https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/mali-to-halt-all-new-un-peacekeeping-rotations

Mali to halt all new UN peacekeeping rotations

Mali said Thursday that for "national security" reasons, rotations of the UN's peacekeeping mission will be suspended, in the most recent complication in relations between the ruling junta and international partners.

Rotations of the MINUSMA mission are being suspended, including those already scheduled, the foreign ministry in Bamako said.

In a statement, the ministry added that the suspension will last until a meeting is held to "facilitate the coordination and regulation" of the rotation of contingents.

The announcement did not clarify the reasons for the move that came four days after Mali arrested 49 Ivorian soldiers it described as "mercenaries" having the intention to overthrow the country's military-led government.

The soldiers are National Support Elements (NSE), a UN procedure allowing peacekeeping contingents to use outside contractors for logistical duties. They were arrested after arriving at Bamako airport aboard a special flight, and they comprised the eighth rotation under this scheme, according to Ivory Coast.

Today's statement by Mali did not refer to their arrest or give a date for talks to discuss MINUSMA rotations, but it assured the UN mission that Mali would "work diligently to create conditions conducive to the lifting of this suspension of rotation, which is an essential step in enabling the deployed contingents to ensure the proper implementation of MINUSMA's mandate."

ECOWAS lifts sanctions on Mali

West African leaders meeting in Ghana on the third of July within the framework of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced lifting the trade and financial sanctions on Mali.

The West African bloc had imposed sanctions on Mali over the coup that took place last year despite the military junta pledging to return to civilian rule following reforms.

ECOWAS said it accepted Bamako's March 2024 date for a return to civilian rule.

"It's done!" one participant at the summit of the West African bloc ECOWAS told AFP. "We have decided to lift economic and financial sanctions against Mali."

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/ukraine-reveals-reason-behind-keeping-number-of-casualties-s

Ukraine reveals reason behind keeping number of casualties secret

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar pointed out that the losses incurred by the Ukrainian forces are not disclosed because they are a state secret.

TSN quoted Malyar as saying that the number of killed troops is considered a state secret during martial law, adding that this is due to military imperatives and the fact that the "enemy" should not know these numbers so as not to benefit from them.

The irony is that in early July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that 60-100 troops are being killed and 500 others are being injured during daily battles.

A few days after, the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, admitted that the Ukrainian army had suffered heavy losses, demanding more weapons from Western allies.

In an interview for the Wall Street Journal, Reznikov said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces need to develop, replace and modify its units due to huge losses.

Reznikov said that Kiev needs more armored vehicles and more weapons from its partners, adding that the Ukrainian forces need to reorganize their ranks on some fronts, modernize fortifications, and plan a new operational strategy.

The Ukrainian Defense Minister explained that the short-range Javelin and Next generation Light Anti-tank Weapon (NLAW) missile systems are no longer on the list of priority equipment for the Ukrainian forces because Kiev needs long-range artillery.

In the same context, the adviser to the Ukrainian President, Oleksiy Arestovych claimed in June that up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died since the start of the war.

However, in March, the deputy head of the Russian General Staff, Colonel General Sergey Rudskoy, confirmed that around 14,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed and 16,000 have been injured.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/us-treasury-department-authorizes-some-transactions-with-rus

The United States is authorizing transactions with German energy conglomerate SEFE Securing Energy for Europe GmbH through December 16, 2022, despite sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine, the US Treasury Department announced on Thursday.

"Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this general license, all transactions involving SEFE Securing Energy for Europe GmbH (formerly known as Gazprom Germania GmbH), or any entity in which SEFE Securing Energy for Europe GmbH owns, directly or indirectly, a 50 percent or greater interest, that are prohibited … are authorized through 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time, December 16, 2022," the Treasury Department said in a general license.

The US Department noted that the license does not authorize transactions otherwise prohibited by the "Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations."

It is noteworthy that on April 1, Russia's giant Gazprom suspended its participation in the German company Gazprom Germania and all of its assets.

On April 4, the German authorities seized Gazprom Germania, a German subsidiary of Russian Gazprom, and announced that it had been transferred to the custody of the German Federal Network Agency.

