Latest news with #Sino-Soviet
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump wants to break China. He may drive the world into its arms
America and China are on a collision course. A tit-for-tat trade war means prices of Chinese goods are likely to double at the US border next week because of additional Trump tariffs. Beijing has slapped retaliatory taxes on the world's biggest economy as well as stopping critical mineral exports vital for everything from ammunition to semiconductors and lithium batteries. There's no going back. After all, Beijing received no respite from trade pressures after President Trump's first term ended. It was Joe Biden's administration that described China as the 'most consequential geopolitical challenge'. Trump is simply continuing where both men left off, and this time he's much more prepared. China was mentioned 867 times in the US's latest report on Foreign Trade Barriers that Mr Trump brandished with glee in the Rose Garden on 'liberation day'. Almost 50 pages of the 400 page report are devoted to detailing China's laundry list of wrongdoing, from currency manipulation to intellectual property theft. But China was far from the hardest hit by tariffs last week. Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Bangladesh, were all hit harder. Analysts are now warning that after years of diplomacy, with just a few strokes of a pen, Trump's tariffs will push these countries further into the arms of Beijing. Rory Green at TS Lombard, the consultancy, says the Trump administration can forget any notion that it will be able to pull off a so-called 'reverse Nixon', pulling Russia and China apart in the same way the former US president was able to exploit the Sino-Soviet split in the 1970s to draw China closer to the West. After all, Volodymyr Zelensky revealed on Tuesday that Ukraine had captured two Chinese soldiers who had joined Russia's war effort. Green says Trump has undermined years of diplomacy within weeks of re-entering office. 'Disrupting Nato and slapping trade tariffs on allies really does undermine the soft power and the alliance network that the US has built up over a number of decades,' he adds. Others suggest it will harden countries' attitudes towards the world's biggest economy. Larry Summers famously retold an anecdote collected on his travels across the Global South. The former US treasury secretary said it summed up a big difference between the world's two big superpowers. 'What we get from China is an airport. What we get from the United States is a lecture,' he recalled. After all, China's soft power drive comes attached to hard currency. Its Belt and Road initiative from more than a decade ago was dubbed China's new Silk Road, with almost 150 countries stretching from Ecuador to Papua New Guinea signing up for infrastructure projects bankrolled by Beijing. While many of them proved to be controversial, Green says some nations will face little choice but to turn east in the face of Trump's tariff onslaught. Vietnamese goods now face a 46pc tariff at the US border, while Bangladesh faces a tariff of 37pc. Taiwan, which faces the threat of being invaded by China, has been hit by a 32pc tariff. 'All these countries care about is growth,' Green says. 'People want to get out of poverty. They want to make money, they want jobs. And tariffs could push a lot of these economies into recession if they are not lifted quickly. 'China as the regional superpower – economically and geopolitically – stands to benefit from that.' America will continue to try to exert its influence in Asia. Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, was in the Philippines last month on his first trip to the Indo-Pacific, where he vowed the US would 'shift to this region of the world in a way that is unprecedented' as Beijing continues to flex its muscles in the South China sea. The very next week, Trump hit the islands with a 17pc tariff on goods headed to the US. Andrew Yeh, executive director of the China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI), says economic costs will inevitably have geopolitical consequences. 'America might hope that it can separate out the economic relationship from the security relationship, and countries like the Philippines and Taiwan might be willing still to align themselves with the US in security terms, even while the US is hurting them economically,' says Yeh. 'But politically speaking, I'm just not sure how feasible that is, given how much harm these tariffs will inflict on economies and their people.' Green at TS Lombard adds that China's technological prowess has surpassed all expectations in areas like electric vehicles, batteries, high tech manufactured goods, and even artificial intelligence in the form of DeepSeek. He says: 'If you're a country like Vietnam or Brazil or somewhere in South East Asia or Africa, pretty much the only choice you have is China in those areas. 