Tag Archives: says US

WASHINGTON: The Biden ad­­ministration remains steadfast in its stance of non-interference in the formation of the government in Pakistan, dismissing calls from US lawmakers and others to withhold recognition of the Feb 8 election results. At Wednesday’s news briefing in Washington, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller reiterated this point when asked whether the prospective coalition set-up in Pakistan would …

WASHINGTON: The US said on Monday it expects North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to make a rare trip abroad to meet President Vladimir Putin in Russia, where they are likely to discuss arms for Moscow’s war in Ukraine. The Kremlin said on Tuesday it was unable to confirm a summit between Putin and Kim. “We have nothing to say …

WASHINGTON: The United States has a shared interest with Pakistan in combating threats to regional stability, the State Department has said. “We have a shared interest with Pakistan, quite candidly, in combating threats to regional stability and remain ready to work with Pakistan to combat militant and terrorist groups,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday. The US official was responding …

WASHINGTON: The United States has reiterated that Pakistan can purchase oil from Russia at a discounted price even though it has not signed a Washington-backed price-cap on Russian petroleum products. US State Department’s spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at a Tuesday afternoon news briefing that Pakistan can also take advantage of the concessions Washington has given to other countries for …

WASHINGTON: As Russia became India’s top oil supplier last month, the US State Department said on Monday that the United States “does not currently have” sanctions on Russian energy exports to other countries. The Indian media reported earlier in the day that Russia had surpassed traditional sellers Saudi Arabia and Iraq in exporting oil to India. The report noted that India remained …

MOSCOW: Russia is massing yet more troops near Ukraine and an invasion could come at any time, perhaps before the end of this month’s Winter Olympics, Washington said on Friday. Moscow, for its part, stiffened its truculent response towards Western diplomacy, saying answers sent this week by the EU and Nato to its security demands showed “disrespect”. Commercial satellite images …

WASHINGTON: The US government has had “a number of conversations” with Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on plans to counter the Khorasan faction of the militant Islamic State (IS) group, according to officials. At a news briefing in Washington on Thursday, they said the Taliban could also benefit from the two $10 million reward offers, announced on Wednesday, for catching the Khorasan …

WASHINGTON: The United States has refused to give any “specific reaction” to Islamabad’s decision to start a dialogue with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) adding that the two countries still had “alignment of interest” on Afghanistan. US media reports noted that on Monday Pakistan and the TTP agreed on a “complete cease-fire” as the two sides negotiated an end to …

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Monday that the weekend talks with the Taliban were candid and professional. During the weekend, the Biden administration held their first face-to-face meeting with the Taliban in Doha since the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in late August. On Monday, a State Department official told journalists in Washington that on Oct 9 and 10, an …

FRANKFURT: Russia recently sent fighter jets to Libya to support Russian mercenaries fighting for strongman Khalifa Haftar in the long-running conflict, the US military said on Tuesday. The warplanes left Russia and first stopped in Syria, where they “were repainted to camouflage their Russian origin” before arriving in Libya, said the US military command for Africa (Africom) in a statement. …