Moscow has been more than patient…. … … Evidently, Russia has finally seen the light and understands inviting U.S. officials for a discussion on the whims and airy ideas Washington conjures up out of thin air, and usually on the spur of the moment, is ineffective and a total waste of time.
Russia has canceled talks that were set for this coming Friday between Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergey Ryabkov, and the No. 3 U.S. diplomat, Thomas A. Shannon, Jr.
Ryabkov said that “the situation is not conducive to holding a round of this dialogue,” criticizing the U.S. for “not having offered … anything specific” to discuss.
“We have said from the very beginning of Washington’s exceptionally destructive policy in regard to applying anti-Russia sanctions, that [such measures] will not and cannot have an effect desired by the US on our individuals or entities,” Ryabkov told RIA Novosti Tuesday.
Ryabkov also added that Moscow “will judge the US administration’s policy towards Russia by its actions” rather than by any statements, promises or “hints,” and the latest moves “speak for themselves.”
As Putin said: “If there were no situation with Crimea and other problems, they would have invented something else to contain Russia”……………………….
Question: Indeed, Russia and the other parties differ on the Syrian issue regarding primarily the fate of Bashar al-Assad, whom the Western countries have accused of using chemical weapons against his own people. Mr President, can you envision Syria’s political future without Bashar al-Assad?
Vladimir Putin: I do not think I have the right to determine the political future of Syria, be it with or without al-Assad. This is for the Syrians themselves to decide. Nobody has the right to claim the rights that belong to the people of another country. This is the first thing I wanted to say.
If chemical weapons were used by President al-Assad’s official agencies, modern verification equipment would certainly find traces of this at the airfield. For certain. These traces would be found in the aircraft and at the airfield. However, everyone refused to conduct such an inspection.
We also proposed sending inspectors to the site of the alleged chemical attack. But they refused as well, claiming that it was dangerous. Why is this dangerous if the attack was delivered at an area where peaceful civilians live and the healthy part of the armed opposition is deployed?
In my opinion, the accusations have been made for the sole purpose of justifying the use of additional measures, including military ones, against al-Assad. That is all. There is no proof that al-Assad has used chemical weapons. We firmly believe that that this is a provocation. President al-Assad did not use chemical weapons…………………
Trump took a tour of the Holy Sepulcher Church like a museum and posed for photos. There is nothing wrong about praying at the Wailing Wall, but why didn’t he kneel at Jesus’ tomb or his Stone of Anointing or the actual Holy Sepulcher? Has any US president ever knelt there??? Let us know. (more videos of Putin here)
Russian warships positioning in the Mediterranean Sea fired four cruise missiles at Daesh (ISIL, ISIS, IS…) positions in Palmyra countryside in the in the eastern countryside of Homs province.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that frigate Admiral Essen and submarine Krasnodar from the Russian Navy Fleet fired last night 4 Kalibr cruise missiles on ISIS positions near Palmyra, hitting all their targets, noting that the submarine fired the missiles from the seabed.
The missiles destroyed heavy equipment and killed fighters that Islamic State had transferred from its stronghold, Raqqa, to Palmyra, the Russian Defense Ministry has said.
The Russian warships, a frigate named Admiral Essen and submarine named Krasnodar, fired Kalibr cruise missiles on combat vehicles and militants outside the Syrian city of Palmyra, the Defense Ministry said.
The four cruise missiles were fired from the eastern Mediterranean, it noted in a statement. The submarine fired its missiles while submerged.
Russian jets also destroyed a large Daesh convoy attempting to escape the Syrian city of Raqqa and roll towards Palmyra. Dozens of vehicles carrying heavy weaponry manned by over 80 terrorists were hit, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
On Monday night, three Daesh convoys left Raqqa heading south towards Palmyra, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a Thursday statement.
The airstrikes were called in after the movements were spotted by reconnaissance units.
The Russian Air Force targeted the convoys on the run, killing 80 Daesh mercenary-terrorists and destroying 36 vehicles, eight fuel trucks, and 17 pickups carrying mortars and large-caliber machine guns……………………………
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with French publication Le Figaro, has revealed that a US president is more often than not just a figurehead of government. A certain person may be elected by the public on the basis of his merit and ideals – but rarely is this person able to formulate policy. Putin explained that the ‘bureaucracy’ in the US, which is more commonly known as the Deep State, is very powerful and as such does not allow any real change in direction.
