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'Ukraine wants to intervene in Transnistria, even with the use of force' - Lavrov


TASS
Tue, 28 Mar 2023 15:41 UTC
Lavrov
© Sputnik/Murad OrujovFILE PHOTO: "I would like to reiterate that Russia is fully responsible for the security of Transnistria in full accordance with the mandate that our troops have. We will be guided by this mandate," the top diplomat pointed out
The Ukrainian leadership demonstrates readiness to intervene in the Transnistrian situation, including with the use of force. Russia will proceed from its security mandate, the country's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told TASS in an interview on Tuesday.

"The Ukrainian leadership is also playing its extremely negative, subversive role, clearly siding with Chisinau in violation of its mediator status in the '5+2' format. The Kiev authorities support its belligerent, destructive policy towards Transnistria, dig defenses, fortifications between Ukraine and Transnistria and demonstrate in every way its readiness to interfere in this process, including with the use of force," the top diplomat said.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

High stakes as Uncle Sam's days of impunity are finally over

Finian Cunningham
Strategic Culture
Tue, 28 Mar 2023 23:36 UTC
Nord Stream 2 Blow Up
© Public Domain
Russia and China are determined to hold the American perpetrators of the Nord Stream sabotage to account. Uncle Sam's days - indeed decades - of wanton criminality are over. There's going to be hell to pay as the imperialist tyranny in Washington hits a wall of reality.

Several weeks have gone by with the United States and its Western lackeys stonewalling at the United Nations Security Council, squirming and resisting calls from Moscow and Beijing for an international criminal investigation into the sabotage of the Baltic Sea pipelines that were blown up in September.

A swathe of independent observers, such as American economics professor Jeffrey Sachs and former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, have concurred with the investigative report published on February 8 by renowned journalist Seymour Hersh which claims that U.S. President Joe Biden and his senior White House staff ordered the Pentagon to take out the natural gas pipeline that runs along the Baltic Sea bed from Russia to Germany.

Russia and China are adamant about not letting this vital subject be ignored. They want a proper investigation, international accountability and criminal prosecution. Moscow and Beijing are right to insist on this. Washington and its Western allies' presumption of impunity has gone on for too many decades. The buck stops here and both Russia and China are strong enough to ensure that the United States cannot threaten, blackmail, or arm-twist its way out of scrutiny.

The Nord Stream project is a major international civilian infrastructure, costing in excess of $20 billion to construct over more than a decade. At 1,200 kilometres in length under the Baltic Sea, it is an impressive feat of engineering, symbolizing the mutual benefits of good neighborliness and cooperative trading.
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Bizarro Earth

The EU is losing relevance in the emerging new world

Timur Fomenko
RT
Mon, 27 Mar 2023 15:17 UTC
PutinXi
© Pavel Byrkin/Sputnik/ Kremlin Pool/APRussian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping
The Palace of the Facets • Moscow Kremlin, Russia • March 21, 2023
Russia and China are shaping global politics while the US dominates its partners across the Atlantic, leaving European countries as mere passengers...

The meeting of Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Moscow last week was met with predictable accusations in Western circles that Moscow was becoming "subservient" or even a "vassal" of Beijing.

MEP Guy Verhofstadt, a Euro-fantasist and former prime minister of Belgium, jeered on Twitter, "Putin's appalling legacy now includes turning Russia more and more into a Chinese vassal state," oblivious to the irony of his own words. As the United States took the lead in denouncing China's peace plan for the Ukraine conflict, publicly setting out the conditions on which it should end, the European Union was nowhere to be seen, or at least had nothing original to say.

This makes Verhofstadt's comments a damning display of lacking self-awareness. Russia and China are setting out their vision for a new multipolar world, while the US struggles against them in seeking to maintain its hegemonic position. Meanwhile, the European Union has been reduced to the status of a mere bench player in it all, and has become effectively irrelevant. The failure of EU countries to stake out their own will and position amidst the larger powers, as well as their total subservience to the US, has made a mockery of the "strategic autonomy" concept once championed by Emmanuel Macron.

Comment: The EU's 'strategic autonomy delusion' must crumble for its vassal-relevance to be fully realized. To his personal detriment, Trump shook things up by providing Europe opportunities to step up or unhinge from the US.

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Oil Well

US threatens Mexico with tariffs in attempt to force privatization of its energy sector


RT
Mon, 27 Mar 2023 21:45 UTC
Bid/AMLO
© Getty Images/Hector VivasMexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador greets US President Joe Biden
North American Leaders Summit • Mexico City, Mexico
Washington will reportedly demand that Mexico open its energy markets or face a formal dispute and possible tariffs...

President Joe Biden's administration has reportedly opted to escalate a trade dispute with Mexico, making plans to demand that its neighbor to the south opens up its power and oil markets to US suppliers or face an arbitration and the threat of retaliatory tariffs.

