In this image made from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on July 16, 2024, a Russian tank fires toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location.
| Photo Credit: AP

The Kremlin on July 16 gave a cautious reaction to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s apparent invitation to a future peace summit, saying that Russia first needs to understand what Kyiv means before attending talks.

Mr. Zelensky said on July 15 that Russia “should” be represented at a second summit on the Ukraine conflict, a change of tone from last month when Kyiv excluded Moscow from a high-level peace conference in Switzerland.

“The first peace summit was not a peace summit at all. So perhaps it is necessary to first understand what he means,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Zvezda television channel, responding to Mr. Zelensky’s comments.

Leaders and top officials from more than 90 countries gathered at the Swiss mountainside resort of Burgenstock in June for the first summit, which Russia derided as a waste of time.

Both Russia and Ukraine are worlds apart on the terms of a possible peace settlement to end the more than two year conflict.

Moscow insists it must keep all the territory it now occupies — some 20% of the country — while Kyiv demands all Russian soldiers retreat from Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders, including the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

‘Not worried’

Washington said on July 15 that it backed Ukraine’s decision to invite Russia to a second summit, but expressed doubt about whether Moscow was ready for talks.

“When they want to invite Russia to that summit, of course, that is something we support,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told journalists.

“We have always supported diplomacy when Ukraine is ready, but it has never been clear that the Kremlin is ready for actual diplomacy,” he said.

Ahead of last month’s summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was open for negotiations and would announce a ceasefire immediately if Kyiv effectively surrendered territory that Moscow claims as its own.

Mr. Zelensky slammed Mr. Putin’s demands as a territorial “ultimatum” reminiscent of those issued by Adolf Hitler, and Ukraine’s Western backers including the U.S. reacted with scorn.

But there is growing apprehension in Kyiv about the long-term trajectory of the conflict, given Russia’s recent battlefield gains and the potential for a Donald Trump victory in November’s U.S. elections.

Mr. Zelensky said on July 15 he was “not worried” about the prospect of Mr. Trump winning and that he was still counting on support from the U.S., Ukraine’s biggest financial and military backer.

EDITORIAL | Talking peace: On Ukraine and the Switzerland organised peace conference 

But the Republican Party candidate has suggested he would end the conflict very quickly if he won back the presidency, a promise Kyiv fears would mean being forced to negotiate with Moscow from a weakened position.

Russia has no incentive to take part in diplomatic conferences since it is making progress on the front, albeit slowly, said the director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Alexander Gabuev.

“Russia will seek to use this window for as long as it’s there. All these Ukrainian statements are unlikely to lead to any practical changes in diplomacy,” he told AFP.

Kyiv:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that Russia should be represented at a second summit aiming to secure lasting peace with the Kremlin, after more than two years of war.

Dozens of world leaders voiced support for a just peace in Ukraine after a high-level summit convened by Zelensky last month in Switzerland, to which Russia was not invited.

“I believe that Russian representatives should be at the second summit,” Zelensky told a press conference in Kyiv, where he laid out preparatory work for a follow-up summit.

Zelensky announced separate meetings on key issues, including energy security, to be held in Qatar and on food security in Turkey ahead of a second summit.

Leaders and top officials from more than 90 states gathered at a Swiss mountainside resort on June 15 for the two-day summit dedicated to resolving the largest European conflict since World War II.

The Kremlin said that any discussions around ending the conflict that did not include Russia were “absurd.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Moscow:

Moscow called on the United States Sunday to “take stock” of its “policies of incitement to hatred”, while using the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump to denounce support for Ukraine. 

Addressing “those who vote in the United States to supply arms” to Kyiv, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova denounced support for Kyiv, which she said stoked “attacks against the Russian president”. 

She added that “perhaps it would be better to use this money to fund the American police and other services that are supposed to ensure law and order in the United States?” 

A Trump victory in the November elections would put into question continued US support for Ukraine as it resists the Russian offensives launched in 2022.

The Republican Party candidate has suggested that he would end the conflict very quickly if he won back the presidency, which Kyiv fears would mean it would be forced to negotiate with Moscow from a weakened position.

Vladimir Putin has said he takes Trump’s comments about ending the war “very seriously”.

Zakharova added that “when other means of getting rid of troublesome president are exhausted, good old Lee Harvey Oswald comes into play”, referring to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, a source of numerous conspiracy theories including that his death was ordered from within the US state apparatus. 

The JFK assassination commission concluded in 1964 that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine who had lived in the Soviet Union, had acted alone.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Moscow:

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin held a telephone call where they discussed lowering the risk of “possible escalation”, the Russian defence ministry said on Friday.

