Russia urges UN member states and the UN Secretariat not to participate in the "provocations" of the Swiss conference on Ukraine, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzia emphasized.

"We call on UN member states and the secretariat to not partake in these provocations ... in Burgenstock," Nebenzia said at a UN Security Council meeting. "Do not let yourself be used as extras in these ham-fisted anti-Russian intrigues the West is concocting."

Proposals that could lay the groundwork for negotiations have been put forward recently by African countries, the League of Arab States, and Brazil. A "deep understanding" of the conflict has also been demonstrated by China, the diplomat added.

However, all these peace efforts have been defiantly ignored by the Kiev regime and its Western sponsors, Nebenzia stressed.

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The Biden administration does not know whether future US authorities will maintain the signed security agreement between Washington and Kiev, a senior White House official said.

Previously, The New York Times reported that Ukraine was concerned about a clause in the security agreement between Kiev and Washington under which the US might terminate the arrangement.

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🇿🇦 The National Assembly of South Africa re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the country's president, the voting results showed.

According to the SABC television channel, Ramaphosa received 283 votes, and his rival, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters party Julius Malema, received 44 votes.

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“For the United States, any agreement matters only as long as it is favorable to Washington,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on recent statements by the White House about the future of the signed security agreement between Washington and Kiev.

According to a senior White House official, there is a possibility that the agreement will be terminated by future US authorities. Zakharova emphasized that “this 'agreement' has no force whatsoever.”

The spokeswoman recalled the controversial reaction of the US to the UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

“Recently, State Department spokesman Miller extended the same principle even to decisions of the UN Security Council that are binding on the international community: ‘This is a non-binding resolution, and I will leave it to international lawyers to comment on it in detail,'" Zakharova noted, quoting Miller.

“What can one say about a piece of paper signed with a terrorist drug-addict whose legitimacy is questioned even in his own country? On the other hand, it is a good question which country Zelensky considers his own,” the spokeswoman said.

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Four bodies have been recovered from under the rubble of a destroyed entrance to a five-storey apartment building in the town of Shebekino in Russia’s Belgorod region after Ukrainian forces hit the building, Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry reported.

Rescuers continue working to remove the debris of apartments, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

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Romania denied visas to Russian delegation to OSCE PA - Russian lawmaker

Russian parliament has received a notification from the Romanian Foreign Ministry that it would not issue visas for members of the Russian delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, said Grigory Karasin, the head of the Russian upper house's foreign affairs committee.

"A session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was scheduled to take place in Bucharest at the end of June. So, we, the co-founding country of this organization, received a note from the Romanian Foreign Ministry. It states that... none of the members of the Russian delegation will be issued visas or allowed to enter the country," Karasin said on Telegram.

He slammed Romania's move, saying it was "contributing to the destruction of this once useful organization for cooperation in Europe."

Last week, lawmaker and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Leonid Slutsky said that Russia is likely to part ways with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly if it did not receive an invitation to the next session of the organization in Romania.

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The death toll after the collapse of a five-storey apartment building in the town of Shebekino in Russia’s Belgorod Region has risen to five, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

A woman hospitalized after the Ukrainian terrorist attack died at the hospital, the governor reported. Search and rescue operations at the site of the collapse of the residential building have been completed, the Emergencies Ministry said.

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The UK is limiting the development of its own economy, whose growth rate remains at an extremely low level, the Russian Embassy in London said in a statement, commenting on the new British sanctions against Russia.

“By methodically limiting the country’s development with its own sanctions measures, London has apparently finally accepted the ultra-low... growth rates of the British economy," the embassy said.

The United Kingdom on Thursday expanded the list of sanctions against Russia, adding more than 40 individuals and organizations.

The Russian embassy emphasized that the difficult economic situation in the UK is largely the result of such “futile foreign policy reckless moves by the Conservative government in its last weeks in power.”

The ultimate beneficiary of such measures in any case would be the United States, which the UK serves without receiving anything significant in return, the statement added.

“Ironically, the ultimate beneficiary of this policy, even if it had a chance of achieving results, would not be Great Britain, but the United States, with its more developed financial infrastructure and LNG export potential. The British themselves, diligently serving their senior overseas partners, since the Brexit period, have never received anything significant from them in return, including the cherished free trade agreement,” the Russian embassy said in a statement obtained by Sputnik.

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The US military is set to temporarily withdraw its humanitarian pier off Gaza's coast due to expected adverse sea conditions, The Times of Israel reported, citing an unnamed US official. This development adds to the ongoing difficulties faced by the operation, which has been troubled by poor weather since its installation in May.

