News Analysis India

Tag: Ukraine war

  • Russia Vetoes UN Resolution On North Korea Sanctions Amid Ukraine War | world news

    New York: Russia exercised its veto power at the United Nations on Thursday, blocking a resolution aimed at renewing an independent panel of experts tasked with investigating North Korea’s violations of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions, CNN reported. This move comes amid heightened tensions between Moscow and the West over the conflict in Ukraine, with North Korea emerging as a significant supplier of munitions to Russia.

    Overseeing a substantial expansion of Pyongyang’s ballistic missile program, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has conducted numerous tests, including those of long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the mainland United States. Historically, Russia has supported international sanctions and UN investigations into North Korea’s illegal weapons program, according to CNN.

    However, the dynamics have shifted amid the Ukraine crisis, leading to increased reliance on North Korea for munitions by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, justified the veto by asserting that the UN sanctions on North Korea are losing relevance and detached from reality. He criticized the sanctions’ efficacy since their inception in 2006, arguing that they have not achieved their intended goals or contributed to a positive change on the Korean Peninsula. Nebenzia highlighted Russia’s concerns about a coalition of countries, led by the US, seeking to strangle Pyongyang, which directly impacts Russia’s national security interests.

    Despite the prohibition on arms transfers to or from North Korea under UN sanctions, the Kim regime has emerged as a significant supplier of weapons to aid Russia’s efforts in Ukraine. South Korea’s defense minister revealed that North Korean munitions factories are operating at full capacity to supply armaments to Russia, including millions of artillery shells. Furthermore, Ukraine has reported discovering debris from North Korean-made ballistic missiles following attacks on its targets, as reported by CNN.

    The vote in the 15-member Security Council saw 13 members in favor of renewing the panel of experts’ work, with Russia opposing and China abstaining. However, Russia’s veto power ultimately led to the resolution’s failure.

    The British Ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, expressed deep concern over the Russian veto, emphasizing its detrimental impact on North Korean people and the effectiveness of sanctions. She accused Russia of seeking freedom to evade and breach sanctions for its weapons procurement, undermining the integrity of the international non-proliferation regime and the Council’s credibility.

    US Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, condemned Russia’s action, questioning how a civilized nation could block the approval.

    He stressed that while the panel of experts may have been silenced temporarily, advocates for a robust nonproliferation regime would persist. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry also criticized Russia’s decision as irresponsible, further highlighting the international backlash against Moscow’s move, CNN reported.

  • Prague government cancels performance by Russian soprano Anna Netrebko

    By Associated Press

    PRAGUE: A scheduled performance by Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko in the Czech capital has been canceled over political pressures as Russia wages war on Ukraine, Czech officials said Thursday.

    The announcement came days after the Prague government said that all its coalition parties “unequivocally” opposed the concert, calling it “insensitive.”

    Prague’s Municipal House, where Netrebko’s Oct. 16 performance was to take place, and the Nachtigall Artists Management, an agency that organized it, have agreed on the cancellation.

    The soprano won’t demand compensation, the organizing agency confirmed.

    The Czech Republic has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine during the war. The governing coalition in Prague is made up of the same political parties that comprise the Czech government.

    Netrebko sued the Metropolitan Opera in New York City over its decision to cut ties with her last year for refusing to repudiate her support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    Her 2023-24 season includes engagements with Berlin’s Staatsoper unter den Linden, the Vienna State Opera, Milan’s Teatro alla Scala and the Paris Opera.

    PRAGUE: A scheduled performance by Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko in the Czech capital has been canceled over political pressures as Russia wages war on Ukraine, Czech officials said Thursday.

    The announcement came days after the Prague government said that all its coalition parties “unequivocally” opposed the concert, calling it “insensitive.”

    Prague’s Municipal House, where Netrebko’s Oct. 16 performance was to take place, and the Nachtigall Artists Management, an agency that organized it, have agreed on the cancellation.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The soprano won’t demand compensation, the organizing agency confirmed.

    The Czech Republic has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine during the war. The governing coalition in Prague is made up of the same political parties that comprise the Czech government.

    Netrebko sued the Metropolitan Opera in New York City over its decision to cut ties with her last year for refusing to repudiate her support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    Her 2023-24 season includes engagements with Berlin’s Staatsoper unter den Linden, the Vienna State Opera, Milan’s Teatro alla Scala and the Paris Opera.

  • Cannes 2023: ‘In the Rearview’ spotlights Ukrainians escaping war & Polish efforts to help them

    By Associated Press

    WARSAW: When Polish filmmaker Maciek Hamela first began evacuating Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s war on their country, he wasn’t intending to make a film. He was one of the many Poles extending humanitarian aid to neighbors under attack, and had turned down an offer to film a television investigation there.

    But the reflections of the people he was transporting to safety in his van were so poignant that soon he began filming them. He asked a friend who is a director of photography to help him film — and drive — and directed his camera squarely back at his passengers as they traversed their war-scarred land.

    The result is “In the Rearview,” a documentary film being shown at the Cannes film festival in France as part of a parallel program devoted to independent cinema. It is not in competition.

    A Polish-French co-production, it takes place almost entirely in Hamela’s van, with the camera capturing the harrowed passengers, one group after another in countless journeys made between March and November of 2022.

    The result is a composite portrait of men, women and children traversing a devastated landscape of bombed-out buildings and past checkpoints with dangerous detours caused by mines and collapsed bridges and roads.

    The 84-minute film shows a little girl so traumatized that she stopped speaking. There is a Congolese woman who was so badly injured that she has undergone 18 operations since Hamela evacuated her. A mother with two kids who pass by the Dnieper River; believing it to be the sea, the kids ask their mother if she will take them there after the war.

    “The way we set up the film was to see the reflection of the war in these very small details of ordinary life and the life that we all have,” Hamela told The Associated Press in an interview in Warsaw before he flew to Cannes.

    There is also some humor, with one woman commenting ironically that she had always wanted to travel. A woman escaping with her cat saying it needed a bathroom break.

    The crew of the documentary ‘In the Rearview’, Maciek Hamela, from left, Kseniia Marchenko, Larysa Sosnovtseva, Yura Dunay, and Anna Palenchuk stand on a rug damaged by a bomb in the town of Lukashivka in Ukraine on the Boulevard de la Croisette during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 21, 2023. (Photo | AP)

    In order not to exploit the people he was helping, Hamela told them a camera was in a car before he picked them up. And they only signed forms giving him permission to use the footage after they had arrived safely at their destinations so they would never feel that was a condition for his help.

    “In the Rearview” also documents one of the many Polish efforts to help Ukraine. When Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, there was a massive grassroots effort to help across Poland, with regular people taking time off work to travel to the border with Ukraine to distribute food. Some picked up strangers and took them to shelters or even into their own homes.

    Hamela began on day one to raise money for the Ukrainian army. By day three he had bought a van to transport Ukrainians from the Polish border and convinced his father to open his beloved summer home to strangers.

    Soon Hamela heard from a friend of people in eastern Ukraine needing to be rescued, and he began driving to the front lines of the war to pick them up. Some emerged from basements where they had been sheltering in terror.