The demand will be made in the coming weeks through an "act now or else" notice to Mexico City from US trade officials, Reuters reported on Monday, citing unidentified people familiar with the discussions.

At issue is Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's decision to roll back reforms aimed at opening Mexican energy markets to outside competitors - allegedly in violation of the 2018 US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USCMA), a trade deal that requires the countries to curtail protections of state-owned enterprises.

The US and Canada last July requested settlement talks with Mexico on the energy dispute. Having made little progress since then, the Biden administration has decided to ratchet up the pressure by making a so-called "final offer" requiring Mexican officials to eliminate trade barriers and agree to increased oversight.

If they refuse, the US will request that the row be settled by an independent panel, as called for under the USCMA. If Mexico loses that arbitration and still declines to take corrective action, the US and Canada could impose billions of dollars in punitive tariffs on Mexican goods.


Comment: It wouldn't be a surprise if the 'independent panel' was not so independent.


Comment: Operating 'off script', AMLO is expected to fulfill US demands or face consequences. Threats will likely increase as Mexico bids to join BRICS.

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Fire

Ukraine being obliterated - Trump


RT
Tue, 28 Mar 2023 08:33 UTC
Trump
© Mary Altaffer/APFormer US President Donald Trump
Donald Trump has once again claimed that he would need just 24 hours to negotiate peace in Ukraine. Speaking to Fox News, the former US president warned of a possible nuclear escalation and urged the hostilities to be ceased immediately.

"The key to that is that war has to stop now, because Ukraine is being obliterated," Trump told host Sean Hannity in an interview on Monday.

Trump compared footage from the conflict to "hundreds of these demolition sites" that he used to see as part of his construction business. "There was not a building standing," the former US leader explained.

Trump repeated his assertion that he could reach a peace deal in Ukraine within 24 hours if elected back into office. However, he declined to explain his strategy, claiming it would be "very easy" but would not work if revealed prematurely.

Trump suggested that the US presidential election might not even happen next year, arguing it was "possible we'd be in World War III with these idiots that are doing what they are doing." Such a conflict would make the two previous world wars look like "patty cakes," he added.
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Star of David

Netanyahu fires Minister of Defense after he pressed for halting judicial overhaul

Ryan King
Washington Examiner
Sun, 26 Mar 2023 03:20 UTC
gallant
© Avshalom SassoniIsraeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant Sunday after he pressed for a pause on plans for a judicial overhaul.

Netanyahu's office announced it would "dismiss" Gallant from his post but did not immediately specify if he will receive a new position elsewhere in the administration. Gallant called for halting Netanyahu's controversial judicial reform plans due to widespread unease within the military.

Gallant said, per the Times of Israel:
"I hear their voices, and I am worried. The growing rift in our society is penetrating the IDF and security agencies. This poses a clear, immediate, and tangible threat to the security of the state. I will not lend my hand to this."
Under the plan championed by Netanyahu, the Knesset, Israel's parliament, would gain the ability to overrule Supreme Court rulings. Netanyahu argued the reforms were necessary to streamline the legislative process and stave off judicial overreach. The proposal has sparked widespread protests across Israel and has even seeped into the Israel Defense Forces.

Comment: More from The Jerusalem Post: Israel reacts to sacking of Defense Minister Gallant
In his first response since his dismissal, Gallant wrote that the "security of the State of Israel has always been and will always be my life's mission."

Netanyahu simply responded, "everyone must stand up to insubordination."

Netanyahu proved on Sunday that Israel's security is not his chief priority, former IDF chief of staff MK Gadi Eisenkot remarked:
"Gallant's dismissal is a disgrace to Netanyahu's legacy and a dangerous bet on all of our lives."
Former defense minister MK Benny Gantz wrote in reaction to Gallant's dismissal:
"We face a clear and immediate danger to Israel's security. This evening, Netanyahu put politics and himself above security."
Opposition head Yair Lapid said of Gallant's firing:
"Just because he warned of a threat to Israel's security, is a new low for this anti-Zionist government. Netanyahu can fire Gallant, but he can't fire reality and he can't fire the Israelis who are standing up against this coalition's insanity. The prime minister is a danger to Israel's security."
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett reacted to the dismissal, saying:
"The State of Israel is in the greatest danger since the Yom Kippur War. I call on the Prime Minister to withdraw Gallant's dismissal letter, suspend the reform and begin a pause in negotiations until after Independence Day. It doesn't matter who is right and who is wrong. I call on all the demonstrators and all the citizens of Israel - do everything without violence, without bloodshed. We are brothers."
The Otzma Yehudit party on the other hand stated their support of Gallant's dismissal:
"We are supporting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin not to stop the legislation. The right has no mandate to give up the legal reform and surrender to violence. The majority of the people supported us to govern."
The Movement for Quality of Government said it takes the dismissal of Gallant "extremely seriously," adding that Netanyahu is not "ethically or morally" qualified to fulfill his role as prime minister:
"The movement will consider legal action to stop this scandalous dismissal."


