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Attention

Ukraine issues ultimatum to NATO


RT
Fri, 30 Jun 2023 09:50 UTC
press conf
© Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP.jpgNATO head Jens Stoltenberg • Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky
Joint press conference in Kiev • April 20, 2023
President Zelensky will not attend the bloc's summit unless it shows "courage" on the accession process, a top official has said...

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky will only attend NATO's summit next month if the bloc begins to seriously consider Kiev's request for membership, a deputy head of the country's presidential office said on Thursday.

"The president will not travel... to the summit [on July 11-12] if the leaders will tend to or will show a deficit of courage," Igor Zhovka told Reuters, explaining that there would be "no point."

He noted that the US-led military alliance has already received an application from Ukraine, and that "the Vilnius summit would be a very good start" to respond to it. "And by respond, we mean an invitation for membership, which is only the first stage," Zhovka stressed, adding that Ukraine only wants the bloc "to start the procedure."
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Stop

Switzerland blocks sale of Leopard 1 tanks bound for Ukraine

Bastian Benrath
Bloomberg
Wed, 28 Jun 2023 07:37 UTC
LeoTanks
© Wikimedia CommonsLeopard 1 Tanks
Switzerland blocked arms maker Ruag AG from selling almost 100 tanks in a deal that would have seen them used by Ukraine in its war with Russia.

The government said the request is "inconsistent with applicable law," noting that Switzerland is a neutral country which can't approve sales of arms bound for an active conflict zone. Ruag said it acknowledged the decision, but declined to comment further when contacted by Bloomberg.

The rejection applies to 96 non-operational Leopard 1 tanks currently stored in Italy, which are property of Ruag. The proposal was for the vehicles to be refurbished in Germany and then sent to Ukraine.

The announcement on Wednesday is unconnected to a separate sale of 25 Leopard 2 tanks of the Swiss army, which are supposed to go to German company Rheinmetall AG.
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Bad Guys

Arming Ukraine is a cynical and dangerous NATO ploy, RT reporter tells UNSC


RT
Sat, 01 Jul 2023 14:46 UTC
Chay Bowes
© RTChay Bowes discusses his experience at the UN at RT's studio
Western nations are pushing Ukrainian soldiers into suicide missions against Russian forces after providing them with outdated and often inoperative weapons, RT correspondent Chay Bowes has told the UN Security Council.

The Irish journalist was among the speakers invited to address to the Council on Thursday, sharing his views on Western lethal aid to Ukraine and the related proliferation risks. The gathering was attended by ambassadors including Russian Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzya and his UK counterpart Barbara Woodward.

Bowes told the delegations that NATO nations have been helping Kiev to build up its military since 2014, training thousands of troops each year. He described the current hostilities as "a proxy conflict, where Ukraine supplies manpower... to support a de-facto NATO operation to prevent a Russian military victory". A defeated Ukraine would undermine the US-led military bloc itself, he predicted, which explains the escalation of arms supplies from the West.

Many of the weapons provided to Kiev, especially by smaller nations, are often in a poor state of repair, Bowes said, citing multiple reports from the Western media and officials. Some are "outright lethal" to the Ukrainians using them. The sub-par weapons are being "dumped" as part of schemes by the larger powers, primarily the US, to replace and upgrade their own stocks.
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NPC

Chinese spy balloon shot down in February did not gather data over US, Pentagon says


Hong Kong Free Press
Tue, 27 Jun 2023 17:45 UTC
Blinken
© Ron Przysucha/US Gov.Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken delivers remarks to the press at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on March 2, 2022.
The Chinese spy balloon shot down by a US fighter jet over the Atlantic in February did not collect intelligence as it flew across the United States, the Pentagon said Thursday.

"It's been our assessment now that it did not collect while it was transiting the United States or overflying the United States," said Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder.

Ryder said the US "took steps to mitigate" intelligence collection by the balloon.

"Certainly the efforts we made contributed" to that, Ryder said, without further explanation.

Comment: Of course the implication here is that the weather balloon was actually spying on the US and the US prevented it by allowing it to move across the US and shoot it down once the danger entered the Atlanic ocean. A farce through and through, and part of the US' information war on China. See also:

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War Whore

Poland wants US nuclear weapons - PM


RT
Fri, 30 Jun 2023 13:34 UTC
Mateus Morawiecki
© Omar Marques/Getty ImagesPolish Prime Minister Mateus Morawiecki.
Warsaw sees it as a response to Russia deploying its arms in Belarus, Prime Minister Mateus Morawiecki has said.

Warsaw is asking NATO to include it in the bloc's Nuclear Sharing Program, Prime Minister Mateus Morawiecki told journalists in Brussels on Friday. The program allows the deployment of US nuclear bombs on the territory of other nations.

Morawiecki called Poland's appeal a response to Moscow's decision to station its tactical nuclear arms in neighboring Belarus. "Due to the fact that Russia intends to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, we are... appealing to... NATO to [allow us] take part in the Nuclear Sharing Program," the prime minister said.

