The participants at the meeting observed a minute of silence for former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who died in the helicopter crash

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Key points of Sergey Lavrov’s speech during the BRICS foreign ministers' opening meeting

▪️Russia, as well as the countries of the world majority, is in favor of an equal world order based on balance of power and equal interaction of states;

▪️BRICS is an association where the principles of equal cooperation are actually implemented;

▪️The group is driven forward by the wind of change and its role in global processes will only increase;

▪️The transition to a new world order will take a whole historical epoch, and it will be thorny, as the US is trying to slow down the formation of multipolarity, using trade as blackmail;

▪️The West does not shy away from forceful methods, the examples of which are known to all;

▪️Recent international events have dropped the masks of those who claimed the exclusive right to dictate their values to everyone;

▪️BRICS members are working to improve the international financial system, in particular, to create a platform for international trade.

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❗️❗️❗️Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova commented to Sputnik on attempts by the West to interfere in elections in India and South Asia:

"It seems to me that at the moment, the West should not concentrate on criticizing elections in countries outside its profile organizations, but on elections in which the Western countries participate. There are a lot of issues for a blamestorming session – while countries of the global majority will perfectly well manage their own internal electoral cycles," she told Sputnik.

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🇷🇺🪖 Latest statements from the Russian Defense Ministry’s daily briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

◾️ The cumulative losses of Ukrainian troops over the day amounted to up to 1,800 people.

◾️ A Russian strike hit the command post of a Ukrainian tactical aviation brigade.

◾️ Russian air defenses shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29.

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As Mideast clout wanes, US hopes to cinch milestone defense deal with Saudis

The Biden administration is on the cusp of finalizing a formal defense pact with Saudi Arabia, officially called the Strategic Alliance Agreement, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US and Saudi officials. The two-for-one megadeal would secure a US-Saudi security alliance while also encouraging diplomatic rapprochement between Riyadh and Israel.

As the US continues to hemorrhage influence in the region, sealing the deal would be a geostrategic coup, the publication claimed. The US-Saudi deal would include cooperation on a civilian nuclear program and sale of advanced US-made weapons to the kingdom, according to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

But the defense pact contains the caveat that Saudi Arabia must normalize relations with Israel. Israel would in turn need to agree to a two-state solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict, and an immediate end to the war in Gaza. Both seem unlikely under the current Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The US-Saudi treaty would need the backing of a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate. Without a commitment from Saudi Arabia to normalize ties with Israel, the publication concluded, such a deal is unlikely to gain support from enough Senators.

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Russia has created and successfully tested the Golub (pigeon) bomber drone in the zone of a special military operation, a representative of the development company told Sputnik.

According to the company, the drone has a replaceable drum magazine with a capacity of 12 grenades.

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Why did Macron roll the dice with dissolving France’s parliament?

President Emmanuel Macron announced the dissolution of the French parliament's lower house, the National Assembly, and called snap elections on June 30 and July 7.

The move came after his Renaissance party was crushed by the right-wing National Rally (RN) party in the European Parliament elections.

◾️ Win a majority: The most obvious reason, announced by Macron himself, is to get “a clear majority” in the future elections. His Renaissance party has 169 lawmakers in the 577-seat National Assembly. Le Pen's National Rally has 88 seats. To win an outright majority, Macron’s camp would need to see its number of lawmakers increase to 289.

◾️ A preemptive strike: Macron, whose popularity has been plummeting, was aware of a looming EU election debacle for his party. Analysts say his EU vote loss to RN could trigger anything from censure motions to a collapse of the government.

◾️ Avoid rivalry with Marine Le Pen: A plan to prevent her from succeeding Macron in 2027 is another theory. Proponents think he hopes to force the center-right Republicans to strike a deal with his centrist camp. In that case, if RN wins the elections, it would struggle to form a government without a coalition partner.

◾️ Jordan Bardella as PM: Another reason is that if RN scores a majority in the elections, Le Pen’s protégé Jordan Bardella could be offered the job of prime minister.

◾️ “Cohabitation effect”: If the National Rally, or another party, wins a majority in parliament, Macron would be forced to name someone from their ranks as PM, and that person would have to choose Cabinet ministers. In the ensuing "cohabitation," the president and PM would come from different political parties.

Most analysts predict that even if the right-wing RN party secures more MPs, it would probably not get a majority. The result would be an even more divided, chaotic, and ineffective French parliament.

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🇨🇳🕊China advocates for convening a genuine peace conference, recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

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Gonna smoke you out: Russia's new 'Malva' self-propelled gun sees action

The brand-new 2S43 'Malva' self-propelled gun made by Rostec has been inaugurated into combat action in Russia’s special military op zone in the Kharkov region.

