Russian journalists filed their US visa applications electronically in March. We handed our passports to the US Embassy staff on Saturday, and I asked the American diplomat who took them, when we will get the passports back.

"I have no idea", he said.

This whole situation is really absurd.

⚡️Russia will mirror the US' attitude toward Russian journalists to American journalists - diplomatic source to Sputnik

📹 Sputnik correspondent Denis Bolotsky spoke about the situation while at the US Embassy in Moscow, where Russian journalists from the Lavrov delegation to the UN were denied visas.

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‘High risk’ Ukraine counteroffensive may end up with the encirclement of troops by Russian forces

Kiev's planned counteroffensive against Russian forces may result in the encirclement of Ukrainian troops due to the high risks involved, a UK magazine has warned.

Ukraine has limited supplies of surface-to-air missiles to deter Russian bombers, and Russian soldiers are well dug-in with multiple layers of trenches and anti-tank obstacles. The magazine argued that Ukraine will need to outnumber defenders and exploit breakthroughs carefully to avoid encirclement.

Both Ukraine and its Western backers should prepare for the possibility of marginal gains or worse. Ukrainian lawmaker Alexandra Ustinova stated that the lack of arms has pushed back the launch date indefinitely.

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European Central Bank warns interest rates ‘close to maximum increase’ amid high inflation

ECB raised interest rates by 0.5% despite concerns of a domino effect. Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras warned against big or small moves on rates, saying decisions should be based on data.

ECB officials believe inflation will remain high and necessitate further rate increases. The Director of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) European Department Alfred Kammer warned of persistent inflation in Europe. Western sanctions on Russia worsened the energy crisis and inflation in the EU.

The EU has no plans to increase sanctions further due to concerns about affecting sectors that European countries rely on, such as imports of fuel for nuclear power plants and precious metals.

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Sy Hersh: West knows Ukraine weapons end up on black market

US journalist Seymour Hersh told Russian media that weapons delivered by the West to Ukraine are being sold on the black market. He said that weapons including hand missile guns were among those being sold.

He said that “very early, Poland, Romania, [and] other countries on the border were being flooded with weapons we'd been shipping for the war to Ukraine," where the Russian special military operation is underway.

Hersh added that mainstream media had tried to downplay the issue and that CBS News had retracted a story about it.

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❗️ Russia counts on the UN to duly respond to the US' failure to issue visas to Russian journalists headed for UN Security Council events - mission to UN

Lavrov, Blinken not planning to meet during UNSC events in New York

There are no plans to hold a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US State Secretary Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the UN Security Council events in New York, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Sunday.

"There are no such plans. To a large extent, we do not have anything on the agenda that could be discussed with the US at the level of [foreign] ministers," Ryabkov told reporters before the departure of a Russian delegation to New York.

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Relations between Tehran, Moscow reaching new level

Relations between Iran and Russia are reaching a new level as both countries agree on approaches to solving regional and international problems, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali has said.

"Today, relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation are reaching a new level," Jalali said at an academic event in Moscow on Saturday focused on the Persian language and literature.

The two countries "are entering the sphere of close cooperation" and "have similar approaches to [solving] regional and international problems," the diplomat said.

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'For the people': at least nine US lawmakers sold troubled stock before SVB crisis

According to an analysis by a US research agency, nine Congress lawmakers traded banking stocks before or during the latest financial crisis triggered by the Silicon Valley Bank collapse on March 10.

Further investigations by a prominent US newspaper showed that nearly a fifth of American lawmakers or their close relatives conducted stock market transactions with equity of the companies affected by their legislative work. This practice of enrichment via political means has sparked outrage in US society, with Senator Sherrod Brown pushing for a bill to limit the financial operations of members of Congress.

Brown stated in a press release that "Members of Congress are supposed to serve the American people, not their stock portfolios," adding that politicians "have more inside information" and are able "to know more about the economy."

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'I'm the f***ing Fuhrer': new book lays bare BoJo's frustrations

Boris Johnson reportedly called himself noscripts that are not traditionally used by British prime ministers, according to a book called "Johnson at 10" by Anthony Seldon and Raymond Newell.

Johnson apparently clashed with his adviser Dominic Cummings over decision-making, and once exclaimed "I'm meant to be in control. I'm the king who takes the decisions. I'm the Fuhrer."

According to Cummings Johnson is also denying wrongdoing in the "Partygate" scandal.

“He doesn't think he did anything wrong, as he said repeatedly in 2020 'Everyone better remember I'm the f***ing Fuhrer around here',” a May 2022 tweet attributed to Cummings stated.

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Some White House officials concerned over ‘serious possibility' of default - report

Some in the Biden administration disagree with the White House's conclusion that a default is avoidable, according to a US media outlet. Goldman Sachs economists say the US could hit the debt ceiling as early as June.

While some senior officials are more concerned about the possibility of default than others, Democrats continue to urge Biden to engage with Republicans on the issue.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has called for action on lifting the debt ceiling, accusing Biden of jeopardizing US financial markets by delaying negotiations.

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Ukraine disassembling many fighter jets provided by Slovakia, Poland

A large part of the MiG-29 fighter jets that Poland and Slovakia recently handed over to Ukraine are not in flyable condition and can be of use only if disassembled for spare parts, a British weekly newspaper reported on Sunday.

The report noted that Poland and Slovakia had transferred about eight MiG-29s in recent weeks.

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Romania to continue boosting military interoperability with NATO

The process of increasing the interoperability of Romania's land forces with their NATO counterparts should continue, as it is necessitated by current security challenges, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Sunday.

"Given current security challenges facing Romania and the entire Euro-Atlantic area, it is necessary to continue the process of increasing the interoperability of the Romanian land forces with peer NATO structures through joint execution of missions and training activities," Iohannis said in a message on the occasion of the Day of Land Forces.

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Polling stations empty in Northern Kosovo as ethnic Serbs boycott local elections - reports

Local elections in four municipalities in Kosovo's north on Sunday are seeing particularly low turnout as the region's predominantly ethnic Serb population boycotts the vote, as called for by the Serb List Party, media reported.

Voters are set to elect new mayors in the municipalities of North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposaviq and new municipal councils in Zvecan and Leposaviq. The Serb List Party, whose candidates previously were in majority in the municipalities’ councils and executive bodies, called to boycott the elections citing pressure and provocations from the Kosovo authorities and enjoyed far-reaching public support in this cause, the local news portal reported.

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Thousands of Swedes protest NATO accession

Thousands of people gathered in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Saturday to protest against the country's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as well as against the Aurora-2023 military drills hosted by the Nordic state. As per the police estimates, between 2,000 and 2,500 people attended the rally.

Holding banners such as "No to NATO", the demonstration marched through the city.

Protesters dubbed NATO a “war machine of the United States” and expressed concern that the alliance will drag Sweden into numerous conflicts.

The protest was supported by local civil organizations, including the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society and several pacifist networks promoting the idea of nuclear disarmament.

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Argentine business interested in cooperation with Russia despite sanctions

The Russian Ambassador to Buenos Aires, Dmitry Feoktistov, said that Argentine businesses remain interested in cooperation with Russia, despite economic sanctions imposed by the West against Moscow.

Feoktistov stated that the Russian-Argentine business council has resumed and is uniting businessmen from both countries seeking to continue working together.

Additionally, he highlighted two international tenders announced by Argentina in nuclear energy, which could be interesting for the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

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Cuba’s Prime Minister expected to visit Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi

Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz plans to visit Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi as part of his upcoming trip to Russia, Cuban Ambassador to Moscow Julio Antonio Garmendia Pena told Sputnik.

"Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz will pay a visit to Russia in June. First of all, he will take part in the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council of the EAEU [Eurasian Economic Union], which will be held in Sochi on June 7-9. After that, he will pay an official visit to Moscow, and then go to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum," the ambassador said.

The ambassador also pointed out that Cuba and Russia have been working on integrating the Mir payment system in Cuba. He expressed hope that Russian tourists will be able to use Russian Mir cards in Cuba already this year (some ATM machines in Cuba already accept Mir cards for cash withdrawals).

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Denmark withdraws military from Syria, Iraq to combat threats near country’s borders

Denmark has decided to withdraw all its military specialists, who participated in countering Daesh* in Iraq and Syria, to combat threats in close proximity to the country’s borders, the Danish Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

"Now we are withdrawing the unit to Denmark, partly because the number of the Islamic State [in Syria and Iraq] has been so reduced that there is no equal need for our contribution, and partly because we need to restore combat power for countering the threats that we see in our immediate vicinity," the ministry said in a statement.

The Danish military specialists have been on the territory of these countries since 2016, the statement noted, adding that the servicemen worked in the field of air defense.

* Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other countries

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❗️Russia's Black Sea Fleet has repelled an attack by surface drones off the coast of the Russian port city of Sevastopol in Crimea, governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.

During the attack in the outer roadstead of Sevastopol, one drone was destroyed, while the other one exploded by itself, Razvozhayev said.

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🇷🇺🇺🇳 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in New York

The minister will chair two meetings of the UN Security Council on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, he is also scheduled to meet with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Lavrov's trip to the US comes against the backdrop of Washington's refusal to issue visas to Russian journalists who were supposed to accompany him.

💬 "We consider this step as another manifestation of neglect of the international law by the United States. When denying access to UN events for Russian journalists, the US authorities once again demonstrate their true attitude to freedom of speech and availability of information," the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN said, commenting on the US' decision.

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