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Macron: Ukraine's future must not be decided without Ukrainians.
Just days before a planned meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron has stressed that Ukraine must be included in any talks on its future.

"The future of Ukraine cannot be decided without the Ukrainians, who have been fighting for their freedom and security for more than three years now," Macron wrote on X.

Because their security is also at stake, Europeans must also be part of a solution, he said.

Macron had previously spoken on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, he wrote.

After his call with Macron, Zelensky wrote on X: "Ukraine, France, and all our partners are ready to work as productively as possible for the sake of real peace."

Trump is set to meet Putin in Alaska on Friday. According to the Wall Street Journal, Putin is seeking full Russian control over the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk — demands Zelensky firmly rejects.
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Germany's Merz to consult with Trump and Zelensky on Ukraine.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz plans to consult on Wednesday with US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders regarding the war in Ukraine, the government in Berlin said on Monday.

A video conference is planned, a government spokesman told dpa.

The discussion is to come ahead of Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday about ending the war in Ukraine.

Before the consultations with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance, a virtual meeting is planned between Merz, Zelensky and the leaders of France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland and Finland, the spokesman said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte are also expected to join the call.

Taiwan’s top envoy to the U.S. urged the Senate to ease tax burdens between the two countries and asked Congress to fast-track foreign military sales, following a closed-door lunch Wednesday with the House.

Ambassador Alexander Tah-Ray Yui, Taipei’s top representative in Washington, told Fox News Digital that he is encouraged that U.S. leaders recognize the urgent existential threat China poses, but emphasized the need to get weapons into the hands of the Taiwanese military more quickly and to address issues impeding two-way investment.

"We appreciate the United States prioritizing Taiwan and helping us strengthen our defense capabilities," Yui said. "We’re cheering on more military commitments to the states and [a] joint effort to speed up the delivery of the products that we bought."

Yui called on the Senate to advance a stalled double taxation agreement, which has already cleared the House.

"That’s an important incentive for Taiwanese companies to come to the United States and invest – but also vice versa for U.S. companies to go to Taiwan," he said. "We are the only one of the large trading partners without this treatment, which is worrying for the whole country right now."

By a vote of 423 to 1, the House last Congress passed the United States-Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act, legislation that prevents double taxation on cross-border investments.

The ambassador also offered a sobering assessment of China’s increasingly belligerent posture in the Taiwan Strait and across the Indo-Pacific.

"We are concerned," Yui said. "The [People’s Liberation] Army and Navy are increasing their activities around Taiwan, harassing our territorial waters and airspace. These provocations are constant."

While emphasizing that "we don’t want war," he noted that the U.S. and regional partners have begun ramping up their own defenses, recognizing the threat.

Rep. August Pfluger, who chairs the influential RSC, told Fox News Digital that the meeting was a show of solidarity with Taiwan’s democratic government and a rebuke of China’s authoritarian policies.

"China is an existential threat to Taiwan," said Pfluger, a Texas Republican. "The difference between mainland China and Taiwan is how they treat human life. Taiwan values openness. China suppresses free speech, targets groups like the Uyghur Muslims – it’s deeply concerning."

The lunch meeting, attended by dozens of House Republicans, comes amid rising tensions in the region – but just as President Donald Trump announced a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping to ease the trade war.

While Pfluger did not commit to further supplemental aid, he said he supports efforts by both nations to strengthen military readiness, including Taiwan’s move to increase defense spending to 3% of GDP.

"It stands to reason that Taiwan increasing their own internal spending on defense, as well as the U.S. recapitalizing our Navy and Air and Space Forces, is vitally important," he said.

Asked what message Congress wants to send to the Taiwanese people, Pfluger was unequivocal:

"We stand by them – as an ally, as a trading partner, as a democracy facing tyranny just next door."

The conversation came at a time when U.S. military officials are warning China is readying for battle in the Indo-Pacific in an effort to "dominate" the region.

"Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress this week. He added that such an outcome could put the U.S. economy and its supply chains in a choke hold.

"China is undertaking a historic military buildup and actively rehearsing for an invasion of Taiwan," he said.

"These aggressive maneuvers are not routine exercises, they are rehearsals for a forced unification," Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added in his own testimony.

Taiwan has recently renewed an effort to purge its ranks of Chinese sympathizers, indicting four people on Tuesday suspected of spying for China that had infiltrated the presidential office.

Two Chinese aircraft carriers spotted conducting operations in the Pacific demonstrated the country’s "expansionist" aims, Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo said Wednesday.

"Crossing from the first island chain into the second island chain sends a definite political message and their expansionist nature can be seen," he told reporters in Taipei.

The first island chain refers to the region from Japan to Taiwan and the Philippines to Borneo and the second island chain spreads farther into the Pacific, toward the U.S. territory of Guam.

In A Rare Move, China Releases Crucial Details About 12,000-KM Nuclear Missile That Can Strike The U.S. Anywhere!

Known for its secretive nuclear weapons program, China has for the first time revealed key details of one of the country’s nuclear weapons.

In a rare gesture that has taken China watchers by surprise, China’s state broadcaster CCTV has released crucial details about one of the country’s premier nuclear-capable missile systems, the DF-5.

China’s nuclear program has traditionally been highly secretive, particularly regarding specific missile capabilities and deployments, and it was not clear why the information about the DF-5, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), was made public.

The timing of the disclosure is also interesting, as it comes just days after the 2025 Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia’s largest defense and security forum.

Here, the US delivered a clear message: The Indo-Pacific is a top priority for the Trump administration amid what it sees as China’s aggressive posturing.

At the dialogue, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Asian allies to step up their defense in response to China’s military build-up near Taiwan.

Hegseth mentioned China more than 20 times in his first-ever speech at Shangri-La and issued a direct warning to Beijing.

“Any attempt by Communist China to conquer Taiwan by force would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world. There’s no reason to sugarcoat it,” Hegseth said.

He also underlined that the US is serious about countering China’s rising influence in the West as well.

“We’re also increasing security in the Western Hemisphere and taking back the Panama Canal from malign Chinese influence. It is key terrain, after all. China did not build that canal. We did. And we will not allow China to weaponize it or control it,” he said.

The tone of Hegseth’s speech took many by surprise. China, certainly, was taken aback.

“If deterrence fails, and if called upon by my Commander in Chief, we are prepared to do what the Department of Defense does best – fight and win — decisively,” he said.

The public unveiling of DF-5 could be a response to Hegseth’s speech. The ICBM DF-5 has a range of 12,000 km and is capable of reaching the US mainland as well as Western European countries.

This could be China’s way of showing its capabilities and sending a message that Beijing is serious about protecting its sovereignty and interests.

The DF-5 And Its Capabilities
In China, official disclosures typically use vague language, avoiding precise details about the weapons. However, the broadcast on June 2 was unique in that it provided specific and in-depth information about a strategic Chinese nuclear missile.

It disclosed that the two-stage missile, which it described as China’s “first-generation strategic ICBM,” could deliver a single nuclear warhead with an explosive yield of between 3 and 4 megatons of TNT.

For perspective, this is roughly 200 times greater than the atomic bombs dropped by the US on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

It added that the missile had a maximum range of 12,000 km (7,460 miles), sufficient to strike the continental United States and western Europe, and was accurate to within 500 meters.

The report further said that the missile was “32.6 meters in length with a diameter of 3.35 meters and a launch weight of 183 tons.”

During the broadcast, former People’s Liberation Army instructor Song Zhongping said the missile, which was developed in the early 1970s and entered service in 1981, played a critical role in China’s nuclear deterrence strategy.

“Without the DF-5, China wouldn’t be regarded as a nation with credible intercontinental strike capability. It was instrumental in China’s emergence as a nuclear power, demonstrating to the world that China must be taken seriously,” Song said.

According to Missile Threat, a platform dedicated to missile technology, “The DF-5 (Dong Feng-5 / CSS-4) is a silo-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It was the first ICBM that China developed, and has one of the longest ranges. These missiles are capable of delivering large nuclear payloads throughout the United States and Western Europe.”

The DF-5 also served as the basis for several other military and space programs. “These efforts included the Long March-2C space launch vehicle, the DF-6 fractional orbital bombardment program (cancelled), the PRC penetration aid program, and the DF-5B,” it said.

The DF-5B is similar to the capabilities of the DF-5, but can carry MIRVed warheads. The MIRV, or Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle, technology enables a single missile to carry and release multiple nuclear warheads, each capable of striking a different target across a wide geographic area.

Furthermore, in 2017, media reports surfaced that China had tested a new variant of the missile, the DF-5C, which is equipped with 10 multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs).

A Hidden Warning To The World?
Former PLA instructor Song Zhongping suggested that revealing details about the DF-5 could also mean that China is now in possession of much more advanced nuclear weapons and missile silos. Thus, Beijing feels confident in releasing key specifications of the DF-5 into the public domain.

“What we’re seeing is the phasing out of older systems – ones that have already served their purpose. The message is clear: China has far more powerful capabilities it has not shown the world.”

It is worth noting that China also has ICBMs like DF-31 and DF-41 in its arsenal. Last year, China conducted a successful test of the DF-31. Incidentally, this was the first time in four decades that China acknowledged testing an ICBM.

According to SIPRI, China is the third-biggest nuclear power in the world after Russia and the US. In 2024, Beijing had over 500 nuclear warheads in its arsenal.

However, according to the Pentagon estimates, China already has over 600 nuclear warheads, and it will have an arsenal of over 1,000 nuclear weapons by 2030.

India-Pak War: China’s Military Satellites Helped Pakistan To Attack India; Delhi Works To Bridge The ‘Big Gap’ With Beijing (Part 1)

It is no news that China supported Pakistan with military hardware during the recent military confrontation with India. However, less discussed has been the support the constellation of Chinese satellites provided in terms of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) to Islamabad, and how New Delhi countered it by mobilizing all its military and civilian assets in space.

The Indian military is taking incremental steps to build its own constellation of 52 satellites over the next five years, aiming to enhance its capability to spy from space. However, the ambitious plan hit a speed bump as the attempt to position the NVS-02 satellite in its intended orbit was not achieved due to a failure in the satellite’s onboard thrusters.

Launched on January 29, 2025, aboard the GSLV-Mk 2 rocket, this mission marked ISRO’s 100th launch from the Sriharikota spaceport.

The satellite is a crucial component of India’s Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system, which aims to provide accurate positioning services across India and extend up to 1500 km beyond its borders.

“We pulled all the resources (civilian and military space assets) and gave them to the armed forces. We were virtually looking at each other all the time. We had gaps, but we were much better,” a source familiar with the matter told the EurAsian Times about the space-based reconnaissance during the Indo-Pak war. The source admitted that India has gaps, and its space capabilities in comparison to China are currently inadequate.

In fact, the purported “kill chain” achieved by Pakistan with the help of Chinese space assets has been cited as the reason behind the alleged downing of India’s fighter jets. The official conceded that China is far ahead when it comes to space assets.

“They have 4-5 times more assets than us. The Chinese have 7 geo-stationary satellites. They are able to see all the time. But the resolution is lower. They are critical for their maritime security,” the official added.

China’s space architecture includes multiple layers of infrastructure, ranging from low-Earth orbit satellites to ground control stations, all of which are interconnected to form a resilient network.

The Chinese can see all the time, but their satellites have limitations of bandwidth, duty cycle, and orbit configuration. However, despite its space assets, China was unable to help Pakistan pinpoint key Indian assets, such as the S-400 Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile System.

According to comprehensive databases, such as the one published by Keep Track, China is associated with approximately 5,330 satellites in orbit. The United States leads with about 11,655 satellites, and Russia follows with around 7,187 satellites.

Here, satellites include objects launched for commercial, scientific, military, and joint international purposes—even if they involve non-government actors—and sometimes even defunct spacecraft that are still tracked in orbit. In comparison, India has 218 satellites.

It is challenging to pinpoint precise details about the military reconnaissance satellites China operates; however, open-source information suggests that China has approximately 30 to 40 active reconnaissance satellites.

Most of these are from the Yaogan series, specifically designed to provide imaging and other forms of signals intelligence for China’s military. As many satellites have dual use and certain assets are kept secret by the Chinese government, the total number of military satellites could be higher.

The Yaogan series— including the launch of Yaogan-41 indicates a continuing expansion in capability and numbers for China.

Yaogan-41 Ensures No One Escapes China’s Spy Satellites
The remote sensing satellite Yaogan-41 was launched into geostationary orbit (GEO) on December 15, 2023. The satellite is expected to allow continuous surveillance of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as Taiwan and Mainland China.

According to the Chinese government, Yaogan-41 is a civilian high-altitude optical remote-sensing satellite intended for crop yield estimation, environmental management, weather forecasting, and disaster prevention.

However, Western analysts observe that alongside other Chinese surveillance satellites, Yaogan-41 purportedly gives China an unprecedented ability to identify and track objects as small as cars throughout the entire Indo-Pacific region, putting the US and other countries’ naval and air forces in the region at risk.

The majority of surveillance satellites operate in Low Earth Orbit, as it is easier and cheaper to put satellites into LEO. Also, satellites in LEO produce sharper resolution as it is closer to Earth. However, the major drawback of LEO satellites is a lack of continuity, which is important for surveillance.

A satellite in LEO takes less than two hours to orbit the Earth. So, it can only oversee a given spot on Earth for a few minutes. Also, due to orbital mechanics, it may take hours or days for that satellite to revisit the same spot again. However, a constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) can help reduce the revisit time.

On the other hand, satellites in GEO orbit are at the same rate as the Earth. This means that they view the Earth as if it is stationary. Only GEO provides a satellite, like Yaogan-41, with a continuous view of the same place. An added advantage is that a GEO satellite from its altitude of 36,000 km can see almost half of Earth’s surface.

The Yaogan satellites also play a crucial role in supporting China’s missile forces, providing the data needed for accurate targeting of long-range ballistic and cruise missiles.

There are several geosynchronous satellites, but they are primarily dedicated to weather forecasting and utilize low-resolution remote sensing systems for tracking large cloud formations and storms. Only China and India operate high-resolution optical GEO satellites; however, India’s system features a multi-spectral payload, unlike its Chinese counterparts, which carry a visible light optical imager.

India’s Baby Steps To Space
India had woken up to the strategic importance of space assets in warfare during the Kargil War when the US’s denial of GPS left its soldiers high and dry as they were trying to push the Pakistani insurgents from their entrenched positions. However, work has been going at a snail’s pace.

“It has been only in the last couple of years that India has awakened to the military implications of space, and the Indian armed forces have started claiming ownership of it. IAF has realized the utilisation of Kautilaya (an indigenously developed Electronic Intelligence system),” the official added.

India established the Defense Space Agency in 2019, which is slated to evolve into a fully fledged Space Command. The IAF has envisioned India having over 100 military satellites, both large and small, within the next seven to eight years, with active participation from the private sector.

To keep pace with global developments, the IAF is gradually expanding its mission scope from offensive and defensive counter-air operations to operations in the space domain. As part of this transition, the existing Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) will evolve into the Integrated Air and Space Command and Control System (IASCCS).

The government, on its part, has been shortening the launch time for military satellites. The DRDO’s project Kautilya added to India’s space surveillance capability.

The 436-kg satellite, placed in a 749-km orbit, helps the Indian armed forces pinpoint the location of enemy radars by detecting the electromagnetic signals they emit. In the making for about eight years, it carries instrumentation capable of detecting, locating, and characterising electromagnetic signals, specifically of military radars.

India’s premier intelligence-gathering satellite, EMISAT, has taken a good look at the positions of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in occupied Tibet.

India also has an ELINT satellite, launched in 2019, which underscored its usefulness by passing over the PLA position in Tibet near Arunachal Pradesh. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched 29 satellites, including EMISAT, from the US, Lithuania, Spain, and Switzerland. This was the first time the Indian space agency launched these satellites in three different orbits.

The launch of the electronic spy satellite was a significant achievement for India; China has already been using ELINT satellites in triplets, as a single satellite will not be enough to pinpoint a target.

At least three of them are required to receive electronic transmissions from a target on the ground and locate it through triangulation. A typical ELINT satellite constellation consists of three satellites in orbit, flying in a triangular formation with an orbit inclination of 63.4 degrees.

The recent launch failure to place NVS-02 in its designated orbit is a setback for India’s NAVIC navigation system. China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System is central to China’s space architecture.

Europeans map out Pacific aims as some in US want them to stay home.

At the end of Pete Hegseth’s speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s largest defense summit, America’s defense secretary argued some members of the crowd should focus elsewhere.

“We would much prefer that the overwhelming balance of European investment be on that continent,” he said during a question and answer session.

Hegseth’s response addressed one of the core themes at a conference typically focused on Asian security alone. Since the war in Ukraine began in 2022, more Europeans have traveled to Singapore each year as a symbol of their commitment to the region, seen as increasingly important to their own.

Until this January, the United States welcomed that attention — but no longer. In the second Trump administration, parts of America’s government have grown more skeptical of a European military presence around Asia. Some policy officials in the Pentagon have actively discouraged it.

Instead, the conference last week featured a record number of Europeans in attendance and was headlined by French President Emmanuel Macron. While there, a wide share of officials from both regions defended Europe’s role in Asia, something even Hegseth acknowledged in his remarks.

The challenge, officials said, will be defining that role at a time when Europeans see the two regions as increasingly linked and when the United States wants its allies focused on their own backyards.

“This is a convergence zone right now,” said Gilberto Teodoro, the Philippines secretary of national defense, in an interview. “This is the first Shangri-La Dialogue where we see a lot of European advocacy and a lot of American advocacy.”

‘Clearly concerned’
Last year at the conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise visit and met with America’s then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. For many in attendance, the appearance emphasized a new sense that the two regions shared a common sense of security.

North Korea was sending troops to fight alongside Russia, China was supplying much of the Kremlin’s war machine and the West’s response to Russia’s invasion was thought to be a show of force against similar action around Taiwan.

“If we consider that Russia could be allowed to take a part of the territory of Ukraine without any restriction, without any concern, without any reaction of the global order, how would you phrase what would happen in Taiwan,” Macron said in his keynote speech last Friday.

Until January, this had also become the dominant view in Washington, pushing its allies in Europe to take the threat of China more seriously while also helping defend Ukraine. In the last year, countries from Britain to Italy have sent naval vessels to the Indo-Pacific, including the Taiwan Strait, as a show of their own military commitment to the region.

That demand signal collapsed with the election of Donald Trump, whose Pentagon has since called for Europe to take a far larger burden in defending the continent to allow America’s military to focus more on the Pacific.

That said, Hegseth himself left open a role for European militaries around Asia as part of a larger effort to deter China — something American military leaders have said is a key advantage.

“There is something to be said for the fact that China calculates the possibility and does not appreciate the presence of other countries on occasion,” Hegseth said. “If that is reflected in their calculus, then that’s useful.”

A U.S. defense official, speaking with traveling press on the condition of anonymity, said that the answer is obvious.

“They’re clearly concerned about European presence,” the official said of Beijing.

Different roles
Some allies at the conference agreed with Hegseth’s message that Europe should primarily focus on the defense of the continent.

Finland’s Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen, for example, listed the main concerns it country has with its own security: an 800-mile border with Russia and competition around the Arctic and Baltic Sea.

“That’s why our role in the Indo-Pacific Area cannot be so big,” he said in an interview.

Still, Häkkänen came to Singapore to meet with partners such as Singapore and South Korea about Finland’s defense industry and intelligence sharing. Both are natural areas to cooperate, he argued, even if his country wouldn’t commit major military forces to the region.

Sweden’s defense Minister Pål Jonson attended the conference with a similar message on partnering with intelligence and weapons sales, he said. But he also came to stress why countries in the region should care about what happens in Ukraine.

“We are here also to make the case: Why it is important to stand up for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and freedom,” Jonson said.

Some Indo-Pacific countries, such as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, have been supporting Ukraine with military aid and training for the last three years, seeing Russia’s invasion as a test of resolve for free countries.

Judith Collins, New Zealand’s defense minister, said her country is continuing its mission to train Ukrainian troops on the continent and could also assist in a peacekeeping mission if a peace deal is reached.

That said, New Zealand recently announced a major defense spending increase and is now aiming to spend 2% of GDP on the military by the early 2030s. Part of that plan is motivated by Wellington’s sense that it needs to take greater control over its own security, regardless of partnerships with other countries.

“The comment that’s been made to me by one of the NATO ministers is: ‘We have a NATO-first policy.’ My answer to that was: ‘So where does that leave us?’” Collins said in an interview.

“The answer is: doing more for ourselves with our friends in our region — as well as being good contributors to peace in Europe,” she said.

Golden Dome: China Develops New Stealth Material That Could Puncture Trump’s Ambitious Defense Shield.

Even before Donald Trump’s ambitious $175 billion missile defense system – the Golden Dome – could materialise, China’s new technology is gearing up to punch holes in it.

China has developed a new material to enhance the stealth of its aircraft and missiles, enabling them to evade microwave and infrared detection technologies used for surveillance.

The much-hyped Golden Dome system is touted to be a multi-domain shield that will be built to keep the US safe against aerial threats from adversaries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

President Trump has described the system as a “transformative leap” in national defence, combining land, sea, and space-based technology to intercept missiles, drones, and potentially even space-launched weapons.

“Golden Dome will protect our homeland,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “Once fully constructed, Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world and even if they are launched from space.”

According to the 2025 Threat Assessment by the US Intelligence Community, “The PLA has the capability to conduct long-range precision strikes with conventional weapons against the Homeland’s periphery in the Western Pacific, including Guam, Hawaii, and Alaska. China has developed a range of ballistic and cruise missiles with conventional payloads that can be delivered from its mainland as well as by air and sea, including by nuclear-powered submarines. China may be exploring development of conventionally-armed intercontinental range missile systems, which, if developed and fielded, would allow China to threaten conventional strikes against targets in the continental United States.”

The ‘Golden Dome’ is expected to be America’s satellite-based shield against the growing intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal of China and Russia. Both countries with adversarial ties to the US have also been working on hypersonic missiles. Beijing had earlier expressed grave concern about the project.

Now, the development of new materials that can help China’s long-range missiles evade detection could be detrimental to the effectiveness of the American missile defense shield.

Stealth coating works by reducing the radar cross-section of a particular aircraft or missile, making it harder to detect. Aircraft and missiles emit strong thermal radiation, specially created by superheated components such as exhaust nozzles, which raises the risk of detection.

Over time, high temperatures degrade or destroy the structure of standard materials. However, the new material is claimed to be engineered to withstand extreme temperatures, making it highly suitable for high-speed military platforms, such as missiles and hypersonic aircraft.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, a Chinese research team led by Professor Li Qiang of Zhejiang University has found a solution to the problem.

A study published in March reveals that the team has developed a material capable of evading both microwave and infrared detection technologies, even when exposed to extremely high temperatures. The microwave and infrared detection are commonly used in military surveillance.

This new ‘meta surface’ claims to resolve the longstanding issue vis-à-vis stealth coatings – instability at high temperatures. When subjected to high temperatures produced by engine exhaust or aerodynamic friction, many stealth materials lose their structural integrity or become less effective. This new material, on the other hand, continues to function at temperatures as high as 700°C.

The material exhibits multispectral properties under laboratory conditions. It lowers radiation fingerprints in a wide range of wavelengths, including microwave frequencies and the short-wave (SWIR), mid-wave (MWIR), and long-wave infrared bands.

In comparison to established blackbody radiation standards, lab testing showed a significant decrease in thermal emissions: radiation intensity decreased by 37.2% in the SWIR band and by 63.6% in the MWIR range at peak heat.

The material has a layered structure, including a specialised “meta-surface” – which is a precisely engineered layer patterned to control how radar and infrared waves interact with it.

The top layer is designed to be moisture resistant, whereas the bottom layer ensures its adherence to the surface. Laser etching throughout the structure allows radar signals to pass through without compromising its heat-hiding abilities.

Blinding The Radars
Since the advent of radar, military aircraft designers have worked towards masking their planes to avoid detection.

Over time, a combination of technologies has been employed, including radar-reflecting shapes and radar-absorbing materials. The leading military powers are continually working to improve their stealth aircraft technology.

Presently, the American B-2 stealth bomber, F-22 Raptors, and F-35 Lightning II are covered in various radar-absorbing polymers and designed to reflect radar energy away from detectors.

They absorb 70 percent to 80 percent of the energy from tracking radar. This makes it difficult to differentiate the aircraft from birds and other smaller airborne objects.

These Radar Absorbing Materials (RAMs) have two major shortcomings – they can be easily damaged due to exposure to salt and moisture. And, secondly, most advanced, stealthy polymers degrade at temperatures above 250 Celsius, a heat level very common around aircraft engines.

China has also been investing in stealth technologies and experimenting with new ideas. Earlier this year, it was reported that Chinese researchers have adapted the 3,000-year-old Jacquard weaving technique to resolve the issue of stealth coating degradation.

The Chinese researchers found that integrating conductive yarns into a warp-knitted “double-sided jacquard” structure enabled the new material to absorb 90.6% of radar waves in the 8-26GHz spectrum, outperforming conventional coatings.

According to the team led by Professor Jiang Qian, the material is a “marriage of ancient patterning and modern electromagnetism.”

Even the F-22’s RAM is not immune to extreme weather conditions. According to USAF’s data, it spends over $60,000 per flight hour and requires RAM reapplication every three weeks, resulting in high costs and frequent maintenance downtime.

In comparison, the article claims, China’s jacquard-woven stealth material extends service life to 18 months, reducing costs by 75 percent.

U.S. Treaty Ally, China’s Key Partner In S.E Asia Exchange Fire; Another Frozen Conflict Heating-Up In Asia?

After the Azerbaijan and Armenia conflict, and a brief but intense India-Pakistan clash, another frozen conflict is heating up in Asia between Cambodia (a key Chinese ally) and Thailand (a US treaty partner), exchanging fire near the contested borders, resulting in the death of one Cambodian soldier.

This is the most serious exchange of fire on the contested border since the 2008 armed clashes that resulted in the deaths of 28 people. Now, Cambodia has decided to file a complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over border disputes with Thailand, Prime Minister Hun Manet said.

“Cambodia hopes that the Thai side will agree with Cambodia to jointly bring these issues to the International Court of Justice… to prevent armed confrontation again over border uncertainty,” Hun Manet said during a meeting between MPs and senators.

