When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
In The News

Putin Issues “Last Ukrainian Man Standing” Warning

Photo of Russian President Vladimir ​Putin speaking with the Russian State Duma in Moscow on July 7

Putin speaking with the Russian State Duma in Moscow on July 7

Anne Sophie Goninet, Bertrand Hauger, Cameron Manley, Lisa Berdet, McKenna Johnson, and Emma Albright

Vladimir Putin has threatened the West and Ukraine time and time again since the start of the war, whether through nuclear intimidation or warnings about Finland and Sweden joining NATO. But the Russian president’s latest comments are his strongest yet.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

Sign up to our free daily newsletter.

On Thursday, during a meeting with the heads of the State Duma party factions that was aired on state media television Russia-24, he warned of a long war, saying it will drag on until the “last Ukrainian is left standing.”


“Today we hear that they want to defeat us on the battlefield. Let them try,” Putin added, before concluding with the ominous statement that “everyone should know that we haven’t started anything serious yet.”

The Russian president has also been known to be hard to communicate with, often refusing dialogue with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In his recent speech, he issued a warning about peace talks, saying that “at the same time, we do not refuse peace talks either, but those who refuse should know that the further it goes, the more difficult it will be for them to come to an agreement with us."

Putin also blamed the West for “encouraging and justifying genocide against people in Donbas.” The eastern Donbas region has become the key area of Putin’s military ambition in Ukraine after his troops failed to take over the capital Kyiv.

Key Takeaways From A Ukraine-Dominated G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting

Photo of Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shaking hands with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi

Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS


With the two-day summit of G20 foreign ministers currently underway in Bali, Indonesia’s foreign Retno Marsudi is urging her counterparts to find ways to end the war in Ukraine. Here’s the latest on the summit:

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed his Russian counterpart, demanding that Moscow allow grain shipments out of Ukraine.

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was absent when his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, spoke online Friday to the G20 diplomatic chiefs meeting.

• Lavrov also said on Friday that he “will not run” after Washington for talks with Antony Blinken, as he refused to meet with him on the sidelines of a G20 meeting. "It is not us who have abandoned contacts, it is the United States," Lavrov told reporters.

• Russia’s foreign minister has been strongly critical of the approach of Western countries to the G20 meeting in Indonesia, accusing them of derailing talks on the global economy and instead concentrating on calling Russia “aggressors”, “invaders” and “occupiers.”

•Russia-China relations seem to be getting stronger as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Russian counterpart in Bali on Thursday ahead of the G20 ministerial meeting.

• Prior to the G20 officially starting, China’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying Beijing and Moscow "have eliminated interference, maintained normal exchanges." It said cooperation between the two sides has “demonstrated strong resilience and strategic determination."

• As they also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine, Wang said China will keep a fair position in order to focus on promoting peace and talks as well as support all efforts that are underway to a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Ukrainian Troops Fight Back, More Shelling In Kharkiv

Photo of a fireman near rubble after Russian shelling hit Mykolaiv

Russian shelling in the city of Mykolaiv

Cover Images/ZUMA


Ukrainian forces continue to target Russian military supplies and warehouses in the southern region of Kherson, according to regional officials. The pro-Russian authorities, which are now in control of Kherson, say that Ukrainian saboteurs have been detained. In recent days, Ukraine has increased attacks in both Donetsk and Kherson against Russian supply lines and storage spaces, trying to target Russian operations.

Meanwhile, more than 40 towns and villages in the Donbas region have received attacks in the last 24 hours, reported the Ukrainian military. They also acknowledged a “partial success” of a Russian attempt to advance on the fronts. The General Staff said the Russians were using artillery, mortars, multiple launch rocket systems and air strikes as they tried to eliminate Ukrainian defenses.

At least three people were killed and five others injured in a shelling of Kharkiv’s districts in northeastern Ukraine, according to a National Police official. A missile struck the center of Kramatorsk in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region on Thursday, according to a regional official. A Russian aircraft attacked Snake Island on Thursday, according to both the Russian Defense Ministry and the Ukrainian armed forces, shortly after Ukrainian troops raised the national flag there.

