UNITED24 Media Telegram Highlights
China has become the largest supplier of weapons to African countries, surpassing the Russian Federation, according to The Economist.
The publication reports that Russian arms supplies have decreased by 44% over the past five years, while China is aggressively filling this void. Chinese weapon sales are reportedly driven by low prices and a lack of scruples.
"Beijing sells weapons at reduced prices. Combined with sales on credit, military cooperation, and officer training, this is an attractive offer for armies with any budget," the article states.
The publication notes that China's interest is more political than economic, as this approach strengthens the PRC's strategic influence in Africa.
Ukraine currently lacks strong contacts with China, as the Chinese side is not interested, said President Zelenskyy at the "Dialogue Shangri-La" conference in Singapore.
"We can no longer be in a situation where a $10,000 drone destroys a $10,000 tank, or a $3.5 million missile destroys a $10,000 UAV. This is one of the lessons of the Russian-Ukrainian war," said Admiral Rob Bauer, head of the NATO Military Committee.
"We can't continue to do this financially. We need other solutions than what we have. We need to balance the number of high-quality, very expensive weapons we have in favor of cheaper weapons for less valuable targets. However, if a drone can destroy very expensive weapons systems, this does not mean that we no longer need these systems," he said at the Shangri-La Dialogue conference.
EU countries are considering imposing import duties on certain Russian goods that are currently imported without restrictions, according to the Financial Times.
Goods that may be subject to tariffs include food, nuclear fuel, and medicines worth up to 42 billion euros. Sweden proposed this measure to limit Russia's income and to direct the collected duties to help Ukraine. EU trade ministers have requested the European Commission to develop a plan for these tariffs.
"Sweden has initiated a discussion on the wider application of tariffs on imports from Russia. We will conduct an assessment and inform the members of the union about possible further actions," said European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.
Dombrovskis added that tariffs would prevent Russia from destabilizing the European market by redirecting its grain supplies and would stop Russia from using revenues from exports to the EU to finance its aggression against Ukraine.
Belgium does not permit Ukraine to use its weapons to strike Russia, stated Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
Estonia allocates more than 1% of its GDP to support Ukraine. If every NATO country did this, Ukraine would win, said Prime Minister Kaja Kallas in an interview with BBC News.
The Clooney Foundation for Justice will organize a "hunt" for Russian propagandists, aiming to hold them accountable for their role in Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine.
Anna Neistat, human rights activist and project officer of the Foundation, noted that many propagandists like to travel in Europe, have residence permits, and own property in various countries. These individuals can be arrested in Europol member states based on warrants for crimes related to incitement to hatred and the promotion of aggressive war.
https://t.me/United24media/22359 Kyiv is saying goodbye to the fallen combat paramedic Iryna "Cheka" Tsybukh