RT News - January 24th 2023

Fakery in Ukraine: Kiev admits it faked efforts to make peace with Moscow last March, to buy its military time to re-arm and re-group, while the West tries to blame Russia for the failure to stop the conflict. (QS with the "permission" of US - Boris Johnson ensured any thought of peace negotiations between Russia and Kiev went out of the window in April 2022; my tweet https://twitter.com/DontDenyThe/status/1617420287368216576)
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Click on "more" below for expanded news
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Russia and South Africa hail their independent decision-making and partnership, amid Washington's efforts to woo Africans to hop on the Western bandwagon against Moscow. (QS - *important read* this is the legislation the debtor state USA is imposing on Africa https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7311/text NB Africa does owe money but a tiny fraction of the western alliances, with USA owing more than $31 trillion as external debt - that's the stuff you can't print away. Also note the potential of Africa with thousands of £$€ trillions of resources and a young, properly enthusiastic workforce more than able to to take advantage and grow Africa into the rich continent it deserves to be. Africans are not the colonialist's slaves. It's 2023 and the world has moved on, with just the western governments reluctant to let them free).
Karabo Letlhatlha reports on the meeting.
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Brazil and Argentina agree to aim to ditch the dollar, as the South American nations eye a common currency roadmap. (B)
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Türkiye / NATO The Turkish president says he will not support Sweden's NATO bid in response to the sanctioned burning of the Koran at a protest in Stockholm. See yesterday's "late" post re Dutch anti-Islamic group "Pegida"
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Serbia/Kosovo: Pres. Vucic says he doesn't rule out leaving his post as President if it in any way helps the people and prosperity of Serbia. This comes as Pres Vucic has insisted on taking only a naeutral stance on the Ukraine conflict. Detailed report from Nikola Jovic.
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Below, via RT website: A) --- Chief of General Staff details Russia’s response to security threats
B) --- Major South American states move to cut reliance on US dollar – media
C) --- US plans threatened WWIII – ex-Russian president
1) --- Reshuffle in Kiev amid scandals
2) --- Ukraine conflict to cost Germany 4.5% of GDP – DW
3) --- NATO applicant may abandon unity – FM
4) --- Moscow rubbishes ‘fantasy’ NYT parcel bomb claims
5) --- EU gas price cap threatens market stability – regulators
6) --- Russia-Iran trade blossoming
7) --- Russian military opposed by ‘almost entire West’ in Ukraine – top general
8) --- EU expands ‘engagement’ in ex-Soviet republic
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24 Jan, 2023 10:20

A) --- Chief of General Staff details Russia’s response to security threats

Three motorized rifle divisions to be created in newly-acquired Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, Army General Valery Gerasimov says

The chief of Russia’s armed forces, Army General Valery Gerasimov, has said that Moscow is going to set up new military districts and put together fresh units to counter the most pressing security threats it faces, including a hybrid war in Ukraine, as well as Finland and Sweden potentially joining NATO.

“At the moment, such threats are the aspirations of NATO to expand by incorporating Finland and Sweden, as well as the use of Ukraine as a tool for waging a hybrid war against our country” by the US and its allies, Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov, who also heads Russia's joint forces in Ukraine, said in an interview in newspaper Argumenty i Fakty on Monday.

According to the general, the Russian military’s response to those challenges will, among other things, include the creation of the Moscow and Leningrad military districts and the formation of three motorized rifle divisions in Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, which joined Russia in autumn after referendums, as did the Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Also on the agenda is putting together an army corps in the Republic of Karelia, located in Russia’s northwest and bordering Finland.

Speaking about the conflict in Ukraine, Gerasimov pointed out that the Russian military hasn’t seen hostilities of such scale and intensity in the country’s modern history and that Moscow was “opposed by almost the entire collective West” there.

Finland and Sweden applied to become NATO members in May, citing concerns over Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. But their bids have so far been blocked by Türkiye, which accused the two Nordic nations of harboring members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and other associated groups, designated by Ankara as “terrorist organizations.”

The three sides signed an agreement last June to address Ankara's concerns and pave the way for approving the NATO applications. But Sweden’s future in the US-led military appears now to be hanging in the balance, after an anti-Islam activist was allowed to burn a copy of the Koran near the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm on Saturday.

Türkiye’s leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded by telling the Swedish authorities that if they won’t respect the faith of the Turkish people “then, no offense but you will not receive any support from us with regard to NATO.”
https://www.rt.com/russia/570393-ukraine-finland-sweden-gerasimov/
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22 Jan, 2023 14:50

B) --- Major South American states move to cut reliance on US dollar – media

Brazil and Argentina are reportedly set to start work on creating a currency union that would eventually involve other nations on the continent

Brazil and Argentina plan to create a common currency, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing officials. The plan will be discussed and officially announced at a summit in Buenos Aires this week, according to the report.

“There will be… a decision to start studying the parameters needed for a common currency, which includes everything from fiscal issues to the size of the economy and the role of central banks,” Argentina’s Economy Minister Sergio Massa told the news outlet.

According to Massa, other Latin American nations will be invited to join the common currency project. Brazil is proposing calling the new currency ‘sur,’ which translates as ‘south’.

Massa noted that the creation of the ‘sur’ is likely to take years, pointing to the fact that it took Europe 35 years to create the euro.

“It would be a study of mechanisms for trade integration. I don’t want to create any false expectations… it’s the first step on a long road which Latin America must travel.”

Other officials who spoke to the news outlet said the new currency is expected to boost regional trade and help cut the countries’ reliance on the US dollar.

Brazil and Argentina have discussed the idea of a common currency for several years, but Brazil’s central bank previously blocked efforts to get such an initiative off the ground, sources told the Financial Times.

The two countries boast the largest economies in South America. Brazil is a member of the BRICS group and has enjoyed relative economic stability in recent years, although analysts point to a number of headwinds that could dampen growth this year. Argentina, meanwhile, has been plagued by economic instability for decades. The country has defaulted on its debt several times, most recently in 2020, and has had to resort to capital controls to protect its currency. Inflation in the country is currently soaring and it has a roughly $40 billion debt to the IMF.
https://www.rt.com/business/570300-south-america-nations-common-currency/
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23 Jan, 2023 21:11

C) --- US plans threatened WWIII – ex-Russian president

Dmitry Medvedev revealed his view of what caused the Ukraine conflict and his country’s international priorities

The US and its allies almost ignited a third world war by preparing to attack Russia, which had no choice but to do something about it, former president Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday. He was addressing the leadership of the ruling United Russia party in Moscow.

“Our party should help the people around the world understand that the ongoing special operation was a forced and last-resort response to preparations for aggression by the US and its satellites,” Medvedev said.

“It is obvious that the world came close to the threat of WWIII because of what was happening,” he added.

Medvedev also described a “serious crisis” at the UN and other international institutions, which were created to resolve international disputes but have been turned into a battlefield by the West instead.

“Our opponents are trying to enlist as many votes as possible in support of their anti-Russian initiatives, using underhanded means such as economic pressure, extortion and political bribery,” Medvedev said, adding that the main mission of Russian diplomacy remained countering this “cynical line” by the West.

Medvedev was president of Russia between 2008 and 2012, after which he became the chairman of the ruling party and prime minister. He stepped down as PM in 2020 to run the national security council.

Though the West considered him a “liberal” during his presidency, Medvedev has been blunt and outspoken about the special military operation in Ukraine since it was launched in February 2022. Just last week, he ridiculed the World Economic Forum in Davos and warned the West that the current conflict is existential in nature for Russia, which should be kept in mind when it comes to nuclear weapons and their possible use.

Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian president Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”

The Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.
https://www.rt.com/russia/570373-medvedev-ukraine-aggression-west/
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24 Jan, 2023 08:14

1) --- Reshuffle in Kiev amid scandals

Zelensky’s deputy chief of staff is among the Ukrainian officials losing their jobs

Kirill Timoshenko has resigned as deputy head of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s office, after the head of state pledged to shake up the government.

The reshuffle, which the president announced in his daily video address on Tuesday morning, will affect officials “on different levels, in ministries and other bodies of central and provincial authority, and law enforcement.”

Timoshenko is the most senior official whose removal from office has been confirmed so far. He published his signed resignation letter on social media in a farewell post.

Some Ukrainian news outlets have said he will be replaced with Aleksey Kuleba, head of the Kiev Region administration, and that Timoshenko may be put in charge of a provincial administration.

Another senior official heading for the exit is Deputy Prosecutor General Aleksey Simonenko, according to reports. Earlier this month he sparked outrage by spending the New Year holidays in Spain.

Aside from the bad optics of relaxing at a foreign resort during wartime, the trip raised suspicions of corruption, as Simonenko allegedly used a car that belongs to a wealthy businessman, and was accompanied by a bodyguard employed by the car’s owner.

Following the incident, the Ukrainian National Security Council issued an order banning officials from crossing the national border unless they are on state business.

Simonenko’s resignation was officially confirmed by Zelensky’s office later in the day.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov was apparently spared on Monday, after the Ukrainian parliament declined to take action against him over a graft scandal.

A media investigation claimed on Saturday that the ministry was buying food supplies worth hundreds of millions of dollars for troops, at prices that were several times higher than in Ukrainian retail chains.

Reznikov told lawmakers that the documents cited in the investigation were inaccurate, and that some prices were inflated due to a “technical error”. Other items legitimately included costs that retail prices do not, he claimed, arguing that the comparison was not valid.

Some members of parliament accepted the minister’s explanations, but the Ukrainian anti-corruption body NABU continues to investigate the graft allegations.

Last week, NABU indicted Andrey Kobolev, the former CEO of state-owned energy company Naftogaz. In 2018, he awarded himself a $10 million bonus for achievements in legal battles with Russia’s Gazprom.

NABU alleges that Kobolev overstated the financial benefit that he and other executives secured for the Ukrainian company, and consequently took unreasonably high level of compensation.
https://www.rt.com/russia/570387-zelensky-government-reshuffle-graft/
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24 Jan, 2023 08:11

2) --- Ukraine conflict to cost Germany 4.5% of GDP – DW

The collective loss to the country’s economy between 2020 and 2023 is estimated at almost $600 billion

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine will cost Europe’s largest economy €175 billion ($190 billion) this year, which equates to €2,000 per inhabitant, Deutsche Welle reported on Monday, citing a report by the Institute of German Economics (IW).

Authors of the study compared the current situation to an imaginary scenario in which there was no military operation in Ukraine or problems related to it, such as skyrocketing energy prices, spiraling inflation and supply disruptions. They calculated that the real loss to the German economy from the conflict in Ukraine will be as high as 4.5% of the GDP next year.

The study pointed out that the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine coincided with an already difficult economic situation in Germany. The economists pointed out that the country’s federal development bank KfW had already warned of a threat to prosperity in Germany due to a lack of qualified personnel and insufficient productivity growth.

In 2020, Germany recorded a loss of about €175 billion, another €125 billion in 2021, and almost €120 billion in 2022. The expected €175 billion in losses this year brings the total damage to the country’s economy between 2020 and 2023 amid Covid-19 and the conflict in Ukraine to €595 billion, the report said.

The situation with the economy will remain “extremely unstable” in the coming months, hindering growth in prosperity in Germany, according to German Economic Institute professor IW Michael Gromling. He said uncertainty in the energy sector, surging prices on energy and other raw materials, and the associated restraint in investment will continue causing headwinds to the country’s economy.
https://www.rt.com/business/570367-germany-ukraine-conflict-economy-loss/
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24 Jan, 2023 09:03

3) --- NATO applicant may abandon unity – FM

Finland may consider joining the alliance without fellow candidate Sweden, Pekka Haavisto said

Sweden’s latest difficulties in obtaining Türkiye’s consent to join NATO may prompt Finland to seek accession to the US-led military alliance alone, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto has indicated.

Helsinki and Stockholm submitted their applications for NATO membership together and would rather complete the process together as well, the top diplomat told national broadcaster Yle on Tuesday. However, Finland may decide to move forward on its own, considering Sweden’s deteriorating relationship with Türkiye.

The Finnish government would “reevaluate the situation” should Sweden’s bid take too long to be accepted by Ankara, the official said on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. He said his government didn’t expect any breakthroughs until after the upcoming general election in Türkiye, which is scheduled for May.

In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Haavisto said three-way talks involving Sweden and Türkiye may require a “timeout” for a “couple of weeks.” Last week, he mentioned the idea of decoupling the two applications for NATO membership in an interview with Turkish media.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on Monday that his government would offer no support for Sweden’s bid to join NATO, after Stockholm allowed a protest that involved the burning of a Koran. The demonstration was staged last weekend by activist Rasmus Paludan, a Danish-Swedish lawyer who heads up the Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party in Denmark.

Haavisto criticized the demonstrators, stating they were “playing with the security of Finland and Sweden.” The two Nordic nations, who remained neutral throughout the Cold War, claimed that they needed to join NATO due to a perceived threat from Russia.

Even before they formally applied last May, Ankara flagged its objection to their membership. The Turkish government accused Finland and Sweden of undermining its security with an arms embargo and failure to combat groups that Ankara considers terrorist organizations. The candidate nations pledged to address Türkiye’s concerns.
https://www.rt.com/news/570390-finland-sweden-nato-membership/
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23 Jan, 2023 22:21

4) --- Moscow rubbishes ‘fantasy’ NYT parcel bomb claims

Russia has dismissed allegations that the country’s intelligence was behind a string of parcel bomb attacks in Spain

The Russian embassy in Spain has rubbished allegations raised in a fresh report by The New York Times, which it branded a “fantasy” consisting of zero evidence.
The article published at the weekend claimed that Western officials believe Russian military intelligence officers directed a “white supremacist militant group based in Russia” to carry out a recent letter-bomb campaign in Spain.

The report, citing unnamed US and European security officials, claimed that the incidents were actually a Moscow-orchestrated campaign “intent on keeping European governments off guard and may be testing out proxy groups in the event Moscow decides to escalate a conflict.” At the same time, the unnamed officials admitted there have been “no signs that Moscow is ready to engage in widespread covert attacks or sabotage in Europe.”

Responding to the report, the Russian embassy in Spain said the publication was a pure “fantasy.” The article boiled down to a simple message that “American and European officials believe that Russian military intelligence is guilty” of the recent attacks, the embassy said.

“The zeal with which the Spanish press began to disseminate this brilliant investigation, despite it not containing a single piece of evidence, brings certain attention,” the mission noted.

The string of attacks, involving parcel bombs and packages with hazardous materials, hit Spain late last year. Arguably the most prominent incident occurred in late November, when a parcel bomb exploded at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid. An employee of the mission, who handled the parcel, received minor injuries in the blast.

Apart from that, explosive packages were found at the US embassy in the country, as well as at a major air base near Madrid.

Early investigation results, reported by local media at the time, indicated Spanish police believed the string of attacks was staged by a single person within the country, as opposed to an organized group. Reports also said that Spanish police had ruled out the involvement of Russian intelligence services.
https://www.rt.com/news/570380-parcel-bomb-nyt-report/
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24 Jan, 2023 10:25

5) --- EU gas price cap threatens market stability – regulators

Experts are undecided whether the impact will be positive or negative but warn that the behavior of market participants will change

Europe’s new gas market correction mechanism, the price cap which launches next month, is likely to affect the way the region’s exchange-traded gas markets operate, the EU’s financial and energy market regulators said in a report on Monday.

According to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), market participants may change their behavior to avoid the activation of the mechanism or in order to adapt to it.

“By curbing the key price discovery function of regulated markets, the mechanism will not come without consequences on market participants' trading behavior and may have an effect on the ability of all market participants to effectively manage their risks,” ESMA said.

Traders may then be forced to switch to contracts and marketplaces not affected by the price cap.

“Such adaptations could be achieved by various means, notably by shifting trading to OTC (over the counter) or to non-EU venues… It could trigger significant and abrupt changes of the broader market environment, which could impact the orderly functioning of markets, and ultimately financial stability,” the agency warned, stressing that this may also lower open interest and undermine liquidity on regulated markets for the EU’s benchmark TTF gas contracts.

The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) echoed this opinion in a separate report, warning that the measure could lead to the relocation of trading volumes from EU to foreign gas exchanges. The agency also said the mechanism could jeopardize energy supply if the price levels put in place by the activated cap lower the appeal of EU markets for global LNG suppliers.

“The mechanism could potentially lower levels of market-based gas flows between the EU's different market areas, which would lead to a less integrated internal gas market,” ACER stated.

EU countries agreed in December to set a price cap on natural gas, in an effort to keep energy costs from spiraling. The cap will be triggered if the TTF gas hub spot prices trade above the €180-per-megawatt-hour level ($196) for three consecutive days. The mechanism is to come into force on February 15. The measure was introduced as a way to help avoid price spikes, like the most recent one in August, when EU gas prices reached a historic high of €345 ($375) per megawatt-hour due to concerns over Russian energy supplies.
https://www.rt.com/business/570388-eu-gas-price-cap-market-stability/
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24 Jan, 2023 05:17

6) --- Russia-Iran trade blossoming

Turnover is expected to grow further under a new free trade agreement between Tehran and the Eurasian Economic Union

Trade between Russia and Iran surged by 15% last year, reaching $4.6 billion, Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, said at a government meeting on Monday.

According to the top lawmaker, the two countries are actively taking steps to build up mutual trade, which is “extremely important in the conditions of sanctions pressure on our countries.”

He also praised the memorandum on free trade between Iran and the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which was signed last week, saying that the agreement will help expand Russia-Iran trade further.

According to Volodin, both countries should now focus on boosting the efficiency of mutual cooperation in the financial and banking sectors, in particular, by increasing the use of national currencies in settlements, by using the Russian ‘Mir’ and Iranian ‘Shetab’ payment systems.

“It is important to use settlements in national currencies more actively. Much has already been done in this regard – now the share of the ruble and the rial in mutual settlements exceeds 60%. The work on the joint application of national payment systems is being completed. This will minimize the impact of sanctions, but also, of course, address issues related to mutually beneficial cooperation,” Volodin stated.

Trade with Iran is significant for Russia on its own, but is also seen as a “logistical bridge” between Russia and the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, due to Iran’s geographical placement.

Cooperation between the two countries gained momentum last year, amid Western sanctions on both Moscow and Tehran. Throughout 2022, both sides reached a number of agreements expanding mutual cooperation, from barter supply deals for Iranian turbines, spare parts and aircraft equipment, to contracts for the joint construction of gas pipelines.
https://www.rt.com/business/570345-russia-iran-trade-growth/
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24 Jan, 2023 07:58

7) --- Russian military opposed by ‘almost entire West’ in Ukraine – top general

Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov says modern Russia has never seen such intense hostilities

Russia is resisting a united effort by almost all of the Western nations against its military operation in Ukraine, chief of the Russian General Staff, Army General Valery Gerasimov, has said.

“Modern Russia has never seen such scale and intensity of hostilities,” Gerasimov, who earlier this month was appointed to lead Moscow’s joint forces group in Ukraine, told Argumenty I Fakty newspaper on Monday.

“Our country and its armed forces today are opposed by almost the entire collective West,” the general added, referring to the extensive military support being provided to Kiev by the US and other NATO member states during the conflict.

Russia has long insisted that the fighting in Ukraine is actually a “proxy war” waged against it by the West. Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the involvement of the US and its allies in this conflict was “obvious.”

The secretary of Russia’s National Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, also suggested that “the events in Ukraine are not a confrontation between Moscow and Kiev,” but a standoff between NATO – “the US and England first and foremost” – and Russia.

Both Washington and Brussels maintain they have no intention of getting directly involved in the conflict, but NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated in October that “if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wins, that is not only a big defeat for the Ukrainians, but it will be the defeat, and dangerous, for all of us.”

According to Gerasimov, besides the events in Ukraine, Russia’s General Staff also remains focused on ensuring the country’s military security in view of other existing threats. One of these is “the desire of NATO to expand through the inclusion of Finland and Sweden,” which applied to join the US-led military bloc in May, he said.
https://www.rt.com/russia/570386-ukraine-nato-west-gerasimov/
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23 Jan, 2023 18:42

8) --- EU expands ‘engagement’ in ex-Soviet republic

The civilian mission in Armenia marks a “new phase” of the bloc’s activities in the region, Josep Borrell says

The EU announced the launch of a civilian European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) on Monday. The proclaimed goals of the project include “normalization” in the country amid its long-standing conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan.

“The establishment of an EU Mission in Armenia launches a new phase in the EU’s engagement in the South Caucasus,” the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said in a statement.

The mission, established in “response to Armenia’s request,” will have an initial mandate of two years and set up a headquarters in the country.

The move builds and expands upon previous bloc activity in the region, namely the EU Monitoring Capacity in Armenia (EUMCAP) project through which Brussels sent in some 40 civilian observers, following deadly border clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Armenia, an ex-Soviet republic, is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) along with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Yerevan remains Russia’s “close ally.”

Last September, border tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared up again, with the two countries accusing each other of instigating violence after clashes that claimed the lives of dozens of soldiers from both sides. At the time, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan requested military assistance from the CSTO, but the latter refused to send in troops, insisting the situation be diplomatically resolved.

The two nations have historically been at odds over numerous issues, with the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh – de jure part of Azerbaijan but populated by ethnic Armenians – being the key point of contention. In 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a 44-day war over the territory, which ended in a Russian-brokered truce and cession to Baku of some areas previously controlled by Armenian-backed troops. The deal also included the deployment of Russian peacekeepers to area.
https://www.rt.com/russia/570362-eu-deploys-armenia-mission/
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