Russia takes new village in Ukraine's Donetsk region
Moscow's offensive on Ukraine has lasted for more than three years, with attacks intensifying this summer and US-led negotiations so far yielding no results to end the fighting.
Russia's defense ministry said Russian troops had captured the village of Myrne, calling the village by its Soviet name 'Karl Marx.'
It lies close to the administrative border between the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
The ministry claimed forces had moved 'deep into the enemy's defense' to take the village.
Myrne was one of two villages Moscow claimed on Sunday.
Russia has for months refused a ceasefire proposed by the United States and Kyiv.
Moscow launched its full-scale offensive against Ukraine in February 2022.
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Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Can BRICS become a rival to the West?
The 17th annual BRICS Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro last week, ended with something of a global shoulder shrug. Last year's summit in Russia was interpreted by many as a sign that Moscow had found ways of overcoming the diplomatic isolation that accompanied the Ukraine war. The year before, in South Africa, the summit saw the group invite new members, raising hopes a new 'BRICS+' could challenge the West's global dominance. In contrast, although its members adopted a long list of joint positions in Brazil, the summit appeared lackluster compared to what had gone before. The leaders of four members — Russia, China, Egypt and Iran — opted not to attend, while, despite declarations of unity, clear divisions were visible. For all the hopes that an expanded BRICS could be a voice for the Global South and a rival to the West, has the bubble already burst? When BRICS voted to expand two years ago, its members declared they sought 'greater representation of emerging markets and developing countries' in international institutions. At the same time, China and Russia, which had been the most enthusiastic about expanding membership, stated they hoped to challenge US and Western hegemony, seeing the expanded BRICS as a Global South rival to the G7. There followed a flurry of optimism. The UAE, Egypt, Iran and Ethiopia became members in 2024, though Argentina declined the invitation and Saudi Arabia, despite attending subsequent summits, has not formally joined. Indonesia then became the bloc's 10th formal member in early 2025. Last year in Kazan, members even discussed launching a new joint currency to challenge the global primacy of the dollar and, unofficially, weaken the effect of US dollar-based sanctions on members like Russia and Iran. But a year on, the collective mood is less upbeat. The absence of four of the 10 leaders was a blow to the summit's prestige. Vladimir Putin's absence was due to a fear of arrest on an International Criminal Court warrant and he spoke by video link, but Xi Jinping's absence was his first since becoming Chinese premier. Though officially this was due to 'scheduling conflict,' some observers suggested Xi's enthusiasm for BRICS has somewhat waned. Related to this might be the bloc's reaction to Donald Trump. Russia and China were among the most supportive of a new BRICS currency to challenge the dollar in Kazan. But on the eve of the Rio de Janeiro summit, Trump declared on social media that any country aligning itself with the 'anti-American' policies of BRICS would face an additional 10 percent US tariff — a not very subtle threat about the possible new currency. This likely contributed to reluctance among other BRICS members, especially India, which fears Chinese dominance of the new currency, to advance the proposal. No major headway was made on the issue and the final joint statement even contained references to the global importance of the dollar — perhaps an effort by some to appease Trump. With 10 members, there are far more actors at play, making it harder for any consensus to be reached. Christopher Phillips But Trump and the new currency were not the only points of disagreement among the members in Brazil. One of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's big hopes for the summit was agreeing proposals to reform international institutions to make them more representative. But two new members, Egypt and Ethiopia, blocked a proposal for South Africa to gain a permanent place on the UN Security Council (along with India and Brazil), arguing it undermined the African Union's policy of proposing two permanent seats for African states, elected by the continent's governments. Another division concerned Iran. While Iran received support from fellow members following the recent attacks by Israel and the US, neither were explicitly condemned. Tensions continued when the final summit declaration called for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, but Tehran voiced its opposition, arguing instead for a one-state 'South African' resolution. Chatham House's Natalie Sabanadze suggested that the rifts in Rio de Janeiro exposed 'that not all members are interested in taking sides in a global power confrontation or turning BRICS into a tool to help reshape the global order.' China and Russia, especially, seem to have a different vision for what they want the group to be. One of the problems is the recent expansion. In a smaller grouping of just five, China and Russia were better able to direct the agenda. With 10 members, plus attendant partners, there are far more actors at play, making it harder for any consensus to be reached, let alone one that satisfies Moscow and Beijing's anti-Western preferences. While some new members, like Iran, have a history of hostility to the West, others like the UAE and Egypt, remain close partners despite increasingly pursuing their own middle path in international affairs. Moreover, the expansion has exacerbated existing fault lines. China and India, for example, though cooperative in BRICS, have long been strategic rivals and New Delhi fears Beijing using the grouping to amplify its power. India is now able to use the new members to build support against China's dominance. Another issue is climate change, with Brazil especially keen to push a united position, but it is restrained by the presence of large fossil fuel providers and carbon dioxide emitters within the expanded group. These are not easy obstacles to overcome, so it is perhaps unsurprising that, just a few years into its expansion, BRICS does not yet look like the 'Global South G7' rivaling the West some hoped it would become. That does not make the task impossible but merely highlights the scale of the challenge. As G7 leaders will attest, getting any consensus at these summits is often a challenge, even for relatively minor policies. Perhaps then, the limited progress of BRICS+ thus far is as should be expected. While Brazil, China, Russia and the other members have lofty ambitions for the group, they may not, at heart, be the same, which will make further advances and closer alignment in the future a challenge. • Christopher Phillips is professor of international relations at Queen Mary University of London and author of 'Battleground: Ten Conflicts that Explain the New Middle East.' X: @cjophillips
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
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NATO chief says Brazil, China and India could be slammed by sanctions
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned on Wednesday that countries such as Brazil, China and India could be hit very hard by secondary sanctions if they continued to do business with Russia. Rutte made the comment while meeting with senators in the US Congress the day after President Donald Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine and threatened 'biting' secondary tariffs of 100 percent on the buyers of Russian exports unless there is a peace deal in 50 days. 'My encouragement to these three countries, particularly is, if you live now in Beijing, or in Delhi, or you are the president of Brazil, you might want to take a look into this, because this might hit you very hard,' Rutte told reporters, who met with Trump on Monday and agreed the new steps. 'So please make the phone call to Vladimir Putin and tell him that he has to get serious about peace talks, because otherwise this will slam back on Brazil, on India and on China in a massive way,' Rutte added. Republican US Senator Thom Tillis praised Trump for announcing the steps, but said the 50-day delay 'worries' him. He said he was concerned that 'Putin would try to use the 50 days to win the war, or to be better positioned to negotiate a peace agreement after having murdered and potentially collected more ground as a basis for negotiation. 'So we should look at the current state of Ukraine today and say, no matter what you do over the next 50 days, any of your gains are off the table,' he added. Rutte said Europe would find the money to ensure Ukraine was in the best possible position in peace talks. He said that under the agreement with Trump, the US would now 'massively' supply Ukraine with weapons 'not just air defense, also missiles, also ammunition paid for by the Europeans.' Asked if long-range missiles for Ukraine were under discussion, Rutte said: 'It is both defensive and offensive. So there's all kinds of weapons, but we have not discussed in detail yesterday with the president. This is really being worked through now by the Pentagon, by the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, together with the Ukrainians.'
Al Arabiya
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Trump says Zelenskyy should not target Moscow
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