30 Sep, 2022 12:40

Ukraine conflict could end ‘in a few days’ – Lukashenko

Western support for the idea, however, is required, the Belarusian president says

If the Western powers back a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, hostilities between Moscow and Kiev’s forces could be over in just a few days, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said on Friday, urging European countries “to come to your senses” and stop the bloodshed.

Belarus considers the fighting between the “fraternal peoples” of Ukraine and Russia to be a “huge tragedy,” Lukashenko said, speaking at a presentation of letters of credence by foreign ambassadors in Minsk.

“This conflict is a direct consequence of strategic intrigues and the greatest stupidity, displayed primarily by Western politicians,” he stated.

However, some actors, including EU countries, say they would like the hostilities to end, Lukashenko said, adding: “If the Europeans sincerely want this, peace can be achieved within a few days.” He urged the Western powers to “come to your senses” and “do everything to ensure that there is peace on this earth.”

The Belarusian president also said that Belarus has always supported diplomatic efforts in resolving the conflict, noting that his country hosted three rounds of Ukraine-Russia talks. He was referring to negotiations that took place in late February and early March, days after Russia launched its military operation. These diplomatic efforts failed to put an end to the hostilities.

“Why were the negotiations wrapped up, who did this? This is a rhetorical question,” he said, addressing the ambassadors. “Someone needs this bloodshed. Who? You, diplomats, figure it out,” he added.

https://www.rt.com/russia/563796-lukashenko-ukraine-conflict-end/

30 Sep, 2022 12:28

Private texts between Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey made public

Court documents show Musk and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey discussed changes to the platform prior to the $44 billion buyout

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey had communicated privately about the social media platform well before the former made a $44 billion buyout offer, newly revealed court records show.

A set of text messages exchanged between the two appeared to show Dorsey having tried to get Musk onto Twitter’s board at least a year before the Tesla CEO offered to buy the company outright this past April.

In a text sent on March 26, 2022, Dorsey wrote to Musk that “a new platform is needed. It can’t be a company. That’s why I left.” He explained that he thinks Twitter should be an “open-sourced protocol” and can’t be based around an advertising model, as most social media companies are.

Musk replied by saying he would “like to help if I’m able,” to which Dorsey said that he had already tried to get the Tesla CEO involved with the company a year earlier. “You care so much, get its importance and could def help in immeasurable ways,” Dorsey told Musk before revealing that the “risk averse” board had rejected the idea.

Dorsey said that he thought it was “completely stupid and backwards” that the Twitter board saw the inclusion of Musk as adding “more risk” to the company and claimed that it was at this time he decided to step down as CEO of the platform, which he did in November 2021.

The text messages also suggest that Dorsey tried to get Musk to join the board while the company was battling with activist investor firm Elliott Management in 2020, whose founder Paul Singer was seeking to oust Dorsey as CEO and make Twitter’s business side more profitable. “Back when we had the activist come in, I tried my hardest to get you on our board and our board said no.” Dorsey wrote.

A little over a week after the text exchange, Musk announced that he planned to join the Twitter board. He eventually changed course and offered to buy the company outright in order to battle policies at the social media giant that he claimed were hostile to free speech.

However, after agreeing to purchase Twitter for $44 billion at $54.20 per share, Musk decided to back out of the deal a month later after the company’s stock price took a dive. Musk’s attorneys have argued that he had been misled about Twitter and have cited concerns about privacy, security, and the number of fake accounts on the platform.

Twitter is in turn suing the billionaire to try to force him to hold up his end of the agreement and complete the purchase at the initially proposed price. A trial is scheduled for mid-October at the Delaware Chancery Court.

https://www.rt.com/news/563795-musk-dorsey-twitter-texts/

30 Sep, 2022 11:52

Notorious Ukrainian envoy lashes out at Merkel’s security speech

The former German Chancellor has “borderline obsession” with Russia, Andrey Melnik claims

Angela Merkel’s attitude towards Russia is “borderline obsession” and looks “almost perverse,” Andrey Melnik, Kiev's outgoing ambassador to Berlin said. He criticized the former chancellor for saying that Russia has a role to play in European security.