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Dig

Burying key evidence, new OPCW report covers up Douma's unsolved deaths

Aaron Maté
The Grayzone
Mon, 27 Mar 2023 00:00 UTC
SignOPCW
© Unknown
After censoring experts who found that the victims in Douma could not have been killed by chlorine gas, the OPCW's new IIT report continues the cover-up and baselessly accuses the Syrian government.

On April 7th 2018, gruesome images of an alleged chemical attack emerged from the Syrian town of Douma.

Dozens of dead bodies, including children and infants, appeared heaped in piles inside of an apartment building. Others lay on the street in front as if trying to escape deadly gas. Strikingly, many of the victims displayed copious foam oozing from the mouth and nose. Along with their proximity to a clear escape route, these visible symptoms suggested that something extraordinarily poisonous had killed them instantly.

US officials immediately promoted the allegations of insurgent-tied groups that the Syrian army had killed the victims with chlorine gas or the nerve agent sarin, or even a combination of both. One week later, the US, along with the UK and France, bombed Syria in purported retaliation.

In public statements, however, experts raised doubts that chlorine caused the deaths in Douma. Leaked documents later revealed that German military toxicologists consulted by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in June 2018 went further. The Germans told the OPCW that the circumstances of the fatalities - apparent immediate death and collapse in piles at the center of two rooms, a failure to escape, and rapid profuse foaming at the mouth and nose - were inconsistent with chlorine poisoning.
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Rainbow

US democracy 'a facade' - Russian security chief


RT
Mon, 27 Mar 2023 10:20 UTC
Patrushev
© Sputnik/Pavel BednyakovRussian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev
Washington was captured by corporate interests and is pushing their agenda on the world stage, Nikolay Patrushev has said...

The US is not really a democracy, nor does it seek to promote democracy in its relations with other nations, contrary to Washington's claims, senior Russian security official Nikolay Patrushev has said. He made the remarks while commenting on the upcoming 'Summit for Democracy' hosted by the US government.

Patrushev, who is the secretary of the Russian Security Council, described the US economy as "dependent on corruption and lobbying connections going to the White House and Capitol Hill."

Corporate interests have hijacked the levers of political power in the US and use the country's international clout to pursue their own agenda, he said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, to be published in full later today.
"Their democracy is a pretty facade for the political system, which serves to hide the neglect of the rights of ordinary Americans."
Washington pursues the same approach in the international arena, where it claims to be the champion of democracy but disregards other nations' sovereignty, Patrushev said. He believes that this "hypocrisy" will be on display at the Summit for Democracy, which will kick off this week in Washington.
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Arrow Up

US-led economic alliance - Doing the 'Humpty Dumpty' blindfolded

Phil Butler
New Eastern Outlook
Tue, 28 Mar 2023 18:50 UTC
Bubbles
© New Eastern Outlook
There's a lot more to the news that India-based defense company BrahMos Aerospace will soon close a deal to sell Indonesia supersonic cruise missiles worth at least $200 million than meets the eye. The India-Russia joint venture via BrahMos could have lasting geopolitical effects in Southeast Asia and on the current American hegemony.

Another India-Russia joint venture was just clinched last year when the Philippines ordered $375 million in shore-based anti-ship missiles. This deal was part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambition to triple India's defense exports. And for Russia, every partnership sealed in Asia is a thorn in the side of the so-called western alliance.

The Philippines have indicated their deal is a kind of "icebreaker" for potential further corporations. And the India component of the negotiations going on is both vital, and brilliant from the Russian standpoint. The United States has been busy trying to torpedo direct Russian sales to the Philippines and other countries in Southeast Asia, so Modi edging closer and closer to Russia economically, and perhaps strategically, is a thorn in Washington's side.

Whatever the reasons, Indonesia's acquisition of new weapons grew by about 28% in 2021 and then 69% in 2022. As for the Philippines, the country elevated acquisitions by 29% in 2021 and 40% in 2022. Take note, these figures are much higher than the average investment in military hardware and systems elsewhere in the region.
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Eye 1

Biden meets with Trudeau as US, Canada announce immigration agreement

Ben Gittleson and Alexandra Hutzler
ABC News
Fri, 24 Mar 2023 23:12 UTC
joe biden justin trudeau
© Blair Gable/ReutersU.S. President Joe Biden walks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Parliament Hill, March 24, 2023, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
President Joe Biden and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced a new migration deal as part of Biden's first visit to America's northern neighbor.

The new agreement will allow Canada to send migrants who cross at unofficial ports of entry at America's northern border back to the U.S., a change to the Safe Third Country Agreement long-sought by Canada.

The U.S. will also be able to turn back asylum seekers who travel across the border from Canada.

Comment: See also:

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