Russia-Ukraine war news: Russia says U.S. withheld journalist visas
Ukraine live briefing: War helps fuel record global defense spending; Russia says U.S. withheld journalist visas A U.S. soldier signals to an M1 Abrams tank in Poland in December, ahead of military exercises on the country's Baltic Sea coast. Europe’s military spending reached a level unseen since the Cold War in 2022, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. (Mateusz Slodkowski/AFP/Getty Images)
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its worldwide impact helped push global defense spending to a record high last year, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Global defense expenditure rose by 3.7 percent to reach an all-time high of $2.24 trillion, the report found, while taking into account soaring inflation.
Russia accused the United States of violating its obligations by not issuing visas to journalists planning to cover Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s trip to the United Nations in New York, which began Monday. Moscow holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council for April. The State Department declined to comment about the visas, citing privacy issues.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Key developments
Europe reported the biggest year-on-year spending increase according to the report , although the United States maintained the world’s biggest military budget, spending $877 billion in 2022. In both Western and Central Europe, military spending exceeded equivalent levels in 1989 — when the Cold War was drawing to a close — for the first time.
The report noted that “a heightened threat from Russia strongly influenced many other states’ spending decisions,” along with tension in East Asia. “The continuous rise in global military expenditure in recent years is a sign that we are living in an increasingly insecure world,” SIPRI researcher Nan Tian said in a statement.
The Kremlin could end the Black Sea grain deal, which facilitates the export of Ukrainian grain , if the Group of Seven industrialized nations impose a blanket ban on exports to Russia, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday on if the Group of Seven industrialized nations impose a blanket ban on exportsto Russia, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday on Telegram . Medvedev now has a senior security role. The G-7 consists of the United States, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada. Japan holds the G-7 presidency this year, and Kyodo News reported last week that such a step is being considered.
Ukraine has probably set up military positions on the eastern side of the strategically important Dnieper River in the Kherson region, the , the Institute for the Study of War said, citing geolocated footage shared by Russian military bloggers. The D.C.-based think tank said it was the first time it had observed reliable imagery of a continued Ukrainian presence in the area, which the Kremlin has illegally claimed to annex but does not fully control.
Global impact
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said that Seoul has to consider its “many direct and indirect relationships” with Russia and Ukraine when deciding what assistance to supply Kyiv. Yoon was when deciding what assistance to supply Kyiv.Yoon was speaking to The Washington Post ahead of a trip to the United States this week, where he is expected to come under pressure for his country’s reluctance to supply lethal aid to Ukraine.
About 80 European lawmakers urged France’s foreign minister to declare the Chinese ambassador in Paris persona non grata after he made remarks questioning the after he made remarks questioning the sovereignty of former Soviet states. In an open letter published by Le Monde , the signatories called the comment a threat to the security of France’s European partners. A string of countries rejected the remarks, including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The Russian mercenary organization Wagner Group is making aggressive moves to bring together an anti-Western coalition of states in Africa, according to leaked U.S. government documents , according to leaked U.S. government documents reviewed by The Washington Post. Alarmed U.S. officials have rushed to target the group’s network and businesses with sanctions and cyberoperations, the documents suggest.
From our correspondents
As Russians plot against Chad, concerns mount over important U.S. ally: The Wagner Group discussed a plan in February to recruit and train rebels from Chad, a key U.S. security partner in the region, leaked American intelligence documents suggest.
Discussions between Wagner Group founder Yevgeniy Prigozhin and associates are detailed in documents as part of an “evolving plan to topple” the Chadian government, which faces the twin security challenges of growing Russian influence and Islamist insurgencies in the Sahel region, Rachel Chason reports. Chad has adopted more repressive tactics against dissidents, but critics say regional security challenges have blunted the Western response.
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Source: The Washington Post
