World News

TOKYO (AP) — Japan describes four islands whose ownership it disputes with Moscow as “illegally occupied by Russia” in the latest version of a diplomatic report released Friday, using stronger language to describe the territorial flap than other recent versions and underscoring the chilled relations between the two sides amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The description in the 2022 Diplomatic Bluebook, an annual report on Japan’s foreign policy issued by the Foreign Ministry, uses that phrasing for the first time in nearly two decades. Japan, which is struggling to improve ties with Moscow to regain control of the Kurils, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, had previously described the dispute in a softer tone.

“The Northern Territories are a group of islands Japan has sovereignty over and an integral part of Japan’s territory, but currently they are illegally occupied by Russia,” the ministry said in the report.

The dispute over the Russian-held islands, which the former Soviet Union seized from Japan at the end of World War II, has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their war hostilities.

The report last used a similar expression in 2003 but had toned down its phrasing until last year, when it described the dispute as “the greatest concern between Japan and Russia” and noted that “Japan has sovereignty” over the islands.

In another territorial dispute, the ministry said the island that Japan calls Takeshima is “illegally occupied” by Seoul, which calls it Dokdo.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry protested Japan’s “repeated inclusion of unjust sovereignty claims over Dokdo,” calling the island an integral part of South Korean territory. It said Tokyo’s repeated claims are in “no way conducive to efforts to establish a future-oriented relationship between the two sides. Japan-South Korea ties have been also badly strained by historical issues.

Japan has joined other Group of Seven countries in imposing a series of sanctions against Russia. Tokyo is taking a greater role in the international effort against Russia because of its concerns about the impact of the invasion in East Asia, where China’s military has grown increasingly assertive.

Japan has already faced reprisals from Russia, which recently announced the suspension of talks on a peace treaty with Tokyo that included negotiations over the disputed islands.

Japan also seeks to bolster its defense capability and budget as part of a key revision to Japan’s national security strategy expected later this year.

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AP writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea contributed to this report.

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PARIS (Reuters) – President Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen squared off in a debate on Wednesday evening, four days ahead of the April 24 presidential runoff vote. [L2N2WI0UR]

Here are some key quotes from Macron and Le Pen as they launched their final bid to convince undecided French voters.

ISLAM AND FRENCH SECULARISM

Le Pen:

“I want to ban the veil in the public space. I think the veil is a uniform imposed by Islamists and I think that the majority of young women who wear it cannot do otherwise.”

Macron:

“You will create a civil war in the suburbs, Madame Le Pen.”

“How many police officers will have to run behind women to enforce the veil ban?”

SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION

Le Pen:

“Everywhere I go, including in the deepest countryside, I have people telling me ‘we can’t take it anymore’.”

“We need to solve the problem of massive and anarchic immigration.”

France needs a referendum on immigration “so that the French choose who comes, who stays and who leaves.”

Macron:

“You live solely off fear, Madame Le Pen, and resentment.”

“A referendum would change nothing, it depends on the cooperation of other countries.”

CLIMATE AND ENERGY POLICY

Macron:

“There is no way out of fossil fuels that relies solely on nuclear. Your strategy is not workable.”

“Even though we have energy needs today, you are not telling me how we will cope with moving beyond fossil fuels, how we will reduce our dependence on Russian gas.”

Le Pen”

“I am in no way a climate sceptic. But you, you are something of a climate hypocrite.”

“Free trade kills the planet.”

“You have completely changed your tune on nuclear power… We have wasted 10 years destabilising a nuclear industry that needed to be strengthened to make this carbon-free energy source once again the basis for our energy mix.”

PENSION REFORM:

Macron:

“I don’t want to increase our taxes, I don’t want to increase our debt, I even want to start paying it off over the next five years. So I want us to work more, a pillar of which would be to push back the legal retirement age by four months a year until we reach 65 in 2031.”

Le Pen:

“All those who had their first proper job before the age of 20 will be able to retire at 60.”

