- Biden to make farewell trip to Germany as Ukraine war rages
- EU announces 30 mn euros to stem Senegal irregular migration
- Italy extends surrogacy ban to couples seeking it abroad
- Panama Canal crossings down 29 percent due to drought
- 'Clear indications' India violated Canada's sovereignty: Trudeau
- World champion Springboks to host Italy in 2025, Moerat to miss November tour
- Trump claims to be 'father of IVF' at all-female campaign stop
- WHO demands space to finish Gaza polio vaccination
- Mitchell left out of England squad for Autumn internationals
- Real Madrid back Mbappe amid Swedish rape investigation reports
- Middle East crisis top-of-mind at first EU-Gulf summit
- Israeli minister criticises Macron over France defence show ban
- Global stock markets diverge as markets focus on earmings
- Who said what on Tuchel's appointment as England manager
- Amazon bets on nuclear power to fuel AI ambitions
- Zelensky plan will be 'on table' at NATO talks this week: Rutte
- Harris steps into lion's den with Fox interview
- Macron riles Netanyahu with jab on Israel's creation
- Britain bounce back in America's Cup as New Zealand suffer
- Turkey shuts down radio station in Armenia genocide row
- Global stock markets diverge as tech fears linger
- Tuchel targets trophies as England manager
- War piles pressure on roads, services in crisis-hit Beirut
- Israeli booths, equipment barred from defence show in France
- Tuchel hopes to deliver 'missing trophies' to England
- England 239-6 in second Test after Sajid strikes for Pakistan
- Britain off the mark in America's Cup as New Zealand suffer
- Lufthansa fined 'record' $4 mn for barring Jewish passengers
- First migrants arrive in Albania under contested Italy deal
- Zelensky rules out ceding Ukrainian land in Victory Plan, urges NATO invite
- Global stock markets fall as tech fears weigh
- Musk's X escapes tough EU competition rules
- Thomas Tuchel: Abrasive but effective
- Root could break 16,000-run barrier, says England great Cook
- Indian airplane forced to divert after latest bomb hoax
- Tuchel 'has to' win World Cup for England, says Shearer
- Duckett half-century as England make brisk reply to Pakistan's 366
- Israel strikes Hezbollah strongholds after rejecting Lebanon ceasefire
- India issues flood warnings as rain pounds south
- Saudi crown prince in Brussels for first EU-Gulf summit
- Thomas Tuchel appointed England manager: Football Association
- 'Age of Electricity' coming as fossil fuels set to peak: IEA
- Markets struggle after Wall Street losses as tech fears weigh
- Myanmar and China have lowest internet freedom, says study
- UK inflation hits three-year low, fuelling rate-cut hopes
- Pakistan tail frustrates England to reach 358-8 at lunch
- Discovery of Shackleton's lost shipwreck brought to big screen
- Markets mixed after Wall Street losses as tech fears weigh
- World heading into 'the Age of Electricity': IEA
- Spiralling Sudan bloodshed sparks refugee surge into Chad
SCS | 0.92% | 13.07 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.36% | 24.95 | $ | |
GSK | 0.71% | 39.24 | $ | |
RIO | -0.93% | 65.855 | $ | |
BCC | 2.91% | 146.5 | $ | |
RBGPF | 2.01% | 60.71 | $ | |
NGG | 1.29% | 68.037 | $ | |
BTI | 1.1% | 35.805 | $ | |
RYCEF | 3.42% | 7.3 | $ | |
AZN | 0.67% | 78.375 | $ | |
BP | 0.58% | 30.92 | $ | |
VOD | 2.17% | 9.854 | $ | |
BCE | 0.28% | 33.505 | $ | |
JRI | 1.14% | 13.18 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.29% | 25.1345 | $ | |
RELX | -0.09% | 48.175 | $ |
Blinken vows support for Moldova against Russia 'bullying'
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday promised steadfast US support to Moldova in areas from energy independence to democracy promotion on a solidarity visit to the pro-Western nation as alarm grows over Russian pressure.
The top US diplomat saluted the work of the country's president, Maia Sandu, who has charted a firm pro-European course in the face of what US officials fear is a coordinated Russian campaign as she seeks a new term.
"We see you as a very valuable partner in the region and we have an enduring commitment to work together," Blinken told Sandu as they met at the presidential office.
"What's so powerful is the deep and deep-rooted commitment to democracy," he said.
"This in the face of bullying from Russia -- interference, efforts to spread misinformation, disinformation, weaponising corruption, manufacturing anti-government protests. Despite that, we've seen extraordinary resilience," Blinken said.
The United States hopes to ensure "that fundamentally, the people of Moldova are the ones who decide their own future and their own course. That's what this is really all about", he said.
Blinken said President Joe Biden's administration was asking Congress for another $50 million in support for Moldova, including assistance in cyber security during the upcoming election.
The United States has already committed some $300 million to Moldova's energy sector as the country has been making moves to reduce its reliance on Russian imports in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Blinken announced that $85 million of the already committed funds would go into immediate projects, including battery storage and helping to link Moldova to Ukraine, Romania and other non-Russian sources of energy.
The United States is "working to help you continue to diversify your energy supply so that you are not dependent on any one source", Blinken said.
- More turbulence expected -
Sandu said she expected to see more "attempts at Russian interference" as she seeks reelection and pursues eventual membership in the European Union.
"We do expect the situation to get more difficult in the next few months," she said.
The trip comes as Moscow, which stations troops in Moldova's breakaway Transnistria region, has recently scored a series of battlefield victories in Ukraine, stirring new calls to let Kyiv use Western arms to strike directly on Russian soil.
Biden is wary of direct military confrontation with Russia but Blinken suggested he was receptive to calls from France and elsewhere to loosen restrictions.
"At every step along the way we've adapted and adjusted as necessary. And so that's exactly what we'll do going forward," Blinken said.
Sandu hailed US support both to Moldova and to Ukraine, where Biden has directed billions of dollars in weapons since Russia invaded in 2022.
The assistance to Ukraine "also makes Moldova more safe and resilient", she said.
"Our neighbours and friends in Ukraine pay a terrible price every day for the simple aspiration to be free," she said.
Blinken last visited Moldova weeks after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when he made some gloomy predictions that Moscow would also strike the tiny country of 2.6 million people.
Speculation grew earlier this year that Russia would seek to annex Transnistria, but US officials say they see no imminent military threat from the 1,500 Russian troops in the separatist region.
Russia launched an assault on Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region two weeks ago, seeking to press its advantage before US weapons reach the frontlines.
Blinken voiced confidence in Ukrainian forces once the weapons come, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin had already failed in his earlier goal of taking Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv.
The US election in November could have major ramifications for Ukraine.
Biden's Republican challenger, Donald Trump, has voiced admiration for Putin and doubted Ukraine's chances for victory.
Russia also appears to have gained ground diplomatically in another former Soviet republic, Georgia, which on Tuesday rammed through a law against "foreign influence" seen as inspired by the Kremlin.
J.Williams--AMWN