NASA Condemns Use Of The ISS As A Tool For Russian Propaganda

U.S. daily The Washington Post reports that NASA issued a rare statement in which it condemns the Russian space agency’s “use of the International Space Station (ISS) for political purposes, to support ‘Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.’”

This comes after Russian cosmonauts held the Luhansk flag in the ISS, celebrating Russia’s win in the eastern Ukrainian region. According to the Russian news agency TASS, the U.S. space agency believes that Russians are using the ISS as a tool for its war propaganda and that this “fundamentally contradicts the main purpose of the station, which is to promote science and develop technologies for peaceful purposes with the participation of 15 countries.”

Finland Votes To Strengthen Barriers On Russian Border


Finland’s parliament voted in favor of amending its laws to build stronger barriers along the 1,300-kilometer border the country shares with Russia, as the Nordic nation continues the process of joining NATO. The bill will also enable the closure of the EU’s longest land border with Russia from asylum seekers, in case of exceptional circumstances.

“The war in Ukraine has contributed to the urgency of the issue,” said Anne Ihanus, an adviser in Finland's interior ministry. The border between the two countries is currently only secured by light wooden fences.

Donetsk And Luhansk Militias To Receive Same Benefits As Russian Military

Ukrainian Militia guard Kyiv

Diego Herrera/Contacto/ZUMA


As part of his address to the State Duma, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke in favor of equating the status of militia in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) with that of the Russian military.

If implemented, the move would grant members of the militias in the two separatist regions the same social protection and combat veteran status as Russian soldiers. TASS notes that there are also plans to extend the benefits to border guards serving in the Belgorod, Kursk, Bryansk, Voronezh regions, to thank them for their participation in the “special operation.”

Earlier this week, both Putin and the Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement praising Russian forces and the Luhansk People’s Militia for their role in taking control of the city of Lysychansk and of the Luhansk area.

Zelensky Wants To See Biden In Ukraine

Photo of U.S. president Joe Biden on a call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky

U.S. president Joe Biden on a call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky

Adam Schultz/White House/Planet Pix/Zuma


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would like to see U.S. President Joe Biden in Ukraine, but understands that there are security issues that stand in the way, according to an interview with CNN. Zelensky said that Ukrainians trust and support the U.S., and that a visit from Biden “would help the Ukrainians.”

Zelensky has also said that he considers world leaders who have visited Ukraine to be friends, not just partners, in the face of Russia’s invasion. Because of this, Zelensky believes that Biden visiting Ukraine would send a message to Russia — and the world — that the U.S. believes in Ukrainian victory and is not afraid of Russia.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Geopolitics

Why The World Still Needs U.S. Leadership — With An Assist From China

Twenty years of costly interventions and China's economic ascent have robbed the United States of its global supremacy. It is time for the two biggest powers to work together, to help the world.

Photograph of Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden walking side by side in the Filoli Estate in the U.S. state of California​

Nov. 15, 2023: Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden take a walk after their talks in the Filoli Estate in the U.S. state of California

Xinhua/ZUMA
María Ángela Holguín*

-Analysis-

BOGOTÁ — The United States is facing a complex moment in its history, as it loses its privileged place in the world. Since the Second World War, it has been the world's preeminent power in economic and political terms, helping rebuild Europe after the war and through its growing economy, aiding the development of a significant part of the world.

For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here.

Its model of democracy, long considered exemplary around the world, has gone through a rough patch, thanks to excessive polarization and discord. This has cost it a good deal of its leadership, unity and authority.

How much authority does it have to chide certain countries on democracy, as it does, after such outlandish incidents as the assault on Congress in January 2021? The fights we have seen over electing a new speaker of the House of Representatives or backing the administration's foreign policy are simply incredible.

In Ukraine's case, President Biden failed to win support for the aid package for which he was hoping, even if there is a general understanding that if Russia wins this war, Europe's stability would be at risk. It would mean the victory of a longstanding enemy.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest