Puppet MastersS


Newspaper

Despite Macron's crackdown on RT France, Lavrov promises to not punish French press, 'We're polite people'


RT
Tue, 27 Nov 2018 22:13 UTC
Lavrov at RTFrance
© RTSergey Lavrov chats with RT France head, Xenia Fedorova
Moscow is alarmed by the French government's attempts to "white-list" favored media outlets and hamper public access to their competitors, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, during a visit to RT France's HQ in Paris.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lavrov's joint press-conference with French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian was delayed for half an hour, due to the exclusion of accredited Russian journalists from Channel One, Sputnik and RT by the French Foreign Ministry.

"The situation changed only when Lavrov warned that he won't take part in the press-conference if the Russian press isn't allowed at it," a source in the Russian delegation told RIA Novosti.

After talks with Le Drian, the Russian FM visited RT's headquarters in the French capital. He checked out the state-of-the-art studios and workspaces, and had a brief chat with the staff.

Lavrov was surprised to learn that RT France was barred not only from the Elysee Place, but from the Foreign Ministry and other French government agencies as well. The crackdown on the Russian broadcaster began after President Emmanuel Macron came to power in May 2017. He said that the persecution of RT, as well the Sputnik news agency in France was among the topics he'd discussed with the French foreign minister.

Comment: In the battle between suppression and freedom of information: Which one, exactly, is the real propaganda tool? See also:

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Rocket

Russian anti-ship missiles caught on film moving towards Kerch after flare-up with Ukraine


RT
Tue, 27 Nov 2018 22:20 UTC
Antiship missiles
© RT
A large column of Russian military hardware, including anti-ship missile systems, has been spotted moving towards the Crimean city of Kerch, after Russian border guards faced off with Ukrainian ships violating Russia's border.

A video exclusively obtained by RT's video agency Ruptly shows a whole column of military trucks, as well as several 'Bal' coastal defense systems, moving along a road in Crimea. The troops were being relocated to an area near the city of Kerch, following the tense standoff on Sunday with a group of Ukrainian ships that, despite repeated warnings, had breached Russia's territorial waters in the Kerch Strait.

The 'Bal' systems are equipped with eight X-35 cruise anti-ship missiles, capable of hitting vessels with displacement tonnages up to 5,000 tons at a distance of up to 20 kilometers.


Comment: See also:

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Better Earth

Afghan President Ghani presents road map for peace talks at UN conference


RFE/RL
Wed, 28 Nov 2018 20:52 UTC
ghani
© Fabrice Coffrini / AFPAfghan President Ashraf Ghani delivers a speech next to his wife, Rula, during a United Nations conference on Afghanistan in Geneva on November 28.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says his government has formed a 12-strong negotiating team to seek a peace agreement with the Taliban, as he laid out what he called a "roadmap" for the talks.

"We seek a peace agreement in which the Afghan Taliban would be included in a democratic and inclusive society," Ghani told an international conference on Afghanistan in Geneva on November 28.

Earlier this month, U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad held talks with the Taliban in Qatar as the administration of President Donald Trump stepped up efforts to settle the Afghan conflict after more than 17 years of war.

The Taliban have long refused U.S. demands to directly negotiate with the Western-backed government in Kabul, which has struggled to counter attacks from the militant group since the withdrawal of most NATO combat troops in 2014.

The government has formed "the required bodies and mechanisms to pursue a peace agreement," Ghani said, adding: "We are now moving ahead into the next chapter of the peace process."

Comment: See also:

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Target

The UK pushes a clandestine, anti-Russian propaganda network of influencers in the EU


RT
Tue, 27 Nov 2018 17:39 UTC
Anti-Putin protest
© Reuters/Hannah McKay
The Integrity Initiative claims to be a group fighting back against 'Russian misinformation,' but leaked files show a clandestine network of influencers that manipulate European politics with the British government's backing.

Formed in 2015, the Integrity Initiative (II) was set up by the UK-based Institute for Statecraft - a national security think tank - to "reveal and combat propaganda and disinformation." But think-tanks like the Atlantic Council have been picking through RT articles and monitoring Twitter for what they deem is "wrongthink" for some time now. What's different about this one?

Well, according to documents leaked online this month, the II is more than just a network of like-minded neoliberals. It's a large-scale "information service", whose influencers are drawn from political, military, academic, and journalistic communities, and answer to the British government.

The setup

A project proposal form, signed off on by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, details the extent of the operation. First, a network of friendly journalists, experts, and think tanks was established across Europe.

'Clusters' of II influencers liaise with experts, and these leaders in turn reportedly answer to a contact within their country's British embassy. Hackers who leaked the file and claim to be Anonymous (though a major Anonymous account has denied the claim) say the use of contacts in British embassies shows that "Britain uses plausible excuse to create a global system of information influence and political interference into affairs of other countries."

Comment: The projection of bogeymen takes aim against Russia/Russian lineage, with Integrity Initiative's phony 'information service' and network infiltrations. Could it be more mis-named? See also:

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X

China is not seriously considering US treasuries as a trade war weapon says envoy


Reuters
Tue, 27 Nov 2018 05:03 UTC
Cui Tiankai
© Chris Kleponis/AFP/Getty ImagesChina's ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai
China's ambassador to the United States said on Tuesday he does not believe Beijing is seriously considering using its massive U.S. Treasury debt holdings as a weapon in the U.S.-China trade war, citing concerns that such a move would destabilize financial markets.

"We don't want to cause any financial instability in global markets. This is very dangerous, this is like playing with fire," Ambassador Cui Tiankai told Reuters in an interview when asked if China would consider selling Treasuries or reducing purchases should trade tensions worsen. "I don't think anybody in Beijing is thinking seriously about this. It could backfire," he added.

Trade and economic analysts have often said China could slow its purchases of U.S. Treasuries or sell off its holdings to pressure Washington into a deal.

China is the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury debt, with $1.15 trillion on Sept. 30, according to the latest Treasury data, compared with $1.19 trillion a year earlier. As of Monday, there was about $15.97 trillion of total public Treasury debt outstanding.

Cui said China's Treasury holdings were a good example of the economic interdependence between the United States and China - a relationship that he said would be nearly impossible and dangerous to untangle.

Comment: See also:

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War Whore

Drama in the Kerch Strait: A desperate ploy by West to undermine upcoming Trump/Putin meet

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Tue, 27 Nov 2018 20:45 UTC
Ukrainian nationalists
© AFP/ STR / NurPhotoUkrainian nationalists hold flares during a rally outside parliament
When the Ukrainian navy sent a tugboat and two small gunboats on Sunday to force their way through the Kerch Strait into the Sea of Azov, it knew in advance the Russian response would be swift and merciless.

After all, Kiev was entering waters claimed by Russia with military vessels without clarifying their intent.

The intent, though, was clear; to raise the stakes in the militarization of the Sea of Azov.

The Kerch Strait connects the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea. To reach Mariupol, a key city in the Sea of Azov very close to the dangerous dividing line between Ukraine's army and the pro-Russian militias in Donbass, the Ukrainian navy needs to go through the Kerch.

Yet since Russia retook control of Crimea via a 2014 referendum, the waters around Kerch are de facto Russian territorial waters.
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Snakes in Suits

Must be blind: Ex-ambassador McFaul sees no evidence that Ukraine's govt. supports neo-Nazis


RT
Wed, 28 Nov 2018 20:38 UTC
Azov Battalion
© Reuters / Gleb GaranichMembers of the Azov Battalion in 2016
A celebrated Stanford scholar and ex-envoy to Russia is having trouble finding evidence that the Ukrainian government "sympathizes" with paramilitary groups that espouse neo-Nazi ideologies.

Michael McFaul expressed his doubts about Kiev's support for ultra-nationalist and neo-Nazi elements in Ukraine. He was responding to journalist Glenn Greenwald's assertion that the Ukrainian government "has clear, systemic & deeply ominous ties to actual Nazi groups & neo-Nazi factions."

Most countries have "Nazi sympathizers," McFaul artfully retorted. "But the Ukrainian government? Really? Any evidence to support that hypothesis? The Prime Minister is Jewish."

Greenwald promptly furnished two pieces of corroborating evidence, which can hardly be dismissed as "Russian propaganda" - the usual tactics for the willingly-blind about Ukraine's right-wing extremism problem.
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Evil Rays

Ukraine releases intercepted Russian radio communications during Black Sea incident with deliberate mistranslations - UPDATE


South Front
Wed, 28 Nov 2018 16:50 UTC
ukraine ships detained black sea kerch
© Crimea's FSB Press ServiceSeveral Ukrainian warships crossing Russia’s territorial waters and attempting to pass through the Kerch Strait without permission
On November 26, the Ukrainian Armed Forces released the radio communication between Russian border guard ships and operations duty officers of the Russian Navy.

The video entitled "Переговори російського командування з екіпажами прикордонних кораблів РФ. 25 11 2018" can be found on the Youtube channel of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Comment: The Saker has posted a statement issued by the FSB on the illegal breach of Russian territory (translation by Scott Humor):
27.11.2018

At 07.10 AM on 25th of November this year, notwithstanding the warnings on the closure of the area of territorial waters of the Russian Federation approaching the Kerch Strait from the direction of the Black Sea, the vessels of the Ukrainian Navy (small armored artillery river boats "Berdyansk" and "Nikopol" and the tug boat "Yana Kapu") crossed the state border of the Russian Federation in the location with coordinates: Latitude 44° 52′, 7 SH, Longitude 36° 31′, 3 VD (Ш=44° 52′, 7 СШ, Д=36° 31′, 3 ВД) and entered the area temporarily closed to navigation in violation of the requirements of The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS) and the Law of the Russian Federation of 1 April 1993 No. 4730-I "On the State Border of the Russian Federation."

