标题: 2022.03.14 中国向俄罗斯提供军事援助 [打印本页] 作者: shiyi18 时间: 2022-3-14 21:27 标题: 2022.03.14 中国向俄罗斯提供军事援助 The world in brief
Catch up quickly on the global stories that matter
Updated less than 1 hour ago (13:01 GMT / 09:01 New York)
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A spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington said he had “never heard” of a Kremlin request that China provide it with military equipment to aid its invasion of Ukraine—as has been claimed by American officials. The spokesman said that his country’s priority was to ensure the conflict does not escalate. Jake Sullivan, America’s national security adviser, will meet Yang Jiechi, a senior Chinese official, in Rome on Monday. The White House announced the meeting as part of “ongoing efforts” to manage competition between America and China and to discuss the impact of Russia’s assault on Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine resumed peace talks on Monday with a tad more optimism, after both sides reported productive discussions over the weekend. Ukraine said it would seek a ceasefire, the immediate withdrawal of troops and security guarantees, with one negotiator noting that Russia was beginning to talk “constructively”. Meanwhile, its neighbour is continuing its onslaught and edging closer to the capital.
Russia shelled an aircraft manufacturing plant on the outskirts of Kyiv, according to authorities in the Ukrainian capital. One person died after a residential building in the city was also hit. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said more than 140,000 civilians had been evacuated from conflict zones but that a humanitarian convoy failed to reach Mariupol, a besieged port city in south-eastern Ukraine. It was hit by at least 22 Russian strikes over the weekend. More than 2,100 residents have been killed so far, according to local officials. The city council said that the last reserves of food and water were running out.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, again called on NATO to implement a no-fly zone over his country, after at least 35 people were killed by a Russian missile attack on a military training base in western Ukraine. Over a hundred more were injured.
Britain’s defence ministry said that the Russian navy has established a “distant blockade” of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, “effectively isolating Ukraine from international maritime trade”. It also said that Russia may again attempt an amphibious landing in the Sea of Azov in the coming weeks.
The sanctions imposed on Russia may cause the country to default on its debts but that would not cause a global financial crisis, according to the IMF. Kristalina Georgieva, the fund’s managing director, said that while a default is no longer “improbable”, the total exposure of banks to Russia was “not systemically relevant” at around $120bn.
Other news
Iran promised to stay in talks to revive an international nuclear deal until an agreement is reached. Negotiations stalled last week because of last-minute demands from Russia that it should also be exempted from sanctions • China placed Shenzhen, a city of 17m people that borders Hong Kong, into lockdown, as it attempts to contain a growing outbreak of Omicron. Nearly 3,500 cases were reported across the country on Sunday • Australia and the Netherlands launched legal action against Russia for the downing of MH17, a Malaysian Airlines flight, over Ukraine in 2014. The two countries hope that the International Civil Aviation Organisation will penalise Russia
Fact of the day: Over 2.5m people, or 6% of Ukraine’s population, have crossed into neighbouring countries. Read the full article.
Inflation looms in India
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Oil prices may be soaring but in India the cost of fuel has not budged—yet. India imports around 85% of its black stuff but state-owned fuel companies have resisted putting up prices for more than four months, in part because of looming state elections. But last week the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party secured a big electoral success in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state; fuel prices are expected to rise any day.
This will do nothing to help the post-covid economic recovery, but it will add to growing concerns over inflation. In January the annual rate of inflation passed 6%, the central bank's upper limit. The rate in February, provisional data for which was released on Monday, was almost identical at 6.1%. India may be steering clear from the conflict in Ukraine diplomatically, but its economy will feel the effects.
War in Ukraine is ravaging the world’s wheat supplies
PHOTO: REUTERS
On Monday Russia releases data on its latest wheat export volumes. They will not be a cause for alarm: wheat is usually harvested in the summer, and by February most ships are gone. But the future is more worrying. Russia and Ukraine account for 29% of global wheat exports. In Ukraine the crop may not be planted at all this year; Russia’s ostracism means few will want to take the financial and reputational risk of buying its grain. Both have banned wheat exports anyway.
Yet Russia and Ukraine are the prime breadbasket for about 800m people in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The warring countries are also among the top five exporters of many other staples, from barley to sunflowers. Altogether their food exports account for 12% of globally-traded calories. Russia and Belarus, which is also under sanctions, are major suppliers of critical ingredients for fertilisers. However the war ends, it will cause people to go hungry.
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Olaf Scholz discusses Russia in Turkey
Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, will visit Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Ankara on Monday to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, among other things. After a cautious reaction when Russia first threatened Ukraine, Germany’s stance has toughened. The country has frozen the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, supplied Ukraine with weapons and pledged to increase its own defence spending.
Turkey has been treading more softly, for fear of economic retribution from Russia. Mr Erdogan is selling armed drones to Ukraine and opposes Russia’s aggression, but refuses to back sanctions against Russia. In a conversation with Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, last week, he even offered the warmonger a lifeline, suggesting that trade between Turkey, a NATO member, and Russia be conducted in Russian rubles, Chinese yuan, or gold. This could undermine Western sanctions on Russia. Mr Scholz will no doubt try to persuade Mr Erdogan that Turkey’s friendship with Mr Putin has run its course.
Hope and dread in Ukraine
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
After 18 days of brutal fighting, is the war in Ukraine spreading or heading for a pause? Perhaps both. On Sunday a Russian air raid on a Ukrainian base close to the Polish border, used until recently by NATO instructors, killed 35 people and injured more than 130. A major strike so far west is unusual, and may indicate Russia’s attempt to make good on its threat to attack Western supplies of weapons to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are reporting progress after their talks that began in Belarus have continued over video. Legal drafts are being prepared for possible signing by the presidents, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. The content is still unclear. Will Ukraine surrender territory or accept neutrality? What security guarantees or compensation will it receive in return? Scepticism abounds: local ceasefires have not always stopped Russia from shooting. The details of any accord are being written on the battlefield.
Racing huskies
PHOTO: REUTERS
Every March for the past 50 years professional mushers—the people who drive dog-sleds—have congregated in Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska, for a long-distance race. The Iditarod route traverses over 1,000 miles across the state, ending in Nome, a town on the Bering Sea. The terrain is tough: mushers and their dogs must contend with forests, mountains and rivers in weather that is, at best, chilly and at worst, highly dangerous. Competitors in the 2022 race departed last week.
Advances in equipment and training mean that mushers are completing the race at increasing speeds. The inaugural Iditarod was won by Dick Wilmarth in just over 20 days, but since 1995 every winner has reached Nome in fewer than ten. Last year Dallas Seavey set a new record of seven days and 14 hours. The race is not without intrigue. In 2017 four of Mr Seavey’s dogs tested positive for a banned substance that relieves pain. Mr Seavey was eventually exonerated, but the mystery doper was never identified.
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