Page 21 - Russia

US quietly asks banks to keep some ties with Russia, even as Congress balks

"We are following the instructions of the American government as they asked us to do it," Dimon responded before Sherman cut him off

Russia, Iran set to ink massive energy deal to offset Western sanctions

In early October, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister had announced that Moscow and Tehran may agree to a swap of 5 MT of oil and 10 billion cubic metres of gas, to be completed by the end of the year

Ukraine's President Zelensky wants Iran punished for helping Russia

"If it was not for the Iranian supply of weapons to the aggressor, we would be closer to peace now," Zelensky said Sunday evening in his daily address

Russia reactivates its trolls and bots ahead of the US midterms

Researchers have identified a series of Russian information operations to influence American elections and, perhaps, erode support for Ukraine

Russia cafe blaze kills 13, injures five others; investigation underway

A fire in a cafe in the Russian city of Kostroma killed at least 13 people and injured five others on Saturday, local authorities said. The governor of the Kostroma region, Sergei Sitnikov, said 13 people died in the fire and five more were slightly injured. Russian news agency Interfax cited local emergency officials as saying that the death toll stood at 15. The contradicting numbers couldn't be immediately reconciled. The blaze erupted in the early hours after someone apparently used a flare gun, according to the authorities. The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that a brawl erupted in the cafe shortly before the fire, but it wasn't immediately clear if it had anything to do with the use of a flare gun. Rescuers were able to evacuate 250 people. The roof of the cafe collapsed during the fire, which engulfed an area of 3,500 sq metres (more than 37,000 sq feet). Firefighters spent five hours battling the blaze, and a dozen residents of a nearby residential buildings

Iranian minister acknowledges supplying drones to Russia for first time

Iran's foreign minister on Saturday acknowledged for the first time that his country has supplied Russia with drones, insisting the transfer came before Moscow's war on Ukraine that has seen the Iranian-made drones divebombing Kyiv. The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian come after months of confusing messaging from Iran about the weapons shipment, as Russia sends the drones slamming into Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian targets. We gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war, Amirabdollahian told reporters after a meeting in Tehran. Previously, Iranian officials had denied arming Russia in its war on Ukraine. Just earlier this week, Iran's Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani called the allegations totally unfounded" and reiterated Iran's position of neutrality in the war. The US and its Western allies on the Security Council have called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to investigate if Russia has used Irani

Russia, China block plans for Antarctic marine protections supported by EU

Russia and China have again blocked plans supported by the European Union, the United States and 23 other nations to protect three vast stretches of ocean around Antarctica from most fishing. But conservationists said there were some positives from a two-week international meeting on the future of Antarctica's pristine waters that concluded in Australia late Friday. Those included an agreement on new protections for krill fishing and a commitment to meet in Chile next year to further discuss the proposal for the new marine protected areas, which combined would cover a swath of ocean larger than India. Many nations have become frustrated at the ability of Russia and, to a lesser extent, China to effectively veto proposals, as the rules of the group require it reach consensus before taking action. The U.S., which has been trying to find common ground with China, laid the blame for this year's disagreements squarely on Russia, which the U.S. said was undermining the group. Russia's

US and its allies clash with China, Russia over North Korea missiles

The United States and its allies clashed with China and Russia on Friday over North Korea's escalating ballistic missile launches and American-led military exercises in South Korea, again preventing any action by the deeply divided UN Security Council. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said North Korea's staggering 59 ballistic missile launches this year, including 13 since Oct. 27 and one that made an unprecedented impact about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from South Korea's shore, are about more than advancing Pyongyang's military capabilities and seek to raise tensions and stoke fear in its neighbours. She said 13 of the 15 Security Council members have condemned North Korea's actions since the beginning of the year, but Pyongyang has been protected by Russia and China who have bent over backwards to justify repeated violations of UN sanctions by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK, the country's official name. And, in turn, they have enabled the DPRK and made a ..

Only dialogue and diplomacy can end Russia-Ukraine war: Global statesmen

Only dialogue and diplomacy can end the devastating war in Ukraine, with total victory on the battlefield impossible for either warring party, members of a group of prominent former world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela said Friday. The group, known as The Elders, delivered that message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, telling him on a visit to Kyiv this summer that he must start considering a way out of the conflict, said group chairwoman Mary Robinson, former Irish president. We need to encourage more thinking about how it will end in order to get the idea that this needs to end, as opposed to increasing the military arsenal on both sides and the devastation to the population in Ukraine, said Robinson, who also served as UN high commissioner for human rights. The Elders have condemned Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine as a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter and a reckless, unjustifiable act of aggression that threatens to destabilise world peace and .

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urges Xi Jinping to exert influence on Russia

In a much-scrutinised meeting on Friday with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged China to exert its influence on Russia, while the Chinese leader repeated a call for talks between Moscow and Ukraine and warned against the conflict going nuclear. Scholz is in Beijing for a one-day visit that has drawn criticism over China's tacit support for Russia, lingering controversies over economic ties and human rights issues, as well as the timing of the trip. It comes after Xi further cemented his authoritarian rule at a major Communist Party congress last month and as China continues to refuse to criticise Russia. Scholz's visit reflects the importance of Germany's trade ties with China, the world's second-largest economy, particularly in the auto and manufacturing sectors. Mercedes Benz alone sold 758,863 cars in China last year, more than in any other country, according to company figures. Scholz, who is traveling with several top German business leaders,

GAIL Q2 net falls 46% as Russian gas supply snag hurts petchem business

State-owned gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd on Thursday reported a 46 per cent drop in its September quarter net profit as it slashed petrochemical output after a former unit of Russian energy giant Gazprom stopped gas supplies. Net profit stood at Rs 1,537.07 crore in July-September compared with Rs 2,862.95 crore profit in the same period a year back, according to a stock exchange filing of the company. The profit for the firm that transports and sells natural gas to users like fertiliser plants and CNG retailers was sequentially down 47.2 per cent from Rs 2,915.19 crore profit in the April-June quarter. GAIL's mainstay natural gas marketing business saw revenues doubled but profitability declined 66 per cent as higher gas prices, resulting from a global surge in energy rates following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, hurt margins. It posted a pre-tax loss of Rs 346.22 crore in the petrochemical business in Q2 as compared to a pre-tax profit of Rs 363.29 crore a year back and Rs 35.16

IAEA finds no evidence of undeclared nuke activities, materials in Ukraine

The UN nuclear watchdog sent its experts to Ukraine nation at the request of the Ukrainian govt after Russia made allegations about activities related to the possible production of "dirty bombs."

Beaver Blood Moon lunar eclipse on November 8; here's all you need to know

Commonly known as the Blood Moon, a total lunar eclipse occurs when the full moon moves into the deep umbral shadow of the Earth and receives light only first filtered by Earth's atmosphere

EAM S Jaishankar to visit Russia on Nov 7; to hold talks with Sergey Lavrov

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will pay a two-day visit to Russia beginning November 7 during which he will hold wide-ranging talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced Jaishankar's visit on Thursday. During visit to Moscow, Jaishankar will hold talks with Lavrov focusing on bilateral, regional and international issues, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing. The visit is taking place amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In the last few months, India has increased the import of discounted crude oil from Russia notwithstanding increasing disquiet over it by several Western powers. Jaishankar and Lavrov have already met four times after the Ukraine conflict began in February. The Russian foreign minister visited India in April during which he held extensive talks with Jaishankar and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India in December last year to attend the .

India abstains on Russia-sponsored UNSC resolution involving Ukraine

Only China voted with Russia on resolution calling for an inquiry into what Moscow alleged was a joint bio-warfare programme run by the US and Ukraine in violation of the Biological Weapons Convention

G20 host Indonesia waiting to see if Russia's Putin will attend summit

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told Reuters in an interview that Putin's attendance at the meeting might only become clear at the last minute

Russian troops try to subdue Ukrainian towns by seizing several mayors

Not long after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, soldiers broke down the office door of Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov. They put a bag over his head, bundled him into a car and drove him around the southern city for hours, threatening to kill him. Fedorov, 34, is one of over 50 local leaders who have been held in Russian captivity since the war began on Feb. 24 in an attempt to subdue cities and towns coming under Moscow's control. Like many others, he said he was pressured to collaborate with the invaders. The bullying and threats did not stop for a minute. They tried to force me to continue leading the city under the Russian flag, but I refused, Fedorov told The Associated Press by phone last month in Kyiv. They didn't beat me, but day and night, wild screams from the next cell would tell me what was waiting for me. As Russians seized parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, civilian administrators and others, including nuclear power plant workers, say they have been abducted, ...

Grain yield hits new record this year, says Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin

'There were notable increases in the yield of potatoes, greenhouse vegetables, fruits, soybeans and rapeseed compared to the same period last year'

Russian invasion has uprooted 14 million Ukrainians: UN refugee chief

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has driven some 14 million Ukrainians from their homes in the fastest, largest displacement witnessed in decades, sparking an increase in the number of refugees and displaced people worldwide to more than 103 million, the UN refugee chief said Wednesday. Filippo Grandi, who heads the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told the UN Security Council that Ukrainians are about to face one of the world's harshest winters in extremely difficult circumstances, including the continuing destruction of civilian infrastructure that is quickly making the humanitarian response look like a drop in the ocean of needs. Humanitarian organisations have dramatically scaled up their response," he said, but much more must be done, starting with an end to this senseless war. But given the likely protracted nature of the military situation," Grandi said his agency is preparing for further population movements both inside and outside Ukraine. In his wide-ranging briefing, Grand

Russia rejoins deal on wartime Ukrainian grain exports to global markets

Russia agreed Wednesday to rejoin a wartime agreement that allows Ukrainian grain and other commodities to be shipped to world markets. The UN's refugee chief, meanwhile, put the number of Ukrainians driven from their homes since the Russian invasion eight months ago at around 14 million. It is the fastest, largest displacement witnessed in decades, said Filippo Grandi, who heads the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In announcing that Russia would rejoin the grain pact, President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had received assurances that Ukraine would not use the humanitarian corridors to attack Russian forces. He warned that Russia reserves the right to withdraw again if Kyiv breaks its word. Putin praised Turkey's mediation efforts to get the deal back on track, as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's neutrality in the conflict as a whole and his efforts at ensuring the interest of the poorest countries. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he also