“Presidents come and go, but the politics remains the same.” As such, an individual, who may have his own genuine ideas, is elected into the White House only to satisfy the illusion of a democratic process taking place. In reality, “men in dark suits”, who remain anonymous to the voting public, continue to pursue the well-established interests of the US elite with each incoming administration.
The Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed some 120 Daesh (banned in Russia) militants trying to escape the violent group’s self-proclaimed capital city of Raqqa in Syria, a military source told Sputnik.
The radical mercenary-terrorists were eliminated by Russian airstrikes on May 25, while fleeing from Syria’s Raqqa for Palmyra, according to a source in the Russian Defense Ministry. The source revealed that the convoy of 39 pick-up trucks armed with large-caliber machine-guns was heading out of the city.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has fulfilled his promise and personally awarded Russian Special Forces’ fighters who have been repelling an attack by terrorists in Syria for two days, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
May 10 saw four officers from the Russian Defense Ministry’s Special Operations Forces awarded medals for showing extraordinary courage combatting terrorists in Syria’s Aleppo, according to Russia’s Rossiya-24 television channel. The relevant decree was earlier issued by Putin.
According to media reports, 16 Russian Spetsnaz officers entered the frontline in the province of Aleppo to transfer the coordinates of targets for airstikes. They were attacked by militants. Terrorists used Grad systems, artillery, mortars and a tank to attack the Russian military……………………
(Russian with English subtitles) ~Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with the Mir Interstate Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. (Thanks Russia Insider, Credit to Russian MFA)
A newborn Syrian baby was given the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Sahnaya village, near Damascus, after being born on Saturday. The toddler’s father, Nawras Mihoub, said, “On the day of the fallen heroes [6th of May], God sent us our baby, and we named him Vladimir Putin as the expression of our friendship and love to the role which our Russian friends played in the help to the Syrian Arab Army”.
Iran, Turkey and Russia have signed a memorandum on the creation of four security zones in Syria during another round of the peace talks in Astana on May 4.
According to the document, security zones were proposed in the province of Idlib, in the area north of the city of Homs, in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus and in southern Syria.
“Guarantors within five days after signing the memorandum will create a working group at the level of authorized representatives to determine the boundaries of disarmament, areas of tension and security areas, as well as to address technical issues related to the implementation of the memorandum,” the text of the document reads.
All technical issues, including borders of the zones, should be solved until May 22. The next round of the Astana peace talks will take place in mid-July when the trilateral group will report about the process of the reconciliation.
If the initiative achieves at least partly success, this will likely mean that in May or June the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allied forces, backed up by Russia and Iran, will launch a large operation against ISIS (ISIL, Daesh) in central Syria, aiming to reach the key city of Deir Ezzor besieged by ISIS. However, these will be possible only if the situation near Damascus, Daraa and Homs will be calm.
The SAA, led by the 105th Brigade of the Republican Guard, stormed the remaining militant defense lines in the southeastern part of the Qaboun district in eastern Damascus and captured a number of buildings from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Al-Rahman Corps……………………….
A Russian military adviser, Alexei Buchelnikov, was killed in Syria by a sniper from the ranks of militants, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on May 2. Buchelnikov was “a member of the group that had been training personnel of the Syrian artillery units.”
Experts note that according to photo and video evidence the Russian military has recently expanded a number of military advisers embedded with Syrian army units as well as intensified efforts aimed at training Syrian military personnel.
These developments came amid a significant increase of the number of U.S. troops and military equipment deployed in the Kurdish-held area in northeastern Syria and embedded with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Meanwhile, Russian military servicemen accompanied with members of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have visited the Runbar refugee camp in the Afrin Canton, a YPG-held area in northwestern Syria. Earlier this week, the camp came under shelling from Turkish military forces.
According to more neutral sources, Russian military servicemen are setting up two posts near the border in order to monitor possible clashes between Kurdish militias and the Turkish military………………………
Published on Nov 24, 2016: Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed the EU parliament resolution against Russian media. He said that Europe is trying to “teach” Russia democracy.