Melnik, a Ukrainian diplomat with a record of making controversial statements about officials and policies in Germany, blasted Merkel in a Twitter post on Friday morning.

“On the day [Russian President Vladimir] Putin steals 15% of Ukraine, Ms. Merkel raves about ‘involving’ Russia in the European security architecture,” he said, using the loaded epithets to describe her stance.

Melnik was reacting to a speech that the former chancellor delivered on Thursday in the town of Goslar, which celebrates its 1100th anniversary this year.

In her address, Merkel called the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in late February a “turning point” and “the greatest violation of the principles of international law since World War II.” But a long-term pan-European security architecture can only work if it “also includes Russia” she stated.

Merkel voiced the same sentiment on Tuesday at the Chancellor Helmut Kohl Foundation in Berlin. During that appearance, she urged planning for “how relations towards and with Russia could one day be redeveloped” after the conflict in Ukraine ends.

The accusation of a land-grab leveled at Putin by the Ukrainian diplomat referred to the referendums, in which people in two Donbass republics and Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions voted to join Russia. Kiev dismissed the ballots as a “sham” and pledged to fight against Russia until it is defeated on the battlefield.

During his tenure as ambassador, Melnik gained a reputation for verbally attacking German officials and the policies of Berlin that he didn’t like. In May, he called incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz an “offended liverwurst” for his reluctance at the time to travel to Kiev. Scholz abstained after the Ukrainian government refused to host German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whom Kiev accused of appeasing Russia during his tenure as foreign minister.

The controversial diplomat was technically recalled in July, after causing outrage in Poland and Israel by attempting to whitewash the war crimes committed by Ukrainian nationalists, who collaborated with Nazi Germany, against Poles and Jews.

Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky appointed Melnik’s replacement last week, but the transition period at the embassy is still underway, according to German media.

https://www.rt.com/news/563790-melnik-merkel-european-security/

“They will eat their own”, lashing out against Merkel for her saying, “take what Putin says seriously”! I doubt German politicians are going to like the nazi diplomat of Ukraine attacking Merkel, and it certainly won’t help Ukraine. No wonder Germany stopped sending arms to Ukraine. Kek

30 Sep, 2022 12:42

MEP wants Russian region split between two EU states

A Czech lawmaker has suggested holding a referendum on making Kaliningrad Region “Czech-Polish”

A long-time European Parliament member from the Czech Republic, Tomas Zdechovsky, has supported an idea posted by a blogger of separating the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad from Moscow and splitting it between Prague and Warsaw.

On Thursday, Zdechovsky shared a tweet from a Polish blogger showing a map of Russia’s westernmost Kaliningrad Region being split between Poland and the Czech Republic. The caption to the image read: “It’s time to divide Kaliningrad, so that our Czech brothers finally have access to the sea.”

The Czech politician, who has been an MEP since 2014, even suggested a plan for how to have the region removed from Russia.

“We will hold a referendum to make Kaliningrad Czech-Polish,” he wrote, adding that “instructions” on organizing a vote could be taken from Crimea. The peninsula decided to become part of Russia in the wake of a 2014 referendum following the US-backed overthrow of the democratically-elected government of Viktor Yanukovich in Kiev.

On Tuesday, referendums on whether to join Russia concluded in Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions, which declared independence from Ukraine, and the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics in Donbass. The residents in all of the territories overwhelmingly supported joining Russia. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to sign treaties on incorporating the four new constituent members into the Russian state. The treaties have yet to be approved by the parliament.

Kaliningrad is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania and the Baltic Sea and doesn’t share a border with the Czech Republic. The distance between Prague and the city of Kaliningrad is around 660km.