In response to Macron’s proposal: “You foresee that no one will be able to enjoy a full retirement.”

EUROPE

Macron:

“Five years ago, your programme was only applicable if France left the euro (currency). Today, you still want to get out of it but you don’t say so anymore.”

“I believe in the Franco-German couple.”

“We have made (COVID-19) vaccines that protect us thanks to our European agreements.”

Le Pen:

“France is a world power not just a European power.”

“I want the European Commission to respect sovereign nations, to respect the choice of the French people, including their choice of society.”

“So I want to change this European organisation. But I don’t want to leave it.”

RUSSIA

Le Pen on energy sanctions:

“The only sanctions I disagree with is the blocking of Russian oil and gas imports. Why do I disagree? Because in reality it will do no harm to Russia and will do enormous harm to our people.”

“We cannot commit hara-kiri in the hope of hurting Russia.”

Macron on Le Pen’s Russia ties:

“You are dependent on power, you are dependent on (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. You took a loan from a Russian bank.”

“You don’t speak to other leaders, you speak to your banker when you speak to Russia, that’s the problem.”

COST OF LIVING

Le Pen:

“I’ve seen the people suffer, I’ve seen them worry, worry about a downgrading in their quality of life, about a kind of precariousness that they feels is widespread.

“All you do is hand out cheques … my priority is to give French people their money back.”

Macron:

“I don’t want people listening to us to think their salaries will rise by 10%”

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel and Layli Foroudi; Editing by Richard Lough)

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LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is trying to set aside his political troubles and focus on economic ties and the war in Ukraine during a long-delayed official trip to India.

Johnson is due to visit the western state of Gujarat and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on the two-day trip that starts Thursday.

He hopes to strike new economic deals between Britain and its huge former colony, and to coax India away from Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Modi has called the situation in Ukraine “very worrying” and has appealed to both sides for peace. But India has stood back from international efforts to criticize President Vladimir Putin, abstaining when the U.N. General Assembly voted this month to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council.

Modi has so far responded coolly to pressure from U.S. President Joe Biden and others to curb imports of Russian oil and gas.

India receives little of its oil from Russia, but has ramped up its purchases and bought 3 million barrels of crude last month, just as other democracies tried to isolate Putin with economic sanctions. India is also a major customer for Russian weapons, and recently bought advanced Russian air defense systems.

Johnson’s spokesman, Max Blain, said Britain would “work with other countries to provide alternative options for defense procurement and energy for India to diversify its supply chains away from Russia.”

But he stressed that the U.K. wouldn’t “lecture other democratically elected governments on what course of action was best for them.”

Johnson’s office said the two countries will announce new deals on defense, green energy, jobs and science partnerships during the prime minister’s trip.

Britain is seeking to tighten ties with Asian nations as part of an “Indo-Pacific tilt” to its foreign policy following its departure from the European Union in 2020. Johnson hopes to nudge forward negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal between Britain and India, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

Talks started in January, but the prime minister’s spokesman played down chances of a quick deal, saying “we don’t want to sacrifice quality for speed.”

The trip may also provide the British prime minister with a brief respite from a scandal over lockdown-breaching government parties during the coronavirus pandemic.

Johnson was fined by police last week for attending his own surprise birthday party in 10 Downing St. in June 2020, when people in Britain were barred from meeting with friends and family outside the home. It is one of a dozen gatherings in government buildings being investigating by police for possible lockdown breaches in a scandal that has become known as “partygate.”

On Tuesday Johnson offered lawmakers in Parliament what he said was a ”wholehearted” apology, but insisted he didn’t knowingly break rules, and brushed off calls to resign.

The trip means Johnson will miss an opposition-triggered vote in the House of Commons Thursday on whether he should be investigated for allegedly misleading Parliament when he denied violating any pandemic restrictions.

