According to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Mark Milli, Beijing is actively expanding its military capabilities to change the existing world order that developed after World War II.
The US Army general explained that China is investing in the fleet, developing hypersonic weapons, creating new missiles in order to become a leading world power together with the US and the Russian Federation. According to the Wall Street Journal, if the Chinese authorities continue to modernize their armed forces at such a speed, then in the near future the established order after World War II, in which only two superpowers – Russia and the United States, will come to an end.
“We are now in a geostrategically more complex world in which technologies are developing at a speed never seen before. So it’s much more complicated and potentially less stable,” Milli said.
Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said that fears are growing in the United States that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to “revive” the USSR, after which “move on”.
The diplomat stressed that if Russia implements a military threat against Ukraine, Moscow will face a serious rebuff from the strengthened Ukrainian troops.
“There are many reasons why… one should not wish for a war that… it will be extremely bloody and difficult,” Nuland added.
US President Joe Biden told Russian Leader Vladimir Putin that if the conflict escalates on the Ukrainian border, Washington will send additional military assistance to Kiev, and measures will also be taken to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank. This was announced on December 7 by the National Security Adviser to the President of the United States, Jake Sullivan.
“Biden directly told Putin that if the Russian army crosses the Ukrainian border, we will provide additional defensive means to the Ukrainians, as well as use decisive economic measures. Our NATO partners on the eastern flank will also receive additional opportunities,” Sullivan explained at the briefing, commenting on the talks between the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States.
The leaders of the two countries communicated online for several hours, discussing Ukraine, Iran, cybercrime and strategic stability. According to the Kremlin’s press service, the presidents’ talks were frank and businesslike. Read: Moscow appreciated the talks between Putin and Biden
US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland has submitted her written testimony to Congress, which refers to Russia’s alleged preparation for military action against Ukraine.
Nuland said that according to her data, Russia’s military and intelligence services are developing the potential for military action against Ukraine, which could potentially begin in the first months of 2022.
“The forces that the Kremlin intends to deploy… will be twice as large as what we saw last spring… These are about 100 battalion tactical groups, almost all combat-ready ground forces of the Russian Federation based to the west of the Urals”, – says Nuland in his testimony.
A list of countries against which the republic plans to impose a food embargo has been published on the Belarusian legal Internet portal. The list includes EU countries, Canada and the USA, as well as Albania, Great Britain, Iceland, Norway, North Macedonia, Montenegro and the Swiss Confederation.
Among the goods prohibited for import into Belarus, live pigs, some types of meat and products from it, as well as salt, milk, fruits, confectionery, etc. are listed.
As specified, the main provisions of the resolution will be in effect during the first half of 2022.
The administration of US President Joseph Biden discussed a package of measures in case of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at a closed meeting. Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said that the White House is preparing retaliatory measures, but acknowledged that they are all quite limited.
Several anonymous sources told CNN about this. American officials are confident that Moscow has gathered enough troops on the border with Ukraine to make a surprise attack. They, however, do not know whether the decision to attack Kiev has really been made.
Sources of the TV channel reported that there is no need for drastic actions and immediate evacuation of a few Americans. Ukraine’s international airports are open and the land borders with its western neighbors are open. However, the discussion of actions in the event of an attack on the republic suggests that the situation has seriously deteriorated and the Biden administration perceives the possibility of an invasion as real.
Biden is expected to raise the issue of Ukraine’s security at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Nikolay Ryzhkov believes that the main role was played by non-Americans
Former Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Russian Senator Nikolai Ryzhkov spoke about the reasons why, in his opinion, the collapse of the Soviet Union occurred. He said that the country collapsed because of too chaotic and abrupt reforms.
Photo: kremlin.ru
“It was not the Americans who destroyed us, although they contributed to this, because they always sought to eliminate such a competitor as the USSR,” RIA Novosti quotes the politician as saying.
Ryzhkov added that the Soviet Union, in his opinion, did not collapse because of external factors.
At the same time, the senator believes that reforms in the USSR were necessary because of many problems, but it was necessary to take the Chinese model as a basis. According to Ryzhkov, China has spent 40 years to modernize and reach its current level.
