Finnish President believes China could end conflict in Ukraine 'with one phone call to Russia'

Alexander Stubb claimed Moscow depends on Beijing, and if Xi Jinping convened peace talks then Russia would be forced to attend.

In response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry reminded the Stubb that Russia and China are both sovereign states.

“Let’s start with the fact that China and Russia are independent large states. China is neither the creator of the Ukrainian crisis, nor is a party to it,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

Russia and China have repeatedly stated they follow the principles of mutually-respectful and equal bilateral cooperation.

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‘Smokescreen’: Russian MFA Spokeswoman slams Kiev regime's rejection of Orban’s peace proposal

The Kiev regime’s peace rhetoric is nothing but a facade and a smokescreen, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik.

“Did you expect to hear anything else from them? I didn’t. All that rhetoric about peace is just a cover and a smokescreen, these words are just cliches and memes. These words are like a thesis that must be learned by heart and voiced,” she noted.

Zakharova emphasized that the goal of the collective West is to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia in Ukraine.

The US hand-picked Zelensky as its tool, therefore nothing else can be expected from him, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stressed.

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Russian Defense chief Andrei Belousov was elected chairman of the Council of Defense Ministers of the CIS, the Belarusian Minister of Defense announced.

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Rheinmetall to receive the largest tank order in the company's history... from Italy

Italy will order more than 550 Panther tanks and Lynx infantry fighting vehicles from Rheinmetall. According to Handelsblatt, the dealt would be the largest in the German military firm’s history.

Italian media reports said the contract was worth about €20 billion.

Rheinmetall’s share price rose by more than three percent on Monday.

In the first quarter of this year, the operating profit of Germany's leading military-industrial concern increased by 60 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching €134 million.

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Night Watch: Russia destroys Ukrainian unmanned boats near Novorossiysk naval base

Spectacular footage from the Russian Ministry of Defense: another mission for Ukrainian kamikaze drone boats seems to be a shot in the dark.

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❗️The West was specifically the one that paved the way for and fomented the Ukrainian crisis, and is now deliberately prolonging it, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said during a meeting of CIS defense chiefs in Minsk.

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Armenia and the US are discussing a new nuclear power plant construction, Secretary of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan said.

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US did not approach Russia with a request to organize contacts with Sergey Lavrov on the UN Security Council debated sidelines, Russian Foreign Ministry reported

"The further program of Lavrov's visit is currently being prepared, and numerous requests are being received to organize bilateral contacts on the sidelines. Representatives of the United States did not come to us with such requests," Deputy Director of the Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department Andrey Nastasin said.

The program of the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to New York is being formed, the US has not requested talks with the Russian side, Nastasin noted.

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The Novy district of Chasov Yar in the DPR has been liberated by Russian troops, the Russian Ministry of Defense says.

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❗️Russia will take necessary measures, including military-technical ones, in response to the aggressive policy of Finland and its NATO allies, said Andrei Nastasin, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“Russia will not leave unanswered the build-up of NATO’s military potential on our border, which threatens the security of the Russian Federation,” he said. “We will also take the necessary measures, including military-technical ones, to counter the aggressive decisions of Finland, as well as its NATO allies.”

The Finnish parliament approved a defense agreement with Washington on Monday, under which the US will gain access to 15 military facilities.

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❗️WATCH: Putin holds talks with Pakistani PM Sharif on SCO Summit's sidelines

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More from the Russian MoD briefing:

🔸 The Ukrainian army lost up to 1,740 people

🔸 For the first time during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a Ukrainian Tunguska tracked self-propelled anti-aircraft gun was destroyed

Foreign-made equipment destroyed, hit or intercepted by the Russian armed forces over the past 24 hours:

▪️ One Vampire multiple launch rocket system combat vehicle (Czech-made)
▪️ Three M777 155-mm howitzers (US-made)
▪️ Three M119 105 mm guns (US-made)
▪️ One M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (US-made)
▪️ One FH70 155 mm howitzer (British-made)
▪️ One M198 155-mm howitzer (US-made)
▪️ One launcher of the IRIS-T-SLM anti-aircraft missile system (German-made)
▪️ One AN/TPQ-50 Lightweight Counter Mortar Radar (US-made)
▪️ One AN/TPQ-48 Lightweight Counter Mortar Radar (US-made)
▪️ Three HIMARS MLRS missiles intercepted (US-made)

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Scholz has text-messaged Macron words of support every day since the defeat of the French president's coalition in the parliamentary elections, the German chancellor revealed.

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🎥 Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif in Astana. During their bilateral meeting, the Russian leader announced Moscow’s willingness to boost energy supplies to Pakistan and also emphasized the friendly development of bilateral relations between the two countries.

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The Raduga substation in Energodar was attacked by three Ukrainian drones, the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant press service said.

As a result of the attack, the city's power supply network was disrupted, along with the functioning of several facilities at the plant. Measures to ensure nuclear safety are being implemented in full, the plant staff said.

Eight people were injured, said Rosatom head Alexey Likhachev.

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❗️ WATCH: Putin speaks to Erdogan on SCO Summit's sidelines

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No power can force Slovakia to send its military to Ukraine, Defense Minister Robert Kaliniak said

He recalled Slovak Prime Minister Robnert Fico words in February that he would rather resign than allow his nation’s army to participate in the Ukrainian conflict.

Kaliniak noted that journalists laughed at Fico’s words, but time has shown that plans to send NATO troops to Ukraine are real.

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🎥 Russian President Putin and his Turkish counterpart Erdogan hold bilateral talks at Astana-hosted SCO Summit

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Most of Energodar was left without electricity and water, creating a significant threat to life support, the mayor said

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UK general election polls: warmongering Conservative Party set to lose

Brits are due to cast their votes on July 4, with polls suggesting 14 years of Conservative rule will come to end.

What could precipitate the Tories' defeat?

◾️ Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced elections on May 22 despite not having to seek a new mandate until mid-January 2025. The Tories were already trailing the rival Labour Party by double-digit percentages.

◾️ The latest UK general election polls shows the Labour leading on 40%, with the Tories on 21% followed by Reform UK — led by ‘Mr Brexit’ Nigel Farage — then the Liberal Democrats and Greens.

◾️ Some polls suggest the Conservatives might win fewer seats even than the Lib Dems and not even end up as the official opposition party.

◾️ While Labour predictably lead amongst the under-50s, a poll for The Telegraph shows the 50-64 year-old demographic also switching to Labour in the wake of Liz Truss' brief premiership. The Conservative have been been most affected by "scandals and missteps."

◾️ Tory support began to decline in in final stage of Boris Johnson's government and went into free-fall during Liz Truss' stint in Downing Street, amplified by post-Brexit challenges, the energy crisis, blowback from Russian sanctions and the Ukraine conflict.

◾️ Experts say Sunak hoped economic good news would play into the Tories' hands, but inflation remains above the 2% target at 2.3%, while the UK economy achieved just 0.6% growth in the first quarter of 2024 after a brief technical recession.

Sunak's looming electoral defeat mirrors French President Emmanuel Macron's debacle in the first round of legislative elections. Both leaders are outspoken supporters of arming Ukraine for a proxy conflict with Russia.

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❗️WATCH: Putin speaks to Xi on SCO Summit's sidelines

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