The Presidents of Russia and France, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron, held a telephone conversation, discussing topical political issues. The initiator of the conversation was the French side, according to the press service of the Russian president.
Putin told Macron about the Geneva summit with US President Joe Biden, stressed that stability and security in Europe are very important for Russia.
The issue of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh was raised. Vladimir Putin told Macron how the trilateral agreements on the Karabakh conflict are being implemented and stated the need for the European Union to participate in solving humanitarian problems that arose in the region after the Second Karabakh War.
As for the situation in Ukraine, the Russian president told his French counterpart about the destructive position of the Kiev leadership, which refuses to engage in dialogue with the republics of Donbass. Macron and Putin also came to the conclusion that it is necessary to intensify negotiations on the Minsk agreements.
The Lithuanian government has decided to declare an extreme situation in the country due to the influx of illegal migrants on the border with Belarus. Thus, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic Agne Bilotaite was appointed the operational head of the extreme operation.
Earlier, a record number of illegal migrants – 150 people-were detained in Lithuania during the day. Illegal immigrants were caught in the municipality of Drusnikinkaya, as well as in Lazdiyai, Varensky, Shvenchensky, Shalchininkai and Ignalinsky districts.
Among the detainees were citizens of Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Cameroon. Since the beginning of the year, more than 800 illegal immigrants have tried to enter Lithuania through the Belarusian border. This is ten times more than in the whole of last year.
Readers of the Chinese edition of “Guancha” laughed at the exercises of NATO and Ukraine in the Black Sea. The agency’s website published a material about the Alliance ships that entered the water area. At the same time, the author of the article noted that relations between Russia and the West worsened last week after the British destroyer entered the territorial waters of Russia.
According to the publication, the Italian frigate frigate ITS Virginio Fasan passed the Bosphorus Strait on July 1 and entered the waters of the Black Sea together with the Turkish frigate TCG Barbaros and the Romanian ship ROS Regina Maria.
They will take part in the Sea Breeze exercises organized by the United States and Ukraine. Tactical maneuvers began earlier this week.
The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the provocations of NATO. Maria Zakharova said that the Black Sea area is being deliberately turned by Washington and its Alliance partners into a zone of military confrontation, which threatens world stability.
“I want to know if these three ships will be able to hold out for at least half an hour in a real battle?” one of the readers of the publication asked.
Another commentator said that NATO is a toy in the hands of the United States. He believes that if other members of the Alliance continue to play the games of the Americans, they risk being destroyed.
“Italy, Romania, the Netherlands-they, it turns out, had ships? Weird. Now we know, it’s good, ” wrote another user of the Network.
Another reader believes that the Black Sea “looks like a fish pond”. He noted that Russia should hurry up and catch as many fish as possible.
See also: Bulgarians are outraged by the exercises of NATO and Ukraine near the Russian borders
In the British edition of The Daily Express, an article appeared on the recent speech of Russian President Vladimir Putin during the ” Direct Line”. The publication reminds that, according to Putin, the world would not be on the verge of a Third World War, even if the destroyer Defender in the Black Sea was sunk, because the UK knows that they cannot emerge victorious from this war”. In the comments, residents of the UK did not agree with Putin, suggesting that in the event of a war, Russia would not have won it, including because other NATO countries are behind Britain.
Some commentators have condemned Putin’s bellicose rhetoric in the context of the pandemic, or even suggested that the Russian president is trying to distract attention from the epidemiological situation in the country.
There were also those among the users who partially recognized Putin’s rightness:in particular, it was suggested that the British armed forces are “broken and weakened” as a result of the actions of “a number of governments”.
The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, commented on the recent statement of the British Embassy, where they expressed the hope that the Ukrainian national team will soon be able to play in Donetsk, and then go on vacation to the Crimea.
“We thank the British Embassy for advertising the resort opportunities of Crimea,” Zakharova wrote, adding that the Russian Foreign Ministry invites the British ambassador to Crimea. The official representative of the department recalled that you can get there “by plane through the new Simferopol airport, by train or by car over the Crimean Bridge, “adding that” you can also use water transport, excluding destroyers.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin could not directly answer the question whether Moscow will be able to guarantee the security of the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, according to him, the trilateral working group is doing everything to ensure that war does not break out again in the region and normal relations develop between the residents of the region.
