Tag Archives: RUSSIA

World

Sweden doesn’t want US missiles on its territory

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Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hulqvist, in an article published in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper, announced Stockholm’s intention to continue to adhere to military neutrality and not join the North Atlantic Alliance, despite the demands of center-right parties.

“I do not think that the solution to all defense issues in our part of Europe is solved only by membership in NATO,” the Swedish defense minister said.

Earlier in March, the Swedish research agency published data that assesses the military power of the North Atlantic Alliance and its partners. According to their data, compared to Russia, NATO members are poorly prepared for the emergence of a major conflict. Russia will be able to enter the Baltic states in a matter of days, as NATO will be too slow to respond. Russia will have an advantage, because the bloc’s forces are too dispersed, differ in their military capabilities, and their joint training is insufficient.

However, the report said that an armed attack on NATO members, partners, or EU countries by Russia is highly unlikely. However, a serious strategic threat from the West could exacerbate the situation in the region. In other words, Sweden believes that the growing military presence of the United States and NATO at the borders of Russia provokes Moscow to retaliate.

Thus, the US decision to deploy missile defense facilities in Poland and Romania was followed by a response in the form of the transfer of the Iskander missile defense system to the Kaliningrad region. In Sweden, this is well understood, and they do not want to have Russian missiles at their side. However, security in the Scandinavian region does not depend only on Sweden. According to the Swedish defense minister, the possible accession of Sweden to the alliance “will change the situation” for the non-aligned neighboring Finland, a key partner of Stockholm in defense issues. “And Finland has a very long border with Russia.”

Recall that Finland also adheres to the neutral status enshrined in the country’s military doctrine, and Sweden’s accession to NATO will certainly launch a similar process in the neighboring country, which has a long border with Russia.

The involvement of the two Scandinavian countries in NATO will be beneficial only to Washington. At the moment, Sweden and Finland have quite close economic ties and good neighborly relations. In the case of joining the alliance, it will not be limited to military exercises. For example, in same Norway, strategic bombers are already deployed, there is one missile defense facility and another is under construction. The Norwegian Navy is part of the global missile defense system and is equipped with the American Aegis system.

Instead of moving closer to NATO, Stockholm will take the path of modernizing and increasing the capabilities of its own armed forces.

World

G7 urged Russia to stop “provocations”

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The G7 countries call on Russia to stop provocations and immediately reduce tensions, in accordance with international obligations.

The foreign ministers of the G7 countries, as well as the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrel, released a joint statement on Monday, April 12, in which they called on Russia to stop “provocations” near the border with Ukraine.

“These large-scale military movements carried out without prior notice, pose a threat and destabilize the situation. We call on Russia to stop provocations and immediately reduce tensions, in accordance with international obligations,” the G7 said in a statement issued by the UK, which chairs the group.

The document also notes that the G7 and the EU are “very concerned about the large-scale strengthening of Russian forces” near the borders with Ukraine and in Crimea.

The Group of Seven countries said they supported ” Ukraine’s approach based on restraint.”

They reiterated that they support the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as the efforts of France and Germany to work in the “Normandy format” to achieve the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

Also today, the Head of the US State Department and the NATO Secretary-General discussed the build-up of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine.

World

NATO and the USA discussed the situation with Russian troops on the borders with Ukraine

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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the situation with Russian troops on the borders of Ukraine.

This was announced by Anthony Blinken on Twitter.

“We agreed that Russia should stop the dangerous build-up of military forces near the borders with Ukraine and the ongoing aggression,” he said.

According to him, they also discussed the process of peaceful settlement in Afghanistan.

As previously reported, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will visit Brussels on April 13-15 and will arrive once on the day of the extraordinary meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Commission.

In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Blinken said Russia would face “a price and consequences” if it escalated its aggression against Ukraine.

World

The U.S. Confirms Israeli Involvement in Attack on Iran Nuclear Site

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Israel is behind the fire at the centrifuge production facility for uranium enrichment in Natanz, Iran. This is the assertion made by a source in The New York Times in an electronic version of the paper published Sunday, June 5.

“A Middle Eastern intelligence official with knowledge of what happened said Israel was responsible for the attack on the Natanz nuclear facility, a powerful explosive device was used,” the paper said.

The newspaper does not say which intelligence service is being referred to.

A member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC, an elite force in the Iranian military) has allegedly confirmed to the press that an explosive device went off at the Natanz site on July 2.

However, the newspaper explains that it is unable to verify the information about Israel’s involvement in the incident. It is also not known how the device arrived at the site. Israeli officials on Sunday did not give a clear answer to the question of whether the country had organized the sabotage in Iran, the article notes.

It is specified that the incident occurred last week.

Earlier, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Behrouz Kamalvandi said there had been no casualties as a result of the incident, but there had been considerable material damage.

The United States Special Envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, said in an interview with Channel 13 on July 1 that the US authorities were considering the possibility of using military force against Iran if it would be necessary to prevent the country from getting nuclear weapons.

On May 27, U.S. State Department chief Mike Pompeo said U.S. authorities gave Iran two months to complete its nuclear program projects, after which they would be subject to sanctions.

In 2015, Iran, the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany signed a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The document implies the lifting of sanctions against Tehran in exchange for an end to nuclear development.

In 2018, the U.S. side withdrew from the treaty, reinstated some sanctions against Iran, and imposed new ones. A year later, President of the Islamic Republic Hassan Rouhani announced that Tehran was suspending some of its obligations under the nuclear deal.

World

The Baltic States for the first time refused electricity from Russia

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Latvia, without explanation, stopped commercial imports from Russia for two days, on April 8 and 11, during tests on disconnecting power lines between Belarus and Lithuania to check the power systems before the full exit of the Baltic countries from the BRELL energy ring (Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania).

These days in Russia, due to the termination of export supplies, demand and prices for electricity have fallen. In the Baltic States, the opposite situation occurred, for example, on April 8, Lithuania increased purchases of more expensive electricity from Poland and Sweden to compensate for imports.

The authorities of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia have decided to abandon the supply of electricity from Russia and Belarus and disconnect from the BRELL power ring in 2019. Instead, the countries intend to synchronize their energy systems with European countries and connect to the EU networks by 2025. At the same time, the Baltic countries are already connected to the EU energy system through Poland (LitPol Link), Sweden (NordBalt), and Finland (Eastlink 1 and Eastlink 2).

In January, it became known that the operator of the main networks of Finland, Fingrid, presented four plans for the development of the country’s energy system, three of which provide for a complete rejection of imports through the development of wind and solar power plants. The country is the largest buyer of Russian energy, the volume of supplies in 2020 reached 22 billion rubles, which is more than a third of all exports. However, in two plans, Finland in the future has planned to completely abandon the energy bridge passing through Vyborg.