News in Brief
Türkiye’s elections will be held in May
REUTERS – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated on Wednesday that elections will be held on May 14, sticking to his previous plan for the vote with a date just over three months after a devastating earthquake killed more than 45,000 people in Türkiye.
There had been conflicting signals over the likely timing of the presidential and parliamentary elections since last month’s earthquake, with some suggesting they could be postponed until later in the year or could be held as scheduled on June 18.
Blinken will not meet Russia, China at G20
AFP – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday he will not meet the Russian or Chinese foreign ministers at this week’s Group of 20 meeting in New Delhi, charging that Moscow was not serious about ending the war in Ukraine.
“I have no plans to see either at the G20,” Blinken told reporters in Tashkent before flying out to New Delhi, while adding that he expected to participate in group sessions with them.
Ukraine may pull back from Bakhmut
AP – Ukraine’s military could pull back from the key eastern stronghold of Bakhmut, an adviser to the Ukrainian president said Wednesday, amid a relentless Russian offensive that has sought for months to capture the city.
“Our military is obviously going to weigh all of the options. So far, they’ve held the city, but if need be, they will strategically pull back,” Alexander Rodnyansky, an economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told CNN.
“We’re not going to sacrifice all of our people just for nothing.”