Comment: See also:

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Eye 1

US Intel trolls Putin and US analysts are collateral damage

Gordonhahn
gordonhahn.com
Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:01 UTC
President Putin
© Public Domain
A whole host of American analysts and commentators — some reliable some not so much - are claiming that US intelligence stands behind the Prigozhin myatezh against the Russian military leadership (It was not a coup to seize power from Putin). The main piece of 'evidence' cited in such accounts is a news report from perhaps the least reputable but nevertheless influential media organ, CNN. The relevant sections in the CNN report of June 24th read:
US intelligence officials believe that Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the private Wagner military group, had been planning a major challenge to Russia's military leadership for quite some time, but it was unclear what the ultimate aim would be, three people familiar with the matter told CNN.

Intelligence officials briefed congressional leaders known as the Gang of Eight earlier this week concerning Wagner group movements and equipment buildups near Russia, two of the people said.

US and Western intelligence officials saw signs that Prigozhin was making preparations for such a move, including by massing weapons and ammunition, one Western intelligence official and another person familiar with the intelligence said.

A source familiar with the intelligence said 'it all happened very quickly,' and it was difficult to discern how serious Prigozhin was about threatening the Russian military and where he would take his troops.
...

Comment: See also:

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Pirates

Germany opposes EU plan to steal Russian assets


Azerbaycan24
Mon, 26 Jun 2023 12:00 UTC
Germany flag
© Hannibal Hanschke / ReutersEuropean officials have been debating ways of confiscating the funds and transferring them to Ukraine
Germany has raised objections to Brussels's plan to use frozen Russian Central Bank assets for Ukraine's reconstruction, warning of the legal and financial risks arising from such a move, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

The European Commission has been working on a plan to raise billions of euros by requiring financial institutions holding immobilized Russian assets to hand over some of the profits they generate. However, many lawmakers from across the bloc have pointed out that the EU legal system only allows the assets to be frozen, not expropriated.

According to the FT, senior German government officials voiced doubts that the EU's plan can win sufficient support, due to the legal risks.

Comment: It's not just illegal, but it would tarnish the EU as a safe place to invest money and do business, and the EU is already teetering on the edge: 'EU is on the brink of bankruptcy' says Hungary's PM Orbán at EU summit





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Bad Guys

Western generals in Ukraine - Lavrov


RT
Fri, 30 Jun 2023 06:53 UTC
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
© Sputnik/Sergey GuneevFILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the presentation of the SCO National Center for People's Diplomacy in Moscow.
The minister accused foreign militants of using civilian infrastructure.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Ukraine of allowing foreign mercenaries and Western generals to use civilian infrastructure to fight against Russia, and has vowed to destroy these groups.

Speaking at an online briefing on Friday, Lavrov said that Russia has "not seen confirmation of a single fact of deliberate shelling of civilian targets by the Russian army." He claimed, however, that the Ukrainian side has been "violating international humanitarian law and committing a war crime by allowing mercenaries, Western generals and instructors to use civilian objects to hold all sorts of meetings."

Comment: See also:

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Clipboard

Key takeaways from Lavrov's press conference on Ukraine


RT
Fri, 30 Jun 2023 13:07 UTC
Lavrov
© Sputnik/Russian Foreign MinistryRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
The Russian foreign minister delivered his remarks in the wake of the Wagner rebellion...

The situation in Russia in the aftermath of the Wagner uprising, the prospects for peace in Ukraine, the fate of the Black Sea grain deal, as well as Western attempts to thwart BRICS expansion, were among the topics Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed during a press conference on Friday.

Russia owes no explanation about the Wagner mutiny

If the West "has any doubts" about Russia's stability in the wake of the last week's uprising led by Evgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the private military company, "that's your problem," the minister said.

"We are not obligated to explain anything to anyone, to give any assurances," Lavrov stressed, adding, however, that Russia has been very transparent about recent events.

He reiterated that Moscow has always emerged stronger from various challenges it has had to overcome in the past, noting that the Wagner mutiny - which he described as "nothing more than trouble" - will be no exception.
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Arrow Down

Supreme Court strikes down Biden's student debt forgiveness plan

Zach Schonfeld, Lexi Lonas
The Hill
Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00 UTC
rules against
© Unknown/KJNSupreme Court rules against student debt forgiveness
The Supreme Court on Friday blocked the Biden administration's student debt relief plan in a 6-3 decision, stopping more than 40 million borrowers from receiving loan forgiveness and delivering a major defeat to one of the president's key campaign promises.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for himself and his five conservative colleagues, ruled that Congress had not authorized the executive branch to forgive the debts that are estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars.
"The Secretary asserts that the HEROES Act grants him the authority to cancel $430 billion of student loan principal. It does not. We hold today that the Act allows the Secretary to 'waive or modify' existing statutory or regulatory provisions applicable to financial assistance programs under the Education Act, not to rewrite that statute from the ground up."
The high-stakes decision will likely limit President Biden's options to deliver on his commitment to cancel $10,000 of student loans for low- and middle-income borrowers.

Biden's plan would have canceled up to $20,000 in loans for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 for other borrowers, if the individual's income is below $125,000. The income limit was doubled for married couples.

Comment: No votes for you!

See also:

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