The call, which was initiated by Moscow, comes as tensions between the two sides flare over Washington’s plan to deploy long-range missiles in Germany, a decision the Kremlin warned could spell a return to Cold War-style confrontation.

“The issue of preventing security threats and reducing the risk of possible escalation was discussed,” Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement on the talks.

According to Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh, Austin “emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication” during the conversation.

The two sides have managed to organise sporadic phone calls despite raging tensions over the conflict in Ukraine, including a recent call at the end of June where Moscow chided Washington’s arms supplies to Kyiv.

The White House announced on Wednesday during a NATO summit that it would station long-range weapons including Tomahawk cruise missiles in Germany as a deterrent.

The Kremlin criticised the move, accusing Washington of taking a step towards a new “Cold War” and of directly participating in the conflict in Ukraine.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Director of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs Liam Wasley.
| Photo Credit: PTI

“India, as a critical security provider globally, must play a constructive role in ensuring peace in Ukraine and providing it with the impetus to be able to negotiate with Russia,” a senior U.S. official has said.

Liam Wasley, Director of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs at the U.S. State Department said this, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-profile visit to Moscow and his meeting with President Vladimir Putin, including on the Ukraine conflict.

Mr. Wasley said Indians should understand how much of a threat President Putin and his country are to America’s European allies and the NATO alliance. “It has also been a very jarring direct threat to the security of a billion members of democracies,” Mr. Wasley told PTI in an interview.

“I think that the Indian people can recognise how that is impacting the understanding and the approach of our NATO allies. It’s really important for India to be playing a constructive role in ensuring a just peace for Ukraine and providing the impetus for Ukraine to be able to negotiate to ensure its own future,” he said.

Leaders of the 32-member NATO alliance gathered in Washington DC this week for the 75th anniversary summit meeting where Russia’s war in Ukraine and China has been the two major topics of discussion.

He mentioned NATO’s strong statement in Washington on Wednesday on China’s role in enabling the Russian war machine and continuing the war in Ukraine. Russia would not be able to continue its onslaught on the Ukrainian people if it were not for the technology and the support that they are getting from China, Iran, and North Korea.

When asked if the Indian Prime Minister was insensitive to the security concerns of Europe and NATO allies, Mr. Wasley said: “We think it’s important for Indians to understand how those forces are contributing to extending and continuing an unjust, unprovoked war for several years.”

Referring to the meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden along with NATO allies and with the heads of state of Indo-Pacific partners, Mr. Wasley said part of this is because many aspects of security are now global.

“The declaration yesterday focussed on undersea warfare, focused on cyberspace, focussed on war in space. These are conversations that we’re having with our Indo-Pacific partners. Those were conversations that I can see are a future role for India because their security, our security, all of our security is interconnected,” he said, adding that there is room for this conversation to grow.

Describing NATO as a defensive alliance, he said it relies on the interest of other partners to want to be engaged. “I think that that is a decision for India to take, whether it wants a deeper relationship with NATO or with individual NATO partners,” he said.

Responding to a question, he said India has not chosen to be a partner of NATO. “India is a critical security provider and projector in a very large part of the world. We think India has enormous influence and an enormous voice and will have a great impact on how the future of the international security environment develops. This is why I think India can play a constructive role in bringing peace to Ukraine,” he said.

“This is why I think India has a key role in the conversation as we deal with the global security threats that we are all grappling with,” he added.

Mr. Wasley said the NATO alliance has shown that it is united in support of Ukraine and providing Ukraine with the support, the political support, the material support it needs to defend its own people, defend its own territory, and forge a just and lasting peace.

“It’s up to India to figure out how it can best contribute to that role,” he said. “The reference to China in the Washington declaration,” he said, captures the mood of the alliance.

“It captures the tone of the conversations that we’ve been having as allies for the past two years. China has stepped up its role in supporting Putin and in his no-limits partnership. So, I think it’s a recognition that China has decided that it is seeking to influence this conflict by enabling Putin,” Mr. Wasley said.

NATO allies on Wednesday announced they had started transferring F-16 jets to Ukraine while stepping up promises to Kyiv on eventual membership in the alliance, at a 75th anniversary summit clouded by political uncertainties in the United States.

With the pomp of the three-day gathering in the U.S. capital, President Joe Biden is aiming to rally the West and also reassure voters amid pre-election scrutiny of whether at 81 – six years older than NATO itself – he remains fit for the job.

Mr. Biden individually welcomed the other 31 leaders of the alliance before urging them to keep pace with Russia’s military production, which has stepped up sharply in the two years since President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.

