US and Russia hold first high-level talks on Ukraine war

Good morning. We start in Riyadh, the place the US and Russia held their first high-level talks on the Ukraine conflict since Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Additionally in in the present day’s e-newsletter:

• Singapore’s Wong unveils funds giveaways

• Apple’s push into India

• Xi’s olive department to Chinese language tech leaders

Russia and the US have agreed to “lay the groundwork” for ending the Ukraine conflict and a speedy normalisation of relations, in a rapprochement that has sparked fears in Kyiv and European capitals that President Donald Trump needs to settle the battle on Moscow’s phrases.

Following a number of hours of negotiations in Riyadh yesterday, the US state division mentioned the 2 sides would appoint “high-level groups” to hunt to finish the conflict and set up a diplomatic channel to resolve bilateral points.

The talks marked a rare flip of occasions after Trump referred to as Putin final week in an effort to finish the conflict — with out consulting Ukraine or its European allies.

“The sensible actuality is that there’s going to be some dialogue of territory and there’s going to be dialogue of safety ensures, these are simply basic fundamentals,” mentioned US nationwide safety adviser Mike Waltz.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned he had rescheduled a go to to Saudi Arabia after the US-Russian talks, describing yesterday’s assembly as a “shock”. Here are more details on the US-Russian negotiations.

Learn extra about Europe’s quickly shifting safety panorama:

• Rheinmetall CEO: European nations have been left at the kids’ table in talks over the way forward for Ukraine due to a long time of under-investment in defence, the chief of Germany’s largest defence contractor has warned.

• Ukraine’s mineral riches: Trump has the nation’s huge estimated deposits of lithium, titanium and uncommon earths in his sights, however these have but to be developed.

• Sanctioned Russian ship sails for Europe: A infamous vessel underneath sanctions for transporting arms from North Korea is ready to enter the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal, in a contemporary problem to the western sanctions system.

Right here’s what else we’re protecting tabs on in the present day:

• Financial knowledge: China publishes the home worth index for January.

• Financial coverage: Indonesia and New Zealand announce their rate of interest choices.

• Europe disaster talks: French President Emmanuel Macron is planning an emergency assembly of European leaders in the present day, the second up to now this week, amid US-Russia talks on ending the Ukraine conflict.

• Outcomes: HSBC, Hold Seng Financial institution, United Abroad Financial institution, Rio Tinto and Santos report 2024 full-year outcomes.

5 extra high tales

1. The Philippines’ high diplomat has mentioned he’s “deeply disturbed” by a detailed encounter between a Chinese language army helicopter and one of many south-east Asian nation’s fisheries plane over a disputed shoal within the South China Sea. In an interview with the FT yesterday, overseas secretary Enrique Manalo accused China’s army of being “reckless” and “unprofessional” throughout the incident earlier within the day.

2. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has promised a bundle of money handouts in his closing funds earlier than the nation goes to the polls this yr in an election more likely to be fought largely on the problem of excessive residing prices. Wong warned that Singapore would suffer from rising tensions between the US and China, each large buying and selling companions for the city-state.

3. Unique: Honda is prepared to renew merger talks with Nissan if the rival carmaker’s chief government Makoto Uchida steps down, in keeping with individuals with information of the deliberations. Uchida has indicated his want to remain till 2026, but faces pressure to depart from board members and accomplice Renault after botching negotiations for a $58bn mega-deal.

4. US gasoline exports are the most probably beneficiaries of a pledge by Donald Trump and Narendra Modi to make India a number one purchaser of American vitality, analysts mentioned. “Gasoline would be the actual deal. India is among the final untapped markets for gasoline globally which has scale,” mentioned Rajeev Lala, director of upstream options at S&P World. Read the full story.

5. Mira Murati, OpenAI’s former chief know-how officer, has launched a rival synthetic intelligence start-up centered on making the know-how extensively accessible. Pondering Machines Lab has poached several senior former OpenAI employees in addition to researchers and engineers from opponents together with Google and Meta.

The Huge Learn

Cellphones have now surpassed diamonds as India’s largest product export and Apple is essential. About 15 per cent of iPhones are presently made in India and that’s anticipated to rise to 25 per cent by 2027, analysts say. The manufacturing shift has not gone unnoticed in Beijing, the place it’s handled with suspicion. The FT spoke to present and former executives and staff on the firm’s suppliers, Indian authorities officers, and analysts to piece collectively Apple’s growing footprint in India.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• China’s tech business: Xi Jinping’s outreach to leading entrepreneurs confirmed how rapidly “political winds” can change for Chinese language enterprise, after a authorities crackdown on the sector.

• Peter Navarro: The China hawk was thwarted in Trump’s first time period however is now placing his imaginative and prescient of US commerce protectionism into action.

• Musk’s wrecking ball: The world’s richest man is taking a torch to the American state on behalf of Trump, writes Edward Luce.

Chart of the day

Australia’s central financial institution yesterday reduce rates of interest for the first time in more than four years, as inflation pressures started to indicate indicators of easing extra rapidly than anticipated.

Take a break from the information . . . 

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