Russia received over 20 requests for oil supply from different states in 2022

According to Alexander Novak, Russia's oil exports to friendly countries increased by 76%, petroleum products exports increased by 20%, and pipeline and liquefied gas exports increased by 8% by the end of 2022.

Russia increased the supply of oil to India by 19 times in 2022, while the deliveries of oil products and coal were up by two and three times, respectively.

The export of pipeline gas to China increased 1.5 times, amounting to 15.4 billion cubic meters at the end of the last year. The official also added that Rosneft has confirmed the transportation of 30 million tonnes of oil to China through the Skovorodino-Mohe oil pipeline for 2023.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Moscow is discussing new long-term LNG supply contracts with Asia-Pacific countries, as well as the participation of Asian investors in Russian LNG projects.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗣️”The UK economy is in severe trouble and obviously then, with the fallout from the conflict in Ukraine, it is feeling that even more acutely. The problem for Sunak is he has very, very little to sell”: Belfast-based political commentator and socialist activist Phil Kelly on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s visit to Washington

🎧Listen to more of Kelly’s analysis in our podcast Political Misfits

Swiss lower house votes against providing $5.5Bln aid package to Ukraine

"The National Council is currently opposed to providing Ukraine with the 5 billion franc aid program. On Thursday it rejected the proposal of the Foreign Affairs Committee to grant the aid package for a period of five to 10 years. The proposal has been withdrawn," the statement, published by the Swiss parliament, read.

The funds were earmarked for humanitarian aid, protection of civilians, mine clearance and "peace consolidation," the document said.

Meanwhile, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told a parliamentary session that the country would continue to help rebuild Ukraine, but that it was necessary to clarify various issues related to the country's reconstruction and international cooperation in this area.

The Council of States, the upper house of parliament, will discuss a similar proposal to send Ukraine a 5 billion franc package on June 12, the document added.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

NATO brings back cold war strategizing as conflict with Russia looms

NATO is also reviewing its defense plans to be able to defend "every inch" of the bloc's territory in the event of a conflict with Russia, the report said. If Sweden joins the alliance in the near future, the move would facilitate troops transfer to the Baltic flank, the magazine reported.

"It's very important that Sweden is going as quickly as possible on board, because if you look at the map, we really need Sweden so that this whole thing is deep enough, what we are going to defend. It's very important for logistics and everything else. We already know that it's rather difficult to defend the Baltic countries. The same goes for Finland if Sweden is not on board," Harri Ohra-aho, an advisor for intelligence in Finland's Defense Ministry, was quoted as saying by the magazine.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗣️ “I see a distancing from some elements of the US government, not Blinken, not Victoria Nuland, but some people who are telling The Washington Post what to post and what to run. And the Post is citing CIA officials”: Ray McGovern, ex-CIA analyst, and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, on the West’s coverage of the recent bombing of the Novaya Kakhovka dam

🎧Listen to more of McGovern’s analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

🗣️”We were told could only be conducted by a state actor, and then you decide when you can't quite pin it on Russia, you say you're not interested in knowing who did it. That's damning. And we've heard that Nord Stream was blown up by Ukrainians not aligned to their government in a pleasure boat. You know what? Next, Andy Kaufman led the dam busters to blow up this dam”: Belfast-based political commentator and socialist activist Phil Kelly on the West’s constant disinformation stream

🎧Listen to more of Kelly’s analysis in our podcast Political Misfits

🤖🇷🇺 Robots for defense, space and medicine: inside look into Russian robotics

Sputnik sat down with the director of one of Russia’s most ambitious robotics firms, Yevgeny Dudorov, Android Technics' general director, to learn more about the challenges and opportunities the country’s robotics pioneers face in designing and building robots for both military and civilian applications.

“I would say that there are two main directions for progress. The first is humanity’s laziness – the desire to invent something new to work less, move less and receive more amenities. The second engine of progress is warfare, because both sides in a conflict attempt to resolve things in their favor, and immediately start to mobilize all those forces, all those ideas that they have – leading to a kind of permanent brainstorming effect. People begin to think things up, create, test, receive feedback, make adjustments and go through it all again,” Dudorov said.

Read his full exclusive interview on Sputnik's website

The Russian Defense Ministry has published footage of the destruction of a Ukrainian armored column in the Zaporozhye direction.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Five killed in shooting near Nazareth in Israel

"A short time ago, a report was received… about a shooting incident at a number of people in Yafia. As a result of the shooting, five men were mortally wounded and later declared dead. Large police forces are conducting searches to locate the suspects in the shooting," the police tweeted, adding that the incident is believed to be criminal in nature.
This incident followed an afternoon shooting in Kfar Kana, in which a three year old girl and a 30-year-old man were seriously injured, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also commented on the issue, expressing his shock and vowing to stop the violence.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Serbia to ease entry for Indian citizens and boost trade despite EU restrictions

🇮🇳 🇷🇸 Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has stated that Serbia will ease entry for Indian citizens despite the EU canceling visa-free travel with India. The current volume of trade between the countries is €330m per year.

Serbia intends to simplify the visa regime with India and consider the possibility of introducing direct air communication between Belgrade and Delhi.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia

🤖🇷🇺 With more than 120 robotic systems developed by a team of 150+ robotics engineers, Android Technics is making significant strides in the field of robotics.

These achievements show that Russia has the potential to achieve autonomy and self-sufficiency in robotics, without relying on Western technologies and expertise.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🤖🇷🇺 Watch Marker combat robot in action

The Marker is a special platform with a set of payloads consisting of a universal module on which various types of weapons can be installed and unmanned aerial vehicles can be launched. The system could play a significant role in countering UAVs.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The Chinese Embassy in the United States said there was "nothing to share" on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to China

"Nothing to share at the moment on the specific questions you have raised," the embassy said in a statement to Sputnik.

"China is open to having dialogue with the United States. We hope the US will work in the same direction with China, and jointly implement the important common understandings between the two presidents in their Bali meeting."

Earlier on Thursday, US media reported, citing two people familiar with the matter, that Blinken was scheduled to potentially visit China as soon as next week. The State Department was still working on finalizing details, the report said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The population of the UК could increase by almost 16 million by 2046 if the government does not take measures to reduce the flow of migrants

"With net migration now running at over 600,000 a year, the most glaring result will be a worsening of the housing crisis with new Migration Watch UK projections suggesting that the UK population is on course – on present immigration levels – to shoot well past 80 million by 2046," Migration Watch UK, an independent and non-political think-tank, said.

"A new Migration Watch UK report finds that if net migration remains close to last year’s record level of 606,000 (the highest ever) and the birth rate remains at around the present level, nearly 16 million people would be added to the population of the UK over the next 25 years – that is approaching twice the current population of London."

The UK's current population stands at 69 million people, but it could reach between 83 and 87 million by 2046 if net migration continues at the present record level, the report said.

💬 "I'm an innocent man"

🗣 Donald Trump has issued an address to American citizens in which he criticizes the policies of the Joe Biden administration and claims that his growing popularity in the run-up to the presidential election is causing the US authorities to use illegal means against him

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 The Russian military destroyed a Ukrainian self-propelled gun mount during a counter-battery fight

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💬 BIDEN: "There's gonna be a billion people in Africa very shortly. One billion."

😁 REMINDER: The population of Africa reached one billion people in 2009.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Taiwanese foreign minister is due to travel to Europe next week

Unnamed sources have told a UK media outlet that while in Prague, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu will attend a security conference slated for June 14, when he may speak immediately after Czech President Petr Pavel opens the event.

European leaders typically do not share the stage with senior Taiwanese officials, so Wu’s speech will come as a diplomatic breakthrough, one of the insiders claimed.

Neither Beijing nor Taipei or Pavel’s office have commented on the matter yet.

Beijing reacts angrily to any official foreign contacts with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable, in line with the One-China principle.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ The death toll after the sabotage at the Kakhovka HPP rose to six, emergency services told Sputnik

The Pentagon may announce as early as Friday a long-term arms package for Ukraine that includes air defense munitions worth over $2 billion

The package will be conducted in the framework of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) and will possibly include Hawk missile launchers and two types of advanced Patriot air defense missiles.

As the US media report states, the first, Pac-3, or the Patriot Advanced Capability Missile-3, is manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp, the second, GEM-T, the Guidance Enhanced Missile - by Raytheon Technologies Corp.

The announcement comes amid the background of the Ukrainian "counter-offensive", Kiev has been promising for the past month, but Ukrainian troops have failed to advance, only losing several key positions, including the city of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) in the DPR. However, Ukraine has boosted its activity on the frontlines following Kiev's alleged attack on the Novaya Kakhovka dam, which led to the flooding of a major area in the Kherson region.