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OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced several support measures for Ukraine, including military, economic and humanitarian assistance, while also pledging an additional show of diplomatic backing through steps intended to punish Russia over the war.
“We’re continuing to impose costs on Russia and ensuring that those responsible for this illegal, unjustifiable invasion do not benefit from it,” Trudeau said Friday during a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ottawa, the Canadian capital.
Zelensky also addressed Canada’s Parliament on Friday. He flew into Ottawa late Thursday after meetings with US President Joe Biden and lawmakers in Washington. He spoke at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
Canada and Ukraine agreed to establish a working group with G7 partners to study seizure and forfeiture of Russian assets, including from the Russian Central Bank, Trudeau said.
Canada also added 63 Russian individuals and entities to the country’s sanctions list, including “those complicit in the kidnapping of children and the spreading of disinformation,” Trudeau said.
Canada’s pledge to stand with Ukraine will include $650 million in new military assistance over the next three years, Trudeau said.
Canada will provide Ukraine with 50 armored vehicles, including armored medical evacuation vehicles built in London, Ontario. Pilot and maintenance instructors for F-16 fighter jets, support for Leopard 2 battle tank maintenance, 35 drones with high-resolution cameras, light vehicles and ammunition are part of the intended support package, Trudeau said.
The multiyear support also will include a financial contribution to a UK-led consortium delivering air defense equipment to Ukraine, Trudeau said.
Canada’s monetary support will continue into the 2024 fiscal year, while the governments also have signed a free trade agreement, Trudeau said.
Other assistance for nongovernmental organizations and Ukraine’s government will include measures to improve “cyber resilience,” rebuild local infrastructure and assist farmers. Canada also plans to contribute funds for Ukraine’s national war memorial and money to increase the availability of mental health support at the appropriate time, he said.
“We stand here absolutely united in our defense of democracy and our condemnation of (Russian President) Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked, unjustified and unconscionable invasion of Ukraine,” Trudeau said.
MANILA: The Philippines on Sunday accused China’s coast guard of installing a “floating barrier” in a disputed area of the South China Sea, saying it prevented Filipinos from entering and fishing in the area.
Manila’s coast guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources “strongly condemn” China’s installation of the barrier in part of the Scarborough Shoal, Commodore Jay Tarriela, a coast guard spokesperson, posted on the X social media platform, formerly Twitter.
The barrier “prevents Filipino fishing boats from entering the shoal and depriving them of their fishing and livelihood activities,” he said.
The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, overlapping with the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines. Beijing seized the Scarborough Shoal in 2012 and forced fishermen from the Philippines to travel further for smaller catches.
Beijing allowed Filipino fishermen to return to the uninhabited shoal when bilateral relations were improving markedly under then-President Rodrigo Duterte. But tension has mounted again since his successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, took office last year.
Philippine coast guard and fisheries bureau personnel discovered the floating barrier, estimated at 300 m (1,000 feet) long, on a routine patrol on Friday near the shoal, locally known as Bajo de Masinloc, Tarriela said.
Three Chinese coast guard rigid-hull inflatable boats and a Chinese maritime militia service boat installed the barrier when the Philippine vessel arrived, he said.
Filipino fishermen say China typically installs such barriers when they monitor a large number of fishermen in the area, Tarriela said.
TORONTO: Information shared by members of an intelligence-sharing alliance was part of what Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used to make public allegations of the Indian government’s possible involvement in the assassination of a Sikh Canadian, the US ambassador to Canada said.
“There was shared intelligence among ‘Five Eyes’ partners that helped lead Canada to (make) the statements that the prime minister made,” US Ambassador David Cohen told Canadian CTV News network.
CTV News released some of Cohen’s comments late Friday, and the network said that it would air the full interview with the US envoy on Sunday. No further details were released about the shared intelligence.
On Thursday, a Canadian official told The Associated Press that the allegation of India’s involvement in the killing is based on surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada, including intelligence provided by a major ally — without saying which one.
The “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance is made up of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The relationship between Canada and India reached its lowest point in recent history when Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh separatist, in June in a Vancouver suburb. Both countries have expelled some top diplomats.
India, which has called the allegations “absurd,” also has stopped issuing visas to Canadian citizens and told Canada to reduce its diplomatic staff.
Canada has yet to provide public evidence to back Trudeau’s allegations.
Nijjar, a plumber who was born in India and became a Canadian citizen in 2007, had been wanted by India for years before he was gunned down in June outside the temple he led in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver.
NEW YORK: Russia’s foreign minister lambasted the “lies” of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and refuted suggestions that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, during a heated press conference at the UN on Saturday.
Addressing a briefing attended by Arab News, Sergey Lavrov stressed confidence in Iran’s claim that it has no intention to obtain “the bomb,” referencing the 2003 religious edict issued by its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei forbidding production or use of nuclear weapons.
“If Iran came into possession of nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia said it would also have to consider this,” Lavrov said at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
“This is something I view as a statement of fact: Nobody wants to see the emergence of new nuclear states; but since we believe that Iran won’t have the bomb, Iran’s neighbors won’t be tempted to take that path.”
