Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who leads all polls to return to the Planalto Palace after the October elections, met with Russia's Ambassador to Brasilia Alexei Labetski and suggested the BRICS group the two countries share with India, China and South Africa should broker a cease-fire in Ukraine.
While Russia's invasion of Ukraine rages on, conventional hardware grabbing the headlines has come in addition to cyber attacks hitting forces where it hurts. Ciaran Martin, the former CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre, says Russia started its illegal campaign by successfully targeting Ukrainian satellite communications.
With the Ukrainian war still raging and making arrangements ahead of next winter, Germany despite its original pledges and with a coalition that includes the Green party, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has admitted for the first time that the country could put off the retirement of its nuclear power grid.
London’s insurance industry is gearing up to cover Ukrainian grain and fertilizer shipments via a safe corridor, which could require up to US$50 million per insured cargo, industry sources said this week.
Brazilian steel industry sales have ballooned since the start of the war in Ukraine sparked by the Russian invasion of its territory, which began in February. According to Steel Institute data, shipments of the metal raw material to the European Union increased by more than 830% in the first five months of this year, y-to-y, coinciding with the period of warfare in Eastern Europe.
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro reiterated his opposition to economic sanctions against Russia and described the Brazilian government's position in the Ukrainian conflict as one of “equilibrium” since Brazil needs a steady supply of Russian fertilizers for its powerful agribusiness sector.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the hit on the Black Sea port of Odessa was completely unwarranted, adding that not a word Russian President Vladimir Putin says can be trusted.
In a wide-ranging 25-minute keynote address to the Council on Geostrategy at The Naval and Military Club in London, the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Ben Key, outlined the lessons of events in eastern Europe and their impact on the Navy and the nation it serves, emphasizing the ever-growing importance of maritime power as means to promote peace, security, and prosperity.
Just one day after signing a truce with Ukraine to allow for the export of grains through three Black Sea ports, Russia launched an attack on Odessa to destroy a ship and a shed containing U.S. missiles, the Kremlin argued.
Russian authorities and dignitaries from the Kyiv government are to sign Friday the first deal since the beginning of the war in February. Brokered by Türkiye, the belligerent states will agree in Istanbul on safe corridors through the Black Sea for the export of Ukrainian wheat from its own ports.