Category: Rubrique

The Group of Seven has agreed to “move swiftly to impose additional sanctions on Russia”, a joint statement on Saturday said, as pro-Russian militants in the country’s east detained several members of an OSCE observer mission near Slaviansk.

The G7 statement also praised the “restraint” with which the new government in Kiev has shown in dealing with the pro-Russian militants who have seized official buildings across the country’s east.

Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said EU foreign ministers would meet soon to discuss the issue following a conference call with US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President François Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The G7 also includes Canada and Japan.

The United States and the European Union have already targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle with visa and asset freezes and imposed sanctions on a key Russian bank.

Western leaders have repeatedly threatened to hit Russia with measures aimed at the wider economy.

Obama, however, has signalled that the new sanctions will not involve an attempt to target key areas of the Russian economy such as mining, energy and the financial sectors. US officials have said those measures would only be considered if Russia sends forces across the border into eastern Ukraine.

Several members of an OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) observer mission to Ukraine were detained Friday at the entrance to Slaviansk and taken to the rebel-held security services building, sparking immediate international condemnation.

German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said the pro-Russian separatists had taken 13 mission members, including three members of the German army and an interpreter.

The pro-Russian rebels holding them accused the observers of being “NATO spies” and said they would be freed only in a prisoner exchange.

“Yesterday, we arrested some NATO spies… they will be exchanged for our own prisoners. I don’t see any other way they will be freed,” Denis Pushilin, the head of the insurgents’ self-declared Donetsk Republic, told reporters.

Washington called for the immediate release of the OSCE team and State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki repeated claims that “there is a strong connection between Russia and these separatists” who are now taking hostages.

Rebels in Slaviansk on Friday released US national Simon Ostrovsky, one of three journalists they were believed to be holding.

france24

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has warned his soldiers they must be ready for “impending conflict with the United States,” Pyongyang media reported on Saturday as satellites showed a nuclear test could be near.

The report comes as US President Barack Obama finishes up a two-day visit to South Korea, where he warned the North it faced tougher sanctions if the underground detonation went ahead. Obama described North Korea as a weak “pariah state”.

It also comes after Pyongyang claimed it had been holding a young American for two weeks.

Kim, the supreme commander of the North’s 1.2-million-strong armed forces often visits military units to deliver on-the-spot “guidance” on ways to strengthen preparedness.

He usually lavishes them with praise and presents gifts such as rifles or binoculars as symbols of their vigilance.

But after watching a shelling drill by an artillery sub-unit on Friday, he upbraided soldiers for their lax approach, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

“Dear Supreme Commander Kim Jong-Un said nothing is more important than preparing for combat now, in the face of an impending conflict with the United States”, KCNA reported.

North Korean state media regularly carries colourfully-phrased warnings that the isolated state is on the verge of war.

Pointing at a map, Kim ordered the unit to establish a firing position and start the shelling exercise, the agency said, without revealing the location.

“Watching the drill, he severely criticised the sub-unit for failing to make good combat preparation” citing the time it had taken to deploy, it said. He blamed a lack of enthusiasm over training among the sub-unit’s commander and his superiors.

“The minds of the commanding officers of this sub-unit and relevant unit seem to be away from the battlefield”, he said, KCNA reported.

It is unusual for the agency to carry direct quotes from Kim. “Of course, they might do sideline jobs for improving service personnel’s living conditions and do their bit in building a rich and powerful nation. “However, they should always give priority to combat preparations”, he said.

Speaking in Seoul on Friday after satellite imagery revealed the North was advancing preparations for a nuclear test, Obama warned it of sanctions with “more bite” unless it fell into line.

North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests, in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

Underlining its status as global outlaw, Pyongyang said late on Friday that it had been holding US citizen Miller Matthew Todd, 24, since April 10 because of his “rash behaviour” while passing through immigration.

france24

U.S. President Barack Obama has said Washington welcomes China’s rise but that engagement with Beijing would not come at the expense of its Asian allies – as Chinese state media greeted his arrival in the region with a broadside accusing the United States of wanting to “cage” the emerging superpower.

The reassuring remarks aimed at Japan and other allies, set against a robust commentary from China’s state news agency Xinhua that also called the United States “myopic”, demonstrate the delicate balancing act Obama faces on a week-long Asia tour.

Obama arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday at the start of a four-nation trip that comes at a time of rising tension in the region, and as the United States urges Japan’s unpredictable neighbor North Korea not to conduct another nuclear test.

Obama, who is making the first full state visit to Japan by a U.S. President since 1996, must assuage worries by Tokyo and other allies that his commitment to their defense in the face of an increasingly assertive China is weak, without hurting vital U.S. ties with Asia’s biggest economy.

Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are also keen to show progress on a two-way trade pact seen as critical to a broader regional deal that would be one of the world’s biggest trade agreements and is central to Obama’s “pivot” of military, diplomatic and trade resources towards Asia.

Noting Beijing and Washington could work together on issues such as North Korea’s nuclear program, Obama told Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper, in written remarks: “In other words, we welcome the continuing rise of a China that is stable, prosperous and peaceful and plays a responsible role in global affairs.”

He added: “And our engagement with China does not and will not come at the expense of Japan or any other ally.”

Such assurances are likely to be high on the agenda when Obama meets Abe at a symbolic summit on Thursday.