The Thailand-Cambodia border dispute, primarily centered on the Preah Vihear Temple and maritime claims in the Gulf of Thailand, stems from historical treaties and colonial-era ambiguities. The 11th-century Preah Vihear Temple, situated in the Dangrek Mountains, was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962; however, disputes over adjacent land persist, fueled by nationalist sentiments in both countries.

Military clashes between the Southeast Asian neighbours erupted in 2008 and have led to several years of sporadic violence.

The most recent occurred last week, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a location known as the Emerald Triangle — a joint border area between Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos.

The day after, Cambodia’s foreign ministry sent a letter to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh demanding “an immediate and thorough investigation” into the “unprovoked attack”.

Describing the incident as “a violation of Cambodian sovereignty”, Phnom Penh said it remained committed to resolving the issue through “peaceful and diplomatic avenues”.

Prime Minister Hun Manet stated that even if the Thai side did not agree to bring the issue to the ICJ, Cambodia would still file the complaint.

He added that the border dispute was being “incited by small extremist groups in both countries”, which could lead to further clashes.

Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP. Cambodia’s military had said they were attacked first in last week’s incident, while the Thai side said their soldiers were responding to gunshots.

The Thai and Cambodian militaries met the following day and agreed to ease tensions. Thailand states that a Joint Boundary Committee will convene within the next two weeks to resolve the issue.

The Emerald Triangle is among the areas that will be named in the ICJ complaint, Hun Manet said.

Another is Ta Moan Thom Temple, the backdrop for a video posted on social media earlier this year showing a woman singing a patriotic Khmer song, which led to Bangkok lodging a formal protest to Phnom Penh.

Cambodia and Thailand have long been at odds over their more than 800-kilometre-long (500-mile) border, which was largely drawn during the French occupation of Indochina.

The 2008 military clashes erupted over a patch of land next to Preah Vihear Temple, a 900-year-old structure near their shared border. This led to several years of sporadic violence before the International Court of Justice ruled the disputed area belonged to Cambodia.

Interestingly, China’s robust backing of Cambodia and the U.S.’s longstanding support for Thailand could make the region another hotspot for US-China rivalry.

China’s support for Cambodia is marked by large-scale aid, prioritizing infrastructure and regime security, but raising concerns about debt dependency and Chinese military influence.

In contrast, U.S. support for Thailand is anchored in a formal alliance, with aid often tied to democratic principles, though tempered by pragmatic engagement with Thailand’s military-led government.

Cambodia leans heavily on China to counterbalance Vietnam and Thailand, while Thailand navigates a delicate balance, engaging both superpowers to maintain autonomy.

This dynamic fuels a broader U.S.-China competition in Southeast Asia. Cambodia’s alignment with China reinforces Beijing’s regional foothold, especially in the South China Sea, while the U.S.-Thailand partnership bolsters Washington’s endeavors to counter Chinese influence.

Thailand is the United States’ only treaty partner in mainland Southeast Asia, a treaty ally since 1954, and a major non-NATO ally since 2003.

The U.S.-Thai security relationship extends far beyond the transfer of defense articles and services. It is particularly supported by people-to-people ties through professional military education, military exercises, and regular troop engagements.

Nordic, Baltic and central European NATO members are committed to Ukrainian membership of the military alliance, the leaders of Poland, Romania and Lithuania said following a summit of the so-called B9 and Nordic countries on Monday.

NATO allies declared their support for Ukraine's "irreversible path" towards membership at last year's Washington summit. But President Donald Trump has since said that prior U.S. support for Ukraine's NATO bid was a cause of the war and has further indicated that Ukraine will not get membership.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include a demand that Western leaders pledge in writing to stop enlarging NATO eastwards, and lift a chunk of sanctions on Russia, Reuters reported last week.

Poland, Romania and Lithuania said on Monday, after a meeting of Nordic, Baltic and Eastern European leaders in the capital of Lithuania, that the region remains committed to the path towards Ukrainian NATO membership, and called for further pressure on Russia, including more sanctions.

"We stand firm on Allied decision and commitment regarding Ukraine's irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership. Ukraine has the right to choose its own security arrangements and to decide its own future, free from outside interference," they said in a joint statement released on behalf of all meeting participants.

The meeting, held ahead of a NATO summit at The Hague later this month, included Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

We got an inside look at how front-line NATO allies would fight Russia.......

Finnish and Polish forces in an exercise simulating a tactical air landing operation.

One team seized a strategically located airfield while another had to counterattack and retake it.

These kinds of operations are a top Russian military tactic and could prove decisive in a conflict.

PYHTÄÄ, Finland — The young soldiers wear dark camouflage and green and black face paint to blend in with the dense forest common on NATO's eastern flank.

These conscripts, members of the 3rd Jaeger Company, a unit within the Finnish Army's Pori Brigade, carry anti-tank missile launchers, large mines, and assault rifles. One soldier looks at a paper map, and another calls in instructions on the radio as they scout out recently seized enemy positions. From the nearby road, they cannot be seen.

The Finnish soldiers are conducting surveillance operations, but the enemy is not real. It's part of an exercise simulating their reaction to the capture of a strategic airfield, a critical operation that's an expected element of a Russian invasion.

Lively Sabre 25, which took place in southern Finland over the past few days, is an element of NATO's larger Swift Response 25 exercise. This event is a series of joint military drills across the Baltic and Nordic regions designed to facilitate cooperation among allies and deter what they see as a serious Russian threat to the east.

During Lively Sabre, a "red team," consisting of Polish airborne forces and Finnish troops, executed a tactical air landing operation at an airstrip in the forest. Paratroopers rapidly seized a strategically located airfield, aiming to hold it and bring in the infantry and heavy weapons to launch a lightning assault from it; Russia used similar tactics in a close battle outside Kyiv in 2022.

The 3rd Jaeger Company was part of a "blue team" made up entirely of Finnish troops whose mission was to contain the so-called airhead and then mass strength to retake the site — an operation where time is of the essence.

Finland doesn't have an airbone brigade in its military structure, so the exercise is a good opportunity to train on battling paratroopers and learn from skilled professionals — in this case, the Polish forces — how to prepare for a tactical air landing, set up a perimeter around the airfield, and defend the site. Establishing an airhead is not an easy operation, especially in an era of widespread sensors and sophisticated air defenses that can detect and destroy an assault force before it lands.

"It's extremely difficult," Col. Matti Honko, the commanding officer of Finland's Guard Jaeger Regiment and the director of Lively Sabre, told Business Insider on the sidelines of the exercise. "There needs to be suppression of the air defense, and there has to be air superiority. You have to be able to actually do lots of things before you can do that."

