📹 “Today, the Baltic Sea is in turmoil,” Vladimir Putin said about the Nord Stream attack while addressing Danish Ambassador Jakob Henningsen at the presentation of credentials ceremony

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📹 Relations between Russia and the EU have recently deteriorated as Europe initiated confrontation with Russia, Vladimir Putin says

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📹 “Russian-US relations are in deep crisis, unfortunately,” Vladimir Putin says.

Putin said the coup d'état in Ukraine in 2014 led to the current situation.

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🇹🇷The Turkish authorities are planning to introduce discounts on gas for the general public at a ceremony on April 20 in connection with the start of supplies from the Black Sea gas reserves to the national distribution system.

The introduction of Black Sea gas into Turkiye's national distribution network will ensure the country's gas security, media reported, adding that good news about the discounts would be announced directly by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The authorities are reportedly considering four formulas for providing gas discounts to the population. The first option provides for granting 100 cubic meters of gas at a time as a gift to all citizens, while the second option is a 15% discount on gas in residential buildings. The third formula provides for free monthly distribution of 25 cubic meters of gas to citizens for its use in the kitchen and bathroom for eight months until the end of 2023, and the last option is to provide gas free of charge in April.

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According to the financial statements of Cisco Systems' Russian subsidiary, the American network equipment and software manufacturer physically destroyed inventory in Russia worth $23.4 million due to the suspension of its business in Russia.

"The stocks were physically destroyed in January 2023, therefore the reserves against decreases in the value of tangible assets as at 31 December 2022 are shown at full stock value of 1,864,002,000 rubles," the company report reads.

The decision to dispose of the inventory was made in August of last year, and the destruction took place in January 2023. The equipment consisted mainly of spare parts for equipment. The reason for the destruction was the cessation of sales and services, as well as the suspension of licenses and services by Cisco.

In July to August, the company terminated most of its employment contracts, resulting in a total payment of $2.39Mln to employees and mandatory contributions to extra-budgetary funds.

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Bryce Greene, contributor to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, joined us to discuss the provocative war games conducted by the US towards China in order to maintain its primacy

🎧Listen to more of Greene’s analysis in our podcast By Any Means Necessary

Ancient Earth May Have Been Quite 'Slushy,' and Not Ball of Ice, Study Shows

The "Snowball Earth" theory suggests that between 700 million and 600 million years ago, Earth was completely covered in ice. However, new research by Chinese scientists challenges this long-standing theory and suggests that there were areas of "slush" that allowed oxygen to penetrate, providing a habitat for multicellular organisms.

The study sheds light on the conditions of the oceans billions of years ago and provides fascinating insights into the history of life on Earth.

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⚡️Ukrainian light-engine plane crashes in Russia’s Bryansk region, pilot detained by border guards, Russian FSB border department said

Bryce Greene, contributor to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, joined us to discuss the US empowering Taiwan in order to challenge China, as well as Western media misinformation

🎧Listen to more of Greene’s analysis in our podcast By Any Means Necessary

🇮🇹 Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalized on Wednesday due to heath problems after suffering an infection, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani said.

"He is in intensive care because the problem, which was related to the infection, has not been solved. But he is able to speak, that's what I know," Tajani told reporters after the NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels, as quoted by am Italian daily. Tajani added that he had not yet spoken to the former prime minister.

Sources in Berlusconi's party confirmed to Sputnik that the 86-year-old lawmaker is conscious and in a stable condition.

Earlier, local media reported that Berlusconi had been readmitted to Milan's San Raffaele Hospital due to cardiovascular problems. The former prime minister was reportedly having difficulty breathing.

Berlusconi has been regularly examined at San Raffaele Hospital for many years. He spent four days there last week before being discharged on March 30.

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Chief market strategist Todd “Bubba” Horwitz joined us to discuss the oil production cut announced by OPEC+ amid ongoing economic upheaval

🎧Listen to more of Horwitz’s analysis in our podcast Fault Lines

Presidential Sex Scandals That Rocked the White House

Former US President Donald Trump is not the only one who has experienced a scandal over his personal life. Many other past presidents have also been embroiled in similar controversies that captured public attention.