The children of Artsakh remember the soldiers who died in the war with Azerbaijan. Photo: Artur Avakov
Putin was asked about the fate of Artsakh during his direct line. First of all, the Russian President decided to emphasize the role that Moscow played in the end of the second war for Karabakh. Secondly, the residents of the self-proclaimed republic themselves should be interested in ensuring that this tragedy does not happen again. Thirdly, Putin believes that if Armenians and Azerbaijanis live peacefully and amicably, they will be able to create conditions for improving people’s lives not only in the security sphere, but also in the socio-economic sphere. At the same time, he stressed that there are still issues with the drawing of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Recall that at the end of September 2020, Azerbaijan attacked the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh. The war lasted 44 days, after which Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a truce with Baku with the mediation of Russia. According to the agreement, Artsakh renounces its entire security belt, plus it loses the Hadrut district and Shushi. Russian peacekeepers will ensure the security of the republic and the only road to it through the Lachin corridor for 5 years (until November 2025).
However, many people in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh worry that after this time the peacekeepers will leave and the region will go to the Azerbaijanis. Official Baku adds fuel to the fire, which directly declares that the conflict in Karabakh is over, there can be no question of any recognition of Artsakh, and so on.
Experts explained to MK why Putin could not unequivocally answer the question about the security of the residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic:
— It is not yet known what will happen in 4.5 years, when the mandate of the Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh will come to an end. Moreover, this understanding is not yet present either in Azerbaijan, Armenia, or Russia. Accordingly, the security of Artsakh depends not only on Moscow, but also on Baku and Yerevan.
In particular, the Armenian authorities should make more efforts to ensure that more opportunities for maneuver will appear in 4.5 years. For example, we need to work on the problem of the Lachin corridor and the return of refugees to Berdzor. So far, there is no improvement in this direction. At the same time, it should be emphasized that if Armenia does not show activity, Russia will not do it for it. Moscow is acting as a mediator and peacemaker, but cooperation can be expanded if there is a desire.
— So far, Russia is ensuring the security of Karabakh, and I hope that this will happen in the future. Fears that Russia will give up everything and leave in a few years should not be justified. Moscow has assumed responsibility, it is not in our habits to walk away from it. It seems to me that Putin has only confirmed this intention.
However, the situation is complicated. Turkey is actively developing the region, which is confirmed by the Shusha Declaration. All this dictates the need for a more serious and vigilant attitude to the implementation of the Union Agreement between Armenia and Russia.
On the” Direct line”, the president humiliatingly spoke about a colleague
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine is under external control from the West. In this regard, he is not yet ready to meet with Vladimir Zelensky, because he does not know what to talk about with him. He stated this during the annual direct line.
Putin found a reason not to meet with Zelensky. Photo: president.gov.ua
As Putin said, Ukraine is not included in the list of countries unfriendly to Russia, because ” Ukrainians and Russians are one people.” He even plans to write some analytical article on this topic and hopes that citizens of both countries will get acquainted with it.
In his opinion, the reason for the differences between Moscow and Kiev is the policy of the current leadership of Ukraine. “They are introducing a law to the Rada and declaring the Russian people not indigenous. This is incomprehensible to the mind! This will lead to a reduction in the total number of Russians. This is comparable to the use of weapons of mass destruction, ” the president believes. He stressed that all people who are trying to strengthen relations with Russia are “put in prison and killed on the streets.”
When asked if he was ready to meet with Zelensky, Putin replied that he did not see any sense in this, because key decisions on Ukraine are made in the United States, Berlin and Paris. “What is there to meet with Zelensky if he has given his country under full external control? Nevertheless, I do not refuse meetings of this kind, but we just need to understand what to talk about,” the president concluded.
Zelensky has repeatedly insisted on meeting with his Russian counterpart. In April, he invited him to the demarcation line in the Donbas, noting that the parties need to discuss the security issue, then offered to meet in the Vatican. Putin replied that he always has something to talk about with Zelensky, especially in light of the accumulated problems in bilateral relations. At the same time, during talks with Joe Biden in Geneva, the head of Russia discussed Ukraine only with a “smear”.