'So we're heading into a world where Chinese technology is underpinning the daily lives of billions of people already. And this Trump push to slash trade relationships with these very countries is only going to encourage them to use China more.' Even China's frosty relationship with the EU is slowly thawing. Ursula Von Der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, held talks with China's Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday where both 'stressed the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of the world's largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field'. That rapprochement may have already begun. Dutch microchip giant ASML recently disclosed it was setting up a Beijing-based re-use and repair centre this year, in a sign that it recognises the importance of China as one of its largest markets. The Biden administration put immense pressure on the microchip maker, whose machines generate a special type of UV light needed to make the world's most cutting-edge semiconductor chips, to restrict sales to China. This could yet change in the next few years. Green describes a future Sino-EU partnership as 'friendly but wary'. Von der Leyen herself hinted that there would be bumps along the road, with her statement emphasising 'China's critical role in addressing possible trade diversion caused by tariffs, especially in sectors already affected by global overcapacity'. In other words: don't dump your goods here. Brussels has already imposed additional tariffs up to 35.3pc on Chinese electric vehicles to protect its own carmakers in a sign that a future relationship will be competitive as well as complementary. Green is more optimistic about the UK, where exporters selling to the US face a much lower 10pc tariff compared with the 20pc tariff imposed on the EU. The UK is also much stronger in terms of services exports, which have so far been shielded from the tariff onslaught. He says: 'We don't make very much. We don't compete with China in a lot of the manufacturing areas. And as China gets wealthier they will need more financial and legal services for example.' While financial services deals will be just what Rachel Reeves will be looking for, Yeh of the CSRI is less optimistic. He describes the UK as being in a tricky position because of its reluctance so far to impose tariffs against Chinese cars for example. 'If the UK becomes a dumping ground for China's EVs then does the UK effectively become a back door to the EU for cheap Chinese goods, which undermines European competitiveness? And then, does Brussels feel like it needs to take action against the UK market?' That, he says, will be a major economic risk. As the Chancellor and Sir Keir Starmer continue efforts to strike deals with everyone, it's clear that trying to have your cake and eat it was always going to be a risky strategy. It may still turn out be the best one for Britain. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
08-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Trump wants to break China. He may drive the world into its arms
America and China are on a collision course. A tit-for-tat trade war means prices of Chinese goods are likely to double at the US border next week because of additional Trump tariffs. Beijing has slapped retaliatory taxes on the world's biggest economy as well as stopping critical mineral exports vital for everything from ammunition to semiconductors and lithium batteries. There's no going back. After all, Beijing received no respite from trade pressures after President Trump's first term ended. It was Joe Biden's administration that described China as the 'most consequential geopolitical challenge'. Trump is simply continuing where both men left off, and this time he's much more prepared. China was mentioned 867 times in the US's latest report on Foreign Trade Barriers that Mr Trump brandished with glee in the Rose Garden on 'liberation day'. Almost 50 pages of the 400 page report are devoted to detailing China's laundry list of wrongdoing, from currency manipulation to intellectual property theft. But China was far from the hardest hit by tariffs last week. Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Bangladesh, were all hit harder. Analysts are now warning that after years of diplomacy, with just a few strokes of a pen, Trump's tariffs will push these countries further into the arms of Beijing. Rory Green at TS Lombard, the consultancy, says the Trump administration can forget any notion that it will be able to pull off a so-called 'reverse Nixon', pulling Russia and China apart in the same way the former US president was able to exploit the Sino-Soviet split in the 1970s to draw China closer to the West. After all, Volodymyr Zelensky revealed on Tuesday that Ukraine had captured two Chinese soldiers who had joined Russia's war effort. Green says Trump has undermined years of diplomacy within weeks of re-entering office. 'Disrupting Nato and slapping trade tariffs on allies really does undermine the soft power and the alliance network that the US has built up over a number of decades,' he adds. Others suggest it will harden countries' attitudes towards the world's biggest economy. Larry Summers famously retold an anecdote collected on his travels across the Global South. The former US treasury secretary said it summed up a big difference between the world's two big superpowers. 