RT News - February 11th 2023

Donbass: Continued shelling of civilian only areas in Donetsk City has killed one civilian and at least three more wounded, according to local officials, who say Kiev used US-supplied MLR HIMARS rockets. Several residential areas were hit by Ukrainian shelling on Friday. Roman Kosarev reports (and came under fire). In terrorist style, the Ukrainians are waiting for emergency services to arrive and fire again. NB HIMARS rockets are very precise; these are no accidents.
Belgorod: Shebekino: Residential areas have come under Ukraine shelling again; three civilians have been wounded and buildings and cars were struck.
Zaporozhye: One civilian was killed and one wounded as HIMARS rockets fragmented and damaged homes.
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Ukrainians who have moved to Poland talk about the broken promises of Pres. Zelensky and how this has resulted in the failure to bring peace in Donbass.
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Ukraine has suffered heavy casualties and forced conscription is now the order of the day; the west is ignoring it as "Ukrainians are fighting for European values". An activist talks about the Kiev regime.
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Russia's ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia, spoke to RT about the arms being supplied to Ukraine and says they are fuelling the conflict. Last week he and Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) spoke in the UN security council about the dangers of this conflict continuing (QS excerpt - here is the full interview https://rumble.com/v2952wc-you-will-never-erase-russia-from-the-world-map-we-are-a-major-player-vassil.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=7 ) -
In an exclusive talk, RT hears from Russia's ambassador to the UN about rising global condemnation of weaponry supplies to Kiev and how western powers are turning a blind eye to the criticism.

Show more

Iran marks the 44th anniversary of its Islamic revolution commemorating the country's unity, while also sending a message, they say, that the US has failed to contain the will of Iranian citizens. Yousef Jalali report from Tehran.

Africa, Nigeria: Late last year the Nigerian government decided to change the bank notes but haven't allowed enough time for the old ones to be exchanged, leaving people without cash to live. There's also a problem with getting fuel for vehicles etc in Africa's largest oil producing country. There's an election coming up and people there aren't a bit happy. Poloum David reports.

Earthquakes, Türkiye/Syria: More than 24,000 people have been confirmed dead since last Monday's Earthquake/s and aftershocks. Rescuers continue in the search for survivors but their chances are fading as time passes. There is more than just searching to be done. Those who have survived need shelter and food and counselling. Many have lost some or their entire family. It's bitter cold. Peter Scott reports from Diyabakir and talks to survivors.
Syria: The areas hit by the aftershocks are devastated which was made worse by sanctions imposed by US and allies in the form of embargoes and inability to transfer any aid from anyone in the bloc. Some sanctions have now been lifted, days after the tragedy. Russia and the Arab countries of the middle east were there to help with volunteers and humanitarian aid. Whole families are sleeping outside in the bitter cold as their homes are collapsed or unsafe. Hussein Iyad speaks to survivors and reports. Pres. Assad arrived to Jableh to help and thank the volunteers and official crews.

Olympics: 35 countries demand that Russia is banned from the Olympics in 2024 (QS these are the same countries who refused to condemn the glorification of Nazism in the United Nations vote of December, 2022 https://twitter.com/DontDenyThe/status/1613597395597799425 - also see yesterday's post for news article https://rumble.com/v291o54-rt-news-february-10th-2023-late.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=6 news articles 8 and 9 ) Alan Moore reports.
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11 Feb, 2023 15:20

A) --- Russian military shares details of ‘massive’ strikes on Ukraine

All intended targets were hit, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov says

Large-scale Russian missile strikes on Friday brought the operations of Ukraine’s key defense enterprises to a halt and prevented Kiev from redeploying reserves and foreign hardware to the battlefield, Russia’s Defense Ministry has said.

The attack involved high-precision, long-range air, sea, and land-based weapons as well as drones, the ministry’s spokesman, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, told reporters during his daily briefing on Saturday.

It targeted critically important energy facilities, providing power to Ukraine’s defense enterprises and the country’s transport system, he said.

“The goals of the massive strike were achieved. All of the intended facilities were hit,” Konashenkov said.

As a result of the bombardment, “the operations of energy-intensive enterprises of the [Ukrainian] military-industrial complex were stopped. The redeployment of foreign weapons, ammunition, and reserves by rail to the areas on the front lines was also blocked,” the spokesman noted.

Air-raid warnings had been activated all across Ukraine since early Friday. Reports of explosions came from the capital Kiev, along with the regions of Kharkov, Odessa, Dnepr, Nikolaev, Lviv, Ivano-Frankovsk, and other locations.

Ukraine’s Air Force said that at least 71 cruise missiles were fired by Russian long-range bombers and navy vessels from the Black Sea. Most of those missiles were shot down by air defenses, it claimed.

