🎥🎥 Russian FM Sergey Lavrov Holds Presser With His Belarusian Counterpart

📹 Watch the livestream here or follow the link to the Sputnik's website for more details

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❗️"All that the West has been doing since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis is in line with an ultimatum directed towards Russia on all fronts," stated Lavrov, adding that Putin's peaceful proposals regarding Ukraine result from a sober and constructive analysis of the current realities.

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US escalated Ukraine conflict to new level by facilitating terror strike on Sevastopol

💬 "The US is very complicit in this," Earl Rasmussen, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel and international consultant, told Sputnik, commenting on Ukraine's recent terror attack on Sevastopol, noting that it was "Highly likely the Global Hawk [US surveillance drone] was providing reconnaissance, targeting information and potentially guidance information for the ATACMS itself."

Washington's involvement in the Ukrainian missile strike on Sevastopol is undeniable, given that it was conducted with the US-made ATACMS missiles programmed by American specialists, while a US RQ-4 Global Hawk reconnaissance drone was operating near Crimea that day, Russia's Foreign Ministry stated on June 24.

The military expert emphasized that Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russia cannot affect the balance of power in the zone of special military operation.

He believes that the strike on Sevastopol was aimed at "the civilian population to garner some type of concern there, to provoke some type of uprising or dissatisfaction with the government."

The expert expects Washington will play down the recent slaughter of civilians in Sevastopol as ‘collateral damage’.

"It definitely looks like the US has kind of escalated this one more level," he said. "And the role that it's playing in not just authorizing the use for long range, but actually playing a role in facilitating the execution of these long range targeting efforts into Russia,” Rasmussen said, warning that the attack “drags the US very, very much right into the war."

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Key points from Russian FM Lavrov's statements in Belarus after talks with his Belarusian counterpart Makei:

◻️ The overwhelming majority of Western actions since the start of the conflict in Ukraine are framed within an ultimatum directed at Russia across all fronts.

◻️ Moscow is not engaged in any "underground" negotiations regarding the situation in Ukraine; there have been no appeals to Russia regarding the second conference on settlement.

◻️ Putin's peaceful proposals are the result of a sober and constructive analysis of the current realities.

◻️ Moscow and Minsk will strengthen cooperation in the military-technical sphere.

◻️ The initiative for a Eurasian security system concerns all countries on the continent.

◻️ Russia is doing everything to prevent the involvement of an increasing number of countries in the Middle East conflict.

◻️ Moscow will assist Minsk in opening a Belarusian embassy branch in Russia's Voronezh and Belarusian consulates general in several Russian cities.

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❗️Zelensky announced that he is dismissing the commander of the Joint Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Yuriy Sodol.

"I decided to replace the commander of the United Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol, with Brigadier General Andrii Gnatov," he said on his telegram channel.

Yuriy Sodol, who was awarded the noscript of "Hero of Ukraine" in 2022 and previously commanded the Ukrainian Marine Corps, was appointed as the commander of the Joint Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in February during the Ukrainian command change following the resignation of Valeriy Zaluzhny. He is responsible for the front line in the eastern theater of operations.

The command of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is a strategic-level military management body responsible for coordinating joint operations within Ukraine, as well as peacekeeping operations abroad. It operates under the command of the Chief Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

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Turkiye is eagerly awaiting a visit from Putin, Erdogan's proposal is openly on the table and will be discussed, Turkiye's Foreign Minister announced.

At the same time, Kremlin spokesman Peskov confirmed to Sputnik that the possibility of a meeting between Putin and Erdogan in Astana is being worked out.

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NATO’s enlargement provoked Russia: why grilling Farage for stating the obvious?

British mainstream media and politicians criticized Nigel Farage for claiming NATO provoked Russia by expanding towards its borders from 1994 to 2022. Farage, however, is not alone in this view.

◻️ Farage’s critics compare his view to ousted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who in 2014 saw Russia’s reunification with Crimea as a move “protecting against NATO’s attempt to encircle Russia... one of the big threats of our time.” Corbyn was also labeled as pro-Russian.

◻️ Current CIA director William Burns, when he was the US ambassador in Moscow in 2008, wrote to then-national security advisor Condoleeza Rice that “Ukrainian entry into NATO is the brightest of all redlines for the Russian elite (not just Putin). In more than two and a half years of conversations with key Russian players, from knuckle-draggers in the dark recesses of the Kremlin to Putin’s sharpest liberal critics, I have yet to find anyone who views Ukraine in NATO as anything other than a direct challenge to Russian interests.”

