MOSCOW/KYIV: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday approved plans to recruit 16,000 fighters from the Middle East to take part in the war in Ukraine.
Dozens of men in camouflage uniforms, holding Kalashnikov assault rifles and waving pro-Russian banners, appeared in video footage that Russia’s Defense Ministry said was a gathering of soldiers in Syria ready to join the Ukraine conflict.
“If you see that there are people who want of their own accord — not for money — to come to help … then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone,” Putin told Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu at a security council meeting in Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country was battling an enemy “who collects reservists and conscripts from all over Russia to throw them into the hell of war, who came up with the idea of bringing in mercenaries against our people, thugs from Syria.”
Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said the move was a sign of the Russian army’s weakness. “Where’s the powerful Russian army if they can’t get by without Syrians?” he said. “If they want us also to kill 16,000 Syrians, let them come.”
On the ground in Ukraine, Russian forces bearing down on Kyiv were regrouping northwest of the capital, a Russian airstrike hit a psychiatric hospital near the eastern town of Izyum, and four people died in an attack on an airfield in the city of Lutsk — Russia’s first strike in western Ukraine.
Russia has been pounding Ukraine’s cities while its main attack force north of Kyiv has been stalled on roads since the invasion began on Feb. 24, having failed in what military analysts say was an initial plan for a lightning assault.
Satellite images showed Russian armored vehicle units maneuvering in and through towns close to an airport on Kyiv’s northwest outskirts.
Other elements had repositioned near the settlement of Lubyanka just to the north, with artillery howitzers being towed into firing positions.
“Russia is probably seeking to reset and re-posture its forces for renewed offensive activity in the coming days,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense said. “This will probably include operations against Kyiv.” It said Russian ground forces were still making only limited progress, hampered by logistical issues and Ukrainian resistance.
Zelensky said Ukraine had “already reached a strategic turning point” in the conflict. “It is impossible to say how many days we still have to free Ukrainian land. But we can say we will do it,” he said.
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Russia to recruit 16,000 fighters from Middle East for Ukraine war
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Russia to recruit 16,000 fighters from Middle East for Ukraine war
- Let’s bring them to the combat zone, Putin says
- Ukraine president slams ‘thugs from Syria’
Canada PM Carney says can’t rule out military participation in Iran war
CANBERRA, Australia: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that he couldn’t rule out his country’s military participation in the escalating war in the Middle East.
Carney’s visit to Australia this week has been overshadowed by expanding war in the Middle East, sparked by a massive US-Israeli strike on Iran that killed its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Speaking alongside local counterpart Anthony Albanese in Canberra, Carney was asked whether there was a situation in which Canada would get involved.
“One can never categorically rule out participation,” he said, while stressing the question was a “hypothetical” one.
“We will stand by our allies,” said Carney, adding that “we will always defend Canadians.”
Carney had said the US-Israeli strikes on Iran were “inconsistent with international law.”
However, he supports the efforts to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon — a position that Canada takes “with regret” as it represented “another example of the failure of the international order.”
The Canadian leader reiterated on Thursday his call for a “de-escalation” of the conflict.
Carney’s trip is part of a multi-country tour of the Asia-Pacific aimed at reducing reliance on the United States — a hedge against what he has described as a fading US-led global order.
The Australia leg of the tour is aimed at bringing in investment and deepening ties with a like-minded “middle power” partner.
‘Middle power’ rallying cry
On Thursday morning he issued a rallying cry in Australia’s parliament to “middle powers,” urging them to work together in an increasingly hegemonic world order.
Nations like Australia and Canada faced a stark choice — work together to help write the “new rules” of the global order or have great powers do it for them, he said.
“In this brave new world, middle powers cannot simply build higher walls and retreat behind them. We must work together,” he said.
“Great powers can compel, but compulsion comes with costs, both reputational and financial,” the former central banker added.
“Middle powers like Australia and Canada hold this rare convening power because others know we mean what we say and we will match our values with our actions.”
The Canadian leader also said the two countries would together as “strategic collaborators” to pool their vast combined rare earth mineral resources.
And he detailed renewed cooperation in areas from defense to artificial intelligence.
“We know we must work with others who share our values to build solid capabilities,” he told parliament.
Otherwise, he warned, they risked being “caught between the hyperscalers and the hegemons.”
The Canadian leader has frequently clashed with US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada and slapped swingeing tariffs on the country.
In a speech to political and financial elites at the World Economic Forum in January, Carney warned the US?led global system of governance was enduring “a rupture.”
Carney’s visit to Australia this week has been overshadowed by expanding war in the Middle East, sparked by a massive US-Israeli strike on Iran that killed its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Speaking alongside local counterpart Anthony Albanese in Canberra, Carney was asked whether there was a situation in which Canada would get involved.
“One can never categorically rule out participation,” he said, while stressing the question was a “hypothetical” one.
“We will stand by our allies,” said Carney, adding that “we will always defend Canadians.”
Carney had said the US-Israeli strikes on Iran were “inconsistent with international law.”
However, he supports the efforts to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon — a position that Canada takes “with regret” as it represented “another example of the failure of the international order.”
The Canadian leader reiterated on Thursday his call for a “de-escalation” of the conflict.
Carney’s trip is part of a multi-country tour of the Asia-Pacific aimed at reducing reliance on the United States — a hedge against what he has described as a fading US-led global order.
The Australia leg of the tour is aimed at bringing in investment and deepening ties with a like-minded “middle power” partner.
‘Middle power’ rallying cry
On Thursday morning he issued a rallying cry in Australia’s parliament to “middle powers,” urging them to work together in an increasingly hegemonic world order.
Nations like Australia and Canada faced a stark choice — work together to help write the “new rules” of the global order or have great powers do it for them, he said.
“In this brave new world, middle powers cannot simply build higher walls and retreat behind them. We must work together,” he said.
“Great powers can compel, but compulsion comes with costs, both reputational and financial,” the former central banker added.
“Middle powers like Australia and Canada hold this rare convening power because others know we mean what we say and we will match our values with our actions.”
The Canadian leader also said the two countries would together as “strategic collaborators” to pool their vast combined rare earth mineral resources.
And he detailed renewed cooperation in areas from defense to artificial intelligence.
“We know we must work with others who share our values to build solid capabilities,” he told parliament.
Otherwise, he warned, they risked being “caught between the hyperscalers and the hegemons.”
The Canadian leader has frequently clashed with US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada and slapped swingeing tariffs on the country.
In a speech to political and financial elites at the World Economic Forum in January, Carney warned the US?led global system of governance was enduring “a rupture.”
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