Johnson originally planned to visit India in January 2021, but the trip was canceled because of surging coronavirus cases in Britain. A second date in April 2022 was called off as a new coronavirus variant hit India.

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By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol had a rare meeting on Tuesday with the visiting U.S. envoy on North Korea, a source familiar with the event said on Wednesday, as both sides seek to coordinate North Korea policy under Seoul’s new government.

U.S. Special Representative Sung Kim arrived in Seoul on Monday for a five-day stay that included talks with his incumbent counterpart and officials on Yoon’s transition team.

Yoon’s spokeswoman had initially said no formal meeting was scheduled between Yoon and Kim. But they attended a “private, casual wine dinner” on Monday – their first encounter since Yoon won last month’s election – arranged by deputy parliament speaker Chung Jin-suk, who is an old friend of Kim’s, a source familiar with the gathering told Reuters.

Yonhap news agency first reported the meeting. Yoon’s transition team issued a statement that the dinner was privately organised by Chung and not meant a diplomatic event.

“I understand it was a friendly get-together, not intended to discuss serious policy issues such as the North’s nuclear programme,” the source said on condition of anonymity, citing diplomatic sensitivity.

Kim’s visit came after North Korea restarted tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles, breaking a self-imposed 2017 moratorium, and has shown signs that it may be preparing to resume nuclear testing.

South Korean and U.S. troops began their annual joint military exercises this week, which Pyongyang denounced as rehearsals for war.

Yoon’s foreign minister nominee, Park Jin, separately met Kim on Wednesday, during which Park had said they would explore ways to step up cooperation over the North’s missile launches and potential nuclear tests.

Kim said after talks with Seoul officials on Monday that the allies would maintain the “strongest possible joint deterrent” and respond “responsibly and decisively” to North Korea’s “provocative behaviour.”

Kim has repeatedly offered to meet without any preconditions, but Pyongyang has so far brushed off those overtures, accusing Washington of maintaining hostile policy including sanctions and military drills.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

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ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he told his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog on Tuesday that he had been “very upset” by Palestinians injured or killed in the West Bank and Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

In a tweet, Erdogan said the two had discussed the recent events caused by “some radical Israeli groups and security forces” in a phone call that comes amid efforts to normalise ties between the two countries.

(Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Catherine Evans)

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(Reuters) – Russian forces have launched their long-anticipated offensive in eastern Ukraine, attempting to push through defences along almost the entire front line in what Ukrainian officials described as the second phase of the war.

FIGHTING

* Zelenskiy said Russia had begun the “Battle of Donbas” in the east and a “very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive”.

* Ukrainian media reported a explosions along the front line with shelling in Marinka, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. Air raid sirens were also going off in main centres near the front.

* The United States military expects to start training Ukrainians on using howitzer artillery in coming days, a senior U.S. defence official said.

* At least 1,000 civilians are hiding in shelters beneath the vast Azovstal steel plant in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, the city council said, adding that Russia was dropping heavy bombs on the Ukranian-held factory.

DIPLOMACY

* U.S. President Joe Biden would hold a call with allies on Tuesday to discuss the crisis, including on how to coordinate on holding Russia accountable, the White House said.

* French President Emmanuel Macron said that his dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin stalled after mass killings were discovered in Ukraine.

* Zelenskiy formally submitted a completed questionnaire on European Union membership and said he believed it would lead to his country gaining candidate status within weeks.

* Humanitarian ceasefires between Ukrainian and Russian forces are not on the horizon but may be possible in a couple of weeks, U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said.

ECONOMY

* Russia’s invasion has damaged or destroyed up to 30% of Ukraine’s infrastructure at a cost of $100 billion, a Ukrainian minister said, adding reconstruction could be achieved in two years using frozen Russian assets to help finance it.

* Russia flagged a likely further cut in interest rates and more budget spending to help the economy adapt to biting western sanctions as it heads for its deepest contraction since 1994.