“We can – and will – defend every inch of NATO territory and we’ll do it together,” Mr. Biden told the North Atlantic Council, the formal decision-making body of the alliance, at Washington’s convention centre as the city sweltered under a heat wave.

Mr. Biden announced that Denmark and the Netherlands had begun sending U.S.-made F-16 jets to Ukraine – making good on a key promise last year to Kyiv, which has struggled to gain parity in the air with Russia.

He earlier announced new air defense systems for Ukraine and said the United States had agreed to place long-range missiles periodically in Germany.

In the evening Biden hosted the NATO leaders for a gala dinner, marked by storm clouds that forced the cancellation of a planned flypast.

Mr. Biden compared the alliance to his childhood neighbourhood, saying: “When a neighbour needed help, you pitched in. When the bullies threatened the block, you stepped up.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the F-16 transfer “concentrates Vladimir Putin’s mind on the fact that he will not outlast Ukraine, he will not outlast us.”

But White House challenger Donald Trump, who is edging out Biden in polls leading up to November’s presidential election, has mused about bringing a quick peace settlement by pushing Ukraine to surrender territory to Russia.

The Republican mogul has repeatedly questioned the utility of NATO – formed in 1949 as collective defence against Moscow — which he sees as an unfair burden on the United States.

‘Terror must fail’ –

On the eve of the summit, Russia fired a barrage of missiles on Ukraine, killing dozens, including in Kyiv where a children’s hospital was reduced to debris.

Mr. Biden invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the summit, who voiced gratitude for the F-16s.

The new aircraft will “bring just and lasting peace closer, demonstrating that terror must fail,” Zelensky wrote on social media.

The summit aimed in part to “Trump-proof” the alliance including by giving NATO a greater role, rather than the United States, in coordinating arms delivery into Ukraine.

In a joint declaration, NATO leaders promised to give Ukraine 40 billion euros ($43 billion) in military aid “within the next year” — part of efforts to increase stability after Trump’s allies in Congress held up US assistance for months.

Mr. Trump’s aides have also discussed conditioning aid to Ukraine on forcing Kyiv to the negotiating table and said that China, not Russia, is a larger concern to US interests.

The NATO leaders’ statement took aim at China as well, voicing “profound concern” over its industrial support to Russia.

China’s reaction was swift.

“NATO should stop hyping up the so-called China threat and provoking confrontation and rivalry, and do more to contribute to world peace and stability,” a spokesman for Beijing’s mission to the EU said, adding that “China’s position on Ukraine is open and aboveboard.”

Mr. Biden invited four key Pacific partners to the summit – Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand – as he seeks to increase NATO’s role in Asia.

‘Irreversible’ Ukraine path to NATO

The summit also stepped up promises to Ukraine, saying that it was on an “irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.”

Ukraine has for years sought but failed to win membership in NATO, which as an alliance considers an attack on one an attack on all.

But Mr. Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have led concerns that bringing in Kyiv now would effectively be entering war with nuclear-armed Russia as it occupies swathes of Ukrainian territory.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, visiting days after his Labour Party swept to power, promised Zelensky that Britain – unlike the United States – was united across partisan lines on supporting Ukraine.

Mr. Starmer made clear he had no issue with Ukraine using the U.K. missiles to strike into Russian territory, remarks that drew a rebuke from Moscow.

The summit, Mr. Starmer told reporters, is showing Putin that NATO is “bigger now than it’s ever been, more united than it’s ever been, and absolutely clear-eyed about the threat of Russian aggression.”

Moscow:

The United States’ plan to periodically station long-range missiles in Germany will lead to Cold War-style confrontation between Russia and the West, the Kremlin said Thursday.

The White House announced the decision on Wednesday during a NATO summit in Washington, arguing the stationing of long-range weapons including Tomahawk cruise missiles in Europe acts as a deterrent.

“We are taking steady steps towards the Cold War,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a state TV reporter.

“All the attributes of the Cold War with the direct confrontation are returning,” he said.

He added Washington’s decision gave Russia “a reason to pull together” and “fulfil all the goals” of its military campaign in Ukraine.

NATO countries spearheaded by the United States have bolstered their defences in Europe in the wake of Russia’s 2022 offensive against neighbouring Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hailed the planned deployment of the US weapons in his country, calling the move a “necessary and important decision at the right time”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he was confident Ukraine would eventually join NATO after the alliance said the Russian-invaded country had an “irreversible” path to membership.

“We have strong wording regarding the irreversibility of Ukraine’s movement towards NATO. Every step truly brings us closer to membership,” Zelensky told a news conference at a NATO summit alongside the alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg.

