US Business

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday visited the newly liberated city of Kherson in southern Ukraine after Russian forces retreated from the strategic hub near the Black Sea.

The Ukrainian presidency distributed images of him singing the national anthem, holding his hand over his chest as the country’s blue and yellow flag was hoisted next to the city’s main administrative building.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman denied, however, that the Ukrainian leader’s visit had any impact on the status of the Kherson region, which Moscow formally annexed into Russia at a ceremony last month.

“It’s important to be here,” Zelensky told reporters in the city as his office released images of him meeting Kherson residents and military officials.

“We should speak here… support the people so that they feel that we are not just talking, not just making promises but really returning and really raising our flag,” he added.

Late Sunday, Zelensky said Ukrainian forces found evidence of hundreds of new “war crimes” carried out by Russian occupiers in Kherson.

His subsequent visit came just days after Ukrainian troops entered the city — the Kherson region’s administrative centre — after Russia pulled back its forces on Friday.

– Kremlin dismissive –

The takeover by Ukrainian troops is the latest in a string of setbacks for the Kremlin, which invaded Ukraine on February 24 hoping for a lightning takeover and to topple the government in days.

But Russian troops failed to capture the capital Kyiv and have since been pushed back from large portions of territory in the south and east.

Ukrainians in the liberated city expressed relief at the end of months of occupation.

“I am extremely happy we’re finally free,” Andriy, 33, a philosophy student, told AFP.

“We have no electricity in the city, no water, no central heating, no mobile signal, no internet connection — but we have no Russians,” he said.

The city of Kherson was the first major urban hub to fall to Russian forces and the only regional capital Moscow’s troops gained control over.

Its recapture opens a gateway for Ukraine to the entire Kherson region, with access to both the Black Sea in the west and the Sea of Azov in the east.

The region was one of four that the Kremlin announced in September were annexed and part of Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to use all available means to defend them from Ukrainian forces. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday he would not comment on Zelensky’s visit to Kherson but added: “this territory is part of the Russian Federation.”

– ‘Very scared’ –

A self-described partisan in Kherson told AFP after the Russian withdrawal that he and his friends had spent months walking the streets observing the Russians’ every move.

“You watch closely and then come home and write it all down. And then you send the information and hide absolutely everything — phones, papers, clothes, everything,” 19-year-old aspiring musician named Volodymyr Timor said.

“We reported everything — where their equipment and ammunition sites were, where they slept and where they went out drinking,” Timor said.

Ukraine’s forces could then use the coordinates to target strikes during a counteroffensive that has seen Russia cede roughly half the land it seized in the first weeks of war.

“I was scared,” the imposing but soft-spoken guitarist said of the prospect of being caught and possibly killed.

“Believe me, I was very scared.”

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s forces were posting gains in the eastern region of Lugansk, the military and local officials said Monday.

The eastern industrial region has been held by Russian-supported separatists since 2014 but Kyiv’s forces have slowly been clawing back territory there.

“Twelve towns and villages have been liberated by the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the occupiers in the Lugansk region,” the regional governor announced on social media without specifying when the towns had been captured.

Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping voiced hope Monday that the United States and China can manage growing differences and avoid conflict as they met for the first time in more than three years.

Xi and Biden shook hands in front of the two nations’ flags before starting a long-awaited sit down on the Indonesian resort of Bali ahead of a Group of 20 summit, following months of tension over Taiwan and other issues.

Biden, sitting across from Xi at facing tables, said that Beijing and Washington “share responsibility” to show the world that they can “manage our differences, prevent competition from becoming conflict.”

Xi, China’s most powerful leader in decades who is fresh from securing a norm-breaking third term, told Biden that the world has “come to a crossroads”.

“The world expects that China and the United States will properly handle the relationship,” Xi told him.

Despite the upbeat public statements, both nations are increasingly suspicious of each other, with the United States fearing that China has stepped up a timeline for seizing Taiwan.

US officials said ahead of the meeting that Biden hoped to set up “guardrails” in the relationship with China and to assess how to avoid “red lines” that could push the world’s two largest economies into conflict. 

The most sensitive issue is Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by China.

The United States has been stepping up support for Taiwan, while China has ramped up its threats to seize control of the island. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August, China reacted by staging unprecedented military drills.

On the eve of his talks with Xi, Biden met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Cambodia, with the three leaders jointly calling for “peace and stability” on the Taiwan Strait. 

Biden is also expected to push China to rein in ally North Korea after a record-breaking spate of missile tests has raised fears that Pyongyang will soon carry out its seventh nuclear test.

– First in-person exchange –

Xi is paying only his second overseas visit since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and will meet a number of key leaders.

He will hold the first formal sitdown with an Australian leader since 2017, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced, following a concerted pressure campaign by Beijing against the close US ally. 

Xi’s last in-person meeting with a US president was in 2019 with Donald Trump, who along with Biden identified China as a top international concern and the only potential challenger to US primacy on the world stage. 

And though the meeting is the first time Xi and Biden have met as presidents, the pair have an unusually long history together. 

By Biden’s estimation, he spent 67 hours as vice president in person with Xi including on a 2011 trip to China aimed at better understanding China’s then-leader-in-waiting, and a 2017 meeting in the final days of Barack Obama’s administration.

Since entering the White House, Biden has spoken virtually five times with Xi but told him Monday there was “no substitute” for face-to-face discussions.

– Absent Putin –

Though he is engaging Xi, Biden has refused since the invasion of Ukraine to deal directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is conspicuously absent from the Bali summit.

The Kremlin cited scheduling issues and has instead sent longtime foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who arrived Sunday evening.

Lavrov, 72, denied reports that he was receiving treatment at a Bali hospital, telling Tass news agency that he was in his hotel preparing for the summit. The top diplomat underwent brief health checks on Sunday and Monday, according to an Indonesian health ministry official.

Lavrov’s presence has thrown into question a customary G20 group photo and joint statement, with Russia sure to reject any explicit calls to end its invasion of Ukraine.

Western leaders hope the G20 summit will step up pressure on Russia to renew a UN-backed deal expiring Saturday to allow grain shipments from Ukraine, a major food exporter to the developing world.

China, despite rhetorical support for Russia, has not supplied weapons for the war in Ukraine, with Moscow obliged to rely on Iran and North Korea, according to US officials.

“I think there is undeniably some discomfort in Beijing about what we’ve seen in terms of reckless rhetoric and activity on the part of Russia,” a US official said hours before the Xi-Biden talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — invited as a compromise with host Indonesia — will address the summit by videoconference, a day after a triumphant visit to Kherson, a key city taken back from Russian forces.

US President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping meet in Bali on Monday with Washington hoping to set “guardrails” for relations between the rivals and Beijing looking to put ties “back on track”.

The superpower sitdown, on the sidelines of the G20 summit, will be the pair’s first face-to-face since Biden took office and comes with the world’s two largest economies vying for international primacy.

Xi arrived in Bali on Monday afternoon, on only his second overseas trip since the pandemic, after a visit to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in September.

Rivalry between the world’s top two economies has intensified sharply as Beijing has become more powerful and more assertive about replacing the US-led order that has prevailed since World War II.

Biden has said the meeting should establish each country’s “red lines”, and the overarching goal will be setting “guardrails” and “clear rules of the road”, a senior White House official told reporters hours before the summit.

“We do all of that to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict.”

Biden is expected to push China to rein in ally North Korea after a record-breaking spate of missile tests and fears Pyongyang will soon carry out its seventh nuclear test.

Xi and Biden have spoken by videoconference five times since the US leader took office but the Chinese president’s last in-person US summit was with Donald Trump in 2019.

Beijing wants Washington to “work together with China”, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Monday.

She called for the United States to “appropriately keep differences in check, promote mutually beneficial cooperation and avoid misunderstandings and misjudgements in order to push US-China relations back on track for healthy and stable development.” 

Xi arrives buoyed by securing a landmark third term in office, cementing him as the most powerful Chinese leader for generations.

Biden meanwhile has been bolstered by his Democratic Party’s better-than-expected showing in midterm elections.

He won’t be the only leader meeting Xi, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese slated to hold talks Tuesday that will be the first formal sitdown between leaders of the two countries since 2017.

“There are no preconditions on this discussion. I am looking forward to having constructive dialogue,” Albanese told reporters on arrival in Bali Monday.

– Putin staying away –

The G20 summit opens on Tuesday and comes with food and fuel prices spiking worldwide, Ukraine mired in conflict and the renewed threat of nuclear war casting a menacing pall.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is staying away, and has instead sent veteran foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.

Officially, neither the war in Ukraine, nor Putin’s dark threats to use nuclear weapons are on the summit agenda, but the conflict will dominate discussions.

Soaring energy and food prices have hit richer and poorer G20 members alike –- and both are directly fuelled by Putin’s war.

On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said an end to the conflict was “a moral imperative and the single best thing we can do for the global economy”.

Russia will also be under pressure to extend a deal allowing Ukrainian grain shipments through the Black Sea when the agreement expires on November 19.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will urge the agreement be renewed and call for “a G20-wide commitment never to weaponise food production and distribution”, Downing Street said.

– ‘Never been this complex’ –

At a minimum, Biden and his allies would also like to see the G20 make it clear to Putin that nuclear war is unacceptable.

But even a clear statement on this issue from the grouping is likely to be blocked by a mixture of Russian opposition and Chinese unwillingness to break ranks with its ally in Moscow or give Washington a win.

The G20 has always been more comfortable discussing finance and economics than security and Moscow would like it to stay that way.

“We categorically reject the politicisation of the G20,” the Russian foreign ministry said Sunday, offering a taste of what leaders might hear from the famously unbending Lavrov.

G20 ministerial meetings leading to the summit have failed to agree a final joint communique and Indonesian officials said Monday it remained a “work in progress” and a “main goal” for the summit.

“Honestly, I think the global situation has never been this complex,” Indonesian government minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said Sunday.

“If eventually (the G20) leaders do not produce a communique, that’s that, it’s OK.”

US President Joe Biden meets China’s Xi Jinping in Bali on Monday hoping to set “guardrails” for relations between the world’s two largest economies as they vie for international primacy.

The US-China superpower sitdown, on the sidelines of the G20 summit, will be the first face-to-face between the pair since Biden took office.

Xi arrived in Bali on Monday afternoon, on only his second overseas trip since the pandemic, after a visit to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in September.

Rivalry between the world’s top two economies has intensified sharply as Beijing has become more powerful and more assertive about replacing the US-led order that has prevailed since World War II.

Biden has said the meeting should establish each country’s “red lines”, and the overarching goal will be setting “guardrails” and “clear rules of the road”, a senior White House official told reporters hours before the summit.

“We do all of that to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict.”

Biden is expected to push China to rein in ally North Korea after a record-breaking spate of missile tests raised fears Pyongyang will soon carry out its seventh nuclear test.

Xi and Biden have spoken by videoconference five times since the US leader took office but the Chinese president’s last in-person US summit was with Donald Trump in 2019. 

He arrives buoyed by securing a landmark third term in office, cementing him as the most powerful Chinese leader for generations.

Biden meanwhile has been bolstered by his Democratic Party’s better-than-expected showing in midterm elections in which they retained control of the US Senate, although he remains vulnerable in domestic politics.

Biden won’t be the only leader meeting Xi, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese slated to hold talks Tuesday that will be the first formal sitdown between leaders of the two countries since 2017.

“There are no preconditions on this discussion. I am looking forward to having constructive dialogue,” he told reporters on arrival in Bali Monday.

– Putin staying away –

The G20 summit opens on Tuesday and comes with food and fuel prices spiking worldwide, Ukraine mired in conflict and the renewed threat of nuclear war casting a menacing pall.

There will be one conspicuous absence around the table — Russian President Vladimir Putin.

His nine-month-old invasion of Ukraine has made the trip to Bali logistically difficult and politically fraught, and Putin has instead elected to send veteran foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.

Officially, neither the war in Ukraine, nor Putin’s dark threats to use nuclear weapons are on the summit agenda.

But while the ex-KGB man will not be at the summit table, his war will certainly be on the menu.

Soaring energy and food prices have hit richer and poorer G20 members alike –- and both are directly fuelled by the conflict.

On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said an end to the conflict was “a moral imperative and the single best thing we can do for the global economy”.

Russia will be under pressure to extend a deal allowing Ukrainian grain and fertiliser shipments through the Black Sea when the current agreement expires on November 19.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will urge the agreement be renewed and call for “a G20-wide commitment never to weaponise food production and distribution,” Downing Street said.

– ‘Never been this complex’ –

At a minimum, Biden and his allies would also like to see the G20 make it clear to Putin that nuclear war is unacceptable.

But a clear statement on the issue from the grouping is likely to be blocked by a mixture of Russian opposition and Chinese unwillingness to break ranks with its ally in Moscow or give Washington a win.

The G20 has always been more comfortable discussing finance and economics than security and Moscow would like it to stay that way.

“We categorically reject the politicisation of the G20,” the Russian foreign ministry said Sunday, offering a taste of what leaders might hear from the famously unbending Lavrov.

G20 ministerial meetings leading to the summit have failed to agree a final joint communique and Indonesian officials said Monday it remained a “work in progress” and a “main goal” for the summit.

“Honestly, I think the global situation has never been this complex,” Indonesian government minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said Sunday.

“If eventually (the G20) leaders do not produce a communique, that’s that, it’s OK.”

Sitting in the dark, wearing a traditional Indonesian batik shirt and surrounded by candles, Elon Musk offered a vision for the future that includes aliens, deep tunnels and rocket tourism.

The seemingly disembodied billionaire Twitter owner appeared by video link on Monday to address business leaders in Bali on the sidelines of the G20 summit, only his face and hands visible on an otherwise black screen.

“We had a power outage three minutes before this call. That’s why I’m entirely in the dark,” he told Indonesian tycoon-cum-moderator Anindya Bakrie.

Musk was asked why he had not travelled to the tropical Indonesian island and the new Twitter boss joked that his “workload has recently increased quite a lot” after his takeover of the social media giant.

He had little else to say about his controversial acquisition, which has included firing thousands of employees and introducing a fee for verification. He supported more video on Twitter and efforts to monetise content for creators.

Twitter aside, the conversation turned instead to tunnels dug deep underground to battle congestion, rocket travel across the world in less than an hour and discovering extra-terrestrial life in space.

“Maybe we will find alien civilisations or discover civilisations that existed millions of years ago,” he said.

“I think that would be incredibly interesting, to go out there and explore the galaxy.”

The chief of electric carmaker Tesla then waxed lyrical about the benefits of tunnels over flying cars to battle gridlocked traffic, saying cars “will fall on your head” and would be bad for privacy.

“Electric vehicles and tunnels are absolutely an answer to the worst possible congestion of any city, because you can go as many layers deep as you like until the congestion is addressed,” he said.

Aside from his “bullish” view on Indonesia’s future as a developing nation, the conversation largely stayed on his quirky and bold outlook for the future of Earth.

Jakarta has invited Musk to use Indonesia as a launch site for his SpaceX rocket, pointing out the benefits of a location next to the equator.

But Musk said he wants to see rocket platforms across the world that would allow people to travel “to the complete other side of the world” at 20 times the speed of sound.

“I think this would really open up the world if you could travel anywhere in the world in less than an hour,” he said.

But for all his bold dreams about the future, the electric energy, space discovery and social media entrepreneur could not hide his amusement by the fact that even he is answerable to the planet’s energy whims.

“I just look at this video and it’s so bizarre. I’m sitting here in the dark surrounded by candles,” he said.

“This is the funniest thing.”