RT News - January 14th 2023

Liberation of Soledar: Over 170 civilians have been evacuated from the city of Soledar, in the Donetsk Republic as Moscow confirms Russian troops now fully control the city. RT's correspondent heard some of their stories.
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Russia has reiterated that it wants peace negotiations for Ukraine but has warned that Moscow's terms must form the basis of talks. In the United Nations China warns about the conflict in Ukraine and Beijing says Western actions are provoking a larger-scale conflict in the region.
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China accuses the U.K. of a colonial mindset and interfering in Hong Kong policies. Meanwhile UK .gov is being accused of weakening human rights in Britain itself. (see earlier posts on this channel)
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Dominic Raab, deputy prime minister of UK, wants to raise funds for an enquiry on war crimes to be held in London - inviting the Dutch government. Rachel Marsden reports. (QS : first Raab should get a list of these "war crimes" up together and an outline of evidence before fleecing the British public of even more money we don't have).
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Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has been acquitted by Rusada on alleged doping violations. The World anti-doping agency says it's concerned by Russia's Rusada and might appeal to the court of arbitration.
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The Peruvian general attorney launches an inquiry to identify those responsible for 47 deaths since December during protests in support of the ousted president.
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Iran says it's dispatching some of it's navy vessels to the Panama Canal, a key trade route. Iran has been strengthening trade and other ties with Nicaragua and Venezuela and has had it's shipped "siezed" (QS - pirated?) on several occasions. Report from Michael Maloof and Foad Izadi.
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A U.S. senator speaks out about training Ukraine soldiers in USA (Oklahoma) and has called out the "accidental" bomb hitting and killing Polish farmers last year. (QS meanwhile UK and Canada .govs have been spending taxpayer's money on training Ukraine forces for years, more recently several thousands of Ukraine troops are in Britain currently at taxpayer's expense being "trained", previously training was, presumably, in Ukraine itself

https://twitter.com/DontDenyThe/status/1590572557396488193 )

"The cost of U.S. involvement could be great for it's citizens, if the conflict heats up" - comments from international attorney Kline Preston.

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Below, via RT website 1) --- US threatens Serbia with ‘deep freeze’ – media
2) --- Russia speaks on endgame for Ukraine conflict
3) --- Russian MOD praises ‘selfless’ Wagner fighters
4) --- German defence minister to resign – media
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13 Jan, 2023 22:09

1) --- US threatens Serbia with ‘deep freeze’ – media

American spies will reportedly boycott their colleagues in Belgrade over their ‘pro-Russian’ chief

Washington is unhappy with Belgrade’s choice of spy chief and intends to suspend intelligence cooperation until Serbia rethinks its “personnel solutions,” local CNN affiliate N1 claimed on Friday, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.

Aleksandar Vulin was named head of the Security and Intelligence Agency (BIA) in early December. He was previously in charge of the Interior Ministry, but swapped places with former BIA Bratislav Gasic as part of a cabinet reshuffle.

According N1, the US has signalled to Serbia repeatedly that it disapproved of the appointment, most recently at a meeting between Ambassador Christopher Hill and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic last week.

“Reliable sources” told the outlet that Hill threatened a “deep freeze” in cooperation between the BIA and the US intelligence community, noting that Vulin presented a “major problem” for Washington.

Hill allegedly told Dacic that the US would prefer to collaborate with the Interior Ministry instead, to which Dacic replied he would arrange Gasic to visit Washington soon.

The CNN affiliate claims the US considers Vulin pro-Russian. As evidence, N1 pointed to Vulin’s multiple meetings with Nikolay Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s national security council, while he was in charge of the police. They also brought up the accusations by Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza that Vulin had him wiretapped on Moscow’s behalf. Vulin has denied the allegations and said he would sue Kara-Murza for libel.

Following Hill’s meeting with Dacic last week, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic made a cryptic remark about Belgrade crawling with spies, calling the Serbian capital “the new Casablanca,” in reference to the famous WWII Hollywood movie.

In an interview with the local broadcaster TV Pink, Vucic said the city hadn’t seen that much intelligence activity since the Second World War, and that foreign intelligence agents were “obviously preparing various things,” without naming their countries of origin or objectives.

Though Belgrade officially aspires to EU membership, it has steadfastly refused demands from Brussels and Washington to impose sanctions against Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine. Vucic has also refused to recognize the breakaway province of Kosovo as an independent state, something the US has insisted on for almost 15 years.
https://www.rt.com/news/569845-serbia-spies-cia-russia/
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14 Jan, 2023 08:00

2) --- Russia speaks on endgame for Ukraine conflict

The hostilities can only cease when Kiev stops posing a threat to Moscow, the nation’s UN envoy has said

The Ukraine conflict may be concluded either through diplomatic, or military means, but only after Moscow has achieved its goals, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, said on Friday.

