Why Putin pulled out of fishy 1956 treaty letting Brits fish in Russia’s Arctic waters
Russia’s president signed a law on Monday barring British commercial fishing vessels from trawling Russian waters in the Barents Sea, the Kola Peninsula, Kolguyev Island and Cape Kanin Nos.
The bountiful waters, where British fishermen caught some 556,000 tons of fish in 2023 alone, provided the UK with up to 40 percent of the cod and haddock for Britain’s best-known national dish: fish & chips.
Want to know what prompted Moscow to mete out such a cruel, cruel punishment against London? 👉 Check out our infographic for answers.
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Russia’s president signed a law on Monday barring British commercial fishing vessels from trawling Russian waters in the Barents Sea, the Kola Peninsula, Kolguyev Island and Cape Kanin Nos.
The bountiful waters, where British fishermen caught some 556,000 tons of fish in 2023 alone, provided the UK with up to 40 percent of the cod and haddock for Britain’s best-known national dish: fish & chips.
Want to know what prompted Moscow to mete out such a cruel, cruel punishment against London? 👉 Check out our infographic for answers.
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EU’s defense strategy a ‘wishful dream’ – ex-Foreign Legion officer
The European Commission’s newly-proposed joint defense strategy is a pipe dream, Colonel Jacques Hogard, who served 26 years in the French Army as an airborne officer in the Foreign Legion and the Special Forces, told Sputnik.
“It clumsily tries to find a way out of the trap into which the Americans have made it fall. But in reality, ‘Defense Europe’ is a dream,” the expert continued.
Top EU officials laid out their plan for a dramatic overhaul of the bloc’s defense industry last week, while “French and German leaders have continued to publicly display their deep disagreements, which result from two opposing visions and two competing ambitions in terms of defense,” the pundit pointed out. “We can clearly see in these conditions that the European Commission's plan is a wishful dream which is not about to begin to come true even at a minimum," he said.
As for the EU plan to jointly “invest more in defense,” in the current economic crisis this is, again, “wishful thinking,” suggested the expert. “When this crisis is over, the current EU will have to give way to a new organization that is truly European but respectful of the nations that make it up, from the Atlantic to the Urals,” said Hogard.
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The European Commission’s newly-proposed joint defense strategy is a pipe dream, Colonel Jacques Hogard, who served 26 years in the French Army as an airborne officer in the Foreign Legion and the Special Forces, told Sputnik.
“The EU, whose initial vocation as a peacemaker in Europe has completely slipped and transformed into a warmonger, is seeking to exist, in the face of the visible disengagement of the United States in Ukraine,” Hogard said.
“It clumsily tries to find a way out of the trap into which the Americans have made it fall. But in reality, ‘Defense Europe’ is a dream,” the expert continued.
“Born from a desire to bring the Franco-German couple together, this dream has never had the slightest beginning of concrete realization.”
Top EU officials laid out their plan for a dramatic overhaul of the bloc’s defense industry last week, while “French and German leaders have continued to publicly display their deep disagreements, which result from two opposing visions and two competing ambitions in terms of defense,” the pundit pointed out. “We can clearly see in these conditions that the European Commission's plan is a wishful dream which is not about to begin to come true even at a minimum," he said.
As for the EU plan to jointly “invest more in defense,” in the current economic crisis this is, again, “wishful thinking,” suggested the expert. “When this crisis is over, the current EU will have to give way to a new organization that is truly European but respectful of the nations that make it up, from the Atlantic to the Urals,” said Hogard.
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🇩🇪💸 The German Ministry of Defence announced a financial “hole"—the Bundeswehr will not have enough six billion euros next year. Germany risks not meeting NATO's requirement to spend two percent of GDP on defence, says Bild.
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Right-wing parties victorious in Portugal's elections following 8 years of socialist rule
In Portugal, the center-right Democratic Alliance (AD) emerged as the clear winner with 30% of the vote in the recently held parliamentary elections, according to the EFE news agency. The Socialist Party, which had held power for the past eight years, secured second place with 28.8% of the vote. In third place was the right-wing party, Chega, with 19% of the ballot.
