'Ask your intelligence...': Zelenksyy's open dare to Putin after Ukraine's massive drone blitz
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a powerful message at the B9 and Nordic countries summit following Kyiv's bold Operation Spider's Web, a massive drone strike targeting Russian military bases deep inside the country. Zelensky thanked Europe and the US for investing in weapons production and declared that the West now has 'better weapons than Russia.' He also asserted that tactical superiority and intensified military pressure are what will push Moscow toward diplomacy.
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India Today
15 minutes ago
- India Today
Despite US objections, 5 reasons why India-Russia partnership will endure
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said India's military purchases from Russia had "rubbed the United States the wrong way" while speaking at the eighth edition of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) Leadership Summit."There were certain things that the Indian government did that generally rubbed the US the wrong way... for instance, you generally buy your military gear from Russia. That's a way to kind of get under the skin of America, if you go to buy your armaments from Russia," Lutnick commerce secretary's understanding of the India-Russia relationship is limited. India buys Russian weapons because Russia does not attach strings to these sales. It willingly shares technology and co-produces weapons with India and allows technology transfers in areas no country will collaborate with. THE SOVIET UNION SOLD WEAPONS NO ONE ELSE DID When India began its rearmament in the mid-1960s after the defeat in the 1962 war with China, it first turned to the West. It wanted submarines and warships for the Navy and fighter jets for the Air Force. These were not Soviet Union stepped in with sales of frontline Foxtrot class submarines, first-of-its-class missile boats, anti-submarine corvettes and MiG-21 supersonic fighter aircraft. These platforms were used with devastating effect in the 1971 India-Pakistan war. The US, UK and China supported Pakistan in that Soviet Union sent its submarines in pursuit of the USS Enterprise carrier battle group that President Nixon sent into the Indian Ocean to intimidate India. This relationship continued through the 1980s. In 1987, the Soviet Union transferred to India on a three-year lease the K-43, the world's first nuclear-powered attack submarine that could fire anti-ship missiles from CONTINUES THE SOVIET LEGACYThis strategic partnership continued after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The successor state, Russia, sold to India the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles in the late 1990s. This weapon now equips all three services and was used with devastating effect during Operation Sindoor in smashing Pakistani airbases and radar installations. Russia has shared all the technology for this radical missile it developed during the Cold leased a second nuclear submarine, the Chakra-2, in 2012. It is refurbishing a third unit, the Chakra-3, which will be transferred to India on a ten-year lease by the end of this decade. Sure, Russia charges a hefty fee for this refurbishment and lease - over $3 billion - but with the exception of the US-UK partnership, no country has sold or transferred nuclear-powered submarine technology to another country. It has offered India advanced hypersonic weaponry and long-range missile systems and fifth-generation fighter FOR STRATEGIC WEAPONS PROGRAMMESadvertisementNuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines are the third leg of the triad of air, land and sea-based nuclear weapons. They are also the most secure leg of the triad because submarines can hide deep under the ocean beyond the reach of the helped India build its fleet of four Arihant class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. India began constructing these submarines after the Pokharan nuclear tests in 1998. Today, two Arihant-class submarines have been commissioned and two more will be commissioned in the next four are the most complex defence platforms ever built by India. Then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acknowledged Russia's support for the programme while speaking at the 2009 launch of the INS Arihant in STRINGS ATTACHEDThis is among the most important aspects of the relationship. The US imposed sanctions and embargoed the sale of military equipment to India because of the Pokharan-2 nuclear tests in 1998. President Donald Trump spoke of using trade as a tool to coerce India into negotiating a ceasefire during Operation Sindoor (a fact denied by India).This has led to fears that the sales of US weapons to India could be similarly used in a crisis. Russia has never attached such strings to its weapons sales to India. It has never imposed embargoes or restricted transfers of LIMITED ONLY BY IMAGINATIONThe sky is the limit when it comes to the Russia-India strategic partnership. Russia has provided technical assistance for India's Matsyayan ocean bed expedition that aims to send Indians to the deepest point of the Indian has also provided help for the Gaganyaan expedition, which aims to launch India's first astronauts in an Indian-built space vehicle. The India-Russia relationship is limited only by the imagination of the two partner Watch
Mint
30 minutes ago
- Mint
Russian rouble strengthens on US dollar ahead of the rate decision
MOSCOW, - The Russian rouble strengthened against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday as markets focused on the central bank's key rate decision later this week, though analysts said any dovish signals could trigger a weakening of the currency. By 1045 GMT, the rouble was up 0.8% at 78.35 per U.S. dollar, LSEG data based on over-the-counter quotes showed. The rouble has rallied by over 40% against the dollar so far this year. Reuters poll of 26 economists showed on June 2 that the central bank is expected to keep its key interest rate on hold at 21% at its board meeting on June 6, but may soften its rhetoric and signal rate cuts later in the year. However, a growing number of analysts predict that the central bank, which is under pressure from businesses over an economic slowdown and the high cost of lending, may start cutting rates at Friday's meeting. "The geopolitical factor has temporarily taken a back seat, and foreign exchange market participants are now preparing for the central bank's key interest rate decision," BCS brokerage analysts said. The Finance Ministry published figures for forex transactions for the National Wealth Fund which imply an increase on net foreign exchange sales by the state, providing more support for the rouble. Against the Chinese yuan, the rouble was up 0.3% at 10.87 on the Moscow Stock Exchange. Russia's central bank uses yuan for foreign exchange interventions, and it is the most traded foreign currency in Russia. Analysts believe that the rouble is fundamentally overvalued and see the Russian currency weakening to 97.5 to the dollar in one year. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
French President Macron's Waxwork, Stolen From Museum During Protest, Returned
Greenpeace activists overnight Tuesday to Wednesday returned a wax figure of President Emmanuel Macron they had stolen from a Paris museum as part of a protest against French economic ties with Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. After taking the waxwork from the Grevin Museum in a carefully planned heist on Monday the campaigners had placed it outside the Russian embassy in a symbolic protest. Carrying on the action late on Tuesday, they placed the waxwork, estimated to be worth 40,000 euros ($45,500), in a chest and put it outside the headquarters of French electricity giant EDF. They also put the statue on its feet and stood next to it a sign with a slogan denouncing French President Emmanuel Macron for not completely cutting ties with Russia under Vladimir Putin, in particular in the energy sphere. "Putin-Macron radioactive allies," it said. Police then arrived and secured the chest and waxwork ahead of its return to the Grevin Museum, the Paris equivalent of Madame Tussauds in London. "We came to bring back the statue of Emmanuel Macron because, as we said from the start, we had just borrowed it," Jean-Francois Julliard, executive director of Greenpeace France, told AFP at the scene. "We notified both the management of the Grevin Museum and the police. It's up to them to come and retrieve it," he said. The choice of the EDF headquarters was "to make Macron face up to his responsibilities concerning the trade that is maintained with Russia, particularly in the nuclear sector," he added. According to Julliard, French companies can still, despite the sanctions regime in place since the invasion, "import a whole host of products from Russia" including enriched uranium to power French nuclear power plants, natural uranium transiting through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan via Russia, LNG and chemical fertilisers. He said Greenpeace particularly criticised the surge in Russian fertiliser imports into the EU, which rose some 80 percent between 2021 and 2023 according to French fertiliser manufacturers. According to a police source, two women and a man on Monday entered the Grevin Museum posing as tourists and, once inside, changed their clothes to pass for workers. The activists slipped out through an emergency exit with the waxwork. A museum spokeswoman acknowledged that "they had clearly done their research very thoroughly".
