Daily: 12/05/2021

Чисельність військових Росії поблизу України може зрости до 175 тисяч – міністр оборони

Олексій Резніков зазначив, що повідомив про це парламент України і дані розвідки Міноборони збігаються з даними США

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Компанія Трампа заявила, що залучила 1 млрд дол на створення нової соцмережі

Про плани створення нової соцмережі команда Дональда Трампа оголосила після того, як акаунти колишнього президента заблокували на найбільших світових платформах

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Бойовики упродовж дня на Донбасі не стріляли – штаб

Минулої доби на Донбасі також було спокійно

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Українця Захтея два місяці тримали в підвалі карцеру колонії у Сімферополі – омбудсмен

Денісова звернулась до влади Росії щодо українця Захтея

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Виверження вулкана на острові Ява в Індонезії – рятувальні операції тривають, жертв побільшало

Через виверження, яке почалося днем раніше на густонаселеному острові, є багато людей з опіками

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Putin to Visit New Delhi Amid Spotlight on Indian Defense Purchase

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in India Monday for a summit as Moscow begins the delivery of air defense missile systems to India that could spur U.S. sanctions.

India’s $5.4 billion deal with Russia to purchase S-400 air defense missile systems highlights New Delhi’s challenge in maintaining its partnership with Moscow, even as it embraces closer strategic ties with the United States.

While Washington has often warned New Delhi that the purchase of five long range surface-to-air missile systems from Russia runs counter to 2017 U.S. legislation, India’s consistent message has been that its national security interests guide its defense purchases.

“The government takes sovereign decisions based on threat perceptions, operational and technological aspects to keep the armed forces in a state of readiness to meet the entire spectrum of security challenges,” Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt told Parliament Friday.

India says it needs the S-400 system to counter the threat from China — it is expected to be deployed along disputed Himalayan borders where troops from both countries have been locked in a standoff since last year.

Washington imposed sanctions on Turkey last December for purchasing the same missile system from Russia under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, whose aims include deterring countries from buying Russian military equipment.

New Delhi however is optimistic about getting a presidential waiver, as its strategic ties with the United States continue to gain momentum in the two countries’ common efforts to contain China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region — India is part of the Quad group expected to play a key role in countering China.

Potential waiver

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told a November 23 briefing that the Biden administration has not decided on a potential waiver for India, but analysts in Washington say a waiver is inevitable. 

“The Biden administration doesn’t want to do anything that would risk imperiling its relations with New Delhi. Sanctioning India would plunge bilateral relations to their lowest point in several decades,” Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Wilson Center in Washington, said. 

However, he said, a waiver for India would be a one-time affair. 

“It won’t offer any blanket free passes to New Delhi on its broader defense trade with Moscow. So, the Russia factor will remain a rare tension point in U.S.-India relations,” he said.

Strategic affairs experts point out that while India and Russia have pulled in different geopolitical directions, New Delhi is not ready to dismantle its security relationship with a Cold War ally that remains a key defense supplier.

“For India, China is the No. 1 adversary, whereas for Russia, China is a partner. And for Russia, the main adversary is the U.S., with which India’s ties are growing. So, there is a significant mismatch in terms of our perceptions in where our threats originate from,” said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. 

“However, India needed the S-400 system to boost its military capabilities and it was available at a reasonable price,” she said.

A rare overseas trip

The Monday summit marks a rare overseas trip for Putin since the COVID-19 pandemic — he has left Russia only once, to meet U.S. President Joe Biden in June.

The defense and foreign ministers of the two countries will also meet in New Delhi. The summit is expected to the signing of 10 agreements that could include U.S. purchase of assault rifles to be made in India and renew a framework for military technical cooperation. India’s ambassador to Russia, Venkatesh Verma, told the Tass news agency last month that India could also order fighter jets and tanks.

While India has moved away from its heavy dependence on Russian equipment in recent decades by significantly increasing acquisition of military equipment from countries like the United States, France and Israel, Russia remains India’s largest weapons supplier.

“It is more of a business relationship with Russia than a strategic partnership. We understand how close Russia is with China, but we need critical military equipment such as the S-400 missile systems,” according to Chintamani Mahapatra, rector and professor of American studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

India hopes that its ties with Russia will also help it in playing a role in Afghanistan, where its rivals China and Pakistan are now key players.

Analysts say that maintaining relations with Moscow is important for New Delhi to underline that it is not too closely aligned with any one country. 

“We don’t want to be seen as completely in the U.S. or Western camp. So we want to keep the Russia relationship alive,” Pillai said.

Russia, for its part, is also uneasy about India’s deepening security ties with the United States, especially New Delhi’s participation in the “Quad” —  the alliance among the United States, Japan Australia and India. Moscow has said it opposes the creation of security blocs in the Asian region.

“India-Russia partnership is a potential obstacle for the Quad, but not a major one,” according to Kugelman who said that amid a growing China-Russia relationship, “the geopolitical signposts all point to reduced India-Russia partnership in the coming years.”

