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The world's largest oil producer stepped up imports of Russian oil in the second quarter despite sanctions aimed at choking Moscow's energy flows, Reuters said. Saudi Arabia imported 647,000 tonnes of Russian oil from April to June, according to data reviewed by Reuters. Saudi Arabia took possession of the oil from Russian and Estonian ports, and has thus far imported 320,000 more barrels from Russia compared to 2021 levels. The Kingdom's increased willingness to grow its reliance on Russian oil is at odds with global powers which are trying to condemn the Kremlin and cut off its exports in response...

CNN's Wolf Blitzer presses Saudi diplomat Adel al-Jubeir, who was in the room during President Joe Biden's meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Video at source.

Beginning in 2014, when the Maidan uprising brought a new government to Ukraine, the country has been erecting monuments to Nazi collaborators and Holocaust perpetrators at an astounding pace — there’s been a new plaque or street renaming nearly every week. Because of this, the Ukraine section represents an extremely partial listing of the several hundred monuments, statues, and streets named after Nazi collaborators in Ukraine. L’viv and Ivano-Frankivsk — 1.5 million Jews, a quarter of all Jews murdered in the Holocaust, came from Ukraine. Over the past six years, the country has been institutionalizing worship of the paramilitary Organization...

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive intensified its legal standoff with Hungary on Friday by taking the country to the EU’s highest court over a restrictive law on LGBT issues and media freedom. The EU had already tried for a year to make Hungary change a law that bans content portraying or promoting homosexuality. The European Commission said it “discriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity.” “The Commission considers that the law violates the internal market rules, the fundamental rights of individuals (in particular LGBTIQ people) as well as — with regard to...

Throughout his 20-plus year rule, Vladimir Putin has consolidated power through graft, intimidation, manipulation of the Russian legal system, and forcefully silencing critics. Putin’s ability to sustain subservience and loyalty to his authority is no small feat, especially in a political culture of ruthless power politics. His reputation as a master tactician abroad has also been carefully cultivated, if not exaggerated.

President Joe Biden’s administration is supporting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to ship natural gas pipeline equipment to Germany, which will lead to the European economic hub importing more Russian natural gas. State Department spokesman Ned Price expressed Washington’s support for the move in a statement Monday. Trudeau’s government plans to ship the equipment for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline back to Germany after it had been kept in Montreal due to sanctions on Russian gas, according to Bloomberg. The decision is aimed at preventing serious economic turmoil in Germany due to high energy prices.

The White House said it believes Iran is planning to supply Russia with "several hundred" unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) amid its war Ukraine. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Monday, "Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline." Sullivan said it is unclear whether Iran has already sent some of its drones to Russia and said Washington officials have intelligence leading them to believe that Tehran is preparing to train Russian forces on the UAVs this month.

Kyiv Pride was never supposed to be held outside of Ukraine's capital, but among the rainbow flags at Warsaw Pride in neighboring Poland, Ukraine's ubiquitous blue and yellow stood out. "I'm here because I can't go to Pride in Ukraine," one participant said. "We're all people regardless of who you love." Central Europe's biggest Pride march kept a focus on Ukraine's fight against Russia, as well as its LGBTQ+ community's fight for equal rights. ...

During a briefing, the head of the press center of the security and defense forces of the operational command of the South, Nataliya Gumenyuk, said that only the military can comment on the advance of the Ukrainian troops. “Any analysts, deputies, other political or just active figures at the moment only do harm with such statements…” Gumenyuk said. “Firstly, it does not correspond to reality, and secondly, it disorients our people, the local population. It harms not only the military operation, but the image of those who say such things.” Earlier, the UK weekly newspaper The Economist reported, citing a...

The war in Ukraine risks turning into a protracted conflict that Russia will eventually win, a leading think-tank has said.The report by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) warned that current Russian advantages and Ukrainian weaknesses are leading to a style of conflict that favours Moscow.The capture of the city means that Russia has essentially gained control of the entire Luhansk region, marking Russia's biggest victory since it captured the southern port of Mariupol in late May.Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrlo Budnov said his defence forces had withdrawn "to advantageous positions in order to gain tactical superiority" after the Russians...

Jews have been fleeing Russia in droves | Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images As Vladimir Putin’s war rages on for the fifth month in Ukraine and repression suffocates civil liberties back home, Russian Jews are worried they’ll soon become the Kremlin’s targets. Jews have been fleeing Russia in droves; those who’ve stayed behind are terrified of directly criticizing the war, which Putin has cynically claimed he launched to “de-Nazify” Ukraine. “In our congregation, we don’t talk about any political issues,” said a Moscow rabbi who asked not to be named. He added that after a 2011 crackdown on protests linked...