The floating pier, used to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza, had just resumed operations after a suspension over the weekend.

According to the official, the pier is expected to be relocated to the Israeli port of Ashdod until the sea conditions are favorable again.

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💬 Some members of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) have already started discussing Vladimir Putin's proposals, Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin has said.

He stressed that today, the only legitimate entity on the Ukrainian side is the Verkhovna Rada and only it can participate in reaching any agreement.

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How much could the G7 lose if they seize Russian assets?

The confiscation of Russian assets by G7 countries could cost them almost $83 billion in the amount of their investments in the Russian economy, Sputnik has calculated based on data from national statistical services. The volume of direct investment of G7 members in the Russian economy by the end of 2022 (there is currently no more recent data available) amounted to $82.8 billion, calculations show.

Investment in the Russian economy per country:

◾️ United Kingdom - $18.9 billion

◾️ Germany - $17.3 billion

◾️ France - $16.6 billion

◾️ Italy - $12.9 billion

◾️ United States - $9.6 billion

◾️ Japan - $4.6 billion

◾️ Canada - $2.9 billion

Earlier this week, the G7 countries agreed to provide $50 billion in loans to Ukraine, which would be funded with revenues generated by the interest on Russia's frozen assets, but they will not confiscate the principal amount of these funds. Russia has repeatedly said that the seizure of its state assets by Western countries would not go unpunished.

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◾️ Russia urges UNSC members not to participate in the "provocations" of the Swiss conference on Ukraine

◾️ The death toll is rising after a residential building partially collapsed in Russia’s Belgorod region due to Ukrainian shelling

◾️ Rejection of Vladimir Putin’s peace offer “exposes” the true motives of NATO's proxy war in Ukraine

◾️ What’s going on in Ukraine’s Rada after Russia set out conditions for negotiations?

◾️ ”For the United States, any agreement matters only as long as it is favorable to Washington,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says

◾️ ‘Isolated’ Ukraine and allies don’t want peace with Russia – analyst

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🇷🇺🇿🇦 Vladimir Putin has congratulated Cyril Ramaphosa on his reelection as president of South Africa, the Kremlin said.

"I count on the continuation of constructive dialogue, I will be glad to welcome you at the BRICS summit in the city of Kazan on October 22-24," Putin wrote in a telegram to Ramaphosa.

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💥 A Russian T-72B3M tank crew hit a cluster of Ukrainian infantry and armored vehicles on the right bank of the Dnepr River in the Kherson region.

The enemy was fired on from a camouflaged position.

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Russia leads overall medal count after the second day of the BRICS Games

Russian athletes have won 40 gold, 24 silver, and 14 bronze medals after two days of competitions. The Belarusians are ranked second with 7, 13, and 15 gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively, while the Chinese team is in third place with 7 gold, 7, silver, and 3 bronze medals.

The BRICS Games, which kicked off in Kazan, Russia earlier this week, will run until June 24 and feature some 5,000 athletes from over 90 countries competing for 387 medals.

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Will NATO hawks’ plans for new bases in Poland, Romania, and Slovakia work?

It’s hard to imagine that any new NATO military bases could be established in Poland, Romania, and Slovakia in the near future to boost Ukraine aid, political observer Mateusz Piskorski told Sputnik.

Theoretically, the creation of new military bases takes time and requires appropriate infrastructure, the columnist for the newspaper Mysl Polska (Polish Thought) noted. Weighing in on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s concerns that the military alliance plans to establish three large military bases in the aforementioned countries, the analyst said:

“I think that this applies, first of all, to Poland and Romania, because, indeed, in these two countries a certain infrastructure already exists, and perhaps some NATO representatives, NATO hawks, believe that the existing infrastructure is insufficient for the transfer of weapons [to Ukraine] and the creation of training centers.”

The mention of Slovakia in this context surprised the pundit.

“We know full well the position of the current Slovak government on this matter. Therefore, I very much doubt that Slovakia, especially the Prime Minister [Robert Fico], will change this stance and agree to the construction of NATO military infrastructure to support Ukraine,” Piskorski said.

Regarding what purpose additional NATO military bases might serve, Piskorski speculated that they would be used as a transport hub for delivering weapons to Ukraine, training Kiev’s military, and, perhaps, as “centers for coordinating military actions on the territory of Ukraine.”

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🇷🇺🇪🇬 The Russian and Egyptian navies are holding joint exercises in the Mediterranean, focusing on maneuvering and communications, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Russian ships the Varyag and Marshal Shaposhnikov arrived in Alexandria for Russia Day and have now departed for the exercises.

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