Black Perigord Truffle

Vladimir Zelensky. Photo: A frame from the video

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has published a statement on his Telegram channel saying that the situation in the east of the country is controlled.

“We have zero wounded and zero killed,” Zelensky said, adding that there are violations of the ceasefire.

He also recalled that a meeting in the “Normandy format” at the level of advisers will be held in Paris on March 26, but noted that work continues to ensure that meetings of the heads of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France take place as soon as possible “for the sake of the future advent of peace in Ukraine.”

Zelensky added that he does not have rose-colored glasses, but there is “hope, calmness, endurance and work.”

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A scandal broke out in the Kaluga region after the publication of a video from the building of the regional Ministry of Ecology, where the department’s employees held a party with alcohol, tobacco products and a pistol. The video was published in one of the local communities on the VKontakte social network.

Employees of the local media recognized Ivan Glumov, Deputy Minister and Head of the Environmental Supervision Department, as one of the participants of the gatherings. The footage shows that he is holding an object similar to a pistol in his hands.

The situation was commented on by the Governor of the Kaluga region Vladislav Shapsha. In an interview with the publication “Rise”, he explained that the video was shot at the end of last year. On January 25, he was informed that all the party participants had been fired. Shapsha also noted that the weapons in the video are not real.

“It was a plastic gun, a toy gun, which was given to him by these colleagues who filmed everything,” the head of the region said.

Minister of Ecology Vladimir Zhipa, in turn, said that after the incident, an inspection is being carried out in the department. He intends to take all measures to prevent this from happening again.

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Mikhail Pogrebinsky. Photo: A frame from the video.

Ukrainian political analyst Mikhail Pogrebinsky believes that the written response of the United States to Russia’s proposals on security guarantees will contain an important concession on Ukraine. He drew such a conclusion from the information that the United States is going to ask Moscow not to publish this answer.

The expert, according to RIA FAN, also drew attention to the strange behavior of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva.

“The Secretary of State behaved like a doomed man,” Pogrebinsky said, adding that he understood that tomorrow it would be worse, and the day after tomorrow it would be even worse.

“Why did Blinken behave like that? He just knew that the United States would make concessions to Russia, at least in the Ukrainian issue,” the political scientist continued, stressing that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow Moscow would receive a written response from Washington, which would contain extremely unpleasant information for Kiev.

“And Washington will also ask Moscow not to make public the contents of this response,” Pogrebinsky said, adding that one does not need to have analytical abilities to understand that there will be “an important concession to Russia.”

Previously the agency Bloomberg, citing an EU official, reported that the US response would “outline areas in which allies can resolve Russia’s concerns.”

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The United States intends, in response to Russia’s proposals on security guarantees, to indicate areas in which they can respond to the concerns of the Russian Federation. This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to the official representative of the EU, who asked not to be named.

According to the agency, the States will coordinate their response with the EU and NATO. The response is unlikely to include a detailed discussion of Russia’s demands, but I will outline areas in which the allies can resolve Russia’s concerns. They will also list Russia’s actions that cause alarm among the allies.

Recall that on December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published draft agreements on security guarantees that are expected from the United States and NATO. In particular, it is proposed that the alliance refuse to expand to the east and not accept Ukraine into its membership.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow is waiting for written responses to the proposals after negotiations between the Russian Federation and the United States with their allies. After that, there will be a “final analysis”. Prior to that, Peskov stated that the negotiations on security guarantees with the United States, and then with NATO, were unsuccessful. He stressed that “disagreements have been recorded on fundamental issues of consultations between the Russian Federation, the United States and NATO in Geneva and Brussels.”

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Dmitry Peskov, at the request of journalists, commented on a new batch of statements by the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, in particular, his words that if he were the president of the Russian Federation, he would have taken Ukraine long ago. 

The press secretary stressed that Kadyrov, like all Russian citizens, can stand as a candidate for the next presidential election – this right is enshrined in the Constitution. “In general, I want to remind you that the fundamentals of foreign policy are formulated by the head of state. And, to our universal joy, the head of the Russian Federation, which includes Chechnya as a subject, is Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin,” Peskov said.