    When the war began, Hamela had been working on a documentary about a crisis at Poland’s border with Belarus. Large numbers of migrants from the Middle East and Africa had been trying to cross that border in 2021. Poland and other European Union countries viewed that as an effort organized by Russia’s ally Belarus to destabilize Poland and other EU countries.

    Poland reacted by building a wall to stop the migrants, resulting in some dying in the forests and bogs of the area.

    The war in Ukraine led Hamela to drop that project, which was to have focused on the indifference in some Polish border communities to the plights of the migrants and refugees.

    Having observed both crises up close, he sees a connection.

    “This is my personal take on this, but I really think it was meant to antagonize Poles against all refugees in preparation for the war with Ukraine,” he said.

    Hamela, who is now 40, was also active in supporting Ukrainians involved in the pro-democracy Maidan Revolution of 2014, which led to Russia’s initial incursions into Ukraine.

    He says the world shown in his documentary could hardly be further from the glamorous world of Cannes, and he hopes it will remind people of how high the stakes are in Ukraine.

    “We’re trying to use this coverage to remind everybody that the war is still going on and lives need saving. And Ukraine is not going to win it without our help,” he said. “So that’s the ultimate task with this film.”

    WARSAW: When Polish filmmaker Maciek Hamela first began evacuating Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s war on their country, he wasn’t intending to make a film. He was one of the many Poles extending humanitarian aid to neighbors under attack, and had turned down an offer to film a television investigation there.

    But the reflections of the people he was transporting to safety in his van were so poignant that soon he began filming them. He asked a friend who is a director of photography to help him film — and drive — and directed his camera squarely back at his passengers as they traversed their war-scarred land.

    The result is “In the Rearview,” a documentary film being shown at the Cannes film festival in France as part of a parallel program devoted to independent cinema. It is not in competition.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    A Polish-French co-production, it takes place almost entirely in Hamela’s van, with the camera capturing the harrowed passengers, one group after another in countless journeys made between March and November of 2022.

    The result is a composite portrait of men, women and children traversing a devastated landscape of bombed-out buildings and past checkpoints with dangerous detours caused by mines and collapsed bridges and roads.

    The 84-minute film shows a little girl so traumatized that she stopped speaking. There is a Congolese woman who was so badly injured that she has undergone 18 operations since Hamela evacuated her. A mother with two kids who pass by the Dnieper River; believing it to be the sea, the kids ask their mother if she will take them there after the war.

    “The way we set up the film was to see the reflection of the war in these very small details of ordinary life and the life that we all have,” Hamela told The Associated Press in an interview in Warsaw before he flew to Cannes.

    There is also some humor, with one woman commenting ironically that she had always wanted to travel. A woman escaping with her cat saying it needed a bathroom break.

    The crew of the documentary ‘In the Rearview’, Maciek Hamela, from left, Kseniia Marchenko, Larysa Sosnovtseva, Yura Dunay, and Anna Palenchuk stand on a rug damaged by a bomb in the town of Lukashivka in Ukraine on the Boulevard de la Croisette during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 21, 2023. (Photo | AP)

    In order not to exploit the people he was helping, Hamela told them a camera was in a car before he picked them up. And they only signed forms giving him permission to use the footage after they had arrived safely at their destinations so they would never feel that was a condition for his help.

    “In the Rearview” also documents one of the many Polish efforts to help Ukraine. When Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, there was a massive grassroots effort to help across Poland, with regular people taking time off work to travel to the border with Ukraine to distribute food. Some picked up strangers and took them to shelters or even into their own homes.

    Hamela began on day one to raise money for the Ukrainian army. By day three he had bought a van to transport Ukrainians from the Polish border and convinced his father to open his beloved summer home to strangers.

    Soon Hamela heard from a friend of people in eastern Ukraine needing to be rescued, and he began driving to the front lines of the war to pick them up. Some emerged from basements where they had been sheltering in terror.

    When the war began, Hamela had been working on a documentary about a crisis at Poland’s border with Belarus. Large numbers of migrants from the Middle East and Africa had been trying to cross that border in 2021. Poland and other European Union countries viewed that as an effort organized by Russia’s ally Belarus to destabilize Poland and other EU countries.

    Poland reacted by building a wall to stop the migrants, resulting in some dying in the forests and bogs of the area.

    The war in Ukraine led Hamela to drop that project, which was to have focused on the indifference in some Polish border communities to the plights of the migrants and refugees.

    Having observed both crises up close, he sees a connection.

    “This is my personal take on this, but I really think it was meant to antagonize Poles against all refugees in preparation for the war with Ukraine,” he said.

    Hamela, who is now 40, was also active in supporting Ukrainians involved in the pro-democracy Maidan Revolution of 2014, which led to Russia’s initial incursions into Ukraine.

    He says the world shown in his documentary could hardly be further from the glamorous world of Cannes, and he hopes it will remind people of how high the stakes are in Ukraine.

    “We’re trying to use this coverage to remind everybody that the war is still going on and lives need saving. And Ukraine is not going to win it without our help,” he said. “So that’s the ultimate task with this film.”

  • As G7 president, Japan wishes to coordinate closely with G20 chair India: Japanese Foreign Minister

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put a great strain on the global economy including energy and food security, and Japan is keen to respond to the challenges by working hand-in-hand with India, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Friday.

    In an exclusive interview to PTI, Hayashi cited China’s “unilateral attempts” to change the status quo by force in East and South China as well as its military activities around Taiwan as the region’s challenges and concerns.

    He said Japan’s revised National Security Strategy views China’s current external stance and military activities as “unprecedented” and the “greatest” strategic challenge in ensuring peace and stability of Japan and the international community.

    Hayashi also said that it is necessary to build a free and an open international order that is inclusive and based on the rule of law to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, a region that has seen mounting Chinese assertiveness.

    He said as the G7 president, Japan wishes to coordinate closely with the G20 president India in addressing pressing global challenges.

    “2023 is a crucial year as Japan chairs G7 and India chairs G20. As the premier forum for international economic cooperation, G20 is of paramount importance for responding effectively to issues facing the international community, such as food security and development,” he said.

    The Japanese foreign minister was in Delhi to attend a Quad foreign ministerial meeting that extensively deliberated on the situation in the Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s military muscle flexing.

    He said the Quad or Quadrilateral coalition is neither an initiative to counter something nor for military cooperation and referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s words that it is a “force for good”.

    The Japanese minister said given India’s “outstanding” leadership, including its hosting of the Voice of Global South Summit in January, having coordination with New Delhi has become more vital now.

    “Because of the adverse effect by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, establishing access to affordable, safe and nutritious food as well as ensuring resilient food security has become an urgent priority,” he said.

    “Moreover, transparent and fair developmental finance has become essential for sustainable development of developing countries. There is ample room for cooperation between G7 and G20, especially in these areas,” he added.

    Japan is the current chair of the powerful G7 grouping. “Nevertheless, given that Russia continues its aggression in Ukraine and is a member of the G20, we can no longer sustain cooperation in the same ways as before the invasion. We will explore how we can collaborate with such limitations in consultation with India,” he said.