Speaking at a briefing at the UN Security Council, the envoy commented on a possible path for ending the hostilities between the two sides. The opportunity to settle the conflict “will only present itself once Ukraine stops posing a threat to Russia and discriminating against Russian-speaking Ukrainians,” he said.

Nebenzia noted that “if this result can be achieved through negotiations, we stand ready for this scenario. If not – then our tasks will be achieved by military means.”

The diplomat reiterated that Russia is fighting not against the Ukrainian people, but rather against “the criminal nationalist regime which came to power in 2014” after a coup in Kiev. The new Ukrainian leadership has been trying to purge the country of “everything that is related to Russia, and to glorify Nazi accomplices,” he said.

Nebenzia stated that “everything could have ended differently for Ukraine,” if Kiev had enforced the now-defunct Minsk Agreements, which were signed in 2014 and 2015 in a bid to pave the way for peace by granting the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics special status within the Ukrainian state.

However, neither Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky or his predecessors, nor France and Germany, which took part in negotiating the Minsk Agreements, ever intended to fulfill the plan, according to Nebenzia. This diplomatic process “only served as a smokescreen behind which they secretly armed Ukraine in order to set it against Russia,” he stated.

Last month, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted that the Minsk Agreements were “an attempt to give Ukraine time” so that its army could get stronger. Later, this revelation was confirmed by former French President Francois Hollande, who noted that the Minsk Agreements had helped Ukraine to achieve that goal.

Merkel’s and Hollande’s confessions caused an uproar in Moscow, with Russian officials describing them as “formalization of betrayal.”

In December, Ukraine floated the idea of a “Global Peace Summit,” building on Zelensky’s “peace formula,” which in particular demanded Russia withdraw its troops from all territories claimed by Kiev. Moscow dismissed the plan as ignoring the new status of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, and Crimea, as parts of Russia.

Kiev wants to hold the summit at the UN headquarters in New York on February 24, with no indication that Moscow would be invited.
https://www.rt.com/russia/569851-russia-un-endgame-ukraine/
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13 Jan, 2023 23:01

3) --- Russian MOD praises ‘selfless’ Wagner fighters

The “volunteers” led “the assault on the urban quarters” of a strategic Donbass town, the Defense Ministry has said

Fighters from the private military company Wagner Group have played a major role in liberating the strategic Donbass town of Soledar, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post on Friday. The statement follows the announcement by the ministry that the town is now under the full control of Russian forces.

“As for the … assault on the urban quarters of Soledar, occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, this combat mission was fulfilled through the courageous and selfless actions of the volunteers from the Wagner Group strike teams,” the ministry said.

The private military company was the first to claim control over the city earlier this week. The news was confirmed by the Defense Ministry on Friday.

Responding to questions from reporters about the troops that took part in liberating Soledar, the Defense Ministry said it was a “mixed group of forces,” including aviation and artillery units.

The city had a pre-conflict population of around 10,500. It is part of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), but had been held by Ukrainian troops since 2014, when the DPR seceded from the country following the Maidan coup in Kiev. The DPR became part of Russia after holding a referendum in September 2022.

The capture of the town by Russian forces comes as both sides are involved in heavy fighting over the nearby city of Artyomovsk, which has been going on for months. An important supply hub for the Ukrainian forces, the city could open up a channel for the Russian troops to other Ukrainian-held cities such as Slavyansk and Seversk.
https://www.rt.com/russia/569846-defense-ministry-wagner-group-soledar/
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14 Jan, 2023 09:57

2) --- Maduro mulls creating new regional bloc allied to Russia and China

The framework would form “new poles of power,” Venezuela’s president has said

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has proposed establishing a new international bloc involving Latin American and Caribbean countries that would have close ties to Russia and China.

During his annual speech at Venezuela’s parliament on Friday, Maduro said that he had recently spoken with the presidents of Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina about forming a new regional organization. According to Maduro, the time has come “to unite efforts and paths in Latin America and the Caribbean to advance in the formation of a powerful bloc of political forces, of economic power that speaks to the world.”

The Venezuelan president went on to say that this bloc would create “new poles of power,” and would be allied to Russia and China, the leaders of which Maduro referred to as “elder brothers.”

