Instead of approaching the war in Ukraine from a geopolitical or moral perspective, U.S. President Donald Trump is framing his policy on Russia through the lens of his personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton. “Trump thinks Putin is
Moscow's restrictions allow Russian authorities to seize and keep hard-to-get Western-sanctioned goods, which can then be used to manufacture weapons for the war against Ukraine.
The exercises, named Maritime Security Belt 2025, were held near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route through which a fifth of the world’s traded crude oil passes.
Chinese car exports to Russia surged sevenfold in 2023 compared to 2022, as Western sanctions over Moscow’s war against Ukraine cut Russia off from brands like Volkswagen, Toyota, and BMW.
The exercises are aimed at deepening "the mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation between the participating countries' armies," the Chinese Defense Ministry said.
"When you look at how the Trump administration has implemented a brazen and domineering policy towards Europe, treating its allies in this way, honestly, from a European perspective, it's quite appalling," China's special envoy for European affairs, Lu Shaye, said.
Russia and China are attempting to recruit U.S. federal national security employees impacted by the Trump administration's layoffs, CNN reported on March 1, citing four sources and a document.
"We could find ourselves in a situation where whether Russia wants to improve its relations with the U.S. or not, they can’t because they’ve become completely dependent on the Chinese because we have cut them off," said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Beijing is prepared "to play a constructive role in the political settlement of the crisis," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement during the G20 foreign ministers meeting.
The White House declined to confirm whether it had received China's proposal but reportedly dismissed it as "not viable at all."
Chinese refiners are being offered Russian ESPO crude at discounted prices as rising concerns over U.S. sanctions create logistical and administrative challenges, deterring buyers, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 11.
Chinese President Xi Jinping also invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to China to commemorate Japan's surrender and the conclusion of World War II, Russian Ambassador to Beijing Igor Morgulov said.
Trump placed 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods, with only a 10% tariff on Canadian energy imports. He also imposed a 10% tariff on goods from China.
The BRICS group, composed of Russia, China, India, Brazil, and other nations, has been exploring ways to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar.
As Russia's options to purchase gallium and germanium from around the world almost disappeared, China became the sole supplier in 2023, the investigation said, citing leaked data from Russian customs databases.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, concerns over the security of energy and communication infrastructure in the Baltic Sea intensified. Initially, focus was placed on the threat of hybrid attacks from Russia. However, it became evident that Russian military vessels and so-called "research" ships were actively mapping the
In a video message to the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his desire for "denuclearisation" and reiterated his call for trilateral discussions involving the U.S., Russia, and China.
The disruption has led to stalled trade in Russian crude loaded for March delivery as rising shipping costs created a significant price gap between buyers and sellers, according to Reuters.
U.S. President Donald Trump needs to "understand where the threat is" and not "force Ukraine into a bad deal," U.K. lawmaker Iain Duncan Smith told the Kyiv Independent. In an interview in Kyiv alongside another U.K. lawmaker Layla Moran on Jan. 22, Duncan Smith urged Trump not
President Donald Trump also said Ukraine was "ready for a deal," but added "you'll have to ask Russia" about a peace agreement within a year.
"He's not done very much on that," Trump told reporters at the White House on Jan. 21. "He's got a lot of ... power, like we have a lot of power. I said, 'You ought to get it settled.' We did discuss it."
China has been decreasing coal imports from Russia despite a steady growth in demand, turning instead to Australian and Mongolian supplies, The Moscow Times reported on Jan. 21, citing Chinese customs data.
Xi Jinping stressed that bilateral cooperation between Beijing and Moscow is gradually expanding and that joint trade is trending upward.
China has emerged as Russia's largest supplier of goods, but Chinese imports have failed to fully replace Western equipment and raw materials lost due to sanctions, The Moscow Times reported on Jan. 20, citing data from the Gaidar Institute.
In 2024, 108.5 million metric tons were imported from Russia, including through pipelines and sea deliveries.
President-elect Donald Trump has expressed interest in visiting China shortly after assuming office, potentially within his first 100 days, sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.
Former Ukrainian pro-Russian lawmaker Yevheniy Murayev published a two-hour propaganda interview on Jan. 17, marking his first public appearance after almost three years of Russia's full-scale war.
"Today's actions frustrate the Kremlin's ability to circumvent our sanctions and get access to the goods they need to build weapons for their war of choice in Ukraine," said Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Wally Adeyemo.
Like Czar Nicholas II, Russian President Vladimir Putin has misidentified his primary foe. Fighting a war of choice, he allows the real menace to his country to gather strength. China, not Ukraine, constitutes Russia’s existential threat. In the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), Nicholas fought Japan over Manchuria for concessions that
Three sanctioned tankers carrying over 2 million barrels of Russian crude oil are floating off China's coast after they were hit by fresh U.S. sanctions last week, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 13.
Shandong Port Group has prohibited U.S.-sanctioned tankers from accessing its ports in the eastern Chinese province, three traders familiar with the issue told Reuters. This region, home to many independent refiners, is a significant importer of oil from countries under U.S. embargoes.
The reported visit will be Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko's third trip to China in three years. Lukashenko is likely looking to reduce Belarusian dependence on Russia, Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation said.
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