“We are doing and will continue to do everything to ensure that the day comes when Ukraine is invited and becomes a NATO member, and I am confident we will achieve this,” he said.

Zelensky’s reaction was significantly warmer than a year ago at the NATO summit in Lithuania where he was visibly upset that there was not a firmer promise on membership.

NATO, formed in the Cold War, is a collective defense pact in which an attack on one ally is an attack on all.

The United States and Germany have led concerns about quickly bringing Ukraine into NATO, believing it would effectively put them at war with nuclear-armed Russia.

A declaration issued Wednesday at the 75th anniversary NATO summit in Washington said leaders supported Ukraine on “its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited Ukraine’s NATO aspirations as a reason to attack the former Soviet republic, rejecting the idea that the country has a separate historical identity.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

China has broken with the United States and its European allies over the war in Ukraine, refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion. 
| Photo Credit: AP

China accused NATO on July 11 of seeking security at the expense of others and told the alliance not to bring the same “chaos” to Asia.

The statement by a Foreign Ministry spokesperson came a day after NATO labelled China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“NATO hyping up China’s responsibility on the Ukraine issue is unreasonable and has sinister motives,” spokesperson Lin Jian said at a daily briefing. He maintained that China has a fair and objective stance on the Ukraine issue.

China has broken with the United States and its European allies over the war in Ukraine, refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion. Its trade with Russia has grown since the invasion, at least partially offsetting the impact of Western sanctions.

Explained | What is NATO’s stand on Ukraine’s entry?

NATO, in a communique issued at a summit in Washington, said China has become a enabler of the war through its “no-limits partnership” with Russia and its large-scale support for Russia’s defence industrial base.

Mr. Lin said that China’s trade with Russia is legitimate and reasonable and based on World Trade Organization rules.

He said that NATO’s “so-called security” comes at the cost of the security of other countries. China has backed Russia’s contention that NATO expansion posed a threat to Russia.

China has expressed concern about NATO’s budding relationships with countries in the region. Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea sent their leaders or deputies to the NATO summit this week.

“China urges NATO to … stop interfering in China’s internal politics and smearing China’s image and not create chaos in the Asia-Pacific after creating turmoil in Europe,” Mr. Lin said.

Chinese troops are in Belarus this week for joint drills near the border with Poland, a NATO member. The exercises are the first-ever with Belarus, an ally of Russia.

Mr. Lin described the joint training as normal military exchange and cooperation that is not directed at any particular country..

Police officers walk past a balloon seller as they control a street during an unsanctioned rally in front of the Russian General Prosecution building in Moscow. The Russian prosecutor general’s office has declared The Moscow Times newspaper to be an “undesirable organization.” The designation means the newspaper popular with those in Russia’s expatriate community must stop any work in Russia.
| Photo Credit: AP

The Russian prosecutor general’s office on July 10 declared The Moscow Times, an online newspaper popular among Russia’s expatriate community, as an “undesirable organization.”

The designation comes amid a crackdown on critical news media and the opposition. It means the newspaper must stop any work in Russia and it subjects any Russian who cooperates with the paper to up to five years in prison.

It is a more severe measure than the “foreign agent” designation applied to the news outlet in November, which subjects individuals and organizations to increased financial scrutiny and requires any of their public material to prominently include notice of being declared a foreign agent.

The Moscow Times already moved its editorial operations out of Russia in 2022 after the passage of a law imposing stiff penalties for material regarded as discrediting the Russian military and its war in Ukraine.

It publishes in English and in Russian, but its Russian-language site was blocked in Russia several months after the Ukraine war began.

In an editors’ note on the decision, the newspaper said “The labelling of The Moscow Times as ‘undesirable’ is the latest of many efforts to suppress our reporting on the truth in Russia and its war in Ukraine. … This designation will make it even more difficult for us to do our jobs, putting reporters and fixers inside Russia at risk of criminal prosecution and making sources even more hesitant to speak to us.

“We refuse to give in to this pressure. We refuse to be silenced,” the newspaper said.

The publication began in 1992 as a daily print paper distributed for free in restaurants, hotels and other locations popular with expatriates, whose presence in Moscow was soaring after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It later reduced its print edition to weekly, then became online only in 2017.

Russia in recent years has methodically targeted people and organizations critical of the Kremlin, branding many as “foreign agents” and some as “undesirable.” Other news outlets declared as undesirable include the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose editor Dmitry Muratov won a Nobel Peace Prize, and the online news site Meduza.

Russia also has imprisoned prominent opposition figures including anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, who was President Vladimir Putin’s most persistent domestic foe, and dissidents Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin.