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U.S. warns Chinese firms helping Russia against potential Ukraine sanctions
The United States warned Chinese firms on Thursday they would face consequences if they sought to evade any export controls imposed on Moscow in the event of Russia invading Ukraine.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price made the remark after China’s Foreign Ministry said China and Russia had coordinated their positions on Ukraine during a meeting between their foreign ministers in Beijing on Thursday.
“We have an array of tools that we can deploy if we see foreign companies, including those in China, doing their best to backfill U.S. export control actions, to evade them, to get around them,” Price told a regular news briefing.
Western countries say any invasion of Ukraine by Russia would bring sanctions on Moscow and Washington has said it is prepared to impose financial sanctions as well as export-control measures.
White House national security official Peter Harrell said on Wednesday that Washington was working on the export-control measures with allies in Asia, including Japan and South Korea.
Price said Russia should know that a closer relationship with Beijing would not make up for the consequences imposed in response to an invasion.
“If Russia thinks that it will be in a position … to mitigate some of those consequences, by a closer relationship with (China), that is not the case. It will actually make the Russian economy, in many ways, more brittle,” he said.
“If you deny yourself the ability to transact with the West, to import with the West, from Europe, from the United States, you are going to significantly degrade your productive capacity and your innovative potential.”
Price said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi had an extended discussion on potential implications of Russian action against Ukraine in a phone call last week.
Asked to comment on Price’s remarks, Liu Pengyu, the spokesman for China’s Washington embassy, replied: “We have noted relevant reports. Creating tensions does no good to easing the Ukraine crisis, but only adds more uncertainties to the region and the whole world. China is firmly opposed to this.”
China’s foreign ministry earlier said Wang met with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and expressed “understanding and support” for Russia’s position on security regarding Russia’s relationship with the United States and NATO.
It said both sides coordinated their positions on regional issues of common concern, such as Ukraine, Afghanistan and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
The U.N. Security Council is due to meet on Friday at the request of the United States and Britain after North Korea’s launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile last weekend.
The United States has been pushing for more international sanctions on North Korea over a recent spate of missile tests, but last month China and Russia delayed a U.S. bid to impose U.N. sanctions on five North Koreans linked to their country’s weapons programs.
Lavrov is in Beijing with President Vladimir Putin, who will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday before attending the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
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Ariana Afghan Airlines ranks seventh among 45 Central Asian airlines
Ariana Afghan Airlines has ranked seventh among 45 airlines in Central Asia in Skytrax’s 2026 rankings.
Company officials say Ariana Afghan ranked eighth on the list in 2025, but moved up one place this year following improvements in service quality and the expansion of its operations.
According to the officials, in 2026 the airline met criteria including service quality, flight safety, professional cabin crew, and experience in the aviation sector, placing it among the top 10 airlines in Central Asia.
Skytrax is an international organization that evaluates and ranks the quality of services in the aviation industry and airlines, assessing and ranking carriers annually based on specific criteria.
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Silk Road highway in Wakhan corridor now reaches the China border
The road is expected to be officially opened for use in the near future, potentially improving connectivity through the remote Wakhan Corridor.
The construction of the Silk Road Highway in Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor has been fully completed after five years of work, officials in Badakhshan province said.
Amanullah Chehra, head of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in Badakhshan, said the 121.13-kilometre road begins in the Barghil area and stretches to Bzai Gonbad near the Chinese border.
According to officials, the road is between 7 and 10 metres wide and includes three major bridges, each measuring approximately 20 to 22 metres in length. Numerous smaller drainage structures have also been built along the route to facilitate the flow of water.
The road is expected to be officially opened for use in the near future, potentially improving connectivity through the remote Wakhan Corridor.
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Refugees minister, UNAMA deputy discuss challenges facing returnees
Afghanistan’s Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, met on Wednesday with Bruno Lemarquis, UNAMA’s Deputy Head for Humanitarian Affairs, to discuss the situation of Afghan returnees and humanitarian assistance.
The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation said Lemarquis briefed the minister on assessments conducted by UN agencies during visits to several provinces to identify the needs of returnee families.
Lemarquis said joint cooperation between UN agencies and the Islamic Emirate is needed to support and resettle returnees. He added that UN agencies are currently assisting thousands of families and called for the expansion of humanitarian assistance.
He also said the international community should pay greater attention to the needs of Afghans, adding that UNAMA is ready to cooperate in addressing challenges facing returnees.
Abdul Kabir welcomed UNAMA’s support and thanked the United Nations for its assistance to Afghans. He said various government institutions have been tasked with addressing returnees’ needs.
The minister also called on aid organizations to continue supporting returnee families, saying a program to resettle thousands of internally displaced families is also underway.
Kabir further said the necessary facilities have been provided for UN agencies to operate and that the Islamic Emirate welcomes UNAMA’s humanitarian cooperation.
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