PUTIN PULLS BACK FROM N-TREATY WITH US, DELIVERS N-WARNING

Moscow : President Putin on Tuesday delivered a warning to the West over Ukraine by suspending a landmark nuclear arms control treaty, announcing that new strategic systems had been put on combat duty, and threatening to resume nuclear tests. Nearly a year after ordering an invasion that has triggered the biggest confrontation with the West in six decades, Putin said Russia would achieve its aims and accused the West of trying to destroy it. “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,” he told Russia’s political and military elite.

Alleging that the US was turning the war into a global conflict, Putin said Russia was suspending participation in the New START treaty, its last major arms control treaty with Washington. Signed by then-US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in 2010, the treaty caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the countries can deploy. It is due to expire in 2026. Russia’s foreign ministry said later on Tuesday that Moscow intended to continue abiding by the restrictions outlined in the treaty. US secretary of state Antony Blinken called Putin’s move “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible”. Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said it made the world a more dangerous place, and urged Putin to reconsider.

The Russian leader said, without citing evidence, that some in Washington were considering breaking a moratorium on nuclear testing. “. . . if the US 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. ” It was not clear which systems he meant. Putin said Ukraine had sought to strike a facility deep inside Russia where it keeps nuclear bombers, a reference to the Engels air base.

Putin said the conflict had been forced on Russia, particularly by Nato’s eastward expansion since the Cold War. “The people of Ukraine have become the hostage of the Kyiv regime and its Western overlords, who have effectively occupied this country in the political, military and economic sense,” he said. Speaking for an hour and 45 minutes, Putin vowed that Moscow would achieve its aims in Ukraine and thwart the US-led Nato alliance in the process.

BIDEN GIVEN NO SECURITY GUARANTEES BY RUSSIA DURING HIS VISIT TO KIEV

Russia gave no security guarantees to US President Joe Biden during his visit to Kiev, FSB director Alexander Bortnikov said on Tuesday.

"Indeed, the United States notified Russia about Biden’s visit to Kiev - via diplomatic channels. But we gave no guarantees of his security," he said in an interview with the Shot Telegram channel.

He stressed that Russian and US special services continue to cooperate, especially in what concerns the fight against international terrorism. "This cooperation continues. Naturally, it is not at the level it used to be at so no one benefits from it. All of us are interested in maintaining ties," he noted.

However, in his words, the West is behind the threats from the security services of Ukraine. "This applies also to what happened on the Crimean Bridge," he said. "Bearing in mind these processes, I think that the president has been exceptionally clear about all the issues that are very important for us from the point of view of security."

BIDEN SWEARS BY NATO SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE, SAYS RUSSIA WILL NEVER WIN

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday said Ukraine would “never be a victory for Russia” as he delivered a speech in Poland ahead of the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion.

“A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never be able to ease the people’s love of liberty, brutality will never grind down the will of the free,” he said in Warsaw.

“Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia — never,” Mr. Biden said.

Mr. Biden also responded to an anti-West speech made by Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier Tuesday.

“The West is not plotting to attack Russia as Putin said today,” Mr. Biden said.

“Millions of Russian citizens who only want to live in peace with their neighbours are not the enemy.”

Mr. Biden stressed the West’s continued support for Ukraine.

“There should be no doubt: our support for Ukraine will not waver, NATO will not be divided and we will not tire.”

CHINA DIPLOMAT SAYS RUSSIA TIES ‘ROCK SOLID’; XI MAY VISIT MOSCOW

Moscow : China’s top diplomat told one of President Putin’s closest allies on Tuesday that Beijing’s relationship with Moscow was “rock solid”. China’s “no limits” partnership with Russia has come under scrutiny in the West after the US said it was concerned that Beijing might be considering supplying weapons to Russia a year since the invasion of Ukraine.

At a meeting in Moscow, Wang Yi told Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council, that he looked forward to discussions about security. “ChineseRussian relations are mature in character: they are rock solid and will withstand any test in a changing international situation,” Wang told “Comrade” Patrushev through a Russian interpreter in remarks aired on state television. Wang said Russia and China should work out new joint steps to ensure the security of both countries, without elaborating.