QUOTES

“This is what hell looks like on earth … It’s time (for) help not just by prayers. Save our lives from satanic hands,” Major Serhiy Volyna, commander of Ukraine’s 36th marine brigade which is fighting in Mariupol, wrote in a letter to Pope Francis.

(Compiled by Robert Birsel, Alexandra Hudson, Keith Weir, Cynthia Osterman and Himani Sarkar)

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By Maria Starkova and Pavel Polityuk

LVIV/KYIV (Reuters) -Russian forces have launched their long-anticipated offensive in eastern Ukraine, attempting to push through defences along almost the entire front line early on Monday in what Ukrainian officials described as the second phase of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had begun the “Battle of Donbas” in the east on Monday and a “very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive”.

“No matter how many Russian troops they send there, we will fight. We will defend ourselves,” he said in a video address.

Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, assured Ukrainians their forces could hold off the offensive in “the second phase of the war”.

“Believe in our army, it is very strong,” he said.

Ukrainian media reported a series of explosions, some powerful, along the front line in the Donetsk region, with shelling taking place in Marinka, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.

Ukrainian officials and media also said explosions were heard in Kharkiv in the northeast of Ukraine, Mykolaiv in the south and Zaporizhzhia in the southeast.

Air raid sirens were also going off in main centres near the front line.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the reports.

Ukraine’s top security official, Oleksiy Danilov, said Russian forces attempted to break through Ukrainian defences “along almost the entire front line of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions”.

Driven back by Ukrainian forces in the north, Russia has refocused its ground offensive in the two eastern provinces known as the Donbas, while launching long-distance strikes at other targets including the capital, Kyiv.

Donbas has been the focal point of Russia’s campaign to destabilise Ukraine, starting in 2014 when the Kremlin used proxies to set up two separatist “people’s republics” in the ex-Soviet state. It is also home to much of Ukraine’s industrial wealth, including coal and steel.

Russia’s defence ministry said it had hit hundreds of military targets in Ukraine overnight.

BIDEN TO HOST CALL WITH ALLIES

Western countries and Ukraine accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of unprovoked aggression, and the White House said U.S. President Joe Biden would hold a call with allies on Tuesday to discuss the crisis, including on how to coordinate on holding Russia accountable.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his dialogue with Putin had stalled after mass killings were discovered in Ukraine.

The United Nations said on Monday the war’s civilian death toll had surpassed 2,000, reaching 2,072 as of midnight on April 17 from the beginning of the invasion on Feb. 24.

About 4 million Ukrainians have fled the country.

Russia denies targeting civilians in what it calls a special operation to demilitarise Ukraine and eradicate dangerous nationalists. It rejects what Ukraine says is evidence of atrocities, saying Ukraine has staged them to undermine peace talks.

‘HELL ON EARTH’

Russia has been trying to take full control of the southeastern port city of Mariupol, which has been besieged for weeks and which would be a big strategic prize, linking territory held by pro-Russian separatists in the east with the Crimea region that Moscow annexed in 2014 and freeing up the besieging troops.

Video footage showed block after residential block in charred ruins. Shell-shocked residents in the Primorskyi district cooked on open fires outside their damaged homes.

“To be honest, we are not well,” one resident named Olga told Reuters. “I have mental problems after air strikes, that’s for sure. I’m really scared. When I hear a plane I just run.”

The city council said at least 1,000 civilians were still hiding in underground shelters beneath the vast Azovstal steel plant, which contain myriad buildings, blast furnaces and rail tracks.

Major Serhiy Volyna, commander of Ukraine’s 36th marine brigade which is still fighting in Mariupol, appealed for help in a letter to Pope Francis.

“This is what hell looks like on earth … It’s time (for) help not just by prayers. Save our lives from satanic hands,” he said in the letter, according to excerpts that Ukraine’s Vatican ambassador posted on Twitter.