The region made headlines this past summer after Lithuania slapped restrictions on goods being moved by rail between mainland Russia and the exclave as part of sanctions imposed on Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine. The Russian authorities demanded that the blockade be lifted, warning that harsh counter-measures would follow otherwise. The standoff lasted for over a month and concluded with the European Commission issuing additional guidance that allowed the transfer of goods to resume.

https://www.rt.com/news/563794-kaliningrad-poland-czech-mep/

Every single country in EU is negating the truth; that the people in the Donbass were shelled and killed for 9 years and Russia’s mission was humanitarian to save the ethic Russians and ukrainians that identify with Russia. Stating this was a land grab of Russia is the only way they skirt the truth, that all of EU looked the others way when Ukraine Nazis were killing 14,000+ people in the ethnic cleansing genocide.

30 Sep, 2022 12:00

Ukrainian shelling of refugee convoy leaves 24 people dead – local authorities

The attack targeted cars trying to enter a Russian-controlled part of Zaporozhye Region, according to the local administration

At least 24 people were killed and 36 wounded when Ukrainian forces struck a refugee convoy on Friday, Vladimir Rogov, a senior Russian-appointed official in Zaporozhye Region, has said.

Rogov wrote on Telegram that the attack targeted a convoy of cars that was traveling from Ukrainian-controlled territory to Zaporozhye Region, which declared independence from Kiev and was recognized as a separate state by Russia on Thursday.

“It happened at a car market on the Orekhovskoe highway where convoys are being formed to enter the region,” he wrote.

“24 people, including 11 men and 13 women were killed, 36 were wounded including a child,” the official said.

According to Rogov, the people, who were targeted, had protested and blocked roads earlier this week, demanding that Ukrainian authorities allow them to enter the Russian-held part of the region. “After that they were approached by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the police, who openly threatened them and said that they’ll be sorry for what they were doing,” he wrote.

The head of the administration accused Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky of “trying to take revenge on the residents of Zaporozhye Region after they chose to join Russia during the referendum” by ordering the strike.

Rogov insisted the Ukrainian attack on the convoy was carried out with the aim of pinning the blame on Russia.

Kiev’s governor of Zaporozhye Region claimed that Russian forces were behind the shelling. While the head of a Ukrainian bomb disposal unit, police colonel Sergey Ujryumov told Reuters that the Russians “know that columns are formed here to go to the occupied territories… It’s not a coincidental strike. It’s perfectly deliberate.” According to Ujryumov, S-300 missiles were used in the attack on the convoy.

Voting on joining Russia ended in Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as well as in the two republics in Donbass on Monday, with residents in all territories overwhelmingly supporting the move. The official ceremony, in which President Vladimir Putin is expected to sign treaties on incorporating the new areas into the Russian state, is scheduled to take place in Moscow later on Friday.

A similar attack by Ukrainian forces happened in the eastern region of Kharkov on Thursday. At least 30 people, including children, were killed after a convoy of refugees, which tried to enter the People’s Republic of Lugansk, came under intense artillery bombardment, LPR authorities said.

https://www.rt.com/russia/563786-zaporozhye-refugees-shelling-ukraine/

When the regions are confirmed by leadership in the constitution of Russia, and are officially a region part of Russia,Ukraine should be aware that “the gloves come off” of targeted war for protection. Russia has been reserved in what they’ve done previously by limiting their efforts to free these regions. When the Donbass is legal, the war will be expanded to all out war in Ukraine because the are officially a Russian territory.

30 Sep, 2022 09:46

‘I can’t imagine our future differently’: Donbass residents explain why they voted to join Russia

In this dispatch, RT’s correspondent in Donetsk outlines the local reaction to the referendums on reunification

1 of 2

Last week, referendums on once-again becoming part of Russia were held in the Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) People’s Republics, as well as in the liberated territories of Zaporozhye, Kherson, and Nikolaev regions (the latter was annexed to Kherson Region).

According to the results, the ‘For’ option won all four by an overwhelming margin. RT’s correspondent in Donbass, Vladislav Ugolny, has been observing the sentiment there for the past eight years. He describes how the referendums took place, what they meant to local residents, and why their outcome simply could not have been different.

All arguments ‘against’

For those who are sufficiently immersed in the history of the struggle of the Russian residents of Ukraine for unity with their historic homeland, the results of the referendums are hardly surprising. But it is also worth pointing out from the start that not everyone in these regions took part in the vote.

