Putin: New U.S. sanctions are ‘senseless’
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin has said economic sanctions imposed against his country by the U.S. are senseless, voicing hope that Washington will agree to a constructive dialogue.
Mr. Putin, speaking after Wednesday’s talks with his Finnish counterpart, Sauli Niinisto, described last month’s Helsinki summit with U.S. President Donald Trump as positive, but blamed Mr. Trump’s administration for continuing to hit Russia with sanctions.
The Trump administration added to its list of sanctions Tuesday by blacklisting two companies and two individuals suspected of trying to circumvent earlier U.S. sanctions and by sanctioning two Russian companies for suspected trade with North Korea.
Iranian presence in Syria
JERUSALEM — Russian President Vladimir Putin told the U.S. that an Iranian presence in Syria does not tally with Russian interests and he would be happy to see Iran-linked forces exit, national security adviser John Bolton said Wednesday.
Mr. Bolton made the comments at the end of a threeday visit to Israel ahead of a meeting with his Russian counterpart in Geneva. Russian officials have said Iran was playing a constructive role in Syria.
Israel has lobbied the U.S. to do more about Iranian entrenchment across its border with Syria as the civil war winds down
Persuading Russia, which provided Syria with the military assistance that helped tip the civil war in President Bashar al-Assad’s favor, to assert its influence in containing Iran could be Israel’s best hope of removing Iranian-linked troops.
Korean reunions to end
SEOUL, South Korea — Hundreds of Koreans are saying final goodbyes at the end of rare reunions between relatives separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
About 200 South Koreans and their family members will return to the South on Wednesday after a last meeting with their North Korean relatives at the North’s Diamond Mountain resort.
Another 337 South Koreans will participate in reunions, Friday to Sunday.
The latest reunions come after a three-year hiatus during which North Korea conducted three nuclear tests and multiple missile launches.
Currency black market
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s 95 percent currency devaluation was in part an attempt, it seemed, to squash the black market where many have bought and sold dollars for years.
Those illusions were dashed quickly, though.
Within hours of the financial system reopening this week, black market quotes for the bolivar were flying around. Some quoted it at 65 bolivars per dollar. Others had it as high as 100 bolivars — well above the new, official exchange rate of 60 per dollar that President Nicolas Maduro set Friday. (If those numbers seem very small, it’s because a simultaneous re-denomination of the bolivar lopped five zeros off the currency to simplify transactions.)
The bid to unify the official and black-market exchange rates failed for many reasons. For one, currency controls that dictate who can buy and sell dollars in the official market were left in place. Plus,investors don’t see the new exchange rate as credible.
With the government announcing an accompanying 3,500 percent increase in the minimum wage, hyperinflation seems likely to rage on and erode the value of new bolivars.