❗️LIVE: Russian, Eswatini FMs Hold Joint Presser After Bilateral Meeting in Mbabane

🇸🇿🇷🇺 Sputnik is live from Mbabane, where Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Eswatini counterpart Thuli Dladla are holding a joint press conference after talks

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❗️ The president of Belarus, Alexandr Lukashenko, said that the West has not abandoned its plans regarding Belarus, and the West continues to train militants and extremists in Ukraine.

💬 "I do not know why the Ukrainians did this. On the one hand, they ask us not to fight with Ukraine under any circumstances, so that our troops haven't moved there. A non-aggression pact is proposed to be concluded. And on the other hand, they prepare this explosive mixture and arm them. Poland and Lithuania are generally crazy. Why do they need it? Unclear. Therefore, we are forced to react harshly." Lukashenko added.

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⚡️Eswatini FM Thulisile Dladla following talks with Russian FM Sergey Lavrov: Lavrov's visit serves to cement relations between Moscow and the Kingdom. Says interactions between govts productive, the visit is an affirmation of good ties.

A Haitian refugee boat was intercepted by the US Coast Guard with 390 migrants on board, all are being transferred to The Bahamas.

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❗️ Lavrov says once he was told that Africa is area of special interests of Europe by high-ranking European officials

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❗️Latest statements by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov:

▪️ Possible tanks supplies to Kiev by Berlin will not improve Russia-Germany ties;

▪️ "Nothing good" would come of German tanks fighting in Ukraine;

▪️ Russia expects that maritime navigation in the Gulf of Finland will be ensured by international maritime law;

▪️ Russia, participating in the agreements on Karabakh, continues to fulfill its obligations.

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⚡️ Berlin has received an application from Poland for the supply of Leopard 2 tanks to Kiev, a German government representative told Sputnik

❗️ Lavrov on BRICS: It’s a new type of organization where there are no states which guide or states which are guided; it’s a consensus-based organization, but this consensus is different from the one applied in the EU and NATO

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❗️ The West is "agitated" towards the rest of the world because the dominance, which it has enjoyed in the world for centuries is "fading away" and a multipolar world order is emerging, Lavrov says

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Security forces mistakenly shot a man in his house and accused him of taking a hostage

⚠️WARNING: some viewers may find this content disturbing

A man from Murphy, North Carolina, is now recovering in a Chattanooga hospital after SWAT team members that suspected he was the shooter and had a hostage, shot him after they say he confronted officers, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.

Jason Harley Kloepfer, 41, "engaged in a verbal altercation with the officers, exited the trailer and confronted the officers," the report said. At that moment, he was wounded by members of the special forces.

Later, Kloepfer posted surveillance video that shows a different version of events. The footage shows Kloepfer and his wife waking up and going to open the door. A few seconds later, the officers fired several shots at the unarmed Kloepfer, who fell to the ground.

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📹 Russia's MoD has published footage showing Russian artillerymen in combat as part of the special military op in Ukraine

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📹 While speaking at the joint press conference with his Eswatini counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke in detail about the colonial practices used by Western countries, noting that Russia is "very much appreciative and respects the position of all our partners, who [...] are guided not by the orders from former colonial powers or from those who would like to dominate the world now, but are guided by legitimate national interests, and most of them do not shy from saying so publicly."

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⚡️ Russia’s MoD latest statements on the Ukraine crisis:

▪️ Russia’s aviation and artillery inflicted fire damage on the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkov region, which resulted in the elimination of over 40 Ukrainian servicemen, an armored fighting vehicle, and a motor vehicle.

▪️ Russia’s artillery fire hit units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the LPR and DPR. Over 30 Ukrainian troops, five armored combat vehicles, an M-777 artillery system, and two US-made AN/TPQ-37 counter-battery radar stations were destroyed.

▪️ Russian troops continue their offensive in the DPR. Army Aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery engaged the 25th Airborne Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the DPR.

▪️ Near Zaporozhye, during the day, artillery fire and Eastern Military District units have destroyed more than 25 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as an Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer, two D-20 and D-30 howitzers, and three motor vehicles.

▪️ Airborne Troops artillery has destroyed a US-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar station in Kherson region.

▪️ The Operational-Tactical Aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation hit the command post of the 57th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a dump of artillery munition in the DPR.

▪️ Russian Aerospace Forces obliterated a self-propelled fire unit of the Ukrainian Buk-M1 SAM system.

▪️ Ten Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by anti-aircraft defense forces over the past 24 hours.

▪️ Some 376 airplanes and 203 helicopters, 2,944 unmanned aerial vehicles, 402 anti-aircraft missile systems, 7,614 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 988 combat vehicles equipped with multiple rocket-launching systems, 3,898 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 8,159 units of special military hardware have been destroyed during the special military operation.

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That Easy? Germany Hopes to Replace Russian Gas With LNG by 2026

Russia halted its gas supplies to Germany in August 2022 in a move that came amid Western sanctions against Moscow that were slapped shortly after the beginning of the ongoing Russian special military operation in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out the policy of containment and weakening of Russia is a long-term strategy of the West, and that sanctions have dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy, backfiring against those who introduced them.

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👮 Australian Open guards received instructions on how not to confuse “prohibited” and “permitted” countries.

The flags of Russia and Belarus are prohibited.

The similar flags of France and Paraguay are allowed.

The instruction surfaced after yesterday's incident, when the guards did not let Serbian fans in, confusing their flag with the Russian one.

"It is forbidden to bring the flags of Russia and Belarus (t-shirts with Z symbols) to the stadium," the cheat sheet says.

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Finnish Foreign Minister Says May Consider NATO Entry Without Sweden

Finland, which jointly applied with Sweden for NATO membership in May, may consider continuing the accession procedure without Stockholm, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said Tuesday.

"But we have to be ready to re-evaluate the situation. Has something happened that would in the long run prevent Sweden's application from progressing? Now it is too early to take a view on that," Haavisto told a Finnish broadcaster when asked if Finland should proceed at the same pace as Sweden in seeking approval for the application.

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One Dead & Seven Injured in California's Third Mass Shooting in Three Days

The shooting occurred on Monday evening in the 5900 block of Macarthur Blvd.

"At this time, we are aware of eight victims, one who is deceased and the remaining victims were listed in stable condition," the police said late on Monday.

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⚡️ Turkey-Sweden-Finland talks on joining NATO postponed indefinitely at Ankara's request - source to Sputnik