023