China supports Ukraine peace talks, the US strengthens space capabilities in Japan, Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of attacking nuclear facilities, the UK tightens sanctions against Russia... are some of the prominent international events in the past 24 hours.
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| President Donald Trump said he would increase arms sales to India, including F-35 fighter jets, during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on February 13. (Source: X/@Narendra Modi) |
Asia-Pacific
*China affirms support for Ukraine peace talks: On February 14, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed strong support for all efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict through peaceful negotiations.
According to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the statement was made during the 10th China-UK Strategic Dialogue in London, which Wang Yi co-chaired with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on February 13. During the meeting, the two sides had in-depth discussions on the Ukraine crisis.
On the Russian side, the country's Foreign Ministry also announced its readiness to participate in dialogue to resolve the situation in Ukraine, and at the same time support a comprehensive, fair and final solution to the crisis, on condition that the root causes of the problem must be addressed. ( RIA Novosti)
*US strengthens space capabilities in Japan: According to Kyodo news agency, the US Space Force is pushing ahead with plans to significantly increase the scale of operations in Japan, in order to deal with growing challenges from the Indo-Pacific region, especially in the face of China and Russia's space capabilities, as well as North Korea's continuous ballistic missile testing activities.
Lieutenant General David Miller, Commander of the US Space Command (USSPACECOM), said that although the force currently only maintains a limited number of personnel, it will be fully developed within the next one to two years.
USSPACECOM's field command post will officially become operational at Yokota Air Base, west of Tokyo, in December 2024. (Kyodo)
*South Korea-US-Japan to hold trilateral foreign ministers' meeting: South Korea's foreign ministry announced on February 14 that the top diplomats of South Korea, the US and Japan will meet in Munich, Germany, this weekend. This will be their first trilateral meeting since the Donald Trump 2.0 administration took office.
Accordingly, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae Yul will meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on February 15.
The meetings will follow a planned bilateral dialogue between Foreign Minister Cho and his counterpart Rubio, their first one-on-one meeting since Rubio took office. (Yonhap)
Europe
*Ukraine completes draft of rare earth agreement with US: RBC-Ukraine news agency quoted a source on February 14 saying that Ukraine has completed a draft agreement on rare earth metals and transferred it to the US.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly mentioned Ukraine's rare earth resources. President Zelensky on February 4 called on US companies to invest in Ukraine's rare earths, calling them "an important economic spearhead". On February 7, Mr. Zelensky emphasized that the country will not "give away" its resources but proposes a mutually beneficial partnership to exploit them together.
President Trump said the US will provide aid to Ukraine, on condition that Kiev returns rare earths worth $500 billion to Washington. (RIA Novosti)
*UK tightens sanctions against Russia: On February 14, Britain announced sanctions targeting four Russian officials and two subsidiaries of Russia's state-owned civil nuclear energy corporation, in the "latest round of pressure on the Kremlin".
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Britain wanted to "maintain pressure" on Russian President Vladimir Putin. One of the targets of London's latest round of sanctions is Russian Defense Minister Pavel Fradkov.
Earlier on February 13, the Wall Street Journal reported that US President JD Vance said the US could impose sanctions on Moscow and take potential military action if Russian President Putin does not agree to a peace deal with Ukraine that ensures the Eastern European country's long-term independence. (AFP)
*Ukraine-Russia accuse each other of attacking nuclear facilities: On February 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a Russian drone attack last night caused significant damage to the newly built protective structure, which is the shell protecting the remains of reactor No. 4 of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
According to Mr. Zelensky, this attack caused a fire to break out but has now been extinguished. As of the same morning, the radiation level has not increased.
Meanwhile, Russia has accused Ukraine of shelling a Russian-controlled thermal power plant in southern Ukraine, near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The attack on the power plant in the city of Enerhodar occurred on the night of February 13, leaving more than 50,000 people without power, a Russian-appointed local official said. (Reuters)
*EU warns of retaliation against US's new trade policy: On February 14, the European Commission (EC) officially expressed deep concern about US President Donald Trump's proposed "reciprocal" trade policy, saying it was a wrong step in bilateral trade relations.
In a statement issued in Brussels, the EC stressed that it would respond firmly and promptly to any unjustified trade barriers. At the same time, the agency reaffirmed its continued commitment to supporting an open and predictable global trading system that benefits all participants. (Reuters)
*Ukraine denies plans for trilateral meeting with US and Russia: Ukraine has denied US President Donald Trump's claim that a trilateral meeting will take place between "senior leaders" of the two countries and Russia at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
Speaking to reporters, Dmytro Lytvyn - advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - stated that for such a meeting to take place, Ukraine's allies must have "a common position" while "there is nothing clear at the moment", while noting that (Kiev) currently has "no plans" for discussions with Russia.