Ukraine’s energy operator, Ukrenergo, has confirmed that several of its high-voltage sites nationwide were hit. The company said it had to implement emergency shutdowns to preempt possible damage to the power grid from overload.

The country’s railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, also said the power cuts had delayed a number of trains and led to some electric locomotives being replaced with backup diesel engines.

Moscow has stepped up the pressure on Ukraine since October last year, when it accused Kiev of using “terrorist tactics” and of targeting Russian infrastructure, including the strategic Crimean Bridge. Since then, a number of large-scale missile strikes have been carried out against Ukrainian military installations and energy facilities, leading to rolling blackouts across the country.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571336-ukraine-strike-energy-transport/
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11 Feb, 2023 09:53

1) --- Russia explains stance on peace talks with Ukraine

Any conflict ends with negotiations, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin has said

Russia remains ready for peace talks with Ukraine but these should take place with no preconditions and ought to account for realities on the ground, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin has said.

“There have already been negotiations” between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Minsk and Istanbul, several weeks after the outbreak of the conflict in February last year, Vershinin told broadcaster Zvezda on Saturday. “As you remember, they were interrupted by the Ukrainian side.”

Decisions on such issues as a peace process “aren’t made in Kiev. The decisions are made in other capitals, first of all in Washington and Brussels. And that's whom one should address” about talks, the senior diplomat pointed out.

As for Russia’s stance, he reiterated that “any military action concludes with negotiations and, as we’ve said earlier, we’ll obviously be ready for such negotiations.”

However, Vershinin stressed that talks should take place “without preconditions, based on the reality that exists” and “taking into account the goals that had been voiced publicly” by Moscow.

On Friday, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby insisted that it was “really up to [Ukrainian] President [Vladimir] Zelensky to determine if and when negotiations are appropriate, and certainly under what circumstances.”

Washington will “stay at the task of supporting Ukraine so that they can succeed at the battlefield” against Russia as that will allow Zelensky to have “the wind at his back” when such talks begin, Kirby pointed out.

Last week, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who'd mediated contacts between Moscow and Kiev, claimed that the negotiations that took place between the sides in Istanbul in late March were “blocked” by Kiev’s Western-backers. “I think there was a legitimate decision by the West to keep striking [Russian President Vladimir] Putin… I mean the more aggressive approach,” he said.

Russia and Ukraine haven’t met at the negotiating table since then, with Zelensky signing a decree in autumn officially banning him from any dialogue with Putin.

The Ukrainian leader is currently pushing forward with his ten-point “peace plan,” which, among other things, calls for Russian forces to withdraw to borders claimed by Ukraine, to pay reparations and to submit to war-crime tribunals.

Moscow has turned down those demands as “unacceptable,” saying that they were actually a sign of Kiev’s unwillingness to solve the crisis through diplomatic means.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571324-ukraine-peace-talks-vershinin/
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11 Feb, 2023 09:40

2) --- US defense official flags 'no objections' to Kiev attacking Crimea

Washington will not limit Ukrainian strikes on territory it claims as its own, Celeste Wallander said

The US would have no objections to Ukrainian forces striking targets inside Crimea with American-supplied weapons, a senior defense official said on Friday.

Dr Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, was asked whether Washington supports Kiev in seizing Crimea, or at least in striking Russian targets there. The peninsula overwhelmingly voted to become part of Russia in 2014 following a Western-backed coup in Kiev.

Speaking at the Center for a New American Security, Wallander reiterated that the US “supports Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty over its internationally recognized borders, and that includes Crimea.” With this in mind, the official argued that Kiev “has the right to defend every inch of its territory.”

As long as Ukraine “identifies operational value in targeting Russian forces on Ukrainian territory… we don’t have objections and do not seek to limit Ukrainian military operations to achieve their objectives.”

She also commented on remarks made by Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, who warned in January that it would be “very difficult” for Ukraine “to militarily eject the Russian forces” from all the territories they currently control.

“I am not going to contradict general Milley, and I think he was giving a hard-headed assessment of the scale of the challenge,” she said.

In January, The New York Times reported, citing sources, that the administration of US President Joe Biden was warming to the prospect of helping Ukraine to target Crimea, “even if such a move increases the risk of escalation.”

On February 3, the US announced a new $2.17 billion security package for Ukraine which included ground-launched, small-diameter bombs (GLSDB) with a range of up to 150 kilometers (93 miles). While the Pentagon said that this long-range capability would enable Ukrainians “to take back their sovereign territory,” it declined to speculate about Kiev's future potential operations.

Last week, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as Deputy Chair of the nation’s Security Council, warned that any attack on Crimea would be interpreted as an attack on the country itself. Kiev, he said, must understand that such moves would be “met with inevitable retaliation using weapons of any kind.”
https://www.rt.com/russia/571323-us-no-objections-crimea-attack/
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10 Feb, 2023 17:56

3) --- UN condemns executions of Russian POWs by Ukrainians

The UN human rights watchdog is aware of a new graphic video purportedly showing the execution of Russian POWs by Ukrainians and has raised the issue with Kiev

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is aware of recently-emerged footage apparently showing the execution of Russian soldiers who had surrendered by Ukrainian troops, a spokeswoman for the UN watchdog, Marta Hurtado, has said.

“We have raised concerns about the treatment of prisoners of war, including alleged killings of POWs by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense,” Hurtado told TASS in a statement on Friday.

The graphic video in question surfaced earlier this week, filmed by an armed individual speaking Ukrainian and demanding answers from three men in military uniforms lying on the ground. After failing to elicit a coherent response from them, the man shoots one of the men in the head multiple times at point blank range.

One of the men, lying motionless on the ground, also has visible blood around his head, apparently getting shot and killed before the video started. A fellow Ukrainian soldier appeared to try to reason with the gunman, pointing out that the third captive was holding a grenade. The killer briefly showed his face at the very end of the video, concluding it with an obscenity and ‘Glory to Ukraine’ slogan, which is commonly associated with World War II-era Nazi collaborators but is widely used in present-day Ukraine.

Additional footage seemingly filmed in the immediate aftermath of the incident showed the killer trying to provide excuses to justify his actions. The UN is aware of this footage as well, Hurtado said, adding that none of the excuses actually have merit.

“We are also aware of another video that has appeared on social media platforms that includes additional footage of the original incident and also appears to show a Ukrainian soldier confessing [to] the killing and trying to justify it by alleging that the victims refused to surrender or that they were part of the Wagner Group military and security contractors fighting on behalf of the Russian Federation,” the spokeswoman said. “These excuses do not provide justification for the soldier's actions under international humanitarian law.”

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the killing of unarmed soldiers who surrendered is a “widespread practice” by Kiev’s troops, and multiple incidents of this sort have occurred amid the ongoing conflict, with some of them published online by the killers themselves. The Russian Investigative Committee said on Thursday that the footage appeared to show the recent murder of three Russian POWs by “Ukrainian nationalists,” pledging to investigate further and identify the perpetrators.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571297-un-ukraine-pow-execution/
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10 Feb, 2023 21:55

4) --- Wagner boss estimates how long Ukraine conflict will last

The hostilities between Moscow and Kiev might drag on for three more years, Yevgeny Prigozhin believes

The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine will likely continue for up to three more years, depending on the goals Moscow actually pursues, Wagner private military group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has said. The businessman made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Semyon Pegov of the independent WarGonzo project on Friday.

“If we need to cover the DPR and LPR, then we need to work for at least another year and a half or two,” Prigozhin stated, referring to the territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, which were recently incorporated into Russia.

Should Russia seek to “go toward the Dnepr,” a major river separating Ukraine into roughly two halves, the conflict will last even longer and drag on for up to three more years, Prigozhin suggested. At the same time, the founder of the private military group noted that in any conflict, the destruction of the enemy’s army must be the priority, rather than a desire to seize territories from the adversary.

Prigozhin also revealed, apparently jokingly, that should Moscow also seek to reach all across Europe toward the English Channel, he already has a perfect plan for such an endeavor. To achieve that goal, everyone in Russia must drop any leisure activity, put on their “working suits,” and work tirelessly. Some spoils of the campaign, however, including “France, Italy, Bulgaria and something else,” should be ceded afterwards to Ukrainians, since they are set to “suffer here with us” much more.

Founded in 2014, Wagner has mainly operated as a security contractor in Africa and the Middle East until now. The precise details of its deployments have not been made public, while Prigozhin denied his ties to the group and its very existence until last year.

The group has been an active participant in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, scoring several victories against the Ukrainian troops. The achievements have also earned the company wide international attention, with the US declaring Wagner a “transnational criminal organization” last month.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571310-wagner-boss-ukraine-conflict/
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11 Feb, 2023 13:58

5) --- Russia reveals who calls the shots in Ukraine conflict

Only Western capitals can force Kiev into holding serious talks with Moscow, Russia's UN envoy has said

Ukraine has shown no interest in finding a diplomatic solution to its ongoing conflict with Russia, Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said on Friday. He noted that, while the West could bring Kiev to the negotiating table with Moscow, it has so far been reluctant to do so.

Speaking in an interview to RT’s Caleb Maupin, Nebenzia was asked about the prospects for a settlement of the Ukraine conflict in the situation where Western leaders insist that the conflict could end only in Moscow’s defeat.

The envoy noted that the West is "now talking about dismembering... and destroying Russia," adding that some statements by Western officials on the matter "go beyond not just simply diplomacy but civilized communication."

He reiterated that Russia is still ready for serious negotiations, which were interrupted by Kiev "on the order of their masters and sponsors in April last year." Against such a backdrop, the high-ranking diplomat noted that Moscow did not see any Ukrainian attempts to conduct meaningful dialogue, pointing out that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky himself had signed a decree prohibiting talks with the current Russian leadership.

Nebenzia went on to blast Kiev’s diplomatic initiatives on the matter as a "joke," referring to a ten-point "peace formula" proposed by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky that, in particular, demanded that Russia withdraw its troops from all territories claimed by Kiev and that a tribunal to prosecute Moscow’s alleged war crimes be established.

Besides, Moscow knows for sure that Kiev is "not calling the shots," Nebenzia said. Those who can force Kiev to conduct serious negotiations, "they live in this country [the US], somewhere in Europe, on one of the islands across the English Channel," he added.

"If they are willing to do so, they will engage, but we don’t see any willingness on the part of the sponsors of Kiev to go to negotiations with Russia and do it seriously," the ambassador pointed out.

Russia believes that Western countries are waging a proxy war against it in Ukraine. On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu claimed that the US and its allies are trying to prolong the conflict between Moscow and Kiev by supporting Ukraine with heavy weaponry, warning that such policies could "lead to an unpredictable escalation."

In spring 2022, Russia and Ukraine held several rounds of talks, with Moscow initially voicing optimism about the peace process. However, Ukraine abruptly withdrew from the negotiations shortly after a visit by then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Kiev on April 9.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571332-russia-west-calls-shots-ukraine/
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11 Feb, 2023 18:24

6) --- Serbia may soon be forced to sanction Russia – Vucic

Western pressure on Belgrade will drastically increase as the Ukraine conflict escalates, the Serbian president said

The moment is approaching when Serbia will have no choice but to give in to Western demands to sanction its ally Russia, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said.

In an interview with Prva broadcaster on Friday, Vucic said he expects “a major escalation” in the conflict in Ukraine over the next six months. The fighting to date will feel like “almost nothing, compared to what’s coming,” he warned.

This situation “will affect our country as the pressure on Belgrade, in terms of its relations with Russia, will become two or three times tougher – despite already being very strong now,” the president said.

Sanctioning Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine and recognizing the independence of the breakaway province of Kosovo have been singled out by Brussels as key conditions for Belgrade’s bid to join the EU.

Vucic, who has been rejecting both demands for months, now says the moment may eventually come when Belgrade would have to join the EU’s curbs on Moscow.

“Let us push like this as long as we can, I will know when the moment is right, and I will not hide anything from people. That moment [when Serbia sanctions Russia] has been approaching for a long time, I am afraid that it’s not even months away,” he said.

The Serbian president revealed that he used to believe that the West, which is backing the Kiev government with weapons, funds and intelligence, was getting the upper hand in Ukraine. However, “at this moment, it’s no longer entirely clear who is winning in Ukraine,” he added.

Moscow’s chances of succeeding have been boosted by the fact that there is now “unity” among the Russian people regarding the conflict, especially after the announcement by Berlin and some other countries last month that German-made Leopard tanks would be supplied to Kiev, he said.

According to Vucic, it’ll be “difficult” for Serbia no matter who prevails in Ukraine. “The West doesn’t want a country allied with Russia in the middle of Europe. On the other hand, Russia doesn’t want to lose everything it has in the Balkans,” he said.

That’s why Belgrade remains among the few international players who speak about the need for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but “no one is allowed to mention peace anymore,” he stated.
https://www.rt.com/news/571340-vucic-serbia-sanctions-ukraine/
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19 Jan, 2023 18:09 --- RECALL

6) --- Serbia urged to align with EU

The European Parliament says it regrets Belgrade’s low level of compliance with the bloc's position on Russia

The European Parliament (EP) has adopted a resolution calling on Serbia to align with the EU’s common foreign and security policies (CFSP), especially those dealing with sanctions against third countries, such as Russia. The EP stressed that Belgrade's candidate status obliges it to adhere to the EU’s values and rights, while Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic believes the bloc to be hypocritical.

The resolution, published on Wednesday and based on the annual CFSP report for 2022, stressed that it was important that Western Balkan countries be brought into full alignment with EU policies. The document’s authors drew special attention to Serbia’s relationship with Russia, its lack of condemnation of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, and the "consequences of this relationship in the Western Balkans."

The EP insisted that any "new accession negotiation chapters" regarding Belgrade’s EU membership, should only be opened after "Serbia bolsters its commitment to reforms in the areas of democracy and the rule of law."

Serbia was also urged to normalize relations with Kosovo based on "mutual recognition," and Belgrade was chastised for its "continuous pattern of escalatory actions." The EP reiterated its position that Kosovo’s independence is "irreversible" and urged the five EU member states that have yet to recognize it, Spain, Slovakia, Cyprus, Romania, and Greece, to do so "with immediate effect."

Vucic has blasted the resolution as hypocritical and has called it a prime example of the West’s "shameless" behavior.

"They organized violent secession of our territory. How far could this shameless behavior go? I do not have the words." Vucic said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

"Everything I heard, no one wants to hear or see that there is a different point of view, the only thing they are interested in is an independent Kosovo, sanctions on Russia, there is no opposition," he added.

Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic also condemned the report and stated that "before lecturing Serbia on its failure to align with EU foreign policy, the EP should align with the fundamental principles of international law regarding the protection of the territorial integrity of world states."

NATO took control of Kosovo in 1999, after months-long bombings of Serbia on behalf of ethnic Albanian insurgents. The province’s provisional government declared independence in 2008, with US and EU backing. With support from Russia and China, Serbia has resisted pressure to recognize it ever since.
https://www.rt.com/news/570159-serbia-align-eu-policies/
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11 Feb, 2023 11:09

6a) --- Serbia responds to 'cancel-Russian-culture' calls

Aleksandar Vucic told the media that his government, despite being “on the European path,” will not cancel the Russian classics

Serbia will not jump on the Russia-bashing bandwagon and cancel the country’s culture, President Aleksandar Vucic has told media. He explained that preserving the Russian classics in the public domain is as important as guarding national financial interests.

In an interview with Serbia’s Prva news channel broadcast on Friday, Vucic acknowledged that his country largely depends on the West in terms of investment. For this reason, the president noted, those who call on Belgrade to cut these ties “don't know how the country works.”

Vucic went on to argue that the notion that Serbia should “break completely with Russia,” and “throw out [novelist] Dostoyevsky, [composer] Tchaikovsky and [writer] Tolstoy” is equally absurd.

“That can't be Serbia, we have to take care of the soul of our people,” the president clarified.

Last month, during a press conference in the Russian embassy in Belgrade, President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy on international cultural cooperation, Mikhail Shvydkoy, announced that Belgrade and Moscow were discussing holding a year of cultural exchange in 2024.

Several renowned Russian musicians will visit Serbia already this year. On top of that, a meeting of Russian and Serbian academia is also in the pipeline, Shvydkoy revealed.

Following the start of Russia’s military operation against Ukraine in late February 2022, a number of European cultural venues have canceled the staging of artworks which have Russian origins and have also barred some Russian performers who have refused to denounce Moscow’s actions.

Certain politicians in the EU have also spoken in favor of such bans.

As recently as early January, Lithuanian culture minister Simonas Kairys spoke in favor of a “mental quarantine” on Russian culture, claiming the latter is being used by Moscow as a “weapon.”

Earlier, the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra in Wales erased music by Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky from a concert program, while Britain's Royal Opera House called off a tour by the Bolshoi Ballet.

Netflix, in turn, put on hold the production of ‘Anna K,’ an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel ‘Anna Karenina’.

Commenting on these tendencies, Russian President Vladimir Putin has drawn parallels between Western efforts to cancel Russian culture to the Nazi practice of book burning.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571322-serbian-president-russian-culture/
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1 Feb, 2023 02:37

7) --- Biden meets with Brazil’s president

The two leaders remain split on the conflict in Ukraine, with the White House questioning whether peace talks are “appropriate”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has met with his US counterpart Joe Biden, their first face-to-face discussion since Lula’s election win last year. While Brazil’s leader proposed a path to end fighting in Ukraine, the Biden administration all but rejected the idea.

Meeting at the White House on Friday, the two leaders put a heavy focus on climate change and the “defense of democracy,” in view of Brazil's wave of chaotic unrest that followed last year's presidential election.

“Both our nations’ strong democracies have been tested of late – very much tested – and our institutions were put in jeopardy,” Biden said at the beginning of the talks, referring to the US’ own bout of unrest following its 2020 presidential race. “But both in the United States and Brazil, democracy prevailed.”

Lula thanked Biden for showing “solidarity” after his election victory amid protests and rioting, going on to compare the attack on Brazil’s National Congress by protesters earlier this year to the “Capitol invasion” in the United States on January 6, 2021.

The Brazilian leader also outlined several areas on which Brazil and the US could work together, including the preservation of democratic institutions, curbing climate change and fighting racial inequality.

After the meeting concluded, Lula told reporters that he would like to make efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, calling to bring together a “group of countries that aren’t directly or indirectly involved in the war… so that we can have a possibility to build peace.”

“That is, I'm convinced that we need to find a way out to end this war,” he continued, adding: “I found Biden shared the same concern.”

While the two leaders did not publicly discuss the conflict raging in Eastern Europe on Friday, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby appeared to throw cold water on Lula’s peace talks proposal.

Asked about the idea during a press briefing, Kirby said an end to the fighting “doesn’t appear to be in the offing,” arguing that the US would have to “stay at the task of supporting Ukraine so that they can succeed at the battlefield.”

“It’s really up to President [Vladimir] Zelensky to determine if and when negotiations are appropriate and certainly under what circumstances,” he said. “As President Biden has said countless times, ‘Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.’”

Since taking office, Lula has declined to follow the US lead in supplying arms and other military hardware to Kiev, and previously voiced skepticism over the Western sanctions campaign targeting Russia’s economy. During an interview with Time magazine last year, while he was still a front-runner in Brazil’s presidential race, Lula said both Ukraine and Russia bore responsibility for the conflict, a view starkly at odds with Washington and its allies.
https://www.rt.com/news/571311-biden-meets-brazil-president/
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RECALL ---- 31 Jan, 2023 08:26

7a) --- Brazil makes proposal on Ukraine peace talks
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Countries should form a group dedicated to brokering negotiations between Moscow and Kiev, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said

The world should form a club of countries focused on achieving a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday. He added that, unlike many Western nations, Brazil would not offer weapons to Kiev.

“It is necessary to constitute a group with enough strength to be respected at a negotiating table, and sit down with both sides,” the president, who is commonly known just as Lula, stated. He was speaking in Brasilia, the nation’s capital, after meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Lula mentioned the G20, an informal club of the world's biggest economies that began meeting regularly after the start of the 2008 financial crisis.

“We want to propose [a type of] a G20 to put an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.”

“Brazil will make an effort,” Lula declared, adding that he had discussed the matter with Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron. He claimed he would also speak about the issue with US President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders.

At the same time, the Brazilian president stressed that his country would not be sending weapons to Ukraine.

Brazil has no interest in passing on ammunition to be used in the war between Ukraine and Russia. Brazil is a country of peace. At this moment, we need to find those who want peace, a word that until now has been used very little.

Last week, Germany, together with the US and several other NATO members, pledged to provide Kiev with heavy armor for the first time. The Kremlin has maintained that the deliveries will only further escalate the conflict, and that Western tanks will “burn” on the battlefield.

Brazil also decided not to impose sanctions on Russia after Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine last February. Lula’s predecessor, former President Jair Bolsonaro, said at the time that restrictions imposed on Russia by the US and EU “did not work.”
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11 Feb, 2023 07:40

8) --- US unveils new sanctions on China
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The restrictions come days after the Pentagon brought down a suspected Chinese ‘spy balloon’

The US announced new sanctions against China on Friday, targeting six companies linked to Beijing’s suspected surveillance program. The move comes after a Chinese “spy balloon” was spotted and shot down in US airspace.

In a statement, the US Commerce Department said the entities were being blacklisted for supporting China’s “military modernization efforts, specifically those related to aerospace programs.” These included airships, balloons and related materials used by Beijing for intelligence and reconnaissance.

The new restrictions will make it harder for the sanctioned companies to obtain US technologies. The targeted entities include Beijing Nanjing Aerospace Technology and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation’s 48th Research Institute.

China’s “use of high-altitude balloons violates our sovereignty and threatens US national security,” Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez stated. He said the sanctions would make clear that entities seeking to undermine Washington’s national security “will be cut off from accessing US technologies.”

The ‘spy balloon’ saga started last week when the Pentagon said it was tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance airship over the US state of Montana. Two days later, it was brought down by a F-22 fighter jet over the water off the coast of South Carolina. While the Pentagon accuses China of using the balloon to “surveil strategic sites” in the US, Beijing described the vessel as a “civilian airship” which strayed into the US territory due to force majeure circumstances.

China’s foreign ministry said some US politicians and media outlets had “hyped” the incident as a pretext to “attack and smear China,” reiterating that Beijing has “never violated the territory and airspace of any sovereign country.” It described claims that China was targeting the US with an airship surveillance system as nothing but “information warfare.”

US President Joe Biden found himself in hot water over his handling of the incident, with many lawmakers from both sides of the aisle complaining that the balloon should have been downed sooner. However, Biden said he did not want to destroy the aircraft over land due to safety concerns, adding that he didn’t view the incident as a major security breach.

On Friday, the Pentagon also said the president had ordered an unidentified high-altitude object near Alaska to be shot down “out of an abundance of caution.” The department said it did not know to whom the object belonged, but noted that it “posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight.”
https://www.rt.com/news/571314-us-sanctions-china-spy-balloon/
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11 Feb, 2023 13:59

9) --- Tulsi Gabbard slams ‘dangerous’ Clinton following India trip

The noted Hillary Clinton critic said that the visit shows she is ‘envious’ of the Biden presidency

Former Democratic US Representative Tulsi Gabbard has continued her long-running feud with Hillary Clinton following the ex-Secretary of State’s recent visit to India. She told Fox News that the trip served little purpose, and shows that former presidential candidate is a “dangerous character” who is “envious” of Joe Biden.

