Russia’s 1999 Pristina operation 'stopped the US from pushing Europe to major conflict'

“The [Slatina] airport was important from a tactical point of view. We showed that Russia cannot be thrown out of the global political process, and that the country is independent and not subordinate to NATO or anyone else,” Leonid Ivashov, former head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s main department of international military cooperation, told Sputnik.

Ivashov took part in the 1999 talks on the Kosovo settlement, adding to a decision by the head of the Russian paratroopers to move to the Slatina airport.

The march had "a geopolitical scale" as "NATO moved Europe to a war. Europeans did not want to fight or prepare for the war with Russia and they also were not interested in a conflict which could arise between the US and Russia and which could affect the economic situation in Europe and [start] a new arms race. So the Americans began to push Europe towards a major conflict,” Ivashov said.

He recalled that the Russian paratroopers successfully entering the Slatina airport had become “the most important event” that “showed the nature of Russian soldiers” who performed perfectly during the operation.

“In Pristina, our soldiers were in the spotlight. A British unit tried to seize the Slatina airport, but to no avail,” Ivashov noted. He praised efforts by Russian Special Services and those of Serbia, who “worked in such a way that not a single shot was fired by Kosovo forces at the Russian paratroopers.”

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What does Gantz’s resignation means for the future of Netanyahu’s government?

Benny Gantz’s recent resignation from the “wartime government” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not necessarily herald the immediate collapse of the government, says Tel Aviv-based international affairs expert Simon Tsipis.

The current Israeli government coalition is comprised of “two religious parties and two Zionist parties,” Tsipis explains.

Gantz’s departure initially raised concerns that the “religious parties” may withdraw from the coalition, and the departure of even one party from the coalition would trigger the collapse of the government, the analyst adds.

The recent passage of a bill on draft exemption for Orthodox Jews, however, essentially ensured that the “religious parties” will not pull out of the coalition, at least for now. Now, Gantz is apparently attempting to woo Yoav Gallant, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party and a prominent member of the current Israeli cabinet who opposed the aforementioned bill.

“Gallant, is a member of Netanyahu’s party but voted against the law that Netanyahu brought forth – essentially, there is currently a schism within Likud,” Tsipis notes.
“If Gantz manages to bring Gallant to his side, to the opposition, then Gallant would leave the government,” he adds. “Then the government would collapse and new elections would be announced.”

Tsipis also suggested that Gantz’s departure from the Israeli government is unlikely to as much of an impact on the ongoing bloodbath in the Gaza Strip as the recently adopted UNSC resolution.

The United States and the UN now seek to pressure Netanyahu into ceasing the operation in Gaza and making a deal with Hamas, which would be regarded as a defeat by the Israelis, Tsipis claims.

A failure to dismantle Hamas and kill its leaders would mean the defeat of Tel Aviv, becoming an utter disaster for Netanyahu, he concludes.

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❗️LIVE: The opening ceremony of the BRICS Games in the Russian city of Kazan

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❗️Putin declared the 2024 BRICS Games in Kazan open

The sports games of the BRICS countries will become another symbol of expanding intercultural dialogue and a significant contribution to strengthening the friendship of peoples and fruitful interaction between states, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a video message to the participants in the opening ceremony of the competition.

During the video message, Putin noted that this year the games are being held in an open format for the first time.

“This means that the games will become another symbol of expanding intercultural dialogue, a significant contribution to strengthening the friendship of peoples and fruitful interaction between states in the interests of people and overall development,” Putin emphasized.

The BRICS Games will be held in the Russian city of Kazan from June 12 to 24. About 5,000 athletes will take part in the competition, who will compete for 387 sets of medals. 93 countries have confirmed their participation in the BRICS Games.

The BRICS Games are an important part of comprehensive political, economic and humanitarian interaction.

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US may attempt to turn Taiwan Strait into ‘unmanned hellscape’ for Chinese Navy

Washington has a scheme aimed at devastating the Chinese military if the latter were to move on Taiwan, (even though Beijing repeatedly denies harboring such plans), Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, has said.

Under the auspices of this so-called “Hellscape” strategy, the US would deploy an assortment of drones – including UAVs, unmanned ships and unmanned submersibles – that would fall upon the Chinese fleet as the latter moves across the strait separating Taiwan from the mainland.

