Speaking to reporters in Washington, Joe Biden said he would consider personal sanctions against Vladimir Putin if Russia invaded Ukraine, citing 'severe consequences'. The threat of sanctions came as the US helped prepare for the diversion of natural gas supplies from around the world to Europe in the event that the flow from Russia is cut
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Why are Germany and France at odds with the Anglosphere over how to handle Russia?
Analysis: Differing views over Russia within Nato alliance resurface in Ukraine crisis
Can the western alliance against Russia over its buildup of troops on the Ukrainian border hold together? It is a question that politicians and diplomats are increasingly grappling with amid fears that Germany and, to a lesser extent, France are in danger of dividing from the US and the UK, not only over how to respond to any future Russian act of aggression in Ukraine, but also in their assessment of the imminence of the threat.
Every effort is being made to minimise the differences within the Nato alliance, including through regular calls such as the one led by Joe Biden on Monday, but they may be impossible to avoid since they reflect not just different short-term assessments on intelligence, but a deep fissure going back decades about what Germany and France, as opposed to the Anglosphere, regard as the best way to handle Russia.
Continue reading...Biden warns Russia of ‘enormous consequences’ if it invades Ukraine – live
- Pelosi says she will seek re-election
- Biden says any invasion from Russia would ‘change the world’
- President discusses escalating conflict with European leaders
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Staff turnover in the Biden administration is nowhere near what it was under Donald Trump, when senior aides came and went as through a revolving door in a hurricane.
Nonetheless, the press always likes a bit of speculation about who might be in and who might be out, and here comes the Washington Post with an exhaustive examination of how Ron Klain, Joe Biden’s chief of staff, has not had the smoothest first year in the job.
Continue reading...US finalizing plans to divert gas to Europe if Russia cuts off supply
Officials working with global suppliers to avoid European gas crisis if flow from Russia is cut as Biden says he would consider personal sanctions against Putin
The US has helped prepare for the diversion of natural gas supplies from around the world to Europe in the event that the flow from Russia is cut, in an effort to blunt Vladimir Putin’s most powerful economic weapon.
As fears of an invasion of Ukraine have grown, US officials said on Tuesday that they had been negotiating with global suppliers, and they were now confident that Europe would not suffer from a sudden loss of energy for heating in the middle of winter.
Continue reading...Australia news live update: nation records 76 Covid deaths; Anthony Albanese announces Labor election priorities
Labor leader outlines election priorities; nation records 76 Covid deaths; Peter Dutton warns against Russia invasion of Ukraine; giant ram survives 4.7 magnitude earthquake in WA. Follow all the latest news
- Grace Tame and Scott Morrison’s frosty meeting sparks praise, condemnation and memes
- Australia’s decision to withdraw people from Ukraine sends ‘wrong message’, diplomat says
- Police say Charlise Mutten, 9, was shot dead before body was found in Blue Mountains
- Poll: disillusion growing over Coalition handling of pandemic
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The benchmark ASX200 is set to fall 1.7% this morning, according to futures data, following further losses on overseas markets overnight.
In the US, the S&P500 fell 0.72% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index dropped 0.43%, while London’s FTSE100 shed a whopping 2.63%.
Continue reading...US, UK and Europe totally united in the face of Russia threat to Ukraine, Biden says
Virtual meeting between western powers comes as the US put 8,500 troops on alert and as France prepares to host a meeting of Russian and Ukrainian officials
US president Joe Biden has insisted there was “total” unity among western powers after crisis talks with European leaders on how to deter Russia from an attack against Ukraine.
“I had a very, very, very good meeting – total unanimity with all the European leaders,” Biden told reporters shortly after finishing a one hour and 20 minute video conference on Monday with allied leaders from Europe and Nato.
Continue reading...Ukraine: US puts 8,500 troops on alert to deploy to bolster Nato – video
The US military has put up to 8,500 troops on alert to be ready to deploy to Europe, potentially at very short notice, should the Nato alliance activate a rapid response force. It's the latest sign of US resolve in the face of a Russian military buildup near Ukraine. The Pentagon spokesman John Kirby stressed that no decision had been made on whether to deploy the troops, and that any such deployment would separate from intra-European movements of US troops to Nato's eastern flank, to reassure nervous allies. The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, told US citizens in Ukraine that ‘now is the time to leave’
Continue reading...Rising costs of Ukraine gamble could force Russia’s hand
Analysis: Putin can still turn back but it looks less likely as economic and political consequences mount
Russia’s aggressive buildup near Ukraine energised Nato into sending more forces to eastern Europe on Monday and led to a plunge on Russian markets, raising the stakes on the Kremlin’s bet that it could cajole, extort or force Ukraine into submission.
For Moscow it has become more difficult to pull back from its aggressive stance after US and Nato announcements that more troops would be deployed to the military alliance’s eastern flank. A unilateral drawdown now would leave the Kremlin a clear loser in the standoff, having provoked a strengthening of the very Nato presence that it had sought to banish from eastern Europe.
Continue reading...Nato reinforces eastern borders as Ukraine tensions mount
Stoltenberg says ‘deteriorating security situation’ has led Nato allies to ready frigates, fighter jets and troops for ‘collective defence’
Nato is reinforcing its eastern borders with land, sea and air forces, the military alliance’s secretary general has said, as a Russian invasion of Ukraine appeared increasingly likely.
Jens Stoltenberg said the “deteriorating security situation” had led Nato allies to ready frigates, fighter jets and troops for their “collective defence”.
