Who's to blame for Ukraine crisis and rising global nuclear tensions?

The escalation of the long-running Ukrainian crisis into a full-blown NATO proxy war against Russia has been accompanied by dramatic warnings about the risks of the conflict escalating into a global nuclear conflagration. Is there a way out? A senior diplomat recently offered his perspective on Russia’s position.

Check out his analysis

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Russia and its partners within BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) need to work on a unification of payment systems and a mechanism to regulate trade in national currencies to boost mutual trade and be more independent, geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar told Sputnik.

"We do not need a new BRICS currency, we don’t need a new euro, you don’t need something you can buy coffee with. You need what [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin said, in fact, recently — a mechanism regulating trade in bilateral currencies and multilateral currencies [within BRICS and SCO] and also in parallel a unification of payment systems," Escobar said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Russia's Vladivostok.

One of the ways to start the process is to initiate the unification of Russia's payment system, SPFS (System for Transfer of Financial Messages), China's CIPS (China International Payments System) and the Iranian system, the expert said.

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🇪🇺 The European Union has downgraded the economic outlook for 2023 and 2024 amid growing fears of recession. Economic growth in the euro currency area is predicted to reach 0.8 percent in 2023, down from 1 percent projected in the Spring Forecast, as per the European Commission statement.

The economy of the euro zone will grow “with a reduced momentum,” stated the Summer Forecast from the EU’s executive arm.

For 2024, the revised projections showed growth expectations lowered to 1.3 percent from 1.6 percent. As for the overall 27-country bloc, growth forecast was lowered to 0.8 percent from 1 percent this year, and to 1.4 percent from 1.7 percent in 2024.

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❗️ Latest statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

▪️ Russian and North Korean delegations will hold talks in the coming days, with one-on-one communications and an official dinner in honor of Kim Jong-un.

▪️ There will be no press conference at Putin's meeting with Kim Jong-un, which will be held in the Far East.

▪️ Putin and Kim Jong-un will have a rich exchange of views on the situation in the region and discuss bilateral ties.

▪️ Contacts between Putin and China's Xi Jinping are planned before the end of this year

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Authorities on Taiwan said on Monday they had dispatched aircraft in response to detecting numerous Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy ships and aircraft off the island’s southern coast, including the aircraft carrier Shandong.

The autonomous island’s Ministry of Defense said "a naval formation led by the Shandong was spotted passing 60 nautical miles off the southeast tip of Eluanbi and sailing eastward towards the western Pacific for training," according to Taiwanese media. Cape Eluanbi is Taiwan’s southernmost tip. It is the closest either Chinese aircraft carrier has come to the island.

The ministry said it “sent warplanes and warships to shadow the PLA movements and deployed missile systems as appropriate responses.”

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🇷🇺🇱🇦 Relations between Russia and Laos are developing in many areas, one of the problems is financial settlements, but there are solutions, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Lao Vice President Pany Yathotou.

Putin claimed he hoped Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith will visit Russia in October, adding that contacts between Russia and Laos on the line of military departments are ongoing.

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🇩🇪 Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has been destroyed by Germans over her latest unannounced visit to Ukraine to pledge support for the radical regime against Russia.

What did they hate the most?

👉 Find out here

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Relations between Russia and China have reached an unprecedented historical level, joint work between the countries will continue, Vladimir Putin said

🇸🇾🇺🇸 Syria reveals staggering cost of US looting and sabotage of energy sector

Syria’s Foreign Ministry has decided to remind the United Nations of US crimes against the Syrian people, sending letters to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Security Council President Ferit Hoxha demanding action to put an end to Washington's illegal behavior.

In a summary of the letter published by Syrian media, the Foreign Ministry reminded the UN that “the US and its tools of terrorist organizations and militias continue to violate Syrian sovereignty and plunder the country’s wealth and strategic resources.” Damascus demanded accountability, compensation, an end to “the illegal presence of American forces,” and the “return of lands it occupies and the oil and gas fields of the Syrian state.”

Find out how much the US has stolen from Syria

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🇰🇵🇷🇺 Kim Jong-un's armored train is already in Russia

Russia has not ruled out talks during Kim Jong-un’s visit about Moscow providing humanitarian aid to North Korea, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister said

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US President Joe Biden announced on Saturday the India – Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), a new rail and shipping route. Some Western observers qualified the corridor as an alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative, after it was agreed to by India, Saudi Arabia, the United States, the European Union, among other countries.

What's really behind the plan?

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📹 Russia’s Msta-B 152mm towed howitzer artillery crews continue to destroy Ukrainian manpower and armored vehicles

The artillerymen's main tasks are to prevent the enemy from breaking through, to disrupt the rotation of its units at their positions, and to destroy tanks, armored vehicles and firing points of the Ukrainian fighters.

It is also important for artillery units to conduct counter-battery warfare, including the destruction of Western-made artillery systems.

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❗️ WATCH LIVE: Vladimir Putin addresses the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum

📌 The Eastern Economic Forum is a key international platform for establishing and strengthening ties within the Russian and global investment communities, and for comprehensive expert evaluation of the economic potential of the Russian Far East, the investment opportunities it offers, and business conditions within advanced special economic zones.

Join the live stream here or follow this link to Sputnik’s website

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⚡ Vladimir Putin has begun his address to delegates at the Eastern Economic Forum

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⚡ The Far East for Russia is a strategic priority for the entire 21st century, Vladimir Putin says

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❗️ Russia’s trade turnover with the Asia-Pacific countries grew by 13.7% last year, and in the first half of the year increased by another 18.3%, Putin says

❗️ The percentage of subsoil exploration in the Far East is on average only 35%; there is every opportunity for the extractive industries to vastly grow, Putin says

Putin instructed the government to include the study of subsoil in the Far East and Siberia in the geological exploration program

⚡ Key statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his address to delegates at the Eastern Economic Forum:

▪️ The global economy continues to change, primarily because the West is tearing down the system of financial relations;

▪️ Amid the destruction of the financial system by the West, the list of countries that are ready to cooperate not based on Western conventions, but for all humanity, is expanding;

▪️ The dynamics of investment in the Far East is three times faster than for all of Russia in its entirety;

▪️ Most regions in the Far Eastern Federal District still face energy shortages, and this is a problem; a large-scale update of this industry is needed;

▪️ It is necessary to expand logistics routes in the Far East, including the Northern Sea Route;

▪️ High-speed highways will pass through Siberia, the Far East to the Pacific Ocean;

▪️ Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for a comprehensive action plan to be prepared by 1 March for the development of the air complex of the Far Eastern Federal District;

▪️ Constantly enhancing the conditions for doing business in the Far East is a must;

▪️ The global economic situation has invigorated our work in the Far East;

▪️ The restriction of payments in dollars has driven all countries to set their sights on payments in national currencies, while trust in the West is being eroded;

▪️ Today, logistics chains for the supply of goods have almost recovered, and by the same token, this is due to the exchange rate;

▪️ We must come to an agreement with the business community, so that they understand that it is safer to work in Russia.

⚡ Production of LNG (liquefied natural gas) in the Arctic zone is expected to triple by 2030, thanks to the decision to create new lines and strengthen technological sovereignty, Putin says