Brig. Gen. Michal Strzelecki, the commander of Poland's 6th Airborne Brigade, which led the tactical air landing, said these operations have become even more difficult now than they were in past years. But having the airborne capabilities is still crucial, especially in the early phases of a conflict, when enemy air defenses aren't necessarily ready. The rapid deployment of troops could make all the difference.

"Having that kind of capability is essential," Strzelecki told BI at the Pyhtää airfield.

The ability to seize an airstrip and hold the position is important, as is the ability to dislodge it from under enemy control. NATO knows this because Ukraine demonstrated it three years ago, early on in its defense against Russia's full-scale invasion.

Russian forces tried to capture the Hostomel airport on the outskirts of Kyiv amid their initial push to capture the Ukrainian capital city. This would have given Moscow a decisive advantage, as the Kremlin could have then airlifted more troops, artillery, and fighting vehicles to strike Kyiv from a minimal distance.

Russian helicopters carrying assault troops made an initial assault, but they were met with fierce resistance from Ukraine's military. After hours of heavy fighting and counterattacks, Kyiv eventually controlled the airfield.

Swift Response 25, which falls under a US Army-led series of exercises with NATO allies and partners this summer, called Defender, comes as the military alliance grows increasingly concerned with Russia and its behavior across Europe, which Western officials have described as malign and aggressive.

Allies, especially those along the northern and eastern flanks, like the Baltic states, are watching the Ukraine war closely. They are investing a lot in their defense capabilities by increasing their military spending, buying up weapons, and reinforcing their borders. European nations are also anxious about US reliability.

Finland joined NATO just over two years ago, while Poland has been a member for more than two decades. Both share borders with Russia, so they bring an important perspective to the alliance as countries on its front lines. They are well aware of the Russian threat.

Strzelecki said the Lively Sabre exercise helps Poland better integrate its forces with Finland.

"Finland is a new member of the alliance, so we want to interact with them, we want to train with them, we want to share our experience and also learn from the Finnish Army," he said. "Finland has a long tradition of defending against possible aggression from their neighbor."

Indeed, Russia has recently increased its military presence along its shared 830-mile-long border with Finland. Should a clash occur between NATO and Moscow, the region could become a major hot spot.

Honko said Finland's accession to NATO in 2023 has already lifted the threshold of threats, and exercises like Lively Sabre are a key element of deterrence that's needed to avoid a real shooting war.

"We are in the first line, but then, I think we have a very long tradition of defending our own area by ourselves, and that hasn't changed. In a way, we are a security provider, and not a security consumer," Honko said. Still, he added, "We need the alliance if the day comes, and we can deal with the problem together."

Ukraine Calims $7 Billion Worth Of Russian Military Warplanes, Including Bombers, Destroyed In Drone Attacks.

Ukraine’s SBU security service said on Sunday that it had hit Russian military planes worth a combined $7 billion in a wave of drone strikes on Russian air bases thousands of kilometres behind the front lines.

“$7 billion: This is the estimated cost of the enemy’s strategic aviation, which was hit today as a result of the SBU’s special operation,” the agency said in a social media post.

Ukraine Hits Russian BAD!
Ukraine said it launched a “large-scale” attack to destroy Russian bombers as it geared up for talks in Istanbul with Moscow counterparts to explore prospects of a ceasefire.

The spectacular claim that Ukraine damaged $7 billion worth of Russian aircraft parked at airbases thousands of kilometres (miles) away came as Kyiv announced a Russian military strike killed at least 12 soldiers at an army training site, leading to the resignation of its ground forces commander.

Russia also said two bridges that collapsed in regions bordering Ukraine were brought down by explosions. Officials were treating them as “acts of terrorism” but had not immediately accused Ukraine.

The developments followed Russian ground advances in recent days in Ukraine’s border Sumy region, and both sides unleashed punishing aerial attacks on the other.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he was sending a Ukrainian delegation to Istanbul led by his Defence Minister Rustem Umerov for the talks on Monday with Russian officials.

Turkey is hosting the meeting, which was spurred by US President Donald Trump’s push for a quick deal to end the three-year war.

Zelensky, who previously voiced scepticism about the seriousness of the Russian side in proposing Monday’s meeting, said he had defined the Ukrainian delegation’s position going into it.

Priorities included “a complete and unconditional ceasefire” and the return of prisoners and abducted children, he said on social media.

Russia has said it has formulated its own peace terms but refused to divulge them in advance. Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled out a Turkish proposal for the meeting to be held at the leaders’ level.

Russian news agencies reported that the Russian delegation was scheduled to travel to Istanbul on Sunday for the talks.

The intensified strikes waged by each side came as Kyiv and Moscow each strived to show themselves coming from a position of strength.

A source with Ukraine’s SBU security service said the coordinated attacks inside Russia were “aimed at destroying enemy bombers far from the front”.

The source said Russian airbases in the eastern Siberian city of Belaya, in Olenya, up in the Arctic near Finland, and in Ivanovo and Dyagilevo, both east of Moscow, had been targeted.

More than 40 aircraft had been hit at the Belaya base, and a fire had broken out there, the source said, showing a video in which several aircraft could be seen in flames and black smoke rising.

AFP was not able to independently verify the claims or the video images.

Russia’s defence ministry confirmed on Telegram that several of its military aircraft “caught fire”, adding that there were no casualties and that several “participants” had been arrested.

Igor Kobzev, Governor of Russia’s Irkutsk region, which hosts the targeted Belaya airbase, said, “It’s the first attack of this sort in Siberia”.

He called on the population not to panic and posted an amateur video apparently showing a drone flying in the sky and a large cloud of grey smoke.

The governor of the Murmansk region, where the Olenya base was located, Andrey Chibis, also said “enemy drones” were flying overhead, and anti-aircraft defences were operating.

Russia has been announcing Ukrainian drone attacks on a near-daily basis, usually saying they had all been shot down. But it was rare for such drone strikes to be reported so deep within its territory.

At the same time, Russia has been carrying out constant attacks on Ukraine.

On Sunday, Ukraine’s air force said it was hit by 472 Russian drones and seven missiles overnight — a record since the beginning of the invasion.

In a rare admission of its military losses, the Ukrainian army said Russia’s “missile strike on the location of one of the training units” had killed a dozen soldiers, most of whom had been in shelters during the attack.

“As of 12:50 pm (0950 GMT), 12 people are known to have been killed and more than 60 wounded,” it said.

The attack led Ukrainian ground forces commander Mykhailo Drapaty to announce his resignation, saying he felt “responsibility” for the soldiers’ deaths.

Blasts Fell Bridges
Separately on Sunday, the Russian army said it had captured another village in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, where Kyiv fears Moscow could mount a fresh ground assault.

Russia claims to have captured several settlements in the region in recent weeks and has amassed more than 50,000 soldiers on the other side of the border, according to Zelensky.