The truck-mounted artillery boasts unique features, making it more maneuverable and extremely difficult for the enemy to track down or destroy.

There’s no dodging the ‘Malva’’s scorching fire. Here’s why:

◾️ Mobility is key to the survival of cannon artillery. The 'Malva' is the first Russian self-propelled gun on a wheeled base. It utilizes BAZ-6010-02 8 X 8 wheeled chassis produced by the Bryansk Automobile Plant.

◾️ The Malva is much lighter and more mobile than the Russian army’s self-propelled howitzer of the same caliber, the 152 mm Msta-S. The combat weight of the new gun is 32 tons, allowing it to be transported by Il-76 aircraft.

◾️ The integrated 152-mm 2A64 gun is mounted on the chassis of the wheeled system, allowing it to take full advantage of its ability to quickly move into position, deploy, fire, and then relocate.

◾️ Thanks to its powerful YaMZ-8424.10, 470 horsepower diesel engine, the four-wheel drive combat vehicle is capable of accelerating up to 80 kilometers per hour, and the 'Malva' can cover 1,000 km without refueling, while tackling off-road terrain with ease.

◾️ The cabin in the front part of the chassis accommodates a crew of five in a double-row formation. The artillery mount is at the vehicle’s rear.

◾️ The range is 24 km for High Explosive (HE) and up to 28 km using rocket-assisted projectiles. Its range expands to 43 km when using the newest 2K25 Krasnopol precision-guided artillery munition.

◾️ The 2S43’s onboard equipment facilitates gun feeding and ensures automatic fire direction. The rate of fire can reach 7 shots per minute, with the combat load consisting of several dozen shells.

◾️ The gun’s mobility and precision create the illusion that a whole battery is flattening the enemy.

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Pepe Escobar: the three key messages from St Petersburg to the Global Majority

The main takeaway from SPIEF 2024 is that Russia has positioned itself as the world's 4th largest economy by purchasing power parity despite the total economic war the collective West launched against it, geo-economic and geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar told Sputnik.

“What was made perfectly clear is how Russia managed to reposition itself beyond sidestepping the – illegitimate – sanctions tsunami to establishing a solid, diversified system oriented towards global trade – and completely linked to the expansion of BRICS,” Escobar said.

Another major breakthrough at the forum was BRICS nations developing their own payment infrastructure, immune to sanctions pressure by the collective West, the analyst noted.

Last but not least, there were significant announcement on BRICS expansion. No less than 59 nations — and counting — plan to join not only BRICS but also the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU), reflecting the stark resilience on the Global South.

Finally, the St. Petersburg event showed total awareness about the "Hegemon’s desperation-fueled warmongering masked as 'defense'," and that "Project Ukraine" is doomed no matter how hysterical the collective West is.

“Putin made it quite clear: Russia will prevail, no matter what,” Escobar concluded.

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🇧🇷 Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, in exclusive comments to Sputnik Brasil, backed the participation of both sides in negotiations on the Ukrainian crisis.

"As for the issue of Ukraine, I also believe that all countries want full-fledged negotiations involving both sides to begin,” Vieira said. “Brazil is more than ready to defend, promote, or participate in all initiatives that are truly effective. And initiatives in which both sides participate and in which we can seriously and openly discuss this issue."

The minister also praised the level of Russian-Brazilian relations and called his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov a friend and an outstanding diplomat.

💬 "Our trade turnover is at a record high level, and it only grows every year. Thus, on a bilateral level, we have many interests and a very busy agenda,” Vieira said. “As for the international agenda, we also work on many issues: the United Nations, Gaza, all interesting issues, and we have always maintained a very high level of dialogue, it is very busy and very active.”

“I have known Minister Lavrov for many years,” he added.

“When I was Foreign Minister under President Dilma Rousseff, he also headed the ministry here. Since then, we have had a very good dialogue… He is a good friend and an outstanding diplomat."

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❗️The plane carrying Malawi's Vice President Saulos Chilima "disappeared from radar and cannot be tracked."

According to authorities, the aircraft, with the vice president of the African state and nine other people on board, missed its scheduled landing time, and all attempts to establish contact have been unsuccessful. Search and rescue operations have commenced.

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Meet the most insane American neocon warmonger ever

From "blow Iran off the map" to "I'm not gonna let Putin control NATO", Lindsey Graham usually goes ridiculously off the deep end when it comes to anti-Russia, anti-China and anti-Iran rhetoric.

We've collected the most inflammatory and irrational remarks by Graham for you and rolled them all into one video.

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