The plot thickens: In the meeting with Italian President in Moscow on 11 April, President Putin said that the US “deep state” military-financial interests potentially pressured President Trump into the airstrike on Syria. “Should anything go really wrong – Trump is who they will blame” – he said. A day later, Putin revealed in an interview that he was made aware of the airstrike a number of hours in advance. Given what we know about the situation so far – 1) Russia was given sufficient warning time to remove any personnel from the airbase, both Russian and Syrian, and 2) Not only did half of the US cruise missiles fail to reach the destination, but the ones that did were seemingly off-course. Very little damage was sustained at the Syrian airbase or the aircraft, as pointed out soon after the incident, by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
This leads me to believe that the whole thing was a facade, designed to appease certain “financial-military” interests inside the US ‘deep state’, as originally alluded to by President Putin. The slander of #RussiaGate has seemingly disappeared since Trump became a ‘war President’. The issue of ‘whodunnit’ over the preliminary gas attack, which served as justification for the US airstrike, remains at large.
Syrian Gas Attack is a Lie – “Stop Your Governments!”
Maria Zakharova calls on Western respresenatives/ journalists to hear Russia, and what it has to say. The attack against the Syrian government (on April 7th, US warships delivered an illegal blow to a Syrian airbase in Homs: their justification was the recent “chemical weapon” attack on behalf of the Syrian government in Idlib), much like the Ghouta gas attack in 2013, which precipitated the Syrian civil war, is a giant facade for the military industrial warhawks in the U.S., to put their money where their mouth is.
Lavrov schools Tillerson in basic lessons of history
(updated) At the Tillerson – Lavrov talks in Moscow last week, Russia’s Foreign Minister disagreed with the US Secretary of State in their stance on the use of chemical weapons by Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. Russia stands for a full investigation to take place, prior to taking any kind of action. In his explanation Lavrov noted, that the only source of information on the Idlib gas attack comes from the widely discredited ‘White Helmets’ propagandists. No official investigation by international bodies, has taken place. Tillerson, on the other hand, is quite assured of Assad’s involvement in the attack, without questioning White Helmets’ evidence. Furthermore, Russia’s top diplomat made it quite clear that no more ‘regime changes’ are possible, citing the devastating examples of Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya and Sudan. This week, the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, and UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Boris Johnson, were set to meet with Russia’s representatives in Moscow. Johnson has since pulled out of the meeting, in wake of the US airstrike on Syria, citing “Russia’s continued defence of the Assad regime.” While the backdrop to this meeting sets the stage to be particularly on edge, it is also true that to this day, no coherent foreign policy strategy has been made public on behalf of the Trump administration, and most certainly, no collusion has taken place with President Putin (despite the fake news rumours on CNN and BBC). In this clip, Maria Zakharova, Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, remains her pragmatic self in her stance on illegal US actions. Most notably, she claims that one of the components to the recent attack on Syria by the US, is to mask the humanitarian disaster that is Mosul, under a US-led counter-terrorism operation. Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Affairs Minister – he reminds Tillerson that he does not dance with boys! Don’t miss my previous video on Vimeo with Maria Zakharova, which was not allowed on YouTube due to copyright blocks: “Airstrike on Syria: The world is held hostage by the US“
Deep State problems: Putin warns of more chemical attacks
At Press Conference of Vladimir Putin and his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella, the Russian President was asked for his view in regard to the US airstrike on Syria. His response revealed not a bashing of the new US administration, but the rivalries of the US “deep state” military-financial interests that potentially pressured President Trump into the airstrike on Syria. “Should anything go really wrong – Trump is who they will blame” – he said. Moreover, Putin told reporters that Russian intelligence indicates that terrorist factions operating in Syria are planning further chemical weapons attacks, likely in regions south of Damascus. These attacks will then be used as justification for more strikes against the Assad government. A day earlier, Fort Russ Editor in Chief, Joaquin Flores, stated the very same reasoning on RT talk-show CrossTalk Bullhorns. In his analysis, he explained that there are a lot more interests than meet the eye when it comes to the Idlib “chemical gas attack” and the subsequent US airstrike on Syria.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has said it is “bewildered and disappointed” over new US sanctions targeting eight Russian companies, including defense firms and pilot training academies, which the State Department claims engage in “proliferation” activity with Iran, North Korea and Syria.
Paul Graig Robers, former Assistant Secretary of US Treasury, talks to RT on the issue.
While the restrictions will cause “no serious problems” for Russia, they undermine the fight against global terrorism, which Washington has been claiming is its priority, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
“This step runs counter to the statements we hear from Washington that emphasize the fight against terrorism, in particular in Syria, where it has gained a foothold. On the contrary, it is completely at odds with such declarations and undermines the prospects of setting up comprehensive multilateral cooperation to destroy Islamic State [IS, formerly ISIS,ISIL] and other terrorist groups that pose a threat to all countries, including the US,” Zakharova said.
“Washington again does the bidding of those who made a consistent destruction of Russia-US cooperation their main priority. These people have long been searching for enemies in the place where they don’t really exist. Such an approach does not obviously meet the security interests of the US,” Zakharova said………………………
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned NATO’s attempt to “constantly provoke” Russia, through expansion and the placing of weapons “across national borders,” during an address to the Federal Security Service, in Moscow on Thursday.
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia (Russian):“Good afternoon, dear comrades. Our meetings in the framework of the annual board of the Federal Security Service allow us to analyse deeply and summarise the work of the department over the last year, it is also a good opportunity to comprehensively discuss the most important questions of national security generally.”
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia (Russian):“Over the past year the situation in the world has not become more stable, has not improved. It is the opposite, many of the existing challenges and threats only worsened. There has been intensified military-political and economic competition between global and regional centres of influence and individual countries. If you look bloody conflicts are continuing in several are continuing bloody conflicts Middle Eastern, Asian and African countries. International terrorist groups are actively involved in them and in fact a terrorist army is receiving hidden and even explicit support from some states. At the NATO summit last July in Warsaw for the first time since 1989, Russia was named the main security threat to the Alliance, and dealing with it [Russia] was officially proclaimed as the new NATO mission, and the further expansion of the block is being undertaken with this particular aim. In fact, it was carried out before, but now they have found another argument, that seems more serious to them. The have sped up the process of the placement of strategic and conventional weapons across national borders. We are being provoked all the time. In plain words, they constantly provoke and tend to try to draw us into a confrontation. And attempts to interfere in our internal affairs, aimed to destabilise the social and political situation in Russia, do not stop. We also saw a serious escalation of the situation in the south-east of Ukraine recently. The aim of this escalation is clear: to abort the Minsk agreements. The current government in Ukraine is definitely not ready for a peaceful solution to this complex problem and rely on a military solution. Moreover, they are speaking in public about terrorist organisations, subversive activities, including in Russia. It could not, not disturb us. The events and circumstances mentioned, require particular attention and concentration of force from special and targeted structures in Russia, above all the Federal Security Service, primarily in the fight against terrorism.”
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia (Russian):“The activity of terrorist groups should be identified and blocked, their financial base should be liquidated, as well as the activities of emissaries from abroad, their subversive activities on the internet should be suppressed, at the same time consider, of course, the Russian and international experience in this field.”
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia (Russian):“We should take our anti-terror cooperation with foreign partners to the next level, in spite of all the difficulties, which are being formed in various areas of international life. First and foremost, of course, we have to strengthen our work with our partners in such organisations as the UN, the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organisation] and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Our common interest is the restoration of a dialogue with the intelligence services in the United States, of other countries and members of NATO. It is not our fault that it was broken and does not develop. It is obvious that in the counterterrorism area all the responsible states and international associations should cooperate, because even a simple information exchange on the sources and channels of terrorists funding, on the people involved or suspected of involvement in terrorism, seriously increases the effectiveness of our joint efforts.”
Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko is playing a desperate poker game in which he is gambling his political future with an all-out war in Europe. In a scene reminiscent of an old Hollywood B-movie Western, Poroshenko appears like a washed-up gunslinger with a lousy hand of cards who is bluffing with empty bravado.
However, the difference is Poroshenko is no gunslinger. And this is not fiction. It is grim reality where lives are suffering from his poker games.
He is a billionaire chocolate oligarch who along with his cronies in Kiev have driven their country into ruins. If a war breaks out, these effete, self-dealing elites will not be doing the fighting. They will find some luxury exile from where to spend their embezzled loot.
… … …
According to Eduard Basurin, the vice commander of the DPR, as quoted in Fort Russ: “Following the talk between Poroshenko and Trump, Ukraine will in the near future cease to receive financial and military support for its terrorist operation in the land of Donbass. In connection with this, the Ukrainian president has fallen into complete despair and is ready to desperately commit to the most reckless action of unleashing a full-scale and bloody war in Eastern Europe.”……………………..
The US is not as innocent as it may seem, according to President Donald Trump. When Fox News host Bill O’Reilly called Vladimir Putin “a killer”, Trump responded: “We’ve got a lot of killers”…(…READ MORE…).
The Kiev government provoked the latest escalation of violence in east Ukraine as it needs money from its Western partners, which is easier to achieve when a nation pretends to be a victim and facing aggression, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
“The Ukrainian leadership today needs money, and the best way to extort money is [to do that] from the European Union, from certain countries in Europe, from the United States and international institutions, presenting itself as a victim of aggression,”Putin said.
“As we know, the current Ukrainian government took a one-sided position to support one of the candidates during the election campaign in the US,”he said.
“What’s more, some [Ukrainian] oligarchs were even financing this candidate – or female candidate to be more precise – likely with approval from the government.
“Now they want to improve relations with the current administration and also using a conflict – it is always better, always more convenient, easier to draw in the new administration in solving the Ukrainian problems and thus establish some kind of dialogue.” “The Ukrainian opposition has been more active amid clear [government] failures in the economic area and social policy,”Putin said.
“I think that the current Ukrainian leadership is not ready at all to apply the Minsk agreements and is looking for a reason to refuse their implementation.”
The Russian leader made the comments during a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest. (…read more…)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban are holding a joint news conference following their talks in Budapest, Hungary. According to Putin’s top foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, talks are to focus on “developing economic ties” between the two countries.
[by Paul Craig Roberts] ~ Unable to prevent Russia and Syria from winning the war against ISIS, the Pentagon is busy at work derailing the peace negotiations.
President Trump says he wants the U.S. to have better relations with Russia and to halt military operations against Muslim countries. But he is being undermined by the Pentagon.
The commander of US forces in Europe, General Ben Hodges, has lined up tanks on Poland’s border with Russia and fired salvos that the general says are a message to Russia, not a training exercise.
How is Trump going to normalize relations with Russia when the commander of US forces in Europe is threatening Russia with words and deeds?
The Pentagon has also sent armored vehicles to “moderate rebels” in Syria, according to Penagon spokesman Col. John Dorrian………………………..
Every year, Vladimir Putin takes the time to personally acknowledge individuals who excel in various categories of society; the arts and sciences. The entire ceremony is over an hour long, with each laureate addressing the assembly hall. I have selected only a few speakers, which showcase the general public perception of Vladimir Putin as President – much to the detriment of Western mainstream media. (Translation thanks to Inessa Sinchougova)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has had his first telephone conversation with new US President Donald Trump. They discussed the joint fight against international terrorism, the situation in the Middle East, the Ukrainian crisis and plans for a future meeting of the two leaders.
“The Presidents have spoken in favor of establishing a real coordination between the US and Russian actions in order to defeat ISIS and other terrorist organizations in Syria,” the statement said.
The two leaders also discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as Iran’s nuclear program. “Major aspects of the Ukrainian crisis have been also touched upon,” the Kremlin announced.
The leaders of Russia and the US have noted a need to restore economic ties “to stimulate” further development of the relationship between the nations.
However, earlier in January, Trump said that he would consider lifting restrictions if Moscow cooperates with Washington on certain issues, such as nuclear arms reduction.
Russia has been cautious about the prospects for a potential “reset” with the US under the new administration. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said the country has no “naive expectations” and is under no “illusions”………………….
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that he is “confident” that that a resolution on the war in Syria can be reached.
All parties understand that the dynamics of the Syrian crisis have shifted since Russian President Vladimir Putin “went in,” Kerry said.
“I believe that the parties are now reaching a state of near exhaustion, that they understand that the dynamics have shifted, and it did the day that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin went in, and therefore there is a way to get to an end game here… I am confident it can be done, I have no doubt about it. ” Kerry said during a World Economic Forum conference.
Christmas is celebrated on the 7th of January in the Gregorian Calendar. This date is observed by Orthodox Christians from Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Greece, and a minority of Christians in African and Middle Eastern countries. This year, President Putin attended Christmas services at Yuriev Monastery, outside Novgorod. Every year, he attends a rural church of his choosing for this purpose. Meanwhile, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow held the official Orthodox Christmas ceremony at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, in Moscow. (We thanksInessa Sinchougova for the translation)
Hundreds of worshipers have gathered in the iconic Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow for the Orthodox Christmas service headed by Patriarch Kirill. Russian President Vladimir Putin is celebrating the holiday in the city of Veliky Novgorod. Commentary is provided by Sergei Brun, academic fellow at the Museum of the Russian Icon in Moscow, and RT news anchor Nadira Tudor.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: “Citizens of Russia, friends, The year 2016 is coming to a close. It was a challenging year, but the difficulties we faced have brought us together and allowed us to reveal enormous resources for our movement forward. The main thing is that we believe in ourselves, in our strengths and in our country. We are working, and working successfully, and we are achieving much. I would like to thank you for the victories and achievements, for your understanding and trust, and for your true, sincere care for Russia. We have a vast, unique and wonderful country! We are united by common concerns and common joys, by our long-standing good tradition of meeting the New Year with our families and with hope for the best. But not everyone is at the holiday table today. Many of our citizens are away from home, ensuring Russia’s security, working at enterprises, on duty in hospitals, ad operating trains and aircraft. I would like to convey my very best wishes for the New Year to all those who are now fulfilling their labour and military duties. Dear friends, We are excitedly awaiting the sound of the chimes of the Moscow Kremlin, and we feel the march of time and the approaching future more clearly than ever before. We experience this only during these moments, during this wonderful and beloved holiday. Meanwhile, New Year has its own secrets. For instance, each of us may become something of a magician on the night of the New Year. To do this we simply need to treat our parents with love and gratitude, take care of our children and families, respect our colleagues at work, nurture our friendships, defend truth and justice, be merciful and help those who are in need of support. This is the whole secret. May our dreams, heavenly thoughts and good intentions come true. May joy and love reign in every home. May our beloved streets, cities and villages become even more beautiful. Peace and prosperity to our common, great homeland, Russia. Happiness, health and wellbeing to each of you. Happy New Year 2017!”
In response to Obama’s new sanctions, a same day article quoted Sergey Lavrov, saying Russia “cannot leave unanswered insults of the kind, reciprocity is the law of diplomacy and foreign relations.”
He recommended Putin respond tit for tat while blasting Obama’s deplorable action. It seemed certain, but didn’t happen. Putin took the high ground, in stark contrast to his disgraceful US counterpart, issuing a statement, saying:
“We regard the recent unfriendly steps taken by the outgoing US administration as provocative and aimed at further weakening the Russia-US relationship.”
“This runs contrary to the fundamental interests of both the Russian and American people. Considering the global security responsibilities of Russia and the United States, this is also damaging to international relations as a whole.”
The diplomats who are returning to Russia will spend the New Year’s holidays with their families and friends. We will not create any problems for U.S. diplomats.”
“Moreover, I invite all children of U.S. diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas children’s parties in the Kremlin.”
“It is regrettable that the Obama Administration is ending its term in this manner. Nevertheless, I offer my New Year greetings to President Obama and his family.”…………………………
Just days after the liberation of Syria’s northern city of Aleppo, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was gunned down while giving a talk at an art gallery in Turkey’s capital of Ankara.
The gunman, identified as a former Turkish police officer, flashed the familiar one finger gesture used by terrorist organizations operating in neighboring Syria including by Jabhat Al Nusra and the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” – while shouting, according to the Guardian:
Don’t forget Aleppo. Don’t forget Syria. Unless our towns are secure, you won’t enjoy security. Only death can take me from here. Everyone who is involved in this suffering will pay a price.
The attack coincided with an alleged security incident near America’s embassy in Ankara, characterized by the US Embassy as a “shooting,” though it may be in reference to the actual assassination.