“I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities,” Paparo told the WP. “So that I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything.”

According to the report, Paparo refrained from providing further details but insisted that the strategy is “real and deliverable.”

Earlier this year, the US Department of Defense said it is going to spend some $1 billion on a “Replicator” program that entails building airborne and surface drone swarms for this “Hellscape” scheme. While the plan may seem solid on paper, it remains to be seen if the US can deliver what it promises if there is a conflict, not to mention that China may be able to thwart this threat.

For example, Chinese military expert Fu Qianshao reminded that Beijing has the world’s largest drone production capacity.

“We will also use a large number of aerial robots to deal with our opponents. The Americans should think about how to deal with a larger PLA drone fleet to counter them,” Fu said as quoted by the South China Morning Post.

“It is possible for the US to deploy thousands of drones to the Taiwan Strait, but the key is its airbases will be attacked and we have a series of countermeasures, including electromagnetic interference or emerging interception methods,” the analyst added.

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▪️Putin declared the 2024 BRICS Games in Kazan open

▪️Russia’s 1999 Pristina operation 'stopped the US from pushing Europe to major conflict'

▪️What does Gantz’s resignation means for the future of Netanyahu’s government?

▪️BRICS Games kicks off in Russia’s Kazan

▪️Russian naval strike group enters port of Havana, Cuba, as part of long-range cruise

▪️US to send another batch of Patriot missiles to Ukraine

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See no evil, hear no evil: US snubs own law to continue bloodbath in Gaza

Washington's provision of military supplies to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) contradicts the US' Leahy Law which prohibits assistance to foreign military involved in human rights abuses. According to the US State Department, torture, extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance, and rape are reasons to implement the law.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry issued a new report on June 12, accusing Israeli authorities of human rights abuses, including:

▪️the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, murder or willful killing, intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, forcible transfer, sexual violence, torture and inhuman or cruel treatment, arbitrary detention and outrages upon personal dignity;

▪️the crimes against humanity of extermination, gender persecution targeting Palestinian men and boys, murder, forcible transfer, and torture and inhuman and cruel treatment;

▪️a "total siege" of Gaza amounting to collective punishment against the civilian population.

On April 29, the US State Department announced it found five units of Israel's security forces responsible for gross violations of human rights, including extrajudicial killings, torture and physical abuse against Palestinians. Nonetheless, all four Israeli units remained eligible for US assistance.

Israel is not the only US ally whose human rights violations remain overlooked by Washington: the US has recently lifted a ban on sending weapons to Ukraine's neo-Nazi Azov Battalion* claiming that there's no evidence of "gross violations" by the group. However, the UN, Human Rights Watch, ex-Ukrainian security service members, and the commissioner for human rights in the DPR have all previously raised the alarm about the group's numerous crimes.

*banned by Russia for terrorism.

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The G7 countries have agreed to allocate $50 billion to Ukraine by the end of 2024 using Russia’s frozen assets, AFP reported, citing the Elysee Palace.

According to a source, the G7 group already reached an agreement on the issue, and now experts need to make sure that it complies with the law and public financial regulations.

"G7 leaders have reached an agreement on the allocation of 50 billion dollars for Ukraine through the use of frozen Russian assets", - said in the office of the French president.

It is noted that the payout will occur "before the end of 2024".

Many analysts have noted that any measures related to the use of frozen Russian assets or derivatives thereof to provide financing for Ukraine could threaten significant reputational risks for the European financial market.

Earlier, many media outlets reported on the efforts of a number of non-European countries to persuade the European leadership to abandon plans to confiscate Russian assets.

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Footage of the Russian Northern Fleet ship group arriving off the coast of Cuba was published by the Russian Defense Ministry. In addition to the nuclear submarine Kazan, it includes the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, the sea tanker Akademik Pashin and the salvage tug Nikolai Chiker.

"Russian ships are impressive and demonstrate might at sea. They will always be welcome here, they are friends and we appreciate their visit," a spectator on Havana's Malecon promenade told a Sputnik correspondent.

