MOSCOW: Moscow and Beijing lashed out on Friday at Washington’s new anti-Russian sanctions that also target China for the first time, warning the US could face consequences.
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman accused Washington of playing unfairly and using new measures to squeeze Moscow out of the global arms market, after the United States slapped sanctions on China for buying Russian warplanes and missiles and threatened to target its other clients.
“This is unfair competition, dishonest competition, an attempt to use non-market methods that run counter to norms and principles of international trade to squeeze the main competitor of US makers out of the markets,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Peskov said that “Washington’s continued sanctions hysterics” dealt a new blow to US-Russia ties but could not immediately say if Moscow would retaliate, or how.
On Thursday, Washington placed financial sanctions on the Equipment Development Department of the Chinese Defense Ministry, and its top administrator, for its recent purchase of Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems.
It was the first time a third country has been punished under the CAATSA sanctions legislation for dealing with Russia, signalling Donald Trump’s readiness to risk relations with other countries over Moscow.
Beijing — which is locked in a trade war with the US — urged Washington to withdraw sanctions or “bear the consequences.”
“The US actions have seriously violated the basic principles of international relations and seriously damaged the relations between the two countries and the two militaries,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.
“We strongly urge the US to immediately correct their mistake and withdraw their so-called sanctions, otherwise the US will have to bear the consequences.”
United in their resentment of America’s global influence, China and Russia have sought in recent years to tighten up their ties and this month conducted week-long joint military drills, Moscow’s largest ever war games.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Russia would act to end its dependency on the US dollar.
“We will do everything to stop being dependent on the countries who behave toward their partners in this way,” Lavrov said on a visit to Sarajevo.
His deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, earlier said Washington was rocking global stability and said sarcastically that placing sanctions on Russia has become Washington’s favorite “pastime.”
“It would be good for them to remember there is such a concept as global stability which they are thoughtlessly undermining by whipping up tensions in Russian-American ties,” said Ryabkov.
“Playing with fire is silly, it can become dangerous,” he said in a statement, noting the latest round of anti-Russian measures was the 60th since 2011.
Arms exports are an important source of revenue for the country and last year Russia sold more than $14 billion worth of arms overseas.
US officials said that the US could consider similar action against other countries taking delivery of Russian fighter jets and missiles.
Turkey, which is embroiled in a dispute with Washington over the detention of a US pastor, is in talks to buy S-400 missile systems from Russia.
Alexander Gabuev, head of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said the new US measures could bring Moscow and Beijing even closer.
“The move is very unlikely to stop growing arms trade between Moscow and Beijing,” he said on Twitter.
The State Department also placed 33 Russian intelligence and military-linked actors on its sanctions blacklist.
All of them — defense related firms, officers of the GRU military intelligence agency, and people associated with the Saint Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency disinformation group — have been on previous US sanctions lists.
Twenty eight of them have already been indicted by Robert Mueller, the US Special Counsel who is investigating election meddling by Russia.
A senior US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, insisted the ultimate target was Russia and not “the defense capabilities” of third countries.
CAATSA, or the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, was passed in 2017 as a tool that gives Washington more ways to target Russia, Iran and North Korea with economic and political sanctions.
The US official said Washington had spent “an enormous amount of time” seeking to discourage prospective buyers of Russian arms.
The new sanctions came as the US and China are in the heat of a trade war.
The two countries will launch new tariffs on Monday, with Washington targeting $200 billion in Chinese exports and Beijing hitting $60 billion worth of American products.
China and Russia slam US sanctions, warn of consequences
China and Russia slam US sanctions, warn of consequences
- The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the Chinese military for buying fighter jets and missile systems from Russia
- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in a statement it seemed to Moscow that imposing sanctions on Russia had become a national US pastime
Germany has three years to overhaul military: official
- Germany’s chief of defense, General Carsten Breuer, recently warned that Russia could be in a position to “launch a large-scale attack against NATO territory” as early as 2029
BERLIN: Germany’s armed forces have three years to acquire the equipment to tackle a possible Russian attack on NATO territory, the head of military procurement said Saturday.
Defense spending has risen up the political agenda since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and more recently with the United States pushing NATO members to increase their commitments.
“Everything necessary to be fully prepared to defend the country must be acquired by 2028,” Annette Lehnigk-Emden, head of the Federal Office for Military Procurement, told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
Germany’s chief of defense, General Carsten Breuer, recently warned that Russia could be in a position to “launch a large-scale attack against NATO territory” as early as 2029.
He said there was a Russian build-up of ammunition and tanks for a possible attack on NATO’s Baltic members.
Lehnigk-Emden said that Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s new government was enabling the upgrade by allocating hundreds of billions of euros for defense.
She said the priority would be for heavy equipment such as Skyranger anti-aircraft tanks.
Merz has made rearmament a priority of his coalition government to make German forces “the most powerful conventional army in Europe.”