'What we get from China is an airport. What we get from the United States is a lecture,' he recalled. After all, China's soft power drive comes attached to hard currency. Its Belt and Road initiative from more than a decade ago was dubbed China's new Silk Road, with almost 150 countries stretching from Ecuador to Papua New Guinea signing up for infrastructure projects bankrolled by Beijing. While many of them proved to be controversial, Green says some nations will face little choice but to turn east in the face of Trump's tariff onslaught. Vietnamese goods now face a 46pc tariff at the US border, while Bangladesh faces a tariff of 37pc. Taiwan, which faces the threat of being invaded by China, has been hit by a 32pc tariff. 'All these countries care about is growth,' Green says. 'People want to get out of poverty. They want to make money, they want jobs. And tariffs could push a lot of these economies into recession if they are not lifted quickly. 'China as the regional superpower – economically and geopolitically – stands to benefit from that.' America will continue to try to exert its influence in Asia. Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, was in the Philippines last month on his first trip to the Indo-Pacific, where he vowed the US would 'shift to this region of the world in a way that is unprecedented' as Beijing continues to flex its muscles in the South China sea. The very next week, Trump hit the islands with a 17pc tariff on goods headed to the US. Andrew Yeh, executive director of the China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI), says economic costs will inevitably have geopolitical consequences. 'America might hope that it can separate out the economic relationship from the security relationship, and countries like the Philippines and Taiwan might be willing still to align themselves with the US in security terms, even while the US is hurting them economically,' says Yeh. 'But politically speaking, I'm just not sure how feasible that is, given how much harm these tariffs will inflict on economies and their people.' Green at TS Lombard adds that China's technological prowess has surpassed all expectations in areas like electric vehicles, batteries, high tech manufactured goods, and even artificial intelligence in the form of DeepSeek. He says: 'If you're a country like Vietnam or Brazil or somewhere in South East Asia or Africa, pretty much the only choice you have is China in those areas. 'So we're heading into a world where Chinese technology is underpinning the daily lives of billions of people already. And this Trump push to slash trade relationships with these very countries is only going to encourage them to use China more.' Even China's frosty relationship with the EU is slowly thawing. Ursula Von Der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, held talks with China's Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday where both 'stressed the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of the world's largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field'. That rapprochement may have already begun. Dutch microchip giant ASML recently disclosed it was setting up a Beijing-based re-use and repair centre this year, in a sign that it recognises the importance of China as one of its largest markets. The Biden administration put immense pressure on the microchip maker, whose machines generate a special type of UV light needed to make the world's most cutting-edge semiconductor chips, to restrict sales to China. This could yet change in the next few years. Green describes a future Sino-EU partnership as 'friendly but wary'. Von der Leyen herself hinted that there would be bumps along the road, with her statement emphasising 'China's critical role in addressing possible trade diversion caused by tariffs, especially in sectors already affected by global overcapacity'. In other words: don't dump your goods here. Brussels has already imposed additional tariffs up to 35.3pc on Chinese electric vehicles to protect its own carmakers in a sign that a future relationship will be competitive as well as complementary. Green is more optimistic about the UK, where exporters selling to the US face a much lower 10pc tariff compared with the 20pc tariff imposed on the EU. The UK is also much stronger in terms of services exports, which have so far been shielded from the tariff onslaught. He says: 'We don't make very much. We don't compete with China in a lot of the manufacturing areas. And as China gets wealthier they will need more financial and legal services for example.' While financial services deals will be just what Rachel Reeves will be looking for, Yeh of the CSRI is less optimistic. He describes the UK as being in a tricky position because of its reluctance so far to impose tariffs against Chinese cars for example. 'If the UK becomes a dumping ground for China's EVs then does the UK effectively become a back door to the EU for cheap Chinese goods, which undermines European competitiveness? And then, does Brussels feel like it needs to take action against the UK market?' That, he says, will be a major economic risk. As the Chancellor and Sir Keir Starmer continue efforts to strike deals with everyone, it's clear that trying to have your cake and eat it was always going to be a risky strategy. It may still turn out be the best one for Britain.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's tariff blunder will generate retaliation, retribution against an isolated U.S.