In 2020, one soldier told his comrades-in-arms that he was only serving in the DPR army for the sake of a good salary by local standards. He said that, at the time, he was ready to dig trenches and go on guard duty. But in case of a resumption of active military operations, he would be at Yuzhny, a station from which buses are dispatched to Russia.

Active hostilities resumed over six months ago, eventually leading to the second referendum in Donbass. And this warrior did not take part in it.

Why? Did keep his word and escape? No, he died in 2021. He could have said anything – soldiers like to scratch their tongues. But when his comrades-in-arms came under Ukrainian fire and their wounded had to be evacuated, he volunteered. During the rescue operation, he was killed in action. He did not live to see the fighting intensify, nor did he live to see the new referendum.

There are many such people who are unhappy with what has been happening in Donbass these past eight years –where they have slowly languished as geopolitical hostages– and are also prepared to die for their land and identity. It is thanks to them and their resilience that Russia’s military offensive was possible. And these referendums also took place because of them.

They all had a lot of reasons to hate what was happening. The wounded were often dismissed retroactively to avoid paying for their injuries. And in a betrayal of memory,the names of children killed by Ukrainians in Sloviansk and Konstantinovka,

towns not controlled by the DPR, disappeared from the Alley of Angels (a monument honoring the children of Donbass killed by Ukrainians). By removing these names, it was as if DPR officials were abandoning the territories and the memory of those who remained under Kiev’s occupation.

In the early years of its independence, the LPR had constant political crises, from which the despised Igor Plotnitsky emerged as the victor. Until he was overthrown and the much more popular Leonid Pasechnik was elected.

All arguments ‘for’

The hope for reunification was based on the fact that Russia is a stable state governed by the rule of law, with fully-fledged institutions and an established civil society. Living their lives on the frontline of a geopolitical confrontation, Russians in Donbass dreamed that one day war would disappear.

They hoped that Donbass would become an ordinary, peaceful region of Russia, like neighboring Rostov. They hoped that they would be able to put away their weapons and return to the mines and factories, and they could teach their children without regular shelling. Or that they could sweep the streets for leaves instead of scrubbing away blood from the pavement. Joining Russia offered hope and was synonymous with victory. After all, this is why the struggle started…

https://www.rt.com/russia/563764-they-voted-to-join-russia/

>>17608680

2 of 2

Fate decided otherwise and the referendums had to be held during the fighting, with the risk of Kiev shelling the polling stations. Thus, the votes themselves did not become a moment of triumph and victory. But they could no longer be delayed, given that one of the declared aims of Moscow’s military operation was to restore peace to Donbass.

The only way to protect both Donbass and the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye from the threat of genocide by the Ukrainian state was to incorporate them into the Russian Federation. The sweeps in Kharkov Region after towns and villages were seized by Kiev earlier this month, and the convoys of refugees, were apparently the final straw.

The risk of polling stations being shelled was one reason some locals criticized the referendums. A friend of mine who is now serving in one of the DPR’s army units refused to participate in the referendum. He justified it by saying he had expressed his position a long time ago and was now defending it with a gun in his hand.

He also questioned why the entry of the republics into Russia could not have simply been done by a decree of the Russian government. Why, he asks, do they ask a question to which the answer is already obvious?

Needless to say, this warrior is not a big fan of democracy.

However, his view was marginal. Residents of Donbass, despite the risks of terrorist attacks, flocked to the polls. Since the issue was a foregone conclusion, the polling stations became a place for declaring one’s position.

Journalists were told not about the choice people made, but rather about how long they had waited for the opportunity to make it.

The procedures of the referendum were designed with the usual legal provisions in mind, but the voters themselves effectively abolished the concept of ‘secret ballot’ by ticking the ‘yes’ box publicly.

“The people of Donbass needed the referendum not to reassert their choice, which was made back in 2014 and has not changed since, but to present it to the international community in a more or less accepted framework,” a graduate of the political science department at Donetsk National University said after the vote. A leg injury prevented her from going to the polling station, but she was able to vote Yes by door-to-door voting:

As I stood at the mobile ballot box in my backyard in the rain, listening to the sound of explosions in a neighboring district,I felt joy. Because it is, in any case, a step forward after too much stagnation.