Rearmament had already begun under the previous government of Olaf Scholz after Russia launched its war in Ukraine.
And US President Donald Trump has raised the stakes further this year by pushing NATO members to increase their defense spending to five percent of GDP from the current level of two percent.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Thursday that 50,000 to 60,000 new soldiers would be needed in the coming years to meet the increased NATO defense needs.
Last year, the army had more than 180,000 soldiers and set a goal of exceeding 203,000 by 2031.
Germany is meanwhile looking to speed up the establishment of shelters where the population could find refuge in the event of conflict, according to the president of the German Federal Office for Civil Protection, Ralph Tiesler.
At the end of last year, the authorities began to catalogue tunnels, subway stations, underground carparks and cellars of public buildings that could be converted into bunkers.
“We are going to create one million shelter places as quickly as possible,” Tiesler told the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, indicating that a plan to this effect would be presented this summer.
DR Congo, Burundi thwart Rwanda on regional bloc presidency
- Presidency of the 11-nation ECCAS had been due to pass to Kigali
- Rwanda is accused of helping M23 rebels fighting DR Congo government
MALABO, Equatorial Guinea: Rwanda was blocked Saturday from taking the rotating presidency of the central African economic bloc because of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The presidency of the 11-nation Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) had been due to pass to Kigali, but at a heads of state and government meeting, DR Congo and Burundi objected.
“The conference postponed to another time the transfer of the rotating acting presidency of the community to the Republic of Rwanda and consequently decided to keep His Excellency Obiang Nguema Mbasogo as acting president of the community for an additional year,” a communique said.
One ECCAS official described the atmosphere between Rwanda and DR Congo’s representatives at the meeting in Equatorial Guinea’s capital Malabo as “tense.”
The Congolese contingent said “if Rwanda took the presidency, they would not be able to travel to Rwanda for community activities or events,” the official added on condition of anonymity.
“Burundi is also on the same path.”
Diplomatic ties between Kinshasa and Kigali are fraught, with the Congolese government accusing Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed group that has taken swathes of territory in the mineral-rich eastern DRC since the start of the year.
Neighbouring Burundi has sent more than 10,000 soldiers since 2023 to help the Congolese army fight the M23 and other armed groups operating in the conflict-wracked region.
On Thursday, Qatari mediators presented the DRC government and the M23 group “a peace proposal” to end the conflict, a source with knowledge of the talks told AFP.
Immigration authorities extend activity in Los Angeles area amid street protests
- One hand-held sign said, “No Human Being is Illegal.”
LOS ANGELES: US immigration authorities extended activity in Los Angeles area on Saturday in the wake of protests at an federal detention facility and a police response that included tear gas, flash-bangs and the arrest of a union leader.
Border Patrol personnel in riot gear and gas masks stood guard outside an industrial park in the city of Paramount, deploying tear gas as bystanders and protesters gathered on medians and across the street, some jeering at authorities while recording the events on smartphones.
“ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are,” a woman announced through a megaphone. “You are not welcome here.”
One hand-held sign said, “No Human Being is Illegal.”
The boulevard was closed to traffic as US Border Patrol circulated through the area. ICE representatives did not respond immediately to email inquiries about weekend enforcement activities.
Arrests by immigration authorities in Los Angeles come as President Donald Trump and his administration push to fulfill promises to carry out mass deportations across the country.
On Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested more than 40 people as they executed search warrants at multiple locations, including outside a clothing warehouse where a tense scene unfolded as a crowd tried to block agents from driving away.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the activity was meant to “sow terror” in the nation’s second-largest city.
In a statement on Saturday, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons chided Bass for the city’s response to protests.
“Mayor Bass took the side of chaos and lawlessness over law enforcement,” Lyons said in a statement. “Make no mistake, ICE will continue to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and arrest criminal illegal aliens.”
Protesters gathered Friday evening outside a federal detention center in Los Angeles where lawyers said those arrested had been taken, chanting “set them free, let them stay!”
Other protesters held signs that said “ICE out of LA!” and led chants and shouted from megaphones. Some scrawled graffiti on the building facade.
Federal agents executed search warrants at three locations, including a warehouse in the fashion district of Los Angeles, after a judge found there was probable cause the employer was using fictitious documents for some of its workers, according to representatives for Homeland Security Investigations and the US Attorney’s Office.
Advocates for immigrant rights say people were detained Friday by immigration authorities outside Home Depot stores and a doughnut shop.
Trump says Elon Musk could face ‘serious consequences’ if he backs Democratic candidates
- The president’s latest comments suggest Musk is moving from close ally to a potential new target for Trump, who has aggressively wielded the powers of his office to crack down on critics and punish perceived enemies
BRIDGEWATER, N.J.: President Donald Trump is not backing off his battle with Elon Musk, saying Saturday that he has no desire to repair their relationship and warning that his former ally and campaign benefactor could face “serious consequences” if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections.
Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker in a phone interview that he has no plans to make up with Musk. Asked specifically if he thought his relationship with the mega-billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is over, Trump responded, “I would assume so, yeah.”
“I’m too busy doing other things,” Trump continued. “You know, I won an election in a landslide. I gave him a lot of breaks, long before this happened, I gave him breaks in my first administration, and saved his life in my first administration, I have no intention of speaking to him.”
The president also issued a warning amid chatter that Musk could back Democratic lawmakers and candidates in the 2026 midterm elections.
“If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” Trump told NBC, though he declined to share what those consequences would be. Musk’s businesses have many lucrative federal contracts.
The president’s latest comments suggest Musk is moving from close ally to a potential new target for Trump, who has aggressively wielded the powers of his office to crack down on critics and punish perceived enemies. As a major government contractor, Musk’s businesses could be particularly vulnerable to retribution. Trump has already threatened to cut Musk’s contracts, calling it an easy way to save money.
The dramatic rupture between the president and the world’s richest man began this week with Musk’s public criticism of Trump’s “big beautiful bill” pending on Capitol Hill. Musk has warned that the bill will increase the federal deficit and called it a “disgusting abomination.”
Trump criticized Musk in the Oval Office, and before long, he and Musk began trading bitterly personal attacks on social media, sending the White House and GOP congressional leaders scrambling to assess the fallout.
As the back-and-forth intensified, Musk suggested Trump should be impeached and claimed without evidence that the government was concealing information about the president’s association with infamous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Musk appeared by Saturday morning to have deleted his posts about Epstein.
Vice President JD Vance in an interview tried to downplay the feud. He said Musk was making a “huge mistake” going after Trump, but called him an “emotional guy” getting frustrated.
“I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear,” Vance said.
Vance called Musk an “incredible entrepreneur,” and said that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which sought to cut government spending and laid off or pushed out thousands of workers, was “really good.”
Vance made the comments in an interview with ” manosphere” comedian Theo Von, who last month joked about snorting drugs off a mixed-race baby and the sexuality of men in the US Navy when he opened for Trump at a military base in Qatar.
The Vance interview was taped Thursday as Musk’s posts were unfurling on X, the social media network the billionaire owns.
During the interview, Von showed the vice president Musk’s claim that Trump’s administration hasn’t released all the records related to Epstein because Trump is mentioned in them.
Vance responded to that, saying, “Absolutely not. Donald Trump didn’t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein.”
“This stuff is just not helpful,” Vance said in response to another post shared by Musk calling for Trump to be impeached and replaced with Vance.
“It’s totally insane. The president is doing a good job.”
Vance also defended the bill that has drawn Musk’s ire, and said its central goal was not to cut spending but to extend the 2017 tax cuts approved in Trump’s first term.
The bill would slash spending and taxes but also leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance and spike deficits by $2.4 trillion over the decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
“It’s a good bill,” Vance said. “It’s not a perfect bill.”
The interview was taped in Nashville at a restaurant owned by musician Kid Rock, a Trump ally.
Thousands of demonstrators march through Rome to call for an immediate end to the war in Gaza
- Protesters held a banner reading “Stop the massacre, stop complicity!” at the start of the march
- Up to 300,000 people participated in the rally organized by the leftist opposition to ask the government for a clear position on the conflict in Gaza
ROME: Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of Rome on Saturday against the war in Gaza in a protest called by Italy’s main opposition parties, who accuse the right-wing government of being too silent.
Protesters held a banner reading “Stop the massacre, stop complicity!” at the start of the march, which moved peacefully through the center of Rome amid a massive display of rainbow, Palestinian and political party flags.
The protest attracted a diverse crowd from across the country, including many families with children. According to organizers, up to 300,000 people participated in the rally organized by the leftist opposition to ask the government for a clear position on the conflict in Gaza.
“This is an enormous popular response to say enough to the massacre of Palestinians and the crimes of (Israeli leader Benjamin) Netanyahu’s government,” the leader of Italy’s center-left Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, told reporters at the march.
“There is another Italy that doesn’t remain silent as the Meloni government does,” she said, referring to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Meloni was recently pushed by the opposition to publicly condemn Netanyahu’s offensive in Gaza, but many observers considered her criticism too timid.
”(The Italian government) is not reacting despite an abnormal massacre, despite an absolutely cruel and inappropriate reaction. The (Italian) government remains silent,” said Nadin Unali, a Tunisian demonstrator at the march.
Earlier this week, the Italian premier urged Israel to immediately halt its military campaign in Gaza, saying its attacks had grown disproportionately and should be brought to an end to protect civilians.
Israel faces mounting international criticism for its offensive and pressure to let aid into Gaza during a humanitarian crisis.
Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly three months, with experts warning that many of its 2 million residents are at high risk of famine.
The war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 hostages. They are still holding 56 hostages, around a third of them believed to be alive.
Since then, Israel has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians in its military campaign, primarily women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures.
