ISTANBUL — A delegation from one of Turkey’s biggest pro-Kurdish political parties met a leading figure of the Kurdish movement in prison Saturday, the latest step in a tentative process to end the country’s 40-year conflict, the party said. 

Three senior figures from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) met the party’s former co-chairperson, Selahattin Demirtas, at Edirne prison near the Greek border. 

The meeting with Demirtas — jailed in 2016 on terrorism charges that most observers, including the European Court of Human Rights, have labelled politically motivated — took place two weeks after DEM members met Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned head of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). 

While the PKK has led an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since the 1980s, the DEM is the latest party representing left-leaning Kurdish nationalism. Both DEM and its predecessors have faced state measures largely condemned as repression, including the jailing of elected officials and the banning of parties. 

In a statement released on social media after the meeting, Demirtas called on all sides to “focus on a common future where everyone, all of us, will win.” 

Demirtas credited Ocalan with raising the chance that the PKK could lay down its arms. Ocalan has been jailed on Imrali island in the Sea of Marmara since 1999 for treason over his leadership of the PKK, considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and most Western states. 

Demirtas led the DEM between 2014 and 2018, when it was known as the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and he is still widely admired. He said that despite “good intentions,” it was necessary for “concrete steps that inspire confidence … to be taken quickly.” 

One of the DEM delegation, Ahmet Turk, said: “I believe that Turks need Kurds and Kurds need Turks. Our wish is for Turkey to come to a point where it can build democracy in the Middle East.” 

The armed conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state, which started in August 1984 and has claimed tens of thousands of lives, has seen several failed attempts at peace. 

Despite being imprisoned for a quarter of a century, Ocalan remains central to any chance of success due to his ongoing popularity among many of Turkey’s Kurds. In a statement released on December 29, he signaled his willingness to “contribute positively” to renewed efforts. 

Meanwhile, in an address Saturday to ruling party supporters in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the Kurdish-majority southeast, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the disbandment of the PKK and the surrender of its weapons. 

This would allow DEM “the opportunity to develop itself, strengthening our internal front against the increasing conflicts in our region, in short, closing the half-century-old separatist terror bracket and consigning it to history … forever,” he said in televised comments. 

The latest drive for peace came when Devlet Bahceli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party and a close ally of Erdogan, surprised everyone in October when he suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole if he renounced violence and disbanded the PKK. 

Erdogan offered tacit support for Bahceli’s suggestion a week later, and Ocalan said he was ready to work for peace, in a message conveyed by his nephew. 
…

MOSCOW — Ukraine launched drone attacks across several regions of Russia, striking two residential houses in the Tambov region and injuring at least three people, Russia said on Saturday.

The regional head, Evgeny Pervyshov, said on the Telegram messaging app people were treated for injuries resulting from shattered windows as drones hit two houses in the town of Kotovsk, about 480 kilometers southeast of Moscow.

He said the buildings were only slightly damaged, the inhabitants were offered temporary housing, and an evacuation was not required.

“Three (people) had cuts from fragments of broken windows, another four complained of high blood pressure,” he said.

Separately, Russia’s defense ministry said it intercepted and destroyed 85 Ukrainian drones overnight in several regions of the country, including 31 drones over the Black Sea, 16 each in the Voronezh and Krasnodar regions and 14 over the Azov Sea.

Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said airports in the cities of Kazan, Nizhnekamsk and Ulyanovsk in the Volga River regions temporarily suspended flights.

A flight suspension in the city of Saratov was also later declared to ensure safety.

Kyiv’s air force said in a statement early on Saturday that Russia launched 74 drones at Ukraine overnight, adding it had downed 47 of them, while 27 others disappeared from radars without reaching their targets.

Both sides in the Ukraine conflict have turned cheap commercial drones into deadly weapons and also increased their production.

Russian and Ukrainian soldiers alike have reported a visceral fear of drones, and both sides have used video footage of fatal drone strikes in their propaganda.

On Friday, Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out a missile strike on a supermarket in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. 
…

BERLIN — Germany was racing Saturday to secure a heavily loaded tanker stranded off its northern coast, towing the stricken ship it said was part of Russia’s sanctions-busting “shadow fleet” away from shore to avert an oil spill.

