Blinken’s pre-election circus fails to impress China

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in China for “tough talks.” The State Department has stated that Blinken’s agenda will focus on complaining about his host’s trade practices and relations with Russia.

America’s top diplomat is also expected to threaten to take “the steps necessary” against firms contravening US’ interests, alluding to potential sanctions against Chinese banks.

This posturing has already sparked a sharp reaction from Beijing. "On one hand, the US enacts massive aid bills for Ukraine, and on the other, it makes baseless accusations against the normal economic and trade interactions between China and Russia,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin.

“We strongly oppose the hypocritical behavior of the US, which fans the flames itself, yet shifts the blame onto China.”

Blinken’s aggressive rhetoric comes as the 2024 US election cycle heats up. A Gallup poll last month found that 41% of Americans view China as the “greatest US enemy.”

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❗️EXCLUSIVE❗️

Bolivia’s President to Sputnik: there are countries willing to recognize Palestine as a state

An injustice has been done to Palestine when its attempt to become a member of the United Nations was thwarted by a US veto at the UN Security Council, Bolivian President Luis Arce told Sputnik in an exclusive interview.

Bolivia does not agree with the “genocide that is being perpetrated against the Palestinian people” and with the fact that Israeli “aggression” and airstrikes claim the lives of children and elderly, he explained.

If the United Nations does not want to recognize Palestine because of the US veto, Arce said, he offered to provide Palestine a place in the ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America) bloc, “a group of nations who think differently, who know how to respect sovereignty of countries and people’s right to self-determination.”

Even if Palestine’s presence in ALBA would be nominal, the Bolivian president reasoned that it would allow the Palestinians to feel that there are nations that recognize them as a country, with Arce adding that his state would also like to have “all kinds of economic relations” and international relations with Palestine.

According to Arce, the rationale for this move is to “send the world a signal” that there are countries willing to establish relations with Palestine and regard it as a state.

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🇧🇴 Bolivian President Luis Arce told Sputnik in an exclusive interview that Bolivia does not agree with the “genocide that is being perpetrated against the Palestinian people”.

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▪️Bolivia’s President to Sputnik: there are countries willing to recognize Palestine as a state

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The United States is negotiating with Chadian authorities on the withdrawal of troops from the country, the Pentagon said.

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Bolivia's president: Argentina cozying up to NATO is a threat to Latin America

The intent of Argentina’s current leadership to make their country a NATO partner is a threat to peace in the region, according to Bolivia’s President Luis Arce.

He dismissed claims made by Argentine’s Minister of Security Patricia Bullrich who said that Argentina ramped up security on the border with Bolivia due to the alleged presence of Iranian forces on Bolivian soil.

“We denounce the allegations made by the Argentine minister because they are unfounded, unproven and are only meant to divert attention from the crisis Argentina currently endures,” Arce told Sputnik in an exclusive interview.

The government of Argentina is out of ideas how to hide the rampant inflation in the country as their policies fail to produce any meaningful results, he remarked.
Arce also noted that his country is concerned about the attention the United States has been paying to lithium deposits in Bolivia.

“The lithium matter has always been important to us,” he said. “We have always been concerned by the fact that there are countries who think that another country’s resources are their resources."

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Poland and Lithuania may help press gang Ukrainians into Kiev regime's military

The two Eastern European countries appear poised to help Kiev round up military-age Ukrainians who fled abroad and have them press-ganged into the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, if recent statements by their respective defense ministers are any indication.

"We have suggested for a long time that we can help the Ukrainian side ensure that people subject to compulsive military service go to Ukraine," Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Wednesday.

He also suggested that the option of facilitating the transportation of Ukrainian draftees from Poland to Ukraine is on the table.

The next day, Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas lamented that “Ukraine is very short of mobilization reserve,” and that his country may follow Poland’s example in handling over the Ukrainian refugees deemed fit for military service.

This development takes place as the Ukrainian military struggles to deal with a catastrophic shortage of soldiers.

With hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians already killed and maimed on the battlefields of the conflict, the number of Ukrainians willing to fight for the regime has dwindled rapidly.

As Kiev has since essentially resorted to press-ganging people into military service, the Foreign Ministry recently announced the suspension of consular services for military-age Ukrainians abroad who try to avoid draft.

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The US and UK have scaled down their naval presence in the Red Sea despite lack of abatement in the intensity of attacks carried out by Yemen's Ansar Allah movement on Israeli-linked ships, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the Houthi leader, said.

"Our operations have not decreased, as the Americans claim, presenting this as their achievement, but rather the movement of their warships has decreased. There has been an 80% reduction in the movement of US Navy ships, not our operations," al-Houthi was quoted by Iranian broadcaster Almasirah as saying on the occasion of 200 days of hostilities in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, al-Houthi said that since the beginning of hostilities in Gaza, they have attacked 102 Israeli-affiliated ships, an equivalent of one ship every two days.

"The American and British enemies have failed to ensure the movement of Israel-bound ships despite constant and intensive monitoring. As long as the blockade and aggression against the Gaza Strip continues, operations in the southern Red Sea will continue," al-Houthi said.

His statements came a day after the movement announced attacks on a US ship and a destroyer in the Gulf of Aden and an Israeli ship MSC Veracruz in the Indian Ocean after a week-long standoff.

The Houthis have been launching attacks on commercial and military vessels in the region for months, in response to Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip. The attacks prompted the US to form a multinational coalition to protect shipping in the area, as well as to strike Houthi targets on the ground.

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The Mauthausen Committee Austria has refused to allow delegations from Russia and Belarus to participate in the commemoration of the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi-run concentration camp in Mauthausen, the Russian embassy in Austria said.

The organizers of the official events also discouraged members of Russian expat communities in Austria, who represented Russia during anniversary events at the camp in 2022-2023, from attending this year's celebration, the embassy added.

"Preserving the memory of the innocent victims of the 'brown plague' and thousands of Red Army soldiers who laid down their lives on the altar of liberating Austria from Nazism is the sacred duty of all Russian diplomats. There can be no doubt that we will worthily implement our own 'memory watch' in Mauthausen this time as well, with the help of Russian compatriot organizations and all concerned individuals, and properly mark the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the former concentration camp. No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten," the embassy said.

It further slammed the Austrian organization's decision as "political games" abusing the memory of the victims of Nazism, rejecting the move as "categorically unacceptable."

Russian diplomats described the MKO's "mock readiness" to welcome former inmates of the camp, their relatives or organizations of victims from Russia at the event as "the pinnacle of cynicism."

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The Pentagon admitted that Ukraine will be able to use recently delivered ATACMS missiles to strike Crimea, the New York Times reported citing Pentagon officials as saying.

According to the US Department of Defense, the purpose of using longer-range systems will be to “increase pressure” on the peninsula.

Western countries have been providing Ukraine with military aid since the start of Russia's special military operation in February 2022. The support evolved from lighter artillery munitions and training to heavier weapons, including tanks and jets.

Russia has repeatedly warned NATO countries that arms supplies to Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets. Moscow has accused NATO countries of "playing with fire" by arming Ukraine, emphasizing that such actions hinder the possibility of Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

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Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, also known as Houthis, attacked an Israeli ship in the Gulf of Aden and launched missiles towards Eilat, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said.

"The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces targeted an Israeli ship (MSC Darwin) in the Gulf of Aden, with a number of appropriate naval missiles and a number of drones, the operation has achieved its objectives successfully," the spokesman said in a statement.

Saree added that Houthis also launched "ballistic and winged missiles" at "several targets" in Eilat.

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The United States is expected to announce $6 billion in military contracts for Ukraine as soon as Friday, but they will not arrive in the country for several years, Politico reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The report said that the contracts would include Patriot air defense systems, artillery ammunition, drones, counter-drone weapons, and air-to-air missiles.

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Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis confirmed that allies asked Greece to send S-300 or Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, but Athens refused. Mitsotakis made the revelation during an interview with the Skai TV channel.

The interviewer asked about the accuracy of a Financial Times report claiming Greece was being asked to send S-300s or Patriots to Ukraine.

“Greece is not going to send either the S-300 or Patriot to Ukraine,” Mitsotakis said. “We have been asked and we have explained why we cannot do so."

“We have said from the beginning that we cannot provide weapons systems that are crucial to our deterrence capability,” he added.

“The air defense systems you mentioned are critical systems to protect Greek airspace and they will not be provided to Ukraine,” the prime minister insisted.

The Financial Times reported Monday that EU and NATO allies were putting strong pressure on Greece and Spain to provide Patriot and S-300 air defense systems to Ukraine because their needs were “not as great as Ukraine's.” Pressure was also applied at the recent EU summit, according to the newspaper.

Russia has repeatedly warned NATO countries that arms supplies to Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets. Moscow has accused NATO countries of "playing with fire" by arming Ukraine, emphasizing that such actions hinder the possibility of Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

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