Both Russia and China are interested in establishing relations with the United States, US President Donald Trump said on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle on Tuesday.
Asked by the host if it was possible to believe that Putin really wants this, while he is influenced by “his close friend, President Xi of China,” Trump replied that “we have our own discussions with President Xi of China, and he also wants to make a deal and we want to make a deal with him. And we will do that.”
Trump blamed the Barack Obama administration for the rapprochement between Russia and China.
“Obama really forced them together through energy and bad energy policy. And when he did so many different things, he forced (them) into a marriage that should never have happened. Because it’s unnatural. And for one reason: Russia has a huge territory, a lot of land, and China doesn’t have enough land. Russia has a much smaller population than China. And it’s natural, it’s always been a natural hostile situation,” Trump said.
“Maybe they’re friendly now, but we’re going to be friendly with both of them. I think we will be friendly with both. China desperately needs us in terms of trade, but we have to equalize the deficit,” he added.
“I think President Xi would like to reach an agreement, and I think Russia would like to reach an agreement with the United States,” Trump summarized.
India imported $2.338 billion worth of gold in February 2025, according to the country’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This is 62% less than in February last year and 13% less than in January this year.
In general, for 2 months of the year, gold imports to India amounted to $5.025 billion, which is 38% less than the result of the corresponding period last year.
In 2024, according to the Ministry, India imported 812 tons of gold worth $58.096 billion. India is one of the largest consumers of gold in the world, producing almost no gold itself.
The first container of Serbian goods was shipped to China on Friday as part of the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries, according to the Serbian government website. The container contains products from local companies such as Pionir, Akov, Fruskogorski Vinograd, Vinarija Aleksić, Nutrino, Nash Med, Zarić Rakija, Budimka, and Damar. The transportation was organized by the Milšped company from Krnoševac, near Stara Pazova.
The Minister of Economy Adriana Mesarović noted that this is the result of the hard work of Serbian entrepreneurs, government agencies and Chinese partners, as well as confirmation of the “steel friendship” between China and Serbia. She emphasized that Chinese retailers, importers and distributors have expressed their willingness to accept Serbian products in a market of 1.4 billion consumers.
Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Ming said that thanks to the Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force on July 1, 2024, Serbia became China’s first partner in Central and Eastern Europe with such an agreement. He noted that since the agreement came into force, Serbia’s exports to China have increased by 53.7%, and more and more Serbian wines and dairy products are appearing on Chinese tables.
The free trade agreement covers 10,412 Serbian and 8,930 Chinese products. From the first day of application, 60% of the goods were exempted from duties, and over the next five to ten years, another 30% of products will be exempted from customs duties.
Source: https://t.me/relocationrs/633
Dynamics of changes in discount rate of NBU – from 2013 to 2024
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
Italy and Spain have made it clear that they are not ready to support the European Union’s proposal to allocate around EUR 40 billion in military aid to Ukraine this year, with each country contributing according to the size of its economy, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
Following a meeting on Monday of foreign ministers from the 27 EU member states in Brussels, Kallas said her proposal had “broad political support” and discussions were now moving to the details.
Diplomats said the proposal has some support from northern and eastern European countries. But some southern European capitals were more reticent, reflecting a division between those geographically closer to Russia, which have given more aid to Ukraine, and those farther away, which have given less, as a percentage of their economies.
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy think tank, Estonia, Denmark and Lithuania lead Europe in this area, allocating more than 2 percent of their GDP to aid Kiev between January 2022 and December 2024. At the same time, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus are among those who have allocated the least, committing less than 0.5% of their GDP.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, ministers from Italy and Spain – the EU’s third and fourth largest economies – said it was too early to take a final position on the proposal.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the proposal would need to be discussed in detail in light of upcoming events. “We are waiting for a phone call between Trump and Putin to see if there will be any steps forward to achieve a ceasefire,” he said, adding that Italy must also find money to increase its own defense spending. “There are many expenses that need to be addressed,” he added.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said: “We will see how the debate goes, but there is no decision on this issue yet.”
Albares said Spain had already pledged 1 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine this year. He said Madrid did not have to “wait for the High Representative (Callas – IF-U) to make any proposal” to show that Kiev could count on his support.
China’s BYD Co. plans to choose a country to build a third European plant within seven to eight months, the company’s special adviser for Europe said Tuesday.
“We are not ruling out any options and are now considering any country,” Alfredo Altavilla said, speaking at an auto show in Milan.
“The site selection process for the third plant has already started and we expect to finalize it within seven to eight months,” he added.
BYD is set to start production at an assembly plant in Hungary in October, while the company’s plant in Turkey is due to start operations in March 2026. The combined production capacity of these two plants will be up to 500,000 cars per year.
Earlier, there were media reports that BYD was considering Germany for a new assembly facility, in part because the country spoke out against the imposition of duties on Chinese car imports last year.
Altavilla denied these speculations, calling them devoid of logic. At the same time, he emphasized that a decision has not yet been made.
He noted that the company is guided by several criteria, including the competitiveness of conditions for battery and car production. At the same time, Altavilla added that it is hard to imagine BYD building a plant in a country that treats Chinese cars poorly.
