Politics

Bloomberg Group of Seven (G-7) finance ministers once again condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine on the eve of its one-year mark and pledged to increase financial support for Ukraine. G-7 finance ministers increased their budget to $39 billion dollars and reaffirmed their “unwavering support for Ukraine,” calling Russia’s aggression as “illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked” in a statement issued on Thursday. ...

Bloomberg Finland is set to join Nato if it gets the last outstanding ratifications for its membership bid, regardless of what progress Sweden has made towards joining the alliance, President Sauli Niinisto said. Finland’s parliament has moved ahead with a domestic process to ratify the Nordic country’s accession to Nato, raising questions about whether the two countries could be admitted ...

Bloomberg President Vladimir Putin said he’s waiting for his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to visit Russia as he hailed deepening ties with Beijing at talks with China’s top diplomat. Cooperation between Russia and China is “very important for stabilising the international situation,” Putin told Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi at talks in Moscow, asking him to pass on greetings to ...

Bloomberg US President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin made a “big mistake” in suspending participation in the New START nuclear treaty, his first direct response to the announcement. Biden made the brief remark in Warsaw, ahead of a meeting with a group of eastern-flank Nato allies known as the Bucharest Nine. In response to a shouted question from ...

  Bloomberg Indian officials hosting Group of 20 finance chiefs this week are seeking to avoid using the word “war” in any joint statement when referring to Russia’s war in Ukraine, a person familiar with the matter said. That would mark a divergence from a consensus reached by leaders in Bali last November. The person said using words like “crisis” ...

  Bloomberg The chief of Taiwan’s military told a local magazine the island’s forces could repel an initial attack from China if they are well-prepared. “China is certainly strong enough to start a war, but it’s not so strong that it can successfully take Taiwan within one or two weeks,” Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said in an interview with CommonWealth ...

  Bloomberg Australia and the Philippines are considering joint patrols in the South China Sea, their defense ministers said, as the Southeast Asian nation reported continuing presence of suspected Chinese vessels in contested waters. Australia also wants to pursue more military exercises with the Philippines, Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a briefing after meeting with Filipino counterpart Carlito Galvez ...

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suggested a coming deal with the European Union over post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland would involve legal changes to the existing treaty, something the bloc has previously opposed. In the House of Commons, Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson complained that under the existing “unacceptable” deal — known as the protocol — “EU laws ...

Bloomberg President Vladimir Putin said Russia will suspend its observation of the New START treaty with the US, dealing a blow to the last accord limiting their nuclear arsenals, as he vowed to press on with his faltering invasion of Ukraine. Russia is fighting for its “historic lands” in Ukraine and “will fulfill the tasks set step-by-step, carefully and consistently,” ...

  Bloomberg Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said he will dissolve parliament in March, a move that paves the way for the next election. Prayuth told reporters he informed the cabinet in a meeting on Tuesday of his intention to dissolve the House of Representatives — the clearest sign he has given yet on the timeline for the vote, though ...