US Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Italy on Friday on the last stop of a four-nation tour aimed at bolstering Western support for former Soviet republics in the wake of Russia’s five-day war with Georgia.
Cheney was to address the Ambrosetti conference on security and intelligence in Lake Como yesterday, after pledging Washington’s “deep and abiding interest” in Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan and slamming Russia’s military actions last month over the rebel region of South Ossetia.
The US vice president also expressed support for Georgia and Ukraine becoming eventual members of NATO. He was expected to press that message to leaders at the conference, and in one-on-one talks with Spanish, Turkish and Italian leaders.
During his trip, Cheney urged the expansion of energy routes that would take oil and gas to Europe and bypass oil giant Russia, vowed continued US support for ally Georgia and called on Ukraine’s leaders to unite in the face of Russian “threats.”
He also restated US support for Ukraine’s bid to join NATO and warned Russia against attempting to block Ukraine’s entry to the military alliance.
An administration official told reporters following Cheney’s talks in Kiev that Russia’s conflict with Georgia may have altered views among US allies in the region, but that the administration of President George W. Bush would invest “an awful lot of energy” in pushing for Georgian and Ukrainian entry in NATO during its final months in office.
“People have been shaken by events in Georgia,” the official said on condition of anonymity. “It has created a new situation. I think there are some indications that some of the allies are looking with a fresh set of eyes, looking at the new circumstances.”
“There’s a lot of diplomatic work, consultations that have to be done,” the official said.
Russia has objected to the 26-member NATO military alliance, which Moscow sees as a Cold War relic, and said it was time for a new inclusive security system including Russia.
EU members decided at a summit this week in Brussels to freeze talks on a strategic partnership accord with Moscow after Russia’s military surge into Georgia and recognition of Georgian rebel regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS