Russian and Chinese warships have arrived in the sea area allocated for the "Naval Cooperation 2015" military drills, they have replenished their stocks and currently hove to at their set locations.

Russia and China has kicked off the active phase of their naval drill in the Mediterranean Sea.

"Russian and Chinese warships have arrived in the sea area allocated for the "Naval Cooperation 2015" military drills," Deputy Commander in Chief of the Russian Navy Vice Admiral Alexandr Fedotenkov said on Sunday.

Mikhail Ulyanov, the Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control at the Russian Foreign Ministry, warned that US measures undermining global strategic stability may force Russia to grow its nuclear arsenal instead of carrying out further disarmament.

Speaking at the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in New York on Friday, Ulyanov stated that the US proposal to reduce the total number of deployed warheads by a third is based on their understanding that they will remain able to adequately defend themselves and their allies. Unfortunately, the official noted, "US actions have led to the appearance of completely contradictory factors which, in some circumstances, may even push Russia to begin increasing [its nuclear arsenal]."

Ulyanov clarified that "at the moment, we are not planning to do so, but what is being done by the Americans makes it very difficult, and maybe impossible, to see real prospects for further steps toward nuclear disarmament."

Broadcasting from deep in the heart of the American Empire, join your hosts Harrison Koehli and Elan Martin, and fellow Sott.net editors, as they discuss everything from current events and the latest machinations and manipulations of the global elite to history, science, and religion, and how it all fits together.

This week, join our hosts as they discuss Kerry's recent visit to Sochi, the Russia-China alliance, and other topics.

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Ukrainian troops have set up field depots holding up to 2,000 tons of munitions along the line of engagement with the DPR. Moreover, DPR reconnaissance has reported movement of Uragan and Grad multiple rocket launch systems, infantry combat vehicles, self-propelled artillery units towards the engagement line, therefore Kiev's side continues to scale up heavy weapons and munitions in the zone of conflict.

More provocations from Ukrainian troops are being reported around the Donetsk airport after Ukrainian Self-styled President Petro Poroshenko announced plans to seize the Donetsk airport, Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for the defense ministry of the DPR said on Thursday. "Following Poroshenko's pronouncements, provocations have become more frequent, shelling of Gorlovka resumed after a lull since February. Poroshenko's words are meant to continue escalation," Basurin stated. On May 11, Kiev's president Petro announced plans to take the Donetsk airport under Kiev's control. The question arises: has he ever heard about Minsk agreements?

Moscow 'can't help thinking' the recent terrorist attack in Macedonia has something to do with the country's objection to anti-Russian sanctions and participation in the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project, the Russian foreign minister said.

Sergey Lavrov was referring to the events in the city of Kumanovo not far from the Kosovo border, where a raid by gunmen last week resulted in street battles that left 18 people dead, including eight police officers. At least 30 people, most of them Kosovar Albanians, have been charged over the attack in the ethnically diverse city with a strong Albanian presence.

"We are greatly concerned with the latest events in Macedonia, and the situation in Kosovo does not give us any ground for optimism," Lavrov said on Friday during his visit to Serbia. "We are seriously concerned that those were the result of a well-planned terrorist act."

The EU "should not play ostrich and try to present the case as if there were no organizational force behind it," he added, saying officials in Brussels are apparently embarrassed that all their efforts to stabilize the situation in former Yugoslavia have been ineffective.

US special operations forces have conducted a military operation in eastern Syria, targeting a senior Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) commander and his wife, the US defense secretary has announced. The terrorist leader was killed in the raid.

Abu Sayyaf, a senior Islamic State leader, was killed by US forces, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Saturday, adding the terrorist was involved in the group's military operations, as well as helping to direct its "illicit oil, gas and financial operations."

"During the course of the operation, Abu Sayyaf was killed when he engaged US forces," National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Friday there is no alternative to complete fulfillment of the Minsk agreements.

"Today, there is no alternative to complete fulfillment of the Minsk agreements - and this is a clear position coordinated with the United States and with our Normandy format partners - Germany and France," Poroshenko said at a meeting of the National Reform Council.

Commenting on the results of talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, and on his meetings with European leaders, Poroshenko said, "Ukraine has reliable partners in the person of the European Union and the United States."

According to the Ukrainian president, the situation in Ukraine tops the United States' foreign policy agenda. He hailed U.S.' diplomatic efforts in bilateral dialogue with Russia to ensure complete fulfillment of the Minsk agreements.