Clinton arrived in India on February 5, visiting salt pan workers in Gujarat where she announced a $50-million initiative intended to empower women and communities to fight against climate change.

However, Gabbard – who left the Democrat Party last year – has since said that Clinton’s visit to drum up support for alternative clean energy shows that she still covets diplomatic authority and is “envious” of Joe Biden's presidency.

“Her desire to be commander-in-chief that she’s had for a very long time has nothing to do with ensuring the safety and security of the American people,” Gabbard said on FOX News’ ‘Jesse Watters Primetime’ show Thursday. “It has everything to do with the fact that if there’s a war to be fought, she wants to be the one with her finger on that proverbial trigger.”

She added that she believes Biden to be “channelling her warmongering ways.” Clinton has previously referred to Gabbard as a “Russian asset,” which prompted the former Hawaii Democrat to launch a defamation lawsuit.

Gabbard also stated that Clinton’s visit to India did nothing to address India’s more pressing issues, such as tensions with its neighbor Pakistan, and that its only benefit was to increase her own public profile. “This is what makes her such a dangerous character,” Gabbard said. “She feels that she’s not accountable to anyone because she’s not suffering those consequences.”

While in India, Clinton said that the country was ideally positioned to implement clean energy methods, which, she claimed, would increase economic growth. She referenced solar power facilities at a salt pan farm she'd visited in Surendranagar as evidence of this.

Clinton also used the visit to praise self-employed Indian women who have chosen to work in roles such as street vendors, farmers and laborers.
https://www.rt.com/news/571330-gabbard-hillary-clinton-india/
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11 Feb, 2023 14:44 OP-ED

10) --- The new US plan for calming Palestine-Israel tensions is already failing

Washington’s proposal looks like mutual de-escalation between Palestine and Israel, but fails to acknowledge facts on the ground - Robert Inlakesh

The US Biden administration has reportedly presented a plan to cool tensions between Palestinians and Israelis, which have dramatically escalated since the formation of Israel’s new right-wing government.

As reported by Axios, following up on a request made by US secretary of State Antony Blinken, during his visit to the Middle East late last month, his Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf, stayed behind and worked on presenting a roadmap towards preventing a violent escalation in the region. Antony Blinken had urged both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to “pause” provocative steps in order to avoid further hostilities.

The requests made by the Biden administration were originally geared towards the Palestinian Authority (PA) taking significant steps, whilst minimal requirements were put on the Netanyahu government. Antony Blinken urged Mahmoud Abbas to implement a “security plan” presented by US security coordinator Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel, who proposed creating a special PA Security Force wing that would be trained by the US to fight Palestinian militias that have formed over the past two years in the Jenin and Nablus areas. Later on, the US also requested that Israel reduce the number of raids on Palestinian towns and refugee camps, in addition to halting their plans for significant settlement expansion; both of which Israel refuses to follow through on.

Rogue militias
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In September of 2021, the Jenin Brigades armed group announced its formation out of the Jenin refugee camp, later growing and expanding its areas of operations to the wider Jenin area. The armed group does not have any traceable command-and-control structure. It consists primarily of men between the ages of 18 and 25, mostly formed of members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement and Fatah Party members who are no longer loyal to the ruling clique in the party that commands the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority. Later, in September of 2022, the Lions’ Den armed movement also announced its formation in the old city of Nablus, claiming to belong to no political party. Due to the rise of newly formed armed groups, which hasn’t happened in the West Bank since the early 2000s, the Palestinian Authority’s security forces have lost control of much of the northern West Bank.

The US proposal for the Palestinian Authority to form a special force to fight against the armed militias is an extremely dangerous intervention in the affairs of the region. It is reminiscent of the UK-backed “peace bands” formed under the British Mandate in the late 1930s, when the British took the initiative to use Palestinians to fight each other. However, unlike then, there is no support for anti-militia activities from the Palestinian public today. In fact, the overwhelming majority support the Jenin Brigades, Lions’ Den and other armed groups, according to all available polling data. The PA has been significantly weakened over the past three years due to a financial crisis, corruption, the lack of any diplomatic breakthroughs, the postponement of national elections, and the killing and detention of Palestinians for the sake of Israeli security.

Third Intifada coming?
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The Palestinian Authority has even been engaged in limited armed exchanges with the newly formed militias in the West Bank over the past year, triggering mass protests from angry West Bank residents. The number one issue that Palestinians in the West Bank have with the PA is its ‘security coordination’ with Israel, which essentially means that the PA’s security forces work with the Israeli military, intelligence and border police, in order to combat Palestinian threats against Israelis, but not the other way around. When Israel raided the Jenin refugee camp last month, killing 10 Palestinians, including three civilians, one of whom was an elderly woman, the PA announced the suspension of security coordination in response.