Dmitry, a native of the border town of Yenakievo, Donbass, said, “Of course I waited for the referendum and voted Yes. I cannot imagine our future any other way. Back in 2015, I was repeatedly offered the chance to leave my home region and live in Ukraine so that I would not know what war is like.

“As you can see, I refused. Voting in the referendum was not my biggest contribution, but I was glad I did it. I didn’t doubt it for a second,especially when, about 40 minutes later, a HIMARS missile was shot down over the polling station, with shrapnel hitting my neighborhood.”

This is how the referendum was held in Donbass. As for the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, the votes there were less festive there due to greater infiltration by Ukrainian security services and a bigger risk of sabotage. The lack of an eight-year wait was also a factor. However, even there, people were hoping that the Kharkov tragedy would not be repeated in their areas.

The referendums that have taken place are like a marriage proposal made after eight years of engagement. There may be reason to speculate why it was not done earlier, but the answer is obvious.

By Vladislav Ugolny, a Russian journalist based in Donetsk

https://www.rt.com/russia/563764-they-voted-to-join-russia/

30 Sep, 2022 14:40

Unidentified drones spotted before Nord Stream blasts

The number of unmanned aircraft near Norway’s offshore platforms surged in September, energy workers reported

Norway’s offshore energy operators reported an increasing number of unidentified drones near their platforms in the days leading up to the apparent sabotage of the Russian Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.

The Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority held a meeting with members of the country’s oil and gas industry on Thursday, warning them that recent reports indicated “increased drone activity” over the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

“These craft have been of different sizes, and their presence has been growing – particularly in September,” the agency stated, adding that the drone sightings are being investigated by the Norwegian police.

In a letter dated last Friday, the agency warned Norway’s maritime and aviation authorities that energy operators on the NCS had “recently given warnings/notifications of a number of observations concerning unidentified drones/aircraft close to offshore installations.”

Three days after the letter was sent and around 1,000km (620 miles) to the south of the NCS, a leak was reported along the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, followed by two leaks a day later along Nord Stream 1, all near the Danish island of Bornholm.

As of Thursday, a total of four leaks had been discovered along the pair of Russia-to-Germany gas lines, according to the Swedish coast guard.

Sweden and Denmark told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that “at least two detonations” equal to “several hundred kilos”of TNT took place at the sites of the leaks. Without identifying a culprit, the two Nordic nations wrote that “all available information indicates that those explosions are the result of a deliberate act.”

While the Ukrainian government and some US pundits have blamed Russia for attacking its own pipeline, Moscow has suggested Western involvement. “We already have certain materials, which point to a Western trace in organizing and executing this terrorist attack,”the director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin, told reporters on Friday.

US President Joe Biden said in early February that the US would “end” Nord Stream 2 if Russian troops entered Ukraine, telling a reporter “I promise you, we will be able to do it.” Additionally, the US-led NATO alliance conducted military exercises involving underwater drones near Bornholm in June, while US military vessels were spotted near the island last week.

https://www.rt.com/news/563813-nord-stream-drones-norway/

Plane fags is there ant way to identify drones? Can you go back to a couple of days before and after see them in flight tracking?

>>17608717

It makes a lot more sense why the years of bullshit articles on Qanon, after rereading that post from Q,

“Do you feel safe”?

None of the toxic, spy filled media feel safe, so that must mean there’s are a lot more journo’s and bosses receiving money laundering that are being paid to destroy America. There are probably sleepers embedded in friendly conservitive media too (think Faux).

The SeeEYeAye has expended a lot of time and money into this mission, for over 60 years. When Q revealed the “team” knows exactly what is going on, no wonder the crazy panic they have.

They all probably wake up in at 4 am and say to themselves, “is this the day I get caught for treason?”

>>17608717

Excellent decode and connections

>>17608459

Sanctions really mean, “we love you so much we will make you stronger with each sanction we put on you”, in effect, the sanctions are having the reverse effect Russia is getting stronger the more they do, but it also makes their citizens more patriotic.