Reference to the quoted articles of law:

Articles 21 and 22, Sea lanes and traffic separation schemes in the territorial sea
  1. The coastal State may, where necessary having regard to the safety of navigation, require foreign ships exercising the right of innocent passage through its territorial sea to use such sea lanes and traffic separation schemes as it may designate or prescribe for the regulation of the passage of ships;
Article 13 of the Federal law "On Internal Sea Waters, Territorial Sea and Adjacent Zone of the Russian Federation" foreign ships, foreign warships, exercising the right of peaceful passage through the territorial sea, must comply with the legislation of the Russian Federation and the rules relating to the peaceful passage through the territorial sea, in respect of:
safety of navigation and regulation of ship traffic, including the use of sea corridors and traffic separation schemes.
After crossing the state border of the Russian Federation, the Ukrainian Navy ships proceeded to the Kerch-Yenikalsky channel in violation of the licensing procedure established by the order of the Ministry of transport of Russia dated October 21, 2015 № 313 "On Approval of Mandatory Regulations in the Seaport of Kerch".

During the pursuit of the Ukrainian Navy vessels, the requirement to immediately leave the territorial waters of the Russian Federation were repeatedly delivered to the crews by radio in accordance with Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. Despite all the measures taken by the Russian side, the ships of the Ukrainian Navy were brought into full combat readiness: artillery installations were uncovered, the trunks of artillery installations were raised to an angle of 45 degrees and directed towards the ships and boats of the Russian Federation (in violation of article 19 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, and paragraph 2 of article 11 of FL-155 of July 31, 1998 "On Internal Sea Waters, Territorial Waters and the Adjacent Zone of the Russian Federation"). The Russian side brought to the attention of the Ukrainian Navy ships while in the territorial waters of the Russian Federation that the threat of weapon use will be regarded as a violation of the rules of peaceful passage in accordance with international law and the legislation of the Russian Federation.

The detained military vessels of the Ukrainian Navy were armed with the following types of weapons and ammunition:
  1. 30 mm gun - 4 units.
  2. Automatic grenade launcher AGS -17 - 4 units.
  3. Machine gun "DShK" 12.7 mm - 2 units.
  4. Machine gun PKT 7.62 mm - 4 units.
  5. Automatic AK-47 5.45 mm - 13 units.
  6. Gun PM 9mm - 4 units.
  7. Traumatic gun 9mm -1 unit.
  8. Signal pistol PS - 1 unit.
  9. High-explosive fragmentation projectile 30 mm - 765 units. + (32 zinc containers, unnumbered, establishing the correct number is not yet possible)
  10. VOG-17 High Explosive Grenade - 1975 units.
  11. VOG grenade -495 units.
  12. RGD-5 grenade - 40 units.
  13. Grenade RG-42 - 48 units.
  14. Grenade RGD - 20 units.
  15. UZRGM-2 fuze - 30 units.
  16. Fuse RG-42 - 38 units.
  17. 30 mm signal cartridge - 87 units.
  18. Cartridges 7,62 mm - 9865 units.
  19. Cartridges 5,45 mm - 11736 units.
  20. Cartridges 9 mm - 1189 units.
  21. Cartridges 12,7 mm - 612 units.
  22. Bayonet-knife - 15 units.
  23. AK-74 magazine - 42 units.
  24. PM magazine - 4 units.
(Cannon 30 mm AGS-17 and PKT is 1 the gun mount, there are 4 cannons, two on each boat.).

The inspection of the detained Ukrainian military boat "Nikopol" discovered a document titled: "A Checklist of Readiness of the boat "Nikopol" for the sea deployment from 9.00 to 18.00 from 23.11.2018 to 25.11.2018 of the current year" in which a senior of the group of ships was given a direct order to make the transition from Odessa to Berdyansk in the "covert order" while "focusing on ensuring a stealth approach to the Kerch-Yenikalsky channel and passing through it."

Besides, on the same boat was found a hand-written summary of the rules of navigation established by the Russian Federation for the Kerch-Yenikalsky channel, from which follows that the Ukrainian seamen were well informed on the order of its passing.
Report from the Russian news outlet Vesti:

Update: The Saker has published photo proof of the Ukrainian sailor's orders from Kiev instructing them to make a covert attempt to pass the Kerch Strait.
Thanks to Ollie and Angelina for translating this document!