Continue reading...Ukraine taking UK claim of Russian invasion plot seriously, says adviser
Warning greeted with shock and some scepticism in Kyiv but aide says it fits ‘logical chain’
Ukraine is reacting “seriously” to UK Foreign Office allegations that Moscow has plans to invade the country and install a puppet government, a senior government adviser has said, adding that Kyiv is resisting Russian efforts to destabilise its government and economy.
The extraordinary Foreign Office claims that Moscow may topple the government and install Yevhen Murayev, a former MP who controls a pro-Russia television station, were met with shock and some scepticism in Ukrainian political and media circles on Sunday.
Continue reading...German navy chief resigns over comments on Putin and Ukraine – video
The chief of Germany’s navy has resigned after arguing during a livestreamed event that Vladimir Putin 'deserves respect' and Kyiv will not win back annexed Crimea. Ukraine’s ambassador in Berlin said Kay-Achim Schönbach's comments 'massively' called into question Germany’s trustworthiness
- German navy chief quits after saying Putin deserves respect over Ukraine
- EU official vows rapid sanctions if Russia launches Ukraine military attack
Confusion over UK claim that Putin plans coup in Ukraine
Foreign Office claim of plot to install pro-Moscow government in Kyiv comes with scant detail
The Foreign Office has said that it had exposed evidence of a plot to install a pro-Moscow government in Ukraine, and Boris Johnson promised to “ramp up pressure on Russia”, as his own domestic political troubles deepened.
Saturday’s rare reference to intelligence-gathering went into almost no detail about a conspiracy that, if accurate, could mean a serious escalation in the threat to Ukraine. Politicians there were sceptical that the government could be replaced without a full-blown invasion of the capital, Kyiv.
Continue reading...US embassy in Ukraine ‘requests staff evacuation’ amid war fears
Report comes as arms deliveries promised by Joe Biden arrive in response to threat of Russian invasion
The US embassy in Ukraine has requested the evacuation of all non-essential staff amid increasing fears of an imminent Russian invasion and the arrival overnight of arms deliveries promised by President Joe Biden, according to a CNN report.
US evacuations are likely to start “as early as next week”, the US cable news network said, citing a source close to the Ukrainian government. It marks the embassy’s shift in focus towards “helping Ukraine bolster its defences in the face of growing Russian aggression”.
Continue reading...‘We are ready for whatever comes’: on the Ukraine frontline
In Chonhar a blue and yellow flag marks the de facto border as Russian forces amass across a shimmering expanse of water
Peering through binoculars, Mykola Chekman pointed to the bridge connecting Ukraine to Russian-controlled Crimea. “It’s not the first time the peninsula has been occupied,” he observed. He added: “Crimea has seen a lot of war.”
Chekman – a Ukrainian army photographer – was standing on the castellated tower of what was once a tourist cafe. It is now a base for Ukrainian forces, facing off against their invisible Russian counterparts across a shimmering expanse of water and duck-filled lagoons.
Continue reading...Ukraine: Blinken says talks with Russia’s Lavrov were ‘frank and substantive’ – video
The US secretary of state described talks in Geneva with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, intended to reduce tensions that have risen since Russia massed troops near Ukraine's border, as ‘frank and substantive’. But Antony Blinken repeated the US and Nato’s position that there could still be no compromise on the central issue of the right of Ukraine and other countries to join Nato in the future
Continue reading...Ukraine: US offers Putin summit with Biden in effort to stop slide to war
Move comes amid ‘frank and substantive’ talks in Geneva and announcement by Russia of new military exercises
The US has offered to hold a summit between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin as a last-ditch effort to stop the slide to a new war in Europe, as Russia continued to build up its forces along the Ukraine border and announced new naval exercises in the Black Sea.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said Washington and its allies were also ready to respond in writing next week to Russian demands on the future of Nato and European security, which Moscow has said must be addressed to avoid it taking “military measures”. But, speaking in Geneva where he held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Blinken repeated the US and Nato position there could still be no compromise on the central issue of the right of Ukraine and other countries to join Nato in the future.
Continue reading...Biden warns Russia will ‘pay a heavy price’ if Putin launches Ukraine invasion – as it happened
- President clarifies comments from Wednesday on Ukraine-Russia
- Volodymyr Zelenskiy criticizes Biden’s ‘minor incursions’ remark
- Mitch McConnell condemned for comments about Black voters
- Democrats fail to advance voting rights bill in Senate
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Here’s where the day stands so far:
Continue reading...Biden warns Russia will ‘pay heavy price’ if it invades Ukraine – video
Joe Biden sought to clarify US policy on a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine after his remarks about how the Nato alliance might respond to a 'minor incursion' triggered alarm in Kyiv. Biden told reporters at the White House: 'If any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion. Let there be no doubt if Putin makes this choice, Russia will pay a heavy price'
Continue reading...US accuses Russia of conspiring to take over Ukraine government
Treasury imposes sanctions on four current and former Ukraine government officials it says involved in alleged conspiracy
The US has alleged that Russian intelligence is recruiting current and former Ukrainian government officials to take over the government in Kyiv and cooperate with a Russian occupying force.
The US Treasury on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Ukrainian members of parliament and two former officials it said were involved in the alleged conspiracy, which involved discrediting the current government of the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Continue reading...Biden lays bare Nato divide over Russian aggression against Ukraine
Analysis: Greatest tension is between US and Germany over arms sale and energy dependency
Joe Biden confirmed at his press conference on Wednesday what has been apparent for weeks – Nato remains divided over how to respond to Russian aggression against Ukraine.
His admission of a split was overshadowed by his passing remark that a minor incursion would be treated differently to a full-scale invasion. The White House afterwards clarified that a minor incursion meant cyber-attacks, as opposed to a movement of Russian troops into Ukraine sovereign territory.
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