The World Blog by humble servant.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s bid to secure the assistance of Middle East oil exporters in pressuring President Vladimir Putin to end Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine has come up empty, failing to win any immediate pledges from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to increase crude production. Johnson ended his trip to the Arabian Peninsula on Wednesday after meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi. He came away without persuading the kingdoms to announce any ramp-up of oil supplies as the UK, US and their allies try to persuade the world to cut off their imports from Russia to punish Putin. Asked by a reporter whether Saudi Arabia would boost output, he replied, “I think you need to talk to the Saudis about that. But I think there was an understanding of the need to ensure stability in global oil markets and gas markets and the need to avoid damaging price spikes.” Boris Johnson visits Saudi Arabia on quest for more o...

The US has been vocal about restricting Russian oil imports, but sources say an actual ban is unlikely as it would further propel gasoline prices, which are already record high. On March 8, President Joe Biden announced his administration was banning Russian oil, natural gas and coal imports to the US as part of a sanctions package in response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. Two days later, the House of Representatives passed a bill to ban Russian energy imports. The media, which speculated how long it would take for sanctions to turn toward energy carriers, quickly picked up the news, with some Western experts saying the US move could be followed by other countries. However, according to CNN, US Senate sources are now saying it’s unlikely their chamber will move on the bill to turn it into law. The sources explain that the move by the Senate is considered unnecessary after the president took executive action to ban the imports. Also, according to Senator Joe Manchin, who ...

Russia’s revelations of documents pertaining to US-backed biological laboratories in Ukraine deserve the world’s attention, and the parties involved need to address those concerns, China’s permanent representative to the UN told the Security Council on Friday. Having been a victim of chemical and biological weapons, China believes that “any information and leads on biological military activities should trigger heightened concern and attention of the international community to avoid irreparable harm,” Ambassador Zhang Jun said. “Russia has further revealed the newly discovered relevant documents. The party concerned should respond to questions, and offer timely and comprehensive clarifications to remove the doubts of the international community,” Zhang added. We do not consider it too much to ask. And, on this issue, no double standards should be applied. Friday’s UNSC briefing was called by Russia, which shared the evidence obtained from laboratories across Ukraine. Moscow’s perma...

Neo-Nazis in Western Europe are trying to exploit Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine toward their own ends, including opportunities to commit bloodthirsty acts and reshape the former Soviet republic into a haven for white nationalists, a leading terrorism analyst has claimed. “Some neo-Nazis simply see this new war as a place to act out their violent fantasies,” SITE Intelligence Group executive director Rita Katz wrote earlier this week in the Washington Post. “For others, though, the force pulling them toward the conflict is a shared vision for an ultranationalist ethno-state.” Neo-Nazis responding to Ukraine’s call for volunteer fighters from around the world aren’t interested in defending the country “as we know it – a multiethnic, democratically minded society led by a Jewish president,” said Katz, who’s also the author of a forthcoming book about “internet-age terrorism.” They see Ukraine as a golden opportunity to pursue this goal and turn it into a model to export acro...

US Representatives Ro Khanna and Joe Wilson said they met with India’s ambassador to urge his country to denounce Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, after New Delhi agreed to purchase a quantity of Russian oil despite a wave of new sanctions from the West. “Grateful to join my colleague in a bipartisan call with the Ambassador of India to the US. It is critical that world leaders condemn the atrocities being committed by Putin in Ukraine,” Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, wrote in a tweet on Wednesday. India’s US Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu later highlighted the “engaging discussion” with lawmakers, but added that he also “explained [India’s] position on current global developments.” Though Sandhu did not elaborate further, New Delhi has so far been unwilling to join Washington and a long list of allies in condemning Moscow’s military operation, even reportedly striking a deal for three million barrels of Russian oil at a heavy discount as recently as this week. The ...

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke out against US military assistance for Ukraine on Friday, claiming it prevented the restoration of peace and stability in the region. It urged other parties to follow its lead and provide humanitarian aid instead. “China provides Ukraine with food, milk powder, sleeping bags, quilts, and waterproof mats, but the US offers lethal weapons. It’s not hard for people to judge whether food, sleeping bags, or guns are more essential for local people,” stated Beijing’s official spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, as cited by the Chinese outlet Global Times. He added that China’s humanitarian efforts to support Ukrainian refugees had been widely supported by the international community. Lijian reproached the US for acting “hypocritically” in the wake of the refugee crisis in Ukraine, calling on the country to “deeply reflect on the root cause.” Washington has repeatedly asked Beijing to confirm its stance on the offensive. It has urged it to denounc...