Western newspapers, however, including the Daily Mail, the UK Express, and The Sun attempted to portray the announcement as a separate incident. This may be a deliberate attempt to portray the US as a victim in tandem with Russia, to divert suspicion away from US involvement….
In a televised statement, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the assassination of the Russian ambassador in Ankara a clear provocation aimed at derailing the Syrian peace negotiations.
“This crime is obviously a provocation aimed at hampering the normalization of Russia-Turkey relations, as well as at derailing the peace process in Syria, which is actively mediated by Russia, Turkey and Iran,” Putin said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and heads of Russian security bodies in the Kremlin.
“The only response to this [crime] could be the strengthening of the fight against terrorism,” Putin stressed.
Russia has announced that they will send a team of investigators to Turkey after a horrific murder of Ambassador Andrey Karlov in Ankara.
Russia is deploying the military police from its Republic of Chechnya to Syria according to an amateur video appeared in the Social Media on December 7. The video allegedly shows preparations of over 100 Chechen military police members before their dispatch to Syria from the military base in Hankala, a settlement near the Chechen Republic’s capital – Grozny.
According to reports in the Russian media, Chechen fighters will guard crucial infrastructure, civilian and military objects in Syria. Russian experts suggest that at least a part of Chechen fighters will be dispatched to the city of Aleppo. With the full liberation of the city, the Syrian-Russian-Iranian alliance will have to improve humanitarian and security situation in the city damaged by the war.
Earlier, the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, announced that some Chechen units already operate in Syria along with other units of the Russian Special Forces.
In total, Syrian government forces liberated from militants 50 neighborhoods of eastern Aleppo, the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria announced in a statement late on Wednesday.
Jaish al-Fatah and Fatah Halab militant coalitions’ defenses are collapsing in the Syrian city of Aleppo under the pressure of pro-government forces.
Late on December 6 and early on December 7, the Syrian army, the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Liwa al-Quds set control over the areas east and north of the Aleppo Citadel and seized the almost whole neighborhood of Old Aleppo, including the Umayyad Mosque.
According to military experts and analysts, the Russian Special Forces actively participate in military operations in Syria, contributing to elimination of leaders of militants.
A military operation, which was started in Aleppo, was prepared in advance, and Russian military advisers and officers of the Russian Special Forces had a finger in the pie, Russian media reported, citing independent military experts. According to media, this fact is confirmed by numerous actions to eliminate the most notorious leaders of militants’ groups, resulting in appearance of perturbation and perplexity among Syrian jihadists.
Before the offensive of the Syrian Arab Army, accounts of the Syrian opposition in social networks reported about deaths of ten well-known battlefield commanders. Most of them were killed by shots from long-range heavy-caliber sniper rifles. Others became victims of missile attacks of the Russian Aerospace Forces during talks by cell or satellite phones – this indicates the fact of usage of precision-guided munitions.
However, with the beginning of a battle for the eastern districts of Aleppo, this trend continued. Over the past 10 days, it was reported about deaths of Abdul Hamid Haji Ahmad – one of the leaders of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Saeed Shahabi and Hasema al-Musa – commanders of the Jabhat al-Shamiyah group, Omar Muhammad al-Haji – an emir of the Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki group, leader of the Aleppo’s branch of the Harakat Ahrar al-Sham group, Abu al-Haris, and one of the mercenary leaders of the Al-Nusra Front gang, Abu al-Mugheerah al-Shishani….>>>…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked Russia’s Defence Military to posthumously award two female nurses with honoury medals after they were killed in Syria on Monday. Mercenary-terrorists shelled the mobile hospital which Russian nurses Nadezhda Durachenko and Galina Mikhailova had been working in near Aleppo. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia (from Russian): “It is important to continue, and we will certainly do so, strengthening the country’s defence capacity, modernisation and technical re-equipment of the armed forces [will take place]. The military operation against terrorists in Syria has become convincing evidence of the increased quality of the capabilities of the army and navy. They demonstrated the well-coordinated work of the units, subunits and – what is more important – they showed the high martial spirit of the personnel. While risking their lives, the Russian servicemen do everything to help the Syrian army in the fight against terrorism and to save the lives of civilians”. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia (from Russian): “As you know the medical workers of a military hospital were killed while on duty on December 5, they are the Sergeants Nadezhda Vladimirovna Durachenko and Galina Viktorovna Mikhailova. And yesterday Colonel Ruslan Viktorovich Galitsky died in Syria after being severely wound during the terrorists’ shelling. Let’s honour their memory with a minute of silence”. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia (from Russian): “Thank you. I am asking the Defence Ministry to recommend all our comrades for state awards and to do everything possible to support their families in such difficult times”.