Patrushev, who is close to Putin, told “Comrade” Wang that Beijing was a top priority for Russian foreign policy and that the two countries must stick together against the West. “In the context of a campaign that is being waged by the collective West to contain both Russia and China, the further deepening of Russian-Chinese cooperation in the international arena is of particular importance,” RIA cited Patrushev.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping is preparing to visit Moscow for a summit with Putin in the coming months, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the plan. Preparations for the trip are at an early stage and the timing has not been finalised, the WSJ said, adding that Xi could visit in April or early May, when Russia celebrates its WWII victory.

CHINA PROVINCES GIVE 30 DAYS’ PAID ‘MARRIAGE LEAVE’

Some Chinese provinces are giving young newlyweds 30 days of paid leave in the hope of encouraging marriage and boosting a flagging birth rate, Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily said on Tuesday. China’s minimum paid marriage leave is three days, but provinces have been able to set their own more generous allowances since February. “Gansu and Shanxi provinces now give 30 days, the report said. China’s population fell last year for the first time in 60 years, as per official data. Last year, China recorded its lowest ever birth rate, of 6. 77 births per 1,000 people.

4-DAY WEEK HERE TO STAY, SAY UK COS IN WORLD’S LARGEST TRIAL

London : British firms trialling a four-day working week have mostly decided to stick with it after a six-month pilot in what campaigners for better work-life balance view as abreakthrough. Employees at 61 companies across UK worked an average of 34 hours across four days between June and December 2022, while earning their existing salary.

Of those, 56 companies, or 92%, opted to continue like that, 18 of them permanently.

The trial is the largest in the world to date, according to Autonomy, a British-based research organisation which published the report alongside agroup of academics and with backing from New Zealand-based group 4 Day Week Global. Most firms involved, across different sectors and sizes with 2,900 staff overall, said productivity wasmaintained.

Staff said their well-being and work-life balance had improved while data showed employees were much less likely to quit their jobs as a result of thefour-day week policy. “These results show that the four-day week with no loss of pay really works. ”Joe Ryle, director of 4 Day Week Campaign, said. The founder of a craft breweryinvolved in the trial said the exercise encouraged greater productivity in shortertime.

SOUTH KOREA COURT GRANTS LEGAL STATUS FOR SAME-SEX UNION

The Seoul HC ruled on Tuesday that the state’s health insurer should provide spousal coverage to a same-sex couple. The ruling overturned a lower court decision that a same-sex dependent was ineligible for benefits afforded other common law couples by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS). Ryu Min-hee, a lawyer for the couple said the HC’s decision was the “first recognition of the legal status of a same-sex couple”. The couple, So Sung-wook and Kim Yongmin, said: “It is not only our victory but also a victory for same-sex couples and LGBTQ families in Korea. ” So filed a suit against NHIS in 2021 after being denied spousal benefits, but the HC ruled in favour of NHIS on the grounds that a same-sex union could not be considered a common law marriage under the current law.

HEAT IS ON ACROSS EUROPE

Italy faces drought alert as Venice canals run dry

Milan: Weeks of dry winter weather have raised concerns that Italy could face another drought after last summer's emergency, with the Alps having received less than half of their normal snowfall, according to scientists.

The warning comes as Venice, where flooding is the primary concern, faces unusually low tides that are making it impossible for gondolas, water taxis and ambulances to navigate some of its famous canals. The problems in Venice are being blamed on a combination of factors — the lack of rain, a high pressure system, and sea currents. Italian rivers and lakes are suffering from severe lack of water, the Legambiente environmental group said on Monday.

The Po, Italy’s longest river, has 61% less water than normal at this time of year, it added.

Rain-free France matches record 31-day dry spell

Paris: France has matched its record dry spell of 31 days without significant rainfall, the country’s weather service said on Tuesday, amid concerns over water reserves in parts of Europe still reeling from last year’s severe drought. With rainfall over the entire country of less than one millimetre a day since January 21, weather service Meteo France said the absence of precipitation equals the record set in spring 2020.

Winter is a crucial period for recharging groundwater levels with rainfall. The number of days without rain has “never been seen” in winter before in records going back to 1959, Meteo France said. The measures include banning the use of drinking water to wash the exterior of houses or cars, and reducing the amount of water used for irrigation.