(Reporting by Reuters journalists in Kyiv and Lviv; Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne, Ronald Popeski in Winnipeg and Reuters bureaus worldwide; Writing by Lincoln Feast, Robert Birsel; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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By Maria Starkova and Pavel Polityuk

LVIV/KYIV (Reuters) -Russian forces have launched their anticipated offensive in eastern Ukraine, attempting to push through defences along almost the entire front line early on Tuesday in what Ukrainian officials described as the second phase of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had begun the “Battle of Donbas” in the east and a “very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive”.

“No matter how many Russian troops they send there, we will fight. We will defend ourselves,” he said in a video address on Monday.

Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, assured Ukrainians their forces could hold off the offensive in “the second phase of the war”.

“Believe in our army, it is very strong,” he said.

There was no immediate comment from Russia’s defence ministry on the latest fighting. The governor of the Russian province of Belgorod said Ukrainian forces had struck a border village wounding one resident.

Ukrainian media reported a series of explosions, some powerful, along the front line in the Donetsk region, with shelling taking place in Marinka, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.

Blasts were also heard in Kharkiv in the northeast, Mykolaiv in the south and Zaporizhzhia in the southeast while air raid sirens were also going off in main centres near the front line, officials and media said.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the reports.

Ukraine’s top security official, Oleksiy Danilov, said Russian forces attempted to break through Ukrainian defences “along almost the entire front line of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions”.

Driven back by Ukrainian forces in the north, Russia has refocused its ground offensive in the two eastern provinces known as the Donbas, while launching long-distance strikes at other targets including the capital, Kyiv.

Donbas has been the focal point of Russia’s campaign to destabilise Ukraine, starting in 2014 when the Kremlin used proxies to set up two separatist “people’s republics” in the ex-Soviet state. It is also home to much of Ukraine’s industrial wealth, including coal and steel.

Ukraine’s general staff said Russian forces aimed to establish full control over the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson regions, while intensifying missile strikes in west Ukraine.

BIDEN TO HOST CALL WITH ALLIES

Western countries and Ukraine accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of unprovoked aggression, and the White House said U.S. President Joe Biden would hold a call with allies on Tuesday to discuss the crisis, including on how to coordinate on holding Russia accountable.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his dialogue with Putin had stalled after mass killings were discovered in Ukraine.

The United Nations said on Monday the war’s civilian death toll had surpassed 2,000, reaching 2,072 as of midnight on April 17 from the beginning of the invasion on Feb. 24.

About 4 million Ukrainians have fled the country.

Russia denies targeting civilians in what it calls a special operation to demilitarise Ukraine and eradicate dangerous nationalists. It rejects what Ukraine says is evidence of atrocities, saying Ukraine has staged them to undermine peace talks.

‘HELL ON EARTH’

Russia has been trying to take full control of the southeastern port city of Mariupol, which has been besieged for weeks and which would be a big strategic prize, linking territory held by pro-Russian separatists in the east with the Crimea region that Moscow annexed in 2014 and freeing up the besieging troops.

Video footage showed block after residential block in charred ruins. Shell-shocked residents in the Primorskyi district cooked on open fires outside their damaged homes.

“To be honest, we are not well,” one resident named Olga told Reuters. “I have mental problems after air strikes, that’s for sure. I’m really scared. When I hear a plane I just run.”

The city council said at least 1,000 civilians were still hiding in shelters beneath the vast Azovstal steel plant, which contain myriad buildings, blast furnaces and rail tracks.

Major Serhiy Volyna, commander of Ukraine’s 36th marine brigade which is still fighting in Mariupol, appealed for help in a letter to Pope Francis.

“This is what hell looks like on earth … It’s time (for) help not just by prayers. Save our lives from satanic hands,” he said in the letter, according to excerpts that Ukraine’s Vatican ambassador posted on Twitter.

(Reporting by Reuters journalists in Kyiv and Lviv; Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne, Ronald Popeski in Winnipeg and Reuters bureaus worldwide; Writing by Lincoln Feast, Robert Birsel; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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