The 274-meter-long Eventin was sailing from Russia to Egypt with almost 100,000 tons of oil on board when its engine failed and it lost the ability to maneuver, according to Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies.

As the vessel drifted in coastal waters Friday, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock slammed Russia’s use of “dilapidated oil tankers” to avoid sanctions on its oil exports, calling it a threat to European security.

Three tugs have linked up with the Eventin and are attempting to steer it northeast, away from the coast and toward a “safer” area where there is “more sea space,” the command said.

It said it had taken “safety measures” due to rough seas, with 2.5-meter-high waves and strengthening wind gusts.

The ship was intercepted off the island of Ruegen, having come within 14 kilometers of the coast.

No oil leaks were detected by several surveillance overflights, authorities said Friday, and responders have passed radios and flashlights to the stranded crew.

It will take around eight hours to pull the Eventin roughly 25 kilometers to safer waters northeast of Cape Arkona, the command said early Saturday, adding they expected it to arrive by mid-morning.

‘Rusty tankers’

Although the tanker was navigating under the Panamanian flag, the German foreign ministry linked it to Russia’s sanctions-busting “shadow fleet.”

Baerbock said that “by ruthlessly deploying a fleet of rusty tankers, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is not only circumventing the sanctions, but is also willingly accepting that tourism on the Baltic Sea will come to a standstill” in the event of an accident.

Following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Western countries have hit Russia’s oil industry with an embargo and banned the provision of services to ships carrying oil by sea.

In response, Russia has relied on tankers with opaque ownership or without proper insurance to continue lucrative oil exports.

The number of ships in the “shadow fleet” has exploded since the start of the war in Ukraine, according to U.S. think tank the Atlantic Council.

In addition to direct action against Russia’s oil industry, Western countries have moved to sanction individual ships thought to be in the shadow fleet.

The European Union has so far sanctioned over 70 ships thought to be ferrying Russian oil.

The United States and Britain on Friday moved to impose restrictions on around 180 more ships in the shadow fleet. 
…

Russia accused Ukraine of conducting a deadly missile strike Friday on a supermarket in the Moscow-controlled city of Donetsk, while Kyiv reported a massive wave of Russian drone attacks on several regions and fierce fighting near the strategic logistics hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine.

The fighting on Friday came a day after the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Ramstein, Germany, where Kyiv’s allies vowed no letup in aid to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses amid Moscow’s relentless assaults, including attacks on civilian and infrastructure sites.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who traveled to Rome following the Ramstein gathering, also praised new actions by the United States and Britain to sanction Russia’s oil producers, a major liquefied natural gas project, and more than 100 tankers in its “shadow fleet” as the West looks to deprive Moscow of funds needed to carry on its war.

Russian state RIA news agency said investigators were looking into the supermarket attack early Friday, claiming a U.S.-supplied HIMARS missile hit the supermarket, killing two people, in the occupied city.

Video on social media, which has been verified by RFE/RL, appears to show a massive explosion in an area where a small market is located.

Ukrainian officials have not commented on the Russian accusation.

The Ukrainian Air Force, meanwhile, said Russia attacked Ukraine with 72 Shahed-type strike drones in the Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskiy, Vinnytsia and Kherson regions.

In Kyiv, bright flashes and explosions were seen as defense systems intercepted several drones in the sky. No deaths were reported, though some damage from debris was seen at a high-rise residential building, military officials said.

The Ukrainian General Staff said several small towns east of Pokrovsk and an important highway a few kilometers south of the area had been the site of intense battles on Friday.

Pokrovsk has been the target of Russia’s brutal drive in recent months, mainly destroying the city with a prewar population of about 64,000 people.

As intense attacks and fighting on the front lines continue, diplomatic efforts to stop the conflict appear to be picking up momentum.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it expects Kyiv to have high-level talks with the White House once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

“We are waiting for a meeting between our presidents because for us the main thing is to work together with America. … We are preparing for contacts at the highest and high levels immediately after the inauguration,” ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhiy said.