The other effect is that many countries are realizing that the west will blackmail them to comply and they will not participate. Even EU countries are rethinking their EU status.

>>17608473

I know, Merkel sounds brilliant for once. I think that with all her flaws, she was a better leader then the 10 are leading now. The current leaders literally sound crazy!

>>17608512

The US and EU have already stated the will NEVER allow Ukraine in NATO. Their original intent was for Russia to blow up Ukraine, because Ukraine has dirt on every world leader. If I were them I’d be more concerned with NATO bombing them and saying it was Russia. Its obvious at this point every country except US really don’t want anything to do with them, brcause they are a red headed Nazi step child. Sure theyll insinuate they are considering it and then it would fizzle out. I think Zelensky broke the rules of all the criminal leaders in the west by blackmailing them, that was his biggest mistake. He fails to realize that if the west can do a coup in 2014, they can also do it now or anytime in the future. And then they will burn all incriminating materials from the past.

30 Sep, 2022 16:26

Putin names orchestrator of Nord Stream blasts

Sanctioning Russia is no longer enough for the US, which has now switched to sabotage, the president claimed

The US orchestrated the blasts on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, which delivered Russian natural gas to Germany, because they “obviously” benefit from it, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

Putin accused Washington of trying to pressure the EU into banning Russian supplies to “completely get their hands on the European market.”

“But the sanctions are no longer enough for the Anglo-Saxons,” he said, using Russian shorthand for the US-UK transatlantic alliance. “They have turned to sabotage – it’s unbelievable, but it’s a fact – by organizing the explosions on the Nord Stream international gas pipelines,” the president stated.

“They de facto began the destruction of the common European energy infrastructure. It’s obvious to everyone who benefits from it. Those who benefit are the ones who have done it.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced Putin's statement as part of “outrageous misinformation and disinformation campaigns” coming from Moscow.

“I really have nothing to say to the absurd allegation from President Putin that we are or other partners or allies are somehow responsible for this,” Blinken said, according to AFP.

Putin was speaking at the Kremlin ahead of signing treaties on the inclusion of the two Donbass republics, as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, which declared independence from Ukraine, into the Russian Federation.

The Nord Stream pipelines lost pressure on Monday, after which four gas leaks appeared. The EU and several of its member states said the explosions were deliberate. Putin described the attack on Saturday as an act of terrorism.

Nord Stream 1 was already shut down due to prolonged maintenance when the leaks appeared. Russian operator Gazprom blamed the lengthy delay on Western sanctions that were imposed on Moscow following its military operation in Ukraine.

Nord Stream 2 was never fully operational because Germany halted certification of it in February in response to the Ukraine conflict.

https://www.rt.com/news/563812-putin-accuses-us-pipeline/

30 Sep, 2022 15:33

Bulgarian politician vandalizes Russian embassy

Ivan Kalchev defaced a sign at the gates of Moscow’s mission in Sophia and called for more weapons for Ukraine

A Bulgarian MP candidate splashed red paint over a sign plate at the Russian embassy in the nation’s capital on Thursday to protest Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.

In a video posted on Facebook, Ivan Kalchev, who is a member of the Democratic Bulgaria party, approaches the gates of the Russian embassy in Sophia with a bucket of red paint and spills it all over the sign plate.

In an apparent attempt to justify the vandalism, the politician said that he wanted to “honor the memory of the victims of the Ukraine war.” The gesture was also meant to pay respects to “all those innocent Russians who will be used as cannon fodder,” he added.

During the incident, a policewoman outside the embassy approached Kalchev, apparently in an attempt to stop him, but without success. The footage shows her making a phone call, but the politician was not apprehended in the video.

Kalchev also called for more weapons deliveries to Kiev. “Let’s give Ukraine our old military systems, old artillery and armor that is getting rusty in warehouses,” he said, adding that Ukraine would be able to prevail over Russia regardless of Western help but that such assistance would show that Bulgaria is “a part of modern, civilized European world” and not that of “dictator Putin.”