The Russian sailors were welcomed by the second commander of the Cuban Navy, Flotilla Captain Jose Luis Souto, and Russian Ambassador to Cuba Victor Coronelli.

"For more than 64 years we have maintained relations - first with the USSR, now with the Russians, and this is a demonstration of the continuing solidarity between the two peoples," another spectator of the ceremony, Maria Clara Castro, told the agency's correspondent.

On their way to Cuba, the ships held training sessions on repelling air attacks and using precision weapons. In particular, they practiced hitting targets at a distance of more than 600 kilometers.

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Any hostile shift in Canada's Arctic strategy will harm its security

Russia does not see Canada as a threat in the Arctic but if the Trudeau cabinet shifts to a confrontational stance in the region, it will harm Canada's security, Russian Ambassador in Ottawa Oleg Stepanov told Sputnik.

"We don’t see Canada as a threat there [Arctic], but obviously will have to take into account both a possible change in Ottawa’s policy, as well as its coordination and joint planning with the US and within NATO in this regard," Stepanov said. "Obviously, if Trudeau’s cabinet takes a confrontational stance versus Russia in the Arctic, it will be, first of all, detrimental to Canada’s security.”

The Canadian government is readying to release a new Arctic strategy to address what it perceives to be a growing Russian threat in the region, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly told Bloomberg. The announcement came two months after National Defense released its defense policy update in which it emphasized that the most pressing task for Canada was to assert its sovereignty in its northern regions and the Arctic.

Such a change would reflect a very near-sighted policy by Canada which would artificially create an adversary out of a neighbor – Russia – that happens to be a major military power, Stepanov said. The Arctic has become a contentious area and Russia strongly advocates maintaining the status quo while it also seeks to avoid any militarization of the region, he added.

“Any attempts by NATO to extend its force projection to the Arctic will be met with an adequate military response from Russia,” Stepanov stressed.

The Ambassador further noted that bilateral contact between Russia and Canada is null, something he attributed to the Trudeau cabinet's choice of cutting all political contacts with Russia. Minimal interaction is maintained multilaterally within the working groups of the Arctic Council, he continued.

Russia has repeatedly expressed concern about the increased NATO military activities in the Arctic, saying that they raise the risk of unintended conflict in the region. Russia has also allowed for the possibility of withdrawing from the Arctic Council if this body’s activities do not meet its interests.

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Elon Musk: US should sanction Ukraine Data Journalism Agency for targeting Americans on an enemies list

US billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk said that the US should sanction the US-funded Ukrainian non-governmental organization Data Journalism Agency as a terrorist organization after it created a so-called enemies list targeting many prominent American conservatives and lawmakers who have differing views of US support for Ukraine.

"It’s a good first step," Musk said via X regarding efforts to defund the group. "[The Data Journalism Agency] They should be added to the list of sanctioned terrorist organizations."

Earlier in the day, the Republican-led US House of Representatives Appropriations Committee advanced legislation to defund the Data Journalism Agency after it created the blacklist smearing Americans who oppose providing more funding to Ukraine.

"Today, the HouseAppropsGOP passed the FY25 SFOPS [State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act] approps bill out of committee with my amendment to DEFUND the Ukrainian NGO that smeared conservative Americans and lawmakers who oppose Biden’s Ukraine policy and funding," US Congressman Andrew Clyde said in a statement via X.

In light of this so-called enemies list, Sen. JD Vance and Congressman Matt Gaetz sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding more information about the State Department-linked Ukrainian nongovernmental organization by June 28.

“If voting against every dime spent on the war in between Russia and Ukraine puts me on Ukraine’s enemy list, then it is a badge of honor," Gosar told Sputnik regarding the Ukrainian NGO targeting him.

The Data Journalism Agency put out its blacklist last week, smearing a range of American figures like former President Donald Trump, Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Tim Scott, Gov. Ron DeSantis, Congressman Paul Gosar, among others.

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Argentina's Senate approved President Javier Milei's reforms amid protests

Parliamentarians voted in a tie - 36 in favor and 36 against each. In such a situation, the speaker's vote becomes decisive and the head of the Senate Victoria Villarruel supported the reforms.

Javier Milei signed a decree of more than 300 reforms to deregulate the economy last December.

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