Russia’s Foreign Ministry has condemned a Norwegian consul for a “hateful” tirade after a video emerged showing her arguing with the staff at a Russian hotel. “The Russian Foreign Ministry is now considering options on how to respond to this outrageous act of hatred, nationalism and xenophobia,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova …
Read More »State Department resists calling Russia ‘sponsor of terrorism’ – NYT
Officially designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism by the US State Department over its actions in Ukraine would limit the ability of the White House to “exempt some transactions with Russia from Western penalties,” the New York Times reported on Friday, citing a senior US official. The paper …
Read More »Russia makes prisoner swap proposal to US – CNN
Moscow wants Vadim Krasikov, a Russian national convicted of murder in Germany last year, to be included in a potential prisoner exchange with the US, CNN reported on Friday, citing multiple people familiar with the matter. The channel reported earlier that the US was willing to swap Viktor Bout, who …
Read More »Gazprom halts gas supply to Baltic nation
Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Saturday that it has stopped deliveries to Latvia due to “violations of the terms of gas extraction.” This week, Aigars Kalvitis, chairman of gas company Latvijas Gaze, told the media that his country continued to buy Russian natural gas even after refusing to comply …
Read More »Turkey vows to work with Syria against ‘terrorists’
Turkey’s top diplomat has pledged to assist the Syrian government in efforts to oust Kurdish fighters based in the country’s northeast, regarded as “terrorists” by Ankara, despite a recent spike in tensions after Turkey made good on threats to take military action on its own. Speaking to Turkish broadcaster TV100 …
Read More »US and UN react to Ukraine POW camp shelling
The US on Friday declined to speculate on the shelling of the Ukrainian prisoners in Elenovka, saying it did not have enough information to do so. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern about the incident, but his office said he lacked firsthand reports to comment further. Dozens of “Azov” …
Read More »Pelosi’s possible Taiwan visit will not lead to war – yet
Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi appears to be on the verge of a trip to Taiwan, an event which China has vowed to respond to with “forceful measures.” The visit is a rehash of one she originally intended to undertake in April, but was prevented from doing …
Read More »German weapons failing in Ukraine – media
German artillery guns are breaking down a month after they were delivered to Ukraine, Der Spiegel reported on Friday. The weapons are reportedly struggling to deal with the high rate of fire the Ukrainian military is subjecting them to. Some of the seven Panzerhaubitze 2000 guns sent to Ukraine at …
Read More »Biden is running in 2024 – White House
President Joe Biden intends to run for reelection in 2024, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday. Biden is currently dealing with declining support from Democrat voters, while some lawmakers in the party are withholding their endorsement. “The president intends to run in 2024 [and] we are a …
Read More »Lavrov speaks to Blinken for first time since Ukraine operation began
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at Washington’s request by phone on Friday, the ministry has confirmed. This is the first conversation between the two top diplomats since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in February. Besides the conflict, they discussed the grain export …
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