🇷🇺🇮🇳 Putin-Modi talks in Moscow: What to expect

Indian PM Narendra Modi is visiting Moscow on July 8-9 to co-chair the 22nd Russia-India Annual Summit with President Vladimir Putin.

Modi will attend a private dinner hosted by Putin on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, Modi will meet with the Indian community in Moscow; lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Kremlin; and visit an exhibition venue. Core to the visit will be bilateral talks in “restricted” and broader, delegation-level format.

The upcoming talks should be viewed from the lens of an extremely promising bilateral context, which “allows India and Russia to strengthen their strategic autonomy amid global geopolitical changes”, Dr. Raj Kumar Sharma, a senior research fellow at NatStrat, a New Delhi-based think tank, tells Sputnik. Russia is a country that “remains very important for India's engagement in Eurasia,” alongside the overarching bilateral strategic relationship of the sides, he adds.

Putin-Modi talks to focus on:

🔸Defense and energy security amid regional and global developments

🔸Ties within groups like BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, East Asia Summit (EAS), UN.

🔸Bilateral trade, which has surged to $65 billion, predominantly due to energy cooperation;

🔸Sustainable payment mechanisms amid de-dollarization drive

🔸Investment in energy, banking, railways and steel

🔸Nuclear energy amid work on units of Kudankulam NPP built in collaboration with Russia

🔸Russia-India Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS), designed to boost military cooperation; streamline military logistics; expand India’s maritime outreach (including to the Arctic), balance India's logistics agreements with Quad countries; and strengthen Russia’s Indo-Pacific presence

🔸Transport projects like International North-South Transport Corridor and Chennai-Vladivostok Maritime Corridor

🔸Science & tech, education, and culture. Russia and India plan mutual visa-free travel by end of 2024.

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New French governing coalition will likely be ‘fragile’ – analyst

The outcome of the second round of French parliamentary elections will create a serious governance problem. The future governing coalition will likely be fragile and society will be characterized by greater political polarization, chairman of Rome-based think tank Vision and Global Trends Tiberio Graziani told Sputnik.

“Economic problems will worsen. It will be three years of political crisis,” he said.

France is already going through a political crisis, both internally and within Europe. The elections show that the country is facing political, economic and social crises. The same can be said about other European nations, like Germany, the expert added.

Jean-Luc Melanchon's left-wing New Popular Front coalition won the parliamentary elections, securing 182 seats (out of 577) in the French parliament. President Emmanuel Macron's bloc gained 168 seats. Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardelle’s National Rally got 143 parliamentary seats.

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US pulls out military from Niger's capital Niamey

The US has withdrawn its military personnel from Niger's Air Base 101 near the airport in the capital, Niamey. The next step will be to withdraw troops from a larger drone base near the city of Agadez by September 15.

About 950 US military personnel were stationed in Niger, and 766 of them have already left the country.

In March, the Nigerian government canceled a military cooperation agreement with the United States.

The following month, 100 Russian military instructors arrived in the African country.

In May, Russian military specialists entered the US base in Niger and Russian military equipment arrived in the country.

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Indian PM Narendra Modi shares departure statement before leaving for Moscow for talks with Putin

"I look forward to reviewing all aspects of bilateral cooperation with my friend President Vladimir Putin," the Indian PM said as per local media.

Video: ANI

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❗️Hungarian PM Orban briefed Chinese leader Xi Jinping on his visits to Moscow and Kiev

Xi Jinping praised the Hungarian premier's efforts to promote a settlement, stressing that an early ceasefire in Ukraine and the search for a political solution are in the interests of all sides.

Other statements by the Chinese leader on the matter:

⚡️ The ceasefire can only be achieved if all major countries bring positive rather than negative energy;

⚡️ China is promoting negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict in its own way and supports all efforts to promote a peaceful resolution of the crisis;

⚡️ The international community should create conditions and facilitate the resumption of direct dialog between Russia and Ukraine;

⚡️ The positions and direction of China and Hungary in resolving the Ukrainian crisis coincide;

⚡️ China hopes that the Hungarian presidency of the EU will play an active role in promoting the stable development of China-EU relations.

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⚡️ ‘Greater political polarization’: what’s next for French society after elections?

⚡️ Riots and clashes with police: how did Paris spend the night after the election results were announced?

⚡️ Hungarian Prime Minister Orban and Chinese President Xi are having talks in Beijing

⚡️ Why Ukraine’s top military commander may be given the boot less than six months after his appointment?

⚡️ Israel deliberately killed own citizens on October 7 – report claims

⚡️ Spin doctor? House Oversight Committee seeks to interview Biden’s doctor over corruption claims

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❗️Orban says he's headed to the United States from China

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Russia's FSB foils Ukraine intel's attempt to hijack Russian nuclear-capable aircraft

Ukrainian intelligence intended to recruit a Russian military pilot for money and Italian citizenship to fly to Ukraine on a long-range strategic bomber Tu-22M3 of the Russian Armed Forces.

NATO countries were also involved in Ukrainian intelligence operation preparation, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) which foiled the hijack attempt, stressed.

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Boeing pleads guilty to criminal fraud charge over 2 737 MAX crashes

Boeing has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $243.6 million fine to a criminal fraud charge related to two fatal 737 MAX crashes that occurred in 2018 and 2019, the CNBC broadcaster reported, citing the US Department of Justice.

"We can confirm that we have reached an agreement in principle on terms of a resolution with the Justice Department, subject to the memorialization and approval of specific terms," CNBC quoted the company.

The plea deal will install an independent monitor to oversee the plane maker's compliance for three years. Boeing will also have to invest at least $455 million in compliance and safety programs, CNBC said.

The Justice Department notified Boeing in May that it was subject to criminal prosecution after it had determined that the company breached a 2021 settlement that had Boeing pay $2.5 billion in penalties and vow to improve its safety and compliance protocols.

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Moldova was chosen for the Tu-22M3 hijacking operation as Ukrainian security services operate there freely — FSB

Ukrainian security services disregard conspiracy in pursuit of "media victory" using blackmail and deceit,the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) stated.

The Russian pilot, who was tried to be recruited from Kiev, said that the Ukrainian security services had issued his family with Polish documents and a bank account.

The pilot's relatives were supposed to go first to Turkey and then to Ukraine via Moldova.

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Russian military terminated Ukrainian merc who went on a "safari for Russians" to create social media content

The Russian military has liquidated a Brazilian mercenary with call sign Sierra who was fighting for Ukraine, military correspondent Yuri Kotenok wrote on Telegram.

"The militant ran his own YouTube channel and went on a 'safari for Russians', including to make content. He went back in a zinc [coffin]."

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the destruction of mercenaries from the US, UK, Georgia and other countries and regularly reports on the defeat of places where foreigners are concentrated fighting on the side of Ukraine.

The Russian Armed Forces have eliminated 5,962 of the reported 13,387 foreign mercenaries who came to Ukraine to fight for Kiev since the start of the special military operation, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

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❗️Putin did not convey any message to Biden or NATO countries through Orban — Kremlin

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is trying to understand the essence of the disagreements on the Ukrainian issue and Moscow appreciates this, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stressed.

The Hungarian prime minister announced on June 8 that he was flying from Beijing to Washington, where the NATO summit kicks off on July 9.

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