According to earlier media reports, Kalchev had taken part in the conflict on Kiev’s side, having traveled to Ukraine in early March to join the ‘foreign legion.’

Since Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine begun in late February, Russian institutions abroad have been repeatedly vandalized. In early March, activists threw blue and yellow paint – the colors of the Ukrainian flag – at the door of the Russian Community Centre in Vancouver, Canada.

A day later, a man rammed a truck through the front gate of the Russian embassy in Dublin, Ireland. Before being arrested, the driver reportedly handed out anti-Russian leaflets and told onlookers that he had “done his bit” to protest Russia’s actions.

https://www.rt.com/news/563816-russian-embassy-bulgaria-vandalized/

30 Sep, 2022 16:14

EU ready to hit Russia with fresh sanctions — media

The provisional agreement comes as President Putin approves the incorporation of four former Ukrainian regions into Russia

EU nations have reached a preliminary agreement on an eighth round of sanctions on Russia, Reuters reports on Friday, citing sources in diplomatic circles.

Envoys from across the 27-nation bloc discussed the proposals made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier this week, and reportedly gave an initial green light, with a final approval expected to come as soon as next week.

On Wednesday, the top official revealed a new package of “biting” sanctions thatinclude more trade curbs, individual blacklisting and steps towards a price cap on Russian seaborne oil deliveries to third countries.

EU companies would also be barred from providing more services to Russia while European citizens would not be allowed to sit on boards of Russian state companies as per the proposal.

The fresh penalties will have to be approved unanimously by all EU member states before they can be officially introduced. However, the bloc has been split on the oil price cap issue, with Hungary being the most vocal critic of the move.

Earlier this week, Gergely Gulyas, a senior official in the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said that Budapest won’t support any new Western sanctions if they target Russian energy, as Hungary is heavily dependent on those supplies.

In May, Budapest secured a waiver for itself when an embargo on importing Russian oil was included in one of the previous rounds of sanctions.

The new proposal has now to go to the bloc’s national leaders meeting in Prague on October 6-7, the sources told the agency.

So far, Brussels has adopted seven rounds of sanctions, targeting Russia’s financial sector, individuals and entities, as well as coal and gold, among other things.

https://www.rt.com/business/563804-eu-new-sanctions-russia/

30 Sep, 2022 16:30

Western leaders react to new regions joining Russia

The US will help Ukraine “regain control” of its former territories, President Joe Biden said

Western leaders have condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for signing accession treaties on Friday to start the process of bringing the two Donbass republics and Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions into the Russian Federation. US President Joe Biden vowed fresh sanctions and more aid for Kiev.

The four former Ukrainian territories held referendums between September 23 and 27 on joining Russia, with the measures passing with overwhelming support. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in Donbass have been regarded by Russia as independent states since February, while Putin recognized the independence of Kherson and Zaporozhye on Thursday.

After the Russian president signed accession treaties with the heads of all four territories on Friday, condemnation poured in from Western leaders.

“The United States condemns Russia’s fraudulent attempt today to annex sovereign Ukrainian territory,” read a statement from Biden. “The United States will always honor Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders. We will continue to support Ukraine’s efforts to regain control of its territory by strengthening its hand militarily and diplomatically.”

Biden added that the US would sanction anyone providing “political or economic support” to “Russia’s phony claims of annexation,” and that he would sign a bill providing an additional $12 billion to prop up Ukraine’s government and military.

“The UK will never accept the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye as anything other than Ukrainian territory,”British Prime Minister Liz Truss said in a statement. “We will not hesitate to take further action, including imposing more sanctions to cripple Putin’s war machine,” she added.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that “the illegal annexation proclaimed by Putin won’t change anything,” and that all territories “are Ukrainian land.” The bloc’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, wrote that the accession of these lands “is a major breach of international law and violation of [the] UN Charter.”

A similar statement came from the foreign ministers of the G7 states, who declared that they would never recognize the entry of the four regions into the Russian Federation.

https://www.rt.com/russia/563825-west-leaders-react-putin/

Russia didnt annex the regions they voted by their own free will to join Russia