With expectations that no single party will achieve an absolute majority, the formation of a coalition government is on the horizon. The right-wing Chega, despite being the third-largest in terms of votes, may hold significant influence in shaping the new government.
Following Portugal's last elections in 2002, which resulted in a socialist victory, this recent outcome marks a shift in the country's political landscape.
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In Portugal, the center-right Democratic Alliance (AD) emerged as the clear winner with 30% of the vote in the recently held parliamentary elections, according to the EFE news agency. The Socialist Party, which had held power for the past eight years, secured second place with 28.8% of the vote. In third place was the right-wing party, Chega, with 19% of the ballot.
With expectations that no single party will achieve an absolute majority, the formation of a coalition government is on the horizon. The right-wing Chega, despite being the third-largest in terms of votes, may hold significant influence in shaping the new government.
Following Portugal's last elections in 2002, which resulted in a socialist victory, this recent outcome marks a shift in the country's political landscape.
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Portuguese conservatives outperformed the incumbent Socialist Party, which conceded defeat. The center-right Democratic Alliance (AD) won around 76 seats, while the Eurosceptic right-wing Chega ("Enough" in Portuguese) quadrupled its share of seats from 12 to 48 in the national parliament. Marsili sees Chega as a potential game-changer which is “becoming the third political force in the country.”
“This result was easily predictable, in a political landscape shaken by numerous corruption scandals," the academic said.
Issues that dominated the campaign – the rise of immigration, the increase in the cost of living and the corruption around the Socialist Party – aided the success of the conservatives, according to the researcher. The rise of the right in the EU has become a major trend which could influence the forthcoming European Parliament elections.
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Fake Oscar: how a debunked Ukrainian hoax won best documentary
Mstyslav Chernov's documentary "20 Days in Mariupol" winning the Oscar on Sunday raises eyebrows over its questionable authenticity. In particular, it tells a story of a March 9, 2022 'fatal Russian airstrike' on Mariupol Maternity Hospital №3 that never actually happened.
To start with, patients and medical staff had been driven away from the hospital days before the alleged strike: because of its advantageous tactical location, the maternal hospital had been turned into the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion* stronghold.
Photographs of the hospital's territory show evidence of two separate staged explosions near the medical institution, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Then-pregnant local resident Marianna Vyshemirskaya, who was featured in emotion-filled pictures captured by AP correspondents on March 9, later confirmed that there had not been an air raid. She recalled that she was brought to the site afterwards, and that a man approached her to film her.
The authors of the hoax, the AP's Evgeniy Maloletka and Mstyslav Chernov, are well-known Ukrainian propagandists who have worked for the Western mainstream press for years. During the Euromaidan unrest in Kiev a decade ago, Maloletka took pictures of elusive snipers ahead of their indiscriminate shooting spree in February 2014.
It's not the first time that the Oscar ceremony has been used for propaganda purposes: in 2017 the award was given to the controversial White Helmets, accused by Syrian civilians of being an al-Qaeda** offshoot and of staging false flag chemical attacks.
*banned as terrorist organization in Russia. **banned as terrorist organization in Russia and many other countries.
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Mstyslav Chernov's documentary "20 Days in Mariupol" winning the Oscar on Sunday raises eyebrows over its questionable authenticity. In particular, it tells a story of a March 9, 2022 'fatal Russian airstrike' on Mariupol Maternity Hospital №3 that never actually happened.
To start with, patients and medical staff had been driven away from the hospital days before the alleged strike: because of its advantageous tactical location, the maternal hospital had been turned into the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion* stronghold.
Photographs of the hospital's territory show evidence of two separate staged explosions near the medical institution, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Then-pregnant local resident Marianna Vyshemirskaya, who was featured in emotion-filled pictures captured by AP correspondents on March 9, later confirmed that there had not been an air raid. She recalled that she was brought to the site afterwards, and that a man approached her to film her.
"In a video interview, they later asked me a specific question: was there an air raid on the maternity hospital? I answered clearly: 'No, there wasn’t.' They cut up my interview and cut out the answer about the airstrike," Vyshemirskaya said.