Kerch strait ukraine checklist boat intercepted
© The Saker
Full translation into English:

CHECK LIST of the readiness of small armoured artillery boat "Nikopol" before exit at sea from 09:00 23.11.2018 to 18:00 25.11.2018

1. The purpose of exiting: relocation at the Berdyansk port.

2. Superior during exit: 2nd rank captain Gritsenko D.V.

3. Task set before exiting at sea: create tactical boat grouping No. 5 (hereon in TBG No. 5) before 01.11 consisting of: small armoured artillery boat "Berdyansk", small armoured artillery boat "Nikopol", Commander of TBG No. 5 - 2nd rank captain Gritsenko D.V. with the placement of the command point of TBG on the small armoured artillery boat "Berdyansk".

Prepare tactical grouping No. 5 for relocation from the Odessa port to the Berdyansk port through the Kerch-Enikale canal (KEC).

Carry out exit from the Odessa port according to the special order. Carry out covert passage outside the coastal and marine areas of observation of the Black Sea Fleet and Coast Guard of the FSB of the Russian Federation. Carry out passage through the KEC via tug. The tug is offshore tug "Yana Kapa".

While fulfilling tasks the main efforts must be focused on covert passage to and through the KEC. When arriving at the Berdyansk port, be ready to fulfil stabilisation tasks in the Azov Zone:

4. The decision of the commander of the small armoured artillery boat "Nikopol" for the implementation of the set tasks:
Before 01.11 enter into the structure of TBG No. 5.
At 08:30 23.11.18 start preparation of the boat for combat and a campaign.
At 09:00 23.11.18 depart from the Odessa port and carry out a passage to the KEC.
After arriving at the KEC, meet the tug "Yana Kapa" and pass through the KEC.
At the time defined by the special order, enter the Berdyansk port. While exiting at sea, strictly observe security while using weapons and military equipment, as well as navigation security. While fulfilling tasks, the main efforts should be concentrated on covert passage to and through the KEC.

5. The main measures for exit :

(Table column headings) No. / Name of main measures / Fulfilment of basic security measures for planned tasks / Who allows exit and when it takes place /

Notes (Table row data) 1 / Control ships military training: "Verification of readiness of boat before exiting at sea." / - - - - - - - - / 01.11.18 temporarily performing duties of commander of military unit A2951 3rd rank captain RUD P.G. / - - - - - - - - -


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Bizarro Earth

A European army in service to US goals will only incentivize more imperialism and military corruption

Federico Pieraccini
Strategic Culture Foundation
Tue, 27 Nov 2018 18:13 UTC
European army EU
The idea of creating a common army for the countries of the European Union has been repeatedly proposed by numerous advocates of the globalist elite for at least a decade. The latest example came from French President Macron, who took the opportunity during commemorations of the end of WWI in Paris to revive an idea that represents more a fantasy than a real possibility.

First the good news. Richard Shirreff, a retired senior British Army officer, stated:
"I think we have got to be very careful about loose talk of a European army. An army is a legally constituted armed force operating under the authority of a sovereign Government. So, if you accept that definition, the notion of a European army is impossible until and unless there is a sovereign European Government, which is obviously not in existence. And I think it is some way off."

Comment: Unexpectedly, Putin supports the idea. He sees it as another building block of a truly multi-polar world, as it could diminish the strength of the US hegemony in Europe.

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Arrow Down

Flashback Inciting terrorism: Imbecilic journalist suggests Ukies should blow up Kerch Strait Bridge

Tom Rogan
The Washington Examiner
Tue, 15 May 2018 00:00 UTC
Crimean Bridge
© Sputnik / Aleksandr PolegenkoThe Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait
Russian President Vladimir Putin opened the Kerch Strait Bridge connecting Crimea, Ukraine, with mainland Russia on Tuesday. Putin did so by in a typical show of bravado by leading a column of transport vehicles across the bridge.

Ukraine should now destroy elements of the bridge.

While that course of action would be an escalation against Putin and one that would almost certainly spark Russian retaliation, this bridge is an outrageous affront to Ukraine's very credibility as a nation. Of course, from Putin's perspective that's the whole point. The bridge cost Russia's near-bankrupt government billions of dollars, but it offers Putin a formal physical and psychological appropriation of Ukrainian territory.


Comment: Sigh...once again we repeat... Russia has not 'appropriated' Ukrainian territory; the Crimean people voted in a referendum and overwhelmingly (>95%) chose to reunite with Russia. And by the way - Russia is hardly bankrupt.


Fortunately Ukraine has the means to launch air strikes against the bridge in a manner that would render it at least temporarily unusable. Because of its significant length, the Ukrainian air force could strike the bridge while mitigating the risk of casualties by those traversing it.

How would Putin respond?

Comment: The author's hysterical rant may explain one of the reasons for Moscow's zealous caution in defending her territorial waters:

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