Their correspondence was recently declassified and partially published by various think tanks and The Conversation.

◻️ Hungarian PM Viktor Orban told Tucker Carlson that NATO expansion should stop, preferably on Ukraine’s western border, “because we can’t afford it – to keep the long Ukraine-Russia border under NATO’s control.” Orban explained that “would mean an immediate danger for all of us – even for Washington.”

◻️ NATO’s outgoing Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg admitted that Russia’s protests against NATO expansion were willfully ignored.

“The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement,” Stoltenberg said. “That was what he sent us. And it was a pre-condition for not invade Ukraine. Of course we didn't sign that. He [Putin] went to war to prevent NATO, more NATO, close to his borders.”

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🇷🇸 Serbian President Vucic addressed accusations of military transactions with Ukraine

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic dismissed claims made by the Financial Times that Serbia is allegedly selling weapons to Ukraine, stating that the weapons were sold to other countries with which Serbia has contracts.

"I want to point out the tricks used by foreign services and certain politicians. Every day I am accused of being Putin's spy, puppet... And then they say: Vucic didn't sell weapons to Ukraine, but to Spain for example, and yet that weapon ended up in Ukraine."

"We ensure the most normal business for our defense industry," Vucic said.

He noted that contracts for the sale of weapons and equipment exist only with Azerbaijan, Cyprus, and the UAE.

"We do not export weapons and equipment to protect ourselves from the fact that our brothers are not killed with Serbian weapons."

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Trump claims he was tortured in jail

“I want you to remember what they did to me,” Trump said in the fundraising pitch. “They tortured me in the Fulton County Jail and took my mugshot.”

The politician spent just half an hour in a Georgia penitentiary last August; he was photographed and released on bail.

After a jury's guilty verdict in another case, Trump declared himself a political prisoner.

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CIA veteran: US and British intel agencies likely behind Dagestan and Sevastopol attacks

💬 "The likelihood that there was a CIA and/or MI6 involvement is very high," Larry Johnson, retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official, told Sputnik. "I don't think it's just a coincidence that you had the attack in Sevastopol coincide with this series of attacks in Dagestan. At a minimum, it would have been a CIA incitement. But you can't rule out that there was actual contact training."

On June 23 unknown gunmen opened fire on two churches, a synagogue and a traffic police post in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala in Russia's Dagestan Republic. The attacks claimed the lives of 20 people, including 15 policemen, civilians and an Orthodox priest.

It coincided with the Ukrainian military strike using US-made ATACMS missiles with cluster warheads on Sevastopol earlier in the day, which killed four and injured 153 civilians.

"The West, in concert with Ukraine… [has] decided to shift its focus to trying to promote terrorist attacks in Russia and to do a variety of acts, everything from the missile strikes to these kinds of attacks on religious institutions and security forces, with the goal being to create domestic unrest," Johnson said.

According to the CIA veteran, the West's efforts to divide Russia and undermine its leadership will have an opposite effect — it will make the country more united and more willing to go after those who attacked it.

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◻️ US escalated Ukraine conflict to new level by facilitating terror strike on Sevastopol

◻️ Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the US ambassador regarding the strike on Sevastopol

◻️ CIA veteran: US and British intel agencies likely behind Dagestan and Sevastopol attacks

◻️ NATO’s enlargement provoked Russia: why grilling Farage for stating the obvious?

◻️ Pentagon's African strategy shift: seeking new partners after Niger and Chad troop withdrawals

◻️ Too little, too late? Cases when US justice system failed

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Kenyan Police Head to Haiti Amid Controversy Over Deployment

Kenyan police officers are departing for Haiti on Monday to lead a multinational force combatting escalating violence from powerful gangs, which has contributed to political upheaval.

President William Ruto's administration is defying a court ruling that deems the deployment unconstitutional, sparking criticism over the police force's checkered history of alleged abuses.

The initial deployment of 400 officers marks the beginning of Kenya's commitment to send 1,000 personnel for the United Nations-led mission in Haiti.

While the US has pledged $300 million to support the mission, President Biden has expressed concerns that American troop presence in Haiti could lead to misinterpretations and raise significant questions.

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US President Joe Biden designated Kenya as a major non-NATO ally of the United States, according to a memorandum published by the White House.

