Fresh from Kyiv, Biden rallies NATO allies in Poland - CNA

Many called for bolder Western support for Kyiv, including the supply of fighter jets, which Biden has so far held back from offering.

"We hope that they (the US) will increase shipments of arms, that things at the front will improve and that we will win," said Alina Kiiko, 32, a Ukrainian in central Warsaw.

On the Roman Dmowski roundabout in the centre of the city, a giant advertising screen ran the slogan: "Biden, give F-16 to Ukraine" in English, referring to US fighter jets.

Demonstrators displayed a banner with the same slogan outside the hotel where Biden stayed overnight as he left for his meeting with Duda in the Polish presidential palace where he was met by a military honour guard.

Warsaw resident Marian Switala, 70, said he hoped "that this conflict will somehow be resolved and there will be peace in Ukraine and the surrounding area".

EASTERN FLANK

Before returning to Washington on Wednesday, Biden will meet leaders of the Bucharest Nine, the countries on NATO's eastern flank, to reaffirm support for their security.

All joined the Western military alliance after being dominated by Moscow during the Cold War, and most are now among the strongest supporters of military aid to Ukraine.

While Biden was in Kyiv on Monday, the State Department announced more support for Ukraine comprising $450 million of artillery ammunition, anti-armour systems and air defence radars, and $10 million for energy infrastructure.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda's message to Biden will be that it wants "greater involvement of the US in Europe, NATO's eastern flank and, of course, more aid to Ukraine," his chief foreign policy adviser told Lithuanian radio on Tuesday.

"Lithuania and other like-minded countries have several requests, which concern air defence, forward defence presence, air defence systems, and greater investments in the defence industry," Asta Skaisgiryte said.

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2023-02-21 17:28:00Z
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Putin delivers a nuclear warning to the West over Ukraine - CNA

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (Feb 21) delivered a nuclear warning to the West over Ukraine, suspending a bilateral nuclear arms control treaty, announcing new strategic systems had been put on combat duty and warning that Moscow could resume nuclear tests.

Speaking nearly a year to the day since ordering an invasion that has triggered the biggest confrontation with the West since the depths of the Cold War, Putin said Russia would achieve its war aims and accused the West of trying to destroy Russia.

"The elites of the West do not hide their purpose. But they also cannot fail to realise that it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield," a defiant Putin told his country's political and military elite.

Cautioning the United States that it was stoking the war into a global conflict, Putin said that Russia was suspending participation in the New START Treaty, the last major arms control treaty between Moscow and Washington.

Signed by then-US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, in 2010, the treaty caps the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads that the United States and Russia can deploy. It was due to expire in 2026.

"I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty," said Putin.

The Russian leader said, without citing evidence, that some people in Washington were thinking about resuming nuclear testing. Russia's defence ministry and nuclear corporation should therefore be ready to test Russian nuclear weapons if necessary, he said.

"Of course, we will not do this first. But if the United States conducts tests, then we will. No one should have dangerous illusions that global strategic parity can be destroyed," Putin said.

"A week ago, I signed a decree on putting new ground-based strategic systems on combat duty. Are they going to stick their nose in there too, or what?"

It was not immediately clear which ground-based systems had been put on combat duty. Putin said Ukraine had sought to strike a facility deep inside Russia where some of its nuclear bombers are based, a reference to the Engels air base.

Russia and the United States have vast arsenals of nuclear weapons left over from the Cold War and remain, by far, the biggest nuclear powers. Between them, they hold 90 per cent of the world's nuclear warheads.

The New START Treaty limited both sides to 1,550 warheads on deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine ballistic missiles and heavy bombers. Both sides met the central limits by 2018.

The impact of Russia's statement that it is suspending nuclear arms control talks is unclear and the US nuclear posture remains unchanged, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

"It's unclear if there will be practical impact," Price said in an interview with CNN.

The United States announced publicly this year that Russia was not in compliance with the New START treaty, he said, so Washington will watch to see what steps Moscow actually takes.

"We haven't seen any reason to change our nuclear posture, our strategic posture just yet," said Price.

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2023-02-21 12:09:00Z
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US slams 'absurdity' of Putin's anti-West speech - The Straits Times

WARSAW – A top US official on Tuesday described President Vladimir Putin’s accusations that Russia had been threatened by the West as justification for invading Ukraine as “absurdity”.

“Nobody is attacking Russia. There’s a kind of absurdity in the notion that Russia was under some form of military threat from Ukraine or anyone else,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.

Speaking hours ahead of United States President Joe Biden delivering his own speech in Warsaw on the anniversary of Mr Putin launching the war, Mr Sullivan said the Kremlin leader was the aggressor.

“This was a war of choice. Putin chose to fight it. He could have chosen not to. And he can choose even now to end it, to go home,” Mr Sullivan said.

“Russia stops fighting the war in Ukraine and goes home, the war ends. Ukraine stops fighting and the United States and the coalition stop helping them fight – then Ukraine disappears from the map,” he added.

Previewing Mr Biden’s speech, Mr Sullivan said he would not “sketch out in any kind of specifics, a vision of a diplomatic end to the war”.

Rather, he will focus on the broader lesson of Ukraine in what he sees as an “inflection point” in a global struggle between democracies and autocratic regimes.

“So his remarks will speak specifically to the conflict in Ukraine, but of course, they will also speak to the larger contest at stake between those aggressors who are trying to destroy fundamental principles and those democracies who are pulling together to try to uphold it.”

Mr Biden is due to deliver his own speech after talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda, who has been a key advocate for support for Ukraine within the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and a day after a surprise visit to Kyiv. AFP

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2023-02-21 11:09:22Z
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How Biden's surprise trip to Kyiv was kept secret - but not from Russia - CNA

White House officials said Biden was taken to Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington and departed at 4.15am (5.15pm, Singapore time) on Sunday aboard an Air Force jet, accompanied by a handful of aides. A scaled-back news media presence went along with him: just one reporter and a photographer instead of his usual media pool.

The president flew overnight to the United States' Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The plane was refueled and he flew on to Rzeszow in southeastern Poland. After a one-hour drive, he arrived in Przemysl, a city along the Poland-Ukraine border.

Biden then boarded a train and travelled 10 hours to Kyiv. By then it was Sunday night, and Biden's train travelled in the dark with a heavy security presence on board.

The train came to a stop at the Kyiv-Pasazhyrsky station in the Ukrainian capital at roughly 8am local time (2pm, Singapore time) on Monday. The area around the platform had been cleared and the US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, awaited Biden and his staff.

"It's good to be back in Kyiv," Biden said after stepping off the train.

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2023-02-20 23:19:00Z
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Billionaire Ziyad al Manasir's 90-Meter Yacht Dar Docks in Singapore - Bloomberg

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Billionaire Ziyad al Manasir's 90-Meter Yacht Dar Docks in Singapore  Bloomberg
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2023-02-20 11:15:49Z
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Malaysian minister Tengku Zafrul summoned by anti-graft agency for questioning - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz has been summoned by the country’s anti-graft agency to help with an investigation.

However, Tengku Zafrul said he was unclear about the case that he will be questioned on.

“I can confirm that I have been called by the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) and God willing, I will meet them soon and give my full cooperation,” he was quoted as saying by the Star on Monday (Feb 20).

When asked if he was called in for the investigation of the Jana Wibawa project, he replied: “I don’t know. Let’s wait.”

According to local media, MACC chief Azam Baki said on Sunday that Tengku Zafrul will be called in “soon”.

The Jana Wibawa programme was an economic generation project during Malaysia’s COVID-19 movement control order. It was a stimulus aid package that was meant to help Bumiputera contractors.

The Star reported earlier that the anti-graft agency is investigating allegations that the chosen contractors for the aid programme had deposited RM300 million (US$67.69 million) into the account of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

Tengku Zafrul was the finance minister when the financial help was given out during Mr Muhyiddin Yassin’s tenure as prime minister. Mr Muhyiddin is the president of Bersatu.

In a tweet on Saturday, Tengku Zafrul said that he will cooperate with MACC’s probe into the programme.

In a separate post on Facebook, the minister, who is also a supreme council member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) said: “The media asked me about Jana Wibawa. There is nothing for me to hide and I am always ready to give an explanation if asked to do so.”

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2023-02-20 09:56:58Z
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Living with the enemy: Tropical paradise Bali becomes refuge for thousands of Ukrainians, Russians - CNA

BALI: Russia and Ukraine may be at war, but thousands of their citizens are living alongside each other in the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Many have made the island their home, after leaving their countries following the invasion of Ukraine that is approaching the one-year mark on Feb 24.

With no end in sight to the conflict, Indonesia’s top tourist destination has become a temporary refuge for citizens and businesses seeking an escape.

According to government data, more than 7,000 Ukrainians arrived in Bali last year, but last month alone, there were more than 2,500 arrivals.

Last year also saw more than 58,000 Russians arriving on the island. In January this year, there were more than 22,500 arrivals, making Russia the country with the second-largest foreign arrivals that month.

BUILDING A COMMUNITY IN BALI

Mr Tjokorda Bagus Pemayun, head of the Bali Tourism Agency, said: “Last year, they hit a peak. The trend has increased since Bali began (opening its doors) without quarantine on March 7.

“Why Bali? Maybe even though they are at war, (the travellers) have increased significantly because, indeed, Bali is a place for peace. It is very peaceful, and instead (of being in their respective countries), they are living in Bali.”

The head of the Ukrainian community in Bali, who only gave his name as Dmytro, found himself on an extended stay, after the invasion happened while he was on holiday on the island.

Now, he is building a community in Bali for other Ukrainians.

“The last eight months, I've focused only on this,” he said. “Our goal is still the same – to help Ukraine, to find ways we can help, to build strong connections with the local people, with the local government, police…”

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2023-02-20 07:23:00Z
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