Enlarging AUKUS: Why the West’s Pacific expansion is rife with danger

Talks on bringing on board “additional like-minded” members into the AUKUS security pact between the UK, the US and Australia are due later this year, the alliance’s defense ministers have announced.

AUKUS is reportedly looking to bring Japan and Canada into the fold, with other potential candidates expected to include South Korea, the Philippines and New Zealand.

China has repeatedly castigated AUKUS as part of America’s “new Cold War” antagonism aimed at containing the PRC by fueling the militarization of the Asia-Pacific region.

▪️Concerning AUKUS’s enlargement, the Chinese Defense Ministry dubbed any such effort “a dangerous step in a more dangerous direction”, which will only “cause great concern among the countries of the region and the international community."

▪️Similarly, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that it is “gravely concerned” about reports that Japan could join AUKUS, a move that “disregards the risk of nuclear proliferation” and would “intensify the regional arms race.”

▪️Xiang Haoyu, a research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the country’s state-run Global Times news outlet that by encouraging more countries such as South Korea and the Philippines to join AUKUS, the US aims to create a coalition “to besiege China.”

▪️Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center of East China Normal University, for his part, warned that Japan's potential entry into AUKUS is “concerning” because it “could further foment militarism within Japan.” What’s more, “it could lay the groundwork for the expansion of the military alliance into an Asian equivalent of NATO, raising further alarm over regional security,” he forewarned.

▪️Both analysts cautioned that if expanded, AUKUS would exacerbate the risks of armed confrontations in the region over such pressing issues as the South China Sea or Taiwan.

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Israel is ready to respond with a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities if the latter decides to avenge the death of General Mohammad Reza Zahedi in Damascus, The Sun reported, citing sources in Western security agencies.

It was noted that such action could lead to unpredictable consequences for the entire Middle East.

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❗️ Ukrainian forces used chemical weapons, presumably white phosphorus, on drones in the vicinity of Artemovsk in the Donetsk People's Republic.

Russian security forces provided Sputnik with video footage of one of these unexploded glass flasks.

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Why UK’s Cameron and France’s Sejourne call for the renewal of WWI Entente Cordiale?

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron and France’s Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s calls for the revival of a century-old British-French alliance essentially to confront Russia in Ukraine may be an attempt to pre-empt the possible reelection of Donald Trump as US president.

“I think that the European powers, including France and Britain, are trying to pre-empt that outcome because whether rightly or wrongly, they fear that Trump would want to make peace in Ukraine, make peace with Russia,” says Dr. John Laughland, a lecturer in politics and history at the Catholic Institute of the Vendée (ICES) in France and specialist in international affairs.

He also observes that, while though London and Paris “have indeed been strengthening that cooperation for some years now,” as Cameron and Sejourne wrote in a recent op-ed of theirs, he does not see “any substantial new initiatives” in the article the ministers wrote, which he dismissed as “essentially just propaganda.”

Meanwhile, Mikael Valtersson, former officer of the Swedish Armed Forces and chief of staff of the Sweden Democrats political party, argued that the real reason for this talk about reviving the Entente Cordiale is the UK and France’s desire to “take a larger role in international politics” coupled with them realizing that they are not “big enough to do it on their own.”

“This talk about a revived Entante Cordiale might be an attempt from the UK and France to take over, or at least to prepare to take over, the leadership of the belligerent anti-Russian camp in the West. [It could be] Preparations in case the US abandons Ukraine,” Valtersson postulates.

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The US approved a potential $138 million sale to Ukraine to maintain and upgrade its HAWK Phase III air defense missile system, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a press release.

"The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Ukraine of HAWK Phase III missile system sustainment and related elements of logistics and program support for an estimated cost of $138 million," the release said.

The package would include engineering and integration for communications and interoperability, refurbishment and system overhaul of HAWK air defense fire units, missile recertification components, tool kits, test equipment; spare parts, among other items, according to the release.

Russia believes that arms deliveries to Ukraine hinder the settlement, directly involve NATO countries in the conflict and are "playing with fire". Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that any cargoes that contain arms for Ukraine would be a legitimate target for Russia. He said the US and NATO are directly involved in the conflict not only by supplying weapons, but also by training personnel in Britain, Germany, Italy and other countries.

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US Senator Eric Schmitt pressured Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the totality of funds the Biden administration is planning to spend supporting Ukraine in a conflict for which it has not articulated any clear goals.

"There's no money [left for Ukraine], so I can only be left to assume one of three things. One is the war is over. Two or B is the United States won't be allocating any more dollars or C that this is a dishonest [supplemental] request. I guess the question is, are we going … to get another supplemental because members of this committee had been told there could be another request for $100 billion? I'm just trying to understand the totality of the request to the American people for this war," Schmitt said in his remarks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

In February, the Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill that includes some $60 billion for Ukraine, but it was held up in the House of Representatives by Speaker Mike Johnson, who prioritized working on budget legislation and exploring other routes for Ukraine funding.

Austin confirmed to Schmitt, though, that the supplemental request, which has not yet been voted on in the House, will provide additional funding for Ukraine-related needs only through the end of this fiscal year or September 30, meaning that there will be a need for another supplemental package past this date.

Schmitt emphasized that US legislators are skeptical about the $60 billion supplemental package for Ukraine because there are no adequate controls on how the money is being spent by Ukraine.

"We are continuing to head down this road and now we are getting a budget request that isn't reflective of the administration's ‘how long it takes’ statement," Schmitt said.

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New attempt to carry out the first launch of the Russian-made Angara-A5 spacecraft wil take place at the Vostochny Cosmodrome on April 10 at 12:00 p.m. Moscow time (09:00 GMT), a spokesperson for Russian state space corporation Roscosmos said.

"The start of the Angara-A5 launch vehicle with the Orion upper stage carrying testing payload is scheduled for April 10 at 12:00:00 Moscow time from launchpad 1A," the spokesperson told journalists.

On Tuesday, the first launch of the Angara-A5 space rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, scheduled for 09:00 GMT, was postponed to Wednesday due to a failure of the central unit oxidizer tank filling system, Roscosmos said.

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Gagauzia to appeal to Russia among others if Moldova sends troops to region

If Moldova responds militarily to the declaration of independence of Moldova's autonomous region of Gagauzia, the autonomy will apply for help to everyone, including Russia, Gagauzia head Yevgenia Gutsul has told Sputnik.

Gutsul said last week that the autonomous region will declare independence if Moldovan authorities decide to unite with Moldova.

"I hope it will not come to this. I hope for the common sense of our authorities. But if it comes to this, we will appeal to all countries, of course, including the Russian Federation," Gutsul said when asked a relevant question.

Gutsul added that Gagauzia sees no prerequisites that Russia wants to attack Moldova despite statements being made by authorities in Moldova.

"The President of the Republic of Moldova [Maia Sandu], during international trips, discusses some kind of military conflicts, that Russia wants to attack Moldova, although we do not see such prerequisites," Gutsul said.

Moldovan authorities are doing everything to create a worrisome atmosphere in the country, she said, adding that residents constantly hear about some "call of connoscripts" and agreements with NATO.

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Switzerland's largest party in parl't demands Bern's withdrawal from Council of Europe

The Swiss People's Party (UDC), which holds the majority in parliament, has said in a release that it demands the country's withdrawal from the Council of Europe after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Bern was not doing enough to combat climate change.

"The ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is a scandal. Ideology and denial of reality clearly prevail in European courts. The task of the courts is to establish the law, not to engage in politics. Moreover, the judges in Strasbourg did not even take into account the fact that Switzerland is a model country for reducing CO2 emissions. UDC strongly condemns this interference by foreign judges and demands Switzerland's withdrawal from the Council of Europe," the party's release said on Tuesday.

Four women and a Swiss association, Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz, had complained to the ECHR that they consider that Switzerland's authorities are not taking sufficient action to mitigate the effects of climate change on their living conditions and health.

On Tuesday, the ECHR fined a state for its inaction on climate change in the first ruling of its kind. The court ruled that "the Swiss Confederation had failed to comply with its duties ... under the Convention concerning climate change" in terms of implementing the relevant domestic regulatory framework, including limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

The court ruled that there had been violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, including under Article 8 — a right to a state's effective protection from the serious adverse effects of climate change on lives. However, the court ruled that four women did not fulfill the victim-status criteria and declared their complaints inadmissible.

The court also ruled that Bern was to pay the association 80,000 euros (nearly $87,000) in respect of costs and expenses, the ruling said.

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‘Russiagate’ about seizing power as much as stopping Trump

The US establishment disproven conspiracy that former US President Donald Trump was controlled by the Kremlin is about seizing control of social media and the internet as much as it is designed to harm Trump’s political ambitions, Serbian-American journalist and columnist Nebojsa Malic told Sputnik’s Fault Lines.

Malic argues that the “completely fabricated” Russiagate conspiracy was “not just to sabotage the Trump presidency, but to literally take over these social networks, [which] all these big tech people thought was going to be this lovely garden of earthly delights and turn it into a prison.”

