India-Pakistan ceasefire expected to be fragile in early days: Eurasia security expert
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CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Russia needs a nuclear shield update due to ‘colossal threats,' nuclear chief says
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, accompanied by Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Alexander Moiseyev, left, speaks with crew members of the nuclear-powered submarine Arkhangelsk in Murmansk, Russia. (Kirill Zykov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Russia's nuclear shield should be strengthened in coming years due to the 'colossal threats' facing the world's biggest nuclear power, the head of Russia's state nuclear corporation said on Thursday. Russia and the United States are upgrading their nuclear arsenals - including the systems used to detect and intercept incoming nuclear-armed missiles - just as China ramps up its own nuclear capability far beyond those of Britain and France. ADVERTISEMENT 'Now, in the current geopolitical situation, is a time of colossal threats to the existence of our country. Therefore, the nuclear shield, which is also a sword, is a guarantee of our sovereignty,' Russian state news agency RIA cited Alexei Likhachev as saying. 'We understand today that the nuclear shield must only be improved in the coming years.' U.S. President Donald Trump in May unveiled plans for a so-called 'Golden Dome' missile defense shield, inspired by Israel's land-based Iron Dome defense shield, that would cost at least US$175 billion. The U.S. dome would aim to intercept a range of missiles - including ballistic, hypersonic and cruise - and is aimed at blocking threats from Russia and China. However, military experts agree that no such shield can intercept all missiles, especially in the quantity that either Moscow or Washington could launch. Russia has about 4,300 stockpiled and deployed nuclear warheads and the United States has about 3,700, a total of about 87 per cent of the world's total inventory, according to research by the Federation of American Scientists. China is the world's third largest nuclear power with about 600 warheads, followed by France with 290, Britain with 225, India with 180, Pakistan with 170, Israel with 90 and North Korea with 50, according to the research. Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou and Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Aidan Lewis
Globe and Mail
5 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Israel bombards Gaza City overnight ahead of planned offensive
The Israeli military maintained its pressure on Gaza City with heavy bombardments overnight, residents said, ahead of a Thursday meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers on plans to seize the enclave's largest city. The military a day earlier called up 60,000 reservists in a sign that the government was pressing ahead with the plan, despite international condemnation. However, one military official said that most reservists would not serve in combat and that the strategy to take Gaza City had not yet been finalized. Calling up tens of thousands of reservists is also likely to take weeks, giving time for mediators to attempt to bridge gaps over a new temporary ceasefire proposal that Hamas has accepted, but the Israeli government is yet to officially respond to. The proposal calls for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 10 living hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas militants and of 18 bodies. In turn, Israel would release about 200 long-serving Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. As Israel orders evacuations in Gaza City, Palestinians have nowhere safe to go What to know about Israel's Gaza offensive as 60,000 reservists set to be mobilized The Israeli government has restated that all of the remaining 50 hostages held by militants in Gaza must be released at once. Israeli officials believe that around 20 of them are still alive. Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with some cabinet ministers on Thursday to discuss his plan to seize Gaza City, according to Haaretz and other Israeli media, without giving more details. The plan was approved this month by the security cabinet, which he chairs, even though many of Israel's closest allies have urged the government to reconsider. Netanyahu is under pressure from some far-right members of his coalition to reject a temporary ceasefire and instead to continue the war and pursue the annexation of the territory. In Gaza City, thousands of Palestinians have left their homes as Israeli forces have escalated shelling on the Sabra and Tuffah neighbourhoods. Some families have left for shelters along the coast, while others have moved to central and southern parts of the enclave, according to residents there. 'We are facing a bitter-bitter situation, to die at home or leave and die somewhere else, as long as this war continues, survival is uncertain,' said Rabah Abu Elias, 67, a father of seven. 'In the news, they speak about a possible truce, on the ground, we only hear explosions and see deaths. To leave Gaza City or not isn't an easy decision to make,' he told Reuters by phone. Israeli tanks have been edging closer to densely populated Gaza City over the past ten days. Israeli officials have said evacuation notices would be issued to Palestinians there before the military moves in. Two more people have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said on Thursday. The new deaths raised the number of Palestinians who have died from such causes to 271, including 112 children, since the war began. Israel disputes malnutrition and starvation figures posted by the Gaza health ministry.
National Post
6 hours ago
- National Post
Derek Burney: A breakthrough on Ukraine or a continuing stalemate?
After a three-hour summit meeting in Anchorage last Friday, which most observers described as a 'big win' for Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump met in Washington on Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and key European leaders for in a stunning display of high-stakes global diplomacy. Most significantly, they agreed to NATO Article 5-style security safeguards for Ukraine, involving European and possible U.S. monitors on the ground, as a key element in peace negotiations, a concept Trump claimed Putin had supported in principle in Alaska. The Russian foreign minister later walked back that claim, stating 'Moscow won't agree with collective security guarantees negotiated without Russia.' Article content Article content Nevertheless, the consensus in Washington is that the two meetings are expected to lead to a trilateral (U.S., Ukraine and Russia) summit to discuss peace before the end of this month at a place still to be determined. Article content Article content Trump's position on Ukraine has oscillated widely since the early days of his administration. He has spent much time trying to woo Putin while occasionally chastising Zelenskyy for his perceived lack of gratitude, as in February's explosive meeting at the White House. Trump often seems to have difficulty distinguishing the victim from the aggressor in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, often acting as if he is a neutral arbitrator, not Ukraine's backstop ally. When Putin arrived at a red-carpet welcome in Anchorage, the optics were all in his favour. The meeting seemed to be a chummy affair — due in part to the hasty preparations. There was little or no engagement on points of friction, or on leverage or Ukrainian interests. Putin offered no concessions on his basic objectives, rejected the notion of a ceasefire — which had been Trump's sole objective — and continues to intensify his war campaign. Article content The Americans emerged from the Alaska summit essentially empty-handed. No ceasefire and 'no tangible step toward peace,' which Trump's Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, had earlier confidently predicted. Despite his failure to get a ceasefire Trump still described his meeting with Putin as a '10 out of 10.' He remains unwilling to use the enormous economic leverage the U.S. has, which could cripple Russia's war-fuelled economy. In fact, he deferred yet again on further sanctions. Vacillation is the antithesis of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan's motto 'Peace Through Strength.' The only tangible example in Anchorage was the impressive flyover of a U.S. B-2 bomber and accompanying advanced fighter aircraft. Article content Article content Both Putin and the European leaders shamelessly flattered Trump during the Anchorage and Washington meetings, albeit in different ways. Putin stated that the war would not have happened if Trump had been in office and, according to Trump, also said the 2020 U.S. election 'was rigged.' The Europeans effusively stated that Trump was the 'only person' who could initiate peace negotiations, strongly echoing his basic desire to 'stop the killing.' All of this was music to Trump's ears (and his hopes for a Nobel Peace Prize), and it worked in both sessions. (Although Canada's prime minister joined the flattery queue in his statements to the media, he conspicuously was not invited to the session in Washington.)
