Ukrainians and Russians are not a single people, despite the fact that they have a lot in common, President Vladimir Zelensky said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine. Earlier, during the” Direct Line”, Vladimir Putin said that Russians and Ukrainians are one people.
“I do not believe that the Ukrainian people are unfriendly. Nothing like that, we are a single whole, ” the head of state said. And he added that it is “incomprehensible” that in Ukraine Russians refused to be recognized as an indigenous people. Putin is sure that this will lead to a reduction in the number of Russians in the country.
“If we were one people, then in Moscow, most likely, hryvnia would go, and a yellow-blue flag would fly over the State Duma,” Zelensky said. He stressed that we are “definitely” not one people. But the common goal should be to end the war in the Donbass and “return” the territories to Ukraine.
“And one more thing-it is impossible to talk about” one people” at the same time and openly seize our territories and continue the slaughter in the Donbas, ” Zelensky added.
During the” Direct Line”, Vladimir Putin was asked why Ukraine was not included in the list of unfriendly countries published by the government in May. The President explained that he considers Ukrainians and Russians “a single whole”. According to him, it is not the people who are unfriendly towards Russia, but the current Ukrainian government.
In addition, Putin criticized the bill of Kiev on indigenous peoples, where for some unknown reason the Russians did not get, calling the measures comparable “with the use of some weapons of mass destruction.” According to the President of the Russian Federation, such a decision may lead to the decision of some residents to leave Ukraine, after which the total number of Russians in the country will greatly decrease.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed solidarity with Belarus, which opposes the illegitimate sanctions of the West. This is reported on the website of the President of the Russian Federation.
Putin expressed solidarity during a telephone conversation with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The conversation was organized on the eve of the plenary session of the Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus, in which Putin and Lukashenko will participate via video link.
“Attention was also paid to the problems of the ongoing sanctions pressure on the republic. The Russian side expressed solidarity with Belarus, which opposes unilateral illegitimate restrictions imposed by Western states in violation of international law,” the website reports.
On June 24, the European Union imposed sectoral sanctions against Belarus: restrictions on trade in potash fertilizers, petroleum products, tobacco products (applies to contracts concluded after June 25, 2021), as well as a ban on the access of the government and state banks to the EU financial market. The sanctions were a response to the May incident with the landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk and the detention of the Belarusian oppositionist Roman Protasevich flying on this board.
Readers of the British Daily Mail commented on the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin about the incident with the destroyer Defender. Recall that Putin was asked a question in the framework of a “Direct line”.
Recall that Putin then noted that a world conflict would not have happened even if the Russian military had sunk a destroyer that illegally invaded the territorial waters of Russia. “When asked whether the events with HMS Defender could have provoked the Third World War, Putin replied that the West would not risk a full-scale conflict,” the tabloid interprets Putin’s words.
At the same time, Putin stressed that an American fighter jet that took off from Greece was working together with the British destroyer. The United States was also involved in the provocation. Russia understands what it will fight for if it is attacked, but the West does not, Putin noted.
Many of the ordinary Britons, judging by the comments, were seized by a patriotic wave-they believe that their fleet still has the strength to show its teeth to Russia. “Putin needs to stop thinking that he is great, and he is not like that,” and the Royal Navy can also sink your ships. I don’t think that any Western country is more afraid of Russia, “Don’t be stupid, Emperor Putin, sink a British ship, and in the foreseeable future nothing will enter or leave Russia,” some readers threaten.
However, there are also those Britons who claim that if you follow the morality, then the Crimea really should belong to the Russian Federation, and the whole truth in the conflict with Ukraine is on the side of Russia. “I think he will carry out his threat if someone gets in his way. So don’t make the bear angry, ” Well, he’s not wrong. Britain must stop being America’s poodle. If the American regimeif he wants a war, then let him do it alone,” and he is right. We would have done nothing but & laquo; sanctions» if Defender had been sunk», & laquo;It’s a pity that we don’t have a leader like Putin», «Why are we provoking Russia? I don’t see a clear example of how they harm British interests. All this provocation will only increase the admiration for Putin at home, ” readers write.
According to the FOM survey conducted from June 4 to 6, 2021 among 1,500 Russians over the age of 18, 53% of Russian residents believe that there are good relations between their country and Belarus. The opposite opinion is shared by 15% of respondents.
At the same time, 32% could not assess the relations with Minsk. In addition, 29% expect that the relationship will become better than it is now, 9% expect it to worsen. Another 40% do not expect anything at all, and 22% do not know what to expect.
Recall that after Western countries accused Alexander Lukashenko of not recognizing his victory in the presidential elections in Belarus and accused him of state terrorism, the official Minsk said that it was taking a course to turn the republic into an outpost of Eurasia. In particular, Belarus is expected to integrate into a Union state with Russia.
President of the People’s Republic of China, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping said that the Chinese people have never oppressed other peoples and will not do this. Anyone who tries to enslave China will “break his head,” he said at a solemn meeting dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.
“The Chinese people are people who stand up for justice and are afraid of threats and violence. We have never oppressed, oppressed or enslaved other peoples, this has not happened in the past, it does not exist in the present and will not happen in the future,” Xi Jinping said.
Among other things, in his speech, the politician stressed that the Chinese people will never allow themselves to be oppressed, oppressed or enslaved by external forces. Anyone who wants to do this “will break his head against the great wall”.
Recall that on Thursday, a solemn event dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing on Tiananmen Square.