    “Given India’s outstanding leadership, including its hosting Voice of Global South Summit in January, coordination with India is now even more vital. Japan looks forward to working hand in hand with India to lead responses to global challenges,” he said.

    The Japanese Foreign Minister noted that the Russian invasion of Ukraine put a great strain on the international economy and livelihoods of people all around the world in various aspects, including energy and food.

    “Given these circumstances, Japan is keen to discuss with India ways to respond to key issues such as food and energy security, with the cooperation of the international community,” he said.

    “In addition, leveraging existing economic ties, Japan will work with India bilaterally to respond to such challenges and consider ways of effective cooperation with middle to long-term perspectives,” he said.

    For instance, he said Japan wishes to utilise the Japan-India Clean Energy Partnership, launched during Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to India in March 2022 in order to realise carbon neutral and safe and stable supply of energy. “New energy sources such as hydrogen and ammonia are also promising areas of cooperation,” Hayashi said.

    On China’s increasing muscle flexing in the region, the foreign minister said Japan is finding itself in the midst of the “most severe” and complex security environment since the end of World War II.

    He said maintaining and strengthening the free and open international order based on the rule of law has never been more important than now.

    “Against this backdrop, Japan issued a new National Security Strategy. Vis-a-vis China, there are a number of challenges and concerns along with various opportunities, such as China’s unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force in the East and South China Seas, including in the waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands,” he said.

    “This also includes a series of military activities by China around Taiwan, in particular the launch of ballistic missiles into the seas adjacent to Japan which also includes its Exclusive Economic Zones,” he said.

    Hayashi said the National Security Strategy revised late last year views China’s current external stance and military activities as an “unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge” in ensuring the peace and stability of Japan and the international community, as well as strengthening the international order based on the rule of law.

    “It states that Japan should respond with comprehensive national power and in cooperation with its ally and like-minded countries,” he said.

    At the same time, he said Japan and China have great responsibility towards the peace and prosperity of the region and the world.

    He said Japan will firmly maintain and assert our position and strongly requests responsible actions from China. “At the same time, both sides will make an effort to build a constructive and stable relationship by continuing dialogues, including at the leaders’ level, and working together on common challenges,” he said.

    On the Indo-Pacific, Hayashi said it is necessary to build a free and open international order that is inclusive and based on the rule of law in accordance with the vision of ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)’. “The Quad is not an initiative to counter something nor for military cooperation; rather, to borrow Prime Minister Modi’s words, it is a ‘force for good.’” 

    He said the Quad member states have been working on a wide range of practical cooperation, including in health, infrastructure, climate change, maritime domain awareness and disaster response.

    “I strongly believe that candid discussions among the four countries, which share a common vision for the future, including at leaders and foreign ministers’ level, will contribute to the deepening of Japan-India relations as well,” he said.

    Replying to a question on overall India-Japan ties, Hayashi referred to Japanese Prime Minister Kishida’s announcement last year about the goal of 5 trillion yen public and private investment and financing from Japan to India in the next five years.

    “In order to achieve this goal, Japan is deepening economic bonds and encouraging Japanese companies to boost their investment in India. Looking ahead, we will work with India on pressing issues such as clean energy and economic security by building on our existing economic ties,” he said.

    “India is the world’s biggest democracy, and the Special Strategic Global Partner with whom Japan shares basic principles and strategic interests. Further, this year is crucial as Japan chairs G7 and India chairs G20. Japan wishes to cooperate closely with India and contribute to the international community,” he added.

    Hayashi described 2022 as a milestone year for Japan-India bilateral ties as it marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relationship.

    “Especially, our cooperation flourished in the area of security and defense, an example of which is the first ever Japan-India bilateral fighter jet exercise that took place in Japan in January this year,” he said.

    NEW DELHI: The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put a great strain on the global economy including energy and food security, and Japan is keen to respond to the challenges by working hand-in-hand with India, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Friday.

    In an exclusive interview to PTI, Hayashi cited China’s “unilateral attempts” to change the status quo by force in East and South China as well as its military activities around Taiwan as the region’s challenges and concerns.

    He said Japan’s revised National Security Strategy views China’s current external stance and military activities as “unprecedented” and the “greatest” strategic challenge in ensuring peace and stability of Japan and the international community.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2′); });

    Hayashi also said that it is necessary to build a free and an open international order that is inclusive and based on the rule of law to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, a region that has seen mounting Chinese assertiveness.

    He said as the G7 president, Japan wishes to coordinate closely with the G20 president India in addressing pressing global challenges.

    “2023 is a crucial year as Japan chairs G7 and India chairs G20. As the premier forum for international economic cooperation, G20 is of paramount importance for responding effectively to issues facing the international community, such as food security and development,” he said.

    The Japanese foreign minister was in Delhi to attend a Quad foreign ministerial meeting that extensively deliberated on the situation in the Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s military muscle flexing.

    He said the Quad or Quadrilateral coalition is neither an initiative to counter something nor for military cooperation and referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s words that it is a “force for good”.

    The Japanese minister said given India’s “outstanding” leadership, including its hosting of the Voice of Global South Summit in January, having coordination with New Delhi has become more vital now.

    “Because of the adverse effect by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, establishing access to affordable, safe and nutritious food as well as ensuring resilient food security has become an urgent priority,” he said.

    “Moreover, transparent and fair developmental finance has become essential for sustainable development of developing countries. There is ample room for cooperation between G7 and G20, especially in these areas,” he added.

    Japan is the current chair of the powerful G7 grouping. “Nevertheless, given that Russia continues its aggression in Ukraine and is a member of the G20, we can no longer sustain cooperation in the same ways as before the invasion. We will explore how we can collaborate with such limitations in consultation with India,” he said.

    “Given India’s outstanding leadership, including its hosting Voice of Global South Summit in January, coordination with India is now even more vital. Japan looks forward to working hand in hand with India to lead responses to global challenges,” he said.

    The Japanese Foreign Minister noted that the Russian invasion of Ukraine put a great strain on the international economy and livelihoods of people all around the world in various aspects, including energy and food.

    “Given these circumstances, Japan is keen to discuss with India ways to respond to key issues such as food and energy security, with the cooperation of the international community,” he said.

    “In addition, leveraging existing economic ties, Japan will work with India bilaterally to respond to such challenges and consider ways of effective cooperation with middle to long-term perspectives,” he said.

    For instance, he said Japan wishes to utilise the Japan-India Clean Energy Partnership, launched during Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to India in March 2022 in order to realise carbon neutral and safe and stable supply of energy. “New energy sources such as hydrogen and ammonia are also promising areas of cooperation,” Hayashi said.

    On China’s increasing muscle flexing in the region, the foreign minister said Japan is finding itself in the midst of the “most severe” and complex security environment since the end of World War II.

    He said maintaining and strengthening the free and open international order based on the rule of law has never been more important than now.