The authors of the hoax, the AP's Evgeniy Maloletka and Mstyslav Chernov, are well-known Ukrainian propagandists who have worked for the Western mainstream press for years. During the Euromaidan unrest in Kiev a decade ago, Maloletka took pictures of elusive snipers ahead of their indiscriminate shooting spree in February 2014.
It's not the first time that the Oscar ceremony has been used for propaganda purposes: in 2017 the award was given to the controversial White Helmets, accused by Syrian civilians of being an al-Qaeda** offshoot and of staging false flag chemical attacks.
*banned as terrorist organization in Russia. **banned as terrorist organization in Russia and many other countries.
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▪️Why Germany doesn’t want to send Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine?
▪️Key Biden's 2025 Budget Proposals
▪️FAB-1500: The Russian air-dropped bomb cracking Ukraine’s impregnable defenсes
▪️Fact check: Was Tallinn’s residential zone really targeted by Soviet forces in March 1944?
▪️Russian economy is booming despite sanctions pressure, The Economist admits
▪️The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed the destruction another US-made Abrams tank near Avdeyevka
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▪️Key Biden's 2025 Budget Proposals
▪️FAB-1500: The Russian air-dropped bomb cracking Ukraine’s impregnable defenсes
▪️Fact check: Was Tallinn’s residential zone really targeted by Soviet forces in March 1944?
▪️Russian economy is booming despite sanctions pressure, The Economist admits
▪️The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed the destruction another US-made Abrams tank near Avdeyevka
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Sputnik International
❗️ Putin signs law allowing use of digital financial assets in international payments The measure, aimed at developing alternatives to the US dollar in payments, will allow Russia to ease export and import transactions with friendly countries.
Who can Russia launch settlements in digital financial assets with, experts forecast for Sputnik:
Analyst Maxim Osadchiy:
Most likely with Iran - the countries have been discussing this possibility for a long time.
Anderida Financial Group:
With the EAEU, South America, some African and Arab countries - due to active trade.
BCS financial group:
First the EAEU, and then BRICS and Turkey - legislation can be synchronized with them most quickly.
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Analyst Maxim Osadchiy:
Most likely with Iran - the countries have been discussing this possibility for a long time.
Anderida Financial Group:
With the EAEU, South America, some African and Arab countries - due to active trade.
BCS financial group:
First the EAEU, and then BRICS and Turkey - legislation can be synchronized with them most quickly.
Subscribe to @SputnikInt
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US Intelligence Community' key statements on Russia and Ukraine:
▪️ Russia will retain significant influence in the energy sphere:
▪️ Russia is increasingly gaining an advantage in Ukraine, its military industry is ramping up production;
▪️ US intelligence believe that Ukraine's military capabilities are weakening:
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▪️ Russia will retain significant influence in the energy sphere:
"In the first half of 2023, Russia was still the second-largest supplier of liquefied natural gas to Europe and announced reduction in its crude oil exports as part of its OPEC+ commitment,” Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in an annual report.
▪️ Russia is increasingly gaining an advantage in Ukraine, its military industry is ramping up production;
▪️ US intelligence believe that Ukraine's military capabilities are weakening:
"Ukraine's retreat from Avdeyevka and their struggle to stave off further territorial losses in the past few weeks have exposed the erosion of Ukraine's military capabilities with the declining availability of external military assistance," Director of National Intelligence Haines said at Senate Committee on Intelligence's hearings.
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Macron’s ‘verbal bravado’ on Ukraine conceals EU’s fears of abandonment by US
French officials have rushed to explain away a string of postponements of President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to visit Ukraine, promising the leader will come sometime “in the next few weeks” after delaying the trip three times now over the past month.
Macron has made headlines with a series of bellicose remarks against Russia – accusing Paris’s allies of being “cowards” by not committing to defend Ukraine, and “not ruling out” the deployment of Western troops in the conflict-torn nation.
💬 “European officials are concerned that a Trump presidency will disrupt NATO, which is the main reason why we see discussions about the possibility of putting NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine, and the prism of further escalation,” Adriel Kasonta, a London-based foreign affairs analyst and journalist, explained to Sputnik. “Europe is concerned that if the US abandons it...Therefore, European leaders are making empty threats directed towards Moscow.”
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French officials have rushed to explain away a string of postponements of President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to visit Ukraine, promising the leader will come sometime “in the next few weeks” after delaying the trip three times now over the past month.
Macron has made headlines with a series of bellicose remarks against Russia – accusing Paris’s allies of being “cowards” by not committing to defend Ukraine, and “not ruling out” the deployment of Western troops in the conflict-torn nation.
“On the one hand, this is an attempt to demonstrate to Trump and his supporters that Europe, under French-self-proclaimed leadership, is ‘stepping up’ and being a reliable partner. On the other hand, Europe has put itself in a position where it feels compelled to escalate further to save face. If they do not, it would mean that everything they have said and the economic turmoil they have created” by cutting off economic ties with Russia was entirely unnecessary, Kasonta said.
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Sputnik International
US Intelligence Community' key statements on Russia and Ukraine: ▪️ Russia will retain significant influence in the energy sphere: "In the first half of 2023, Russia was still the second-largest supplier of liquefied natural gas to Europe and announced reduction…
Main points from CIA Chief William Burns' speech at a hearing of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence:
▪️ New US aid will enable Ukraine to launch an "offensive" at the end of 2024;
▪️ US refusal to deliver additional military aid could result into significant territorial losses for Ukraine this year;
▪️ New US aid package to Ukraine, if approved by Congress, will provide Ukraine with the ability to launch "strikes on Crimea"
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▪️ New US aid will enable Ukraine to launch an "offensive" at the end of 2024;
▪️ US refusal to deliver additional military aid could result into significant territorial losses for Ukraine this year;
▪️ New US aid package to Ukraine, if approved by Congress, will provide Ukraine with the ability to launch "strikes on Crimea"
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For the first time since 1967, the Israeli army installed barbed wire on the fences around the Lions' Gate, one of the main gates leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
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Scott Ritter: US Pentagon’s fantasy in Ukraine is falling apart
The Kiev regime is “waking up to the reality that their so-called friends and allies are abandoning them and leaving Ukraine to its own fate” Ritter explained earlier while discussing French President Emmanuel Macron’s speaking about the potential of French troops being deployed in Ukraine, a hypothetical that Ritter says is only being discussed because of the position Ukraine is in.
But Europe has started “realizing that, frankly speaking, they are nothing without American money. This is a hard pill to swallow and meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Ukrainian army is in absolutely desperate straits,” Ritter concluded.
Read more in the full article
“The Pentagon is definitely trying to create political cover for itself because their huge Ukrainian fantasy is falling apart,” former UN weapons inspector and commentator Scott Ritter asserted while discussing reported growing tensions between Kiev and Washington regarding military strategy with Radio Sputnik.
The Kiev regime is “waking up to the reality that their so-called friends and allies are abandoning them and leaving Ukraine to its own fate” Ritter explained earlier while discussing French President Emmanuel Macron’s speaking about the potential of French troops being deployed in Ukraine, a hypothetical that Ritter says is only being discussed because of the position Ukraine is in.
“To understand why Macron would be even talking about this, you have to understand how dire the situation is for Ukraine right now. They are facing military collapse, right now as we speak the last reserves of Ukraine are being thrown into the battle outside the village of Orlovka,” Ritter explained. “This is to buy time for a miracle to happen and the Ukrainians are hoping the miracle will be the arrival of a French battlegroup.”
But Europe has started “realizing that, frankly speaking, they are nothing without American money. This is a hard pill to swallow and meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Ukrainian army is in absolutely desperate straits,” Ritter concluded.
Read more in the full article
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German Air Force inspector Ingo Gerhartz, like another colleague involved in discussing plans to strike the Crimean bridge, used the wrong connection, but there was no leaked conversation on his part, NTV reported
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A remarkable prediction by Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky about the future of Ukraine was made during a Ukrainian TV show on March 17th, 2006.
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Russian troops take captured equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Avdeyevka. Some will be used for spare parts, and something else will take part in the liberation of Russian lands.
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The new security architecture in the world should be without military blocs like NATO or the Warsaw Pact, Florian Philippot, leader of France's Patriots party and candidate for the European Parliament elections, told Sputnik
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