Authorities in the region have evacuated more than 200 villages amid intensified shelling.

Back in Russia, officials said a blast brought down a road bridge in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine on Saturday, derailing a passenger train heading to Moscow and killing seven people.

A separate rail bridge in the neighbouring Kursk region was blown up hours later in the early hours of Sunday, derailing a freight train and injuring the driver.

Authorities did not say who was behind the explosions, but investigators said a criminal inquiry was underway.

China is being provocative with an "extreme pressure" campaign against Taiwan and is intentionally ignoring the island's olive branches and goodwill, its top China policy maker told Reuters, as Beijing ratchets up its tactics against Taipei.

China has stepped up military and political pressure on it, calling President Lai Ching-te a dangerous "separatist".

Since Lai took office in May last year, China has held at least three rounds of major war games around Taiwan, while also threatening the death penalty for "diehard" supporters of its independence, and setting up hotlines to report such activity.
Mainland Affairs Council minister Chiu Chui-cheng said Beijing should own up to its responsibility for stoking tension by exerting "extreme pressure" which includes almost daily military incursions near Taiwan and public influence campaigns.

"It's true that we don't see any sincerity from mainland China," Chiu said

Finland has said it expects Russia to further build up troops along their shared border when the war in Ukraine ends, after reports that Moscow had strengthened its military bases near the Nato frontier.

Maj Gen Sami Nurmi, the head of strategy of the Finnish defence forces, said the military is following Moscow’s manoeuvring “very closely” and that it was their job, as part of the Nato alliance, to “prepare for the worst”.

The Finnish border guard announced it had completed the first 35km of a planned 200km fence on its eastern border with Russia, which has been closed for more than a year after Helsinki accused Moscow of directing asylum seekers to Finland in a “hybrid operation”. The fence also uses cameras and sensors to distinguish.

Satellite images, appear to show an expansion of military infrastructure near the Finnish border, including rows of tents, military vehicles, renovations to fighter jet shelters and construction on a previously unused helicopter base.

The United States will continue to assist Taiwan with its self-defence and wants to see peace across the Taiwan Strait without coercion or the threat of force, a visiting U.S. senator told President Lai Ching-te on Friday.

The United States is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties with the Chinese-claimed island.

"The United States is committed to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. We want to see peace across the Taiwan Strait. We oppose any unilateral change in the status of Taiwan," Ricketts said.
"We expect any differences between Taiwan and the mainland to be resolved peacefully without coercion or the threat of force," he added.

"To that end, the United States will continue to assist Taiwan in its self defence. There is broad consensus in the U.S. Congress to support Taiwan's self defence."

Taiwan is rigged with TRAITORS.
At least 62 active-duty Taiwanese military members have been found holding Chinese residency permits, the self-ruled island's Defense Ministry said, in the latest revelation of Chinese influence in the Taiwanese armed forces.

Since splitting amid civil war in 1949, China has considered Taiwan a renegade province and increasingly relied on “gray area” tactics to undermine Taiwan’s will to resist on top of its threat of a military invasion.

Such residency permits give the holder the right to reside in China, potentially an option in case of an outbreak of hostilities. China, which does not recognize Taiwan passports, also issues a special document allowing Taiwanese to visit the mainland.

Holding such documents is legal in Taiwan, but can affect access to sensitive information. The 62 active-duty service members will be barred from handling intelligence and confidential data, Defense Minister Wellington Koo told a legislative hearing.

France or Britain should take the lead in engaging with Russia about Ukraine as part of European efforts to support Kyiv, Finland's president Alexander Stubb said.

European countries who joined a "coalition of the willing" to back Ukraine agreed at a meeting last week that at least one of their leaders should engage with Russia at some stage, Stubb said.
"My personal preference would be that our representatives of the Coalition of the Willing would be doing that.
Finland is part of the European coalition that has vowed to continue supporting Ukraine's army, in response to European concern that the U.S. no longer represents a bulwark of support for Ukraine's three-year-old fight against Russian invasion.
Finland, which shares a 1,300-km (800-mile) border with Russia, has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine and joined the NATO military alliance in 2023 in response to Russia's 2022 invasion. Moscow at the time cast the move as a dangerous and historic mistake.

NATO member Finland plans to quit a global convention banning anti-personnel landmines and boost defence spending to at least 3% of GDP by 2029 in response to the evolving military threat from Russia.

Poland and the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said last month they would withdraw from the 1997 Ottawa convention due to threats posed by neighbouring Russia.
By leaving the treaty, Finland, which guards NATO's longest border with Russia, could start stockpiling landmines again to have them at hand should a need arise.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said there was no immediate military threat to his Nordic nation, but that Russia poses a long-term danger to all of Europe.

"Withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention will give us the possibility to prepare for the changes in the security environment in a more versatile way," he said.

He added that Finland would allocate an additional 3 billion euros ($3.24 billion) to defence.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin was open to the idea of restoring relations between Finland and Russia, which it accused Helsinki of reducing to "nearly zero" after it joined NATO.

Finland, which shares a 1,300-km (800-mile) border with Russia, joined the NATO military alliance in 2023, which Moscow cast at the time as a dangerous historic mistake.

Finland shut its land border with Russia the same year, accusing Moscow of weaponising migration against the Nordic nation, an assertion the Kremlin denied. The Finnish government said last year it was extending the closure of land border crossings with Russia indefinitely.

On Monday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb - who has repeatedly warned about the need to be tough with Russia and take the threat he says it poses seriously - told his British counterpart Keir Starmer that Helsinki needed to "mentally prepare" for the restoration of ties with Russia at some point.

Finland's President Alexander Stubb said on Sunday he had told U.S. President Donald Trump that a deadline needs to be set for establishing a Ukraine ceasefire in order to make it happen.

"April 20 would be a good time for a full ceasefire without any conditions ... Because a deadline is needed, because it is Easter and because President Donald Trump will have been in office for three months," Stubb told Finnish reporters in London.

Stubb on Saturday made a surprise trip to meet Trump in Florida, where they discussed strengthening their countries' bilateral partnership and also played a round of golf, Stubb's office said.

Since taking office in January, Trump has focused heavily on ending what he calls a "ridiculous" war in Ukraine. Earlier this week the United States announced separate agreements with Ukraine and Russia to pause their strikes in the Black Sea and against each other's energy targets.

Wall Street changes its tune on China as DeepSeek and policy hopes win back investors: ‘Confidence does feel like it’s returned’
What a difference a year makes.

In early 2024, China was struggling through a sluggish post-pandemic recovery, thanks to weak consumption, ongoing worries about property, and a continued hangover from a regulatory crackdown on China’s tech sector.

The pessimism was reflected in equity markets: listings in Hong Kong, the traditional channel for Chinese companies looking for foreign capital, had dried up amid regulatory scrutiny. The Hang Seng Index, the city’s benchmark index, had just notched its fourth straight year of losses.