LUGANO, Switzerland (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday the reconstruction of his war-battered country is the “common task of the entire democratic world,” as his prime minister laid out a $750 billion recovery plan once invading Russia’s guns fall silent.“The reconstruction of Ukraine is not a local project, is not a project of one nation, but a common task of the entire democratic world — all countries, all countries who can say they are civilized,” Zelenskyy told hundreds of attendees in Lugano. ”Restoring Ukraine means restoring the principles of life, restoring the space of life, restoring everything that...

President Biden said the United States is “rallying the world to stand with Ukraine” and pledged to support the cause “as long as it takes.” U.S. officials have downplayed the (Russian} gains, calling them halting and incremental. The scrutiny is fueled by U.S. government assessments of other wars, notably in Afghanistan, where officials habitually glossed over widespread dysfunction and corruption and sidestepped questions of whether battlefield successes were not only achievable but sustainable. A Ukrainian lawmaker shared similar concerns. “We are losing the most valuable thing, our soldiers and officers.” Benjamin Friedman, a policy director at Defense Priorities, said that...

Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin on Sunday that Moscow and its allies now controlled all of Ukraine’s Luhansk region after capturing the last major city, Lysychansk. (cut) The ministry had said earlier on Sunday that its troops had captured the villages surrounding Lysychansk, encircling the area, and were fighting inside the city. Calls to the Ukrainian General Staff and Defence Ministry went unanswered. The ministry did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The withdrawal of Ukrainian troops to Seversk, Donetsk region, will allow Ukrainian forces to reduce the risk of immediate encirclement by Russian occupation forces. This is reported by the Censor.No, with reference to data from the Institute for the study of war (ISW). So, it is noted that yesterday Russian troops managed to enter Lisichansk and advance within the city, but the Ukrainian military did not officially announce the withdrawal of troops from Lisichansk, but also did not report on defensive battles around the city. Also, according to American analysts, Russian forces may establish control over the remaining territory of...

Volunteers to the country’s territorial defense forces, reserve units of Ukraine’s armed forces, were initially assigned unglamorous but safe tasks in relatively tranquil regions like western Ukraine, where the Russians did not invade. But severe losses of manpower in the Donbas region, where Russia is grinding forward with ferocious bombing and shelling, has forced Ukraine’s military to draw reinforcements from the West. Many of the fighters like Mr. Brukhal, who had no previous military experience, are simply unprepared for that escalated level of fighting. And the training they receive is limited — sometimes two weeks or less. Colonel Kurko said...

A newly released transcript of a call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reveals Putin prioritized a game of ice hockey ahead of scheduling peace negotiations with U.S. President Joe Biden.The transcript of the Feb. 20 phone call between Putin and Macron was obtained and jointly published by AFP and the French-language publication Le Temps. The transcript revealed that during the call between Macron and Putin, the French president asked Putin to agree to meet U.S. President Joe Biden in Geneva, Switzerland for peace talks…

Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have started the war in Ukraine if he was a woman, according to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. "If Putin was a woman, which he obviously isn't, but if he were, I really don't think he would've embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has," Johnson told German broadcaster ZDF on Tuesday evening. Putin's invasion of Ukraine is "a perfect example of toxic masculinity," he said, calling for better education for girls around the world and for "more women in positions of power."

General Timo Kivinen said Finland has prepared for decades for a Russian attack and would put up stiff resistance if it happened. He added a crucial factor is Finns would be motivated to fight. The defence chief said: "Ukraine has been a tough bite to chew [for Russia] and so would be Finland." He added the Nordic country has built up a substantial arsenal. General Kivinen said: "We have systematically developed our military defence precisely for this type of warfare that is being waged there [in Ukraine], with a massive use of firepower, armoured forces and also airforces." Helsinki has...

The conflict in Ukraine is driving a modernization of NATO weaponry, honing the alliance’s ability to face off against Russia and adding to the list of unintended consequences from Moscow’s invasion of its smaller neighbor. Former East Bloc NATO members have been arming Ukraine with Soviet-designed equipment similar to Kyiv’s existing gear. That has permitted a military housecleaning of their own arsenals on a scale that would have been unimaginable months ago. In turn, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will help its eastern members replace those arms with newer ones, greatly improving efficiency.