    “Against this backdrop, Japan issued a new National Security Strategy. Vis-a-vis China, there are a number of challenges and concerns along with various opportunities, such as China’s unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force in the East and South China Seas, including in the waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands,” he said.

    “This also includes a series of military activities by China around Taiwan, in particular the launch of ballistic missiles into the seas adjacent to Japan which also includes its Exclusive Economic Zones,” he said.

    Hayashi said the National Security Strategy revised late last year views China’s current external stance and military activities as an “unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge” in ensuring the peace and stability of Japan and the international community, as well as strengthening the international order based on the rule of law.

    “It states that Japan should respond with comprehensive national power and in cooperation with its ally and like-minded countries,” he said.

    At the same time, he said Japan and China have great responsibility towards the peace and prosperity of the region and the world.

    He said Japan will firmly maintain and assert our position and strongly requests responsible actions from China. “At the same time, both sides will make an effort to build a constructive and stable relationship by continuing dialogues, including at the leaders’ level, and working together on common challenges,” he said.

    On the Indo-Pacific, Hayashi said it is necessary to build a free and open international order that is inclusive and based on the rule of law in accordance with the vision of ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)’. “The Quad is not an initiative to counter something nor for military cooperation; rather, to borrow Prime Minister Modi’s words, it is a ‘force for good.’” 

    He said the Quad member states have been working on a wide range of practical cooperation, including in health, infrastructure, climate change, maritime domain awareness and disaster response.

    “I strongly believe that candid discussions among the four countries, which share a common vision for the future, including at leaders and foreign ministers’ level, will contribute to the deepening of Japan-India relations as well,” he said.

    Replying to a question on overall India-Japan ties, Hayashi referred to Japanese Prime Minister Kishida’s announcement last year about the goal of 5 trillion yen public and private investment and financing from Japan to India in the next five years.

    “In order to achieve this goal, Japan is deepening economic bonds and encouraging Japanese companies to boost their investment in India. Looking ahead, we will work with India on pressing issues such as clean energy and economic security by building on our existing economic ties,” he said.

    “India is the world’s biggest democracy, and the Special Strategic Global Partner with whom Japan shares basic principles and strategic interests. Further, this year is crucial as Japan chairs G7 and India chairs G20. Japan wishes to cooperate closely with India and contribute to the international community,” he added.

    Hayashi described 2022 as a milestone year for Japan-India bilateral ties as it marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relationship.

    “Especially, our cooperation flourished in the area of security and defense, an example of which is the first ever Japan-India bilateral fighter jet exercise that took place in Japan in January this year,” he said.

  • Russia-Ukraine conflict will be discussed in G20 foreign ministers’ meet: FS Kwatra

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Wednesday refused to speculate on whether the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting would be able to come out with a joint communique in the backdrop of widening differences between the West and Russia on the Ukraine conflict.

    The two-day G20 foreign ministers meeting begins this evening and the main discussions will take place on Thursday. “It would not be correct to prejudge the outcome of the meeting,” Kwatra said at a press conference.

    Given the developing situation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it is expected it will be a point of discussion at the meeting, he said.

    He also said that the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on economic and development cooperation is an important issue for us.

    The meeting, he said, will deliberate on multilateralism, food and energy security, development cooperation and counter-terrorism.

    It will be one of the largest gatherings of foreign ministers to be hosted by any G20 presidency, Kwatra said.

    He said around 40 delegations, including 13 from international organisations, are expected to participate in the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, France’s Catherine Colonna, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Germany’s Annalena Baerbock and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly are among those attending the India-hosted meeting.

    A number of foreign ministers of non-G20 countries, including that of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, are also attending the meeting following India’s invitation as guests.

    The foreign ministers are also likely to discuss ways to deal with falling economic growth, increasing inflation, lower demands for goods and services as well as increasing prices of food, fuel and fertilisers.

    However, the major flashpoint between the West and Russia-China combined is expected to be on the Ukraine conflict even as India is set to make all-out efforts to bring out a joint statement following the crucial meeting.

    Russia on Sunday alleged that the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Bengaluru ended without a joint communique because of the “confrontational” approach towards Moscow by the “collective West” over the situation in Ukraine.

    The G20 meeting of finance ministers and Central Bank governors on Saturday was unable to come out with a joint communique following opposition by Russia and China on making any references to the war in Ukraine.

    NEW DELHI: Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Wednesday refused to speculate on whether the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting would be able to come out with a joint communique in the backdrop of widening differences between the West and Russia on the Ukraine conflict.

    The two-day G20 foreign ministers meeting begins this evening and the main discussions will take place on Thursday. “It would not be correct to prejudge the outcome of the meeting,” Kwatra said at a press conference.

    Given the developing situation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it is expected it will be a point of discussion at the meeting, he said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2′); });

    He also said that the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on economic and development cooperation is an important issue for us.

    The meeting, he said, will deliberate on multilateralism, food and energy security, development cooperation and counter-terrorism.

    It will be one of the largest gatherings of foreign ministers to be hosted by any G20 presidency, Kwatra said.

    He said around 40 delegations, including 13 from international organisations, are expected to participate in the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, France’s Catherine Colonna, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Germany’s Annalena Baerbock and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly are among those attending the India-hosted meeting.

    A number of foreign ministers of non-G20 countries, including that of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, are also attending the meeting following India’s invitation as guests.

    The foreign ministers are also likely to discuss ways to deal with falling economic growth, increasing inflation, lower demands for goods and services as well as increasing prices of food, fuel and fertilisers.

    However, the major flashpoint between the West and Russia-China combined is expected to be on the Ukraine conflict even as India is set to make all-out efforts to bring out a joint statement following the crucial meeting.

    Russia on Sunday alleged that the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Bengaluru ended without a joint communique because of the “confrontational” approach towards Moscow by the “collective West” over the situation in Ukraine.

    The G20 meeting of finance ministers and Central Bank governors on Saturday was unable to come out with a joint communique following opposition by Russia and China on making any references to the war in Ukraine.

  • Sean Penn premieres love letter to Ukraine at Berlin fest

    By AFP

    Sean Penn premiered “Superpower”, his admiring portrait of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at war, telling the Berlin film festival Saturday the movie was also a wakeup call about Americans’ own fragile democracy.

    The two-time Oscar winner was in Kyiv making a documentary about Zelensky’s rise from comedian to national leader when Russia invaded nearly one year ago.

    In a series of interviews on that first terrifying night and during the initial months of the onslaught, Penn and Zelensky built up what they both call a close friendship.

    “It was a very moving way to start to get to know somebody,” Penn told reporters.

    “Aside from meeting my children at their birth, the highlight of (my life was) meeting and sensing a great human heart of courage that day with that man.”

     ‘Propagandist’ 

    Zelensky joined Penn by video link at the festival’s opening ceremony Thursday to ask for the entertainment industry’s sustained help in keeping Western countries united behind Ukraine.

    “Cinema cannot change the world,” said Zelensky. “But it can influence and inspire people who can change the world.”

    The trained actor stresses in the film that the more quickly the war is ended, the less likely “Americans will have to fight” one day in a Russian war against NATO.

