'No point' in discussing that which has 'no content' - Russian Foreign Ministry on Ukraine conference

Russian FM spokeswoman denies Swiss foreign minister's statement about "regular contacts" between Russia and Switzerland on Ukraine peace conference

There were no regular contacts, Maria Zakharova stated, stressing that Russia sees no point in discussing something that initially "has no content and practical application to real conditions."

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❗️Putin wrote the article for the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nhan Dan.

Here are the key statements on the international agenda:

▫️ Russia and Vietnam have similar or close approaches on topical international issues.

▫️ Russia will continue to increase bilateral ties and develop cooperation with Vietnam, the Russian leader stressed.

▫️ Russia views Vietnam as a like-minded partner in shaping new architecture of equal and indivisible Eurasian security.

▫️ Traditions of mutual assistance serve as solid foundation for the further promotion of bilateral relations between the two nations, the president said.

▫️ The two countries share similar positions on situation in Asia-Pacific.

▫️ Russia and Vietnam closely cooperate in key multilateral platforms, primarily in the United Nations.

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❗️Russia welcomes Vietnam's balanced position on Ukraine - Putin stated in his article.

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❗️Key Putin's statements on the Russian-Vietnamese economy:

🔸 Almost 60% of trade between the nations was carried out in national currencies in the first quarter, the president stated.

🔸 Russia’s Novatek plans to launch LNG projects in Vietnam, Russian president wrote.

🔸 Moreover, Russia is working on the creation of a nuclear technology center in the Asian nation, Putin stated.

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🇻🇳🇷🇺 Archive video: Putin's state visit to Vietnam in 2001

Putin visited Vietnam four times during his presidency (with the fifth visit starting today), more than any other country in Southeast Asia. But the 2001 trip was historic - it was the first ever visit paid by a Russian leader to Vietnam in the history of bilateral relations.

How did Hanoi welcome Putin? Watch our video to find out!

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Relatives of German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck were officers in Nazi Germany - reports

Two relatives of the German vice chancellor were officers in Nazi Germany, Bunte magazine writes. According to the outlet, Habeck's grandfather Kurt Granzow was the SA Obersturmführer in the Third Reich.

Meanwhile, Habeck’s great-grandfather, Walter Granzow, even belonged to the innermost leadership circle of Hitler's leadership, being friends with Goebbels. He was later convicted as a war criminal. It is believed that in 1931, Grantsow, who served as minister-president and deputy of the Reichstag under the Nazi regime, was personally introduced to Hitler.

Earlier, Bunte magazine reported that the grandfather of Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, was an officer during World War II and "was completely on the side of National Socialism."

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No place in Israel will be safe from Hezbollah’s attacks in case of a large scale war - Hassan Nasrallah

Here are the statements of the Hezbollah leader's televised address:

🔸 If war is "imposed" on Lebanon, Hezbollah will fight with "no rules, no ceilings," Hassan Nasrallah said.

🔸 Cyprus will become part of the war if it keeps allowing Israel to use its airports and bases for military exercises and Hezbollah will "deal with it", Nasrallah threatened Cyprus for the first time.

🔸 Israel must stop military action in Gaza if it wants to reach a ceasefire with Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq, the chief added.

🔸 Israel evacuated many of its military sites on the border with southern Lebanon.

🔸 Nasrallah didn't rule out storming the Galilee.

🔸 Israeli forces are afraid of escalation that strongly affects the Gaza front and forces them to save ammunition.

🔸 Hezbollah followed a strategy of blinding the IDF by targeting Israeli technical equipment, radars, and balloons.

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The Gaza Pier: Biden’s humanitarian show-off that failed

Touted as a symbol of American generosity in President Biden’s State of the Union address, the American floating pier off the Gaza shore is out of service most of the time and fails to replace land routes as a way to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza’s starving population, the WSJ has written. It was badly prepared, even though problems were easy to foresee, the outlet continues.

The giant pier, brought off the coast of Virginia to Gaza by the efforts of more than 1,000 US troops and several US Navy vessels, started operating on May 17 and has been a source of bad news ever since.

🔹 During the month that passed since the pier was attached it was in service for no more than 10 days for various reasons.

🔹 It was damaged several times by rough seas and three US soldiers were injured working on it. There were periods when parts of the pier were “towed to Israel” for long repairs. The Pentagon later promised that aid operations would resume after the pier was “reattached.”

