Russian FM Lavrov and US SecState Blinken sat opposite each other at ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting

During a meeting with Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken were sitting directly opposite each other, footage circulated by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows.

Lavrov began his three-day trip to Laos on Thursday. On Friday, he participated in the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Council in the Russia-ASEAN format. The minister is also expected to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum on Saturday.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Sputnik is live from Vientiane, Laos, where Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov is holding a press conference following the ASEAN Summit.

👉 Watch live on our Telegram channel or on Sputnik's website

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ASEAN countries are interested in Russia’s proposal on Eurasian security, Russian FM Lavrov said at a press conference following the ASEAN Summit.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Western countries escalate confrontation by deploying new weapons in the Asia-Pacific region - Lavrov

Russian FM Lavrov's other key statements at the press conference following the ASEAN Summit:

🔸 Western countries are escalating confrontation in the region, deploying new weapons in the Asia-Pacific;

🔸 Russia is concerned about US and South Korean plans carry out joint nuclear planning;

🔸 Moscow hopes ASEAN understands the danger of the possible deployment of US long-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region;

🔸 Russia wants the IAEA to use its authority in the region due to AUKUS’ presence.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russia will not capitulate to Ukraine, all the goals of the special military operation will be achieved - Russian FM Lavrov

China's foreign minister informed Lavrov about his talks with Ukrainian FM Dmytro Kuleba, but Beijing’s position on Ukraine remains unchanged, according to the Russian foreign minister.

"I do not listen to what Kuleba and Zelensky say, including about the prospect of negotiations, they both often say directly opposite things," Lavrov said.

"I do not think it is necessary to comment on the numerous ideas [for a peace settlement] that have now sprung up like from a cornucopia in conditions when the West realizes the futility of counting on Russia's defeat and when the West increasingly realizes the worthlessness of Zelensky and his regime,” the minister added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Lavrov will meet with South Korea's new foreign minister in Laos on Saturday, Russia’s FM says

Sergey Lavrov will discuss US maneuvers around the Korean Peninsula at meeting with his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🔸 ASEAN countries are interested in Russia’s proposal on Eurasian security, Russian FM Lavrov says following the ASEAN Summit

🔸 Collapse of Western civilization and Christian culture in full swing at Olympic Games in Paris

🔸 Sputnik infographics. Bitcoin has all chances to serve as universal currency

🔸 EU's transfer of revenue from Russian assets to Ukraine: A 'liberal democracy' test amid geopolitical tensions

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Another ‘good job’ by Olympics Committee: South Korea was wrongly introduced as North Korea

South Korea protested on Saturday after a gaffe during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris, during which its athletes were mistakenly introduced as North Koreans, forcing the Olympic organizers to issue a “deep apology.”

A boat carrying the South Korean team along the River Seine during the Olympic opening ceremony was introduced by English announcers as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The same announcement was heard when the North Korean delegation passed by.

“We have also asked the Foreign Ministry to file a serious complaint to France at the government level,” South Korea's sports ministry said. “The Korean Sports and Olympic Committee immediately asked the Paris organizing committee to prevent such cases from happening again and will file a formal protest. The committee will also meet with the IOC.”

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russian troops liberated the village of Lozovatskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic – Russian Defense Ministry

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Donald Trump says Democrats successfully committed a coup against President Joe Biden while speaking at a summit hosted by Turning Point Action.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Ukraine lost up to 540 military personnel, four armored vehicles and a number of field artillery pieces due to the Yug Battlegroup's actions

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the daily briefing of the Russian Defense Ministry on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ Russia’s Sever Battlegroup defeated five Ukrainian brigades over 24 hours, the AFU's losses amounted to up to 165 military personnel due to the grouping’s actions;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces destroyed two electronic warfare stations and a Ukrainian warehouse;

▪️ Units of the Russian Armed Forces' Tsentr grouping defeated the formations of six Ukrainian brigades, repulsed three counterattacks during the day. Ukraine’s losses in the Battlegroup’s zone of responsibility amounted to 425 military casualties;

▪️ Russia’s Vostok Battlegroup destroyed up to 125 Ukrainian;

▪️ Russian air defense shot down ten HIMARS rockets and 81 UAVs throughout the day

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

For 2.5 years, around 15 thousand foreign mercenaries have fought in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A third of them have died, according to former lieutenant colonel of the Ukrainian Intelligence Service (SBU), Vasily Prozorov.

Earlier, Russian hackers released a database of foreign mercenaries who are fighting on the Ukrainian side in the conflict with Russia.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt