Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce.
More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.
Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive, which has killed tens of thousands of people.
Photo: Reuters
“Together with our Chinese friends, we firmly stand on guard of historical truth, protect the memory of events of the war years and counter modern manifestations of neo-Nazism and militarism,” Putin told Xi in a meeting in the Kremlin.
Russian society has seen unprecedented militarization during the Ukraine conflict and the Kremlin has tightly controlled the memory of World War II.
Putin claimed that his offensive against Ukraine is aimed at “de-Nazifying” the country, which Kyiv called “incomprehensible.”
Xi told Putin that Beijing stood alongside Russia in the face of “hegemonic bullying” — a nod to the two countries’ anti-US stance.
“In the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying behavior, China will work with Russia to shoulder the special responsibilities of major world powers,” Xi said.
Ahead of the meeting, Putin called Xi his “dear friend,” while Xi referred to the Kremlin leader as his “old friend.”
Putin ordered his army to stop firing on Ukraine for three days to mark the celebrations — an order that came into effect at midnight.
However, Ukraine, which dismissed the ceasefire as theatrics and never said it would abide by it, said Russia had broken its own order after just a few hours.
Ukrainian authorities said Moscow launched an aerial bomb attack on the northeastern Sumy region overnight.
“During the night, the enemy intensified tactical aviation strikes using guided aerial bombs in the Sumy region,” Kyiv’s air force said.
However, it said that as of 8am, “no missile attacks or attack drones were recorded in Ukrainian airspace.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy repeated his call for an unconditional 30-day full ceasefire — a US proposal he previously accepted, but that was rejected by Putin.
Zelenskiy denounced Moscow’s World War II commemorations as a “parade of cynicism” and renewed calls for support against Russia.
“Just as it did 80 years ago, when it finally became clear to everyone: evil cannot be appeased. It must be fought. Together. Resolutely. With force. With pressure,” he wrote on social media.
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
RSS