Politics

BLOOMBERG China will host the president of Belarus in a state visit this week, welcoming an ally of Vladimir Putin as the US expresses concerns that Beijing may yet decide to provide weapons support to Russia that would assist it in its war in Ukraine. Alexander Lukashenko is visiting at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, China’s foreign ministry said ...

Bloomberg China called for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in a position paper on ending the war that offered some reprieve to Moscow but was quickly dismissed by Kyiv’s allies as the conflict enters its second year. Several of the 12 points outlined by China in the document would, if carried out, offer clear benefits to Russian President Vladimir ...

Bloomberg Poland sent its first four Leopard 2A4 battle tanks to Ukraine, a symbolic gesture to mark one year since Russia’s invasion as western allies rush to arm the embattled nation’s forces amid intensified Kremlin-ordered attacks. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced during a visit to Kyiv that the delivery of the remaining batch of its 14 German-made combat vehicles will ...

Bloomberg President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is intensifying his campaign to mediate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine as he seeks to reinsert Brazil in the global political stage. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin was quoted by Russia’s Tass news agency as saying Moscow is studying Lula’s proposal to end the conflict as it continues to assess ...

Bloomberg The race to succeed Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tightened, the health service and where to go next in the push to break away from the rest of the UK. As nominations closed for the post of Scottish National Party leader, bookmakers continued to make Health Secretary Humza Yousaf the favourite. But his closest rival, Kate Forbes, who is ...

  Bloomberg Junior doctors in England will walk out for three consecutive days next month after voting overwhelmingly to take industrial action over pay, claiming the government has refused to engage. The British Medical Association (BMA) said trainee doctors will not report for work starting from March 13 as they push for a higher than 2% raise for the current ...

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 ...