Politics

Bloomberg Serbia, traditionally one of Russia’s closest allies in Europe, is trying to put some distance between itself and Moscow as the war in Ukraine strains ties between the two countries and their leaders. In an interview in Belgrade, President Aleksandar Vucic dismissed territorial claims in Ukraine by Vladimir Putin and predicted the “worst is yet to come” for the ...

Bloomberg Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu applied fresh pressure on Sweden to make concessions as he traveled to the US for talks on the sale of F-16 fighter jets, which may depend on Turkey’s ratification of the Nato expansion. Cavusoglu is expected to meet his US counterpart Antony Blinken in Washington later Wednesday to discuss the aircraft sale as well ...

Bloomberg The Pentagon is struggling to get China to resume military-to-military talks, according to a senior US defense official, underscoring continuing tensions between the two sides despite last year’s meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping. China cut off talks with the US on military, climate change and other issues after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in ...

  Bloomberg Indians view the US as the biggest military threat after China and place greater blame on Nato and Washington than on Vladimir Putin for his war in Ukraine, according to a new survey. Some 43% of the 1,000 respondents perceived China — with whom India has a long-lingering border dispute and has seen tensions flare again since 2020 ...

Bloomberg Russia will create new commands near Europe as it expands its military to 1.5 million people amid deepening tensions with the US and its allies over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. New structures in the regions around Moscow, St. Petersburg and Karelia on the border with Finland will be created under the program, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told commanders ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Olaf Scholz has put forth Boris Pistorius to be Germany’s new defense minister, filling a critical role in his cabinet after Christine Lambrecht resigned on Monday following a series of missteps. In a statement, Scholz praised Pistorius’s “strength and calmness,” and singled out his experience with defense policy. The 62-year-old is a veteran Social Democrat who has served ...

Bloomberg Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is looking beyond his country’s alliance with the US to deter China, bolstering security ties with democracies from Australia to Europe. On his tour of Group of Seven countries last week, which came after the biggest overhaul of Japan’s security policy since World War II, Kishida told French President Emmanuel Macron that the security ...

  Bloomberg Japan and India held their first joint air drills in an area outside of Tokyo as both countries step up military exercises with other countries amid worries about China’s assertiveness. About four F-2 and four F-15 fighters are expected to take part in the drills that started Monday and will run through around Jan. 26 at an airbase ...

Bloomberg Six months since Turkey agreed to Nato allies inviting Sweden and Finland to join the alliance, the expansion has stalled as Ankara holds out on ratifying the applications. Fresh tensions flared last week after protesters in Stockholm affiliated with Kurdish movements hanged an effigy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prompting Turkey to put yet more pressure on Sweden to ...

Bloomberg German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht stepped down following a series of missteps and days of speculation over her future, a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government as it weighs crucial decisions on arming Ukraine. Lambrecht asked to be relieved of her cabinet post, blaming intense media reporting as an unacceptable distraction, and Scholz accepted the request and respects the ...