April 8 (UPI) -- Whether President George W. Bush's ill-fated decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was America's worst geostrategic blunder since World War II and Vietnam or not, Donald Trump's imposition of tariffs may prove worse. By imposing global tariffs, Trump is performing a hat trick of sorts. First, he has more than decimated U.S. stock markets so far. About 60% of Americans invest in these markets largely through pension and retirement funds. Second, on the current course, Trump has significantly increased the likelihood of an economic recession. But the third trick may be the most ominous. By his isolating the United States from the international system through tariffs, profound questions have been raised about American commitments to allies and partners. And even if the United States were to put these tariffs on a temporary hold, how long that would last is not an idle question. The United States simply is no longer trusted under Trump. And even if Trump were to relent on tariffs or they dropped after he left office, the damage could be irreparable. Meanwhile, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jingping must be overjoyed with what Trump is doing. During the Cold War, the United States manipulated the Sino-Soviet relationship, eventually turning China against the Soviet Union. Today, U.S. administrations have tried to repeat this ploy. Sadly, by imposing tariffs, Trump is achieving two geopolitical goals for Beijing and Moscow. First, Russia and China are being driven closer by the need to counter the United States. Second, Beijing and Moscow will exploit this condition by drawing much of the international trading system closer because of tariffs that make doing business with the United States too expensive. The United States will become increasingly isolated by these geopolitical and economic shifts. This means that trade with the rest of the world will become more expensive for the United States. Since 30% to 50% of all U.S.-manufactured products consist of foreign content, costs will be passed on to consumers as tariffs drive them up. One example shows why tariffs will not work. The United States imports about$140 billion a year of products made in Vietnam. U.S. exports are about $14 billion. If tariffs are reduced to zero, the United States should buy more from Vietnam and Vietnam from the United States. Assume that is an increase of 10% by both. That will favor the imbalance. U.S. imports would rise to $154 billion and exports only to $15.4 billion, thereby increasing the imbalance. What would China and Russia do? First, the BRIC states -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- will draw closer. China will continue to expand its Belt and Road Initiatives, offering better trade deals in attempts to cut off U.S. influence. Russia, too, will use its energy and defense capabilities for external sales. Diplomatically, tariffs will generate retaliation and retribution against the United States. China and Russia will use this to their ends. Meanwhile, the United States will be whiplashed by a triple whammy. The Department of Government Efficiency has so far created more disruption and damage to the agencies where it has landed than any savings or efficiencies that may have been achieved. If the extension of the 2017 tax cuts are made permanent, that will add about $6 trillion to the debt. And tariffs have already shed over $10 trillion from the markets, possibly inducing an economic recession or crisis. The debt is $36 trillion now. It could rise to well over $40 trillion before Trump's term ends. So how is this not a geo-economic-strategic crisis and blunder of the first order? One casualty will be NATO, since Trump will demand greater defense spending at a time when governments will be increasingly hard-pressed to deal with this looming economic crisis. And the war in Ukraine persists as the Trump administration is favoring Russia. Otherwise, why is Russia excluded from tariffs? As Trump has turned the Grand Old Party into Trump's Own Party, he has cowed Congress into fawning submission. Members of Congress must reread Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution that delineates its authority. These are the first three responsibilities: • The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; • To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; • To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes Then, Congress, do your duty! Harlan Ullman is UPI's Arnaud de Borchgrave Distinguished Columnist, senior adviser at Washington's Atlantic Council, chairman of a private company and principal author of the doctrine of shock and awe. His next book, co-written with General The Lord David Richards, former U.K. chief of defense and due out late next year, is The Arc of Failure: Can Decisive Strategic Thinking Transform a Dangerous World? The writer can be reached on X @harlankullman.
