KYIV, April 3 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the frontline situation for Ukraine was the best in 10 months, adding that Kyiv’s troops had foiled a Russian offensive last month. “The offensive they were planning for March was thwarted by the actions of our armed forces. That is why the Russians will now simply…
MOSCOW, April 3 (Reuters) – Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s powerful Security Council, said on Friday that Moscow should drop its “tolerant attitude” towards Ukraine’s possible EU membership. “The EU is no longer just an economic union. It can transform, and rather quickly, into a full-blown military alliance, one overtly hostile to Russia, and…
KHARKIV, Ukraine, April 3 (Reuters) – Russian forces maintained a day-long barrage of drone strikes on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, on Thursday, injuring at least two people, local officials said. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov posted reports on Telegram throughout the day and well into the evening, noting strikes in four city districts. One city…
More Hongkongers are expected to travel elsewhere during the five-day Easter weekend from Friday despite a sharp jump in fuel surcharges, according to industry leaders. They also expect more visitors from mainland China during an overlapping Ching Ming Festival holiday, but doubt the influx will deliver any significant boost to the city’s tourism revenue. Some…
April 2 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday offered to provide Ukraine’s expertise in dealing with freedom of navigation in the Black Sea to countries considering how to keep the Strait of Hormuz open amid conflict in the Middle East. Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had taken…
BEIJING, April 2 (Reuters) – China on Thursday repeated calls for a ceasefire in the Middle East and safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in conversations with Western counterparts, widening its diplomatic effort to end the war that has disrupted the global energy market. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the Middle East situation…
VATICAN CITY, April 2 (Reuters) – Pope Leo last May became the first U.S. leader of the global Catholic Church, but for the initial 10 months of his tenure he mostly avoided comment about his home country and never once mentioned President Donald Trump publicly. That era has come to an end. In recent weeks…
MOSCOW, April 2 (Reuters) – Russia is ready to contribute to resolving the Iran conflict and President Vladimir Putin is continuing to talk with regional leaders, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. “The president is continuing these contacts, and if our services are somehow required, we are, of course, ready to make our contribution…
STOCKHOLM, April 2 (Reuters) – Sweden will buy air defence and anti-drone systems worth 8.7 billion Swedish crowns ($916 million) from among others Saab and BAE Systems, the country’s defence minister said on Thursday. Sweden, like most European countries, is racing to bolster its defences following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with military spending projected to…
MOSCOW, April 2 (Reuters) – Students across Russia are being offered large financial incentives to join drone units fighting in Ukraine as operators and engineers, while companies in Russia’s central Ryazan region have been given quotas to sign up workers for the army, documents show. The recruitment effort, which comes as Russian forces continue to…