Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Ukraine will not implement the Minsk agreements. In this regard, he called for forcing Kiev to do this.
According to him, if Ukraine is left alone “with itself, with its conscience, of course, it will not do anything.” To force it, the Norman format was created. Nevertheless, Berlin and Paris, as Lavrov pointed out on the air of the Rossiya 1 TV channel, “so far they are ignoring their obligations.”
Moscow draws the attention of Germany and France to the fact that “it must be done.”
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that a dispute took place at a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Stockholm. The parties vigorously discussed the events in Kiev seven years ago. They also touched upon the current situation around Ukraine.
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin launched a survey on the reasons for the collapse of the USSR in his telegram channel. He invited the subscribers of the channel and other interested users of the messenger to choose one of the suggested answers. At the same time, the proposed answers are from different categories and do not exclude each other.
According to Volodin, the reasons for the destruction of the Union could be: “weak leadership”, “betrayal of the party elites”, “empty shelves in stores”, “lack of competition in politics– monopoly on the power of one party, the CPSU”, “foreign interference”.
“The USSR collapsed 30 years ago,” Volodin writes. “This is a tragedy for all of us: everything that was defended, built and created during the previous time has collapsed…”
As follows from the first results of the vote, Volodin’s subscribers tend to blame renegades for the collapse of the country, but not the actions of the authorities. So, an hour after the launch of the survey, the most popular answer (54%) was “betrayal of the elites”. The second most popular (23%) –”foreign intervention”. The readers of the Volodin channel did not see the economic reasons for the events of 30 years ago, only 2% of the survey participants considered “empty shelves” a sufficient argument for the appearance of a desire for change among the people.
Comments under the post multiply, opinions vary greatly. At the same time, many commentators write that they consider all these factors acting simultaneously to be the reason for the collapse of the country. Some people express the opinion that modern Russia faces the same scenario due to the introduction of QR codes: supporters of this version call this pandemic measure “segregation”.
Recently, Volodin addressed the Russians via Telegram with a request to provide his opinion on the upcoming QR-code system. He promised that all opinions would be studied and decisions would be made in accordance with them. In those comments, the vast majority of entries were from opponents of the introduction of QR codes.
American experts suggest betting on one type of weapons
The US Air Force needs to be armed with a new generation of high-precision ammunition to deter Russia and China. This is reported by the Flight Global portal with reference to the Mitchell Institute.
Photo: USAF.
The ministry noted that existing systems like Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), which are capable of converting free-falling bombs into all-weather correctable ammunition, have long shown high efficiency, but have now become obsolete.
Mitchell Institute analyst and retired US Air Force Colonel Mark Ganzinger noted that in modern conditions Washington needs to rely on cruise missiles with a range of 92 to 463 kilometers. In this case, the strike aircraft will not have to enter the target area.
The American expert added that the US Air Force needs to assign the role of delivering these missiles to the promising new-generation strategic bomber B-21, as it is well adapted for the pursuit of protected and highly mobile targets.
Earlier, The American Conservative reported that the warnings of American admirals that China is allegedly preparing an invasion of Taiwan, and Russia is preparing for Ukraine, indicate that the United States is on the verge of a new global war.
At the same time, the author of the article stressed that America is no better prepared for this conflict than before the Japanese attack on the US Navy base Pearl Harbor during World War II.
Euractiv reports that the head of the Ukrainian company Naftogaz, Yuriy Vitrenko, described as a “mockery” Germany’s decision to allow the operator Nord Stream 2 to form a subsidiary.
Vitrenko believes that the Nord Stream -2 does not comply with the rules of the European Union, and therefore it cannot be certified. He also condemned the idea of issuing a license only for a part of the gas pipeline.
The head of Naftogaz added that Nord Stream -2 should be filled with alternative gas suppliers throughout.
The family of Russian Konstantin Yaroshenko expressed hope that Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden will discuss the release of prisoners during the upcoming conversation.
After the June meeting with the American leader, the Russian president stated that compromises were possible on the topic of mutual release of imprisoned foreign citizens.
Konstantin Yaroshenko is a Russian pilot arrested in 2010 in Liberia on charges of transporting cocaine. In 2011, a court in the United States sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
Russian Presidential aide for Foreign Policy Yuri Ushakov recalled NATO’s promises not to expand the alliance’s borders towards Russia.
He pointed out that this is a long-standing issue: NATO assured both the USSR and Russia of refusing to expand, however, according to Ushakov, the promises were broken.
NATO interprets this situation in such a way that the assurances were canceled after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact Organization. The alliance believes that in 1989 no one thought about the accession of the treaty countries to NATO.
American intelligence suggests that Russia has planned an invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. This is reported by the Associated Press. Journalists refer to a source in the White House.
According to the US version, Moscow plans to deploy 175 thousand troops at the Ukrainian borders. At the same time, half of them are already in their places of deployment. In addition, the Americans believe that the Russians are planning to send about 100 “battalion tactical groups” to the border areas along with armored vehicles and artillery.
The Washington Post even drew up a map of a likely offensive on several fronts. A source of the journalists of the publication said that the number of military forces at the borders is twice as high as it was in the spring during the exercises.
The German edition of Bild, based on American newspapers and magazines, presented a possible scenario for the development of the situation. Journalists believe that at the first stage, the Russians will enter from the south of Ukraine. This is necessary in order to ensure supplies to Crimea and cut off Ukraine from the sea. Allegedly, in parallel with this, Russian tank units will be transferred to the Luhansk and Kharkiv regions. It is specified that, first of all, electricity, gas will be cut off in cities and food supplies will be cut off.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that the United States will not abandon the idea of protecting the sovereign territory of Ukraine. However, he did not answer the question about the possibility of a Russian invasion.
Austin added that Washington is considering various ways to help Kiev defend the territory.
The head of the Pentagon in his words referred to the opinion of American President Joe Biden, saying that this is his position.
Denis Pushilin, who heads the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, appealed to the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky with a proposal to start negotiations on “neighborhood”. The politician told about this on the YouTube channel “Solovyov-Live”.
At the same time, Pushilin noted that it was clear to him from the very beginning of Zelensky’s presidency that the new head of Ukraine would not be allowed to sit down at the negotiating table with the DPR and LPR. The United States will be against such a development. Although the leadership of the self-proclaimed republics and the Ukrainian president should talk for a long time, the head of the DPR is sure. At the same time, Pushilin stressed that we are no longer talking about one state.
The politician believes that Ukraine is preparing for large-scale military operations in the Donbas. Pushilin reserved the right to request assistance from Moscow and Minsk in case of aggression from Kiev.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on a report by Reuters, which, with reference to a White House employee, reported that American intelligence had provided data on Russia’s impending “invasion” of Ukraine in early 2022.
“Based on the actions of NATO in the region, the American press should be concerned about the aggressive actions not of Russia, but of the United States,” Zakharova said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper.
She explained that the United States is now conducting a special operation to escalate the situation around Ukraine and shift responsibility to Russia.
At the same time, she noted that provocations are being carried out near the borders of Russia, which are accompanied by accusatory rhetoric against Moscow.
“In principle, nothing new is a classic Western tactic,” Zakharova noted, adding that this time she is struck by the scale of impudence and lies.