Ukrainian political scientist Ruslan Bortnik, in a conversation with MK, called the thesis about the external management of Kiev exaggerated. According to him, the influence of Western partners on Ukraine is significant and even decisive, but we are still not talking about full-fledged management.
He is sure that it is not worth waiting for a meeting of the two presidents in the near future. “The Russian President justifies the absence of negotiations by saying that the Ukrainian leadership is hostile and incapable of negotiating due to external dependence. He seems to make it clear that he wants to talk about Ukraine with Biden, Macron or Merkel. Thus, Putin does not seek to bring the meeting closer, but also does not dismiss its idea, because otherwise he would have come under international condemnation because of the unwillingness of peace, unconstructivity, and so on,” the expert explained.
According to Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries, such a meeting is possible only if Zelensky reaches the level of Putin: “This does not mean that Ukraine should be the same in size, population, number of missiles, and so on. This may be the head of a modest-sized power, but he must bean independent and sovereign leader. For example, Putin meets with Lukashenka, because Lukashenka makes decisions himself. And what is the point of meeting with Zelensky? He is not a Gandhi to talk to him about life and philosophize. If he shows that he can make at least some decisions, then the meeting will make sense. ”
The People’s Militia of the LPR announced the death of one of its employees as a result of artillery shelling from the Ukrainian side. The day before, it was stated that Kiev violated the truce 5 times a day.
At the same time, no one was injured among the civilian population. There is no information about the destruction of infrastructure facilities.
The war in the Donbas has been going on since 2014. Since then, more than 13 thousand people have died. The conflict should end on the basis of the Minsk agreements, however, the parties to the conflict cannot come to a compromise.
The first 6 employees of the European Border and Coastline Protection Agency Frontex appeared on the border of Lithuania and Belarus, the BNS agency reports. They will help Lithuanian border guards to deal with migrants who arrive in the European Union from the territory of Belarus.
Since the beginning of 2021, Lithuanian border guards have stopped 672 illegal migrants. This is more than 8 times more than in the whole of 2020. At the same time, there may be about 1.5 thousand refugees in Minsk who want to illegally break into the European Union. Moreover, their list is being updated by arrivals from Baghdad and Istanbul.
The security forces will be located at two border posts of Kapchamestis and Druskininkai. Over time, their number will increase to 30 people.
Vladimir Klimanov believes that the initiative will increase the involvement of the Center in the regional agenda
The head of the Russian government, Mikhail Mishustin, will soon present proposals for curating specific territories of the country by deputy prime ministers. This was announced on Wednesday on the “Direct Line” by President Vladimir Putin.Vladimir Klimanov, head of the Center for Regional Policy of the IPEI RANEPA, answered two key questions that were asked following the results of the proposed initiative-what is the reason for the decision and what effect it can give.
“Russia, according to the first article of the Constitution, is a federal state. Therefore, along with the federal ones, there are also regional state authorities. Following the federal principles, the powers of the authorities are divided vertically. However, this does not mean that the Federation is not responsible for the development of territories, the well-being of citizens living on it.
The decision on the supervision of specific territories by the deputy prime ministers of the federal government only at first glance does not fit into the logic of federal construction. In fact, this will increase the involvement of the Center in the regional agenda, ” Klimanov believes.
According to the expert, there is a practice of deconcentration of functions in the public administration system in the domestic practice. The institute of Presidential plenipotentiary representatives in the federal districts has been functioning for more than two decades. Many ministries and departments have territorial administrations that do not always coincide with the borders of one subject of the federation. State programs of the Russian Federation have been adopted for five geostrategically important territories of the Far East, the Arctic Zone, the North Caucasus Federal District, the Crimea and the Kaliningrad Region.
“Since 2019, the practice of direct supervision of 10 separate regions lagging behind in their development by federal ministers has been introduced.
Therefore, the assignment of the supervision of certain territories, not only the Far East and the Arctic zone, for which Yu. P. Trutnev is now responsible, will allow the deputy prime ministers to more quickly identify problems of socio-economic development of the regions, activate their potential and reduce the risks of crisis situations, ” Klimanov summed up.