US authorizes transactions with Russia related to fertilizers, seeds, crops

In the same unit, the Department said that the US has issued a general license authorizing transactions with Russia related to fertilizers, seeds, and food crops.

"For the purposes of this general license, agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices are defined as follows: Agricultural commodities. [They] are intended for use as: Food for humans (including raw, processed, and packaged foods; live animals; vitamins and minerals; food additives or supplements; and bottled drinking water) or animals (including animal feeds); Seeds for food crops; Fertilizers or organic fertilizers; or Reproductive materials (such as live animals, fertilized eggs, embryos, and semen) for the production of food animals," the statement explained.

On his part, the President of the African Union and President of Senegal, Macky Sall, announced last June that the anti-Russian sanctions have deprived African countries of access to grain and fertilizer, calling on the West to ease sanctions on Russia to facilitate the export of grain to Africa.

In early June, UN chief Antonio Guterres said that fertilizer prices had more than doubled. He warned that the world faced shortages of all staple crops next year and urged to bring Russian crops and fertilizers back into world markets despite the conflict.

Last May, the United Nations called for not restricting the access of Russian fertilizers to the global market, in light of the sanctions imposed by several countries on Russia.

The German press had reported warnings that the world was threatened with starvation in 2023 as a result of Western sanctions affecting agricultural fertilizer factories in Russia and Belarus.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/us-embassy-in-kiev-urges-its-citizens-to-leave-ukraine-immed

US Embassy in Kiev urges its citizens to leave Ukraine immediately

On Thursday, the US Embassy urged US citizens not to enter Ukraine and those in Ukraine to depart immediately.

In an alert published by the US embassy on its official website, the embassy said that "The security situation throughout Ukraine is highly volatile, and conditions may deteriorate without warning. U.S. citizens should remain vigilant and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness."

"The U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens not to enter Ukraine and those in Ukraine to depart immediately using privately available ground transportation options if it is safe to do so," the embassy's statement said.

This is not the first time that the US Embassy in Kiev has issued such a request.

On January 26, the US Embassy in Kiev urged US citizens in Ukraine to "consider leaving the country immediately" and said the country's security situation was "unpredictable".

US President Joe Biden had warned on February 11, that "things may go wild rapidly" in Ukraine, advising American people to “evacuate immediately.”

“American citizens should leave, should leave now,” Biden said in an interview with NBC News. “We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. This is a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly.”

>> Wasn't this done before the war started?

>>16733213

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/serbia-refuses-to-join-anti-iran-sanctions-by-eu

Serbia refuses to join anti-Iran sanctions by EU

Euractiv media network reported that Serbia is the Western Balkan’s only EU membership candidate that has not joined the EU's new restrictive measures against Iran.

On Wednesday, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell confirmed that on June 27, the European Council adopted a decision on implementing restrictive measures against Iran, which were joined by some EU accession countries. However, Serbia - also an EU accession country - refrained from joining the sanctions.

"On 11 July, Serbian and Iranian Business People met in Belgrade at a business forum held at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce," mentioned Euractiv.

In a release, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce considered that "the economies of Serbia and Iran can cooperate successfully and raise their economic relations to a much higher level in nearly all areas, from the food industry through energy, tourism, and healthcare to telecommunications and state-of-the-art technologies."

According to Euractiv, "the forum gathered more than 80 Serbian and Iranian businesspeople and representatives of business associations and governments of the two states."

The media network said that a recent announcement confirmed that Serbia is set to appoint a co-chairperson of the Mixed Committee on Economic Cooperation Between Serbia and Iran, once the new Serbian government is formed.

It is noteworthy that Serbia's trade with Iran "amounted to $50.8 million in 2021, up 115.2% compared to 2020," Euractiv pointed out.

>>16733363

>>16733411

>>16733414

Did she visit Zelenski as well?

>>16733507

When Putin, Lavrov and other Russian officials make comments about Ukraine, it's not really about Ukraine, but about Israel.

>>16733552

The French are going to be pissed as hell.

>>16733562

>>16733572

Chill out. It's a movie. Watch it. The French don't like discomfort.