The US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs met last week with Israel’s National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi, and President Abbas’ senior advisor, Hussein al-Sheikh, to propose that the Palestinian Authority return to security coordination with Israel, in exchange for Israel slowing down settlement expansion. The US also sought for the PA to pause its attempts to take Israel before the International Court of Justice and the UN for alleged war crimes – a move for which the PA has been punished with Israeli sanctions.

Last Thursday, CIA director Bill Burns expressed his concern over the possibility of a ‘third intifada’ [Palestinian uprising] erupting inside the West Bank, stating that “a lot of what we’re seeing today has a very unhappy resemblance to some of those realities that we saw then [during the Second Intifada] too”. His concern is congruent with the reality on the ground, where last year was the deadliest for West Bank Palestinians since the end of the Second Intifada in 2005, according to the United Nations. Palestinian attacks against Israeli settlers and soldiers are also a daily occurrence now.

Two-state solution blocked
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Despite the US government clearly identifying the nature of the escalation, it shows complete ignorance of its own role in creating the current hostilities. The bulk of the US secretary of state’s visit to Palestine-Israel was tailored to forwarding Arab-Israeli normalization efforts and to expanding the ‘Negev Forum’, which Morocco, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt form with Israel, in order to advance their own ties. At the same time, Antony Blinken spoke of reaching a “two-state solution” between Palestinians and Israelis as being the only path to any lasting peace.

Under the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 (also known as the Saudi Initiative), a “two-state solution” (meaning the recognition by Israel of a Palestinian state and the end of occupation of Palestinian territories) is a precondition for the normalization of ties between Israel and Arab states. By pushing for normalization without that precondition, Blinken effectively seeks to deprive the Palestinian Authority of its best bargaining chip and leaves it powerless to extract any concessions from the Israeli government, whose officials will not even consider sitting down for meetings with their Palestinian counterparts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already stated that he is not willing to halt settlement expansion, as proposed by the US government, with Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, openly announcing that there will be no freeze on settlement construction, which is considered illegal by the UN and most world powers. Israel has also announced its intention to increase raids and further military activities in the West Bank, in what it deems to be a preparation for likely hostilities during the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan.

Hope for Palestinians is the only way to peace
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Despite the PA having announced the end of its security coordination with Israel, it is clear that some coordination is still occurring and that the announcement was more of a public relations move for President Abbas, who is feeling the pressure from a disgruntled Palestinian population. This in itself is a key indicator that the PA is feeling the pressure from Palestinian society at large and a sign that any US-trained PA force to combat the militia groups could lead to a disaster, whereby the Ramallah-based authority could even be overthrown due to the outrage such a step would cause. When the CIA worked to create the “new PA security force” during the latter years of the Second Intifada, it only worked after the PA itself had participated in the fight against the Israeli military and still maintained some degree of popular support. In addition to this, the Israeli army had conducted ‘Operation Defensive Shield,’ which led to the assassinations or arrests of the most prominent militia leaders inside the West Bank.

The only way the PA could possibly regain control of Jenin and Nablus is by proving to the Palestinian people that it is on their side, and not fighting for the US and Israel. It is also the reality that many of the leading fighters in the militia groups, especially in Jenin, are actually members of the PA’s security forces that have gone rogue. Armed militias also seem to be forming in areas like Bethlehem, al-Khalil and even Jericho, which proves that the re-emergence of the armed struggle in the West Bank is not only limited to the north of the territory.

The only way to properly combat the escalation and to stop this from growing into a much larger confrontation, is to provide hope for the Palestinian people inside the West Bank, something that the US will not even consider. Instead of the US working as an objective mediator, it works solely for Israel’s immediate interests and accepts the political restraints of each Israeli government as an excuse for repeatedly violating its own red lines. The US considers every single Palestinian political party as a terrorist organization, other than the mainstream branch of the Fatah Party, meaning that they will not even talk to any Palestinian representatives other than those that adhere to their own demands. The obsessive pursuit of Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel, seemingly for political gain on behalf of the Biden administration, also contributes to robbing Palestinians of any hope for peace.

The situation inside the West Bank cannot be resolved using bombs and bullets. Even if every single member of all the armed groups were to be killed, the same problem would again emerge for Israel in the future. Despite this, Washington will never look critically at what is going on and realize that there are two sides to this conflict. At this time the US government is dealing with the escalation as if Israel has a termite problem and not that there are people who are rising up in an ongoing struggle for statehood.

Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the Palestinian territories and currently works with Quds News. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump's Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’.

" ...The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.... "
https://www.rt.com/news/571334-us-israel-palestine-peace/
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