🔹 There were reports that the platform was used in a recent Israeli raid during which several Israeli hostages were freed, but scores of Palestinians killed. The NYT quotes the US military as confirming there was “helicopter activity” near the pier. However, it denied the military use of the pier.

🔹 The pier only serves the purpose of “making it look like the US is doing something for the civilian population,” Responsible Statecraft wrote, pointing to the fact that US aid to Gaza seems badly organized and inefficient.

🔹 The pier operation was initially conceived, according to the NYT, as just a “stopgap measure” before Israel opens land routes for aid, and sought to appear as “humanitarian cover” for Biden’s support of Israel.

🔹 US humanitarian efforts in Gaza became notorious when aid boxes killed five people in the Shati refugee camp in March.

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Canada has designated the elite units of the Iranian Armed Forces, the IRGC, a terrorist organization

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How innovative are ‘new’ Western weapons that may soon be tested in Ukraine?

Rheinmetall’s grand idea to produce a new type of air defense system by mounting a Skyranger 35 turret on a Leopard 1 tank chassis can hardly be called an innovation, says Alexei Leonkov, Russian military analyst and editor of Arsenal Otechestva (Arsenal of the Fatherland) magazine.

Mounting an anti-air weapon system on a tracked chassis helps improve the mobility of said weapon, he explains, noting that, for example, Russian Tor short-range air defense systems can be mounted on both tracked and wheeled chassis.

Regarding Rheinmetall’s decision to produce this type of hardware in Ukraine, Leonkov says it is directly related to the fact that Ukrainian forces are the only ones who currently need such weapon systems.

At the same time, he argues that such measures are unlikely to help the Kiev regime challenge Russia’s air superiority in the conflict zone, simply because Kiev’s Western backers cannot supply the required amount of air defense systems.

“Maybe they will learn to shoot down drones, Geraniums or something,” Leonkov remarks. “But as soon as they get something that proves to be effective, we will switch tactics and tools. We will not lose the initiative, that is.” The new brainchild of Rheinmetall and Lockheed Martin, a wheeled rocket artillery system called GMARS, is no innovation either, Leonkov says.

Essentially, the two defense contractors took an M270 MLRS – a weapon system introduced in the 1980s that features two rocket pods mounted on tracked chassis – and swapped tracked chassis for wheels.

While a “four-axle German truck” does cost less than MLRS tracked chassis, that is no innovation, just a way to make this weapon cheaper, he notes.

“Ukraine has long become a testing range where the enemy tests various weapons and military hardware that either end up in US and NATO countries’ rearmament programs or disappear forever,” he adds.

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BRICS Games' tennis competition a success— president of the Russian Tennis Federation

"It is nice to realize that there is development in the form of increasing the number of countries. I think this endeavor will expand and will have a favorable effect on our sport," the President of the Russian Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpishchev stated.

The BRICS Games are held from June 12 to 23 in Kazan at 16 sports venues, with around 5,000 athletes from more than 90 countries competing in 387 medal events.

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Jeff Monson converted to Islam on Eid al-Adha during a solemn reception in Moscow

In 2013, the famous mixed martial arts fighter moved to Russia, received Russian citizenship five years later, and 5 years after that ceased to be a US citizen. He now lives in Russia's city of Ufa.

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⚡️Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Vietnam on a two-day state visit.

The plane with the Russian leader aboard landed in the Hanoi International Airport, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

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🎥🎥 Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in Vietnam

Join the livestream here or follow the link to the Sputnik's website

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📹 Putin arrives in Vietnam on official visit

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Hanoi, the capital Vietnam, on June 19.

During his official visit, Putin is expected to hold meetings with top Vietnamese government officials, including the country’s Prime Minister Pham Mihn Chinh and President To Lam, to discuss various important political and economic issues.

The Russian president’s trip, which takes place right after his visit to North Korea, is scheduled to conclude on June 20.

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◻️ Putin and Kim hold ‘impressive' and 'healthy' meeting amid Western 'propaganda mill'

◻️ Military-political alliance between Russia and N Korea challenges US hegemony in Northeast Asia

◻️ What should you know about the North Korean-Russian border?

◻️ Putin pays visit to Vietnam. Here's what we know

◻️ Releasing drone footage of Haifa shows Hezbollah knows where to strike Israel if war breaks out

◻️ The Gaza Pier: Biden’s humanitarian show-off that failed

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