Free Republic

A growing number of Chinese parts have been found in Russian weapons, Ukraine told Reuters. Chinese-made parts have been found in Russian aerial drones and tanks, the outlet reported. China has repeatedly denied sending military equipment to Russia. Ukraine said it has found Chinese parts in captured Russian weapons, a senior advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Reuters on Monday. Vladyslav Vlasiuk, who is also a sanctions expert, told the outlet that Ukraine "continues to find different electronics" in Russian weapons that have been used in Ukraine. "We're picking [up] a lot of different stuff, China-made," Vlasiuk said. "The...

The Biden administration on Tuesday formally accused Russia of violating the New START arms treaty over what it said was Moscow‘s failure to allow inspections of weapons sites or agree to meetings on treaty disputes. President Biden agreed to extend the New START treaty — one of the last major arms control treaties still in force — for five years shortly after taking office in January 2021 — without seeking changes or concessions from the Kremlin related to its strategic forces buildup. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine barely a year later has put bilateral relations in a...

The CDU/CSU Christian Democratic Union suffered defeat in the Bundestag with a proposal to increase military support for Ukraine. In a roll-call vote, 179 MPs voted in favour of the proposal, 476 were against and one abstained, the German public broadcaster ARD reported. The motion called for “an immediate and noticeable increase in German support in terms of quantity and quality”. Ralf Stegner, MP of Germany's ruling Social Democratic Party (SDP), described the motion as “unnecessary”. In turn, Johann Wadephul, CDU/CSU parliamentary group vice-chair, stressed that, in view of Russia’s partial mobilisation, Ukraine now needs decisive support. “This also requires...