Ukrainian President Zelensky is expected to meet US Vice President JD Vance in Germany amid growing concerns in Kiev and its European allies that the war will be resolved without Ukraine's involvement. (AFP)
Middle East-Africa
*Arab League reaffirms opposition to Palestinian displacement: Secretary General of the Arab League (AL) Ahmed Aboul-Gheit on February 13 reaffirmed that the organization firmly opposes any attempt to relocate Palestinians from their land, stressing that "the Gaza Strip is not for sale".
The Arab League chief said the Palestinian issue was “a major concern for both Arab peoples and governments,” adding that these efforts to displace Palestinians were a blatant injustice to their rights. Aboul-Gheit also denounced Israel’s recent military escalation in the West Bank.
The comments come amid growing concerns after US President Donald Trump recently proposed taking over the Gaza Strip and relocating Palestinians to neighbouring countries including Jordan and Egypt. (Al Jazeera)
*Israel detects a rocket launched from Gaza: The Israeli military said on February 13 that it had detected a rocket launched from Gaza and then landed in this territory.
"A few minutes ago, a rocket launch was detected in the Gaza Strip. The rocket landed inside the Gaza Strip," the Israeli military said in a statement. Israel later announced that it had carried out an airstrike that hit the rocket's launch pad.
The rocket crash killed a Palestinian child. The Israeli government is currently discussing scenarios regarding the future of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. (Al Jazeera)
*Iran arrests 2 British citizens: According to Iranian state media, 2 British citizens were arrested in the country and were allowed to meet British Ambassador Hugo Shorter.
Photos released show Ambassador Shorter meeting two British suspects linked to "national security", the images blurred, at the prosecutor's office in Kerman province.
The British Foreign Office has not yet made a statement on the incident, which occurred just as Iran's new ambassador to the UK, Seyyed Ali Mousavi, arrived to take up his duties.
Britain and other European powers are under pressure from Iran over recent economic sanctions reimposed by the US, which could be a precondition for opening talks on Iran's nuclear programme - but could also hinder further talks. (Al Jazeera)
*Houthi threatens military action if US forces Palestinians to relocate: Houthi movement leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi on February 13 threatened military intervention if the US carries out the forced relocation of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
The Houthis said they would use missiles, drones and naval operations, among other methods, in the event of a forcible displacement of Palestinians in Gaza by the United States and Israel. At the same time, al-Houthi accused Israel of avoiding implementing the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
In addition, Mr. al-Houthi also condemned US President Donald Trump's threat to attack Gaza if Hamas forces do not return Israeli hostages as scheduled. (Arab News)
America-Latin America
*US responds to Canada and France over digital services tax: On February 14, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose retaliatory tariffs on Canada and France, in response to the two countries' digital services tax on US technology giants.
The move comes as Canada begins implementing a new tax policy from June 2024, aimed at addressing the challenge of taxing tech giants such as Alphabet (Google's parent company) and Amazon.com - corporations that are able to book profits in low-tax countries.
President Trump has directed his economic team to draw up plans to impose retaliatory tariffs on any country that has imposed tariffs on US exports. (Reuters)
*Mexico sues Google for changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico on maps: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on February 13 that the government is considering filing a lawsuit against Google because the corporation refused to change the name of the Gulf of America to the Gulf of Mexico on Google Maps according to the internationally recognized name.
Earlier, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Google immediately updated the order's requirements on Google Maps. Accordingly, Google map users in the US will see the name Gulf of America, users in Mexico will still see the name Gulf of Mexico, while users in other countries can see both names. (AFP)
*Plane carrying US Secretary of State encounters problem: On February 13, a US State Department spokesman said that the plane carrying Secretary of State Marco Rubio, departing from Washington to Munich, encountered technical problems and turned back.
After the incident, Mr. Rubio continued to Germany and the Middle East on another plane. (Reuters)
*US agrees to sell F-35 fighters to India: US President Donald Trump said the US will increase arms sales to India from 2025, including F-35 fighters.
Speaking at a joint press conference after meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Trump also revealed that the two countries had reached an agreement under which India would import more oil and gas from the US to reduce the trade deficit between the two sides.
Mr. Trump also said that Washington and New Delhi will cooperate to deal with the "threat of radical Islamic terrorism." (Reuters)
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