Recent developments over the #Russia -#Ukraine border are worrying and NATO’s open-to-dialogue attitude is certainly a good sign and should be welcomed.
If the current tension between #NATO and Russia is not de-escalated and veer into dangerous conflicts, Ukraine will be among the first to suffer. And no one on either side will win.
Russia previously made clear of its position on the issue of Ukraine for a few times, including in the #Putin-#Biden video meeting earlier this month, during which Putin sought for legal guarantees from Biden that NATO will not expand further in the eastern direction.
The calls from Russia should not be neglected, particularly not by the United States.
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A U.S. drone strike killed 10 Afghan civilians, incl 7 CHILDREN.
What's horrendous is that the perpetrator admits the crime yet proclaims its innocence to the world in the manner of a judge.
What's more horrendous is that there's nothing the world can do about it.
The 20-year U.S. war in #Afghanistan killed 47,245 Afghan civilians. Up to 69,000 Afghan soldiers and police who had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks were killed as well. More than 10 million people were displaced. The war has left the country devastated and impoverished.
In 2003, the U.S. launched military strikes against #Iraq for its alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction. The conflict killed up to 250,000 civilians. The number includes over 16,000 directly killed by the U.S. military. More than a million people lost their homes.
#China & #Russia are actually defending status quo, which is the #UN system. But the West have to try and explain why they have a business. The audience is the #NonAligned world, who're quietly making a judgment.
- @tonykevin, former Australia diplomat
People hope that they can have a vaccination shot and relax. But it's not the case with #COVID19. Ongoing public health measures are necessary. We have to work hard to make sure we obtain and keep protection against new variants such as #Omicron
- Prof Shane Thomas, @ANUmedia
Debut of pills against #COVID19 is an exciting development. It could be game changer for the unvaccinated people in poorer countries and the refusers in richer countries. Considering the total cost of storage & delivery, pills could be the cheaper way overall.
- Prof Shane Thomas
#SouthKorean President Moon Jae-in made it more than clear that his country WON’T join the diplomatic boycott of #BeijingWinterOlympics when meeting with #Australia PM #Morrison in Canberra, once again shattering the illusion of Australia trying to form a gang against China.
SK is not 1st country to reject #Australia's reckless wooing. Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong admonished Australian leaders to engage more calmly with China when #Morrison stopped in Singapore & tried to get some political tribute en route to his first in-person meeting with Biden
When #Australian media went to great lengths to drive a wedge btw New Zealand & China, forcing Wellington to take a hard line against its largest trading partner, New Zealand Trade Minister advised Canberra to "be more cautious with the wording" to improve its ties with China.
@JoeBiden administration's approach to Russia appears to be a combination of “contain” and “engage”.
In a phone call with Putin on Tuesday, Biden proposed a summit to find areas where the US and Russia could cooperate.
Just two days later, however, Washington slapped Moscow with new sanctions over alleged hacking and meddling in the US 2020 election.
But meanwhile, the White House has said it doesn’t have solid intelligence that Russia had offered bounties to the Taliban for killing US troops.
"Contain" and "engage" can't coexist well in reality.
When Moscow receives escalating hostilities from Washington in the form of sanctions and diplomatic expulsions, it’s unrealistic to expect Russia to work with the US on issues where cooperation is thought to be possible.
U.S. Secretary of State @SecBlinken tried hard to sell @JoeBiden ‘s decision to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan during an unannounced visit to the country. #Afghan#AfghanistanWar
When announcing the decision, @JoeBiden said U.S. has achieved its objectives of preventing “future terrorist attacks against the United States”. #Afghan
But the real objective for @JoeBiden to pull out U.S. troops is perhaps to play into America’s domestic politics and establish himself as the President who ended the country’s longest war. #AfghanistanWar
Friday’s virtual meeting on #climate change between Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President @EmmanuelMacron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a good sign not only for the human endeavor of saving our planet, but also for China-EU relations. #ClimateAction
Europe has remained a champion for the Paris Climate Accord during the past few years when former U.S. President #DonaldTrump exited the deal. #China made the solemn pledge of having CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieving #carbon neutrality before 2060. #ParisAgreement
China and EU being major stakeholders for tackling climate change, collaboration of the Chinese, German and French leadership will be instrumental in materializing what’s written in the Paris Climate Accord. #ParisAgreement#ClimateCrisis