 

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Росіянка Софія Сапега може опинитися в Білорусі за ґратами на 6 років – ЗМІ

Очікується, що справу Сапеги незабаром передадуть до суду в Мінську

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Папа Римський заявив, що Європа ігнорує проблеми мігрантів

Попереднього візиту понтифік привіз до Італії папським літаком 12 сирійських біженців-мусульман. Цього разу про таке рішення нічого не повідомляється

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Бойовики минулої доби не порушували «тишу» на Донбасі – штаб ООС

Від початку поточної доби обстрілів теж не було, кажуть у штабі

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Pope Francis Visiting Migrant Camp on Greek Island of Lesbos

Pope Francis will travel to Lesbos on Sunday to meet asylum-seekers at a migrant camp there on his second visit to the Greek island that was at the forefront of Europe’s refugee crisis.

Francis is on a five-day trip to Cyprus and Greece during which he has highlighted the struggles of refugees and migrants, an issue that has become the cornerstone of his papacy.

On his previous visit to Lesbos in 2016, at the height of Europe’s migration crisis, Francis walked through the squalid and dangerously overcrowded Moria camp and famously brought 12 Syrian refugees back to Rome with him.

Moria, at its worst point the size of a town of 20,000 people, burned down last year after becoming a symbol of Europe’s stumbling response to a crisis that left much of the burden to be carried by small islands like Lesbos.

On Sunday, the pope will visit the temporary camp that was hastily set up after the blaze, in an old army firing range, home to around 2,300 mostly Afghan asylum-seekers.

Dozens of police officers were deployed inside and migrants were queuing up to enter the tent where the pope was due to speak.

“The issue of migration cannot disproportionately affect the countries on the borders of the European Union,” Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said on Sunday.

Greece, like other Mediterranean countries Italy, Spain and Cyprus, has long been the gateway into the European Union for people fleeing war, poverty or persecution in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

While the number of people crossing to Greece from Turkey has fallen dramatically in recent years, the government, fearing a possible wave of refugees from Taliban-conquered Afghanistan, is hardening its migration policy. Public attitudes toward migrants have also become increasingly hostile.

Greece has come under fire from rights groups for building “prison-like” closed holding centers for migrants on five islands close to Turkey, including Lesbos, and for intercepting migrant boats at sea.

Ahead of the pope’s visit, about two dozen asylum-seekers, some of whom have been in limbo on Lesbos for years, gathered for Mass in a small Roman Catholic church.

“We hope that by this visit, maybe something can change,” said Landrid, a 42-year-old man who fled a separatist insurgency in Cameroon. 

 

 

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Резніков: «Велика війна в Україні може занурити у кризу всю Європу»

«Ми повинні переконати Москву, що ціна нового наступу буде надто високою»

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Kremlin Says Biden and Putin to Discuss Ukraine Crisis Next Week

U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to discuss rising tensions Tuesday along the Russian-Ukranian border, where a Russian troop buildup is seen by the West as a sign of a potential invasion.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the meeting Saturday to Interfax news agency, saying it would take place on Tuesday evening.

The White House did not immediately comment on the announcement.

In addition to Russia’s military buildup, the Kremlin said Biden and Putin would discuss bilateral relations and the implementation of agreements reached at their Geneva summit in June.

On Friday, Biden told reporters he has been developing a set of initiatives that will make it “very, very difficult” for Russia to escalate the situation at its border with Ukraine, where Moscow has been building up troops and equipment for weeks. 

The situation at Ukraine’s eastern border has raised fears Moscow is planning to invade its neighbor. Russian aggression was the focus this week of a NATO foreign ministers meeting, with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warning Russia that any escalation of the situation would come at a high price.

In turn, Moscow has suggested the U.S. and Ukraine might launch their own offensive.

The Washington Post reported Friday that Russia is planning a multifront offensive into Ukraine, involving up to 175,000 troops, as early as next year, citing U.S. officials and an intelligence document obtained by the newspaper.

The Post says the unclassified U.S. intelligence document it obtained contains satellite photos and shows about 70,000 Russian troops massing in four locations near Ukraine’s border.

The U.S. Defense Department says it is “deeply concerned by evidence” Russia is planning “aggressive actions” against Ukraine.  However, department spokesman Lt. Col. Tony Semelroth had no comment on the report that the potential Russian offensive could include 175,000 troops operating on multiple fronts. 

“We will not get into intelligence assessments,” Semelroth said. “However, we are deeply concerned by evidence that Russia has made plans for aggressive actions against Ukraine. As we have said, we continue to support de-escalation in the region and a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.”

Earlier Friday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Russia has now massed more than 94,000 troops near Ukraine’s border, suggesting to him that they could be preparing for a large-scale military offensive at the end of January. 

When asked about the situation during remarks at the White House on Friday, Biden told reporters he has been in constant contact with U.S. allies in Europe, and with Ukraine. He said Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan have been engaged extensively.  

Biden said his administration was “putting together what I believe to be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin [Russian President Vladimir Putin] to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do. But that’s in play right now.” 

Biden offered no details about what his initiatives might be. 

Diplomatic efforts have been underway to ease tensions in the region this week. Blinken met in Stockholm Thursday with both Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.  

After the Kremlin said Friday that arrangements were being made for a video call between Biden and Putin, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “It certainly would be an opportunity to discuss our serious concerns about the bellicose rhetoric, about the military buildup that we’re seeing on the border of Ukraine.”

Russian foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters Friday that during the call between the leaders, Putin would seek guarantees to prevent NATO from expanding into Ukraine.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

 

 

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