Borrell Claims EU Has Rid Itself of Reliance on Russian Gas

Whether it's demanding a “military solution” to the NATO-Russia proxy conflict in Ukraine or calling the world outside Europe a “jungle,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell is no stranger to controversial claims.

Now, he's done it again, suggesting that European economies have successfully "abolished" their dependence on Russian energy. And the unprecedented jump in prices, supply shortages and rampant inflation? Turns out these are just a product of market fluctuations, and are unrelated to Ukraine, according to Borrell.

Read more about it here

🇿🇦🇷🇺🇨🇳 Three-sided naval exercises involving China, Russia and South Africa, which will take place on February 17-24 near the coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, have "all chances" to take place again in 2024 and become an annual event, says Mzuvukile Maqetuka, South African ambassador to Moscow in an interview with Sputnik

▪️According to him, South Africa perceives US criticism of Pretoria's cooperation with Russia "as part of the democratic process," with South Africa’s own goals being the country’s priority.

▪️Maqetuka also says that South Africa will invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to the 2023 BRICS summit.

▪️In his turn, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has accepted the invitation to the 2023 Russia-Africa Summit, the ambassador says, calling for expansion of cooperation between the two countries

Subscribe to @sputnik_africa

Gaslighting, Defined: Did Germany Really Resort to Burning Coal Because Russia Starved It of Gas?

German economy minister Robert Habeck has blamed the country's spiraling energy crisis on Vladimir Putin, suggesting that the Russian president "turned off the gas tap," forcing Berlin to improvise. Is there any truth in Habeck's words? What's Moscow's real interest as far as gas supplies to Europe are concerned?

Click to find out

🌎🗠 Global economy is likely to enter a period of slow growth in 2023-2024, caused by persistent inflation and moderate investment, President of the World Bank, David Malpass, said on Sunday.

💬 "I think, it's a long-lasting slowdown… And that has to do with the persistence of inflation, the shortage of new investment that is taking place right now, so as you look one year ahead and two years ahead, it is hard to see that there will be a strong recovery… It looks like this period of slow growth for the world may last into 2023-24, and that's a concern," Malpass told British broadcaster.

The official also recommended governments to adjust their spending to make it more efficient and consider providing "time-bound and targeted," rather than open-ended, subsidies to help cope with the inflation and energy prices.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

How to Watch Long-Forgotten Mysterious 'Green Comet' Zoom Past Earth

Slowly but surely gaining in brightness, a green-hued, long-forgotten comet is heading towards planet Earth. The comet, known as C/2022 E3 (ZTF), is set to make its closest approach on February 2.

Here is what we know about the green interplanetary visitor, which last flashed past Earth 50,000 years ago, and tips on how to catch a glimpse of it

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🌊❄️ Caspian seashore freezes over due to abnormally low temperatures

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Americans Smuggling Eggs from Mexico Amid Surging Prices, Border Officials Say

Eggs have gotten so expensive in recent months that Americans are increasingly relying on a new way of getting them: smuggling them across the Mexican border.

Officials with Customs and Border Protection say they’ve seen an uptick in the number of egg-running attempts.

Read more

👉 Follow our LIVE UPDATES on the Ukrainian crisis

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez says he does not intend to cut dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, although Buenos Aires does not support Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine.

Russian Ambassador to Buenos Aires Dmitry Feoktistov said in December that Russia's bilateral relations with Argentina "withstood and passed the test of time," as evident from the fact that Putin called Fernandez to congratulate Argentina on winning the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Sweden May Become 'Frontier State' Because of NATO Bid, Former Ambassador Warns

Sweden’s NATO bid at present depends on Turkey’s approval and has been stalled by Stockholm’s reluctance to accede to all Ankara’s demands and a spate of controversies that damaged relations between the two countries including President Recep Erdogan being hanged in effigy and the Quran being burned near the Turkish embassy.

Sweden's former ambassador to Russia Sven Hirdman has said his country’s contested NATO bid is hasty and he warned that Sweden will become a “frontier state” should war break out between the alliance and Russia.
Sweden filed a joint NATO bid with Finland in May 2022 - a step Hirdman labeled as premature - because it felt that the security situation had shifted after Russia launched its special operation in Ukraine.

Read more

🔌 UK electricity operator National Grid launched a reward scheme on Monday where customers will be paid for reducing electricity consumption during the busiest hours.

🗣 "We are also activating a Live #DemandFlexibilityService event between 5-6pm tomorrow [17:00 - 18:00 GMT on Monday]. This does not mean electricity supplies are at risk and people should not be worried," National Grid tweeted on Sunday.

The Demand Flexibility Service has been developed to provide incentive payments for reducing energy consumption during peak hours. According to UK media, the National Grid wants people to turn off energy-consuming household appliances such as washing machines and game consoles at such hours. The company plans to pay up to 6 pounds ($7.45) for every kilowatt-hour saved

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️There is reliable evidence that Ukrainian army stockpiling weapons and ammo provided by West on territories of Ukrainian NPP, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service says

❗️Latest statements from Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov:

▪️US statements about possibly supplying Kiev with an Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) are an example of psychological warfare;

▪️Russia and the US have different ideas about how to normalize relations between states;

▪️Russia's opponents continue to exacerbate the Ukrainian crisis;

▪️The new US ambassador to Moscow is to arrive in the next few days;

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

WATCH: Russia's MoD has published footage of Russian Su-25 ground-attack aircraft in action during the special military operation

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹Here is the latest from Pretoria, where talks between Russian FM Sergey Lavrov and his South African counterpart Dr Naledi Pandor are about to begin. Stay tuned for more from South African administrative capital. Subscribe to @BolotskySputnik

🎬 Video of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arriving at the meeting with South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor on Monday

Subscribe to @sputnik_africa

⚡️Russian Foreign Ministry says Estonian ambassador should leave country on February 7

Russia's lowering level of diplomatic relations with Estonia in response to Tallinn's radical staff reduction of Russian embassy, Russian Foreign Ministry says

Russian Biolab Commission to Invite US Representatives to Meeting: Senior Lawmaker

The Commission on the biological program in Ukraine intends to invite renowned economist and chairman of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission Jeffrey Sachs and former director of Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Kenneth Myers to its next meeting, deputy chairwoman of the Russian lower house Irina Yarovaya said on Monday.

🗣 "We propose to additionally invite Jeffrey Sachs, who just headed the Lancet commission on COVID. We propose to invite this scholar because we consider it fundamentally important, since the position of the Russian parliament is absolutely transparent, open, as is Russia's position regarding the provision of evaluation evidence, evidence, and we have repeatedly initiated the need for an international investigation into the dangerous activities of the Pentagon, the conclusions of German scholars on the artificial origin of COVID," Yarovaya said.

Read more

❗️Latest statements by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov:

▪️No possibility to negotiate a peace treaty between Russia and Japan at the moment;

▪️On NATO discussions on the delivery of tanks to Ukraine: There is growing anxiety among members of the alliance;

▪️On US designation of Wagner as a terrorist organization: It has no significance for Russia, and even less so for this group;

▪️Putin has no plans to meet with Grossi, but Russia is interested in continuing contacts.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Combat work of 152mm Akatsiya self-propelled howitzers (video courtesy of Russian MoD)

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚡️Lavrov says Russia will help peacekeepers in Africa by training peacekeeping personnel.