“Why did we enter? We do not have an eye on Syrian soil. The issue is to provide lands to their real owners. That is to say we are there for the establishment of justice. We entered there to end the rule of the tyrant al-Assad who terrorizes with state terror. [We didn’t enter] for any other reason”, Erdogan said.
If Turkish troops were in Syria to remove its President, instead with the flimsy excuse of fighting ISIS under a badly fitting UN mandate, they would be a hostile invasion force and a legitimate target for Syria and its allies.
The remark was thus stupid. It weakened the Turkish position.
Kremlin asks Erdogan to clarify ‘anti-Assad’ goals in Syria.
Erdogan tried to save the situation, promising a retreat from his statement for at least some gain for the Jihadis he supports.
Erdogan’s statement, aimed at his supporters in Turkey and elsewhere, created a legal mess for his troops. The attempt to sell a retreat from it for some gain was harshly rejected by Russia.
Now all Erdogan could do was to take his statement back with no gain at all. This was quite a loss of face for him – a well deserved one.
The game Erdogan tried would probably have worked with Merkel, or some other EU politician. Russia will have none of it. No means no. When Russia says stay out of Al-Bab it means stay out of Al-Bab…>>>…
Russia will soon deploy mobile hospitals to Aleppo region to provide treatment to residents, according to the Kremlin.
The medical personnel arrived at the airport late Tuesday, where the loading of the hospital’s equipment on planes has begun.
It comes as the Russian military announced a breakthrough in Syria’s operation to retake the mercenary-terrorists held part of Aleppo.
Tens of thousands of civilians, who were previously kept by armed groups as human shields, are now in the government-controlled part of the city and require supplies and medical attention…>>>…
The resolution adopted by the European Parliament against Russia’s media outlets is the first step towards imposing censorship against all media sources which express different views from those promoted by the EU leadership, Italian journalist Giulietto Chiesa warns.
The European Parliament’s decision to crack down on Russia’s news websites, most notably Sputnik and RT, and considering them alongside terrorist groups like Daesh and Al-Qaeda, has stirred a heated debate among international media pundits and independent observers.
“I write for Sputnik and cooperate with different Russian television broadcasters. So what will they do to me now?” Giulietto Chiesa, an Italian journalist and Director of PandoraTV.it, asks rhetorically.
“This greatly worries me, as we had a very negative experience of group stigmatizing here in Serbia, when NATO bombed the building of RTS channel in 1999, justifying that as ‘the struggle against the Milosevic propaganda machine.’ The airstrikes killed 16 of our colleagues,” the journalist emphasized.
The resolution adopted by the European Parliament that compared Russian media to Daesh propaganda, is one of the harshest attacks on journalism, Director of the Radio Belgrade (Radio Beograda) Milivoje Mihajlovic told Sputnik on Thursday.
“I am particularly surprised by the comparison of the media with terrorist organizations. It’s a classic self-inflicted mistake of the European Parliament, and it will be remembered as one of the harshest attacks on the profession of journalist,” Mihajlovic said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the matter by pointing out that the document indicates a degradation of democracy in the West. Praising Sputnik and RT for their work, the president expressed hope that real media restrictions would not follow.
The EU resolution was adopted in Strasbourg with 304 MEPs supporting it, 179 voting against and 208 abstaining. ~ It was drawn up by a Polish member of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, Anna Fotyga, and is based on a report dubbed ‘EU strategic communication to counteract propaganda against it by third parties’. ~ The report says that Russian media attempts to ‘distort the truth, provoke doubt, divide the EU and its North American partners, paralyze the decision-making process, discredit the EU institutions and incite fear and uncertainty among EU citizens.’ ~ The document singles out RT, Sputnik news agency, the Rossotrudnichestvo federal agency and the Russkiy Mir (Russian World) fund as being particularly devious tools of propaganda.
