Russia says it is monitoring reported positioning of U.S. nuclear weapons in U.K.
Russia said on Tuesday that it detected a rise in international tensions and was monitoring developments after Britain's Times and Telegraph newspapers reported that the United States had stationed nuclear weapons in Britain for the first time since 2008.
Asked about the reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: 'We see a line towards escalation of tensions, towards militarisation, including nuclear militarisation.'
He added: 'Our relevant departments are monitoring developments in this area and formulating tasks to ensure our security against the backdrop of what is happening.'
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Kevin Liffey)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Russian drones used in Ukraine powered by Chinese engines shipped as ‘cooling units'
Chinese-made engines are being covertly shipped via front companies to a state-owned drone manufacturer in Russia, labelled as 'industrial refrigeration units' to avoid detection in the wake of Western sanctions, according to three European security officials and documents reviewed by Reuters. The shipments have allowed Russian weapons-maker IEMZ Kupol to increase its production of the Garpiya-A1 attack drone, despite the U.S. and E.U. sanctions imposed in October designed to disrupt its supply chain, according to the sources and documents, which included contracts, invoices and customs paperwork. An internal Kupol document, reviewed by Reuters, showed it signed a contract with the Russian defence ministry to produce more than 6,000 Garpiya this year, up from 2,000 in 2024. The document stated that more than 1,500 drones had already been delivered by April. The long-range drone is being deployed to attack civilian and military targets deep within Ukrainian territory, with around 500 being used by Russia per month, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency said in a statement to Reuters. The European security officials asked that neither they nor their organization be identified due to the sensitivity of the information. They also requested some specific details in the documents be withheld, such as their dates and the cost of contracts. Russia fires more than 700 drones at Ukraine, the most so far in the war In September, Reuters reported that Kupol was producing the Garpiya using Chinese technology, including L550E engines made by Xiamen Limbach Aviation Engine Co. A month after the Reuters' report, the European Union and the U.S. sanctioned several companies involved in producing the drones, including Xiamen. In the wake of the sanctions, a new Chinese firm called Beijing Xichao International Technology and Trade has started supplying the L550E engines to Kupol, according to invoices, a Kupol internal letter and transportation documents reviewed by Reuters. The increase in production of Garpiya as well as the new intermediaries supplying parts for the drones are reported by Reuters for the first time. The news agency could not determine how Xichao obtained the engines from the maker Xiamen Limbach. Xiamen Limbach did not respond to a request for comment and Reuters was unable to reach Xichao. IEMZ Kupol, Russia's trade and industry ministry and the defence ministry also did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement to Reuters, China's foreign ministry said it was unaware of the export of parts for the Garpiya and it has controlled foreign sales of dual-use goods in line with China's own laws and international obligations. 'China has always opposed unilateral sanctions that lack basis in international law and are not authorized by the UN Security Council,' the statement said. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Both the U.S. and E.U. have repeatedly imposed sanctions on companies in third-party countries, including China, alleged to have provided dual-use technology to Russia. Kupol has been sanctioned since December 2022 by the EU and December 2023 by the U.S. for its involvement in Russia's defence sector. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is due to travel to China for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang on Thursday, amid tensions over Beijing's support for Russia's war effort. The European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on July 2 that Chinese firms' support for Russia in the war posed a threat to European security and she urged China to cease trade that sustains Russia's military machine, the EU said in a statement. Meia Nouwens, senior fellow for Chinese security and defence policy at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, said China's prime concern was to help sustain Russia's war effort to ensure the United States remained focused on Ukraine. 'This does not help China and Europe come closer together, diplomatically,' she said. Xi Jinping heads to Russia in show of China's support for Putin as Ukraine peace talks stall China says it imposes strict controls on the export of drones and their parts and has never provided either side of the war in Ukraine with lethal weapons. A person familiar with Beijing's thinking on the issue said that China produces around 75 per cent of world's drones, with the majority not for military purposes; if Russia was using them as weapons, then the same was also true of Ukraine, the person added. Ahead of Thursday's summit, one European official said the EU was not asking China to cut economic ties with Russia but to strengthen customs and financial controls to reduce the flow of specific dual-use goods. The Garpiya, which means harpy in Russian, is based on the Iranian-made Shahed drones but relies on Chinese technology, the three European sources said. The Ukrainian military intelligence agency said the Chinese-made components in the drone included the engine, control systems, and navigation equipment. The engines were shipped by Xichao to a Russian front company identified as SMP-138, which then forwarded them to a second Russian firm LIBSS, according to another internal Kupol document, seen by Reuters. Abram Goldman, registered as the owner of SMP-138, did not respond to an emailed request for comment. LIBSS also did not respond to Reuters' questions. A contract for LIBSS to supply Kupol with the engines, reviewed by Reuters, stated they would be described as cooling units in shipping documents because of their sensitivity. The delivery route was from Beijing to Moscow then to Izhevsk, where Kupol has manufacturing facilities. Describing them as cooling units allowed the goods to be exported to Russia without alerting Chinese authorities, the three security officials said. Transportation documents reviewed by Reuters showed that Sichuan Airlines and China Southern Airlines, China's largest carrier, had transported components for the drones to sanctioned Russian companies since October. China Southern did not respond to Reuters' questions and Sichuan could not be reached for comment.
