‘US treats Ukraine like cannon fodder’

Mr Dowling said that although his clients were not the subject of any international sanctions, the leasing company and its related interests were.

The Cypriot firms are seeking court orders directing specific performance of their leasing contracts to allow them to complete a multi-millioneuro deal to buy the ships.

Judge Sanfey, following several hours of the reading of affidavits and legal submissions, reserved judgment until next week.

“The American adventure in Taiwan wasn’t just a trip by an irresponsible politician.

“It was part of a deliberate and conscious US strategy intended to destabilise the situation and create chaos in the region and the entire world, a blatant demonstration of disrespect for another country’s sovereignty and its own international obligations,” Mr Putin said.

The Russian leader claimed that “Western globalist elites” were trying “to shift the blame for their own failures to Russia and China”, adding that “no matter how hard the beneficiaries of the current globalist model try to cling to it, it’s doomed”.

“The era of the unipolar world order is nearing its end,” he added.

Speaking at the same conference, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said that along with supplies of weapons to Ukraine, Western allies have also provided information and deployed instructors to help the Ukrainian military operate the weapons systems.

Strikes

He dismissed allegations that Russia could use nuclear or chemical weapons in the war as an “absolute lie”.

“From the military viewpoint, there is no need for using nuclear weapons in Ukraine to achieve goals,” Mr Shoigu said.