Arab News
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Fear of more war haunts Kursk as Russia expels Ukrainian troops
RYLSK, Russia: In the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukraine has been fighting for more than seven months, people say they want peace but fear there will be more war. Ukraine's incursion into Russian territory was launched in August — more than two years into a major war triggered by Moscow's invasion of its neighbor — shocking a border region that hadn't seen conflict since World War Two. Now, with Russia close to expelling the last Ukrainian troops, Kursk's populace is counting the cost. For some residents like Leonid Boyarintsev, a veteran of the Sino-Soviet border conflict of 1969, the surprise enemy offensive served as justification for Russia to double down on its military activities in Ukraine. 'When we are victorious there will be peace because no one will dare to come crawling in again,' the 83-year-old told Reuters in the town of Rylsk, adding that he blamed the West for stoking the conflict in Ukraine. 'They will be too afraid to.' The damage that has been unleashed on towns and cities in the Russian region has brought home the horrors of war long suffered by Ukrainians. In ancient Rylsk, 26 km (16 miles) from the border, the scars are everywhere — from the smashed merchant buildings from Tsarist Russia to the families still struggling with children living apart in evacuation. 'We want peace but it is very important that the peace is long term and durable,' town Mayor Sergei Kurnosov told Reuters in the ruins of a cultural center that was destroyed in a Dec. 20 Ukrainian attack. Six people were killed and 12 injured in the attack, Russia said. Russia said the cultural center was destroyed by US-made HIMARS missiles. Abandoned music books lay beside silent pianos and a theater stage showing a shattered scene of rubble and glass. Reuters is among the first international news outlets to gain access to the Kursk region since Russia began a lightning offensive to expel Ukrainian troops this month. While Russian officials did not check reporting material, the Reuters team was informed in advance that it could not report about the Russian military in the region or gather visuals of Russian forces. Just like Ukrainians, many Kursk residents crave a return to normality Here too, air-raid sirens have become the daily soundtrack of life. While Russia has now pushed out almost all Ukrainian forces from Kursk, the area has been heavily mined and drones continue to attack. Many civilian cars speeding along a road near the vast Kurchatov nuclear power plant had drone jamming devices strapped onto their roofs. Residents shopped for food and vapes as artillery boomed in the distance. 'It's all very scary indeed,' said Rimma Erofeyeva, a music teacher in Rylsk who said people in the town wanted the fighting to stop though believed that God was protecting them. 'The really scary thing is that people have got so used to this that they don't even react to the sirens anymore.' SWARMS OF DRONES Ukrainian forces smashed into the Kursk region on August 6, supported by swarms of drones and heavy Western weaponry, and swiftly seize almost 1,400 sq km of territory, according to Russian generals. But within weeks the area under Ukraine's control shrank as Russia piled in forces. The latest battlefield map from Deep State, an authoritative Ukrainian site that charts the frontlines from open-source data, showed Ukraine controlled less than 81 sq km as of March 23. By contrast, Russia controls about 113,000 sq km, or about 20 percent, of Ukraine. The strategic fortunes of the Kursk incursion are disputed. Ukraine said the incursion was aimed at bringing the war to Russia, diverting Russian troops from advances in eastern Ukraine, embarrassing President Vladimir Putin and gaining a bargaining chip in potential future talks on ending the war. The operation 'achieved most of its goals,' the armed forces' General Staff told Reuters this week. The chief of Russia's General Staff Valery Gerasimov told Putin, in a televised exchange during a trip by the president to a command post in the Kursk region on March 12, that Ukraine had lost tens of thousands of its best troops in a failed bid to distract Russian forces from the Donbas, in eastern Ukraine. 'The Kyiv regime aimed to create a so-called strategic foothold in the Kursk region for later use as a bargaining chip in possible negotiations with Russia,' Gerasimov said. 'These plans of the enemy have completely failed.' Russia's defense ministry says Ukraine has lost 69,700 troops dead or injured in Kursk, along with 5,700 tanks, armored cars and many Western-supplied vehicles. Russia has not given its own casualty figures. Ukraine has given no casualty figures but dismisses Russian estimates as fake. New US President Donald Trump has vowed to end the three-year war in Ukraine, yet many people in the Kursk region are skeptical of any lasting peace because of deep-seated geopolitical tensions and distrust between Russia and the West. 'I don't think that there will be peace in our region in the near future,' said a resident of the city of Kursk who gave her name only as Yekaterina, citing resentment toward Russia from Ukraine and the West. 'There will be some hostility toward our people, toward our land for a very long time.'
