Ex-CIA intelligence officer: ‘Russia’s a land of opportunities for people willing to work’

Russia is not creating a threat to Europe or to the United States or anyone, former CIA intelligence officer Larry Johnson believes.

💬 “I see why there are so many Westerners that want to move to Russia, because it is really, it's a land of opportunity now, in a way that America once was during the 19th century and into the early 20th century, but it's been closed off. It's become sort of a rigid society that caters to elites, whereas Russia, in a very sort of contradictory manner, is catering to creating new opportunities for people who are just willing to work,” he said in an interview with Sputnik.

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West losing war on four fronts after picking a fight with Russia

💬 “The growth in the Russian economy (outpacing Western economies) is spectacular and it shows that the 15,000 sanctions applied by the West have blown back on them,” British academic and author Rodney Atkinson told Sputnik, commenting on his takeaways from President Putin’s speech at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

“The West is losing four wars in one - economically (in trade and debt), financially (de-dollarization and international payment systems), militarily (in Ukraine in battle and in a comparison of weapons systems) and geopolitically with a massive loss of influence around the world,” Atkinson explained.

💬 “Even before the 20-year expansion towards Russia and the 2014 Maidan-instigated war, European imperial ambitions and US neocon aggression were unpopular. Now that the Global South has witnessed recent events and the BRICS offer an alternative and the US has descended into record debt and industrial weakness it is very difficult for the West to recover its influence. Plagued by geopolitical ignorance, financially irresponsible policies and weak leadership, the US and its allies may not even survive as one of the poles of the multi-polar world,” the observer predicted.

Atkinson stressed the madness of the West’s logic of slapping sanctions against a country as large as Russia with its abundance of food, mineral and energy resources. What’s worse (for the West, that is) is that Moscow has been trailblazing a path to independence which can be emulated by other nations.

“Import substitution by Russia and the unwillingness of Western companies to leave Russia (1,600 international companies have left Russia since 2022 but there are more than 2,100 left) and the substitution of national currencies for dollar-based trade (i.e. rupee, yuan, ruble) all show the Global South that there are alternatives to a Western-based system based on sanctions,” Atkinson said.

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📹 Full speech of the Russian President Vladimir Putin at the SPIEF's plenary session

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‘The US wants to rape Russia, take all of its natural resources’ – Larry Johnson

The US is ‘completely divorced from reality’ by thinking that it has managed to isolate Russia, ex-CIA intelligence officer Larry Johnson told Sputnik.

“The United States is not wanting to isolate Russia. The United States wants to destroy Russia and I think it is critical, essential, that the Russian people understand that. It is not the American people that want to destroy Russia. But the American government, that is certainly its intent, to force the breakup of the Russian government, to bring it down. Because I described it as the West wants to rape Russia, take all of its natural resources, use it exclusively for the United States. The problem we have is that the United States over the last 25 years has suffered from what I call narcissistic personality disorder. They are reliving, reinventing the Greek mythology of narcissists. They see themselves as the most important, the strongest, the wealthiest, and that everybody else is of secondary or tertiary concern,” Johnson said.

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❗️"The United States is making changes to its nuclear weapons strategy with a focus on competition," the White House stated.

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Russia’s turn eastward offers BRICS big opportunities as West loses goose that laid the golden eggs

Russia’s economy “is moving east, and that provides big opportunities for China,” John Gong, a professor of economics at Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics, told Sputnik, commenting on the substance of President Putin’s speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

💬 “I could imagine, for example, that infrastructure investment in Russia offers tons of opportunities for Chinese companies, Chinese companies may be participating, Chinese companies may be providing vital equipment, materials, products that could be used in this infrastructure buildout. So I think, cooperation between the two sides has a lot of potential…This is a long-term strategy. It's not going to be just transitional, it's going to stay there for many decades to come,” Dr. Gong explained.

Russia’s pivot away from the West and toward Asia, Latin America and Africa means the creation of new infrastructure as “an important theme of economic development,” according to the professor, with the Northern Sea Route in particular a key pillar of Moscow’s strategy.

“From China's perspective this represents a viable, now technologically viable, and I would say economical transportation route to Europe and other parts of the world. We all understand the turmoil in the Middle East is causing for a large trading nations like China. The unsafe routes in the Red Sea are cutting to China's shipping volume and also jacking up shipping costs. And I think this Northern Arctic shipping route provides a viable and also economic means, for much of the year,” Gong said.

Russia’s moves, including the reorientation of trade away from the dollar and toward the yuan, the rupee and other currencies, are in some sense “something of Washington’s creation,” according to the observer, with the US’s short-sighted sanctions and secondary sanctions policies not only shifting trade to new currencies, but giving rise to alternative payment and trade settlement systems.

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🇺🇳 The UN Secretary-General will not attend the summit on Ukraine in Switzerland, his office announced.

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‘It’s tragic that the US policy wanted to treat Russia as an enemy’ - Ex-CIA intelligence officer

Russia is not a jarring different cultural environment; in spite of it being cold in terms of climate, it's warm in terms of the friendship of the people, Larry Johnson, the former CIA-intelligence officer said in an interview with Sputnik.

“…it's tragic right now that the U.S. policy was wanting to treat Russia as an enemy, when on several fronts Russia should be one of the best friends of America, as historically it was. It was partly because of Russia standing against the British and the French during the Civil War that America was able to preserve its union. So we've had longstanding friendly relationships. I hope we can go back to the future and recapture that,” Johnson concluded.

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Jackson Hinkle: SPIEF squashes West’s laughable effort to ‘isolate’ Russia on the world stage

💬 “This is, first of all the most crowded forum I’ve ever been at, in the best way possible. There’s hundreds of countries present. There are over 22,000 attending this forum over the course these several days, and when you walk around you see people from all over the world,” US independent political commentator Jackson Hinkle told Sputnik’s Dimitri Simes on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday.

“Overall when you look at the crowd here, it makes me laugh, because we’ve heard for two and a half years now that the Biden administration has claimed that Russia is being isolated on the global stage. And when I look at what’s going on here it’s not only people from Africa, from Latin America, even a lot of European countries, Asia. Yesterday on the panel, we had an advisor to Xi Jinping – Zhang Wei-Wei, a professor in China. Everyone is here, everyone is striking huge business deals and economic deals, and also we have a bunch of philosophers and great thinkers and journalists here who are sharing information with one another,” Hinkle said.

💬 “To simply put it – Russia if you look out here you can tell it’s definitely not isolated on any global stage,” Hinkle, who knows a thing or two personally about efforts by the deep state to silence and isolate its critics, emphasized.

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Caribbean Flotilla: What to know about Russian naval detachment’s Cuba visit

A detachment of warships from the Russian Northern Fleet will be visiting Cuba June 12-17.

The ships in the flotilla include:

◾️ The Admiral Gorshkov – lead ship of the Admiral Gorshkov class of frigates, armed with Kalibr, Oniks, and Zircon anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles, Redut air defenses, and 330 mm torpedo tubes. The Gorshkov has a rep for long-distance travel, drilling with the South African, Chinese and Iranian navies in 2023.

◾️ The Kazan – a Yasen-class nuclear-powered cruise missile sub known for its whisper-quiet engines and ability to carry Zircon, Oniks or Kalibr missiles, torpedoes, and Igla-M SAMs.

◾️ The Academic Pashin – a replenishment oiler accompanying warships on long-distance trips.

◾️ The Nikolai Chiker – a seagoing rescue tug.

Cuba’s Defense Ministry said the flotilla's visit in Havana reflects strong ties between the two countries, that none of the Russian ships is carrying nuclear weapons, and that the stop-over is not a threat to anyone. Russian crews will meet the Cuban Navy commander and Havana’s governor, and tour historical and cultural sites.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the objective of the trip is to show the flag “and ensure a naval presence in operationally important area of the far ocean zone.”

The reaction of US officials has been predictably sour, with WH spokesman John Kirby stressing Washington would “watch” the visit “closely, like we do with all Russian naval exercises in the Caribbean.” That said, the US is “not anticipating any significant national security threat” from the trip, Kirby indicated.

Florida GOP Senator Marco Rubio demanded that the administration do more. “We haven’t had a Russian submarine carrying nuclear capable missiles operating in the Caribbean in over 30 years. So if the regime in Cuba decides to allow one to make a port call just 90 miles from our shores, the Biden administration must impose real consequences on them,” he urged.

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Macron announced that France is beginning the training of Ukrainian pilots as of today.

Earlier, it was reported that Paris intends to train and arm a Ukrainian brigade consisting of 4,500 people.

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Jackson Hinkle’s message to Americans: Visit Russia to experience its true culture and beauty

Americans should visit Russia to experience its authentic culture and beauty rather than rely on preconceived notions or media portrayals, independent US political commentator Jackson Hinkle told Sputnik’s Dimitri Simes on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

“I tell people all the time... why don't you go to Russia? It's literally the most beautiful place I've ever seen,” he said.

Hinkle praised Moscow and Saint Petersburg for their unparalleled charm, emphasizing that Russia offers a high quality of life, friendly people, and affordable travel options, making it a worthwhile destination for any traveler.

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'Right to have a different opinion has ceased to exist in EU' - Slovak PM gives speech after assassination attempt

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico made his first public remarks since May 15, when he was shot multiple times.

💬 "I fundamentally disagree with the single-correct-opinion policy that some major Western democracies are aggressively promoting today,” Fico said. “An autonomous, independent Slovak foreign policy, based on EU and NATO membership but orientated towards all four corners of the world, is definitely out of fashion."

"It's cruel to state this, but the right to have a different opinion has ceased to exist in the European Union."

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