Such an alliance would be “that community of shared destiny that our elder brother President Xi Jinping talks about,” or “that multipolar and multicentric world that our elder brother, President Vladimir Putin, talks about,” Maduro added.

“For this world to arrive, a united and advanced Latin American and Caribbean bloc is needed,” he stressed.

Putin has repeatedly blasted the concept of a “unipolar world” dominated by the US. In September, he claimed that attempts to achieve that configuration “have taken an absolutely ugly form.” Meanwhile, Beijing has said that China and Russia are “promoting together the multipolar world and do not recognize unipolar hegemony.”

Under former President Donald Trump, the US denounced the 2018 election in Venezuela, which Maduro won to secure a second term in power, as “illegitimate.” Washington unleashed a “maximum pressure” campaign to oust him by imposing harsh sanctions on Caracas, which included an oil embargo.

The US also offered support to opposition leader Juan Guaido, recognizing him as Venezuela’s “interim president” in 2019. In the aftermath of the move, Maduro’s government broke off diplomatic relations with Washington.

In the following years, however, attempts to remove Maduro from power, which included a series of street protests and an outright coup attempt, fizzled out. In late December, opposition lawmakers in Venezuela voted to dissolve the ‘interim government’ led by Guaido.

While the US still does not formally recognize Maduro, it has engaged in diplomatic contacts with Caracas in order to negotiate prisoner swaps and has lifted some sanctions.
https://www.rt.com/news/569856-maduro-bloc-russia-china/
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14 Jan, 2023 06:01

3) --- Inflation in Sweden hits three-decade high

The data shows electricity and food topping higher than expected price growth

Inflation in Sweden has soared to double digits for the first time in more than thirty years, fueled by soaring electricity and food prices, Statistics Sweden said on Friday.

Sweden’s inflation adjusted for fixed interest rates (CPIF), the measure used by the country’s central bank, jumped to 10.2% on an annual basis in December, up from 9.5% in November. The figures are higher than the rate of 9.1% projected by Riksbank, and of 9.8% expected by economists.

While inflation is cooling in some countries in the euro area, Sweden is still seeing price increases picking up pace, now reaching the highest level since 1991.

The consumer price index (CPI) accelerated to 12.3%, up from 11.5% in November. That was driven by record high electricity prices, which surged by 28% in December compared to the previous month, and by 45.3% compared to a year earlier, official figures showed.

“The fact that inflation excluding energy prices again surprises on the upside of the Riksbank’s forecasts gives the overall impression that little progress to curb inflation has been achieved so far,” senior economist at Svenska Handelsbanken AB, Johan Lof, said.

On an annual basis, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages surged by 18.2%, while furnishing and household goods rose by 16.3%. Consumer prices advanced 2.1% in monthly terms representing the sharpest gain since January 1993.
https://www.rt.com/business/569818-sweden-inflation-soars/
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13 Jan, 2023 22:25

4) --- German defense minister to resign – media

Christine Lambrecht – who has received many “special impressions” from the Ukraine conflict – is reportedly ready to quit

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has decided to resign and will do so next week, SZ and Bild newspapers reported on Friday. The minister has already discussed the move with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the two media outlets claim, citing sources close to the politician.

According to Bild, Lambrecht made the decision of her own volition. Neither the government nor the defense minister has officially commented on the reported move so far.

The reports follow a major scandal that saw opposition politicians and journalists calling for Lambrecht’s immediate dismissal. The uproar was sparked by her ill-fated New Year’s Eve address, in which she said that the conflict between Moscow and Kiev had given her many “special impressions” and allowed her to meet many “interesting and great people.” Her speech was immediately lambasted as “embarrassing” and “inappropriate.”

The leaders of the biggest opposition bloc – the Union – then accused Scholz of making Lambrecht the defense minister to further weaken the German Armed Forces, which have been struggling with personnel shortages and equipment malfunctions for years.

Lambrecht’s tenure as defense minister also saw another scandal involving military equipment. In December, the nation said it would halt the procurement of modern domestically-produced Puma infantry fighting vehicles due to numerous malfunctions. Lambrecht described the development as a “major setback.”

The minister also took a rather reserved stance on sending military aid to Kiev, repeatedly warning that it is depleting the stocks of the German Armed Forces, and opposed supplying Ukraine with heavier weapons such as Leopard 2 tanks, saying that Berlin will never do so on its own.

Scholz defended Lambrecht, describing her as a “first-class defense minister” in December.
https://www.rt.com/news/569847-german-defense-minister-resign-media/
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