Trump envoys to visit Pakistan for Iran talks as cautious progress reported
Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner will travel to Islamabad on Saturday for Pakistan-mediated talks ...
Russia warned on Monday that it would retaliate against any European state attempting to seize its assets, following reports that the European Union is considering channelling frozen Russian funds to support Ukraine.
Since President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the United States and its allies have banned transactions with Russia’s central bank and finance ministry, freezing between $300–$350 billion in sovereign assets, largely consisting of European, U.S., and British government bonds held in a European securities depository.
According to Reuters, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is seeking ways to use the cash balances linked to these frozen Russian assets in Europe to bolster Ukraine’s defence. Politico reported that officials are exploring the possibility of redirecting Russian deposits at the European Central Bank, generated from maturing bonds, to finance a so-called “Reparations Loan” for Kyiv.
Reacting to the reports, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Telegram: “If this happens, Russia will pursue EU states, the Brussels degenerates, and individual European countries that try to seize our property until the end of the century.”
Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, added that Moscow would go after European states “in all possible ways” — through international and national courts, as well as outside legal channels.
Russia maintains that any seizure of its assets would amount to theft by the West and warns it would damage confidence in U.S. and European bonds and currencies.
The U.S. military has intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters and is redirecting them away from their positions near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, shipping and security sources said on Wednesday, exclusively to Reuters.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards targeted three vessels, seizing two of them for alleged maritime violations and transferring them to Iranian shores, as U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington is extending its ceasefire with Iran until Tehran submits a proposal.
Two local trains collided head-on north of Copenhagen on Thursday (23 April), injuring 17 people, five of them critically, according to emergency services.
The U.S. military is redirecting at least three Iranian-flagged tankers after intercepting them in Asian waters near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, shipping and security sources said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Tehran said U.S. breaches, blockades and threats are undermining “genuine negotiations.”
The European Union is preparing its 20th round of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine. The measures are close to being approved, after earlier delays linked to energy concerns in Slovakia and Hungary eased following repairs to the Druzhba oil pipeline.
China has urged the European Union to take its concerns seriously over new cybersecurity and digital regulations, warning they could create difficulties for Chinese companies operating in Europe.
Russia and Ukraine have swapped prisoners of war, according to officials on both sides. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 193 prisoners, including soldiers and border guards, had been returned from Russia, some injured and facing criminal charges.
Türkiye and the United Kingdom on Thursday signed a wide-ranging strategic partnership agreement to boost bilateral cooperation, especially in defence. The deal, signed in London, signals a “new era” in relations between the two NATO allies.
The U.S. and the European Union are set to sign a memorandum of understanding on Friday to establish a partnership on the procurement and production of critical minerals, the U.S. State Department confirmed late on Thursday.
Russian emergency services have contained a major fire at the Tuapse oil refinery on the Black Sea coast, local officials said on Thursday, ending a four-day effort after a Ukrainian drone strike.
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