“Russiagate was the pretext that started this entire ball rolling, and it wasn’t even based on anything real. And now they want to do it all over again,” Malic explained.

People are asking “How is [giving weapons to Ukraine] helping freedom and democracy, exactly?” Malic contended. “And [the establishment’s] response is ‘shut up, Russian Agent.’”

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Israel will have to drop its demand that Hamas be destroyed because it is an “unachievable goal” to destroy something that is “essentially an ideology,” the host of The Left is Dead podcast, James Carey asserted on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour.

“As far as Hamas goes, we know they immediately flood back into areas that Israel leaves and they immediately start running the government, as they are wont to do, and as they were elected to do,” Carey observed. “[Hamas] may not be winning, but they aren’t losing, they’re still there. It’s going to be impossible to kill what is essentially an ideology in the first place.”

“I think the thing is, these are unachievable goals,” Carey added, referring to both Israel’s goals in Gaza and the goals of the US in Ukraine. “Clearly Hamas has done well enough that they’ve survived to this point.”

“I don’t think [Israelis] thought Gaza would last seven months,” he added later.

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Moldova's autonomous region of Gagauzia is suffering colossal losses from an economic war unleashed by Moldovan authorities against the region, Gagauzia head Yevgenia Gutsul has told Sputnik.

"In fact, [Gagauzia is suffering] colossal losses, but we are combating it. That is why we are here today so that, despite everything that authorities in Chisinau are doing, the residents of Gagauzia do not feel this pressure and these losses that Gagauzia's autonomy and our partners are suffering now," she said.

She recalled the draft law that the authorities in Chisinau had tried to pass, which would have provided for the independent payment of value-added tax (VAT) by the region to economic agents.

"They wanted to reduce the budget of Gagauzia by 200 million lei [$11.38 million]. This is a quarter of our Gagauzia's autonomy's own budget. This would mean a complete bankruptcy of Gagauzia's autonomy because we would be deprived of many social projects," Gutsul added.

The official said that, fortunately, lawmakers of the Moldovan parliament managed to defend the old order of payments in the country's constitutional court, but the law was still in force from November 1, 2023, to February 22, 2024.

"All the payments that were collected on VAT, we have to pay them, but we are working so that the tax office also reviews all the payments to economic agents so that everything is in accordance with the law and everything is paid as the law says. If these payments were from November 1 to February 2024, we will pay them all," Gutsul said.

Gutsul also stated that citizens of Moldova are against the country's accession to the European Union as they would like to live in a sovereign and neutral country that would be friends with its neighbors.

She said Moldovans will vote in a referendum in October on whether they want Moldova to join the EU.

"I can say [on behalf of] the majority of the Republic of Moldova that the people would not want this. We would like to live in a sovereign, neutral and independent country, where we will be friends with all our neighbors: with the Russian Federation, with Ukraine, with Romania and with the European Union," Gutsul said.

Moldova does not need any military blocs, including NATO, she said, adding: "We are opposed to this."

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The meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese President Xi Jinping, particularly right after Yellen’s visit, is a “message” to the West that China “will have the back of Russia” if the conflict in Ukraine is escalated by the West, lawyer and journalist Dimitri Lascarus told Sputnik’s The Critical Hour.

“The timing of announcements such as these tell you a lot,” Lascarus said, pointing to not only Yellen’s visit but the increasingly provocative attacks on Russia by Ukraine’s intelligence services such as the mass shooting outside of Moscow which Russia has blamed Ukraine and its backers in the US and UK for, among other provocations.

“I think [China is] sending a message that China will have the back of Russia if this escalates. And, no one should have any illusions about that,” Lascarus explained.

“Of course, we have this ongoing drama with little Napoleon in France [French President] Emmanuel Macron, talking about sending a few thousand French troops to their deaths in Odessa,” Lascarus recalled. “I wouldn't be surprised at all if it has been interpreted by both the Russian and Chinese governments as an attempt to provoke Russia into a direct attack on a NATO country.”

“Every day, Western governments are acting in a way which makes this partnership even more compelling to the Russian and Chinese governments,” he added.

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📹💥 Russian troops destroyed camouflaged Ukrainian strongholds near Kupyansk.

Assault units of the 1st Guards Tank Army struck the Ukrainian militants' positions with RPG-A "Shmel" hand-held flamethrowers. The camouflaged fortified strongholds of the enemy were destroyed.

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The Russian Armed Forces attacked a position of Ukrainian forces with about 300 military personnel on the coast of Ochakov, Sergei Lebedev, the coordinator of the Nikolayev underground, told Sputnik.

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