NEWSLETTER
Thursday / September 29Sep 29
Friday / April 8
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that the alliance was increasing support for Ukraine and its neighbors "in many different ways."
Foreign ministers of the NATO alliance, as well as Ukraine, Georgia, the European Union, Finland, Sweden, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia concluded a two-day meeting in Brussels.
Speaking to reporters shortly before Stoltenberg, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said: "My agenda for the discussion [today] had only three items: it is weapons, weapons and weapons."
Ukraine's top diplomat said by helping Ukraine defend itself against the Russian invasion, NATO is also investing in its security, "so that President [Vladimir] Putin will have no chance to test Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty."
US cuts off Russia trade ties
The US Congress on Thursday passed a bill to ban imports of oil and gas from Russia. The Senate passed the legislation in a 100-0 vote earlier Thursday. The House then approved it in a 413-9 vote and sent it to President Joe Biden’s desk to sign into law.
The bill bans the importation of oil, gas, coal and other energy products from Russia.
The bill codifies an earlier Biden decree into law, making it far more difficult for a future president to reverse it.
Chinese warning
Beijing warned on Thursday it would take strong measures if US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan and said such a visit would severely impact Sino-American relations.
China considers democratically-ruled Taiwan its territory, making it a constant source of friction between the world's two largest economies, especially given strong US military and political support for the island.
No visit has been confirmed by Pelosi’s office or Taiwan’s government, but some Japanese and Taiwanese media reported that it she would visit Taiwan after she visits Japan this weekend.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters that Beijing firmly opposed all forms of official interactions between the United States and Taiwan, and Washington should cancel the trip.
The consequences of any visit would be borne by the United States, he added, without giving details.
US stocks
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 10 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.04% and 0.07%, respectively.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average bounced back on Thursday after two straight days of losses. The Dow rose 87.06 points, or 0.25%, to 34,583.57 after dropping as much as 300 points earlier in the session. The S&P 500 gained 0.43% to 4,500.21, and the Nasdaq Composite ticked up 0.06% to 13,897.30.