    Penn, who appears in almost every scene of the two-hour movie made for Vice Media, said he was okay with being called a “propagandist”.

    “We made a very unapologetically biased film because that was the true story we found,” he said.

    Often self-deprecating on screen, the actor admits he was a naive “Pollyanna” before the war, never believing that Russia’s Vladimir Putin would go through with a full-scale invasion.

    As he heads to the front line in the Donbas region, he jokes when he is handed a knife that the Ukrainian people can now rest easy because “Sean Penn is armed”, before brandishing two clenched fists at the camera.

    In addition to Zelensky, Penn speaks with diplomats, reporters and analysts as well as Ukrainian soldiers and pro-democracy activists to offer an “idiot’s guide” to the last decade of Ukrainian history.

     ‘Vital and vain’ 

    The film’s title comes from a scene in Zelensky’s hit comedy show “Servant of the People” in which he tells his young son that he will protect him from any threat using his “superpower” — his love for his family.

    But it is also an ironic reference to the United States and Russia. Penn argues that Ukraine could be now seen as “the better us” — a new global beacon for freedom and democracy.

    “Growing up in the United States — this won’t be news to you — we are born with a misguided sense of exceptionalism,” Penn said.

    He said that while America was now riven with political and cultural strife, he found in Ukraine “absolute unity pursuing all those things that without which life is not worth living”.

    “These people are doing what they have to do simply because they love their country and they love each other,” he said.

    “So the lesson is simple and we should we should all honour them by doing our best to follow it.”

    He called for the West to step up its military support for Ukraine.

    “The most significant humanitarian response that can happen right now is the delivery and supply of long-range precision missiles,” Penn said.

    Initial reviews of the film were mixed, with The Hollywood Reporter calling the project “both vital and vain”.

    “It would be easy to write the whole thing off as one big and slightly dangerous vanity project, but let’s be honest: This war concerns all of us, and the actor is doing all he can to help the good guys,” its reviewer Jordan Mintzer wrote.

    “Superpower” is running out of competition at the Berlin film festival, Europe’s first major cinema showcase of the year. The 11-day event is spotlighting Ukraine with a series of new documentaries and feature films.

    Sean Penn premiered “Superpower”, his admiring portrait of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at war, telling the Berlin film festival Saturday the movie was also a wakeup call about Americans’ own fragile democracy.

    The two-time Oscar winner was in Kyiv making a documentary about Zelensky’s rise from comedian to national leader when Russia invaded nearly one year ago.

    In a series of interviews on that first terrifying night and during the initial months of the onslaught, Penn and Zelensky built up what they both call a close friendship.

    “It was a very moving way to start to get to know somebody,” Penn told reporters.

    “Aside from meeting my children at their birth, the highlight of (my life was) meeting and sensing a great human heart of courage that day with that man.”

     ‘Propagandist’ 

    Zelensky joined Penn by video link at the festival’s opening ceremony Thursday to ask for the entertainment industry’s sustained help in keeping Western countries united behind Ukraine.

    “Cinema cannot change the world,” said Zelensky. “But it can influence and inspire people who can change the world.”

    The trained actor stresses in the film that the more quickly the war is ended, the less likely “Americans will have to fight” one day in a Russian war against NATO.

    Penn, who appears in almost every scene of the two-hour movie made for Vice Media, said he was okay with being called a “propagandist”.

    “We made a very unapologetically biased film because that was the true story we found,” he said.

    Often self-deprecating on screen, the actor admits he was a naive “Pollyanna” before the war, never believing that Russia’s Vladimir Putin would go through with a full-scale invasion.

    As he heads to the front line in the Donbas region, he jokes when he is handed a knife that the Ukrainian people can now rest easy because “Sean Penn is armed”, before brandishing two clenched fists at the camera.

    In addition to Zelensky, Penn speaks with diplomats, reporters and analysts as well as Ukrainian soldiers and pro-democracy activists to offer an “idiot’s guide” to the last decade of Ukrainian history.

     ‘Vital and vain’ 

    The film’s title comes from a scene in Zelensky’s hit comedy show “Servant of the People” in which he tells his young son that he will protect him from any threat using his “superpower” — his love for his family.

    But it is also an ironic reference to the United States and Russia. Penn argues that Ukraine could be now seen as “the better us” — a new global beacon for freedom and democracy.

    “Growing up in the United States — this won’t be news to you — we are born with a misguided sense of exceptionalism,” Penn said.

    He said that while America was now riven with political and cultural strife, he found in Ukraine “absolute unity pursuing all those things that without which life is not worth living”.

    “These people are doing what they have to do simply because they love their country and they love each other,” he said.

    “So the lesson is simple and we should we should all honour them by doing our best to follow it.”

    He called for the West to step up its military support for Ukraine.

    “The most significant humanitarian response that can happen right now is the delivery and supply of long-range precision missiles,” Penn said.

    Initial reviews of the film were mixed, with The Hollywood Reporter calling the project “both vital and vain”.

    “It would be easy to write the whole thing off as one big and slightly dangerous vanity project, but let’s be honest: This war concerns all of us, and the actor is doing all he can to help the good guys,” its reviewer Jordan Mintzer wrote.

    “Superpower” is running out of competition at the Berlin film festival, Europe’s first major cinema showcase of the year. The 11-day event is spotlighting Ukraine with a series of new documentaries and feature films.

  • Berlin film fest to beam in Ukrainian President Zelensky for opener with actor Sean Penn

    By AFP

    BERLIN: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will join Hollywood actor Sean Penn by video link on Thursday at the opening of the Berlinale, Europe’s first major film festival of the year, as it spotlights the fight for freedom in Ukraine and Iran.

    The 73rd annual event, traditionally the most politically minded of the three big European cinema showcases, will mark the Russian invasion’s first anniversary as well as anti-regime protests in Iran with new feature films and documentaries.

    US actor Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”), head of the jury for the Golden and Silver Bear top prizes, told reporters it was “an enormous opportunity to have a hand in highlighting beautiful things” in the face of global turmoil.

    “It’s the job of an artist to take a disgusting and ugly thing and sort of transmute it and put it through your body and pump out something more beautiful…in response to the world that’s falling apart around us,” she said.

    Artistic director Carlo Chatrian said the festival stood with “the suffering population, the millions who left Ukraine and the artists (who) have remained defending the country and continue filming the war,” adding that it was a “special honour” to welcome Zelensky digitally.

    Penn will appear on stage at the opening gala in the German capital and introduce Zelensky who will speak via video stream, organisers said.

    The two-time Oscar winner, who was filming in Kyiv at the start of the Russian onslaught, will on Friday premiere “Superpower”, tracking Zelensky’s transformation from comedian to president to war hero.

    “Zelensky was two completely different creatures from one day to the next,” Penn told entertainment industry magazine Variety this week about the impact of the invasion. “He was a spirit in waiting.”

    Beyond movie screenings, the Berlinale plans panel discussions with embattled directors and red-carpet protests in a show of “solidarity” with the people of Iran and Ukraine.