The Kremlin said it remains willing to meet with Trump and that there has been progress in setting up a meeting after the new president is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

“No conditions are required for this, just a mutual desire and political will to conduct a dialogue and resolve existing problems through dialogue is required,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow a day after Trump said a meeting was being set up between him and President Vladimir Putin, though he laid out no timeline.

At Ramstein, hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid was pledged — including $500 million from Washington as part of the outgoing President Joe Biden’s goal of sending as much support as possible before Trump returns to office.

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, thanked Washington and London for their “synchronized action” in sanctioning Russian energy firms and ships operating the Kremlin’s so-called “shadow fleet” of sanctions-busting vessels in the Baltic Sea — which are also suspected of sabotaging communications and electrical cables in the body of water. 
…

GENEVA — The World Meteorlogical Organization says that preventive action cannot avert natural disasters such as the wildfires raging across Los Angeles, but that it can help save lives and mitigate loss of property.

“Land management and prevention, regular clearing of underbrush play a key role in fire management, and evacuation plans are important in saving lives,” the WMO said Friday. “These are all part of effective early warning systems.”

In a briefing to journalists in Geneva, Claire Nullis, a WMO spokesperson, stressed the importance of preparing adequate evacuation plans and early warning systems to prevent some of the worst impacts from a natural disaster.

While acknowledging the staggering losses from the devastating wildfires sweeping across parts of Los Angeles in the United States this week, she said “The early warnings have, in this instance, been very, very good.

“You know, people have been evacuated. It has been impossible to save houses, and the loss of life is still too high, but it has been kept to a relative minimum,” she said.

Media reports say at least 10 people have been killed in this week’s Southern California wildfires, although more bodies are expected to be found once the fires have been contained and searchers can go through the debris.

More than 10,000 structures reportedly have burned, and 180,000 people are under evacuation orders.

While California is no stranger to wildfires, the WMO calls this catastrophic event “extraordinary” in that it is affecting one of the largest cities in the United States.

The WMO said that last year’s rainy season for the Los Angeles area as a whole was slightly above normal, but so far, this year it has been dry.

“The big compounding factor in this context is the winds. … They cause temperatures to rise, and they cause very low humidity, drying out the ground and vegetation,” Nullis said.

The WMO said destructive wildfires have been made worse by climate change.

“Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States during the last decades,” it said, citing data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The WMO said wildfires require the alignment of a number of factors, including temperature, humidity and the lack of moisture in fuels such as trees, shrubs, grasses and forest debris.

“All these factors have strong direct or indirect ties to climate variability and climate change,” it said.

“Obviously, not every single weather-related disaster is due to climate change,” WMO spokesperson Nullis said. “Nobody would say that. But we get quite clear signals that climate change is exacerbating some of these disasters.”

In addition to the loss of life and destruction of homes and other infrastructure that could total billions of dollars in insured losses, the World Health Organization warns that wildfires can have a significant impact on human morbidity and mortality.

“Wildfire smoke, which is a mixture of air pollutants, of which particulate matter is of major concern as it can be full of PM 2.5. This is a very small particulate matter that gets right down into the lungs, and there certainly is a lot of it.” said Dr. Margaret Harris, a WHO spokesperson.

“A lot of it is associated with premature death in the general population,” she said. “It can cause and exacerbate diseases of lung, heart, brain, the nervous system” and other illnesses.

“It has been shown to lead to cognitive impairment and actually damage your intellectual capacity and lead to memory loss,” she said, adding that firefighters and emergency response workers “are most at risk from exposure to smoke.”

The WHO estimates 4.2 million deaths globally are linked to ambient or outdoor air pollution, with 99% of the global population exposed to air pollution levels that exceed the WHO guideline level for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5).

Harris said more research is needed to understand the long-term health effects of wildfire exposure on vulnerable populations, particularly children, older people, pregnant women and the chronically ill.

“We expect that we will see this over and over again if we do not get what we are doing to the planet under control,” she said.

Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization has officially confirmed that 2024 was the hottest year on record, “with a global mean temperature of more than 1.5 degrees above the 1850-1900 average.”