During Hong Kong’s so-called Mega Event Week—a series of back-to-back conferences capped by the Art Basel fair and the Rugby Sevens tournament—banking and finance executives from Hong Kong, mainland China, Europe, the U.S., and further beyond stressed that they always knew that China and Hong Kong would return.

Finland's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Washington's pivot towards Russia is unlikely to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, and that President Donald Trump would likely discover this in the end.

Elina Valtonen said she was "a little bit concerned" by a recent U.S. order to pause offensive cyber operations against Russia during negotiations aimed at ending the Ukraine war.

"This is probably part of the grand strategy that the White House has chosen to see if this course of action can lead to peace, effectively appeasing Russia and putting some pressure on Ukraine," Valtonen said when asked about the cyber pause at an event in London.

"In my personal view it should be exactly the other way around, and I trust that President Trump and his team will notice in due course that this probably doesn't work," Valtonen said at a public meeting at the Chatham House think tank.

The United States has asked European nations what they can contribute in terms of security guarantees for Ukraine, Finland's president said on Saturday, amid escalating diplomatic efforts to find ways to end the three-year war with Russia.

Earlier, four European sources said the U.S. had sent a document asking questions that included possible future troop contributions, with two of the sources adding that it had been sent earlier this week.

"The Americans have provided Europeans with the questionnaire on what would be possible," Finnish President Alexander Stubb told Reuters at the Munich Security Conference.
"This will force Europeans to think, then it's up to the Europeans to decide whether they actually answer the questionnaire, or whether they answer it together."

Taiwan is preparing to help its companies grapple with new and future tariffs imposed by the U.S.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said it will set up a consultation hotline to provide assistance to Taiwanese businesses that need help navigating the U.S.’s new tariff measures.

While Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) or Foxconn might be the most prominent Taiwanese companies, the island is home to several other tech and manufacturing firms with global reach, like United Microelectronics and Delta Electronics. Several firms have operations in either mainland China or Mexico, locations both subject to new tariffs over the weekend.

Taiwan’s external trade development council, which has offices in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Southeast Asia, and South Asia, will set up a dedicated team to provide immediate consultation services to affected companies, the economic ministry said in a statement.

The US should welcome China's best scientific minds into its universities to compete with the mainland's success in AI, American lawmakers in Washington heard as Chinese start-up DeepSeek unnerved the global tech market.
"Let's steal their best engineers," said Melanie Hart of the Washington-based Atlantic Council at a hearing convened by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Chinese talent behind DeepSeek's AI models, Hart testified that "we'd be better off if the engineers behind that were working here in the US".
To achieve that, students from the mainland would need to feel safe in America: "We can beat Beijing at making Chinese scientists feel safe"
Washington debates how best to retain top talent while safeguarding US intellectual property rights and national security.
Growing trend of US-based Chinese scientists returning to the mainland, driven in part by concerns of racial profiling under American national security policies and expanding opportunities in China's tech

A senior Russian official has said that Moscow will counter any moves by Western military alliance NATO to dominate the Baltic Sea.
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the Russian television channel Rossiya-24 on Friday that the Western alliance's decision to increase patrols around the Baltic was further proof of NATO's "desire to turn the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake."

"This will not happen for many reasons, and one of the main reasons is, of course, that the Russian Federation will not allow it."
Russia's position on the Baltic Sea has been weakened by the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO. The air link to its Kaliningrad exclave on the coast runs through a narrow international air corridor.
The two NATO neighbours have said they will step up patrols by their air and naval forces.
Western allies say that a "shadow fleet" of unregistered tankers is operating in the Baltic Sea, apparently intended to circumvent Western sanctions targeting the Russian oil trade.

Interesting as China soon will allow group tours for mainland Chinese too visit their fatherland and Xi will no longer talk about bringing Taiwan back to motherland..Hurray!!!
China's tourism ministry said on Friday that it has begun preparations to resume group tours to Taiwan from Shanghai and Fujian province in the near future, with Taipei saying it welcomed the move.
China and Taiwan have argued since the end of COVID-19 about when and how tourists from China could resume visiting the island, which Beijing claims as part of its territory. Taipei strongly rejects China's sovereignty claims.

Both sides have blamed the other for travel not fully restarting, adding to existing tensions between Beijing and Taipei.
At his New Year's news conference, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said he welcomed exchanges with China but wondered whether there was goodwill in return from Beijing, given what he described as their blocking of simple things like tourism.

Six European Union countries on Monday called on the European Commission to lower the $60 per barrel price cap put on Russian oil by G7 countries, arguing it would reduce Moscow's revenues to continue the war in Ukraine while not causing a market shock.
Price caps on Russian seaborne crude as well as refined petroleum products were set by G7 countries to curb Moscow's revenues from oil trade and in this way limit the country's ability to finance its invasion of Ukraine.

"Measures that target revenues from the export of oil are crucial since they reduce Russia's single most important income source," Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia said in a letter to the EU executive arm.
"We believe now is the time to further increase the impact of our sanctions by lowering the G7 oil price cap," it said.
G7 price cap was set at $60 per barrel of Russian crude and for petroleum products at a maximum of $100 per barrel of premium-to-crude products and $45 per barrel

Estonia steps up patrols in the icy Baltic Sea in a show of force after suspected cable sabotage.
As they plied the gray, icy waters of the Baltic Sea west of Russia on Thursday, the crew of the Estonian minehunter EML Sakala kept a careful eye on any vessels slowing down suspiciously or suddenly changing course.

They use binoculars and cameras with long zoom lenses, logging the names of ships, scouring them for missing anchors or trailing cables. The Sakala has approached about 200 vessels in a week at sea.

It is one of three Estonian navy ships that are part of stepped-up maritime patrols by NATO countries after the Estlink-2 power cable and communication links between Finland and Estonia were damaged Dec. 25. A month earlier, two other undersea data cables were damaged.
Suspicion immediately fell on Russia, although nothing has been proven and the Kremlin denied involvement in damaging the infrastructure, which provides power and communication for thousands of Europeans.

China's foreign exchange regulator released new rules that require banks to flag risky trades, including those involving cryptocurrencies, which would make it more difficult for mainland investors to buy and sell bitcoin and other digital assets.

Banks are expected to monitor and report "risky foreign exchange trading behaviours", including underground banks, cross-border gambling and illegal cross-border financial activities involving cryptocurrencies, according to last week's announcement by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The rules, applicable to local banks across mainland China, also require them to track such activities based on the identity of the institutions and individuals involved, source of funds and trading frequency, among other factors.
In addition, banks are required to put in place risk-control measures that cover those entities and restrict provision of certain services to them, the regulator said.