    Animation back in forceThe Berlinale has barred filmmakers, companies and reporters with direct ties to the Russian or Iranian governments from taking part in the event, including its sprawling European Film Market, a key movie rights exchange for the industry.

    Hollywood actors Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei will later Thursday present romantic comedy “She Came to Me”, the first of nearly 300 new movies from around the world to screen during the 11-day event.

    Nineteen films will vie for the main awards, including British-US co-production “Manodrome” featuring Jesse Eisenberg and Adrien Brody in a thriller about an Uber driver who is lured into a cult while he is expecting his first child.

    Two Asian animated pictures will also join the running, “Art College 1994” by China’s Liu Jian and Makoto Shinkai’s “Suzume”, the first Japanese anime to compete at the Berlinale since Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” clinched the Golden Bear in 2002.

    READ HERE | Ukraine directors bring horrors of Russian invasion to Sundance film festival

    Gold for SpielbergThree-time Academy Award winner Steven Spielberg is to collect an honorary Golden Bear for his life’s work, spotlighted in a retrospective.

    British actor Helen Mirren will unveil the keenly awaited “Golda” in which she stars as Israel’s only female prime minister, Golda Meir.

    And Vicky Krieps, the acclaimed Luxembourg-born actor from “Phantom Thread” and “Corsage”, will present her turn as renowned Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann in a biopic by veteran German director Margarethe von Trotta.

    One-third of the films in competition are by women, who make up 40 percent of all directors represented at the festival.

    “Love to Love You”, a documentary about disco queen Donna Summer, who defined an era on the dance floor and helped inspire Beyonce’s latest album “Renaissance”, will have its world premiere.

    The film was co-directed by Summer’s daughter, Brooklyn Sudano, and features never-before-seen home videos.

    The Berlinale ranks with Cannes and Venice among Europe’s top film festivals. It will hand out the top prizes on February 25 before wrapping up the next day with screenings of popular movies from this year’s selection.

    ALSO READ | Golden Globe-winning ‘Naatu Naatu’ song from ‘RRR’ has a Ukrainian connection

    BERLIN: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will join Hollywood actor Sean Penn by video link on Thursday at the opening of the Berlinale, Europe’s first major film festival of the year, as it spotlights the fight for freedom in Ukraine and Iran.

    The 73rd annual event, traditionally the most politically minded of the three big European cinema showcases, will mark the Russian invasion’s first anniversary as well as anti-regime protests in Iran with new feature films and documentaries.

    US actor Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”), head of the jury for the Golden and Silver Bear top prizes, told reporters it was “an enormous opportunity to have a hand in highlighting beautiful things” in the face of global turmoil.

    “It’s the job of an artist to take a disgusting and ugly thing and sort of transmute it and put it through your body and pump out something more beautiful…in response to the world that’s falling apart around us,” she said.

    Artistic director Carlo Chatrian said the festival stood with “the suffering population, the millions who left Ukraine and the artists (who) have remained defending the country and continue filming the war,” adding that it was a “special honour” to welcome Zelensky digitally.

    Penn will appear on stage at the opening gala in the German capital and introduce Zelensky who will speak via video stream, organisers said.

    The two-time Oscar winner, who was filming in Kyiv at the start of the Russian onslaught, will on Friday premiere “Superpower”, tracking Zelensky’s transformation from comedian to president to war hero.

    “Zelensky was two completely different creatures from one day to the next,” Penn told entertainment industry magazine Variety this week about the impact of the invasion. “He was a spirit in waiting.”

    Beyond movie screenings, the Berlinale plans panel discussions with embattled directors and red-carpet protests in a show of “solidarity” with the people of Iran and Ukraine.

    Animation back in force
    The Berlinale has barred filmmakers, companies and reporters with direct ties to the Russian or Iranian governments from taking part in the event, including its sprawling European Film Market, a key movie rights exchange for the industry.

    Hollywood actors Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei will later Thursday present romantic comedy “She Came to Me”, the first of nearly 300 new movies from around the world to screen during the 11-day event.

    Nineteen films will vie for the main awards, including British-US co-production “Manodrome” featuring Jesse Eisenberg and Adrien Brody in a thriller about an Uber driver who is lured into a cult while he is expecting his first child.

    Two Asian animated pictures will also join the running, “Art College 1994” by China’s Liu Jian and Makoto Shinkai’s “Suzume”, the first Japanese anime to compete at the Berlinale since Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” clinched the Golden Bear in 2002.

    READ HERE | Ukraine directors bring horrors of Russian invasion to Sundance film festival

    Gold for Spielberg
    Three-time Academy Award winner Steven Spielberg is to collect an honorary Golden Bear for his life’s work, spotlighted in a retrospective.

    British actor Helen Mirren will unveil the keenly awaited “Golda” in which she stars as Israel’s only female prime minister, Golda Meir.

    And Vicky Krieps, the acclaimed Luxembourg-born actor from “Phantom Thread” and “Corsage”, will present her turn as renowned Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann in a biopic by veteran German director Margarethe von Trotta.

    One-third of the films in competition are by women, who make up 40 percent of all directors represented at the festival.

    “Love to Love You”, a documentary about disco queen Donna Summer, who defined an era on the dance floor and helped inspire Beyonce’s latest album “Renaissance”, will have its world premiere.

    The film was co-directed by Summer’s daughter, Brooklyn Sudano, and features never-before-seen home videos.

    The Berlinale ranks with Cannes and Venice among Europe’s top film festivals. It will hand out the top prizes on February 25 before wrapping up the next day with screenings of popular movies from this year’s selection.

    ALSO READ | Golden Globe-winning ‘Naatu Naatu’ song from ‘RRR’ has a Ukrainian connection

  • Ukraine directors bring horrors of Russian invasion to Sundance film festival

    By AFP

    PARK CITY (US): Two new documentaries from Ukrainian filmmakers highlighting the carnage wrought on their country by Russian aggression — and the insidious effects of Kremlin propaganda — premiere at the Sundance film festival this week.

    “20 Days In Mariupol,” which screened Friday night, portrays in harrowing detail the arrival of war last year to a city that became one of the invasion’s bloodiest battle sites, all captured by video journalists under siege.

    And “Iron Butterflies,” premiering Sunday, chronicles the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 by Russian-armed separatists in eastern Ukraine, and its foreshadowing of today’s larger conflict.

    Director Mstyslav Chernov, a journalist who filmed the key port city of Mariupol as Russian troops advanced in February and March 2021, said he hopes releasing his footage as a documentary “hits deeper” and “harder” with audiences than brief newsreel clips can.

    “It really gives an insight to not only fuller stories of people who are there, but also to how big scale the story is,” he told AFP.

    “20 Days In Mariupol” offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Chernov risked his life to chronicle a Russian direct hit on a maternity hospital, which provoked outrage around the world.

    The film recounts how Chernov and his team desperately tried to escape the city in order to transmit their shocking footage, even as Russian officials tried to dismiss the horrific incident as a hoax assembled using Ukrainian “actors.”

    Mariupol “was the first insight of how different Russia’s narrative about this war is to reality,” said Chernov.