"By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended… I hereby designate Kenya as a Major Non-NATO Ally of the United States," the memorandum said.

In May, Biden announced his intention to designate Kenya as a major non-NATO ally during Kenyan President William Ruto’s visit to Washington.

In April, the US announced the withdrawal of troops from Chad and Niger following the demands of the governments.

According to a Pentagon source quoted by the Associated Press, the US will have to adapt to the stance adopted by African countries "and not impose external Western ideals."

Chad was under French colonial rule from 1900 to 1960. After the Sahelian nation gained independence, France continued interfering in its internal affairs. The US began increasing its military presence in Chad and elsewhere in Africa after the NATO invasion of Libya in 2011. However, neither French nor American troops have been able to reduce the terrorist threat in the Sahel, leading regional governments to question their deployment.

The military pullout from Niger was initiated in March after a Nigerien military spokesperson said the country's transitional government, which took power in July 2023, had terminated the military agreement with the US with immediate effect, citing the interests of the Nigerien people.

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The reaction of the UN secretariat to Ukraine's terrorist attack on Russia’s Sevastopol reflects their double standards, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said.

“This is an illustration of bias and hypocrisy in the UN Secretariat trying to shy away from calling a spade a spade. The crimes committed by the Kiev regime are invisible and NATO members are participants in these crimes," Nebenzia told reporters.

Earlier, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary General in an interview to Sputnik commented on the shelling of Sevastopol by Ukraine saying that civilian casualties in the course of hostilities were unacceptable, but did not condemn the Kiev regime's crime.

The Russian diplomat added that Ukraine's deadly strike on Sevastopol will be discussed during a UN Security Council meeting in July.

On Sunday, the Ukrainian armed forces attacked Sevastopol, the largest city on the Crimean Peninsula, using US-made ATACMS missiles with cluster warheads. According to the latest data, four civilians were killed and 153 others were injured in the attack, including children.

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The United States is set to provide Ukraine with $150 million more in munitions for use against Russia, the Associated Press reported.

The US is expected to unveil the aid package on Tuesday, the report said, citing two US officials.

The package will include munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which are capable of launching long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) rounds, the report said.

It is unclear whether the package will include ATACMS munitions, but it will not include cluster munitions, the report added.

The package will also include 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, anti-armor weapons, small arms and grenades, the report said.

The package comes following a Ukrainian strike on Sevastopol on Sunday, which killed four people and injured 153 others, including children. The Kiev regime used US-supplied ATACMS missiles with cluster warheads.

The US’ involvement in the attack is “beyond any doubt,” Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia emphasized.

Moscow has repeatedly warned NATO countries that by supplying arms to Ukraine, they are both prolonging the conflict and dangerously escalating it.

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The West is losing its war against Russia militarily, morally and politically, while "warmongers" keep getting defeated at the ballot box, Slovak Deputy Parliament Speaker Lubos Blaha said.

"Let's face it: the West is losing the war against Russia. Militarily, politically and morally. You don't need to do anything special, just grab some popcorn and watch the warmongers in the West lose, watch their own peoples rebel against them, watch neoliberalism fall to the bottom. Finally," Blaha, who is also a member of the ruling leftist Smer party, wrote on Telegram.

Slovakia is on the right side of history, on the side of peace, patriotism and social justice, the lawmaker added.

Western liberals face a reckoning for "spreading hatred against Russia," with President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists trailing the opposition ahead of the snap elections and Donald Trump leading President Joe Biden in the United States, Blaha highlighted.

"The West is in a severe crisis. Ukrainians are bombing women and children in Crimea with Western weapons. Professional literature calls it murder," the lawmaker emphasized.

The ruling parties in several European states failed to win the recent European Parliament elections. In France, the right-wing National Rally finished well ahead of Macron's centrist coalition. In Germany, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz came third after the opposition Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) bloc and the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD).

On Sunday, the Ukrainian armed forces attacked Sevastopol, the largest city on the Crimean Peninsula, using US-supplied ATACMS missiles with cluster warheads, killing four people, including two children, and injuring 153 others.

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❗️ WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is expected to plead guilty to a US espionage charge as part of a plea deal with US federal prosecutors, NBC reported, citing court documents.

The court document showed that Assange plans to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information.

Assange was charged with criminal information, which usually signifies a plea deal, NBC reported.

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