“And then we started grabbing for one thing, then for another, then for the third,” said the former chairman of the Council of Ministers.
Ryzhkov also said that with the right approach, it would be possible to solve the accumulated problems, change the relationship between enterprises and workers, and renew the party. Thus, in his opinion, it would be possible to preserve the USSR and live like China today.
The politician called the collapse of the Soviet Union itself an “anti-historical act” and added that “internal forces” also contributed to this process.
State Duma deputies today adopted amendments to the law “On additional measures of state support for families with children”, which introduces the indexation of maternity capital by the level of actual inflation.
Recall that the amendment was proposed by Deputy Speaker Anna Kuznetsova from United Russia. According to her initiative, now the amount of maternity capital will be reviewed annually from February 1 of this year based on the consumer price growth index for the previous year. The growth rate will be determined by the Russian government.
Thus, the first indexation under this amendment will be made on February 1, 2022.
Previously, the amount of maternity capital was also reviewed annually. The size of the indexation, taking into account the rate of inflation growth, was established by the federal law on the federal budget for the corresponding fiscal year and for the planning period.
The deputies of the Moscow City Duma probably will not consider amendments on the introduction of QR codes in public places and in transport. The relevant commissions did not consider them and the projects were not submitted for plenary discussion.
This was reported by representatives of the factions in the Moscow City Duma. The Communist Party was told that the bills were received a couple of weeks ago. A negative review was prepared for them. But the amendments “apparently will not be considered.”
“We have the deadline for submission to the State Duma on December 14, and we have the next meeting on the 15th, that is, we are not going through the deadlines. Most likely, there will be no recall,” added Pavel Tarasov, secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the Communist Party for organizational and party work.
According to him, not only the regional Duma, but also the mayor can give feedback on projects. In case of a positive response from the mayor, it will be considered that it was given by the subject of the federation.
Maxim Kruglov, head of the Yabloko party faction, and Magomet Yandiev, head of the Fair Russia faction, confirmed that projects on QR codes were not considered.
“We won’t have a Duma meeting tomorrow. On another day, too, there will be no meetings until the 15th. Therefore, there will be no introduction and consideration,” Yandiev said. He added that if necessary, a negative review can be prepared.
A member of the United Russia faction, Alexander Semennikov, explained that the Moscow City Duma does not have to prepare reviews for federal bills.
Readers of the Washington Post are actively commenting on the material that came out a few hours before the start of the talks between the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, at which the situation around Ukraine will be discussed. Some Americans accuse Moscow of trying to revive the USSR and threaten, among other things, military consequences. Others recall that the United States and NATO did not fulfill their promises not to advance to the borders of Russia.
The publication notes that during the negotiations, Putin may issue an ultimatum to Biden: “Give guarantees that NATO will never include Ukraine in its composition, otherwise Russia may launch an offensive against it in the near future.” At the same time, leaks have already leaked to the media that Washington is preparing unprecedented sanctions against Moscow in the event of aggression against Ukraine, including disconnecting Russia from the global financial system.
In the comments, the Americans write that Putin intends to put forward demands to Biden that cannot be fulfilled. Therefore, Russia will launch a scenario according to which Ukraine will be the first to attack separatist forces, and then Russian troops will enter the case under a statement of the right to self-defense.
A user with the nickname Americanalltheway believes that Putin has no right to decide who NATO will accept as a member. He also called for preventing the revival of the USSR, which the President of Russia allegedly aspires to.
Reader Rickpres suggests Biden to launch a preemptive strike and offer Ukraine a chance to join NATO.
“Didn’t we promise Russia 20 years ago that NATO would not expand to the east? Haven’t we broken that promise? Promised and violated”, – says another participant in the discussion.
Philebuster user believes that Biden should answer Putin like this: “Look, Vlad, you stole Crimea. At least one Russian will enter Ukraine, and Russia will become the second Chernobyl. Understood?”.
“I am by no means a fan of Putin, but I agree that there is logic in his words. If the United States were located in the same way as Russia, they would not want to live in an environment of hostile countries,” another participant in the conversation notes. He added that tensions will decrease if Russia receives effective guarantees in this regard.