    Russian officials “were saying that they’re not targeting civilians.”

    “You will see in the film me keep asking people, ‘Russian Federation is not targeting civilians?’ And you will see people reply, ‘Well, they are.’”

    Moscow’s weaponization of misinformation is also central to “Iron Butterflies,” which takes its name from the shrapnel within the Russian-made BUK missile that struck passenger plane MH17 in 2014, killing 298 people.

    The movie combines newsreel and social media footage with intercepted military audio, to show how the Russian response went from claiming separatists had downed a Ukrainian military aircraft, to blaming Kyiv for the civilian deaths.

    It also contrasts the findings of an exhaustive international probe into the incident, with Russia’s claim of another hoax.

    Director Roman Liubyi said he tried to remain “scientific” and avoid becoming angry while editing the film, because Russian propaganda is “built around emotional impact, emotional engagement.”

    The film underlines how those convicted of murder in absentia by a Dutch tribunal at The Hague are highly unlikely to ever serve time in prison.

    “If the downing of a passenger plane doesn’t have consequences for the murderers, then it’s hard to imagine what’s going to happen (in the future) — if the invasion will not have consequences,” he said.

    ‘Not enough’

    A third film “Klondike,” about a family living on the Russia-Ukraine border at the outbreak of violence in 2014, will receive a special encore at the high-profile festival in Utah, after winning Sundance’s world cinema directing award last year.

    Liubyi said the strong Ukrainian showing can only boost the profile of his country’s film industry overseas, but warned “the much, much harder question is how to achieve something right here and right now for the country, for defense.”

    The director hopes to use the publicity from Sundance to crowdfund a reconnaissance drone for filmmaker friends currently serving in the Ukrainian army.

    “I would like to use this moment to say as a Ukrainian citizen that we are really thankful for all the international community for helping us to defend (our country),” he said.

    “But if you are asking ‘Is it enough weapons?’ Probably, unfortunately, it is still not enough.”

    He spoke to AFP as top Ukrainian officials on Saturday slammed allies’ “indecision,” after Germany refused to supply tanks to bolster Kyiv in the nearly year-long war.

    Liubyi takes his film to the Berlin film festival next month.

    “For sure, international audiences get more and more tired from this topic,” he said.

    “It’s hard to keep this fire, this interest… (but) this fight is about our existence.”

    PARK CITY (US): Two new documentaries from Ukrainian filmmakers highlighting the carnage wrought on their country by Russian aggression — and the insidious effects of Kremlin propaganda — premiere at the Sundance film festival this week.

    “20 Days In Mariupol,” which screened Friday night, portrays in harrowing detail the arrival of war last year to a city that became one of the invasion’s bloodiest battle sites, all captured by video journalists under siege.

    And “Iron Butterflies,” premiering Sunday, chronicles the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 by Russian-armed separatists in eastern Ukraine, and its foreshadowing of today’s larger conflict.

    Director Mstyslav Chernov, a journalist who filmed the key port city of Mariupol as Russian troops advanced in February and March 2021, said he hopes releasing his footage as a documentary “hits deeper” and “harder” with audiences than brief newsreel clips can.

    “It really gives an insight to not only fuller stories of people who are there, but also to how big scale the story is,” he told AFP.

    “20 Days In Mariupol” offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Chernov risked his life to chronicle a Russian direct hit on a maternity hospital, which provoked outrage around the world.

    The film recounts how Chernov and his team desperately tried to escape the city in order to transmit their shocking footage, even as Russian officials tried to dismiss the horrific incident as a hoax assembled using Ukrainian “actors.”

    Mariupol “was the first insight of how different Russia’s narrative about this war is to reality,” said Chernov.

    Russian officials “were saying that they’re not targeting civilians.”

    “You will see in the film me keep asking people, ‘Russian Federation is not targeting civilians?’ And you will see people reply, ‘Well, they are.’”

    Moscow’s weaponization of misinformation is also central to “Iron Butterflies,” which takes its name from the shrapnel within the Russian-made BUK missile that struck passenger plane MH17 in 2014, killing 298 people.

    The movie combines newsreel and social media footage with intercepted military audio, to show how the Russian response went from claiming separatists had downed a Ukrainian military aircraft, to blaming Kyiv for the civilian deaths.

    It also contrasts the findings of an exhaustive international probe into the incident, with Russia’s claim of another hoax.

    Director Roman Liubyi said he tried to remain “scientific” and avoid becoming angry while editing the film, because Russian propaganda is “built around emotional impact, emotional engagement.”

    The film underlines how those convicted of murder in absentia by a Dutch tribunal at The Hague are highly unlikely to ever serve time in prison.

    “If the downing of a passenger plane doesn’t have consequences for the murderers, then it’s hard to imagine what’s going to happen (in the future) — if the invasion will not have consequences,” he said.

    ‘Not enough’

    A third film “Klondike,” about a family living on the Russia-Ukraine border at the outbreak of violence in 2014, will receive a special encore at the high-profile festival in Utah, after winning Sundance’s world cinema directing award last year.

    Liubyi said the strong Ukrainian showing can only boost the profile of his country’s film industry overseas, but warned “the much, much harder question is how to achieve something right here and right now for the country, for defense.”

    The director hopes to use the publicity from Sundance to crowdfund a reconnaissance drone for filmmaker friends currently serving in the Ukrainian army.

    “I would like to use this moment to say as a Ukrainian citizen that we are really thankful for all the international community for helping us to defend (our country),” he said.

    “But if you are asking ‘Is it enough weapons?’ Probably, unfortunately, it is still not enough.”

    He spoke to AFP as top Ukrainian officials on Saturday slammed allies’ “indecision,” after Germany refused to supply tanks to bolster Kyiv in the nearly year-long war.

    Liubyi takes his film to the Berlin film festival next month.

    “For sure, international audiences get more and more tired from this topic,” he said.

    “It’s hard to keep this fire, this interest… (but) this fight is about our existence.”

  • India can play bridging role in divides caused by conflicts such as Ukraine: Jaishankar

    By PTI

    ABU DHABI: India can play a bridging role in an increasingly divided world around conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday.

    At the India Global Forum (IGF) UAE summit in Abu Dhabi, the minister highlighted two big divides in the world today, largely impacted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and analysed the role countries like India and the UAE can play.

    “One is the East-West divide centring around Ukraine and the other is a north-south divide centring around development,” said Jaishankar.

    “Ukraine is also having an impact on development. I do believe a country like India can play that bridging role, not alone but with other countries like UAE. There is the need today to bridge,” he said.

    Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, the Diplomatic Adviser to the UAE President, who was in conversation with Jaishankar during the summit session, called for a “quick end to the conflict in Ukraine.”

    “It will not end except politically. It is in our interest to ensure a political process that ends this conflict,” he said.

    Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. The Russian action has been widely condemned by the US-led West. India has repeatedly called on Russia and Ukraine to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue and end their ongoing conflict.ALSO READ | Sensible to get best deal in interest of Indians: Jaishankar on Russian oil

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine on multiple occasions and urged for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue for the resolution of the conflict.