He also commented on the words of the head of Chechnya that the republic is not interesting to investors and it will not be able to live without the financial support of the federal center in the amount of 300 billion rubles a year. 

According to Peskov, there are no investment-hopeless regions in Russia, in any subject “there are reserves for the development of certain industries and the creation of prerequisites for increasing investment attractiveness.” 

“There are regions that have succeeded in this, and there are those that have succeeded less and they have to catch up,” the Kremlin spokesman said. 

Read the article “How Chechen security forces scare people: stage makeup”.

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The commander of the operation of the united forces of Ukraine in the Donbass, Alexander Pavlyuk, called the alleged “date of the invasion of Russia.” He said that, according to one of the scenarios, this date will be February 20.

“This is a date that worries us,” he said in an interview with The Times.

Pavlyuk noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin probably would not want to overshadow relations with China by launching military operations during the Beijing Olympics. In addition, the Russian-Belarusian exercises “Allied Resolve — 2022” will be held during this period.

Western intelligence agencies believe that the invasion will begin with a phased transfer of forces to the east of Ukraine and sending “thousands of soldiers” by rail to the area, The Times reports.

Pavlyuk added that the task of the Ukrainian army is not to restrain the Russian military, but to cause them maximum damage. The distribution of weapons for a protracted insurgent war has already begun in those areas where the regular army of Ukraine can be defeated, he noted.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the accusations against Russia in the preparation of military operations are unfounded and are not confirmed by anything.

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The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury has reduced the license period of the Russian GAZ Group to 90 days. Previously, it was extended for a year.

The decision was made against the background of the situation in Ukraine.

“These licenses were previously renewed on December 23, 2020 for a year. New licenses are extended for a shorter period – 90 days,” the statement on the agency’s website says.

In April 2018, the United States was included in the “black list” (SDN list) Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska. The companies controlled by him were also subject to restrictions. Including GAZ Group. In January of the same year, En+, together with Rusal and Eurosibenergo controlled by it, was withdrawn from sanctions. Deripaska reduced his stake in En+ to 44.95%.

He and GAZ Group remained on the sanctions list, but the introduction of prohibitive measures was postponed. In June last year, Deripaska, through the court, demanded that they be canceled, and the Ministry of Finance closed the case.

Earlier, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on behalf of NATO member countries, promised Russia to carry out unprecedented sanctions in response to the “invasion” of Ukraine.

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A representative of the People’s Militia of the DPR said that the Ukrainian military had transferred tank formations and multiple rocket launchers to Donbass to form strike groups.

According to him, at the moment, weapons and soldiers who will form strike groups are being actively transferred to the areas of the contact line.

“The arrival of equipment for the destruction of minefields, armored formations and multiple rocket launchers has already been recorded,” the source added.

Earlier, another representative of the People’s Militia of the LPR, Andrei Marochko, reported that Kiev was pulling military and equipment to the contact line in the Donbass.

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According to the German TV channel ZDF, against the background of the threat of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Swedish army is working out scenarios to protect the largest island in the Baltic Sea Gotland.

Swedish generals are sure that after Ukraine, Russia can turn its attention to the Baltic States. As Niklas Granholm, an expert at the Swedish Defense Research Institute, explained, if someone starts aggression against the Baltic states, then Gotland will be in the center of attention, since it is here that one of the centers of coordination of NATO forces on the Baltic Sea is located.

“Of course, we are carrying out a lot of military actions in Europe. This means that the situation has become tense. However, here, on Gotland, it is really calm now,” said Matthias Ardin, commander of the Gotland regiment of the Swedish army.

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The White House press service has released a speech by US President Joe Biden dedicated to lowering prices for a number of consumer goods.

Speaking in particular about how actively sophisticated electronics has entered the lives of ordinary people, the American leader admitted that he does not feel like an “advanced user”.

“Some of the largest smartphone manufacturers provide users to repair devices themselves… I’m not sure I know how to do this. When I have any problems with my phone, I call my daughter,” Biden said.

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