Lili Bayer - The Japan Times

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Lili Bayer

National flags flutter at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 2. The firing of Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee, is the latest to rock the Pentagon.

WORLD / Politics

Apr 8, 2025

U.S. admiral at NATO fired in expanding national security purge

The firing of Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee, is the latest to rock the Pentagon.

Ukrainian troops fire a mortar toward Russian troops at a front line near the town of Chasiv Yar, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on Sunday.

WORLD / Politics

Mar 21, 2025

EU leaders vow to continue backing Ukraine, but make no concrete pledge

European Union leaders said on Thursday that they will continue to support Ukraine, but they did not immediately endorse a call by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to provide at least €5 billion ($5.42 billion) for artillery ammunition purchases.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas presents the white paper on the future of European defense, in Brussels on Wednesday.

WORLD / Politics

Mar 20, 2025

EU proposes joint defense push amid Russia fears and U.S. worries

EU countries have already begun boosting their own defenses in response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Antonio Costa, president of the European Council (left), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, arrive for a special European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

WORLD / Politics

Mar 7, 2025

EU leaders agree on defense surge and support Zelenskyy after U.S. aid freeze

The European Union's defense summit in Brussels took place amid fears that Russia, emboldened by its war in Ukraine, may attack an EU country next.

U.S. Army soldiers with the NATO multinational battle group on the territory of Bulgaria stand in formation with a U.S. flag and an armored vehicle during a visit by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the Novo Selo military ground near Mokren, Bulgaria, on Dec. 19.

WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS

Jan 11, 2025

NATO won't back Trump's new defense spending target but will raise its sights

A new target is likely to be agreed at a NATO summit in June, but the key questions are what that new target will be and whether it will be enough to satisfy Trump.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha pose for a photograph after signing a memorandum of understanding during a NATO foreign ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday.

WORLD / Politics

Dec 4, 2024

Ukraine pushes for NATO membership as allies sidestep call for invite

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said an invitation would remove one of Russia's main arguments for waging its war: preventing its entry into the alliance.

An American-made multiple launch rocket system, or MLRS, is used to launch a missile by Ukrainian soldiers in eastern Ukraine on March 9, 2023.

WORLD / Politics

Nov 19, 2024

Are long-range strikes against Russia too late to save Ukraine?

They could help Kyiv defend its foothold in Russian territory seized as leverage in any war talks, but may come too late to change the course of the war, analysts say.

Ukrainian service members rest in a dugout near the front-line city of Toretsk, Ukraine, on Friday.

WORLD / Politics

Oct 30, 2024

As U.S. election nears, Europe worries over impact on Ukraine war and NATO

A Donald Trump win remains a concern given his strong criticism of the military alliance and his ambivalent view of Kyiv's fight against Russia's invasion.

Protesters, including supporters of Georgia's opposition parties, hold a rally to dispute the result of a recent parliamentary election won by the ruling Georgian Dream party, in Tbilisi, Georgia on Monday.

WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS

Oct 29, 2024

Georgia and Moldova votes show challenges of EU enlargement push

The EU has been making a renewed push to bring in new members since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.

Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.

By Tomoko Otake

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