    In his bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Uzbekistan on September 16, Modi said “today’s era is not of war” and nudged him to end the conflict.

    India has not yet criticised the Russian attack on Ukraine and has been maintaining that the crisis should be resolved through dialogue.

    Earlier, Jaishankar opened the UAE summit, organised by UK-headquartered India Global Forum, with a keynote address around the geopolitical developments in the region and the role being played by India and the UAE as “partners for global impact.”

    On UAE-India bilateral relations, the minister noted that the historic ties have within it “centuries of comfort” with an often “intuitive” element.

    He pointed to the UAE as India’s third-largest trade partner and second-largest export destination and an important partner as the country with more Indian citizens than anywhere else abroad.

    ALSO READ | Ukraine slams India for buying Russian oil, calls it ‘morally inappropriate’

    ABU DHABI: India can play a bridging role in an increasingly divided world around conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday.

    At the India Global Forum (IGF) UAE summit in Abu Dhabi, the minister highlighted two big divides in the world today, largely impacted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and analysed the role countries like India and the UAE can play.

    “One is the East-West divide centring around Ukraine and the other is a north-south divide centring around development,” said Jaishankar.

    “Ukraine is also having an impact on development. I do believe a country like India can play that bridging role, not alone but with other countries like UAE. There is the need today to bridge,” he said.

    Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, the Diplomatic Adviser to the UAE President, who was in conversation with Jaishankar during the summit session, called for a “quick end to the conflict in Ukraine.”

    “It will not end except politically. It is in our interest to ensure a political process that ends this conflict,” he said.

    Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. The Russian action has been widely condemned by the US-led West. India has repeatedly called on Russia and Ukraine to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue and end their ongoing conflict.ALSO READ | Sensible to get best deal in interest of Indians: Jaishankar on Russian oil

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine on multiple occasions and urged for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue for the resolution of the conflict.

    In his bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Uzbekistan on September 16, Modi said “today’s era is not of war” and nudged him to end the conflict.

    India has not yet criticised the Russian attack on Ukraine and has been maintaining that the crisis should be resolved through dialogue.

    Earlier, Jaishankar opened the UAE summit, organised by UK-headquartered India Global Forum, with a keynote address around the geopolitical developments in the region and the role being played by India and the UAE as “partners for global impact.”

    On UAE-India bilateral relations, the minister noted that the historic ties have within it “centuries of comfort” with an often “intuitive” element.

    He pointed to the UAE as India’s third-largest trade partner and second-largest export destination and an important partner as the country with more Indian citizens than anywhere else abroad.

    ALSO READ | Ukraine slams India for buying Russian oil, calls it ‘morally inappropriate’

  • India and Germany ink mobility pact, discuss key global challenges

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: India and Germany on Monday inked a mobility partnership pact and held comprehensive discussions on key global challenges including the Ukraine conflict, the situation in Afghanistan and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

    At a media briefing after talks with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the mobility pact will make it easier for people to study, do research and work in each other’s country and is a strong signal for a more contemporary bilateral partnership.

    Jaishankar also strongly defended India’s import of crude oil from Russia and noted that it is largely driven by market forces.

    From February to November, European Union has imported more fossil fuel from Russia than the next 10 countries combined, he said in a sharp retort to a question on why India has been procuring crude oil from Russia.

    The German foreign minister arrived here this morning on a two-day visit to discuss ways to further expand bilateral cooperation in a range of areas including energy, trade, defence and security and climate change.

    At the joint media briefing, Jaishankar said that India’s position on the Ukraine issue is clear that this is not an era of war and that the conflict should be resolved through dialogue.

    The visiting German foreign minister described India as a role model for many countries and noted that Berlin wants to bolster its security cooperation with New Delhi.

    Asked about challenges facing the region from China, Baerbock said there is a need to assess the threats while describing Beijing as a competitor and rival in many ways.ALSO READ | Germany’s Scholz in China amid trade, Ukraine, rights issues

    “We now know what happens when a country becomes too dependent on another that doesn’t share the same values,” Baerbock said.

    Jaishankar said the situation in Afghanistan and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan figured in the talks. He asserted that there can’t be talks with Pakistan if it continues cross-border terrorism.

    Earlier in a statement, the German foreign minister described India as Germany’s “natural partner” and said that the country will have a decisive influence in shaping the international order in the 21st century.

    “The Indian government has set itself ambitious goals not only in the G20 but also at home for its own people. When it comes to expanding renewable energies, India wants to push ahead with the energy transition more than before. Germany stands by India’s side,” she said.

    The dramatic effects of the climate crisis affect us all, destroying livelihoods in Europe as well as in India, the visiting German minister said.

    “That we want to strengthen our economic, climate and security policy cooperation with India beyond our strategic partnership, are not empty words,” she stressed.ALSO READ | Must become voice of Global South: Jaishankar on India’s  G20 Presidency

    NEW DELHI: India and Germany on Monday inked a mobility partnership pact and held comprehensive discussions on key global challenges including the Ukraine conflict, the situation in Afghanistan and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

    At a media briefing after talks with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the mobility pact will make it easier for people to study, do research and work in each other’s country and is a strong signal for a more contemporary bilateral partnership.

    Jaishankar also strongly defended India’s import of crude oil from Russia and noted that it is largely driven by market forces.

    From February to November, European Union has imported more fossil fuel from Russia than the next 10 countries combined, he said in a sharp retort to a question on why India has been procuring crude oil from Russia.

    The German foreign minister arrived here this morning on a two-day visit to discuss ways to further expand bilateral cooperation in a range of areas including energy, trade, defence and security and climate change.

    At the joint media briefing, Jaishankar said that India’s position on the Ukraine issue is clear that this is not an era of war and that the conflict should be resolved through dialogue.

    The visiting German foreign minister described India as a role model for many countries and noted that Berlin wants to bolster its security cooperation with New Delhi.

    Asked about challenges facing the region from China, Baerbock said there is a need to assess the threats while describing Beijing as a competitor and rival in many ways.ALSO READ | Germany’s Scholz in China amid trade, Ukraine, rights issues

    “We now know what happens when a country becomes too dependent on another that doesn’t share the same values,” Baerbock said.

    Jaishankar said the situation in Afghanistan and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan figured in the talks. He asserted that there can’t be talks with Pakistan if it continues cross-border terrorism.

    Earlier in a statement, the German foreign minister described India as Germany’s “natural partner” and said that the country will have a decisive influence in shaping the international order in the 21st century.

    “The Indian government has set itself ambitious goals not only in the G20 but also at home for its own people. When it comes to expanding renewable energies, India wants to push ahead with the energy transition more than before. Germany stands by India’s side,” she said.

    The dramatic effects of the climate crisis affect us all, destroying livelihoods in Europe as well as in India, the visiting German minister said.

    “That we want to strengthen our economic, climate and security policy cooperation with India beyond our strategic partnership, are not empty words,” she stressed.ALSO READ | Must become voice of Global South: Jaishankar on India’s  G20 Presidency