Russia’s ongoing military offensive in Ukraine has delivered an “electroshock” to NATO, France’s President Emmanuel Macron said during a press conference on Thursday. The remark came in response to a journalist’s question regarding the president’s 2019 characterization of the military alliance as “brain dead,” and whether the French head of state was still of that opinion. Macron said that he stood by his initial ‘diagnosis,’ taking “full responsibility” for his words; however, according to the French president, Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine has been a wake-up call for NATO. Macron pointed out that the “war launched by President Putin” at the alliance’s door. .He also said that the military alliance in its current form would not cut it, standing by his earlier calls for reform. In November 2019, Macron told The Economist that the world was witnessing the “brain death of NATO.” The French president also urged Europe to “wake up” after the Trump administration had “turned...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed Russia’s standoff with the US and other Western nations in an interview with RT on Friday, and outlined the direction in which Moscow is moving. He said the West had encouraged Ukraine to turn into an “anti-Russia,” and now its leader is trying to goad US President Joe Biden into going to war for Kiev. Lavrov argued that Moscow is being subjected to “info-terrorism” by its opponents, who have dropped all pretence of adhering to the values they preach. Tensions will calm down, but Russia will no longer be under any illusion that it would be welcomed as an equal in the West, the foreign minister added. Here are some of the highlights from the interview ‘Just months ago, Ukraine’s Zelensky told ethnic Russians to go to Russia’ Western officials want to memory-hole the fact that the Ukraine crisis started with an armed coup in Kiev, Lavrov said. The post-coup authorities implemented discriminatory policies consistent with Russophobic vie...

US President Joe Biden ramped up his rhetoric against Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, calling him a “dictator” and a “thug” just a day after declaring him a “war criminal.” The US and its allies are standing together against Putin, who is “a murderous dictator, a pure thug who is waging an immoral war against the people of Ukraine,” Biden declared on Thursday, at the annual Friends of Ireland Luncheon. Biden’s remarks come just a day after he told a reporter at the White House he thinks Putin is a war criminal, after initially answering in the negative. The Kremlin responded that such remarks were “unacceptable and unforgivable,” reminding the American president of US bombs that killed “hundreds of thousands of people around the world.” Kremlin responds to Biden calling Putin ‘war criminal’READ MORE: Kremlin responds to Biden calling Putin ‘war criminal’ The 79-year-old US leader has called the Russian leader a “killer” in a March 2021 interview. Before that, on multip...

Beijing maintains an “independent” stance on the Ukraine crisis, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, Zhao Lijian, said during a press conference on Friday. The remark came in response to threats made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who warned China on Thursday that Washington would “impose costs” on it should Beijing choose to support Moscow. Lijian stated that “on the Ukraine issue, China has always acted objectively and impartially and made independent judgments based on the merits of the matter itself.” The Chinese diplomat also stressed that pressure from Washington would not make Beijing change its stance. He added that some US officials were still trying to spread disinformation regarding China’s position – something Lijian described as irresponsible and not conducive to the resolution of the crisis. In China’s view, the US ought to “seriously reflect on its role in the Ukraine crisis,” as well as “earnestly assume its due responsibilities.” Lijian also calle...

US President Joe Biden intends to share his “deep concerns” about China not denouncing Russia and the potential “implications and consequences” of that with Chinese President Xi Jinping in their upcoming call, the White House said on Thursday. The call, scheduled for Friday, is “an opportunity for President Biden to assess where President Xi stands,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, pointing to the “absence of clear rhetoric and denunciation” of Russia in Beijing. “The fact that China has not denounced what Russia is doing in and of itself speaks volumes,” not just in Russia and Ukraine but around the world, Psaki added. The US believes “China in particular has the responsibility to use its influence with [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin and to defend the international rules and principles that it professes to support,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday. Instead, China is “refusing to condemn this aggression while seeking to portray itself ...