Volodymyr Zelensky and his clique should be sent to the dustbin of history in order to stop the pointless killing of innocent Ukrainians, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzia said.

"Ordinary Ukrainians are being thrown into this pointless meat grinder, contrary to their will, contrary to the interests of their country," Nebenzia said during a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.

“It is possible to stop this merely by sending away Zelensky and his clique and all of the Maidan authorities, putting them where they deserve to be - namely in the dustbin of history. This is exactly what we are doing now,” Nebenzia emphasized.

Western countries have been providing massive military and financial aid to the Kiev regime since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries, saying it would lead to a further escalation of the conflict. In April 2022, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all NATO member states on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. Acting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an interview to the Xinhua news agency ahead of his visit to China.

The president noted that Russia positively assesses China's approaches to the settlement of the Ukraine crisis and that Beijing understands its root causes. The steps proposed by Beijing to resolve the crisis could form the basis of a political and diplomatic process, Putin said.

Putin claimed that Russia aims to become one of the four largest economies in the world.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Relations between China and the Russian Federation are stronger than ever and continuing to strengthen, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

“Today, Russia-China relations have reached the highest level ever, and despite the difficult global situation continue to become stronger,” Putin said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency ahead of a state visit to China.

Putin said the unprecedented level of strategic partnership between Russia and China contributed to his decision to choose China for his first state visit after his most recent inauguration as President of the Russian Federation.

Russia is open to working with partners all over the world, among which China is a reliable friend, Putin stressed. He also noted that more than 730,000 Russians visited China last year.

Transport and logistics corridors between Russia and China are steadily developing, Putin stressed.

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Putin's comments on Ukraine and the West during his interview with Xinhua:

🔹 The West turns a blind eye on Ukraine carrying out terrorist acts on Russian territory

🔹 Russia and its partners are not satisfied with the state of affairs in the world when the West prevents other nations from choosing who to cooperate with

🔹 Ukraine and its Western patrons are not ready for equal, honest and open dialogue

🔹 Western elites are trying to “punish” Russia, isolate it, and weaken it, seeking to illegally appropriate its assets

🔹 Western elites, led by the US, refuse to respect civilizational and cultural diversity

🔹 Russia and China's performance against the backdrop of economic turmoil in the West confirms that their chosen sovereign course is the right one

🔹 Western countries are resorting to neocolonial methods to ensure their own wellbeing at the expense of other countries

🔹 The main problem with negotiations on Ukraine is the unreliability of guarantees, as the West prefers a world order not based on international law

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russia-China trade and economic relations are developing rapidly and are showing immunity to external challenges, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"Trade and economic relations between our countries are developing at a fast pace, showing strong immunity to external challenges and crises. Over the past five years, we have doubled the Russia-China turnover: it reached US$227.8 billion last year, against US$111 billion in 2019," Putin said in an interview with China's Xinhua news agency.

Putin said more than 90% of settlements between Russian and Chinese companies are made in the countries' national currencies.

"So it would be more accurate to say that bilateral trade currently totals about 20 trillion rubles [about $219 billion], or nearly 1.6 trillion yuan. China has remained our key business partner for 13 years, and in 2023, Russia ranked 4th among the PRC's major trading partners," he said.

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The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS have become key pillars in the emerging multipolar world order, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS have well established themselves as key pillars of the emerging multipolar world order," Putin said. "They have come to be reputable and dynamic international platforms whose participants build constructive political, security, economic and humanitarian interaction."

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Russia has never refused to negotiate on Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

“However, instead of signing a peace agreement, the Ukrainian side unexpectedly announced the termination of negotiations. As Ukrainian officials later said, this was because their Western allies urged them to continue fighting and work together to strategically defeat Russia. We have never refused to negotiate,” the Russian leader insisted.

Putin said that Russia is open to a dialogue on Ukraine, but the negotiations should take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict.

“We want a comprehensive, sustainable and fair settlement of this conflict by peaceful means. And we are open to a dialogue on Ukraine, but it should be a negotiation that takes into account the interests of all countries involved in this conflict, including our interests,” the president said.

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A massive air attack on Sevastopol was repelled by Russian forces, Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said. Russian air defenses reportedly shot down several Ukrainian missiles over the water near the city and outside the nearby Belbek airfield.

Rescuers extinguished a fire caused by fallen debris near the village of Polyushko. No damage to civilian infrastructure has been recorded, according to preliminary data. Information about the injured is being clarified, the governor added.

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Immediately after Ukrainian forces retreated from their positions, Ukrainian artillery has launched attacks on civilians in the settlements they left behind in the Kharkov region, a storm trooper of the Russian Sever Battlegroup with the call sign “Vin” told Sputnik.

“There are no military facilities [in the village of Pylnaya in the Kharkov region], the enemy is trying to find us by shelling, launching strikes and aiming for roads, houses and streets, shelling the entire settlement. [They] launch cluster munitions [and] Grads [multiple rocket launchers] fire," the Russian fighter added.

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🤡 US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel considers statements by Israeli officials calling for the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people to be "problematic."

“It’s rhetoric, it’s a distraction. And sometimes the language and the verbiage and the word choice that is used is incredibly problematic,” the official demurred.

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Putin visits Beijing as Biden ‘bogged down’ in efforts to undermine Russia, China

Newly-reelected Russian leader Vladimir Putin is set to visit Beijing this week, the first diplomatic trip of his new term as president. The partnership reflects a growing global trend, according to reporter Anna Ge, as US attempts to confront its adversaries militarily and economically have been undermined by the realities of a newly-multipolar world.

“Washington has been trying to sell the false narrative that China is assisting Moscow… to force a connection between China and Russia, with the aim to tarnish, isolate and suppress both countries,” said the journalist on Sputnik’s Fault Lines program. “The reality is China has constantly sought peaceful negotiations acceptable to both sides in the Ukraine crisis.”

While the Biden administration has sought to discourage cooperation with Moscow and Beijing, Ge noted countries that have ignored the advice have reaped economic rewards.

“China has been advocating the concept of win-win cooperation,” she said. “Notable projects such as the Hungary-Serbia Railway and the Smederevo steel mill in Serbia have been launched through partnerships with China… In 2023… China's direct investment in Hungary reached €7.6 billion, accounting for nearly 60% of the total foreign direct investment in the country and creating more than 10,000 jobs in Hungary.”

Hungary and Serbia are among the European nations with the closest relationships with China, but Ge noted that Western allies like France and Germany are seeking to pursue cooperation in various fields, as well. Meanwhile Western European countries have been unable to cut economic ties with Moscow completely, reportedly purchasing over €1 billion worth of Russian oil through third countries such as India.

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Drunken Ukrainian troops killed and maimed each other in the village of Semyonovka, local resident Sergei told Sputnik.

According to his account, Ukrainian soldiers were driving military equipment in a clearly inebriated state. The drunken men operated transport vehicles without lights and careened off a bridge while charging tanks towards each other, the villager explained.

Sergei estimates that about 200 Ukrainian soldiers stationed in the village have died over the last year.

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Russian air defenses destroyed several air targets approaching Belgorod, but two civilians have been injured, Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Seven households, two cars and power supply lines have been damaged in the village of Dubovoye as a result of the shelling by the Kiev regime. A household has also been damaged in the village of Golovino, the governor added.

All emergency services are working on the sites, and information on the consequences is being clarified, Gladkov said.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held an emergency meeting with the heads of intelligence and the ministry of justice after his ally, Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli, had warned of a possible coup d'état being prepared by law enforcement agencies, the Turkiye newspaper reported.

The dismissal of several police officers in Ankara's security directorate accused of links to criminal organization Ayhan Bora Kaplan has caused widespread concern. Their homes had been searched to seize digital materials. Bahceli has said the situation could be a conspiracy against the government, and the suspension of several police officers alone cannot be avoided. The official, while addressing a party meeting in parliament, has warned of a possible repeat of the 2016 coup attempt in Turkiye.

"President Erdogan held the emergency overnight meeting with Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc and National Intelligence Organization Director Ibrahim Kalin at the president's residence following a warning from Bahceli," the report said.

The Turkish president is expected to speak on the topic at an expanded meeting of the ruling party in the parliament on Wednesday.

The Turkish government has accused Members of the organization of US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen (FETO) of being responsible for a coup attempt in 2016. Over 80,000 people have been arrested in Turkiye and some 150,000 civil servants and military personnel have been dismissed or suspended from their jobs over suspected links to FETO. Gulen, who has lived in self-exile in the US since 1999, rejected the accusations and condemned the coup attempt.

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Two explosions occurred at a fuel depot in the Rostov region as a result of a Ukrainian attack by two drones. There was no fuel fire and no casualties, Governor Vasily Golubev said.

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