The U.S. and Russia are currently involved in heated competition amidst the New Cold War, with their latest rivalry threatening to turn hot over Macedonia. They had already duked it out over Ukraine (and still are, to a large extent), and a deadly stalemate has now settled over Syria as the U.S. covert war on the country drags through its fourth year.

The latest flare-up between the two Great Powers is now gearing up to be for Macedonia, with the U.S. following the template it's learned in the previous two cases to throw the country into chaos during the forthcoming 17 May Color Revolution offensive. The terrorists intercepted last weekend in Kumanovo were supposed to have coordinated their attacks with the Color Revolutionaries during this Sunday's destabilization, which would have symbolized the strategic merger between the Color Revolution and Unconventional War elements of the U.S. regime change toolkit.

With all eyes on Macedonia to see what will happen this Sunday, it's worth recalling the previous two rounds of their confrontation in better understanding how Round Three represents the seamless continuation of their New Cold War rivalry.

After Sunday's anti-government rally, thousands of opposition activists will camp out in front of the government HQ in Skopje until Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski resigns, the opposition said.

Opposition Social Democrats, SDSM leader Zoran Zaev told a press conference on Friday that after the planned mass rally, a non-stop sit-in protest will maintain the pressure on Gruevski and his government.

"Some 4,600 activists have decided on their own initiative to sleep out in front of the government building and to continue the protest. Knowing that we are not the only organizers of this protest, we have decided that we will remain until the end, until Gruevski resigns," he said.

Zaev said his party was doing all it could to ensure a peaceful protest on Sunday and foil any attempts to provoke violence and incriminate the opposition.

"All SDSM members have got instructions to record every possible violent act. Let us open our eyes so that no one can frame us," Zaev said.


Tens of thousands of people - not just SDSM supporters, but also supporters of other smaller parties, both Macedonian and Albanian, as well as human rights activists, workers' unions, and students', professors' and teachers' movements - are expected to attend the rally on Sunday.


At Friday's press conference, the opposition released the latest in a series of wiretapped conversations allegedly between government officials which have sparked a mass surveillance scandal in the country and highlighted claims of corruption and other serious wrongdoing within Gruevski's administration.


The new tapes, the opposition claimed, illustrate the brutality and malice of senior state officials as well as their hatred towards the country's large Albanian minority.

The tapes involve the alleged voices of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, outgoing Transportation Minister Mile Janakieski, outgoing interior minister Gordana Jankulovska, the PM's chief of staff Martin Protugjer, outgoing secret police chief Saso Mijalkov and police spokesperson Ivo Kotevski.

In one tape, the voices of Mijalkov and Jankuloska are allegedly heard plotting how to retaliate against a police officer who came out to protest against the arrest of rightist opposition leader Ljube Boskoski.

"Let's sack him," Jankuloska appears to suggest. "We should put him in the worst possible place," Mijalkov says.

In another tape, what is alleged to be the voice of the Prime Minister is heard instructing Transport Minister Janakieski to prepare to tear down a small park in central Skopje so that a new building, part of Gruevski's grand makeover plan of the capital dubbed 'Skopje 2014', can be erected.

After Janakieski warns that local residents may complain, Gruevski instructs him to check whether they are ruling party voters or not. "If they are 'commies' [a derogatory word for the opposition members], fuck them," Gruevski says.

There is much speculation about US Secretary of State John Kerry's rush visit to Russia in the wake of Russia's successful Victory Day celebration on May 9. On May 11, Kerry, who was snubbing Russia on the 9th, was on his way to Russia, and Putin consented to see him on May 12.

As time passes we will find out why Kerry was snubbing Putin on May 9 and 3 days later was criticizing Washington's puppet regime in Ukraine. For what is known at this time, a possible explanation is that Washington is coming to its senses.

If you watched the 1 hour 20 minute video of the Victory Day Parade, you are aware that the celebration sent a powerful message. Russia is a first class military power, and Russia is backed by China and India, whose soldiers marched with Russia's in the parade.

So, while the increasingly irrelevant West, absorbed in its own self-importance, snubbed the celebration of the victory that the Red Army gave them over Hitler, the three largest countries in the world were present united. Russia has the largest land mass, and China and India, also large land masses, have the world's largest populations.

The celebration in Moscow made it clear that Washington has failed miserably to isolate Russia. What Washington has done is to make the BRICS more unified.

With the President of China sitting at the right hand of Putin, the celebration also made it completely clear even to the morons in the Obama regime that Washington is no longer the Uni-power.