National Post
4 hours ago
- National Post
Adventures in Streaming: When the president becomes an action figure
In 1997, Harrison Ford uttered that line to Russian terrorist Gary Oldman in the Wolfgang Peterson movie Air Force One (streaming on Paramount+). It didn't seem a culturally pivotal moment at the time, but it apparently opened some sort of pipeline wherein U.S. presidents would become action heroes in films as diverse as Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter and Olympus Has Fallen. Article content Article content Prime Video is currently streaming two different variations of the formula (which, let's face it, was created in a Hollywood lab utilizing Die Hard as the agar in the petri dish). Article content Heads of State stars John Cena as Will Derringer, a newly elected American president, leaping into the White House after a career as a movie action hero. (One can only feel nostalgia toward the 2006 satire Idiocracy which portrayed that notion as ridiculously far-fetched.) Article content His feel-good presidency goes wrong when a vengeful Russian terrorist (Paddy Considine), launches an assault on an Air Force One mission to Europe for a NATO conference, with the British Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Idris Elba), caught up in the crossfire. Clarke is ex-military and, once the two leaders parachute to safety, he is given to mocking Derringer's pretend fighting experience. If their spark-striking conflict seems familiar, Cena and Elba shared an even more deadly enmity in The Suicide Squad. Article content The film is helmed by Ilya Naishuller, the Russian director who made Hardcore Henry and the Bob Odenkirk actionfest Nobody. Naishuller is skilled at live-action cartoons, but when the stakes are raised, that makes for some tonal needle scratches as we go from mass murder on Air Force One to Cena being smacked in the face with sheep udders as he and Elba are smuggled out of Belarus on a livestock truck. Waiting in the wings to confuse things even further is Priyanka Chopra Jonas, in John Wick mode, playing Noelle, Sam's love interest and saviour. Article content With its relentless action beats, and it's road-movie squabbling, it's mostly silly, disposable stuff. But you have to admit, it's certainly an interesting time for a Russian filmmaker to make an American action movie with a Russian villain in cahoots with a would-be American demagogue plotting to destroy the NATO alliance. Article content G20 stars another Suicide Squad vet Viola Davis as American president Danielle Sutton, obliged to kick butt when the titular conference, taking place in South Africa, is hijacked by security forces led by a crazed Australian mercenary played by Anthony Starr, who has honed his villain act on the superhero series The Boys. At least G20 has a consistent tone, attuned to Viola Davis's gravitas. Sure, many people are killed. But at least Danielle and her estranged teenage daughter (Marsai Martin), will get closer in the process.
Toronto Sun
7 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Trump announces more trade deals as deadline looms for higher tariffs on Canada
Published Jul 23, 2025 • 2 minute read President Donald Trump speaks during a reception for Republican members of Congress in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington. Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP Photo WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump announced more trade deals this week as his deadline for Canada and the United States to negotiate a new economic and security agreement draws closer. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Trump boasted about deals with Japan and the Philippines in posts on social media Wednesday morning, and claimed he will only consider lowering tariff rates if countries open their markets to the United States. 'I will always give up Tariff points if I can get major countries to OPEN THEIR MARKETS TO THE USA,' the president posted. 'Another great power of Tariffs. Without them, it would be impossible to get countries to OPEN UP!!! ALWAYS, ZERO TARIFFS TO AMERICA!!!' Many details of the loose frameworks for the agreements with Japan and the Philippines remained unclear after the president's initial announcements Tuesday. Japan will still be hit with 15 per cent tariffs — down from Trump's proposed 25 per cent duties — and the Philippines will be hit with 19 per cent levies — slightly lower than the threatened 20 per cent. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In return, the president said both countries would open their markets to American goods. The president also said Japan would invest $550 billion in the U.S. 'at my direction.' The White House on Tuesday also provided more information on the framework of the deal with Indonesia that Trump announced earlier this month. That agreement will see Indonesia hit with a 19 per cent tariff, down from Trump's proposed 32 per cent levy. Trump previously announced frameworks for deals with the United Kingdom and Vietnam. This week's flurry of announcements come at an important time for Trump — just over a week before his latest tariff deadline and as pressure mounts on many of America's largest trading partners. Trump has sent letters to multiple nations, including Canada, saying that if no deal is made by Aug. 1, he will impose high tariffs on imports to the United States. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Trump's letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney threatened Canada with 35 per cent tariffs but the White House has said the levies will not be applied to imports compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade. On Tuesday, Carney confirmed Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc is in Washington this week but downplayed expectations of a deal by Trump's deadline. 'They're complex negotiations and we'll use all the time that's necessary,' Carney told reporters after meeting with premiers at the Council of the Federation gathering in Huntsville, Ont. Carney said the government will agree to a deal 'if there's one on the table that is in the best interests of Canadians.' Countries around the world are watching for details of the deals. It remains unclear whether striking an agreement with the U.S. now would mean a reprieve from Trump's separate import taxes on steel, aluminum and automobiles, which operate outside his global tariff regime. Duties on copper are also set to be introduced on Aug. 1. Trump has launched multiple trade investigations under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 into other key sectors — investigations that may lead to tariffs on things like semiconductors and lumber at some point in the future. — With files from The Associated Press Read More Canada Golf Toronto & GTA Ontario Sunshine Girls