“We have just endured the hottest decade on record, with 2024 topping the list,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, noting that “blazing temperatures in 2024 require trailblazing climate action in 2025.”

“There is still time to avoid the worst of climate catastrophe. But leaders must act now,” he said.
…

The U.S. and Japan Friday imposed new sanctions on Russia, in moves designed to constrain Russia’s ability to continue funding its war on Ukraine.

The U.S. sanctions, imposed through the Treasury Department and announced simultaneously through the State Department and the White House, are aimed at reducing Russia’s revenue from energy production, and target two of Russia’s largest oil producers, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas.

Those sanctioned include more than 200 entities and individuals involved in Russia’s energy sector, including traders of Russian oil, Russia-based oilfield service providers, and Russian energy officials. The U.S. also designated 180 oil-carrying vessels as “blocked property.” Many are part of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” used to covertly transport Russian oil around the world.

In a statement issued by the White House, deputy national security adviser Daleep Singh said, “These measures will collectively drain billions of dollars per month from the Kremlin’s war chest and, in doing so, intensify the costs and risks for Moscow to continue its senseless war.”

Likewise, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi announced Friday that Tokyo is freezing the assets of 33 organizations and 12 individuals, including a North Korean national, under the country’s foreign exchange and foreign trade law.

An additional 53 organizations from Russia, China and other countries became subject to export bans and other measures. The cabinet secretary said Japan was taking the actions in response to North Korea’s support for the Russian war effort and Russia’s use of third nations to avoid previous sanctions.

From his X social media account, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude and called both measures “a significant blow” to Russia’s ability to wage war.

He said Japan’s measures will help “limit Russia’s access to critical microelectronics and [creates] additional obstacles for the production of missiles and drones.” Zelenskyy said the U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil producing sector will disrupt Russia’s entire supply chain.

“Such actions send a clear message: Criminals must pay for their crimes,” Zelenskyy said. “The less revenue Russia earns from oil and other energy resources, the sooner peace will be restored.”

Moscow, naturally, had a different reaction. During a telephone news briefing Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that through the sanctions, the outgoing Biden administration is trying “to leave behind the most toxic legacy possible when it comes to bilateral relations” between Russia and the United States.

Peskov, referring to a new round of military aid approved by the U.S. and its European allies in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Thursday, also accused the outgoing Biden administration of trying to perpetuate the war in Ukraine before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Thursday that the United States will provide an additional $500 million in military aid to Ukraine.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
…

London — Britain’s Treasury chief is travelling to China this weekend to discuss economic and financial cooperation between the countries, as the U.K.’s Labour government seeks to reset strained ties with Beijing.

The Treasury said Friday that Rachel Reeves will travel to Beijing and Shanghai and will meet with her Chinese government counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng.

Reeves’ trip is expected to revive the China-U.K. Economic and Financial Dialogue — annual bilateral talks that have been suspended since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and deteriorating relations in recent years.

A series of spying allegations from both sides, China’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war and a crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony, have soured ties.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, are also in the delegation, according to the Treasury. Representatives from some of Britain’s biggest financial services firms will join the trip.

Officials did not provide details, but media reports have said senior executives from HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered were included.

Reeves’ visit comes after Foreign Secretary David Lammy travelled to China in October and Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil in November.

The meetings form part of a bid by Starmer, who was elected as leader in July, to strengthen political and economic ties with China, the U.K.’s fifth-largest trading partner.

Officials said Starmer wanted a “pragmatic” approach to working with Beijing on global stability, climate change and the transition to clean energy.

But some in the opposition Conservative Party have criticized his stance and said trade ties should not come at the expense of national security and human rights concerns.

British political leaders and intelligence chiefs have warned repeatedly of the security threats that China poses. Calls to tackle the challenge grew louder last month when it emerged that an alleged Chinese spy had cultivated close ties with Prince Andrew and carried out “covert and deceptive activity” for China’s ruling Communist Party, according to officials.

Nevertheless, Lammy told reporters in London on Thursday that “there are many areas of trade that don’t impact on national security.”

He said Reeves “will repeat many of the messages that I took to China.”

“What we’ve said is in this complex relationship with a global superpower, we are guided by three Cs”: challenge, compete and cooperate, for example in areas including health and climate challenges, Lammy added.
…

Russia says it is closely watching the situation with Greenland, following US President-elect Donald Trump’s refusal to rule out military or economic measures to take control of the territory from Denmark. As Henry Ridgwell reports, geopolitical tensions are growing in the Arctic region amid rapid global warming.
Camera: Henry Ridgwell
…

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — Denmark acknowledged Thursday that it had long neglected the defense of Greenland, a vast and strategically important Arctic island – and one that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has called vital for U.S. security.

Trump, who takes office Jan. 20, said this week that U.S. control of Greenland – a sovereign Danish territory – was an “absolute necessity,” and he did not rule out using military or economic action against Denmark to make it happen.

“We have neglected for many years to make the necessary investments in ships and in aircraft that will help monitor our kingdom, and that is what we are now trying to do something about,” Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told journalists.

The U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen said earlier Thursday that the United States had no plans to increase its military presence in Greenland.

“There are no plans to increase the United States’ current military footprint in Greenland,” the spokesperson told Reuters. “We will continue to work closely with Copenhagen and Nuuk [Greenland’s capital] to ensure any proposals meet our common security needs.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said late Thursday that she had asked for a meeting with Trump but did not expect one to happen ahead of his inauguration.

US military presence

Greenland has been controlled by Denmark for centuries, though its 57,000 people now govern their own domestic affairs. Its security and foreign affairs, however, are still handled by Copenhagen.

The U.S. military maintains a permanent presence at the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland’s northwest.

Greenland is crucial for the U.S. military and its ballistic missile early-warning system, since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the island.

“I think that the Americans are quite concerned that Russia could actually launch or initiate a major attack against the United States, and that could be done from the Russian side,” Jens Wenzel at Nordic Defense Analysis told Reuters.

“There is no real monitoring of the airspace in Greenland. It is largely a free-for-all,” he said.

Greenland is already covered by U.S. security guarantees via Denmark’s membership in NATO.

Frederiksen said this week that she could not imagine the United States would use military intervention in Greenland and said it was up to the people of Greenland to decide what they want.

‘Tightrope’

Frederiksen summoned leaders of Denmark’s political parties to a meeting Thursday for a briefing about Trump’s renewed interest. She rebuffed an offer from him in 2019 to buy Greenland.

On Wednesday, Frederiksen hosted Greenland’s leader, Mute Egede, for talks in Copenhagen. Egede favors independence for his homeland and has said it is not for sale.

Egede discussed trade and other issues with the outgoing U.S. ambassador in Copenhagen on Wednesday, the embassy said.

Last month, Trump said he had picked Ken Howery as the new U.S. envoy to Denmark. As a co-founder of PayPal, Howery is considered a member of the group of former workers and executives at the digital finance firm that includes prominent Trump supporters Peter Thiel and Elon Musk.

“They’re walking a tightrope,” said Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard, a Greenland expert at the Danish Institute for International Studies, referring to the Danish and Greenland prime ministers.

“It’s a balance between representing an autonomous territory and representing a sovereign state while still taking the requirements of Denmark’s closest ally seriously,” she said.

Denmark’s European allies France and Germany have responded to Trump’s comments by stressing the inviolability of borders.

British Foreign Minister David Lammy said Thursday that he believed Trump recognized Greenland was part of Denmark and that concerns about Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic lay behind the U.S. president-elect’s remarks.

The Kremlin said Thursday that Moscow was following closely the “dramatic development” on Greenland and that the Arctic fell within Russia’s zone of strategic national interests.

In Greenland, opinions on the island’s future appear divided, with some warmly welcoming Trump’s remarks and others responding skeptically.

Danish lawmakers across the political spectrum have urged Frederiksen, a Social Democrat, to firmly reject any attempt by foreign powers to undermine Greenland’s status.

“The U.S. wants to take over Denmark’s role in Greenland, and the Danish government must say a clear and unequivocal no to that,” former conservative minister Rasmus Jarlov said on X.

