Author: Steven Sahiounie

President Putin praises President Xi’s efforts to strengthen the comprehensive relations between the two countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, on his 70th birthday. In the message he wrote to the Chinese President, Putin told Xi, “It is difficult to overestimate the efforts that you have been making for many years to strengthen the relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction” between Russia and China, whose relations grew even stronger after the collective West imposed sanctions on Russian various industries. Putin added, “I look forward to continuing our constructive dialogue and close joint work…

Bloomberg reports that Saudi and Emirati officials are lobbying Europeans to lift sanctions on the country. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are actively lobbying European countries to restore diplomatic ties with the Syrian government and ease sanctions on the country, according to Bloomberg. The report says officials have been mobilizing at various levels with their European counterparts in the European Union for several months. Diplomats of the two Gulf countries have tried to convince EU officials that lifting the sanctions imposed on Damascus is an integral part of any solution to the Syrian crisis, adding that diplomatic moves…

It is noted that Sweden has delivered on the commitments Sweden made at the Summit in Madrid last year There is no guarantee that Sweden will join the North Atlantic Alliance at the bloc’s summit in Vilnius in July, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday. “Sweden has delivered on the commitments Sweden made at the Summit in Madrid last year, which is to remove restrictions on arms exports, to strengthen the cooperation with Turkey in fighting terrorism, as Sweden has changed, amended its constitution and strengthened the anti-terrorist legislation,” Stoltenberg pointed out upon arrival at the meeting of…

On Thursday, a North Korean top brass “sternly warned” the US and South Korea that the country’s armed forces would respond to “any hostile demonstrations and provocations” North Korea on Thursday launched two short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunan District near Pyongyang, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Two short-range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea from the Sunan District toward the Sea of Japan were detected between 7:25 p.m. and 7:37 p.m. local time (1:25 p.m. and 1:37 p.m. Moscow time – TASS),” the statement said. Earlier, the South Korean military reported the launch of…

As she dwelt on Russia’s reaction to the peace initiatives for resolving the Ukrainian crisis Maria Zakharova said that “the Kiev regime has blocked all opportunities for negotiations at the legislative level” The Kiev regime rejects any opportunities for negotiations with Moscow to please the Western countries, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Thursday. “The Kiev regime systematically and fundamentally rejects any opportunity for negotiations [with Russia] to please the West,” she said. As she dwelt on Russia’s reaction to the peace initiatives for…

Sergey Ryabkov noted that BRICS is a grouping of countries that do not follow the leader-follower principle Nearly 20 countries are seeking to get BRICS membership and their number continues to grow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Thursday. “The list of candidates for joining the association continues to increase. The number of states seeking to join this association is nearing twenty. It reflects BRICS’ growing and already considerable role in the international arena as an association of countries with similar positions. I would like to stress it,” he said. BRICS is a grouping of countries that…

No one was hurt Nine drones were either downed of jammed in Crimea during the night, one of them detonated in the village of Dokuchayevo, breaking windows in several residential houses, Crimea’s head, Sergey Aksyonov, said on Thursday. “During this night and morning, nine drones were seen over Crimea’s territory: six were downed by air defense systems and three were jammed and forced to land by electronic warfare means. One drone detonated in the village of Dokuchayevo. No one was hurt. Windows were broken in several houses,” he wrote on his Telegram channel. The village of Dokuchayevo is located some 40…

“After that, we are expected to briefly communicate with journalists accredited to the UN,” Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said Russia plans to bring up the issue of investigating the explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines at the UN Security Council consultations on June 15, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said on Wednesday. “On June 15, the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN is bringing up the issue of the investigation into the sabotage on the Nord Stream [pipelines] at the closed-door consultations of the UN Security Council members,”…

“I have to state again that any further extension is out of the question unless the Istanbul package of agreements is enforced as it was initiated by the UN Secretary-General,” the Russian foreign minister said The extension of the grain deal is out of the question unless the package of agreements is enforced, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), according to a statement released on the ministry’s website. “I have to state again that any further extension is out of…

The envoys managed to move forward in discussing the 11th package of sanctions, with several elements to be revised still remaining, the source said The European Union’s envoys have postponed the approval of the 11th package of sanctions against Russia until June 19, a European diplomatic source told TASS on Wednesday. “The envoys managed to move forward in discussing the 11th package of sanctions, with several elements to be revised still remaining. The next discussion is to be held at the meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union next week,” the diplomat said. The US newspaper…