President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine will build one million drones by 2024 as part of its plan to increase arms production for another year of war. Zelensky explained, “I am positive about increasing our drone production and about the formation of specialised units,” adding that an appropriate infrastructure for drone management is also required.
On Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court banned former President Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot and ruled that he was ineligible for the White House under the insurrection clause of the US Constitution. In its 4-3 ruling, the court stated that “a majority of the court holds that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.” The court stayed its ruling until 4 January, or until the US Supreme Court ruled on the issue.
Nathalie Loiseau, chair of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on security and defence, said on Tuesday that against the backdrop of democracies globally facing threats from authoritarian regimes, defence and security cooperation is becoming a more important pillar of the India-EU partnership. Loiseau said that EU member states are looking forward to increasing cooperation with India in the fields of maritime security, procurement of equipment, and joint ventures to develop military hardware. Since Sunday, an EU delegation has been in India to discuss common security challenges and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, and chair of the parliamentary standing committee on defence, Jual Oram.
Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Benin, was in India for an official visit from 16-18 December. He was accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Gaston Cossi Dossouhoui, and other senior officials. Bakari met Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during the visit and discussed bilateral relations with him. The two leaders talked about various regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest. The visiting minister also met Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. Additionally, the visiting delegation held meetings with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) on deepening trade and investment links between the two countries.
In an interview published on Tuesday, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui told Russian state news agency RIA that China is ready to expand energy cooperation with Russia along all stages of production. “China expects to expand cooperation along the entire production chain in the energy industry,” he said.
After North Korea test-fired its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile on Monday, which has the potential to reach the US, G7 foreign ministers said in a statement that “North Korea’s repeated reckless actions must be met with a swift, united and robust international response, particularly by the United Nations Security Council.”