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fear of more war haunts Kursk as Russia expels Ukrainian troops
By Guy Faulconbridge RYLSK, Russia (Reuters) - In the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukraine has been fighting for more than seven months, people say they want peace but fear there will be more war. Ukraine's incursion into Russian territory was launched in August - more than two years into a major war triggered by Moscow's invasion of its neighbour - shocking a border region that hadn't seen conflict since World War Two. Now, with Russia close to expelling the last Ukrainian troops, Kursk's populace is counting the cost. For some residents like Leonid Boyarintsev, a veteran of the Sino-Soviet border conflict of 1969, the surprise enemy offensive served as justification for Russia to double down on its military activities in Ukraine. "When we are victorious there will be peace because no one will dare to come crawling in again," the 83-year-old told Reuters in the town of Rylsk, adding that he blamed the West for stoking the conflict in Ukraine. "They will be too afraid to." The damage that has been unleashed on towns and cities in the Russian region has brought home the horrors of war long suffered by Ukrainians. In ancient Rylsk, 26 km (16 miles) from the border, the scars are everywhere - from the smashed merchant buildings from Tsarist Russia to the families still struggling with children living apart in evacuation. "We want peace but it is very important that the peace is long term and durable," town Mayor Sergei Kurnosov told Reuters in the ruins of a cultural centre that was destroyed in a Dec. 20 Ukrainian attack. Six people were killed and 12 injured in the attack, Russia said. Russia said the cultural centre was destroyed by U.S.-made HIMARS missiles. Abandoned music books lay beside silent pianos and a theatre stage showing a shattered scene of rubble and glass. Reuters is among the first international news outlets to gain access to the Kursk region since Russia began a lightning offensive to expel Ukrainian troops this month. While Russian officials did not check reporting material, the Reuters team was informed in advance that it could not report about the Russian military in the region or gather visuals of Russian forces. Just like Ukrainians, many Kursk residents crave a return to normality Here too, air-raid sirens have become the daily soundtrack of life. While Russia has now pushed out almost all Ukrainian forces from Kursk, the area has been heavily mined and drones continue to attack. Many civilian cars speeding along a road near the vast Kurchatov nuclear power plant had drone jamming devices strapped onto their roofs. Residents shopped for food and vapes as artillery boomed in the distance. "It's all very scary indeed," said Rimma Erofeyeva, a music teacher in Rylsk who said people in the town wanted the fighting to stop though believed that God was protecting them. "The really scary thing is that people have got so used to this that they don't even react to the sirens any more." SWARMS OF DRONES Ukrainian forces smashed into the Kursk region on August 6, supported by swarms of drones and heavy Western weaponry, and swiftly seize almost 1,400 sq km of territory, according to Russian generals. But within weeks the area under Ukraine's control shrank as Russia piled in forces. The latest battlefield map from Deep State, an authoritative Ukrainian site that charts the frontlines from open-source data, showed Ukraine controlled less than 81 sq km as of March 23. By contrast, Russia controls about 113,000 sq km, or about 20%, of Ukraine. The strategic fortunes of the Kursk incursion are disputed. Ukraine said the incursion was aimed at bringing the war to Russia, diverting Russian troops from advances in eastern Ukraine, embarrassing President Vladimir Putin and gaining a bargaining chip in potential future talks on ending the war. The operation "achieved most of its goals", the armed forces' General Staff told Reuters this week. The chief of Russia's General Staff Valery Gerasimov told Putin, in a televised exchange during a trip by the president to a command post in the Kursk region on March 12, that Ukraine had lost tens of thousands of its best troops in a failed bid to distract Russian forces from the Donbas, in eastern Ukraine. "The Kyiv regime aimed to create a so-called strategic foothold in the Kursk region for later use as a bargaining chip in possible negotiations with Russia," Gerasimov said. "These plans of the enemy have completely failed." Russia's defence ministry says Ukraine has lost 69,700 troops dead or injured in Kursk, along with 5,700 tanks, armoured cars and many Western-supplied vehicles. Russia has not given its own casualty figures. Ukraine has given no casualty figures but dismisses Russian estimates as fake. New U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to end the three-year war in Ukraine, yet many people in the Kursk region are sceptical of any lasting peace because of deep-seated geopolitical tensions and distrust between Russia and the West. "I don't think that there will be peace in our region in the near future," said a resident of the city of Kursk who gave her name only as Yekaterina, citing resentment towards Russia from Ukraine and the West. "There will be some hostility towards our people, towards our land for a very long time."