Minsk will shift part of the sanctions it has been subjected to to Moscow
Belarus is moving away from the multi-vector policy in favor of the Kremlin. First, the Belarusian ambassador to Moscow, Vladimir Semashko, announced that integration with Russia, which many Belarusians oppose, will be completed by January 1, 2022. And then the Belarusian Foreign Ministry recalled its representative to the EU and suspended participation in the Eastern Partnership initiative. Experts are sure that Russia will suffer first of all from such actions of Minsk.
Photo: AP
The Eastern Partnership is a program to strengthen EU relations with Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. For example, within the framework of this initiative, Belarusians could receive “Schengen visas” at a lower cost.
The European Union itself reacted critically to Belarus ‘ withdrawal from the agreement. The representative of the EU Foreign Policy Service, Nabila Massrali, noted that this decision demonstrates the disdainful attitude of the Belarusian authorities to the interests of their citizens.
According to economist Yaroslav Romanchuk, against the background of all other events, the exit from the Eastern Partnership can simply not be noticed. “It is already quite obvious that Lukashenka is waging a war with the West. And the Eastern Partnership was already more of a diplomatic project with a complex understanding and goals, ” the expert explained.
At the same time, a message appeared that Minsk is ready to complete integration with Russia. According to Semashko, we are talking about the creation of common markets for energy resources and transport, the unification of tax and customs legislation, as well as the transition to a unified industrial and agricultural policy.
MK could not get an operational comment from the embassy regarding this information. Back in June, Semashko said that two of the 28 “road maps” of integration have not been signed. He did not specify their name, but noted that the most difficult task is the unification of the tax system.
The experts interviewed by MK do not believe that deep integration can take place within the time frame specified by the diplomat. According to Romanchuk, Semashko is not a person who makes decisions in the country. And Lukashenka is ready to “arm people and fight back to the last bullet” not only against the West, but also attempts by any other party to limit him and his power.
“Mishustin and Patrushev are not coming to Belarus to discuss the potato harvest. This is a serious topic, and the adoption of the rules of Russia’s game on this issue will lead to a reduction in the powers of Belarus in favor of Moscow. We are waiting for more than one conflict, a round of negotiations, the tension will not go away. Integration is possible if the Kremlin sets conditions for Lukashenka, which he will not be able to refuse without fatal consequences for him. This is either money or an operation aimed at the safety of him or his family. There is little choice here, ” the expert believes.
Russian economists were no less skeptical about Semashko’s statement. They could not name what benefits Russia will receive from integration with Belarus. “What is happening in Belarus now is outside the civilized world. Under these conditions, Minsk shifts part of the sanctions that it has been subjected to to Russia. Therefore, I suspect that these may be fire-fighting methods that will partially mitigate the consequences for Belarus. But we should not forget that Russia is also under sanctions, and their tightening in this direction would also be wrong, ” says economist Sergey Smirnov.
The same opinion is shared by the director of the HSE Banking Institute Vasily Solodkov. He recalled that talks about the integration of the monetary system between the countries have been going on for almost 30 years.
“State — owned enterprises that are in manual control mode dominate in Belarus,” Solodkov explained to MK. — The country’s economy itself is relatively small and can exist for many years due to the infusion of money into it from Russia and the EU. Now Europe has shown Minsk a “big barrel”, and the country’s problems related to the inefficiency of the economy fall on the Russian budget. Roughly speaking, this means that Russian pensioners will live even worse. I don’t see any concrete acquisitions for Russia from this.”
According to the URA portal.Natalia Poklonskaya, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs of Russia, following the results of the direct line of Russian President Vladimir Putin, called on official Kiev to reflect on the words of the Russian leader about the transfer of Ukraine under the external control of Western allies and remember that the Russian and Ukrainian peoples have much more in common, compared with their overseas allies.
“Russia and Ukraine have the same roots… Russians and Ukrainians are one people, but with their own peculiarities and traditions, ” Poklonskaya stressed.
At the same time, the parliamentarian was skeptical about the prospect that the current government in Ukraine is able to think about the true interests of its people and refuse to be led by “overseas breadwinners”.
The American TV channel C-SPAN, with the participation of 142 specialists in the field of US history, for the fourth time since 2000, compiled a rating of the country’s presidents.
The final place was determined by the sum of points for ten positions, including the assessment of moral qualities, leadership and administrative abilities, as well as the art of foreign policy.
The former head of the White House, Donald Trump, took 41st place among all 44 participants in the rating. He scored 312 points, taking the last positions in such parameters as” morality “and”administrative skills”.
The first three were Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Franklin Roosevelt. John F. Kennedy was in eighth place, Ronald Reagan was ninth, and Barack Obama closed the top ten.
Bill Clinton is on the 19th line, George H. W. Bush – on the 21st, his son, George W. Bush – on the 29th.
The United Nations has published an expert report that assesses the events taking place in the Central African Republic.
The document also says that there are hundreds of foreign “instructors” in the republic”, who train local soldiers and participate in military operations themselves. At the same time, it is emphasized that the bulk of such “specialists”” – immigrants from Russia.
“Since the end of 2020, there are from 800 to 2,100 foreign instructors from Russia, Syria, Libya and other countries in the CAR… Violations of international humanitarian law by the armed forces of the CAR and Russian instructors include excessive use of force, murder, seizure of schools and looting, … including the property of international humanitarian organizations”, – it is reported in the report.
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, has already issued a statement in which he called all the allegations unsubstantiated.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that US President Joe Biden, after a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, is aimed at establishing contacts with the Russian Federation as soon as possible.
“I know that the president is interested in launching it as soon as possible,” she said, adding that all these planned contacts will take place at a level below the presidential one.
