Rubio marks Russia Day, reaffirms calls for peace with Ukraine
June 12 (Reuters) - The United States supports Russians' aspirations for a brighter future, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on the occasion of Russia Day, reaffirming a desire for constructive engagement in efforts to bring about peace in the war with Ukraine.
The Russia Day holiday marks the country's 1990 declaration of sovereignty, more than a year before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"The United States remains committed to supporting the Russian people as they continue to build on their aspirations for a brighter future," Rubio said in a statement on the State Department website.
"We also take this opportunity to reaffirm the United States' desire for constructive engagement with the Russian Federation to bring about a durable peace between Russia and Ukraine," he added.
"It is our hope that peace will foster more mutually beneficial relations between our countries."
On Wednesday, Russian news agencies said Moscow's new ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, pledged to work to fully restore ties with Washington as he formally presented his credentials to President Donald Trump.
Ties between Moscow and Washington have improved since Trump took office, as the two discuss a possible resolution to the Ukraine conflict.
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The National
22 minutes ago
- The National
Starmer's approach to global trade is clearly not ‘pragmatic' at all
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South Wales Guardian
29 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Israel launches attacks on Iran's nuclear programme
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Global nuclear arms spending up 11% in 2024, campaign group says
GENEVA, June 13 (Reuters) - Spending on nuclear weapons by the world's nine nuclear-armed nations rose by 11% in 2024, a report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said on Friday. The $10 billion annual increase to $100.2 billion went towards modernising and in some cases expanding nuclear arsenals, according to ICAN, a global civil society coalition that seeks the total elimination of atomic weapons. "Nuclear-armed countries could have paid the United Nations' budget 28 times with what they spent to build and maintain nuclear weapons in 2024," the report said. The U.S. recorded the largest annual increase in nuclear spending in 2024, rising by $5.3 billion, the report said. Its total expenditure of $56.8 billion exceeded the combined spending of all other nuclear-armed states, it said. China spent $12.5 billion, followed by Britain at $10.4 billion, which was an increase of $2.2 billion, ICAN said. It said the other nuclear-armed states were France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and Russia. 'In terms of kind of the increase in spending in the UK and France, I think we certainly have seen, at least in the rhetoric of political leaders, a reference to the ongoing war in Ukraine, to the tensions, and that could be playing a role,' Alicia Sanders-Zakre, a policy and research coordinator at ICAN, told reporters at a briefing in Geneva. Britain and other allies in NATO now regard Russia as the main security threat to Europe and some have rolled out plans to devote a higher percentage of GDP to defence spending. However, Sanders-Zakre said the increase in nuclear expenditure has been more driven by the costs of servicing long-term contracts and the growing expense of developing nuclear delivery systems than by current security concerns.