Lavrov was speaking amid international calls for a resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, with Gulf states reportedly looking to support mediation efforts.
Agreed last year, the deal allowed 33 million tons of grain to be exported from Ukrainian ports, helping to stabilize global food prices and avert shortages.
But Moscow withdrew in July after months of protest that the export of Russian fertilizer was not being honored.
“The Ukrainian part of the package was implemented rather effectively and swiftly, while the Russian part wasn’t implemented at all,” said Lavrov.
“At the same time, our naval officers were opening up for the safe passage of grain ships, but the corridors were used to launch UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and carry out strikes on Russian ships.
“But the main reason why we left the agreement is everything promised to us turned out to be a lie.”
Earlier in the week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres referenced questions that had arisen over Russia’s apparent interest, or lack thereof, in resurrecting the deal.
When this was put to Lavrov, he denied this was the case, reiterating that Moscow’s withdrawal was linked to the “lies” surrounding rights for Russian fertilizer exports, as he pointed to the continuing work between Russian representatives and UN officials to resolve the blockade.
“We were lied to on the basics of the deal, and the secretary-general himself was forced to mislead on that,” Lavrov said.
“Let us once again recall what President (Vladimir) Putin said, which is that as soon as everything that’s enshrined in the Russian part of the package is implemented, on that very day the Ukrainian part of that initiative will become operational.”
Saying “someone in London or Washington doesn’t want the war to end,” Lavrov poured scorn on the continued investment from Western states into Ukraine’s defense apparatus.
Segueing into saying “we all know the US is doing everything possible to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, but somehow this doesn’t seem to cause great concern,” he concluded by appealing to African states to consider Russia as a partner.
LONDON: Russia’s Foreign Minister said in a speech at the UN General Assembly on Saturday that Russian troops will “certainly” help in rebuilding trust between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Sergei Lavrov said it was time the dispute between the two countries was settled, adding that Western countries were trying to imposes themselves as mediators, but were not needed.
“Yerevan and Baku actually did settle the situation,” he said. “Time has come for mutual trust-building. There are Russian troops who will certainly help this.”
Russia has peacekeeping missions in Nagorno-Karabakh, where Azerbaijan launched an offensive this week and where the ethnic Armenian leadership said the terms of their ceasefire with Azerbaijan were being implemented.
Lavrov also said Ukraine’s proposed peace plan in its war with Russia, as well as UN suggestions for reviving the Black Sea Grain Initiative, were “not realistic,” but did not elaborate further on the 19-month conflict.
“It is completely not feasible,” he said of the 10-point peace blueprint promoted by Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky. “It is not possible to implement this. It’s not realistic and everybody understands this. But at the same time, they say this is the only basis for negotiations.”
Lavrov criticized the West throughout his speech, and accused it of “fueling conflicts,” “dividing humanity” and “preventing the formation of a genuine multipolar world.”
He called for the expansion of the UN Security Council, which he said was skewed toward preserving Western hegemony.
“(The rest of the planet) don’t want to live under anybody’s yoke anymore,” he said, adding that this was evident by the growth of groups such as BRICS, which recently invited Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to join.
“Our future is being shaped by a struggle, a struggle between the global majority in favor of a fairer distribution of global benefits and civilized diversity, and between the few who wield neo-colonial methods of subjugation in order to maintain their domination which is slipping through their hands,” he said.
“The US and its subordinate Western collective are continuing to fuel conflicts which artificially divide humanity into hostile blocks and hamper the achievement of overall aims. They’re doing everything they can to prevent the formation of a genuine multipolar world order.
“They are trying to force the world to play according to their own self-centered rules,” he said.
BEIJING: China is willing to work with South Korea to promote a strategic partnership to develop with the times, President Xi Jinping told South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Saturday, amid rising tensions surrounding Russia, the United States and North Korea.
Xi held talks with Han in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou before the opening ceremony of the Asian Games, China Central Television reported.
The commitment to cooperation came ahead of scheduled trilateral talks between China, Japan and South Korea in Seoul on Sept. 26, the first summit led by their senior officials in four years.
The commitment to cooperation came ahead of scheduled trilateral talks between China, Japan and South Korea in Seoul on Sept. 26, the first summit led by their senior officials in four years.
Xi told Han that he welcomes the summit at an opportune time and he will seriously consider the matter of visiting South Korea, Yonhap reported on Saturday. A Chinese statement did not mention Xi’s comment on the summit or a visit to Seoul.
China attaches great importance to the positive willingness of South Korea to commit to cooperation, Xi said, and asked South Korea to meet it half way to maintain the direction of friendly cooperation. The two countries can deepen mutually beneficial cooperations, he said.
Tensions between the two East Asian countries rose after North Korea’s Kim Jong Un’s weeklong visit to Russia earlier this month, which angered the United States, Japan and South Korea.
South Korea imposed sanctions on 10 individuals and two entities in relation to North Korea’s nuclear program and weapons trade with three countries, including Russia, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.