Meanwhile, the screenwriter of the hit Danish TV drama series “Borgen,” Adam Price, joked on Instagram that it was becoming “increasingly difficult to write political fiction when real-life politics are becoming more and more extreme.”

“All that’s left is to get some popcorn,” he added.
…

WASHINGTON — Russia’s efforts to obtain China’s help in enhancing artificial intelligence is seen as a bid to challenge America’s lead in the field even as the outgoing Biden administration is expected to impose new export control measures to further curb Beijing’s access to AI chips.

As the new year began, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s state-owned Sberbank, to work with China in researching and developing AI technology, according to the Kremlin.

“The Russian president sees his country in global competition for AI with the United States and has positioned the state resources to try and compete with the U.S. in information and cyberspace – two areas where artificial intelligence is supposed to aid Russia in what they see as Western narratives and influence,” said Samuel Bendett, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

Moscow views Beijing’s success in AI as an example to follow, and its “cooperation with China is viewed as a necessary step towards acquiring artificial intelligence-related skill sets, knowledge and technology,” Bendett told VOA in written comments.

The U.S. currently leads in AI innovation, followed by China, which is falling behind by wide margins, according to a November report by the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. Russia ranks 31st out of 83 countries in AI implementation, innovation and investment, according to U.K.-based Tortoise Media’s Global AI Index.

Response to sanctions

Western sanctions imposed on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have limited the country’s AI development, and Moscow has turned to Beijing to offset the restriction, according to Bendett in his report “The Role of AI in Russia’s Confrontation with the West.”

Sberbank, which Putin instructed to collaborate with China, is under Western sanctions.

It is Russia’s largest bank and leads the country’s AI development efforts.

The outgoing Biden administration is expected to impose a new set of export control measures aimed at further limiting China’s ability to access chips that support AI technology. The new measures could come as early as Friday, according to Bloomberg.

Sberbank CEO German Gref said in 2023 that Russia cannot obtain graphics processing units, microchips needed to support AI development, according to Reuters.

But the bank’s first deputy CEO, Alexander Vedyakhin, said in December that despite Western sanctions, Russia can improve its AI ranking by 2030 through its own development.

Another key area where Russia has sought to further apply AI help from China is in the military.

“There already have been top level meetings between Russia and Chinese militaries in 2024,” and “ongoing dialogue” between the defense ministries of the two countries is likely so they can understand “how AI could aid in a large-scale conventional conflict, like the one unfolding in Ukraine,” Bendett said.

Russian and Chinese officials met in Beijing early last year to discuss military application of AI, especially in developing autonomous weapons, according to Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

AI-powered weapons

In December, Ukraine said Russia began using AI-powered strike drones with improved capabilities that can evade air defenses, identify key targets and operate offline.

James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Russia is likely to use AI technology on enhancing drones as well as in making weapons with improved target detection and attack speed.

The China-Russia AI partnership “creates new risk for the U.S.,” but military application of “AI won’t compensate for bad strategy” in the battlefield, he said.

Attending an AI conference in Moscow last month, Song Haitao, president of the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, said China plans to sign an agreement with Russia’s Sberbank to promote bilateral cooperation on AI development.

Speaking at the conference, Putin applauded China for “making great strides” in advancing AI technology and its application, including in building “smart cities” and conducting “modern governance.”

Sam Bresnick, research fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, said although it is not entirely clear how Beijing might benefit from helping Moscow in developing AI, China might want some military technologies and wartime data from Russia in return.

“Russia is very good at making submarines, and there’s been a speculation in the past that China could benefit from acquiring that kind of technology. Another one is helicopter technology,” Bresnick said.

“The war in Ukraine has generated an astonishing amount of data,” Bresnick continued. “China would probably be interested in getting its hands on them because having more militarily relevant data from Russia would help China develop its own AI systems for military.”

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA on Thursday that “in terms of the application of artificial intelligence, China actively advocates the principles of ‘people-oriented’ and ‘intelligent for good,’ ensuring that artificial intelligence is safe, reliable and controllable, better enabling global sustainable development, and enhancing the common well-being of all mankind.” 
…