So much for our war policy in Ukraine for today.
You can scroll down the blog to follow the day’s developments.
By Nicole Johnston, Asia correspondent in Beijing
Putin’s summit in St. Petersburg coincides with that of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
So how do we analyze China’s geopolitical thinking?One solution is to go through the dry, detailed statements of your president, and this is where the nuggets are.
In 2022, Xi said, “Today’s world is undergoing primary changes, noticed in a century.
“The main characteristic of the world is chaos and this trend is very likely to continue. “
On the global level, Xi said, the time has come to reshuffle governance with China at the helm, where it belongs. His view is that the global order entrenched by the United States is collapsing.
Many countries in the Global South support China, irritated by the dominance of the US-led foreign ticket and in a position to settle for turmoil.
Russia is in tune with China.
Both countries want each other. However, Russia wants China more, for publicity and diplomatic reasons.
In this great-power rivalry, the Sino-Russian axis may attract other regional disruptors such as Iran and North Korea.
If that happens, it will be a formidable alliance based on hostility toward the United States, sympathy for Russia, deep concern about subversion, and, in the case of China, a relentless pursuit of unification with Taiwan.
Ukraine’s main hydropower company said it has filed a lawsuit for damages following Russia’s destruction of the Kakhovka dam and power plant a year ago today.
State-owned company Ukrhidroenergo said it estimated the amount at about 2. 5 billion euros ($2. 12 billion).
The dam explosion on June 6, 2023, which sent huge amounts of water through giant swaths of southern Ukraine and left thousands without water, sparked a global outcry and accusations of war crimes.
The company said Vladimir Putin, his government and his legal bodies had been informed.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska arrived in Normandy to mark the anniversary of the D-Day landings.
French President Emmanuel Macron greeted the Ukrainian leader with a hug upon arrival, and the president applauded as he took a seat inside the event.
Several political figures, including British Defense Minister Grant Shapps, hugged Zelensky as he greeted him.
Earlier, the Ukrainian president said it was “an honour” to participate in the anniversary occasion and said he would also participate in “important occasions and meetings aimed at strengthening our country”.
“This occasion and this day are a reminder of courage and determination in the pursuit of freedom and democracy,” he said.
“The allies defended Europe’s freedom then, and the Ukrainians are doing so today. Unity triumphed then, and true unity can triumph today. “
Today we reported on claims across Russia that Ukrainian drones had attacked an oil refinery and a fuel depot in Russia’s border regions.
Rostov regional governor Vasily Golubev said a drone strike overnight hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery and sparked a fire.
Separately, the governor of Belgorod, a Russian border region that has been hit by Ukrainian fire during the war, said a drone hit an oil depot and caused an explosion.
No casualties were reported in the attack.
In Vladivostok, in eastern Russia, the trial of a US soldier accused of robbery is underway.
The sergeant. Gordon Black traveled to the city to see his friend last month but was arrested after she accused him of stealing from her, U. S. and Russian officials said.
The 34-year-old, who was on leave at the time, faces up to five years of criminal conviction if convicted.
The U. S. military said the soldier had not obtained official permission to travel to the Russian Far East.
According to the Russian news firm RIA, Sergeant. Black will testify at the trial and respond to the accusations against him.
According to the report, he cooperated with the authorities.
After today’s hearing, Sergeant Black’s girlfriend, Alexandra Vashchuk, told reporters that “this is an undeniable domestic argument” in which the soldier “became competitive and attacked her. “
“He then stole cash from my wallet and I didn’t give him permission to do so,” she said.
Joe Biden addressed the crowd at the U. S. national commemoration of the Normandy landings, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.
The U. S. president began by telling the devastation and evil unleashed on the world through Hitler and told the stories of some veterans in the audience.
“All the singles knew that the probability of dying was real, but they did it anyway,” he said.
Biden prayed that the United States would never forget the importance of alliances, pointing to NATO as “the greatest military alliance in the history of the world. “
“Isolationism was not the solution 80 years ago, nor is it today,” he said.
“We know that the dark forces that those heroes fought against for years never go away. ”
And he added: “The struggle between dictatorship and freedom is endless. Here in Europe we see a striking example of this. Ukraine has been invaded by a tyrant who decided to dominate. “
Biden continued, “Make no mistake, autocrats around the world are watching closely.
“Surrendering to tyrants, bowing to dictators is simply unthinkable. If we did that, it would mean that we would live what happened here on those sacred beaches.
“History tells us that freedom is free: if you need to know the value of freedom, come here to Normandy and look. “
Russia has arrested a French national suspected of raising funds about the activities of the Russian military, investigators said.
The man had visited the country several times over several years, the Russian Investigative Committee said.
He reportedly met with Russian nationals.
The guy with no name.
The final results of the US elections in November are unlikely to affect Washington’s policy towards Russia, Putin said.
In statements quoted through the Russian embassy in the United Kingdom, the Russian president said that the Kremlin “does not believe that there will be serious changes. “
“You know perfectly well that the existing advances in the United States are internal political struggles; they are exhausting themselves, their state and their political system,” he said.
Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump are the presumptive candidates of their parties in the upcoming elections.
Several polls put Trump ahead of Biden, despite his recent felony conviction.
Earlier this year, Putin said he would prefer Biden to be re-elected to the White House because he has “more experience. ”
But he also had a smart relationship with Trump, who praised his leadership.
Hungary will participate in the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland next week, despite strengthening ties between Budapest and Moscow.
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told an economic forum in St. Petersburg that his country would be represented at the June 15 summit.
The summit aims to promote a 10-point peace proposal from dozens of countries through Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which demands the total withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
Russia was not invited and called it a matter of time.
Hungary, a member of the EU and NATO, has opposed Western aid to Ukraine and criticized sanctions against Russia.
Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also reaffirmed their bilateral commitment at an assembly in October.