Read more about White House love scandals involving former US presidents such as FDR, Kennedy, Johnson, Ford, Clinton, and Bush

🇨🇿The Czech Republic supports Ukraine’s intention to join NATO, however, this step itself will not solve all its problems, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said on Wednesday.

"Of course, we support Ukraine’s ambitions to become a NATO member, but this will not solve its problems automatically," Lipavsky told reporters.

Lipavsky noted that it was more important to focus on increasing assistance to Kiev, including funds for military equipment and non-lethal materials.

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Pundit: African Nations Won't Follow US’ 'Misguided Lead'

African countries are not going to follow the West's "misguided lead" in terms of their national strategies and foreign policy, says Dr. Gerald Horne, professor of history at the University of Houston, Texas, in an interview with Sputnik, commenting on US Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent trip to Africa.

🗣"She was there, supposedly to warn these Africans about the pernicious nature of the People's Republic of China and its close ally in Moscow. And, of course, being polite, tactful and diplomatic, they listened courteously," he underlines, adding: "But, certainly they do not plan to follow her misguided lead."

The historian explains that Africans have plenty of reasons to be suspicious of the North Atlantic countries, and be careful in building partnerships with them, given the past involvement of the US into their internal affairs.

👉 Read more

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🔺China launches patrols near Taiwan ahead of meeting between US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen
🔺Donald Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony counts
🔺Ukraine planning a counteroffensive in the Zaporozhye region, having finished preparations

The Critical Hour will cover these and more stories! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

📻 Also in the United States at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

UK Flagship Aircraft Carrier to Be Deployed in Mediterranean to 'Deter' Russia

The UK's HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier will be deployed in the Mediterranean Sea to demonstrate naval power and deter alleged Russian aggression, with F-35 Lightning fighter jets flying over the Black Sea.

This will be the fourth carrier strike group deployment in the region in the past four years. The ship was supposed to be deployed with another carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, which is undergoing repairs and has faced several issues since being commissioned in 2019.

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🌍 West Needs to Drop Colonial-Era Ennoscriptment Complex Toward Africa, Experts Say

As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently lambasted the US for attempting to scuttle the second conference between Russia and Africa, Sputnik sat down with pundits to discuss the crisis of the West's colonial approach towards Africa and the desire of African countries to determine their own vector of development.

💬 "It is a huge mistake not to understand that all African countries, whether French-speaking or English-speaking [...] want to diversify their relations. They no longer want to remain under the control of colonial powers," says Aymeric Chauprade, a geopolitical scientist and French politician, in an interview with Sputnik

👉 READ THE FULL STORY

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🇺🇸🇷🇺US imports from Russia rose more than 25% in February despite continuous efforts by the United States to sanction Moscow over its special operation in Ukraine, data published by the US Commerce Department on Wednesday showed.

The United States bought $642.8 million worth of Russian goods in February, up from $508.6 million in February, according to the data by the US Census Bureau, a unit of the Commerce Department.

US exports to Russia also rose to $61.2 million in February from January’s $44.6 million, which marked a record low in the history of post-Soviet Russia since 1992.

The higher import-export numbers raised the trade deficit between the two countries to $581.6 million in February, from January's $464 million, with the balance being in Russia’s favor.

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🇸🇪 🇹🇷 Sweden has to take a number of additional steps for NATO membership, the current ones are insufficient, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

"At a meeting with my Swedish counterpart [Tobias Billstrom] in Brussels, we raised the topic of the steps that Stockholm needs to take in the process of joining NATO. Some steps have been taken, but they are insufficient. Additional steps are needed," Cavusoglu said at a press conference in Brussels.

On Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Sweden fulfilled all the necessary condition for joining NATO just like Finland, so there should not be any obstacle in its way to join the alliance.

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